jim henson

As I write this it's after midnight in the wee hours of Sunday morning, and I'm still buzzing from the superb double-feature I caught earlier this evening in the City at the historic Castro Theatre on the second night of NOIR CITY, The 8th Annual
San Francisco Film Noir Festival.

I'm hoping to get back over once or twice this next week to catch more of the festival before it's gone for another year...

Kicking off tonight's program was the impressive short embedded below, which intercuts clips from a few dozen classic Noir films, synched perfectly with Massive Attack's 'Angel' used as background score.

It was a huge crowd-pleaser for the packed house of Film Noir fanatics at The Castro...



'The Endless Night: a Valentine to Film Noir' was assembled by Serena Bramble, a 20-year-old studying psychology at Santa Rose Junior College.

Click here to read more about Ms. Bramble, the festival and its highlights.

Follow the video to its posting at YouTube, for notations listing all the films used as source material.

Hello again!
Yes, months have passed and there has been not a peep from this blog, and it's been many more months since I've posted any sort of regular 'Reasons To Be Cheerful' entry.

Simply put, things haven't been cheerful.
Mostly things have been difficult, mostly in the same ways they've been difficult for mostly everyone everywhere.
Perhaps you've noticed these things.

Personally, I hate reading blogs with excuses, so for me it's been easier to say nothing.

(Above: 'This Is Not A Peep'▲ found in the flickr stream of Coyote Crossing, via Aristocob)

Thanks to everyone who has written, whether wondering about my whereabouts, expressing concern or wishing well.

While all my stuff continues to sit boxed up in storage hundreds of miles away, for the forseeable future it seems the only stuff I can enjoy sharing with you on this blog are things I've bumped into recently, and stuff I can point you towards that I've seen on the interwebs.

But it's still great fun to share, so let's get to it!

1. Comic Soupy Sales crosses the finish line at age 83. Bon Voyage Soup!

- Follow link to the New York Times obituary.

At right is the cover image from an LP I had as a little kid, one that I played over and over again on my little variable-speed portable phonograph, although I'd never seen the TV show.

I'd never caught Soupy's schtick with Pookie or White Fang or the rest of his puppet friends, but was still fascinated and entertained.

- Follow another link to a nifty collection of Soupy Sales Memorabilia.

And so on to fashion - -

2. Perhaps photos of 'Woolies' have already found their way to you?

It was news to me, and to a friend who passed them along to me. She says she was innocently googling for information on knitting with wool and came across photos of wool fetishists in various parts of the world.

These photos are from a French fetishists forum (Not quite safe for work), as featured at Izismile.Com.

Whatever makes you happy is fine with me, but my first reaction was to naively wonder how long I could be able stand the heat and the itchiness - -

- - followed by wondering about how soon a fully wool body-suit would start to stink, how you deal with stains and are they machine washable.

Too practical, I know... I've heard it before...
























3. And then there are the average people we see around us everyday as we set about our erranding...

The administrators at People of Walmart.Com are quick to stress that their site is not affiliated with Walmart.

We'll see how long that lasts as they continue this fascinating cultural anthropology project.

Folks from all over the U.S. are sending in photos they've taken of assorted "Wal-Creatures" they've encountered in the wild.

I'm sure I'd enjoy wandering the site more if the captions included for the photos weren't often so mean-spirited, but - -

- - even so...







... It can be...







... awfully...








... danged...







... difficult...







... to look away.





Compelling and important evidence!

Head over to
People of Walmart.Com and see for yourself.

4. Speaking of the rich pageantry of fancies and foibles found surrounding the human animal, the new Coen Brothers movie has opened.

Once again they've provided that brilliant balance of great story and visuals, superb casting and perfect left-field unpredictability that I always hope for in their films.

I'm so pleased that I managed to see 'A Serious Man' before I'd heard a thing about it.
No reviews, no synopsis, no mention of who was in it.

It won't happen very often, but I think that for most films (good, bad or indifferent) entering a theater without a clue is the best way to go, if you can possibly manage it.

Probably it helps if you have a good track record with the filmmakers.

As with other flicks from the Coens, 'A Serious Man' includes an interesting soundtrack with some note-worthy recordings.

