Ethel Smith’s Busy Fingers
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 any video of her doing “Blame It on the Samba” in the 1948 Disney film Melody Time, a proto-psychedelic whirl of live action and animation. Trust me, it’s wild. More on Ms. Smith, who died in 1996, can be found in this Cool & Strange Music Magazine profile.
Mickey Mouse Operation
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 permission of Ford at K.R.W., I’ve taken the artwork and uploaded it to my Classic Disneyland Souvenirs flickr group. Listen to the audio here.
Mostly I Want to Play ‘Baby Bash’
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 or so seasons, but the current episodes are only mildly amusing in a “better than Family Guy” sorta way. Could they possibly deliver the goods for their first motion picture?
Well, I’m happy to say the answer to that question is a resounding “yes” — for the movie’s first half, anyway. Honestly, I was surprised at how funny it was, but it also had a lot of the sort of heartfelt moments long missing from the Simpsons universe. It’s easily funnier than any TV episode from the past five seasons. My only quibbles would be that it’s a little long by about 15 minutes, and the storyline is so heavily centered around the Simpsons themselves that beloved side characters like Apu, Smithers, and (fill in the blank) get short shrifted. The expanded, subtly shaded look of the film also seemed odd to me in ways I couldn’t pinpoint. Maybe it’s because (as the San Francisco Chronicle review touched upon) the TV show depends on a simplified aesthetic to successfully pull off its style of humor. Comic Book Guy would certainly not approve, but the less discerning among you would find a grand time. Hopefully it won’t take another 18 years for the creators to scrounge up a sequel (The Great Simpsons Caper?).
On another note, we also caught a neat exhibit at the Phoenix Art Museum. UnInked: Paintings, Sculpture, and Graphic Work by Five Cartoonists was guest curated by Chris Ware and features paintings, sketches and sculpture by a variety of current graphic artists. The biggest thrill, for me, was seeing a couple of wild color canvases by Gary Panter. I also loved the original pen and ink artwork from Kim Deitch’s Boulevard of Broken Dreams. Christopher thought the art didn’t do much for him, but I wholeheartedly enjoyed it. Also at the museum we saw a beautiful display of 1930s gowns inspired by streamlined automotive design. So overall it was an excellent weekend.
Book Review: Stacked Decks
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 ladies pictured on 19th century tobacco cards to the hardcore 1970s. It’s no surprise that the coolest cards come from the ’50s and ’60s: apparently the Greatest Generation was also the horniest. The classic pin-up gal get a lot of exposure here, a playful and irresistible vision of female sexuality which continues in the hyper-saturated color photography from that same period. Those are the best, but there are also a lot more varied (and smuttier) cards on display — which are eye-opening, to say the least. If you thought amateur porn started in the Internet era, for example, you’re wrong, buddy.
Stacked Decks is available now from Quirk. Buy at Amazon here.
Tuesday Bouillabaisse
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 all 172-odd comments, too.
- For those who like DVD commentaries but don’t want to slog through an entire feature’s worth of yak track, check out Trailers From Hell, which has Joe Dante, John Landis and others commenting on cheezy old trailers from the ’50s and ’60s. On a side note, we’re listening to the commentary from the two lead actors in George Pal’s 1953 War of the Worlds. It’s oddly interesting, and at times boring, to listen to people reminiscing about something they did fifty-plus years earlier. Via Dave Kehr.
- Dan Goodsell posted classic ’80s bubblegum wrappers on his weblog. I almost forgot about many of these. Remember Freshen Up? “Freshen your breath with Freshen Up/The gum that goes squirt”?
Cheap Thrill: The New England Cookbook (1956)
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 a little adventure in their meal planning (“Darling, let’s try some Scandinavian tonight!”). Christopher recently won an eBay auction in which five of these C.A.I. booklets were included along with the one cookbook he wanted, a rarity published by the Melamine Council (yes, there really was something called the Melamine Council). Although the other cookbooks had rather unexceptional photography and illustrations, one of them was a real treat. You’d never know it from the cover, but The New England Cookbook brims with lots of whimsical, wonderful drawings by one Lou Peters. According to Ward (who oughta know), Peters did several volumes of these cookbooks in different styles, all excellent. I’d so love to see more.
