Time Travel Time

It was 1974 and we were on a family trip across the country. We drove to Calgary to see friends, and then on down the west coast to San Franciscy!

As Dad was off doing business, Mom took the boys on a tour of the Wharf and its environs. Suddenly (as it seemed to us), there was a parade. And what a parade! 8 year-old me marveled at the enormous butterfly wings sported by the parade marchers, the pretty dresses worn by so many people, and the general happy vibe of all the participants. And all I heard was laughter. And giggling. My mother giggling, obviously privy to some sort of secret my brother and I were not. We were perplexed, but there were so many colourful floats to see, so much music and so many men in shorts. It seemed very normal.

And it still does.

Here are the only pictures we have. Mom wasn't much of a shutterbug.


The sign in the background is for the Heine Piano Company. Turns out they made cars too.

Soon enough the parade was over and it was time to ride the cable cars. And all was forgotten for many years.


Powder blue jackets, flood pants and North Star shoes. Awesome.

Goth Horror A Go-Go

Here is Nicole Paquin singing "Mon Mari C'est Frankenstein", a post-war, pre-globalization "love gone wrong" tribute to the French government.

Or maybe just a chick in tight pants dancing to some crazy rock ' n roll. Who can tell with kids these days.

Anwyay, this is a Scopitone. What is a Scopitone?

It's a "Film Jukebox" invented in France in the early 1960's (from surplus World War II airplane parts!) and also the films (the precursors of today's music videos) which played on it.

Mon mari c'est Frankenstein sélectionné dans Rock / Pop et Clips

Team Mates? What Team Mates?

Sarah Palin on breaking the full-court press:

"A good point guard drives through a full court press, protecting the ball, keeping her eye on the basket... and she knows exactly when to pass the ball so that the team can WIN."

Maybe against a man-to-man press, but who runs those? More often than not it is going to be a zone press, and you don't out-dribble a zone defense. Watch how it is done.



But you just know that Palin was a self-centered and narcissistic in basketball as she is now. You work hard to get free, to find an opening, and the superstar asshole guard tries to pull a Curly Neale on the entire opposing team, only to draw a cheap foul, or dribble into a trap. Which is the fault of the team doncha know? You don't keep your eye on the basket Sarah, you keep your eye on your team mates. In order to pass. Before you get a time violation. You sure as hell don't walk off the court in the middle of the game.

Deadspin provides this diagram of the Sarah Palin version of the press break.

Quitting is Fighting!

Sarah Palin said of her quitting the job as Governor of Alaska:

'I am not a quitter; I am a fighter'

And you know, she's right. History is full of fighters wrongfully accused of quitting.

Fighters like Roberto Duran



Here's legendary runner Haile Gebrselassie winning the London Marathon by leading from the sidelines



Here's another fighter from the world of rally cars; that's not a crash, that's winning the race to the body shop.


And don't forget famous fighter McLean Stevenson, who wisely set out in search of his higher calling by passing the ball and leaving MASH after one season.

Like any American Idol hopeful, Sarah Palin is hoping to jump to the start of the political queue without all the nasty work. May I suggest she look to another famous "fighter" from whom she can draw inspiration.



You've come a long way baby.

Transformers: Revenge of the Idiocracy

A few posts back I discussed my anitpathy for Idiocracy, a bad, barely funny film.

But, I have to agree with Mike Judge's assessment that the U.S. is spiraling down the intellectual toilet. Normally I would fight this kind of elitist thinking and defend the common man.

No longer. All I can say is "What is wrong with you people"

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (2009) box office results.

If you need to see this dreck for yourself, at least sample it first.

If you are planning on going in order to see Megan Fox, save some money and browse the videos with Bing.

Solid Gold!

Of course I had a high-brow post in store. Something about fancy learnin' stuff and stuff. But you know how it is. That kind of writing takes thought and care.

Instead, I break you.



Don't quit on this video as there is so much to hate, and so much to regret.

Like "Hot Rod Hearts". Holy hell. This song reminds of one of my first cars. It sucked. Just like this song.