Brian Wilson: The Strife Of Brian

IN THE 1991 Steve Martin movie L.A. Story, which dates from the days when he was still spasmodically funny, Martin played Harris K. Telemacher, a bored TV news-bulletin weatherman whose job it was to inform the residents of Los Angeles of the meteorological conditions that lay ahead for them. Every day was Groundhog Day for Telemacher, who was required to do nothing more onerous all year round than scatter sun symbols over his map of the Golden State while reciting minor variations on his daily mantra: "Sunny, 70 degrees! Sunny, 70 degrees!"