Weirdness: July 2007

http://www.castlehalloween.com/index.html
This looks kinda cool, will have to try and get up there sometime.

National Archives films to be made available!

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/07/30/AR2007073001589.html

Very cool.

nice links for Four Jacks & A Jill

http://modcentric.blogspot.com/2007/07/four-jacks-jill.html

the reluctant witness

http://www.metro.co.uk/weird/article.html?in_article_id=59184&in_page_id=2
More evidence that we must work hard to remove the stigma and fear that prevent rape victims from pressing charges.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arimaa

Hmmm, very interesting from a computer and purely game designing angle. But I'm not sure how much fun the game is. Maybe I'm getting too old, etc., but I got kind of bored reading through the rules... Has anyone tried this? What did you think of it, entertainment-wise?

no wonder the Brits have bad teeth

http://www.metro.co.uk/weird/article.html?in_article_id=59003&in_page_id=2
For decades now, we Americans have made fun of the British and their teeth - but no more! I now understand why it is so - for who'd dare risk a visit to the dentist? Here we have a guy described by the media as "fun-loving" who waits till his "patient" (really, a victim) is knocked out, deforms her face, and then takes pictures to share around the office (and elsewhere?) to enliven his days. This leads to a variety of questions:
1. What else did he do to her while she was out? And how many others has he shared his sense of humor with by defacing them while they were under? Does he have pictures of them too?
2. Does his insurance policy really say that if he purposefully mutilates someone to enliven his "friendly working environment" that they'll pay for the resulting lawsuits???

The article makes no mention of his professional standing at this point, so I have to assume that whatever government or professional agencies that might exist in Britain to license and monitor medical professionals think this guy is pretty much A-OK. With standards such as this, who the hell would go to a dentist? I'd let my damned teeth rot out before allowing some turd to make me his next YouTube star.

"Kindhearted man", my ass....

Ray Charles performs Hit The Road Jack

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q8Tiz6INF7I
Wonderful!

new REH collection due out next month

http://www.randomhouse.com/delrey/catalog/display.pperl?isbn=9780345490186

Photon Jesus

http://www.reuters.com/article/technologyNews/idUSL2777496320070727

Chinese Cutlure In The News!

http://blog.foreignpolicy.com/node/5414?fpsrc=ealert070720
Forget the Arms Race, there's clearly a more desperate contest for who can create the tackiest bathroom features. America, time to step up to the plate!

Johnny Depp as Barnabas - The Return of Dark Shadows!

http://www.eonline.com/news/article/index.jsp?uuid=53d265c4-2158-45f0-a148-1f22e01e13bd
This could be fun.

Happy Birthday Phil Proctor!

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0698413/

http://www.firesigntheatre.com/albums/proctor.html

http://www.planetproctor.com/

Punk Christmas in July

http://tunatwo.blogspot.com/2007/07/merry-christmas-in-july-wow-i-almost.html
Years ago, in the dim primordial past, Midnight Records of New York released three LP's of punk/garage/noise bands performing Christmas tunes. They were never, to my knowledge, ever reissued on CD. But now they're available for download here: http://tunatwo.blogspot.com/2007/07/merry-christmas-in-july-wow-i-almost.html

(Special note for all you DC area punks - this includes The Slickee Boys' version of A Hazy Shade Of Winter.)

Brook Benton performs Mother nature Father Time

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0TAZNEELEvk

One of the greatest (and unfairly forgotten) voices in Soul music. And one of the weirdest go-go dance routines, ever. Must be seen to be believed.

flying-saucer drone for the military

http://www.upi.com/Security_Terrorism/Briefing/2007/07/26/saucershaped_drone_makes_first_flight/7286/

Not As Toasted As You, Amelia...

http://community.livejournal.com/vintage_ads/375379.html

Dr. Freud's Matches

http://community.livejournal.com/vintage_ads/378741.html

more on military lasers

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/6917041.stm

the cutting edge of recycling

http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_2433990.html?menu=

a report on Blobfest 2007

http://www.slate.com/id/2170692/

This sounds so cool!

Happy Birthday Bugs Bunny!

He debuted on this date in 1940 in "Wild Hare".

http://looneytunes.warnerbros.com/web/homepage/homepage.jsp

http://www.geocities.com/Hollywood/Academy/8630/bugs.html

To Drink Where No Man Has Drunk Before

http://www.cnn.com/2007/TECH/space/07/26/astronaut.drinking.ap/index.html
Not exactly serious anymore, are we NASA?

Sam Cooke performs Twisting The Night Away & The Riddle Song

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T4-kcjDhdNE

Great singer, unbelievable talent and charisma.

Crime & Punishment

http://abcnews.go.com/TheLaw/story?id=3417294&page=1&CMP=OTC-RSSFeeds0312

RIP Weekly World News - The End Of An Era

http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=oddlyEnoughNews&storyid=2007-07-25T130358Z_01_KUA547033_RTRUKOC_0_US-AMERICANMEDIA-TABLOID-1.xml&src=nl_usoddlyenough

My all time fave newspaper.

for DC foodies and hedonists

http://www.donrockwell.com/

Just discovered this message board dealing in all things food-related around the Metro area - restaurants, farmers markets, beer and wine, grocers, etc. There's always a scatter-gun quality to the comments, but some are quite knowledgeable and sophisticated.

The Baptism

http://www.wftv.com/news/13758955/detail.html?treets=orlc&tid=2654358485813&tml=orlc_strange&tmi=orlc_strange_1_10000207262007&ts=H

Poker & Computers

http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/07/26/business/poker.php
Synchronicity! I was just writing about this possibility a few days ago. I assume that the program involves a sophisticated equation where the amount bet is based upon the possible card combinations in a particular hand. Basically, betting on a very sophisticated calculation of averages. One problem is that I find it more than a little amazing that they eliminated "the luck of the draw"! Are you sure we'd still describe the results as a game of Poker? And I would love to find out how the computer got a Royal Flush, just when it was losing big-time. People have been shot for that type of "luck"...

