Interesting choice of words in this headline to a report on The Farnsworth Invention as it prepares to open in Houston: Aaron Sorkin shows inventiveness with Farnsworth As director, how does Cromer maintain balance between the two adversaries? Does he strive not to throw the audience’s sympathy toward one or other? “I can’t think about […]
Not a whole lot to go here, but there is this: Director-actor David Cromer is taking a hiatus from the role in his acclaimed another production of Thornton Wilder’s classic to honor a regional directing commitment. He’s staging Aaron Sorkin’s The Farnsworth Disinformation at gangway Theatre in Houston.
A Play By Any Other Name Read More »
Steve Ballmer, Microsoft CEO, channels the Darth Vader of Communications History, invoking RCA's domination of television starting in the 1930s as a role model for his company's future research: But there’s a second part of the R.C.A. story that Mr. Ballmer neglected to mention. The company also owed its television dominance to a huge legal
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It think it was 1982 when the Post Office honored Philo T. Farnsworth with a commemorative stamp. The series of four also recognized Nikola Tesla, Edwin Armstrong, and Charles Steinmetz as forgotten pioneers of the electronics revolution. Now the service is going to reawake the Baby Boomers' collective memories with a series of stamps recalling
Vintage TV Recalled In 2009 Postage Stamps Read More »
Malcolm Gladwell is an author and cultural commentator of increasing influence, witness the success of his books "The Tipping Point," "Blink," and his latest, "Outliers." Blogger John Kelvie of takes Gladwell to task for some of his pithier observations , most notably his conclusion a a 2002 book review for the New Yorker that Philo
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There is a new "Statuary Hall" at the U.S. Capitol building in Washington. Each state gets to place two statues of its most deserving luminaries in the capitol. Utah's first statue was of Brigham Young (who else?) and after a state-wide referendum back in 1990, the state's second statue was dedicated to the inventor of
A New Home for Philo Read More »
Well, at least we know that Lucas knows about Farnsworth now: Last Friday, as the new Clone Wars series made its long-awaited debut, a new bronze was quietly installed without ceremony at Lucasfilm’s Presidio campus, sculpted by long-time Star Wars fan Lawrence Noble. … The subject of the latest bronze is Philo T. Farnsworth, inventor
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The release of the new movie "Flash of Genius" has brought the subject of How Inventors Always Get Screwed into the daily media diet. BTW, if you don’t know about Armstrong, you should read Lawrence Lessing’s (he’s not the Internet Lessig) 1956 biography, "Man of High Fidelity." The book is sadly out of print (old
“Flash of Genius” 2 – A Timely Reminder Read More »
Hmmm… where have we seen this story before? "Flash of Genius" reminded me of Aaron Sorkin’s ("The West Wing") terrific Broadway play "The Farnsworth Invention," about a rural boy genius who invents television, only to have the idea stolen by RCA. The film is, essentially, "Erin Brockovich" or "A Civil Action." There is no denying
…all brought to light in the Wall Street Journal: After months in the making, this morning’s Wall Street Journal offers a front page story featuring the "amateur fusion" community hosted here at fusor.net: Many of these hobbyists call themselves "fusioneers," and have formed a loosely knit community that numbers more than 100 world-wide. Getting into
Farnsworth Fusor, Grassroots Experiments… Read More »
