Category: The Evening Pause

A nightly pause from the news to give the reader/viewer a bit of classic entertainment.

Walt Disney’s MultiPlane Camera

6:01 pm

An evening pause: This was filmed in 1957, and was almost certainly made to be shown as part of Disney’s weekly television show series for kids that began in 1954 and was one of television’s most popular shows in the 1960s. It describes one of the most important technical developments in animation, developed by Disney, until the arrival of computers.

To repeat: This was made for kids, yet it is thoughtful, entertaining, educational, and quite detailed in the information being conveyed. It treats its young audience with great respect and dignity.

I generally do not watch children’s shows today, but the few that I have seen have generally been quite shallow, overwrought, and would have insulted me, when I was a child. I don’t know if today’s kids would react the same today, because when I was a child Disney’s show was somewhat typical. I expected to be treated with respect. Today’s kids might not have that expectation.

Hat tip Wayne DeVette.

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How an accelerometer works

6:01 pm

An evening pause: A little dense for non-engineers, but just clear enough to be educational for all.

Hat tip Edward Thelen.

As always, I am in need of suggestions for evening pauses. If you’ve seen something you think will fit, place a comment here, in this post, but don’t post a link to your suggestions. I will contact you so that you can send it to me direct and I can then schedule it.

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Julie Andrews & Christopher Plummer – Something Good

6:01 pm

An evening pause: O that face. Even with this poor recording, you can see why I said, in my very first evening pause, Julie Andrews had “one of the most incredible screen presences of any actor in the history of film.” And the lighting here, reflecting off her features and eyes with a glint, accentuates that presence.

From The Sound of Music (1965).

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Kukla, Fran and Ollie – Here We Are Again

6:01 pm

A evening pause: Hat tip Jim Mallamace, who writes, “Before there was Shari Lewis; before there were the Muppets, there was Kukla, Fran, and Ollie. An American television staple from 1947 – 1957, Kukla, Fran, and Ollie demonstrated there would be as large an adult audience for puppetry as there was a child audience. Burr Tillstrom voiced all the puppets. Fran Allison was the host. In this video, they sing their theme song ‘Here We Are Again.'”

Do a quick search on youtube and you can find clips of them singing songs from things like The Mikado and doing satire on television advertising. As primitive as it might seem when compared to modern television, this was a children’s show with a whiff of sophistication.

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Dwight Yoakam with Buck Owens & Flaco Jimenez

6:01 pm

An evening pause: Performed live, 1988. The magnificent set starts wth “Guitars Cadillacs,” then goes on to “Streets of Bakersfields,” “Buenas Noches from a Lonely Room,” and finishes with a song I simply can’t identify. It’s a bit long for an evening pause, but worth every second. And a great way to end the week.

Hat tip Robert Pratt of Pratt on Texas.

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