It makes great use of several cuts from Jefferson Airplane's 'Surrealistic Pillow' album and a couple of other choice bits of '60s psychedelia, but the biggest surprise is a beautifully haunting vintage vocal piece sung in Yiddish by operatic baritone Sidor Belarsky.
◀

- Listen to Sidor Belarsky's 'Dem Milners Trern'
('The Miller's Tears') (click on link)

This film may not do for Mr. Belarsky and Yiddish Folk, Cantorial and Art Song what 'Oh Brother, Where Art Thou' did for Ralph Stanley and Bluegrass, but still it's always nice to see a little spotlight land on an artist that's off of most people's radar.

Follow these links for more:
- A nice little article from the San Francisco Examiner about Belarski (who died in 1975), his long and illustrious career, and his daughter's efforts to perpetuate his music.

- The Man & His Music, a tribute site.

- A Yiddish music archive, featuring mp3 download links for several of Sidor Belarsky's 78 RPM recordings.

- 'Dem Milners Trern' leads off Belarsky's LP 'Jewish Melodies', streaming in it's entirety on a page at Florida Atlantic University's Judaica Sound Archives.
Further investigation shows that 20 other Sidor Belarsky records may be heard there, in addition to over 8000 songs by dozens of other performers ranging not just from Jewish religious music and folk song, but klezmer, children's music, comedy records and more.

5. Speaking of vintage tuneage rediscovered, it's been out for a few months now, but I still can't stop listening to
Loudon Wainwright III's High Wide & Handsome -
The Charlie Poole Project.

- - Or trying to recommend it to people. (Thanks again to my pal Joe Sixpack for turning me on to it!)

From the website: "Loudon Wainwright III revisits the life, times, and recorded legacy of legendary singer and banjo picker Charlie Poole (1892-1931). ▼

"A grand gathering of songs both old and original..."

So not merely a collection of cover tunes, the 2-disc set also mingles in some new songs by Wainwright telling tales about the colorful life of Poole, as performed by Loudon and various musical friends and family members - - several assorted Wainwrights and Roches, Chris Thile of Nickel Creek and Geoff Muldaur from the old Kweskin Jug Band.

Some of LW3's fans may argue that it's not what they expected from him, but the whole project reeks of 'labor of love', and he's the perfect one to channel the spirit of a previous rowdy fellow troubadour.
Check it out!

- - And finally, a different stripe of musical archaeology, but nonetheless esoteric...

6. The lyrics to the theme from 'Mission Impossible'.

A little while back I was googling about while trying to remember obscure lyrics I'd heard to some old TV theme song or another, and found the best thing I could have hoped for;

'Seldom-Heard TV Theme Lyrics' posted at You Don't Have To Visit This Blog.

A 2006 post, and it looks like the blog may be dormant (a lot of that going around), but as of this writing, the download links are still active for a great mix of old TV themes - - most of which you never realized ever had lyrics.

The mix runs mostly to the 1960's and 70's, with a few more contemporary renditions or parodies thrown in.

In many cases, these television themes only had lyrics after the fact, a bit of padding on a record release trying to capitalize on a show's popularity - - Or perhaps adding extra verses to the short and familiar version sung on TV.

In some cases there had been lyrics all along, written for contractual or copyright reasons that were never used.
Usually it was the right choice, especially when the themes to many action series were inexplicably forced into the role of love songs when given the vocal treatment.

I urge you to investigate this group of tunes, and to try to keep your jaw off the floor while absorbing the lyrics to The 'Hogan's Heroes' March or 'The Odd Couple', or while listening to Sammy Davis, Jr. sing the theme from 'Hawaii Five-O'.








One oddball selection that's missing from the 'Seldom-Heard TV Theme Lyrics' mix is the amazing and twisted vocal rendition of the Mission: Impossible theme, performed by The Kane Triplets, a sister act popular in Vegas clubs and on The Ed Sullivan show in the 1960s.
Not sure when or how the vocal interpretation of composer Lalo Schifrin's familiar theme song came about, but the result needs to be heard.



- Listen to The Kane Triplets sing the 'Theme from Mission Impossible' at the Kane Triplets MySpace page, at the Kane Triplets website, or by clicking here.

The lyrics cruise past at a speedy clip, so you'll need to listen close to catch them all.

Looking around the web, it seems that most previous attempts to list these lyrics have either disappeared or were incorrect, so please allow me my attempt to keep them alive a little longer...

