I'm a 54-year-old White guy in the USA and I have to infer that there must have been -- at one time not too long ago -- racist codes for "let the White person go first". I was never taught them, but I have to infer this from a few decades now of observing the following:
When I am standing in a small family-run store checkout line, and elderly Black people are in front of me, if I have a cough or need to clear my throat, something very strange happens. All eyes swivel backwards to look at me, and the elderly Black people in front of me all but fall over themselves to waive me to the FRONT OF THE LINE. Sometimes if I lock eyes with the shop keeper at the register, HE waives me forwards. At this point, there is NO POLITE GETTING OUT OF IT. I can try saying "I'm so sorry, I have a cold", or "you are clearly in front of me, please proceed", and none of it will work. Instead, I am given excuses to help ME feel better about myself. "Oh, no, I'm in no hurry", or "I have not quite decided if I have everything yet", or "the shopkeeper and I were just talking, we will be awhile, so please checkout first".
To be clear, I'm not the one being hurt (they are), but I AM mortified and embarrassed.
I've had to develop special procedures to combat this. I always stand a little further back in line, NEVER make eye contact with anyone, look intently at merchandise while waiting to checkout, and UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES ever clear my throat no matter how much I may need to.
I was reminded of this today when I (with plenty of room) passed an older Black woman in an aisle and merely nodded hello. She said "excuse me" and stepped backwards to give me more space. Huh.
Younger Black people don't do this (happily). Older Black people sometimes seem startled, like they have not encountered a White person coughing behind them in a long time -- but then their automatic training kicks in...
When I think about racism, I usually think about the more egregious examples (lynchings, denial of voting rights) but I have to wonder -- what was it like to just go on a mundane daily shopping trip in 1960?
QUESTION: Older folks reading this. Did/does this cough/throat-clear signal actually exist??
NICK DRAKE
Five Leaves Left
2013 U.S. remastered reissue
My wife and I don’t share very much common ground when it comes to music.
However, Nick Drake is someone we both love and adore, and my wife and I have shared many a wonderful night together with Nick’s music as the backdrop.
Tonight, we have this and a lovely Italian dinner.
This remaster sounds wonderful. Just a wonderful sounding issue of a stunningly gorgeous album. #vinyl#vinylrecords#nickdrake#folk#1969#1960s#60smusic#60s
1967's "The Terrornauts" was a real snoozefest of academic funding drama until we got to see the alien robot for the first time. My partner and I literally LOLed.
Tall & tan & young & lovely
The girl from Ipanema goes 🚶🏽♀️
& when she passes
Each one she passes goes: Ah
When she walks, she's like a samba
That swings so cool & sways so gently
That when she passes
Each one she passes goes: Ah
Oh, but he watches her so sadly
How can he tell her he loves her?
Yes, he would give his 🫀 gladly
But each day when she walks to the sea
She looks straight ahead, not at he
Antônio Carlos Jobim
Vinícius de Moraes
Norman Gimbel
Stan Getz
6 Jun 1964🔥💯 #popmusic#1960s
I've been trying to reconnect with my inner cinephile this year, been watching a buttload of movies after watching relatively few through the pandemic and not being subscribed to any streaming service. Yesterday I watched a movie that truly surprised me. I'm the kind of person who delights in bad movies, and that's what I thought this was going to be - corny b movie schlock with embarrassing effects. The film was Richard Fleischer's 1966 adventure flick Fantastic Voyage. I was blown away - the sets and miniatures are absolutely incredible. Riveting from the very start. The characters are one dimensional, the story is predictable - but the overall experience more than makes up for it. I feel like this is a forgotten gem of the sci-fi genre, definitely deserves more attention. Absolutely recommend it.
SDASM has posted a treasure trove of images showing the mock-up of their proposed LEM. There's more besides these, but I'm picking out these ones as they give details not readily available elsewhere 1/2
They say everything can be replaced
Yet every distance is not near
So I remember every face
Of every man who put me here
I see my light come shining
From the west unto the east
Any day now
Any day now
I Shall Be Released
The Band #MusicFromBigPink
rel 1 Jul 1968📀 #popmusic#1960s #CanadaDay 🇨🇦
If y’all have never seen “Sean,” I recommend spending 15 of your day to watch it.
In 1969, filmmaker Ralph Arlyck interviewed his neighbor, a 4 (and a half) year old boy. They discussed adult topics about life in a complicated world. It’s a little sweet and a little haunting.
My brain decided I needed an especially chaotic earworm, and so this ditty has been stuck on my mental soundtrack for the past three days. Early Frank is some of the wildest Frank. 💖