Weirdness: March 2009

busy times

The next three or four days are going to be very busy, both at work and at home, so blog entries are going to be few and far between until the weekend. See ya later.

fanvid of The Kinks performing Around The Dial

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WTTw8S22tcc

There's a report that some "rock" radio station in DC is changing formats to easy listening. My friend Peter (a fellow rock cognoscenti) and I exchanged a few emails about it and agreed that it was no loss - the station sucked, with a playlist criminally limited to about 60 songs, when 6000 should be the norm. The Kinks released this cut over a quarter of a century ago (to minimal airplay, of course) and it's even more true now. If you're reading this and you're under 30, you gotta believe me - radio used to be so Cool! Check out Little Steven's Underground Garage. That's what it used to be like. WPGC in '67, WHFS in "69, WGTB in '77 - there were gods in those days....

Brian performs California Girls

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

One of the best and most famous song intros in the history of humankind. Sheer nostalgia, and genius.

capitalism for our brave new world

http://www.mcphee.com/a09/119121.html

the cutting edge of DUI

http://www.metro.co.uk/weird/article.html?Drunk_man_drives_bar_stool,_crashes&in_article_id=603790&in_page_id=2

Americans in Paris during WWII

http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/books/non-fiction/article5979935.ece

Another interesting little footnote to the war.

Google's Mary Popkins prank...

http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/2009/03/26/google-s-ghostly-mary-poppins-mystery-solved-91466-23235039/

I'd prefer bourbon & Tab...

http://news.stv.tv/oddly-enough/85595-lemon-cola-becomes-holy-water-in-norway-baptism/

the cutting edge of plea bargains

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/story/2009/03/28/ST2009032802114.html?sid=ST2009032802114

Frankly, I'm amazed this didn't occur in Florida....

Happy Birthday to The Matrix!

Premiered on this date in '99. Great movie. Essential.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0133093/

The Reivers perform Things Don't Change

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FVlL8hhiM30

Another repeat for me. I'm going to keep plugging these guys until th end of time. The best band you've never heard of. Genius. Essential.

The Go! Team performs Keys To The City

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iU1Ki1QsqLg

Another tune I've linked to in the past. Great song.

Transvision Vamp video for Baby I Don't Care

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fHo5w2WGZWA&feature=related

These guys should've been much bigger. Great stuff. A perfect song for that period between the third and fourth bourbons...

Klaus Nomi covers Lighting Strikes

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gma5IUNMTn0

Classic. An original. One of Linda's faves...

Brian Setzer performs The Knife Feels Like Justice

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QaYU5wBqNeY

Wonderful song - and a great title.

The Everlys perform Crying In The Rain

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R0Z6xOeR_Bo
Lousy video, great performance.

The Guess Who perform Share The Land

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rLQJ4toj-JY&feature=related

Classic early 70's rock.

Great Balls O'Fire over Virginia!

http://hamptonroads.com/2009/03/mysterious-loud-explosion-heard-hampton-roads

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p-1c7wxE4hw

(Thanks for the head's up on this, Peter!)

The "Elephant Angel"

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/northernireland/5058132/Identity-of-mystery-elephant-angel-revealed.html

Happy Birthday God!

http://www.ericclapton.com/
http://www.eric-clapton.co.uk/

http://www.whereseric.com/

http://video.google.com/videosearch?hl=en&q=eric+clapton&um=1&ie=UTF-8&ei=YFTPSfeyBpHrlQeiw93aCQ&sa=X&oi=video_result_group&resnum=4&ct=title#

Happy Birthday John Astin!

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0040014/
http://www.nndb.com/people/327/000023258/

http://www.astin-poe.com/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dF5mdgU9M60

Happy Birthday Graeme Edge!

http://www.sing365.com/music/lyric.nsf/Graeme-Edge-Biography/AD7A71522248FDCA48256A6A002D1C11

The 5 Stairsteps perform Ooh Child

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vXwfA5a-I3U&feature=PlayList&p=9C0DD913720EC480&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=26

One of the great pop soul songs. Really moving. I don't think things do get easier or brighter, but for a few moments, it allows you to hope they do. See ya tomorrow.

The Moody's perform Tuesday Afternoon

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bPLWBhNW3FM

I heard this song a few hours ago during one of my rare forays into network television. It was being used in an ad for Visa credit cards. Sigh. The soundtrack of my soul is being used to shill for the Bank of America. The gods have a wicked sense of humor.

But for me, it'll always be a reminder of sitting in my friend Edmund's basement in the early and mid 70's - discussing politics and Buddhism, drinking bad scotch and smoking great pipe tobacco.

Cannibal & The Headhunters perform Land Of 1000 Dances

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RlTPFERD8zs

Fun song by one of my favorite named groups.

Jerry jeff performs Navajo Rug

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HxOpqOn48nc

I always liked this song.

fanvid of Elephant's Memory performing Mongoose

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

Almost nobody remembers this song. It's like it disappeared from consciousness. The group went on to back John Lennon.

Kiss performs Calling Dr. Love

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AfNp7HVXvVE

Silly band, fun song.

The Tom Robinson Band performs 2-4-6-8 Motorway

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GMy2bmSAIeA

Great band and song. Should've been bigger.

Nightmare Playgrounds

http://www.darkroastedblend.com/2009/03/nightmare-playgrounds-part-3.html

when whales thieve

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7940396.stm

Impressive footage.

creepy Segway

http://www.engadget.com/2009/03/16/cajun-crawler-swaps-segway-wheels-for-theo-jansens-creepy-leg-m/

Flea Circuses!

http://www.darkroastedblend.com/2009/03/victorian-flea-circuses-lost-art-form.html

Beautiful contraptions!

my fave video fo the week

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jTQD16sYbnE

Shakin' All Over in Cantonese. Cute girl, gang fights while dancing in time. This is the way it should be.

the cutting edge of sky diving

http://www.heavy.com/video/66437#/channel/228637

the toy railroad

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PN_oDdGmKyA&feature=player_embedded

Unbelievable...

