Jul 12th 2012 08:18 am The future is now
The above comic strip is from the watershed year of 1994. That’s the year I stopped physically shipping all my original artwork via FedEx to the United Media office in New York City. In New York, the artwork would have been sent to the in-house print shop, where through the familiar offset process it would be reproduced on paper and mailed to client newspapers. That all changed for me in 1994, when I began scanning my own work and sending it to the syndicate as a digital file. I wasn’t the first to convert, but I was in the first wave. Like vinyl LPs, the quality of the old process was ulimately superior, but the new one is much cheaper. That’s progress.
Posted by jimmyjohnson / Vintage A&J
142 Responses to “The future is now”
MWL on 12 Jul 2012 at 8:48 am #
When a situation is unclear, look for a financial interest.
JJ, progress means more folks get to enjoy your work! If it were not for the digital format I would have never seen Arlo & Janis!
Galliglo in Ohio on 12 Jul 2012 at 8:49 am #
Ah, changes… My ex’s first job in the newspaper business was as photographer at a small newspaper in eastern Ohio in 1965. In addition to taking photos, he had to prepare them for printing. He developed the film and then, using the negatives, made the plates by using a photoengraving machine.
I loved to visit the newspaper. Watching the photoengraving process, the linotype machines, the clanging of the presses, and – yes – the smell of the ink… it all was such a heady experience for a young bride.
Haven’t thought of those things for years… good years, good memories…
David in La Grange on 12 Jul 2012 at 8:53 am #
I love today’s A&J. Janis snores, Arlo flails. It reminds me of the scene in Good Will Hunting.
Sean: You’re not perfect, sport, and let me save you the suspense: this girl you’ve met, she’s not perfect either. But the question is whether or not you’re perfect for each other.
bruce on 12 Jul 2012 at 9:12 am #
What is the insistence on vinyl being superior? Drag a diamond across that vinyl a dozen times, and I’ll gladly trade it for an MP3 file.
Debbie in Alabama on 12 Jul 2012 at 9:17 am #
I worked on the high school newspaper staff back in the day. We went to the local newspaper office (not where your house was Jimmy but back when it was near the railroad tracks in downtown WP) All I remember is we typed up the information, ran the paper through some sort of machine that put wax on both sides and then arranged the articles on a page. What happened next, I’m not sure. Is that called a mockup?
Dave in MA on 12 Jul 2012 at 9:23 am #
bruce,
I prefer digital myself, but an MP3? Those hurt my ears! The high end distortion (sounds like metalic sparklies to me) is painful to listen to on anything other than computer speakers which are designed to not reproduce the frequency range where that distortion appears.
However, a dozen times, with properly setup and adjusted equipment should show no measurable degradation in the vinyl.
My preference for digital comes from working in studios with master tapes enough over the years to realize that what I hear on the CD resolution or higher resolution digital files is almost identical to what I hear on the master tapes being played back on the same signal chain through the same monitors. When compared to the vinyl, the differences are much more noticable to my ears. So yes, to me, properly done digital out performs properly done vinyl any day.
However, I’ll still draw the line on MP3s, even at 320K.
But that makes me wonder about something.
Growing up with analog TV, I got used to occasional snow in the picture. It doesn’t bother me.
Growing up with analog radio, I got used to occasional static in the audio. It doesn’t bother me.
With digital TV, the occasional artifacting causing blocks or noticable compression noise in darker parts of images bothers the heck out of me.
With digital audio, the high end distortion of MP3s bothers the heck out of me.
For my kids, those problems with digital TV and digital audio is normal and it doesn’t bother them one bit. Let them hear a little static on the car radio and it bugs the heck out of them. Let them see a little snow in an old VHS recording of off the air TV and it bugs the heck out of them.
I guess it’s all a matter of what noises/disturbances/interferences we’re accustomed to and which ones bother us.
I have a friend who enjoys listening to analog records and tapes more than to digital, and one of his pet peeves is that CDs taken from old analog recordings have too much hiss or are missing too much high end (to hide that hiss presumably) than his records do. I maintain that the hiss is in the original recordings and after 50+ years of mastering for analog records the record companies had gotten good at masking that hiss while letting high end through and that they haven’t yet mastered (pardon the pun) that aspect of mastering for digital yet after only 20+ years (almost 30 now) for CD because most people just presume it’s because of old recordings and don’t know it can sound better.
My 2 cents.
David in Austin on 12 Jul 2012 at 9:40 am #
Little did Arlo know back in December of 1994 that he would eventually be the owner of a sailing boat! Adventure, here we come. We can’t normally anticipate our futures, but (despite the problems that develop) I’ve found my future has been pretty darn good.
In 1994, I was fresh out of the military, working in a computer & network support job in a manufacturing corporation. I would have never guessed that my salary would almost triple before I was disabled, that I would own a home on a small acreage, that I would share ownership of a lake-front cabin, and that I would have two happily-married daughters and be approaching a 30-year anniversary of my own happy marriage.
Arlo and I have both done pretty well!
Mindy on 12 Jul 2012 at 9:54 am #
We share memories, Debbie in Alabama. I also remember spilling a very very super huge big tray of moveable type on the floor…and spending what seemed like the rest of the year on hands and knees retrieving the little boogers. Still treasure the memories, though…
John, Ghost, sandcastler, not a word about the hands & knees comment, you hear me?
Steve from Royal Oak, Mi on 12 Jul 2012 at 10:22 am #
There are a few things that I can discern, the difference between a clean vinyl & digital is probably one of them. Working in the automotive business, there are a lot of engineers that can really tell the difference in the way that a car handles & sounds. Just yesterday I drove to Southern Ohio in a rental car and the Engineers wanted to know how well the car handled/sounded. My response: “Well it got me here.”
That is not to say that I am totally oblivious, but I acclimate quickly to thw vehicles that I drive & unless it really stinks, I usually do not notice.
John in Virginia on 12 Jul 2012 at 10:46 am #
Mindy, I went to [a national hardware chain store] and got two pairs of knee pads for the ones you wore out last month…oops!
Sorry, I didn’t see the last sentence and I’m hitting ENTER by mistake so I can’t recall my comment. Forgive me?
bruce on 12 Jul 2012 at 10:55 am #
Dave, interesting response, thanks. Actually, most of my music is m4a lossless, and when I go back and forth between those new files and the old vinyl and reel-to-reel I’ve ripped, I prefer the digital. It sounds clean, and I actually threw away my Phase Linear Autocorrelator when I gave up vinyl. I’ll disagree a bit about the degradation of vinyl, my care and cleaners and turntable and any number of cartridges along with careful tracking adjustments helped, but the ticks and pops and wow and flutter were still there.
phil in Missoula, MT on 12 Jul 2012 at 11:06 am #
On the topic of vinyl, I got this link today on the worst album covers of all time:
http://freepennypress.wordpress.com/2012/07/12/worst-album-covers-or-the-death-of-vinyl/#comment-2532
Mindy on 12 Jul 2012 at 11:50 am #
No.
