Spanky Sparkles - MAGIC GOOGLE FINGER

Use a picture. It's worth a thousand words.
Arthur Brisbane

I troll the internet so you do not have to, Cher Reader. Enjoy.

I try to find attribution for every image I post. Often I cannot. Artists, sign your work.

First Day of Spring 2018

“If winter comes, can spring be far behind?”
Percy Bysshe Shelley, Ode to the West Wind

Today is the official First Day of Spring. The United Nations declared this is official International Happiness Day.

Humbug! We have a 24 hour Winter Storm Warning In Philadelphia today. Happy Spring all the same. I am planning my garden. It must be Spring.

Jeffrey Koterba is the cartoonist. His blog is HERE.

Dirty Blues Sunday #5 - Irene Scruggs

Dirty Blues deals with topics that are considered taboo in proper society. Such music was banned from radio and only available on a jukebox in the blind pigs and juke joints of our nation. It was dancing music. Saturday night at the juke joint music.

Irene Scruggs (born December 7, 1901 – died probably July 20, 1981 in Germany) was an American Piedmont blues and country blues singer.

Using the pseudonym Chocolate Brown she recorded tracks with Blind Blake. To avoid contractual problems she was also billed as Dixie Nolan. By the early 1930s, Little Brother Montgomery took over as her accompanist on recordings and in touring.

Provided to YouTube by The Orchard Enterprises. Good Grinding · Little Brother Montgomery with Irene Scruggs

Dirty Blues Sunday #4 - Bessie Smith

Bessie Smith earned the title of “Empress of the Blues” by virtue of her forceful vocal delivery. She often sang without a microphone and her voice could fill the largest hall. Bessie Smith danced, acted and performed comedy routines with her touring company. She was the highest-paid Black performer of her day.

Bessie Smith, aka Elizabeth Smith, was born April 15 1898?, in Chattanooga, Tennessee. She died September 26, 1937, in Clarksdale, Mississippi, from injuries sustained in a road accident. It was said that, had she been white, she would have received earlier medical treatment, thus saving her life, and Edward Albee made this the subject of his play The Death of Bessie Smith (1960).

Empty Bed Blues is the song I think of when I hear her name. Bessie Smith did not scorn the Dirty Blues. These songs were standards in every blind pig and juke joint in the South and North.

Bessie Smith sang with most Jazz and Blues musicians of the era. Bessie Smith with Orchestra (Louis Armstrong -- cornet, Fred Longshaw, harmonium) -- St. Louis Blues, Parlophone ca 1935 (British re-edition of the US Columbia, MX 140241 from 1925)

Bessie Smith's only film appearance 1929. This is the complete film co-starring Jimmy Mordecai as her gigolo boyfriend. This film fell into the public domain in 1958 due to lack of copyright renewal.

Dirty Blues Sunday #3 - Bo Carter

Bo Carter, born Armenter Chatmon June 30 1893, is an American Delta Blues musician. He is well known since 1960 for his Dirty Blues songs. In 1928 he recorded Corinna Corinna. 

That's probably where everyone else got their version they recorded. Eric Clapton calls his version "Alberta, Alberta". I've even heard it called, "Sweet Maggie, Sweet Maggie". I guess you can use whatever woman's name you are trying to impress at the time. - Arkansas Red

Bo Carter was a member of the Mississippi Sheiks which Bo also managed. That group included his brother Lonnie Chatmon on fiddle and occasionally Sam Chatmon on bass, along with a friend, Walter Vinson, on guitar and lead vocals.

Dirty Blues. The filth and dirt begins now. Please Warm My Wiener recorded 1934.

For those not familiar with American slang I offer a translation. Biscuits are breasts. Biscuits, Jelly Roll, Fruit Basket - all such sweet talk. 

Released 1931. Rock me, Daddy. Rock me all night long. 

This recording is not particularly dirty. I include it because of the classic guitar riff which sounds so familiar. 

Dirty Blues Sunday #2 - Lucille Bogan

I found that Dirty Blues is a music genre all its own just poking around on the net last Sunday. And then I went looking for the music and songs. And I am finding such treasure.

