Month: January 2012

Saturday Matinee – Etta James, Johnny Otis, Contours, Ruth Brown & Illinois Jacquet

Etta James passed away on 20 January 2012, and there aren’t many live vids out there on the Utoobage (this one’s from 1962). She was tough on the eyes, but gorgeous on the ears.

We also lost the great Johnny Otis on 17 January. Although I never saw The Johnny Otis Show on television, his 1990s radio show was great, playing old R&B and early R&R. (I spoke with him on the phone once about some trivia about The Contours.)

So here are The Contours live in 1963. I love early R&B, so we might as well continue with that theme.

Ruth Brown recorded “(Mama) He Treats Your Daughter Mean” in 1953, and it’s a great example of “jump blues” that morphed, terminology-wise from “Race Records” into “Rhythm and Blues” and later into “Rock and Roll.”

According to the late Eubie Blake, the phrase “Rock and Roll” originated in the late 1800s. It described a ragtime piano style that kept the patrons of brothels moving along. (Even the name “ragtime” is bawdy, and you can connect the dots for yourselves.)

Jump Blues. From the Utoobage description:

Illinois Jacquet and his band in the “Jive Crazy” scene from the 1949 noir movie “D.O.A.” — at least, according to the movie publicity.

So that might not be Illinois Jacquet’s band, but it’s still a great scene. And that makes five jumpy and jivey vids for the Saturday Matinee. Have a great weekend folks.

The .Gif Friday Post No. 211 – iWalkers, Floor Girl & Cat Psych

[Found here and here. I modified the “Walking i” that I found here, and I reversed and patched the cats. I tried to synch the Floor Girl with the the Walking i animations, but no dice.]

STOP SOPA / PIPA

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Just think.

If the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) were to pass, this post could cause Tacky Raccoons to be taken down with a single complaint.

The complaint could be made by one of the pet owners, the person who created any one of the images, the company that printed the calendars where the images were featured, any website that sold those calendars, and any individual claiming ownership of the pictures, whether the claims were legit or not.

Every website that posted any image could be accused and shut down, whether guilty of copyright infringement or not. Google itself could be in violation, because they linked to the images where we lifted them, which is aiding and abetting.

The U.S. Government has been trying to figure out ways to control the internest for a long time, especially for taxation purposes, but this latest power grab (by a bipartisan commission!) is beyond insidious. James Watt takes it a step further:

SOPA/PIPA is not the way of free speech, nor is it going to help the exchange of ideas. It will hurt science just as much as any other venue to protect a few media conglomerates. SOPA and PIPA is a real danger to all of us who frequent websites such as this one. Imagine if you will, we are discussing the new HadCRUT4 using station data – a complaint is lodged by UEA/CRU to the SOPA/PIPA entity over some portion of that dataset they consider “proprietary” or protected by one of the non disclosure agreements they claim to have with some countries. One complaint is all it would take to shut WUWT, Climate Audit, and other websites using this data for discussion down- without any hearing or trial. Basically, “fair use” gets tossed down the hole. Science loses.

http://wattsupwiththat.com/about-wuwt/wuwt-supports-the-sopapipa-blackout/

Freedom of Speech is one of the unalienable rights of citizens of this great country. Let’s make sure it’s never taken away, because we’ll never get it back.

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Update: The founder of ICanHazCheezBurger recorded his own protest song: The Day The LOLcats Died.

Oop Stairs

Some of these designer stairways are criminally dangerous. But hey, at least you can admire the aesthetics as you fall and break your neck. [Via email from Sir Cumference.]

Joliet Jake Blues


[Found here.]

Martin Luther King Jr.’s Own Words

26 March 1964 - Martin Luther King, Jr. meets with Malcom X .

[Contrast the following with MLK’s famous  “I Have A Dream” speech. I have not edited the text. Read it all. -Bunk]

Continue reading “Martin Luther King Jr.’s Own Words”

Grandma’s Snakes

Pinkard & Bowden’s “Everybody Shake A Snake” seems irreverently fitting, and they’re both going to h-e-double-hockey sticks for it.

[Images from here.]

Congrats to Bunkarina!

Not only was our daughter Bunkarina awarded a Black Belt, she’s been bestowed the title of Sensei. That means that she still has to clean up her room, but only when she wants to.

[Confidential to Bunkarina: Don’t cut out the moose part – you’ll never get it back. – Papa Strutts]

Saturday Matinee – Geek Magic, Mad Goose, Goose Grease, Glad ‘N Greasy & Greasy Wheel

Nice card trick… heh. Story behind it here.

Goose! Guy shoulda wrung its neck and brought the catch home. Yum!

And after you clean it, save the goose grease.
The late Roy Buchanan tells why.

The Beat Farmers‘ “Glad ‘N Greasy” fits. Poor video from the early 80s(?) was part of a demo tape they circulated. (Two of the original members are gone: Country Dick Montana and Buddy Blue.)

The Bryan Beller Band‘s “Greasy Wheel” is a nice bit of groovy oddness. (Listen for the Zappa influence… there’s a reason for that.)

That’s five vids to make the set.  Have a great weekend, folks, and we’ll see you back here tomorrow.

The .Gif Friday Post No.210 – Special Delivery Edition

[Via email from John M.]