Today was the 25th anniversary of Arlo and Janis!
Oops! Wrong Arlo and Janis. Here’s an Arlo and Janis original I got from Jimmy Johnson fifteen years ago, when Eric was only three. And now he’s shaving!
Congratulations, and thanks, to Jimmy for creating my favorite comic strip.
Add comment July 29th, 2010
Last week at the San Diego Comic-Con, this fanboy was wandering around the dealers room, like thousands of others, grabbing free stuff. But who is he? If you don’t recognize him, hover over the picture to find out.
Add comment July 29th, 2010
As a middle-aged, Protestant, straight husband and father, I’ll let England’s Lily Allen express my opinion of the Westboro Baptist Church.
2 comments July 28th, 2010
It was fanatics vs. fans at the San Diego Comic-Con!
http://www.comicsalliance.com/2010/07/22/super-heroes-vs-the-westboro-baptist-church/
John 8:7 says, “He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her.” It does not continue with Jesus saying, “So somebody get me a rock! A big, jagged one.” Which is what the members of the Westboro Baptist Church seem to believe.
1 comment July 27th, 2010
One of Bismo’s favourite programmes (note British spelling) is Top Gear, the show for automotive enthusiasts on BBC America. But long before Top Gear, there was Pop Gear, a 1965 movie featuring a bunch of British music acts, introduced by BBC TV personality Jimmy (now Sir Jimmy) Savile.
Last night, the season opener of Mad Men ended with Tobacco Road by the Nashville Teens, which you’ll find in part 5 of Pop Gear, compliments of YouTube user nyrainbow2.
1 comment July 26th, 2010
Delia Derbyshire at the BBC Radiophonic Workshop
I’ve been trying to get back to Dave Dexter, Jr. and the Beatles, but I got distracted by a renewed interest in the fascinating history of the BBC Radiophonic Workshop, and Ron Grainer’s Doctor Who theme. This is Delia Derbyshire’s stunning, shimmering production, which includes the famous sound effects for the show.
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Snippets of sounds and music by Derbyshire and the workshop have been collected by the BBC into a Flash player that you’ll find at this link. It’s all too easy to make the sounds overlap, so be quick with the stop button, and watch out for the clips that loop. Here is Murray Gold’s fantastic, powerful arrangement and orchestration for the new Doctor series in 2005.
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If this subject is of any interest I’ll let you find the same sites I’ve been looking at, but one favor I should do for you is assemble the pieces of a 2003 BBC documentary on the Radiophonic Workshop, called The Alchemists of Sound.
2 comments July 24th, 2010
While watching Doctor Who on the Roku HD player, I wondered if anybody had collected all of the versions of the theme song, written in 1963 by Ron Grainer and realized by Delia Derbyshire at the BBC Radiophonic Workshop. The answer is, of course, that quite a few people have. I picked this one because the sound is good.
Speaking of Doctor Who, I was surprised to learn tonight that Bismo didn’t know of Rowan Atkinson’s appearance as The Doctor:
Add comment July 23rd, 2010