Year: 2008

The Pillows Rock Boston!

After yesterday’s nightmare four-hour wait to get registered at Anime Boston, today’s live concert by the Pillows made up for it. For Eric this was the highlight of the weekend, for sure. The Pillows were first mentioned way back in this post when the blog was only a month old.

Carol and I heard some of the show through the doors, and we were able to sneak in for the last two songs. The hall at the Hynes Convention Center is huge! It seats 5,000, and before some of the audience left early to beat the crowd to the merchandise table, the place was totally packed.

I managed to record the audio to the last minute of “Ride On Shooting Star,” the Pillows song that’s at the link above. This is how it sounded from outside the hall, with all of the doors closed. The show was plenty loud, and with Eric sitting in the eighth row, it was a good thing he wore ear plugs.

[audio:http://www.dograt.com/Audio/2008/MAR/pillows.mp3]

Anime Boston 2008 Purgatory

Today we waited in line four hours to register for Anime Boston! Four hours! And we were pre-registered. It’s been 35 years since I attended my first fan convention, and I’ve never waited even half that long to get a badge. I won’t get into the details of exactly how registration is being handled, but it’s completely bogus. We left the Hynes Convention Center after 8 pm, and it appeared that people were still waiting in the registration line!

Godawful Godfrey

Arthur GodfreyThe popularity of Arthur Godfrey, a recording then TV star, in the 40’s and 50’s is a mystery to me. He was on television into the 60’s, and I know of at least one friend who liked Godfrey’s easy and relaxed style; but to me he always seemed drunk, and there was something unsettling and decidedly uneasy about him that he kept hidden beneath the surface. Even feeling as I do, I was nevertheless stunned and shocked upon hearing a certain song recorded by Godfrey sixty years ago, in 1948. As much as I wanted some confirmation that my suspicions about the man were correct, I still wasn’t prepared for “Slap Er Down Agin Paw.”

[audio:http://www.dograt.com/Audio/2008/MAR/SlapErDownAginPaw.mp3]

This was a top ten hit! I can’t fathom who would have thought this was entertaining in any way at all, even as a novelty tune. As D.F. Rogers says in reference to this horrible song, in an intentionally ironic way, “There are just so many fascinating levels to study…”

Shield-ed Music

If you’re over 40, and you’ve never heard of composer Leroy Shield, that’s because the music he’s best known for was written without credit. If you’re under 40, it’s likely you’ve never heard his music at all, because around 1970 the black and white films of The Little Rascals and Laurel and Hardy, produced by Hal Roach in the 1930’s, were no longer a staple on TV.

WFMU’s Beware of the Blog notes that there is now a Leroy Shield Web site. Thanks go to Tom Tastewar for the tip-off. The audio player has a couple of tunes written by Shield, performed by the Beau Hunks.

[audio:http://www.dograt.com/Audio/2008/MAR/GoodOldDays.mp3,http://www.dograt.com/Audio/2008/MAR/OnToTheShow.mp3]

Barack in the USA

Will blog more later. I’m busy with running, and doing taxes (I owe, I owe), and this weekend is Anime Boston!

But I would like to say that I listened to Barack Obama’s entire speech, given in Philadelphia, dealing head-on with the race issue, and I was very impressed. I’d forgotten what’s it like to hear such a lengthy, thoughtful, and coherent speech, delivered effectively from start to finish.

The Capitalism of Karl Marx Carl Barks

Donald Duck, by Carl Barks

I am truly concerned by what’s going on with the craziness in the financial markets right now. We need a clear understanding of the fundamentals of a working economy, and for that we turn to Uncle Scrooge McDuck. Click the thumbnails to enlarge the pictures and read the story.

Walt Disney's Comics and Stories #126, 1951 Walt Disney's Comics and Stories #126, 1951 Walt Disney's Comics and Stories #126, 1951 Walt Disney's Comics and Stories #126, 1951 Walt Disney's Comics and Stories #126, 1951
Walt Disney's Comics and Stories #126, 1951 Walt Disney's Comics and Stories #126, 1951 Walt Disney's Comics and Stories #126, 1951 Walt Disney's Comics and Stories #126, 1951 Walt Disney's Comics and Stories #126, 1951

© Disney

This was the first comic book story by Carl Barks I ever read. If you’ve never read a Carl Barks story, now it’s your first too.