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Sunday, January 30, 2011

Don't miss the next - Flagpole Radio Cafe

For the best in local entertainment, and the only proven cure for cabin fever and snow blindness, visit Newtown this Saturday night -
From the official press release:

Newtown, CT - the Newtown Cultural Arts Commission is pleased to announce that acclaimed jazz-folk duo Bethany and Rufus will be the guest artists for the February 5th edition of The Flagpole Radio Café. Tickets are now on sale at www.flagpoleproductions.org . The show begins at 7pm at the Edmond Town Hall in Newtown, CT. Ticket prices are $18 for adults, $15 for students and senior citizens. If further information is needed, please contact us at info@flagpoleproductions.org .

Bethany & Rufus are a cello and voice duo that push the boundaries of American roots music far into unexpected territories, sliding seamlessly between groove, world, blues, and traditional folk music – and when Bethany Yarrow and Rufus Cappadocia join forces on stage they spark a fire-in-the-belly, soul-stirring experience of American roots music that lingers long after the concert ends.

As the daughter of folk legend Peter Yarrow (of Peter, Paul and Mary), Bethany Yarrow absorbed much of this music through osmosis in her early childhood, but it’s her tour-de-force stage presence, mesmerizing voice and deep knowledge of the material that allows her to turn these songs inside out and find their less explored, enchanted underside. Rufus Cappadocia is renowned for his cross cultural collaborations, taking the cello into previously unexplored realms. Cappadocia has collaborated with a wide spectrum of world music artists, and through his work with West African, Haitian Vodou and Arabic Music his unique musical voice traces the lineage of American music back to its root sources.

View stills from the last performance (click here!) Or read about it in CT Magazine here!

Tuesday, January 25, 2011

Pineapple: The Other Forbidden Fruit

Now I know why pirates plundered ships in the Caribbean.  The only climate in which you can always hunt for treasure or booty (aren't they the same?) is a tropical one.  My own personal freeze on treasure hunting continues as the Northeast averages 2 storms a week.  Fortunately, several magazines from the 30's and 40's are supplying some dated enjoyment. Take a look at this elaborate one from Dole:
Funny, when I see a native girl in a grass skirt, "Glamorous" is not what comes to mind. I would be more akin to what the husband is likely thinking...Gimmee!   I really like the exaggerated humans sitting on the map for a couple of reasons. First, I think Godzilla would have an inferiority complex and second, I was wondering if the location of the couple wasn't on purpose.  Look, he is somewhere over Southern California, Tijuana and Las Vegas, and she is sitting in frigid Vancouver, B.C. That's just my opinion...I could be wrong.  What do you see in this ad?

Wednesday, January 19, 2011

I Won the Italian Lottery!!!..Wait. What's the Italian Lottery?

No I didn't win the Italian Lottery.  But I do have something to celebrate: This is my 2 year anniversary!  Back in January of 2009, I made a resolution to see what this "blogging thing" was all about, well I now know that it's about 140-odd posts.  Who-da thunk I had so many treasures? I guess I should have put treasures in "quotations," because their value seems as yet unknown. Speaking of potential treasure - I did find this lottery ticket from 1964. (Click on the image to enlarge) Another find in a random box of papers. The question I need answered is...did I win?
I like the layout and especially the racing theme.  I have searched the phrase "Lotteria Di Monza" but all I can find so far is a similar ticket (different image) from the early 1960's.  It might help if I could read just a little italian, more than "Inspector General of the lottery offers a 1st Prize of 150,00,00 Lira!" Along with the "Minister of Finance". I am hoping someone can find a few more tidbits of information on this than I could.  The back has much more to say but I can't speak a word of it.
Well, I'm not quitting my day job, unless this turns out to be a rare find and/or a winner.

Saturday, January 15, 2011

I want my degree...in Gadget-ology

These are the dark days of digging.  There are sales out there, but few and far between some of the largest snow piles I've seen.  Blind spots aplenty! This may be a weekend to reflect on some of the things I have stashed away, waiting for the right time to bring them out. Swear I'm not a hoarder...swear.  I don't always have to find something "old," I, like AVA, sometimes just want to find things with buttons!
Buttons and an LCD read out. This was a New Milford garage sale, which resembled a Lowe/Depot. I mean no offense to my current neighbors, but this was the guy to live next door to when you want to start a project. Every tool from A to Z. I bought "A" (pictured above) Can you guess what it is? There was something from every aisle, neatly hung, or stored, and all for sale.  I have all the tools I need right now, but nothing to compare with this place.  One of the people running the sale actually pointed this out to me before I had said, "um buttons?"  Here is a close up for another hint:
If you didn't already know what it was, this isn't much of a hint.  I found a few other things and managed to negotiate $10 for the lot.  This gadget was new in the box and I could tell it was something more than a cheap tech item from the Lillian Vernon catalog.  O.K. this image will give it away:

Of course! It's an AH-4223! Anyone could have seen that. Actually, it's printed at the top, but the factory saran wrap is still stuck protecting the keypad (No, I can't remove it!). It is called a Mini "pen" Vane Anemometer.  It can quickly measure wind velocity, temperature, and humidity, and it was a steal. Just go here to see that it is $115 without the case (which I got).  But wait! There's more: 
It took even longer to figure out what this was, but I literally bought it because I didn't know what it was, and as I mentioned, was part of the lot that included the anemometer. I discovered that this is a TDS meter for testing water.  By dipping the tip into any water sample a number is displayed in the window, which measures the Total Dissolved Solids.  Want to know if you have "hard" water, or un-potable water (I don't), with this you can.  

This site tells me everything I ever wanted to know about my TDS and how it works.  Well, that's enough schooling for now, I'm off to buy batteries for the TDS and start measuring the world around me. I'll report back later with the current conditions....please don't kill the messenger...Spring is right around the corner. 

Monday, January 10, 2011

Oh Schlitz! We're out of Beer!

Schlitz Beer ad
I love this ad. The boys on Madison avenue must have felt they drew the short straw on this one: "Alright people we've got to get this beer in the hands of the women of distiction! Who can give me a sentence these two fine ladies would say when ordering our client's product?......Anyone?......Anyone?   Aww! Come on! It's easy. Look, I'll go first, Hey Betty, You wanna share a Schlitz with me?  See? I got another: Oh Sue! Who says we can't split a Schlitz?  Now, was that so difficult?" 

Makes it easy to see why they were called Mad Men.  So, in the absence of giving them something to say, they compared the beer quality to high fashion: Flavor in Schlitz is like style in a Worth frock.

Un-frock-ing believable! 

Monday, January 3, 2011

with a name like KOPEEFUN...

This is from 1940. When I first looked at it I thought the father and the son looked very much like a certain 20th century figure. I was going to add some caricatures of the person to show the comparison, but I'll let you decide...that odd comb-over combined with the shadow under dad's nose and voila! Instant salient attack on the most prolific dictator of the 20th century.  Not a bad statement for a small toy company in New Jersey. This game/activity was another find in a mass pile of magazines I picked up a while back. The kit contains paper, rubbing stick, and a series of facial outlines and clip art to create your own cartoons.  The back of the kit is just as "fun:"

"Fun for everyone from 5 to 55" that is. If you happen to be over 55, well, sorry but the party's over I guess.  I hang on to this only because it is nearly complete and I can't get enough of the image and graphics on the front. I didn't have to do a lot of research before I found Susanna Ryan's blog on the west coast, who managed to come across another set and then did all the research I could have done and more! Click here to see that Kopeefun has been around for a while (and may still be).