Man, we are SO glad August is over with, we can hardly express it. Talk about uneventful. But, here on the first day of the month, September is making up for it in a big way. This weekend is Birdman Weekend in the resort of Bognor Regis on England’s South Coast. This is what some people will do for a chance at £25,000: fling themselves off a pier in a human-powered flying machine, attempting to break the distance record which currently stands at 293 feet. How quaint, you say. But take into account that the competitors tend to dress in costume or, even more disturbing, go au naturel. Watch the news tonight and you’ll probably see more of these wacky Brits (and other nationalities) than you wanted to.
Author: Antoinette Powell
Happy Birthday, Mister Adler
Today marks the 86th birthday of composer Richard Adler. In 1950 he began composing with Jerry Ross, and a few years later they cranked out The Pajama Game (1954) and Damn Yankees (1955.) The latter show contains the song “Hey There,” the opening of which is said to be based on the first theme of Mozart’s Piano Sonata in C major, K. 545. Judge for yourself.
Grove Music Online has an interesting bit of trivia about Mr. Adler: “He was also the producer and director for various celebrity productions in the Kennedy and Johnson administrations, including Marilyn Monroe’s celebrated appearance in Madison Square Garden singing Happy Birthday to President Kennedy.” But we want to know who sewed her into The Dress.
More CDs!
It’s been a while, but we have another CD pile. Here you will find representatives from the upcoming Artists’ Series and Jazz Series.
Did You Ever Know That You’re My (Oompa) Hero?
A well-respected national news publication today announced what is possibly the end of “Guitar Hero“-like games. It probably seemed like a good idea at the time, with all the band programs out there, but this particular take on interactive multiplayer gaming should have been run past a few more focus groups.
Send ‘Em In
It’s National Clown Week, proclaimed by Richard M. Nixon in 1971. We won’t even go there.
We think clowns are kind of scary, but not as scary as ventriloquists’ dummies. We’re talking the wooden kind with the hinged mouth. If you want to see something spooky, check out the International Ventriloquists’ Association web site. Yeesh.
National Clown Week also reminds us of a remark made by Bart Simpson to his dad when Homer expressed an urge to attend college: “Barber or clown?”
Here are our two favorite clown-related items in the Mudd: the electronic book Careers for Class Clowns & Other Engaging Types and Herb Gardner’s play A Thousand Clowns.
At Last, More CDs
Here we are already into the second week of July. It just doesn’t seem possible that it’s been over a month since we announced the acquisition of CDs featuring Lee Tomboulian. We’ve got a brand new pile today, and you’ll find him on two of them. We’ve also got some Bach, a Georgian composer, Mario Lanza, LU performances and a mystery CD hiding in the carpeting.
Ducks With Bills
It has been brought to our attention that the warm story of the rescued ducks may have had a more sinister angle. This photo taken by Donncha O Caoimh and posted on the inphotos.org website reveals the dark side of ducks. Snopes.com also has an entry on this Wild Kingdom gone bad incident.
We don’t want to encourage people to turn the other way when they see ducklings in trouble, but just keep an eye on the mom.
Dateline: Appleton
We didn’t want to report this incident until we were certain how it all turned out. Yesterday in Appleton’s Old Third Ward near downtown, 10 baby ducks were heard peeping from underneath the sidewalk. They had fallen through a sewer grate. The distraught mom was crossing a busy street, back and forth, with neighbors stopping traffic. APD was called and a Community Police van appeared along with other neighbors carrying a large net and a crowbar. After much coaxing the mom settled into a safe grassy area and after a while the babies were freed. The family was last seen disappearing between two houses heading for the Fox River.
Thanks to APD and the concerned people of the Old Third Ward for a happy outcome.
Iron Men (And Women)
Pounding nails into gigantic animals. This comes under the category of, nope, wouldn’t want to do that for a living. But plenty of people do, even though their shops aren’t on street corners anymore. They’re farriers (or ferriers) and they not only make and install horseshoes, they also care for the hooves. If you remember your science, ferrum is Latin for iron, number 26 in your periodic table of elements.
It’s National Farriers Week, so when you admire a well-shod horse with healthy hooves, thank a farrier.
The Mudd has many 18th and 19th century books and pamphlets in electronic format on farriery. Yes, that’s a word.
Only 50 Years Ago
We missed this important anniversary, but it bears relating. On July 6, 1957, a 16-year-old John Lennon and his skiffle band The Quarry Men were playing for a church function in Woolton just outside Liverpool. A mutual friend introduced Lennon to Paul McCartney, then 15 and a pretty good guitar player and singer. A few days later McCartney was invited to join the band. Then they wrote and recorded some stuff.