Weirdness: April 2013

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/04/22/richie-havens-dead-dies_n_3134558.html
Very sad. Havens had a unique ability to cover a song in a completely different way than the original - and make it his own. I never saw him perform in person, but he always came across as a unique, caring, and talented artist.

Happy Birthday Peter Frampton!

http://www.frampton.com/

Happy Birthday Glen Campbell!

http://glencampbellmusic.com/

Happy Birthday Rondo Hatton!

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0369061/

Happy Earth Day!

http://www.earthday.org/

A South Park Con in NoVa!

http://www.parkfestco.com/index.html

A nice interview with Al Stewart

http://tunegroover.com/?p=571&fb_source=pubv1
One of my faves.

Snoopy Wins!

The Red Baron was shot down on this date in 1918.

http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/red-baron-killed-in-action

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oxzg_iM-T4E

Happy Birthday Iggy Pop!

http://iggypop.org/

The Ultimate Monopoly Game

http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2010/06/how_to_win_monopoly_in_21_seco.html

UFO over Maryland

http://whofortedblog.com/2013/04/12/maryland-witnesses-film-sparking-ufo-making-90-degree-turns/

The original 'Black Eyed Kid" encounter

http://www.reporternews.com/news/2013/apr/13/brian-bethel-recounts-his-paranormal-encounter/
Supposedly, this story precedes all of the others, one of the great and current Fortean mysteries.

A mysterious stone...

http://whofortedblog.com/2013/04/17/odd-rock-covered-unidentifiable-hieroglyphics-rumored-cast-spells/

Robert Anton Wilson texts online!

http://www.deepleafproductions.com/wilsonlibrary/authors/RobertAntonWilsontexts.htm

Ghost from the 70's

http://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/houston/article/Cleveland-area-woman-finds-ghostly-couple-in-4441538.php#photo-4484436

Stayin' Alive, Stayin' Alive....

Space Squid?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lGFCvzFWG74&feature=youtu.be

Some nice Springsteen covers...

http://www.sturgisjournal.com/article/20130419/BLOGS/304199955

The Internet - A Warning From History

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=ycwsF77NP_A
This is wonderful!

(Thanks for the link, Mathew!)

Happy Birthday L'Auberge Chez Francois!

http://www.laubergechezfrancois.com/
One of my fave restaurants, perhaps the finest in the DC region. Established on this date in 1976.

Happy Birthday George Takei!

http://www.georgetakei.com/

Happy Record Store Day!

http://www.recordstoreday.com/Home

My hometown, always tactful...

http://www.happyplace.com/23281/virginia-hair-salon-offers-boston-blowout-in-extremely-misguided-attempt-to-help

Happy Birthday Mark "Phlorescent Leech" Volman!

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

Happy Birthday Tim Curry!

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000347/

Happy Birthday Dudley Moore!

http://www.dudleymoore.com/

Happy National Amaretto Day!

http://www.disaronno.com/

Yum!

Happy National Garlic Day!

Yum!

Happy Patriot's Day!

http://www.nps.gov/mima/patriots-day.htm

Happy Birthday Legend!

Premiered on this date in 1995. An under-appreciated TV show.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0112045/

Anniversary of Paul Revere's Ride

http://www.paulreverehouse.org/ride/

The unveiling of the record booth!

http://www.nashvillescene.com/nashvillecream/archives/2013/04/16/third-man-records-to-unveil-record-booth-on-record-store-day-watch-brendan-benson-try-it-out-fresh-vid
This is so cool!

(Thanks for the link, Perry!)

The Closest Shave....

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2309824/Ever-fancied-getting-EYEBALL-shaved-A-visit-barber--Chinese-style.html?ito=feeds-newsxml

Unbelievable...

(Thanks for the link, Mike!)

Happy Birthday Liz Phair!

http://www.myspace.com/lizphair

Happy Birthday Senor Wences!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Se%C3%B1or_Wences

Genius.

