Category: Cool

Saturday Matinee – Ronco’s Greatest Hits, Han Li, Sam Chatmon, Magic Slim & The Teardrops

Just a few more shopping days left. Go for it [via].

“We found the happiest lady [Han Li] in China. We told her that you don’t need a real hula hoop to have fun. She agreed.”

Khruangbin made me smile [found here].

Sam Chatmon (1897-1983) sang his version of a classic cheatin’ song in 1978. Apparently the vid was filmed by Alan Lomax.

The origin of the song “Make Me A Pallet On The Floor” is fuzzy and dates to the 1800s. It appeared in sheet music in 1908 in “Blind Boone’s Southern Rag Medley No. One: Strains from the Alleys.“

Now check out John William Blind Boone‘s amazing story…

Magic Slim, aka Morris Holt (1937-2013). Nice Chicago blues [via].

Magic Slim was forced to give up playing the piano when he lost his little finger in a cotton gin mishap. He first came to Chicago in 1955 with his friend and mentor Magic Sam. The elder (by six months) Magic (Sam) let the younger Magic (Slim) play bass with his band and gave him his nickname.

Have a great weekend folks. Be back here tomorrow for more stuff.

The .Gif Friday Post No. 613 – Snow Pwnage: A Collection


[1st .gif found here. Others were previously posted here, here, here and here. No. 4 is my all-time favorite; No. 5 is a close second.]

Elsie’s Tavern

Michael E. Long makes and sells shadow boxes of curious/derelict building exteriors and interiors.

[Found here.]

Yoda in da Snowda

[Original image found here.]

Hose-Belting-Packing Hot Links

Chomp.

A Few Goodmen.

Roadtrip dashcam.

And meme rolls on [via].

Arguing fact on Twitter.

What happens when a cat plays Dungeons & Dragons.

You Have The Right To Remain Silent. Now they’re attacking The Salvation Army.

From the Archives: 1 year ago. 5 years ago. 10 years ago.

[Top image: Alcohol smuggling ca. 1926, via here.]

The .Gif Friday Post No. 612 – GET DOWN NOW! The Fall Guy & MomPrank

[Found here, here and here.]

Klaus-Günter Jacobi’s Contribution To The World

If socialism is such a great economic system, why have so many people died trying to escape it?

Risking imprisonment, torture and death, Klaus-Günter Jacobi modified a BMW Isetta to help his friend escape the oppression of East Germany in 1963. Nine others were able to escape using the same method.

[Escaping East Berlin in a 1961 BMW Isetta [via]. Short vid here.]

Stuff What My Kid Drew


Child’s Own is a company that takes children’s pictures and turns them into stuffed animals things. Unfortunately, it’s too late to order for this Christmas, but it’s still a cool idea.

[Click on any image below for larger examples of awesome.]

[Found here. Related post here.]

Thirsty.

At the Drinking Fountain, New York, USA, 1930s.

[Found here.]

Your Own Public Idaho Hot Links

Shiny Idaho Postcards.

Doggie Duty [language warning].

The Laughing Policeman (Charles Penrose,1922).

This kind of crap should disgust you. More on the story here, and this is a great response.

Meanwhile in Hong Kong…

She thought she was going to win.

From the This Kinda Creeps Me Out Department:
Never heard the term “spatchcocking” before. (It’s a gerund or present participle.)

Forget “Global Warming.” Forget “Climate Change.” Get ready for “Global Meltdown” and “Climate Collapse.” We’re dooooomed.

I rolled my eyes when I read the original story, but this commentary is funny. [NSFW, NSFK]

From the This Is Very Cool Department BUT:

During the U.S. campaign against al Qaida terrorists in Afghanistan, the U.S. government offered hefty bounties for al Qaida, Taliban, and other insurgent leaders. These bounties were highly publicized although rarely collected.

U.S. Central Command decided to toy with the terrorist commanders: Military and intelligence analysts drew up a list of high-value targets, followed by a public announcement that the bounty on a particular terrorist leader had been slashed  Word was whispered in the local markets that the man wasn’t worth the higher reward because he had been injured or been deemed incompetent.

According to Eric Schmitt and Thom Shanker of The New York Times, the “less-valuable leader” then wanted “to prove he was still important and worthy of the higher bounty. Even senior members of al Qaida’s global network had been suckered by the ruse and were picked up after they made themselves visible not long after the bounty on their heads was reduced.”

Norman Polmar, “To Understand Russian Submarines, Think Outside The Box” USNI Proceedings, October 2019. http://www.usni.org

So why did the NYT expose a military PsyOps tactic, how did they find out about it, and why did USNI decide to echo it?

From the Archives: 1 year ago. 5 years ago. 10 years ago.
(The one from 2009 had some funny in the comments.)

Title above is a reference to this (as if you didn’t know).