“The Bank of England has requested a closed-door briefing with the Prime Minister on the ‘transition architecture’ for a retail central bank digital currency pilot4, due to launch in three English cities within the year. The Governor has prepared a slide deck: the first slide is titled ‘Programmable Money: Opportunities for Inclusion’56, the second contains the phrase ‘conditional spending parameters’, and the third has been redacted by the Treasury, which is never a good sign.”
I was interested in why, after it had taken the west by storm in the mid 70s, with the possible exception of Britain, southern rock faded into obscurity, given that there were such good bands and it was great “road trip” music.
An AI search brought this up:
“Southern Rock | Country Music Project Southern country rock faded from the mainstream due to a combination of tragic deaths (notably Lynyrd Skynyrd in 1977), the rise of MTV prioritizing visual aesthetic over bluesy, jam-heavy music, and mainstream country music absorbing the Southern sound. As 70s rock evolved, it became more polished, while country music rebranded to adopt rock elements, taking its audience.”
There are a few things I could add. In large places such as the US and Australia, both where I spent time, long road trips were better fitted by ZZ Top, Lynyrd Skynyrd, The Eagles, Allman Bros, Byrds, Doors, CSN&Y, Marshall Tucker, Elvin Bishop and so on, the surf rock having largely gone its way. Brit rock and glam was more suited to Brit pubs, seaside piers and promenades perhaps.
To say that Yes and Floyd were more “thinking” prog rock, before being overrun by punk and post punk … that just adds weight to the dismissal of southern rock as hick music … the rhythm and whooping it up being more important and in this is another truism … it’s more “fun”, more simple perhaps, redolent of nicer days past.
Interesting some of the players on this album below:
Brits might recognise a few of those names. Another point is that the studio version was often better than the live, the solos more distinct and so, this track is from the studio album, even though it’s a partying number at its core:
“The Card must have been an interesting if somewhat painful film for Alec Guinness to make. This might have been the most autobiographical piece of work Guinness ever did.
In The Card Guinness plays the son of washerwoman who learned early on to keep an eye out for the main chance and always strive to improve yourself by whatever means. In real life Guinness’s mother should only have been a washerwoman In fact she was a prostitute who never married his father, whomever that could have been. In real life Guinness overcame bigger obstacles than his character in The Card ever did.
But I’m sure he drew from real life in playing Denny Machin. Guinness in 91 minutes goes from a humble clerk to a position of real power in his area of England. The story is how he did it, the legal and extralegal methods employed and the people he used. When you think about it, The Card is a kinder, gentler version of Room At The Top.
Guinness courts two women on his way up, Valerie Hobson the widow of a local lord and dancing instructor Glynis Johns. Glynis is quite the climber herself as we learn when the story unfolds. In fact she nearly steals the film from Guinness, no easy task.
The Card which was released in the USA under the title of The Promoter is a good followup to such other Guinness everyman roles like he had in The Lavendar Hill Mob. The screenplay is quite good, I was kept very entertained seeing how Guinness could always make lemonade out of lemons. Definitely required viewing for Alec Guinness’s legion of fans.”
Isilme spent a day with her mate (girl) doing gelli printing. She notes, on that and also on the previous post on spring:
“I laughed about the photo composition because usually my main thought is, “Is it in focus? Did I get it all in?” So it is all subconscious (unconscious?) or something like that. I did notice the stripy shadow on the wall in the photo of the wild garlic and thought it was fun. And it might cause people to wonder what on earth that could be. Actually it is a lot of bamboo canes, leaning against the apple tree.
And the gelli printing…! Well, it was wonderful to be honest. It has been ages since I spent such a lovely long time with a friend. Also, it’s been a long time since I spent all day ‘playing’!!”
JH: So here it is … gelli printing day:
“Meanwhile, up in the craft room… Or, rather, up in a friend’s craft room…
I got together with my friend for what was meant to be a morning of crafting. Her craft room is also in the attic. The plan was to do some gelli printing and just generally have a good natter. She’s a very accomplished crafter – she spins her own wool, dyes it, and weaves it. Some of the clothes she makes are so lovely. She has a huge weaving loom (the type that takes a day or two to set up before you even start to weave).
So we planned to do gelli printing until lunchtime, have a sandwich, and I’d go home and do boring chores.
