Archive for January 25th, 2010

Musical notes.

Monday, January 25th, 2010

The Hindu Love Gods album is now available from iTunes. I believe exactly two of my readers will find this significant.

Also, thanks to a tip from Caleb (yes, the Caleb of tactical coffee fame) on Tam’s site, I’m enjoying Kompressor’s World Domination. Especially “Kompressor Does Not Dance” and “Red Robot Theme Song”.

Obit watch.

Monday, January 25th, 2010

Pernell Roberts, star of Bonanza and Trapper John, M.D.

Interestingly, at the SDC we were discussing M*A*S*H spinoffs and Trapper John, M.D. came up. (When was the last time you thought about that show? And many people remember AfterMASH, but did you know about W*A*L*T*E*R, the bizarre failed spinoff?)

Also interestingly, Trapper John, M.D. is officially not a M*A*S*H spinoff:

Legally, the show is considered a spin-off of the original motion picture, MASH, rather than the M*A*S*H television series. This is due to a court case in which the producers of the television series sought royalty payments on the grounds that Trapper John, M.D. was a spin-off of their series. The court found, however, that the series was a spin-off of the original movie – itself an adaptation of H. Richard Hornberger’s MASH: A Novel About Three Army Doctors (published under the nom de plume, Richard Hooker). As a result, the series producers did not receive any royalties from Trapper John, M.D.

[Citation needed.] Seriously, if anyone knows more about the court case, I’d love to hear about it.

And I want to mention one of Pernell Roberts’ lesser works; yes, it was cheesy, and, yes, I have no taste, but I enjoyed FBI: The Unheard Music The Untold Stories.

Edited to add: NYT obit. Formal LAT obit.

Random notes: January 25, 2010.

Monday, January 25th, 2010

Our long national nightmare is over. Or just starting. US to lift 21-year ban on haggis. And just in time for Burns Night, too. (Hattip: Overlawyered.)

Philip K. Dick in Orange County. I don’t think there’s much new here for the serious Dick fan, but I do like the Tim Powers story that starts off the piece.

Covered elsewhere, but still worth linking: ESPN Ombudsman Don Ohlmeyer on the network and Mike Leach.

There’s an interesting story at the WP site about Rabbi Menachem Youlus, who specializes in rescuing Torahs lost in Europe during the Holocaust. But the Post article suggests that the stories Youlus tells may be somewhat exaggerated.

Nets watch: current winning percentage 0.070 (3-40).  That projects out to 5.74 wins for the 82 game season.