strange fruit in the old neighborhood

It's a little over 70 degrees here today at the Manor. There's a fair wind blowing and I am reminded of another one of those rites of Spring from my mis-spent childhood. Sometime around late March or early April, one of more of us kids would get a parachutist toy. I'm not sure what the name of them was, or if they even had an "official" one. It was a plastic figure of a guy in full airborne regalia, about 5" high, attached with strings to a light plastic parachute. Upon seeing it, the rest of us would immediately run out to get one or more, the neighborhood reverberating with our whining and badgering. They couldn't have cost much, because I don't remember any real arguments over obtaining one. (My mother firmly believed that anything costing more than a dollar (or 10 cents for candy) was a complete waste of money and would spoil me - probably the cause of my current profligate ways.)
The instructions were that you'd carefully wrap the parachute around the figure in some sort of weird origami configuration that my fumble fingers could never get quite right. You'd then hurl him into the air as high as you could. The parachute would unfurl and he'd glide back to the ground. That is, if you lived in Kansas. But NoVA is not Kansas, (a fact I get on my knees and thank the heavens for each day). We have trees, houses, lamp posts, telephone wires and all manner of skyward obstacles. By no later than the third throw, your brand new toy would be stuck 30-40 feet up on a tree limb, gutter, or telephone pole. By the end of an afternoon, the entire neighborhood's supply of these poor toys would be hanging about, in a grim display of the futility of trying to have fun above a height of 10'. The place probably looked monstrous to any Billie Holiday fans...
Fortunately for the sake of the view, the trees would shortly fill out, obscuring most of the victims, while heavy winds would cart away the rest, (I don't think it took too long for the string on these things to rot away from exposure to the elements).
At any rate, a quick search online only revealed a few smallish and wussified versions, (and going for $4.95 - no way my mother would spring for that type of extravagence). There's no real point to this story, it's just some old memory rattling around in my head today.
And while we're on the topic of aerial fun, does anyone remember model rockets? I think the main company was called Estes, out of a little dump of a town in Eastern Colorado called Penrose. And although I desperately wanted one, there was no way my folks were going to spring for it, and in retrospect, I must agree with them. There was just no place even remotely safe from lawsuits that you could shoot one off around where we lived. I knew one kid whose father was a teacher up at the Seminary and he did have the room in that wonderful field they own that's now partially taken up by their stadium. He'd invite me up occasionally to watch his missile launches.
There were two things about Estes rockets that were always interesting to me. The first was the safety pamphlet they'd put out warning you to NEVER EVER, NOT IN A MILLION YEARS should you even attempt to think about the possibility of making your own rocket fuel/engines, but should only buy from them. They'd put out these horrific pictures that I now suspect were simply outtakes from the photos taken after Hiroshima, with captions saying stuff like "Little Timmy thought he could make his own fuel cells in his parent's basement -AND THAT'S HOW WE LOST CEDAR RAPIDS". I also seem to remember tales of blown off hands and heads, etc. , there was a certain level of gruesomeness to the hobby literature.
Added to that was the second feature to model rocketry, which I call the Junior Mengele syndrome. Some of the models came with payload areas. There were the usual earnest sales pitches about high altitude experiments for young and growing scientific minds. But the fact of the matter is that you give something like this to a kid, and I guarantee you, the first and only thing going in that paylaod is going to be alive. Who knows how many hamsters died - shoved into a plastic chamber with little or no air, sitting on top of an explosive charge and hurtled a few hundred feet into the air at about 10g's. So much for growing minds. (This leads to the question - do Germans become rocketeers or do rocketeers become Germans*...).
At any rate, just some random thoughts on a Spring afternoon...

*Oh irony of ironies, Wernher von Braun was buried barely a mile from where I saw these model rockets being launched.

new book on U-234

http://galvestondailynews.com/story.lasso?ewcd=d4d1f5a7a1d1c5b6

One of the more interesting stories and what-if scenarios to come out of WWII.

Wuss America

http://wcbstv.com/local/school.bans.hugs.2.969949.html

The National Halloween Convention on 4/10!

http://www.nationalhalloweenconvention.com/

I wish I could make it up there....

Happy Birthday Patty Donahue!

http://www.hardcafe.co.uk/waitresses/donahue.htm

Happy Birthday Eric Idle!

http://www.eric-idle.com/
http://pythonline.com/meet/idle

Genius. Essential.

cassette tape art

http://www.flickr.com/photos/iri5/sets/72157611954107572/

Pretty neat!

a nice little slam on DeGaulle and Frano-supremicists

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/from_our_own_correspondent/7942086.stm

The quote within is probably the coolest thing LBJ ever said.

a little computer OS humor...

http://www.fark.com/cgi/comments.pl?IDLink=4267789

Dylan's neighbors don't need a weatherman to tell which way the wind blows

http://www.metro.co.uk/weird/article.html?Dylan_toilet_odour_is_blowin_in_the_wind&in_article_id=586641&in_page_id=2

the cutting edge of evidence

http://www.metro.co.uk/weird/article.html?Drug_denial_letter_covered_in_drugs&in_article_id=584844&in_page_id=2

Tramps Like Us - From Hindus We Were Born To Run

http://www.metro.co.uk/news/world/article.html?Indian_Charlie_Chaplin_statue_halted_by_nationalists&in_article_id=582941&in_page_id=64

Alert Frank Herbert!

http://www.unexplained-mysteries.com/viewnews.php?id=149345

food nazis in Britain

http://www.crispyontheoutside.com/2009/03/23/the-uk-sandwich-box-stasi/

make your own Peeps

http://www.cooking-gadgets.com/peeps/

Herbert West - Reanimator - the TV series

http://www.fangoriaonline.com/home/news/17-television/1609-exclusive-first-look-a-synopsis-herbert-westre-animator-the-series.html

new Dunwich Horror film

http://www.monstersandcritics.com/smallscreen/reviews/article_1467299.php/The_Dunwich_Horror_-_Preview_Review

It's amusing that Dean Stockwell is in this one too.

the code-breaker reunion

http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2009/03/24/europe/EU-Britain-Codebreakers.php

warbots from WWI & WWII

http://i.gizmodo.com/5181576/unmanned-warbots-of-wwi-and-wwii

the death camp orchestra

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gzap-eJBhka5_DrRGLh0xZY1rPzAD9759A7G0
One of those situations where I wonder if a concert is an appropriate memorial. The situation that they are recreating was the fault/creation of nazis. Are the victims being honored in such a recreation? I can see arguments both ways.

cruel snowman

http://www.fugly.com/pictures/19746/winter_is_almost_dead_and_here_comes_spring.html

H. G. Wells takes a lunch break

http://www.fugly.com/pictures/19755/time_machine_operator_is_on_his_break.html

dogs are like humans

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29895614/

This explains why people always spread newspapers around when I visit...

hamburger helper

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/article2342637.ece

Find Gordo!

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090326/ap_on_fe_st/odd_skateboarding_parrot

Mmmmmmm - Toilet Susage!

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090326/ap_on_fe_st/odd_sausage_toilet_fire

It's the smoke that adds flavor!

the cutting edge of DNA evidence

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7966641.stm

Actually, I think this proves that cotton swab makers are psychopathic killers...

the love that dare not speak its name

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29892972/

I'm just surprised this didn't occur in Florida...

Sheep Art - The Cutting Edge of Sheperding

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D2FX9rviEhw&eurl=

This is one of the coolest things I've ever seen. Really.

the cutting edge of lobster decorating

http://eatliver.com/i.php?n=4100

Actually, I guess any type of lobster decorating is pretty cutting edge...

the cutting edge of knighthoods

http://eatliver.com/i.php?n=4095

Face it, you haven't had a REAL birthday cake until you get one that a dwarf jumps out of...

