Tempting

Logitech Revue now only $200? No! Must… remain… loyal… to… Roku!

Follow-up: I’m typing this on a Logitech Revue with Google TV. As many others have said, it’s an interesting but problematical product. For example, Amazon Instant Video requires getting into the Amazon site with Chrome, instead of having a custom player. At first it thought I had a bad Internet connection and video quality was horrible, but I seem to have fixed that by going to an SD source then back to HD. Neither Amazon Instant Video nor Netflix have surround sound. The Roku player does this fine, extracting the center and surround channels for Dolby Pro Logic from the stereo channels. I’m not hung up on having true 5.1 Dolby Digital for streaming video, Pro Logic is good enough, but knowing it can be done, and very nicely, and not having it work is annoying. Another complaint is that it doesn’t seem to be able to find the Logitech Squeezebox Server that’s in the house. This is ridiculous, being a Logitech product! The Squeezebox Radio and Squeezeplay programs do this, so why no MySqueezebox support for the Revue?

Further follow-up: I’m still not sure if Squeezebox support is built-in, but if it is the server needs to be on the same IP subnet as the Revue, which is silly. There should be an option to enter the address. Much more consistency is needed between the various video players. Having to use Amazon’s web interface is particularly annoying. I’d like the option of using either that or one like the Netflix app has. It should also be easier to edit the home menu. But still, now that I’ve been using it for a few hours, I’m seeing more of what Google was thinking, integrating with cable TV instead of cutting the cable.

There’s a big Android update coming supposedly in a couple of months, and if I keep Logitech Revue I would expect it to fix the lack of surround sound on Amazon and Netflix. At the moment I’m on the fence about keeping the Revue, whereas I never had any doubts about its audio cousin the Squeezebox Radio, or the Roku player. But now that I see it’s working well with the FiOS DVR, and I am, after all, blogging with it right now, I’ll probably hang onto it in the hopes the software improves.

An Innes-cent man

You know about the Rutles, I’m sure. You must. The Rutles is a Beatles parody by Monty Python’s Eric Idle and a tremendously talented and funny musical chap named Neil Innes, whose Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band (later just the Bonzo Dog Band) had a spot in Magical Mystery Tour, performing their legendary dirty ditty, Death Cab for Cutie.

http://youtu.be/jfHPs_1KUW4

Neil Innes appeared in Monty Python and the Holy Grail, singing the ballad of Eric Idle’s “Brave” Sir Robin. Innes then did a BBC comedy sketch show with Idle called Rutland Weekend Television. RWT was most notable for introducing the Rutles, with Idle playing the George part (he switched to being Paul) and Innes as John.

[flv:http://s3.amazonaws.com/dogratcom/Video/Beatles/Rutles.flv 400 300]

The Rutles film re-appeared on Saturday Night Live, and it was such a big hit that Lorne Michaels produced a TV movie with the faux four called All You Need is Cash. The parody adhered so closely to the Beatles story that it made the reality of it seem all the more unreal.

All of the Rutle songs are by Neil Innes, and they don’t just capture the sound and feeling of the Beatles. Innes managed to deconstruct the Lennon-McCartney magic and turn it inside out, while being both scathing and reverential. Lyrics like “nature’s calling and I must go there” are brilliant and hilarious.

I’ve been wanting to do a Neil Innes post for some months, but I have to do this one right now, because I will be seeing Innes perform tonight, at the Narrows Center for the Arts in Fall River, Massachusetts.

YouTube grab-bag

Do I know about Pomplamoose? Yes, for over a year.

Pomplamoose reminds me of what Les Paul and Mary Ford were doing 60 years ago.

Pomplamoose went viral on YouTube and got so big, so fast they did Hyundai commercials.

Asteroids Galaxy Tour did this…

… and it was turned into a Heineken commercial I’ve seen on The Daily Show and The Colbert Report.
http://youtu.be/TLgetLmlggA

Still on the fringes, with no TV commercial to call their own, is Project: Pimento, a group that features a theramin. Thanks for the tip, tastewar.

The truth is out there…. waaay out there

Conspiracy theories abound, and all of them make me cover my ears and hum. Not because I don’t want to hear the “truth,” but because I don’t want to hear nonsense. Keith Allen, the father of Lily Allen, the bad girl of British Pop, has a documentary pushing the idea that Princess Diana was murdered by the Royal Family.

http://youtu.be/V5PFWc8DgFw

When has any conspiracy theory ever held up to serious examination? “Water-tight” cases were made that JFK was killed by Castro. No, wait. The Mob did it. Or was it really LBJ? Of course we didn’t actually go to the Moon. And 9/11 was an inside job. A current example is the so-called birther crowd. They demanded to see Obama’s full birth certificate from Hawaii, and when he produced it they declared it to be a fake.

Today’s Diane Rehm radio talk show featured author Jonathan Kay, who has written a book called Among the Truthers.

[audio:http://public.npr.org/anon.npr-podcasts/podcast/305/510071/136247861/WAMU_136247861.mp3|titles=Diane Rehm: Jonathan Kay ‘Among the Truthers’]

Where things get messy is with the Gulf of Tonkin and Saddam Hussein’s WMD. These have been proven to my satisfaction to have been hyped threats, with the intent of justifying military action. The problem is, from these facts people make the leap to saying that because the government has been deceitful in some instances, then FDR wanted Pearl Harbor to happen and a UFO really did crash in Roswell, New Mexico.

Barnes Newberry’s new show!

This just in from Boston-based DJ Barnes Newberry, whose radio show “Highway 61 Revisited” was part of my Saturday mornings for ten years:

RADIO NEWS! Thrilled to announce I will be on-air again very soon with my new show My Back Pages on mvyradio (mvyradio.com). Great station, fine music choices and terrific staff! Show will be Saturdays, 8 am -12 noon, available online only. All shows will be archived. Start date to be announced shortly. Please spread the word. If you were a fan of my old Highway 61 Revisited program, this will be right down your alley!

Thanks Barnes, this is great news! I’m looking forward to hearing you again. MVYradio.com is a great Internet radio station, and it has a high quality 96 Kbps audio stream. After you get started at the station I will become a member and send them some bucks in your name.