This is happening

Unbelievable video I stumbled across on YouTube - “Origins of the Moonwalk”

Rarely can I recall the inception/process which takes place in order for me to make a post, so I’ll go through the chain of events so I can share some of the other cool things I discovered along my path to (moonwalk) enlightenment.

About 30 minutes prior to the authoring of this post, I stumbled across this video for Cab Calloway’s “St. James Infirmary Blues” on The Daily What. Being vaguely familiar with that song, I decided it would be interesting to see this cartoon depiction of it being performed by Cab Calloway (I had only heard it performed by others until that point). After hitting play, my jaw was nailed to the floor as I watched a haunting video of epic awesomeness. I needed more.

I then proceeded to Google Cab Calloway while simultaneously searching YouTube for more video clips of this incredible musician I had not known until now. What I found on YouTube did not disappoint, and delivered much ass-kicking.

Here are some gems:

Cab Calloway performing St. James Infirmary Blues (link) I wish I could embed this video in the post, but watching this performance really sold me on Mr. Calloway (DO YOURSELF A FAVOR AND WATCH IT). His passion for performing and the level of his talent is very evident, and it cannot be described as anything less than phenomenal; truly soulful.

Cab Calloway performing his biggest (most recognizable to me anyways) hit, Minnie the Moocher:

This video was my first real glimpse at the dancing side of Cab’s skill set (more on this later). This guy is truly a musician in every sense of the word.

Cab Calloway performing Reefer Man:

I really like this one, too. The way Cab’s hair is flopping on his head makes me feel like he’s a person who’s given himself completely to the music, and he cannot control himself while singing/dancing. Amazeballs. To quote the guy at the end of that video: “It’s wonderful”. LOL.

After watching these crazy cool videos, I switched tabs over to his Wikipedia entry, and this quote prompted me to perform my next search on YouTube: “In these films, Calloway can be seen performing a gliding backstep dance move, the precursor to Michael Jackson’s “moonwalk”. It was when I searched for “Cab Calloway Moonwalk”, that I found the awesome “Origins of the Moonwalk” video.

Phew.

Anyhow, I’m really happy that I learned about Cab Calloway today. I truly appreciate the man’s talents and passion, and am glad I found a new performer to add to my “jazz” playlist.

They just don’t make them like they used to, do they?

“
I’ve heard a mountain of disdain for people who shop at Walmart, and buckets of contempt for poor people who breed in this world of over-consumption. All the pressure to change the way we live so as to tread more gently on the earth seems to comes down squarely on the backs of the poor, the brown, and the female. But the truth is, the real things we need to change the system have little to do with the average family’s commitment to “reduce, reuse, recycle”.

You can’t look at a tiny slice of the system, the slice of the system with the least ability to change the system, and pin all the responsibility on that slice. You have to look at the system as a whole.

For example, rage all you want about the Walmartification of the world, but are you screaming just as loud about the depressed wages that make Walmart’s cheap goods the only way to feed and clothe a family with less than the median income? You gan grouse all you want about obesity and poor eating habits, are you also looking at the way those same low wages that make Walmart attractive also make a virtuous diet of locally sourced organic meats and produce a possibility? When whining about overpopulation do you stop and think that those brown women in poor countries who “just need to be taught about family planning” are leaving a miniscule carbon footprint compared to your comfortable first world life?
”

Elizabitchez: the classism, sexism and racism of (some) environmentalism (via ihatethismess (via kissestokashmir)

Yeesh. I am very guilty of this, but now I know.

Via
lemdi

truth.

TAKE IT LIKE A MAN!

Half-way related story:

Whenever getting shots at the doctor becomes a topic of conversation (more often than you’d think!) my mother never fails to mention the one time I flipped out at the doctor’s office as a 4 year old. Apparently I hulked out and was kicking and flailing so wildly that my mom and 3 nurses had to hold down each one of my limbs so the doctor could give me a shot.

Definitely don’t remember that happening, but apparently I was less like the kid in the picture above, and more like this:

The surest sign of the apocalypse I’ve ever seen.

lemdi:

venetian-blinded-rage:

davidchoi:

The original quote for this picture was “never give up on your dreams”, but I think that’s being a little… naive.

No matter how long this little hippo offers up its blood, sweat and tears on that GD treadmill, it will never become a unicorn. But, it can be a svelter, healthier hippo, and that’s good enough for me (and hopefully for the hippo, too).

(via Reddit)

The commentary made me smile. :)

…it’s a rhinoceros.

ULTIMATE FACEPALM

Via
lemdi

The original quote for this picture was “never give up on your dreams”, but I think that’s being a little… naive.

No matter how long this little hippo offers up its blood, sweat and tears on that GD treadmill, it will never become a unicorn. But, it can be a svelter, healthier hippo, and that’s good enough for me (and hopefully for the hippo, too).

(via Reddit)