Bruce Lee plays table tennis with nunchuks. Some fine digitizing done in the name of commerce. Looking forward to the Errol Flynn sword sequel.

A not-so peaceful transfer of power.

Caution: Not all of these Star Wars parodies are as sweet.

Comedian as government pitchman, 1933, earlier than most appearances he’s still remembered for.

Never really thought he was that funny.

(Extra bonus points: Spot the pre-Stooge Mo Howard. )

UPDATE: Turned off the autoplay on the video. Sorry. Very much dislike websites that force video on you.
 

A late entry today, very late. Consider it our “Midnight Follies,” rushed through at the last minute as favor to big business John Peel’s fans.

It’s the 30th anniversary of the great, great punk-era song, Teenage Kicks by the Undertones.

Which isn’t really that funny or follies-related. But the version by the Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain is.

Ah, you think, how middle aged self-indulgent. And the Buzzcocks had more staying power.

But there’s an intellectual property rights angle, of great interest to manufacturers. Feargal Sharkey, the singer who defined the Undertones sound, is now a music executive in the U.K. And he’s in the news.

Former Undertones frontman Feargal Sharkey will launch a new organisation later today  (October 27th) aimed safeguarding the future of the music industry.The UK Music body will call on the government to address the problem of illegal file sharing, as well as extend the copyright term afforded to artists, which is currently limited to fifty years.

The organisation represents a wide range of music bodies, including, BPI, the British Academy of Composers and Songwriters, and the Music Managers Forum.

“The thing we all realised is that we all agree with each other 95% of the time. It’s looking at where the industry is going to be three, four or five years from now,” Sharkey told the Guardian newspaper.

Wanna hold ya, wanna hold ya, wanna hold ya tight, get teenage-kicks and property rights! All right!

P.S. Wow. Everybody covers Teenage Kicks. A copyright violation?

Stay alert for elevated squirrel activity!
Extreme Weather Alert: Meteorologists Predict Intensely Brisk Autumn

Yankees Building New Vacation Stadium In The Hamptons

Some of the best satire on the web, coming from The Onion. If only the kids didn’t work blue so much.

We missed this existensial dilemma earlier in the NFL Season.  Camus goes deep…
Pre-Game Coin Toss Makes Jacksonville Jaguars Realize Randomness Of Life

 
“Honestly, shows like ‘Medium,’ they tend to foster a lot of misconceptions. The day-to-day work of being a conduit between law enforcement agencies and the supernatural world is a lot less glamorous than what most people think. It’s mostly a lot of paperwork.”

Tropical storm Hanna is due in the D.C. area tomorrow, bringing wind, rain and exaggerated news reports. A few pre-storm observations:

• People are definitely stocking up. Went into the CVS, and the shelves had been completely emptied of Bombast, Self-Importance and Feigned Sincerity. At least there was some Spin left.
• The single best German word is the verb for “to hoarde”: Hamsterkaufen, to buy like a hamster (evoking the cheek pouches). First heard it in connection with the East Germans jerking around free movement in Berlin. Better a tropical storm. 
• South Carolina will feel some of Hanna’s pique (that’s one level below a hurricane’s “wrath”). Did you know the South Carolina Commissioner of Agriculture’s name is Hugh Weathers? 
• Apparently to save electricity in case of power outages, the D.C. Metro will turn off most of the system’s escalators. But how will we tell the difference?
• In the Hobbesian state of nature into which Chevy Chase will descend, years of self-defense lessons will finally pay off. The Brazilian martial arts system of “Copacabana” was until just recently very popular around here, until this fight appeared on YouTube. So that’s who bought up all the Self-Importance.
• Finally, an unrelated happy 79th birthday to Bob Newhart. He’s playing the Warner Theater just down the street from NAM HQ tonight. Class act.

UPDATE (11:30 a.m.): The latest report from the Virginia Pilot. 65 mph winds? That’s just a weekend blow on the Oregon coast.

Not a ha-ha Friday Follies, but still amusing to at least one Garry Moore fan…

“I’ve Got a Secret,” now that was a show, back when celebrities were familiar with fine arts, popular arts and even the avant garde.

John Cale — Mr. X on the right — went on to play viola  with the ’60s demimondic Velvet Underground (ridiculous Andy Warhol “Factory” staging here) and then ventured into more traditional piano and orchestral performances. More on the 1963 TV performance here.

For more manufacturing-related “I’ve Got a Secret” clips, here’s Philo T. Farnsworth, inventor of the TV, and computer/keyboard inventor Ray Kurzweil. Henry Morgan gets Kurzweil’s secret right away.