So, we kept doing gelli printing until past 1pm – we decided we’d just clean up our gelli plates which involves brayering paint over them and printing on to paper in the hope that it will print off all the remaining bits and pieces of paint left from previous printings (you get that sometimes, and it looks really good).
So I have no idea what time it was when we finally went downstairs to eat. We ate lunch, while talking away and finally her husband appeared and said he was going to walk the dog. He said goodbye to me as I might not be there when he got back (was that a hint I should go….?) So I asked what time it was. 4pm!!!! Yikes!
(Beloved) was astounded that I’d been crafting all day and laughed his head off that I was only now coming home. But I had good fun and discovered some new techniques and got to know my friend a bit better too. All good.
Craft club (itself) this morning was fine – I’m currently knitting a cardigan in the hope that I’ll use up two giant balls of wool and thus create a bit more space in the craft room. Although, I suppose I shall need more space in the wardrobe when I’ve finished it!
Have a look at the photos of some of the prints I made… Some are done using random plants from the garden and squishing them into the paint on the gelli plate. Others are done using stencils. The trick is to limit myself to three colours – that actually works better than grabbing random paints on the spur of the moment. I’ve only photographed the best prints. There are a lot more that look a bit ghastly, but I can probably salvage them by printing over them.
Some prints are done on tissue paper. I thought that was a bit odd when I first heard of doing it. However, my friend showed me how you can stick the tissue paper on to something (card, wood, tiles, etc) and the tissue paper doesn’t show up! It looks as if you’ve painted it straight onto the item. That’s a game changer because I don’t have to try to get a perfect gelli print on anything, especially if it’s an awkward shape. I can try it out on the tissue paper and if it works, I stick it on!
Another reason to hoard small boxes, tins, picture frames, etc, etc.”
(0756) Morning all, this Pi Day … been gathering since 0500, sorry to be a bit late for HQ. Looks sunny through the wall to wall poisoned cloud out there. (0919)
5. Sydney Watson
4. Steve corner
JH: The case for Trump, rather than his strange doings of late:
Steve: If you didn’t know who the Basij are..
“An Israeli drone strike hit a Basij paramilitary checkpoint in Tehran overnight. The Basij is widely used by the Iranian government for internal security and protest control. Israeli officials have previously confirmed strikes on Basij bases and internal security command centers across Tehran during the current campaign. Some reports circulating online claim that Iranians opposed to the regime are feeding checkpoint locations to Israeli intelligence in real time, allowing rapid targeting of security positions. Those claims about citizen tips have not been independently confirmed by major international outlets. Source: Rerum Novarum / conflict reporting..
A Basij checkpoint has been obliterated. At least ten checkpoints like this were attacked overnight. • Intelligence suggests Iranian civilians are helping identify checkpoints and regime hideouts. • The Basij are the regime’s street-level enforcers used to suppress the population. Stay connected, follow..
ROTC Students at Old Dominion Beat Shooter to Death With Their Bare Hands
France and Italy Quietly Seek Deal With Iran to Safeguard Shipping Through Hormuz
Hungary To Declassify Bombshell National Security Report Proving Globalist Opposition to Viktor Orbán Is Illegally Funded by [The] Ukraine
US Is Sending Thousands Of Marines To Middle East And Their Target May Be Lebanon, Not Iran
English Translation of Attorney Peter Stassen’s Historic Presentation to Netherlands Appellate Court in Bioweapons and Genocide Civil Case Against Bill Gates, Albert Bourla, Mark Rutte, et al
WHO claims radiation from EMFs is safe; WHO is plagued with conflicts of interest and flawed studies
AI expert: We don’t know how AI works (JH: Greetings and welcome, Skynet and HAL 9000.)
Much more.
3. This relates directly to 1322:1
It’s the rationale for 1322:1, I posted on X about it:
Now, what about the rationale behind nourishing-unherdables itself? Has that altered? Not a bit of it … we’re still centrist within antiWoke space, which globopsycho and the wokerati naturally misname. It was just time Christians started asserting themselves as well as all the rest of us outting what we usually put and shall continue to do today, Pi Day.
Rationale behind pushing Pi Day? Reader Chuckles, dear reader … the ghost of reader Chuckles who died two years ago … he was crazy for Pi Day, plus May the Fourth be with You. Let’s never forget our regulars, afap.
