Yep. There’s something seriously wrong with that lady’s right shoulder.
[Found here.]
Aside from the more serious rhetorical oratory of the GOP Convention (previously discussed on The Blogmocracy and elsewhere) Clint Eastwood’s performance was the perfect break. It would have been the perfect warm up act for any candidate running against Obama, and he nailed it. Addressing the Empty Chair:
“What do you want me to tell Romney?
[…]
I can’t tell him to do that.
I can’t tell him to do that to himself.”
He nailed it with wit, timing, and sarcastic humor. He’s an actor who knows how to ad lib when the situation requires it. How much of his presentation was scripted and how much was off-the-cuff doesn’t matter. It worked.
Now on to more lighthearted fun.
Papa Strutts had an unfortunate adventure recently that required us to donate most of his belongings. Among those was a vinyl record collection that included this:
I didn’t have that classic album. While I was collecting Zappa, Papa Strutts was collecting Aerosmith, and he was way ahead of me on jazz.
There’s some classic Stan Kenton, composing with bizarre rhythms and intentional dissonance. Yet he owed a great deal to his predecessors, like Jimmy Dorsey & Bunny Berigan.
Who was also influenced by Red Nichols:
The interesting part of music, and jazz in particular, is that there is no single musician who can take claim for any particular classic. Everything is derivative until someone like Miles Davis comes along and rearranges the blocks.
Have a great weekend folks, and maybe we’ll rearrange some blocks tomorrow.
Miss Myrtle Reinheart’s design for a lampshade outfit at the Chicago Merchandise Mart Home Furnishing show in 1937.
[Found here.]
Guess Who? It’s not Who you think it is. Vince Taylor & The Playboys.
Science declares 4 seconds of shaking removes 70% of the water off a wet dog, and 20% lands on you. Do aquatic mammals, like whales, orcas, dolphins & porpoises, shake off air? NEW STUDY! [Your tax dollars at work. Found here.]
The Specials revived ska in the 70s, and did the dog.
Rufus Thomas knew how to walk the dog decades ago, until his demise in 2001.
Due to some unfortunate happenings in the private sector, we’re going to cut this episode short. Have a great weekend, folks. Be back here tomorrow for more slices of the stupid pie. =)
“How To Make Vietnamese Coffee.” (Hint: Step 1. Go to Vietnam.)
Neil Armstrong’s “That’s one small step for man…” could be translated “Un petit pas pour l’homme,” and the title of the film is “Un petit plat pour l’homme” can be translated as “One Small Dish For Man”
3rd year animation project (assigned subject “Kitchen”) from Charron/Onectin via email. Very cool.
Eric Whitacre‘s Virtual Choir 3 is awesome and kinda creepy at the same time.
His call for the Virtual Choir 3.0, which included a purpose-built website to make video collection easier and more uniform, set a new record. It included 3476 videos from 76 different nations, including one from Vanuatu. That is the video you see above.
[Found here.]
Buster Keaton’s 1926 comedy The General is based on a real event. In April 1862 a group of Union volunteers hijacked a Confederate train in Georgia and led the rebels on an 88-mile, six-hour chase through the state, tearing up tracks and cutting telegraph lines as they went and releasing cars behind them to slow their pursuers. The conspirators ran out of fuel just short of Chattanooga, their goal, but the Union awarded a Medal of Honor to most of them for the exploit.
…
“I was more proud of that picture than any I ever made,” Keaton said in 1963. “Because I took an actual happening out of the … history books, and I told the story in detail, too.”
[Found here.]
That’s probably enough stuff to keep you out of trouble for a while. Have a great weekend, folks, and hope tomorrow is cooler.
From Snorri Sturluson’s Prose Edda:
Freyja is the most famous of the goddesses. She has in heaven a dwelling which is called Fólkvangr, and when she rides to the battle, one half of the slain belong to her, and the other half to Óðinn… When she goes abroad, she drives in a wagon drawn by two cats.
I’d say those two cats have some nice penmanship, but there’s more to them than that. They were huge, mean and they loved to draw. They were The Skogkatt.
[More here.]
The Stones‘ “Gimme Shelter” by multinational conglomeration Playing For Change, created by American producer Mark Johnson, is very cool. (Watch for Taj Mahal.)
I find it odd that they would choose that particular song, as it’s forever linked to a free rock festival in 1969 that ended up in tragedy at Altamont Speedway, California, much of it due to the actions of the hired “police” – Sonny Barger & The Hell’s Angels.
The event is best known for having been marred by considerable violence, including one homicide and three accidental deaths: two caused by a hit-and-run car accident and one by drowning in an irrigation canal. Four births were reported during the event. Scores were injured, numerous cars were stolen and then abandoned, and there was extensive property damage.
From the same year, Steppenwolf had a hit with the greatest biker song ever – “Born To Be Wild.” Okay, where do we go from here? Oh wait. I know.
That’s for José from Spain who tutored me on cryptanalysis, and recently discovered the wonderworld of Meat Loaf.
Have a great weekend folks, and be back here tomorrow for Day 3 of our 6th Glorious Year of pure awesomenecessity.
The Olympics were an underrated vocal group (see Walter Ward and the Challengers) and there are few live vids on the Utoobage; however, there’s a nice collection of recordings here.
Roger Miller‘s “England Swings.” I hate that song, and I hope you do, too.
The song was written by Bruce Springsteen, but those guys did it better. Manfred Mann’s Earth Band was underrated here in the States as Mann was stuck with his 1964 cover of The Exciters’ “Do Wah Diddy Diddy.”
Pink Floyd is another Brit treasure who have been around longer than you think. That vid’s from 1969.
The Clash – one of the great early punk bands, influenced and encouraged by The Ramones.
We posted this previously, but it’s worth a repost. Yeoman Warden explains why the Brits were not to be messed with. If you’ve never clicked on a single vid that we’ve posted here, click on that one and pay close attention. Then you’re going to want to hunt down and pay attention to the rest of the 6 part series of awesome.
Have a great weekend, folks, and be back here tomorrow for more stuff.
Simple mechanics: Cams!
Cool. More images here.
Given the atrocities of yesterday, we might as well leave the number of vids posted at three, and the selections are in no way a commentary. Hug your kids and loved ones, pray for the victims, and we’ll be back here tomorrow.
Never saw this one before now. There’s a lot of subtlety and stuff hidden in there if you look at it a bit, and squinting helps.
[Found here.]