Russian chickens prepare for WAR!

http://www.eatliver.com/i.php?n=4105
Thanks god we're got Col. Sanders to protect us!

The Cthulhu Warning

http://www.eatliver.com/i.php?n=4120

Kids - don't try this at home!

the cutting edge of recycling

http://www.eatliver.com/i.php?n=4140

road work

http://www.eatliver.com/i.php?n=4142

the honest Nigerian

http://www.eatliver.com/i.php?n=4141

Ron Howard to direct Lovecraft film?

http://www.firstshowing.net/2009/03/25/ron-howard-might-direct-the-strange-adventures-of-hp-lovecraft/

Opie meets Cthulhu - I like it!

new (to me) video of Phil Ochs performing Changes

http://phil-ochs.blogspot.com/2009/03/phil-ochs-video-vault-twang.html

Too bad it's only a short clip.

The Breakfast Song

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dYqM9-Fj0Pg

Judging by the gargantuan size of these singers, I'd say they haven't quite given up on breakfast yet...

(Thanks for the link, Mathew!)

Happy Kite Flying Day!

cancel my appointments (and buy plenty of suntan lotion)

http://www.prisonplanet.com/compared-to-the-sun%E2%80%99s-power-we-are-a-fly-speck-on-an-elephant%E2%80%99s-butt.html

Russia develops a "flying saucer"?

http://inventorspot.com/articles/russian_aviation_innovation_unique_identifiedflying_object_25557

We'll see....

data rot

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/26/technology/personaltech/26pogue-email.html?_r=1&8cir&emc=cir

A good article on an important topic. As an amateur history buff and fanatic personal archivist, I constantly worry about this. I would think that this would be a poerfect joint project for the National Archives, the Library of Congress and the National Bureau of Standards.

Happy Birthday Diana Ross!

http://www.dianaross.com/

Happy Birthday mr. Spock!

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000559/

RIP Lewis Likes, 3/21/21 - 3/20/09

The above name won't mean much to the vast majority of you. And the truth is that I only met Mr. Likes a few times over the course of my life. But he was a gentleman and one of the very last of what I consider to be old timers from the Western Slope of Colorado. He was born and raised in the little town of Fruita in that hard-scrabble dirt farm existence that so many folks there dealt with. He joined the Navy (and was manning a machine gun during the attack on Pearl Harbor). He travelled around the country after the war, but ended up back in Fruita. He was one of those guys who could tell tales of the old days, (and my family's part in them), and it was a pleasure to listen to them. My life has been full of old timers, but not so much anymore. He will be missed.

Al Green covers How Can You Mend A Broken Heart

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Udn05aPzAHQ&feature=related

Wonderful cover. Essential.

Julie Driscoll covers Season Of The Witch

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WpizS9h-1Xk

Beautiful...

Kenny Rogers & The First Edition perfrom Just Dropped In

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yZ8k6fVe25k

Ah, how times have changed....

an early British "death ray"?

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1164182/Revealed-The-unsung-scientist-invented-death-ray-inspired-creators-Batman-Flash-Gordon.html

I confess to not being familiar with this gent. Anyone?

Dwarf saved by Chihuahua

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/5037096/Dwarf-saved-by-chihuahua.html

It's not that great a story, but I loved typing the Title....

I admit nothing....

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7959155.stm

The ability to see through walls

http://www.sciencedaily.com/videos/2007/0706-seeing_through_walls.htm

Needless to say, I believe that these so-called scientists are waaay behind the tech curve here...:

Whadya Mean "On The Edge"? I crossed over years ago, Pal....

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/03/090319224532.htm

Spiderman To The Rescue!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7961208.stm

sad anniversary for the Lyon Sisters

http://www.websleuths.com/forums/showthread.php?t=6560

Happy Birthday Aretha!

http://www.sodamnhappy.com/

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

Happy Birthday Elton!

http://web.eltonjohn.com/index.jsp

The Ruttles - Cheese & Onions

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ePaHG6g7uFw&playnext=1&p=219FE69521FC3F4B&index=3&feature=PlayList&playnext_from=PL&ytsession=WBIBfUyMfadUZt4wQCvrwOzBe6rDJzvDR7SuM85w1502yjMt0vvnDuXiOWekZJdy4NmUC7iWH5klzBd46iq_nFeoPa3YG5CSYwb4sGEoyjLSwCwX4X_s3VND55c-pD3cbEubSDZ2rUFoiQr-pVAE6_LaF5qh-PWynNCglyhDEdymK0dRRNZJhm1TUwPlvc_GwT-2kSR7v0-rAVXFZfgCtEFG0kd2a4xbw-xnkBfjuwWG15jCc6r3hAysFxu7HckdFdIkGRAMTE_zBLBmennHM90djG38CEgk

Tee hee! See ya tomorrow...

fanvid for Elvis performing Kentucky Rain

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cBrfy8SIYT0&feature=related

Great version of a great song.

Deep Purple perform Smoke On The Water

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9jp3de50_d8

Yes kids, once dinosaurs ruled the Earth....

The Stones perform Sympathy For The Devil (from R&R Circus)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zuTiTfbfy7Q

Classic. Essential. A lightning bolt into reason.

Berlin's video for No More Words

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vlzurbzz7vE

I always thought this was a cute video and a great song.

Blue Oyster Cult perform Cities On Flame With Rock & Roll

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fl96MPmoXWU

A little classic...

the cutting edge of bad luck...

http://www.lcsun-news.com/ci_11983409

Bartender, I'll have what he's having...

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/earthpicturegalleries/5037343/Gorillas-get-drunk-on-bamboo-sap.html

the cutting edge of lonliness

http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-wellbeing/health-news/while-a-shepherd-watched-his-flock-by-night-1650377.html

I believe Bobby Vinton knew of this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s8xOMg6ca0U

wuss DC vampire

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/celebritology/2009/03/dc_now_hip_enough_for_vampires.html?hpid=entnews

As usual, the pups at the Post are a day late and a dollar short. There's already a very nice vampire novel that takes place in DC, written by my friend Roger. It's called "Before". I helped out with research and proof reading, (and you might just recognize a character or two in it...).

Hmmm, I believe Dulles is #2...

http://www.theonion.com/content/node/94031

Explosion On The Potomac! (or not....)

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/03/23/AR2009032301714.html

Of course, if you want to see explosions by Gtown all you have to do is wait another two months until warm weather truly hits - the manholes can be expected to explode with regularity.

Happy Birthday Nick Lowe!

The Jesus of Cool!

http://www.nicklowe.net/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-JJ7oGHwMTI

Happy Birthday Houdini!

