[: neon :] NewEnglandOnlineNetwork

Jerry Lewis, Sammy Davis, Jr., Peter Lawford, Bill Cosby & Anthony Newley

Our nation's rich entertainment history, thanks to the Internet, YouTube & DVDs

This week, a couple of my wife's work friends from recent past drove up from New York City to spend a few days together playing tourist here in Boston. I was invited to join them, but could only connect for dinner Thursday night.

As expected, the conversation was terrific. But Kathleen, a divorced mother of two great kids whom she adores and talks about constantly - - - without boring her friends - - - brought up Jerry Lewis and the fact that she introduced his films to her kids, who loved them enough to want them in their DVD collections. She and I then began talking about our favorite scenes as we each connected the name of the film to that scene.

It was then I happily realized that if not for the Internet, if not for YouTube, DVDs and mothers like Kathleen, our best artists, our best films, would be lost to all subsequent generations. And if we were still living in the world I grew up in where we had to wait for a re-release to the theaters to re-visit them, then those shared moments Kathleen had with her kids would never have been possible.

So, in the spirit of educating subsequent generations, we at [: neon :] will continue to re-introduce the greats from our nation's entertainment past.

The video below is an episode from Hugh Hefner's Playboy after Dark, circa 1969. And uh, forget it, it's Family Rated, with the great Sammy Davis, Jr. front and center as guest, comedian Bill Cosby, songwriter/singer Anthony Newley and two surprise drop-in guests, Rat Pack member Peter Lawford and Jerry Lewis himself, giving us a perfect sense of the "cool and groovy" world of Hollywood at the end of the 1960s. I think there's also a quick shot of another Rat Pack member as well, comedian Joey Bishop.

Oh, and watch for one of them to actually use the word "groovy" in a serious, for-real sentence a couple of times.

Enjoy.

NBC/NFL streaming "Sunday Night Football" over the web? It's about time!

With all of the extras that NBC and the NFL have planned for each game, who could resist?

Yes it's about time, and in more ways than one, but coming sometime this Fall, it looks like you'll be able to watch Sunday Night Football over the web.

NEW YORK -- NBC and the NFL will stream online the complete "Sunday Night Football" season, the first time a complete NFL game has ever been available on the Web in the United States.

"Sunday Night Football Extra," as it's being called, will offer the Al Michaels/John Madden audio stream as well as additional camera angles, the ability to watch multiple video streams and in-game highlights. It will begin with the Thursday night opening night, which will be televised on NBC.

For those of us who see the web not only as the new frontier for programming but as the eventual destination for all programming, and even if it looks like they won't be streaming the games LIVE just yet, we're still thrilled with this programming decision.

However, a key element to successful, online television-style programming is respect for the short form, and no sporting event like Sunday Night Football will fit that mold. But what will work will be the variety of self-controlled, on-demand instant replays and different angles that will be available along with any other fan-centric, fan-controlled video technologies.

Really looking forward to it even though it would be so much better streamed LIVE, but then again, it's such a significant first step, we can live with it for now.

we invite you to email us your comments

Facing a potential $3 billion, 3-year delay with no major tenants committed, reconstructing the World Trade Center may need a Trump-like leader

REVIEW

Here in New England, we neither get to see nor hear much about the rebuilding of the World Trade Center site in lower Manhattan, home to the 9/11 tragedy we'll never allow to be forgotten.

Coming upon this 3+ minute video from The Wall Street Journal served to not only better inform us as to the factual progress, but also drew our attention to whatever visual or physical progress has been made that might not be captured by the naked eye.

What was particularly compelling and disturbing at the same time was that no major tenants have signed more than a non-binding Letter of Intent to occupy space in one of the new towers - in addition to a potential delay that will cost three years and more than $3 billion.

Look carefully at some of the raw construction footage in the video below and listen (and see) for how many stories down into the earth they're having to excavate in order to establish the proper footings for reconstruction - and see if you don't come away with the same awe that we did as to the incomprehensible enormity of this endeavor.

But see if you also agree that this project appears to need the experience of someone like Donald Trump - or at least the passion and necessary bravado to bring attention and demand to the brand   - rather than looking like they may have to beg for tenants.

The street: a musician's last (only?) venue

REVIEW

Here in Boston, on our subway called The "T," there was an attempt last year by the MBTA (Massachusetts Bay Transit Authority) to pipe music into the stations, which would have ostensibly driven, forced, left no room for the street musicians that occasionally grace our platforms. But as it turns out, there was such an outcry of support for these musicians, the MBTA scrapped the idea . . . and the musicians stayed.

Continuing on the theme of places for music to be heard and for venues to perform in, the greed and pernicious myopia of General Managers and Program Directors of local radio stations nationwide - especially their Jurassic hesitation to step into the new broadcast technologies of the 21st century - have successfully diminished the importance and impact of  the radio industry, which for years served to both entertain and educate us with an incredible array of musical styles and tastes that were once available across the dial.

And when you consider the ever-shrinking number of local LIVE music clubs/venues still open in cities across America - no longer being supported/patronized as they have been in decades past - it quickly becomes apparent how few places there really are for talented musicians to go to be seen or heard . . except to the street.

