Punch & Judy are invaded by bees

Bees vs Punch & Judy I
Originally uploaded by Paul Russell99

Oh how we laughed at those funny little half cut hams

Nichols and May do a live ad for GE refrigerators:

He's still going on about the paper crumpling. Just nod politely and try to get away.

Here's where I thought I would certainly find images of paper crumpling.

I was certain that Montague had a program that he crumpled when he found out that Abrahams was successful in making a date with Sybil.


I was just as certain that Liddell crumpled a newspaper or a copy of the events schedule when he found out that he was scheduled to run on a Sunday.


I was reasonably certain that Abrahams crumpled up the letter from Mussabini. He actually folds it back up.


That's a handkerchief he's holding. He has just demolished a straw boater, but I don't think that counts either.

The big picture.

After watching Chariots of Fire, I was struck by the number of times that people are shown crumpling paper. I could think of four or five places where people were shown crumpling a piece of paper, and I was positive that another viewing would reveal even more.

The other viewing revealed no more examples, and served to show that I was remembering wrong.

There are two shots of people crumpling paper in Chariots of Fire. Unless I missed one. Which is possible.

I find this somewhat interesting. Not sure why.

Coldplay currently have the number one single in America.

The folks at Anglophenia have pointed out that this is the first time that a UK Band has topped the American charts since February of 1997.

They offer this handy list, which does prove a bit of a point:

2000s (1 No. 1)

"Viva La Vida" by Coldplay

1990s (2 No. 1s)

"Wannabe" by The Spice Girls (February 1997)
"I'm Too Sexy" by Right Said Fred (February 1992)

1980s (25 No. 1s)

"Good Thing" by Fine Young Cannibals (July 1989)
"She Drives Me Crazy" by Fine Young Cannibals (April 1989)
"Red Red Wine" by UB40 (October 1988)
"(I Just) Died in Your Arms" by Cutting Crew (May 1987)
"Human" by Human League (November 1986)
"Venus" by Bananarama (September 1986)
"Invisible Touch" by Genesis (July 1986)
"Holding Back the Years" by Simply Red (July 1986)
"West End Girls" by Pet Shop Boys (May 1986)
"Money For Nothing" by Dire Straits (September 1985)
"Shout" by Tears For Fears (August 1985)
"A View To a Kill" by Duran Duran (July 1985)
"Everybody Wants to Rule the World" by Tears For Fears (June 1985)
"Everything She Wants" by Wham! (May 1985)
"Don't You (Forget About Me)" by Simple Minds (May 1985)
"Careless Whisper" by Wham! featuring George Michael (February 1985)
"The Reflex" by Duran Duran (June 1984)
"Karma Chameleon" by Culture Club (February 1984)
"Owner of a Lonely Heart" by Yes (January 1984)
"Every Breath You Take" by The Police (July 1983)
"Come On Eileen" by Dexy's Midnight Runners (April 1983)
"Don't You Want Me" by Human League (July 1982)
"Another One Bites the Dust" by Queen (October 1980)
"Another Brick in the Wall (Part II)" by Pink Floyd (March 1980)
"Crazy Little Thing Called Love" by Queen (February 1980)

Of course one of the things that it shows is not so much the decline of UK acts as much as the decline of bands.

A quick look then - the last time any UK act topped the US singles charts? Three months ago. The last time a band made it to top the charts? Last July.

Lost opportunity

About halfway through cooking dinner there was a knock on the door. There was some guy trying to balance a couple of boxes and a sheet of paper.

Him: "You Frank?"

Me: "No."

Him: "Is Frank here?"

Me: "Nobody named Frank lives here."

Him: (rebalances his boxes and studies his sheet of paper) "You sure?"

Me: "Yes."

He shifted again and showed me his paper. It had my address and directions for how to get here. Next to my address was "Frank - 6:30PM."

Me: "That's this address. No Frank. Sorry."

He shrugged and then bent over to pick up another box that he had set on the porch. It was at this point that I realized he was distributing Elvis dolls.



So all I had to have done was say "Why yes. I am Frank." and I would now have one of those in my house.

At least until Frank showed up.

Fine. I'll jump aboard too.

I am aware of all internet traditions.