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

Monitor swearing on Twitter

http://cursebird.com/

We live in strange times...

(Thanks for the link, Mathew!)

Happy National Puppy Day!

http://ihasahotdog.com/

Happy Birthday Chaka Khan!

http://www.chakakhan.com/

Peter Gabriel performs Red Rain

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n7m7Q9VwYqw

Another great song and artist. Fragility, violence, fear, despair. See ya tomorrow....

The Stones perfom Gimme Shelter

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FGZlAi7N1wk&feature=related

A supernaturally great song. Beyond good & evil.

Little Richard performs Long Tall Sally

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QFL047fmsgg&feature=related

Classic. The Queen of Rock'N'Roll.

Frigid Pink perform Houe of the Rising Sun

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t40INnb6DnY

Classic early 70's rock.

The Outsiders perform Time Won't Let Me

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=efpp03h_Ja8

What a cool song. Whatever happened to those guys?

Bad Company perform Bad Company

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t0ryRksbQvU&feature=PlayList&p=D7505486333D13C7&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=43

Great band and song.

A Mighty Wind

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TOM7mUaOgtI

One of my fave movies. A great dead-on satire, but quite charming too, with a love for the subject.

cool pumpkin carvings

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XRAfFoBotSM&feature=related

McGuinn & The Rock Bottom Remainders perform You Ain't Goin' Nowhere

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rHgXVOJneJ8&feature=related

Great song - see if you can recognize all the authors backing him up...

Happy Liberty Day!

http://www.libertyday.blogspot.com/

Happy Birthday Captain Kirk!

http://www.williamshatner.com/

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000638/

http://video.google.com/videosearch?hl=en&q=william+shatner&um=1&ie=UTF-8&ei=Kv67SZCDNtSLtge_8L33Cw&sa=X&oi=video_result_group&resnum=5&ct=title#

One of the great hams. Originator and master of the Spasm School of acting. A living icon. A force of nature.

Happy Birthday Werner Klemperer!

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0459252/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Werner_Klemperer

Happy Birthday Chico!

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0555597/
http://www.clown-ministry.com/index_1.php/articles/chico_marx_biography_marx_brothers_i_give_up_why_a_duck/

Johnny Winters covers Johnny B. Goode

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FbK_wo1mMNs

Great version, one of the best.

Nico and Lou perform Femme Fatale

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FjjDmX9Tkss

Beautiful.

The Pretenders perform Middle Of The Road

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DoHK6658kn8

Great band and song.

Joe Jackson performs Is She Really going Out With Him

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y5BaurXMmMU&feature=related

Pure Winter of '79...

some stray thoughts from a nice afternoon

Well, today we finished putting away all the St. Patrick's decorations here at the Manor; moved firewood around to get it in place and seasoned for next Winter, swept out the carport and did all the things one does in late March. Spring has sprung. For all of my adult life, Autumn has been my favorite season. But in childhood it was Spring and early Summer - from about April Fools Day until the 4th of July. The deadening treadmill of school was over, or almost to be; the old neighborhood would be a parade of color from the dogwoods, azaleas and assorted tulips, daffodils and whatnot; and you could hang out late at night, playing Kleeba (a purely local game from which legends are born) and just hanging out. It meant squirt gun and water balloon fights, going to my old friend Roger's family's country shack on the Potomac, South of Quantico, (back when that really was the country); and the start of vacations - often meaning a trip to my beloved Colorado. It was beautiful long sunsets spent with family and friends, fireworks, cookouts, and going out to my dear friends the Logsdons, to pick strawberries and catch box turtles, (back when Annandale was in the country...). Ice cream cones were big, as were Wham-O toys (I loved the Water Wiggle).

I suppose Autumn is still my fave time, (there is too much Autumnal darkness and decay in the back of my mind to give up on it); but I've noticed in the past few years that Springtime is making something of a comeback for me. I want to go pick some strawberries...

just two months until the Virginia Renaissance Faire...

http://www.varf.org/index.html

Neat-O Firepit!

http://www.dragonknightfire.com/images.html

Needless to say, I want one of these...

David Frost interviews Geraldine (Flip Wilson) Jones

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hykz5Wud7jk

Classic...

(Thanks for the link, Doug!)

Happy World Poetry Day!

http://www.geocities.com/limerickzone/

Now you can see pink elephants too!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7951331.stm

robot fish to fight pollution

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20090319/sc_afp/britainspainenvironmentpollutiontechnology

Neat!

the cutting edge of job fairs

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090320/ap_on_fe_st/odd_strip_club_job_fair

(Thanks for the link, Pete!)

the cutting edge of dog walking muggings

Police: Naked teen with dog assaults Mich. woman
The Associated Press
HART TOWNSHIP, Mich. -- Police say a naked 14-year-old boy taking a walk with a large white poodle has assaulted a woman in Michigan.
Sheriff's Lt. Craig Mast says the boy walked away from a behavioral treatment facility Monday. He was strolling unclothed in Hart Township with the dog when he encountered a 53-year-old woman in her yard.
Mast says, "The young naked man approached her with this poodle, and she immediately realized something peculiar."
They spoke briefly. When the woman took out a cell phone to call for help, the boy pushed her and fled with the phone, which he later broke in half.
Deputies found the boy. He's charged in juvenile court with strong-arm robbery and assault.

(Thanks for the article, Pete!)

rare Phil Ochs video of I Ain't Marching Anymore

http://phil-ochs.blogspot.com/2009/03/phil-ochs-video-vault-summer-focus.html

Classic...

Wine Festival in Reston!

http://www.uncorkthefun.com/

(Thanks for the link, Sandy!)

Happy Birthday Dick Dyszel/Count Gore!

http://countgore.com/gore/

That Ghost Host with the Most! Creature Feature and Count Gore are DC legends. And I can't recommend his website too much. It's essential.

Happy Birthday Carl Reiner!

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0005348/

http://www.museum.tv/archives/etv/R/htmlR/reinercarl/reinercarl.htm

I veiw Alan Brady (as well as Fearless Leader from the Rocky & Bullwinkle Show) as a management role model. I've found that many problems can be solved by telling an underling to "Shut up, Mel". I should also point out that he appeared in a wonderful little Lovecraftian comedy bit in Rod Serling's Night Gallery series, called Professor Peabody's Last Lecture.

Monsoon performs Ever So Lonely

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zr5-DITnIlw
Great band and song. Should've been bigger...

Eric Burdon & War perform Spill The Wine

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K7_U-zj2gfE

So cool...

WWII photos online

http://www.wired.com/science/discoveries/multimedia/2009/03/gallery_WWII_photos

Bruce playing at Pete Seeger's 90th birthday bash

http://www.seeger90.com/?utm_source=Publicaster&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=EMLOSBSP_MarchUpdate_20090319

Big Al In Australia...

