Listening to D-Day 75 Years Ago

Courtesy of The National WWII Museum

Today is the 75th anniversary of the D-Day invasion and the Battle of Normandy.  On this day in 1944 and the summer that followed, soldiers from all over the world came to Normandy to fight Nazism and re-establish freedom.

Over 425,000 Allied and German troops were killed, wounded or went missing during the Battle of Normandy. This figure includes over 209,000 Allied casualties.

Five years ago, for the 70th anniversary of D-Day, KFWB News 980 in Los Angeles was able to air recordings made of the station on the night of the D-day invasion.  The programs had not been heard in Los Angeles since they were broadcast live in 1944.

This first story describes the effort to restore these delicate pieces of broadcast history:

The second story describes the reactions of Los Angeles residents when news of the D-Day invasion reached them:

Paul Lowe

Both stories were broadcast on KFWB News 980 and feature the voice of my friend, the very talented Paul Lowe.

Mona Lisa’s Last Visit

Crowd inside the Metropolitan Museum views the “Mona Lisa.” Photo: Margaret Leslie Davis

I remember it was difficult to get close enough to see.  I wasn’t that old, and I didn’t have enough size to muscle my way through the crowd.  She was high up on a wall, higher than you’d expect to see a painting in a museum.  And she was in a bullet proof case.  But somehow, her sly smile shown through the thick glass. It was unmistakable, it was the Mona Lisa.

Continue reading “Mona Lisa’s Last Visit”

How a dark and incomprehensible Game of Thrones episode exposed the limits of streaming technology

​How did one of the most anticipated television events of the year turn into an incoherent anti-climax for viewers? What went wrong with the latest Game of Thrones episode? Did the creators of the show make a grave technical error or is this an illustration of the limits to streaming technology?

Source: newatlas.com

Stealing Gold from the Old Don of Rancho El Conejo

By Library Docent Volunteer Andy Ludlum

Don José De la Guerra y Noriega was known to everyone as “El Capitán.” He was already one of the richest men in California in 1822 when he petitioned the last Spanish governor to grant him one half of Rancho El Conejo.

Source: Museum of Ventura County

Update: Sick of those long paper receipts? California lawmakers are weighing a bill to ban them

4 1/2 foot CVS receipt received in December.

California lawmakers are mulling a bill that would require retailers and other businesses to give customers e-receipts by default, replacing the paper printouts that consume resources and are difficult to recycle. The bill will have its first hearing on Monday at 2 p.m.

Source: latimes.com

Rolling Stones’ ‘Circus,’ once lost and unfinished, will receive a theatrical release

John Lennon and Mick Jagger in “The Rolling Stones Rock and Roll Circus.” (ABKCO Films)

For over two decades, “The Rolling Stones Rock and Roll Circus” was a lost film, unfinished and unseen, more rumor than pop culture memory. Now, in time for the North American leg of the Stones’ ongoing No Filter Tour, “Circus” has been remastered for a limited U.S. theatrical run.

Source: latimes.com

Clean House to Survive? Museums Confront Their Crowded Basements

The Berkshire Museum drew protests when it announced a plan to sell art from its collection in 2017. Gillian Jones/The Berkshire Eagle, via Associated Press

With storage spaces filled with works that may never be shown, some museums are rethinking the way they collect art, and at least one is ranking what it owns.

Source: New York Times

Women’s Long Road to the Vote in Ventura County

By Library Docent Volunteer Andy Ludlum

In the 1896 statewide general election, national leaders saw California as a turning point, a chance to prove their movement could succeed beyond sparsely-populated Wyoming, Utah and Colorado, the only states at the time where women could vote.

Source: Museum of Ventura County