Imitation Cops

My memories of Eighties music are all mashed together, associated with listening to the radios in rental cars from airports on my many, many business trips. A prime example is this 1986 hit, ‘Your Love’ by The Police. No, wait. My mistake. It’s by The Outfield.

1986 was forty years ago?? That’s more depressing than college being fifty years ago!

Beatles Rotator

I recently played my big sister’s original American copy of the 1966 Beatles album Revolver.* It’s in mono, and I was surprised by how good it sounds, considering the damage it endured. Here’s ‘Good Day Sunshine’.

Monitoring the playback with Audacity, I was impressed with how dynamic the sound is. There’s no compression going on here.

For comparison, here is the official online copy of the song.

Looking at the peaks, some loudness compression was apparently added to the recording. The 2009 mono Beatles set reportedly was transferred from the master tapes with dynamic range left intact, so perhaps this is a YouTube effect.

Okay, so let’s find out. What about ‘Good Day Sunshine’ when played from the Beatles 2009 CD mono box set? No loudness compression is confirmed.

* A 60-year-old record on a 50-year-old turntable, with a 30-year-old cartridge and a relatively new stylus.

Cover Charge

In 2009, original comic book art dealer Mike “Romitaman” Burkey offered this page to me for only $35,000. It’s the cover to Tales of Suspense #93, the first issue of that title I bought as a kid.

DOuG pRATt holding the original art for the cover of TOS #93

The timing for such an expensive investment wasn’t good, however, as I would soon be facing college expenses. So, I had to decline the offer.

What is the piece worth today? I said “only” $35,000, because on May 8 it sold on Heritage Auctions for $90,625.

https://comics.ha.com/itm/original-comic-art/covers/gene-colan-and-frank-giacoia-tales-of-suspense-93-iron-man-cover-original-art-marvel-1967/a/7466-92007.s#

The Color of Wasted Money

There’s no getting rid of the slime. $14.2 million dollars spent for nothing. A fitting allegory for everything in the Trump administration.

Trump Ordered ‘American Flag Blue’ for the Reflecting Pool. It’s Green Again.

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/06/15/climate/reflecting-pool-algae-green.html?unlocked_article_code=1.qlA.tqs1.nxcnmEfd8xgv&smid=url-share