Happy Belated Birthday, Charlie Parker - Bede's Beat

Editor's Note: Bede was lost and now he's found. Huzzah!

It's a musical cliche to say that Charlie Parker changed the way we listen to music forever. It is also true.

In honor of his birthday, August 29, Bede's Beat presents a comparative listening set comprised of three of Parker's recordings of the same song -- Ray Noble's Cherokee -- which vividly illustrates the impact which Parker had upon the way we hear music and understand rhythm and harmonics today.

from 1941 with The Jay McShann Orchestra, the big band that first brought Parker to national attention:

from 1943, an home-recorded take on Cherokee -- This is bop at its birth:

from the famous Massey Hall Concert in Toronto in 1953, along with Dizzy Gillispie, Bud Powell, Charles Mingus and Max Roach:

As a final point of comparison, here is the original recording of Cherokee by the composer's own band, The Ray Noble Orchestra, from 1938

SIGN OF THE MONTH - September 1, 2015

Works for me. Republicans have the rape and breeder slavery of women in their party platform. Republicans have contempt for women.

Trump: “Excuse me, you DROPPED to your knees?”
Brande: “Yes."
Trump: "It must be a pretty picture, you dropping to your knees."

"Rand Paul in Kentucky...wants the government to intervene if a woman gets pregnant because of rape or incest...to force a woman or a girl in that situation to give birth to the rapist's baby or to their relative's baby, no matter what she or the girl or woman's doctor wants."

Last week, Paul Ryan gave an interview in which, defending his position that there should be no excuses for abortion, he referred to rape as a "method of conception."

DUMP TRUMP the Fecal Lump - #RegisterOnlinePA

Thanks to @GovernorTomWolf, registering to vote in PA is now as easy as clicking this! #RegisterOnlinePA

VOTE! Get the Republicans out of the Pennsylvania State House. Help Tom Wolf pass a real budget. 

Art by Hanksy in New York City. 

Feel the Bern!

Magnificent Bernie has magnificent friends. Vote! Vote in every election from dogcatcher to POTUS. Your life and the life of your country is in your hands. Vote!

Wisconsin Walker Gets Cheesed - Sign of the Month - August 2015

Scott Walker came to Philly. What can I say? We have our own unique style of political dissent - Urban Uncouth. You pick the sign you like the best. I am laughing too hard to choose.

Who is the big guy on the left with the big head and the big gun? Given the sentiment in the tweet below the picture, maybe he is Scott Walker's security? This is the best election ever.

Ethan Booker‏@Ethan_Booker

Scott Walker cut in line at Geno's to order a cheesesteak with American cheese and no onions. He's not getting out of Philly alive.

VISITORS - Do not go to Geno's or Pat's for cheesesteak. Only tourists go there. Go to Jim's Steaks on South Street. And if you want to try something new, go to Tony Luke's for the roast pork and escarole sandwich. So good.

Go Obama! It's your birthday. Go Obama!

This great portrait comes from this interesting "conservative" Blog. I think it is meant to ridicule Obama. I just love it. 

MOLON LABE - Asshats on Parade

GOP presidential candidate Mike Huckabee is in favor of using federal troops and the FBI to stop women from having abortions.

"I will not pretend there is nothing we can do to stop this," Huckabee said Thursday at a campaign stop in Jefferson, Iowa.

Women who remember the bad old days before safe legal medical contraception and abortion are still alive and we vote, Hucksterbee.

Those were deadly days for women. My Mother and my Sister had illegal abortions. Hucksterbee would send federal troops to do what to my Mother and Sister? Incarcerate them? Enslave them? Just slut shame them? What, you asswipe?

You think real men who love and respect women will allow anyone to do such to their Mothers, Sisters, Wives and Daughters?

Art by Favianna Rodriguez.

Monkey Business

This is worth watching. Never underestimate the humanity of animals. Or vice versa.

Bernie is going to be POTUS and this is the reason. - OMG GOP WTF?

You do not even have to listen to the words. Just watch the faces. Watch Greenspan sneer. Watch the legislative assistant laugh. Watch Greenspan's weasel words when he is made to confront his abject failure.

Oh Mr. Greenspan, what a surprise it is that people steal. Who woulda thunk it? Anybody with common sense would have known people steal. My Dad would have been better than you at handling the economy.

Get it that Republicans are still peddling 'trickle down' economics and 'deregulation.' Republicans are still bankrupting states. Bernie told them off in 2003. Go, Bernie, go!

Art Deco and More at the New York Public Library

I found the New York Public Library Digital Collections. What a great resource for everyone. 

"The site is a living database with new materials added every day, featuring prints, photographs, maps, manuscripts, streaming video, and more."

The images come from the Collections for Designers - Ornament and Pattern: Pre Victorian to Art Deco. 

The Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Division of Art, Prints and Photographs: Art & Architecture Collection, The New York Public Library. "1. Foliage; 2. Foliage; 3. Flowers and foliage" The New York Public Library Digital Collections.

The material in the collections is a treasure chest of graphic and abstract design. I spent a long time just poking about and I have not exhausted the resource yet.