Dennis Ewing on 12 Jul 2012 at 11:55 am #
As my 37+ year career in the printing industry is coming to an end i look at all the changes I’ve seen. From the argument that “photo type will never replace hot lead for quality printing” to “this laser printer thing will never replace photo type for quality printing”. We almost never ran process color at the newspaper when I was an apprentice, now papers print it daily. From the computer being this big thing in the back room to a small laptop. I’m going to miss being a printer.
Dennis Ewing on 12 Jul 2012 at 11:56 am #
Oh and vinyl still sounds a lot better than any MP3 I’ve ever heard.
Dave in MA on 12 Jul 2012 at 12:00 pm #
bruce,
You can remove the rumble with a subsonic filter, or by lowering the bass frequencies on an EQ. You can remove hiss the same way the autocorrelator did by lowering the high frequencies on an EQ. The dynamic range adjustments it made, despite their marketing blurbs, was noticable to my ear and definitely pumped more than I wanted to hear.
I’ve got vinyl that still sounds great after 40 years when cleaned with a nitty gritty record cleaner and played with a properly adjusted tonearm and cartridge and a quality stylus.
As to the digital vs your personally ripped discs and reels, that, I guess, depends on the quality of your playback equipment during the “rip” process (it’s more of a capture than a rip. The CD to digital file is a rip) and also the quality of your sound card that you’re using to capture the sound. Most sound cards in computers are incredibly noisy, AND also have heavy compression on the input so that your dynamic range is limited very severely. That doesn’t lend itself to good digital copies of the analog source.
How are you creating your M4A lossless files? I had tried using iTunes with the Apple Lossless Codec and the results are definitely NOT lossless unfortunately. I took a modern digital recording made with a low noise recording chain of a solo nylon string guitar, closely mic’d, playing a classical piece and listened to it carefully. When played back from the CD it sounded enjoyable. When played back through the same exact playback chain, but from the iTunes lossless file, there was a distortion on some of the fingers on the back of the guitar neck noises that really surprised me. How can “lossless” lose something? So much for iTunes for me.
Rock LPs pressed in the U.S. from about 1975 onward were generally done on very poor vinyl. They had lots of ticks and pops to start with, and the noise wasn’t limited to surface noise but actually included defective pressings as well. Mercury and Polydor (think Bob and Doug McKenzie or any of the Rush albums) were the worst with loud clicks and even beeps in their pressings. RCA was a close second with lots of non-surface noise types of noises. MCA had a ton of hiss. Capitol had the high end squashed and the midrange way too prominent. Warner Brothers was fairly good until about 1972/1973. Elektra/Asylum had a decent midrange but a squashed high end. Reprise had the best sound for rock and folk records in the 70s up until about 1976. From then on, despite having a “reprise label” on some of the reissues, they were technically on the Warner Brothers label and the quality suffered.
If you want to get into Jazz or Classical, or non-US pressings of rock and folk, the vinyl holds up remarkably wonderfully.
I still listen to vinyl. I also convert albums to digital with a high end ADC and a high sample rate and large bit-depth. However, for sounding like the original master tapes, nothing comes close to a direct digital capture off the masters themselves.
Dave
sideburns on 12 Jul 2012 at 12:21 pm #
My sister and I still have our parent’s collection, most of it pre-vinyl. Haven’t listened to it in years, because it’s so fragile by now, but we’ve still got it. One of these days, we’re going to have to have it transferred to digital.
Robin in Fl on 12 Jul 2012 at 12:24 pm #
bruce and Dave
You’re making my head hurt with all the techno talk. I prefer most digital (although some is badly done). I do NOT understand those of my generation (pre-digital) who insist vinyl sounds “warmer.” I’ve never heard a band or performer whose live music had clicks and pops and hisses.
But perhaps I’ve never heard ‘good” vinyl if the quality started dropping after 1975, because anything I heard that was pre-75 would have been my parents’ collection that would have been scratched up by kids (my siblings, of course!)
sandcastler on 12 Jul 2012 at 12:50 pm #
Crawl on baby, crawl on.
Guess my tinears are a blessing, all music types sound the same to me.
bruce on 12 Jul 2012 at 1:12 pm #
I found that once I was exposed to the faults in the sound, my ears just gravitated to those. Like a typographical error on a menu.
Dave, you are way past me, I use the lossless files from iTunes and prefs when I rip from a CD. I had no idea about the sound card on my computer, my process to do all my vinyl and tape took a couple of years so I used the older desktop and that may have been the reason those sound the way they do.
I’m just a moderate hobbiest, but it’s interesting to know your test with the guitar fingering — that’s one of my techniques as well, just stumbled into it. Thanks for all the great info here.
Dave in MA on 12 Jul 2012 at 1:45 pm #
bruce, I understand the “couple of years” part.
I started with the ones I listen to most that weren’t available on CD, or where the CD used different versions.
As for your ears gravitating to the faults in the sound, definitely understand that too. Once you know where a problem is, it’s natural to notice it. Just like learning a new word and then hearing it everywhere. It’s not that it wasn’t being used before you learned it, but that you didn’t notice it because you didn’t know what it meant.
I find nylon string guitar and cello are the best instruments to look for distortions in digital with because they have such interesting nuances in the sound that it’s often easier to notice problems. At least to my ears.
Likewise flutes and violins are good for finding problems problems with wow and flutter.
To tie this all back to the location of this discussion, I wonder what it would be like to try to listen to vinyl out on the boat…..
Bob, near Mark on 12 Jul 2012 at 1:53 pm #
Denis Ewing,
I used to have a customer who was in the printing buisiness as an on-the-road salesman for “David M”, the blanket supply company. He was surprised that I knew what “furniture” was.
CW in 617 on 12 Jul 2012 at 1:55 pm #
Years ago, on the cusp between “hot lead” and digital, a bunch of us amateurs thought we had enough talent to put out an issue of a local eight-pager that ran twice a year. Our expertize consisted of academic types with experience in poetry, poly sci, physics and photography (we figured that one initial from the alphabet was enough).
The text was done on Aldus Pagemaker, on Macs, and one of us even had to transcribe the poet’s contributions.
We did have to do the post-up ourselves, and physically take it to the printers, and this involved sizing the photos. Our photograhper had a “sizing wheel” (probably some other term is used), and the physicist remarked that this worked exactly like a slide rule. I was not believed.
Jenny in the PNW on 12 Jul 2012 at 3:54 pm #
I really liked today’s strip, but what struck me the most about it is that Arlo doesn’t have a wedding ring on. Perhaps he’s never worn a ring – perhaps he’s one of those guys who just doesn’t like jewelry – but if so, I never noticed it before. Has this been discussed before?
And now that I’m thinking about it: does Janis wear a ring? If not, why not? (I’m not judging, just wondering
)
Michael in Pleasanton, CA on 12 Jul 2012 at 4:34 pm #
I just have to ask… when shipping cartoons off to the syndicate, did FedEx ever lose a package? The law of averages says it had to happen once in awhile. What did you do then?
