Laverie Vallee, known better as Charmion, was a Sacramento born trapeze artist who possessed strength and a physique most men would be envious of. However, she was most well known for her risqué striptease performances. The act was incredibly impressive and provocative for the era. One of her greatest fans was Thomas Edison. As a result of that adoration, on November 11, 1901 Charmion committed a simplified version of her act to film for Edison. Charmion eventually retired to Santa Ana, California. She passed away on February 6, 1949 at the age of 73.
[Video found here. It’s silent. Talkies didn’t become commercially viable until the 1920s, so don’t crank up the volume and blow your speakers later.]
The Al Cohn Quartet at the Sanremo Jazz Festival 1987. Al Cohn (1925-1988) was one of the greatest improvisational jazz saxophonists of all time. Now check this out:
That’s Shaye Cohn, Al Cohn’s granddaughter, playing stride.
Now check THIS out:
Shaye Cohn – Cornet, Piano, Fiddle, Accordion, Banjo & Spoons
Craig Flory – Clarinet & Saxophone
Barnabus Jones – Trombone, Banjo, Fiddle, Guitar, Vocals
Todd Burdick – Tuba
Gregory Sherman – Vocals, Guitar & HarmonicaMax Bien-Kahn – Guitar & Banjo
Jason Lawrence – Banjo & Guitar
Robin Rapuzzi – Washboard & Drum set
Erika Lewis – Vocals & Bass drum
Dang. I’ve been impressed with Shaye Cohn’s stuff for years without knowing her pedigree, and now I know where she got it from. Note how she cues the band while playing.
Have a great weekend, folks, and we’ll do something else tomorrow.
Amazing. The contents of clay cylinders found during the excavation of ancient Babylon is evidence that soapmaking was known as early as 2800BC, and these guys in Nablus are still doing it the ancient way, by hand. Why?
Nice animation that must have taken a while to make [via].
Fishing with John (with Japanese subtitles). From the Utoobage comments: “The problem with other fishing shows is that they are too polished, too normal. And they don’t have enough Tom Waits.”
I don’t know what Fishbone was yammering about here, but I like the vibe.
As long as a tune was good, I never paid much attention to lyrics, but sometimes, years later, I found that the songs I liked a lot weren’t about what I thought they were about at all.
Have a great weekend, folks. See you back here tomorrow for stuff.
[Found here and here. The 3rd one I cropped, reversed, spliced, looped and resized from, um, here. Click on any .gif above to hear awesome.]
BTW, this post is kind of a landmark as we’ve been collecting .gif animations and posting three or more every Friday. That means we’ve got about 1,800 cool in our Archives. Have at ’em.
On 28 October 1976, 35 year-old Frank Zappa appeared on The Mike Douglas Show to discuss his music and promote his album “Zoot Allures.” Note that Douglas’ show aired in the afternoons and was tailored to stay-at-home moms. Zappa picked an easy one for the studio band: “Black Napkins,” one of my favorite Zappa instrumentals.
“My god. You could base a whole religion around this groove.” -Comment on the UToobage.
Apparently the clip above comes from “My First Name Is Maceo,” a concert/documentary DVD released in 2005.
“No ka mea, ua aloha nui mai ke Akua i ko ke ao nei, nolaila, ua haawi mai oia i kana Keiki hiwahiwa, i ole e make ka mea manaoio ia ia, aka, e loaa ia ia ke ola mau la.”
“God wen get so plenny love an aloha fo da peopo inside da world, dat he wen send me, his one an ony Boy, so dat everybody dat trus me no get cut off from God, but get da real kine life dat stay to da max foeva.”
[Top image from here:]
“A Short Vision became one of the most influential British animated films ever made when it was screened on US television as part of the popular Ed Sullivan Show. Although children were advised to leave the room while it played, it still caused outrage and alarm with its graphic representation of the horrors of nuclear war. But it also caught the mood of the times, since the mid-1950s was the height of both the Cold War and nuclear paranoia, as depicted (sometimes allegorically) in such American films as Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956) and The Incredible Shrinking Man (1957).” [Description from here.]
A Humble Request. Thanks to all contributors and those of you who continue to donate. She’s still in the skilled nursing facility, learning to walk again. (I’m paying directly rather than through GoFundMe.)
Kyoto Tachibana High School Brass Band, November 23, 2017 Rose Parade National Commemorative Parade at Fushimi Osuji Shopping Street.
They memorized the music. They memorized the choreography. They stayed in tune while jumping around and not breaking teeth, and they also stayed in perfect formation. What happens to them in private if they miss a step or crack a note? I’m still impressed [via].
Tacky Raccoons 