Opportunities for job seekers

Now on Craigslist, a position for an aspiring copywriter:

Are you looking for an exciting opportunity make a real impact with your business and marketing writing talents? A dynamic, entrepreneurial for-profit college in Northwest DC is looking for an experienced copy writer and desktop publisher to lead aspects of both internal and external written communications. . . . You will report directly to the Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing and will be responsible for writing, editing and proofreading a wide range of print and online materials including content for our web site, emails to students, and other marketing materials.

But wait, there's more!

While you are writing copy you will also fill the role of security guard, working 6:30 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. Monday through Thursday. We will buy your uniform. You won’t carry a gun. Applicants must be able to pass a drug screen as well as a criminal background check. The security guard spends most of the shift seated at the reception desk, and there will be very minimal security duties. Practically the entire shift you will be able to focus on writing copy – you’ll just happen to be wearing a uniform.

This is why I love middle management academia. Always thinking outside the box!

++++++

Greetings, children aged 5-8! Have you considered a career in coal mining?

The end of Ulysses, as processed by Wordle

Say, isn't today Bloomsday?

Yes.

Lello & Irmao Bookstore, Oporto

The Stairs...
Originally uploaded by stukinha

The Monks!

and more nostalgia

I had a stack of these as a young-un too.

Either the internet is going through a phase were it is burping up random items from my formative years, or I am in a reflective mood.

Both, most likely.

I have removed the uncharitable comment from this post.

Currently up for auction: The script for Give My Regards to Broad Street.

Offered without comment

I experience a moment of crippling nostalgia

Hot on the heels of my new-found ability to purchase Quisp on the internet (and really, ultimately, I think that is what the internet was made for) comes a series of posts on Bob Logan's blog showing frames from old View-Master slides. Specifically, slides of Hanna-Barbera cartoons redone as 3d models.


I had these when I was a kid, and I recall being endlessly fascinated with them. First, I was fascinated by the fact that they looked somehow different from the cartoons on television. Then, when I understood that they were photographs of models, I was even more intrigued. How do you make these? What are they made of? How long did it take? How big are they? Who made them? Where are they?

I still have all of those questions. I suspect that these models have been destroyed long ago, but I hope they turn up somewhere. They are amazing.

I love old travel posters

These ones are "all illustrated in the 1950s and 1960s by British artist Daphne Padden."

They are adorable.

By request! Honest!

I didn't know they were still making Quisp

I certainly didn't know you could buy the stuff on Amazon.

"Porn For Rock Nerds"

Idolator reviews the latest issue of Mojo Magazine. There is nothing that I disagree with.

But Mojo wasn't just an enterprise based on challenging Rolling Stone for the title of "magazine that puts the Beatles on the cover for the most cynical, flimsiest of reasons whenever it needs a circulation boost or is otherwise short on ideas" (9 times since 1993, tied with Pink Floyd and not counting issues devoted to post-Fab careers). AP certainly had no problem whatsoever slapping down eight bucks a month for a magazine that, for no apparent reason other than it would probably be interesting to rock nerds, put out a Krautrock issue in 1997, the same year that brought a pre-Volkswagen campaign Nick Drake cover feature. Or would publish career retrospectives of AP's beloved Todd Rundgren and Roxy Music. AP could forgive the mag's fascination with Gomez, an English band that wished desperately to turn into Ry Cooder circa 1969.

A Tangent Path

About a month ago, I was alerted to the astonishing price drop affecting the Monty Python complete series DVD box. (Down under $50 in some places). I was just about to snap it up when it occurred to me - the episodes that I've seen in the last few years have looked a bit rugged. I'll bet they're due to be remastered.

So I looked around and saw that BBCAmerica is showing a run of "newly-remastered" Monty Python.

They are somewhat lovely. There's still commercials, but they put the show in a 40 minute slot to accomidate them. Now if they'd only get rid of all the station logos, show logos, coming attractions and cartoon Gordon Ramseys that have taken over the bottom quarter of the screen, we'd be all set.

Anyway, last night I saw the episode with this bit:



and I thought, "Who is this supposed to be? Is this a real person, or just an amalgam?"

Turns out he's real. He's still alive. Here is his website.

And here's a clip of him from 1960.



Watching that made me wonder whatever came of Whiz Jones, the singer featured in the clip.

Turns out he's still alive. Here is his website. And here is a clip from a year and a half ago.

