Vacation...

Joao Kartoshka is off on vacation.

Mattinho is on permanent vacation.
до встречи!

Funk Carioca

Mattinho is often scathing in his criticisms of my musical tastes. He dismisses the soothing rhythms as ‘cruise ship music’- to quote him-‘on a cruise ship there are two things you have to watch out for, food poisoning and the bossa nova’. I enjoy watching him lapse into torpor on the sofa when I am listening to a lovely record by Joao Gilberto or Tom Jobim. But of course he is right, Bossa Nova isn’t everything.
So here is a record from Mattinho’s immaculately catalogued collection:

Slum Dunk Presents Funk Carioca mixed by Tetine


The music of choice in the favelas is 'Rio funk'. A hard-edged dance style of screeching rap and booty-shaking beats, this is the bastard child of Miami bass, which arrived here in the mid-1980s and went native- Alex Bellos

Link:http://rapidshare.com/files/261689862/Slum_Dunk_Presents-_Funk_Carioca.rar

Sun Glasses...

More than 50% of adults in the USA wear glasses. Apparently in some countries the % is higher- South Korea= 80%! Joao Kartoshka wears glasses. the only time this bothers him is during the summer, when the sunglasses come out.

The problem with contact lenses is that you just can't sleep whenever you want to, and there's nothing as good as falling asleep in the afternoon. So Joao sticks with the spectacles. Of course, the best bet is to get light sensitive lenses- otherwise the only option is prescription sunglasses and you have to carry a pair of plan spectacles as well, for when you go indoors (unless you want to look like Roy Orbison).

In fantasy world Joao would have 20:20 vision and just pop on a pair of sun glasses whenever the fancy took him.Look at this Ray Ban ad from 1979- they reckon everybody needs six differebnt types of 'sunglass'... well, they would, wouldn't they?

Remember Richard Davalos in Cool Hand Luke? Loved those glasses.

300

I still haven't seen the movie 300- I have the DVD case but no disc- something that often happens in the disordered world of Kartoshka 167.
But I have memories of this, the 1963 version. Pa Kartoshka would give me a small tumbler full of brown beer when we watched TV movies on a Saturday night. He cleverly always poured it so it was really frothy and i would try to drink the froth before it dissappeared.

Car Stereo...

Remarkable, the Chrysler Corporation introduce a record player for the car!
I found a list of the curious discs that were produced especially for this gadget, and a good write up on this and similar innovations.
I have no idea how well this hi-fi phonograph would have performed on the dirt tracks of yore.
Maybe someone out there remembers listening to a Highway ?

Joao Gilberto

Lovely classic from Joao Gilberto first released in 1973- very bare sound, almost hypnotic at times- Joao’s voice and guitar- percussion by Sonny Carr.
Sometimes referred to as The White Album.

link:http://rapidshare.com/files/268693730/Joao_Gilberto.rar

El Rompe Redes

It’s all about goals, and how is this for a goal scoring record: appearances- 357, goals -357.
A goal a game over a 13 season playing career- not bad, particularly as the team in question is Barcelona.



Philippines born Paulino Alcántara was the first Asian to compete in top level European football. He made his first appearance for Barcelona as a 15yr old in 1912 and scored a hat trick on debut, earning the nickname El Rompe Redes (the net breaker).
In 1916 Alcántara returned to The Philippines, spending two seasons with Bohemians FC.
On his return to Barca he was played as a defender, but this didn’t last long!
Having previously represented The Philippines and Catalonia, Alcántara made 5 appearances and scored 6 goals for Spain between 1921 and 1923. His international career was curtailed by his medical studies: for example, he declined the opportunity to play in the 1920 Olympics. In a match vs. France in 1922 Alcántara lived up to his nickname, literally shooting through the net.
Alcántara later coached the Spanish national team.

Illya Kuryakin & Coco Cool

There was a period during the mid 1960's when Joao Kartoshka harboured fantasies of being Illya Nickovitch Kuryakin. As time has progressed he realises that he is actually more like Napoleon Solo- but that is another story for another day.
At about the same time Kartoshka had one great love- Nancy Sinatra. Miss Sinatra was unaware (and to this day remains unaware) of young Joao's devotion to her.
So, here is a special photograph:



The Man From U.N.C.L.E, season 3, episode 16:The Take Me to Your Leader Affair , first aired December 30th, 1966 . Nancy appears as scientist's daughter, Coco Cool.

