Category: True Stories

Saturday Matinee – The Password, Larkin Poe, Grace Slick & Ernie Andrews

The Password [via].
Seen that scene many times, but it wasn’t until recently that I connected it to something I read years ago.

The Code Breakers” by David Kahn is a classic book on the history of cryptology. In Chapter 2 he described the simple alphabet letter-shift that every schoolboy knows, but then he double-encrypts the shift with a password. Kahn used SWORDFISH as an example.

Using a simple alphabet shift from A to B:
TACKYRACCOONS reads SZBIXQZBBNNMR. Lot of repeated letters, but if you add a key like SWORDFISH to the shift, you get LWQBVGIUJGKJ, and it’s tougher to crack. That’s kind of how the WWII German Enigma machine worked.

Leadbelly cover found here.

Grace Slick’s vocals (sans backup music) on White Rabbit creeps me right out [via]. “Remember what the door mouse said.” Oh shut up. Go feed your cats or something.

I need an aural palate cleanser after that one, so let’s roll with this:

Yeah, Ernie Andrews, one of the greatest big band soul singers of all time, and “Do I Worry” is one of my all-time favorites.

Have a great weekend or two, folks. We’ll keep the porch light on.

Armistice Day: The 11th Hour of the 11th Day of the 11th Month, 1918

Veterans Day gives Americans the opportunity to celebrate the bravery and sacrifice of all U.S. veterans. However, many Americans confuse this holiday with Memorial Day.

A Brief History of Veterans Day

Veterans Day, formerly known as Armistice Day, was originally set as a U.S. legal holiday to honor the end of World War I, which officially took place on November 11, 1918. In legislation that was passed in 1938, November 11 was “dedicated to the cause of world peace and to be hereafter celebrated and known as ‘Armistice Day.'” As such, this new legal holiday honored World War I veterans.

In 1954, after having been through both World War II and the Korean War, the 83rd U.S. Congress — at the urging of the veterans service organizations — amended the Act of 1938 by striking out the word “Armistice” and inserting the word “Veterans.” With the approval of this legislation on June 1, 1954, Nov. 11 became a day to honor American veterans of all wars.

In 1968, the Uniform Holiday Act ensured three-day weekends for federal employees by celebrating four national holidays on Mondays: Washington’s Birthday, Memorial Day, Veterans Day, and Columbus Day. Under this bill, Veterans Day was moved to the fourth Monday of October. Many states did not agree with this decision and continued to celebrate the holiday on its original date. The first Veterans Day under the new law was observed with much confusion on Oct. 25, 1971.

Finally on September 20, 1975, President Gerald R. Ford signed a law which returned the annual observance of Veterans Day to its original date of Nov. 11, beginning in 1978. Since then, the Veterans Day holiday has been observed on Nov. 11.

[Source, more at the link. Related posts here.]

Derelict Tokyo

Something just doesn’t look quite right. Oh wait. Continue reading “Derelict Tokyo”

Bonk Bonk On The Head Hot Links

Must read. These never-ending kangaroo court house proceedings are dangerous to our country, no matter what political party you align with. If every future election can be negated by one political party via majority fiat, we’re done for.

True.

Nice catch.

Bonk bonk on the head.

On taking out the head of ISIS.

Now about this LTC Alex Vindman…

Testing Hohner Harps. This lady is good.

Climate 101: Step 1. Calibrate The Oral Thermometers.

This is good news. The boy was singled out and smeared for doing the right thing, ie., NOTHING.

Drugs, zombies & tent cities. The source of the problem dates to 1963. Look it up.

From the Archives: 1 year ago. 5 years ago. 10 years ago.

[Top image from here, and yeah, I altered it a tad.]

Saturday Matinee – Redwood Logging in 1946, Maxim Zhestkov, The Count Five, The Cramps, Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers

Redwood logging in 1946. Dangerous work. [Found here.]

Hypnotizing art “installations.”

Maxim Zhestkov (b.1985, Russia) is a media artist and director whose practice centres around the influence of digital media on shifting the boundaries of visual language.

He grew up in a small town on the Volga river named Ulyanovsk. From childhood, Maxim was fascinated by art, physics and computers which led him to university, where he studied architecture and fine art.