So we wanted to pre-showcase this extraordinary musician, not only because he so brilliantly plays the guitar, not only because of his courage and dedication to overcome a seemingly enormous personal challenge - he can only play the guitar with his feet - but because he also inspired us to shine a small spotlight on the cultural damage we're doing to our nation when music's only place to turn . . . is the street.

But then again, and considering the alternative, thank goodness we still have that.

OK, you think George Soros is so smart, let's see him try this!

This is one smart pooch - and he steers too.

Honey, will you go whale watching with me?

We live by the water here in Massachusetts, just south of the beautiful City of Boston, and we're constantly out and about in, on and around, yup, the water.

And without question, we love it.

But we each have been on the ocean, the sea, the water when Mother Nature wasn't so kind and calm, and unfortunately can totally relate to the video below.

See if you too don't feel extreme pity for the poor passengers stuck on this ferry as it encounters rough seas - as viewed from what appears to be a rescue helicopter standing by.

Rough Cruise - Celebrity bloopers here

Birthday Suit on Funny or Die: creative funny goes online

We had heard about the website, Funny or Die, being connected to former SNL comedian Will Ferrell and hadn't remembered to check it out prior, that is, until we came across this video from Funny or Die through a different video search.

Excellent, full-production value, they've clearly invested a great deal in the endeavor, as this blogger reviewed:

Will Ferrell and Adam McKay do some funny work and a little over a year ago they collaborated with Michael Kvamme, an aspiring young comedian, to create the website Funny or Die.

It’s a huge catalog of videos from people around the country, some trying to be funny and some actually succeeding. It is, essentially, a YouTube for comedy only. Individuals and groups perform sketches or write very short films and upload them here to get attention. The videos range from twenty seconds to fifteen minutes. So, since we all waste time on the Internet looking for funny or bizarre videos, Funny or Die is another site to add to the list.

A thought did come to mind that this particular video below could/would be an excellent tool to impress your Sales Staff to neither assume nor expect anything when dealing with clients . . . but odds are as well that in today's climate of Political Correctness, you'll probably also have to defend yourself as to why you're showing a sexy something in the workplace while also insisting that you're not encouraging workplace romance or infidelity.

Enjoy, nevertheless.

To Commemorate Father's Day: how to clean a Men's Urinal - in Japan

One of our favorite tech sites/blogs is Engadget and tonight, well, now it's early Sunday morning, just before hitting the sheets, I came across this video of a men's urinal being cleaned in a public Rest Room somewhere in Japan.

Nothing so special about that, you say.

Au contraire, meatloaf breath, there is something very special, since it's being cleaned automatically by a device the housekeeper rolled up and locked in place, affectionately(?) referred to as the elephant.

My only question was, who does the floor?

Happy Father's Day, Dad. Love you a lot.

Apple's SDK for iPhone2: unquestionable genius that too many have overlooked

Green-eyed monsters notwithstanding, why aren't more people impressed with how Apple is helping developers?

REVIEW

UPDATE: 06/11/08 7:05 p.m.
I've just finished reading Tom Yager's blog post review of the iPhone2 on InfoWorld (06/10/08) and it was just an outstanding piece that more than adequately summarized and analyzed iPhone2's current strengths and weaknesses - as well as its competitors' strengths and weaknesses both now and into the foreseeable future. As you read it, see if you too don't see him slip between praise and admiration to frustration, especially when discussing those unfulfilled requests he opines as remaining unanswered by Apple. But also make it a point to learn from the many reader comments that were subsequently posted, 'cause as expected, they too do an outstanding job of enlightening. However, where I was most impressed (of course, he says humbly) was where he seemed to take the position on Apple's SDK objectives I've described below, when he says: There are already gorgeous new handsets out from HTC and BlackBerry, but as Apple's strategy shows, a mobile empire is not built with a device. It takes software, committed developers and accessible, comprehensive services covering the range from consumers to enterprises.

* * * * * * * * *

For those of you who are also into this, I watched the Apple WWDC 2008 Conference in its entirety last night, right alongside Mrs. Head Geek who was equally into the awesome presentation.

Suffice it to say that after reading most of the criticisms in the press along with all of the expressed disappointments, Apple's SDK (Software Developers Kit) is such an incredible advance in software development, offering such outstanding drag-and-drop freedom to the creatives (developers) that I can't figure out why more wasn't, hasn't, isn't being written about it.

What Apple has done is to help unleash the creative and entrepreneurial minds of developers - amateurs and professionals alike - to concentrate on their concepts coming to fruition (for the iPhone2, of course) rather than worrying about hundreds and hundreds of lines of code that they would have otherwise had to write.

I'm certainly not a developer - as in code writer - but as I understood it, as you develop your application, you can (1) choose to include Apple-supplied tracking (as in GPS) functionality, (2) choose to simulate your new app on a screen-based iPhone2 for layout and functionality, and then (3) in an almost finale, synch it with your real iPhone (via your Mac) on the spot, to name just a few!

That may not mean much to some of you, and as consumers, some might say, big deal, so what, what does that mean for me?

But I get it.

I get what Apple wants to do.

Supporting this creative incubation known as SDK (fully underwritten by Apple) will indeed yield extraordinary results, many of which will become new parts of our lives . . . and we will ask, once again, how we ever lived without them.

That's how you prepare for the future, by providing for and helping the now.

P.S. - Those who've sold off Apple stock since Monday can only be called foolish, although saltier words do come to mind.