Happy National Cheeseball Day!

Yum!

Book Scultping!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZzuRw0ZqQdU
Neat-O!

(Thanks for the link, Carol!)

The cutting edge of allergies

http://www.foxnews.com/health/2013/04/11/newlywed-bride-realizes-is-allergic-to-new-husband-sperm/

Bad news... Of course, I think that the Tubes were ahead of the curve on this affliction:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZzuRw0ZqQdU

(Thanks for the link, Dennis!)

Happy Birthday Gerry Rafferty!

http://www.gerryrafferty.com/clientsites/20541/hold.html

Happy Birthday Dusty Springfield!

http://www.cpinternet.com/~mbayly/

Happy Birthday Charlie Chaplin!

http://www.charliechaplin.com/

Happy Emancipation Day!

http://emancipation.dc.gov/

Great moments in the history of outer space exploration!

http://cosmiclog.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/04/09/17674315-poop-in-space-revisited-apollo-10s-floating-turds-pop-up-44-years-later?lite

(Thanks for the link, Dennis!)

Happy Birthday In Living Color!

Premiered on this date in 1990.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0098830/

Happy Birthday Dave Edmunds!

http://www.allmusic.com/artist/dave-edmunds-mn0000584923

Happy Birthday Hans Conried!

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0175788/

One of my fave character actors.

Happy Birthday Da Vinci!

http://legacy.mos.org/leonardo/

RIP Lumpy

http://tvseriesfinale.com/tv-show/leave-it-to-beaver-frank-bank-dies-so-long-lumpy-rutherford-27831/

A nice interview with Agent 99

http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/local/neighborhoods-south/agent-99-reminisces-about-role-in-history-683370/

The cutting edge of out of control egoism

http://i.imgur.com/EiaQOor.png

False memories lead to false conclusions

http://healthland.time.com/2013/04/12/false-memories-can-change-drinking/

Another scam by shrinks in search of research dollars. There are millions, even tens of millions of people who have real memories of getting sick from alcohol. Repeatedly. They're called frat boys. And we'd have graduating classes full of teetotalers as a result, if there was one iota of truth in this bilge. Hell, the University of Maryland's alumni from the 1970's alone would have single-handedly resurrected the Prohibition Party and led it to Presidential victories by now. DC would be a desert...

Happy Birthday Tony Burrows!

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

Happy Birthday Sarah Michelle Gellar!

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001264/

Happy Birthday Gerry Anderson!

http://www.fanderson.org.uk/bios/gerryanderson.html

Happy Birthday John Hanson!

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

First U.S. President?

Happy Cuckoo Day!

http://www.projectbritain.com/calendar/April/cuckoo.html

Happy Pine Tree Riot Day!

http://allthingsliberty.com/2013/02/the-pine-tree-riot/

A now obscure event in the Revolutionary history of America that I'm single handedly promoting.

Some sound advice for students, from H.P. Lovecraft

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pDxjOQBeW0k

Neil Young has a blog about his dreams

http://neilyoungdreams.tumblr.com/

A cooking show for our future...

http://www.mnn.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/blogs/post-apocalyptic-cooking-show-now-casting

The resurrection of Cambodian rock'n'roll

http://bedazzled.blogs.com/bedazzled/2013/04/dont-think-ive-forgotten-cambodias-lost-rock-and-roll.html

The Evils of Chess

http://www.strangehistory.net/2013/04/07/the-evils-of-chess/

Clearly, these are not True Gamesmen. (Although to be honest, I've never been a big fan of this particular game...)

Cringeworthy Engagement Photos

http://thevine.com.au/entertainment/news/82-cringeworthy-engagement-photos/gallery/0?utm_source=FD&utm_medium=rainbow&utm_campaign=engagementphotos

Not all of these are horrible. But then I got to Number 33, and it was OH MY GODS - KILL IT! KILL IT WITH FIRE!!!!

