A silent video with Milton Caniff at age 50. Some of his reference materials are shown, including small models and fashion photos of women. As you can see, Caniff’s preferred inking tool was a brush, as is mine, and he was lefty, as is yours truly.
Apple Peels the Peanuts Shell
Not being an Apple TV subscriber, this is a Peanuts documentary I won’t be able to watch, at least not for a while.
Buddy Battles the Suit
WFMU’s Beware of the Blog is no longer being updated, but thankfully its uniquely informative and entertaining content is still online. On this page is the story behind Buddy Holly doing an end run around Paul Cohen, the a-hole who ran Decca Records at the time.
Holly called Cohen with a request, and Buddy was told he’s screwed. Then Cohen immediately turned around and asked Buddy for his trust! Listen for yourself, as recorded by Buddy, and you can imagine what his thoughts were. Holly’s lack of respect for Cohen, by calling him Paul, is a good indicator.
Jetsong
Drew Carey played this yesterday on his Friday Night Freak-Out.
The Jetsons looks super-duper on my cheap-o video projector setup in the living room. Here’s a clip with a classic example of “Cartoon Physics.”
Prattling Repost: The Other Computer War
Something I posted four years ago that’s worth repeating, now that the video of the movie has been replaced with a fresh HD copy. A part of Acorn Computer became ARM, the leading designer of processors for mobile computing:
At the same time the competition between Microsoft and Apple was beginning, in England there was the computer rivalry between Sinclair and Acorn. I think somewhere in the basement I still have my tiny Sinclair Z80 computer, which was distributed in America by Timex. This 2009 movie, featuring Martin Freeman, is a lot of fun and well worth watching.
Bridging the Generation Gap
1967! The year that my favorite musical genre — Psychedelia — came into its own. Youth culture was taking over! The Doors, Jefferson Airplane, and Jimi Hendrix joined the Beatles and the Stones on the Pop charts. But there was still plenty of music for adult contemporary audiences.
On ABC-TV that year was a remarkable special. The show was a tribute to the songs of Rodgers and Hart, when Hart had been dead for almost 25 years. It featured a one-of-a-kind lineup of performers:
- Bobby Darin
- Petula Clark
- The Mamas and the Papas
- The Supremes
- Count Basie
- The Doodletown Pipers
Petula, The Mamas and the Papas, and The Supremes had hits in ’67 that kids liked, but they were also acceptable to a middle-aged audience. The Doodletown Pipers were a group of TV singers in the 60’s.
Petula’s duets with Darin are very nice. Bobby was obviously very happy to be singing with Count Basie.
Note: Embedding isn’t allowed for the first video, so you’ll have to watch it on YouTube. Don’t know why the same requirement wasn’t made for the second.
Part 1
Part 2