Rhapsody in Felt
Muppet Newsflash has the goods on the upcoming Muppet Show Season Two DVD box, set for release in August. One thing the post doesn’t mention is whether the “Muppet Morsels” from the season one box will also be used on this one. I hope so. Pop-up factoids are rare on TV show season sets, and the ones from season one (identifying puppeteers and providing info on the various guest hosts) were a ton of fun.
Book Review: Core Memory
I have a strange affinity for wall-sized computers in old movies. Banks of blinking lights and spinning reels of magnetic tape made for nice background scenery, but they’re nothing compared to the real stories behind those early, rare and expensive computers. These pioneering machines are explored in an unexpectedly sumptuous way via Core Memory: A Visual Survey of Vintage Computers.
This kind of book is a retro-computer geek’s dream come true, but for a layman like myself John Alderman’s text fills in the details and history on each machine wonderfully well. Mark Richards’ photography gets in deep and close, bringing out intriguing abstract patterns in the masses of transistors, buttons and chips (plus he gets a lot of mileage on how the internal wiring on many old machines resemble human veins). The photos also focus on the pieces’ humble, human aspects — be it the handwritten fire and police phone numbers on 1961′s SAGE computer or the funky plywood box housing Steve Wozniak’s original Apple from 1976. The end result is that these early computers are not as imposing as previously thought, but much more impressive in terms of what they did at the time.
This book also serves as a neat browse if only to check out how each computer’s design reflects the time it was made in. For instance, the Nippon NEAC 2203 from 1960 (pictured in the spread below) has the same clean and angular “Populuxe” look shared by cars from the same era. By the time we get to Digital’s DEC PDP-8 (pictured on the cover) of a few years later, muted tones have given way to a groovy palette of oranges, yellows and browns. I never thought I’d say this about an old computer, but trés chic.
The computers covered in this book range from interesting, short-lived failures (Honeywell’s Jetsons-esque Kitchen Computer) to popular classics (the Commodore 64). The only complaint I’d have is that many of the profiled machines don’t have a single, straightforward exterior view — just details. But that’s a small blemish on an otherwise fine book.
Core Memory was just published by Chronicle. Buy at Amazon here.
The Year We Made Contact
This trippy animated segment from PBS’s 3-2-1 Contact really wowed me as a kid. I used to watch these every day after school and (geek alert) draw pictures and write about the topics covered. Even after hours I was a good little student, damnit! Interestingly, the initial batch of sixty five 3-2-1 episodes were repeated from 1980-83 until the funds for a second season could be sufficiently raised. It is these early ones I remember best. Disappointingly, I couldn’t locate an episode of The Bloodhound Gang or its funky theme song on YouTube.
Mise en Scène
Been watching a lot of movies lately:
The Best of Youth (2003; DVD) — Not strictly a film but a six-hour Italian miniseries brought to two DVDs. This saga of two brothers’ intertwining lives from the 1960s onward takes a while to get into, but once it gets going one is rewarded with an absorbing story and fabulous performances all around. We’re currently two-thirds of the way through, and I can’t wait to see how it wraps up.
Playtime (1967; DVD) — As a longtime fan of Tati’s Mon Oncle, I eagerly awaited seeing this one. I wasn’t let down, but you have to know that Tati’s droll and visual sense of humor isn’t for everyone. Half an hour into the film, Christopher turned to me and said “Is this whole movie like this?” I’m afraid it was, but the monochromatic color scheme and deliberately dialogue-free soundtrack (Tati’s homage to silent comedy) had me spellbound. And that Midcentury Modern office building was bitchin’. The fact that it was all filmed on a huge, expensive set blows my mind. Pair up this and One from the Heart for an Expensively Gargantuan Set mini film fest. Here’s the iconic image of a baffled Tati looking over an ocean of pale green cubicles:
The Interns (1962; Turner Classic Movies) — TCM has been getting a lot of mileage out the Columbia film library lately. Having read about this all-star hospital soapster in the Bad Movies We Love book, I set the TiVo when it showed up a couple of weeks ago (I skipped the sequel, The New Interns). Actually it’s not that bad, compulsively watchable even, despite the dated and sexist script filled with unintentionally hilarious “hip” dialogue. Y’see, cast of young orderlies are all men, and all the young nurse trainees are women, and the story mostly concerns itself with the various romantic partnerships that evolve from these situations. Hospital? What hospital? The huge cast came across as generally competent; mostly it’s the boyish cuteness of co-stars Michael Callan and James MacArthur that I recall best (too bad they didn’t share a few love scenes). Callan’s side-splitting “freak out” in the hospital cafeteria is a must-see scene. My next two TCM viewings are the 1948 Dane Clark melodrama Whiplash and the 1941 Hal Roach b-musical Fiesta.
Mold-y Oldies
Nicely photographed vintage plastic items from the collection of Brazilian designer and flickr user Gerson Lessa. Gotta show this to the s.o., curator of PlasticLiving.com. If it was poured into a mold, he loves it.
Via the newly WordPressed Robot Action Boy.
