Archive for July, 2007

Ethel Smith’s Busy Fingers

July 31st, 2007

Enjoy Ethel Smith performing her signature song “Tico Tico” in the Esther Williams musical Bathing Beauty (taken off an old VHS tape, apparently). I love Ethel Smith. There’s something about the combo of her hyperactive hands and the cheesy “roller rink” sounds emanating from her Hammond organ that is so weirdly compelling. I couldn’t locate […]

Mickey Mouse Operation

July 30th, 2007

I’m digging on the latest Kiddie Records Weekly find, a vintage ’50s or so set of five flexible 78RPM discs called Your Trip to Disneyland. Granted, Mickey, Tinkerbelle, Donald and Goofy make for rather obnoxious tour guides — but it’s a priceless set and the artwork on the picture discs is gorgeous. With the kind […]

Mostly I Want to Play ‘Baby Bash’

July 29th, 2007

As a special treat for Christopher’s birthday, the two of us caught an opening day screening of The Simpsons Movie. I was excited, and a bit leery. The Simpsons is a classic, one of the best shows on TV, but the creators have gone into autopilot over the last decade. I cherish the first 8 […]

Book Review: Stacked Decks

July 26th, 2007

I’m ashamed to admit it, but reading Stacked Decks: The Art and History of Erotic Playing Cards is something akin to browsing through your dad’s secret stash of Playboys.
In this nicely appointed book, vintage erotica collector Mark Rotenberg guides us through his playing card collection — with examples ranging in date from the quaint, ample-thighed […]

Tuesday Bouillabaisse

July 24th, 2007

A trio of things which had my gears spinning on a Tues.:

The A.V. Club’s Noel Murray ruminates on once-decent cable channels that went to pot in his Expatriated from TV Land weblog post. This is so, heartbreakingly true. If it wasn’t for my beloved TCM, I’d dump our entire DirecTV service. Read the post and […]

Cheap Thrill: The New England Cookbook (1956)

July 21st, 2007

Here’s futher proof that the neatest visuals can pop up in the most unexpected places. Trawl through any flea market or antique store and you’ll find dozens of old paperback mini cookbooks published by the Culinary Arts Institute. Organized by food or region, these were cheaply sold in supermarkets to housewives who wanted to try […]

The Geek Squads

July 19th, 2007

Watching the last two weeks of VH1’s World Series of Pop Culture, I’ve come to the realization that I wouldn’t make the cut on that show. Too many recent brain-stumpers. I hate to sound fuddy duddyish, but pop culture from the last 5-6 years is a bit of a blur. Identifying memorable, misogynistic song lyrics […]

Fun with a Porpoise

July 16th, 2007

The excellent Fanboy.com points to a beautiful mosaic Totoro rendered in dishes of paint from Japan. My mosaic is coming along well. The beads have all been painted/stained and now I’m nailing each one in the board. Though the completed bottom six rows look slightly uneven, that and the silver nailheads give it a nice, […]

(Cough)

July 15th, 2007

A couple of days ago, I was invited on a special “field trip” organized by Christopher’s workplace to go and see Michael Moore’s Sicko. Good film, even if it didn’t tell me much I didn’t already know — if you’re an ininsured, sick American, you’re screwed. HMOs and phamaceutical comglomerates are greedy bastards who thrive […]

What a Character

July 12th, 2007

Veteran actor Charles Lane died recently at the age of 102. He survived the San Francisco earthquake of 1906 and was a contract player at Warner Brothers in the early ’30s, among many accomplishments. What an amazing life he lived. I have to check out 42nd Street again to see his little bit as the […]

Seven Years of Unpigeonholeable Tomfoolery

July 11th, 2007

Here’s to odd-numbered anniversaries: seven years ago this week, I started this weblog. I would’ve never believed it would have lasted this long, but yay for longevity. To mark the occasion, I thought it would be a gas to take a look back at the earlier incarnations of Scrubbles.net.

In the summer of 2000, I came […]

Who Needs the Kwik-E-Mart

July 8th, 2007

X-Entertainment visits one of the 7-11 outlets restyled as The Simpsons‘ Kwik-E-Mart. The makeover looks like a fun idea, and an insanely popular one at that, but they did it to only eleven outlets across the country. What kind of Mr. Burns-style exec approved that one? D’Oh! Via Gael at PCJM, who also got to […]

Furry Gourmet

July 7th, 2007

We had a relatively exciting Saturday today. Out of the house by 10:00 a.m. (because no Phoenician does anything after noon in July), we journeyed to the local multiplex to catch an early showing of Ratatouille. It was sweet fun, filled with wonderful characters and a tangible sense of the aromas and tastes that fine […]

Gross, He’s Picking His Nose!

July 4th, 2007

Remember the early Simpsons episode where Bart and his fellow classmates have to sit through an ancient film about the wonders of zinc? I kind of got that feeling while viewing a DVD gifted from Christopher — Atomic Age Classics Vol. 2: Hygiene, Dating & Delinquency. This collection of vintage educational films (one of five […]

Latest Sheeplike Activity

July 1st, 2007

Everybody’s visiting the Simpsons Movie official website and making their own Simpsons-esque doppelgänger. I created my own and, after a few modifications in Photoshop, dubbed him Jaded Hipster.