#park theater features 1969-1970

[petervintonjr]

Today we celebrate the life of Stormé DeLarverie, the affectionately-named "Rosa Parks of the gay community" who may or may not have actually thrown the first punch on June 27, 1969 at the Stonewall Inn in Greenwich Village (see Lesson #94 for more about this key event). While actual accounts conflict, DeLarverie herself would on occasion make this claim, however she also chafed at the idea of naming the Stonewall Uprising a riot; such a word, to her, changed the narrative and permitted the agitators to drive the story, not the victims. "It was a rebellion, it was an uprising, it was a civil rights disobedience," she would agree, but "it wasn't no damn riot."

Born in 1920 New Orleans on an unknown date (she would later claim December 24th as her birthday), DeLarverie's African-American mother was in fact a household servant to her white father. Her parents later married and the family moved to California, but she was ultimately mostly raised by her grandfather. Not unexpectedly, Delarverie endured more than her share of bullying and harassment from other schoolchildren, due not only to her mixed race but also her tall and lean androgynous looks --which would later work to her advantage; being able to pass for either white or Black, woman or man. For a time she rode horses with the Ringling Brothers Circus but stopped after a fall. She came out as lesbian at the age of eighteen, and remained in a committed relationship with a dancer named Diana, until Diana's death in the mid-1970's.

Between 1955 and 1969 DeLarverie was the featured emcee of the touring Jewel Box Revue, significant as one of the first-ever integrated drag revues, showcasing both black and white entertainers. The revue featured men in drag, though DeLarverie was the only male impersonator: one popular gimmick was to encourage audiences to try to guess who the "one girl" was from among the revue performers. At the end Stormé would reveal herself as a woman during a musical number called, "A Surprise with a Song," often wearing tailored suits and sometimes even a moustache that made her unidentifiable. The Jewel Box Revue also drew integrated crowds of both black and white audiences, and was even featured at Radio City Music Hall and at Harlem's famed Apollo Theater.

Only a few weeks after Stonewall, on July 11, 1969, DeLarverie was one of the founding members of the Stonewall Veterans' Association, and remained an active member for many years, ultimately serving as its Vice-President from 1998 to 2000. Throughout the 1980's and the 1990's she patrolled gay and lesbian clubs and bars on lower Seventh and Eighth avenues, ever vigilant and on the lookout for anti-gay and anti-black intolerance, a responsibility she took seriously until she reached her mid-eighties. She was a regular at New York's annual Pride parade, was honored at the Brooklyn Society for Ethical Culture, and received a proclamation from then-Public Advocate (now State Attorney General) Letitia James.

For further viewing: Stormé: The Lady of the Jewel Box, a 1987 film directed by Michelle Parkerson.

"Something Like A Super-Lesbian:" Stormé's May 2014 obituary at https://hello40s.com/2014/05/28/something-like-a-super-lesbian-storme-delarverie-in-memoriam/

#black lives matter #dothework #teachtruth #pride month #pride #storme delarverie

[sacredwhores]

Bob Mizer - I Love Lucifer (c. 1969)

#film #bob mizer #i love lucifer #athletic model guild #amg #lee allen #ace angel #park theater features 1969-1970 #1969

[ravnlghtft]

Alvin Ailey born on January 5th 1931, in Rogers, Texas, at the height of the Great Depression in the violently racist and segregated south, during his youth Ailey was barred from interacting with mainstream society. Abandoned by his father when he was three months old, Ailey and his mother were forced to work in cotton fields and as domestics in white homes—the only employment available to them. As an escape, Ailey found refuge in the church, sneaking out at night to watch adults dance, and in writing a journal, a practice that he maintained his entire life. Even this could not shield him from a shiftless childhood spent moving from town to town as his mother sought employment, being abandoned with relatives whenever she took off on her own, or watching her get raped at the hands of a white man when he was five years old.

Looking for greater job prospects, Ailey’s mother departed for Los Angeles in 1941. He arrived a year later, enrolling at George Washington Carver Junior High School, and then graduating into Thomas Jefferson High School. In 1946 he had his first experience with concert dance when he saw the Katherine Dunham Dance Company and Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo perform at the Los Angeles Philharmonic Auditorium. This awakened an until then unknown spark of joy within him, though he did not become serious about dance until 1949 when his classmate and friend Carmen De Lavallade dragged him to the Melrose Avenue studio of Lester Horton.

Ailey studied a wide range of dance styles and techniques—from ballet to Native American inspired movement studies—at Horton’s school, which was one of the first racially integrated dance schools in the United States. Though Horton became his mentor, Ailey did not commit to dancing full-time; instead he pursued academic courses, studying romance languages and writing at UCLA. He continued these studies at San Francisco State in 1951. Living in San Francisco he met Maya Angelou, then known as Marguerite Johnson, with whom he formed a nightclub act called “Al and Rita”. Eventually, he returned to study dance with Horton in Los Angeles.

He joined Horton’s dance company in 1953, making his debut in Horton’s Revue Le Bal Caribe. Horton died suddenly that same year in November from a heart attack, leaving the company without leadership. In order to complete the organization’s pressing professional engagements, and because no one else was willing to, Ailey took over as artistic director and choreographer.

In 1954 De Lavallade and Ailey were recruited by Herbert Ross to join the Broadway show, House of Flowers. Ross had been hired to replace George Balanchine as the show’s choreographer and he wanted to use the pair, who had become known as a famous dance team in Los Angeles, as featured dancers. The show’s book was written and adapted by Truman Capote from one of his novellas with music from Harold Arlen and starred Pearl Bailey and Diahann Carroll. Ailey and De Lavallade met Geoffrey Holder, who performed alongside them in the chorus, during the production. Holder married De Lavallade and became a life-long artistic collaborator with Ailey. After House of Flowers closed, Ailey appeared in Harry Belafonte’s touring revue Sing, Man, Sing with Mary Hinkson as his dance partner, and the 1957 Broadway musical Jamaica, which starred Lena Horne and Ricardo Montalbán. Drawn to dance, but unable to find a choreographer whose work fulfilled him, Ailey started gathering dancers to perform his own unique vision of dance.

Alvin Ailey, a.k.a. Alvin Ailey Jr., founded the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater (AAADT). He created AAADT and its affiliated Ailey School as havens for nurturing black artists and expressing the universality of the African-American experience through dance. His work fused theatre, modern dance, ballet, and jazz with black vernacular, creating hope-fueled choreography that continues to spread global awareness of black life in America. Ailey’s choreographic masterpiece Revelations is recognized as one of the most popular and most performed ballets in the world. In this work he blended primitive, modern and jazz elements of dance with a concern for black rural America. On July 15, 2008, the United States Congress passed a resolution designating AAADT a “vital American cultural ambassador to the World.” That same year, in recognition of AAADT’s 50th anniversary, then Mayor Michael Bloomberg declared December 4 “Alvin Ailey Day” in New York City while then Governor David Paterson honoured the organization on behalf of New York State.

Ailey loathed the label “black choreographer” and preferred being known simply as a choreographer. He was notoriously private about his life. Though gay, he kept his romantic affairs in the closet. Following the death of his friend Joyce Trisler, a failed relationship, and bouts of heavy drinking and cocaine use, Ailey suffered a mental breakdown in 1980. He was diagnosed as manic depressive, known today as bipolar disorder. During his rehabilitation, Judith Jamison served as co-director of AAADT.

Ailey died from an AIDS related illness on December 1, 1989, at the age of 58. He asked his doctor to announce that his death was caused by terminal blood dyscrasia in order to shield his mother from the stigma associated with HIV/AIDS.

Choreography

Cinco Latinos, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre, Kaufmann Concert Hall, New York City, 1958.

Blues Suite (also see below), Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre, Kaufmann Concert Hall, 1958.

Revelations, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre, Kaufmann ConcertHall, 1960

Three for Now, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre, Clark Center, New York City, 1960.

Knoxville: Summer of 1915, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre, Clark Center, 1960.

(With Carmen De Lavallade) Roots of the Blues, Lewisohn Stadium, New York City, 1961.

Hermit Songs, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C., 1963.

Ariadne, Harkness Ballet, Opera Comique, Paris, 1965.

Macumba, Harkness Ballet, Gran Teatro del Liceo, Barcelona, Spain,1966, then produced as Yemanja, Chicago Opera House, 1967.

Quintet, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre, Church Hill Theatre, Edinburgh Festival, Scotland, 1968, then Billy Rose Theatre, New York City, 1969.

Masekela Langage, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre, American Dance Festival, New London, Connecticut, 1969, then Brooklyn Academy of Music, New York City, 1969.

Streams, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre, Brooklyn Academy of Music, 1970.

Gymnopedies, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre, Brooklyn Academy of Music, 1970.

The River, American Ballet Theatre, New York State Theater, 1970.

Flowers, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre, ANTA Theatre, 1971.

Myth, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre, New York City Center, 1971.

Choral Dances, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre, New York City Center, 1971.

Cry, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre, New York City Center, 1971.

Mingus Dances, Robert Joffrey Company, New York City Center, 1971.

Mary Lou’s Mass, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre, New York City Center, 1971.

Song for You, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre, New York City Center, 1972.

The Lark Ascending, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre, New York City Center, 1972.

Love Songs, Alvin Ailey City Center Dance Theater, New York City Center, 1972.

Shaken Angels, 10th New York Dance Festival, Delacorte Theatre, New York City, 1972.

Sea Change, American Ballet Theatre, Kennedy Center Opera House, Washington, D.C., 1972, then New York City Center, 1973.

Hidden Rites, Alvin Ailey City Center Dance Theater, New York City Center, 1973.

Archipelago, 1971,

The Mooche, 1975,

Night Creature, 1975,

Pas de “Duke”, 1976,

Memoria, 1979,

Phases, 1980

Landscape, 1981.

Stage

Acting and dancing

(Broadway debut) House of Flowers, Alvin Theatre, New York City, 1954 – Actor and dancer.

The Carefree Tree, 1955 – Actor and dancer.

Sing, Man, Sing, 1956 – Actor and dancer.

Show Boat, Marine Theatre, Jones Beach, New York, 1957 – Actor and dancer.

Jamaica, Imperial Theatre, New York City, 1957 – Actor and lead dance.

Call Me By My Rightful Name, One Sheridan Square Theatre, 1961 – Paul.

Ding Dong Bell, Westport Country Playhouse, 1961 – Negro Political Leader.

Blackstone Boulevard, Talking to You, produced as double-bill in 2 by Saroyan, East End Theatre, New York City, 1961-62.

Tiger, Tiger, Burning Bright, Booth Theatre, 1962 – Clarence Morris.

Stage choreography

Carmen Jones, Theatre in the Park, 1959.

Jamaica, Music Circus, Lambertville, New Jersey, 1959.

Dark of the Moon, Lenox Hill Playhouse, 1960.

(And director) African Holiday (musical), Apollo Theatre, New York City, 1960, then produced at Howard Theatre, Washington, D.C., 1960.

Feast of Ashes (ballet), Robert Joffrey Company, Teatro San Carlos, Lisbon, Portugal, 1962, then produced at New York City Center, 1971.

Antony and Cleopatra (opera), Metropolitan Opera House, Lincoln Center, New York City, 1966.

La Strada, first produced at Lunt-Fontanne Theatre, 1969.

Leonard Bernstein’s Mass, Metropolitan Opera House, 1972, then John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Washington, D.C., and Philadelphia Academy of Music, both 1972.

Carmen, Metropolitan Opera, 1972.

Choreographed ballet, Lord Byron (opera; also see below), Juilliard School of Music, New York City, 1972.

Four Saints in Three Acts, Piccolo Met, New York City, 1973.

Director

(With William Hairston) Jerico-Jim Crow, The Sanctuary, New York City, 1964, then Greenwich Mews Theatre, 1968.

In 1968 Ailey was awarded the Guggenheim Fellowship for Creative Arts, US & Canada. In 1977 he received the Spingarn Medal from the NAACP. He received the Kennedy Center Honors in 1988, was inducted into the National Museum of Dance and Hall of Fame in 1992, inducted into the Legacy Walk in 2012, and posthumously received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Barack Obama in 2014.

In August 2019, Ailey was one of the honorees inducted in the Rainbow Honor Walk, a walk of fame in San Francisco’s Castro neighborhood noting LGBTQ people who have “made significant contributions in their fields.”

A crater on Mercury was named in his honor in 2012.

Daily inspiration. Discover more photos at http://justforbooks.tumblr.com

#Alvin Ailey #dance #BLM #blm art

[blackkudos]

Pearl Bailey

Pearl Mae Bailey (March 29, 1918 – August 17, 1990) was an American actress and singer. After appearing in vaudeville she made her Broadway debut in St. Louis Woman in 1946. She won a Tony Award for the title role in the all-black production of Hello, Dolly! in 1968. In 1986, she won a Daytime Emmy award for her performance as a fairy godmother in the ABC Afterschool Special, Cindy Eller: A Modern Fairy Tale.

Her rendition of "Takes Two to Tango" hit the top ten in 1952. She received the Screen Actors Guild Life Achievement Award in 1976 and the Presidential Medal of Freedom on October 17, 1988.

Early life

Bailey was born in Newport News, Virginia, United States, to the Reverend Joseph James and Ella Mae Ricks Bailey. She was raised in the Bloodfields neighborhood of Newport News, Virginia. She graduated from Booker T. Washington High School in nearby Norfolk, Virginia, the first city in the region to offer higher education for black students. Blues singer Ruth Brown from Portsmouth, Virginia was one of her classmates.

She made her stage-singing debut when she was 15 years old. Her brother Bill Bailey was beginning his own career as a tap dancer, and suggested she enter an amateur contest at the Pearl Theatre in Philadelphia. Bailey won and was offered $35 a week to perform there for two weeks. However, the theatre closed during her engagement and she was not paid. She later won a similar competition at Harlem's famous Apollo Theater and decided to pursue a career in entertainment.

Career

Bailey began by singing and dancing in Philadelphia's black nightclubs in the 1930s, and soon started performing in other parts of the East Coast. In 1941, during World War II, Bailey toured the country with the USO, performing for American troops. After the tour, she settled in New York. Her solo successes as a nightclub performer were followed by acts with such entertainers as Cab Calloway and Duke Ellington. In 1946, Bailey made her Broadway debut in St. Louis Woman. For her performance, she won a Donaldson Award as the best Broadway newcomer. Bailey continued to tour and record albums in between her stage and screen performances. Early in the television medium, Bailey guest starred on CBS's Faye Emerson's Wonderful Town.

Her support of female impersonator Lynne Carter led him to credit Bailey with launching his career.

In 1967, Bailey and Cab Calloway headlined an all-black cast version of Hello, Dolly! The touring version was so successful, producer David Merrick took it to Broadway where it played to sold-out houses and revitalized the long running musical. Bailey was given a special Tony Award for her role and RCA Victor made a second original cast album. That is the only recording of the score to have an overture which was written especially for that recording.

A passionate fan of the New York Mets, Bailey sang the national anthem at Shea Stadium prior to game 5 of the 1969 World Series, and appears in the Series highlight film showing her support for the team. She also sang the national anthem prior to Game 1 of the 1981 World Series between the New York Yankees and Los Angeles Dodgers at Yankee Stadium.

Bailey hosted her own variety series on ABC, The Pearl Bailey Show (January – May 1971) which featured many notable guests, including Lucille Ball, Bing Crosby and Louis Armstrong (one of his last appearances before his death).

Following her 1971 television series, she provided voices for animations such as Tubby the Tuba (1976) and Disney's The Fox and the Hound (1981). She returned to Broadway in 1975, playing the lead in an all-black production of Hello, Dolly!. In October 1975, she was invited by Betty Ford to sing for the Egyptian President Anwar Sadat in a White House state dinner, as part of Middle-Eastern peace initiative.

She earned a degree in theology from Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., in 1985 at age 67. Here she was a student of Wilfrid Desan.

Later in her career, Bailey was a fixture as a spokesperson in a series of Duncan Hines commercials, singing "Bill Bailey (Won't You Come Home)". She also appeared in commercials for Jell-O, and Westinghouse.She also did some free -spirited commercials for Paramount Chicken.

In her later years Bailey wrote several books: The Raw Pearl (1968), Talking to Myself (1971), Pearl's Kitchen (1973), and Hurry Up America and Spit (1976). In 1975 she was appointed special ambassador to the United Nations by President Gerald Ford. Her last book, Between You and Me (1989), details her experiences with higher education. On January 19, 1985, she appeared on the nationally televised broadcast of the 50th Presidential Inaugural Gala, the night before the second inauguration of Ronald Reagan. In 1988 Bailey received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Reagan.

Personal life

On November 19, 1952, Bailey married the jazz drummer Louie Bellson in London.

They later adopted a son, Tony, in the mid-1950s. A daughter, Dee Dee J. Bellson, was born April 20, 1960. Tony Bellson died in 2004. Dee Dee Bellson died on July 4, 2009, at the age of 49, five months after her father, who died on Valentine's Day 2009.

Bailey, a Republican, was appointed by President Richard Nixon as America's "Ambassador of Love" in 1970. She attended several meetings of the United Nations and later appeared in a campaign ad for President Gerald Ford in the 1976 election.

She was awarded the Bronze Medallion in 1968, the highest award conferred upon civilians by New York City.

Bailey was a very good friend of actress Joan Crawford. In 1969, Crawford and Bailey joined fellow friend Gypsy Rose Lee in accepting a USO Award. In the same year, Bailey was recognized as USO "Woman of the Year". Upon the passing of Crawford in May 1977, Bailey spoke of Crawford as her sister before singing a hymn at her funeral. U.S. Ambassador and American socialite Perle Mesta was another close friend of Bailey. In the waning days of Mesta's life, Bailey visited her frequently and sang hymns for her.

Death

Pearl Bailey died at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital in Philadelphia on August 17, 1990. Following an autopsy, Dr. Emanuel Rubin, professor and chairman of the Department of Pathology at Jefferson Medical College, announced the cause of death as arteriosclerosis, with significant narrowing of the coronary artery. Bailey is buried at Rolling Green Memorial Park in West Chester, Pennsylvania.

Remembrances

The television show American Dad! features Pearl Bailey High School.

The 1969 song "We Got More Soul" by Dyke and the Blazers includes Bailey in its roster of icons.

A dress owned by Bailey is at the National Museum of African American History and Culture.

#03/29 #08/17

[backstagechatter]

📜Today I Music History 📜(RHC)

Hello Rockers 🤘 Welcome to Backstage Chatter🤩

What Happened Today In Music:

June 22nd

1956 - Elvis Presley

Elvis Presley started a three-day run playing 10 shows at the Paramount Theater in Atlanta, Georgia. The stage manager was told; “Pull all white lights. Presley works all in color, Presley act has no encore. When he leaves the stage, immediately close curtains.”

1963 - Stevie Wonder

13-year old Stevie Wonder first entered the US singles chart as Little Stevie Wonder with ‘Fingertips Parts One and Two.’ 'Fingertips’ which featured a young Marvin Gaye on drums was the first live, non-studio recording to reach No.1 on the Billboard Pop Singles chart in the United States since Johnny Standley’s 1952 comic monologue 'It’s in the Book’.

1964 - The Beatles

The Beatles played their first ever show in New Zealand at Wellington Town Hall. The local Chief Constable refused a police escort for The Beatles leaving just two policemen to control over 5,000 fans.

1968 - Herb Alpert

Herb Alpert started a four week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with 'This Guys In Love With You’. His first No.1 plus first No.1 for the A&M label and the writer’s Bacharach and David’s first chart topper. A No.3 hit in the UK.

1968 - Rod Stewart

The Jeff Beck group featuring Rod Stewart made their US debut at the Fillmore East, New York.

1968 - Otis Redding

The Otis Redding album Dock Of The Bay went to No.1 in the UK. The posthumously released album, and his sixth studio album contained a number of singles and B-sides dating back to 1965 and one of his best known songs, the posthumous hit (Sittin’ On The Dock) Of The Bay.

1969 - Judy Garland

American singer, actress, Judy Garland, died of a barbiturate overdose aged 47, she was found on the floor of her rented Chelsea home, in London, UK. Made more than two dozen films, played Dorothy in the 1939 film 'Wizard Of Oz’, sang 'Over The Rainbow’ in the film, (voted the 'Song Of The Century’ in a 2001 poll published in America). 1961 US No.1 comeback album 'Judy At Carnegie Hall’.

1970 - Led Zeppelin

Led Zeppelin appeared at Laugardalsholl Hall, Reykjavik, Iceland on the group’s one and only visit to Iceland. It is suggested that Robert Plant was inspired to write the lyrics to 'Immigrant Song’ during this trip.“

1971 - David Bowie

The second Glastonbury Festival in England took place. Held over 5 days to coincide with the summer solstice, (the weather was, for a British 'summer’ very good). Acts who appeared included: Melanie, Quintessence, David Bowie, The Edgar Broughton Band, Pink Fairies, Terry Reid - with David Lyndley and Linda Lewis, Gong, Hawkwind, Arthur Brown, Brinsley Schwarz, Fairport Convention, Family and Traffic. Over 7,000 fans attended the event.

