Category: Cool

Saturday Matinee – Laurie, Suzanne & Joanne

The always odd Laurie Anderson can’t pronounce the Espaniel worth a Me Air Duh, but she’s entertaining in her own way.

I was gonna segue into Suzanne Vega, but I forgot how depressing her songs were. So then I looked for Suzy Bogguss, and remembered that I’d already covered her on an earlier Saturday Matinee Post.

So I’m thinking of Suzanne songs and decided to  go with Michael Nesmith’s “Joanne”  because it rhymes. But there are no decent vids on the Utoobage that do justice for the ex-Monkee’s greatest hit, except for this:

Meanwhile, here’s Joanne’s greatest hit. Have a great weekend folks.

The .Gif Friday Post No.131 – Mocking, Rocking and Rolling

Mars Orbiter. Might have to click on the image to view the coolness.

[Found here, here and here.]

It’s Always Something.

So there you are minding your own business at the bottom of the ocean, when some pufferhead stumbles by and completely blows your cover. It’s enough to piss you off.

Well, what can you do? You’re just a kickass bitchin’ mussel-eatin’ limb-regeneratin’ starfish, with no eyes, no ears and no brain, and you crap through your feet. Yeah, run away while I’m talking to you, woosfish. Face it, you can’t even gripe about it because you don’t even have a Facebook account.

Loser.

[Video found here. Crossposted here.]

Kudos to Stephan Pastis.

“Pearls Before Swine” is a comic strip written and illustrated by Stephen Pastis. It first caught my attention in the Orange County Register Sunday Funnies, with a hilarious logo showing the main characters, Pig, Rat, Zebra and Goat as the Ramones. I’ve been following it ever since.

IMO, it’s not laugh out loud stuff (sorry Stephan) but some of it is very clever. When the strip began foundering, Pastis introduced a new group of characters to the mix: crocodiles.

The bumbling crocs speak in broken English, and spend all their time trying to dupe the smarter Zebra into letting them eat him. Pastis was way too subtle for me, until I spotted a not-so-subtle commentary in Pastis’ new storyline:

I don’t think I need to point out the symbolism here. On Monday 7 June 2010, Pastis continues:

Pastis deserves commendations for his subterfuge. Now, Stephen, about that elephant…

Show Us Your War Face

afa-maori-warrior-cover
[Image and quote from here.]

That’s Maori Priest Irrarangi Tiakiawa, keeper of secret Maori martial arts techniques, including death strokes:

“I think this (death point striking) art should die. It is too evil for today’s society. I once witnessed my grandfather having an argument with another man and the other man was in the wrong, so my grandfather just got up and struck him with one finger to one point and the man died… “

The interview is interesting, and includes what to do if confronted by a Maori showing his war face:

1. Stand still. If you run you’re gonna get hurt.
2. The warrior will likely throw something down in front of you. If you don’t pick it up and hand it back to him you’re gonna get hurt.
3. Don’t fight. If you do you’re gonna get killed.

Fortunately, you’re unlikely to encounter a Maori warrior unless you’re in New Zealand, but now you know how to react without bleeding– much.

[Crossposted here a while back.]

Saturday Matinee – American Dialects, W.C. Clark & the Fabulous Thunderbirds

American regional dialects are curious, and when I hear one I haven’t heard in a while I try to identify where the speaker grew up. If you listen closely, you can hear the ancestral accents and phrasing as well: English to the north, Scottish and Irish to the south. As for me, I have no accent, but Mrs. Strutts says I do… I sound a lot like central Ohio mixed with some faint Texan stuff. (Here’s a simple online test if you’re curious what accent mix you have.)

W.C. Clark backed by The Fabulous Thunderbirds, and featuring Angela Strehli is an awesome mix of Texas blues. Never heard of W.C. Clark? Try this:

Yep, that’s Stevie Ray Vaughan with W.C. Clark. Next question?

The .Gif Friday Post No. 130 – Golfball, Catlap, Blamegame

[Found here, here and here.]

Oh. I understand now.

Visual aids are so important to the presentation.

[Found here.]

Avatarize This.

This is what happens when you have too much time on your hands and you click on this and upload an image of a raccoon. It’s either an Avacoon or a Raccotar, but either way it has an uncanny resemblance to yours truly.

When you run out of important things to do, go play with it and email me your own creation(s) for a future post, the more outrageous the better.

[Avatarization from here, via Ms. Cellanea. Send submissions to BunkStrutts at Verizon dot net. Deadline for submissions is midnight, 7 June 2010.]

Chairman Wow

Looks like grampa’s a little tipsy again.

[Found in here.]