20080829

OLD SCHOOL FRIDAYS - Neo Soul?

When MrsGrapevine posted today's Old School Friday topic I was kerplotzed! I have never heard of neo-soul which left me in a quandry - what do I post today? So, being the curious little pop culture diva that I am I had to do some researchin' and guess what I found - it includes one of my favorite types of music - Gospel!

I love Gospel choirs especially - there is nothing more uplifting and just plain joyous than a gospel choir going to town - even makes me want to go to church, heathen that I can be at times, lol. This is a little more soulful and jazzy - great for sitting back and having a nice, relaxing martini (oh, hey, Jesus drank wine okay?)

So I went for the highest rated and most viewed video under "neo soul gospel" in YouTube because I figured it would be the be the best and I was not disappointed. No, it's not retro but we all need to try some new things every once in a while!



This meme was developed by Marvalus View and Ms. Grapevine. The rules are simple:

1. Anyone can participate; any music genre
2. Old School is defined as music created before 1999
3. No offensive words allowed, please use edited radio version
4. Post a video of your favorite Old School song to take us back down memory lane
5. Add your name to the meme list so that others can check you out
6. Have fun & don't forget to leave comments for other participantsIf you want to join in on the fun, click here.



Get my Retro Inspired Pop Culture Art on Cool Stuff like Cups, Tees, Cards, Aprons and more at the POP ART DIVA BOUTIQUE!

20080828

THIRTEEN (or so) CLEAN COMICS FROM MY PAST


Proving that you can make people laugh without being "blue" (cursing). When I was growing up these were the people who made me laugh and still do - and I never learned one swear word listening to them!

1. Red Skelton - My favorite as a child. I loved Clem Kadiddlehopper



2. Bob Hope - Always a gentleman, always funny. Thanks for the memories! (This is his famous "Democrat" line)



3. Uncle Milty - Milton Berle - No one looked funnier in a dress - not even J. Edgar Hoover!



4. Jackie Gleason - How Sweet It Is!



5. Jack Benny - Well, I never! And he could play the violin - not well but he could play! I loved his deadpan face and his signature stances! Watch this one with a very, very, very young Johnny Carson!



6. George Burns - Funny for a century! Say Goodnight, Gracie! Take a close look, that sweater salesman is W.C. Fields!



7. The Three Stooges - Nyuck, Nyuck, Nyuck is not cursing! But I did learn how to boink and poke from them, lol! Slowly I turn!



8. Charlie Chaplin - hey, he didn't even have to talk! Folks these is where Robert Downey Jr learned that routine in Benny and Joon:



9. The Keystone Cops - caught them in reruns, nothing funnier than clumsy cops!



10. Johnny Carson - His dry wit and sophisticated humor kept me up at nights. This is probably one of the funniest moments on the Johnny Carson show - do not miss Johnny's quip at the end - it's classic Carson:



11. Bob Newhart - Just his expressions could crack me up. Add him to Dean Martin and Ann Margaret and here's what you get:



12. Abbot and Costello - Hey, Abbotttt! Here's their famous "Who's On First"



13. The Smothers Brothers - Mom liked you best! Political? Yes! Dirty? No! My whole family would sit down and watch The Smother's Brothers Hour. They came out of the folk singing generation and this clip shows what took them from the Purple Onion to Network Television:



And, for a special treat, here's Tommy doing Johnny Carson on one of the last Johnny Carson shows - his impersonation is uncanny!



I hope you had as many laughs as I did watching these! And not one dirty word in the bunch.

Links to other Thursday Thirteens!
1. (leave your link in comments)

Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!

The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!



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20080827

I REMEMBER WHEN: Burns and Allen - Timeless, Clean Humor

Play the Theme from The Burns and Allen Show.

Gracie Allen died this date in 1964. This brought to mind the classic comediens and humor of my childhood. Red Skelton, Jackie Gleason, Burns and Allen. I remember when comedy was funny and clean, when it took real life and showed us how funny it could be without assaulting us with offensive language, sexual innuendo or references to violence and mayhem.

