Day: February 3, 2009

From The Beatles to Star Trek

Back at this link I showed the comedy duo Charlie Brill and Mitzi McCall on the Ed Sullivan show, stuck with the unenviable task of being the lead-in act to The Beatles. I’ll plop it here again, for your viewing convenience.

[flv:http://www.dograt.com/Video/2009/JAN/McCallBrill.flv 480 360]

Earlier I said there are two connections to Star Trek in the video. One of them is Sally Kellerman, who did the voiceover for the Pillsbury cake commercial. Kellerman was in the second Trek pilot, “Where No Man Has Gone Before”, which I think is, for a sci-fi/comics fan, one of the best hours of TV ever made.

[flv:http://www.dograt.com/Video/2009/FEB/NoMan.flv 480 350]

The second Trek connection is Charlie Brill himself, who appeared as a Klingon agent in one of the most popular of all episodes, “The Trouble With Tribbles”.

[flv:http://www.dograt.com/Video/2009/FEB/Tribbles.flv 480 350]

Hey, ya know what? Brill resembles John Lennon in this picture.

Waiting and Watching

The best comic book series I ever read was Watchmen. Now the movie of it is about to come out. I agree with everything that Boston Globe movie critic Ty Burr says about his own sense of anticipation.

http://www.boston.com/ae/movies/blog/2009/02/the_watchmen_wa.html

I thought 300 was one of the worst movies I’d ever seen. I scanned through most of it on DVD. Something I’m worried about for a general audience is that a full appreciation of Watchmen requires a vast knowledge of the history of comic books and their creators. Everybody knows Batman, but almost nobody knows that Dr. Manhattan was adapted from Captain Atom, and Rorschach is based on the work of Steve Ditko.

Who Watches the Watchmen?

The Day the Muse-ic Died

Buddy Holly

Fifty years since the plane crash. Buddy Holly, one of the most important innovators in Rock music, sure did pack a lot into his short life, as did Ritchie Valens.

The Beatles covered Holly’s “Words of Love.”

[audio:http://www.dograt.com/Audio/2009/FEB/WordsofLove.mp3]

Ritchie Valens was present at the birth of surf guitar, as heard in “Fast Freight.”

Ritchie Valens

[audio:http://www.dograt.com/Audio/2009/FEB/FastFreight.mp3]

J.P. Richardson wrote “Running Bear,” which was recorded by Johnny Preston after The Big Bopper’s death.

[audio:http://www.dograt.com/Audio/2009/FEB/RunningBear.mp3]