I scanned most of the illustrations and posted them in this Flickr set. Check the excellent typography and spot color usage in the examples below. They’re so freakin’ adorable I could just spit.
The Geek Squads
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 of 2006 would stump me (as it did the two guys faced with that category, natch). The show’s producers also seem to favor questions relating to recent dumb comedies such as Zoolander. On the other hand, I would definitely rock the Brady Bunch questions, and surprisingly I could rattle off most of the Melrose Place cast despite never having seen an episode. I’ll be tuning in to Friday’s finale, hoping the snotty trust fund babies of Twisted Misters do not win.
Other goodness this week — the L.A. Weekly has a nice, long profile of Matt Groening. For some reason reading this brought to mind the first couple of Simpsons seasons, when Groening’s quirky touch was a lot more evident in the character designs. Check out those earlier episodes and occasionally you’ll find a weird looking, Groening-esque dude hanging out in the background (like the beady-eyed black kid in Bart’s class). I miss those days before the show’s look got more streamlined. Anyway, good article. Didn’t know that Groening recently renamed his long-running Life In Hell strip Life Is Swell.
Also, Simon Owens of Bloggasm alerted me to his article on Harriet Klausner, The Publishing Industry’s Secret Weapon — and it’s a worthwhile read on everyone’s favorite nongrammatical speed-reading shill. Mostly I liked hearing that some publishers find Ms. Klausner’s “reviews” neither good nor bad for their business, which is better than totally endorsing her.
Fun with a Porpoise
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, rustic look perfectly in keeping with the subject matter.
I really, really want to hop on this vintage Ride “Porpy” 10¢ machine:
(Cough)
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 on the suffering of others. Hillary Clinton is a lightning rod for whatever cause she embraces. Michael Moore tones it down a bit more this time and the movie takes on an unexpectedly touching turn towards the end. I loved the group of American expatriots living in Paris, relaxing in a café and feeling a teensy bit guilty that the French government takes so much better care of its citizens. What a cool group of people. I want to live in Paris and not bake in 100+ degree temps.
Now if you excuse me, there’s a hot Barbara Stanwyck festival playing on TCM this Monday …
What a Character
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 gossip columnist. More on Lane at Mark Evanier’s News From Me.
Seven Years of Unpigeonholeable Tomfoolery
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 across an article on “weblogs” in the defunct online magazine Feed. Intrigued, I dove into finding various examples of this “weblog” phenomenon, most of which were technology-oriented or simple online journals. At the time I was working at The Arizona Republic, mostly designing but also writing the occasional travel piece or music review. Basically I was a marketing guy who didn’t quite fit in the newsroom and I needed an outlet to blow off some writing energies. Why not start a weblog, just for fun? So I signed up with Blogger and cobbled together a simple template with the slipshod Scrabble tile logo seen here. The blog was housed on my own personal server with an inpenetrable URL containing a tilde (~). Gosh, it all seems so innocent now.
The very blue design #2 was in service from the Summer of 2001 through December 2002. This was a hot period. I was posting multiple times daily on anything and everything, Boing Boing had me linked on their front page, and people were flooding in. The blogging community as a whole was on the crest of a giant wave. Would it ever crash?
Design #3 was my favorite, so excellent that it broke my heart when the Great Movable Type Incident of September 2005 forced me to give it up. But I’m getting ahead of myself here — in retrospect, 2003 was a bad year for me. I was under a lot of stress at work and had to take several breaks from the weblog. Eventually I quit and underwent a major reassessment of everthing in my life. Gradually the scrubbles.net m.o. changed from quickie “look what I found” link-based posts to longer, more thoughtful pieces (well, as thoughtful as 400-word odes to junk food and junkier television shows can get). Not quite as hot and sexy as the latest celebrity gossip, but it suited me better.