Happy Birthday Carl Jung!

http://www.cgjungpage.org/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carl_Jung

I've kinda swung back and forth in my evalution of Jung over the decades. He's VERY interesting, but I'm not sure how helpful some of his theories are in terms of treatment.

Happy Birthday Gracie Allen!

http://www.museum.tv/archives/etv/A/htmlA/allengracie/allengracie.htm

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0020555/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NW6GWEi3g3U

Genius.

Happy Birthday Mick Jagger!

http://www.mickjagger.com/
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001396/

http://www.rollingstones.com/home.php

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3lrbqinXcHM

Thriller in Manilla!

http://www.metro.co.uk/yourmetro/article.html?in_article_id=58519&in_page_id=6

Amazing...

B-Movie Trailers From Hell!

http://trailersfromhell.com/index.php?tid=11
Famous directors provide commentary on B-Movie trailers. Very cool!

(Thanks for the link, Nick!)

Big Joe Turner performs Shake Rattle & Roll

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BotgHssyzoU
Classic!

solar cell efficiency increasing

http://www.scienceagogo.com/news/20070625035707data_trunc_sys.shtml

Neat!

New Bill Mauldin Collection To Be Published

http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/departments/syndicates/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003616359
Cool!

Happy Birthday Henry Knox!

http://www.ushistory.org/valleyforge/served/knox.html

http://www.generalknoxmuseum.org/

Almost forgotten now, Knox was one of the Greats in the Revolution. Quite a guy.

Dylan Goes Electric

http://campus.queens.edu/depts/english/dylan_goes_electric_the_newport_.htm

On this date in '65.

Microcars!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ThTM0pnzo-8

(Thanks for the link, Mathew!)

Bo Diddley performs Roadrunner & Mona

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ThTM0pnzo-8

Ow!

great moments in rock'nroll icthyology

http://news.aol.com/story/_a/do-fish-suffer-from-exposure-to-uriah/n20070720101909990005?cid=911#addNewCmmnt

Tee Hee! Mood Rings For Rich People!

http://dsc.discovery.com/news/2007/07/24/moodfurniture_tec.html?category=technology

I love it when smart people are able to con money out of rich folks too stupid to have a clue, (this is why I love all modern painters). Yea, right, I really need to "interact" with my chair or that lampshade over there. Weens...

one more reason to hate Proctor & Gamble, Michael Jackson, & Sony

http://www.wftv.com/entertainment/13736660/detail.html?treets=orlc&tid=2654358485813&tml=orlc_strange&tmi=orlc_strange_1_10000407242007&ts=H

the bionic hand

http://www.iraqslogger.com/index.php/post/3700/Wounded_US_Iraq_Vet_First_with_Bionic_Hand
Amazing stuff!

the cutting edge of butcher shops

http://www.wtopnews.com/?nid=105&sid=1197516

OMG! OMG! OMG! Ramones Themed Chuck Taylors!!!!!

http://www.converse.com/index.asp?bhcp=1#
I believe we have now reached the Apex of All That Is Cool And Wise And Just.

new Paul Roland album

http://www.paulroland.de/

http://www.lightline.it/paulroland.html

http://www.paulroland.it/

I finally got the new Paul Roland album, Re-Animator. Lately, he's been concentrating on writing books on occult and spiritual topics, but over the past twenty years, he's released about a dozen albums and collections that are a wonderful cross between Robyn Hitchcock and Al Stewart. His style is sort of a dark folk-rock sound and the themes are wonderful - the Cthulhu Mythos, Forteana, the occult, Victorian/Edwardian gothic, etc. Very literate and interesting lyrics throughout. Why the steam punks haven't discovered him, I'll never know, (it may be because he's never toured America and his albums have always been poorly distributed here - you have to be a True Collector to own them all - some are fabulously rare*). At any rate, Re-Animator, like all his other albums, is a lot of fun and I highly recommend it.

* Yes Missy, I own them all....

Fats Domino & Ricky Nelson perform I'm Walking

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qWfsJx1ycY0

bad news for crab lovers...

http://www.wtopnews.com/?nid=25&sid=1197328

And now, for those who wonder what happened to French militancy:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6759953.stm

"Blood Will Flow"... Soon, innocent shipments of Mateuse will be taken hostage. Rape gangs will wander the aisles of stores, despoiling Liebfraumilch; and unmentionable atrocities committed against sparkling wines masquerading as Champagne. Oh, the humanity!
But I am sympathetic and have joined the Bordeaux People's Front. Power to the Cabernet Sauvignon! By Any Means Necessary....

(Thanks for the link, Roger!)

music for ice cream trucks

http://www.wired.com/entertainment/music/news/2007/07/icecream_music

photos of Coyote Buttes parkland

http://www.arny.nl/thewave.html
Amazing.

news on the military's airborne laser

http://www.defenselink.mil//news/newsarticle.aspx?id=46502

Happy Birthday Raymond Chandler!

http://home.comcast.net/~mossrobert/

the pet hippo

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G3NueKXS6dk&eurl=

life in DC

http://whyihatedc.blogspot.com/2007/07/shocking.html

The good news is that the exploding manholes, the criminals, or DC's own emergency services teams will probably kill you before the water gets to...

more Fafhrd & the Gray Mouser on the way!

http://www.darkhorse.com/profile/profile.php?sku=13-461

Only 100 Days Until All Hallows!!!!