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/03/19/2521146.htm?section=justin

Brain Software

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/03/090318090142.htm

I believe I'm using Windows 3.1

don't get toad while driving...

http://www.philly.com/philly/hp/news_update/20090318__Toads_Gone_Wild___Roxborough-style.html

I believe the Beatles dealt with this situation earlier:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o9Gjd_EAa64

Breakthrough In Cancer Research?

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/03/090316133436.htm

more electric car news

http://www.nytimes.com/indexes/2009/03/19/technology/circuitsemail/index.html?8cir&emc=cir

a nice show...

Well, thanks to Linda's prodding, I finally did something I've been meaning to do for about 15+ years now - go to a concert by that favored daughter of Pikesville, Sonia and Disappear Fear. They were playing at the Barns and it was a great show. I fell in love with their sound and her songwriting early on when I heard a sad little ballad called Box of Tissues and have followed along ever since. The crowd was kind of small, (probably only 50% capacity), but wildly enthusiastic. At any rate, I highly recommend seeing them. There's something about Sonia's slightly raspy voice that I really am entranced by. And although I don't find every song to be a perfect gem, I still consider her one of the best songwriters going, both for her ballads as well as her rockers. I will admit that it is one of the many small ironies in my life that Sonia and her music tend to wear their hearts and optimism on their sleeves, at times quite strongly - not quite my usual style. But Sonia can carry it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q3kum-SUZCs

Happy Birthday Patrick McGoohan!

What can I say. One of my faves actors, creator and star of my all-time fave TV series, The Prisoner. Also the star of Secret Agent and Dr. Syn, the Scarecrow of Romney Marsh. A giant. Essential.

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

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001526/

Britiain's "Secret Army"

http://www.eadt.co.uk/content/eadt/news/features/story.aspx?brand=EADOnline&category=Features&tBrand=EADOnline&tCategory=xDefault&itemid=IPED17%20Mar%202009%2017%3A55%3A34%3A310

A nice tidbit from WWII.

Awwwww...

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/5004840/Parrot-who-plays-golf-and-basketball-becomes-YouTube-hit.html

I'm An Addict...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jd4tugPM83c

(Thanks for the link, Ed!)

Attack The Web!

This is so cool - go the site: http://www.netdisaster.com/go.php. Fill in the web page you want to visit and what weapon/method you want to use to destroy it. Neat-O!

(Thanks for the link, Mathew!)

Whoopie Pie Nation!

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/18/dining/18whoop.html?_r=1&emc=eta1

If you're ever in Pennsylvania Dutch Country in the Autumn, you've got to try the pumpkin whoopie pies. They're to die for...

(Thanks for the link, Karen!)

Whiskey Keeps You Warm!

http://news.yahoo.com/s/livescience/irishfrogssurvivediceage

(Thanks for the link, Doug!)

Happy Birthday Wilson Pickett!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wilson_Pickett
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wsMriqvxN1w&feature=related

just another day around the District...

http://www.wusa9.com/news/local/story.aspx?storyid=82520&catid=158

(Thanks for the link, Linda!)

Happy Birthday Pattie Boyd!

THE Rock'N'Roll Muse...

http://www.pattieboyd.co.uk/

http://members.fortunecity.com/pattiboyd/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ngwIb-DxTI

Happy Birthday Paul Kantner!

Another of my faves. I know that he's always been considered sort of the weak musical link in the Jefferson Airplane, (compared to Marty and Grace); but I've always loved his songs. He helped move sci-fi away from its fascist roots...

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

http://www.jeffersonairplane.com/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5zfPNzyK33o

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GTpuWlxO-ts&feature=PlayList&p=03A3DAD1867019EE&index=8

Happy Birthday John Sebastian!

http://www.johnbsebastian.com/

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

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jtvD1DZxcMc

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GKyGyH9mWHk

One of my faves. A great musician and songwriter - one of the few who can still invoke the innocence of childhood. The only guy who could make the autoharp look cool. Essential.

Happy Evacuation Day!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evacuation_Day_(Massachusetts)

Another somewhat obscure holiday that I'm single-handedly reviving.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

http://www.st-patricks-day.com/
http://www.history.com/minisites/stpatricksday/

troubled teens

http://www.livescience.com/animals/090316-young-dinosaur-herd.html

the rescue

http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/scottish-news/2009/03/14/firemen-called-to-rescue-garden-gnome-from-roof-of-building-86908-21196658/

The Last Eunuch

http://www.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUSTRE52E06H20090316?feedType=nl&feedName=ustopnewsearly

Actually, anyone attempting to travel up Route 236 during Rush hour will find an abundance of eunuchs behind the wheel...

Allergies defeated?

http://www.wusa9.com/news/local/story.aspx?storyid=82859&catid=168

This sounds pretty cool! I myself have been undergoing a rigorous regimen of taking ever-increasing amounts of cabernet, just in case I have an allergy to it someday....

the cutting edge of fried chicken cultdom...

http://www.reuters.com/article/oddlyEnoughNews/idUSTRE52A48120090311?feedType=nl&feedName=usoddlyenough

My Kind of Dining Experience...

http://www.theonion.com/content/node/93764

Happy Bacchanalia!!!

The Festivals traditionally started on this date.

Happy Birthday Jerry Jeff Walker!

http://www.jerryjeff.com/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7I1vFcqhNlY&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HuvrbEOWXKg&feature=related

American Original & Treasure.

Happy Birthday Leo McKern!

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0571674/
http://www.museum.tv/archives/etv/M/htmlM/mckernleo/mckernleo.htm

Great actor, and one of the most connected to modern times: Rumpole, The Prisoner, Help, The Omen, The Mouse That Roared, and many more films and series.

Happy Buzzard Day, Hinckley, Ohio!

http://cleveland.about.com/od/clevelandareaparks/p/buzzards.htm

http://www.hinckleytwp.org/news/buzzardhistory.php

Happy Anniversary to Forbidden Planet!

Premiered on this date in 1956.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0049223/

Happy Brutus Day!

A D.C. Favorite!

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

Happy Anniversary to Plan 9 From Outer Space!

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0052077/

The One. The Only. Premiered on this date in 1959. Essential.

Happy Birthday Sly Stone!

http://www.slystonemusic.com/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sly_Stone

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PdOJPmnaeuE&feature=related

Genius. Essential.

Aretha performs Until You Come Back To Me

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z7qQdo-Vxj4&feature=related

Lousy sound - it doesn't matter. A great Stevie Wonder- penned song. Great memories from '71. In 1776 America determined that it want' going to be ruled by any more Queens - until Aretha came along...

Badfinger perform No Matter What

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jsVPThOPlX4

Power Pop Perfection.

fan video of Lothar & The Hand People performing Machines

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

One of my fave songs from late '68 and early '69. You had to be there...

