Thursday, February 16, 2017

And It Continues (Also, Television)

     I'm figuring Tam's ailment for some strain of flu -- some strain that the flu shot I got may have conferred some protection against.  She doesn't seem to be having the kind of horrific sinus drainage my cold of a few weeks ago was causing, and has been achy, chilled and exhausted for several days now, with a persistent cough.

     Whatever it is, it is very clearly No Damned Fun At All, and about her only consolation is the weather.  Yesterday was about as cold as it's going to be for the next week, and even then it was as sunny and cheerful a day as could be wished for, especially in February.

* * *
     On the recommendation of multiple friends, I have been watching the series Better Off Ted.  Highly amusing, especially if you happen to be working for a Large Soulless Corporation (or even a small one).  I'd like to pretend the absurdities of Ted's workplace are new to me, but a lot of the fun is watching some of the familiar daily madness get played all the way through. 

* * *
     One other wonderful treat: on my way to work yesterday, the college radio station I listen to -- a rare non-NPR noncommercial station that alternates classical and jazz -- played the entire overture to Rossini's The Barber of Seville.  While I can't quite say it is the most fun you can have at the wheel of moving automobile in city traffic, it certainly comes very close.  Thank you, Bugs Bunny, Chuck Jones, Michael Maltese and Carl Stalling!  --And you, too, Mr. Rossini.   (Of course, I was listening to it again after hunting up links; I put on headphones when Tam came into the office, but she stopped me and said, "Oh, don't, I was liking the music!")

10 comments:

Blackwing1 said...

Two of the very best Bugs Bunny cartoons, "The Rabbit of Seville" and "What's Opera, Doc?". With regard to the latter, I once heard a classical music station play only the soundtrack of the cartoon...you could envision every action, right down to Bugs' helmet clinking down the long stairway as he's revealed to be a (gasp!) rabbit to Elmer. "Spear and magic HELMET!"

I just CANNOT hear any of those pieces of music without seeing the 'toons in my head.

JayNola said...

I'll have to check out Better off Ted. Sounds like it'll have something in common with Dilbert and Idiocracy, not as funny as it might be since you've been there.

Fuzzy Curmudgeon said...

Better Off Ted is a flippin' riot.

pigpen51 said...

Some soul less corporation. I thought all corporations were soul less. At least in my limited experience. The bigger they get, the more heartless they become. I suppose that it is how business is run now days, but it is a shame that corporations feel that they have to be ruthless to get ahead of the competition. I wish it were not so, if it is true. And may the good fairy of health make a stop at the cottage soon.

CGHill said...

This is, I guess, WICR 88.7?

Joe said...

That is by far my favorite Bugs cartoon

Roberta X said...

Well-researched, Charles! :) We're hurtin' for public radio around here -- a clutch of high school stations, a cluster of centrally-programmed NPR clones, and WICR. Commercial radio offers only sporadic experiments away from the usual fare: we've had a couple of jazz stations and one classical, none of which lasted.

pigpen51 said...

Our NPR built a tall tower just outside of our small town, and it used to bleed into the local Catholic church sound system. At my grandmother's funeral, we heard jazz music during the priest's service. It was a hoot, God rest her soul.

Rick T said...

Carl Stalling was a genius, being able to boil the Ring Cycle down to 7 minutes!

If you have the data bandwidth KUSC (91.5 FM) is a 100% classical station with streaming support from kusc.org (including a smartphone app).

It is based in Los Angeles at USC but is completely non-political (or as much as is humanly possible) and it is all music 24 hours a day, no breaks to NPR for news. They rattle the cup around 3 times a year and there are some 'support' announcements but they are pretty rare and understated.

It isn't an automated station either, there are live DJs, plus they simulcast the Metropolitan Opera on Saturdays.

Roberta X said...

Rick, I'll check them out!

One of the greatest moments in animation music was when the remarkably talented arranger Stalling discovered Warner Brothers held the film rights to a lot of the brilliant Raymond Scott's catalog. IMO, it was a Heaven-sent match!