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Speaking as a person who has done some programming, the following bits of information are troubling:
- Instances of computer errors in Bush’s favor (In Ohio) have been confirmed (Link, Similar story in NC).
- “One thing that is very strange is how much the exit polls differed from the final results, especially in Ohio. Remember that Ohio uses Diebold voting machines in many areas. These machines have no paper trail. Early in the campaign, Diebold CEO Walden O’Dell, a GOP fundraiser, promised to deliver Ohio to Bush. He later regretted having said that.” – electoral-vote.com (link to O’Dell Quote)
I’m trying really hard to just accept the situation and not get sucked into the crazy conspiracy theories that are already circulating, and I certainly don’t doubt the willful stupidity of my countrymen. But still…
MC5 – ‘The American Ruse’
From: Back in the USA (1970)
Back before I started ‘updating regularly’ again, I wrote a big piece on obscure Canadian 70’s rockers Klaatu (There was a persistent rumor that they were the Beatles re-formed). You can read it here. Jamie Vernon, the man responsible for the recent spate of Klaatu CD reissues posted the following on a Klaatu-centric mailing list the other day:
“Klaatu’s John Woloschuk just called me to ask if I could track down a rap song for him called “Lay You Down”. Apparently, a sample of Klaatu’s 1974 song “Dr. Marvello” is used in it, and John’s starting to see royalty cheques from sales. Because Klaatu has no control over their master recordings outside of Canada, John’s curious to find out the context of the sample under which Capitol in the US agreed to license it.”
“Turns out….the song is 50 (fiddy) Cent and his posse G-Unit from their 2003 Interscope album “Beg For Mercy”. The “clean” version is called ‘Lay You Down’….the “dirty” version is called “Lay Ya Ass Down.”
“Also, their song “A Million Miles Away” has also been covered recently….a rather luxurious royalty cheque has popped up for that one out of the US. Can’t seem to find a source of who recorded it though. Anyone?”
I’ve included MP3 samples of both below. They didn’t even bother to isolate the parts without singing – The Klaatu vocals are audible beneath the raps!
Klaatu – ‘Doctor Marvello’
From: 3:47 EST (1976)
G-Unit – ‘Lay You Down’
From: Beg For Mercy (2003)
Official Venture Brothers Website Live
– From the creative team behind The Tick animated series.
Venture Brothers Creator’s LiveJournal
– with behind the scenes goodness!
Fox has already called Ohio, CNN maintains it’s still too close, and I’m going to bed. Meanwhile, people are still voting in Ohio (link to first-hand account). I really hope Kerry stands his ground and waits for each and every vote – provisional or otherwise – to be counted in Ohio before making a premature concession.
the only show I watch religiously – begins its 6th season on November 16th.
In the past few weeks I’ve been finding some great stuff in the ‘Dollar Racks’ in the front of my local Target store: dollar DVD’s.
Just before Halloween I managed to pick a few schlocky 60’s horror double-feature discs (One includes Francis Ford Coppola’s ‘Dementia 13‘), and just the other day I found a great compilation of 1930’s Tom & Jerry Shorts.
I’m a sucker for animation to begin with, but this is the BEST kind: Old, Black and White, and absolutely Music-centric. These cartoons were made when speech was still used sparingly in animation, and the on-screen action was closely tied to the often elaborate orchestration of the soundtrack. The DVD consists of 9 black and white Tom & Jerry animated shorts from 1931-1933.
Clearly, these are not the characters that first spring to mind when one thinks of ‘Tom & Jerry,’ but they get a pass since they were there first. The manufacturer of the DVD, Genius Entertainment, shrewdly attempts to exploit this confusion in the on-box copy:
“Two of the most popular cartoon creations are together again in this one-of-a-kind collection of their most fun-filled escapades. Poor Tom is always going up against the wise Jerry in their cat-and-mouse games. You’ll enjoy these hilarious shorts over and over again.”
Watching the shorts reveals that this Tom & Jerry are actually a team of sorts, and don’t “go up against” each other at all. There’s a good website with information on these cartoons here.
If you’re a big weirdo and interested in getting a copy of your own, check out the nearest Target, dollar store, or if you don’t feel like getting up, you can order it from Amazon (Though it’ll cost you an extra fifty cents).
Bonus: The Horror double-feature DVD’s also feature ‘Spooky’ Tom & Jerry shorts of the same vintage, which are not included on the Tom & Jerry DVD. Rib-cage xylaphones abound!
– A short story by WIlliam Faulkner. Somehow I made it this far without knowing that this existed, while simultaneously loving the shit out of the Zombies song of the same title (which is loosely based on the story).