The Mississippi Blues Commission presents the story of Dockery Farms, the ‘birthplace of the blues’. Narrated by B.B. King the film examines how the community at a plantation founded in 1895 become a magnet for blues musicians like Willie Brown, Son House & Charlie Patton.
The film is just one in series featuring monumental places and people from Mississippi in the history of some of America’s finest music.
No, not that type of tripping…silly footage of NASA astronauts falling over on the moon. What more do you need right now?
Digital Implosion: YouTube presents a World War II era training video created by The Office of Strategic Services in 1943. Throughout the hour long session, enlistees are trained on ‘the preparation, arrival and establishment of cover for secret agents.’ I would love to see the 2016 version but I suppose they’d have to kill me after.
Present by the Nation Film Board of Canada: A Chairy Tale
In this Oscar-nominated short film, a chair, animated by Evelyn Lambart, refuses to be sat upon, forcing a young man to perform a sort of dance with the chair. The musical accompaniment is by Ravi Shankar and Chatur Lal. This virtuoso film is the result of a collaboration between Norman McLaren and Claude Jutra. Directed by Claude Jutra & Norman McLaren – 1957
Benjamin VanderVeen has edited together footage from NASA’s Apollo 16 mission to the Moon with a sample of Dr. Dre’s hip hop anthem ‘Still D.R.E.’ The goal is to remind everyone that science is cool and outer space is some real gangster shit. Thanks Ben, for doing your part in making space cool again.
Today would be President John F. Kennedy‘s 98th birthday. In honor, we present ‘The Silly Bastard Next to the Bed’ by filmmaker Scott Calonico.
A rare archival performance from the patron saint of The Ironicle, George Carlin. George was more than a comedian too many, and like Mark Twain before him, to some, he was just a clown. We know better though here at The Ironicle. We can’t say “shit”, “piss”, “fuck”, “cunt” “cocksucker”, “mother-fucker” or “tits” without feeling his holy spirit smiling down on us. Of course, he’s not actually smiling down on us cuz he’s dead. So it goes. Dead people don’t smile, babies are pure, and you still can’t say “fuck” on tv. So, now that’s thats out of my system please enjoy this amazing performance from April 13th, 1979 (which also happened to be Friday the 13th).
Framepool has compiled some archival footage of a video series entitled “Unusual Occupations” that presents “ordinary, everyday people who chose ‘the path less taken’ in pursuit of extraordinary odd jobs, crazy careers and hysterical hobbies.” The video series was originally produced by, “Jerry Fairbanks Studios and released by Paramount Pictures from 1937 through 1949,” according to Framepool.
Rubber Face – Unusual Occupations 1937 from Framepool on Vimeo.
Some are, indeed, rather odd. Cue the above video with Alan O’Brien, the ‘rubber faced’ man of Pasadena. Other videos in the series, function more as artifacts of the era’s pop cultural conditions. The video featuring female air-force pilots and model casting has a voicing that seems campy and stereotypically offensive, in current dialogue.
Women Airforce Service Pilots 1943 from Framepool on Vimeo.
All-in-all, the series is enjoyable and a bit surreal in its vivid account of people lives and careers in a different economic realty than today.
A Tattoo Artist 1937 – Rare Color Footage from Framepool on Vimeo.
Model Casting 1937 from Framepool on Vimeo.
Stockings for Hollywood Stars 1937 – Rare Color Footage from Framepool on Vimeo.
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