University given huge collection of 78 rpm records
updated 9:57 a.m. EDT, Sat July 5, 2008 | cnn.com

SYRACUSE, New York (AP) — A vast collection of 78 rpm records is being donated to Syracuse University by the estate of a prominent New York City record shop owner.

The more than 200,000 records represented the entire inventory of “Records Revisited,” a landmark Manhattan store owned by Morton Savada, who died in February of lung cancer at age 85.

The collection, valued at $1 million, weighs 50 tons and represents more than a half-century of American music history.

Included are recordings from 1895 to the 1950s, with big band, jazz, country, blues, gospel, polka, folk, Broadway, Hawaiian and Latin among the genres. The collection also contains spoken-word, comedy and broadcast recordings, and “V-disks,” which were distributed as entertainment to the U.S. military during World War II.

“It’s a treasure trove of that era,” said Joe Lauro, founder of Historic Film Archive, whose holdings include more than 40,000 musical performance clips and which holds exclusive rights to such famous shows as “The Ed Sullivan Show” and “Don Kirshner’s Rock Concert.”

“In terms of individual records at high prices … there’s not a lot of that in there. The value is that it’s the largest massing of recordings from one particular era,” said Lauro, who was befriended by Savada as a teenager and visited his store often during their 35-year-long friendship.

Even though they don’t yet know what gems await them in Savada’s collection, university officials were ecstatic about the donation, which boosts the Belfer Audio Laboratory and Archive’s collection of 78 rpm records to about 400,000 — second in the United States only to the Library of Congress collection. His family also donated Savada’s collection of catalogs, discographies and other materials.

Sound recordings are a rich resource for researchers, faculty and students in a variety of disciplines — musicology, history, filmmaking, journalism and political science — said University Librarian and Dean of Libraries Suzanne Thorin.

Besides documenting the musical styles and performance practices of the day, these sound recordings provide a glimpse into social, political and cultural history, she said.

“The Savada collection is truly an archival wonder,” said Theo Cateforis, assistant professor in Syracuse’s Department of Fine Arts, who also makes extensive use of sound recordings in teaching.

“For students whose relationship with music and technology rarely extends beyond the confines of the iPod, it is always eye-opening to see and hear the original 78s that were the mainstay of the recording industry for many decades,” he said.

Savada did not attend Syracuse, but wanted to donate his collection to a major institution that would maintain it and make the recordings available for research and teaching, said his son, Elias Savada, who runs a film research company based in Bethesda, Maryland.

Morton Savada was familiar with Syracuse’s audio laboratory and archive from meetings of the Association for Recorded Sound Collections, said Savada, whose daughter graduated from Syracuse in 2005.

With its collection of more than 340,000 items, Belfer is the fourth-largest sound archive in the country and includes formats from the earliest experimental recordings on tinfoil to modern digital media. Its collection of 22,000 cylinder records is the largest held by any private institution in North America, and one of the largest in the world.

The Savada collection has been packed into about 1,300 boxes and will be taken to Syracuse next week on six 20-foot-long Federal Express trucks, Elias Savada said.

The records are thicker and heavier than the later standard 33 1/3 rpm albums, which were in vogue before they were supplanted by cassette tapes and then compact discs. The 10-inch, 78 rpm albums have one song to a side, and weigh about a half pound each.

Morton Savada took over his father’s shirt business, Savada Bros., in the 1950s and ran it until opening the record store in 1977. He began collecting 78 rpms as a teen in the 1930s.

Savada would often bring collectors together at his shop, where the narrow aisles were flanked floor to ceiling with shelving holding his records.

Records Revisited was the last store exclusively selling 78 rpm recordings and was a frequent haunt for those in the film and music industries, including actor/directors Woody Allen and Matt Dillon.

Savada often lent his 78s to movie and music producers rather than selling them, and never sold the last copy of a recording because he regarded his collection as an archive, not an inventory.

“He was more interested in making you a $5 copy on tape than selling you a record. He considered himself a keeper of history more than a collector,” Lauro said.

Great work guys! Keep up the good work-the world needs more pranks!

Calvin Morett, 19, dressed in a penis constume, disrupts the Saratoga Springs High School’s 135th commencement ceremony at SPAC Thursday, June 26. (John Carl D’Annibale / Times Union)

Judge: Man dressed as penis must apologize

timesunion.com | DENNIS YUSKO, Staff writer | Wednesday, July 16, 2008

SARATOGA SPRINGS — A 19-year-old man must make an apology to the city of Saratoga Springs for dressing as an inflatable 6-foot penis and then parading across SPAC’s stage at the high school’s graduation last month.

Calvin Morett of (they included his street address which I am removing) must also pay to have the letter published in the Saratogian newspaper as part of a City Court sentence that calls for him to pay $95 in court fees and perform 24 hours of community service. Morett had previously pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct, a violation.

The sentence draws the curtain on Morett’s case. His appearance at the June 26 graduation at Saratoga Performing Arts Center caused, a stir and a video of the incident later appeared on YouTube.

Morett purchased the full-body costume and sprayed some of the 5,000 people in the crowd with Silly String, police said.

Morett graduated from Saratoga Springs High School last year.

Body of balloon-flight priest recovered
www.news.com.au | By staff writers | July 06, 2008 01:24am

THE body a Brazilian priest who floated off tied to 1000 giant party balloons has been recovered about 100km off the Brazilian coast, Deutsche Presse-Agentur reports.

Father Adelir de Carli went missing in April while attempting to fly with theparty balloons tied to a chair.

The body was recovered by a tugboat crew off Rio de Janeiro state, DPA reports.

Police said clothing, a rucksack and shoes left little doubt that the body was that of the priest but DNA tests would be conducted to provide final proof.