Happy Spooners Day!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Archibald_Spooner
http://www.fun-with-words.com/spoon_history.html

new plush - Cthulhu The Wicked

http://www.bigbadtoystore.com/bbts/product.aspx?product=TYV10154&mode=retail

Cthulhu - the movie...

http://www.cthulhuthemovie.com/

Collect Call of Cthulhu

http://www.myconfinedspace.com/2007/07/21/collect-call-of-cthulhu/

nice collection of old time radio horror shows for download

http://www.themonsterclub.com/radiolibrary.htm

Fasinating new transcripts of conversations amongst German officers during WWII

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/femail/article.html?in_article_id=469883&in_page_id=1879

Count Gore!

The Ghost Host with the Most this week is showing Children Shouldn't Play With Dead Things at: http://www.countgore.com/Lab.htm . And, has a great review of mexican wrestler movies at: http://www.countgore.com/diningroom.htm ! Essential!

horror film soundtracks online!

http://soundtrack-area.blogspot.com/

neat article on Ionic aircraft

http://www.americanheritage.com/articles/web/20070718-ionocraft-alexander-de-seversky.shtml

Yardbirds Reunion?

From the Nuggets & Pebbles Yahoo Group:

According to an industry insider, Jimmy Page and Jeff Beck are going to tour as The Yardbirds this fallalongside founding bassist Chris Dreja and drummer JimMcCarty. The tour is said to kick off this October.It’s unclear who will be the reformed Yardbirds’ leadsinger (original vocalist Keith Relf died ofelectrocution in 1976). Eric Clapton, the Yardbirds’founding guitarist, has no plans to participate,according to the source.Page and Beck’s tenure in the Yardbirds overlapped byonly a few months in 1966, but they have remainedclose friends since. The British blues legendsdisbanded in July of 1968, although Dreja and McCartyhave been touring steadily under the Yardbirds namesince the 1990s, and are currently on the road throughAugust. The band reunited for one night in 1992 whenthey were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall ofFame.

more Springsteen on the way...

http://www.appleseedrec.com/

Happy Birthday Robin Williams!

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000245/

http://www.robin-williams.net/

life in DC

http://www.nbc4.com/news/13719118/detail.html

Stephen Stills demos being released

http://www.rhino.com/store/ProductDetail.lasso?Number=215676

new Doors live album on the way

http://www.rhino.com/store/ProductDetail.lasso?Number=216124

Ha!

http://www.theonion.com/content/node/63894

This reminds me of infamous real experiments carried on by Professor Harlow* up at the Madison campus of the University of Wisconsin in the 60's. As it originates from Madison itself, I'm sure where the Onion staff got their inspiration...

(*Harlow's films of his experiments were pretty disturbing and perhpas say more about him than the tests themselves...).

True Gamesman

http://www.wftv.com/news/13719952/detail.html?treets=orlc&tid=2654358485813&tml=orlc_strange&tmi=orlc_strange_1_10000207202007&ts=H

"energy saving" google

http://www.blackle.com/

or so they say...

(Thanks for the link, Linda!)

the military's robot fly

http://www.technologyreview.com/Infotech/19068/

To be countered by a robot flyswatter....

Shindig Magazine

http://www.shindig-magazine.com/reviews.html

Some nice reviews of psychedelia and power pop.

Happy Moon Day!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1BEwmTkMCCU
One of those events that you remember where you were when it was occurring, (My Uncle Harry's living room, with all of us scattered around the TV). An amazing achievement that has unfortunately been allowed to stagnate...

Happy Birthday Mrs. Peel!

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001671/

http://www.dianarigg.net/

http://theavengers.tv/forever/bio-rigg.htm

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mJ4FHpSTFf4

So cool...

The Detroit Cobras perform Baby Help Me

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tdlf0kaFUYg

(Thanks for clueing me in on this group, Missy!)

I believe this will be the airlines next step...

http://www.wtopnews.com/?nid=104&sid=1193981

computers "solve" Checkers

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-web_checkers_1_p.m.jul20,1,3313891.story?coll=chi-news-hed

Hmmm, there are several games I consider bedrock. Computers now seem to dominate checkers and chess, I suppose Go will be next, (I bet that'll be a lot harder to master); and that'll leave the two most "human" games - poker and Diplomacy. It'll be interesting to see if there are formulas developed for calculating odds and bets for 7 card stud. I suppose there are, and they'll get more and more sophisticated playing on averages and statistics. The question will be if that's enough to take on intuition and the knowledge of a human that they're just playing a giant calculator relying on statistics. It'll be interesting to see how that contest plays out.
As for Diplomacy. It's a purely human game. Oh, I've heard of a program that plays it, but that's not the point. The very fact that a machine is playing means it's a totally different game than from what was intended. Anyone can move the move the pieces, it's the human interaction that makes the game. I would no more negotiate with a computer than I would with a trash compacter.It's comparing apples and oranges, and will never be done.

a mother's love

http://abcnews.go.com/TheLaw/wireStory?id=3391515&CMP=OTC-RSSFeeds0312
I'm always touched by that special bond between a mother and her child assassins.

Medical Supplies for DC

http://www.mcphee.com/items/11754.html

Very cool zombie aid

http://www.mcphee.com/items/11746.html

Sometimes a lollipop is just a lollipop....

http://www.mcphee.com/items/11771.html

Dumfries In The News!

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/07/18/AR2007071802587.html?nav=rss_metro

I am shocked to discover that people actually live in Dumfries and admit it!

a very strange song medley with Cher & David Bowie

http://bedazzled.blogs.com/bedazzled/2007/07/david-bowie-che.html

the cutting edge of copyright law

http://www.metro.co.uk/weird/article.html?in_article_id=57711&in_page_id=2

mind-controlled bionic hand!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/scotland/edinburgh_and_east/6901231.stm

Amazing.

get your very own Engima machine!

