Oh, William Shatner, how I heart you and your vocal stylings.

I found Shatner’s rendition of the Elton John tune “Rocket Man” and I can’t get enough of this. It was part of the televised 1978 Science Fiction Film Awards.

As if his singular version isn’t trippy enough, through the “magic of television” they bring in a couple of other versions of Shatner for a trio finale.

I wonder if Travelocity could use any of this footage in their commercials? Nahh.

As a bonus, you get Karen Black introducing Bernie Taupin at the front end of the clip.

Of course, Family Guy lets Stewie do his dream version of Shatner, but I’ll stick with the truly original Captain Kirk puffing, sweating and offering dramatic pauses as he wends his way through Elton’s tune.

Of course, I’ve previously documented here at the Queen’s abode some appreciation of Captain Kirk’s appeal to alien babes and the Star Trek theme song.

At the Guadalupe fiestas this evening.

Lucky for rocket man he can swim. Yves Rossy ended up in the ocean after attempting to fly from Africa to Europe using his jetpack. Buck Rogers rang and he wants it back !

vs. William Shatner

And the winner is…

Upon request of a friend, I was watching the first episode of Californication. No comment, except to say that I loved the soundtrack, especially the My Morning Jacket cover of Rocket Man. I didn’t realize how sad that song could be. I love covers.

Anyway, listen to, but don’t watch this youtube video because it’s boring.

I miss the earth so much, I miss my wife… And I think it’s gonna be a long long time, ‘Till touch down brings me round again to find, I’m not the man they think I am at home…

I was listening to the Dave Matthews Band’s new album “Big Whiskey and the Groo Grux King” recently and noticed that one of the songs is called “Spaceman.” Hey, that’s the title of a song on The Killers’ “Day & Age,” I thought.

As these sorts of things are wont to do, pretty soon this observation led to the idea of imagining a space-themed album. I started jotting down the space-themed songs I was aware of, coming up with seven.

I talked to my brother a few minutes ago. He hosts a radio show on a college radio station and tends to like to theme his shows. I asked him if he knew any space-themed songs and got him hooked on finding songs for me. He rattled off a bunch, including many I hadn’t heard of, and one that should have been totally obvious to me.

He suggested I do some research on allmusic.com, which I did, plus I googled “songs about space.” Turns out there’s been quite a bit of work done on listing space-themed songs. An especially good list is at HobbySpace.com.

Here’s my list for an album I’d call “Out of This World”:

1. “Space Oddity” by David Bowie

2. “Major Tom (Coming Home)” by Peter Schilling

3. “Spaceman” by The Killers

4. “Spaceman” by Dave Matthews Band (the Spaceman only gets a mention)

5. “Satellite” by Dave Matthews Band

6. “Astronaut Dreams” by Peter Mayer

7. “Camping by the Sun” by Peter Mayer

8. “One More Circle” by Peter Mayer

9. “Planet Earth” by Duran Duran (This is the song that should have been obvious to me ’cause I was a Duranie in my youth.)

10. “Rocket Man” by Elton John

11. “Interplanet Janet” by Lynn Ahrens (Schoolhouse Rock rocks!)

12. “Rapture” by Blondie

Got any favorite space-themed songs you’d add to this album? (It could be a multiple disc set, you know.)

En LaCiudadenLlamas también se puede cantar con Elton John. Para ello, hemos cocinado un karaoke de Rocket Man para ser disfrutado con la ambientación necesaria. TODAS las imagenes son reales.

Y así, de paso, logramos que Cheni repase su inglés.

1972, le drapeau sur la lune avait trois ans. Moi aussi.
Elton John ressemblait à Dexter et ne chantait pas encore pour les princesses mortes et les BO des Disney.
En boucle, jusqu’à l’écœurement.

Photographed by hyper_bloke

The Cockpit of Colin McRae’s Subaru legacy, that he won the British Championship for the Second time in 1992.