Burns and Allen was one of the favorites in our house. George Burns played the strait man to the slightly confused, ever funny Gracie Allen. Burns wrote the comedy, Allen delivered it with great timing, wit and a wholesome sense of fun. Gracie Allen was the inimitable "ditsy" blond. Her comments and thinking processes confounding George and bringing laughter to households across America in the 1950s.

Burns and Allen started in Vaudeville in the 1920s, then radio, movies and then to that new medium, television, with The Burns and Allen Show. The Burns and Allen Show ran for 291 episodes, from it's debut on October 12, 1950 to 1958. Many who have not seen the show have certainly heard their famous closing lines - George, "Say Goodnight, Gracie" to which Gracie always simply replied, "Goodnight" not, as legend has it, "Goodnight, Gracie".

Born in July in San Francisco somewhere between 1895 and 1906, Grace Allen performed with her sisters as Irish folk dancers known as The Four Colleens prior to meeting George Burns.

Though Gracie always claimed she was born in 1906. her crypt marker shows her birth as 1902 and a U.S. Census shows her birth as July 1895. Because of the great San Francisco earthquake and fire of 1906 all city records were destroyed. Gracie would say she was born in 1906 but had no birth certificate to prove this because of the Great Earthquake. When it was pointed out that the earthquake was three months prior to her supposed birth date she would say "Well, it was an awfully big earthquake."

If you really want to see some totally clean, funny bits and enjoy some timeless humor watch the following YouTube clips. Now, Say Goodnight, Gracie!

Gracie Learns French:


George and Gracie:

---------------------
Would you like to join in on my Wednesday
I REMEMBER WHEN Meme?


GREAT! Here's the rules:

1. Write a NOSTALGIC blog post with the theme of I REMEMBER WHEN
and INCLUDE A LINK BACK to this blog using this url: http://www.popartdiva.blogspot.com
(If you need the code to insert my link e-mail me at RememberCode@popartdiva.com and I'll send you the code to insert!)

2. Then come here every Wednesday, read my post, make your comment and include the link back to your post! We'll all have some nostalgia and retro fun and enjoy some increased blog traffic!

3. Post these rules at the bottom of your post.

3. Please no profanity, idiocy or meanness - I'll delete your post and you'll be grounded until you become an adult!

I will do my best to answer all comments made on my blog and I'll read yours and post a comment whenever I can!
-----------------------------------

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20080825

ANSWERS TO LAST THURSDAY THIRTEEN'S POP CULTURE PHRASE QUIZ

1. Lucy, You gotta lotta 'spailin; to do! - I LOVE LUCY

2. What's Up, Doc? - THE BUGS BUNNY SHOW

3. I taught I taw a puddy-tat! I did, I did taw a puddy-tat! - Tweety Bird of WARNER BROTHERS LOONEY TOONS/MERRIE MELODIES CARTOONS (btw - did you know that Tweety Bird aka Tweetie Pie was an Academy Award winning little bird??? And Tweety is a He.)

4. It's a bird, it's a plane, it's Superman! - GEE, DUH, THE ADVENTURES OF SUPERMAN

5. Happy, happy, joy, joy. REN AND STIMPY CARTOON

6. Meep! Meep! THE ROAD RUNNDER, ARCH NEMISIS OF WILE E. COYOTE OF WARNER BROTHERS LOONEY TOONS/MERRIE MELODIES

7. Nyuck, Nyuck, Nyuck, Woo, Woo, Woo, Woo. CURLY FROM THE THREE STOOGES - Here's the Curly Shuffle:



8. Marcia, Marcia, Marcia! JAN ON THE BRADY BUNCH

9. Man, Woman, Birth, Death, Infinity. PART OF THE OPENING SEQUENCE ON BEN CASEY:



10. Cement Pond. THE BEVERLY HILLBILLIES - JED CLAMPETT, THE PATRIARCH PLAYED BY BUDDY EBSEN CALLED THEIR "HILLS OF BEVERLY" SWIMMING POOL THE CEMENT POND

11. Zee Plane! Zee Plane! TATOO FROM FANTASY ISLAND OPENING SEQUENCE

12. Say Goodnight, Gracie. - GEORGE BURNS FROM BURNS AND ALLEN

13. To the moon, Alice. - JACKIE GLEASON AS RALPH KRAMDEN ON THE HONEYMOONERS. Now enjoy the classic opening credits:



Tomorrow I am going to start a Wednesday post theme entitled: I REMEMBER WHEN - so stop by and join the party!

