He is one of my favourite artists, and first performed in the 1920s. But his career only really took off in the 1940s, and in 1949, his partnership with singer Keely Smith, later to become his second wife, gave him a popularity that would eventually take him to Vegas.

For most people, he’ll probably be remembered mostly for “Sing, Sing, Sing”, which he wrote, but its popularity would be mostly credited to Benny Goodman’s classic version of the track. However, he did have his own legacy, providing the voice for King Louis in Disney’s Jungle Book and singing “I Wanna Be Like You”, one of the more memorable tracks in the film. Some videos for you to enjoy are below.

For now, I’ll save some more of my favourites from Louis for another time.

In the meantime, a very happy 100th birthday to Louis Prima, and hope he’s laughing and smiling looking down on us in his unique style!

Best that the ONS takes some advice to improve the results:

• Make sure not to ask questions to the following people:
  • students;
  • public sector workers;
  • Gordon Brown;
  • bankers;
  • anyone else the coalition has unfortunately upset recently;
  • Gillian McKeith…
• Give the £2m out first to your interviewees, then ask them if they’re happy.
• Alternatively, happiness is a cigar called “H******”, so spend your £2m on these first, give them out and ask your questions.

Mind you, a cheaper way of doing a Happiness Index is to ask everyone if they’re happy and know it and watch them clap their hands.

Those were jokes by the way, in case some hadn’t realised (cf. the Twitter joke trial). Mind you, not sure if any of them increased your happiness after reading them.

It’s almost a year since I last wrote on here and if I were to leave this page too long, it wouldn’t be achieving its purpose, so I’ll try to write a few tidbits once in a while. Meanwhile, I have longer term plans for a feature to this site, but it will take me a while to get there.

In the meantime, here are a few thoughts for you:

1. The Nobel Prizes were awarded this month and while some of the prizes (such as the Prize for Chemistry) were very much worthwhile, I can’t help but think that the Peace Prize is much of a joke. To award prizes to Barack Obama in 2009 and Liu Xiaobo , a civil rights campaigner in China, in 2010 doesn’t seem right. Not to belittle their achievements so far, but neither has actually brought about change as yet, and there are plenty of others who have achieved much more but have not been recognised. I can’t help but feel that the Nobel panel is trying to send a political message about its vision of change, and less about rewarding those who have created good for the wider public. Shame really…
2. Meanwhile, the IgNobel prizes were a little more interesting. Held every year as a humorous award ceremony for research that “makes us laugh and then think”, there were the usual crop of amusing wins. Since the prizes are awarded by real Nobel laureates, so the prizes are coveted by some as much as a real Nobel prize. For full details of the ceremony, see here. And then you can find out, amongst other things, that it’s been scientifically proven that bats also perform fellatio.
3. Finally, I’m sad to hear of the passing of Benoit Mandelbrot. Many of us of my age will remember his fractals being adorned on almost every maths teachers’ classrooms, next to the Eschers and the 3D stereograms. But the art of his most famous fractal was only one side of his influence. His work had more serious impact in the world of digital compression, which is the base of most of the digital imagery and information that is transmitted in our technological world today. Thank you Benoit.

Now the benefits of anti-bacteral gels have been touted for quite some time, given the spread of the H1N1 virus. But what we didn’t know is that they apparently are a good ingredient in cocktails.

The BBC reports of a prison who have banned the alcoholic gels following the discovery of an intoxicated inmate. Supposedly a hospital has had the same problem of people drinking the gels.

Clearly some people really will do anything for a drink, but this isn’t recommended.

Full article here.

Pixar has had some of that to contend with, as its head man, a certain Steve Jobs, who is also CEO of Apple, has recently revealed that he had a liver transplant after suffering from pancreatic cancer.

And so, it’s nice to see that Pixar is also able to touch other peoples’ lives in their own special way, as OCregister.com reports.

Colby Curtin, a 10-year-old with a rare form of cancer, was staying alive for one thing – a movie.

From the minute Colby saw the previews to the Disney-Pixar movie Up, she was desperate to see it. Colby had been diagnosed with vascular cancer about three years ago, said her mother, Lisa Curtin, and at the beginning of this month it became apparent that she would die soon and was too ill to be moved to a theater to see the film.

After a family friend made frantic calls to Pixar to help grant Colby her dying wish, Pixar came to the rescue.

Full report: http://www.ocregister.com/articles/pixar-up-movie-2468059-home-show

BTW, given that half of my iTunes playlist is full of Cantopop and Mandopop songs that would take me ages to translate, I limited it to my huge collection of swing tracks. Which incidentally, makes it all the more funny anyway!

1. Put your iTunes on shuffle.
2. For each question, press the next button to get your answer.
3. YOU MUST WRITE THAT SONG NAME DOWN NO MATTER HOW SILLY IT SOUNDS!
4. Tag friends who might enjoy doing this as well as the person you got the note from.