The Psychedelic Furs perform Pretty In Pink

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C_pH-z1_KdE&feature=related

Wonderful song and band. The Furs should have been much bigger than they were. Those first two albums were awesome. A perfect example of a group that only record store clerks knew about. Really great stuff.

5000 Volts perform I'm On Fire

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

Another (over the top) guilty pleasure. A disco-fied rip-off of Los Bravos' Black Is Black, (but I like it anyway...).

Vanity Fair performs Hitchin' A Ride

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oIbaISxK8QY&feature=related
Horrible suits, great song. A hit from '70. There was something about travelling back then in the early 70's, as if Kerouac had finally sunk in. I wanted nothing more than a car and enough gas to get keep going. In some ways, I guess I still do.

The McCoys perform Hang On Sloopy

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gi1WXYHHc2s&feature=related

so cool....

George McCrae performs Rock You Baby

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TMMHhQjzfW0&feature=PlayList&p=5CBA9B5E24EBEAEE&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=91

A guilty pleasure. It was early Summer of '74 and the nights were hotter than a pistol. When not hanging out at the disgusting clubs on 14th Street, we'd be at around Foggy Bottom drinking whiskey at Tammany Hall and shooing away barflys....

The Spinners perform Could It Be I'm Falling In Love

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7DbcOUEgHso

One of the great vocal groups. Really amazing.

When True Gamesmen Die

http://tech.yahoo.com/news/ap/20090314/ap_on_hi_te/tec_death_online

Virginia & Maryland & Porn - Oh My!

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/rawfisher/2009/03/virginia_maryland_in_top_10_po.html?wprss=rawfisher

the dating scene

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1160669/On-market-Teenage-Gypsy-girls-glam-annual-bride-sale.html

pics of a sand storm

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1160962/Pictured-The-moment-awe-inspiring-desert-storm-engulfed-Saudi-capital.html

Texass in the news

http://www.wusa9.com/news/local/story.aspx?storyid=82587&catid=158

Thanks god! I can finally get rid of those old golf balls and chess pieces!

http://bitsandpieces.us/2009/03/10/the-toilet-that-can-flush-almost-anything/

"Suicide Food" blog

http://suicidefood.blogspot.com/

I am immortal...

http://www.nypost.com/seven/03102009/gossip/pagesix/the_dangers_of_not_drinking_158799.htm

the cutting edge of all-you-can-eat

http://snafu-ed.blogspot.com/2009/03/all-you-can-eat-if-youre-fat-enough.html

the warning sign...

http://bitsandpieces.us/2009/03/09/cow-signs/

Test That Software!

http://news.zdnet.com/2100-9595_22-277031.html

VERY secret...

http://www.fark.com/cgi/comments.pl?IDLink=4257060

peg legged elephant

http://www.metro.co.uk/news/article.html?Mosha_the_elephants_new_peg_leg&in_article_id=575202&in_page_id=34

the flying car to Timbuktu

http://www.metro.co.uk/weird/article.html?Flying_car_adventurers_return_home&in_article_id=575210&in_page_id=2

Happy National Potato Chip Day!

http://www.rt11.com/

Happy Pi Day!

http://www.piday.org/

Happy Birthday Michael Martin Murphey!

http://www.michaelmartinmurpheymusic.com/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Martin_Murphey

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c3J1J61VsYM

I always liked this guy.

Happy Birthday Michael Caine!

Great actor.

http://www.michaelcaine.com/

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000323/

Happy Birthday Eisntein!

http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/physics/laureates/1921/einstein-bio.html
http://www.alberteinstein.info/

new type of battery

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/03/090311162807.htm

barter...

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20090312/od_nm/us_barter_funeral

a little bit on Friday the 13th...

http://news.yahoo.com/s/livescience/20090312/sc_livescience/5factsaboutfridaythe13th

Let the puns begin!

Everyone's favorite planet, Uranus, was discoverd on this date in 1781 by William Herschel.

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

Happy Anniversary to Vanishing Point!

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0067927/

One of my all-time fave movies. Debuted on this date in 1971. The movie that taught me how to drive...

Kowalsi Lives!

the cutting edge of bill collection

http://news.stv.tv/oddly-enough/81702-german-maths-whiz-dead-for-450-years-gets-tv-bill/

Happy Birthday James Taylor!

http://www.jamestaylor.com/
http://www.james-taylor.com/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=64_303eHaTM

Happy Birthday Liza Minelli!

http://www.officiallizaminnelli.com/

http://www.lizaminnelli.de/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CX-24Zm0bjk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yL5lb7V6PNY

Before, behind, and in spite of the soap opera life, lies an amazing talent. Her performance in the Sterile Cuckoo is perfection.

Happy Birthday Agent 99!

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0271156/
http://www.wouldyoubelieve.com/feldon.html

Kilts In Space!

http://news.stv.tv/scotland/81468-scots-could-soon-be-blasting-off-into-space/

Love Reigns In The Earliest Computer Program

http://www.cafeterra.info/2009/03/computer-for-love-poetry.html

Strike!

http://www.metro.co.uk/weird/article.html?Chicken_lays_bowling-pin_shaped_egg&in_article_id=571847&in_page_id=2&in_a_source=

DOA

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/4970766/Pet-shop-receives-delivery-of-dead-man-instead-of-tropical-fish.html

Vengeance

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/wildlife/4970905/Monkey-kills-cruel-owner-with-coconut-thrown-from-tree.html

Fun From Japan!

http://www.japantrendshop.com/shocking-sick-puppy-p-309.html

http://www.japantrendshop.com/dangerbomb-alarm-clock-banpresto-p-162.html

http://www.japantrendshop.com/hizamakura-lap-pillow-p-64.html

http://www.japantrendshop.com/skunk-bookend-p-345.html

I think that that alarm clock is the coolest I've ever seen...

(Thanks for the links, Mathew!)

Happy Penny Loaf Day!

http://www.information-britain.co.uk/customdetail.php?id=57
http://www.practicallyedible.com/edible.nsf/pages/pennyloafday

Another almost-forgotten holiday that I am single-handedly resurrecting.

Happy JohnnAppleseed Day!

http://www.holidayinsights.com/moreholidays/March/appleseedday.htm

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

Happy Birthday Douglas Adams!

http://www.douglasadams.com/
http://www.quotationspage.com/quotes/Douglas_Adams/

Genius. Essential.

BWAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!! Selling piss to capons....

http://www.pr-inside.com/scottish-spirits-ltd-s-non-alcoholic-whisky-r1083093.htm

Scottish capitalism lives! Taking whatever trailings of muddy water are left over after fermentation and distilling, bottle 'em, and sell the crap to rich arabs. Gentlemen, I salute you!

Chuck Berry performs Roll Over Beethoven

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ykCYwhfdMs

Bedrock. Essential.

