Saturday: Hili dialogue (and Leon monologue)

August 19, 2017 • 6:30 am

The weekend is here: it’s Saturday, August 19, 2017, and National Soft Serve Ice Cream Day. Fun fact: “An average dairy cow can produce enough milk in her lifetime to make a little over 9,000 gallons of ice cream.” That’s more ice cream than I can eat in my lifetime: even if you ate a half gallon a day, it would take you nearly fifty years. It’s National Aviation Day in the U.S., and here in Chicago we have the annual Air and Water show, a highly touted spectacle that I’ve never seen. The weather in Chicago is predicted to be lovely today, but also partly cloudy on both Sunday and Eclipse Monday, so I’m hoping that I can see the Sun on Monday at about 1:18—the darkest it will get here. Don’t forget to get your ISO-approved eclipse glasses. On the local news yesterday I saw people standing in line for hours to get them, and some pairs were going for nearly a thousand dollars each on eBay (they’re worth about $1). Such is the law of supply and demand.

Not much happened in the world on August 19 compared to other days. In 1692, during the Salem witch trials in Massachusetts, five people—one woman and four men, including a pastor—were hanged after being convicted of witchcraft. During the year of the witch mania in Salem, 20 people (14 of them women) were executed, while five others, including two infants, died in jail. Another black mark for faith.  In 1909, the first race at the Indianapolis motor speedway (race track) took place. Back then it was 250 miles, now, of course, it’s the “Indy 500”. Even at the first race, a driver and his mechanic were killed. On August 19, 1934, a referendum in Germany merged the offices of Chancellor and President since President Hindenburg had died a short time before. The people’s nod went to Adolf Hitler, who became head of state—der Führer. Finally, and I remember this well, though it seems not so long ago, in 2003 a car-bomb attack on United Nations headquarters in Iraq killed, among the 22 dead, the agency’s local head, Sérgio Vieira de Mello, by all accounts a wonderful man and a dedicated worker.

Notables born on this day include John Dryden (1631), Orville Wright (1871), Coco Chanel (1883), Ogden Nash (1902), Malcolm Forbes (1919), Gene Roddenberry (1921), Ginger Baker (1939), and Bill “Bubba” Clinton (1946). Those who died on this day include Blaise Pascal (1662), George Gamow (1968), Groucho Marx (1977), Linus Pauling (1994).

I’m amazed that Baker, rated by many as the world’s best rock drummer, is still alive, just as I’m amazed that Keith Richards is still alive. Here’s Baker, along with his Cream bandmates Jack Bruce and Eric Clapton, doing what is perhaps their most famous song, though my personal favorite, by far, is “Badge“:

Oh, hell, I want to put up “Badge, too”: here it is from the band’s 2005 reunion at Royal Albert Hall. What a great song: I love the driving bass intro, though here the guitar break is different from (and perhaps not as compelling as) the one on the original release, but Clapton still shows his chops. The song was written by Clapton and George Harrison. A note from Wikipedia: as Harrison recounts, “when the song was being written, Ringo [Starr] walked in drunk and gave us that line about the swans living in the park.”

Meanwhile in Dobrzyn, Hili show some rare (but superficial) concern for her staff:
Hili: There is a horrible amount of mosquitos here.
Cyrus: But they are not biting you.
Hili: That’s true but it’s a pity about humans.
In Polish:
Hili: Strasznie dużo komarów.
Cyrus: Przecież ciebie nie gryzą.
Hili: To prawda, ale ludzi żal.

And Leon, still on a hiking vacation in Southern Poland, is kvetching, as all cats constantly do.

Leon: Swings are cool but I would prefer a hammock.

Here’s relaxed red squirrel photographed by reader Taskin, half of Gus’s staff. 

A tw**t sent by reader Barry. What is the disturbed moggie trying to say?

https://twitter.com/Lifewithacat/status/898555470482243586

And one found by Grania:

32 thoughts on “Saturday: Hili dialogue (and Leon monologue)”

  1. I think I was about 12 when I first heard White Room. I felt like that guy in the old Memorex ad.

    Baker plays with Bill Frisell and Charley Haden as the Ginger Baker Trio- my favorite album is the first one…. named …. Going Back Home….

    If you liked Pressed Rat and Warthog, try East Timor on that one^^^

  2. To borrow from Mark Twain in the bluejay yarn: “You think a cat can swear. Well a cat can…”

  3. I love “Badge” also but I don’t like this 2005 version. For me the best part is the guitar arpeggio that follows the pause after the second verse. The timing on the original version is crucial to the momentum of the song (and I always had difficulty coming in at the right time when I played it.)
    On ths 2005 version they don’t even attempt to get that right they just have an extremely long pause and Clapton starts the arpeggio at a seemingly random time interval.
    Sucks the life out of the song.