===

IF SOMEONE SAYS “IS THIS OKAY” YOU SAY?
Fool Am I

WHAT WOULD BEST DESCRIBE YOUR PERSONALITY?
Drop Me Off At Harlem

WHAT DO YOU LIKE IN A GUY/GIRL?
All The Cats Join In

HOW DO YOU FEEL TODAY?
Swingtime In The Rockies

WHAT IS YOUR LIFE’S PURPOSE?
Cadillac Baby

WHAT IS YOUR MOTTO?
Night & Day

WHAT DO YOUR FRIENDS THINK OF YOU?
Lover Come Back To Me

WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT VERY OFTEN?
Swingin”The Blues

WHAT IS 2+2?
Salty Papa Blues

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR BEST FRIEND?
Old Devil Moon

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THE PERSON YOU LIKE?
Max Is Making Wax

WHAT IS YOUR LIFE STORY?
And Her Tears Flowed Like Wine

WHAT DO YOU WANT TO BE WHEN YOU GROW UP?
Hey, Boy! Hey, Girl!

WHAT DO YOU THINK WHEN YOU SEE THE PERSON YOU LIKE?
Black Bottom

WHAT DO YOUR PARENTS THINK OF YOU?
Blue Light Blues

WHAT WILL YOU DANCE TO AT YOUR WEDDING?
Christopher Columbus

WHAT WILL THEY PLAY AT YOUR FUNERAL?
Easy To Love

WHAT IS YOUR HOBBY/INTEREST?
Mop! Mop!

WHAT IS YOUR BIGGEST SECRET?
Ten Cents A Dance

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR FRIENDS?
Somebody Loves Me

WHAT’S THE WORST THING THAT COULD HAPPEN?
Bei Mir Bist Du Schön

HOW WILL YOU DIE?
Ribs And Hot Sauce

WHAT IS THE ONE THING YOU REGRET?
Cotton Tail (Shuckin’ and Stiffin’)

WHAT MAKES YOU LAUGH?
Grand Terrace Shuffle

WHAT MAKES YOU CRY?
Potato Head Blues

WILL YOU EVER GET MARRIED?
Oh Lady Be Good

WHAT SCARES YOU THE MOST?
Candyman

DOES ANYONE LIKE YOU?
Manhattan

IF YOU COULD GO BACK IN TIME, WHAT WOULD YOU CHANGE?
Once Too Often

WHAT HURTS RIGHT NOW?
Goody Goody

WHAT WILL YOU POST THIS AS?
Banana Split For My Baby

My deepest apologies. Yes it’s been a while since my last post and that’s simply down to the fact that I’ve been extraordinarily busy. Not just all the swing dance that’s been going on, but also juggling work, play, and a budding relationship too (no, I won’t go into that!).

But in an effort to get this blog moving again, I’ll post up an addition to The Odd Spot, which showcases a few odd things I’ve seen around.

This entry features Andy Saunders, a mechanic from Poole in Dorset, UK, who has converted a Suzuki Wagon into a "mini-Hummer".

It’s supposed to look like a miniature version of the giant American gs guzzler. But I can’t help but notice, It doesn’t really, does it?

(Photo courtesy Ananova)

In any case, Mr Saunders is quoted as saying that he’d like to get £15,000 for it at auction. If you’re thinking of buying it, all I can say is, it’s still a Suzuki Wagon underneath!

Full details from Ananova and BBC News.

They say Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo.

No, I’m not going mad about buffalos (although their steaks are nice, and Buffalo wings – which are made out of chickens, not buffalo, and are a specialty of Buffalo, NY – are also very nice).

In fact, "Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo" is actually a grammatically correct sentence, an interesting fact that I stumbled upon on Wikipedia.

Stemming from three definitions of "buffalo" – one being an animal, one meaning to bully, and the third being the place – what it stands for is "[Those] buffalo(es) from Buffalo [that are intimidated by] buffalo(es) from Buffalo intimidate buffalo(es) from Buffalo."

So it all makes sense then? Good. I’m off to buffalo some Buffalo buffaloes (although they don’t actually exist).

For more details of this monotonic phrase, see here.

The BBC reports that the US has decided to bring its own food to the Olympics, thereby turning down the biggest Chinese Takeaway in Beijing for a very long time.

Understandable in many ways, an athlete has to be confident that s/he is getting all the right nutrients. After all, that’s what all those dieticians and nutitionists are being paid for in a team.

Mind you, I love the question from the journalist who this of the senior official, Kang Yi, at the Chinese press conference:

Ms Kang and her colleagues were asked about the allegation that chickens on sale here are so full of hormones that athletes would test positive for steroids if they were to eat them.

There is no scientific evidence for this, insisted Lu Yong, who runs Beijing’s municipal food safety monitoring centre.

(Courtesy BBC News)

Touché. Only a Chinese journalist could have so much cheek.

More details can be seen here.

Link:

BBC NEWS: US to take own food to Olympics

Ah, we hear about all the rivalry and competitiveness between different colleges and universities. But credit to Yale in 2005 for their inventiveness, as Wikipedia’s entry reports.

Michael Kai and David Aulicino, two Yale students from the Class of 2005, created and coordinated the plan. Disguised as the "Harvard Pep Squad," they and twenty classmates handed white and crimson placards to fans – mostly Harvard alumni, with a few faculty, students, and others – in the central area of the Harvard side of the stadium. The group told the crowd that by lifting the placards they would spell "GO HARVARD." The placards were actually arranged to spell "WE SUCK."

 

[Read more]

I’d go round to the nearby football club down the road to pull that stunt, but sadly, I doubt there’d be enough spectators.