The Worst Music Video Ever!

I doubt there will ever be UNIVERSAL agreement on anything that has to do with the arts. Differences in taste account for the vast array of its expression-and this is good.
Take modern art. I’ll look at a painting and say, “wow, looks like a 3 year old did THAT one”. Another art aficionado may consider that same train wreck of colors a masterpiece.

Whatever.

There may, however, be 100% agreement that the video below could just be THE WORST MUSIC VIDEO EVER!

Which is not to say that it is not entertaining. It is hilarious.

What makes it funny is that one believes its creators intended to make a sensational music video. No doubt there seems to be a serious approach to the choreography on the part of the participants to the point that you are astounded that they are able to get through their routines without doing what the viewer is doing—namely, laughing so hard that you risk soiling yourself!

Check out this little masterpiece and see if you can get through it without so much as cracking a smile. No fair thinking about world unrest or the balance of your 401K while viewing as a strategy to suppress the laughter. Approach with an open mind and even temperament.

Then go ahead and enjoy!




http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YPnGPIMUnus

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Bonnie & Clyde Like Fords-Good Advertising?

During the crime spree that Bonnie & Clyde were eventually gunned down for, they stole a series of automobiles, switching often in order to keep the police off their trail. It appears, however, that Clyde Barrow’s love for Fords may have been his (and Bonnie’s) undoing.

The lore of Bonnie & Clyde was very real back in the 30’s. Due to the Depression and the hardship it imposed on average Americans, Bonnie & Clyde represented the survival instincts that many people identified with. Due to the extensive newspaper and radio coverage, they became folk heroes of sorts, equal in many ways to movie stars and popular singers. The unusual combination of a man and woman crime duo-with it’s romantic implications-made the two cult figures long before their death.

It appears that Clyde’s love of Fords may have caused him to hang onto one particular car a bit too long. Clyde even wrote something of a fan letter to Henry Ford regarding his product:

“Dear Sir,
While I still have breath in my lungs, I will tell you what a dandy car you make. I have drove (sic) Fords exclusively when I could get away with one. For sustained speed and freedom from trouble the Ford has got every other car skinned and even if my business hasn’t been strictly legal it don’t hurt to tell you what a fine car you got in the V8”

We’ll never know if Ford ever considered using that letter for promotional reasons, but he certainly did not incorporate it into the company’s advertising.

After their ambush killing by police, the car-originally stolen of course, was returned to the rightful owner following a court battle with police, who were making money off its notoriety. It was on this date in 1973 that the bullet-riddled 1934 sedan sold for $175,000 to Peter Simon of Jean, Nevada. It has been bought and sold several times.

Watch the interesting story of the Bonnie & Clyde Ford below:



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kzbLWto-bcU

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Rudy Vallee: Westbrook Boy To Superstar!

The City of Westbrook, Maine rededicated Rudy Vallee Square just days ago, honoring the man who, although not born in Maine(he was born in Island Pond, Vermont)-was raised in Westbrook and then went on to international fame. When the square along Main Street was first dedicated-with Vallee in attendance, there were thousands of people on hand. Recently, about 75 showed up.

It’s hard to imagine the magnitude of Rudy Vallee’s star power. Without the instantaneous mass media and the internet, Rudy was every bit as “big” as the later stars who he is compared to. Perhaps it is more accurate to say that Elvis Presley was the Rudy Vallee of his day-rather than the other way around.

Rudy Vallee was the first. He was the original superstar, whose singing style-later dubbed “crooning” was attributed to later stars like Bing Crosby. He was a huge sensation, especially with the ladies. Frank Sinatra, Elvis Presley, The Beatles and yes, even Michael Jackson were icons in their time—but Vallee was the first.

He was a singing star-on the radio, of course, but also became a movie star and moved to television as well. The ability to project one’s voice was essential to be popular-as this was the age before amplified microphones. Vallee used a megaphone and his distinctive style was the soundtrack of an era where change was the order of the day. From the roaring 20’s through the years of the Great Depression and beyond, Vallee was a bona fide superstar.

Tomorrow marks the famous crooner’s birthday. Vallee lived until 1986 and is buried in St. Hyacinth’s Cemetery in Westbrook. A YouTube search will yield a lot of audio samples of his hit songs-including the Maine Stein Song. Below is a video of Rudy doing his thing in a movie:



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eb36JID2jRA

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Made In The U.S.A.?

Today is my birthday, so I am cheating on the ol’ blog! I received “one of those e-mails” this week…you know, the kind that everyone gets. This one made me think:

John Smith started the day early having set his alarm clock (MADE IN JAPAN) for6am
While his coffeepot (MADE IN CHINA) was perking, he shaved with his electric razor
(MADE IN HONG KONG), He put on a dress shirt (MADE IN SRI LANKA), designer
jeans(MADE IN SINGAPORE) and tennis shoes (MADE IN KOREA). After cooking his
breakfast in his new electric skillet (MADE IN INDIA), he sat down with his calculator
(MADE IN MEXICO) to see how much he could spend today. After setting his watch
(MADE IN TAIWAN) to the radio (MADE IN INDIA), he got into his car (MADE IN GERMANY) and filled it with gas (FROM SAUDI ARABIA) and continued his search for a good paying AMERICAN JOB! At the end of another fruitless day checking his
computer (MADE IN MAYLAYSIA), John decided to relax for awhile. He put on his
sandals (MADE IN BRAZIL), poured himself a glass of wine (MADE IN FRANCE) and turned on his TV (MADE IN INDONESIA) and wondered why he can’t find a good paying job in AMERICA!