1971 - Joni Mitchell

Joni Mitchell released her fourth studio album Blue. The album is now generally regarded by music critics as one of the greatest albums of all time. In July 2017, Blue was chosen by NPR as the greatest album of all time made by a woman.

1980 - Don McLean

Don McLean had his second UK No.1 single with the Roy Orbison song 'Crying’. The song had been a No.2 US hit for Orbison in July 1961. In 1987, Orbison re-recorded the song as a duet with k.d. lang as part of the soundtrack for the motion picture, Hiding Out. Their collaboration won the Grammy Award.

1981 - Mark Chapman

Mark Chapman pleaded guilty to the charge of murdering John Lennon in 1980. He was later sentenced to 20 years to life.

1985 - Bryan Adams

Bryan Adams started a two week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with 'Heaven’, his first No.1 single, it made No.35 in the UK. The song had been featured in the film 'Night In Heaven’.

1988 - Jesse Ed Davis

American session guitarist Jesse Ed Davis died of a heroin overdose after collapsing in a laundry room in Venice, California, aged 43. Worked with Conway Twitty, The Monkees, John Lennon, Eric Clapton, Leonard Cohen, Keith Moon, Jackson Browne, Steve Miller, Harry Nilsson and Taj Mahal.

1990 - Ry Cooder

Ry Cooder and David Lindley, The Cure, Happy Mondays, Sinead O’Connor, Deacon Blue, De La Soul, Adamski, Blue Aeroplanes, Julian Cope, Del Amitri, Jesus Jones, James and The Pale Saints all appeared on the first day of this years Glastonbury Festival. A three day ticket cost £38.

1992 - Kurt Cobain

Nirvana’s Kurt Cobain was rushed to hospital after a gig in Belfast, Northern Ireland suffering from acute stomach pains brought on by ulcers.

1992 - MC Hammer

Three members of M.C. Hammer’s tour crew were wounded in a drive in shooting incident, three days later Joseph Mack, a dancer in Hammer’s entourage was shot on stage during a concert in Nevada.

1996 - Arthur Ross

The brother of singer Diana Ross, Arthur Ross and his wife were murdered by suffocation in the basement of their rented Detroit home. The badly decomposed bodies were discovered after neighbors complained of a foul odor coming from the house. Two men were later charged with murder and robbery. Arthur Ross had written songs for Marvin Gaye, The Miracles and Madonna.

2002 - The Edge

U2 guitarist 'The Edge’ married his girlfriend of ten years Morleigh Steinberg in Eze in the south of France. The couple first met when she was a belly dancer on the bands Zoo TV tour. Guest’s included Bono, Eurythmics Dave Stewart and Lenny Kravitz.

2003 - Clay Aiken

Clay Aiken, runner-up in the 2003 US American Idol went to No.1 on the US singles chart with 'This Is The Night.’ Luther Vandross was at No.1 on the US album chart with 'Dance With My Father’.

2008 - Coldplay

Coldplay went to No.1 on the UK singles chart with 'Viva La Vida’, their first UK No.1. History was made by this single, as it had no physical CD-single release in the UK, being available by internet download only. The song won a Grammy Award for Song of the Year in 2009.

2011 - Bono

It was reported in the Irish press that Bono’s wandering peahen was causing havoc for some south Dublin residents. The peahen the less spectacular-coloured female partner to a male peacock had arrived in the Ard Mhuire housing estate in Killiney near to where the singer lived. One newspaper ran the headline: "Bono’s cock drives me nuts”. Local woman Susan McKeon said she first noticed the bird at night. “It had a tiny head and a huge body. It was actually quite ugly but I don’t think it’s fully grown.”

2012 - Isle of Wight Festival

MP Andrew Turner called for a review of procedures after thousands of rock fans were delayed for hours heading to the Isle of Wight Festival. After heavy rain cars were unable to park on waterlogged fields - leading to gridlock as about 55,000 people headed to the site. Some fans were stuck in traffic for up to 16 hours on the way to the festival. Elbow, Lana Del Rey, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, Bruce Springsteen and Pearl Jam all appeared at this year’s festival.

2013 - Robin Thicke

'Blurred Lines’ by Robin Thicke started a 13 week run at No.1 on the US singles chart. Featuring American rapper T.I. and American singer and producer Pharrell Williams, the video was made in two versions; the first video features models Emily Ratajkowski, Jessi M'Bengue, and Elle Evans being topless, the second features them covered. The topless version of the video was removed from YouTube for violating the site’s terms of service regarding nudity, though it was later restored, but flagged as inappropriate. 'Blurred Lines" peaked at No.1 in 14 countries.

2015 - P Diddy

P Diddy was arrested on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon in Los Angeles. The alleged incident occurred on the University of California campus where his son was on the football team. The weapon in question was a kettlebell, which is used for weight training. Diddy - whose real name is Sean Combs - was released on $160,000 (£101,000) bail.

2016 - Led Zeppelin

Led Zeppelin singer Robert Plant told a court hearing the 'Stairway To Heaven’ copyright dispute that he had a dim memory of the time the song was written. Plant also said he could not remember meeting the band Spirit, who claimed the band stole their guitar riff for Stairway to Heaven in the 1970s. “I don’t have a recollection of almost anyone I’ve hung out with,” Plant said, causing roars of laughter in the court. The case was brought on behalf of Spirit’s late guitarist, Randy Wolfe. His estate claimed the opening riff of the 1968 song Taurus is fundamentally the same as the iconic opening bars of Stairway to Heaven.

2019 - Elton John

Sir Elton John was awarded France’s highest civilian award, the Legion d'Honneur. The British musician was presented with the award by President Emmanuel Macron during a ceremony at the Élysée Palace. President Macron’s office praised Sir Elton as a “melodic genius” and as one of the first gay artists to give a voice to the LGBT community.

2019 - Jerry Carrigan

American drummer and record producer Jerry Carrigan died age 75. He first achieved widespread recognition by being part of the first wave of the Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section and later as a first-call session musician in Nashville for over three decades. He recorded with Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Charlie Rich, Kenny Rogers Jerry Lee Lewis, Ray Stevens and Dolly Parton.

Born Today In Music

June 22nd

1936 - Kris Kristofferson

Kris Kristofferson, musician, actor, and writer, known for such hits as 'Me and Bobby McGee’, 'For the Good Times’, 'Sunday Mornin’ Comin’ Down’, and 'Help Me Make It Through the Night’. In 1985, Kristofferson joined fellow country artists Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson and Johnny Cash in forming the country music supergroup The Highwaymen. In 2004, Kristofferson was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame.

1944 - Peter Asher

Peter Asher, Peter &Gordon, who had the 1964 UK & US No.1 single 'World Without Love’, written by Lennon & McCartney. Asher was a producer and Head of Apple Records in late 60s and went on to become James Taylor and Linda Ronstadt’s manager.

1947 - Howard Kaylan

Howard Kaylan, from the The Turtles who had the US 1967 No.1 single 'Happy Together’ and the 1967 hit 'She’d Rather Be with Me’. He later worked with Frank Zappa, alongside his friend and partner Mark Volman who used the stage names of Flo & Eddie.

1948 - Todd Rundgren

American multi-instrumentalist, singer, songwriter, and record producer Todd Rundgren. Member of Nazz and Utopia. Had the solo 1972 US No.16 & 1973 UK No.36 single 'I Saw The Light’. Rundgren engineered / produced many notable albums for other acts, including The Band’s Stage Fright (1970), Badfinger’s Straight Up (1971), Grand Funk Railroad’s We’re an American Band (1973), the New York Dolls’s New York Dolls (1973), Hall & Oates’s War Babies (1974), Bat Out Of Hell’s Bat Out of Hell (1977).

1949 - Alan Osmond

Alan Osmond from American family group The Osmonds. They had the 1971 US No.1 single 'One Bad Apple’, the 1974 hit 'Crazy Horses’ and the 1974 UK No.1 single 'Love Me For A Reason’. They had their own 1972–1973 Saturday morning cartoon series, The Osmonds, on ABC-TV. The Osmonds have sold over 75 million records world wide.

1949 - Larry Junstrom

Larry Junstrom, a founding member of Lynyrd Skynyrd and longstanding bassist with the band .38 Special. Junstrom played bass with Lynyrd Skynyrd from its formation in 1964 until he was replaced by Leon Wilkeson in 1971. He then joined .38 Special in 1976 with Donnie Van Zant, the younger brother of the Lynyrd Skynyrd frontman Ronnie Van Zant. He died on 6 October 2019 at the age of 70.

1953 - Cyndi Lauper

American singer, songwriter Cyndi Lauper, who had the 1984 US No.1 single 'Time After Time’, and the UK & US No.2 single 'Girls Just Want To Have Fun’, (first recorded in 1979 by American musician Robert Hazard). The song received Grammy Award nominations for Record of the Year and Best Female Pop Vocal Performance.

1956 - Derek Forbes

Derek Forbes, bassist with Scottish rock band, Simple Minds, who had the 1985 US No.1 single 'Don’t You, Forget About Me’, and the 1989 UK No.1 single 'Belfast Child’, plus over 20 other UK Top 40 singles.

1956 - Green Gartside

Green Gartside, singer, songwriter from British band Scritti Politti, who had the 1984 UK No.10 single 'Wood Beez, Pray Like Aretha Franklin’, and the hit 'The Word Girl’, as well as a US Top 20 hit 'Perfect Way’.

1957 - Gary Beers

Gary Beers, bassist from Australian rock band INXS, who had the 1988 UK No.2 & US No.1 single 'Need You Tonight’. Their 1987 album Kick has sold over 10m copies in the US alone and features four Top 10 singles; 'Need You Tonight,’ 'Devil Inside’, 'New Sensation,’ and 'Never Tear Us Apart.’ INXS has sold over 55 million records worldwide.

1959 - Alan Anton

Alan Anton, bassist with Canadian alternative country/blues/folk rock band, Cowboy Junkies.

1961 - Jimmy Somerville

Jimmy Somerville, UK singer, who with Bronski Beat had the 1984 UK No.3 single 'Smalltown Boy’. With British pop duo The Communards had the 1986 UK No.1 single with a cover version of the Thelma Houston hit 'Don’t Leave Me This Way’.

1962 - Ruby Turner

British Jamaican R&B and soul singer, Ruby Turner, who scored the 1987 UK hit single 'I’d Rather Go Blind’. As a session backing vocalist, she has worked with Bryan Ferry, UB40, Steel Pulse, Steve Winwood, Jools Holland and Mick Jagger.

1964 - Bobby Gillespie

Bobby Gillespie, guitar, vocals, from Scottish rock band Primal Scream who had the 1994 UK No.7 single 'Rocks’ and the 1991 UK No.8 album Screamadelica.

1964 - Mike Edwards

Mike Edwards, vocals with English group Jesus Jones who had the 1990 US No.2 hit with 'Right Here Right Now’ and the 1991 UK No.7 single 'International Bright Young Thing’.

1965 - Tom Cunningham

Tom Cunningham, drummer with Scottish band Wet Wet Wet who formed in 1982. They are best known for their 1994 cover of The Troggs’ 1960s hit 'Love Is All Around’, which spent 15 weeks at No.1 on the UK charts.

1970 - Steven Page

Steven Page, guitar, vocals, with Canadian rock band Barenaked Ladies who scored the 1998 US No.1 & UK No.5 single 'One Week’. The group has sold over 15 million records including albums and singles, and were inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame in March of 2018.

1976 - Sally Polihronas

Sally Polihronas, Australian singer from Bardot, winners of the Australian Popstars reality show, who had the 2000 Australian No.1 single ‘Poison’, and 2000 Australian No.1 self-titled album.

1981 - Chris Urbanowicz

Chris Urbanowicz, guitarist, with English rock band The Editors, who had the 2007 UK No.1 album An End Has a Start and earned the band a Brit Awards nomination for best British Band.

[sinister-bob]

What happened to Mr Hooper?

Those of you who grew up with Sesame Street would remember Mr Hooper who owns the corner store. This is some nostalgia flooding back and I hope it brings back many happy memories

Harold Hooper (known almost universally as just Mr. Hooper) was a character on Sesame Street, played by Will Lee, who was the original proprietor of Mr. Hooper's Store, which still retains his name.

Mr. Hooper is Jewish, according to Christmas Eve on Sesame Street, when Bob tells him to have a Happy Hanukkah. In true Sesame Street fashion, his religion was irrelevant to most other plots, as characters' differences are generally irrelevant to plot. His heritage was suggested at in an episode in which Big Bird inquires about the languages that various members of the community can speak when Mr. Hooper reveals that he was taught to read, write and speak Yiddish at after-school religious instruction.

For unexplained reasons, Big Bird had trouble saying "Hooper", instead using various words that rhymed with it, such as "Looper" or "Crouper". This led to frequent retorts of "Hooper! Hooper!" from Mr. Hooper or the other adults whenever Big Bird mispronounced his surname.

When Lee suddenly died of a heart attack on December 7, 1982, it left the producers of Sesame Street, the Children's Television Workshop, with questions about how to acknowledge the death of one of the series' most visible actors. After considering a number of options, CTW decided to have the character of Mr. Hooper pass away as well, and use the episode to teach its young viewers about death as a natural part of life and that it is OK for everyone—children and adults alike—to grieve when someone they love dies. The cause of Mr. Hooper's death is not announced, and euphemisms to soften the blow of his absence (e.g., "passed away") are not used; the topic is dealt with directly.

The "Farewell, Mr. Hooper" episode (ep #1839) aired November 24, 1983 (Thanksgiving Day), so that parents and children could discuss about the content while watching, and was quickly selected by the Daytime Emmys as being one of the 10 most influential moments in daytime television history.

In the famous "Farewell Mr Hooper" episode, the adults on Sesame Street explain to Big Bird about Mr. Hooper's death.Big Bird makes a silly entrance onto the set, walking backwards with his head between his legs. When Gordon asks why he is walking like that, Big Bird gives the childishly inscrutable reason, "Because. Just because."

Later in the episode, Big Bird presents each adult on the show with a gift—a drawing he has made of each of them. The last drawing he has is of Mr. Hooper, and Big Bird is eager to give it to him. When Big Bird asks his adult friends to help find Mr. Hooper, they gently remind Big Bird that Mr. Hooper has died. Not understanding, Big Bird announces he will just wait for him to come back.

The adults pause, looking uncomfortable and sad. They then tearfully explain that when someone dies, they don't come back physically. Big Bird is dismayed, and the adults (all genuinely emotional) comfort him, explaining that they were lucky to have known and loved Mr. Hooper, and that they will always have their memories of him. It will never be the same without him, they say, but they will all help take care of Big Bird and life will continue on as normal.

Big Bird angrily demands to know why Mr. Hooper had to die, and no one has a ready answer. Finally Gordon figures out what to say: "Because. Just because." This is perhaps the only answer that could make sense to Big Bird, at least for now, and he sadly accepts it. He then—as he constantly has throughout the years—humorously, but glumly mispronounces Mr. Hooper's name once again, even in death ("Mr. Looper"), then Maria said, "That's Hooper, Big Bird. Hooper." And the adults and Big Bird embrace.

Big Bird's drawing of Mr. Hooper (in reality drawn by Big Bird's puppeteer, Caroll Spinney) hangs above his nest to this day, as was seen in the 2007 "Learn Along with Sesame Street" episode "You Can Ask." Interestingly, the segment in which the portrait is seen also deals with loss, as Big Bird had just "lost" a pet turtle

Initially, the producers had considered using flashbacks of Mr. Hooper in the episode. This was ultimately rejected because they thought that—given that most children are unable to comprehend the difference between flashbacks and new footage—it would give the impression that Mr. Hooper was actually still alive and thus confuse the intended audience.

The episode was later made into a book called "I'll Miss You, Mr. Hooper" by Norman Stiles, et al.

Also, a street skit made about a year later featured Big Bird, Maria, and David all reminiscing about him in good spirits. Big Bird showed off his drawing of him, and shots of him were shown as they continued to talk about him.

While Mr. Hooper's death is considered by most as a landmark in children's television, this wasn't the first death in a children's program. Upon the 1973 death of George Woodbridge, who played the titular character in the British series Inigo Pipkin, the opening episode of the third season of the show dealt with the character's passing. The series was renamed Pipkins, to reflect the change in cast.

Will Lee

Will Lee (August 6, 1908 – December 7, 1982) was an American actor who was known to many for playing the store proprietor Mr. Hooper on Sesame Street, from the show's debut in 1969 until his death.

Lee was born in Brooklyn, New York and began his career as a character actor on stage. He was a member of the Group Theater in the 1930s and appeared in Johnny Johnson, Night Music, Boy Meets Girl, The Time of Your Life (as Willie the pinball machine addict) and other Broadway plays. He succeeded John Garfield as the lead in Golden Boy.

Lee was co-founder of the Theater of Action and a member of the Federal Theater Project. During World War II, he served in Army Special Services in Australia and Manila and was cited twice for directing and staging shows for troops overseas, as well as teaching acting classes. After the war, he appeared Off Broadway in Norman Mailer's Deer Park (as movie mogul Teppis) and on Broadway in The Shrike, Once Upon a Mattress, Carnival, Incident at Vichy and The World of Sholom Aleichem.

Lee also began appearing in films, including bit parts in Casbah, A Song Is Born, Little Fugitive and according to "Sesame Street Unpaved", Saboteur. However, much like Zero Mostel, Will Lee was blacklisted as a communist in films and on television for a period of five years during the McCarthy Red Scare, according to members of his family. He had been active in the Actors Workshop and had been an unfriendly witness before the House Committee on Un-American Activities hearings in 1950 investigating show business. At the end of that period, in 1956, Lee landed the role of Grandpa Hughes in the soap opera As The World Turns, before finally being cast as Mr. Hooper.

He taught at the American Theater Wing for nine years (where his students included James Earl Jones) as well as at the New School for Social Research, Boston University and the Uta Hagen-Herbert Berghof Studio. In addition, he conducted his own acting classes. Outside of Sesame Street, later roles included television movies and a supporting role as the judge in Sidney Lumet's 1983 film Daniel (with Mandy Patinkin, Ed Asner, and Peter Friedman). He also worked in commercials, including a spot for Atari, as a grandfather learning to play Pac-Man from his granddaughter. He also did commercials for Ocean Spray juices.

At age 61, he began acting as Mr. Hooper in 1969 on the show called Sesame Street".

"He gave millions of children the message that the old and the young have a lot to say to each other," said Joan Ganz Cooney, president of the Children's Television Workshop. The New York Times reported that on Sesame Street, Will Lee's Mr. Hooper ranked ahead of all live cast members in recognition by young audiences, according to a then recent survey. His bowtie and hornrimmed reading glasses became his trademark. In a November 1970 TIME article, following the show's successful first season, Lee recalled his feelings about the show:

I was delighted to take the role of Mr. Hooper, the gruff grocer with the warm heart. It's a big part, and it allows a lot of latitude. But the show has something extra, ­that sense you sometimes get from great theater, the feeling that its influence never stops.

In addition to being a staple of Sesame Street for over ten years, Will Lee portrayed Mr. Hooper in television specials (Christmas Eve on Sesame Street, A Special Sesame Street Christmas), guest appearances (Evening at Pops: 1971), stage appearances, countless record albums, and parades, including the 1982 Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. Lee taped his final segments as Mr. Hooper in November of 1982, but his death would become the focal point of Episode 1839, in which Mr. Hooper's death is explained to Big Bird.

According to the NY Times obit, as he became known on Sesame Street, children would approach him on the street and ask, "How did you get out of the television set?"' or whisper, "I love you." "Apart from the joy of knowing that you are helping so many kids, the recognition is heartwarming," Lee was quoted as saying in 1981.

When Lee died of a heart attack in 1982, it left the producers of Sesame Street, the Children's Television Workshop, with questions about how to acknowledge the death of one of the series' most visible actors. After considering a number of options, CTW decided to have the character of Mr. Hooper die as well, and use the episode to teach its young viewers about death as a natural part of life and that it is OK for everyone—children and adults alike—to grieve when someone they love dies.

Episode 1839, now known to children and fans as "Farewell, Mr. Hooper" was aired on November 24, 1983 (Thanksgiving Day), and was quickly selected by the Daytime Emmys as being one of the 10 most influential moments in daytime television.

#Mr Hooper #sesame street #Will Lee #1982 #CTW #death

[architectuul]

FOMA 26: UK Post War Experiments

Ross Nesbitt has chosen post war Forgotten Masterpieces in the UK according to their influence, innovation, but above all how they have interacted with the people using them. 

Scottish Secretary Willie Ross and his wife at the opening of the Red Road flats in Glasgow (1964). | Photo via Read Road Pinterest

Each building illustrates how the response of the Modern Movement to the challenges of reconstruction and planning in post-WW2 era Britain touched on many aspects of daily life: religion, education, retail, work and transport. And they all divide public opinion. 

Starting with the original medieval Coventry Cathedral, destroyed by the Luftwaffe on 14 November 1940 in an air raid code-named Moonlight Sonata. 

