Category: sentimental things

The original Iron Butterfly, their final performance

Screen Shot 2014-11-15 at 1.27.58 PMOne of the most famous, if not one of the best rock bands from the 1960’s was Iron Butterfly, and their biggest hit was “In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida“, a 17+ minute jam session. The performance included vocals and keyboard by Doug Ingle, Ron Bushy on drums, Lee Dorman on bass and vocals, and Erik Braunn on guitar and vocals.  The song was noted for being so long that it took the entire side of an LP album, and for being a transition from “psychedelic rock” to “heavy metal”.  It was also the first to have a drum solo as part of the flow of music from the vocals and keyboard at the beginning and end, through the guitar- and bass-centric pieces between.  A little-known bit of trivia, back in the days before automated radio stations there were people called “disk jockeys” who selected the songs to be played and “cued up” songs on turntables that they switched between to transition songs.  “In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida” was a well-known “bathroom break” song, because a DJ that needed a break could cue up this song to play, and know that they had at least 15 minutes before they needed to be back at the control to kick off the next song.  This song, along with the live recording of Lynyrd Skynyrd’s “Free Bird”, Led Zeppelin’s “Stairway to Heaven”, and the live album version of Peter Frampton’s “Do You Feel Like We Do” were often-requested songs, but seldom played, and if you heard one of them, you could bet that the DJ needed to be away from the console for a little bit.

This performance was recorded in May 2012, just a few months before bassist Lee Dorman passed away.  He was found in December of 2012 in his car, he died of natural causes likely on his way to a doctor’s appointment.  He was 70 years old.  I personally love the fact that even after all the years between the original recording and this performance, the men could still bring their best to this piece, to an appreciative audience.

Enjoy these men in their final performance together, as the effortlessly lay down “In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida” one last time.

A little old school dancing…

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Strolling through the Youtube archives is one of my favorite pastimes, since you never know what you’ll come across. I knew James Cagney could dance, even though he also played gangsters and other tough guys in the old movies, but I never knew that Bob Hope could hold his own in tap-dancing. If I had ever seen the movie “The Seven Little Foys” I would have learned better. This is a great scene with Hope playing Eddie Foy and Cagney playing George M. Cohan, doing a tap-dance “face-off”, and it is a joy to behold. Today’s pop-and-lock dancers do similar competitions with each other, but these guys were hitting it 60 years ago! If you watch closely there’s a part where Hope almost does a “moonwalk” while tap-dancing.

Enjoy!

“Gisoku no Moses”, a delightful anime short inspired by Gene Kelly

Screen Shot 2014-08-25 at 9.22.14 PMLeave it to Japan to combine a catchy Gene Kelly tap-dance number from “Singing in the Rain” with a cute anime ghost girl, to create one of the sweetest, cutest anime shorts I’ve seen to date. A lot of the world seems to agree, since the YouTube video is now over 300,000 views, and the comments section is filled with all kinds of languages from fans.

Screen Shot 2014-08-25 at 9.27.01 PMThe anime short starts off with a lonely, sad ghost girl, who happens to hear two haunted tap shoes singing and dancing to “Moses Supposes” from “Singing in the Rain.”

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She’s hesitant at first, but soon she starts trying to dance with them, and as the song goes on she breaks into a tap-dance routine just like Gene Kelly’s. It’s kind of bittersweet, as the shoes lose their movement, but in the closing we see a shopkeeper (Named Mose!) watching the ghost girl looking at a sign in his window for “Singing in the Rain”, and the last scene shows them in a theater where she’s enjoying “Singing in the Rain” with the shopkeeper!

Screen Shot 2014-08-25 at 9.31.43 PMThis is one to really enjoy!

(Update: I didn’t know this before but the other singer and dancer you hear is Donald O’Conner!)

“Miss Veedol”

Pangborn and Herndon, unsung heroes of aviation history, along with "Miss Veedol!" This monument is right at the entrance to the grounds of the Misawa Aeronautics and Science Museum, in Misawa, Japan.
Pangborn and Herndon, unsung heroes of aviation history, along with “Miss Veedol!” This monument is right at the entrance to the grounds of the Misawa Aeronautics and Science Museum, in Misawa, Japan.
Most people have heard of Charles Lindbergh and his historic non-stop flight across the Atlantic Ocean in his “Spirit of St. Louis” airplane, but how many have heard of Clyde Pangorn and Hugh Herndon, much less their airplane, the “Miss Veedol?”


A plaque describing the flight of Pangborn and Herndon in the "Miss Veedol" in 1931.
A plaque describing the flight of Pangborn and Herndon in the “Miss Veedol” in 1931.
In 1927 Charles Lindbergh set out from New Jersey, in order to prove it was possible to fly non-stop across the Atlantic Ocean, which hadn’t been done before. His success stirred the imagination of imitators around the world, and in 1931 two men decided to try to fly non-stop across the Pacific Ocean, a feat that would cover almost twice the distance and take 41 hours!