Michael in Pleasanton, CA on 12 Jul 2012 at 4:36 pm #
Dave in MA,
I’m not at all sure what would happen if you tried listening to vinyl out on a boat (tick-tick) nyl out on a boat (tick-tick) nyl out on a boat (tick-tick) nyl out on a boat (tick-tick) nyl out on a boat (tick-tick) nyl out on a boat (tick-tick)…
John in Virginia on 12 Jul 2012 at 5:07 pm #
Please?
Ghost Rider 6 on 12 Jul 2012 at 5:45 pm #
Beg, John, beg!
Mindy, I, on the other hand, will honor your ban on comment regarding a certain topic, grokking as I do that it is a matter of some sensitivity to you. Also, this makes two times you’ve invoked that same prohibition lately.
Charlotte in NH on 12 Jul 2012 at 5:59 pm #
I don’t think cartoon and comic strip characters wear rings — it would just be way too complicated for the artist.
John in Virginia on 12 Jul 2012 at 6:10 pm #
Obviously, I wear the knee pads in this family!
John in Virginia on 12 Jul 2012 at 6:15 pm #
And, Jenny in the PNW, I have not worn a wedding ring since the calendar day the honeymoon ended [I say "calendar day" since, truth be known, we're still on our honeymoon!] and I returned to work. I had a little altercation with a guy who ran and I had to chase him. Caught my ring on a chain link fence and nearly tore my finger off. After that, no rings. No wedding ring, no class ring, nada. I also learned that a ring can be a hazard working honey-do jobs [which I do gladly for my dear, lovely, forgiving bride] around the house. Doesn’t mean a lack of commitment or caring.
Puh-leeeeeeeeeze?
Jenny in the PNW on 12 Jul 2012 at 7:39 pm #
Just to be crystal-clear: I get it that some people (not just the guys, either) don’t wear rings, for a variety of reasons, and I’m not implying a lack of commitment on anyone’s part. It’s just something I’m curious about, and I wonder whether it’s ever been explained in the case of Arlo (and Janis, too, for all I know). Maybe they take their rings off at night and soak them with their dentures.
Mindy on 12 Jul 2012 at 8:38 pm #
Jenny in the PNW, not being much of an artist myself, I have to wonder if it’s simply a matter of drawing a wedding band to look like a ring rather than a blemish might be such a pain…I try to picture all the cartoons I’ve ever seen, starting with Alley Oop and working up, and I honestly can’t remember any that showed rings, not unless they were the super dooper detailed brands.
But I have ask…and I’m joking rather than being mean…do you soak your rings “with” dentures? I had to giggle at the image of rings right in there with the dentures and scrubbing bubbles. On the other hand, I’m being serious since I have to wonder if that might be a valid way to actually clean rings? I have found that denture cleaning tablets work in taking the yellow stains out of old toilets….I learned that renovating an old house, not by not cleaning until the stain built up to epic proportions!
Ghost? Has John begged enough? No, strike that. Ladies! Has John begged enough? Ghost will undoubtedly side with his chromosomal twin. Women are much more rational and analytical in their reasoning, no?
Mindy from Indy on 12 Jul 2012 at 9:15 pm #
Michael in Pleasanton, CA, Bwhahahaha! It took me a second, but then I got it. You are very likely correct.
Mindy, it all depends in how cute you find him when he begs and how much bamboo still needs killing.
As for music quality, for me it is a moot point because I rarely listen to music outside of my vehicles … and I’ve blown most of my speakers. I love music, but am incredibly prone to getting songs stuck in my head – just give me the version of the song I’m hearing with as little static as possible and I’ll forgive a lot.
phil in Missoula, MT on 12 Jul 2012 at 9:50 pm #
John’s tory reminded me of another story about the fellow who took his wedding ring off, which upset his bride.
She: “Why aren’t you wearing the ring I got you?”
He: “It cuts off my circulation”
She: “That’s what it was intended to do…”
phil in Missoula, MT on 12 Jul 2012 at 9:55 pm #
As Jerry in Fl watches earthquakes, I watch solar flares and coronal mass ejections (CME)and there was a pretty big one today. It is headed toward Earth and the projected arrival is 7/14. Could mean visible auroras in latitudes farther south than normal. You might find a dark place to watch the sky Sunday night if you’re in the northern states
Mark in Boston on 12 Jul 2012 at 9:59 pm #
I recently listened to one of my favorite old vinyl records and it sounded just like new. I’ve played it I don’t know how many times, but always cleaned it with a Discwasher before playing, and played it with a good quality cartridge (the good old Stanton 500EE for years and years, and now an Ortofon M30).
On the other hand, a 78-rpm album that I bought new in 1972 (it had been sitting in the store’s stockroom for a LONG LONG time, still in its sealed paper wrapper) doesn’t sound as good now as when I bought it. I always played it on a Rek-O-Kut Rondine Jr. with a Grado FCR cartridge and 78-rpm round diamond stylus tracking at 3 grams.
Do 78′s wear out faster, even with modern cartridges?
Mindy on 12 Jul 2012 at 10:46 pm #
Mindy from Indy, if the Cute Factor has to be considered, he’s now officially forgiven. He is so cute and cuddly when he grovels. [Actually, he was never truly in need of forgiveness but "making up" is so much fun! And, yes, Ghost & sandcastler, just as is "making out."]
Phil in Missoula, MT, John has some background in communications so he’s taught me a lot about solar flares and wave propagation [I thought that was spelled p r o p o g a t i o n but apparently speel check says I'm wrong]. I find it ironic and even conspiratorial, though, that every time there is a major “SoFlare” that will cause the aurora borealis [speel check says that's in error, also, but my Funk & Webster says differently!] to really dance we always have junky weather so that not even a star is visible. Only the major aurora displays are visible here in SW Virginia but they do put on a great show if they’re big.
John and I love music although he claims to be tone deaf. [Which is why he likes Mos Def as an actor if not a singer.] We even share musical tastes which includes almost anything other than Rap and Punk or Heavy Metal. Unfortunately we both suffer from some hearing loss which takes away some enjoyment. Three questions, then, to stir debate: Who was better, Mozart or Beethoven? Which group was better and had the greatest impact on contemporary music, The Beatles or The Rolling Stones? And who is the best rock guitarist ever?
Ghost Rider 6 on 12 Jul 2012 at 11:20 pm #
In that case, John probably intentionally gets himself into the dog house, just for the making up. Bet you never thought of that, did you, Mindy? Yes siree, we guys are a cagey bunch, alright.
1. Mozart
2. The Beatles
3. Eric Clapton
Mindy from Indy on 12 Jul 2012 at 11:35 pm #
Mindy, Cuteness is always a factor. As for your questions, I’m guessing Beethoven is more recognizable than Mozart, but I don’t think that necessarily makes him better. The Beatles. Limited to just rock and roll or can we add blues too? Jimi Hendrix. (Although Eddie Van Halen is no slouch either – guitar solo “Beat It.”)
Ghost Rider 6 on 12 Jul 2012 at 11:53 pm #
Hendrix would be in the running, Lady Mindy.
