Some years back, Panasonic had an ISP business in Japan called hi-ho. They had a series of bizarre, addictive, animated commercials that Eric and I enjoyed watching. I remember Eric wasn’t even a teenager yet, so it had to have been a while ago. This one has a winter theme.
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Eric liked this one…
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…and this was my favorite.
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Tech note: these are the first videos I have made using CamStudio.
A week ago I talked about the leak around the water feed pipe coming into the basement, and my clever way of getting the water to go into a bucket.
The seal around the pipe failed during an exceptionally heavy rain that fell on top of snow, so my next challenge was to plug the gap around the pipe. I used Loctite epoxy putty.
All you have to do is cut the amount of putty you need, then knead it to activate the epoxy. Once mixed, you have 10-15 minutes to mold it before it sets. I don’t know yet whether or not the leak is fixed, but if it is all it took was half of a $4 tube of putty.
The reigning queen of British bad girl Pop music, Lily Allen, is reportedly taking a break from music after only two CD’s.
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A tip o’ the ol’ Dog Rat virtual toupee to my friend Morris for tipping me off to a guest appearance by Stan Lee tonight on the CBS sitcom ‘The Big Bang Theory.’
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Charles M. Schulz lived to see ‘Peanuts’ reach its 50th anniversary year, but not the actual anniversary date of October 2. Bil Keane’s ‘The Family Circus’ comic strip first appeared on February 29, 1960. Unlike Schulz, Keane has had help for many years producing his strip, but it’s still an anniversary worthy of recognition.
A Sunday night ritual I’ve had for many years is listening to “The Jazz Decades,” hosted by Ray Smith, on WGBH radio Boston.
http://www.wgbh.org/897/programDetail.cfm?programid=282
Tonight, it was announced that Smith, 87, passed away on Friday. Considering his age, I can’t say this is a surprise, but it is sad news, and a loss for radio and music. The realization that I am now five years older than Smith was when he started at WGBH, and that I first listened to him while still in my 20’s, certainly gives me something to think about.
Some of the names of the Jazz greats from the 20’s and 30’s that Smith often featured, like Teagarden and Beiderbecke, I first learned from a set of cards by Robert Crumb. Hover over the picture to read the back of the card.
At this moment, Smith is playing a recording by the legendary Belgian guitarist Django Reindhardt, with the equally incomparable Stéphane Grappelli on violin. For moi, it doesn’t get any better dan dat.
One of the Internet stations on my list of favorites on my Logitech Squeezebox Radio is WGBH’s 24-hour stream of “The Jazz Decades.” So although Smith is gone, with nearly 2,000 programs in the library, he shall remain.
