Hi-fi Repair TV Feng Shui

Over the years Mike has accumulated a variety of on-the-job tics. What is with that thing he does with the 24 minute count down timer? It's a tiny, digital and counts down from 24:00 to zero and then beeps. Press the bottom button and Mike gets to do it again. All. Day. Long. All I can think of is an electronic version of this:

"Like sands through the hourglass, so are the days of our lives."

Which brings us to tic #2, which is more like hi-fi repair feng shui: Mike has to watch his vintage tv shows while working. Evidently watching Ironsides is the perfect complement to re-capping a Marantz 2275. It is chronologically appropriate. One of the local Austin stations has filled the digital airwaves with vintage tv. It looks great, but for some reason the sound is way out of synch. Alias Smith and Jones with a 2 second sound lag is a bit tough to follow, but the picture sure is purty.

Which brings us to Emergency! Whenever nurse Dixie McCall (Julie London) appears on screen we all have to marvel that Jack Webb (Emergency! creator, who knew?) managed to successfully propose marriage to a knockout who could sell records on album covers alone. Here's Dixie and some guy...


One day I realized Bobby Troup played Dr. Joe Early, the guy above. Bobby Troup was a west coast jazz musician of note and actor who was Julie's husband after Jack Webb. I must say my opinion of Jack jumped a few notches on learning he gave the next hubby a very sweet gig on tv.

Here is Bobby singing his most famous composition:



I love it, but this will always be the definitive version of this song:



What an utterly graceful human being.

Tomorrow we will see NatKing Cole revealing another sort of grace...