The provenance of the abstract Tulips.

The Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Division of Art, Prints and Photographs: Art & Architecture Collection, The New York Public Library. "[Multicolor tulip shapes; on purple field.]" The New York Public Library Digital Collections. 1930.

The Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Division of Art, Prints and Photographs: Art & Architecture Collection, The New York Public Library. "Cretonne imprimée." The New York Public Library Digital Collections. 1926. http://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/510d47e2-ae3e-a3d9-e040-e00a18064a99

SCOTUS COMES OUT FOR MARRIAGE!

I always cry tears of joy at weddings. Clears and purifies the heart and the sinuses. Go Hillary!

Richard and Mildred Loving 1967

Marriage is one of the "basic civil rights of man," fundamental to our very existence and survival... - Chief Justice Earl Warren

I believe all Americans, no matter their race, no matter their sex, no matter their sexual orientation, should have that same freedom to marry... I am still not a political person, but I am proud that Richard's and my name is on a court case that can help reinforce the love, the commitment, the fairness and the family that so many people, black or white, young or old, gay or straight, seek in life. I support the freedom to marry for all. That's what Loving, and loving, are all about. - Mildred Loving

Brock Davis Plays with His Food.

My favorite part of catering was creating beautiful tablescapes with flowers, drapery and artistic whimsey. I loved making the food look beautiful on the plate. That work has given me an appreciation of Food Art wherever I find it, on the canvas or on the plate.

You want to go to Brock Davis website, if only to see the Banana Peel Trucker Hat.  

OMG GOP WTF? - And what rough beast, its hour come round at last...

George P. Bush looks like Marco Rubio and Jeb Bush had a baby, because they knew neither one of them would win the election, but their offspring might. Badda Bing. 



Hat tip to Yeats. 

The Gay Banditos Prevent Abortion

Hat tip to Lewis Black.

Art from the WPA

The Library of Congress possesses a treasure trove of the finest examples of American graphic art ever silk screened and printed.

I selected a few of the posters created by WPA artists for your enjoyment. Then as now, the government is not shy about giving us good advice. You can see more of these incredible posters HERE:












You can purchase prints of many of these posters. There is more than one Zoo poster. You want to see them all. I had a hard time selecting which one to use here.



The Federal Art Project (FAP) was the visual arts arm of the Great Depression-era New Deal Works Progress Administration Federal One program in the United States. It operated from August 29, 1935, until June 30, 1943. Reputed to have created more than 200,000 separate works, FAP artists created posters, murals and paintings. Some works still stand among the most-significant pieces of public art in the country. - Wikipedia





Did you know that Philadelphia once had a municipal acquarium? 

Tailgating for Jesus - Sign of the Month - June 2015

This sign comes from Every Saturday Morning Blog.  This is their Mission Statement:

Louisville Clinic Escort volunteers offer to accompany people seeking abortions to the door of EMW Women’s Surgical Center while practicing de-escalation and promoting normalization of abortion access.

Helluva sign. Death, Religion and Politics on one stick. Bet that woman is a multi-tasker of the first water. The sign below was the runner up this month. What is it with trucks used as billboards? Way to maximize exposure for sure.

These are not the first truck signs I have published. I like them. Begs the question: do liberals drive trucks? Yes, they do. Look at truck sign #3 below.

Nick and the Meaning of Life

"Some say life is too complex,
When you boil it down, it's food and sex."
- Nick Vanocur 

It is official. Ireland has passed equal marriage rights by vote.

God bless the Irish.
I know S/he does.

Right on Time Barbecue Sauce

I am blessed with seriously foody friends. Only a friend will give you their prize recipe for Barbecue Sauce.

Iron Pyrite's Barbecue Sauce

Ingredients

1 stick of Butter
1 chopped white Onion
1 minced Garlic clove
4 teaspoons of Tabasco sauce (more of less to suit taste)
1 tablespoon of Lemon Juice
2 tablespoons of Chili Powder (more or less to suit taste)
2 cups of apple cider Vinegar (rice vinegar will give a more “sour” finish)
1 32-ounce bottle of Ketchup (more or less to suit taste)
1-1/2 cups of Brown Sugar (more sugar will tend to thicken the mixture, and make more of a glaze on the meat)
4 tablespoons of Worcestershire Sauce (Lea and Perrin’s is good)
Fine ground Black Pepper (add to suit taste while cooking)

Melt butter in a large frying pan, and sauté the onions and garlic until light brown. I like to sauté the onions and garlic starting with a low heat, then gradually increase the heat up to a “medium” level, until the onions and garlic start to “liquefy” in the butter. If you choose to do this, you will have to ensure that the onions and garlic are finely chopped/minced.

Bring the heat down to a high simmer, and add the remaining ingredients, starting with the ketchup; thoroughly stir the ketchup into the mix, then add the brown sugar a few small scoops at a time, so that it will not “clump”, and continue to stir consistently.

Once all the ingredients have been added, bring the heat down to a low simmer, and stir frequently for about 45 minutes to an hour. This is time to add the “suit to taste” ingredients that you like. Keep refrigerated - will keep well in the refrigerator.