Rebuilding of the cathedral started in 1955, and by the time of the consecration it had become a symbol of hope and reconciliation. | Photo by Ross Nisbet

The attack targeted Coventry's industry, but it was clear that collateral damage and casualties would be considerable. The city was hit by 200 bombs and among many buildings also the cathedral fell. Only the tower, spire and outer wall survived.

Sir Basil Spence was the only architect to insist that the ruins of the old cathedral should remain intact. | Photo via The Twentieth Century Society 

The morning after Provost Richard Howard wrote in chalk on the sanctuary walls “Father, Forgive.” On Christmas 1940 the BBC Home Service broadcast Howard’s message from the cathedral ruins. Howard’s gesture of forgiveness inspired Spence, which was chosen from over 200 architects in a competition in 1951 to design a new cathedral. 

From Priory Street we find Sir Jacob Epstein’s large sculpture of Archangel Michael triumphing over the Devil. | Photo by Ross Nesbitt

The main body of the new cathedral is built from red Hollington sandstone, in unity with the ruins of the old. A high porch links them. Zigzag walls with angled windows direct light down the nave onto the altar. The floor is of polished fossil stone. Large artworks commissioned by Spence include stunning abstract stained glass windows by John Piper and Patrick Reyntiens and a tapestry behind the main altar by Graham Sutherland, thought to be the largest in the world.

The Charred Cross emphasize the reconciliation theme. | Photo by Ross Nesbitt

After the bombing, cathedral stonemason Jock Forbes noticed two burned wooden roof beams had fallen in the shape of a cross. He tied them together, forming an altar which Spence preserved on the stairs between the new and old part of the cathedral. Provost Howard took three nails from the smouldering beams to make the Cross of Nails, which became the centerpiece of the altar cross in Spence’s new cathedral. 

Spence’s design draws effectively from the cathedral’s history and post-war mission. It’s an uncompromisingly modern construction but also perfectly integrated with its past. Coventry Cathedral shows the visitor the waste and loss of war without flinching, but is not a forbidding structure. Wood is used to great decorative and functional effect, giving warmth and human scale to the nave and choir. The Gethsemane chapel highlights Spence’s talent for juxtaposition and interaction: the visitor passes Spence’s harrowing crown of thorns icon to enter a warm sanctuary beneath war artist Steven Sykes’ dazzling angel mosaic in gold leaf and blue tile.

The Roger Stevens Lecture Theatre is the centerpiece of the complex of buildings for the Leeds University campus. | Photo by Ross Nesbitt

Britain saw a great expansion in education as the post-war generation grew up. The number of students and universities nearly doubled from 1960s to 1970s. Chamberlin, Powell and Bon, who had just completed the acclaimed Golden Lane Estate, were engaged as Master Planners at the University of Leeds to oversee in-house architect Geoffrey Wilson and provide expertise to the expansion of the campus. They produced a plan in two phases. An initial report recorded their enquiries and research into the existing campus and set out their vision for the new campus. It summarized the anticipated problems and posed solutions, specifying the required materials, time, space and costs. A second Development Plan focused on the maths and science precinct and features the Roger Stevens Lecture Theatre.

The design was a forward-looking city within a city, and in many ways an important trial run for the Barbican estate. The Development Plans saw Chamberlin, Powell and Bon experimenting with ideas about the principles of urban design, the integration of community and environment into a cohesive whole, and the most economic and adaptable use of space. The plans generated interest at an international level and were influential to the modern movement as a body of research and a definitive model for the modern university campus.

The building’s unconventional configuration of space does require a bit of thought to learn its signage and color coding. | Photo by Ross Nesbitt

The building contains 25 tiered lecture theaters with different capacities, a refectory and reprographics facilities. The exterior is futuristic and striking, compared to a church organ, robot or car engine by students. The refectory overlooks a lake, which is more than ornamental as it was designed to provide air conditioning for the building, same idea architects developed on a bigger scale with the Barbican Lake. The layout is deceptively simple, two gently sloping staircases link the lecture theaters and each row of seats has its own individual door, ensuring lectures are not interrupted by latecomers. Its listed status ensures the Roger Stevens Lecture Theatre's future is safe. It's another divisive building but maybe it's just waiting for the rest of us to catch up with it.

An early example of pedestrian planning, Castle Market was a multi-level complex that made maximum use of a compact site. | Photo by Ross Nesbitt

Castle Market built in stages between 1959 and 1965 was named after Sheffield Castle. It was almost entirely demolished in 1648 but the remains of the foundations are visible beneath the market. Like Park Hill and Gleadless Valley, Castle Market was a thoughtful and rewarding design, which made great use of Sheffield's famous hills and valleys. Womersley and Darbyshire recognised what made Sheffield an interesting place to build was its slopes and dips, and created a complex with soaring heights (the walkways and Rooftop Cafes) and three labyrinthine floors of markets below, all with access to the street on different levels of the Castle Hill. 

Inside, Castle Market was closer to a modernist re-imagining of Istanbul's Grand Bazaar than the blandly interchangeable malls of today. It was a treasury of mid-century modern mosaics, signage and tile designs, geometric and multi-coloured in seemingly endless variety. Layer upon layer of design eras cried out from every stall, competing for the shopper's attention. Although postmodern signage was added to the walkways in the 1980s, most of Castle Market retained its original 1960s signage, including many classic "formica cafes" - one was used as a location in Shane Meadows' "This is England '88". The ascent to the Roof Top Café, with its sci-fi suspended ceiling and net curtains, offered stunning views of the city.

In Castle Market working class people bought groceries, met friends, drank tea and a gossipped. | Photo via English Cathedrals Archive

Pulp singer Jarvis Cocker had his first job there as a teenager, on John Firth's fish stall. But not everyone appreciated Castle Market. Redevelopment had been planned as early as 1996 by Sheffield City Council, who wanted to expose the remains of the castle walls in a visitors' centre. 

And of course, the surrounding area would be purged in the name of regeneration. This act of social cleansing did not go unopposed. An anonymous request for listed status for Castle Park was made in 2011. Sheffield's Liberal Democrat City Council responded by trying to start a letter writing campaign in favour of demolition. English Heritage rejected the application: "In order to be considered for listing, 20th Century market halls should display a high degree of architectural, technological and historic interest. Those post-war market halls which have already been listed (such as Coventry) have particularly high levels of architectural innovation and artistic achievement which justify the designation of such late buildings.This is not shared by Castle Market in Sheffield." 

Anyone familiar with both Coventry Market and Castle Market would agree that this comparison was patently false. Trading ceased in November 2013 and Castle Market was demolished in 2015. The markets were relocated to The Moor, on the opposite side of town. The new market is the kind of forgettable development that could have been built for any town in the UK. 

The Spence’s project of a government office building in central London could not be more different to Coventry Cathedral. | Photo by Ross Nesbitt

After the Second World War, civil servants in London’s Whitehall were working in cramped offices built in the 19th century when government administration was smaller.  With the post-war expansion of the British state, office space was needed outside the historic core of Whitehall. New offices on Queen Anne’s Gate were first planned in 1959, but the original plan of a more conventional tower block was rejected by the Royal Fine Art Commission. Planning permission for Spence’s revised design was given by the Westminster Planning Committee in 1969.

The building on 102 Petty France is in a sensitive location in central London: in view of Buckingham Palace, overlooking The Mall and two of the Royal Parks, St. James's Park and Green Park. Historically, the site was previously occupied by Queen Anne’s Mansions, London’s first high-rise housing, built from 1873-1890. Today, Victorian properties are desirable and the mansion flat format is fashionable again, but the Victorian and Edwardian media decried mansion flats as Babylonian, factory-like and out of scale with historic Georgian buildings. Londoners feared for the value of their property if a sunlight-blocking mansion flat was built nearby. At 12 storeys high, Queen Victoria complained that the Mansions blocked her view. The Mansions tested the limits of planning law, prompting the introduction of height restrictions in the London Building Acts of 1890 and 1894. During WW2, the Mansions were requisitioned as Government offices and retained until they were demolished in 1973. Many in Whitehall hoped the site would be developed with a building more sensitive to the surroundings. What was proposed shocked them.

The 102 Petty France personifies the qualities people love and hate about Brutalism in equal measure. | Photo by Ross Nesbitt

Several Members of Parliament were outraged by Spence’s model and sketches. On 4 July 1972, Lord Reigate, speaking in the House of Lords, asked the Government to intervene and halt building. Calling Spence’s design a mass of monumental masonry, he went on to predict “this unlovely lump of a building will loom over London for a long time, and will, if I may say so, if it is allowed to happen, outlive all your Lordships”. The Earl of Cork and Orrery added “Like the great Martian machines in H. G. Wells' War of the Worlds, the monsters are closing in.” Thankfully (for those of us who appreciate monsters), Lord Reigate failed.

102 Petty France is asymmetrical, angular and makes no concessions to the Georgian row houses of Queen Anne's gate. It’s a big, assertive building which succeeds in its job as a symbol of government authority and a landmark on the local skyline. Walking West from Westminster Abbey, the building draws the eye. From the North, the corner tower, resembling a knight’s helm, rises above the trees of St James’s Park. It also dominates the skyline of Green Park and is even visible from Hyde park. The heavy massing of the projecting first and second floors presents visitors with a striking bunker-like solidity. The Earl’s science fiction comparison is appropriate. The building has a unique personality lacking in most other London office buildings of the time. It’s more impactful than, for example, the works of Richard Seifert.

102 Petty France was designed as flexible office space around three cores, modification of the structural frame proved unnecessary. | Photo via Wikimedia

When the Home Office decided to move to a new headquarters in 2003, the cost of demolition outweighed traditionalists’ calls to demolish 102 Petty France. Extensive modifications were made for its current occupants, the Ministry of Justice. The building was refurbished to accommodate 2,400 staff. A multi-services chilled beam system was installed to upgrade office services. The modifications left the original character of Spence’s design intact and 102 Petty France is now an excellent example of how a Brutalist building can be recycled for the modern era.

A structure that is hard to love, but historically important and symbolic of changes in British society since it was built. | Photo via Leicester City Archive

Today, Lee Circle car park appears totally unremarkable to the casual observer, but the Tesco store and car park that opened there in in 1961 was a pioneering experiment, noteworthy for many reasons. A crowd of over 2,000 turned up to see Sid James, star of the Carry On films, open the store in 1961. The supermarket was the chain’s first expansion outside the Southeast. It entered the Guinness Book of Records as the largest store in Europe. Combining a supermarket and a homewares store, with the six-tier Auto-Magic multi-storey car park above providing space for 1050 cars, this was an entirely new retail format in the UK. The opening of the store marked the beginning of self-service shopping in the UK: for the first time, customers could browse alone, filling their own baskets or trolleys. The car park was the first in Europe to be fully automated using coin-operated barriers. Customers refuelled at the forecourt petrol station and used the (also automated) car wash. This was shockingly modern stuff for 1961 but it would become the norm over the next decade. It also illustrates the extent to which the car was prioritized in British town planning at the time, which would be a key factor in Lee Circle’s eventual decline.

The store and car park were integrated so that staff could take customers’ purchases directly to their cars. | Photo via Leicester City Archive

Details of the architect are elusive, but Lee Circle’s double-helix design (where cars ascend on one spiral ramp and descend on another, without meeting) shows they were probably inspired by the Fiat Lingotto Factory, designed by naval engineer and architect Giacomo Matté-Trucco in 1923. 

The efficiency of Lee Circle’s double helix design meant that even at the peak of its popularity in the mid -1960s, queues were rare. The same cannot be said for car parks using the grid system. The complex also housed a bowling alley which featured in Ray Gosling's 1964 film 'Two Town Mad' (comparing Leicester and Nottingham), illustrating Leicester’s status as a truly modern city.

Lee Circle certainly presents a flowing maritime profile, like Streamline Moderne stripped down to the bones. | Photo via Leicester City Archive

The Tesco store closed in the early 80s (today the unit is occupied by a fabric wholesaler) but the car park remains, its concrete weathered and patched. It is still open but under-used. Shoppers were drawn back to the historic centre of Leicester by the Haymarket Shopping Centre (1973) and the Shires Centre (1991), both of which offered parking, and importantly, convenient access to newly pedestrianised shopping streets. The nearby county court and benefits office closed in 2007, reducing demand for parking further. The future of Lee Circle is under threat. Its opening was probably the heyday of this underdeveloped quarter of Leicester, where Joseph Merrick, the Elephant Man, was born a hundred years before the car park.

–

#FOMA 26: Ross Nesbitt

Ross Nesbitt was born in Scotland and lives in Nottingham, England. He likes to take photographs and has posted his work on Scavengedluxury since 2010.

#foma #forgotten masterpieces

[oscopelabs]

The Cat Who Won’t Cop Out: Shaft as the ‘70s Black Superhero by Jason Bailey

(The following essay is excerpt from Jason’s new book, It’s Okay With Me: Hollywood, the 1970s, and the Return of the Private Eye.)

The first thing John Shaft (Richard Roundtree) does in Gordon Parks’ Shaft, after emerging from a Times Square subway station below the grindhouse movie theaters that would eventually and enthusiastically screen his adventures, is walk into New York City traffic (Shaft can’t be stopped, even by Eighth Avenue) and flip off the driver who gets too close to him. Meet your new action hero, Middle America; here is his message to you.

Shaft came early in the so-called “blaxpoitation” movement—a period, running roughly from 1970 to 1975, that saw an explosion of films made for, about, and often by African-Americans. This was an underserved audience; with the exception of independent “race picture” makers like Oscar Micheaux and Spencer Williams, their stories simply weren’t told onscreen, and they certainly weren’t told by mainstream studio films, which consigned black performers to subservient roles (or worse). The winds started to shift in the 1960s, when Sidney Poitier became a bankable name and Oscar-winning star, but he was the exception to the rule. It wasn’t until football star-turned-actor Jim Brown leveraged his supporting turn in the 1967 smash The Dirty Dozen into bona fide action hero status that this untapped swath of moviegoers, hungry for entertainment and representation, began to make itself known.

1970 saw the release of two very big (and very different) hits: Ossie Davis’ high-spirited crime comedy Cotton Comes to Harlem, and Melvin Van Peebles’ provocative, X-rated (“by an all-white jury!” boasted the ads) Sweet Sweetback’s Baadasssss Song. Peebles’ film was, essentially, the black Easy Rider, a rough-edged road movie with a decidedly European sensibility that grossed something like $15 million on a $150K budget, a return on investment so huge, the (flailing) studios couldn’t help but take notice.

Shaft was next down the chute. Adapted by Ernest Tidyman—who also wrote that year’s Best Picture winner The French Connection—from his 1970 novel, the film was helmed by Gordon Parks, the influential photographer who’d made his directorial debut in 1969 with the autobiographical The Learning Tree. MGM gave him a modest $1 million budget; model-turned-actor Roundtree was paid a mere $13,500 to play the title role. (Isaac Hayes was among the actors who auditioned, and though Parks passed on his acting, he hired Hayes to compose and perform the picture’s iconic funk score.)

“Shaft essentially was a standard white detective tale enlivened by a black sensibility,” wrote Donald Bogle, in his essential Toms, Coons, Mulattoes, Mammies, & Bucks. “As Roundtree’s John Shaft—mellow but assertive and unintimidated by whites—bopped through those hot mean streets dressed in his cool leather, he looked to black audiences like a brother they had all seen many times but never on screen.” He’s right on both scores. Shaft, who is smirkingly called a “black Spade detective,” is embroiled in a commonplace private eye narrative, engaged by a lying client (uptown gangster Bumpy Jonas, smoothly played by Moses Gunn) to find a missing girl—in this case, the client’s daughter. Shaft is a snappy dresser and sharp shooter; he uses the neighborhood bar as his second office.

But we’ve never seen a private eye who looks like this. Shaft leaves the shirts and ties to the cops and gangsters; he wears turtlenecks with his suits, along with that amazing leather coat. In the documentary Baadasssss Cinema, blaxploitation acolyte Quentin Tarantino is critical of the lack of action in Shaft’s opening credit sequence (“I’m semi-frustrated that [the theme] wasn’t utilized better,” he explains. “If I had the theme to Shaft to open up my movie, I’d open my damn movie”), but he’s underestimating the visual jolt of merely showing a man like Shaft strutting the streets of New York, and gazing upon him as he stakes his claim.

There’s something undeniably sensual about that gaze. Shaft was among the first major motion pictures to feature a black man of sexual potency—with the phallic overtones embedded right in his surname, and thus in the film’s title. He gets a full-on sex scene with his steady lady early in the film; later on, he shares a steamy shower with a white pick-up, a mere four years after the carefully sexless interracial romance of Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner.

But aside from that scene—and the iconographically loaded image, during the climax, of black militants turning fire hoses on white people—Shaft’s racial politics are surprisingly middle-of-the-road. Shaft may kid Lt. Vic Androzzi (Charles Cioffi) with lines like “It warms my black heart to see you so concerned for us minority folks,” but he humors the white cop, and mostly cooperates with him. The script is careful to disassociate its fictional black-power revolutionary group from real ones like the Black Panthers and the Young Lords, but it also shows them to be ineffectual, and Shaft is ultimately interested in their manpower, not their politics.

In other words, it’s a film that straddles its lines carefully, just as Shaft must code-switch between worlds: black and white, cop and crook, uptown and downtown (his black gangster client runs Harlem, but Shaft’s office is in midtown and he lives in the Village). Yet when it’s clutch time, Shaft is a full-on badass. In his first fight scene, the unarmed detective takes out two gun-wielding tough guys; in the climax, he swings in through a window like goddamn Batman, the black superhero rescuing the damsel in distress (stolen, not incidentally, by the white man).

Such elements became cornerstones of the blaxpoitation action template. Nelson George, who calls the film “a typical detective flick in blackface,” runs them down in his book Blackface: “black nationalists depicted as inept, if well meaning, supporting characters; young women, of all colors, are sexual pawns or playthings; white and black mobsters are in constant collaboration and conflict.” To that we can add a dash of respectability politics (Bumpy’s daughter is worth saving because she’s a “good girl” who’s “going to college”), righteous condemnation of drug dealing, and black characters working within the system while maintaining (though not without a struggle) their “blackness.”

Audiences ate it up. “Take a formula private-eye plot, update it with all-black environment, and lace with contemporary standards of on-and off-screen violence, and the result is Shaft,” opined Variety, predicting that “Strong B.O. [box office] prospects loom in urban black situations, elsewhere good." That was an understatement. Shaft’s $12 million gross helped save MGM, confirmed the audience that Cotton and Sweet Sweetback suggested, and prompted a flurry of imitators, including the following year’s quickie sequel Shaft’s Big Score!

Parks, Tidyman, and Roundtree all returned for the sequel—the latter with a healthy salary bump, to $50,000—though Isaac Hayes only contributed a single new song, turning over composer duties to Parks. Inexplicably, Hayes’ “Theme From Shaft,” which had won an Oscar in the intervening year, is nowhere to be heard, jettisoned in favor of a sequel song by O.C. Smith (and sequels, per usual, aren’t equal), a decision roughly akin to discarding the Bond theme after Dr. No.

It’s not the only questionable call. Instead of Lt. Vic, Shaft’s police foil is a smug black sell-out cop, whom Shaft calls a “black honky with big flat feet” and who is seen telling a black suspect, “Fuck your rights, go sue the city.” Shaft doesn’t really investigate a mystery this time around—the villain is revealed before our hero is, and the script stays that course—and no one actually hires him either. The script merely parachutes him into the middle of another war between Harlem gangs and the Italian mob. Parks was working with a larger budget, but you don’t see it until the third act’s tight car chase, followed by an ace boat/chopper sequence. The filmmakers clearly put their energies into a super-slick Hollywood ending—and it looks great. But they ended up sanding down what made the first film interesting; much of its uniqueness is in its rough edges.

The same goes for Shaft in Africa, which appeared the following year and took that character to the logical conclusion of his savior-warrior construct. Shaft is hired this time to penetrate a modern African slavery ring, and though he is initially resistant to the mission—he says the case is “out of my turf,” since “I don’t know any Africans, brother”—he ends up training and studying to go undercover as a native. Gordon Parks demurred from participating in this third and final installment, and white director John Guillermin (who would next direct The Towering Inferno and the 1976 King Kong remake) is extra careful with his camera placement during Shaft’s nude “stick fight,” but the sexual implications aren’t exactly subtle, and that’s before our hero smirks, “Guy named Shaft ain’t gonna be bad with a stick.” (Finally, someone said it.)

Africa has the broadest and perhaps clumsiest sexual messaging of the trilogy (and that’s putting aside its weird female genital mutilation subplot—don’t ask). Late in the film, our hero is seduced by the arch-villain’s insatiable white mistress, who initially queries, “How long is your phallus, Mr. Shaft,” and later tells him, “You’re the first man who’s ever made love to me the way a man should.” Shaft is, indeed, the private dick, detective as both superhero and super-stud. That scene falls during Shaft and his fellow laborers’ crossing from Africa to Paris, a water journey that’s uncomfortably crowded and dehumanizing, explicitly echoing the Middle Passage—and thus positing Shaft as a racial avenger. He ends up leading what amounts to a slave revolt, an unexpected Shaft-as-Nat-Turner twist, full-on retroactive wish fulfillment.

