Petula Catch-Up

Let’s get caught up a bit with some of Petula Clark’s doings.

  • Petula’s interviews on radio and TV tend to be diplomatic about personal matters, but in print she can be quite frank and open about herself. What she reveals at this link is one such example.
  • Coming up on September 13 on PBS is “The 60’s Live!” Petula’s appearance can’t be truly live, as she will be performing in Manila that day.
  • On September 22 Pet will be back in New York, for the delayed appearance with Harry Belafonte at the Paley Center at the Museum of Television and Radio. Click here for more background about that.

For complete up-to-date information, check the American site PetulaClark.net, and in the UK, the Petula Blog.

The Beatles Shout!

Back in ’81 a biography of The Beatles by Phillip Norman, called Shout!, was released. If I ever knew why it was given that title, I’ve long since forgotten.

“Shout!” is also the name of a song by the Isley Brothers that the Beatles performed once on the English TV show Ready, Steady, Go!. With all of the Beatles-related sites, and the many videos posted on YouTube, I’m surprised that I can’t find a good transfer of that appearance. So I’ll provide one here, taken from an 8-inch Laserdisc.

[flv:http://www.dograt.com/Video/2008/AUG/BeatlesShout.flv 448 336]

Another Beatles bit of information is that they had some of the first Philips-Norelco Compact Cassette decks in England. Fifteen years later, John Lennon was holding cassettes when he was shot.

Maytag Doesn’t Suck After All

It’s always something. Our washing machine has suddenly started to leak. I was hoping it was one of the hoses, but when I popped open the back I could see it’s leaking where the transmission couples with the tub. It’s only seven years old. So much for Maytag reliability! But at least it picked a good time to die. This weekend there’s no sales tax in Massachusetts. See you at Sears.

And oh, by the way, we still don’t have our replacement Bose Wave. It’s in transit from Arizona, and according to the UPS tracking number will be here mid-week.

2023 Update: The replacement Bose Wave is still working well, as are the Maytag washer and dryer that were purchased when this blog post was written.

Music & Politics In Western Massachusetts

Last Sunday we were at Tanglewood, in Lenox, MA, where the Boston Symphony Orchestra plays every summer. It was an all Mozart program, and well attended, although the age of the audience skewed decidedly 40 and up.

While waiting in the “wine line” during intermission, I happened to stand next to political consultant and former presidential adviser David Gergen. I overheard him discussing — what else? — politics.

Peanuts Rocks The Vote

I took some time off from blogging. Let’s pick up where we left off, with Peanuts and politics. The Charles M. Schulz Museum has an exhibit called Political Peanuts, running through December 1. And Peanuts Rocks The Vote this year with a nicely designed Flash animation page.

Happy birthday to Amy Schulz Johnson, back on August 5. And speaking of the Schulz family, in this photo there’s an extra swimmer in the pool with the Schulz kids. Who is that?

The Schulz family on Coffee Lane, Sebastopol, CA