Prattling Before the Pratfall

At this moment, news outlets must be poring over the redacted affidavit that justified the search warrant for the FBI’s raid on Trump’s Florida home. What’s really strange is this is all about physical printed paper in cardboard boxes. I assume/hope the original digital Top Secret files the documents were printed from remain secure.

Lights! Camera! Magic!

Having watched part 2 of Light & Magic on Disney+…

… I could be completely happy seeing only the first two installments…

… because as familiar as I was with the story behind the making of Star Wars…

… this documentary really brings back the delighted amazement I felt…

… of seeing it in a movie theater in 1977.

Ralph McQuarrie’s paintings were, for George Lucas, what the Decca audition tape was for the Beatles — the thing that sold the Big Thing. Speaking of the Beatles, Light & Magic makes for quite a contrast with the other big multi-part documentary that’s on Disney+, Get Back. One shows the struggles at the beginning…

… and the other shows the struggles at the end.

Get Ready Feddy

Fed chairman Jerome Powell will be speaking tomorrow.

I continue to read through former Fed chairman Ben Bernanke’s well-written book.

Three years before Bernanke was born, Encyclopedia Britannica explained the Federal Reserve Banking system, as it existed at that time. Bernanke’s book explains the changes that came later.

Superman of Miami

Every so often I like to watch all seventeen of the remarkable Fleischer/Famous Superman cartoons from 1941-1943. Considering the Fleischer studio was originally based in New York, it’s somewhat ironic that all the animation showing Superman leaping, and then flying, around Metropolis was produced in Florida.

The official DC release is the only DVD set currently available that’s worth getting.

https://www.amazon.com/Superman-Fleischer-Clayton-Bud-Collyer/dp/B001OD8E4G/

I’ll include a few screen shots from the DC set, along with the first two cartoons from the DVD. They were upscaled and cleaned up by somebody using an AI video process.