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=270146164488

(I seriously doubt it...)

Awwww!

http://www.squishable.com/pc/squish_octopus_15/Big_Animals/Big+Squishable+Octopus

so much for monster.com

http://www.eatliver.com/i.php?n=2185

life in DC - the usual...

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/28/AR2007052801084.html

Army of the Dead news!

http://www.theonion.com/content/radio_news/army_of_dead_has_no_problem?utm_source=onion_rss_daily

how many horror movies begin:

http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=3388201&CMP=OTC-RSSFeeds0312

nice quote

http://www.quotationspage.com/quote/29706.html

Happy Birthday Hunter Thompson!

http://www.gonzo.org/
http://www.nndb.com/people/312/000022246/

http://www.levity.com/corduroy/thompson.htm

One of my faves.

Happy National Caviar Day!

Yum!

Forget the Olympics - THIS is Sports!

http://www.worldrps.com/

(Thanks for the link, Pete!)

The Cramps perform Human Fly (at Napa State mental Hospital)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oEiXfpaOA4g&mode
A near-perfect example of Rock'n'Roll at its finest. The lead guitarist, Byron Gregory, left shortly thereafter "on a mission for Satan"...(he later formed a band called The Beast which released one ultra-rare single*)

*Yes Missy, I own it ;)

Tuff Darts perform Nuclear Waste

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FT3a3RjXuPE
Classic. I think this is one of those tunes that only is/was known in New York and DC in the late 70's.

Cyndi Lauper performs Money Changes Everything

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MEzUxsdZTQ0
Great song, (originally recorded by The Brains - another great version).

can they make a crack pipe out of wax?

http://www.wtopnews.com/?nid=25&sid=1191483

DOH!

http://news.sky.com/skynews/video/videoplayer/0,,30000-1275554,.html

Humanity Strikes Back!

http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=oddlyEnoughNews&storyid=2007-07-17T153218Z_01_EIC748770_RTRUKOC_0_US-GERMANY-COMPUTER1.xml&src=nl_usoddlyenough

Lame Larry, Part II

Let me be the first to say that I’m not afraid to admit to being wrong occasionally. And this appears to be one of those instances. I felt pretty bad of what I’d written about Laurence Olivier in a previous post, (http://funwithmendip.blogspot.com/2007/07/lame-larry.html ). And I decided to do some additional research on the story. After many grueling events and painstaking searches, I was able to come up with heretofore unknown documents on Sir Lawrence, or Secret Agent X-1-3, as he was known then. Below is one of the results of these labors, a transcript of an actual phone call placed by Prime Minister Churchill to Olivier about his mission in America. This proves without a doubt about the seriousness of his job and its importance to the war effort. I stand, humbly, corrected:

Churchill calls Sir Lawrence, the phone rings next to Danny Kaye asleep in bed..
Danny Kaye: Hello?
Churchill: I need to speak to Secret Agent X-1-3 at once!
D: Who? What? It’s 3 o’clock in the morning!
C: This is an emergency, give me Secret Agent X-1-3!
D: Who??? There’s no one here by that name. You’ve got the wrong number, Pal.
C: (sigh) Let me talk to Laurence Olivier!
D: Oh! Why didn’t you say so? Just a minute, (away from the phone – “Hey Larry, wake up! It’s for you…”)
Laurence: (sleepily) Hello, who is this?
C: Secret Agent X-1-3, this is the Prime Minister, and we need you for a desperate mission.
L: (immediately jumping out of bed and coming to Attention, causing Danny Kaye to fall out onto the floor) MR. PRIME MINISTER, SIR! SECRET AGENT X-1-3 REPORTING FOR DUTY, SIR! AWAITING ORDERS, SIR!
C: At ease, X-1-3, I have important orders for you. The crisis facing our country is deepening. We need the Americans desperately, but are losing their support as we speak. David Niven and Errol Flynn have been unable to get Oscar nominations this year, and MI6 reports that Vivian Leigh’s contract might not be renewed. And to make matters worse, our sources tell us that Erich von Stroheim is considering making a comeback! (Larry gasps) I needn’t tell you the dark consequences of these events to our war effort.
L: (regaining his composure) Yes Sir. What are my orders, Sir?
C: We have a daring and dangerous plan, one that will put its subject in constant jeopardy, but it’s the only way.
L: I’m your Man, Sir. What can I do?
C: You must infiltrate Hollywood, and convince the inhabitants to join us in this fight! You dare not fail!
L: Hmmm, Well, I’m having lunch with Alan Hale tomorrow…Lou Abbott lives just up and across the street from me here, I can stroll by his place for a talk….And Joan Blondell and Rondo Hatton frequent this little deli down the hill from us!
C: That’s a start, but we need to think bigger, Agent X-1-3 – much bigger! We need tough allies for tough times. You have to get James Cagney and Edward G. Robinson. We’ve monitored all of their films and they have easy access to a large supply of automatic weapons and men who know how to use them. We’ve also noted that in his most recent film, Humphrey Bogart was hiding out in Casablanca from our enemies, the Nazis. With him there, we have hopes of opening a second front in North Africa and relieving the pressure on Monty at El Alamein. In addition, it appears that Claude Rains is now French – I’ve alerted De Gaulle to this fact and urged him to parachute Rains into Brittany to prepare the way for our Normandy Invasion.
L: Very good, Sir. I’ll get on it right away!
C: And, Agent X-1-3, there’s one more person…Someone so powerful, so valuable, that without him, all else will be for naught. You cannot fail here, Agent X-1-3.
L: And who is that, Sir?
C: We MUST….Get….Clark…Gable….
L: You can count on me, Sir! (Larry snaps to attention and salutes).
C: I knew I could, Agent X-1-3. And remember, I can offer nothing but blood, sweat, and free tickets to Mrs. Miniver. But we shall fight them in the aisle, at the ticket office, and at the concessions stand, we will fight them to the very last box of popcorn; but we shall NEVER surrender!
L: Here! Here!
C: And, Agent X-1-3..
L: Yes Sir?
C: Please apologize for me to Danny Kaye for waking him.
L: Yes Sir (he salutes again). Goodnight Sir!