The full-sized (non-flying) replica of the "Miss Veedol" in the Misawa Aeronautics and Science Museum
The full-sized (non-flying) replica of the “Miss Veedol” in the Misawa Aeronautics and Science Museum
Originally intending to fly around the world for a world record, they had to abandon their attempt in Russia, near northern Japan. Instead, they decided to try to fly non-stop across the Pacific (the $25,000 prize the Asahi Shimbun newspaper offered for the feat wouldn’t have hurt!) Modifying their Bellanca J-300 airplane to hold almost twice the normal amount of fuel, they barely took off from Sabishiro Beach in Misawa, northern Japan, dropping their landing gear along the flight to save weight. Pangborn even left his boots in Japan, just to shave off a few pounds! The two men apparently didn’t get along on their flight, which is kind of understandable when you see how small the plane was, while holding two pilots alternating flying, sitting alongside fuel containers for nearly two days straight!


After many harrowing moments in the flight (at one point Pangborn had to climb out to manually detach a couple of supports from the landing gear they had dropped!) they finally arrived in the skies over Washington State. They thought about flying on to Boise Idaho to add more distance to their record, but weather prevented them, and they tried several other airports in Washington State with no success. Finally they had to land, and they picked a field in Wenatchee, Washington, where they made a belly-landing damaging the propeller. They succeeded, and both the towns of Misawa and Wenatchee honor their flight, Misawa with a giant Aeronautics and Science Museum (where I took the pictures here), and Wenatchee with a National Historical site, as well as a full-sized, flying re-creation of the original “Miss Veedol”. The two towns consider themselves “Sister Cities”, and the aviation club that built the new “Miss Veedol” actually flew it over in Japan, where it was on display in the museum in Misawa.


misawa003I hope this wasn’t too boring a story, but I wanted to help spread the word about the courage and strength of will that these two unsung heroes showed in their historic feat of aviation!

D-Day, 6 June, 70 years later

On the 70th anniversary of the Normandy invasion of D-Day, the 6th of June 1944, I went to the WWII Memorial in downtown DC to get a few photos. I had missed the commemoration ceremony that morning, but I did see the wreaths laid at the Freedom Wall, one from each Allied nation that fought in WWII, and had died on the beaches of France that day. I love the WWII memorial, for its subtle and no-nonsense tribute to a straightforward, no-nonsense generation that fought and destroyed the militaristic and totalitarian dreams of conquest, at a terrible cost. For their sacrifice we can’t give enough thanks, and it’s good that we can honor them while many are still with us. Their remaining time with us is now far too short, and I wish that anyone who knows a WWII veteran will take time to thank them.

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Veteran’s Day 2013

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At the 11th hour, on the 11th day of the 11th month of 1918, the guns of war fell silent for a time. The men and women who fought in that “War to End All Wars” hoped and prayed that no one would ever hear the guns of war again.

Sadly, a new generation was called upon to fight in an even larger war, which changed the face of the world, and ended in the terrible, bright light of nuclear fire. “Surely,” the exhausted warriors then prayed, “Surely we can now lay down arms forever, and live in peace with our families, safe at home.”

And again, and again, and yet again, these prayers were not answered, and new generations of men and women gave up safety and peace, gave their blood and sweat and life and limb, so that we could live our lives safe and at peace.

All those who fought in that terrible first World War have now passed, and we are saying farewell to the men and women of the “Greatest Generation” that followed, far too soon. We have lost so many others to other wars since, but yet there remain those who feel the call to defend and protect what peace we have, who do not feel the sacrifice to be in vain.

To the men and women who yet man the ramparts, who have and continue to sacrifice their own safety and peace for us, for the men and women who every hour of their service risk their lives, to these we say “Thank you” and pray the same prayers of all who have fought, “Surely, surely this time…”

Ikimonogakari, a nice J-Rock band

Doing my usual late-night Youtube surfing, I came across several videos featuring a Japanese light-rock band named “Ikimonogakari.” The first song I heard was a live version of one of their songs, “Kaze ga fuite iru” (風が吹いている, “Wind is Blowing”), which opened with the lead singer spotlighted, and the members of the band joining in, before going into a full stage performance. The style of music was very light rock, kind of late-60’s or early 70’s pop, but the lead singer, Kiyoe Yoshioka, really brought a lot of energy and heart into the song. Her voice and range was so impressive I had to look for more performances by them.

This one that I found is a perfect example song for the band, which is really only the three, Yoshiki Mizuno on bass and Hotaka Yamashita on guitar and harmonica. THe song is “Sakura”, their first single, and even though this version goes into full orchestral mode, the beginning with only the three in the spotlight really shows their ability, especially Yoshioka-san’s impressive vocal range. I’ll be keeping an eye out for their CDs whenever I can!

楽しんで、ください！
(Enjoy!)


Update:

Thank you Sony Entertainment, for blocking this video from being shown in the US. (tch)