Lucille Bogan 

April 1, 1897 – August 10, 1948

Mrs. Lucille Bogan is an American blues singer, among the first to be recorded. She also recorded under the pseudonym Bessie Jackson. She was born Lucille Anderson in Amory, Mississippi.

The music critic Ernest Borneman said Bogan was one of "the big three of the blues", along with Ma Rainey and Bessie Smith. Reference: Russell, Tony (1997). The Blues: From Robert Johnson to Robert Cray. Dubai: Carlton Books. p. 94. List of songs written by Lucille Bogan. 

Released under the pseudonym Bessie Jackson. B.D. stands for bulldagger or bulldyke, colloquial terms of the era that meant lesbian. The term bulldyke has unfortunately survived to the present day among the sexually frightened.

Piggly Wiggly, the Southern grocery chain's imaginative name, becomes a pseudonym for brothel in sly Dirty Blues. Double entendre is the name of the game. We will be learning more together every Sunday. 

Banner Records - Song Recorded 3-5-1935 In Chicago, Illinois. Written by Lucille Bogan.

Last but not least, a song about marijuana. Great Grandpa and Grandma were not the old fogies you might think they were. Reefer Blues, Vintage Songs about Marijuana Volume 2. 

FUCK YEAH! at the Fruits and Nuts Cafe

WPA Poster

Okay. I cannot write much. I need medication. First, Lady Shrink said so. Then my Black Sister told me I cannot even have phone conversation without saying "I have to leave now." My mind is going 150 miles an hour.

There is no end to my desire to prove I am not really crazy. I am just bad. Calling the doctor today. Thought I was 'handling it.'

All I have got is a sentence published by Dave Weigel who is the only genuine Conservative I know. I miss real Conservatives. 

My brain keeps returning to the sentence “a transgender heavy metal singer defeated the author of Virginia’s anti-trans bathroom bill." - Dave W.

Danica Roems's triumph is kind of amazing. I think she won because of 'the content of her character.' And that is a good thing. And now for a rapid change of focus. Hard to concentrate on one thing when manic.

Right Wing Argument - or - How many times have you met one of these intellects on the Net?

Those who shove millions of people into a set (the left), and assert each and every person in the set holds the same ideas and opinions, can be broken into two groups:

1. Authoritarian followers.
2. Paid disINFObots, Russian or otherwise, whose job it is to create class/race/group chaos and hatred to disable democracies.

Both classes of posters are not capable or worthy of conversation/discussion. They are Shitweasels.

Shitweasel Method of Argument:
When the facts do not serve, argue motive and impugn character.

Shitweasel Method of Argument 2:
And this is a favorite. Misquote your opponent and then go on to impugn character and motives of opponent and/or sources. The 1-2 Method.

Once you notice the ubiquity of these methods of argument, you will be LOLing so hard you cannot get pissed at shitweasel trolls. Takes all troll jollies away.

Signs of the Month with Music - August 2017

# hashtag of the month #EmptyThePews.

http://txwomen.tumblr.com/

Fascism is not new. We must fight it whenever and where we encounter it. The song "Bella ciao" was sung by the anti-fascist resistance movement active in Italy between 1943 and 1945. The author of the lyrics is unknown; the music and spirit of the song is based on a folk song sung by rice-weeders on the River Po basin in the early part of the 20th century -- "Alla mattina appena alzata". A version of this song was recorded for music researchers by Italian folk singer Giovanna Daffini in 1962.

Message from 1968 - Smothers Brothers

All things are wearisome; Man is not able to tell it. The eye is not satisfied with seeing, Nor is the ear filled with hearing. That which has been is that which will be, And that which has been done is that which will be done. So there is nothing new under the sun. Is there anything of which one might say, "See this, it is new? " Already it has existed for ages Which were before us. - Ecclesiastes

Cheeto, you have your words and we have our brains and humor.

Laughter is mightier than the pen and the sword. I am looking at you, Trump.

Let's not punch Nazis, people. That's playing into their hands. Let's mock them instead. Laugh at them. Make fun of them. Nothing makes their little penises shrivel right up like abject humiliation. Nothing gets their quivering little insecurities flaring into an inchoate roar that reveals their inner Psychopathic Asshole Who Scares the Fuck Out of Everybody like being the object of well-earned derisive guffaws. Just think of how Alec Baldwin's SNL portrayals send Lord Cheetomort into paroxysms of unrequited wrath. - David Neiwert

First Clip: British actor Peter Serafinowicz, who is perhaps best known as the voice of Darth Maul or as the zombie in Shaun Of The Dead.