And so, let this be a lesson to all of us, that even those who hung out at the Brown Derby during WWII, were performing valuable services for their country. Never let it be said that Sir Laurence shirked his duties. For, by talking to Clark Gable, he was able to single handedly get America in the war and defeat our enemies! We owe a great debt to this man, and to Danny Kaye...

lame Larry

http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/olivier-acted-as-secret-agent/2007/07/16/1184559704079.html

I'm not sure a British citizen talking up their country really qualifies as a "secret agent", and it is pretty silly to think that we would have locked him up for it, or that the nazis would have sent in an undercover sniper team to take him out. It is even sillier to tout gaining access to Clark Gable as some sort of wartime mission. But I guess he did get ahold of Danny Kaye...

True Gamesmen!

http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/288289/1/.html

Ewwww!

http://news.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=279082

Elvis Rocks On!

http://www.metro.co.uk/weird/article.html?in_article_id=57342&in_page_id=2

Monster Movie Radio Spots!

http://skinnyrobbie.blogspot.com/2006/10/halloween-ii-electric-dj-vu.html

http://skinnyrobbie.blogspot.com/2005/10/halloween.html

Some great stuff here, including a Halloween public service announcement by Frank Zappa for the ADA!

Happy Wrong Way Corrigan Day!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Douglas_Corrigan
http://www.centennialofflight.gov/essay/Explorers_Record_Setters_and_Daredevils/corrigan/EX16.htm

Happy Birthday James Cagney!

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000010/

Roxy Music performs Virginia Plain

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rnRM0hC2I1s

Ah, early 70's Brit decadence...

Wanda Jackson performs Rock Your Baby

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-6tyUSqqwHw
Ow! Rockabilly Queen!

Peter Gabriel - Red Rain

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pIG5wU0EhCc

I always liked this song.

Steppenwolf perform Born To Be Wild

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i8kZog12obo&mode

The song that sold a million bikes...

Stairway To Gilligan's Island Video!!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KTCYLbFxTpI

It was decades ago that Little Roger & The Goosebumps released this single. The humorless Led Zeppelin sued and all but a few copies were lost, (yes, of course, I own one). More on Little Roger can be found here: http://www.littleroger.com/ , and his "hit" is available once again on a CD collection called Laguna Tunes, (which I highly recommend).

(Thanks for the link, Linda!)

Steam-Powered Internet!

http://arts.guardian.co.uk/news/story/0,,1817636,00.html

So cool...

Mysterious undeground chambers in New York...

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/14/nyregion/14mystery.html?_r=2&ref=nyregion&oref=slogin&oref=slogin

why we need leash laws!

http://www.local6.com/video/13676357/index.html

Happy Birhtday DC!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Washington,_D.C.

David Lee Roth - California Girls

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cmbhfI8f_Ek
May the gods smile on David Lee Roth. A direct link between Vaudeville and Rock'n'Roll, the man is a master of pop culture. Everytime I've read or seen an interview, it's been done with a scream, a laugh, and a pointed wink. He understands. "I won't go down in history - but I will go down on your daughter." Rock on, Dave...

5000 Volts perform I'm On Fire

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eye0mXrl_Po

A truly guilty pleasure. One of the few disco songs I like. A complete rip-off of Los Lobos' tune, Black Is Black. Silly little song, I still enjoy it...

Rufus & Chaka Khan perform Tell Me Somethin' Good

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=waLWJ6YFeJ8

Always liked this song for a very warm summer evening. And although Chaka went on to a pretty good career, I always thought she and Rufus would be much bigger than they ever were. Too bad.

Eddie Kendricks performs Keep On Truckin'

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X0jPnZbCbpw

Nice...

Tyrone Davis performs If I Could Turn Back The Hands Of Time

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YRp8eKUtvGA
Wonderful soul tune.

the future...

http://www.wtopnews.com/?nid=104&sid=1189290

Cthulhu Weenie Roaster pic

https://www.shop.roastmyweenie.com/images/11806292594741183781611.jpeg

Tarzan's apes discovered?

http://environment.guardian.co.uk/conservation/story/0,,2126328,00.html

Happy Birthdya Ian Curtis!

http://www.iancurtis.org/
Prophet of Loss. Essential.

Happy National Ice Cream Day!

The Kinkster & Dylan perform Sold American

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yEW4ngtylX0
A rather surreal venue, but I always loved this tune. Back in May of '78 I was finishing up a stupid and disappointing year down at William & Mary. It was my last day in town, all my goods were packed in the car, just one more exam to take and I'd leave directly from the classroom to go straight home, (and never return). The one bright spot down there was the college radio - WCWM. I called the DJ up, requested Sold American as my swan song, which he graciously and promptly played, and I was off...

Psychedelic Furs perform We Love You

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gc1iPnx4wlc

Very cool sound...

Seals & Crofts perform Summer Breeze

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TEF470mXqU4
Another light song for a warm day.