Blues? B. B. King.
Mindy on 13 Jul 2012 at 12:13 am #
It’s all relative and personal taste, of course, but I prefer Mozart slightly over Beethoven, but running close behind them are Tomaso Albinoni, Thomas Tellis and, of course, Bach. Rock bands? The Stones. Fifty years later and they’re still going strong! Keith Richards would be amongst the top seeds for guitarist, but Mark Knoffler, I think, takes the title.
Mindy from Indy, you have to add the Blues! The Stones were and still are primarily influenced by the Blues. But the best Blues singer was actually known for her Rock…Janis Joplin. Check out Big Brother and the Holding Company for a couple of really great Blues cuts!
Dave in MA on 13 Jul 2012 at 6:23 am #
Mark in Boston, Shellac 78s wear out much faster. Vinyl ones, if played with a proper stylus designed to play vinyl, will last longer. If you play a vinyl 78 with a stylus designed for the old shellac ones, good luck getting through the first listen.
Mindy, depends on what you want. Melodic, Mozart. Bombastic with melody, Beethoven.
Likewise, raw r&b mixed in with some rock, Rolling Stones. Innovation, melody and on key vocals, Beatles.
And for the best rock guitarist, Phil Keaggy. (Urban legend has it that Keaggy – who recorded at Hendrix’s studio – was so named by Hendrix, but it’s one that Keaggy himself says there’s no proof of)
As for Big Brother and the Holding Company, I was quite shocked to see that name appear on the list of bands making the rounds this year. Haven’t they heard that Janis Joplin died?
bruce on 13 Jul 2012 at 7:06 am #
Portability of the digital music is another topic. No thanks, 8-tracks and cassettes. My entire lifetime collection of music is on one small iPod. Now that’s amazing technology. These are the good old days.
Mindy on 13 Jul 2012 at 8:57 am #
in der guten alter zeit….
emeritus Minnesota biologist on 13 Jul 2012 at 9:23 am #
To change the subject completely, there is a delightful “mortar and tenon” metaphor in a woman’s query in the middle panel in today’s [Friday's] “9 Chickweed Lane”. The metaphor is easily understood. My question is, has anyone heard/seen it before, or did Brooke McEldowney make it up? The woman asking the question, by the way, is a former nun, married to a former priest, and their baby is the outcome of a full 9-month pregnancy. Virtue.
None of you has metioned Dvorak, Sibelius, Brahms, Berloz, Puccini, etc. Heard Dvorak’s “American” string quartet on MPR yesterday. My! As to who’s better, that’s hard among classsical composers. Beethoven perhaps broke more new ground for his time than Mozart did for his. But, did Mozart write any mediocre music? Some of Beethoven’s overtures are pretty humbrum. Of course, Beethoven dealt with a drastic handicap that Mozart didn’t. [Same thing hit Smetana, I believe more suddenly.] Mozart’s major handicap was dying young. Then there are the “second rate” composers. Richard Strauss is quoted as saying he might not be a first rate composer, but was a first class second rate composer. I think Saint Saens is right up there, or perhaps better. But he had plenty of time.
sandcastler on 13 Jul 2012 at 9:25 am #
At present time my music consists of: Flogging Molly, Dropkick Murphy’s, and Mr. Irish Bastatd.
sandcastler on 13 Jul 2012 at 9:26 am #
Miss spelling saved me crom moderation.
sandcastler on 13 Jul 2012 at 9:27 am #
Back to a real keyboard.
Dave in MA on 13 Jul 2012 at 10:11 am #
Mindy,
Which good old times are you referring to?
Dave
Mindy on 13 Jul 2012 at 10:21 am #
There was that time in Rhode Island, Dave, and then on the Maryland shore and several times in Lousy Anna plus those times here in the Commonwealth…but those are all stories to yet another day.
Dan in SWMo on 13 Jul 2012 at 10:23 am #
Mindy, I would say that your spell checker flagged borealis not because it is incorrect but because the program doesn’t even have the word in its database. My perfectly legitimate Welsh surname (which I won’t divulge in this forum) always gets flagged because the checkers don’t recognize it.
In regard to your musician questions, choosing Mozart or Beethoven is like choosing the particular fruit you want to eat at a particular time. As for the Beatles and the Stones, I will be revealing my own preference for harmony over cacophany if I say that, though the Rolling Stones had the greater influence over the rock musicians that followed them, the Beatles were undoubtedly the better musicians.
Dave in MA on 13 Jul 2012 at 10:25 am #
emb, I’d agree that the narrowing to Mozart or Beethoven is a severely limiting one.
I personally prefer loud and bombastic, ala Wagner. Richard Strauss is know mostly for Also Sprach Zarathustra, and that, basically, because of 2001, (the movie, not the silent book).
I couldn’t identify a piece to save my life, but everytime I hear something by Mahler I tend to enjoy it. Tchaikovsky pleases too, although not as consistently.
My real love seems to go back to Wagner. And I think I know why. A certain gentleman named Ken Thorne.
Ken used the overture from Act III of Lohengrin in the soundtrack to the Beatles movie “Help!” and as a kid growing up I was fascinated by that piece. I’ve sought out other recordings of it only to be disappointed in the performance. Ken seems to bring the piece to life with the orchestra he used for the soundtrack recording.
I’ve also found other soundtrack work by Ken Thorne to be quite fascinating.
Anyway, that got me interested in Wagner. I’ve since obtained a 15 CD set of Wagner’s “Ring” with James Levine conducting the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and enjoy it, although making it all the way to the end of disc 15 takes me a few days.
Another I enjoy is Carl Orff, but confess to only knowing Carmina Burana.
Dave in MA on 13 Jul 2012 at 10:27 am #
Typo:
It SHOULD have read, “Richard Strauss I know mostly for….”
phil in Missoula, MT on 13 Jul 2012 at 10:31 am #
eMb; I’ve never seen that metaphor before…clever. In this age of cheap furniture from other countries, mortise and tenon might not be as easily understood as you might think.
Dave in MA on 13 Jul 2012 at 11:32 am #
emb, you’ve now earned Brooke a new reader.
And no, I’ve never heard that metaphor before, but it certainly is an accurate one.
Bob, near Mark on 13 Jul 2012 at 11:41 am #
Mindy, die guten alten Zeiten sind nicht, was sie einmal waren.
emeritus Minnesota biologist on 13 Jul 2012 at 12:00 pm #
Dave: Glad to have earned a new reader for 9 Chickweed Lane. The “Strib” [Star Tribune, Mpls.] dropped it several years ago and substituted cr*p. 9CL was apparently too rich for their blood.
Carmina Burana, IMO, is far better than the two companion works that followed it, which are both dirtier [lots of lines left untranslated on the sleeves, whereas all of CB's were translated], and less musical.
