Brian Sibley‘s been busy! He has an 8-part series called The Musical running on BBC Radio 2, and his book Harry Potter Film Wizardry comes out in October.
Wall hugger
One of the towel racks in the master bathroom decided it no longer wanted to be attached to the wall. Nothing else has gone my way this week, but I vow to show that towel holder who’s boss, and I’ll do it with toggle bolts!
Teasing the Party
Cartoonist Ward Sutton shows what would happen if the Tea Party had influence over comic strips. Too bad he didn’t give Arlo and Janis a try.
A dish best served Colbert
I’d love to be at the Jon Stewart-Stephen Colbert rally in Washington, D.C., on October 30, but I don’t know yet if that will happen. Today, Colbert tickled some funny bones — and ruffled some feathers — by appearing on Capitol Hill before the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration, Refugees, and Border Security.
Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy
ROKU rev 2
ROKU claims to have sold about half a million of its streaming video players. I don’t know how many had sold by February of last year, but that was when I got mine.
I love my ROKU HD! The thing simply works, and it provides tremendous video — and radio — bang for the buck. At first it was for Netflix Watch Instantly, and that’s still true, but now I can also listen to all of the local Boston radio stations on Radiotime, as well as various podcasts, including NPR news and shows on MEdiafly; and I never miss HD Nation on Revision3, but I don’t watch HD Nation in HD, because the ROKU is attached via S-Video cable to my 12-year-old, 32-inch, 168 lb. (excluding custom stand), Sony 32XBR100 XBR2, that I vow to keep until it dies.
I hope the ROKU HD lasts as long as the venerable XBR2, because ROKU has introduced revised versions of its players, and none of them has S-Video. Will ROKU continue to lead the market for streaming set top boxes, against the new Apple TV? I’ll cast my vote by buying a ROKU XDS for use with the video projector.
Bing bags the big ball game
It’s not often there’s new Bing Crosby news! A few months back I talked about Bing Crosby’s involvement in the development of magnetic audio and video recording. Now it’s been revealed that the only complete recording of game 7 of the 1960 World Series has been found among Bing’s belongings, and it’s in perfect condition. You’ll find the story at this link.
The five-reel set, found in December in Crosby’s home, is the only known complete copy of the game, in which Pirates second baseman Bill Mazeroski hit a game-ending home run to beat the Yankees, 10-9. It is considered one of the greatest games ever played.
It’s ironic, however, that Bing hired an outfit to record the game on Kinescope, rather than videotape, because he helped bankroll the technology’s development at Ampex.