The author of this ended with a disparaging line about our President which I chose to leave out, since (despite your political views) the U.S. manufacturing leadership position has been lost for years, in part because “good paying American jobs” included a combination of salary and benefits that made American workers uncompetitive with other countries around the world.

At least the United States can claim leadership in the manufacturing of some products-for instance the golf ball! Enjoy the following video:



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dy86YlsR0LU

Let’s hope that our economic revival includes the resurgence of manufacturing. Making things and selling them is what earned America its leadership position economically in the world. We shouldn’t be so cavalier about giving it up!

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All Hail, Dr. Ernst Pfenning!!

So, who the hell is he?

Dr. Ernst Pfenning of Chicago just happens to be America’s first car buyer!

The good doctor from Chicago-took delivery on a brand new Ford Model A on this date in 1903. Henry Ford told him he could have it in any color he wanted-as long as it was black.

Chances are that he received no rebate, no dealer incentives-and he probably didn’t haggle with a guy wearing a plaid sport coat.

His trade-in was a horse. HA!

We’ve come a long way from that first transaction-and the government’s “clunker” program that releases about $4,500 bucks to car buyers who trade in an inefficient car for a “greener” model should help bring car buyers back into showrooms-something desperately needed to fuel the economic recovery.

Although it was the Model T that catapulted Ford into the #1 spot among automakers, the Model A was the one that started it all. The second Model A, released in November of 1927 was a great success. Between ’27 and 1931, a whopping 4.3 MILLION were made!


I couldn’t find a video clip of a 1903 Model A, but how about a PRETTY FAST one from 1927?

Enjoy:



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iFSGSL3Nrmc

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Quality Blogs are JOB ONE.

Your Body Is Screaming So Loud I Can't Hear You!

I am fascinated by the science of body language.

Perhaps most interesting is the fact that most of it is subconscious. That is, we aren’t even AWARE that certain body positions, facial expressions and gestures are happening. They often exist in contrast to what we are actually saying.

Scientists estimate that MOST of what is communicated to another person is the body language we emit-and the tonality of our voice—as opposed to the words we use. The language itself is a very small percentage of the MEANING that is conveyed.

Nervousness betrays the speaker, in the form of fidgeting, twirling a pencil or fiddling with an inanimate object. We see this and regardless of what the person is SAYING, we are KNOWING they are uncomfortable. This discomfort can then be attributed to a variety of things, most notable being the possibility that the speaker’s words don’t convey their true feelings..i.e., they are LYING. The deception usually cannot occur without body language betrayal.

There are a number of excellent books on the subject—and some good videos as well. Enjoy the little clip below—and you’ll never approach a conversation with anyone the same way again!




http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pXRQyJbMhkA

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It’s free….REALLY…I’m not lying!

Roy Rogers Radio Ends-But TV Is Waiting

Aside from my paper route, delivering the Washington Post (which needs to be the sole subject of ANOTHER blog), my first real job was at the Roy Rogers fast food joint on Wisconsin Avenue in D.C .in the 1970’s.

Wearing my country plaid shirt, western string tie and hat (all of which were completely mortifying to a teenage boy trying to get lucky), I was flipping burgers and taking out the trash in style, no?

All of this made me a bit curious about the man for whom my restaurant was named. I knew even then that Roy wasn’t in some kitchen out west trying out new recipes. Since we knew Trigger the horse was dead, we were actually grateful that Roy wasn’t in the least bit responsible for the food. The Marriott Corporation co-opted his name and reputation (at a hefty price, no doubt) in order to capture that wild west spirit. When a customer ordered their burger well done, we were told to yell out, “BRAND IT!” No, I am NOT kidding.

The last episode of Roy’s radio program aired on this day in 1955, but the new medium of television was soon to beckon Roy for even higher levels of stardom.

A long way from his roots. Born Leonard Slye in Cincinnati, he came to California as a migrant fruit picker. Soon after he joined various singing groups-including the Sons of Pioneers, he began to play bit parts for Republic Pictures-and got an early break after singing cowboy Gene Autrey quit in a dispute with the studio.

He married his costar Dale Evans after his wife passed away-and proceeded to become one of the wealthiest men in Hollywood. Rogers died in 1998.

His radio show began in 1944 and then after a couple of years off following the end of the radio gig, it was the TV version that began in 1951—and ran until 1957. Below is a clip from a Roy Rogers TV Show-enjoy!



