Swing Me, Gate!

Since the weekly Red Hot Lindy Hop session is taking a break tonight, here is a glimpse of how they did it the first time around. From the American Memory collection "America from the Great Depression to World War II," Jitterbuggers at the Elks Club in Washington, D.C. in 1943.

Playlist for July 29, 2009

Click HERE for the Swing Shift Shuffle playlist from last night's show.

Classic Comics

In my continuing exploration of the vast information universe that is the Internet Archive, I have only just recently entered the Texts area. Among the unbelievable variety of scanned texts, I found a number of comic books, ranging from "Golden Age" commercial titles including Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen, Red Ryder, Roy Rogers, Tarzan, and Zorro to comic publications by the U.S. Government and religious organizations. The commercial comics include all the advertising for those must have items (like X-Ray glasses). You need to download CDisplay to view them, but it is a quick, easy and free download. They are not all in one designated comic book collection, so just search the Text area for "comic book."

Special Lindy Hop Events

Red Hot Lindy Hop is taking a break from their regular Friday session this week , but they will be back next week, August 7. In the meantime, they have some other events in which you may be interested.

Performance Team Tryouts
August 5th, 7:30-9:00pm
Fieldhouse room 118
All are Welcome!!
Questions: Ask Amanda at RedHotLindyHop dot com

Save the Date.....August 15th, 11am-1pm
Open/Guided Practice hosted by Jaredan
RSVP Jaredan at RedHotLIndyHop dot com to reserve your spot

Variety of Classics on TCM

I noticed a nice variety on Turner Classic Movies later this week. I have not seen Fashions of 1934, but anything with William Powell ("Nick Charles" of the Thin Man movies) is definitely worth a look. Alfred Hitchcock and Scarlett O'Hara also rub shoulders on Thursday with Spellbound and Gone with the Wind. Bogie and Bacall do their thing in Dark Passage on Friday, with Cary Grant and Myrna Loy offering a lighter mood afterwards in Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House.

All Times Central (Daylight Saving Time)

Thursday, July 30
12:00 AM - Fashions Of 1934 (1934) - A con artist and his beautiful assistant take on the fashion world. Cast: William Powell, Bette Davis, Verree Teasdale. Dir: William Dieterle. BW-78 mins, TV-G

5:00 PM - Spellbound (1945) - A psychiatrist tries to help the man she loves solve a murder buried in his subconscious. Cast: Ingrid Bergman, Gregory Peck, Michael Chekhov. Dir: Alfred Hitchcock. BW-111 mins, TV-PG, CC

7:00 PM - Gone With the Wind (1939) - Classic tale of Scarlett O'Hara's battle to save her beloved Tara and find love during the Civil War. Cast: Clark Gable, Vivien Leigh, Olivia de Havilland. Dir: Victor Fleming. C-233 mins, TV-PG, CC, DVS

Friday, July 31
1:00 PM - Dark Passage (1947) - A man falsely accused of his wife's murder escapes to search for the real killer. Cast: Humphrey Bogart, Lauren Bacall, Agnes Moorehead. Dir: Delmer Daves. BW-106 mins, TV-PG, CC, DVS

3:00 PM - Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House (1948) - A New York businessman's dream of a country home is shattered when he buys a tumbledown rural shack. Cast: Cary Grant, Myrna Loy, Melvyn Douglas. Dir: H.C. Potter. BW-94 mins, TV-G, CC, DVS

Another Day in the WPA

Another interesting collection in the Library of Congress American Memory catalog is Posters from the WPA 1936-1943. This collection features 900 posters created by Work Projects Administration artists on a variety of topics ranging from the arts to safety to wartime policies. As many of us return to work today, a safety reminder is just as valid now as it was then.

A Hep Cat and Longhair Mice

Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, and there are definite hints of certain Tom & Jerry (MGM) and Bugs Bunny (Warner Bros.) cartoons in this animated 1949 Paramount Pictures short from the Internet Archive.

More Vintage Designs

From one of my favorite blogs, Make:, here is an item about another website featuring some unusual vintage invention designs, as well as more current ideas. According to Make:, RexResearch is "chock-full of info about wacky inventions that never made it, including a bunch of free-energy quackery and pseudoscience that's still a lot of fun if you take it with a grain of salt." Of particular interest is this collection of innovative boat designs from the 1930s-40s.

Topper and Tarzan on TCM

Two classic movies that generated multiple movie and TV sequels air on Turner Classic Movies Sunday and Monday. Billie Burke (the Good Witch from The Wizard of Oz) is hilarious in Topper as the title character's slightly spacy spouse, while gorgeous Maureen O'Sullivan establishes herself as the ideal Jane in Tarzan, the Ape Man.

Sunday, July 26 - 9:30 AM
Topper (1937) - A fun-loving couple returns from the dead to help a henpecked husband. Cast: Cary Grant, Constance Bennett, Roland Young. Dir: Norman Z. McLeod. BW-97 mins, TV-G, CC

Monday, July 27 - 5:15 PM
Tarzan, The Ape Man (1932) - A British lord raised by apes kidnaps a beautiful noblewoman exploring Africa with her father. Cast: Johnny Weissmuller, Maureen O'Sullivan, C. Aubrey Smith. Dir: W.S. Van Dyke II. BW-100 mins, TV-G, CC, DVS

Blues on the Bluff this Saturday Night!

Without WEVL, there would be no Swing Shift Shuffle, and a great way to support both (not to mention have a great time) is to come on down to the National Ornamental Metal Museum for our 21st Annual Blues on the Bluff®. Check it out!