The cutting edge of animal rescue

http://www.blackpoolgazette.co.uk/community/community-news/einstein-the-fish-saved-by-lifebelt-1-5564306

First national digital library is online soon!

http://www.wtop.com/256/3284199/First-national-digital-public-library-to-go-live
This is going to be neat!

The Cthulhu Nursery....

http://www.dorktower.com/2013/04/10/in-his-lovely-pink-nursery-great-cthulhu-waits-dreaming/

A good reference point for local stalkers

http://gwhsaa.com/research.html
With an emphasis on Alexandria, VA...

Some views on living in DC...

http://dc.about.com/u/ua/realestate/LivinginDCMetroArea.01.htm

A nice shot of the "Exorcist Steps" in Gtown

Of course it's more interesting looking at night...

Views of the Aurora tonight?

http://www.accuweather.com/en/weather-news/dazzling-northern-lights-antic-1/10107004

Happy Birthday Don Adams!

http://www.wouldyoubelieve.com/dona.html

Happy Birthday Mighty Max!

http://www.maxweinberg.com/

Happy Birthday Al Green!

http://www.algreenmusic.com/

Happy Birthday Harold Stassen!

http://www.nytimes.com/2001/03/05/us/harold-e-stassen-who-sought-gop-nomination-for-president-9-times-dies-at-93.html?pagewanted=all&src=pm

200 Days Until Halloween!

RIP Jonathan Winters

http://www.cnn.com/2013/04/12/showbiz/jonthan-winters-death/index.html

And a little Hamster shall lead them....

http://metro.co.uk/2013/04/10/hamster-resurrection-pet-rises-from-the-grave-at-easter-after-being-buried-in-garden-3591242/

(Thanks for the link, Mathew!)

Happy Birthday to Rock Around The Clock!

Recorded by Bill Haley & His comets on this date in 1954.

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

Happy Birthday Tiny Tim!

http://www.tinytim.org/

Happy Birthday John Kay!

http://steppenwolf.com/

Happy National Licorice Day!

Yum!

Happy National Grilled Cheese Sandwich Day!

Yum!

An MTM Show Reunion!

http://www.cnn.com/2013/04/09/showbiz/tv/mary-tyler-moore-reunion/index.html?hpt=hp_bn9

Fun stuff!

Seek psychological help from Lucy...

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2013/04/11/voice-charlie-brown-pleads-guilty-to-threatening-and-stalking-in-california/?test=latestnews

Nice article about Britains Guerilla Army during WWII

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2301720/Churchills-secret-guerillas-poised-execute-senior-British-figures-risk-helping-Germans-Nazi-invasion.html
These brave men's story has been kicking around for a few years now, as details have leaked out. I'd add that their life expectancy past the first month of operations would be just about nil.

Karl Edward Wagner's Kane books to be reissued!

http://singular--points.blogspot.cz/2013/03/karl-edward-wagners-kane-returns-in-new.html
One of my faves. Great sword & sorcery literature.

The Masked Marauders Hoax

http://rockcenter.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/04/05/17622557-were-you-a-believer-in-the-masked-marauders?lite

Fun stuff! I honestly don't remember this, however.

(Thanks for the link, John!)

Happy 8-Track Tape Day!

http://www.squidoo.com/eight-track-tape-day

Happy National Cheese Fondue Day!

Yum!

Happy Birthday Richard Berry - and Happy Louie Louie Day!

http://www.louielouie.net/01-welcome.htm

You can forget about gerbils...

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/04/09/eel-removed-from-man-stuck-colon-photo_n_3046785.html

(Thanks for the link, Mike!)

Headline, & Story, Of The Day!

http://www.nashvillescene.com/pitw/archives/2013/04/10/dont-look-ethel-former-mt-carmel-vice-mayor-exposes-himself-to-national-ridicule

(Thanks for the link, Mike!)

And in the end....