Phil: Hadn’t thought about that. 9 CL is aimed at a knowledgeable audience, and the mass produced stuff may well be put together differently, or just be molded plastic.
phil in Missoula, MT on 13 Jul 2012 at 12:05 pm #
BTW, I got my dates/days wrong. The CME is supposed to hit earth on the 14th, which is Saturday, not Sunday.
curmudgeonly ex-professor on 13 Jul 2012 at 12:40 pm #
eMb- Today & tomorrow, you are likely to be able to hear the French national anthem on radio. If I recall, it was written by Delibes and the arrangement by Berlioz is REALLY inspirational!! I heard it this morning out of Chicago.
IMO, it is the best work Berlioz ever did.
Dave in MA on 13 Jul 2012 at 1:06 pm #
c ex-p, does that mean that you don’t like his other work (such as the cliche “Symphonie fantastique”) or that it’s just that much better than his other work?
CW in 617 on 13 Jul 2012 at 1:50 pm #
To channel Churchy LaFemme:
“WOW! It’s Friday the 13th.”
Mark in TTown on 13 Jul 2012 at 1:59 pm #
My favorite classical piece is “Night on Bald Mountain”, thanks to Fantasia and the animation which went with it. My vote for best guitarist is David Gilmour. Prefer The Beatles to The Rolling Stones. I really have no favorite classical composer just because I never spent much time listening to them.
On the subject of guitarists, I have only recently heard one called “Buckethead”, who seems pretty creative in his work. Ordinarily, I would not have heard him, but my Pandora service picked it out based on other things I listen to. Hendrix was good at getting new sounds from his guitar, but I wouldn’t call all of it music.
Bob, near Mark on 13 Jul 2012 at 2:23 pm #
Rock guitarist? Perhaps James Burton, the guy in the white jacket in this Roy Orbison video.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_PLq0_7k1jk
Look him up on Wikipedia. I’d put the link here, but two links sends your post into the pit of moderation.
John in Richmond Texas on 13 Jul 2012 at 3:09 pm #
I just stick with Aaron Copland. I like some of the minimalist Steve Reich stuff and my wife thinks I’m goofing with her, that no one really likes that stuff. We both joke about Bartok though. Decades ago, Steve Martin had a special and wanted to make sure he had some classy stuff, so he had the American String Quartet do some unpleasant, quirky Bartok. As it dragged on, he did some rope tricks and played his banjo in front of them as one by one they left.
Bob, near Mark on 13 Jul 2012 at 3:19 pm #
For some interesting music, try Esquivel (Juan Garcia Esquivel). I have 14 of his albums. Doesn’t mean I like all of it, but his music can be fun.
http://www.spaceagepop.com/esquivel.htm
And you can find selections on YouTube.
Ruth Anne in Winter Park on 13 Jul 2012 at 4:17 pm #
If you like Fantasia, you should try to find a copy of Allegro Non Troppo. It is similar in that it has classical pieces accompanied by animation, but the animation is a little edgier and the bits in between spoof the process of creating it. The video with Sibelius’ Valse Triste is a real tear-jearker.
Mindy from Indy on 13 Jul 2012 at 4:29 pm #
I love 9 Chickweed Lane, almost as much as Arlo and Janis. Mr. McEldowney’s artwork is amazing and the linguistic complexities delight my inner nerd. By comparison, Arlo and Janis is a minimalist art tour de force – which only enhances the dialogue and narrative. I’m always amazed at how Jimmy can create some much depth and emotion with so few lines. One of my favorite Arlo and Janis strips (artistically) is nothing more than Arlo lying in bed for four panels, rolling his eyes and becoming exasperated at Janis because she watched some Lifetime movie before bedtime and was still upset. Just the placement of those two little dots of Arlo’s eyes said it all.
Mark in Boston on 13 Jul 2012 at 4:49 pm #
Did Mozart write any mediocre music? Well, yes … sort of …
A conncert pianist friend of mine has a set of Mozart’s complete piano music (music books, not recordings). He showed me some pages. “Look at this! This stuff is just awful.”
I took a look and played some of it. It wasn’t “pieces”. It was counterpoint and harmony exercises, i.e. obviously his homework he submitted to his teacher.
I said, “Fred, when you bought Mozart’s complete piano music you really got his COMPLETE piano music.”
db on 13 Jul 2012 at 6:34 pm #
Guess we know the demographic that this strip applies to.
emeritus Minnesota biologist on 13 Jul 2012 at 7:41 pm #
Mark: Did he publish those,or did someone find his homework? Homework doesn’t count. I have no [single] favorite classical composer, because I have spent 70 years listening to them.
Dave and c-xp: And “Harold in Italy”, a viola + orchestra piece with no cadenza [often that is a plus].
Ruth Anne: I saw “Allegro non troppe” once, maybe on TV. The “orchestra” they rounded up for it is a hoot. They aren’t the ones whose music was actually recorded.
Mindy on 13 Jul 2012 at 7:46 pm #
Which demographic is that, db?
Bob, near Mark on 13 Jul 2012 at 7:48 pm #
The IMDb summary for “Allegro non tropo”: “An enthusiastic filmmaker thinks he’s come up with a totally original idea: animation set to classical music! When he is informed that some American named “Prisney” (or something) has already done it, he decides to do his own version, using an orchestra comprising mostly old ladies and an animator he’s kept locked in a dungeon. Several different classical pieces are animated, while the animator plots his escape. ”
Here’s a link to the section featuring Ravel’s Bolero.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aSEJC-cVPuA
Lost in A**2 on 13 Jul 2012 at 8:36 pm #
Somewhere, I read an anecdote about the Beatles: George quit the band. Someone asked what they would do. Lennon, I think it was, answered, “If he’s not back by Tuesday, we’ll get Eric [Clapton].” I wonder how that would have worked out?
I like Wagner, Ravel, R. Strauss and Tschaikovsky. Unfortunately, I tend to listen to only a few pieces of each. I mostly listen while driving, and my car doesn’t have a player, just a radio.
Mark in TTown on 13 Jul 2012 at 9:47 pm #
While on the subject of music and animation, try this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rgww1XEH-P8
Galliglo in Ohio on 13 Jul 2012 at 10:03 pm #
I have been reading all the posts about music. While I do enjoy some classical music – and opera – I am, by no means, a true-blue fan.
Evidently my tastes are more plebian. I could not help but think of Rheta Grimsley Johnson’s latest book – Hank Hung the Moon. Guess I’m just a good ole gal…
TruckerRon on 14 Jul 2012 at 12:28 am #
I’m glad to see no mention of John Cage. I prefer Peter Schickele (aka PDQ Bach) myself.
Mindy from Indy on 14 Jul 2012 at 12:45 am #
I am not a consistent listener of classical music. I lean towards Beethoven because “Für Elise” is one of my favorite pieces, second only to Johann Pachelbel’s Canon in D. However, I find myself flipping the radio at work more frequently to the lone classical station as a welcome relief to all of the incessant yammering and repetition of the top 20 pop/country stations -much to the dismay of my co-workers. They aren’t especially fond of The Rat Pack, Streisand, or Josh Groban either. (And yet, I’M the weird one.)
In a related theme, I’m curious as to everyone’s opinion of Trans-Seiberian Orchestra and Jackie Evancho.
