Meme Scholar with Madness (PhD)

[EndtheMadnessNow]

Sybil Ludington (April 5, 1761 – February 26, 1839) daughter of an American militia officer is celebrated as a heroine of the American Revolutionary War. On the night of April 26, 1777 at age 16, she reportedly rode 40 miles in the hours of darkness to alert Hudson Valley patriots that the British are coming.


Sybil Ludington: Girl power, 1777 style


April 26, 1925: Accompanied by an honor guard, members of the United Daughters of 1812 lay a wreath at the tomb of “Star-Spangled Banner” composer Francis Scott Key in Frederick, Md. This act commemorated Key's contribution to American heritage, as his poem, written in 1814, became the national anthem in 1931. The event reflects the patriotic activities of the United Daughters of 1812, a lineage-based organization dedicated to preserving the memory of the War of 1812.




April 26, 1886: John Tiller created the Tiller Girls dancing group in Manchester. They became the most popular dance troupe of the 1890s and legendary in the 20th century. They were most famous for their thirty-two-and-a-half high kicks a minute in dance routines. Huh, and I had thought the NYC Rockettes were original.

After John Tiller died in 1925, Mary Read (Head Tiller Girl from England who had been one of the 1916 Sunshine Girls in America) signed a very profitable contract with Howard Hughes RKO studios. Many Tiller Girls worked in American films and danced all over the USA. Many girls married and settled in America, most of them dancing and choreographing in American shows.

In the early days the dance group had different names: The Superba Quartet, The Pony Ballet and The Palace Girls. In 1891 John Tiller started a group he called The Tiller Quartette.

His wife had 11 children within 10 years. WoW!


Tiller Girls 1906 souvenir brochure


The Radio City Music Hall Rockettes, an American dance troupe, follow and keep alive the Tiller Girls' tradition of high-kicking precision dancing. Russell Markert, founder of The Rockettes, reminisced: "I had seen the Tiller girls in the Ziegfeld Follies of 1922. If I ever got a chance to get a group of American girls who would be taller and have longer legs and could do really complicated tap routines and eye-high kicks, they'd knock your socks off!" The Rockettes first came to life in 1925 as the "Missouri Rockets" and made their show business debut in St. Louis, the realisation of a long-time dream of their creator, Russell Markert.

Some of the Tiller Girls and American girls who trained with Mary Read also danced in the Rockettes. Lily Smart, who trained with the Tiller School of Dance in Manchester and was with the 1922 troupe in the Ziegfeld Follies, settled in America and joined the Rockettes after leaving the Tiller Girls, performing with them for many years. She was then involved with the training of new dancers. Lily was in constant contact with Bernard Tiller until her death in 2010, at age 106. Lily explained how Russell Markert added his own style to the Precision Dance routines; this found its way back to the Tiller girls in the United Kingdom.


Betty Boothroyd (8 October 1929 – 26 February 2023), first ever woman Speaker of the British Parliament - House of Commons (1992–2000) was a Tiller Girl from 1946 to 1952. A foot infection brought an end to her dancing career and she entered politics, something then unusual, as the political world was heavily male-dominated and mostly aristocratic. Strange: Boothroyd never married nor had children.



April 26, 1947: The Cat Concerto, the 29th Tom and Jerry animated cartoon was released to theaters. Produced by Fred Quimby and directed by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera. This short is centered around the musical piece "Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2" by Franz Liszt. Quimby was born on the very same day that Liszt died: July 31, 1886.



In June 2017, then 16-year-old pianist Yannie Tan performed the arrangement live in Peachtree Presbyterian Church, Atlanta, Georgia.





Steve and Jeff McDonald of Redd Kross and a Fallout Shelter Sign poster (from the 1973 WHO tour) in the limited release of The SPIRIT OF '76 (1990).


In 2176, a magnetic storm has degaussed all recorded history, causing valuable documents such as the U.S. Constitution and the Declaration of Independence to be lost. Three time travelers, Adam-11 (David Cassidy), Chanel-6 (Olivia d'Abo), and Heinz-57 (Geoff Hoyle) are sent back to July 4, 1776, to retrieve America's heritage, but due to an unforeseen time machine malfunction, they end up in 1976 instead, during the United States Bicentennial, while being perceived as aliens.

