August 3, 1904.
American Mutoscope & Biograph Company
Coney Island's Sea Gate in Brooklyn, N.Y.
Cameraman: G. W. Bitzer

Ring-around-the-rosie
Young children wade and play in the surf at Sea Gate in Coney Island as some women swim in the distance. A jump cut [2:40] shows a toddler as he moves for the camera holding a cricket paddle. A moment later a man fetches the paddle out of the water, leaving the boy with a toy boat with which to play. He seems more interested in the real schooner sailing far out in the distance, but only momentarily. He'd rather be back on the beach with everyone else. After a few more attempts at making him a star the boy picks up the toy and leaves.

August 21, 1901. Thomas A. Edison Inc.
Alfred C. Abadie (the swell), Florence Georgie (the girl)
Filmmakers: Edwin S. Porter and George S. Fleming [?]

This film is a very early effort at presenting a ''story'' on film, in this case a punch line of sorts when a young lady has a Marilyn Monroe moment over a sidewalk steam vent. In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries it did not take much to make a man smile. A glimpse of stocking covered ankle or calf was enough. The early films 'Tenderloin at Night' (1899), and 'Two A.M. in the Subway' (1905) are other examples of 'leg show' Kinetoscopes from the period.
This was shot on 23rd Street facing 6th Avenue. The Sixth Avenue 'El' can be seen beyond the lamppost in the background.

The following year (1902) on 23rd Street between Fifth and Broadway, D. H. Burnham's Fuller or ''Flatiron'' Building was complete. It was quickly discovered that the wind in the area whipped up a mean gust which gave interested males a new hobby. If one stood around long enough during windy seasons, it might be possible to catch a glimpse of some frail's ankle. If it was really windy and a feller was really lucky and the gal was really unaware then maybe, just maybe, a guy could see some calf in a sudden gust.* The cops walking the beat along Twenty-third Street would make the leering young (and old) men move along with a wave of the nightstick and a pithy ''No loitering...skidoo!,'' giving rise to the term ''23 skidoo.'' Given that absolutely everyone wore hats, I'm sure it was also a common sight to see some boaters, bowlers, and feminine flowered chapeaus escape the head of their owners and roll away.* As if that isn't enough, they had to hope their hat wouldn't score a hit with one of those 'gifts' left behind by the numerous city work horses!

Suntory was one of the first Asian companies to specifically employ American celebrities to market their product. One of the most notable is Sammy Davis, Jr., who appeared in a series of memorable Suntory commercials in the early 1970s. In the late 1970s, Akira Kurosawa directed a famous series of commercials featuring American celebrities on the set of his film Kagemusha.

Sammy Davis, Jr. was an American entertainer. Primarily a dancer and singer, Davis was a childhood vaudevillian, and became known for his performances on Broadway and in Las Vegas, as a recording artist, television and film star, and the only black member of Frank Sinatra's "Rat Pack".

At the age of three Davis began his career in vaudeville with his father and "uncle" as the Will Mastin Trio, toured nationally, and after military service, returned to the trio. Davis became an overnight sensation following a nightclub performance at Ciro's after the 1951 Academy Awards, with the trio, became a recording artist, and made his first film performances as an adult later that decade. Losing his left eye in a car accident in 1954, he converted to Judaism and appeared in the first Rat Pack movie, Ocean's Eleven, in 1960.

Here's a rare clip of Martin Denny and his group playing their most popular tune, "Quiet Village", on Webley Edwards "Hawaii Calls."

Martin Denny was an American piano-player and composer best known as the "father of exotica." In a long career that saw him performing well into his 80s, he toured the world popularizing his brand of lounge music which included exotic percussion, imaginative rearrangements of popular songs, and original songs that celebrated Tiki culture.

His combo spawned two successful offshoots: Julius Wechter (of Baja Marimba Band fame) and exotica vibist Arthur Lyman.

Hawaii Calls was a radio program that ran from 1935 through 1975 that featured live Hawaiian music. It was broadcast each week, usually from the courtyard of the Moana Hotel on Waikiki Beach but occasionally from other locations, and hosted by Webley Edwards for almost the entire run. The first show reached the West Coast of the continental United States through shortwave radio. At its height, it was heard on over 750 stations around the world. However, when it went off the air in 1975, only 10 stations were airing the show. Because of its positive portrayal of Hawaii, the show received a subsidy for many years—first from the government of the Territory of Hawaii, and then from the State of Hawaii. The termination of the subsidy was one of the reasons that the show went off the air.

In 1971 Sun Ra fulfilled a long-standing desire by performing with the Arkestra at ancient Egyptian pyramids.

This is old footage of Sun Ra and his Arkestra by the pyramids and in Sardinia, Italy.

Sun Ra (May 22, 1914 – May 30, 1993) was born in Birmingham, Alabama. He was a prolific jazz composer, bandleader, piano and synthesizer player, poet and philosopher known for his "cosmic philosophy," musical compositions and performances.