Second Clip: YouTube comedian Vic Berger’s Super Deluxe channel today posted a compilation of Trump’s insane tweets sung in the style of an “early 2000s emo band.”

Sister Rosetta Tharpe. If ever I needed her, I need her now. Look sharp, Trumpolini. God do not like nasty.

 The supreme art of war is to subdue the enemy without fighting. - Sun Tzu

Spirit Warriors facing dogs, poison, severe cold, wounding and death with only an Eagle feather and their own fragile bodies. God bless them. I know S/he does.

Sister Rosetta Tharpe's 1944 hit "Down by the Riverside" was selected for the National Recording Registry of the U.S. Library of Congress in 2004, which noted that it "captures her spirited guitar playing and unique vocal style, demonstrating clearly her influence on early rhythm-and-blues performers" and cited her influence on "many gospel, jazz, and rock artists". ("Down by the Riverside" was recorded by Tharpe on December 2, 1948, in New York City, and issued as Decca single 48106. 

Forward! - Sign of the Month - November 2016

From time to time in America a bodhisattva appears. A man or woman whose honesty gleams. A human who is endowed with brains, compassion, a sense of humor, courage and oratory. 

One great human runs for POTUS and loses several times. That human is the American Socialist Party candidate in the four candidate election of 1916. And last night he was waving to me in my dream.

I am thinking of Eugene Victor Debs today because he said this and we need to remember who we are today, I think. And where we need to go. 

I am not a Labor Leader; I do not want you to follow me or anyone else; if you are looking for a Moses to lead you out of this capitalist wilderness, you will stay right where you are. I would not lead you into the promised land if I could, because if I led you in, some one else would lead you out. You must use your heads as well as your hands, and get yourself out of your present condition; as it is now the capitalists use your heads and your hands.

As quoted in "Life of Eugene V. Debs" by Stephen Marion Reynolds, in Debs : His Life, Writings and Speeches (1908) edited by Bruce Rogers and Stephen Marion Reynolds, p. 71.

This was Debs ultimate goal.

The united vote of those who toil and have not will vanquish those who have and toil not, and solve forever the problems of democracy.

"In other words,"We are stronger together." - Hillary Clinton. I believe that. But I know that we "must use our heads." Debs was under no delusions about the American political parties.

The Republican and Democratic parties, or, to be more exact, the Republican-Democratic party, represent the capitalist class in the class struggle. They are the political wings of the capitalist system and such differences as arise between them relate to spoils and not to principles.

I am going to vote for Hillary. And then I am going to keep on working for my country. I am going to use my head and my hands. Nobody is perfect. We must have a Republic and we must keep it. Hat tip to B. Franklin. Democracy is work. The Bernie Revolution is ongoing. No slacking.

The revolution will not be televised. - Gil Scott-Heron

“Everybody can be great...because anybody can serve. You don't have to have a college degree to serve. You don't have to make your subject and verb agree to serve. You only need a heart full of grace. A soul generated by love.” - Martin Luther King, Jr.

"Change comes from power, and power comes from organization. In order to act, people must get together." - Saul Alinsky, Rules for Radicals, p. 113

::: pussy pussy pussy pussy pussy pussy :::

Take this as an invitation to show us your precious pussy. Meow. A picture of your cat will do. Heh. Or find us another pussy song and post it in the comments.

Photograph is a flower Hydnora africana.

Hydnora africana is an plant native to southern Africa that is parasitic on the roots of members of the Euphorbiaceae family. The plant grows underground, except for a fleshy flower that emerges above ground and emits an odor of feces to attract its natural pollinators, dung beetles, and carrion beetles. The flowers act as traps for a brief period retaining the beetles that enter, then releasing them when the flower is fully opened.

Life is Good or Drunk Ramblings

I got a bottle of Stella Artois and some decent doob. I got the Monday night quiets. And that is good. It is cooling down a bit outside.