Taken at the Scottish Motorfair 2009 at Knockhill

– License

Settimana scorsa abbiamo fatto i birichini e siamo arrivati in ritardo. I’m so 3000 and eight, you’re so 2000 and late, direbbero i Black Eyed Peas. Ma c’è anche da dire che i Black Eyed Peas fanno veramente cagare, per cui questa settimana il Tag Team con il distributore automatico di stimoli quotidiani, meglio conosciuto come dISPENSER, non sgarra e – taaaaaaaaaaaaac – il mercoledì è qui pronto per presentarvi un nuovo personaggio. A declamare la scheda quel bel fiulin del Costantino della Gherardesca che, stando ai rumors, dopo queste performances è stato chiamato per rifare The Transformed Man, l’album capolavoro di William Shatner.

STEPHEN STRANGE AKA DOCTOR STRANGE

Cliccare per ascoltare in streaming

Se pensate che per fare comunella con i supereroi, sia d’obbligo possedere una tutina aderente con mantello o qualche straordinaria abilità fisica – come volare, sollevare macchine con una mano sola o correre più veloce della luce – vi sbagliate. Stephen Strange si veste in modo più elegante della media dei suoi colleghi, e soprattutto non ha nessun superpotere. È “semplicemente” un mago. Beh, a dire il vero non un mago qualunque: è il Signore delle Arti Mistiche o se preferite lo Stregone Supremo. Prima di ricevere un così alto onore era un semplice ragazzo di campagna, cresciuto in una fattoria del Nebraska, diventato poi – grazie al suo impegno e alla sua dedizione – un neurochirurgo di fama mondiale. Non tutti sono fatti per la fama e il successo: su di lui hanno effetti devastanti e lo hanno trasformato in uno degli esseri più arroganti e antipatici del pianeta. Ma il destino, sotto forma di incidente stradale, lo attendo al varco: Perde la capacità di operare e, visto che non si vuole neanche lontanamente piegare a un lavoro meno prestigioso, finisce in rovina. Stephen Strange abbandona il nostro mondo per trovare se stesso: si rifugia presso L’Antico, un mistico che risiede sull’Himalaya. Sarà proprio quest’ultimo a iniziare l’ex neurochirurgo alla magia. Dopo sette anni di studio “matto e disperatissimo”, torna a New York, per la precisione al 177A di Bleecker Street. Qui – in quello che viene chiamato il suo Sanctum Sanctorum – insieme a Wong, il suo maggiordomo esperto di arti marziali, fa di tutto per difendere la Terra dagli attacchi sovrannaturali di oscuri figuri. In una di queste battaglie ucciderà il proprio Maestro, l’Antico, cosa che lo farà diventare lo Stegone Supremo, ovvero il mago più potente del pianeta. Il potere del Dottor Strange è tale che, anche senza tutina aderente, riesce a convincere la Morte in persona a donargli il dono dell’immortalità.

Here’s to the Star Tribune’s incomparable editorial cartoon genius Steve Sack.

And i think it’s gonna be a long long time,
Till touch down brings me round again to find
I’m not the man they think i am at home.
Oh no no no, I’m a rocket man!
Rocket man burning out his fuse up here alone.
And i think it’s gonna be a long long time…

- Elton John (channeling Presidential candidate Tim Pawlenty)
“Rocket Man”

I’d like to take a minute of your time to fascinate you with my tale of karaoke, country music, and bikers.  It all happened one fateful Wednesday night, when I and several of my co-workers met up at a very interesting country restaurant at the heart of the Northland.  It was a typical grill and bar, much like 54th Street Bar and Grill, only instead of pictures of 50’s celebrities adorning the walls, it was mostly an unholy shrine to Dale, Jr.  We entered with the intention of performing mediocre karaoke.

Before I continue with the story, let me give you a little history of karaoke.  Webster’s dictionary defines karaoke as, “singing to music, from the Japanese word for ‘publicly humiliating one’s self’”.  I am personally a karaoke enthusiast, but it’s hard to find a place that does karaoke without it being in some seedy bar hopping with lowlifes and malcontents.  This was not such a place, and I was happy to have found it through a friend’s recommendation. The Japanese have a long, proud history of overworked businessmen singing Michael Jackson songs well out of key while consuming liver-damaging amount of alcoholic beverages.