But wish fulfillment was ultimately what blaxploitation in general, and these films in particular, were all about. Characters like Shaft and Trouble Man’s “Mr. T” don’t do a helluva lot of detecting, per se; they’re more like urban independent cops, allowing their creators to make what amounted to police movies for audiences who didn’t like and didn’t trust police. (When a complicated film like Across 110th Street dealt with those complexities, neither black nor white audiences showed up.)

But the further they got from their mean streets, the less they reflected their day-to-day reality. Reflecting on the power of Shaft in his review of its sequel, the New York Times’ Roger Greenspun noted, “After every sort of big-town white detective from Marlowe to Madigan had obviously lost the freedom of the city, John Shaft—cool, insolent, clever—seemed a fair choice to take their place. For the detective is nothing if not indigenous; the best hero we have to offer, once we know the misery around us and our own despair.” However, “the new Shaft follows a new and glossier and tidier image, an image that is much more James Bond than Bogart.” The Shaft sequels pivoted from the urban gangster bad guys of the first film to smugly erudite super-villains; Big Score’s plays a clarinet, for God’s sake. By the time he hits Africa, Shaft has to explicitly insist that he’s not James Bond, but it’s an easy conclusion to jump to—the line comes during a gadget briefing sequence, from his own junior varsity Q.

Yet the inclination towards such a character, for filmmakers and audiences, is understandable. In his book More Than Night, James Naremore attributes Parks and Van Peebles’ “black supermen” as a response to “decades of emasculated or nearly invisible black people on the screen,” but there was more at play here than that. By the early 1970s, black heroes were at a premium; Martin was dead and so was Malcolm, Fred Hampton and George Jackson, too, and the black revolutionary movement was scarcely in better shape than in its portrayals in films like Shaft. Eldridge Cleaver and Huey P. Newton’s in-fighting split the Panthers in 1971, and by early ’72, Newton was shutting down chapters—the ones that hadn’t been raided by police. Cleaver was in Algerian exile, and Bobby Seale was in jail. The Panthers had been undone by COINTELPRO, heroin, and ego. “We had the revolution,” Richard Pryor joked in 1976. “Remember the revolution, brother? We lost!”

But on screen, they could win. If he was enough of an outsider—his own boss, beholden to no one—the black man could be a hero. He could mouth off to cops, he could protect the community, he could be irresistible to women. He could come out on top, and truth and justice could prevail; he could do all of the things that white private detectives did back in the 1940s, and didn’t do anymore. When those white counterparts first appeared in the ‘40s, they served a similar function for an audience coming out of a Great Depression, fighting a world war, and uncertain about their future. That audience needed tough, straightforward heroes with an unerring moral compass; so did this one.

The black private eyes didn’t have the luxury, in this tense and uncertain time, of flirting with the existentialism of Hickey and Boggs or The Long Goodbye’s Marlowe or Night Moves’ Harry Moseby. Isaac Hayes may have called Shaft “a complicated man,” but there was nothing complicated about him, or any of his brethren. What you saw was what you got. “He was everything we’d always wanted to be,” said Samuel L. Jackson, who would take over the role of Shaft in a 2000 remake. “He was cool, he talked tough, he looked great, and he was fearless. He was a hero.”

In the ‘70s, black audiences looked at their movie detectives and saw what they wanted to be. White audiences looked at theirs, and saw what they were.

#shaft #blacksploitation #john shaft #the long goodbye #mario van peebles #Sweet Sweetback’s Baadasssss Song #The Dirty Dozen #black panther #The French Connection #Night Moves #richard pryor #Sidney Poitier #Cotton Comes to Harlem #oscilloscope #oscilloscope laboratories #oscope labs #beastie boys #adam yauch #film writing #film essay #musings

[1962dude420-blog]

Today we remember the passing of Bill Graham who died October 25, 1991 in Vallejo, California

Bill Graham (born Wulf Wolodia Grajonca) was a German-American impresario and rock concert promoter from the 1960s until his death in 1991 in a helicopter crash.

On July 4, 1939, he was sent from Germany to France to escape the Nazis. At age 10, he settled into a foster home in the Bronx, New York. Graham graduated from DeWitt Clinton High School and subsequently from City College with a business degree.

In the early 1960s, Graham moved to San Francisco, and, in 1965, began to manage the San Francisco Mime Troupe. He had teamed up with local Haight Ashbury promoter Chet Helms and Family Dog, and their network of contacts, to organize a benefit concert, then promoted several free concerts. This eventually turned into a profitable full-time career and he assembled a talented staff. Graham had a profound influence around the world, sponsoring the musical renaissance of the '60s from the epicenter, San Francisco. Chet Helms and then Bill Graham made famous the Fillmore and Winterland Ballroom; these turned out to be a proving grounds for rock bands and acts of the San Francisco Bay area including the Grateful Dead, Jefferson Airplane, and Big Brother and the Holding Company with Janis Joplin, who were first managed, and in some cases developed, by Chet Helms.

Graham moved from New York to San Francisco in the early 1960s to be closer to his sister Rita. He was invited to attend a free concert in Golden Gate Park, produced by Chet Helms and the Diggers, where he made contact with the San Francisco Mime Troupe, a radical theater group. After Mime Troupe leader Ronnie Davis was arrested on obscenity charges during an outdoor performance, Graham organized a benefit concert to cover the troupe's legal fees. The concert was a success and Graham saw a business opportunity. Bill Graham began promoting more concerts with Chet and backing Chet Helms and Family Dog projects, which provided a vital function of the 1960s, promoting concerts which provided a social meeting place to network, where many ideologies were given a forum, sometimes even on stage, such as peace movements, civil rights, farm workers and others. Most of his shows were performed at rented venues, and Graham saw a need for more permanent locations of his own. Charles Sullivan was a mid-20th-century entrepreneur and businessman in San Francisco who owned the master lease on the Fillmore Auditorium.

Graham owned Fillmore Records, which was in operation from 1969 to 1976. Some of those who signed with Graham included Rod Stewart, Elvin Bishop, and Cold Blood, although of these it seems only Bishop actually issued albums on the Fillmore label. Tower of Power was signed to Bill Graham's San Francisco Records and their first album, East Bay Grease, was recorded in 1970.

By 1971, Graham citing financial reasons and changes he saw as unwelcome in the music industry, closed the Fillmore East and West, claiming a need to "find himself".  Graham later returned to promoting. He began organizing concerts at smaller venues, like the Berkeley Community Theatre on the campus of Berkeley High School. He then reopened the Winterland Arena (San Francisco), along with the Fillmore West and promoted shows at the Cow Palace Arena in Daly City and other venues.

In 1973 he promoted the largest outdoor concert at Watkins Glen, New York with The Band, Grateful Dead, and The Allman Brothers Band. Over 600,000 paying ticket-holders were in attendance. He continued promoting stadium-sized concerts at Kezar Stadium in San Francisco with Led Zeppelin in 1973 and 1977 and started a series of outdoor stadium concerts at the Oakland Coliseum each billed as Day on the Green in 1973 until 1992. These concerts featured billings such as the Grateful Dead and The Who on October 9, 1976, and the Grateful Dead and Bob Dylan in 1987.

Graham as Bill Graham Presents booked the 1982 US Festival, funded by Steve Wozniak as Unuson. In the mid-1980s, in conjunction with the city of Mountain View, California, and Apple Inc. cofounder Steve Wozniak, he masterminded the creation of the Shoreline Amphitheatre, which became the premier venue for outdoor concerts in Silicon Valley, complementing his booking of the East Bay Concord Pavilion. Throughout his career, Graham promoted benefit concerts. He went on to set the standard for well-produced large-scale rock concerts, such as the U.S. portion of Live Aid at JFK Stadium, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on July 13, 1985, as well as the 1986 A Conspiracy of Hope and 1988 Human Rights Now! tours for Amnesty International.

Graham purchased comedy club The Punch Line and The Old Waldorf on Battery Street in San Francisco from local promoter Jeffrey Pollack, with whom he remained close friends for the rest of his life, then Wolfgang's on Columbus Ave in San Francisco.

Graham's later near monopoly business practices went as far as contracts with the University of California Regents to control on-campus entertainment venues, thus preventing ASUC (Associated Students of the University of California) and other student organizations from promoting their own rock concerts in the 1980s. In the 1980s, he teamed up with BASS Tickets which tended to drive small ticket-distribution companies out of business in the Bay Area, creating a de facto monopoly. After the smaller operations failed, the remaining one, Ticketmaster (formerly BASS), raised prices to unprecedented levels. Its only opposition came from a few bands, notably Pearl Jam, which protested that the company's high ticketing fees were unfair to music fans. Such practices were targeted by the California Senate in S.B. 815.

Graham was killed in a helicopter crash west of Vallejo, California, on October 25, 1991, while returning home from a Huey Lewis and the News concert at the Concord Pavilion. Graham had attended the event to discuss promoting a benefit concert for the victims of the 1991 Oakland hills firestorm. Once he had obtained a commitment from Huey Lewis to perform, he returned to his helicopter. Flying in severe weather, with rain and gusty winds, the aircraft flew off course and too low over the tidal marshland north of San Pablo Bay. The Bell Jet Ranger flew directly into a 223-foot high-voltage tower near where Highway 37, which runs between Vallejo, California, and Marin County, California, crosses Sonoma Creek. The helicopter burst into flames on impact, killing Graham, pilot and advance man Steve "Killer" Kahn, and Graham's girlfriend, Melissa Gold (née Dilworth), ex-wife of author Herbert Gold.

#October 25 #1991 #R.I.P. #Bill Graham #Fillmore East #Fillmore West

[brookstonalmanac]

Events 8.15

636 – Arab–Byzantine wars: The Battle of Yarmouk between Byzantine Empire and Rashidun Caliphate begins. 717 – Arab–Byzantine wars: Maslama ibn Abd al-Malik begins the Second Arab Siege of Constantinople, which will last for nearly a year. 718 – Arab–Byzantine wars: Raising of the Second Arab Siege of Constantinople. 747 – Carloman, mayor of the palace of Austrasia, renounces his position as majordomo and retires to a monastery near Rome. His brother Pepin the Short becomes the sole ruler (de facto) of the Frankish Kingdom. 778 – The Battle of Roncevaux Pass takes place between the army of Charlemagne and a Basque army. 805 – Noble Erchana of Dahauua grants the Bavarian town of Dachau to the Diocese of Freising 927 – The Saracens conquer and destroy Taranto. 982 – Holy Roman Emperor Otto II is defeated by the Saracens in the Battle of Capo Colonna, in Calabria. 1018 – Byzantine general Eustathios Daphnomeles blinds and captures Ibatzes of Bulgaria by a ruse, thereby ending Bulgarian resistance against Emperor Basil II's conquest of Bulgaria. 1038 – King Stephen I, the first king of Hungary, dies; his nephew, Peter Orseolo, succeeds him. 1057 – King Macbeth is killed at the Battle of Lumphanan by the forces of Máel Coluim mac Donnchada. 1070 – The Pavian-born Benedictine Lanfranc is appointed as the new Archbishop of Canterbury in England. 1096 – Starting date of the First Crusade as set by Pope Urban II. 1185 – The cave city of Vardzia is consecrated by Queen Tamar of Georgia. 1237 – Spanish Reconquista: The Battle of the Puig between the Moorish forces of Taifa of Valencia against the Kingdom of Aragon culminates in an Aragonese victory. 1248 – The foundation stone of Cologne Cathedral, built to house the relics of the Three Wise Men, is laid. (Construction is eventually completed in 1880.) 1261 – Michael VIII Palaiologos is crowned as the first Byzantine emperor in fifty-seven years. 1281 – Mongol invasion of Japan: The Mongolian fleet of Kublai Khan is destroyed by a "divine wind" for the second time in the Battle of Kōan. 1310 – The city of Rhodes surrenders to the forces of the Knights of St. John, completing their conquest of Rhodes. The knights establish their headquarters on the island and rename themselves the Knights of Rhodes. 1430 – Francesco Sforza, lord of Milan, conquers Lucca. 1461 – The Empire of Trebizond surrenders to the forces of Sultan Mehmed II. This is regarded by some historians as the real end of the Byzantine Empire. Emperor David is exiled and later murdered. 1483 – Pope Sixtus IV consecrates the Sistine Chapel. 1511 – Afonso de Albuquerque of Portugal conquers Malacca, the capital of the Malacca Sultanate. 1517 – Seven Portuguese armed vessels led by Fernão Pires de Andrade meet Chinese officials at the Pearl River estuary. 1519 – Panama City, Panama is founded. 1534 – Ignatius of Loyola and six classmates take initial vows, leading to the creation of the Society of Jesus in September 1540. 1537 – Asunción, Paraguay is founded. 1540 – Arequipa, Peru is founded. 1549 – Jesuit priest Francis Xavier comes ashore at Kagoshima (Traditional Japanese date: 22 July 1549). 1592 – Imjin War: At the Battle of Hansan Island, the Korean Navy, led by Yi Sun-sin, Yi Eok-gi, and Won Gyun, decisively defeats the Japanese Navy, led by Wakisaka Yasuharu. 1599 – Nine Years' War: Battle of Curlew Pass: Irish forces led by Hugh Roe O'Donnell successfully ambush English forces, led by Sir Conyers Clifford, sent to relieve Collooney Castle. 1695 – French forces end the bombardment of Brussels. 1760 – Seven Years' War: Battle of Liegnitz: Frederick the Great's victory over the Austrians under Ernst Gideon von Laudon. 1824 – The Marquis de Lafayette, the last surviving French general of the American Revolutionary War, arrives in New York and begins a tour of 24 states. 1843 – The Cathedral of Our Lady of Peace in Honolulu, Hawaii is dedicated. Now the cathedral of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Honolulu, it is the oldest Roman Catholic cathedral in continuous use in the United States. 1843 – Tivoli Gardens, one of the oldest still intact amusement parks in the world, opens in Copenhagen, Denmark. 1863 – The Anglo-Satsuma War begins between the Satsuma Domain of Japan and the United Kingdom (Traditional Japanese date: July 2, 1863). 1893 – Ibadan area becomes a British Protectorate after a treaty signed by Fijabi, the Baale of Ibadan with the British acting Governor of Lagos, George C. Denton. 1899 – Fratton Park football ground in Portsmouth, England is officially first opened. 1907 – Ordination in Constantinople of Fr. Raphael Morgan, the first African-American Orthodox priest, "Priest-Apostolic" to America and the West Indies. 1914 – A servant of American architect Frank Lloyd Wright murders seven people and sets fire to the living quarters of Wright's Wisconsin home, Taliesin. 1914 – The Panama Canal opens to traffic with the transit of the cargo ship SS Ancon. 1914 – World War I: The First Russian Army, led by Paul von Rennenkampf, enters East Prussia. 1914 – World War I: Beginning of the Battle of Cer, the first Allied victory of World War I. 1915 – A story in New York World newspaper reveals that the Imperial German government had purchased excess phenol from Thomas Edison that could be used to make explosives for the war effort and diverted it to Bayer for aspirin production. 1920 – Polish–Soviet War: Battle of Warsaw, so-called Miracle at the Vistula. 1935 – Will Rogers and Wiley Post are killed after their aircraft develops engine problems during takeoff in Barrow, Alaska. 1939 – Twenty-six Junkers Ju 87 bombers commanded by Walter Sigel meet unexpected ground fog during a dive-bombing demonstration for Luftwaffe generals at Neuhammer. Thirteen of them crash and burn. 1939 – The Wizard of Oz premieres at Grauman's Chinese Theater in Los Angeles, California. 1940 – An Italian submarine torpedoes and sinks the Greek cruiser Elli at Tinos harbor during peacetime, marking the most serious Italian provocation prior to the outbreak of the Greco-Italian War in October. 1941 – Corporal Josef Jakobs is executed by firing squad at the Tower of London at 07:12, making him the last person to be executed at the Tower for espionage. 1942 – World War II: Operation Pedestal: The oil tanker SS Ohio reaches the island of Malta barely afloat carrying vital fuel supplies for the island's defenses. 1943 – World War II: Battle of Trahili: Superior German forces surround Cretan partisans, who manage to escape against all odds. 1944 – World War II: Operation Dragoon: Allied forces land in southern France. 1945 – Jewel Voice Broadcast by the Emperor Showa following effective surrender of Japan in the World War II, Korea gains Independence from the Empire of Japan. 1947 – India gains Independence from British rule after near 190 years of British company and crown rule, and joins the Commonwealth of Nations. 1947 – Founder of Pakistan, Muhammad Ali Jinnah is sworn in as first Governor-General of Pakistan in Karachi. 1948 – The First Republic of Korea (South Korea) is established in the southern half of the peninsula. 1950 – Measuring Mw 8.6, the largest earthquake on land occurrs in the Assam-Tibet-Myanmar border, killing 4,800. 1952 – A flash flood drenches the town of Lynmouth, England, killing 34 people. 1954 – Alfredo Stroessner begins his dictatorship in Paraguay. 1960 – Republic of the Congo (Brazzaville) becomes independent from France. 1961 – Border guard Conrad Schumann flees from East Germany while on duty guarding the construction of the Berlin Wall. 1962 – James Joseph Dresnok defects to North Korea after running across the Korean Demilitarized Zone. Dresnok died in 2016. 1963 – Execution of Henry John Burnett, the last man to be hanged in Scotland. 1963 – President Fulbert Youlou is overthrown in the Republic of the Congo, after a three-day uprising in the capital. 1965 – The Beatles play to nearly 60,000 fans at Shea Stadium in New York City, an event later regarded as the birth of stadium rock. 1969 – The Woodstock Music & Art Fair opens in upstate New York, featuring some of the top rock musicians of the era. 1970 – Patricia Palinkas becomes the first woman to play professionally in an American football game. 1971 – President Richard Nixon completes the break from the gold standard by ending convertibility of the United States dollar into gold by foreign investors. 1971 – Bahrain gains independence from the United Kingdom. 1973 – Vietnam War: The USAF bombing of Cambodia ends. 1974 – Yuk Young-soo, First Lady of South Korea, is killed during an apparent assassination attempt upon President Park Chung-hee. 1975 – Bangladeshi leader Sheikh Mujibur Rahman is killed along with most members of his family during a military coup. 1975 – Takeo Miki makes the first official pilgrimage to Yasukuni Shrine by an incumbent prime minister on the anniversary of the end of World War II. 1977 – The Big Ear, a radio telescope operated by Ohio State University as part of the SETI project, receives a radio signal from deep space; the event is named the "Wow! signal" from the notation made by a volunteer on the project. 1984 – The Kurdistan Workers' Party in Turkey starts a campaign of armed attacks upon the Turkish military with an attack on police and gendarmerie bases in Şemdinli and Eruh 1985 – Signing of the Assam Accord, an agreement between representatives of the Government of India and the leaders of the Assam Movement to end the movement. 1995 – In South Carolina, Shannon Faulkner becomes the first female cadet matriculated at The Citadel (she drops out less than a week later). 1998 – Northern Ireland: Omagh bombing takes place; 29 people (including a woman pregnant with twins) killed and some 220 others injured. 1999 – Beni Ounif massacre in Algeria: Some 29 people are killed at a false roadblock near the Moroccan border, leading to temporary tensions with Morocco. 2005 – Israel's unilateral disengagement plan to evict all Israelis from the Gaza Strip and from four settlements in the northern West Bank begins. 2005 – The Helsinki Agreement between the Free Aceh Movement and the Government of Indonesia was signed, ending almost three decades of fighting. 2007 – An 8.0-magnitude earthquake off the Pacific coast devastates Ica and various regions of Peru killing 514 and injuring 1,090. 2013 – At least 27 people are killed and 226 injured in an explosion in southern Beirut near a complex used by Lebanon's militant group Hezbollah in Lebanon. A previously unknown Syrian Sunni group claims responsibility in an online video. 2013 – The Smithsonian announces the discovery of the olinguito, the first new carnivorous species found in the Americas in 35 years. 2015 – North Korea moves its clock back half an hour to introduce Pyongyang Time, 81⁄2 hours ahead of UTC.

#Events

[aion-rsa]

Sweet Sweetback’s Baadasssss Song Was Revolutionary on Every Level

https://ift.tt/eA8V8J

Sweet Sweetback’s Baadasssss Song, which turns 50 this month, is the opposite of the definition imposed on it. The 1971 film inspired the Blaxploitation genre, but Melvin Van Peebles exploited no one but himself. He got the money together, wrote the script and the music, selected the shots, aimed the camera, and starred in the film. He even did the stunts and post-production editing. Everything that came after was a reaction to his revolution. The father of Black cinema is one of the godfathers of independent filmmaking, and he turned everything upside down doing it.

