This 20-minute video would make a good 7-page comic book story, so I had no trouble guessing the ending, but what I didn’t see coming was the secretary. You have the advantage of seeing her in the preview picture, called a poster frame. Hey, is that……..? Yes, it is.
https://youtu.be/1FzdrPRmCLQ
Somebody wants a pedicure.
Since retiring almost three years ago, I have been watching CNBC’s ‘Nightly Business Report’ on PBS. I was disappointed to see that the December 27 installment marked the end of the program.
I assume CNBC thinks this will get more people watching their cable network, but I won’t be one of them. Oh, well, there’s still ‘Marketplace’ on NPR… I hope.
The evening of December 26, 1967 was the first airing on BBC television, unfortunately in black and white, of “Magical Mystery Tour” by the Beatles. Featured in the film was the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band, performing “Death Cab for Cutie.” Earlier that very same day, the Bonzos appeared on the ITV network, in the premiere episode of “Do Not Adjust Your Set,” featuring Michael Palin, Terry Jones, and Eric Idle.
https://youtu.be/RyZSgy5wmJk
In my view there are two ways for a working person to think about a routine task they have done countless times. One way is to become bored and careless. The other way is to use the repetitive nature of the work as a way to spot inconsistencies, even tiny things that are out of the ordinary, and use that insight to fix, and preferably prevent, problems. It’s the moment of thinking to yourself, “Hey, wait a second, that doesn’t look right.”
Unfortunately, many people take the former approach, which is why tasks that are based on a fixed routine, and are repeated every day, can and do go wrong. Like renewing my medical plan, for example. Will my coverage, with its $1234.25 monthly premium, be effective as of January 1, or will it be associated with the incorrect member ID that was assigned to me by mistake? I have been told there is no way to know until after a monthly database update has been completed on January 3, which means I’d better not need to see a doctor tomorrow or Thursday. Gee, I wonder if anything ever goes wrong with database updates for third-party billing systems?
A Neil Innes Bonzo tune will cheer me up.
Neil Innes has died. I’m shattered by this terrible news and will write more later.
The cartoon below features Neil performing a Beatles song, and doing it straight, for an HP computer commercial in England. A tip o’ the Dog Rat toupee to J.J. Sedelmaier for this. He’s the animator who collaborated with Stephen Colbert on the Ambiguously Gay Duo cartoons, among other TV Funhouse features for Saturday Night Live.