2. DAD at 1321
a) Macron’s disastrous Nuclear [Electricity] policy. After years steering France away from nuclear power, the president now concedes the strategy was a costly mistake….
b) French mayoral candidate suspected of staging anti-Semitic hate crime on himself. [He has been] The mayor of Nice since 2008 and a prominent figure in the centrist Horizons party….
c) The UK’s Regime Is not Anarcho-Tyranny; It’s worse than that. The more chaotic and corrupting and violent society becomes due to the government’s refusal to govern, the more justified the government deems itself in intensifying its totalitarian regulation of society.
d) King Penguins vote for climate change…….Scientists had so much money they were able to follow 17,000 penguins for 24 years….
e) Andrew Bridgen on ‘X’..Unbeliveable but true in Sussex – banned from preaching from the bible.
1. Something I’m thinking we can be proud of at nourishing-unherdables
100 day streak … just think of that for a moment, even 100 moments. It means we had a sufficient number of drops to run a new post every day for 100 days, no break. Awesome.
There are quite a few readers who do not like reaction vids … mainly because they’ve had bad experiences. The worst types of reactors are those who’ve done no homework, plus they’re pig ignorant, plus they’re sooooo into themselves … which manifests in constant interruptions in the wrong places, plus the screen layout is bad.
There’s also having no empathy/sympathy for the genre or they’re so woefully young and ignorant (meaning not even interested) or they get fixated on one irrelevant point. So I’ve been through dozens of reaction vids and have ended up with maybe eight presenters, total, who enhance rather than detract from the experience … this continues below the first video:
… continued. Now the good side … those who are knowledgeable in general, have a good attitude, plus the screen layout for us is good, the sound is equalised, they’re almost apologetic that they need to interrupt, they clearly enjoy the genre/artist … either they’re cool dudes or are young people learning … or they’re honeys to have beside us …
Actually, I’m so excited by this Friday the 13th, I’m going to run a fave song later … so that’s one to avoid … later.
Now, if you haven’t been over to AKH today yet, may I suggest you get a move on!
“”The Death Kiss” (1933) should be a nice surprise for those who like traditional murder mysteries. It’s a movie within a movie and both have the same title, which refers to the on- screen murder of movie star Myles Brent during the filming of the last scene of a film called the “The Death Kiss”. He is shot while playing a scene in which he is shot, a development that was about to be written off by the police as a prop man’s accident until they discovered that the bullet was a different caliber than the guns being used in the production.
The police then turn their attentions to his co-star and ex-wife Marsha Lane (Andienne Ames) which inspires her boyfriend (David Manners) to do some amateur sleuthing to track down the real murderer.
“The Death Kiss” could qualify as the first buddy picture as he is closely assisted by his friend Officer ‘Gully’ Gulliver (Vince Barnett), a bumbling studio security guard who provides the film’s comic relief. The mix of serious murder mystery and comedy is in perfect proportion and Barnett gives a truly exceptional performance. Much of the humor comes from the pair’s ability to stay just ahead of the police, much to the irritation of the detectives doing the investigation and to the crowing delight of Gully.
There are an array of suspects (Brent would not have won a popularity contest) besides Miss Lane including studio executives Joseph Steiner (Bela Lugosi), Leon Grossman (Alexander Carr) and Tom Avery (Edward Van Sloan). Lugosi’s name and likeness headline the DVD package and while his part is substantial, it is still just that of a supporting character.
There are enough red herrings to keep the viewer guessing and the pacing is quite fast even with limited action sequences. There are significant advantages associated with setting a screenplay in a movie studio. The cost savings in set design, the appeal of the movie industry to viewers, and the fact that the writer can draw upon occupations with which he is familiar to give the script convincing authenticity.
One thing to watch for is the use of color in a few sequences in this otherwise black and white film. When there is a fire in the projection booth and later a chase scene with flashlights, the producers enhanced the effect with an amber tint. This was applied to the prints (at least some of them) by stencils, which masked the majority of the frame so artists could color in the portion that was to be amber.
Since there are 24 frames per second it was only necessary to apply this process to every other or every third frame to get the effect, but it was still an extremely labor-intensive process. “The Death Kiss” was not the first time this was done but it was the most effective because the cinematography made excellent use of light and shadow, with the contrast nicely enhancing the effect of the amber frames. Technically this gimmick was a forerunner of stuff like “Smell-o-vision”, “Emergo”, “Illusion- o”, and “Sensurround”.
The DVD and TMC prints are serviceable but obviously worse for the wear. There are a number of audio and video dropouts but the story seems to be complete.