And in food news

Giraffes are Kosher!

Way down the street there's a lad in his place

Here's a floorplan of Sherlock Holmes' apartment at 221B Baker Street.

I've always been fascinated by the feel of the place. It's been represented on film and television so many times (and this is far from the first time anyone has ever made a floorplan).

There are always differences. Sometimes it is ornate and dark with lots of velvet curtains. Other times bare and bright with yellowing plaster walls. But it always seems the same. It always seems to be right somehow.

Is it familiar because I find it so interesting, or do I find it interesting because it seems so familiar?

And in this one - Those staircases are way too steep. You won't pass code with those things.

and Mort Sahl in charge of smoking.

Here's the first half of a pilot for a show that never made it to air. The premise is that every episode was to have been recorded at a different jazz club from somewhere in the country with the top jazz acts playing (This one features The Dave Brubeck Quartet at The Black Hawk in San Francisco). I can sort of understand how this might not have been picked up - I think much of the thrill of seeing it now comes from it now being a historical document rather than just a camera stuck in a nightclub. Still, it would probably have been a reasonably cheap show to whip together, and it is a pity that there aren't more of them for posterity.

I'm just hoping that the second half pops up sometime. The credits imply that the Modern Jazz Quartet is going to show up.

And be sure to catch what happens at about four and a half minutes in:



I tend to forget what an incredibly clean drummer Joe Morello is. (If Jazz isn't your thing, you can forward to the five minute mark to catch a half minute long drum break and be done with it.)

This Moment in Pod is gonna take it to a private eye.

The recent death of Bo Diddley has caused me to recall a number of late night conversations about music. Specifically conversations about the origins of the rhythm pattern that he was known for. There were generally three opinions.

1. Bo Diddley invented the pattern.
2. Buddy Holly invented it. Diddley then copied it for his song "Bo Diddley." Buddy Holly then recorded a cover of "Bo Diddley" just to be a smart-ass.
3. "Dudes! You're forgetting about the Hambone! You Know... Hambone"

After someone would say opinion three, they would start doing this:



Except they were generally drunker and less co-ordinated. For some reason, they weren't taken seriously.

Oh, Wikipedia? What can you tell us about the Hambone?

The Juba dance or hambone, originally known as Pattin' Juba (Giouba, Haiti: Djouba), is a style of dance that involves stomping as well as slapping and patting the arms, legs, chest, and cheeks. . . . The Juba dance was originally an African-American plantation dance, brought from West Africa by slaves who performed it during their gatherings when no rhythm instruments were allowed due to fear of secret codes hidden in the drumming. According to one source, the sounds were also used just as Yoruba and Haitian talking drums were used to communicate. The dance was performed in Dutch Guiana, the Caribbean, and the southern United States. . . . Modern variations on the dance include Bo Diddley's "Bo Diddley Beat" and the step-shows of African American and Latino Greek organizations.

Lee at Music You (Possibly) Won't Hear Anyplace Else has a wonderful file up here showing the beat pattern as it evolved in the 20th Century "Pre-Diddley."

I had always discounted the whole Hambone thing because of a radio interview that I heard Bo Diddley give years ago that I recall going something like this:

Disk Jockey: So tell me, how much were you influenced by the Hambone?
Bo Diddley: What! Hambone! What [expletive] [expletive] Hambone? [expletive] [expletive] [expletive] [expletive] [expletive] [expletive] ignorant [expletive] [expletive] [expletive]! [expletive] [expletive]! [expletive] Hambone.

Another milestone!

Two Notes:

1. There aren't really 1,000 posts for you, the reader, to read on the blog yet. The count here includes the posts that are either still in the drafts queue (there are 68! I have to get working.) There is also a post that is scheduled for a few months from now. I was testing the scheduled post option, so I have Henry V's St. Crispin's Day Speech set to get posted on St. Crispin's Day.
   
2. Most of the 6 Comments that need to be moderated are from me - I'm also tinkering with the moderation functions. Sometimes I think that perhaps if I spent as much time writing stuff and posting it as I do noodling around with the gears, this would be a more robust and vibrant blog. But that's not my bag.
   

Meanwhile, over on YouTube

Play the Andy Rooney Game. Take an Andy Rooney segment and edit out everything between the first and last sentences.