Motley Moose – Archive

I post a weekly diary of historical notes, arts & science items, foreign news (often receiving little notice in the US) and whimsical pieces from the outside world that I often feature in “Cheers & Jeers”.

OK, you’ve been warned – here is this week’s tomfoolery material that I posted.

ART NOTES – the exhibit Standing Tall: Lighthouses in Cape and Islands Art is at the Cape Cod Museum of Art in Dennis, Massachusetts through September 8th.

CHEERS to finally being back on-line after moving last weekend. It wasn’t that far (75 minutes south to Keene, New Hampshire) but I still have some boxes stacked in my living room (and this was detailed in my Top Comments diary this past Thursday). Output will return to normal soon.

HAIL and FAREWELL to the broadcasting legend Sir David Frost who has died at the age of 74. As the British prime minister David Cameron said, Frost was “both a friend and a fearsome interviewer” …. no easy feat to achieve, believe-you-me.

And I’m old enough to recall his David Frost Show – which ran from 1969-1972, a truly transformative period in US history – which introduced him to North American audiences and (I have to think) helped him land the Nixon interviews. RIP to a TV legend.

FRIDAY’s CHILD is Homer the Cat – abandoned as a kitten and losing both of his eyes to an infection, but whose story inspired a New York Times best-selling book – who was euthanized after fighting illness for a year at the age of sixteen.

   

LEST YOU THINK that Sears, Roebuck only sells clothing and household goods …. its CEO has added a line of sex toys and lingerie (although available only on-line).

FORTY YEARS AGO – a then-eighteen year old pitcher David Clyde made his major league debut … which may possibly have saved the Texas Rangers baseball franchise, yet which sacrificed his own career in the process.

BRAIN TEASER – try this Quiz of the Week’s News from the BBC.

HAIL and FAREWELL to the Irish poet Seamus Heaney who has died at the age of 74. The winner of the 1995 Nobel Prize for Literature, he also received critical acclaim four years later for his modern translation of the Old English work Beowulf – no doubt, by critics who had to slog through difficult readings in their youth.

SEPARATED at BIRTH – film stars Scarlett Johansson and Amber Heard (“Drive Angry”, “The Rum Diary”).

   

…… and finally, for a song of the week ………………………… once again, not enough time for a full profile … so I’ll close with one of my favorite songs from the past.

Written by Roger McGuinn and Chris Hillman of The Byrds in 1966, So You Want To Be A Rock ‘N’ Roll Star was their take on the pop music business of the day (in general) and studio-created bands (such as The Monkees) in particular. With a trumpet solo by the South African musician Hugh Masakela the short song matches its sardonic lyrics with some of Roger McGuinn’s twangy guitar licks.  

The song has had a notable variety of cover versions: some of the most famous ones include Tom Petty, Patti Smith, Black Oak Arkansas, Bon Jovi as well as Eddie Vedder of Pearl Jam. But instead, I will feature the earliest known cover version of the tune (dating back to 1968).

This was by a noted British band (which featured Jeff Lynne, who morphed it into the Electric Light Orchestra later in the 70’s). But at the time, they were known simply (and appropriately for my Top Comments diary) as … The Move …….