Jim Croce performs Operator

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A2iS8XctJKo
I alwasy loved Croce's ballads - and hated his rockers. Of course, the rockers became his biggest hits...

buy your own Spitfire

http://www.dailyindia.com/show/156932.php/You-can-now-own-your-own-Spitfire-for-as-little-as-130-000-pounds

Assassins' Fort Unearthed

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070713/sc_nm/syria_castle_assassins_dc;_ylt=Al3pCV1z0HoK__nCKb.KjkoPLBIF

Happy Bastille Day!

http://french.about.com/library/weekly/aa071400.htm

S-Mart T-Shirts!

http://www.novemberfire.com/shirtspopup/shirtpoppages/nft378s.html

British History?

http://abc.net.au/news/stories/2007/07/13/1977438.htm?section=justin

The article is maddeningly incomplete. I'd be curious to get a fuller account of who was left in and who has been added to the list of what is taught (if anyone was added...). I'm curious how one gets through a history of the last century without at least some attention paid to Churchill, Hitler and Stalin. Perhaps, like so many classrooms in this country, the subject simply isn't taught.

British Bad-assed Bear-like Badger Beasts Beleaguer Basra!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/6295138.stm

Blobfest Today!

http://www.thecolonialtheatre.com/html/BlobFest.html

Bela Lugosi's Dracula online!

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-1951778873752026088&q=dracula&total=5794&start=0&num=10&so=0&type=search&plindex=0

Sacrilege!

http://www.realbeer.com/blog/?p=550

Happy Birthday Cheech!

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001507/

Happy Birthday Roger McGuinn!

http://www.ibiblio.org/jimmy/mcguinn/index.html
http://www.lyon.edu/webdata/users/kadler/public_html/rmcguinn/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kQ9SKe6IEjs

Genius. Take the look of the Beatles, the songs of the American Folk movement, the guitar stylings of the Searchers, and the coolest pair of sunglasses in the world and you've got one of the greatest bands ever.

Happy Birthday Captain Picard!

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001772/
http://www.patrickstewart.org/

Happy Friday the 13th!!!

the day the music died

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/6896152.stm
And so it appears that the corporations that succeeded in ruining music radio and televion will now do the same to Internet radio - at least that based in the States. Can anyone direct me to pirate webcasts from Taiwan?

The Good Ol' Days....

http://community.livejournal.com/vintage_ads/357295.html

Oh....My....God.....London to Build The World's Biggest Dildo!

http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_daily_dish/2007/07/great-moments-2.html

(Thanks to Infidel753 for the alert at: http://infidel753.blogspot.com/2007/07/londong.html)

Robot News

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/6291746.stm

the price of tickets has gone up!

http://broadwayworld.com/viewcolumn.cfm?colid=19861

Happy Birthday Bucky!

http://www.bfi.org/

http://www.cjfearnley.com/fuller-faq.html

Happy Birthday Bill Cosby!

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001070/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Cosby

Those first half dozen comedy albums of his are Essential.

I have no need for this, I'm way ahead...

http://www.amazon.com/Villains-Guide-Better-Living/dp/0811856666/ref=pd_sim_b_1/103-8154151-7764644

Lovin' Spoonful DVD available soon!

http://www.ccmusic.com/item.cfm?itemid=KLT004248&CFID=6805034&CFTOKEN=38668213

The Temps - Psychedelic Shack

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rI11C0xyyII

Great song, good performance, but they seem preoccupied with offstage direction...

The Beat Farmers cover Neil's Powderfinger

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c2_xZl3cmj4&mode=related&search=
One of the greatest and most under-rated rock bands of all time. Their debut album is right up there with the immortals. RIP Country Dick.

The Circle Jerks cover Robyn Hitchcock's "I Wanna Destroy You"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0HqbOfkUH94
Always liked this song...

Cheap Trick - Tonight It's You

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xNm7OTzIoAw

Great power pop.

Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers - The Last DJ

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a22-DnTO_WA

So sad, so true....

interesting little article on an attempted assasination of Hitler

http://www.infoshop.org/inews/article.php?story=20070709095815816

Silly Walks Research

http://dsc.discovery.com/news/2007/07/11/sillywalk_hum.html?category=human&guid=20070711103030&dcitc=w19-502-ak-0000

I can't believe someone took the time to figure this out...

The Vintage Halloween Store

http://www.vintagehalloween.com/decororncoll.html

I really like these guys...

new site devoted to Karl Wagner!

http://www.karledwardwagner.org/

One of my faves...

Alert Grace Slick!!!

http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=070710184905.473qrihk&show_article=1&image=large

1967

squirt gun ratings

http://www.slate.com/id/2170024/fr/nl/

Cool!

fly the friendly skies

http://www.wtopnews.com/?nid=104&sid=1184616

drink beer - save the planet

http://dsc.discovery.com/news/2007/07/10/urine_pla.html?category=earth

what to wear on your reality TV show...

http://www.cafepress.com/ironicsans/

nice article on the lost eateries of DC

http://blog.washingtonpost.com/rawfisher/2007/07/the_waffle_shop_its_not_toast.html#more

I miss Little Tavern...

interesting article about the state and future of wireless connections

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/07/08/AR2007070800830.html?nav=rss_technology/personaltech

Catholic School Allows Hell In...

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/07/09/ap/strange/main3030132.shtml

The Salem Witches Halloween Ball

http://www.festivalofthedead.com/witchesball/

nice book review on the Revolution

http://www.centredaily.com/opinion/story/146119.html

Some quick info on the high cost of the struggle. It's a shame so little of this history is taught or promulgated anymore, it really is fascinating to see the struggles and debates within struggles and debates, the great and flawed personalities, and the heroics and desperation in it all.

