ZOOM BY ISTVAN BANYAI

Illustrations from the 1995 children's book Zoom by Hungarian animator and illustrator Istvan Banyai (1949-2022). Beautifully rendered set of delightful surreal images and a damn fine concept.

 

SATURDAY NIGHT MUSIC: THE ROLLING STONES "SHE'S A RAINBOW"

This video was released as part of the 50th Anniversary of the release of Their Satanic Majesties Request which came out in 1967. I could not track down who directed the piece-it's reminiscent of Jim Blashfield's work (see Paul Simon's Boy in The Bubble, Talking Heads And She Was). Nice n' trippy.
 

ONE YEAR AGO TODAY, PUTIN'S WAR OF AGGRESSION AGAINST UKRAINE BEGAN

 We need to stay the course until victory as we are at a turning point in history. We must take a stand here against authoritarianism.

SUDDEN SNOW

 

'Sudden Snow', 1954, by Ōtsu/Ohtsu Kazuyuki 

Like our crew, there's a kittykat who was about to go on a routine patrol outside and found that a mysterious event had happened. Ewwww, I'm getting my paws cold. I'd better go back inside and maybe Mom will give me a treat for my troubles.

MARDI GRAS

 

Written by Oscar Hammerstein II/ Harry Ruby / Kalmar Bert in 1935, this version by Louis Armstrong was recorded in 1951.

For my Watergirl

Give me a kiss to build a dream on
And my imagination will thrive upon that kiss
Sweetheart, I ask no more than this
A kiss to build a dream on

 

Give me a kiss before you leave me
And my imagination will feed my hungry heart
Leave me one thing before we part
A kiss to build a dream on

 

And when I'm alone with my fancies, I'll be with you
Weaving romances, making believe they're true

 

Oh, give me your lips for just a moment
And my imagination will make that moment live
Give me what you alone can give
A kiss to build a dream on

 

When I'm alone with my fancies, I'll be with you
Weaving romances, making believe they're true

 

Oh, give me lips for just a moment
And my imagination will make that moment live
Oh, give me what you alone can give
A kiss to build a dream on

5 SECOND STORIES

During the early days of the Germans bombing London, kids vied to be the first out of the bomb shelters. They wanted to be on the streets to gather up bomb shrapnel which had become currency amongst the kids.

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Buddy has revealed that he enjoys curling up in the bathroom sink often when Mom is brushing her teeth. She has to inspire him to leave so she can spit. Kids...

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We've never had a cat who loves to stretch out on the fireplace hearth and get nice and toasty. This alarmed his Mom who worried the knucklehead would hurt himself. He's fine and this has created an addition to our family lexicon for close calls: "well, singe my whiskers."

Bertram. Bertram Longfellow at your service.

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We were watching some film from abroad when we saw this logo in the beginning credits of those entities that helped with funding. We thought this was a hoot.

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Another famous Hollywood star from my youth has passed: Raquel Welch. She and Sophia Loren were my favs when I was a tween. My brother, 9 years older, was a fan of Elke Sommer.

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The recent event at MSU has created a grotesque cohort: kids who have survived multiple school shootings. There was one who had graduated from Oxford High School last year and is a Freshman at State. Only in the United States.

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From the "Training & Maintenance of Your New Human" manual our late crew left for a new feline roommate: 

Section 12b Communication Tips

"Stare at your food dish like you are peering intently into the future-visualizing your dish filled with food. Patience is required. Many humans work with the misguided premise that  we are too stupid to communicate anything but the most rudimentary concepts. Eventually, they will get over their confusion and comply with your request."

I'm happy to report that we had figured this out many years ago. In fact, this was featured in the very first blog entry on March 3, 2013 with Two Guys Talkin'.

Follow the tail!

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Imagine being Tom Jones and singing "What's New Pussycat?" for 50 years?

RID-X AD

 

As seen on YT: Rid-X goes after those happy, happy poops floating in your septic system and gives them an "Oh S***" moment. Good grief.

CROCUS! (AND DAFFS)

 

Another sign that indicates an early Spring: crocus in bloom. Last year the first bloom was March 15. I saw more robins today as well.

PS The next day, 51 degrees and the daffs are up.

STREET ART: IN PARIS, THE "INVADER" PUBLIC ART GUERILLA AND IN ENGLAND, BANKSY UNVEILS A NEW VALENTINE'S DAY PIECE

 

Space Invaders...they're everywhere!

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/02/12/world/europe/paris-street-art-space-invader.html 

Another street artist, Banksy, revealed a Valentine's Day protest.

She just wouldn't listen so he hit her while she was doing the dishes. Not for the first time either. She's missing a tooth.

After dispatching the sonofabitch with a frying pan, she tosses his worthless ass into a discarded freezer. The blackened, closed eye now becomes a conspiratorial wink. "I'm just tidying up and putting the trash out."

HAPPY VALENTINE'S MUSIC

Burt Bacharach passed last week at age 94. With lyricist Hal David, they created some of the most memorable and popular songs of the 1960's. One of my favs and truly one of the most romantic, from early 1967 "The Look of Love":

Other singers have covered this but I think Dusty Springfield's is the best. Nice bossa nova rhythm,subtle lush strings, Dusty's breathy, intimate singing with a fab sax interlude. Stan Getz had covered the song in late '66 but does not appear on either the 45 or soundtrack but clearly his influence in phrasing is heard. David's lyrics are spot on and finish with the heart-breaking "don't ever go." 

