Day: March 3, 2007

An Inconvenient Truth

[flv:http://www.dograt.com/Video/MAR07/AlGore.flv 425 240]

Does Al Gore’s documentary An Inconvenient Truth live up to the hype? Well, y’know, now that I’ve seen it I don’t think the buzz can be called hype.

I’ll put it this way. Nothing I heard four years ago from the Bush administration about the alleged weapons of mass destruction in Iraq was convincing, let alone compelling. Not a single word of any of it rang true.

But everything in “An Inconvenient Truth” is compelling. There are a few moments when the story is about Al Gore, but they always lead back to the topic of global warming.

Frankly, I was doubtful that Al Gore, the stuffed shirt, could come across as personable and persuasive as I had been told he is in An Inconvenient Truth. But he pulls it off masterfully, and George Bush looks positively pitiful by comparison.

Cousin Brucie on WABC Saturday Night Oldies

Cousin Brucie on WABC

Tonight I happened to catch a few minutes of the legendary disk jockey Bruce Morrow on WABC’s Saturday Night Oldies with Mark Simone. Cousin Brucie talks about meeting the Beatles.

[audio:http://www.dograt.com/Audio/MAR07/CousinBrucie.mp3]

Bruce Morrow with Beatles

If you haven’t checked out my tribute to New York radio in the 60’s, click here. The picture above of Bruce Morrow interviewing the Beatles in 1965 is amusing, because the boys appeared bored and disinterested. Maybe they were stoned. Or perhaps they’d had their fill of New York DJ’s. Murray “The K” Kaufman had leveraged his contact with The Beatles during their first visit to shamelessly further his own career.

It Was The Best of Buys, It Was The Worst of Buys

Best Buy, a store I like visiting (I bought my new Canon Pixma MP600 there), is coming under scrutiny for deceptive pricing and poor customer service.

George Gombossy, of the Hartford Courant, reports that the Connecticut Attorney General is now investigating the existence of an internal Web site used by Best Buy sales people to convince customers that items are no longer posted on bestbuy.com at the “previously” listed sale price. Click here.

A quick search reveals there are other unhappy recent Best Buy customers. They tell some interesting stories; this one in particular, because it involves a soldier stationed in Afghanistan.

George Martin Instrumentally Salutes the Beatle Girls

George Martin Salutes Beatles Girls

My twinster Jean spotted this eBay auction for an original 1966 LP copy of George Martin Instrumentally Salutes the Beatle Girls. Sir George as Hugh Hefner!

I can’t find reference to this record in George Martin’s autobiography, “All You Need is Ears”, nor do I see mention of Martin’s better-known instrumental recording, “Off the Beatle Track”, from 1964. The book is poorly indexed, so I’ll keep looking.

Off the Beatle Track

The American soundtrack to A Hard Day’s Night included instrumentals arranged and conducted by George Martin. Here’s one of them, taken from an ancient US LP. Sounds so-so.

[audio:http://www.dograt.com/Audio/MAR07/AHDN_Instrumental.mp3]

The year 1964 was a very good one for George Martin. Undoubtedly his best-known non-Beatles production of that year, and perhaps any year, is this one, taken from an old UK LP. Sounds super.

[audio:http://www.dograt.com/Audio/MAR07/Goldfinger.mp3]