These movie clips from public expositions of seven decades past can be an eye opener. Social progress has gone in more than one direction in the intervening years.

1939-40 New York World’s Fair

“Sunshine, trees, hills and valleys; this world of tomorrow is a world of beauty”

My mom always taught me to never use the term “huevos” in polite society. Instead, she said, say “blanquillos” (whites). Blanquillos mean eggs. Huevos mean . . . something else entirely.

Los Razos, originally uploaded by Vidalia.

What does the image of the band have in common with the gorgeous portrait below?

breeze, originally uploaded by Tundrabuni.

And what do they have to do with a celebration?

This post, a celebration of corpulent women, is inspired by Lola Lyndon’s post, Fat.

The group. Los Razos de Sacramento, celebrate big beautiful women in their Banda music video, Mi Gordis.

A little background info may be useful. Banda is the familiar Mexican oom-pa brass band music inspired by German immigrants who settled in south Texas and northern Mexico.

“Mi Gordis” is a Mexican term of endearment meaning roughly “My Fatty“. Except for the fact that “Mi Gordis” could apply affectionately to either a male or a female, the term might be more accurately translated as “My Plushie.”

Personally, I am overweight my self. However, I prefer my significant other to refer to me as “Pleasantly Obese“.

Death Levels All, originally uploaded by batigolix.

It was on August 24, 79 (704,187 days ago) that Pompeii and Herculaneum were buried in ash following the eruption of Mount Vesuvius.

The Ruins of Pompeii and Mount Vesuvius, originally uploaded by Stuck in Customs.

if these walls could talk, originally uploaded by thomas cristopher.

Tragedy, originally uploaded by Villa Sams.

Boscoreale, Villa Regina, originally uploaded by batigolix.

This dog died in the eruption chewing on its chain, trying to get free.

by Nara Back.
Photographs are not to be reused or reprinted without permission of the artist

by gingerxbread.

Originally posted in dailytentacle.wordpress.com

All we can do is watch.

Meanwhile, please do the clicky thing on the photos you see here. Clicking will take you to the photo’s Flickr page. There, you can see more photos by the artist who took the photo you clicked.

Photographs are not to be reused or reprinted without permission of the artist

by Theremina.

by Sexy Swedish Babe.

by glory defined.

by *starlet*.

by D0D0.

by seventytw0dpi.

by Esther_G.

by Pantelis’.

by Carol Wojtyla.

by nedrosen.

by hopeless128.

by Kelly Kaiser.

by *starlet*.

by eyecandyforthebrokenhearted.

Photographs are not to be reused or reprinted without permission of the artist

Photo montage uploaded by Bunaen

Towers Open Fire by Tony Balch and Bill Burroughs is often ignored in discussions of avant-garde film.

Towers Open Fire is a montage of scenes from Burroughs’ “cut up” novels. In fact the film shows how it is done. Pages are cut up and reassembled into prose.

More watchable than a pure Dadaist exercise, it is still anti-bourgeoisie at heart, and it is a trial of one’s sensibilities. After all, the aim of surrealistic cinema is “deliberately to try the patience of the audience” — Man Ray

I like the flicker “Dream Machine” that appears from time to time. Intended to be viewed with one’s eyes closed, the flicker Dream Machine supposedly induces hallucinations without the use of drugs.

Those who are familiar with Burroughs novels may recognize themes from his books in this full frontal onslaught. Enjoy!

View the Video in a New Window

Tenticles, originally uploaded by sonic_serenity.

Lola Lyndon is away on assignment, and should be back within a week, if not days.

Some things seem to be just plain underrepresented; tubas in popular music; sledgehammers in tool boxes; and Magyars in government service.

Alothough ideosynchratic demolition experts do not seem to be underrepresented in metal sculpture, I think the works of Dr. Evermor cannot be represented enough. The mainstream has ignored Forevertron too long.

attack, originally uploaded by yetra.

We’re here to make amends.

You can read more about Dr. Evermor here if you like.

Meanwhile, I’m just going to settle back and view a few photos taken by the Doctor’s fans over at Flickr.

