Some weeks are slow, some are busy. This week is proving to be a busy one for lunchtime news chum. Today’s departments include “Dead TV People”, “Going, Going, Gone… But Then Again”, “Give ‘Em an Inch”, and “Crashing Down”:
- From the “Dead TV People” Department: To begin with, a few obituaries of note. The first is John. W. Kluge. You might not have heard of him, but you likely heard of his TV and Radio network: Metromedia. Metromedia, which out here in LA included such stations as KTTV-11 and the mighty “Met”, 94.7, was the first major independent broadcast entity. It’s television statements drew on what was left of the old Dumont network, and later provided the foundation of what is today the Fox network. Another notable TV death is Edwin Newman, an NBC journalist best known for his precision regarding the English language. Alas, it appears he never won the language battle. Lastly, I would be remiss if I didn’t note this is the one-year anniversary of the death of Mary Travers, part of Peter, Paul and Mary, one of my favorite folk groups.
- From the “Going, Going, Gone… But Then Again” Department: Two articles related to things that went away, but may be coming back. The first is the kaffiyeh, the head-scarf popularized by Yassir Arafat. You used to see Middle-East leaders wearing them all the time. Today… not that much, and it’s really hurting the family that made them. The other thing is swizzle sticks. After a long period of decline, swizzle sticks are making a comeback. My parents used to have a large collection of these; I still have quite a few from defunct and dead Las Vegas casinos.
- From the “Give ‘Em an Inch” Department: If you’ve ever driven in Arizona, you probably know I-19, the only highway in the US that is 100% metric. Well, the reflective signs on the highway are at the replacement point, and ADOT wants to return the highway to English units. However, locals along the highway want to keep it metric. An interesting read.
- From the “Crashing Down: As you know, I’m into theatre, and thus follow the announcement of new shows. However, something I saw in today’s news just made me do a double-take. As you know, there’s been this trend of turning movies into musicals. Some work. Some don’t. I’m sure we can all name examples in each category. There are quite a few of these movies-to-musicals that are Broadway-bound, such as “Sister Act”, “Spiderman”, “Priscilla: Queen of the Desert, and “Leap of Faith”. However, I’m not sure about the latest one: King Kong: The Musical. The musical will feature a score by Marius de Vries (Baz Luhrmann’s “Romeo + Juliet”) and a book by Craig Lucas (Prelude to a Kiss); de Vries will also arrange the period songs featured in the production. Daniel Kramer (Woyzeck at St. Ann’s Warehouse) will direct.
