Thursday, July 31, 2008

Go Click!

Devlin Thompson called my attention to this treasure: In 1969, ABC (briefly) aired a music-variety show that was supposed to feature the hottest current musical acts and some new, young comedians. Music Scene didn't last long but the WFMU blog has posted video clips of the last episode, co-hosted by David Steinberg and, of all people, Groucho Marx. This is well worth a few of your clicks.

• Posted at 7:35 PM · LINK

Even More Highly Recommended Reading

And speaking of The New Yorker, I should link to the piece by Seymour Hersh which describes efforts to get us to war with Iran. Those efforts reportedly included discussions of the U.S. faking some incident that would make it look like Iranians attacked us. Yeah, like we ever need a reason to go to war.

• Posted at 4:45 PM · LINK

Recommended Reading

Here's an article I've waited a long time to read. Charles Van Doren was a big winner on the famously-rigged TV game program, Twenty-One. The Robert Redford movie, Quiz Show, was mainly about him. For years, people have told the story of Professor Van Doren and dramatized and fictionalized it but he steadfastly declined to speak for himself. He wouldn't give interviews. He declined all offers to write the story from his perspective.

But now he has. In the current New Yorker, he tells the tale...and I tend to believe his account. Since almost everyone involved is deceased, it would not have been difficult for him to spin some aspects of it to be more favorable to him. He does not do this — nor does he argue as some have that the "scandal" was way overblown — leading me to trust the accuracy of what he writes.

• Posted at 3:52 PM · LINK

Go Read It!

Memories from the Peanut Gallery on the old Howdy Doody show. Thanks to Barry Mitchell for letting me know about it.

• Posted at 2:59 PM · LINK

Today's Video Link

This is great. We're all fans of Tom Lehrer here, right? Of course. And so you're probably familiar with a song he wrote and recorded called "New Math." In it, Mr. Lehrer — a mathematician by trade — explained that cumbersome way of handling numbers in the sixties. Well, in this clip, he was in London performing on The Frost Report starring David Frost, and he came up with a nice variation on "New Math" to explain the frightening conflict of U.S. and British currency. Have a look 'n' listen...

• Posted at 12:12 AM · LINK