My friend Sam recently purchased a 50-inch Panasonic plasma HDTV for $2500. There were rebates and side deals for installation, but the bottom line is, that’s how much he spent.
And that got me thinking. Is that a lot of money for a TV set? Well, sure it is, but how does it compare to the first color TV my family owned? My father bought an RCA color console in 1967. The first program I ever watched on it? Don’t ask! OK, I’ll tell you. It was My Mother the Car.
Dad says to the best of his recollection the set cost $450. Running that amount through a few online inflation calculators, in today’s dollars that comes out to $2714. So it would seem that Sam’s purchase isn’t all that extravagant.
A while ago (click here), I briefly described my reaction to Gunther von Hagens’ Bodyworlds 2 exhibit at the Museum of Science in Boston. For me it was, pardon the expression, overkill; but apparently it’s been a very successful show for the MOS.
Tonight, WBZ radio talk show host (and brain tumor survivor) Paul Sullivan had a representative from the MOS pitching Bodyworlds 2, presumably for the upcoming Christmas vacation week. Rather than comment further, if you have any interest the audio player has 20 minutes of the show.
Previously I offered studio take 6 of the Beatles’ “I Feel Fine.” The audio player has takes 1 through 5 of “HELP!” The vocals weren’t introduced until take 9.
John considered this song to be a personal breakthrough, because it was a sincere cry for help. For all of the Beatles trivia I’ve picked up over the years, I’ve never seen confirmation of my suspicion that the song title HELP! was inspired by a magazine cover, as discussed here.
I’d like to offer a scan of the picture sleeve to the original single, as well as the single itself, but it’s in the possession of Mr. Dennis F. Rogers; so, instead, you can watch the Beatles performing the song on TV. This is from the last Ed Sullivan show ever broadcast in black and white. It’s fitting, I suppose, as this is, I imagine, the very last appearance of the Beatles in their Fab Four incarnation. “Rubber Soul” was released in December, and it was obvious to everybody that the times, they were a changin’.
One other piece of trivia I can pass along is that the man sitting at the control console on Tuesday, April 13, 1965, engineering the recording of HELP! was Norman Smith. He later had a hit single of his own, on the charts in late 1972. Some may consider it silly fluff, but I’ve always loved this song. Perhaps you remember it?
Got your software synthesizer enabled? Great! Click here for a MIDI version of Winter Wonderland. I’m sure snow is on its way here in the east, but it’s taking its time this year.
Who’s willing to claim they like Thomas “Painter of Light” Kinkaide paintings? Anyone? How about Hummel figures?
