November 1912 – Eighth Grade Examination for Bullitt County Schools

1912 8th_grade_test

This one looks more legit than the ones asking “Do You Know As Much As A Capuchin Monkey Embryo Did In 1846?” type quizzes. Note that you may not check “B” for every answer and hope to get a passing grade.

Bonus Question: Who was Ora L. Roby? (If you have to ask Mr. Google, you fail by default.)

Extra bonus: Note that at that time in U.S. history only one President had been impeached. Name the other one.

Oh, and the last shot fired in the Civil War was off the coast of Alaska, and I’ll stop parsing now.

[Found here.]

Eieren Blazen Oops

Lost Bridge

“Can I get a bridge for this shot?”

Yes, that’s a billiards table. No, they weren’t playing billiards, they were blowing eggs. In Amsterdam. The Amsterdammers blow eggs, and they call it Eieren Blazen.

[Image and story found here.]

Saturday Matinee – Brazil, The Olympics, Jackie Phelps & Jimmy Riddle, and Tuba Skinny

I was looking for a live performance of “Brazil” (perhaps by Xavier Cugat) to commemorate the Competitions of the Grecian Gods, but instead we must settle for The Theme Song to Terry Gilliam’s Brazil as performed by Geoffrey Muldaur. He was famous for marrying Maria Grazia Rosa Domenica D’Amato who recorded some popular songs in 1973 about putting camels to bed, and another one about feeling her leg.

There’s no live performance for that one, so I looked for some more Olympics-themed stuff.

The Olympics sound a lot like another Lieber & Stoller product to me, but so what.

Yep. There be the Olympians of Eefin’ and Hambone, Jimmy Riddle & Jackie Phelps.

Let’s go back to Maria Grazia Rosa Domenica D’Amato (aka Maria Muldaur) and the leg feeling stuff. What a sultry voice.

This version by Tuba Skinny is a bit closer to Blue Lu Barker’s 1946 original.

Have a great weekend, folks, and we’ll be back tomorrow with more stuff that’s too hot to handle and too cold to hold.

Saturday Matinee – Robin Trower, Procul Harum & Clarence Gatemouth Brown

Robin Trower‘s album Bridge of Sighs was a gold record in 1974. (According to Trower, the title song was named for a racehorse that was named after il Ponte dei Sospiri).

Procul Harum in 2013(?) playing their 1967 hit “Whiter Shade of Pale,” featuring Gary Brooker, Keith Reid, Matthew Fisher, Robin Trower, Chris Copping.

Okay, the slow dance is over. Let’s crank it up.

Clarence Gatemouth Brown (1924-2005) burns through “Pressure Cooker” and “Up Jumped The Devil.” Amazing musician, and his 1981 album “Alright Again!” is one of my favorites.

Have a great weekend folks, wherever you are.

The .Gif Friday Post No. 445 – Demolition Demon, Roll Survivor & Rock This Way

Demolition Man

Rolled It

Trek Rock FAIL

[Found here, here and here.]

Sam’s Pizza, Sam’s Hamburgers, Sam’s Fries, Sam’s Beer, Sam’s Wine, Sam’s Coca-Cola and Mike.

Sam's Special 5Sam's Special. 3Sam's Special Sam's Special. 2Sam's Special 4

While surfing the internest, I spotted the buck sign and my first impulse was “I want to go there.” Then I found what appeared to be related images, but I wasn’t sure if they were photos of the same place or where it was. On a whim I googled “Sam’s Hamburgers” and everything synched up.

Sam’s is a popular burger joint in San Francisco, the owner’s name is not Sam, and it was established in 1966. I read this review from 2013 and decided to include a visit to Sam’s on my bucket list.

Then I found this. Apparently owner Mike Shawa (nephew of the founder) passed away recently at the age of 70. Damn. That’s still young these days. The place survived the opening of a Carl’s Jr. down the street, so I expect it will survive this setback, too.

And it’s still on my bucket list.

[Some images above were found in here via here; others from here. Somewhat related post here.]

Opinionated Hot Links

Brazil 2016

Epic Cat is still epic.

84 year old shows his stuff at Muscle Beach.

Weaponized Victimhood: “This is not a grand battle against institutionalised injustice. This is an addiction to indignation.”

The MiniMoog made music history. Here are Parts 1 & 2 of an interesting (but flat) documentary.

Remember Walter Carlos? He flipped the switch years ago, and nobody cared. Why does anyone care about that Bruce guy?

The Ramones 31 December1977 London. Very cool, but they didn’t play Sheena.

Canadian cities in the 1950s in watercolor.

Cussing in the carnival photobooth.

Incarcerated for his opinions in the United States of America, Dinesh D’Souza has a new film out.

FWIW, The Blogmocracy had trouble migrating their blog. Their new address is http://www.blogmocracy.com so update your bookmarks.

[Top image from here, with the caption:
Already struggling with an impeachment challenge, the worst recession in a century and the biggest corruption scandal in Brazil’s history, the Workers Party leader was given another reason to doubt she will complete her four-year term.”
Something sounds familiar.]

The .Gif Friday Post No. 444 – SpockSpin, Running Late & Lapping Lizards

SpockSpin

Late For Work

Gecko Licks

[Found here, here and here.]

Old School Selfie

Old School Selfie

Is that Edith Bunker? Lady’s got some serious knuckles.

[Found here. Related posts here.]

Saturday Matinee – NASA 1961, Jason D. Williams, Sonny Terry & Brownie McGhee, & The Yonder Mountain String Band

This magnificent feat was engineered with slide rules, and it amounted to blasting a giant bullet containing a human into the sky, then recovering both it and Alan Shepard intact [via]. Those early astronauts had big brass ones, and the creepy music made it even better. (John Glenn appears at 04:15.)

Speaking of Great Balls of Fire, here’s the next best thing to The Killer. Jason D. Williams pounds the ivories with Sticks McGhee‘s 1947 classic “Drinkin’ Wine Spo-dee-o-dee.”

Spodiodi was street slang for chipping in for a cheap bottle of fortified wine in a brown paper bag and sharing it with your buddies. Urban Dictionary says “Spodiodi” is a glass of wine spiked with bourbon. Nah.

BTW, Sticks McGhee was the brother of Brownie McGhee, who partnered with harmonica player Sonny Terry known for his harmonica whooping. “Key to the Highway” was covered by many, including what’s his name. That famous British guy. You know. That guy.

Here’s some Easy-On-The-Ear-Holes stuff from The Yonder Mountain String Band. They need some authentic whooping in my opinion. Maybe even some eefin.

Have a great weekend, folks, and be glad that you’re not in Turkey.