It’s Ken Russell’s birthday, and what better way to celebrate the genius of British film, than to share one of his classic biopics. From 1968, here is Delius: Song of Summer, the story of a young amanuensis, Eric Fenby, and his relationship with the monstrous, blind, womanizing and syphilitic composer, Delius. Perfect material for a Russell film, but here Unkle Ken shows his mastery as an artist by creating a subtle, moving and highly effective tale of the relationship between composer and his assistant. The film was co-written by Russell and Fenby, and based on Fenby’s memoir, Delius As I Knew Him. It contains excellent central performances from former ballet dancer, Christopher Gable, and the great Northern Irish actor and founding member of the Royal Shakespeare Company, Max Adrian. Song of Summer also shows why Ken Russell was such a brilliant director, and why he is still sadly missed.

Happy Birthday Unkle Ken!
 

The TARDIS

I love this. Artist Judith Mascolo makes these wonderful one-of-kind glass pieces of pretty much anything you wanna nerd-out to like Dungeons and Dragons, Doctor Who’s trusty TARDIS, Futurama , superhero logos and much more.

Mascolo takes custom orders, too. I wonder if she’d make a stained glass Troy and Abed for me? Now that would be somethin’!

See more of her work at Nerd Glass. 
 

D&D
 

Wonder Woman logo
 
More after the jump…

 
It’s Canada Day, when all good Canadians celebrate the birth of their country.

Today marks the anniversary of the unification of three colonies under the name Canada, which came together through the enactment of the British North America Act, on July 1, 1867.

Canada now consists of 10 provinces and 3 territories, and is sometimes overlooked when compared to its noisy neighbor. However, Canada has a fine political system, a publicly funded health care system, was the first country in the Americas to legalize same-sex marriage, and has a wealth of incredible cultural talent, from David Cronenberg and Atom Egoyan, to Margaret Atwood and Robertson Davies.

Of course, Canada also has the iconic and irrepressible William Shatner. And here is Mr Shatner giving his version of the national anthem “O, Canada”.
 

 
Via Open Culture
 

 
What a long strange it’s been for Space Ghost - from Blip the monkey to the high priest of psychedelia, Timothy Leary.

Space Ghost: Now Timothy, tell me, what’s your secret identity?

Timothy Leary: I’m an outlaw, I’m a, a counter-culture person, and that’s where I like to be, out there on the, on the front lines, uh, with my friends.

Space Ghost: What sort of super-powers do you possess?

Timothy Leary: Oh, we flood your eyeballs, over, overload your, uh, your earballs, I give you patterns and swirls of color, and, uh, makin’ you feel better and better, yeah, the power of using light to, uh, to enhance consciousness and alter consciousness is the tricks I’m using now, and, so far, they’re legal, Space Ghost.

Space Ghost: Now, Tim, people depend on me to defend their planets and save millions of innocent lives from impending doom. What do you feel people expect from you?

Timothy Leary: Uh, Richard Nixon called me—I’m proud of this, Space Ghost—he called me the most dangerous man alive, and of course, I tried to be as dangerous to him as I could be. Outsiders, uh, like me a lot because I’ve given the man fits, so I’ve got a lot of friends out there.”

This appeared on TV as the third episode of Space Ghost Coast To Coast, but it was actually the first show of the series to be produced.

Oh yeah, Judy Tenuta (ugh) and Ashley Judd also appear.
 

 
The Who and Schlitz hooked up to sponsor the band’s 1982 tour.

The Who “Schlitz Rocks America” tour was comprised of 40 dates and cost Schlitz approximately two million dollars to promote.

Should have been Heinz Baked Beans.
 

 
Musician, cheeky-chappie, and renowned Boogie-Woogie pianist, Jools Holland takes a personal tour through the theaters, music halls and performance venues, at the heart of London’s diverse musical history.

