Smoothest segue ever!

Dan,
Um, yeah seriously WTF! I think the acid I dropped kicked in at the 2:50 mark.

She was the Katy Perry of her day!

More Mexican modernism! ¡Hola! The kooky sculptures were built for Mexico '68 on the campus of UNAM, the largest university in the world (I think), which has more teachers than the UW has students. I think it's called "La Ruta de la Amistad", or "Friendship Road".

http://armeijueiro.blogspot.com/2009/08/…

UNAM is like a fairyland of bizarre 60s architecture. I can't wait to see it in person, hopefully next January or February.

Cocaine is a hell of a drug

Just when you think the horn arrangement is hellish, the awful strings kick in, and then the rough cut to the "dream sequence" with the drums and horrible choreography. Ms. Welch's warbly delivery is actually somewhat appealing.

The costumes are better in her version of Aquarius:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ko0LtjuJ5…

I notice she swapped out "I got down on my knees and I began to pray" for "my mind was so at ease, and I recalled the day."

I assume that since I was the first commenter on the Aquarius video from earlier this week and I suggested that Dan look at this video, that I can now say Dan Savage has read something i have written! Even if its not true I will now say it is. YAY ME!

Savage! I don't know where you are diggin' this shit up, but would you please re-bury it? Now, please?

These are from Racquel!, a far out TV special she did with Tom Jones in 1970. She is one foxy hot Latina.

Now we know what Andy Dufresne was dreaming about when he "crawled to freedom through five hundred yards of shit smelling foulness."

Racquel Welch in a skimpy costume ... the problem being?

That was the best 5 minutes of my day so far.

exactly, @13. she doesn't need a reason to rock that killer outfit :-)

I hate that they changed the lyrics, but damn I love that coat she wears in Paris.

The Singer Company - back when a sewing machine was a piece of furniture - used to sponsor this strange kind of TV special. One notable exception (well, notable for some), Liza with a Z. I remember they did a few with Herb Alpert and the TJB back in his yummy-looking days, and I remember a lot of Don Ho, whom I never got at all. He always sounded flat.

Let this be a warning to those eager to dive into show business. Please have talent. Thank you.

Ehh... does nothing for me. I felt nothing! Well, except for the upward crotch shot of one of the dancers at around 4:12, that is.

Was the 2nd half an outtake from the Buffy musical?

Please, don't encourage him.
Next thing you know he'll be putting up Shatner.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p3Mz6R_DU…

@4: Your mention of Mexico City circa 1968 makes me wonder if you've read Poniatowska's "Massacre in Mexico," which is a very emotional response to the massacre in the Zócalo in 68. I was just culling my books and ran across it - it's a hell of a read, although more for its raw emotional power than literary merit.

If you haven't read it yet it might make good reading when you're there again.

And yes, I am trying to win The Most Unrelated and Irrelevant Comment Award for today. From Raquel Welch to Elena Poniatowska. I now have whiplash.

nothing is trippier than this.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9O-Q5vJ-G…

She could make the most ridiculous shit look sexy.

Raquel's sexiness > The stupidity of this video

Its like Zardoz had sex with the Forest Gump Soundtrack

@2, that's a perfect comparison, though! Princess Hélène Elizabeth Louise Amélie Paula Dolores Poniatowska Amora's always been pretty hawt among intellectuals.

Er, @22, I meant. Oopsie.

I have always loved Raquel Welch, even while acknowledging that she is - at best - a mediocre singer, dancer and actor. But lordy is she beautiful. (And bitchy!) This video reminds me of the good old drug days....

Add about 50 more people and that would have been a pretty typical Bollywood number...

@22, no, I haven't. I should. I've read a number of things about that night, including "El Monstruo: Dread and Redemption in Mexico City" by John Ross, an American beatnik who's lived there for fifty years. It's excellent. I will seek out Poniatowska.

Slight correction -- the massacre was in the Plaza of the Three Cultures in Tlatelolco, not the Zocalo in front of the Cathedral. The complex was designed by famous Mexican midcentury architect Mario Pani, and stands as a rather grim example of the dehumanizing aspect of modern architecture, as the enclosed and entrapping nature of the towers around the central plaza made it easy not just to lure the protesters in, but to trap them there, and also provided an almost infinite number of points from which the government snipers were able to fire on the crowd undetected.

It also provided another horror story in the earthquake of 1985, when it became apparent that much of the reinforcing steel had been stolen during construction, as many of the towers there collapsed, some toppling right over like dominos. A hell of a lot of people have died in that square. I plan to visit it as well.

Well nuthin' says California Dreaming like Disco Alians dancing around modern sculpture...

@31: You know, I'm pretty sure I got my Zócalo and Plaza de las tres culturas mixed up on my Mexican History final, as well.

Thanks for setting me straight, and I do hope you find "Massacre in Mexico" as engaging and heartbreaking as I did.

The off-theme interlude is known in my family as "MacArthur Park syndrome."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=su3JdzUUu…

4:54 is the magic number.

@33, you may not be aware of recent improvements in Google Maps in Mexico; the satellite view of Tlatelolco is great, and you can sort of make it out on Street View here:

http://maps.google.com/maps?q=tlatelolco…

If you're anything like me you can spend hours traveling up and down the streets of Mexico City here, even the far-flung and supposedly dangerous parts like Neza and Chimalhuacan. Most other Mexican cities too.

I love how when she's looking in the window of the cafe all the people are like, "Shhh! Just pretend she isn't there and she'll lose interest and go away!"

Yeah, well, have you heard The Carpenters' version?

Sometimes I'm not sure if I'm disappointed or really glad I missed the 70's.

Whoo baby.