Now with the latest go-faster stripes / Pet a cat and roll your Rs in her honour
typed for your pleasure on 26 December 2008, at 11.15 amSdtrk: ‘I’m in love with a German film star (long mix)’ by the Passions
‘Shouting etc etc’ is down to DEFCON level 5, as yesterday, I successfully upgraded my WordPress version to 2.7. I didn’t have to sacrifice any goats or children or anything! Well, just one child, but he was a spotty little bastard, so I actually did the neighbourhood a favour. How did I manage to pull that off, you axe? The WordPress Automatic Upgrade plugin. Unzip it, upload it, activate it, click a couple of buttons, honk the horn, ring the bell, and voila! New version acquired! As I backed up some unneccesary stats, the backup process, and therefore, the entire upgrade process, took a wee bit longer than it normally should’ve, but nothing on ‘Shouting etc etc’ shattered like glass when it finished up, so I’ll call it a success. Not one hundred per cent success, mind you — I don’t think the Plugins list plugin (how very meta) that I’m using works properly with WP 2.7, as it doesn’t list all the plugins I’m using as links, but still. (FUTURE EDIT: Plugins list plugin updated 27 Dec)
All hail the Automatic Upgrade plugin! Making life easier for lazy unattentive tossers like myself. Well done!
And while I was at my parents’ house for Crimbo, I learned that Eartha Kitt, Catwoman and cabaret star, unexpectedly passed away.
US singer Eartha Kitt dies at 81
BBC News | Thursday, 25 December 2008American singer, dancer and actress Eartha Kitt has died at the age 81, her friend and publicist has said.
Kitt died of colon cancer on Thursday, Andrew Freedman said.
She was one of the few artists to be nominated in the Tony, Grammy and Emmy award categories and was a stalwart of the Manhattan cabaret scene.
She famously played Catwoman in the Batman television series in the 1960s and was known for her distinctive, feline drawl.
She also had a number of hit songs, including Old Fashioned Girl, C’est Si Bon and Santa Baby.
Kitt was blacklisted in the US in the late 1960s after speaking out against the Vietnam War at a White House function.
the rest of the article is here
First Bettie Page, and now Eartha? I’m not liking this
Random similar posts, for more timewasting:
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Rather like detailing a car / Stop, chapters on December 30th, 2004
December 26th, 2008 at 12.44 pm
Yeah. Bettie Page dies and now Eartha. May she prance around and cause some major havoc up there. 🙂
December 26th, 2008 at 2.15 pm
I remember Cat Woman and her ‘feline drawl’ in the Batman series, but the name Eartha Kitt meant nothing to me at the time. However, in later years my old mum set me straight about the way the Johnsons used government agencies to harass those they did not like. Similar things happened here in Britain.
Sdtrk… I have that one by the Passions on vinyl. A great record. (Shame I no longer have a means of listening to it.)
December 27th, 2008 at 11.20 am
Kat –
Bettie Page and Eartha Kitt? Heaven just got sexier. 😉
Everard –
Good to see you, mate! 🙂
Apart from watching her fill out that outfit quite well on Batman, I really learned about Eartha from the extensive interview that was in RE/Search Books ‘Incredibly Strange Music Vol.1’ — there’s an excerpt from it here. Not only was she a sexy individual, but she stood up for what she believed in, which is so rare these days.
You actually have that single on vinyl? *nods approvingly* I would’ve never pegged you as being a fan of Eighties indie/New wave, but there you go! I take it you’ve done what I’ve done and watched their appearance on Top of the Pops over and over, then? Mmm, Barbara Gogan. 🙂
And you should be able to find a turntable of some sort at a secondhand place; what about that shop you get Rebecca and Louise’s clothes from?
December 28th, 2008 at 6.44 pm
What’s weird, is on Christmas Eve, some co-workers and I had a 45 minute converstation on Eartha…and then.. 🙁
Have I mentioned how much I love my new job?
January 10th, 2009 at 4.56 pm
I didn’t know it was indie/new wave, and I never saw them on Top of the Tops before. It seems to me that was a slightly compressed version, but I might be wrong. I just might see if I can get a working record player. (Or maybe I will get the old one down from the loft and see if I can figure out why it won’t go.)
January 10th, 2009 at 5.17 pm
P.S. Here is a slightly different version of the video, but with much improved sound quality. (It even has some archive black-and-white of a real German film star thrown in.)
January 11th, 2009 at 3.19 pm
Sort of pre-goth, I guess. Extraordinarily, one of the women in the writers’ circle I belonged to for many years had a son that was something to do with New Order. (However, I don’t recognize the names of any of the band members, so maybe she was making it up.) 😐
Sidore certainly looks like she is in a band. Rebecca says she used to be in the Electric Light Orchestra. Yeah, right.
January 11th, 2009 at 2.30 pm
Everhard –
Good find, sir! I think the person who posted that took the original song, and edited footage from their TotP appearance to it, which would account for the improved sound.
I repeat: Mmm, Barbara Gogan. 🙂 I’m in love with wan Eighties New wave lasses from the UK, which instantly explains Sidore’s appearance, really. Or, at the very least, her makeup. Compare Barbara to a long-standing favourite of mine, Gillian Gilbert of New order, and you’ll see what I mean…
And reclaim your turntable! I’m sure your ladies will appreciate it. 🙂
January 11th, 2009 at 3.39 pm
Hey, if Rebecca says it, it must be true! Maybe she split before ELO hit it big. 🙂
‘TWIII-LIIIIGHT / I ONLY MEANT TO STAY A WHILE’