Father de Carli, 42, was trying to promote religion, draw attention to his campaign to provide rest stops for long-distance truck drivers, and to enter Guinness World Records.

A known adventurer, he had already made a previous similar flight with 500 balloons in January that reportedly took him as high as 5000m.

But bad weather time pushed his makeshift contraption out to sea off Brazil’s southern coast, and in his last contact with police he said he was encountering problems.

In this handout photo released Thursday, June 12, 2008, by the Rembrandt House Museum, the 1628 self-portrait “Rembrandt Laughing” by Rembrandt is seen, in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Whether it was a sharp guess or lucky optimism that lead him to bid, someone at a British auction last year picked up a Rembrandt for a bargain. The self-portrait wasn’t always thought to be worth much. Before the recent investigation, others assumed it to be by one of Rembrandt’s students or a Rembrandt imitator. It was valued at 1,500 pounds ($3,078) when it came up for auction last October at Moore, Allen and Innocent in Gloucestershire. It sold for 2.2 million pounds ($4.5 million). (AP Photo/ Rembrandt House Museum, ho)

‘Rembrandt Laughing’ is self-portrait
By ANRICA DEB – Jun 18, 2008 | AP

AMSTERDAM, Netherlands (AP) — The auction house thought the portrait was a 17th century Rembrandt knockoff, and valued it at just $3,100. But the British buyer who paid about 1,500 times more than that apparently knew what he was doing.

Experts have confirmed “Rembrandt Laughing” — bought for a bargain price of $4.5 million at an English auction house in October — is a self-portrait by the Dutch master himself, depicted with his head tilted back in easygoing laughter.

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When this story first broke I loved the idea of a enlightened young tripper sharing the gift of innner-vision with THE MAN. But nope, thats not the case, tests prove the cookies were just cookies. It’s very possible, heck even likely, that after spending 70+ hours hanging around Police the youth felt empathy, respect and penitence. I know a teen who made lots of friends washing cop cars and was just glad to get out of the house away from the parental units, even if it was to serve a community service sentence.

If the cop smelled something rancid and strong in the cookies it could easily have been rancid butter or shortening, it’s summer time and those cooking fats go bad swiftly. Or perhaps the 18 year old boy wasn’t a great cook.

Dang, it’s hard to be a teenager. Sorry about your troubles bud, hope you get a nice fat legal settlement and go to college and do good. 

No drugs in cookies teen gave Lake Worth police, lab finds
12:00 AM CDT on Friday, July 11, 2008  |  By DEBRA DENNIS / The Dallas Morning News / Dan X. McGraw and Blanca Cantu contributed to this report.

LAKE WORTH – The case against a teenager accused of delivering drug-tainted cookies to police crumbled Thursday after scientific tests revealed no traces of narcotics.

Christian Phillips, 18, became a cookie monster and the butt of jokes around the globe following his arrest Tuesday after he left a basket of treats at Lake Worth police headquarters. Authorities said then that “field tests” they conducted on the cookies showed traces of marijuana and LSD.

But lab tests performed by the Tarrant County medical examiner’s office were negative for drugs, and Mr. Phillips – who had been charged with tampering with a consumer product – was released from jail shortly after 5 p.m. Thursday. The felony charge was dropped.

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Since this infant had 3 arms, and 2 were semi-functional, an educated guess was made as to which to remove. I do wonder what would have happened had he been left to grow up with 3 arms. Perhaps like inter-sexed children, he could have been given the choice of whether or not to remove the arm when he was older. Moot point now.

But just imagine him on the piano! Or just how plain handy it would be to have another, well hand. 

For my previous post on this cutie click here. Like limbs? Click here for the 8 limbed Indian baby girl, the 7 legged lamb with no butthole, the Chinese boy with an extra manhood, and the Indian girl with 2 faces.

Doctors remove third arm from Chinese infant
Last Updated: Tuesday, June 6, 2006 | 9:03 AM ET

A Chinese infant born with an extra limb underwent surgery Tuesday to amputate one of his two left arms.

The arm, which was fully formed, was removed in a three-hour operation.

Two-month-old Junjie is recovering in a Shanghai hospital.

“He is now a pretty good condition, although he still needs some time under observation,” said Dr. Chen Bochang, chief surgeon at Shanghai Children’s Medical Center.

Junjie was born on April 1 with two left arms, neither of which was completely functional.

One arm less developed

Doctors opted to remove the one that was growing closer to his chest after tests revealed it was less developed.

Although his medical team said the operation went better than expected, Junjie will still need extensive help to gain function in his remaining left hand.

“I’m very happy,” said the child’s mother, who asked that her name not be revealed to protect the family’s privacy.

However, she added that she fears for the boy’s future. “I worry about how he will grow, whether this will have a big impact on his growth,” she said.

Rare case

Chen said the boy’s case was a rare one. “We have no record of any child with such a complete third arm,” he said.

“We found the nerves and blood vessels for the arm were formed just as they would be for a normal arm.”

Junjie may need further medical attention, since he reportedly has only one kidney and also may have spinal problems.

Indian city pays residents to use toilet
By Saeed Ahmed | CNN | Mon July 7, 2008

A slum resident in India uses a toilet that opens into the water below as children swim.

(CNN) — It pays to go in a small south Indian town.

The remote town of Musiri in the Tamil Nadu state has hit upon a unique idea to teach its residents proper hygiene: Pay them money each time they use the toilet.

Users can make up to $0.14 a month to relieve themselves in a specially constructed toilet. Not a princely sum, but it’s extra cash flow that low-income residents can make just for answering nature’s call.

The government-backed program serves two purposes: It encourages people to discard age-old practices of urinating and defecating in the open, leading to diseases. And the waste products go into research to test their effectiveness as fertilizers.

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