How does Brundlefly sing?

Coming soon to a theater near you (Provided you are in Paris or Los Angeles) - The Opera version of the 1986 version of The Fly!

I quite like the logo:

Offered without comment.

Quick, before they're illegal!

Here's where you can get one of those scarfs that caused one or two people to think that Rachel Ray was a secret terrorist mole.

Added bonus - They are softer than cashmere!

woosh!

Curious Expeditions will teach you all about the old pneumatic tube delivery systems.

This Moment in Pod will tell you the life story of a man who's at loggerheads with his past all the time

Two stories about the same thing.

Number one - A while ago I wrote about having come across a posting of a batch of cover versions of "The Weight." One of these covers led me to say this: "I've never known that The Staple Singers did a cover of 'The Weight.'" As I was going through my cd's, I discover that I own a copy of "The Best of the Staple Singers" (US, UK) "The Weight" is track number six.

Number two - For the last couple of months, I've been debating getting the new Deluxe Edition release of "The La's" (US, UK) One of the reasons I've been wanting to get this is because I've never gotten around to picking up a copy of it and so long as I'm starting fresh, I might as well go whole hog. A week ago, I found a cdr that had the whole album in mp3 format. Then I found a homemade CD that I burnt of it. Then I found the cassette release of the album that I must have purchased, ripped to my computer and used to make the CD and the mp3s with. And then totally forgot. I've just listened to the album - the whole thing is really familiar. I suspect that I was listening to this a lot for a while and then somehow blanked on the whole thing.

I suppose the silver lining is that I get to discover it twice!

Torchwood fans are known for their passion

I can't believe that this has never bothered me before.

From the Journal of Cartoon Over-analyzations:

"Why does Fred [Flintstone] wear a tie? He works for a construction company, he drives the bulldozer. I don’t know any construction workers that wear ties."

For the perfect tailgate party . . . Of Evil!

Dress up your roast chickens with these frightening ceramic heads:



I have a feeling that these might help some folks decide to go veggie.

Soundtrack for the long weekend

Enjoy the music of Los Valendas - also at Myspace

Musical mysteries solved!

For years, connoisseurs of cartoon background music have sought out information regarding the jazzy soundtrack to the 60's era Spiderman cartoon.



That music has now been found! Go here for details and a podcast that compares the scratchy off-air recordings that people have been grooving to with the clean source tapes. My dream is for someone to now remix the dialogue onto the new tapes - Spider-banter in clean stereo sound!

In similar news, Steve Polatnick has unearthed a dictionary that translates the bebop lingo of Slim Gaillard into English.

The Tower Bridge is Twittering.

I imagine that this is actually useful to someone. But for the most part it's just silly.

Why I'm not blogging as much as I should - part 382

A while ago I find a link to a Google Maps mash-up that lets you drive a little car around the Google street map.

"That sounds like fun." I think.

I click on the link. I get a little car that is sitting in the middle of a map of London. Great! I like London! And I rarely drive in London -- I can practice!

So I start driving around. I suck at this! I'm weaving around so much that I am expecting that a little police car will show up to bust me.

And I'm driving around the teeny map, and I start wondering where I should go. So I get on an A road and start sticking to them. The next thing I know, I'm zig-zagging my way up the M1.

At this point, I'm starting to think "Now where should I go visit?" And I suddenly realize that this is actually astonishingly boring.

My tiny virtual car is now abandoned in the virtual breakdown lane here:

The keys are on the front left tire.

The BBC News page will teach you American slang

I'm testing something else now

This is a CD that I finally picked up a few months ago after putting off buying it for years. I like it for the most part - the first track is a bit unnecessary, but the rest is quite evocative.

Really though, I'm just testing this new Amazon widget thing that just came out.

A bit of perspective

A while ago, I bookmarked a link to this article that level-headedly noted that:

An average pint in Britain has topped £3 following a 4p rise in the budget – making it the same price as a line of cocaine, according to official government figures.

In London the average price of a pint – at £4.06 – is dearer than a hit of heroin.

Thus, with the exchange rates holding at current trends, a pint of beer purchased in London will cost roughly US$8.

A bit more research brought me to this site, which tracks the price of a pint across the world. The US average is $4 per pint - which indicates that I frequent establishments that are quite average.

I was hoping to be able to crunch some numbers and come up with something more interesting than "beer is cheaper in America" but I'm afraid that when it comes down to it, that's all I've got.

Sigh.

Have a look at the trailer for the American version of Life on Mars.

From the depths of history

Boot Sale Sounds brings us the story behind the "barking dogs" records.

to put on my growing back burner

Today's selection from Pulp of the Day is the December 1938 issue of G-8 and His Battle Aces, titled "The Bloody Wings of the Vampire." I am charmed by this.

I decided to look to see if I could read this online. No luck. I found this site, where I can purchase a copy for $125. I'm afraid that I am not that charmed.

On to the meat. Wikipedia, can you tell us about G-8?

G-8 was an heroic aviator and spy during World War I in pulp fiction. . . .
While not as dramatic a character as Doc Savage or the Shadow, his stories were often outlandish, with many supernatural or science fiction elements. G-8's true identity was never revealed. He had a girlfriend, a nurse who aided his group, and her name was never revealed, either. His English manservant was named Battle. His wing-men were the short Nippy Weston, who flew an aircraft numbered 13, and the tall and muscular but superstitious Bull Martin, whose aircraft was numbered 7. Both of them were Americans. His adventures entailed fighting against the lethal super technology that was constantly created by the Kaiser's mad scientists.

Copies of G-8 magazine can be purchased from The Vintage Library either as a paperback or as a downloadable PDF file. "The Bloody Wings of the Vampire" is not currently on either list.

If this old jalopy don't run outta steam, we're a-gonna make-a that-a go-go scene!

Here is someone having a bad day.



She should click over to Music from the Monster Movies and groove to the swinging beat sounds of folks like this:



Don't get eaten or stepped on or something like that.

Buying the New Yorker 1976 - page 68

Check out the prices at the Greenbrier:



$37 per person! A room there now starts at about ten times that. How time flies. I tried to see if I could find any sign of John S Lanahan, and Google spat out a little mention of him winning the International Foodservice Manufacturers Association's Silver Plate Award in 1979. Good for him!



LaBarge has a bunch of different mirrors, but I can't find any in Queen Anne style. They've branched out into furniture. They make urn pedestals! I don't know why I find that so fascinating.

Cooking with black metal

Black metal music, that is.

From the recipe for "Frostbitten Molasses Cookies Entombed with Ginger" we learn that:

Boiled down to its very essence, metal is nothing more than a mixture of molasses and alienation. By that definition, these cookies are black fucking metal. Packed full of grim and evil spices, they will leave you feeling despondent and isolated within their stronghold of flavor.

The "misanthropic" cupcakes look quite tasty as well.

Bottle Shock

A nice way to start your May

Enjoy a couple of versions of Damien Rice's "The Blower's Daughter" via The Late Greats.