A recording of the song ‘Layla’ is on the audio player. It was taken from an FM tube radio.
[audio:http://www.dograt.com/Audio/NOV07/nanoradio-layla.mp3]
Courtesy Zettl Research Group,
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and University of California at Berkeley
Bad reception? An old LP played with a broken needle? No! Quite the opposite. It’s from the most advanced, state-of-the-art FM radio ever devised. It’s not a tube radio, but a nano-tube radio! Edwin Armstrong would be pleased.
Happy Halloween! I first became aware of master of suspense Alfred Hitchcock from a parody of him on The Flintstones. I knew they were making fun of somebody, but I didn’t know who.
In this droll dual takeoff of Alfred Hitchcock Presents and the Hitchcock feature film Rear Window, Fred is unnerved by his new neighbor Alvin Brickrock, a short, squat Britisher who can be heard arguing with his harridan of a wife. Then, one night, the arguing stops suddenly–and not long afterward, Mrs. Brickrock disappears. These and several other ominous incidents lead Fred and Barney to conclude that Alvin Brickrock is actually the notorious wife slayer Albert Bonehart. The satire is played to the hilt, concluding with Mr. Brickrock bidding the audience a fond “Good ev-e-ning.” ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Hitchcock was a unique personality, being equal parts artist, craftsman, impresario, and businessman. In 1940, long before his anthology TV show of suspenseful stories began in 1955, Hitchcock directed a radio adaptation of his British film ‘The Lodger,’ which is available for your listening pleasure on the audio player.
[audio:http://www.dograt.com/Audio/OCT07/TheLodger.mp3]Showcased on a program called ‘Forecast,’ Hitchcock was helping audition what would later become the premier radio anthology series of suspenseful stories. It was called, aptly, ‘Suspense’, and it ran for 20 years, ending in 1962 as one of the very last radio drama programs.
When I was a boy I loved my Aiwa TP-32A reel tape recorder, but the single most satisfying piece of electronic equipment I’ve ever owned is a GE Superadio III. I bought it for $40 in November, 1994, and today it gets regular use sitting in the window next to my computer.
HD Radio and Wi-Fi Radio are coming along, and there’s satellite radio of course, but plain, old AM/FM radio remains convenient and reliable. And the Superadio III, having analog tuning, is about as plain as it gets. What sets it apart is its exceptionally good, albeit mono, sound quality.
Recently, the company that makes the Superadio III, Thomson of France, changed the brand name from GE to RCA. Or maybe it’s being made by another outfit. Whatever. The product seems to be pretty much the same as it’s been for nearly 15 years. It remains the absolute cheapest self-contained hi-fi audio system that I know of.
Click here for a review of the Popeye DVD set — that I previously featured here and here — on the NPR show Fresh Air with Terry Gross.
MoCA is the Multimedia over Coax Alliance, which is technology that Verizon FiOS TV uses. But MoCA is also the Museum of Contemporary Art in North Adams, MA. Carol got us out there for an overnight trip a couple of years ago. We stayed at a fun and unique place, Porches Inn, which isn’t cheap, but it sure beats the Holiday Inn.
WBUR, Boston University Radio, ran a story this morning about a cancelled exhibition at the MoCA. The artist should feel lucky he was given space to exhibit, and walking away from his piece, then suing the museum, makes him seem loopy even by artist standards.
Last week Boston talk radio host Paul Sullivan gave up cancer treatment to go into hospice. It wasn’t a long stay. Paul died Sunday.
Paul Sullivan lived in Tewksbury, Massachusetts, where his family has been prominent for generations. I lived in Tewksbury for ten years, on Sullivan Parkway. I assume there’s a connection, but I don’t know for certain.