Meanwhile in the same year:

Who's that I see walkin' in these woods?
Why, it's Little Red Riding Hood!!

 

 

 

That's right-it's Sam the Sham and the Pharaohs' hilarious "Li'l Red Riding Hood"!!!

 

Following their 1964 hit "Wooly Bully", Sam and the guys hit pay dirt again with another novelty song in 1966. Written by Ron Blackwell, it reached #2 in Billboards Hot 100. I heard this the other day and as always, then and now, this silly song cracked me up. Although he howls, his sincere attempts to assuage the fears of the young lady that at heart and prove that he's an standup guy are just a hoot.  I mean, he's gonna keep his sheep suit on just to put her at ease for crying out loud! Christ, it's hot and itchy AF. 

Sam, born Domingo Samudio is still with us and at age 85 still occasionally performs.

 

 

FIVE SECOND STORIES

Our comely Calico Ms. Tomi modelling our rug.

All our cats loved C's Caucasian rug bought in Paris and Buddy is no exception. This superb piece of weaving craftsmanship shows through as it has held up to years of claw abuse: stropping, beating, hiding under, folding weird shapes with their claws. Perhaps the weaver had cats and often wove rugs for people who had cats. Indeed, the hair of his resident cats ended up woven into the rug with their faint scent lingering there forever.

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When C lived in Paris during her catless years, she had an African Grey Parrot named Alice, shortened from Alice Grey which C had envisioned as a Jane Eyre character. Another persona was Italian as C had spent summers in Tuscany: Alice delle ceneri-Alice of the ashes. Alice's red tail inspired a friend to remark that Alice looked like an elegant lady who had taken her scarf and attached it behind her dress (via a belt) as a fashion statement. Alas, Alice succumbed to a bacterial infection after four years with C.

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I view with deep affection, C's devoted and tender maternalness towards our Buddy. It seems to be the closest we'll get to having a youngun of our own, especially this late in life. Not of our creation, not related by blood or species, we've agreed to care for and love this big guy. The other night, C remarked on some behavior and termed it that of a reckless teenager. "Well, I said, at least we don't have to worry about Buddy riding motorcycles."

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Curious segue while YT surfing: A Starbucks ad statement that in a world of divided people, a little kindness goes a long way (an experience found especially at your local Starbucky's) followed by The Supremes' song-"My World is Empty Without You".

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It says a lot about the two men: at their dance with their wives at the Inaugural Ball, The Roach had chosen "My Way" whereas Obama and Michelle danced to "Let's Stay Together".

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Mr. Coon having a sugar rush after consuming the 2 paczki I had put out

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More harbingers of Spring: the skunks are out and about and leaving their telltale calling card wafting around the Back 40; the 3 Mourning Dove couples from last year were having a snack at the diner.

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I heard this call the other day but didn't know what it meant until I looked it up. I know most of their calls by now and this was different. I scanned the trees and finally caught sight of a couple at my neighbors. They were on the same limb facing each other. She issued her statement and turned but the dude didn't follow. She went off. Later, I saw them spiraling up a tree chasing each other. I wondered if it was Izzie.

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In traditional Romani culture, women cannot wear one piece apparel-the top must be different from the bottom as the bottom is considered unclean.

MYSTERIOUS MOUNDS IN INDIANA

Anderson Mounds, Anderson, IN, just NW of Indianapolis

Just East of Anderson, IN is the Anderson Mounds complex, a burial and astronomical site built 250-160 BC. It was the Adena-Hopewell peoples who built this site where the archaeological evidence suggests human activity since 8000 BC.

The complex is made up of 10 earthworks with the Great Mound the largest. It served as the nexus for astronomical use.

Aldebaran, Rigel and Fomalhaut are all significantly bright stars that are dominant in the sky in different times of the year.

Alas, the Mounds complex is largely tree covered so one cannot visit and view events today unlike European sites such as Stonehenge.

Inside the Great Mound

The Adena-Hopewell civilizations inhabited a huge area in the US-from the Great Lakes South to the Gulf of Mexico and West of the Mississippi River. It was part of an extensive trade network. For example, burial sites in Indiana contained ornaments made of salt water seashells from hundreds of miles away. Hundreds of mounds have been found and excavated notably the Giant Serpent Mounds in South Central Ohio. Later, the Mississippian culture in the 11th and 12th Centuries AD built the Cahokia Mounds in Illinois just East across the Mississippi from St. Louis, the largest pre-Columbian complex North of Mexico.

The Adena-Hopewell period came at a time in human history where such building activity, often linked to astronomy was happening across the planet. A major shift from hunter/gatherer societies to agricultural communities meant that with food being grown nearby and groups of people forming a leadership hierarchy, such massive undertakings of creating these mounds (or stonework) could be done.

 

EARLY SPRING?

 

Yesterday late afternoon, after a sunny day in the 40's. More of the same today although cloudier with a good breeze. Heavy rains coming in Thursday that will take out the remaining snow. Very early March-like (lionesque) but is this a harbinger or Michigan being a tease?

Lord Longfellow looking quite regal in a classic Egyptian pose.