Communism 101. I laughed, but I cried, because I laughed, because it sums up what’s been going down for a long time. Note that the girl goes Galt. [via]
CheetahBot is awesome. Now get it to make a U turn, and the time-space continuum will dismantle itself in shame.
Zappa’s cover of the Allman Brother’s classic “Whipping Post” was classic. And with that we’re done for this classic episode. Have a great weekend, folks.
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.
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.
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.
When a giant tortoise attacks. Warning – Not for the squeamish.
Building demolition time lapse. Warning – Not for the squeamish.
Routine traffic stop goes bad. Warning – not for the squeamish.
Cup stacking otter. Warning – Not for the squeamish. [via Jonco.]
Great compilation of pranks from around the world.
WARNING – DEFINITELY NOT FOR THE SQUEAMISH.
Eventually we’ll get around to posting vids just for The Squeamish, but until then, have a great weekend folks. See you back here tomorrow, assuming you’re not squeamish.
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. =)
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.
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.”
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.
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.
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.
While looking for a decent live version of “Welcome to The Machine” I found this. Jacquelyn Adams‘ tribute to Pink Floyd [“Dr. Jacquelyn, Mr. Hyde,” Horn Day, 10 February 2012, York University, Toronto, Ontario] and it begins with that song.
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.
So what if it’s a clandestine advert, it’s cool. I recobanized 95% until he got into No. 66 or so, but I got more than I expected after that. Now let’s talk about some serious pickin’.
That’s Ricky Skaggs & Kentucky Thunder, playing in a cave in Cumberland Kentucky in 2010. “Salty Dog Blues” is a traditional song with traditional innuendo that dates to the early 1900s.
Imported from the UK ( and elsewhere):
Clogging is the official state dance of Kentucky and North Carolina and was the social dance in the Appalachian Mountains as early as the 18th century. [Wiki]
The Banjo Boy scene from Deliverance shows a local clogging at about 02:50 [link]. Although the movie was entertaining, it promoted the false and insulting stereotype of southerners as a bunch of inbred ignorant hicks.
There just aren’t enough snail and slug songs IMO, but here’s “Snails” by Sharks Took The Rest. Not exactly my cup of gastropodia, but at least they contributed to the movement.
MOR SNALE SONGS PLZ
Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra is just the thing to wind up this Saturday Matinee. Have a great weekend, folks, see you back here tomorrow.