Clara Bow, Time Traveler

I'm a member of several groups on Facebook for my personal edification and entertainment. One such group - Pre-Code Hollywood (1929-34): Sin on Celluloid - is a nifty little gathering of fans who concentrate and discuss filmmaking of 1929-34, a period featuring a more laid back atmosphere of film production.

Per film historian Thomas Doherty: "More unbridled, salacious, subversive, and just plain bizarre than what came afterwards, they look like Hollywood cinema but the moral terrain is so off-kilter they seem imported from a parallel universe." (If you're unfamiliar with pre-code film and what it's all about, you can learn tons here.)

Not only have I learned quite a bit about the era over the years, it's been a fun ride, giving me not only a new appreciation of films I've previously seen but ones I've never before been introduced to. Furthermore, I have been pleased and surprised at the depth of knowledge (not to mention the intelligence of the group's members), present company excepted, of course.

That is ... until last night.

Well, Sir, late last evening a photo of Clara Bow was posted on the group site. It showed her seaside sitting atop a wooden pylon with what appears to be an open box in her lap. Here is that photo:

My question is this: Does that look like anything but an open, wooden box to you?

Not to quite a few members of Sin On Celluloid, apparently. To a surprising number, it's something all together different ...

"She's holding a laptop?"

"That was my first thought, too!"

"The bottom's too deep, like a briefcase. Just the way it's resting on her lap, and the top is almost flat enough looking to appear like a screen. Just at first glance, that's what it almost appears ..."

"Is this one of those time traveler things? She is definitely checking her email on a laptop."

"Could be a microphone."

Look at that box again: Laptop computer? I guess ... if you haven't put your glasses on beforehand and you're blind as a bat.

But let's consider this, just in case you happen to be optically impugned. How about utilizing a little bit of common sense? The photo was posted on a site catering to a particular era, an era that didn't know what a laptop was. (Let alone a computer.)

Really, that's all you need to process to come to the conclusion that what Clara is holding couldn't possibly be a laptop.

So, what I'll do is be done with shaking my head in amazement at those comments and toodle along my merry way until such a time I may need to re-evaluate the common sense of some of the group's members. (Or at least their eyesight.)

.......... Ruprecht ( STOP )

Alzheimer's Once Again Foiled Another Day

At this point in the history of this blog you should know by now I try and learn something new everyday. (It helps ward against Alzheimer's disease, I'm told, keeps the brain active.)

This morning? I learned a new word: Dongle.

I was sitting and enjoying my coffee first thing in the morning when I unknowingly spied one. "What's that on your computer? That half-moon shaped thing? I don't think I've seen something quite like that before ..."

"It's a 'dongle'" I was told.

Now, I might have seen the word previously but I'm not entirely certain about that. But it did roll off my tongue rather comfortably when I said it which triggered that old taste of familiarity. So chances are  at some point I've come across it.

But I went through the motions anyway.

Dangle: to hang loosely or hang around, I told myself.

Dengle: I wasn't certain there was a definition for "dengle" but I would look it up later.

Dingle: I knew that was a dell, usually a shady one. And, of course, a synonym for penis, courtesy of Chuck Berry.

Dungle: Comicly, I surmised "dungle" as being another word for "dingleberry," a dangling dingleberry precisely. And, when you think about it, this makes perfect sense.

Dongle: Nope. Nothing. Nada. Zero.
 
"A 'dongle' ... ? What's it for?" I inquired.

"My Fitbit."

Bells rung in my head. By deductive reasoning I surmised a dongle was a hardware adapter for some piece of computer equipment like my wireless mouse. And then I looked it up. And, sure enough, that's exactly what it was. (While at it, I hunted down "dengle" as well. There's no definition.)

Now? I'm that much more informed. Take that, Alzheimer's ...

.......... Ruprecht ( STOP )

A Very Special Episode of Assault Of The 2-Headed Space Mules

The G.O.O.C.H. Squad (Gang Of Occasional Co-Hosts) is back on Attack Of The 2-Headed Space Mules, Douglas Arthur's podcast of the bizarre and strange.

In this iteration, Brian Curtis, Jeff Hickmott, Jim Fitzsimons, Douglas and I perpetrate game show contestants (and game show hosts!) and attempt to guess cover songs for points and fabulous prizes. Comedy and hijinks ensue.

Episode 56:
The First Ever
Assault of the 2-Headed Space Mules
Colossal Cover Song Quiz!

 
Please, enjoy.

.......... Ruprecht ( STOP )

You Gee El Why Ad Nauseum

But wait, there's more ... !!!

Not only ugly, the Fiat 500 apparently isn't all that, either. According to Hotcars ("the go-to site to keep up to date on anything with four wheels"): 

"It is very hard to narrow down to a model or a year because the Fiat 500 has been pretty consistently unreliable. Car and Driver gave the new model a 2.5-star rating.

Despite the price being dropped to $15,990 in 2017 in a bid to keep consumers hooked, AutoExpress still criticized the basic specs that are available on entry models.

According to Auto Insurance, the Fiat depreciates by 40% in two years. According to Car Buyer, the Fiat 500 received a below average rating in terms of reliability. For the 2017 model, more than 11% of owners complained more than once of experiencing problems with the car, with the main issue being the suspension."

So ... ugly AND problematic!

.......... Ruprecht ( STOP )

You Gee El Why, You Ain't Got No Alibi ...

I honestly thought this vehicle - the Fiat 500 - couldn't be any uglier. 

Well ... I was wrong:

.......... Ruprecht ( STOP )

Simply Genius

 
I was walking the dog at 5:00 in the morning (Bear often likes to wake me up from a sound sleep at the crack of early to inform me of his intention of watching the sun come up while "conducting his business") and a thought struck me just as soundly as that very first wonderful cup of coffee of the day:

It was pure genius an instrumental version of Billy Joel's "Just The Way You Are" was used in 1980's The Blues Brothers film.

So let me preface this a little bit ...

I was catching up on some CBS Sunday Morning programs I'd previously recorded in an effort to clean up my DVR not long ago and one of the segments I watched showcased Joel's 100th sold-out show at New York's Madison Square where he's been performing in residency since 2014. At one point he noted "Just The Way You Are" wasn't one of his favorite pieces as it was composed for his "first ex-wife" and she'd wondered if, along with the song, she was granted its publishing rights. "That kind of took the shine off the song" Joel confessed.

Fast forward to walking Bear: For whatever reason, it struck me suddenly an instrumental version of the song was played as Murph And The MagicTones ended one of their sets in the film to chat with Jake and Elwood. Of course I knew this from my first experience with The Blues Brothers, that the song was played in the film, but it took on an entirely different context all these years later.

"You were the backbone, the nerve center of a great rhythm and blues band. You can make that live, breathe and jump again. Murph And The MagicTones? Look at you in those candy-ass monkey suits ..."

- Jake Blues


"At least we got a change in clothes, sucker. You wearin'

the same shit you had on three years ago ..."

- Willie "Too Big" Hall

 

Indeed ... I love you just the way you are, Jake and Elwood.

.......... Ruprecht ( STOP )

Mitch

I've crossed paths with "Mitch" more times than I can remember. It's only recently I decided to begin documenting my encounters with Mitch. 

So here are several chance brushes with the guy

Because, well ... it's Mitch.

.......... Ruprecht ( you can't STOP Mitch )