TruckerRon on 14 Jul 2012 at 1:04 am #
My favorite young performers are Jackie Evancho (wow, what a voice!) and Lindsey Stirling (dances ok, plays violin fantastically), both of whom I’ve heard via YouTube.
emeritus Minnesota biologist on 14 Jul 2012 at 8:31 am #
I did a search for the “Transiberian Orchestra”. Who does their choreography? If I wanted dancing to music, I’d go to Aaron Copland’s “Appalachian Spring” or Tchaikovski’s “Swan Lake” or some such. De gustibus . . ..
Ghost Rider 6 on 14 Jul 2012 at 8:34 am #
Arlo storms Janis, Janis storms Arlo; either way it’s got to be great. BTW, Mindy, who’s the mob and who’s the fortress in your family?
Happy Bastille Day. Unlike some, I admire much about the French and have no real problems with them in general. Although I did once tell a French wizard who was annoying me to “Go plunk your magic twanger, Froggy!”
Mindy on 14 Jul 2012 at 8:36 am #
Which Mindy, Ghost? But I, of course, am the fortress of virtue and chastity. John once told a Frog where to put his magic twanger. And then the fight started. Does that count?
John in Virginia on 14 Jul 2012 at 8:56 am #
Oh, Ghost, by the way. I have some prime oceanfront property for sale, very cheap, in Iowa and Nebraska, your choice of Atlantic or Pacific. Speaking of which, indirectly, hows come the National Hurricane Center never names a storm Janis? Or Mindy? I won’t use any other regulars’ names due to a fear of severe reprimand and/or bodily harm.
Ghost Rider 6 on 14 Jul 2012 at 9:22 am #
I think we all know which Mindy I meant.
John, even though I’m somewhat a hurricane aficionado, I didn’t remember a recent Hurricane Mandy, so I went to the record to check. The last tropical system to be named Mandy was an Atlantic TS in October of 2003. It only lasted a few days and didn’t threaten any land areas.
As a side note, at one point the record defined Mindy as a “disorganized system.”
Mindy on 14 Jul 2012 at 9:25 am #
You’re making that up, Ghost! Plus, what Mindy? There are several!
And, John? The Fortress just closed the gates, manned the bulwarks [whatever they are] and went into prolonged siege status.
Ghost Rider 6 on 14 Jul 2012 at 9:33 am #
Well, my work is done here.
Galliglo in Ohio on 14 Jul 2012 at 10:00 am #
LOVE the strip today! As always, I am amazed at the emotion and attitude that JJ can express with just a few strokes of his pen. Wow!
sandcastler on 14 Jul 2012 at 12:32 pm #
Magic twanger? That ought to be included in the Urban Dictionary.
Tom in Glendora, CA on 14 Jul 2012 at 12:55 pm #
TruckerRon – glad to see there’s another fan of Professor Peter Shickele from the University
of Southern North Dakota at Hoople.
Saw him once in concert in Pasadna….what a hoot! He climbed down from the balcony
on a rope to start the show.
Mindy on 14 Jul 2012 at 1:02 pm #
You don’t remember “pluck your magic twanger, Froggie” from television? I don’t either. Too young and all that. The lock down and/or lockout continues….
Ruth Anne in Winter Park on 14 Jul 2012 at 1:10 pm #
After I read each day’s Arlo and Janis, I usually check The Argyle Sweater – the link is just to the right of A&J. Today’s ought to appeal to many of the regulars here – http://www.gocomics.com/theargylesweater/2012/07/14
sandcastler on 14 Jul 2012 at 1:20 pm #
Mindy, was not aware “magic twanger” was a cultural reference from the pa choosenifestyle.st. Must be part of what my wife calss my “black-out years.” A period that covers ’68 – ’84 were I have limited cultural knowledge do to the nature of my work.
sandcastler on 14 Jul 2012 at 1:21 pm #
Must gi e up posting on a tablet.
Mark in Boston on 14 Jul 2012 at 4:27 pm #
eMb: Mozart never published his student exercises. Evidently the family kept everything. For practice he copied pieces by other composers, and “Symphony number 2″ and “Symphony number 3″ in the standard numbering are two of those — not by Mozart, but in his own hand.
After he died, the family needed money and did what they could with his unfinished works. They gave the Requiem to Sussmeyer to finish. A publisher slapped a 16-bar ending on the fourth Fantasia, and when you listen to it, you can tell.
At some point someone published a “complete” edition including every manuscript that looked like his handwriting. I suppose there’s some scholar somewhere who gets some benefit out of seeing how Mozart chose to harmonize a teacher’s bass line, but some of those manuscripts were never intended to be finished pieces.
Mozart left LOTS of unfinished pieces. He would work on something for a while, then a commission would come in and he’d put the unfinished piece aside to produce the commission, and then maybe take it up again, or maybe not.
curmudgeonly ex-professor on 14 Jul 2012 at 4:36 pm #
I also like Evancho, Charlotte Church of several years ago, and Schickele of USND@H – as well as a bunch more. For that matter, I really enjoyed Abba and Newton-John in their respective eras.
curmudgeonly ex-professor on 14 Jul 2012 at 4:37 pm #
Going back some decades, add the Kingston Trio….
Galliglo in Ohio on 14 Jul 2012 at 5:03 pm #
Ah, yes… c ex-p – and also the Limelighters…
Mindy on 14 Jul 2012 at 5:11 pm #
The Kingston Trio and the Limelighters…without Peter, Paul & Mary! Heresy! It’s heresy, I say!
Bob, near Mark on 14 Jul 2012 at 6:08 pm #
For something a little bit different, try Janet Klein and Her Parlor Boys.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_MlkVsZeSSc
emeritus Minnesota biologist on 14 Jul 2012 at 6:25 pm #
I’m out of the loop enough never to have knowingly heard the Limelighters, but I think of the Kingston Trio and Peter, Paul, and Mary as back when popular singers could sing.
We and the kids used to sing “The Unfortunate Man”, “Blowing in the Wind”, etc., as well as Clancy Brother songs and Stanley Holloway songs [e.g., "Anne Boleyn" and " 'Enery the Eighth"] on trips in the car. Unfortunately, all I have on CDs are PPM, and maybe one Holloway collection. One of the 24 students who lived with us over the years introduced us to PPM, and I am eternally grateful. Still in touch with her and her family.
First heard Holloway as Mr. Dolittle in “My Fair Lady”, and don’t remember how we learned of the LPs of his earlier work in British music halls [where, in '52-'53, nudity on stage was ok if the ladies didn't move. Some inhaled and exhaled very deep breaths.] Across the Channel, it was different.
Galliglo in Ohio on 14 Jul 2012 at 7:29 pm #
So sorry, Mindy – yes, I should have included Peter, Paul and Mary!
For those who are not familiar with the Limelighters, they were a trio of college students who formed a folk group in 1959. They were never as popular as the Kingstron Trio but they did have their own niche. They sang straight folk ballads and rollicking ditties. They also used a lot of humor in their act – that is probably what attracted me.