    2. My personal favorite is tales of brave ulysses. Imho the best drumming on any rock song and jack bruce’s singing is simply mesmerizing.

    1. @infiniteimprobabilit

      GB’s drumming added a dynamism to that studio album they did with him, but as usual with Ginger things didn’t go well! The most grumpy, faithless, self-serving & disloyal person imaginable – plus a great one for revising history upon the retelling.

      Very sniffy & superior about musicians/bands that aren’t in his jazz mode. When he got sacked he went off to Italy using the Hawkwind name to garner freebies… Here’s a notable GB interview where one sees nearly all the Baker negatives on display – very funny too.
      https://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/q-a-ginger-baker-on-why-the-rolling-stones-are-not-good-musicians-20131011

      in the early 70s Hawkwind recruited a 6’2″ in stockined feet [Lemmy claimed], 50″ bust, Irish stage dancer named Stacia. A remarkable addition to their set! She’s back in Ireland these days as a painter I think. Won awards & such, but I don’t know what sort of painting. On her body maybe? 🙂

      Images here:
      http://www.gettyimages.co.uk/photos/stacia-hawkwind

        1. Stacia deserves a place in that Wiki Hawkwind timeline. Not at all alarming – she’s grounded, left-leaning, ‘occupy’ gal – considers medical care for profit a heinous crime. In her 60s now & supports a few local new bands by gracing them with her presence [turning up at gigs, not the dance thing any more]

          A fairy recent vid of her here:

          1. Hmmm, interesting. And maybe ‘imposing’ might be a better term 😉

            cr

          2. And I’d forgotten – everyone was so much more liberated back in the 70’s. 😎

            cr

  9. “if you ate a half gallon a day, it would take you nearly fifty years”

    At last – a reason to live!

  10. If you ate a half gallon of ice cream a day living to 50 would be a major achievement requiring very good genes!

    My wife says the talking cat sounds like it is yodeling.

    1. One of my friends’ fathers ate about a half gallon of Breyer’s vanilla ice cream (the whole big carton, which then was a half gallon instead of 1.5 quarts), and he lived till about 90–and his last request for food was some Breyer’s vanilla.

  11. Ginger Baker has the rep as one of the most difficult people in all rockdom (which is really sayin’ something, I suppose). Clapton often had to get between the two to keep Bruce from braining Baker with his bass.

    Rumor has it, shortly before he shuffled off this mortal coil, when Bruce was calling friends and band-mates to say goodbye, he put in a call to Baker just to bid him a final “fuck you.”

  13. Ginger Baker played Tampere, Finland two years ago. The band was great (Pee Wee Ellis, Alec Dankworth and Abass Dodoo), but the leader was only able to perform in 15 minute stretches due to his heart problems.

  15. That first video of Cream was recorded by the French F2 TV network, in a closed session [no audience] at the Revolution club, London in Nov. ’67

    Very good roaming camerawork – very 60s
    Set: Tales Of Brave Ulysses, Sunshine Of Your Love & Spoonful.

    A couple of pleasing historical nuggets from the era…

    Here’s a couple of videos at the same venue – Revolution, but for the Quorom fashion shows [Ossie Clark & Alice Pollock] which were fab & groovy & very “in” at the time – the Beatles for example. Commentary is priceless with women called “birds” & prices are in Guineas, which is a very old, very weird convention that’s died out now. One Guinea is 21 shillings where 20 shillings equals one Great British Pound. Thus 25 Guineas = £26.25 = $74 approx [$3 to the pound back then]

    [1] Richard Burton & Liz Taylor [dunno the location. Paris?] then the film switches to the Revolution – George Harrison, Patti Boyd, John Lennon.
    [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B6mE7_3XOUI]

    [2] John Lennon looking very smart with Yoko Ono + Cathy McGowan [Hip Brit TV presenter of Ready Steady Go! & important Mod icon]
    [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QVw5kcs6eEQ]

    I’m hoping I’ve made it so vids don’t embed

  16. Harrison and Clapton shared the same first wife, Patti Boyd. She married Clapton 6 years after breaking up with Harrison. I remember being amazed at how laid back GH was about it. Something along the lines of she’s better off with EC than some jerk.

    In 2007 she published her autobiography “Wonderful Tonight: George Harrison, Eric Clapton, and Me” and her terrific photos of both George and Eric can be seen at the San Francisco Art Exchange (same place I posted about that has the actual and rejected Abbey Road front cover photo.)

  17. I lost interest in Clapton after he found religion. I found his music insipid after that.

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