Film and television composer Earle H. Hagen died at the age of 88 on Monday.
I caught the blurb on http://www.cnn.com/ and was fascinated to find that Hagen was the composer (and "whistler") of the beloved theme music for The Andy Griffith show.
Hagen performed with all sorts of swing bands, scored a lot of hit TV shows and was even nominated for an Oscar for his work in a Marilyn Monroe film.
I found the entire story so interesting. I wasn't aware of Hagen, but was intrigued at the idea of a man being so successful, so honored within his own field, and yet virtually unknown to the world at large.
The end of the article referenced Hagen's literary accomplishments - two or three books on film scoring and a memoir.
Hagen's memoir sounded like a great read, so I flew over to http://www.half.com/. The site is owned by Ebay. It's not an auction site, though. Folks post what they're selling...you find the price and the conditions you want and you buy. (Lots of folks use it to get rid of college textbooks, I think.) And what did half.com, this amazing online bargain center, ask for Hagen's book?
$110.
$110.
Can you believe that? I thought there must be some mistake. I mean, sure, a hardcover is great and all, but...
$110?
Since I don't have a hundred bucks laying around for film composer memoirs, I went where we all go in the end. Amazon.
$32.99.
A better deal, but still too high. And then I realized what this means...
When I die, copies of All The Freed are going to sell for $95 each.
Anybody want to go ahead give me their hundred now?
Friday, May 30, 2008
Thanks, Ebay
Posted by Todd Wright at 10:00 AM
Labels: books, earle hagen, ebay, half.com, overpriced books
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4 comments:
I will gladly cough up $100 for your CD.....as soon as you're nominated for an Oscar!
uh... cool poll over on lance's blog.
I can't believe you just let me place an ad and didn't moderate me.
For that I will add to the conversation.
I whistle the Andy Griffith song all the time. My dad used to do it... and I watched him and determined to do it too. That this guy was a part of my life and I never knew his name teaches me something. I am going to have to think about what it is.
Hey Todd, This isn't the place for me to do this, but it's late.
(BTW - like the post here about Hagen. I'm find it highly interesting that he was the composer and whistler of the AGS. I've whistled that song a far back as I learned to whistle.)
I know you have enough blogs to read, but I figured you needed to participate in one more, or at least check it out. It has your intellect and understanding written all over it. O yeah, and the dudes a Methodist, but that really doesn't matter.
here it is http://farmstrong.blogspot.com/2008/05/worship-leaders-job-description-part-1.html
peace out.
again sorry for sending this here.
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