Abba performs Waterloo

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZpUz5zXywhY

A guilty pleasure....

musical performances by the Tiger Lillies based on the works of Lovecraft

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HsPzOF6UL5s&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O3GpX8AXNRk&feature=related

Sort of modern alternative cabaret. Very strange....

Hamster Power!

http://dsc.discovery.com/news/2009/03/09/hamster-energy-power.html

new home for the Washington Psychotronic Film Society

http://dcist.com/2009/03/psychotronic_films_returnagain.php

just another day in DC...

http://www.wtop.com/?nid=25&sid=1619664

unlisted number...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/7929799.stm

American business and the nazis

http://www.jewishtimes.com/index.php/jewishtimes/news/jt/national_news/american_corporate_complicity_and_the_nazis/10984

All of this is well known to any serious student, but this article is a nice synopsis. (Actually, old man Ford was quite a nazi, we'll never know his total involvement in German espionage and influence in America in the 30's and 40's)

new Cthulhu statuettes!

http://blog.nightserpent.com/

Happy Birthday Mark Lindsay!

http://www.marklindsay.com/

http://www.myspace.com/marklindsayradio

Happy Birthday John Cale!

http://www.john-cale.com/

http://www.geocities.com/SunsetStrip/Mezzanine/9176/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_3ueIweuUvo

Happy Panic Day!

http://www.holidayinsights.com/moreholidays/March/panicday.htm

if maps could fight...

http://strangemaps.wordpress.com/2009/03/07/366-world-war-ii-if-maps-could-fight/

Black Mountain

http://www.blackmountainarmy.com/

My friend Tom just introduced me to this groups music. His description of them seems quite accurate - a cross between the Jefferson Airplane and Black Sabbath. Very cool...

Happy Birthday Skipper!

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001308/
http://alanhale.com/

Springtime...

It's about 70 degrees here at the Manor. Linda is out cleaning up the garden while I try to hide from anything hinting at useful labor. Crocuses are blooming, birds are chirping, and for a brief moment all seems right with the world.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IRd6KRfy274

near article on an Elizabethan era cannon

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1158800/Britains-WMD-An-Elizabethan-cannon-punch-hole-solid-oak.html??97

just another day in DC....

http://www.nbcwashington.com/news/local/McGruff-Survives-a-Beat-Down.html

paraplegic hockey fight

http://www.blameitonthevoices.com/2009/03/paraplegic-hockey-fight.html

Life now immitates South Park...

the cutting edge of kitty carriers....

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29469929

Camouflage Works!

http://burlingtonfreepress.com/article/20090302/NEWS02/90302008

Louisiana is #1!

http://www.nola.com/news/index.ssf/2009/03/louisianas_incarceration_rate.html

If only the District were a state...

Seaviews out of beer cans

http://www.metro.co.uk/news/article.html?Artist_creates_seaviews_out_of_beer_cans&in_article_id=568153&in_page_id=34

The Obsession

http://www.metro.co.uk/weird/article.html?Anti-1990s_green_Ford_Escort_arsonist_in_1990s_green_Ford_Escort_burning_spree&in_article_id=567731&in_page_id=2

A Tribute to Forrest Ackerman

http://sergioleoneifr.blogspot.com/2009/03/tribute-to-forrest-j-ackerman.html

Cool!

New Necronomicon Folklore

http://danharms.wordpress.com/2009/03/03/necronomicon-at-bradford-college/

Happy Frozen Dead Guy Days!

http://www.nederlandchamber.org/events_fdgd-home.html
http://www.frozendeadguy.com/

Nederland is a cute little town that we got to finally visit a couple of years ago.

Happy Birthday King Kong!

Premiered on this date in 1933.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0024216/

Happy Birthday Willard Scott!

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6694523/

http://thejoyboys.com/

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

Hometown boy and local legend.

Happy Birthday Peter Wolf!

http://www.peterwolf.com/

neat Hungarian poster ads

http://community.livejournal.com/vintage_ads/1115585.html

THOSE EYES! THOSE EYES! MAKE THEM STOP STARING AT ME!

http://acidcow.com/index.php?newsid=483

nanotube radio!

http://www.physics.berkeley.edu/research/zettl/projects/nanoradio/radio.html

couch potato avoids mashing

http://timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?category=STRANGENEWS&storyID=776315&BCCode=&newsdate=3/4/2009%209:05:42%20PM

Great moments in West Virginia political culture

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29508066/

The Dalek Menace

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/tvandradio/doctor-who/4935903/Dr-Who-Dalek-found-in-pond.html

EEEEWWWWWWWW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

http://io9.com/5162582/several-mysterious-human-placentas-found-in-illinois-sewer-system

parrot helps man regain speech

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/7919331.stm

But he has an insatiable desire for crackers...

Happy Birthday Mary Wilson!

http://www.marywilson.com/
http://www.history-of-rock.com/supremes.htm

Happy Birthday Lou Costello!

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0182579/

http://www.abbottandcostello.net/

the "neutral" Swiss

http://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/news_digest/Second_World_War_refugee_helpers_pardoned.html?siteSect=104&sid=10402639&cKey=1236087062000&ty=nd

Switzerland was always a slavish, if secret, ally of nazi Germany, (just like fellow "neutrals" Spain and Sweden), make no mistake about it. It's rather absurd to think it took over 60 years to "pardon" the only Swiss with guts, and that they need "rehabilitation". Fucking nazis....

nazi sneakers - a little footnote to WWII

http://freeinternetpress.com/story.php?sid=20454

Sacrilege

http://cosmos.bcst.yahoo.com/up/player/popup/?rn=3906861&cl=12339217&ch=4226714&src=news

Yes if you use two hands you'll gain more accuracy. Duh. BFD. And if you stand closer you'll gain more pins. And if you use a bigger ball. And if, like duck pins, you allow three balls; or throw two balls at once. Just bowl the way it was intended, stupid cheaters....

Get A Life!

http://trekmovie.com/2009/03/04/trek-spring-collection-preview-first-look-at-genki-star-trek-fragrances/

I can hardly wait for Klingon Musk! Perhaps Horta Bath Salts. "Warty, yes - but I like it too!"

great moments in science

http://www.thelocal.de/sci-tech/20090303-17771.html

Youtube Mixing

http://thru-you.com/#/videos/3/

Pretty clever - very neat.

(Thanks for the link, Missy!)

Hmmm, is this proof of the Innsmouth Look?

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/4929620/Fish-with-human-faces-spotted-in-South-Korea.html

(Thanks for the link, Infidel 753!)

Crispus Attucks/Boston Massacre Day

http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history.do?action=Article&id=6827

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

Happy Birthday to The Creature From The Black Lagoon!

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0046876/

Premiered on this date in 1954. Fun movie.

Happy Birthday Kazimierz Pulaski!

