The Adventure Of The Three Garridebs.
Need a comfort tardigrade? Get one here.
Impeachment: What’s it all about, Alfie?
Don’t drink but want to experience the morning after?
The Hangover Suit is just for you.
Captain’s Log StarDate 26 DEC 2119: USS Enterprise sets out from planet Khanada.
[Top image from J.C. Whitney. That catalogue was awesome.]
From the Archives: 1 year ago. 5 years ago. 10 years ago.
By the turn of the century, chances are you won’t recognize the familiar telephone. Based on services already in use or on the drawing boards, you can expect some pretty far-out developments.
For example, Picturephone see-while-you-talk service, already in limited use, might well be offered in full color and three dimensions. With it, you could do the family grocery shopping, look at the new cars, or buy a new hat without leaving the house.
Electronic switching equipment now in trial use, will call you back when a busy line you have called is free, or transfer your calls to another phone while you’re away from home.
[Image and caption found here. Bonus below.]
BTW, that’s Jane Jetson, not Judy…
Someone was proud of that lawn decoration, and so was his missus. God bless them, and God bless the Polaroid camera for preserving it for all to enjoy decades later.
[Found here.]
Just a few more shopping days left. Go for it [via].
“We found the happiest lady [Han Li] in China. We told her that you don’t need a real hula hoop to have fun. She agreed.”
Khruangbin made me smile [found here].
Sam Chatmon (1897-1983) sang his version of a classic cheatin’ song in 1978. Apparently the vid was filmed by Alan Lomax.
The origin of the song “Make Me A Pallet On The Floor” is fuzzy and dates to the 1800s. It appeared in sheet music in 1908 in “Blind Boone’s Southern Rag Medley No. One: Strains from the Alleys.“
Now check out John William Blind Boone‘s amazing story…
Magic Slim, aka Morris Holt (1937-2013). Nice Chicago blues [via].
Magic Slim was forced to give up playing the piano when he lost his little finger in a cotton gin mishap. He first came to Chicago in 1955 with his friend and mentor Magic Sam. The elder (by six months) Magic (Sam) let the younger Magic (Slim) play bass with his band and gave him his nickname.
Have a great weekend folks. Be back here tomorrow for more stuff.
Risking imprisonment, torture and death, Klaus-Günter Jacobi modified a BMW Isetta to help his friend escape the oppression of East Germany in 1963. Nine others were able to escape using the same method.
[Escaping East Berlin in a 1961 BMW Isetta [via]. Short vid here.]
[Found here.]
Here’s Earl Hooker’s guitar with Earl Hooker [1930-1970].
Here’s Earl Hooker’s guitar being ripped to shreds by Magic Sam Maghett (1937-1969). I think the song is also named Looking Good.
Here’s Joanna Connor’s guitar, played by Joanna Connor, playing Magic Sam playing Earl Hooker’s guitar.
Killer stuff, that. Have a great weekend, folks. See you back here tomorrow for more stuffing and gravy.
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.
[Top graphic found here. Booker T. Jones‘ image found here.]
I read an opinion recently in a nation-wide Sunday publication [Parade Magazine] suggesting that organ donation should be mandatory by default, unless a person acts and chooses to “opt out.” Think that one through, and it should scare the hell out of you.
Tacky Raccoons 