One of the scary truths behind what happened on Wall Street leading up to the 2008 credit crisis, was the influence of cocaine on the out-of-control behavior of the traders. I’m wondering if Donald Trump is similarly under the influence of something. Because it’s even scarier to accept that his bizarre pronouncements are solely the result of a runaway ego.
Author: DOuG pRATt
Up Tempo
Born two days before Elvis, Nino Tempo looked more like a nightclub performer than a Pop music impresario. But he put his studio experience as a member of the Wrecking Crew to good use, producing some excellent recordings in the Sixties, years after “Deep Purple,” Tempo’s big hit with his not unattractive sister April Stevens. This one in particular I think is a standout.
FM’s static-filled history
I have just purchased a new book called “The Network: The Battle for the Airwaves and the Birth of the Communications Age,” about a subject that interests me greatly. The relationship of the brilliant engineer Edwin Armstrong and David Sarnoff, the CEO of RCA. Sarnoff saw the potential of radio broadcasting that was made possible by Armstrong’s AM circuit wizardry, and used it to build the mighty NBC network. He failed, however, to see the significance of Armstrong’s invention of FM, to the point where the FCC had to force Sarnoff into accepting FM for TV sound.
It’s a classic modern tragedy of an independent inventor being crushed by a giant corporation. Keeping in mind that Sarnoff also rolled over Philo T. Farnsworth, the inventor of all-electronic television, I do not yet know if the book’s author, Scott Woolley, sees Sarnoff as having been completely in the wrong. Based upon a segment on last Friday’s Marketplace, I get the impression that Woolley might favor the view that Armstrong should have accepted reality and given up the fight.
The buzz on cheering up!
On this nice, warm day, outside the open porch window I hear some wasps beginning their annual ritual of building a new nest. Before I finish the ritual with a can of killer spray, I’ll get in the mood by watching a new comedian’s killer routine.
Joe Pera – 'Late Night with Seth Meyers' Standup Set from Joe Pera on Vimeo.
Just the facts
When the going gets tough, the tough listen to “Dragnet” OTR (old time radio) shows.
Titanic, minus Leonardo, Kate, and James Cameron
A computer-generated simulation, purportedly based upon the best-known accounting of events, of the sinking of the Titanic.