Patriot.

http://info-poland.buffalo.edu/classroom/pulaski/

http://www.famousamericans.net/kazimierzpulaski/

Happy Birthday Ed "Big Daddy" Roth!

A major influence on my twisted childhood. Genius. Essential.

http://www.bigdaddyroth.com/

Happy Birthday Nosferatu!

One of y faves. Great movie. Premiered on this date in 1922.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0013442/

Dining Out In The World

A fun little quiz.

http://www.fekids.com/img/kln/flash/DontGrossOutTheWorld.swf

(Thanks for the link, Nancy!)

the Billy Joel history lesson

http://yeli.us/Flash/Fire.html

A fun little amateur video.

(Thanks for the link, Carol!)

Happy Birthday Jean Harlow!

http://www.jeanharlow.com/
One of my faves. A tragic figure.

Happy Birthday Scotty!

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001150/
http://www.startrek.com/startrek/view/series/TOS/cast/69073.html

Young Holt Unltd with Soulful Strut - a fan video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2H1u5ks6MIs

You'd be sitting there in home room at TC, waiting for classes to begin, or be disrupted; listening to the student radio station over the loudspeakers. And then the morning's announcements would always take place, preceded by this song. One always ignored the announcements - no one gave a rat's ass about the pep rally or the Key Club car wash, but the song stuck with you. Very cool.
The old school is gone, knocked down to make way for supposedly bigger and better things. (It is amusing that at the time of its demolition, the work crews were suddenly removed for several weeks due to hazmat concerns. Me and ten thousand other kids go there for years and it's okay, but a couple dozen illegals and hardhats are asked to go in and it's "Whoa! Bring out the Andromeda Strain Suits!". Life was always cheap at TC...
At any rate, although I can't lay any personal claim to coolness in high school, collectively, we were THE coolest. And Soulful Strut was as good and expressive a theme song expressing that as you could ask for.

The Buckinghams perform Susan

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y8nWx_ej3aY&feature=related

I think the Buckinghams are an under-rated band. Should've been bigger...

The Toys perform A Lover's Concerto

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=im_O06IN9i0&feature=related

I always loved this tune. Great girl group sound.

Funkadelic performs I Got A Thing

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BJk9ZLjsl3U

Near-sensory overload. So many different sounds and images mixing in sometimes brash and sometimes subtle ways.

great moments in scientific research

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/4883791/Revealed-The-secrets-of-belly-button-fluff.html

bullet proof gel

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/politics/defence/4862103/Military-to-use-new-gel-that-stops-bullets.html

The Take Off...

http://www.yeah-oops.com/2009/03/02/stupid-jet-pilot-lifts-landing-gear-too-soon/

Passive Aggressive Notes...

http://www.passiveaggressivenotes.com/

(Thanks for the link, Mathew!)

MY Kind Of School Board Meeting!!!

http://www.theonion.com/content/news/lovecraftian_school_board_member?utm_source=onion_rss_daily

If only...

Zombie Drive-In!

http://www.blameitonthevoices.com/2009/03/zombie-drive-in.html

the jet kayak

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/men/article5816624.ece

Sounds like a Darwin Award nominee to me...

a very clean cocktail

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healthnews/4902085/Alcoholic-hand-gels-removed-from-hospitals-after-patients-use-them-to-get-drunk.html

Happy Birthday Rory Gallagher!

http://www.rorygallagher.com/
http://users.tkk.fi/khagelbe/rory.html

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=33Jaodra7AY

Happy Birthday Lou Reed!

http://www.loureed.com/00/index.html
http://www.myspace.com/officialloureed

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uc26EFI1_nw

Happy Birthday Dr. Seuss!

http://www.seussville.com/

http://www.catinthehat.org/

The Supremes perform Someday We'll Be Together

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L7HcPgO-9kc

Bittersweet song. The snow has started here. See ya tomorrow...

OWWWW! The Coolest Bird - EVER!

http://holy-cuteness.blogspot.com/2009/02/bird-shakes-his-tailfeather.html

a new Firesign Wiki!

http://wiki.chromiumswitch.org/Home

The Calm Before The Storm...

It's been a very nice weekend here at the Manor. Both today and yesterday we've maintained a roaring fire* in the fireplace and sat in front of it reading, catching up with paperwork, etc. As predicted, the mild weather that we've experienced off and on for the past couple of weeks was just a cruel ruse by the gods and is supposed to end as our weathermen breathlessly predict a snowstorm that will blot out all life on earth. It is to hit tonight - we'll see. As you probably know, I hold our so-called meteorologists just above that of the diviners who read the entrails of goats, and somewhat lower than a good tarot card reader.
But if it snows, we are ready and well stocked, with enough food, whiskey, books and films to keep us well occupied until the Spring thaw.
Speaking of warm climates, I've a favor to ask folks. There's a job opening for caretakers of a tropical island that my friends Nick and Alexandra are applying for. Apparently, one must compete for what is described as the best job on earth, through a video contest. Their entry is found here: http://www.islandreefjob.com/#/applicants/watch/sCfAzLHk8zI . I'd encourage you to go out, view the video and rate/vote for it. It'll be a wonderful opportunity for them, and it will build up huge Karmic points for you, dear reader, (Which you desperately need -Remember, I know most of you and what you're guilty of...). I am hoping that they win and invite me there, where I can finally answer that age-old question of whether or not one can really install laser beams on sharks and rule the world.

*For those of you who've never been to the Manor in Winter, our fires are Legend. You know that point in a blast furnace where the orange, black and white blend into a hellish inferno? Well, that's just a starting point for me. My fires heat up the whole home - next door. You can forge mithril in my fires. US Steel would kill to get their furnaces as hot as I do. The mere mention of my name can cause members of the Krupp family to lapse into nervous hysteria. Lucifer, (a frequent guest...), sweats at my house. You can get a full body tan just walking by - on the street. One doesn't feed the fire in the traditional manner, you just can't get close enough to place anything inside the fireplace. You have to stand back 20 feet and try to toss logs into it. Accuracy is unimportant however, as anything getting within ten feet instantly combusts due to the intense heat.
The last fire usually occurs in mid March, and by early July the brickwork has cooled enough to allow cleaning. It's always fun to field questions from the chimney sweeps regarding the liquid pool of goo that used to be the grate and the flue...

Weirdness

Tuesday, March 31, 2009

busy times

Monday, March 30, 2009

Sunday, March 29, 2009

strange fruit in the old neighborhood

Saturday, March 28, 2009

Friday, March 27, 2009

Happy Kite Flying Day!

Thursday, March 26, 2009

Wednesday, March 25, 2009

RIP Lewis Likes, 3/21/21 - 3/20/09

Tuesday, March 24, 2009

Monday, March 23, 2009

Sunday, March 22, 2009

Saturday, March 21, 2009

some stray thoughts from a nice afternoon

Friday, March 20, 2009