Well, we did neither.  I had practiced literally all day to sing my ballad, Elton John’s “Rocket Man”.  I had all the timing down pat, and was ready to impress whatever crowd may be inside.  That is, until I walked in to see a table of patrons who just happened to be enormous biker-types.  Nothing makes you re-think singing Elton John like 300-pound bikers staring you down from across the room.  Everything inside me said “run away”, but four co-workers restraining me from bolting out of the building said “stay here”.  I killed about 30 minutes making careful song choices, hoping the bikers would simply go away.

Finally, they did, and I could breathe deeply again (because no one was holding me down any more) without the threat of being beaten to death with a tire iron by bikers.  The remaining crowd was people who were just plain “country”.  Some were classy, like Tiny (which is a misnomer, because he was 6′4″ and 300 pounds), who had a voice like an angel, if Tim McGraw were an angel.  There were also those who you could tell had spent many years in seedy bars, but did not have the strength any more to exist in such an establishment.  They had given up on trying to impress equally “country” suitors, and have settled into a quiet routine of entertaining themselves at karaoke night in a country-style grill.  These are what most theologians and historians call “regulars”.  We’ll see some of these folks in the video you’ll be watching momentarily.  Oh, the stories I could tell you about a woman named Sue, who must be around 60 years old, still wears belly shirts, and has a navel ring.  Sadly, you will not see her in the video, because the very sight of her would cause your medulla oblongata to melt, slide down your spine, and form a gelatinous pool in the soles of your feet.

I apologize in advance for the poor quality of singing, and the low light environment of the karaoke area.  Most of all, I apologize for the clip in which country music is sang.  I am not responsible for the absence of meaningful lyrics found routinely in country music.  Try to keep small children, those with pacemakers, and any family pets away from the screen while watching this.

Many thanks to my co-workers who helped me face my fears (bikers).

http://josephsreviews.wordpress.com/2009/07/28/harmony-a-review-of-rocket-man-the-novel/

A Brief Memoir
By Jake Jakubuwski

In the early 1950s I was living with my parents, grandparents and youngest aunt on Battery Avenue, in South Baltimore. Money was not exactly tight in our house, but there was nothing to squander on movies and other stuff that kids our age were convinced we couldn’t live without.

If you were not a pre-teen or teen in the early ‘50’s, you probably have no concept how far a half dollar could take you in the pursuit of peanuts, Cracker Jacks, hot dogs, soda and, of course, movies. The trick was to find ways to earn the money. Aunt Pat, who was four years older than me, had it easy. (Well, I thought so at the time.) She was in demand as a baby sitter, laundress, or house cleaner. Being male meant that I had to scrounge for other work, usually outside the house. If I wanted to hear change jingle in my pockets for the Saturday shows I had to take it to the streets.

Being the clever lad I was in those days, I constructed a wagon from a beer crate (long necks), a couple of two-by-fours and four baby carriage wheels. On Friday evenings and all day on Saturdays, I pulled the wagon by its rope “harness” to the A & P on Fort Avenue and hauled groceries home for shoppers. My efforts would generally get me a nickel or dime per trip. On a good Saturday I could earn as much as fifty cents. The problem was if I worked all day Saturday, I would miss the movies. That was when the theaters showed double features with “selected short subjects,” ten minute films such as cartoons, newsreels and at least one serial, perhaps Rocket Man, Jungle Queen, or Captain America — all this for a dime.

I also used my wagon to scavenge for old newspapers, magazines, scrap metal and rags that folks would put out for the trash man. But I had to get up early on trash days to beat the Rag Man to the good stuff. The Rag Man was a guy who wandered through the back streets and alleys, usually with a horse and wagon, collecting the same stuff I was trying to gather up to sell at the junk yard on Cross Street.

To the best of my recollection iron was worth about two cents a pound, newspaper would bring half a cent, and magazines were worth a penny a pound. It took a fair amount of scavenging to come up with fifty cents or so for a week’s effort. Most of that work had to be done on school days, which meant I had to get up around five in the morning if I wanted to put in a couple of hours of “Gar-BAHGE-ing” before it was time to go to school.