Wikipedia states: "[Director Carl] Reiner complimented Sofia Coppola on her costuming work for the film, noting that she was only seventeen years-old during initial production. Coppola had to research for the 1970s [without internet] as she had not lived through the period, and also developed costumes for two other periods - the future in the year 2171, and the future after the time-travelers returned home and changed the culture."

Adam-11 complains about being stuck in the '70s and then turns to a Partridge Family lunch box. Adam-11 is played by David Cassidy, who starred in The Partridge Family (1970).

The prop for the time machine was made out of two hot tubs - which was a reference to their popularity during the period.

The number of songs that featured on the movie's soundtrack totaled to twenty-seven!! 23 of the 27 songs listed on the soundtrack list have made it to the top 10 Billboard music chart from the years each of those songs were released during the 1970s decade

The new wave rock band Devo have a cameo as members of the "Ministry of Knowledge." Moon Unit Zappa, daughter of Frank Zappa has a cameo.

The acronym "CIA" stood for "Custom Industrial Appliances". (Sounds like a banner tagline)

Production team includes a number of relatives of famous movie people. Director Lucas Reiner is the son of Carl Reiner and brother of Rob Reiner. One of the executive producers is Roman Coppola (son of Francis Ford Coppola). Sofia Coppola, daughter of Francis Ford Coppola is credited for costume design. Produced/casting by Susan B. Landau (daughter of Martin Landau and Barbara Bain.

Here's a taste of Americana apple pie...for gaining knowledge!



Soundtrack listing that I'm sure you'll recognize::

1.     Average White Band – "Pick Up the Pieces"
   
2.     Chicago – "Saturday in the Park"
   
3.     The Carpenters – "Top of the World"
   
4.     Grand Funk Railroad – "We're an American Band"
   
5.     Starland Vocal Band – "Afternoon Delight"
   
6.     Love Unlimited Orchestra – "Love's Theme"
   
7.     Maria Muldaur – "Midnight at the Oasis"
   
8.     The Hues Corporation – "Rock the Boat"
   
9.     Peter Tosh – "Legalize It"
   
10.     Blue Öyster Cult – "(Don't Fear) The Reaper"
    
11.     Walter Murphy – "A Fifth of Beethoven"
    
12.     Bachman–Turner Overdrive – "Takin' Care of Business"
    
13.     Van McCoy – "The Hustle"
    
14.     Peter Frampton – "Do You Feel Like We Do"
    
15.     Sweet – "Fox on the Run"
    
16.     Eli's Second Coming – "Love Chant"
    
17.     Carl Douglas – "Kung Fu Fighting"
    
18.     Wild Cherry – "Play That Funky Music"
    
19.     Rick Derringer – "Rock and Roll, Hoochie Koo"
    
20.     Vicki Sue Robinson – "Turn the Beat Around"
    
21.     Disco-Tex and the Sex-O-Lettes – "Get Dancin'"
    
22.     Edgar Winter Group – "Frankenstein"
    
23.     The Sylvers – "Boogie Fever"
    
24.     The Trammps – "Disco Inferno"
    
25.     Bay City Rollers – "Saturday Night"
    
26.     Redd Kross – "1976"
    
27.     The Dickies – "Spirit of '76"
    

In the highly controversial animated TV series, "South Park" airs a new episode, "Quintuplets 2000," that is a comedic parody of the Elian Gonzalez scandal. One scene is a shot-for-shot recreation of the U.S. government raid that took place to capture Elian less than four days earlier, which is a speedy turnaround for scripted network television.




The Block Nuclear Launch by Autonomous Artificial Intelligence Act (H.R.2894) was introduced on April 26, 2023, by 20 Democrats, 5 Republicans. The Pentagon already prohibits AI from autonomously launching nuclear weapons, but this bill seeks to codify this rule into law to prevent future changes.
Beware of August 29th.






Trump and Zelenskyy face-to-face today in the Vatican.
Trump: Hitler was from Germany
Zelenskyy: No, Hitler was from Austria
Trump: Then why are there no photos of him with kangaroos?
Zelenskyy: Thats Aust...
Trump: or boomerangs?