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I'm sorry to report that one of my childhood idols, ventriloquist Paul Winchell, appears to be completely nuckin' futz; according to his daughter, April, he's been that way for a long, long time.
via the Sound-scavengers mailing list
Now here's a literal blast from my past: the 1974 Estes Model Rocketry Catalog. I used to pore over its slick pages, drooling over scale-model spacecraft like the Mars Lander and the Camroc. My friend Rob and I worked on these babies every weekend in his garage, then fired them off in a nearby schoolyard. Our crowning achievement was to have been the launch of a live "hamsteronaut" in a rocket with a clear plastic observation section.
Although takeoff went without a hitch, I'm sorry to report that the hapless rodent did not survive the descent portion of its journey when the parachute failed to deploy and our rocket corkscrewed into the ground. We mummified our little comrade (with an Ace bandage) and buried him with full honors in a small pyramid constructed out of plywood.
Alas, he did not rest in peace for long; Rob's Weimaraner, Greta, plundered the tomb of our fallen hero a few hours later and ignominiously devoured the remains whole.
UPDATE: even more model-rocket catalogs here (scroll down).
via things magazine
The Pulp Art Palace. Wow...just....wow. Where kin I gets me some o' them Nude Teen Beatnik Joygirls?
via AshleyB
Yet another fine exhibit at the Library of Congress website, a look at Bob Hope and American Variety. Check out this wonderful gallery of old photographs and playbills from vaudeville and Hope's joke files.