Dr Evermore’s Foreverton Sculpture Garden, originally uploaded by La Libertad.

Forevertron II, originally uploaded by whereling.

springman02, originally uploaded by zusty.

100_0099.JPG, originally uploaded by starchy.

vultureface1, originally uploaded by zusty.

Molly on the Forevertron, originally uploaded by Filmo.

clowncar3, originally uploaded by zusty.

clowncar2, originally uploaded by zusty.

zap machine1, originally uploaded by zusty.

Scrapmetal Dragon, originally uploaded by Eda Cherry.

On Holiday #21: The Forevertron II, originally uploaded by Jack Lord.

forevertronbug, originally uploaded by lebovox.

forevertron2, originally uploaded by lebovox.

Forevertron, originally uploaded by beecoterie.

forevertron5, originally uploaded by lebovox.

There is a pool of photos of the works of Dr. Evermor on Flickr.

Some of the best photos of Forevertron are not available for blogging. But you can take a tour of some more here in this Flickr photo set by miss_private, and here in this photo set by Central Historian.

The Game (28 minutes – 1966) and The Choking Game (2005)

This week, two little-known short films about teenagers looking for some action and the game they play.

Some Scenes from The Game, originally uploaded by bunaen.

Choking Game

Next is a student short film about a teenager who invites some friends over for a good time. Boredom and peer pressure set in and they play the Choking Game.

Choking Game (14 minutes – 2005), originally uploaded by bunaen.

Link

The Game

Watch The Game here or, Watch the Large Screen Version in a New Window

anna_may_shaded, originally uploaded by Kung Fu Grip! Zine.

anna may wong 1, originally uploaded by silvernightingale.

Racism and sexism are simply institurionalized lies. Case in point – Anna May Wong.

AnnaMayWong, originally uploaded by meltchu.

Anna May Wong (January 3, 1905 – February 2, 1961) was an acclaimed actress whose career began in the silent era.

The Lies: Hollywood, the public and California law considered Anna May Wong “foreign” and “exotic” and unfit to be in a relationship with a white “American”. She was denied a role opposite Paul Muni in 1937 because of the Hayes Code. The Hayes Code, usually associated with censorship and repression of sexuality in Hollywood movies also had a miscegenation clause.  The Hayes Code’s miscegenation clause was based on California’s anti-miscegenation law.  The law, which was on the books until 1948, prohibited interracial marriage in order to “preserve the integrity of the white race”.

The Truth? L.A. was Anna May’s home town. Her family had been in the United States since 1855.

Paul Muni starred in the 1937 feature film The Good Earth. Paul Muni, in heavy makeup to appear to be “oriental”, played a Chinese man, and Anna May was prevented from playing his wife because the Hayes Code did not allow non-white actors to play romantic roles opposite white actors.

Wong, Anna May_03, originally uploaded by halftime.

Anna May Wong., originally uploaded by carbonated.

anna may wong dragon lady, originally uploaded by silvernightingale.

anna may wong 3, originally uploaded by silvernightingale.

Anna May Wong 1931 Shanghai Express, originally uploaded by sugarbarre.

Anna May Wong, originally uploaded by Sean KBC.

anna may wong 2, originally uploaded by silvernightingale.

Anna May Wong., originally uploaded by carbonated.

Anna May Wong, originally uploaded by normavalentine.

Anna May Wong, originally uploaded by normavalentine.

Run Time 13:58 (work safe)

Mary Newton is the new girl in the office. The big boss takes her in to meet Ed Asner who needs a hand in his department–bad. He’s mighty glad to meet Mary until she walks into the room. Oh my God, she’s colored! Ed’s not the only one who gives Mary the cold shoulder. Kit, the boss’ secretary decides she doesn’t want to work with the colored girl, and threatens to quit. We assume she is not just feigning racism to cover up for the fact that she is sick of the boss yelling when she arrives a little late for work, “You’d better hurry, my coffee’s getting cold!”

Fortunately the men have everything under control, and are able to wrangle the girls into accepting the new girl. This is good because it is Mary’s dream to work in a secretarial pool, where she can gaze up admiringly at the glass ceiling instead of having to scrub it.

Link