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RETRO COMMERCIALS MONDAY - The Polaroid Swinger Camera

ANSWERS TO LAST THURSDAYS THIRTEEN QUIZ POSTED TOMORROW!!!!

Sadly, earlier this year Polaroid announced it would discontinue making instant film, following discontinuation of the instant cameras last year.

It is the end of a photographic era that began in 1948 when Polaroid introduced the first instant photo cameras. It was quite a miracle in the early sixties - I got a Swinger for my 16th birthday and it made my slumber/birthday party a rousing success! The goofy photos a bunch of giggling little teenage girls can think up is a monument to coming of age in America. All for under $20!

I still have those photographs today and they continue to bring a smile to my lips after forty years.

Some years later I got a leather covered SX-70 and continued to mark my life in instant images and photographic memories.

Yes, with digital cameras this seems like atavistic technology but in the days of my youth it was the hottest thing and the fun these cameras and film generated remains a tribute to Polaroid and it's products. Goodbye to a product that was a part of my youth:



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20080822

OLD SCHOOL FRIDAYS - Favorite Male Singer?

My favorite male singer? Wow, that's a toughie to narrow down so here's how I approached it, what male singer would I most prefer to be stranded on a desert island with the rest of my life?

He'd have to have a great voice (naturally), he'd have to be pretty decent looking ('cause even though I'm not looking I still like to look and I like my eye candy!), and he'd have to have a small enough ego to fit it into a small electric powered car (or I'd end up killing him and then I'd be alone for the rest of my life!)

Oh and I had to narrow my choices down to who's still alive - I really don't want to spend the rest of my life on a deserted island with a dead body! My final choice also included the fact that this guy would be missed if he ever disappeared and someone would come looking for him and I would be found at the same time!

I swear to God, this took me over an hour to decide - so (drum roll please!) here is my choice, Sir Paul McCartney:



Here's an art tribute I did to Sir Paul recently:


This meme was developed by Marvalus View and Ms. Grapevine. The rules are simple:

1. Anyone can participate; any music genre
2. Old School is defined as music created before 1999
3. No offensive words allowed, please use edited radio version
4. Post a video of your favorite Old School song to take us back down memory lane
5. Add your name to the meme list so that others can check you out
6. Have fun & don't forget to leave comments for other participantsIf you want to join in on the fun, click here.

Get my Retro Inspired Pop Culture Art on Cool Stuff like Cups, Tees, Cards, Aprons and more at the POP ART DIVA BOUTIQUE!

20080820

Thursday Thirteen - 13 Phrases that have become part of Pop Culture


THIRTEEN PHRASES FROM TELEVISION THAT HAVE BECOME PART OF OUR POP CULTURE.

Can you tell me what television show they are from???

1. Lucy, You gotta lotta 'spailin; to do!

2. What's Up, Doc?

3. I taught I taw a puddy-tat! I did, I did taw a puddy-tat!

4. It's a bird, it's a plane, it's Superman!

5. Happy, happy, joy, joy.

6. Meep! Meep!

7. Nyuck, Nyuck, Nyuck, Woo, Woo, Woo, Woo.

8. Marcia, Marcia, Marcia!

9. Man, Woman, Birth, Death, Infinity.

10. Cement Pond.

11. Zee Plane! Zee Plane!

12. Say Goodnight, Gracie.

13. To the moon, Alice.

Have fun - oh, excuse me I have a call coming in from the Giant Head!

The image, TV's Greatest Hits is one of my Art Tributes to the Golden Age of Television and a thank you to the television gods for all the wonderful hours of entertainment I've had over the last 50 years!

Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!

