Another Definition of Insanity

In an effort to trim back on the number of my YouTube subscriptions, I succeed only in finding more channels of interest. AudioPhil (get the joke?) has a $10,000 amplifier, a $4000 turntable, and a $1000 phono cartridge.

Phil is using two platter mats, a tweak of debatable value as all audio tweaks are. Note that even a deluxe specialty pressing like that one is a bit off-center. And now for reference, the official digital copy of “Light My Fire.”

They sound surprisingly close to me, probably due in part to the use of a digital master for the record. A compulsion to make this sort of “angels on the head of a pin” comparison is proof that audio guys are a certain sort of crazy. My hearing is still just good enough to enjoy playing this game, but I know it can’t last.

(Time passes)

Must… play… more! Here’s a sample I can really appreciate. Who’s Next was the album that motivated me to spend $200 of very hard-earned money from my restaurant job in high school to buy my first stereo system. That $200 is equivalent to $1300 today. It bought a Pioneer SX-440 receiver, Garrard 40B turntable with Pickering XV cartridge, and Realistic MC-1000 speakers. Later I bought Pioneer SE-20A headphones for $20.

This capture is from an original 1971 pressing. The sound is tops, with a surface that’s quiet enough to hear the master tape hiss at the opening. The only problem is Roger Daltry’s shriek at the end breaking up. Put on decent headphones to hear why turntables and vinyl records persist.

Listen carefully for the guitar strumming that almost sounds like an unplugged electric guitar, more than an acoustic guitar. I wasn’t hearing that on my SE-20A headphones when playing the record as a 16-year-old with superb hearing. But I was hearing it when WBCN-FM played “Won’t Get Fooled Again.”

Was the phono cartridge the problem? Yes, as buying a Shure M91ED cartridge for $20 proved. But the high-compliance Shure needed anti-skating to keep the stylus centered, and that was a feature the inexpensive Garrard turntable lacked. And so the madness took hold of me, as it does everyone seeking the perfection that doesn’t exist. The very fact that I remember all of this is proof of my condition!

Mars War!

I’m very impressed with Criterion’s Blu-ray presentation of Paramount’s 2018 restoration of The War of the Worlds, from 1953. The print was created digitally, for perfect alignment of the scans made from the original 3-strip Technicolor negatives.

Paramount’s goal was to recreate the Technicolor experience as much as possible, and I can confirm they succeeded. This Blu-ray really comes alive with a good video projector.

A fascinating and entertaining alternate take on the H.G. Wells classic is the fantasy docudrama, The Great Martian War 1913–1917.

Aww, who needs to worry about a Martian invasion anyway, when we have the pandemic? Or… has it been their plan all along, to weaken us with a virus they’re immune to, avoiding the fate of the Martians at the end of Wells’ book??

‘Mars Attacks’ with original art by Wally Wood and Norman Saunders

Pieces of Me

No, this isn’t a selfie in the manner of Anthony Weiner and Jeffrey Toobin! That’s my chest hair in the photo. Some of it was shaved before having a cyst removed. Like an iceberg, it was much bigger under the surface. The size of a grape, the dermatologist said. Too much information for an otherwise pleasant Saturday?

Let’s Rap About Cap and Crap

Ever since arranging the estate sale at my late parents’ house in Arizona three years ago, I’ve been mulling over the problem of having all of the stuff I’ve accumulated over these many years. When the late publisher and comic art dealer Russ Cochran announced he was selling most of his massive collection, I couldn’t imagine why he would want to do that. But I was much younger then, and now I can imagine all too well. Cochran was getting old, he was planning ahead, and he needed to downsize.

Jerry Beck, the noted animation historian and archivist, moved recently. Beck has announced on Facebook that he is holding a garage sale to clear a storage space of “lots of magazines, toys, plush figures, books, DVDs, VHS tapes, stuff.” Jerry is my age, and I have the same inclination. Yard sale? Craigslist? eBay? I suppose all three will be useful.

While I contemplate divesting myself of possessions, I am of course continuing to accumulate. The “Get Back” Beatles book to accompany Peter Jackson’s documentary is on pre-order. As is Andrew Sandoval’s revised, expanded and definitive Monkees day-by-day book. No date has been announced yet for the long-delayed second volume of IDW’s Artist’s Edition of Jim Steranko’s 1960’s work at Marvel.

The original art for the center spread from Captain America #113 is coming up on Heritage Auctions. The first two Cap issues that Steranko drew, #110 and #111, were inked by my pal, the great Joe Sinnott. The whereabouts of the original art for the center spread to one of those issues was the subject of some controversy. The art had been promised to Joe, but he never saw it again. Joe had only the original production stat for the art. Someone said they saw the original art hanging in the home of a well-known comic book person, but when asked about it later, that person reportedly denied ever having the art. I assume the art was eventually located and scanned for inclusion in the Artist’s Edition volume, but some of the pages in the first volume were taken from stats.

When Steranko couldn’t meet the deadline for issue #112, there was a Kirby fill-in. Jim returned for his trilogy’s big finish in issue #113, which was inked by Tom Palmer. Steranko has always said that he, rather than Palmer, inked the two center pages. This scan confirms it, although the use of Zip-a-Tone was a Palmer trademark.