Pats Taps

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I’m not much of a football fan, but being a Bostonian I’m not happy about what happened in Indianapolis.

Technical note: This is the first video clip I’ve posted that’s been scaled down to 400×300 pixels from 640×480, instead of scaled up to that from 320×240. Bit rate is pushed way up to 1 Mb/sec.

Coldbert

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I’m sure you’re checking out The Colbert Report online for yourself, right? Nobody is counting on me, I hope, to provide highlights, since the show is now available online.

But last Monday’s intro with Jon Stewart was too good to make you go look for it. He can be so cold, even cruel, sometimes.

Wii-ality

Wii Hands

In the Wii hours of this morning Eric’s Christmas wiish came true at last. Those are his hands clutching the Wiimote — that’s Nintendo’s pun, not mine!

Thanks to this Web site, Carol was confident the local Target store would have the Wii in stock. She was number 9 in line for 70 units — by far the largest shipment since the day the Wii was released. If the Wii had kept its original name, the Revolution, Carol would have been Revolution 9!

Sensor Bar

The motion sensor bar fits perfectly on Eric’s TV. The digital camera captures the bar’s infrared light.

Petula Clark – 1954

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Here’s a big 5-year jump from the last post. I wish there were more material available from the years in between, because I’d like to know exactly when Pet was put on the wrong track after she outgrew her singing sweetheart days. Most likely it was the fault of her domineering manager-father.

Everything about the way Petula is presented in this 1954 film, with the unfortunate title “Gay Dog,” doesn’t work. She looks 30, not 21. The dress and the hair were undoubtedly the style de rigueur, but the look doesn’t suit her. Based on this clip alone it’s apparent her movie career was going to stall in England.

That’s Wits, Not Twits!

A few months ago I highlighted something about my alma mater, Westfield State College, “the little college that could” — sometimes, anyway. The school has made good on its promise to help save a regional TV quiz show for high school students, As Schools Match Wits. Click here or, if that link hassles you, click here.

Elsewhere in Westfield State news, the search is narrowing for candidates for the President’s office. The last president quit after only two years. Doesn’t even count, really. I am very, very tired of WSC having incompetent, or short-lived, presidents. There was a drunk in the office with the initials RR when I was there, and he was followed by a major creep named Pilecki. A shameful record, to be sure.