Huma and Hillary prove the law. When a husband acts like a manwhore and follows his dick, it always his wife's sin/fault/responsibility. I get married and his dick becomes mine. I do not ever want to be a dicksitter.

Walter brought me a copy of the Polish paper and the St. John Cantius festival is happening again. Maybe I can find some old Polish Eagle to jump on. And I need real Polish food like a drunkard needs his booze.

I will give more information about the festival, but at the moment I am trashed. And happy about it. And dancing my ass on out here in internetland.

Super Mary Says No No! Musical Accompaniment Provided Below.

Flip Benham's float or march presentation entered into a Pride Day Parade celebration can be seen in the video below.

Tasteless and poorly rehearsed. No feathers. No body paint. At least Westboro has banners.

Flip Benham is the guy way in the back wearing jeans, white shirt, red tie, suspenders and large bay window. Muscle and Bullhorns. So phallic.

I cannot understand why some sweet slightly crippled old lady like me has not walked up to this fat ugly Benham dude all smiling, crucifix flying and kicked him square in his junk. 

One could roll up in one's wheelchair on one of the Twins, pretending to have found a rainbow dildo that has got you all twitterpated, and use your cane. Badda bing.

I admit that on manic days I advocate violence. I am a diagnosed nut. I do not hit people or disrespect them in real life. Only in my blog fantasy. What is Flip Benham and his Sons excuse? Why fret? They dissing folks for Jesus. We all know that is not good. Ain't Christian. But it is mighty Right.

Smile with Music

Even though I am sick to death of this election, I am going to make telephone calls at the Democratic Party local headquarters on Wednesday night.

I give good phone. I used to work on the phone selling advertising for the Princeton Packet group of newspapers. I started in classified and won a prize selling the most Pick a Present ads at Christmas.

Never volunteered for a political party before. Did lots of volunteer church work. Trashmouth old me cleans up good if I have to. It is so hot that I spend most of my time at home in my undies. This was a good excuse to put on a skirt, some jewelry, a little Chanel.

I met Alvin, my section leader. He is 26 and cute. Too clean cut for me. I like the faintly evil type. August, the month of boredom and flies.

Art from Freaking News. 

Smile is based on an instrumental theme used in the soundtrack for the 1936 Charlie Chaplin movie Modern Times. Chaplin composed the music, inspired by Puccini's Tosca. John Turner and Geoffrey Parsons added the lyrics and title in 1954.

Dead Comedians Sunday #1

Television: A medium. So called because it's neither rare nor well done. - Ernie Kovacs

Ernest Edward "Ernie" Kovacs (January 23, 1919 – January 13, 1962) was an American comedian, actor, and writer. Kovacs' visually experimental and often spontaneous comedic style influenced numerous television comedy programs for years after his death by automobile accident. - wikipedia

Ernie Kovacs does Tchaikovsky. Ernie told a lie. Ernie did television well and often. Rest in Laughter. I cannot leave out Solfeggio at the end.

Keep Dancing, Orlando!

“Dance, when you're broken open. Dance, if you've torn the bandage off. Dance in the middle of the fighting. Dance in your blood. Dance when you're perfectly free.” ― Rumi

Cops keep this up, I will experience a change in attitude. Go Firefighters too! Never stop dancing. Never.

Via ABC News:

Weeks after three horrific tragedies hit the Orlando area, the Orange County Sheriff’s Department has found a way to keep the city’s spirits up.

"We’re here for an important announcement today. I wanna keep Orlando smiling. Keep dancing, Orlando!”

Manchester Pride Sings Lily Allen

Let's close Pride Month with a BANG sendoff. Way to go, Manchester Pride! Why be polite when you can be GORGEOUS.

Perfect Days

And what is so rare as a day in June? Then, if ever, come perfect days...

- James Russell Lowell

                                          

                                                                                                                                                            "...dancing up a storm," Kelly says. It's a beautiful day, not a cloud in the sky. There's a little bit of mist in the distance hanging over the river. But it's a nice time."

This 1846 painting made George Caleb Bingham's career. Known around Missouri primarily as a portrait painter, he went national with The Jolly Flatboatmen with help from an East Coast arts group. Judith Brodie, curator of prints and drawings at the National Gallery, says, "If it weren't for the American Art Union, this painting may never have been painted."

READ MORE HERE...