Unlike Chicago blues or Memphis soul, London has no one definitive sound. Its noisy history is full of grime, clamour, industry and countless different voices demanding to be heard. But there is a strain of street-wise realism that is forever present, from its world-famous nursery rhymes to its music hall traditions, and from the Broadside Ballad through to punk and beyond.

Jools’s investigation - at once probing and humorous - identifies the many ingredients of a salty tone that could be called ‘the London sound’ as he tracks through the centuries from the ballads of Tyburn Gallows to Broadside publishing in Seven Dials in the 18th century, to Wilton’s Music Hall in the late 19th century, to the Caribbean sounds and styles that first docked at Tilbury with the Windrush in 1948, to his own conception to the strains of Humphrey Lyttelton at the 100 Club in 1957.

On the way, Jools meets Ray Davies, Damon Albarn, Suggs from Madness, Roy Hudd, Lisa Hannigan, Joe Brown and Eliza Carthy who perform and talk about such classic songs as “London Bridge is Falling Down”, “While London Sleeps”, “Knocked ‘Em in the Old Kent Road”, “St James Infirmary Blues” and “Oranges and Lemons”.
 

 
Bob Dylan was and is one of rock n’ roll’s great punk rockers. From being howled at for going electric at Newport to being called “Judas” for turning it up to 11 with The Hawks at Manchester’s Free Trade Hall, Dylan hasn’t really given a rat’s ass about what people think. And that continues to be true right up to the present as Dylan re-sculpts his songs into all kinds of weird and fascinating new shapes. A Dylan concert is never without a shitload of surprises, often brilliant and just as often frustrating.

In this clip from a March 1984 episode of the Letterman show, Dylan, backed by L.A. Chicano punkers the Plugz,  gives his tune “Jokerman” a primitive power pop punch that signaled Dylan’s return to the secular world of rock n’ roll. Again, reborn. But this time Jesus ain’t driving the tour bus.
 

 
More Dylan with the Plugz after the jump…

 
More at Noise Park

HT Exile on Moan Street

 
Seth MacFarlane, creator of “Family Guy,” has donated funds to the Library of Congress so it can acquire the personal papers of astronomer Carl Sagan, library officials announced today. Via Art Beat:

Mr. MacFarlane never owned Sagan’s papers, but he covered the undisclosed costs of donating them to the library. The papers filled more than 800 filing-cabinet drawers and include correspondence with other scientists, drafts of Mr. Sagan’s academic articles, as well as screenplay drafts for the movie “Contact,” which was based on Mr. Sagan’s novel. His grade-school report cards and a drawing he made as a child about the future of space exploration were also included. “All I did was write a check, but it’s something that was, to me, worth every penny,” MacFarlane told The Associated Press by phone from Los Angeles. “He’s a man whose life’s work should be accessible to everybody.”

Mr. MacFarlane said he watched “Cosmos” as a child and read all of Mr. Sagan’s books. “He was an enormous and profound influence in my life,” Mr. MacFarlane said. “He played an essential role — some would say the only role at the time — in bridging the gap between the academic community and the general public.”

MacFarlane is forgetting about Jonathan Miller and Joseph Campbell, but point taken.

Mr. MacFarlane met Mr. Sagan’s widow and collaborator, Ann Druyan, at an event a few years ago that brought together Hollywood screenwriters and directors with scientists. They agreed to collaborate on a follow-up to “Cosmos,” with Mr. MacFarlane serving as producer. Astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson will host the series, which is scheduled to begin production this fall.

Neil deGrasse Tyson taking up Carl Sagan’s mantle for a reboot of Cosmos produced by Seth MacFarlane? I’d watch that.

Someone alert reddit!

Speaking of Seth MacFarlane, his feature film debut, Ted, comes out later this week.

Below, an “edited for rednecks” version of Carl Sagan’s classic Cosmos TV miniseries from Family Guy.
 

 
The origins of indie rock are rooted in a game whose name when translated means “Do you remember?”

Bob Mould would have been a toddler around the time this commercial aired on TV.