"Coming Up"

From the Wikipedia entry:

"Coming Up" was the punchy lead-off track from Paul McCartney's McCartney II album, released in 1980. Like the rest of the album, the song had a minimalist synth feel to it, and featured humorously processed vocals from McCartney.

Another version of the song was recorded in concert in 1979. This version, taped in Glasgow, Scotland, had a much fuller sound, and later hit number one on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100, despite being released as the single's b-side track to the studio version. In one of his last interviews, John Lennon was complimentary on this song. It was McCartney's final hit during Lennon's lifetime.

"Coming Up" is also well known for its video, using electronic trickery, a band consisting of McCartney dressed up as other famous pop music stars playing the other instruments - the stars honored in such a way include Buddy Holly, Neil Young, Ron Mael of Sparks, Ginger Baker of Cream, and he also appears as Beatle Paul in his early 1960s stage dress.

Khaaan!!!!! is 25

This article at Ain't It Cool News points out that the very best of all the numerous Star Trek movies to feature the original cast, Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan, was released exactly twenty-five years ago, today. Is that possible??
It seems like just a couple of months ago I was sitting in the theater of the now long gone mall of my youth (Galvez Mall), watching it on opening day. To this day, I do a spot on imitation of Chekov in the scene where he tells Captain Kirk: "They put cleatures in our bodies...to make us do tings..." You'd be suprised how handy it has been, sort of like, "That's what she says."

The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few or the one ...
This is an early trailer:


Here is the hilarious parody done on Family Guy:

And click here for Khaaan!!!!!

"At Long Last Love"

Cole Porter wrote "At Long Last Love" for his stage musical You Never Know in 1937. It's the only song I'm aware of to mention turtle soup.

Porter was Frank Sinatra's composer of choice, so it's no surprise he recorded a version. I'm aware of two separate studio recordings. There's the one he did on A Swingin' Affair! in 1956. And the other was recorded for his 1962 album (one of my favorites) Sinatra and Swingin' Brass. This video is of a performance from what I think is a 1965 episode of The Dean Martin Show. Sinatra sang the Neil Hefti arrangement of "At Long Last Love," from Sinatra and Swingin' Brass. Surprise! It swings:

Sunset in Kilgore

I raced to Kilgore (about an hour from Nacogdoches) Saturday night to get some pictures of one of my favorite small Texas towns in the light of the setting sun.


The Texan Theater (six months ago, all of the blue neon was working):






The second theater in Kilgore is the Crim Theater. It is like a glittering jewel. Night after night, not used for anything (as far as I know), yet, preserved in this state:










Previous Kilgore visits:

"Kilgore impressions"

"Christmas in Kilgore, Texas"

"Days of Wine and Roses"

"Days of Wine and Roses" was written by Henry Mancini (notes) and Johnny Mercer (words). It was used in the 1962 movie of the same name. Mancini and Mercer received the Academy Award for Best Original Song.

The best-known recording of the song was by Andy Williams in 1963, but several other recording artists have done the song, including Perry Como and composer Henry Mancini.

The phrase "days of wine and roses" is originally from the poem "Vitae Summa Brevis" by the English writer Ernest Dowson (1867-1900):

They are not long, the days of wine and roses:

Out of a misty dream

Our path emerges for a while, then closes

Within a dream.

(info. from Wikipedia entry)

Someone did a montage of film clips done during the early '60s, accompanied by Mancini's version that is pretty nice. It's that phenomenon of being nostalgic for something you yourself didn't actually experience:



Here's another one by that guy who films his extensive album collection as specific tracks play. It's Julie London's version of "Days of Wines and Roses" from her 1965 album, Our Fair Lady:

Amarillo, 1943

Great picture today at Shorpy.com of Amarillo, Texas, back in 1943. I just want to jump into it and walk around. It's possible many of those buildings are still there, perhaps, all the worse for wear, just waiting for me to take their picture.
View of Amarillo, Texas, taken on Santa Fe R.R. trip in March 1943. South Tyler at SW 10th Avenue. Kodachrome transparency by Jack Delano.

Here he comes, here comes Speed Racer

Warner Bros. Pictures via. USA Today
According to IMDb, filming on the live-action version of the classic 1960s anime series Speed Racer begins in Berlin on June 5. The Wachowskis (the team behind the Matrix flicks) are directing and producing. The cast (and what a cast):

Emile Hirsch: Speed
Christina Ricci: Trixie
Matthew Fox: Racer X
Susan Sarandon: Mom Racer
John Goodman: Pop Racer

I'm sure Spridel and Chim Chim will appear, as well. Johnny Depp was rumored to be Speed for a while. I think the current cast could be just about right. This sounds like it could turn out very well. We'll see. I got excited when reading about the plan to do a motion picture remake of Lost in Space. But I loved adored Speed Racer so much when I was a kid, I can't help but be intrigued.


Speed Racer, a.k.a., a demon on wheels