- 'Theme from Mission Impossible'

(verse 1)
Fly away
Disappear
I'll be there
Waiting

Run high
Run low
Don't stop
Go no matter where
You are bound
I'm around
Waiting

Hypnotized
On a string
Following
Wanting

Lead me there
Anywhere
I don't care
Cannot stop
And I won't stop
Till you're mine

(bridge)
I keep on dreaming of you
No doubt about it
You took my head and made it spin
Somewhere it's never been
I'm in the desert
The middle of nowhere
With no shoes I calmly bear
Burning coals of fire
But when I get through
That's when I'll begin to
undertake a mission that's impossible

(Repeat verse 1)

(Verse 2)
Run
Don't try to hide
Don't stay beside
I'm gonna get you

Get on a plane
Go far away
But any day
I'm gonna get you

Don't be afraid
If you may find
I'm on your mind
Don't try to fight it

Love's
A waiting fuse
You can't refuse
You're gonna light it

(outro)
Fly away
Disappear
I'll be there
Waiting

No matter where
You are bound
I'm around
Waiting

It was in a previous 'Reasons To Be Cheerful' post, a little over a year ago, that I happily reported that I'd found a new website for artist Isabel Samaras.

- That post mentioned how the various mythologies at play in her paintings had been changing in recent years; It also displayed a few examples, provided links to more, and excitedly mentioned that a book collecting her work was being planned. (Follow link)

Now here we are, Spring of '09, and I'm excited to have received word of an Isabel Samaras double-whammy in the offing...

◀Her long-awaited monograph from Chronicle Books, 'On Tender Hooks: The Art of Isabel Samaras' is due to make its appearance any day now, and looks lovely.

Chronicle is also simultaneously releasing a fancy limited edition of the book that's packaged with a print, and a handy paperback book of 30 Samaras postcards, which will surely feature some of her earlier 'classical' riffs on pop-culture icons.


But wait! There's more - -


A new series of Isabel Samaras paintings will be unveiled in a few weeks in
San Francisco!

- Into The Woodz: New Works by Isabel Samaras will show at The Shooting Gallery, 839 Larkin Street in San Francisco, from 5/9/2009 - 6/4/2009.

◀ The new paintings take the childrens classic 'Goldilocks and the Three Bears', and re-works it as a more contemporary romantic tale.

In a preview posting at her blog, i feel it too, Isabel gives some details:

"When I started working on the paintings for this show I was thinking about the Princess culture being sold to little girls – how your highest aspiration is to be rescued, married off and whisked away to a far off castle.

"But what happened to the girl who didn’t hook up with a Prince, who stayed in the woods?

"I wanted to explore that story, so for this show I picked Goldilocks, and as I so often do I created my own version of a happier ending — that the moment when she and Baby Bear lay eyes on each other it was love at first sight. (Goldy has definitely gone to the bears.)

"In my imagination the girl who stayed in the woods got to find herself after she got lost — she didn’t trade her identity in for a tiara, and she found true love (because love conquers all, even inter-species romance)."


- Read more of Isabel's thoughts about these paintings and sneak a few further peeks of them at her blog.

- Read more about the gallery show at Happenstand and at Juxtapoz.

(This is a compiled repost of items culled from my soon-to-be-extinct subsidiary blog, 'Brief Window')

1. 1980s holiday viewing experience at BeTaMaXMaS!

This is pretty amazing - -
Click over to BeTaMaXMaS, hunker down in the basement, grab the remote, check the
TV Guide, and cruise the channels for Xmas programming from the '80s.

Old sitcoms, commercials and promos, animated Xmas specials and more.

Be sure to adjust the rabbit ears on the old TV to improve your reception.
A time-warp treat!

(via Intercourse with biscuits)


2. Follow link to a delightful and intriguing online collection of
Old Soviet Christmas New Year cards! (Correction; See below)




































(Click on images to ENLARGE in a new window)

(Found via Everlasting Blort and Martin Klasch)

- UPDATE, 12/20/08: But wait, there's more! Turns out the link above was only to the 'aerospace' portion of the collection. Follow this link to Mazaika.Com for several hundred more with many different themes!

- UPDATE, 12/21/08: Not only that, but...
Questions about these cards (including 'So what do they say?' and 'Didn't the Soviets ban religious celebrations?') has prompted some further research.

Sometimes it's great to be an ignorant westerner - - it affords you the chance to learn new things.

"С Новым Годом", as it appears on most of these cards, can be translated to english as
'Happy New Year'.

Christmas has begun to make a comeback in post-Soviet Russia, but the New Year's celebration has been the bigger event for decades.

- Follow link to a 1985 New York Times article and learn a little about how elements of banned Russian Christmas traditions were folded into the popular State-approved New Year's holidays - - which became civil celebrations, rather than religious or political in nature.

