September 14, 2007
Society Bluesman, Josh White
Somewhere along your musical journeys you might've heard something by Mr. Josh White (1914-1969). He was a bluesman, but one with the kind of smooth and polished delivery (and some charming novelty tunes) that made him a favorite on the wider, national pop/folk scene. He was pretty sexy, too. He didn't shy away from political/racial themes, either. Unsurprisingly, he ran afoul of the infamous House Un-American Activities Committee during the Red Scare years, and his name was placed on their Commie blacklist. Some few decades later his image graced a US postage stamp. Thanks for the music, Josh White.
Leave Him Alone.
Re-Connections
Re-Connections [1 2 3 4 5 6 7, YouTube]. Interviews with James Burke at the 25th anniversary of his landmark series Connections and The Day the Universe Changed. [Previously]
Stay True To Your Convictions
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Throwdown have a message to impart. [One Link YouTube Post, NSFW Language.]
Drum Rudiments
Flam, parradidle and ratamacue... (single link YouTube) brings to mind the late john Bohnham. Also Rich/Krupa. And Steve Gadd. Elvin Jones just passed away and did I mention Ed Shaughnessy? Black and white! Drummers can get tripped out or tripped in. Drummers read the Wikipedia and they will open up if you let them... I am sure every drummer here has a back beat. Drums have always been about physical comedy.
Ghetto Capitalism
Ghetto Capitalists At once an outsider and a welcome participant in the ghetto economy, he found that he was suddenly part of “a vast, often invisible web” of economic exchange. That web supports the residents of Maquis Park and adds a strange sort of order to their existence, tempering chaos and adding predictability to the lives of Chicago’s poor. For the most part, the people he meets seem eager to trade. It’s just that much of what they’re trading isn’t going to meet with the approval of a law-and-order Republican or a bleeding-heart Great Society Democrat.
Thin Times
Struggling British biotech firm Vernalis reports "striking" weight loss among patients taking its new obesity drug, "V24343".
The True Story of An American Tragedy
100 years ago last July, young Chester Gillette took his pregnant girlfriend Grace Brown boating in a lake in the Adironakes. Out on the water he clubbed her unconscious using a tennis racket he had brought along for the purchase, and threw her body overboard, drowning her & his unborn child. 100 years ago next March, he was put to death for the crime, which went on to become the basis for a great American novel, two movie adaptations (some would say three) & as befits a good tragedy, an opera.
It's arguable that the soft lens of history plus the addition of the bias of the book & film adaptations have positioned Gillette in a kinder light than he deserves; his crime itself has never fallen out of vogue, sad to say.
Photos of WWI poison gas and flamethrowers.
Mom always liked you best.
The Smothers Brothers are a folk-singing comedy duo whose television show, The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour featured music, comedy, and political satire. CBS abruptly canceled the show in 1969 due to continued arguments about censorship. [more inside]
Rents are rising: News at 11
Rents are up in San Francisco. CraigStatsSF can tell you by how much over the last year. (coming soon: NYC, Chicago, Toronto, Boston, and more. What neighborhoods are hot? (Heatmaps are cool). Firefox is your friend.
Flash Island
‘I’ve stood around too long’
Someone call John Hughes! Two students at Central Kings Rural High School fought back against bullying recently, unleashing a sea of pink after a new student was harassed and threatened when he showed up wearing a pink shirt.
Welcome to New Jersey: Do not drink and sleep
DUI for NOT Driving while Drunk A New Jersey appellate court yesterday upheld the principle that convictions for driving under the influence of alcohol (DUI) can be imposed on individuals who were not driving. This is not one of those kooky old laws on the books.
Snake will eat itself
Hint: It wasn't what was on the screen
"The Scariest Thing I've Ever Seen." A psychiatrist sees Rob Zombie's remake of horror classic Halloween.
The Price of Fame
Brad Laidman critiques the findings from the Centre For Public Health at Liverpool John Moore University report [pdf] 'Elvis to Eminem: quantifying the price of fame through early mortality of European and North American rock and pop stars.' [more inside]
Rocks fall! Everyone dies!
Head Injury Theater presents: Dungeons and Dragons: Celebrating 30 Years of Very Stupid Monsters.
"Fighting is bad." *THWACK*
Child Beater. Part II. YouTubes, from onehitmaster.com. (No children were harmed during the making of these movies.) [more inside]
Rama's Bridge or Adam's Bridge
Travis A. Louie. Acrylic on Board.
Travis A. Louie makes some really lush paintings of unlikely human oddities in the style of vintage black and white photo portraits. The frameset navigation is horrible, so here are some samples: Goblin in a Formal Dress circa 1893. Karl the Original Humanzee. Sir Reginald Whiskers McPherson. Emily. Archibald Langston circa 1897. Jack "Toothy" McPherson. Frank.
Mentioned in Projects. Via.
Mentioned in Projects. Via.
Peace, Little Girl
Billions and Billions
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