Sweet Sweetback’s Baadasssss Song defies all expectations. Unapologetically Black, it flips every stereotype back on itself. It reconstructs the constrictions of sexual identification. It wasn’t made for the institution. It was made for the people. “This film is dedicated to all the Brothers and Sisters who had enough of the Man,” reads the opening titles. That included the ones in suits at Hollywood studios. Even after the assassinations of Martin Luther King, Malcolm X, and Fred Hampton, the only African Americans people saw on the big screen were subservient to whites, or played by Sidney Poitier.

Sweet Sweetback’s Baadasssss Song was released a few months before Shaft. According to Howard Hughes’ 2006 book Crime Wave: The Filmgoers’ Guide to Great Crime Movies, Ernest Tidyman originally wrote the character of John Shaft as white, but director Gordon Parks cast Richard Roundtree in the role. According to legend, it was because of Sweet Sweetback. Because the two films were released the same year, they share categories, but not aesthetics.

“What does a dead man need bread for?”

Shaft was co-produced and distributed by MGM, a major studio. Van Peebles shot Sweet Sweetback’s Baadasssss Song in 19 days on a budget of $500,000, and had to personally ask Bill Cosby for a $50,000 loan to finish it. He worked on a sporadic shooting schedule, and had to rethink the film as it progressed because of the shrinking funds. After the success of his racially charged comedy The Watermelon Man (1970), Columbia Pictures offered Van Peebles a three-picture deal. The studio wanted more comedies, but the director had something far more hysterical in mind.

The story of the production is lovingly, and unflinchingly, told in Mario Van Peebles’ 2003 film Baadasssss!, which was originally titled “How to Get the Man’s Foot Outta Your Ass.” In the biofilm Melvin Van Peebles pitches a story about a live sex show performer working out of a Los Angeles whorehouse who becomes radicalized. The studio withdraws its offer, and Melvin hits the streets looking for independent backing, nonunion crews, and nonprofessional actors. He ultimately finds his delivery system in a porn producer, played by David Alan Grier.

We can trust Baadasssss! in its accuracy, Mario Van Peebles is Melvin’s son, and plays his father in the film, just like he did in Sweet Sweetback’s Baadasssss Song. The pornographic connection also resonates because Mario was 13 years old when he played the young Sweetback in the flashback segment which opens the film. The scene was censored in reissues because of the Protection of Children Act. Nonetheless, the production got around unions by disguising itself as a porn film, and was initially rated X by the MPAA when it first came out. Some theaters trimmed up to 9 minutes of sex before projecting the film. Ever an enterprising showman, Melvin Van Peebles used that to his advantage, hyping the movie as “Rated X by an all-white jury!” in promotions.

“No charge if you don’t like it!”

Melvin Van Peebles has been criticized for pushing the racist stereotype of the Black stud, but Sweet Sweetback’s Baadasssss Song is as much an incursion in the sexual revolution as it is in civil disobedience. The counterculture guerilla war isn’t only about burning cop cars to cheering crowds, it includes the erotic socialism of the era’s radical cinema. The film opens with sexual suspense: Close-ups of women hungrily eyeing a young African American boy as he eats. They don’t want what’s on his plate, though. The very next scene shows him come of age as a sexual prodigy. Sweetback grew up in a cathouse, where he was on the menu for the female clientele. This also establishes Sweetback as submissive sexually, even though he is the character who holds the most power in the film.

The next scene further subverts the sexuality. The establishing shot shows two women putting on an erotic live performance for an appreciative audience. One of the women is wearing men’s clothes, as well as a fake beard and a hat, before she strips down to just a bra. During the on-stage sex act, they are visited by “the good dyke fairy godmother,” an effeminate man who waves his magic wand and turns the bearded lady into Sweetback. Van Peebles blurs the lines of magic, reality and sexual identity. This is reversed later in the film when the biker gang remove their helmets and are revealed to be women. The director subverts the myths of black masculinity further by having Sweetback sexually submit into power after being forced to service them all before they let him go. 

Van Peebles maintains he played the title role himself because no established Black actor would work for what he could pay, and because the character only has six lines of dialogue. He also couldn’t afford a stunt man, so Melvin performed all of the stunts himself, which also included appearing in several unsimulated sex scenes. The cinematic social commentator contracted a social disease during filming, and successfully applied to the Directors Guild for workers’ compensation because he was “hurt on the job,” according to Darius James’s 1995 book That’s Blaxploitation!: Roots of the Baadasssss ‘Tude (Rated X by an All-Whyte Jury). The director used the money to buy more film stock.

When Van Peebles started out in film, he figured he “could make a feature for five hundred dollars” because “that was the cost of 90 minutes of film,” according to James’ book. When the director was young and couldn’t break into a segregated Hollywood with his early short films, Van Peebles was invited to Paris by Henri Langlois, founder of the Cinémathèque Française. He released the short film Les Cinq Cent Balles (500 Francs) in 1961. Van Peebles taught himself the language and wrote a number of books in French. One of which he adapted into his 1968 feature debut The Story of a Three-Day Pass, which starred Harry Baird as Turner, an African American soldier stationed in France. He is granted a promotion and a three-day leave by his racist commanding officer. The film explores the psychology of an interracial relationship, while critiquing racial attitudes in France.

Inspired by the French New Wave cinematic movement, Van Peebles approaches the narrative with the invention which comes with necessity. Sweet Sweetback’s Baadasssss Song was photographed in a variety of formats, half the film was shot on 35mm negative, less than half shot on 16mm which was blown up to 35mm. The camera is mostly handheld and goes in and out of focus. The cinematography is distorted by split-screen effects, negative images, double images, stills and dissolves. The psychedelic desert montage superimposes the psychology of the perpetual outlaw over the radicalized street hustler. Sweetback breaks all the taboos and presents a breakthrough in its picture of social discord.

“You been stirring up the natives, kid?”

The biggest name on the credits is the film’s real star: “The Black Community.” The villain of the film is the occupying army. Van Peebles presents an uncompromising dramatization of a threatening, abusive police force which are an adversary to the citizens of the streets they patrol. The only thing the cops know about their beat is who to beat, and that can be anyone. Late in the film, the police kill a Black man they mistake for Sweetback, when the cops learn an innocent man was shot, one says “so what?”

Sweetback’s initial relationship with the police is cordial, the body of a Black man is discovered in his neighborhood, Sweetback agrees to accompany two white cops to the station as a suspect to make them look good. The trouble starts when the cops mercilessly brutalize the young Black Panther Mu-Mu (Hubert Scales). Sweetback fights back. The hustler-stud assaults the white plainclothes cops with their own handcuffs. The Black Panthers saw this as revolutionary solidarity, declared the film required viewing for all members, who filled theaters, and ensured the film’s box office victory.

Those Baadasssss Songs

One of Blaxploitation’s greatest contributions to the arts is the art of the soundtrack. Among its many precedents, Sweet Sweetback’s Baadasssss Song was the first film to capitalize on the marketing appeal of its music. And what a soundtrack. Founded in Chicago by Maurice White in 1969, Earth, Wind & Fire were a rising funk ensemble. Peebles’ secretary, who was dating one of the members, convinced the director to contact the group. Peebles collaborated on the music, and also performed under his alter ego, Brer Soul, which was also the name of his 1968 debut studio album. The director projected scenes from the film as the band performed. The soundtrack album came out on the legendary Stax label in anticipation of the film’s release to raise cash and get the publicity of radio airplay.

Without the soundtrack, the film may never have made it into theaters. But the strategy worked so well, artists like Curtis Mayfield, Isaac Hayes, Marvin Gaye, Bobby Womack, Donny Hathaway, and James Brown were brought in to compose music for movies. Up until this time, Quincy Jones was the only Black composer with major motion picture scores to his credit.

Music is crucial to the film’s design. The songs on the soundtrack album incorporate the film’s dialog as an instrument. Side One begins with “Sweetback Losing His Cherry,” which alternates between a gospel choir and urban funk while a vocalist lets loose with the happy moans of sex. “Sweetback Getting it Uptight and Preaching it so Hard the Bourgeois Reggin Angels in Heaven Turn Around” is pure psychedelic cacophony.

“Everybody profits.”

Van Peebles’ direction is not rudderless. It is fearless. Like the helmsman himself, who jumped off a bridge nine times before a stunt was declared perfect. He even stood off against the Hells Angels, when bikers brought a knife to an almost-gunfight on the set, demanding to be let off even though they’d been paid for the day. The film boldly features the casual systemic racism of law enforcement, from a police commissioner using epithets on live TV to the deafening of Sweetback’s boss Beetle (Simon Chuckster) who is deafened during interrogation when a cop fires a revolver next to his ear. The film still all-too accurately portrays how the Black community is persecuted by police.

cnx.cmd.push(function() { cnx({ playerId: "106e33c0-3911-473c-b599-b1426db57530", }).render("0270c398a82f44f49c23c16122516796"); });

Because of Sweet Sweetback’s Baadasssss Song, the deaths of Martin Luther King Jr., Fred Hampton, Malcolm X, and even Billie Holiday and Sam Cooke are now examined through a harsher cinematic lens. Their stories are being told without the whitewashing of polite censorship. Films about them include indictments which Hollywood would never have dared to portray had Van Peebles not opened the door. But the realities of George Floyd, Sandra Bland, Eric Garner, Philando Castile, Trayvon Martin, and countless others continue to assault everyday senses. Fifty years later, the film retains its shock value, which has paid off in vast dividends.

The ending promises a sequel which never materialized, but came to life through the movement it began. Though tagged forever as the first Blaxploitation film, Van Peebles called it “the first Black Power movie.” The filmmaker had complete control, artistically and commercially, the very opposite of exploitation. Sweet Sweetback’s Baadasssss Song is a significant artistic, political and sexual statement, which is still revolutionary in the era of social justice warriors.

The post Sweet Sweetback’s Baadasssss Song Was Revolutionary on Every Level appeared first on Den of Geek.

from Den of Geek https://ift.tt/3e1PZQl

#aion-rsa #Den of Geek

[blackkudos]

Rufus Thomas

Rufus C. Thomas, Jr. (March 26, 1917 – December 15, 2001) was an American rhythm-and-blues, funk, soul and blues singer, songwriter, dancer, DJ and comic entertainer from Memphis, Tennessee. He recorded for several labels, including Chess Records and Sun Records in the 1950s, before becoming established in the 1960s and 1970s at Stax Records. He is best known for his novelty dance records, including "Walking the Dog" (1963), "Do the Funky Chicken" (1969) and "(Do the) Push and Pull" (1970). According to the Mississippi Blues Commission, "Rufus Thomas embodied the spirit of Memphis music perhaps more than any other artist, and from the early 1940s until his death . . . occupied many important roles in the local scene."

He began his career as a tap dancer, vaudeville performer, and master of ceremonies in the 1930s. He later worked as a disc jockey on radio station WDIA in Memphis, both before and after his recordings became successful. He remained active into the 1990s and as a performer and recording artist was often billed as "The World's Oldest Teenager". He was the father of the singers Carla Thomas (with whom he recorded duets) and Vaneese Thomas and the keyboard player Marvell Thomas.

Early life

Thomas was born in the rural community of Cayce, Mississippi, the son of a sharecropper. He moved with his family to Memphis, Tennessee, around 1920. His mother was a "church woman". Thomas made his debut as a performer at the age of six, playing a frog in a school theatrical production. By the age of 10, he was a tap dancer, performing on the streets and in amateur productions at Booker T. Washington High School, in Memphis. From the age of 13, he worked with Nat D. Williams, his high-school history teacher, who was also a pioneer black DJ at radio station WDIA and columnist for black newspapers, as a master of ceremonies at talent shows in the Palace Theater on Beale Street. After graduating from high school, Thomas attended Tennessee A&I University for one semester, but economic constraints led him to leave to pursue a career as a full-time entertainer.

Early career as a performer

Thomas began performing in traveling tent shows. In 1936 he joined the Rabbit Foot Minstrels, an all-black revue that toured the South, as a tap dancer and comedian, sometimes part of a duo, Rufus and Johnny. He married Cornelia Lorene Wilson in 1940, at a service officiated by Rev. C. L. Franklin, the father of Aretha Franklin, and the couple settled in Memphis. Thomas worked a day job in the American Finishing Company textile bleaching plant, which he continued to do for over 20 years. He also formed a comedy and dancing duo, Rufus and Bones, with Robert "Bones" Couch, and they took over as MCs at the Palace Theater, often presenting amateur hour shows. One early winner was B.B. King, and others discovered by Thomas later in the 1940s included Bobby Bland and Johnny Ace.

In the early 1940s, Thomas began writing and performing his own songs. He regarded Louis Armstrong, Fats Waller and Gatemouth Moore as musical influences. He made his professional singing debut at the Elks Club on Beale Street, filling in for another singer at the last minute, and during the 1940s became a regular performer in Memphis nightclubs, such as Currie's Club Tropicana. As an established performer in Memphis, aged 33 in 1950, Thomas recorded his first 78 rpm single, for Jesse Erickson's small Star Talent label in Dallas, Texas. Thomas said, "I just wanted to make a record. I never thought of getting rich. I just wanted to be known, be a recording artist. . . . [But] the record sold five copies and I bought four of them." The record, "I'll Be a Good Boy" backed with "I'm So Worried", gained a Billboard review, which stated that "Thomas shows first class style on a slow blues". He also recorded for the Bullet label in Nashville, Tennessee, when he recorded with Bobby Plater's Orchestra and was credited as "Mr. Swing"; the recordings were not recognised by researchers as being by Thomas until 1996. In 1951 he made his first recordings at Sam Phillips's Sun Studio, for the Chess label, but they were not commercially successful.

He began working as a DJ at radio station WDIA in 1951, and hosted an afternoon R&B show called Hoot and Holler. WDIA, featuring an African-American format, was known as "the mother station of the Negroes" and became an important source of blues and R&B music for a generation, its audience consisting of white as well as black listeners. Thomas used to introduce his shows saying, "I'm young, I'm loose, I'm full of juice, I got the goose so what's the use. We're feeling gay though we ain't got a dollar, Rufus is here, so hoot and holler." He also used to lead tours of white teenagers on "midnight rambles" around Beale Street.

His celebrity in the South was such that in 1953, at Sam Phillips's suggestion, he recorded "Bear Cat" for Sun Records, an "answer record" to Big Mama Thornton's R&B hit "Hound Dog". The record became the label's first national chart hit, reaching number 3 on the Billboard R&B chart. However, a copyright-infringement suit brought by Don Robey, the original publisher of "Hound Dog", nearly bankrupted the record label. After only one recording there, Thomas was one of the African-American artists released by Phillips, as he oriented his label more toward white audiences and signed Elvis Presley, who later recorded Thomas's song "Tiger Man". Thomas did not record again until 1956, when he made a single, "I'm Steady Holdin' On", for the Bihari brothers' Meteor label; musicians on the record included Lewie Steinberg, later a founding member of Booker T and the MGs.

Stax Records

In 1960 he made his first recordings with his 17-year-old daughter Carla, for the Satellite label in Memphis, which changed its name to Stax the following year. The song, "Cause I Love You", featuring a rhythm borrowed from Jesse Hill's "Ooh Poo Pa Doo", was a regional hit; the musicians included Thomas' son Marvell on keyboards, Steinberg, and the 16-year-old Booker T. Jones. The record's success led to Stax gaining production and distribution deal with the much larger Atlantic Records.

Rufus Thomas continued to record for the label after Carla's record "Gee Whiz (Look at His Eyes)" reached the national R&B chart in 1961. He had his own hit with "The Dog", a song he had originally improvised in performance based on a Willie Mitchell bass line, complete with imitations of a barking dog. The 1963 follow-up, "Walking the Dog", engineered by Tom Dowd of Atlantic, became one of his most successful records, reaching #10 on the Billboard pop chart. He became the first, and still the only, father to debut in the Top 10 after his daughter had first appeared there. The song was recorded in early 1964 by the Rolling Stones on their debut album, and was a minor UK chart hit for Merseybeat group the Dennisons later that year.

As well as recording and appearing on radio and in clubs, Thomas continued to work as a boiler operator in the textile plant, where he claimed the noises sometimes suggested musical rhythms and lyrics to him, before he finally gave up the job in 1963, to focus on his role as a singer and entertainer. He recorded a series of novelty dance tracks, including "Can Your Monkey Do the Dog'" and '"Somebody Stole My Dog" for Stax, where he was often backed by Booker T. & the MGs or the Bar-Kays. He also became a mentor to younger Stax stars, giving advice on stage moves to performers like Otis Redding, who partnered daughter Carla on record.

After "Jump Back" in 1964, the hits dried up for several years, as Stax gave more attention to younger artists and musicians. However, in 1970 he had another big hit with "Do the Funky Chicken", which reached #5 on the R&B chart, #28 on the pop chart, and #18 in Britain where it was his only chart hit. Thomas improvised the song while performing with Willie Mitchell's band at a club in Covington, Tennessee, including a spoken word section that he regularly used as a shtick as a radio DJ: "Oh I feel so unnecessary - this is the kind of stuff that makes you feel like you wanna do something nasty, like waste some chicken gravy on your white shirt right down front." The recording was produced by Al Bell and Tom Nixon, and used the Bar-Kays, featuring guitarist Michael Toles. Thomas continued to work with Bell and Nixon as producers, and later in 1970 had his only number 1 R&B hit [and his second-highest pop charting record] with another dance song, "Do the Push and Pull". A further dance-oriented release in 1971, "The Breakdown", climbed to number 2 R&B and number 31 Pop. In 1972, he featured in the Wattstax concert, and he had several further, less successful, hits before Stax collapsed in 1976.

Later career

Thomas continued to record and toured internationally, billing himself as "The World's Oldest Teenager" and describing himself as "the funkiest man alive". He "drew upon his vaudeville background to put [his songs] over on stage with fancy footwork that displayed remarkable agility for a man well into his fifties", and usually performed "while clothed in a wardrobe of hot pants, boots and capes, all in wild colors."

He continued as a DJ at WDIA until 1974, and worked for a period at WLOK before returning to WDIA in the mid 1980s to co-host a blues show. He appeared regularly on television and recorded albums for various labels. Thomas performed regularly at the Porretta Soul Festival in Italy; the outdoor amphitheater in which he performed was later renamed Rufus Thomas Park.

He played an important part in the Stax reunion of 1988, and appeared in Jim Jarmusch's 1989 film Mystery Train, Robert Altman's 1999 film Cookie's Fortune, and D. A. Pennebaker’s documentary Only the Strong Survive. Thomas released an album of straight-ahead blues, That Woman is Poison!, with Alligator Records in 1990, featuring saxophonist Noble "Thin Man" Watts. In 1996, he and William Bell headlined at the Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia. In 1997, he released an album, Rufus Live!, on Ecko Records. In 1998, he hosted two New Year's Eve shows on Beale Street.

In 1997, to commemorate his 80th birthday, the City of Memphis renamed a road off Beale Street, close to the old Palace Theater, as Rufus Thomas Boulevard. He received a Pioneer Award from the Rhythm and Blues Foundation in 1992, and a lifetime achievement award from ASCAP in 1997. He was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame in 2001.

Death and legacy

He died of heart failure in 2001, at the age of 84, at St. Francis Hospital in Memphis. He is buried next to his wife Lorene, who pre-deceased him in 2000, at the New Park Cemetery in Memphis.

Writer Peter Guralnick said of him:

His music... brought a great deal of joy to the world, but his personality brought even more, conveying a message of grit, determination, indomitability, above all a bottomless appreciation for the human comedy that left little room for the drab or the dreary in his presence.

Thomas was honored with a marker on the Mississippi Blues Trail in Byhalia.

On June 25, 2019, The New York Times Magazine listed Rufus Thomas among hundreds of artists whose material was reportedly destroyed in the 2008 Universal fire.

In popular culture

Bobby Brown portrays Thomas in the BET television series American Soul.

#12/15 #03/26

[analogscum]

HELLS ANGELS ON WHEELS (1967, d. Richard Rush)

Way back in 1966, before he was reduced to a Johnny Depp caricature and the personal hero of that one libertarian douchebag in your college Philosophy 101 class, Hunter S. Thompson burst onto the literary scene with his debut book, Hell’s Angels: The Strange and Terrible Saga of the Outlaw Motorcycle Gang. Expanded from a 1965 article for The Nation, Hell’s Angels introduced America to not only the Doctor’s freewheeling, lysergic brand of prose, but this new underground culture of the motorcycle gang. No longer the leather-bound toughs of The Wild Ones, these bikers were hairier, freakier, and ten times more drugged up. They didn’t even bother to ask what you had for them to rebel against, they let their chains to the talkin’, maaaaaaan.

Hells Angels on Wheels roared into movie theaters the following year, when the Summer of Love had cooled down into the Winter of…I guess still Love? I dunno. I imagine the film must’ve been very shocking in its day and age, but for today’s viewer, Hells Angels on Wheels is notable for other reasons, namely its nascency. It represents ground zero for an entire sub-genre which played a major part in cementing the explosion of creativity that was American cinema in the 1970s, and provided a launching pad for a number of players who would go on to become indispensable cornerstones of that scene. But, before they could do that, they had to shoot a bunch of establishing shots of bikes parking in places.

