Gimme That Old Time Music - Holiday Edition

From a friend's Facebook post...

...And, for my friend Badtux, the cat-owned penguin®, a bonus, because they're just that good...

 

 

Mencken and TMF are looking forward to it.

 

 



Gimme That Old Time Music - Bonus

An extra piece... an old Shaker hymn, suggested by a post at Mustang Bobby's.

Enjoy.

... And maybe even learn...

Happy Leftovers Day!!!

Now comes the best part of the holiday season... all those yummy leftovers!  And one of the very best ways of disposing of leftover turkey is on a sandwich with fresh ground black pepper and apple butter (instead of mayo). The apple butters moistens the turkey, but also gives it a little bit of cinnamon and nutmeg kick.

And remember, there are plenty of Americans -- AMERICANS!! -- in the same position as these kids, so be grateful for what you have. And maybe if you have a dollar or an hour (and a conscience), help those less fortunate than you.



... And for the totally useless 1%...

Screw you.

So, There I Was, Balancing My Checkbook...

 

 

My bank is too big to fail because of all my overdraft charges....

 

Yes, I had to learn "New Math" in school.

 

 

 

And for the kids who have never heard of Professor Lehrer, here's an entire concert from Copenhagen

Gimme That Old Time Music

Dawn Wells... one of the prettiest women on earth... after the lovely yet talented Mrs618 and Paulette Goddard.

 

 

 

 

You know what always amazed me? The Professor could build an entire rock band (as in this clip), or make a radio from two cocoanuts, and the whole crew could build a village...

...but no one could patch the damned Minnow???

Oh, and just how many bags did everyone pack for that three-hour tour?!? I don't think I ever saw a character wear the same outfit twice.

___________

Oh, and for the kids who don't know Paulette Goddard:

She was one of Charlie Chaplin's many wives, appearing with him in Modern Times and The Great Dictator. She was also considered for the role of Scarlett O'Hara in Gone With The Wind, but Vivien Leigh won that role.

Another shot of the lovely yet talented Ms. Goddard:

 

 

Maybe it's just me, but I think she looks a lot like Elizabeth Short (a/k/a the "Black Dahlia"):

 



Gimme That Old Time Music

In honor of the 33rd Annual Mid Coast EMS Conference, in Rockport, Maine.

This is from the two-hour pilot. Notice the original Squad 51, and the rest of the classic vehicles. You'll also notice that Martin Milner and Kent McCord (Malloy and Reed from Adam-12) appear. Not surprising, as Emergency! was a spin-off of Adam-12, which in turn was spun off from Dragnet.

A potential spin-off from Emergency! that failed was called 905-Wild, about some LA County Animal Control officers. That one starred Mark Harmon, David Huddleston, and Gary Crosby (Bing's son).
_____________________

When Emergency! debuted in 1972, the whole field of EMS was only a couple of years old. Previously, emergency medical care -- such as it was -- was provided by attendants with roughly 40 hours of Advanced First Aid, and maybe CPR. The vehicles were usually modified station wagons, operated by the local funeral homes (putting in the crews in an interesting situation - take the person to the hospital, or perhaps pick up the funeral?), or by civic groups like the American Legion, or Lions clubs.

Cadillac was the most popular make, but there were others like Pontiac, Chevrolet, Packard, and De Soto.

Some were barely-modified hearses:

Some very progressive services did use vans early on... here's a 1962 Chevy Corvair:

As the old wagons were being phased out, we started using vehicles like the Chevy Suburban or the International Travel-All:

 

 

As you can imagine, there wasn't a whole hell of a lot of room inside to work on patients. Not that it really mattered, since all we did at the time was advanced first aid - no IVs, usually no CPR, certainly nothing like intubation.

 

 

And what do we have these days?

 

 



Gawd, I'm starting to feel like Mustang Bobby with all the classic vehicle pix...

Gimme That Old Time Music

The lovely yet talented Mnozil Brass, an Austrian septet.

This concept works much better than I would have thought... an all-brass-and-vocal cover of Queen's classic Bohemian Rhapsody.

Gimme That Old Time Music - Bonus

Bonus ...

The lovely yet talented Maya Caballero...

 

 

 

Gimme That Old Time Music

The lovely yet talented Stephanie Trick.

It should be illegal for one person to be so young, so talented, and so cute, all at the same time.

 

 

She is one of those obnoxious* people who can play just about anything -- stride, boogie, ragtime, Bach -- and make it look easy.

 

 

* Of course, it's only obnoxious to those of us who can only play a stereo...**

 

** Yes, I'm jealous.

 

 



Schticks of One...

...Half a dozen of the other...

 

(I've been using this tag for a few years, but didn't

see someone had posted this last year...)

 

 

Y'know, if it hadn't been for Spike Jones and Victor Borge and Allan Sherman, there might never have been a Weird Al Yankovic.



I. My Dream Job

One that I could never qualify for, but what the hell.

Tillerman on a hook and ladder (that's the guy steering the wheels on the trailer).


II. Heard Around The Barn

Senior Guy: "What kind of lights did Noah have on the Ark?"
Junior Guy: "I dunno..."
Senior Guy: "Flood lights, of course."


III. Pet Blogging

Not by me, but by Michael Morse. He's trying to raise funds for an animal rescue operation (where Cousin Wilson adopted Michael and his wife). He says he won't let Wilson into the house till he has some contributions*. I'd contribute, except I'm so broke, Tim Allen couldn't fix me. If you could go to his blog and toss a couple of bucks Wilson's way, I'd appreciate it.

And Wilson could get back on the couch.


* I don't think Michael is really refusing to let Wilson in, he's just trying to shame us.

Gimme That Old Time Music...

Back when I was a nipper, my parents took me to see a ragtime piano show by a guy named Max Morath for my 13th birthday. They had the album of the show I went to, and I just found it on YouTube. Listen to each part of the album... really good music, and wonderful showmanship. Two of my all-time favorites are "Take Me Out To The Ball Game" (Part 4) and "Where Did Robinson Crusoe Go With Friday On Saturday Night?" (Final Part).  The drinking songs in Part 3 and the "dirty" songs in Part 5 are also wonderful (and John Valby doesn't have to worry about competition from these dirty ditties).

I've been to about 30 of his shows since. And I asked him to autograph that original 1969 program each time. Poor guy would see that battered old program and pop another dozen gray hairs.

Every one of his many albums is well worth the listen.

In fact, here he is, performing Scott Joplin's immortal Maple Leaf Rag.  Hey, if Badtux can do it, so can I.

 

 

Bonus track: Ethan Uslan performing The Blue Danube as a rag.

 



 

And a BONUS bonus track ('cuz I just love me some Spike Jones):