At one time or another, I also sold newspapers on the Northeast corner of Cross Street at Light Street, between a bank and a movie theater. The newspaper vendor hired boys like me (no girls allowed) to help him increase his sales. We would walk the streets and ride the trolley cars hustling the product. We were allowed on the trolleys free but could only ride a block or two, and then had to get off and catch one going in the opposite direction. The daily papers sold for a nickel each and I earned a half-cent. The Sunday editions cost a quarter and my share was a nickel. Again, on a good week, I could earn as much as seventy-five cents, but if I only sold dailies it was usually closer to fifty.

My all-around favorite way to make money was to work for the “Arabbers”. These were the guys that sold fresh produce from horse-drawn wagons. They would make their rounds through the neighborhoods chanting: ‘Watermelluun! Can’elope! Nice fresh corn, pic’d this very morn. Watermelluun!” The chant would vary depending on what he was pushing on a given day. The Arrabber would usually ride on the wagon seat, or walk at the horse’s head as he went up one street and down another, singing the song of his farm-fresh stock.

The Arabber would stop in the middle or the end of the block so that the housewives could come out and poke, prod and look over his offerings. I would bag the selections, keep the produce looking good, straighten the wagon and occasionally run produce up to Mrs. Rosen’s when she called down an order from her apartment window on the second or third floor.

For instance, the Arabber might be chanting: ‘I got ‘taters, I got corn, I got Anne ‘rundels pic’d this very morn! Anne ‘rundels a nickel a piece or three for a dime!” (“Anne ‘rundels” were tomatoes grown in nearby Anne Arundel County.) Mrs. Rosen might yell down: “Hon, I only need two. Send ‘em up and make sure they’s firm, now.” Of course it was my job to run the tomatoes up to Mrs. Rosen’s apartment, collect the money and run back down to the wagon to give it to the boss. If Mrs. Rosen gave me a quarter, I had to make another trip up the steps with her change.

Usually, a day’s work on the wagon was worth a quarter. With the occasional nickel tip, I could pull down half a buck on a good Saturday. I remember one Saturday the boss paid me and the other helper in oranges. It had been a bad week for orange sales and these were beginning to get a bit soft. We each got a dozen oranges and had to carry them home in our shirts because, the Arabber said, ” . . . bags is expensive.” If I didn’t learn anything else from my Arabber days, I discovered that it was better to be the guy that owned or rented the wagon than the kid who did the running.

Overall, though, I have no complaints. During that productive period of my childhood I learned how to work hard and earn spending money — and how to depend on myself to get those things I wanted that my folks, for whatever reason, couldn’t afford to provide for me.

Copyright © 2009 Jake Jakubuwski.

Jake Jakubuwski spent nearly two decades as an active locksmith and door service technician. He has been writing physical security related articles since 1991. Seventeen years ago, Jake wrote his first article for the National Locksmith Magazine and has been their technical editor for fifteen years. Pure Jake Learning Seminars©, his nationally conducted classes, are designed for locksmiths and professional door and hardware installers. For more information, click the “Pure Jake” link in the sidebar blogroll and under the “business” label.

Oh je da habe ich aber wieder eine menge Gekauft.

Die News lassen wir mal heute weg. Gibt eh nicht viel zu Berichten.

Kommen wir lieber zu meinen neuen DVD Einkäufen.

• GTO Vol. 4,6 & 8-10
• Preis: ca. 12 Euro pro DVD
• Shop: amazon

Bei amazon waren wieder eine menge Anime DVDs im Angebot. Und da habe ich mich dann für die GTO DVDs entschieden. Leider war Vol. 7 nicht mehr Lieferbar gewesen. Aber ich denke Vol. 7 werde ich auch so noch bekommen. Immerhin kann ich ja jetzt bis Vol. 6 erst mal weiter gucken.

