From the NYT obit:

Sherry Britton, whose hour-glass figure, jet-black hair and rambunctious presence made her one of the queens of the burlesque stage in the 1930s and ’40s, died Tuesday in Manhattan. She was 89 and lived in Manhattan. She died of natural causes, her cousin Melaine Britton said.

Along with Lois de Fee, “Queen of the Glamazons,” Betty Rowland, known as the “Ball of Fire,” and Zorita, known for her sensuous snake dances, Ms. Britton was one of the last stars of a once-thriving sprinkling of theaters in Times Square (and other spots in Manhattan) where ostrich-feathered fans fell away to reveal sequined pasties, G-strings and sometimes more. Sometimes Ms. Britton — at 5 feet 3 inches tall with an 18-inch waist — peeled off chiffon evening gowns to the strains of Tchaikovsky; sometimes she balanced glasses of water on her breasts.

Read the rest here.

Photo from Sherry Britton’s myspace page.

Now, kids can get tramp stamps.

Thanks to cockeyed.com — via current — for this one:

In a Sacramento-area Toys R Us, your daughter can emulate mommy’s ugly lower back tattoo for just a few quarters.

Lower back tattoos are 50 cents each, tucked in between the Hannah Montana stickers and the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse stickers. You can choose a butterfly, roses, a fairy, or other tasteful designs.

Bring exact change, just like you might use for the cigarette vending machine or that one in the truckstop restroom.

Nice find, cockeyed.com

Science fiction giant dead at age 90.

Arthur C. Clarke, a visionary science fiction writer who wrote ”2001: A Space Odyssey” and won worldwide acclaim with more than 100 books on space, science and the future, died Wednesday, an aide said. He was 90.

Clarke, who had battled debilitating post-polio syndrome for years, died at 1:30 a.m. in his adopted home of Sri Lanka after suffering breathing problems, aide Rohan De Silva said.

The 1968 story ”2001: A Space Odyssey” — written simultaneously as a novel and screenplay with director Stanley Kubrick — was a frightening prophesy of artificial intelligence run amok.

One year after it made Clarke a household name in fiction, the scientist entered the homes of millions of Americans alongside Walter Cronkite anchoring television coverage of the Apollo mission to the moon.

Sara Silverman for President

I got this as an email and just assumed the list had been making the rounds. The fact that it was written by patients makes it even better. Too bad someone with anxiety issues had to put a stop to it!

The top ten of festive songs poking fun at psychiatric problems was published in a magazine for patients using mental health facilities.

The list - entitled Christmas Carols for the Mentally Disturbed - describes psychiatric conditions and suggests songs to suit the illness.

For multiple personality disorder there is We Three Kings Disorientated Are; paranoia is coupled with Santa Claus Is Coming To Town To Get Me; narcissism - Hark The Herald Angels Sing About Me.

The magazine, called Marooned, is produced by the Cromwell House mental health facility in Eccles, Salford.

Issued four times a year, it is put together by an editorial board made up of patients, with staff on hand should they need advice.

The winter edition was distributed in Salford’s psychiatric clinics and drop-in centres but after a formal complaint from the daughter of a mental health patient, the magazine has been withdrawn.

Source

Frank Zappa, 1940 - 1993

today I got to tell her that she was my hero!

Why is this funny?

Is something wrong with me?