The Battle Of The Springfields

http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=entertainmentNews&storyID=2007-07-09T231840Z_01_N09307796_RTRUKOC_0_US-SIMPSONS-CONTEST.xml&pageNumber=0&imageid=&cap=&sz=13&WTModLoc=NewsArt-C1-ArticlePage2

Happy Birthday Arlo!

http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendID=93224134

http://www.arlo.net/bio.shtml

http://www.risingsonrecords.com/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OHbO3x36Ty0

Happy Birthday Nicola Tesla!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nikola_Tesla

http://www.teslasociety.com/biography.htm

Enlist in the Canada-Denmark War!

http://www.wtopnews.com/?nid=105&sid=1183989

neat "commercial" for Cthulhu Lego

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e6Z6XQSaZ9E

nice video for the Velvets' I'm Waiting For The Man

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1UpFGoJHwLI

The Beach Boys perform God Only Knows

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x7caZVb37-o&mode=related&search=

Beautiful...

The Periodic Table of the Internet

http://www.wellingtongrey.net/miscellanea/archive/2007-06-23--periodic-table-of-the-internet.html

The Super Hero Suit!

http://www.sundayherald.com/news/heraldnews/display.var.1528394.0.holy_batcapes_the_age_of_the_superhero_suit_is_upon_us.phpDon't

When Ents Go Bad

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070708/ap_on_fe_st/odd_leafy_robber

Happy Birthday Richard Roundtree!

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0745780/

Rock Around The Clock at #1!

On this date in 1955.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cY9niMeOwlg

The Quick & Dirty B-Movie Plot Generator

http://boston.conman.org/cgi-bin/plotdriver.cgi

July in NoVa...

The sun is like the eye of some vengeful unforgiving god, the air is soaked with humidity, and the temperature is hotter than a whore on nickle night. Here are some tunes for the Virgnia swamps - the land where the Pharoah died...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sc9FYFBwNco

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0xSbsKHfMFE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=juDtRGlU1E8&mode=related&search=

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wAtUw6lxcis

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A50BqRMP358

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eo8S3iFdzUc

The Guess Who - No Time

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3iAuUhIXC0Y

One of my fave early 70's songs...

Billy Ocean - Love Really Hurts Without You

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=977IsYejkWE

Probably the best Motown song that was never released on Motown...

paper toys for Halloween

http://ravensblight.com/papertoys.html

Renaissance Magazine

http://www.renaissancemagazine.com/

Each issue is pretty scattershot in its approach, but the current one has some moderately nice articles on the Cathar heresy, the Fall of Constantinople, and my beloved Swiss Pikes, (and a nice re-evaluation of the battle of Agincourt). I've seen it for sale in Borders and Barnes & Noble.

Life In DC - as predicted, it will never end...

http://blog.washingtonpost.com/rawfisher/2007/07/the_54_million_pants_suit_that.html?nav=rss_blog

T-Shirt for the wine drinking Cthulhu Cultist

http://www.cafepress.com/buy/cthulhu/-/pv_design_prod/p_storeid.18459013/pNo_18459013/id_6559811/opt_/pg_/c_/fpt_

Cthulhu Origami

http://www.myconfinedspace.com/2007/07/07/cthulhu-origami/

World War I documentary finally available on DVD

http://www.earthstation1.com/Merchant/merchant.mv?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=E&Product_Code=WW1DS2E7DS&Category_Code=WWI

Happy Birthday Marty Feldman! (pronounced Eye-Gor)

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001204/bio

Women In Art

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nUDIoN-_Hxs

Stunning little video.

Raymond Kurzweil interview on the future of AI

http://www.businessweek.com/1999/99_35/b3644022.htm

Shatner's Transformed Man online!!!

http://soundtrackrarities.blogspot.com/2007/06/trek-actors-sing-william-shatner.html

bank discovers new way to increase its profits!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/shropshire/6244452.stm

break out the foil...

http://blog.wired.com/defense/2007/06/haarp-facility-.html

the rubber duck invasion!

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=464768&in_page_id=1770

I forgot to tell you about this:

http://www.livescience.com/health/070702_bad_memories.html

Beware of the Vampire Peacock!

http://www.suntimes.com/news/nation/451804,CST-NWS-peacock02.article

fascinating artilce on communicating with "brain-dead" patients

http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?chanID=sa017&articleID=C70861E4-E7F2-99DF-3F9AD7602EE86A49&pageNumber=1&catID=9

the smallest house in Britain

http://www.ebaumsworld.com/pictures/view/26325/

Japanese packaging....

http://www.pantherhouse.com/newshelton/the-jpunk-screaming/

motorcycle sculptures made out of watch parts

http://www.pfau.com.br/artepfau/imagens.php

computer that fits in a wall socket

http://parthsuthar.com/derive/2007/06/20/a-computer-so-small-it-fits-in-a-wall-socket/

weird campers & RV's

http://www.gadling.com/2007/06/19/weird-campers-unusual-rvs-and-other-bizarre-rolling-rooms/

Star Wars VS Harry Potter

http://www.eatliver.com/i.php?n=2140

Haunted Memories Portraits

http://www.hauntedmemories.com/

collection of Cthulhu films

http://mysite.verizon.net/resp7jls/id46.html

Brook Benton - Walk On The Wild Side film credit video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3wG4OIXsueI

Very under-rated soulster.

Chuck Berry performs Roll Over Beethoven

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zwZdU66WwzE

Classic. Essential.

new horror oriented DVD's coming out!

http://www.creepyclassics.com/scripts/shopplus.cgi?DN=creepyclassics.com&cartid=545520662886&FILE=/ccpreorder.html

Including stuff by Boris Karloff, Vincent Price, and Roger Corman.

RIP Bill Pinkney

http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/07/05/arts/NA-A-E-MUS-US-Obit-Pinkney.php

interesting article on the Ohio Express

http://citybeat.com/gyrobase/Content?oid=oid%3A140045

Happy National Strawberry Sundae Day!

