Weekend Digest: The American Bandstand Edition

For our weekend business and political readers:

THE MOST SUCCESSFUL MUSICAL PROGRAM IN HISTORY
It started locally in Philadelphia and spread across the nation. Hosted by the late Dick Clark, “American Bandstand” was on the air for more than three decades.

Local Philadelphia station WFIL-TV Channel 6 started broadcasting the first version of “Bandstand” in 1952. The idea was to display teenagers on camera dancing to music by popular artists. He (Clark) relentlessly pitched the show to ABC executives to fill a programming hole for the station. Clark convinced them, and the show was renamed “American Bandstand” for its national debut on August 5, 1957.

All DAY has posted a chronology of “Bandstand” from its beginnings to the modern day era. Take a look at classic photos and find out how Dick Clark, who was originally the stand-in for the show, got the permanent gig after the original host ran afoul of the law by clicking this link.

SIRI IS GETTING AROUND
You know her voice. She’s always there for you. She comforts and helps you. She’s such a good listener, and really smart. For late model iPhone users, Siri is your gal pal. Now, she may have a new venture.

…a new patent application published Thursday suggests that Apple’s looking to go much further when it comes to having users talk to their Macs.

The Intelligent Digital Assistant In A Virtual Environment application was filed February 4 this year, and describes a Mac-based Siri every bit as smart as its mobile iOS counterpart.

How will it work and when could Siri arrive for Mac users?  Go to this link for the scoop from Cult of Mac.

MOMMY MOGUL
Forbes describes it as “their personal brand around their experiences as a mother.” Hollywood moms marketing that experience to major endorsements, reality shows, and websites.

But of all the “mommy moguls,” Forbes reports one rises above all the rest: Jessica Alba.

The 33 year-old actress, who this month stars in “Sin City: A Dame to Kill For,” co-founded The Honest Company, a line of non-toxic, eco-friendly products with Christopher Gavigan in 2012 as an e-commerce site.

The company started by selling diapers online but has expanded to include a full line of organic baby and personal care products as well as household items like detergent and stain remover. In its first year, the business raked in $12 million in sales which jumped to $60 million in 2013. The Honest Company is projected to do $100 million this year.

Go inside the burgeoning empire Alba has created and actually runs herself with a staff of 250 by following this link.

CODING BOOTCAMP
If you can learn to write computer code, employment in a booming market can be assured. And why not start as young as possible. Fast Company reports Flatiron School in New York has prepped a 12-week program to teach high school students coding skills.

Taught at Flatiron’s downtown campus, the curriculum includes 48 hours of instruction on JavaScript, HTML5, CSS3, Ruby, and other web technologies.

Students can choose between two courses to fit their schedules: classes that meet for four hours once a week, or classes that meet for two hours twice a week.

How much can graduates of this school expect to make?  Go to this link to find out.

‘THEY LOVED NIXON AND THEN THEY HATED HIM’
POLITICO Magazine is referring to the national press corps, who began covering Richard Nixon when he was a freshman congressman.

Understand that, and Nixon’s implosion makes sense. It’s a media story, in more ways than one. First, there’s the largely forgotten opening chapter: Nixon’s spectacular rise – he went from House freshman to the vice presidency in just six years – was built on exceptionally favorable notices in the press.

“As typically American as Thanksgiving,” the Washington Times Herald raved, after Nixon was elected to Congress. “If he bears out his promise, he will go far.” Then the media turned on him, and helped the Democrats drive him from office.

In both fueling Nixon’s early career – and then destroying him later – members of the press abandoned professed standards of objectivity. And Nixon’s innate wariness, in turn, evolved into arrant hatred. In the end, this dysfunctional relationship helped fuel a national tragedy. It put the country on the road to Watergate.

For a fascinating read, POLITICO Magazine takes you along that tragic road at this link.

REAGAN’S PRESS SECRETARY JAMES BRADY DIES AT 73
Shot in the head and gravely wounded during the 1981 assassination attempt of President Ronald Reagan, James S. Brady passed away this past week.

The Washington Post reports that after the shooting Brady “became an enduring symbol of the fight against unfettered access to guns in American society.”

Mr. Brady remained an influential presence in the gun-control debate decades after the attack, which left him partially paralyzed. He and his wife, Sarah, often described as the “first family” of gun control, battled six years for passage of legislation that in 1993 ushered in background checks for handguns bought from federally licensed dealers.

For more on “the often-irreverent press secretary to President Ronald Reagan,” go to this link.

A SAD TALE GETS WORSE
Slate reports that the federal corruption trial of former Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell and his wife Maureen is “no longer just a story of greed and craven opportunism.”

Now it’s a still life of a ruined marriage. And it stands in rather dramatic contrast to the sacred and pure vision of government-sanctioned marriage and family that McDonnell famously proffered in his 1989 master’s thesis at Regent University and with his career-long posture as a family-values candidate and fiscally conservative public servant.

Instead of talking about public corruption and access to power, we are going to spend the next four weeks wallowing in the murk of the McDonnells’ sham marriage.

So what will the couple’s surprising defense be?  For a trial preview, follow this link.

SENATOR JOHN WALSH GIVES UP HIS RACE
Incumbent Montana Democratic Senator John Walsh announced on Thursday that he is dropping out of the race for his seat.

…cutting short a brief Senate career marred by accusations of plagiarism and dealing a blow to Democrats’ already-grim chances of keeping the spot.

Walsh will stay in the Senate through the end of his term, which ends in early January. But he said the plagiarism revelations had “become a distraction” from the debate Montanans deserved to hear in the race.

For the complete story and analysis from POLITICO, click on this link.

MONKEY SEE, MONKEY DO
A selfie that is, and a darn good one. But wait a minute, who has the copyright…the monkey or the photographer whose equipment the crested black macaque snuck off with and then took the shot of herself?

You see somebody uploaded the shot to Wikipedia and photographer David Slater asked that it be taken down claiming he owned the copyright.  Wikipedia said no because the monkey took the shot.

It all begs a very important question (one that could very well show up in law school final exams for years to come): Who actually owns the copyright to the photograph the monkey took of herself with Slater’s camera?

Find out how Fast Company tried to solve the answer to this dilemma, how all this really happened, and what new angle Slater is now claiming by trying not to laugh while you click this link.

BIGGER AND MEANER SHARKS
What would the newest edition of Discovery Channel’s 27th annual Shark Week be without more ravenous, huge sharks?

It’s become a big social media topic leading up to Sunday nights kickoff broadcast at 7 p.m. But wait, besides all the hype and anticipation, some see a real problem to the show.

… to George Burgess, director of the Florida Program for Shark Research in Gainesville, the Shark Week frenzy is a double-edged sword.

“I’m kind of disappointed, and I think most researchers are, too. It obviously is a big draw, but I’m afraid that the programs have gone more to entertainment and less to documentary over the years. It’s kind of a shame, because they have the opportunity to teach good stuff in what’s going on with science.”

“Science/scmience…bring on the beasts!”, most watchers scream. What’s your stand?  Check out the pro’s and con’s from USA Today at this link.