Monday, March 30, 2009

The 1970s are officially antique and filthy.

Peter Wyngarde, for those of you not familiar with Peter Wyngarde, is most famous for his role as Jason King in a UK television series in the late 60s and early 70s. So you can get a sense of exactly how late 60s early 70s this man was here is photographic proof:

Exactly. Popular culture from the late 60s and early 70s has always been covered in this weird brown haze that is perfectly described as "a patina of antique filth". I'm not sure if it's just the quality of film that was used in those years, or maybe it's the dirt browns, rust oranges, and gall bladder greens that were so fashionable in clothing and interior decorating at the time. Of course, Wyngarde's late 60s kick ass purple shirt is a nice exception. Well... it would be if it wasn't made of polyester.

Peter Wyngarde is also famous for a pseudo-spoken-word album (of the sort that seems to be mandatory for all celebrities in the 70s... think Shatner) that contains this filthy little song:

Nice. You can find the lyrics here.

Sunday, March 22, 2009


The genius behind this video is Kalup Linzy. "Chewing Gum" is particularly filthy, but not in anyway an antique. This song, on the other hand, is by Hunter and Jenkins from 1933.

This is what I get to study in school.

Friday, March 20, 2009

Cleanin' Out My Hard Drive... not my colon.

I have no idea where I found this, but it's exceptionally filthy.

Saturday, March 7, 2009

The Blue Yodeler

"Pistol Packin' Papa" by Jimmie Rodgers, "The Father of Country":

He was also known as "The Blue Yodeler."

Sunday, February 15, 2009

"Never Trust a Big Butt and a Smile"

Here is a late 20th century example of a group of bawdy young men lamenting about the wily ways of women:

Bell Biv DeVoe... now you know.

Saturday, February 7, 2009

The Body Bag Industry

Not to make light of an egregious impending situation, but if you read this article from the BBC about military operations against Tamil Tigers in Sri Lanka you will read this interesting phrase:

The International Committee of the Red Cross confirmed a routine order of body bags...

A routine order of body bags? That is a detail of war that I've never thought of. This implies that there is a body bag industry from which it is possible to order. If there is a body bag industry then there could be competing body bag manufacturing companies offering a range of products in a range of qualities for a range of prices. Are there government standards that body bag manufacturers have to abide by? Who else uses body bags on such a regular basis that they require "routine" orders besides the ICRC? Off the top of my head I came up with: county coroners and forensic departments, the army, hospitals, and TV shows with an emphasis on crime and forensics.

According to my Google inquiries it seems that the industry name for body bag is "transport pouch" (there is even a There are different types of "transport pouches" for different situations such as "water recovery" or simply "disaster." You can order them individually or by the case. They have handles of various types. They come in several different colors (blue, orange, black, and an array of drab grays and greens), several different materials (mostly vinyl and nylon it seems), and they come in sizes from infant to adult (with a special "oversized" adult bag). Apparently there are transport pouches that are up to military specification.

And now I know about the body ba... I mean transport pouch industry.

Photo by Danny Hammontree

Thursday, February 5, 2009

Ur Punks

The other day in class we had a lecture from Kandia Crazy Horse about Afro Punk where she mentioned the concept of the "ur punk." She says that the Ur Punk is Arthur Lee who influenced Jimi Hendrix and the Doors and who was influenced by James Brown and Screamin' Jay Hawkins.

This guy is Screamin' Jay Hawkins.

Primordial Punk? I don't know. But I get to learn about this stuff in school. ^_^

Sunday, February 1, 2009

1750 I have discovered a new ephemera

Here is a poem I found in the OED:

Ephemera, n.

1. An insect that (in its imago or winged form) lives only for a day. In modern entomology the name of a genus of psudo-neuropterous insects belonging to the Ephemeridae (Day-flies, May-flies).

But I think it should read like this:

Ephemera, n.

An insect that
(in its' imago or winged form)
lives only for a day.

In modern entomology
the name of a genus of psudo-neuropterous insects
belonging to
the Ephemeradae

(Day-flies, May-flies).

Friday, January 30, 2009

Here is a joke:

Vanessa told it to me a little while ago...

Q: How do you know if there's an NYU graduate in the room?

I don't know Marcelina. How DO you know if there's an NYU graduate in the room?

A: He'll tell you.

*Ba dump - chsssss!*

Tuesday, January 27, 2009

George Orwell

I read this today:

"I had worn bad enough things before, but nothing at all like these; they were not merely dirty and shapeless, they had -how is one to express it?- a gracelessness, a patina of antique filth, quite different from mere shabbiness."

- George Orwell's Down and Out in Paris and London, page 128 (if you want to look).

He also says, "... clothes are powerful things," on the next page.

And all that made me want to start a blog. This blog's existence is for the sole purpose of there being a blog called A Patina of Antique Filth. So there you go.

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