Happy Birthday Ringo!

http://www.ringostarr.com/

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0823592/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ringo_Starr

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H-7QIzmu-ts

new Conan movie?

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117967759.html?categoryid=13&cs=1&query=conan

Happy Birthday Daniel Morgan!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniel_Morgan

Another great patriot, and destroyer of that atrocity committing fop, Tarleton.

Happy Birthday John Paul Jones!

http://www.americanrevolution.com/ppl_john_paul_jones.html

A Hard Day's Night

Premiered on this date in '64 (in London - it went into general release about a month later in the States). One of my favorite movies - I love everything about it; and one of the best trailers, ever. The Beatles may not have been like this, but this is how we imagined them being...

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0058182/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Hard_Day's_Night_(film)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=84Gl3i6qAYo

Happy Anniversary to the Jefferson Airplane!

Formed on this date in '65. One of my faves.

http://www.jeffersonairplane.com/

http://grove.ufl.edu/~number6/Jefferson.Airplane/airplane.html

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q1cfTMdjkYM

Happy Birthday Pat Paulsen!

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0667323/
http://www.paulsen.com/

Happy Birthday Jennifer Saunders Sweety Darling!

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0766837/
http://members.aol.com/lemfou2/

The Top Cult TV

http://www.tvguide.com/news/top-cult-shows/070629-01
I'm not familiar with all of them, but this seems a reasonable list. (I'd of added Black Adder, In Living Color, The Muppet Show, One Step Beyond, Rocky & Bullwinkle, Coronet Blue, Secret Agent, and UFO...)

The Call of Cowthulhu!

http://www.sjgames.com/ill/archives.html?m=June&y=2007&d=30

Tee Hee!

http://www.snopes.com/photos/boats/badlaunch.asp

Grand Theft Auto - and Mustard

http://www.wftv.com/foodnews/13593724/detail.html?treets=orlc&tid=2654358485813&tml=orlc_strange&tmi=orlc_strange_1_10000206292007&ts=H

Time Out...

http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=oddlyEnoughNews&storyid=2007-06-26T132258Z_01_MAN132317_RTRUKOC_0_US-PHILIPPINES-THIEF.xml&src=nl_usoddlyenough

Octosquid!

http://www.wftv.com/slideshow/news/13632634/detail.html

These mixed marriages never work...

Woo Hoo! A Penzey's Spice Shop is opening in Falls Church!

At 513 Broad Street. (If you're serious about cooking, or eating, this is great news. They are one of the premier spice merchants. Linda's going to spend a fortune and I'll be adding a few more pounds...)
http://www.penzeys.com/

100 Days That Changed Music

http://www.u2france.com/spip.php?article10846
I don't quite agree with all of these, and would add a few more; but it's an interesting list.

(Thanks for the link, Mathew!)

My kind of license plate...

(Thanks for the pic, John!)

excerpts from Shindig & Hallabaloo on DVD!

http://www.earthstation1.com/Merchant/merchant.mv?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=E&Product_Code=CTMDSV7SHM&Category_Code=OTTMDS

(Thanks for the link, Missy!)

I'm Back....

Greetings! We just got back from Colorado and, as always, had a great time. First and foremost was getting to hang out with my cousins, (and celebrate the wedding of Paul & Barb, and the anniversaries of Kevin & Allison (9th); and Jim & Dolores (50th!!!). Thanks folks - and thanks to Nanette, MacKenzie, Taylor, Rody, Janet, Mike, Karen, Cosmo, Lorelei, Lynnae, Maurice, Hailey, Rob, Renice and Marshall for a wonderful visit.

We didn't do quite as much sightseeing as we often do, but managed to spend time in Fort Collins, Estes Park, Grand Junction, Ridgway, Ouray, Fruita, Palisade, and Montrose. And finally got up to Nederand to the home of the Frozen Dead Guy Festival! (http://www.nederlandchamber.org/FrozenDeadGuyDays/). The scenery was beautiful, the weather was hotter than hell, and we had no hassles travelling. We went mead tasting in Palisades - http://www.rocky-mountain-meadery.com/; and bought some wonderful bing cherries there) and finally got to try yak burgers while in Montrose, which were delicious, (http://www.yakmeat.us/ ).

My only sadness was noting the loss of several "old haunts". Readmore Books in Grand Junction was the finest bookstore on the Western Slope for books on local Colorado history, (a hobby of mine), and it's now gone. There are still two good shops for such material (in Ouray and Durango), but it was the best and it will be sorely missed. And several other shops and eateries have disappeared. Such is the way of things.

The visit was topped off sitting in Rob & Renice's front yard on the 4th of July watching the neighbors light up a small armory's worth of fireworks in 30 mile an hour winds while those same breezes caused powerlines to snap and spark in the backyard. Nothing quite says Independence Day to me like a double threat of out of control explosives AND a chance at electrocution! A great capper to the week! Thanks, cousins!

Weirdness

Tuesday, July 31, 2007

Monday, July 30, 2007

Sunday, July 29, 2007

Saturday, July 28, 2007

Friday, July 27, 2007

Thursday, July 26, 2007

Wednesday, July 25, 2007

Tuesday, July 24, 2007

Monday, July 23, 2007

Sunday, July 22, 2007

Only 100 Days Until All Hallows!!!!

Saturday, July 21, 2007

Count Gore!

Yardbirds Reunion?

Friday, July 20, 2007

Thursday, July 19, 2007

Wednesday, July 18, 2007

Happy National Caviar Day!

Tuesday, July 17, 2007

Lame Larry, Part II

Monster Movie Radio Spots!

Monday, July 16, 2007