Here is a link to one of their humorous songs….
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hie9muEMWEw
Galliglo in Ohio on 14 Jul 2012 at 7:30 pm #
And here is a link to one of their straight folk songs:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6FakIaWVelE
Hope you enjoy…
Bob, near Mark on 14 Jul 2012 at 9:49 pm #
And there are The Smothers Brothers who were great even when they weren’t trying to be funny. Here’s a link to a song from their 1962 album “The Two Sides of The Smothers Brothers.”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fSCc2LhXhvk
Mindy on 14 Jul 2012 at 9:56 pm #
Galliglo, for the life of me I cannot think of the lead singer…Yarbrough? I know it wasn’t Cale, he was NASCAR. That guy had a seriously mellow voice! The Smothers Brothers were the most hilarious act I’ve ever seen, consistently, and what made them great that they were super singers as well as infinitely comedic! Remember the Bells in the village? Or Soap?
phil in Missoula, MT on 14 Jul 2012 at 10:20 pm #
Glenn Yarbrough is the name you’re wanting Mindy.
We’ve got a fabulous sunset going on here at the moment, but the clouds are going to obscure the sky, so no aurora for me. Beside, spaceweather.com says it probably won’t get too far south anyhow.
Mindy on 14 Jul 2012 at 10:35 pm #
Thanks, phil! I didn’t want to have to Google it but memory went south on me. Our sunset is over and done for the day, and the sky is gunky grey with impending rain. I will not complain, though, since we were parched from two weeks of high 90s and no rain. I was doing rain dances and started dancing around a hat, Mexican style, but John told me the hat dance was for hair. I tried something else and he said that was a fertility dance. I stopped dancing immediately. Farmers here were having to use winter hay to feed the livestock and the bottom went south on the market, but hopefully the rain will help them rally. Since there is no money in raising tobacco now, several of us sent a letter to the legislature in Richmond asking for subsidies for marijuana growers. It was sent as a joke. We got a reply that said the suggestion is being studied in committee. Lord, I hope that’s as much of a joke as out letter was! Other wise certain legislators are true idiots. Fortunately the municipal and county law enforcement knows us, as does the State Police contingent and BCI, and we made certain they’re aware of the joke. What frightens me is that two officers were scratching their heads and muttering that it seemed like a great idea to them. Beam me up, Scootie.
John in Virginia on 14 Jul 2012 at 11:01 pm #
It is often said, only partially in jest, that Virginia ends at Wytheville and everything west to Tennessee and Kentucky is to be ignored except when sucking up the votes every two years. We are an “impoverished” area which translates to “legislatively ignored.” One of Mindy’s better ideas was to secede from the Union [again] and from the Commonwealth of Virginia [as did West-by-golly-Virginia]. Formal declarations to be sent to Washington and Richmond after which one round was to be fired at each city, an Act of War to accomplish our Declaration of Independence, followed immediately by unconditional surrender. The logic was that, having been a “Secessionist Combatant Governmental Entity” that had declared war on the Nation and the State, once we surrendered we would gain all sorts of Governmental aide and assistance to help us recover from the ravages of war. She suggested that, in person, to one State legislator. He looked stricken and panicked, and immediately fled. For two years after that he studiously avoided Mindy as if she were Typhoid Mindy. It think it would have worked and haven’t totally given up on the tactic. Of course, there have been a lot of strangers running around in bib overalls, white button-down shirts, dark sunglasses and black wingtip shoes asking some totally weird questions…not unlike the “Revenooers” did back when I was a kid. Because I was a hunter, they kept following me around, in the black wingtips, asking where the nearest still was…
I kid you not!
John in Virginia on 14 Jul 2012 at 11:02 pm #
To accompany, sorry…
TruckerRon on 15 Jul 2012 at 12:24 am #
John in Virginia, thanks for reminding me about “The Mouse That Roared,” in which the Duchy of Grand Fenwick declares war against the US so it can lose and get war reparations. I loved the film (it was the first Peter Sellers film I’d seen) and the books (all 5 of them!). I wonder if my local library has any of them? It’s time to read them again if I can find them.
John in Virginia on 15 Jul 2012 at 1:04 am #
You mean it wasn’t an original idea, TruckerRon?
Mark from Maine on 15 Jul 2012 at 4:45 am #
I see Janis is The Bastille again. After only one day . . .
Queue up the “Cartoon Time” discussion.
Bob, near Mark on 15 Jul 2012 at 5:59 am #
The greatest put-down I’ve ever seen was by Tom Smothers. One night, too many years ago, they were on The Tonight Show (Jack Parr’s version), with insult-comedian (oxymoron?) Jack E. Leonard. Leonard was doing his typically obnoxious bit, when Tom Smothers slowly said something like, “You’d be pretty funny if you worked on your timing.” Leonard became a clam.
Redman in "The Big O" on 15 Jul 2012 at 6:42 am #
Sunday July 15 is National Ice Cream Day ! What’s your favorite flavor ?
Im off to celebrate !!
Anonymous on 15 Jul 2012 at 7:37 am #
Bob, near Mark: Thank you for the great link! I was a fan of the Smothers Brothers, but somehow I missed that one. It is great.
So many performers of that era were wonderful. Those groups could really harmonize. Such a pleasure…
And I hadn’t thought of the “Mouse That Roared” for years! Yes – definetley time to revisit!
Anonymous on 15 Jul 2012 at 7:38 am #
Love todays strip! Can’t you just hear Janis yell, “whoo-hoo!”
Galliglo in Ohio on 15 Jul 2012 at 7:39 am #
OK – my virus protection stripped my cookies again. Dang! I am NOT anonymous!!
Steve from Royal Oak, Mi on 15 Jul 2012 at 7:44 am #
Mindy: Cale also had a brother LeRoy who was a great racer. Back then the life expectancy of a race car driver was short, especially in the indy cars & F-1. My first driver to follow was Eddie Sachs in the 1964 Indy 500 when I was 7. Sadly, he died on the 2nd lap. After the race, my Dad took me to the cemetary do a Memorial Day service. It was a day that helps me understand lose and death.
Jerry in Fl on 15 Jul 2012 at 8:06 am #
I’m ba-ack. In catching up (and you do get wordy about the strangest things) I noted that I was remembered. Awwwww! I’m all recharged and feeling really good. I do think that the neural stimulator is turned up a tad high as my speech seems a little hesitant and slurred at times. I go back in two weeks for fine tuning and we’ll have to work on that. I went out at 5am this morning to get the paper after feeding kitties who insisted on an early breakfast. I glanced to the eastern sky and couldn’t believe the bright diamond shape of the moon and planets. I will be sure to get up early tomorrow to see it again. Anyone with a little astronomical knowledge would be welcome to comment. I don’t want to go on and on but I want to mention Jeff again and say how glad I am that you had the surgery. When I was first diagnosed I looked into the options and found the everything was considered experimental at best except for surgery, so that was my choice. I know now that the cancer was growing fast and I would possibly be dead by now or would be soon without the surgery. Every time that I read that some group of socalled experts recommend no treatment I want to put my foot in their subject of discussion. Guys, GET THAT LAB WORK DONE,EVERY YEAR. IF A BIOPSY IS RECOMMNDED, GET IT DONE. We now return to the entertainment portion of our program.