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=op1xX7bPzEU

In the late 50’s, interests began to shift from cowboys to space as the imagination of kids turned to the skies with the launch of Sputnik and the dawn of the U.S. Space program-this phenomenon is playfully-yet accurately displayed in the Pixar film “Toy Story”

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Happy Trails to you!

40 Years From The Moon Landing-Now What?

If you asked ANYONE in 1969 after they witnessed Neil Armstrong cavorting on the lunar surface exactly what we’d be up to in the year 2009, it is likely the answers would have been a variation of one of the following:

a) Americans will be making regular trips to the moon as a vacation destination
b) We would have landed a man (or woman!) on Mars by now
c) We would have a space station/city in orbit
d) All of the above

So…..what happened?

It is somewhat ironic that we lost Walter Cronkite this past weekend-as he was likely the voice you heard describing the Apollo 11 landing 40 years ago today. I think that he, too, was a bit disappointed that we had not made more progress in space.

National priorities change. In the early 60’s, the Cold War fueled the race into space. We had security incentives to conquer the upper atmosphere and beyond. The wartime potential of supremacy in space was obvious. This sense or urgency, articulated by President Kennedy in his “deadline” to get us to the moon “before this decade is out” helped to crystallize the mission ahead of us.

After we arrived, there was euphoria, a sense of relief, of pride----and a heavy dose of “NOW WHAT?”

The Space Shuttle program-to design, build and fly a reusable spaceship made sense, but once we did it, what were we going out there for anyway?

I was a HUGE fan of the space program-and I distinctly remember gathering with my family around the TV 40 years ago today. It was SO surreal-that a part of me can understand those people who STILL believe it was all staged by NASA-that we never actually landed on the moon. It was all an elaborate deception.

The question of “what’s next”? still haunts us. At a time that when dollars are scarce-and no clearly defined reason for being in space exist, it is hard to justify the fact that more is spent yearly on the U.S. Space program than on the search for alternative energy sources, clearly a higher priority.

Maybe there is an energy source out there that we can harness. It will take something of that magnitude to galvanize American sentiment that we should re-direct the Space Program to new “heights” (sorry)

A new mission is in order. What is the nature of that mission? What is the end game? The space program of the 60’s created an explosion in advances in technology from computers to consumer electronics. This time, it will take more than commercial leaps in technology to justify the expenditure of our national treasure.

I hope we can define a new focus—one that captures the imagination of the entire world, not just the United States.

If you want to get the goosebumps all over again, watch the video clip below-historic footage of the mission 40 years ago that defined our supremacy as a superpower:



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pCp2jTtay0w

If you’d like my blog in your inbox daily, just let me know-it’s really easy- a small step for man (or woman), but a giant leap for mankind!tim.moore@citcomm.com

The First Mickey Mouse Operation

The original theme park, Disneyland, opened on this date in 1955. Located on 160 acres of what used to be orange groves in Anaheim, California, it cost $17 million dollars to build!

Parlaying the success of Mickey Mouse and the other Disney cartoon characters into an experience for families, the original Disneyland was less than an absolute success on Day One.

First of all, thousands of counterfeit passes were printed-and Disneyland admitted hordes of uninvited people. The food and drink ran out and the Mark Twain steamboat nearly capsized from too many passengers. A woman’s high heel shoe got stuck in the still-wet asphalt of Main Street USA—and a gas leak forced a partial evacuation.

Needless to say, the bugs were worked out-and Disneyland became enormously popular-and successful! So much so that Walt Disney began a project even more ambitious-the construction of Disney World in Orlando, Florida, which began in 1965. Disneyworld opened in 1971, five years after the death of its namesake. The addition of Epcot,Disney-MGM have helped make Disneyworld Florida’s number one tourist attraction. Disneyland Tokyo opened in 1983 and EuroDisney opened in 1992. The newest Disneyland-in Hong Kong-opened in 2005.

Below is a clip of the opening day in 1955 of the original! Notice one of the young MC’s to come on camera with Art Linkletter-a guy by the name of Ronald Reagan!



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2rHjoimz5XI

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Have a great weekend!

The Manhattan Project

The very first atomic bomb was tested on this day in 1945 in Alamogordo, New Mexico.

Depending on your perspective, this development of nuclear power for warfare is either the heinous start down a slippery slope that we have yet to realize the full effects of (thank God)---or it was a necessary evil.

In hindsight of what was called The Manhattan Project, it is easy to look back and criticize the development of-and use of nuclear weapons. However, back then, facing Hitler and Hirohito and knowing that they too were attempting to develop the very same weapon will make you think twice.

At a time when Iran is developing such weaponry, the United States is declaring that Iran cannot possess such destructive capability. Some might argue that it is highly arrogant for the only country to actually USE the atomic bomb against people to sit in judgment of other countries, who (at least on the surface) assert its development being tied to their sovereign rights to self defense.

Perhaps THAT argument will never find universal agreement. The series of events during World War II, however, are more cut and dried.

The following program is an absolutely FASCINATING look at the Manhattan Project, a story told in the context of the times that the project was undertaken.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xwpgmEvlRpM


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