• Black Cat Vol. 1-8
• Preis: ca. 10 Euro pro DVD
• Shop: Anime Versand

Auch hier waren die DVDs wieder im Angebot gewesen. Und ich habe zum Glück noch Black Cat einmal komplett bekommen können. Mal sehen wie die Serie auf Japanisch ist. Habe sie ja bisher nur auf Animax auf Deutsch gesehen.

• Card Captor Sakura Vol. 1-3 & Super Kickers 2006 Vol. 1 & 4-5
• Preis: 2 Euro pro DVD
• Shop: Tedi

Diese Woche habe ich eine kleine Tedi Tour in die Nachbar Städte gemacht und konnte noch so die ein oder andere DVD ergattern. Vor allen freue ich mich das ich noch die Card Captor Sakura DVDs bekommen konnte. Die Card Captor Sakura DVDs bin ich zur Zeit auch an gucken.

• Schatzinsel
• Preis: ca. 10 Euro
• Shop: amazon

Zu den GTO DVDs habe ich mir auch die Schatzinsel auf DVD dazu gekauft. Die Komplette Serie auf 2 DVDs für nur knapp 10 Euro. Ein spitzen Preis für eine klasse Serie die ich als Kind immer gerne gesehen habe. Da konnte ich einfach nicht Nein sagen. Habe mir die Serie auch schon Komplett angesehen.

• Pretty Cure Vol.1 & Appleseed UMD
• Preis: je 2 Euro
• Shop: Tedi

Und hier noch ein paar Tedi Schnäppchen. Applessed ist damit auch meine erste UMD und dabei habe ich noch nicht einmal eine PSP.

Das war es dann auch erst mal wieder mit Einkäufen. Reicht auch habe ja jetzt erst mal wieder genug zum Gucken.

Dann habe ich diese Woche noch eine menge Manga gelesen.

• You´re under Arrest

Ganz nett die Serie. Aber kein Manga wo ich sage den muss ich unbedingt haben. Deswegen werde ich die beiden Bände auch wieder sofort weiter Verkaufen.

• Cromartie High School Band 1

Auch eine recht nette Serie. Zwar ist der Zeichenstil etwas gewöhnungsbedürftig aber dafür sind recht nette Witze dabei. Trotzdem werde ich die Serie wieder weiter Verkaufen.

• 100 % Strawberry Band 1

Typischer Love Story Manga mit vielen Missverständnissen = Langweilig! Zwar süße Mädels dabei aber kein grund sich die Serie weiter zu Kaufen. Deswegen auch wird auch der Manga Verkauft.

• Rocket Man Band 1

Ein ziemlich ungewöhnlicher Manga. Nach dem Lesen des ersten Bandes kann ich noch nicht genau sagen worum es darin geht.  Deswegen wird auch der Manga Verkauft.

• Love Trouble Band 1

Hier wurde ich richtig überrascht. Zuerst dachte ich hier erwartet mich wieder ein 08/15 Love Comedy Manga und im Grunde genommen ist es das auch. Doch die Zeichnungen finde ich so gut gemacht und die Mädels so Kawaii das ich die Serie behalten werde. Ich weiß aber nicht ob ich mir auch den Anime dazu ansehen soll.

Die Mangas die ich Verkaufe findet ihr wieder unter meine ebay Shop. Link

Dann habe ich gestern mit Batman Arkham Asylum für die X-Box 360 angefangen. Und es hat mich so gefesselt das ich glatt 8 Stunden am Stück gespielt habe. Einfach klasse das Spiel. Zurecht das wohl beste Comic Umsetzungsspiel was bisher erschienen ist. Mal sehen ob ich es heute noch durchspiele.

So und hier jetzt noch das Video der Woche.

Morgen stelle ich euch dann ein neues Projekt von mir vor. Also freut euch drauf.

NPR posted Marianne Faithfull’s session for her new covers record today. In celebration of rock’s grand dame, I thought I’d post some live clips of covers from artists I enjoy. Let it be assumed that some delightful gender fuckery goes on below, whether it be the singer, the performance, or how those pesky gendered pronouns get played with. Enjoy!

First up, two hymn-like adaptations of “Crazy in Love” and “I’m On Fire,” by Antony Hegarty and Bat for Lashes.

