A Turner Original

As I prepare yet again to return once more to Phoenix to do Trustee work, I have TCM’s streaming video app running on an Amazon Fire TV stick. After an extended rough start, with annoyingly choppy playback, TCM has the technology figured out, and its streaming service works great. It’s now in HD, so it doesn’t matter that the station is in SD on my Verizon FiOS TV service. What matters is I have the channel in my cable package, and that gives me access to the streaming service.

Almost two years ago this was my plan for TV watching in retirement on the porch, when I returned one of my two cable boxes and replaced it with an over-the-air TiVo DVR. It’s finally all working as it should, and as of this month the TiVo DVR has paid for itself.

This weekend I watched two MGM favorites from the 50’s — “Forbidden Planet” and “North by Northwest” — and they played perfectly. Not having a Blu-ray copy of either movie, I was knocked out by the picture quality on Watch TCM. “High Society” is playing right now, but I’d better turner it off, as Grace Kelly has always been very distracting to me, and I have a lot to do on this 4th of July!

Facelift

I recently saw a shorter version of this video played as a commercial at the AMC Surprise Pointe 14 theater in Arizona. It’s the sort of public relations message that a corporation produces as damage control when it sees the potential for serious, perhaps permanent, harm to the company.

My first thought was that a lot of what’s said in the video borders on being patronizing, in particular the Data Science Manager’s chart of The World of False News. But then I decided that these people, who are undoubtedly extremely well paid, are sincerely struggling to figure out what they’re doing.

The catch is that in any company everything comes down from the top, and I do not believe that Mark Zuckerberg has a sincere interest in cleaning up his mess. The only thing that will scare him straight is a mass exodus of users.

Today it’s being reported that Facebook’s secret sharing of user data goes much further than previously revealed. Like the Haight-Ashbury Hippie Movement in San Francisco that started out optimistically with the Human Be-In, only to crash and burn during the strung-out Summer of Love, Facebook has turned into a bad trip.

The Guy on CBS

Other than Stephen Colbert’s rather weak impression of Donald, the former Comedy Central Report-er has hit his stride as one of the most effective Trump counter-punchers. The impossible President’s claim that Colbert has no talent isn’t funny, because it’s laughable, as this segment from last night’s monologue proves.

Colbert was a big booster of “Breaking Bad” from the start of the series, hence the “Say My Name” name.

The Disc Jockey’s Disc Jockey

Dan Ingram, the greatest radio disc jockey of all time, has died. For anyone who loved Top 40 radio the way I did, the word “legendary” is inadequate to describe Big Dan’s career in the business. Getting home from school in Connecticut in the Sixties, I always looked forward to turning on the radio and hearing Ingram on Musicradio 77WABC in New York.

Dan Ingram, 1934-2018

Los Angeles had its big name jocks, but all of them aspired to working in television. Many succeeded, mostly hosting game shows, but in New York Ingram was all about radio. With his pitch-perfect voice and snappy patter, Dan was the master of medium.

This video has a classic Dan Ingram aircheck from 52 years ago today, in the summer of ’66, a time that was one of the happiest of my life.

https://youtu.be/j4bZnbfj5OY

Top 40 radio was over and done as the dominant format by the time I was working on-air at an AM station. Sometimes I can’t believe I actually did it, but I did, and it came easily to me, thanks to the inspiration of Dan Ingram and Bruce Morrow on WABC. Thankfully, Ingram’s old buddy and colleague Cousin Brucie is still here to entertain us on Sirius/XM radio.

P.S. This is a message I sent to my sisters:

Today’s extremely sad news is the passing of legendary DJ Dan Ingram, one of the big inspirations for me getting into the business. I still have dreams about sitting behind the mic and “working the board,” which was something Big Dan and Cousin Brucie didn’t have to do, because WABC had engineers taking care of that for them.

All of the songs played on WABC were on tape cartridges, by the way. They were transferred from 45’s immediately upon receipt, so the records wouldn’t develop “cue burn,” a phenomenon that I knew well myself from “slip cueing” records on the turntables at the station.

Here is an air check with Dan that, towards the end, features Ian Whitcomb’s big hit. Which reminds me, I need to do some audio editing of Ian wishing Liz well between songs a few months ago. I’m a sponsor of his online radio show.

P.P.S. Mark Evanier’s friend Ken Levine has an interesting Southern Californian take on Ingram at this link.

The Check’s In The Mail

I have been told by the Kia dealership in Peoria, Arizona that a check for $10,700 was mailed last Wednesday, and to call them if I haven’t received it by this Wednesday. I’ll do more than that. I’ll call my lawyer in Sun City West.

When you’re buying a car they won’t let you out the door until the money has been settled. But if they’re buying your car they make you leave the sales office not only without your car, but without your money. Funny how that works.

As I continue to wait for the money — payable not to me, but to the family trust — my late father’s car is, of course, available for sale at the dealership. They’ll make a hefty profit, assuming it sells for the asking price of $15,000. Look at that low, low mileage!