The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others' comments. It’s easy, and fun! Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!



Get my Retro Inspired Pop Culture Art on Cool Stuff like Cups, Tees, Cards, Aprons and more at the POP ART DIVA BOUTIQUE!

20080816

DEATH OF THE KING - Ladies and Gentlemen, Elvis left the Planet 31 Years Ago Today

IN LOVING MEMORY OF
THE KING OF ROCK AND ROLL
ELVIS AARON PRESLEY
January 8, 1935 - August 16, 1977

Thank you, Thank you very much for all the music and may you still be rockin' in that big Graceland in the sky!

Ladies and Gentlemen, ELVIS Has Left The Planet is available as archival prints and giclees on canvas in various sizes at PopArtDiva.com. Copyright 2008 by PopArtDiva.com. All rights reserved. No permission is given to copy, distribute or reproduce without written permission from PopArtDiva.com.

Get my Retro Inspired Pop Culture Art on Cool Stuff like Cups, Tees, Cards, Aprons and more at the POP ART DIVA BOUTIQUE!

20080815

Old School Fridays: Social/Political Songs- STARRY, STARRY NIGHT

As an artist I have always loved this song because it speaks to how society looks upon the artistic soul, the creative mind and those who are different. This world was never meant for those who do not follow the beaten path, it can be a cruel and harsh place for those who see things from a different perspective.

Vincent, they're still not listening and the world's sanity is at risk.

This is Don McLean in a live performance from 1972:



I had to come back and add this video of Josh Groban's rendition too - so beautiful.



This meme was developed by Marvalus View and Ms. Grapevine. The rules are simple:

1. Anyone can participate; any music genre
2. Old School is defined as music created before 1999
3. No offensive words allowed, please use edited radio version
4. Post a video of your favorite Old School song to take us back down memory lane
5. Add your name to the meme list so that others can check you out
6. Have fun & don't forget to leave comments for other participantsIf you want to join in on the fun, click here.



Get my Retro Inspired Pop Culture Art on Cool Stuff like Cups, Tees, Cards, Aprons and more at the POP ART DIVA BOUTIQUE!

20080813

Thursday Thirteen - The 13 Most Popular Martini Recipes from TheMartiniDiva.com

THURSDAY THIRTEEN FOR AUGUST 14TH, 2008!

FOR ALL YOU MARTINI LOVERS

or If You Know a Martini Lover!

The Thirteen of the Most Popular Martini Recipes from my blog
The Martini Diva
(Just click the martini to get the free recipe card to print out! Wrap them up with a prety ribbon and give them as a gift or save them for your own bar!)

1. The Apple Martini

2. The Lemon Drop Martini

3. The Sex in the City Cosmopolitan

4. The Orange Julius Martini

5. The Key Lime Pie Martini

6. The Perfect Cherry Martini

7. The Tipsy Girl Scout Martini

8. The Divorce Martini

9. The Pink Flamingo Martini

10. The Classic Gin Martini

11. The Devil's in the Details (a Halloween Martini!)

12. The Millionaire Martini - A spicy, PRICEY apple martini!

13. Rudolf's Reindeer Martini (Christmas Martini)

and a bonus martini from my Joke Martini Collection:

JACKASS, THE MARTINI
(I hope you have a sense of humor and an athletic supporter!)

My very first How To Make a Martini Recipe Video - The Key Lime Pie Martini!

Find ALL my martini recipes on the Recipe Archives at PopArtdiva.com


Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!

The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others' comments. It’s easy, and fun! Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!



Get my Retro Inspired Pop Culture Art on Cool Stuff like Cups, Tees, Cards, Aprons and more at the POP ART DIVA BOUTIQUE!

20080806

Thursday Thirteen - 13 Canceled Television Shows I Miss


Thirteen Canceled Television Shows I Wish Were Still On:

1. The West Wing - This was the White House I wish we had.

2, The Sonny and Cher Show - I watched just to see what Bob Mackie outfit Cher would be wearing.