- Also check out an interview at Ephemera with Boris Glazer, the 'curator' of this collection.

- And no, that's not Santa in these cards. Click over to Wikipedia to read about 'Father Frost'
(a.k.a. Ded Moroz), the Russian counterpart to Mr. Claus.


3. Troy McClure Film or Actual Terrible Movie?
"You may remember him from such hits as 'Christmas Ape' and 'Christmas Ape Goes to Summer Camp', but how well do you remember Troy McClure’s other projects?"

Click over to the mental_floss website to take their quick quiz, and learn where truth is stranger than fiction, especially in the American film industry. (Found via IMDb)

Has-been Hollywood star Troy McClure was a beloved peripheral character on 'The Simpsons' TV show, though the character was retired in 1998 following the death of voice actor Phil Hartman.

Once you've completed the 'Troy McClure Film or Actual Terrible Movie?' quiz, then you're free to follow the link to
The Simpsons Archive's complete rundown on
'The Stellar Acting Career of Troy McClure'.



4. Vintage Cocktail Napkins

On his blog,
the Mt. Holly Mayor's Office,
Mayor Mike talks about his love for old cocktail napkins;

"The naive nudes, the
hand-drawn typography and the absolute corn beneath my glass of rye make me yearn for simpler times and a stronger liver."

Follow link to see items from his collection, The Jim Backus Memorial Cocktail Napkin Museum, on display at flickr.































































































5. A great gift idea!

Follow link to view a preview for the
self-published cookbook 'Natural Harvest -
A Collection of Semen-Based Recipes'

From author Fotie Photenhauer's
back-cover description:
"Semen is not only nutritious, but it also has a wonderful texture and amazing cooking properties.
"Like fine wine and cheeses, the taste of semen is complex and dynamic.
"Semen is inexpensive to produce and is commonly available in many, if not most, homes and restaurants.
"Despite all of these positive qualities, semen remains neglected as a food.
"This book hopes to change that.
"Once you overcome any initial hesitation, you will be surprised to learn how wonderful semen is in the kitchen.
"Semen is an exciting ingredient that can give every dish you make an interesting twist."

Be sure to scroll through the page views available in the Lulu.Com preview window to catch a glimpse of recipes for Tuna Sashimi With Dipping Sauce, Man-Made Oysters, and the Almost White Russian cocktail, among other delectables.

(Another treat via the ever-vigilant eyes of the folks at Everlasting Blort)

(This is a compiled repost of items culled from my soon-to-be-extinct subsidiary blog, 'Brief Window')

1. Three funny Hulk transformations

"Don't make me angry. You wouldn't like me when I'm angry."

That was the warning given by Bill Bixby in the role of Dr. David Banner in old TV episodes of 'The Incredible Hulk'.

Except of course, our reason for tuning in was to watch him get angry and 'Hulk Out', transforming into Lou Ferrigno so he could rampage properly.

Thanks to Cotton Whiskers UK for posting three interesting transformation sequences to YouTube. (Found via Bob Cesca's
Awesome Blog!, via Servo3000.)

It's good to see evidence that the cast and creators of the show didn't always take things too seriously.

The first two transformations below are triggered by fairly mundane frustrations with which most folks can relate (though maybe it's been a while in the case of the payphone)...





Understated comedy gold, executed perfectly by the late Mr. Bixby.

In the last video clip, the trigger for the transformation is definitely not something most (living) people can relate to their own experience, nor is the change itself very comedic. The payoff comes at the end, perhaps disproving an adage from a different classic TV show, "It's not the thing you fling,
it's the fling itself".



- You can watch full episodes of "The Incredible Hulk" at Hulu

(NOTE: Please leave a comment if you discover dead video links. Thanks.)


2. Play the Album Cover Quiz Game!

Click over to The Quietus.Com for a bit of fun as you test your pop culture recall with their
Album Cover Quiz Game.

As you watch short video clips of M. Mattius Kaufman and a cohort from The Paris Conservatory of Contemporary Mime and Interpretive Dance act out iconic cover images to 29 pop albums you're given 30 seconds to type in the title of each one.

A clever and maddening brain teaser. A few are easy, several are not, a few would be easy - - if only you could remember the exact title of that popular record, a few might be from records you've never seen...

I found also that a few of the poses were instantly familiar, but I just couldn't quite translate them in my head to recall the album cover image.

- Follow link to The Quietus' Album Cover Quiz Game.