In the spirit of the Peace movement, why don’t we be generous and describe the narrative structure of Hells Angels on Wheels as…episodic? Yeah, that’s the ticket! Basically every scene in the movie follows this structure: the Hells Angels show up somewhere and park their bikes for like five minutes, go into a place where everyone hates them, get into a fight with the people who hate them, then leave when either they kill someone or the cops show up. That’s it. That’s the whole movie. The audience’s surrogate is a young man named Poet, who quits his job at a gas station when a customer is a total jerk to him. Then his bike gets sideswiped by one of the Angels, who has, shall we say, questionable facial hair. Either this guy’s mustache just grows weird, or they did a terrible makeup job on him, anyway, you be the judge:  

So Poet’s headlight is damaged, and he proceeds to start a fight with the Angel with the questionable facial hair. Now, instead of just beating him to death with some wrenches, the lead Angel, Buddy, appreciates Poet’s ability to scrap. They all hang out for awhile. They get into a fight in a bar with a rival biker gang. They get into a fight at a carnival with some sailors. Then they all go back to a swingin’ pad full of groovy wall decor and have a drug orgy for what feels like nine hours. At one point, a painter who looks and talks suspiciously like Hunter S. Thompson — floppy hat, sunglasses, gruff mumble — begins doing body paint on all the women, which takes up roughly six hours of this nine hour scene. But most importantly, Poet falls for Shrill, one of the biker mamas who he can tell is a little too smart to be around this scene, because so is he. Just one problem: Shrill is Buddy’s woman. I’m sure this won’t lead to awkward, poorly choreographed violence at all!

Speaking of, kudos to the filmmakers for going for realism; there’s a lot of handheld camerawork, plenty of Nouvelle Vague-influenced jump cuts, and the film seems to feature quite a few actual Hells Angels. In fact, Sonny Barger, the president of the Angels’ Oakland chapter, gets his own title card in the opening credits, even though he appears on camera for less than two seconds. Surely this title was properly earned, and not the result of any threats against studio people with switchblades. However, we’re talking about an era where filmmakers still hadn’t quite figured out how to properly choreograph a fight scene, so every scuffle still kinda looks like drunken acrobatics. And the death scenes are even worse. Here’s a short list of how people die in this movie: they’re awkwardly knocked down and punched once; their car is run off the road but otherwise totally unharmed; and their bike runs into a two by four, slowly tilts over, and catches on fire for no discernible reason. It’s a shame that the one thing that reads as hokey in a movie dedicated to portraying the reality of this violent lifestyle is, well, the violence.

Eventually Poet is made a “prospect” by Buddy, and the whole gang hits the road. One of the bikers and his woman get married at a Catholic Church in Nevada. There are more fights with people who don’t like them. In once scene a biker drives his bike up a real tall hill for awhile. One biker gets arrested on a murder beef, but the gang busts him loose less than a minute later, because stakes or tension is for squares, I guess. By far the most interesting part of this movie is watching the relationship between Poet and Shrill develop, and how that begins to threaten Buddy. These two are joined together by their discontent: they both want something outside of the ordinary from life, but are paralyzed by their self-destructive tendencies. This is especially true of Shrill, who isn’t happy unless she is causing unhappiness all around her, which leads her to play Poet and Buddy off of one another, until it all blows up in a powerful final confrontation that is unfortunately capped off by a truly stupid coda that never should’ve happened.

Hells Angels on Wheels was directed by a gentleman named Richard Rush. Though he wouldn’t be as prolific after the sixties, and hasn’t directed a feature film since 1994’s Color of Night (speaking of truly stupid codas that never should’ve happened), this film helped propel him to greater artistic heights: 1970’s Getting Straight was a critical darling and called the “best American film of the decade” by none other than Ingmar Bergman; 1974’s Freebie and the Bean was a box office smash and more or less invented the buddy cop movie; and 1980’s The Stunt Man earned him two Oscar nominations. Richard Rush has kinda been forgotten these days, but, I mean, François Truffaut called this guy his favorite American director. Have YOU ever been François Truffaut’s favorite anything? I doubt it, he’s been dead since 1984, genius.

Eagle-eyed viewers may have noticed that the cinematography on Hells Angels on Wheels was credited to one “Leslie Kovacs.” If you’re a hopeless dork like me, you probably whispered to yourself, “I bet that’s Lázló Kovacs.” Well, fellow hopeless dork, we were both right: this was one of Kovacs’s first American feature jobs, after shooting commercials and nature documentaries for much of the early sixties. He continued to collaborate with Rush throughout the seventies, as well as lensing classic films by the likes of Peter Bogdanovich, Bob Rafelson, Martin Scorsese, Dennis Hopper, and Norman Jewison. Shockingly, he never won an Oscar, but odds are if you paint a mental picture of American cinema in the seventies, you’re imagining an image shot by Lázló Kovacs.

That finally brings us to Poet, who was played by a young upstart named Jack Nicholson. Is it even necessary to point out that he’s the best actor in the film? Well, he is. The character is a bit underwritten, but he makes the most out of it. Nicholson can do more with a smile or a glance than other actors in the film attempt with an entire monologue. Best of all, he still hadn’t gone full on bug-eyed, jive talkin’, scenery chewin’, Lakers court side Jaaaaaaaack yet. There’s a vulnerable, wounded quality to his acting here that is incredibly compelling, I would argue that he perfected it in Five Easy Pieces, one of yours truly’s favorite films of all time, before moving on to the more ostentatious work that would net him 3 Oscars and turn him into a tabloid playboy.

Hells Angels on Wheels would help establish the counterculture motorcycle gang as a cinematic force to be reckoned with, at least on the drive-in circuit. More quick and dirty films of that ilk followed in its wake, such as The Wild Angels, Born Losers, and Hells Angels ’69, before one such film broke on through to the other side: an acid-soaked exploration that pitted the battle between the bikers and normal society as the struggle for the very soul of America in the Vietnam age. Oh, and they brought Kovacs and Nicholson along too. Obviously I’m talking about Otto Preminger’s Skidoo.

Nah, just kidding, I’m talking about Easy Rider. Released in 1969, the film proved to be the flashpoint for the most artistically fertile decade in the history of American cinema. And to think, it all may not have happened if it wasn’t for a little movie that’s mostly establishing shots of bikes being parked.

#ANALOG SCUM #analogscum #VHS #vhsishappiness #bekindrewind #tapehead #tapeheads #bikers #hells angels #genre #exploitation #exploitationfilm #hellsangelsonwheels #1967 #jack nicholson #lazlo kovacs #richard rush #new american cinema

[stone-man-warrior]

December 26, 2020: 1:32 pm:

Thunderbird’s Episode: 0000000-00000-000

INVALID SYNTAX ERROR

Operation Crash Dive

♦ “What’s the count Ump?”

♣ “I don’t know, they are playing Bad Minton“

♥ “What’s the score Ump?”

♣ “Looks like two down, bases loaded, they brought in a pinch hitter”

♠ “What a racket, it’s only the bottom of the second, and they already cleared the net”

♥ “oohh.... I love cello music!”

♦ “They are serving funnel cakes at the concession stand, free with a $5 beer”

There is a glitch in the Secret Decoder Ring Roster of Decode on Decoder Ring RADAR.

==============================================

Ok, I watched the episode, Operation Crash Dive, I think DB Cooper was watching too, through the back door slider... sneaky bastard.

Today’s presentation was presented in “Subordi-nato-Scope”, in “DownRangOvision”, with “Enhanced High Fidelity Stereo-Sonic Theater” audio.

Produced by: “Pan-Jam-Air-Waves-Broadcasting” and featuring: “Red”

===================================

It looks like the Capitol Records Executives are still held captive in that echo chamber basement beneath the Capitol Records Building, and are revealing a lot of Hollywood secrets to Tommy-Two-Toe’s & Three-Finger’s-Louie, while Guido man‘s the control room in the recording booths at the 12th floor.

Red... lot’s of red... all kinds of red. It turns out that the red comes in all shapes and sizes, and can be applied to other, non-red items, quickly, and easily, over time.

International Rescue is heading for the Los Angeles Times. It appears that they see oportunity there, for harnessing that “Above The Fold Front Page Headline Real-Estate” that exists on newspapers. That’s handy for controlling people with scary headlines.

Meanwhile, in reality, I suspect the take over of LA Times happened shortly prior to the introductory issue of USA Today newspaper, to my recollection, that happened in around 1972-ish. There was a local newspaper in Southern California at that time, when some changes with the paper sparked outrage and scorn from long time loyal subscribers. “The Green Sheet” was a local newspaper, was not a small newspaper, was the Go-To newspaper for knowing what’s going down in the neighborhood. “The Green Sheet” was actually printed on Green Paper for the Front Page, Back Page, and Center Fold. About the time when USA Today showed up on news stands, “The Green Sheet” turned white... no more Green Paper in the Green Sheet happened, the paper was printed with the same title, “The Green Sheet”, but there was no green to be found anywhere in The Green Sheet newspaper after that. The San Fernando Valley, was outraged!

===== 7:38 pm: Extra:

For reasons that have no support other than having been at a hot-spot at a hot-time, I feel there is a direct connection with “Gone Postal” 1970′s Post Office attack news stories presented at time, and, the introduction of USA Today newspaper. I remember, as a 9 year old. that the USA Today was something special for some reason, I recall there was much talk about the USA Today newspaper’s premier issue, I should not have noticed, I was 9 or so, but I did notice, and remember some connection to “Gone Postal”, and that was terror news media saying that they had taken over the US Postal Service at various offices, one at a time, working their way up to USPS Central Federal Office of Operations, at state levels, then the master unit, where ever that is. USA Today played some kind of role with “Gone Postal” news stories.

=====

The Operation Crash Dive episode is showing a ton of Green Jello Terror Cell Easter Eggs within the episode. My first knowledge of Green Jello being some kind of mysterious import thing was in around 1970, in Canoga Park California.

=== 7:47 pm: Green Jello leadership is at 560 Jackpine, Myers family terror cell. They played a big leadership part for the collapse of World Trade Center, when Ron Howard was the man who was in the helicopter that took the only live shot of the so called airplane crash. I was the person who made what was called a “Key Mask Filter” for that, while held captive at my home, forced into making a lot of graphic materials, photo manipulations, designs of guitars and parts of guitars, instrument panel artwork that is currently used on Boeing airplanes, and other airplane signage for Boeing after they were hijacked in Seattle. Myers at 560 worked in close contact with people such as Ron Howard, David Letterman, Jay Leno, others, at the time. The guitar makers were Zakk Wylde, Paul Reed Smith (I designed all of the “Dragons” special “One of a Kind” Dragon art that went on the guitars, my daughter designed one of those, was there for help with the Dragons), Dean Zelinsky Guitars, while Eastwood Guitars were the people in charge of all of the guitar designs I was forced to do, and, Dean Zelinsky was there in the 1970′s at my house, with all of those musicians I was controlled by back then, so Dean Zelinsky must be associated to Harold & Joan Phillips at 507 Jackpine, as those people also have somehow wound up following me, then moving as a neighbor, after encountering them as a child in 1970′s.  The Dean ML is my design from back then, it’s a letter K, flying V. Dean was involved with Eddie Van Halen, and Bill Gates, who are old friends of one another. I did guitar work as a young kid, forced by Dean Zelinsky. Myers is a big part of Green Jello, and the oldest connection I have to Green Jello is from Dean Zelinsky 1970′s, actually in direct association to the British throne. There is Much to say, the information goes in so many directions, with Royalty at my house in the 1970′s who showed up with Tony Iommi, and the members of Pink Floyd before the Dark Side of the Moon was recorded, and took me to a European castle dungeon. Then again with meeting the Queen in Reseda California 10 years later, at about the same time I met Barack Obama, who went by the name “Black Steve” at the time. Much to know if there were only some people interested in doing national security work other than me. ===

I suspect there is some indications of a plan to take over the General Motors Manufacturing Facility that I think was on Van Nuys Blvd at Roscoe, where at the time, the Corvette’s were being built there, see old news stories about a Auto Workers Union Strike at that facility, some time after the take over, as the so-called strike was used to lure “Scab” labor, for “Kill & Replace”, to that facility, people guided there by Los Angeles Media. There is also something similar about a manufacturing facility of some kind that was on Canoga Ave. between Roscoe and Saticoy, along the Freight Rail Road there, that leads to Anheuser Busch in Chatsworth, where I am certain was hijacked along with the Cerwin Vega High Fidelity Audio Manufacturer nearby Anheuser Busch, in the 1970′s, but I don‘t see that in this episode, other than the Corvette Factory, which is subtly presented in the episode.

I noticed that these guys have Hydroplane technology in 1965... that is some whiz-bang high tech... should make a “What can be said about Hydroplane?” list.

Start with: “Slide” and work from there, once you reach “Airplane” and “Hide”, then switch to “Where did all of those thousands of paratroopers come from when they landed in So. Cal.?”, in order to understand that there were a whole bunch of airplanes parked in weird places back then... Palmdale, Thousand Oaks, Sun Valley, Balboa Reservoir,  are places where dozens of airplanes were just parked in places where there was no airport, back then, in 1969-ish. Best guess is they were DC-9 US Postal Service aircraft. John Wayne Airport should show up in Thunderbird’s episodes coded in pretty soon as the viewing continues. Analyze that name... John Wayne. I met him once in a boat in Santa Monica Harbor, called “The Duke”, about a 80 foot sloop. Things did not work out for Mr. Wayne that day, or for the people who brought me there, a 1972 Ford Ranchero wound up in the harbor, under water, as a result of my visit.

The episodes are clearly showing symbolism that a elongated triangle shape is important, some indications are a computer read out on a paper receipt, and on elevators in previous episodes, they are showing up in many places. Generally speaking, this Operation Crash Dive is presenting a notion of what I am going to label as “Natural Progression”, is the gradual increase in small details in the backgrounds of the Thunderbird’s puppet show sound stage sets. I am going suggest that as the “Natural Progression” of small details increases, so does the details associated with over-all progress of take-over, or, with detail in the planning of making progress later. Small increases in what you might call Resolution of the back-ground artifacts within, such as knobs, screens, wall art, controlling surfaces, clothing, props and more, seem as increase knowledge or increase physical gain indicators, like triangles are used on classic car turn-signal indicator on the dash... see how the airplane dash-board catches fire in the episode as the window is being cut with a round hole for the pilots to escape into what looks like an elevator car, the dash fire, is a turn indicator, “turn” means “Turn-Coat”, “Treasonous”... see “Don’t Let it Bring You Down” by Neil Young for more about turning, newspapers, blind people, people who have answers, buses, castles, and not to worry about any of that because the Baby is on Fire, you can just throw her in the water.... and Mr. Young is a Canadian who says he invented a motor that runs on Hydrogen.

=================================

Maybe I’ll add some more later. It’s 3:20 pm.

==================================

3:26 pm:

One more thing before I forget, for you physicists out there, don‘t forget to simplify. Example: You have a three dimensional shape in your hand, one that can be described with an equation, such as a sphere, or cube, and those are Prisms, there are Triangular-Prisms to think about here, the Triangular Prism is the single most simple, and is the absolute strongest of all Three-Dimensional Prisms. Don’t be a Tetrahedronic-Prism in a wold controlled by Triangular Ones, you could wind up in a Trapezoidal-Prism.

====

3:58 pm:

More about Three-Dimensional Prisms:

They can be used to control social conditions.

Simple idea: You know that the very strongest of all shapes, in the universe, is a Triangular Prism, nothing comes even close to the strength of a Triangular Prism. You know that, because you are no fool, you did your home work, you are smart mother fucker, did the math, saw it work, made some models, and you know that the thing is as strong as strong can possibly be. Even a paper one is strong among other paper prisms. Indestructible is the Triangular Prism.

So, smart people who take over the media, have tools available to make sure that other people are not as smart as you and your gang, so, those guys, set out to build a whole bunch of Tetrahydronic Prisms to surround themselves with. Triangular Prisms all with Tetrahydronic ones all around, only select people are allowed to know about the secrets of the Pyramids.

They did it with media, over time.

The terror bastards stay smart, because they are not interested in the garbage that is presented on TV, newspapers, movies, etc. They like music, that is where the brains are at. So, millions of people, all wondering what Al Bundy is going to do next, makes all those people dumber than a box of rocks at a quarry. Add Luke & Laura’s wedding, stretch that out over, say, five months, and everyone is waiting to get fucked, as they show us Al Bundy go into the restroom every episode with his newspaper, just to make sure we all remember to wash our hands before the Tonight Show is over, because that, is when everyone gets laid.

Too Much Information is the thing that builds a society of Tetrahydronic Prisms all in a Trapezoidal Prism, with no way out, because the whole USA is built with walls made of Triangular Prisms.

Stay smart, keep it simple.

The mystery of the Pyramids makes that task daunting when trying to explain why everything is so complicated.

They made it so you have to be a Tetrahydronic Prism in order to explain or teach the secrets of the Pyramids, a Triangular Prism where Amp Guru lives.

=========

4:27 pm:

Make an experimental comparison, see reality in a power circuit:

You need: One, one-hundred watt guitar amplifier w/speaker, TUBE DRIVEN.

One digital powered amplifier, one-hundred watt. Such as a powered speaker.

They each consume one-hundred watts of electricity.

You can use other wattage. Use what you have. Base your experiment on the wattage of the Tube Amp.

Play something through the tube amp.

Play something through the digital amp.

Compare.

The power consumption is the same for each, but the Tube Driven amp will prove to you that it is far superior to the digital amp power.

The two are not even close.

You might need 50 digitally powered amps to match the output of one single Tube Driven amp.

Try it and see for yourself. There are a lot of questions about why are we using sub-efficient tech, when there is superior tech that has been available for nearly a century? Far superior.

This is important for learning about who Amp Guru is, and how they think, how they control people, and communicate with one-another.

Is the rate of power consumption equal between the two amps? I don‘t have the answer, I watched Married With Children too much, and.... Luke & Laura’s Wedding, so, it’s hopeless for me, maybe not too late for you though.

This URL... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6IxCMNx4znY

(But the Browser version of the same URL leads to what I want to see, hear, share with you:)

{12-27-2020: 1:10 pm: Yesterday, when I posted the link to the Pink Floyd, some other video showed up here, below, I should have taken a screen shot, but did not do that, and now I am made to look as the fool, because I watched Married with Children too many times, and apparently Luke & Laura finally went on that honeymoon... left the mess here on this page. So, now, I can’t show you that other place where the link, linked to. Ohh well..  the good news, is I can listen to the album now, could not do that yesterday. (you have to imagine that the remainder of the post was written while the link was wrong, presented some other video there below, otherwise you won‘t know what happened)}

Makes this video happen:

Could be a bug...

Certainty is part of the Syntax Error.

It’s not the Decoder Ring. That works good.

I’ll try again... after some scans, reset the signal amplification modulation unit, adjust the rabbit ears...

That’s the problem... that fucking RABBIT! He’s inside the Symantec norton 360 internet security software I pay a lot of money for every year. That dreaded norton Life Lock Pop Up Window happened as I was explaining about the 100 watt tube driven amplifier experiment, it says: “Your Wi-Fi May Be at Risk”.

I don‘t use Wi-Fi. It’s not at risk. There are other risks, and they may be Wi-Fi risks, but I don‘t use Wi-Fi, others are able to use the Wi-Fi for me, inside of my computer, without my knolledge or consent. The problem is at Centurylink ISP, Oregon.

I don’t even have a Wi-Fi modem, but that won‘t stop the Sheriff and State Police from saying that I Piggy Back Wi-Fi from somewhere else.

Restarting initialization sequence now...

==================

5:53 pm:

Local Update:

The computer URL Hijack was done to get me to go outside for a walk to the mailbox, where along the path starting from the moment I opened my front door a series of activity was roled out for attack from Chartrand’s at 376 Jackpine with much support at Strong’s SAG house at 3747 Russell Road, and other, hidden support to the south on Russell, and distant assist from farther east somewhere.

The attack plan is a Pacific Power Corp attack plan, has been done dozens of times. I know how to defend from the Pacific Power Corp w/Centurlink assist attack’s when they are roled out. Many involved, as many a perhaps 20 individuals necessary for this attack scenario, mostly staged at Chartrand and Strong’s terror cell physical locations, with digital location inside my computer.

First was the set-up, all day my eyes were not working, had very poor vision, they have a poison aerial gas that produces that symptom, and a airplane flyover at the very moments that I plugged in my coffee maker was used as a signal through the Smart Meter Power Meter to read and transmit my power consumption live, as I use electricity. The Smart Meter at my house is isolated at Pacific Power HQ as one to monitor 24/7 as I consume power, thereby alerting the Pacific Power Corp terror cell of some detail about what I may be doing, and where I may be physically located inside my home.