Jerry in Fl on 15 Jul 2012 at 8:17 am #
I see that a new battery hasn’t done away with all typos no matter how many times I read back over it. How difficult would it be to get an edit button JJ?
Bob, near Mark on 15 Jul 2012 at 8:27 am #
Semi-Anonymous Galliglio,
I still have that “The Two Sides of the Smothers Brothers” vinyl LP. Both sides are Smotherlous.
Bob, near Mark on 15 Jul 2012 at 9:39 am #
And there’s “The Limeston Trio” and their “A Generic Up-Tempo Folk Song”.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WoYh-9gViLU
Mindy from Indy on 15 Jul 2012 at 9:55 am #
Redman in “The Big O” My favorite flavor of ice cream? All of them*
Special favorites – chocolate, coffee, Cherry Garcia, peppermint
*except pistachio – bleh.
Symply Fargone on 15 Jul 2012 at 9:56 am #
@Jerry in FL,
Glad you are back! Symply Fargone what the MDs do nowadays!
Ghost Rider 6 on 15 Jul 2012 at 10:25 am #
Well, I’m back from WOOT. (That’s for Working Out Of Town, not that geek word.) Is that the same neighbor couple from a few years ago, whose bedroom window, as I recall, overlooks Arlo and Janis’s deck?
sandcaster: I know a number for people who had “black-out years,” but that was almost certainly due to their avocations, not their professions.
OK, Mindy, ‘fess up. Fevered imaginations want to know: Which prevailed, the gate or the siege engine?
Robin in Fl on 15 Jul 2012 at 11:00 am #
Jerry
Welcome back!
John in Virginia on 15 Jul 2012 at 12:36 pm #
You ask which prevailed, Ghost? I cannot tell a lie. Was it the gate or the siege engine? Yes.
Ironic, no? Janis’ comeback is that she can’t get Arlo out to a movie. It’s been ten years plus since I went to a theater to see a movie — Blackhawk Down, it was — and I don’t miss the experience. People talking, cell phones ringing, idiots with large hats or big hair sitting down directly in from of us even in a nearly empty theater…and there is no pause button in theaters for calls of nature or the wild. I’ll take DVDs anytime! Doesn’t hurt to wait 3-6 months to see a new release.
Jerry in Fl on 15 Jul 2012 at 1:14 pm #
Thank you. Thank you, and now it’s time for a nap, just to keep Spunky company of course.
Galliglo in Ohio on 15 Jul 2012 at 1:27 pm #
Bob, near Mark: Loved The Limeston Trio – what fun!
My son has my old Limeliters albums. I hope he is paying suggicient homage…
Mary in Ohio on 15 Jul 2012 at 3:47 pm #
Glenn Yarborough was with the Limeliters and did a lot on his own too (“Baby the Rain Must Fall” was his first solo hit, I believe, ca. 1966??)
Judy Collins. No, not Joan, JUDY!
TruckerRon on 15 Jul 2012 at 3:51 pm #
Bob, near Mark: Thanks for tuning me into Janet Klein and Her Parlor Boys. At first I thought I was watching a movie made before my time, perhaps even colorized…
Galliglo in Ohio on 15 Jul 2012 at 4:14 pm #
Yea Mary in Ohio!
Ditto, TruckerRon – Janet Klein and Her Parlor Boys are great!
Tom in Glendora, CA on 15 Jul 2012 at 4:40 pm #
John in Virginia – ten years since you went to a movie? Compared to me, you’re quite up
to date. Last movie I saw in a theater was Jurassic Park in 1993. And I only went because
at the time I was working at Universal Studios and it was a free screening!
Almost didn’t go because the Bulls were playing the Suns in the NBA finals. DW was a fanatical Bulls fan at that time. She still likes basketball, but her favorite team is whoever is
playing against the Lakers.
I don’t go to movies often, because the movie before that one was Monty Python and the
Holy Grail in 1975. Guess I’m due to go to another soon. Every 20 years or so, more or less.
Mindy on 15 Jul 2012 at 4:54 pm #
Every 20 years or so whether you need it or not, Tom in Glendora, CA? It’s far cheaper to watch a DVD [just think, not long ago we'd have referred to VHS] and the “snacks” are better, cheaper and more enjoyable.
John will not tell me why it’s so, but when we were more often going out to movies [pre-VHS/DVD days], if he stepped on anything even faintly sticky on the auditorium floor he was ready to turn around and leave. I asked him about it and his only reply was, “You don’t want to know.”
Mark in Boston on 15 Jul 2012 at 5:02 pm #
“The Mouse that Roared” starring Peter Sellers, Peter Sellers and Peter Sellers. Also known for his roles in Dr. Strangelove, Dr. Strangelove and Dr. Strangelove.
Jerry in Fl on 15 Jul 2012 at 5:26 pm #
Best Peter Sellers movie, “Being There”.
Jerry in Fl on 15 Jul 2012 at 5:28 pm #
At least I enjoyed watching.
sideburns on 15 Jul 2012 at 5:31 pm #
Mark, he almost had four roles in Dr. Strangelove. He was originally cast as Major “King” Kong, but sprained his ankle and couldn’t move around the crowded set. He was replaced by Slim Pikens, who basically just played himself and wasn’t told that the movie was a comedy. He later commented, “After Dr. Strangelove the roles, the dressing rooms and the checks all started getting bigger.”
Lost in A**2 on 15 Jul 2012 at 5:50 pm #
I’m rather fond of Mr. Sellers in “Hoffman”.
Mindy on 15 Jul 2012 at 6:10 pm #
John and I both agree with you, Jerry in FL. It was so infantile that it was genius…but I guess you had to be there? Fantastic movie!
Bob, near Mark on 15 Jul 2012 at 6:30 pm #
TruckerRon, and Galliglio in Ohio,
One of my favorite recordings by Janet Klein and Her Parlor Boys is “How Could Red Riding Hood (Have Been So Very Good and Still Keep the Wolf From Her Door)”, from her “‘Janet Klein’s Scandals’ or ‘Living In Sin’” CD. The original recording from the 1920s was the first song known to have been banned from the radio, because it suggested that Little Red may have been a woman of questionable virtue. There are a few performances of the song by Janet Klein on YouTube, but the Audio isn’t as good as the CD release. There is a 1926 recording of the song by The Yacht Club Boys on YouTube at:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YBUjTYaApGk
Janet Klein does have a website where you can buy her CDs.
Bob, near Mark on 15 Jul 2012 at 6:43 pm #
PS: There is a nice rendition of “How Could Red Riding Hood” at about the 9 minute mark in the Janet Klein video I linked to earlier, but all of the “single” videos I’ve found have poor audio quality.
Meryl A on 17 Jul 2012 at 12:59 am #
Another vinyl enthusiast.