3. The Smothers Brothers Show - Edgy, political, irreverent and subtle. Very sophisticated and funny even if you didn't get the inside jokes and the daggers of political jabs. The SmoBros were the best - my favorite, The Yo-Yo Man. Mom always like you best! www.smothersbrothers.com

4. Moonlight - This was the hottest vampire I've ever laid eyes on! Crap, canceled after a few shows. Where am I going to get my hot vampire, Mick St. John fix now????

5. Dynasty - An hour of guilty wallowing in the soap opera land of the super rich, super bitchy and super should pads!

6. M.A.S.H. - How could you not love a show that had it's main character, Hawkeye, distilling gin for martinis in a Mobile Army Surgical Hospital - this is how you make Suicide Painless! (The theme song, in case you didn't know, is "Suicide Is Painless")

7. Taxi - Danny DeVito made this show a must see for me - God, how I loved Louie DePalma.

8. W.K.R.P. in Cincinnati - What a cast of characters - the only one who bugged me was Gary Sandy's Andy Travis and those tight bell bottoms he always wore. I guess it was supposed to be sexy, but it always looked tacky to me. Do you remember this line, "As God is my witness, I thought turkeys could fly." God what a bunch of funny goofs!

9. Monty Python's Flying Circus - With John Cleese and Eric Idle, my two favorites on the show. This was and still is an original of originals! Here's a little sample in case you're too young to have seen it:



10. Sledge Hammer - The silliest, stupidest half hour of television that I watched faithfully week after week "Trust me, I know what I'm doing". This one tickled me and I still do not know why. Maybe it was the theme song?



11. Absolutely Fabulous - Edina and Patsy, sigh.

12. Brooklyn Bridge - This was a wonderful family show set in the 50s by Gary David Goldberg, who also produced Family Ties. Semi-autobiographical for Goldberg, This show made me think of home - and I did not grow up in Brooklyn, I grew up in Kansas, but the sets made me think of home. Plus the theme song was wonderful, performed by Art Garfunkel (Simon and Garfunkel) it was beautiful.

13. AND FINALLY, LAST BUT NOT LEAST STAR TREK! I want my Spock, Captain Kirk, Scotty, Sulu, Uhuru and Chekov!

SPACE THE FINAL FRONTIER. THESE ARE THE VOYAGES OF THE STARSHIP ENTERPRISE, HER FIVE-YEAR MISSION TO EXPLORE STRANGE NEW WORLDS, TO SEEK OUT NEW LIFE AND NEW CIVILIZATION, TO BOLDLY GO WHERE NO MAN HAS GONE BEFORE.

Here's some outtakes - sure, we've all seen them before, but I swear to God, you'll still laugh:




Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!
The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others' comments. It’s easy, and fun! Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!


Get my Retro Inspired Pop Culture Art on Cool Stuff like Cups, Tees, Cards, Aprons and more at the POP ART DIVA BOUTIQUE!

20080801

OLD SCHOOL FRIDAYS - MOTOWN (COOL!)

So, how cool is this? This is a video of Martha Reeves and The Vandellas AND Dusty Springfield for a live performance of Wishin' And Hopin' recorded at the Rediffusion TV studios in London on 18 March 1965!

Now this is Motown meets Mod in true retro fashion!!!!



Now here's another one with Dusty and Martha. Who knew Dusty had so much soul in her voice??? But wait, there's more - Diana Ross and the Supremes sing Stop, In the Name of Love, the Temptations singing My Girl and Martha comes back with Dancing In The Streets! Hows this for Retro Motown? Wow, those English really knew how to rock out and get down in those days.




This meme was developed by Marvalus View and Ms. Grapevine. The rules are simple:

1. Anyone can participate; any music genre

2. Old School is defined as music created before 1999

3. No offensive words allowed, please use edited radio version

4. Post a video of your favorite Old School song to take us back down memory lane

5. Add your name to the meme list so that others can check you out

6. Have fun & don't forget to leave comments for other participants

If you want to join in on the fun, click here.

Get my Retro Inspired Pop Culture Art on Cool Stuff like Cups, Tees, Cards, Aprons and more at the POP ART DIVA BOUTIQUE!