The coffee maker produces a signal to Pacific Power in the form of amperage consumed, about 7 amps draw is my guess. They learn my habits by the consumption of electricity, they learn what kinds of electric powered things I use, over time, make a data base, use that to assist in a physical attack at my home, today, the coffee maker signaled a airplane, the airplane was used to dump a load of poison gas over my home, the gas was sucked into the house by virtue of the return-air vent of the forced air heating system, that produces a negative air pressure condition inside the home, thereby drawing in air through small cracks, holes, under the front door where they intentional wrecked the door sweep insulating rubber years ago, and other places such as the chimney, where the poison gas from aerial delivery sparked into action by use of a coffee maker, is drawn into the house where I breath it, making my eyesight poor, and a feeling of false security and well being is washed over me that way.

I suspect other gas was introduced into various places around the home throughout the day, all in effort to set me up for he walk to the mailbox after a full day of breathing a variety of poison gasses.

--

The sound of loud screaming was heard from the distant east as I opened the door and began to walk to the road to get my mail. The scream sounds were female, and were compounded with a duplication of the exact same screams from the nearby southwest direction, and additional duplicated screaming was from the south, near 560 or 598 Jackpine backyard areas. The screams were what I would associate to someone mauled in a wild animal attack, lasted about one minute, was intense screaming.

At the same time, Strong’s terror cell deployed two vehicles, one went south on Russell road, the other unknown, but I suspect it was people I encountered at Chartrand’s a few moments later. The people were already in their cars, waiting for me to open my front door, they have access to a listening device that was put under my house by the front porch somewhere. Then, along the path to mailbox, things quieted down. I checked the mail, the box was slightly opened already, the mail was a bill, somewhat crumpled, and placed inside the box in a way that is not consistent with the way the mail carriers put the mail in there, each mail carrier, it turns out, has a signature way they put the mail into the mailboxes, it’s possible to determine if the mail carrier was the regular one, or the substitute one, simply by the way the mail is placed inside the box. Today’s mail was placed by some other person.

As I reached for the mail, that is when the physical part of the attack began as a car (from Strong’s) came down the road. The Strong terror cell consistently roles a car to Chartrand’s most of the time I go get mail. So that happened.

Today, I already had figured out the Centurylink/Pacific Power attack before I went out there, some of that is evident in the contents of the Tumblr entry today.

The way to deal with the biggest thugs, is meet them head on, and drop one, then leave.

So, I walked over there to Chartrand’s to drop some thugs as they had just driven from Strong’s and parked.

As I approached, I lit my Bic Lighter constantly with intermittent small uses of the lighter.

There were sounds of popping, some thud noises, bang, bop, baddaboom... a short delay, then that car left Chartrand’s, as the car left, i was standing by that front driveway at 376. The car was not able to maintain a straight path forward, was all along the shrubs at the soft shoulder, wheels off the road, and swerving. the car stated to drive into the Clyde Baum terror cell at 333, then turned straight down the road and out of view.

I walked home.

As I turned to walk home, either that same car, or another car, came down the road towards me, by back to the headlights. When I looked to see what car it was, the car was not there. There was no car there, I think it was two people with flashlights on foot mimicking a car as I turned to walk home, and were seemingly alerted into action by the other car that was swerving.

I suspect the attack team from Pac-Pow, had burst from nitrous gas ignition as I approached over their to drop some thugs. I also suspect that car was a remote control car, was operated by the two flashlight men on the road who mimicked a car headlights.

Another assessment is the typical one, after things went sideways at Chartrand’s, the back-up plan was quickly deployed, to say I hurt the people in that car so I could steal their car, that means the County Sheriff is at Clyde Baum’s at 333 orchestrating the Pac-Pow/Centurylink attack, along with Oregon State Police terror operatives there.

Big operation today, they must be Orthopedic Surgeons over there, plastered, from Quebec.

Fail.

It’s 6:54 pm.

=========

8:57 pm: “Keep it simple” approach to finding and apprehending hard core terror mass murderers:

Hope. Follow the hope. The people who promote hope, the people will sell hope to you... if they are telling that hope is a good thing, it’s likely that is a terror murderer, it’s simple as that.

The Rules:

Hope is what remains after everything else is gone. Those are the rules.

So, if it’s a Hopeless situation, in terror language, that is like having vast riches.

They played the turn-a-round on what we believe hope is about.

If you have a family, a home, some money, some valuables, vehicles.. if you have some stuff that you enjoy, do you really want of need the hope that they want to give to you, or worse, sell to you?

They will find a way, to make you want some hope. If you fail the Hope Test, you mark yourself to be taken out by those who understand the true meaning of what really is. So, find the Hope Dealers, make arrests. It’s like a drug the world does not need.

The same people who want to hand out all of that hope, will come to ask what you are proud of, when you mention how proud of your family you are, and say why, and tell stories about Pride, that is when they hunt down and kill everything you are proud of, then, that’s when they come back, not to give you hope, but to tell you that you can buy it.

The farm is sold, with stories of hope and pride.

====

9:23 pm: The terror come from Britain. At some point in the not so distant past, what USA used to think about as England, changed emphasis, to Britain.

If you grew up at some point before about the 1980′s, maybe you understand that England to Britain transitional condition that took place.

Why?

The reason is the language we use, the English language, it’s called English because it originated in England. The language was developed as a weapon to aid Christian Crusades, the double meanings, and round-a-bout nature of the word craft is by design, so, when the British began to go hard core with use of the weapon language over the broadcast airwaves when SAG came aboard their Pirate ship, the British do what they have always done, draw attention to some other place, while maintaining control, and illusion of superiority. The terror includes a campaign for switching thoughts away from England, in favor of United Kingdom, and Britain, for subject matter that leads over in that direction. We don‘t say England any more, we say The UK because of the campaign to draw attention away from the source of the English Weapon.

It’s take my whole life to learn that, I remain confidant that some other people will understand the enormity of it, because the enemy are the people who crafted the language we use to speak with.

The words themselves, are a variety of poison.

There is a dictionary, they gave us a dictionary, send us to school to learn English. We are scolded if we misuse the words, or spell them “wrong”, that happens while the enemy has a alternate use dictionary, one that allows more freedom of expression, more creativity, more legroom, more headroom, is very handy, can be used as a front with the dictionary version we are bound to, while others are saying completely different ideas in the background of the same conversation. It’s the same as “White Man Speak With Forked Tongue”, or, “Double Talk”. The enemy speaks English up front, and Mayan in the background at the same time, with dialect considerations, words are crafted on the fly, outside of the boundaries of a dictionary, for taking victims at the One Hour Martinizing. They used to speak Mandarin there, now, they speak English, and no one can understand what the heck they are talking about there.

I suspect that the presence of what I have been calling “Ancient Chinese Secret” contained in the Thunderbird’s episodes, could turn out to be the idea that the English language is a “Double Speak” language, so, they need to announce that within the episodes, at places in the episodes where double-talk is done, so that the terror operatives who need the command orders will know when to use the dictionary, and when to switch to “Ancient Chinese Secret” language, which is portrayed with the notion that the Chinese Laundry has all changed, and is now called “One Hour Martinizing”, and those guys at the Martinizer are best described as “SAG newsmedia personalities”, so, when it looks as if a Mobile news crew is on the scene, that is the same as “Ancient Chinese Secret”.

That’s my read about that.

===

10:09 pm: Although it may be best to describe the “One Hour Martinizing” as newsmedia personalities, I still believe it’s important to say that it’s also the entire visual media industry, a place where they do some front office work, in the back office.

Think about the older television programs, the ones that were on for One Hour, are different than those that were only on for a half hour. Shows like Laugh-In, the Carol Burnette Show, and Glen Cambel Music Hour are going to prove to be way up the command chain at the Martinizer, and those guys are subordinate to Amp Guru, Music Industry, originating at the Vatican, trickling down to British commercial music industry, leading to British Invasion, where we Meet the Beatles, and are slaughtered, with take over of US Music Industry, to start with.

=====

10:31 pm:

Gone Postal Terror:

Hijack of US Postal Service came with Russian Mother Hoax Fractal View.

Say you are a kid eating breakfast, have some time before school, see that if you send in 10 Box Tops from the cereal box, you can get Thunderbird’s Paper Hamburger Server Hat, they say it’s a Space Mission Leprechaun Hat, but you know what it really is, and, you already collected nine other box tops, so, you put those into the envelope along with the postage necessary to ship the Hamburger Hat to you (It’s like a mini Pope Hat) and off to school you go, while dropping that into the mailbox, red flag goes up, and onto the Bus you go.

Three days later, you are missing, and the newsmedia warns about the presence of a Cereal Killer, but unless you read the news paper, you won‘t ever know there is a typo in the paper, where they spelled it “Serial Killer”, the way “Amp Guru” spells it. Some other place says “Surreal Killer” (The Star, Mom reads that in the bathroom), while they are searching for you offshore. Reality is you in a dungeon at school, held captive. because the “Gone Postal” terror cell, is “The Stork”, and they put you in the dungeon with other kids who also sent something in the mail, like a note to Santa, with return address on there, so Santa knows where to find you.

Gone.... Postal.

Taken by the Stork, for delivery to the terror training center at a SDA nanny not far away.

There are a few ways the double speak is done for killing and replacing, kidnapping and taking, the English way, on TV, school, at the store where the cereal came from (Post Cereal for Fractal View), newspaper headline, and at home.

===

11:04 pm:

It’s been about six years since I began to write eye-witness terror experiences this go around, there have been other times when the information was all deleted by the county sheriff who said help was on the way before deleting the information. That other time, there must have been someone who had power to help, and read the information, sent the local authorities to my house. But those people did not understand the enormity, the complexity, the extreme nature of the Christian terror army. I wonder if those people survived the return rapture that is done when outsiders get involved in Oregon?

So, I started again writing about six years ago, after waiting what seemed an eternity for that help to arrive... no help came. I started again six years ago, on Google+, they deleted the whole Google+ as a result. Had to start over, carried all of that writing here to Tumblr, where I have absolutely no indication whatsoever that anyone has actually seen any of the information I put here.

There is no reason at all for me to believe that this account even exists, it’s like I am a ghost, surviving in a house, with no one to haunt, all alone, and no one will read the notes I leave behind.

There is no indication that anyone can see these writings other than the terror bastards who toss the information back at me in three dimensions while waging an attack. Happens almost every day, but no help has come to speak to me, write an email to me, send a letter to me, call on the telephone to me, send a text message, or even a carrier pidgin or smoke signal to say that they got the message, read it, are making a effort... nothing but silence and attack at my home ever happens.

The terror bastards take what I write... they actually not only read it, but they made a searchable data base out of the raw information I put here in paragraph form, with some links that don‘t always work the way they are supposed to, and other photos and visual aids that no one can see, other than the terror army. That data base is real, you may think I am joking, there are no jokes here, any humor you find is part of the terror, the Comedy mask of SAG built in to the terror, it goes along with the Tragedy mask, and all of that is part of Covfefe Presidential Grade SAG Terror. The data base serves the terror army, is cross referenced to another data base of lies told to federal officers, so that the terror army can better know what lies go with what parts of these entries, to maintain the trickery they do, and keep the federal officer entertained. I suspect there is at least one more data base of cross reference to a “alternate universe” sort of psuedo mirror backwards version of what I write here. There is much evidence to support such a mirrored bassackwards version written by other persons, for further fuckery to my cries for help.

The whole Google+ Social Media Platform of millions of accounts was deleted, not just mine, it was done to cover their asses, no one really knows the true reason why they deleted Google+ is all contained inside this Tumblr account that no one can see.

The terror bastards not only attack the ways I explain here, but they use poison gasses to foul me up, they have gas that makes you need a restroom, one that makes you itch like crazy, the nitrous makes you stupid enough that you will hand over your wallet, badge, gun, car keys, and photos of the wife & kids, right to them, when they say: “Hey, I collect those, can I have that one?“... “sure, here you go.” Then they say: “we have a ride, it’s like a roller coaster... let’s go ride the roller coaster” then they take you to a giant razor blade looks like a sllde, people all lined up to ride it, body halves on each side and the sound: “weeeeee” as another child is cut in two, SAG audience cheers.

So the gasses they use are also ones that make my vision not work, and that is pumped into the house after they toss a handfull of ground up glass dust into my eyes at the store, the cashiers do that part, it’s like saw dust made of glass, makes you blind for a month or more if it sets in real good.

The terror is layered like that, one thing means another similar Fractal iteration will be done, the same in some ways, different in other ways, and the difference is Fractal Iterated further after that... ditto, etc, and so on....

But there is absence of assistance in every way.

===

Seriously, the closest thing to getting some help to stop terror, happened at a time when I didn‘t know it was terror I needed the help for, in around 1970 when Elton John showed up with all of those other musicians in my youth, he saw what was going, was opposed to it, I asked for help, he said he would help.

He left, called later, said he can’t help, they killed Olivia, his wife.... no one knows or cares that they switched the Olivia’s.

I don’t ever defend entertainers, and the rainbow warriors really make me angry, but I set that aside because that is what happened, and is the only example of anyone even offering any help, and that was nearly 50 years ago.

It’s an example of extreme terror, and that was before they became powerful.

===

Maybe that was the help.

Saying that they killed the Olive, switched it out for an Onion, the SAG Union, could have been what he was saying to a 9 year old who had no idea what a Union was, other than some obscure math class lesson about exclusivity.

I understand now.

Let’s see if Elton joins the 27 Club in the coming weeks as a result of this post.

This particular lyric video hurts my ears to listen to, kinda tinny, good stereo separation though, and is pegged on the VU Meters, lots of clipping going on, it’s all fucked up, and is difficult to read... must be perfect.

The Queen will send him to Duordia before she sends him to 27 Club.

Happens all the time.

==========================

12-27-2020:2:06 pm:

There are turkeys outside somewhere nearby, that means Sparacino terror cell is trying to sneak up to put some kind of poison gas into the house, happens almost daily. Sparacino’s are part of: SAG; Oregon County Courts; County Sheriff; State Police; Li’l Pantry Market’s; Velero Gas Stations; Mikey’s Video; Video World, and that Taco restaurant nearby Merlin Li’l Pantry.

======

Triangular Prism. It’s as strong a shape as can be made.

But if you drop one, the pointy tips start to break off, a paper one will squish at the pointy tips. Keep dropping the Triangular Prism, over and over again, it will become smaller, and smaller, and increasingly smaller, less pointy, more round.

Eventually, the Triangular Prism will become spherical, loose it’s pointy vibe, then, the thing is more predictable in which direction it will go, when you smack it with a Louisville Slugger.

Something to think about.

====

12-27-2020: 2:28 pm:

I explained about how the forced air unit for your heater makes a negative pressured condition inside the house and will draw in air from outdoors through many tiny cracks, holes, and vents that houses have built into them, or are purposefully made, happen from seasonal moisture conditions as materials swell and contract, or are simply from wear over time. There is other considerations that investigative people need to know when dealing with terror soldiers who use airborne gasses to over power their victims. You need to understand that the terror bastards don‘t need to be right there at the front door, vent, or window to get the gas into your house, all they need is a breeze, and to release he gas such the the breeze does the work of carrying it to the house. All they need to know is when the heater or air conditioner is running, and that will go on, and turn off intermittently. The Smart Meter, when manned by Pacific Power representatives at their Smart Meter Receiver HQ to alert the terror soldiers, is handy for use a means to advise gas wielding terror soldiers about the timing of when to release the gas into the breeze. I have often heard the words: “We have the wind”, spoken from a neighboring yard as the breeze kicks in. That means the wind is in favor of the gas wielding terror soldiers, who play innocent as they poison you with gas released on the wind.

One more piece to this part of the puzzle is the electronics that make the heater work, the thermostat. They actually made thermostats with remote control functionality, even the ones the don‘t say they are remote operation capable, are indeed remotely operational to some extent, all they need is remote control to turn the  fan unit on when they need it to be on. The rest of the heating system does not need to function, but the fan does in order to create the negative air pressure condition necessary to draw in the poison gas, so, they have that capability at my house, because I had one of those digital thermostats installed at my home. Trust me, the old “Bi-Metal” thermostat is what you want to keep, don‘t let some asshole sell you a digital thermostat, the bi-metal is superior for safety.

I suspect the tech that works the remote for the hidden control in the thermostat is Infra-Red like the TV remote, except with addition of a digital enhancement of some kind. That could also possibly be the technology that works the implanted microphone transmitter in my jaw.... infra-red technology.

All of that stuff combined will get poison gas into anyone’s house, regular citizens. or FBI on stake out.... everyone is set up in advance, and is the presence of Bob Hope, all of the time.

2:55 pm: small airplane buzzed over top of my house as I write this.

========

3:06 pm: I write stuff here, then I read it to see what the bastards changed, then, I have to make the changes to put it back to the way I wrote it.

some consistency in the terror changes made are noteworthy, provided that the not stays the way I write it.

Tee-ache-eee spells the word “The”.

Often, if when I write “Tee-Ache-eee--en“ to say “Then“ or, “Tee-ache-aye-why” to say “Thay”, those are conditions that often get changed to: “Ache-eee”, “He”, and to “Tee-ache-eee”, “The”. I write “Then“ and it gets changed to “The”. I write “The”, and it gets changed to “He”.

There are hundreds of examples throughout these post entries where the words are changed out by some Christian Cult Zealot somewhere at Tumblr, Google, or Centurylink ISP.

The reason they do that is not known, the history of it’s significance is known, as follows:

The

The Ology

Theology

Study of God; The Bible

They are inserting some God into my reports of Terror.

People from places other than UK don‘t have the kind of background information about the language we use as dose the people who are from places closer to the source of the language.

I think I can demonstrate to you why the word “The” is the same as “God”.

Just start talking. Every time you need the word, “The”, pay close attention to what follows that word when you speak, or write.

Every last thing that follows “The”, is a thing that is said to have been “Created”. That means God created it, if you are a Christian Cult Zealot, so, when you point at the coffee in the store and say: “look, the coffee is on sale” you are saying “God Coffee is on sale”, he created it. That is the history of it. You can make it as simple or as complicated as you want to, but everything that follows the word “The” is said to have been a thing that was created, by God, by golly.

I don‘t follow the God crowd, so, to me, either the thing was made from evolution, circumstance, distance from the Sun, a person, or bug or animal, such as the dam made by the beaver.

We are getting closer and closer to the Sun as time passes. The gravity of the Sun draws Earth ever closer with each satellite revolution the Earth makes around the Sun. Changes will occur naturally. Eventually, we will be on the equivalent of Venus, no where to go, as things heat up. So, why not live peacefully and enjoy the ride, eventually, the ride will come to an end.

The only hope, is to develop powerful rockets that could push Earth a little farther away from the Sun... but.... what could go wrong?

Then, there is the Latin extension of the word “The”, it’s “El”.

The bastards like to simplify that word, “El”, it gets reduced simply to “L”.

So, sometimes, “L” is the same as “The”, in order for a Christian Cult Zealot to say the word “God”. But when they do that, it’s done in Vane, so, that means “Vain” also, for those language complications I tried to explain. It turns out, that a Christian terror soldier who says “L”, is also saying “Use wind, to make blood”.

The English language is weapon, so, listen carefully to those around you, especially in Oregon, where from Trinity County in California, to Salem where the state Capitol is, is all called “God’s County”, and is as close to a living hell as can be imagined, all while being so very beautiful to see.

After consideration of the “The” word, then, you need go towards the “Ology” part of “Theology”, and do some thinking. You can wind up back at “Olivia was killed, I can‘t help you”, and why there is an Olive at the bottom of the Queen‘s Martini. You could get to Oliver Twist from there, and Olive Oil, Popie’s girl friend who is forever sleeping with Brutus, or Bluto (they must be identical twins), but, Olive Oil comes in three varieties, Virgin < Extra-Virgin < and the beloved, Extra-Extra-Virgin (is very expensive). By the time the Olive Oil becomes Virgin, there is no more olive-oil left in the Olives to squeeze out, the olives are discarded after that.

It’s all part of the story of Theology and it’s evolution.

===

12-27-2020: 4:18 pm:

Someone paints a colorful scene on some terra cotta flower pots, collects some wild flowers from the woods, makes a bouquet, it goes in the pots... it’s more than gift when that person hands that to you, frightened.

It’s rocket science.

==========

12-27-2020: 6:42 pm:

This happened:

So I went over here, to see what’s going on... maybe Internet Explorer will work, but this happened:

So, I checked the “Find out why” button, and this happened:

For the federal officers, who are being jacked around by the local authorities, you need to know that the bastards stole about a thousand of my screenshots, similar to those above, yesterday when I accessed the Pose Photo Button. Some other asshole is going use some screenshots to fool you by saying they belong to Sean or Theresa, or Nicole Sparacino.

They are screenshots of advertised music gear, and Twitter news stories mostly.

Don‘t be a tetrahydronic Prism in a world controlled by Triangular Prisms, you will end up in the Trapezoidal Prism at Monroe’s terror cell.

They are spring loaded, made with stainless steel wire, and swords on garage door springs, are motion detector operated, they will tell you to “Go stand over there to get a look at the suspect”; that’s where the spring loaded snare is at, wherever the local authority tells you is best for a having a look. Victims are cut in two with just a piece of thin wire, on a spring, as they walk by, like a egg slicer.

