Beatles Rotator

I recently played my big sister’s original American copy of the 1966 Beatles album Revolver.* It’s in mono, and I was surprised by how good it sounds, considering the damage it endured. Here’s ‘Good Day Sunshine’.

Monitoring the playback with Audacity, I was impressed with how dynamic the sound is. There’s no compression going on here.

For comparison, here is the official online copy of the song.

Looking at the peaks, some loudness compression was apparently added to the recording. The 2009 mono Beatles set reportedly was transferred from the master tapes with dynamic range left intact, so perhaps this is a YouTube effect.

Okay, so let’s find out. What about ‘Good Day Sunshine’ when played from the Beatles 2009 CD mono box set? No loudness compression is confirmed.

* A 60-year-old record on a 50-year-old turntable, with a 30-year-old cartridge and a relatively new stylus.

Cover Charge

In 2009, original comic book art dealer Mike “Romitaman” Burkey offered this page to me for only $35,000. It’s the cover to Tales of Suspense #93, the first issue of that title I bought as a kid.

DOuG pRATt holding the original art for the cover of TOS #93

The timing for such an expensive investment wasn’t good, however, as I would soon be facing college expenses. So, I had to decline the offer.

What is the piece worth today? I said “only” $35,000, because on May 8 it sold on Heritage Auctions for $90,625.

https://comics.ha.com/itm/original-comic-art/covers/gene-colan-and-frank-giacoia-tales-of-suspense-93-iron-man-cover-original-art-marvel-1967/a/7466-92007.s#

The Color of Wasted Money

There’s no getting rid of the slime. $14.2 million dollars spent for nothing. A fitting allegory for everything in the Trump administration.

Trump Ordered ‘American Flag Blue’ for the Reflecting Pool. It’s Green Again.

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/06/15/climate/reflecting-pool-algae-green.html?unlocked_article_code=1.qlA.tqs1.nxcnmEfd8xgv&smid=url-share

The Kitsune Channel

I was a first generation Roku customer. Being the sixth company founded by Anthony Wood, he named it the Japanese word for six.

My second generation Roku player on top of my first generation model

Today, I have two Roku sticks and Amazon’s me-too product, the Fire TV stick. (Fire TV has two technical advantages — there is an optional external Ethernet adapter, and the remote can control home theater receivers.)

With today’s announcement, Roku will no longer be the company it was. What’s the Japanese word for fox?

Roku is being bought out by Fox for $22 billion

https://9to5google.com/2026/06/15/roku-is-being-bought-out-by-fox-for-22-billion/