And then some campy renditions of “Rocket Man” and “I Will Always Love You” from Kate Bush and The Gossip. Thank you, SparkleBliss, for hipping me to Beth Ditto in Dolly drag. My life is changed for the better.

(“Thank You Al Gore Thursday” is being delayed to Friday afternoon due to a lack of time)

There are a lot of creepy things floating around the Interweb. Personally, I think this is probably the creepiest, legal thing I have seen online (If you don’t count “Two Girls, One Cup.”*).

Anyway… Crispin Glover (George McFly in Back to the Future) made an album in 1989 called, “The Big Problem ≠ The Solution. The Solution = Let It Be.” One track of this auditory abortion is called “Clowny Clown Clown.” Glove made a music video for the song that makes William Shatner’s interpretation of “Rocket Man” seem like a creative masterpiece. Have a look for yourself…

This might be the best anti-drug add ever created.

Special thanks to Tim Smith for sharing this epic fail with me.

* I will always carry a little bit of hatred for my friend Pete S. for ruining New Years 2008 by showing that disgusting video.

Invoking the spirit of Shatner in my T.J. Hooker piece earlier reminded me of possibly the finest thing he’s ever done – this version of Elton John’s Rocket Man for a 1978 Sci Fi Awards ceremony:

So good is it that it not only has a Family Guy parody courtesy of Stewie,
it’s also referenced in Beck’s video for “Where It’s At”. (The entire vid is worth sitting through but FFWD to 2.25 if you absolutely must.)

It should come as no surprise to you that I had several birthday parties when I was younger at the movies.  Here is what I remember about each of them.

Age 5 – 1997: The movie was “Rocket Man,” which I have seen snippets of since and I now realize is one of the dumbest movies ever made.  I don’t remember specifics about the party itself, but I do remember that we had it at the now defunct Meyerland Cinema in Houston.

Age 7 – 1999: The movie was “Toy Story 2,” which is still one of my all-time favorites.  We hosted it at the AMC Studio 30 theater, and I remember that we got to go upstairs, which is restricted to the general public, to the special party room.  The only other thing particularly memorable was that one of my friends had to leave in the first five minutes because he was terrified by Buzz Lightyear on his own planet (which turned out to be Rex playing a video game).  And he was one of the tough kids,

Age 8 – 2000: The movie was “The Grinch,” which disgraces the name of Dr. Seuss.  It was our first party at the new Edwards Greenway Palace 24 theater, and we organized the party through them.  It turned out to be a very bad decision.  They promised to reserve us a row, but they didn’t tell us it would be the FRONT ROW in front of a large rail.  And to make things worse, there was a screaming baby next to us.

Age 9 – 2001: The movie was “Monsters, Inc.,” another classic.  We did the party at Edwards Greenway Palace 24 again, but we didn’t organize it through them.  I remember having a fit because I wanted to have the party on the movie’s first day, but someone else sent out invites for a party that day before I did.

Age 13 – 2005: The movie was “Man of the Year,” a pretty bad one.  I was 13 and dying to go out and see a PG-13 movie despite the fact that anyone can get into one without being 13.  I had 4 friends to my house, and against my better judgement and their will, I made them leave fun in my backyard to go see an awful movie that only I had any desire to see.

Here’s how the intro reads on their website: “In honor of space shuttle Endeavour’s returning seven astronauts (and some advanced space undies) to Earth, Wired.com drafted up a list of the 10 coolest tracks about astronauts…” They made their choices, now you make yours. Which of these songs — Wired.com’s top 3 choices — is your favorite?

“Space Oddity” by David Bowie

“Rocket Man” by Elton John

“Planet of Sound” by The Pixies

Voice your choice in today’s featured poll, and check out the complete list at www.wired.com/underwire/2009/08/blast-off-with-10-space-rocking-astronaut-songs/

If you prefer cover versions to the originals, pour yourself  a glass of Tang and check out Natalie Merchant’s take on Space Oddity and Kate Bush’s version of Rocket Man.  Good stuff.