The current scrubbles.net! At the risk of sounding totally self-serving, I feel like we’re getting better with each passing year. So here’s to more retro-goodness, wherever it comes from. If you yourself have a weblog — thanks for the inspiration. If you’re just stopping by — thanks for the visit. I hereby promise to be as unpigeonholeable as possible for the coming seven years or longer.
Who Needs the Kwik-E-Mart
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 try the admittedly pukey sounding blue vanilla Squishie.
Furry Gourmet
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 food provide. I loved the Parisian atmosphere, the muted colors and the hazy look to the photography (how’d they do that?). Seeing it makes me appreciate the sheer heart Pixar puts into everything they do. Unlike the lowbrow pop culture gags and obnoxious celebrity voices which characterize a typical DreamWorks feature, Pixar has a fundamental understanding that story is the most important element in any film. That said, I didn’t fall head over heels in love with Ratatouille in the same way many of the critics have. It was enjoyable, had a great message, and handily beats most everything else currently in theaters, but it was also a little too long and a few of the talkier scenes could’ve been further snipped. On the Pixar scale I would place it on a level above Monsters, Inc. and A Bug’s Life (and way, way above Cars), but below Toy Story and The Incredibles. (image swiped off Cartoon Brew).
P.S. Although I kept my eyes peeled, I couldn’t find the Pizza Planet truck cameo or any of the other Pixar Easter Eggs. Oh well, something to look forward to on the DVD.
P.P.S. We also got to spend a few minutes playing around with the iPhones at our local Cingular outlet. Are those babies cool or what?
Gross, He’s Picking His Nose!
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 volumes) was put together by Alpha Home Entertainment, a company that specializes in cheapie DVDs of olde time serials, B-Westerns, ’50s Sci-Fi, and other scratched-up old movies scrounged out of someone’s basement. Everything about the disc is half-baked and slipshod, but overall it’s a semi-entertaining way to kill an hour. More details about the films (and links to their Archive.org pages, where available):
Name Unknown (Sid Davis Productions, 1964) More of a general purpose cautionary film for teens about the dangers of accepting rides from strangers, making out in a field, etc. I think the most notable thing about this film might be the ratted-up, trashy fashion sense on the teens — a distinctive look which John Waters subsequently based his entire career upon.
Going Steady (Coronet Films, 1951) Creaky film whose message seems impossibly quaint in this “hooking up” age — you might even be going steady without even knowing it! So they’re saying not only do you have to worry about the things you know, you also have to be aware of the things you aren’t aware of?
Getting Along with Parents (Encyclopedia Britannica Films, 1953) Battle of the century: Whiny Teens versus Boring Parents! I like how the teens are all hot about going to a nightclub with real booze and excitement, then when the adults present them with an alternate basement party with soda bottles and chintzy decorations, everybody’s fine. Ookay.
Body Care and Grooming (McGraw Hill, 1956) I had seen this one on a Mystery Science Theater 3000, where it’s much funnier. Joe College won’t give Suzy Sorority the time of day because her sweater’s untucked. Do college students really need a film to teach them how to brush and use soap?
Unto Thyself Be True (Family Films, 1949) This one is unusual in that it shows a competent, b-movie level of acting and filmmaking. Surly boy steals Dad’s car and causes an accident, and to pay for the damaged car he must fall victim to his small town’s Lottery-style ritual stoning. Just kidding.
Any Boy — USA (Women’s Christian Temperance Union, 1953) This is one seriously weird, yet boring, film. A farm boy, running away from home, meets Mr. Whiskey. Mr. Whiskey is upset since all his friends tend to die on him, and he can’t befriend train operators, farmers, pilots, and other men with jobs — because none of them drink. What follows is a lot of walking and talking until the duo arrive at a dirty metropolis filled with vagrants and a burning building (??). Odd, and the central boy has got to be one of the ugliest child actors I’ve ever seen.
Latest Sheeplike Activity
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.