The Beatles broke up on this date in 1970. Yoko chortles...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jt-YSHAr7c0

Happy Birthday Bobby Smith! (of the Spinners)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bobby_Smith_%28rhythm_and_blues_singer%29

Happy National Siblings Day!

http://www.ibtimes.com/happy-national-siblings-day-how-did-it-start-435698

Fox Network VS Firefly

http://io9.com/fox-bans-the-sale-of-unlicensed-jayne-hats-from-firefly-471820413
I always like having a new reason to despise Fox. Thanks, assholes!

Happy Birthday Avery Schreiber!

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

Happy Birthday Carl Perkins!

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

Happy Birthday Tom Lehrer!

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

Genius. Essential.

My next toy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TSU1jQoGIqo

RIP Annette

http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2013/04/08/176580565/annette-funicello-americas-sweet-heart-has-died

You know, this genuinely saddens me. This is another person whom I grew up with, and I've never heard a bad thing about her, either. I will also point out that (I believe) she was the first American performer to try and introduce ska to the States...

The history of toilets and privacy

http://www.biblicalarchaeology.org/daily/archaeology-today/biblical-archaeology-topics/an-expert%E2%80%99s-take-on-toilet-history-and-customs-from-antiquity-to-the-renaissance/

(Thanks for the link, Dennis!)

Story of the week!

http://shanghaiist.com/2013/04/03/naked_sex_doll_couple_run_through_the_streets_of_beijing.php

(Thanks for the link, Dennis!)

Disturbing tape recording

http://whofortedblog.com/2013/04/05/strange-frequencies-sense-bizarre-recording/
I would agree with several of the folks commenting on this in the article, that it's a brilliantly creepy piece of performance art. Sort of an aural equivalent of 'The Ring' film.

A (partial) defeat of death?

http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2013/apr/06/sam-parnia-resurrection-lazarus-effect
Fascinating article!

(Thanks for the link, Infidel753!)

A nice interview with Eric Burdon

http://mmusicmag.com/m/2013/04/eric-burdon/

One of my faves...

Happy Birthday Ravi Shankar!

http://www.ravishankar.org/

Happy Birthday Janis Ian!

http://www.janisian.com/

The silent killer...

http://www.snopes.com/science/dhmo.asp

Happy Birthday John Waterhouse!

http://www.jwwaterhouse.com/

One of my fave painters.

Happy Birthday Phil Austin!

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

Happy Tartan Day!

http://www.tartanday.org/

Groucho was right - he should have gone to Alabama...

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/france/9964090/King-Louis-XIVs-pet-elephant-attacked-with-chainsaw.html

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

Listening to records that no longer exist

http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_vault/2013/04/04/patrick_feaster_discovered_a_way_to_listen_to_vanished_gramophone_recordings.html

Fascinating!

Virtual cockpit for a variety of aircraft

http://www.nationalmuseum.af.mil/virtualtour/cockpits.asp
Neat-o!

(Thanks for the link, Dennis!)

Happy Future Anniversay or 'First Contact'

According to Gene Roddenberry, it'll occur on this date in 2063.

Happy Birthday Agnetha Faltskog!

http://www.agnetha.net/

Happy Birthday Nigel Hawthorne!

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001329/?ref_=fn_al_nm_1

Happy Birthday Roger Corman!

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000339/

Happy Birthday Dan Perkins!

http://thismodernworld.com/

Happy Birthday Robert Bloch!

http://www.tabula-rasa.info/DarkAges/RobertBloch.html

Should Bruce write the National Anthem?

http://baltimorepostexaminer.com/should-bruce-springsteen-write-a-new-national-anthem/2013/04/03
I've always hated the Star Spangled Banner. An un-singable mess that no one knows the words to. No, the National Anthem should be something that every red-blooded citizen knows the lyrics to, and is easy to sing, as well. There is one tune that stands above all the rest in these matters:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H8Uf8Zj9W24