Check it out, see how you score, compare your score with others!


3. Submitted for your approval: Steve Carell & Clive Owen, a casting suggestion

I recently sat through the movie preview for 'Duplicity' again - - an upcoming spy caper/con artist/romance thing starring Julia Roberts and
Clive Owen (with Paul Giamatti and Tom Wilkinson dutifully chewing up scenery, from the looks of it).

Looking at Clive Owen in a slightly different setting, at several points I find myself struck by a resemblance he bears to comic actor Steve Carell.

Nothing overt, nothing I'd noticed before, and perhaps a notion that wouldn't exist outside of the 'Duplicity' preview - - But it got me to thinking that perhaps down the line film producers might want to explore the idea of casting them as brothers, or half-brothers or some such.

It might be an opportunity for either actor to avoid some
type-casting, or it might make a selling point for a future ill-advised sequel to Carell's 'Get Smart' remake.

Agent 86 confronts his more successful and competent brother, a spy from another office. Will they clash or cooperate? And will they both learn something in the process?

Just for fun and to perhaps drive home my argument, I stopped by MorphThing.com and blended the faces of the two actors together.

◀ Meet 'Cleve Cowrellwynn'.

Click over to MorphThing - -
(Morph Faces and Celebrities Online... For Free!)

- - Play around and enjoy creating your own ridiculous premises and possibilities...


4. Click over to Cracked.Com for an amusing and educational look at International Cinema:

'9 Foreign Rip-Offs Cooler Than The Hollywood Originals'

Prepare to be awe-stricken as you learn more about the Turkish Batman and the Italian Batman, the Turkish E.T. and the Chinese Popeye, the Soviet Winnie The Pooh, the Indian Superman, and others.

Good details and plenty of memorable video clips.

Check it out!

(This is a compiled repost of items culled from my soon-to-be-extinct subsidiary blog, 'Brief Window')

1. Celebrating the life of Miriam Makeba.






Miriam Makeba passed away this week,
at age 76.

The legendary South African singer / social activist collapsed suddenly, immediately after a concert performance in Southern Italy.

Follow links to obituaries for her from the
Associated Press and Times Online.

Click over to You Tube to see video of Miriam Makeba in performance, or to Last.fm
to hear some of her music.


2. Tony Dow sez: “Having something shown at the Louvre is about as good as you can get”

'Gee Wally, d'you really think so?'



Have you heard the exciting news?

Former child-star Tony Dow, now 63, the quintessential big brother of the classic TV sitcom 'Leave It To Beaver', has a sculpture that will be on display next month at the Louvre.

His abstract bronze figure,
'Unarmed Warrior' has been named as part of a juried group of pieces that will be shown in the historic Paris museum from December 11th - 14th as part of the Societe Nationale des Beaux-Arts exhibition.

- Read more about the details of this story from the Associated Press or at the Los Angeles Times site.

It's so very tempting to poke fun at this story - -
as in, 'Finally! The Louvre is getting smart about building a reputation for itself!'

- - But really, it seems like any light-hearted joking about
'Wally Cleaver, the bigshot artist' takes second-place to the simple thought;

'Think how excited Tony Dow must be right now'.

Dow has pursued many professional careers outside of acting in his life, and has been painting, woodworking, and sculpting for many years.

- You can see more of his bronze works at the website for the Karen Lynne Gallery in Beverly Hills.















3. Just now tumbled to
'Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog'

Okay, by now it's old news to many who are
up-to-date on just this sort of thing, but if
- - like me - - you've been cruising along unaware of the online musical super-hero film
'Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog', you may want to click over now and check it out. Big fun!

'Buffy' auteur Joss Whedon is behind the
action-comedy-romance, initially intended for internet-only distribution.

Neil Patrick Harris is perfectly cast as an
'up & coming' super-villain out to prove himself, who is also harboring a secret crush on the girl he's seen at the laundromat.

The musical numbers are well suited to NPH's Stephen Sondheim credentials.

After a few months of advance promotion, the 43-minute film premiered online in July of 2008, initially serialized into three separate acts.

This charming little movie benefits from its low budget, and is also an interesting experiment in crafty distribution.

Follow the link to the Wikipedia entry to learn more of the story behind the movie, and about its creators and cast.

Currently it streams for free at Hulu. Go watch it!

You can also watch 'Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog' at the official website, where there's lots of other background material, links to soundtrack downloads, and info about the soon-to-be-released DVD edition, which is said to include lots of extras, including singing commentary - - ?