I’m kinda in an odd mood, change of the seasons, sun angles and all, so let’s roll with it.

“Psychotic Reaction” by The Count Five, peaked at No. 5 in 1966 on the Billboard Hot 100. Classic garage band / early psychedelic rock. Since then it’s been covered by a number of indy/punk/rock bands, including this one by The Cramps in 1983:

Meh. I can do without that, but this one’s not too bad:

Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers probably did the best cover of ‘”Psychotic Reaction” in 1991, preserved the soul of the original.
The intro is cool, song starts at 2:20.

Have a great weekend, folks. Be back here tomorrow for more stuff and stuff.

Boxing in the classroom.

Wow. That’s one sterile classroom.
Apparently cheating is prevalent in India, so here’s their solution. Now the proctor can’t tell who is whispering the answers.

[Found here, via here.]

Another Great Gift Idea: My Imaginary Boyfriend Calendar

Pure awesome. Made me feel like preteen girl again.

“Barry, 44, boyfriend – whatever you want to call him, we love, adore and miss the man who ran the greatest country in the free world. This is our homage to his charm, wit, brain and dazzling smile. This 2020, 12-month wall calendar measures 12″ x 12″ and includes thirteen, I-love-Barack, collages combined with the monthly calendar grids and a bonus 4-month view of January 2021 – April 2021. Printed on premium gloss paper.”

[Found here. Related posts here.] Continue reading “Another Great Gift Idea: My Imaginary Boyfriend Calendar”

The Pompetous of Love Hot Links

Nice tribute. This is also cool.

Dog piñata [h/t Caroline R. via FB.]

“PRESS IT! PRESS IT!” [via here.]

Letterman interviews Waits [collection via here].

THIS is what your bread does in the breadmaker when you’re not watching [via].

“It’s a bunch of privileged sanctimonious poshtwats lecturing working class people on why their living standards should be reduced even further.” Paul Joseph Watson is spot on. Watch the entire clip.

Seven British *ahem* tourists were apprehended and detained by ICE at the U.S. Border. Horrible, ya? Check out the rest of the story.

“Dear Lady Twist” made it to No. 9 in 1962, and was perhaps the first ska song to hit the U.S. charts, unless you count “My Boy Lollipop.”

“My Boy Lollipop” 1956, 1964 & 1984. Song history here:

The original song, “My Girl Lollypop”, was written by Robert Spencer of the doo-wop group The Cadillacs. Notorious record company executive Morris Levy agreed to purchase the song from Spencer. Although not involved in writing the song, Levy and alleged gangster Johnny Roberts listed themselves as the song’s authors. In an effort to avoid sharing any royalties with Spencer, Levy removed Spencer’s name from the original writing credits. Levy even claimed that Robert Spencer was his pseudonym.

A Humble Request. She’s improving, but probably won’t be able to live on her own without assistance 24/7. Thanks to all who contribute – every little bit helps.

From the Archives: 1 year ago. 5 years ago. 10 years ago.

[Top image from here. Post title from here.]

Joseph W. Grimes Rides The Cleveland Bicycle

[Found here.]

Finger Pointing Hot Links

DARVO.

Stuff like this disgusts me.

The longest word in the universe.

Dude got punked by his buddy [via].

THIS democrat candidate for POTUS points out a truth.

Witness: “…during a class discussion, another student asked the girl if she could kill five people in the class, who would they be? In response, the girl allegedly pointed her finger pistol.”

The 12 year old was handcuffed and arrested, charged with a felony for possessing an unloaded index finger.

[Story here, with links. Meanwhile, two students who brought REAL guns to school in the same school district were merely reprimanded.]

From the “I Was Just Holding Them For A Friend” Department:

A 27-year-old Florida woman who’d built more than 24 pipe bombs was arrested Thursday, after her parents stumbled across the incendiary devices and called police.

[Story found here, via here.]

Yeah, we had the big black bomb SWAT disposal truck in our neighborhood once. Officer said it was more than just homemade fire works.

A Humble Request. Thanks to all who contribute – every little bit helps.

From the Archives: 1 year ago. 5 years ago. 10 years ago.

[Top image: A retread of an innocent logo I made for fun years ago for a small department in a big corporation that I no longer work at.]