"Of all the jazz musicians, Sun Ra was probably the most controversial," critic Scott Yanow said, due to Sun Ra's eclectic music and unorthodox lifestyle. Claiming that he was of the "Angel Race" and not from Earth, but from Saturn, Sun Ra developed a complex persona of "cosmic" philosophies and lyrical poetry that made him a pioneer of afrofuturism as he preached awareness and peace above all. He abandoned his birth name and took on the name and persona of Sun Ra (Ra being the ancient Egyptian god of the sun), and used several other names throughout his career, including Le Sonra and Sonny Lee.

Wild Guitar is a 1962 musical drama film starring Arch Hall Jr., Arch Hall, Sr. (credited as William Watters), Ray Dennis Steckler (credited as Cash Flagg), and Nancy Czar. The movie was directed by Ray Dennis Steckler and was produced by Arch Hall, Sr. The film was targeted towards the drive-in market, and is generally regarded as a B-movie, but has become infamous as part of a series of films made by Arch Hall, Sr. which starred his son, Arch Hall, Jr.

Bud Eagle (Arch Hall Jr.), a young singer-songwriter, arrives in Hollywood on a motorcycle. At Marge's Koffee Kup Cafe, he meets Vickie (Nancy Czar), an aspiring dancer, who quizzes him about his "gimmick" and promises to give him the "inside dope" on the music industry. He attends her performance at a television variety show later that night. When the scheduled saxophonist is unable to perform, Bud steps in with a ballad that earns him a standing ovation.

Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill! is a 1965 exploitation film directed by Russ Meyer, who also wrote the script with Jack Moran. It stars Tura Satana, Haji, and Lori Williams.

The film features gratuitous violence, sexuality, provocative gender roles, and campy dialogue. It is one of Meyer's more boldly titled and unflinchingly exploitative films, yet unlike most of his movies, it contains virtually no nudity.

The film was shot in the extreme western parts of the Mojave Desert. However, some of the scenes appear to have been filmed farther east, near Baker, CA. The last scenes in the film were made west of California City, and the rail line running between Mojave, CA and Trona, CA is clearly evident.

Three thrill-seeking go-go dancers — Billie (Lori Williams), Rosie (Haji), and their leader, Varla (Tura Satana) — encounter a young couple in the desert while drag racing. After killing the boyfriend (Ray Barlow) with her bare hands, Varla drugs, binds, gags and kidnaps his girlfriend, Linda (Susan Bernard). On a desolate highway, the four stop at a gas station, where they see an old man (Stuart Lancaster) and his muscular, dimwitted son, Vegetable (Dennis Busch).

This is a promotional film for the song Cosmic Slop for the band Funkadelic shot in early 1970's New York City, notably in Central Park and a pre-scrubbed Times Square.

Cosmic Slop is a 1973 album by Funkadelic, released on Westbound Records. While it has been reevaluated by critics long after its original release, the album was a commercial failure, as it produced no charting singles and did not make the top half of the Billboard 200 albums chart.

The songs can be divided, approximately in half, as being straightforward R&B-sounding love songs and deep, philosophical and political songs ("This Broken Heart" vs "Cosmic Slop"). Bernie Worrell's keyboards are of particular interest, as they foreshadow some of his future innovations in that instrument.

Cosmic Slop is the first Funkadelic album to feature artwork and liner notes by Pedro Bell, who assumed responsibility for the band's gate-fold album covers and liner notes until the band's collapse after 1981's The Electric Spanking of War Babies. Bell's liner notes to Cosmic Slop include small illustrations next to each song's name, preparing the listener by summarizing the song in a picture.

This is one of the most popular P Funk songs among fans of the group, and is often played in live shows. An updated recording of the song, recorded "live" during a rehearsal for the P-Funk Earth Tour, appeared on the 1976 album Hardcore Jollies. George Clinton later compared himself to the subject of the song (a woman who becomes a prostitute to feed her children) because he was forced to use his celebrity-status in commercials due to severe financial difficulties.

Weirdo Video Exclusive

Strike up the band.

Let's celebrate the great day on which the Declaration of Independence was signed ...

July 4, 1776 ...

Be happy ...
Be glad we are living in the good old USA
Land of the free ..
Home of fair play

July 4th, 1940.

In the United States, Independence Day, commonly known as the Fourth of July, is a federal holiday commemorating the adoption of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776, declaring independence from the Kingdom of Great Britain. Independence Day is commonly associated with fireworks, parades, barbecues, carnivals, fairs, picnics, concerts, baseball games, political speeches and ceremonies, and various other public and private events celebrating the history, government, and traditions of the United States. Independence Day is the national day of the United States.

Weirdo Video Exclusive

Cold War counter-spy instructional film created to convince government officials traveling with top secret info to watch their backs.

Watch hapless G-men get seduced and setup for blackmail by treacherous Soviet she-spies.

Includes clandestine spy gadgets a la James Bond and jarring, film noir-esque music.

Espionage or spying involves an individual obtaining information that is considered secret or confidential without the permission of the holder of the information.