[David Herrick]

On a per-second basis, this is the most impressive flight I’ve ever seen:

First Video of NASA’s Ingenuity Mars Helicopter in Flight, Includes Takeoff and Landing (High-Res) – YouTube

[David Herrick]

I can think of a million things, but this is probably the one that started it all for me:

The Bugaloos (1970) Fly Away With Us – YouTube

[David Herrick]

Here are the milestone predictions for the next month or so:

Morning Has Broken: 600,000 views on January 5th

Here Comes the Sun: 400,000 views on January 5th

Sunshine Superman: 200,000 views on January 28th

You Really Got Me: 200,000 views on January 31st

People Are Strange: 500,000 views on February 4th

Tired of Waiting: 100,000 views on February 5th

[David Herrick]

Here are the numbers for December. All data are averaged over the period from December 3rd through January 2nd, except for Pretty Little Thing and Reacting to Our First Music Videos, which are for just the last three days, and Junk, which is for just the last day.

.

simultaneous views:

1) Please Mr. Postman / Wipe Out: C = 11.12 (-0.75)

2) Drive My Car (2012): C = 4.47 (+0.84)

3) While My Guitar Gently Weeps: C = 3.55 (-0.28)

4) Reacting to Our First Music Videos: C = 2.80 (new)

5) Here Comes the Sun: C = 2.23 (-0.57)

6) You Can’t Do That: C = 2.03 (+0.17)

7) Wish You Were Here: C = 1.81 (-0.77)

8) I Saw Her Standing There: C = 1.72 (-0.33)

9) When I’m Sixty-Four: C = 1.65 (-0.07)

10) Nowhere Man: C = 1.61 (+0.34)

11) Vincent: C = 1.53 (-0.38)

12) If I Fell: C = 1.49 (-0.21)

13) Africa: C = 1.46 (-0.23)

14) This Boy: C = 1.30 (+0.11)

15) Day Tripper: C = 1.28 (-0.05)

16) Twist and Shout (w/ Mike Sweeney): C = 1.21 (-0.06)

17) Sound of Silence: C = 1.10 (-0.12)

18) Money (That’s What I Want): C = 1.08 (-0.94)

19) Junk: C = 1.07 (new)

20) Till There Was You: C = 1.06 (-0.13)

.

views per day:

1) Please Mr. Postman / Wipe Out: V = 3923 (-263)

2) Drive My Car (2012): V = 2312 (+436)

3) While My Guitar Gently Weeps: V = 1120 (-89)

4) You Can’t Do That: V = 934 (+80)

5) Here Comes the Sun: V = 916 (-236)

6) When I’m Sixty-Four: V = 814 (-35)

7) I Saw Her Standing There: V = 731 (-141)

8) Nowhere Man: V = 717 (+151)

9) Junk: V = 683 (new)

10) If I Fell: V = 676 (-94)

11) Till There Was You: V = 560 (-69)

12) Day Tripper: V = 557 (-25)

13) This Boy: V = 552 (+46)

14) Wish You Were Here: V = 536 (-228)

15) Vincent: V = 517 (-128)

16) Twist and Shout (w/ Mike Sweeney): V = 498 (-23)

17) Please Please Me: V = 479 (-33)

18) Sound of Silence: V = 466 (-47)

19) I’m Looking Through You: V = 451 (-59)

20) In My Life: V = 438 (+31)

.

Most videos dropped a little in viewership in December, which probably isn’t unexpected for such a busy month. We’ll see what the new year holds in store!

[David Herrick]

Impressive, Jung! You posted your message during the first minute of 2023 in Liverpool.

Happy New Year to everyone in the club! “Let’s hope it’s a good one, without any fear.”

[David Herrick]

Averaged over the past week, Pretty Little Thing is at V = 58 and C = 0.07, and Reacting to Our First Music Videos is at V = 281 and C = 3.50.

The December report should be ready by early Tuesday or Wednesday.

[David Herrick]

Here are some recent stats for Junk:

For December 24th, V = 19659 and C = 30.7. For December 25th, V = 8046 and C = 12.6. For December 26th, V = 5687 and C = 8.89. For December 27th, V = 3019 and C = 4.72. And for December 28th, V = 2825 and C = 4.41.

[David Herrick]

Star Wars was the first non-cartoon movie I ever saw at a theater. What sold me on it was in the opening scene, when the enemy ship passed overhead at the top of the screen, and you just kept becoming more and more cognizant of its enormity. That powerful sense of “you are there” set the stage for the much more astounding climactic trench run scene.

A couple of years ago I came across a YouTube video of the trench scene synchronized with someone’s surreptitious audio recording made in the theater in 1977. People in the audience actually cheered and applauded when Han showed up, and when the death star exploded. When’s the last time you experienced something like that in a movie theater?

[David Herrick]

Hey, Juergen!

Yeah, Wikipedia’s entries are never as much fun as what you can get person-to-person.

The Bugaloos was a children’s TV show about teenage British insect people (yes, you read that right) living in Tranquility Forest and making gentle music together, but they constantly had to ward off the attacks of an evil would-be recording star who was jealous of their talents.

I’ve come to view the show as one of the last gasps of 60’s pop culture. The world had started to move on from peace, love, and flowers, so the purveyors of hippie entertainment began sharing their message with the only audience that hadn’t heard it: little kids like me.

I really think one of the main reasons I latched onto 60’s music in the 80’s was because much of it reminded me of the Bugaloos songs I had heard as a young child and long ago forgotten. The series was re-broadcast in the 90’s, and it all came back to me.

[David Herrick]

When my brain can’t think, I consult Wikipedia.

Ottawa’s luminaries also include Tom Green, Lorne Greene, Rich Little, Norm Macdonald, Sandra Oh, Matthew Perry, and Justin Trudeau.

[David Herrick]

Thanks, Dave! On this thread, V means the average number of views per day for a given video, and C means the average number of people viewing the video at any given time. The S number was a less accurate version of C that I started out with but later abandoned.

[David Herrick]

Wow, that’s amazing, Juergen! I guess I’ve been living with my head in the sand, because I didn’t even know that drone shows were a thing. What an incredible marriage of aeronautics and computer programming!

[David Herrick]

Those areas look charming, JP!

My mom grew up about an hour from Cairo, Illinois, where they also pronounce it “care-oh”.

I suspect every state in the U.S. has at least one town where the locals can snicker at how visitors pronounce the name. I grew up one county over from Versailles, KY, which is pronounced “ver-sales”. And driving through various places with the radio tuned to local stations, I’ve learned that Berlin, NH rhymes with “Merlin”, and that Gallipolis, OH is “gal-ih-police”.

My grandfather once worked at a gas station about half an hour from Tamaroa, IL, pronounced “tam-uh-row-uh”. He was very confused one day when a customer asked him how to get to tomorrow.

[David Herrick]

You’re right about New Classic, JP. High Point considers itself to be the furniture capital of the world, and most of the big downtown buildings are associated with that industry.

[David Herrick]

Yeah, well, you can hide some sins from a couple hundred meters up. But thanks for the endorsement! Your town looks really nice too, especially with the cool topography in the background.