The way the local fake authorities fool federal investigators and then kill them and their families includes that those screenshots that were stolen, (I watched the download happen, Centurylink accessed, and downloaded a lot of screenshots) can be switched out on the download, on the fly, live, from some other storage vault of kiddie porn that exists at Myers terror cell at 560 Jackpine (they have been kidnapping small girls from the nearby church for more than twenty years at 560 Jackpine and putting them into a outdoor garden shed over there) so that what actually winds up happening is the federal officers are shown those images, then later, when the federal officers are alone with some privacy, looking at porn, that is when the local fake authorities send the likes of Sean and nicole Sparacino over there, and those people are the Sneakiest Bastards On Earth, no other terror cell compares to those people for sneaky considerations.

So, literally, the Foolish Feds get caught with their pants down, and the Sparacino’s gas them. and attack, while dressed and disguised as a flock of wild turkeys.

That’s just one way. There are sooooo many ways to fool the feds when the State Police and County Sheriff are in charge of the foolery of the federal officers who are sent into traps, to come here, by their elected official leaders. The foolery comes from two ends. That is how the bastards “make ends meat” around here.

========

12-27-2020: 7:45 pm:

This for people sent to Oregon to see what the heck is going on around here:

First, you are in far more danger than you think you are.

I want to say about a phone call I received on Christmas day, from someone claiming to be family, I know there was at least one Stingray associated with the incoming call listening, I suspect there was more than one, but only one being operated by anyone who could help. Others in the hands of terror soldiers were also not only monitoring, but manipulating, participating in the call, with acting, scripted pre-arranged lines to say to fit whatever the local authority terror theme was. Also, on that call was the sounds of the terror soldiers who were hiding outside either my house, or some other house nearby, and their custom Blu-tooth style communication bleed over into the phone call I received.

I heard someone say: “I’m by the house”. That was buried with intrusive participation into the call with the so called “family member” saying that they bought a house to me on the call, introduced by the people who are fooling the federal officers who are obviously some where nearby and in contact with the local fake authorities, and is why I say you in greater danger than you know.

For those who can help, if you did not hear me saying that the terror army has taken control of all of the geographic area between the ends of the Interstate 5, from Mexico to British Columbia, then you were not listening to me, you heard someone else, you were fooled with electronics. I also talked about medical services are not available in Oregon, the doctors are fake, the police are fake, food is difficult to obtain, everyone is required to wear a face mask by State Government mandate, and other similar “I don‘t have any good news to say on this phone call” sort of subject matter. I explained about the sword fight at the end of the driveway and that fishing net that was being put there to put me into. I expressed extra distress specifying Josephine County beyond the conditions of the rest of the state being all terror controlled. If you did not hear that, you were not listening to me, you were listening to an act that was made possible by complicated electronics, actors from SAG, and terror soldiers who do whatever it takes to entertain federal officers.

It’s notable that when I get a call from that particular family member, the phone always goes blank with dead silence as I am speaking... eerie silence that is as if the call is not really happening, as if I am talking to the phone without a call connected. That silence condition has been present with that particular caller for about ten years.

I thought I heard someone say that the F-18 national Guard Fighter Jet Trainer that I bailed out of about fifteen years ago had been found in the Pacific where it fell, but that was brief and faint on the phone call, like hope, not really there.... but that airplane is in the Pacific unless someone retrieved it, and the instructions to find it are at an old Twitter account that was suspended awhile ago. There also might be instructions here on Tumblr, I have forgotten if I did put them here. Bruce Freeberg is the suspected airplane thief, I am not sure, I only know I had about less than five minutes to decide how to stop that airplane from being stolen, so, I got onto the airplane, so that I could get out of it. That way, the terror bastards don‘t get use that particular stolen airplane to kill US Citizens with.

So, you were fooled if that is different from what was heard on the incoming Christmas phone call.

===============

Let’s say that some federal investigate people were sent to Oregon from somewhere, say, Pittsburgh, and they got here to Oregon, checked in with Kate Brown representatives at State Police HQ in Salem, or, maybe at one of the five FBI Field Offices as they were instructed to do.

Where ever such persons checked in at, be it FBI Field Office or even if they just went into one of the convenience stores for some coffee, without checking in, tried to be stealth about it, either way, “they are not from around here”... it’s a Judge Thomas Hull style rule for terror soldiers to use.

The “You ain’t from around here, are ya boy?” method has a lot of sneaky parts to it. Everyone is a rank & file terror soldier here in Oregon, they look like old church people, they look like truck drivers, they look like tradesmen, and like kids on bicycles, but they are indeed all terror soldiers, most of the inhabitants of Josephine county knows the other inhabitants at least enough to identify that they are all “From around here” in a variety of ways.

There are scouts who go around in cars, and hang out in parked cars in the parking lots, the scouts use Smart Phones, everyone is supposed to have a Smart Phone, with proper setting information that will automatically make connection to the Smart Phone of the scouts. I don‘t have information about what will pass, and what gets marked. You are marked right away if you do not present a Blue-Tooth signal that is correct. Those who are marked, are followed and studied, prepared for take-out attack.

So, the federal people, simply by being here, and making a purchase, start to become the same as Red Marbles in a collection of All Green Marbles. The terror army begins right away to find out why there are Red Marbles in the collection, and from whence they came.

It would take them no more than two days to find the identity of who the outsiders are, even if they use cash to make purchase, cash is “forbidden“, so that is a Red Marble Flag. Anyone who comes to Oregon on commercial airline is marked and Identified before the airplane landed in Oregon, that is because the TSA is a agency under the parent agency Department of Homeland Security, and DHS is a major part of the terror take-over of USA. Air Traffic Controllers are also part of the DHS I think, not certain, but I do know for certain that Air Traffic Control is hijacked, part of the terror army nation wide.

There are no choices here in Oregon.

Such persons who come to Oregon would need to contact Pittsburgh at some point, but, the terror army is led by Broadcast Media, they have all of the communications locked up tighter than a bulls ass in fly season... you cannot make a phone call without it being heard by others. I doubt that even a personal satellite communication would get through unheard because the terror bastards are the people who put the satellites in orbit, and have access to the controls to them.

I am wanting to reach Pittsburgh here, on behalf of those who were sent here to Oregon. I know there are outsiders around by the way the terror cells around me are behaving, I don‘t know where they might be and would not say so if I did.

Let’s say those helpful people who were sent here are thought to have contacted Pittsburgh, and the people at Pittsburgh HQ are not concerned, all seems OK.

Don‘t do that, don’t feel like everything is OK, the terror can mimic, and they have horrible ways of making others do as they are told to do.

That scream I heard last night was different than other fake screaming that happens for “Save the Princess” where some screaming is part of the “Save the Princess”, everyone involved with those is a terror soldier, and the Princess is the one that does the kill most of the time. Anyone can “Princess”, could be a whole bus load of people who are stranded, and the bus is the “Princess”, is an attack against those who offer help. That scream was the most real terror scream I have heard in many years.

That scream is why I am going mention some detail, I don‘t want to, I need reach Pittsburgh though. If putsiders are captured, they are penned up somewhere, separated from their group. Typically, what I have seen is that the males are penned up, tortured, any females and children are forced to observe the torture. All who were captured are injected with heroin, even the ones who are tortured. they are exposed to nitrous/Versed gas mixture also. The ones who are tortured cannot feel much pain, that is part of the torture of the other people too, who observe their friends being subject to nails driven into their heads, everyone starts to say a lot of important information to the terror bastard by then. The ones subject to the nails are provided a mirror, so that they can see the nails that they cannot feel. It’s all fucked up like that. Happens at the house next to mine at 520 Jackpine, under direction of Myers terror cell next to that at 560 Jackpine. So, what made me share that is to advise those in Pittsburgh to listen very carefully to any contact that may occur. Other unseen things may be happening in the background.

There are other ways of torture to gain information. They have old world torture devices, if you can search and find it on Google search with “Torture Device” then the local terrorists made one, with a modernized twist. There was a “Rack” next door at 520 for many years, 9 feet stretch, not including arm length. I could hear when the knees pop loose, so, I get tortured too, to that extent of knowing it’s happening next door, and cannot do anything to stop it because I am outnumbered by 50,000 to 1.

I will be on the rack if I try to physically go there with my trusty fingernail clipper to fight with. You can‘t get a gun here, they are on the shelf in the case at the sporting goods stores, and are also part of the torture, because it’s right there, just out of reach, and you cannot get it, any attempt to purchase a gun, leads to:

“You ain‘t from around here, are ya boy?” and Honorable Thomas Hull will find a way to make sure you need his other service at Hull & Hull Mortuary Services, across the street from the courthouse on C Street.

Years ago, people came door to door, came into the homes, and took every thing that was sharp. Only a butter knife was allowed. Steak and chef knives all taken away. If you buy a knife sharpener, that will mark you for take-out.

Pittsburgh, don‘t rely on the communication, don‘t rely on local Oregon authorities. The good guys could be in a dire situation with no choices.

50,000 to one. Just in Josephine County, add Jackson, Douglass, and Klamath counties and it gets to 175,000 to one against me, and that is conservative estimate.

US Military is required.

Please send help.

Please send medical services.

Bring your own hospital.

====

9:39 pm:

national guard is not there anymore, they have not been there for about twenty years, any communication with Oregon national guard that suggests otherwise is a lie, is an act, to fool those who contact national guard. They can still procure new equipment and munitions as needed through the normal and customary means of getting equipment from national guard HQ command chain.

=====

12-27-2020: 9:55 pm:

Survival as a Red Marble in all Green Marbles advice:

Don’t go outside unless you need to.

For food, what I do, is difficult, but I’m not dead, so, I don‘t have other advice. Stay away from restaurants and fast food, canned food is probably safest. I choose the frozen chicken, Walmart brand, 5 lb bag, I stay mostly with that, the frozen Walmart brand vegetables are top grade, so I get that and stay alive doing it. Stay away from fresh bakery goods, packaged cookies seem OK, but they all seem to have some kind of way that is not exactly right, for me, all my teeth were shot out by the terror bastards, so, most of that is they are all too stiff, too crunchy, some seem like they make me sick in strange ways. But, I am going to have milk and cookies even if it kills me. The Walmart brand items mostly are OK, if not prepared in the store, and you have to check all of the packages for pin holes and safety seals before you buy the items.

The store is dangerous no matter where you go for food, but the Fred Meyer is more dangerous than Walmart, I have been hurt bad at Fred Meyer, seem to get out of Walmart without injury, but not without them trying to capture me. I suggest using a debit card over cash. The cash will mark you right away, the debit card has a delay to the ID of who used it, but there is that guy at the entrance with the tablet that scans for card chips in your pocket. I suggest a small metal case for carrying the debit cards. If no case, then stack as many cards as you can together to fool the scanning thing, even expired cards will help in a stack, I think. Be careful in every way.

Don’t buy fuel at AM/PM, your car won’t run, will stall, won‘t always start. Fred Meyer is best for fuel, but be prepared to physically fight, you need eyes in the back of your head, but the car will stay running if you are willing to fight for the fuel. There is no other way that I am aware of. I don‘t want to experiment at other stores, I have to learn each stores way of killing, so, learn, and defend is the best advice I have.

That is pretty much it. If you are in Oregon, and are an outsider, it’s only a matter of time before they hunt you down, so, know that too.

Personally, I don‘t go anywhere, ever, except to get some food, or go to a fake doctor, that is the scariest of all, the doctor is bad news, someone dies every time i go to the fake doctor. There are no more real doctors, all are somewhere held captive to treat terror soldiers, or worse.

Use a lighter, keep it in your hand while at the store. The terror army will come close, to gas you for a take-out at the register, so, when they get close, wave the lighter around briefly at waist high, that clears the whole aisle sometimes, nothing but abandoned shopping carts and falling ceiling tiles. The self checkout is scary, the other checkout with cashier is a place where the other terror soldiers (fake shoppers) get in line, to gas you in bulk, and the checkout lanes are lined with stuff, tall shelving that aides the gas to stay in that area in the line where you pay. If you can go to the store with a friend, that will greatly increase your survival chances, but they will try to separate you from your friend, don‘t allow that to happen. I choose the self checkout, but I did not like it at first, when they took away most of the cashiers, now, there are only about 4 cashiers aisles. sometimes only one is open.

Things are different now than they were this time last year at Walmart, so, older posts I made here may not reflect all of what I put here today.

The conditions have become gradually worse over time, this COVID situation is a nightmare, everyone mandated to wear masks as they try to kill you, and the entrance at the Walmart is reduced to just one door, one way in, one way out, and there are men who make sure you stay in the correct lane to get in or go out, they have special electronic tablet size thing, it scans debit and credit card chips while they are still in your pocket, all is cross referenced to ID data base and bank account info. There are at least 6 terror soldiers at the entrance to the Walmart, one tablet man, sometimes two of those guys, and at least one other vested person that is hanging around the entrance, and a number of Cart Jockeys who manage shopping carts there, those guys choose the cart for you, and park it right there for you, while saying “Welcome to Walmart”, there is someone there at the next entrance where actually go in to the shopping area. All of those people wear Walmart blue, some are yellow vests. That person at the actual store entrance past the shopping carts monitors, makes sure you have a mask over your face, if you have no mask, they give one to you to wear, you must wear a mask at Walmart, and everywhere, large or small stores, everywhere, by government mandate. There are signs everywhere that say so.

There is something extra special about the Walmart Pharmacy area, where over the counter remedies, shampoo, personal care items is at. The terror soldiers are like Velcro over there, they stick to you, if you go into one of those aisles, there will be instant other people that swarm there, and there seems to be always someone in each aisle, at least one, and, there is always a vested Walmart associate with a special kind of cart, has a ladder, has a place for a trash can on it, is a wheeled cart with ladder & trash can, has a shelf. The store associate is always on the ladder when I go in those aisles. There are no other places in the Walmart where I have seen those ladder/trash wheeled carts, only at the third aisle away from the actual pharmacy where prescriptions are faked. There are no real prescriptions filled at Walmart pharmacy, everyone in the line is for show. It’s all fake right there, and is higher concentration of terror soldier fake shoppers than other parts of the Walmart.

There is a cosmetics department, that area is a corral, it has four walls when you go in there. I suggest stay out of there. The hair dye and lip stick is not worth dying over.

You can still get a “Loaner Sword” if you are a special SAG terror operative at most or all of the checkout counters in the store. The cosmetics is where I see that most. They just go over to the cashier with some long narrow object, such as back scratchers that are hanging on display right near there, they take that, set it on the counter and say: “I need a loaner”, no more, and no less is spoken, perhaps a repeat of “I need a loaner”, then the cashier pulls a sword out from beneath the cabinet, lays it on the counter with the handle easy for the special SAG assassin to grab. The back scratcher is there only to fool the camera, as the sword is taken away from the check-stand, and the assassin goes to look through the store for the mark, with much assist from others in the store, and Oxcart service that follows. The people who do that tend to be very tall, well over six feet tall, male, over 50 years old, physically fit men, usually dressed with stylish comfortable leisure clothing such as cargo shorts mostly. If you look around the Grants Pass area, you can see these guys walking around on foot, older, tall men, casually dressed, in pairs. They are some kind of special mobile assassins on foot around the city, many of them scattered around, not hard to spot.

Those guys might be Vatican special assassins. They don‘t really fit the SAG vibe, and are Cookie Cutter Card Board Cut-Outs, they all look and dress the same basic way as the next one does. They are a lot like those weird women that accompany the Pope when he comes to Grants Pass, all the same, no personality, blank expression.

===========

12-28-2020: 12:48 am:

I put some Chip Bait in this entry, use it to catch big fish.

====

12:57: am:

Those “Loaner Swords” are not limited to Walmart!

They are everywhere at a service counter in a store, pretty much all of the retail stores have at least one “Loaner Sword” for SAG or Vatican special roving assassins who need one where ever they are called to service.

To my knowledge, there is at least one “Loaner Sword” hidden inside specially designed concealment compartments at the service counter of each and every pharmacy from Mexico to British Columbia along the west coast of USA.

========================

12-28-2020: 3:24 am:

Still trying to reach Pittsburgh.

I can‘t sleep after telling about the torture I witnessed for long next door at 520 Jackpine.

So, there is more to know about that, some is  mystery that others may find helpful about the torture rack. I saw it, it’s physically described elsewhere on this account, and there was more than one kind of torture rack. I have details about the 9 foot stretch that are significant somehow, so, as follows:

To start with, there is “Jesus was a Carpenter” considerations that I learned were of importance about it’s construction characteristics.

Then. there is some old 1960′s terror math that also seems to fit into the thing, in one way or another.

I’ll start with that: Terror in 1960′s began to remove & replace police officers with actors, and Vatican/British operatives in Los Angeles. So of course the math includes multiples of twelve for terror speak about that, so, “They come by the dozen“ is “Winchell Mahoney Time”, “Winchell’s Doughnuts”, “Windsor Royalty”, and gets into “Winston Churchill” areas of the Russian Hoax, and beyond and onto the beach at Malibu with addition of “Churchill Swim Fins w/Morey (Doyle) Boogie Board” (it goes on forever like that, could go to “dorsal fin”. “shark”, and “$5 bill” just from Doyle). So the math is 12′s for police. Those are feet. They gum on their shoes. It could turn out that the TV show called 24 is all about taking pairs of police, or, roleing out pairs of impostor police, with instructions within the episodes as marching orders. (that show was over the top, same with SAMCRO the bikers who sell arms to the Irish (Ireland is “the land of the angry people”))

now the carpenter math that is built in to the rack:

They made sure I understood it was a 9 foot max, not counting arm length.

So, most tract houses are built with 92 1/4″ studs, plus two top plate, and one mud sill, for total of additional 4 1/2″ of plate material, that grosses out to 96 3/4″, for a net wall height of 8′ 1″ after “lumber crown” of 1/4′ per 3 plates is added.

That’s for a tract house, typically 2000 sq, ft. or less.

9 feet walls happen in larger, more custom, or upscale homes.

That same math, but with use of 104 1/4″ studs, renders a wall height of 9′ 1″.

An additional foot of headroom for upscale dwellings, over a tract house of 2000 sq ft or less, is for the 9 foot ceiling height, which is what you get after the ceiling is covered with sheet rock, 9 feet.

I can see a number of religious connections to the math, but I can‘t do anything about what it seems to be saying, which seems to also go in more than one direction. Is multi-directional communication in the rack. Maybe that is the point, it pulls from two ways, like that “make ends meat” terror plan I mentioned earlier that seems to work so well.

I don’t think I have much more to say about that, without taking a three page ride in the Russian Mother of all Hoaxes by following the dots to see where they go.

I’ll go a little ways in there: That “Lumber Crown“ is actually called a “Cup”. The “Crown” is along the length of a piece of dimensional lumber, a carpenter must “Crown” every piece of lumber so that all studs, or joists, are all crowned with the lumber’s high spot going in the same direction, but I’ll leave the math the way I wrote it. The British Crown, knows all about that, they have been carpenters for a long time over there, so, they cling to ideas like that Crown. or that Cup, to do terror take over seeming simply because they are able to do so. The bastards control the whole lumber industry in Oregon, probably the whole nation. Brings new meaning to “Lumber Crown”. The “Lumber Cup” can be associated with young girls, the Holy Grail, and a lot of other religious connections to “The Cup” of a piece of lumber can be made.

Each piece of dimensional lumber has:

A Cup

A Crown

A Twist

A Bow

And Grain.

There is also wane on each piece, oddly, even if there is none there, in which case, it has no wane. Wax, on the other hand, is only on the wood if the carpenter puts it there, to make it slide across the surfaces, and into place.

All are important reasons why it’s said that “Jesus was a Carpenter”, but the truth I am pretty sure, is that the only thing the man ever built, was the cross that he was nailed to, hence, carpenter.

I’ll close out with that old TV show called “The FBI”.

From Wikipedia:

“Produced by Quinn Martin and based in part on concepts from the 1959 Warner Bros. theatrical film The FBI Story, the series was based on actual FBI cases, with fictitious main characters carrying the stories. Efrem Zimbalist, Jr. played Inspector Lewis Erskine, a widower whose wife had been killed in an ambush meant for him. Philip Abbott played Arthur Ward, assistant director to FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover. Although Hoover served as series consultant until his death in 1972, he was never seen in the series.”

Basically, the show served in some way as a “Vacuum” Hoover brand, according to Wikipedia, unless you really think J. Edgar had something to do with actually consulting.

The way I remember it, the people in The Valley where I lived dropped everything so they could watch that show. When I think about the way the people who where questioned in the series behaved at the time the investigators came by, it’s easy to see a connection to the way some of the older terror soldiers around here behave when they get around other people, they behave like they jumped right out of a 1965 FBI TV show, as if the show served as a training tool, mostly to show how to dance a move called “The Brush Off” to get rid of people who ask too many questions simply by looking and behaving “Holier Than Thou” when the police show up to ask some questions.

Lot’s of stuff at this link to think about. I wonder what IMDB.com has to say about the show.

(suddenly the links I make are working, that’s new)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_F.B.I._(TV_series)