Sergio Mendes Trio

From what I can tell this LP is a reissue of material from the Brasil 65 era of Mendes’ career.
This is pretty straight Bossa Nova, rather than the lush pop of Mendes’ later material, when he became synonymous with the easy listening Bossa Nova that was exported as cool cats’ lounge music in the swinging sixties.
Mendes was based in the USA from 1964 onwards, but the sound here is as Brazilian as anything you could care to mention. Wanda De Sah provides fantastic vocals.
Gorgeous LP, gorgeous sleeve.




link: http://rapidshare.com/files/267592948/SMT.rar

Castro

Bobby Fischer (white) vs Fidel Castro (black)?

In the the XVII World Chess Olympiad in Havana (1966) Castro was actually playing against Filiberto Terrazas of Mexico- however, when Soviet player Tigran Petrosian began to assist the Prime Minister , Terrazas asked the passing Fischer for a bit of help.

Here Prime Minister Castro is playing against Petrosian , in a simultaneous challenge.

Águas de Março - Elis Regina and Tom Jobim

Best...

If I’d been born ugly, you’d never have heard of Pelé
Georgie Best was the most naturally gifted footballer Britain has produced.
Honours and statistics don’t tell the story here- it was what he could do with the ball, even under intense physical pressure in an era of muddy pitches when tackles from behind were the thing and when referees didn’t protect the stars.
The legend of his Beatledom and self destruction is another matter, but to spend five minutes watching clips of vintage Best, riding savage tackles and imposing his will on the ball is a transcendental pleasure indeed.

Françoise Hardy.

Here’s a gorgeous change from our usual Brazilian music…



Tous les garçons et les filles is the debut LP of the French singer Françoise Hardy, initially released in November 1962 when she was 18 years old.
Like many of Hardy's earlier albums, it was released with no title, except for her name on the cover, but has become known by the title of the most successful song on the album, Tous les garçons et les filles.
On its belated release in the USA the LP was given the swingin’ title The "Yeh-Yeh" Girl From Paris!

(Incidentally- in Joao Kartoshka’s opinion Françoise is one of the most beautiful women of all time).
Here also is a portrait of Françoise painted by Tretchikoff:



Tretchikoff met Françoise Hardy when she was touring South Africa, and realised that she was an ideal model for a subject that he had long wanted to paint. Tretchikoff said of this picture: It was inspired by the knowledge that there is a rainy day in every young girl's life, a day when she feels insecure, imprisoned within herself, and the world seems wet and bleak...

Link:http://rapidshare.com/files/264149938/Fran_oise_Hardy_-_1965_-_The_Yeh-Yeh_Girl_From_Paris.rar

Home entertainment...

All that was once directly lived has become mere representation- Guy Debord.



I want that radiogram, I want the record that they are listening to, I want my girlfriend to look this happy.
Maybe she is dreaming of a life away from this sterile home, away from her radiogram obsessed boyfriend and his difficult jazz?
She wants the wind in her hair, the sand between her toes and Yeh Yeh music…
Perhaps she is dreaming of Kartoshka?

Concentration is the key...

Chess grandmasters have often taken on the challenge of playing under some form of handicap(for example- allowing their opponents to always play white, removing certain pieces at the beginning of the game or playing without sight of the board). Here GM Lev Alburt has exposed himself to a rather novel handicap- playing with the distraction of a lovely blonde perched by his side…



On reflection she is probably there to distract his opponent. I'm sure Spassky once tried something similar...

Jorge Ben

Jorge Ben- Samba Esquema Novo 1963:
Trivia-seeing as there is an element of football interest here at картошка 167- Jorge is a supporter of Clube de Regatas do Flamengo...
This was his first LP and it contains the original version of what is probably the most instantly recognisable of all Brazilian songs- Mas Que Nada.



Link: http://rapidshare.com/files/263615765/Jorge_Ben_1963_-_Samba_Esquema_Novo.rar

Double Bill...

Kartoshka Theatre, the dream cinema in my head- presents this amazing double bill...

Goalkeeper…

How does one choose a goalkeeper? Surely in a truly great team the goalkeeper will be almost insignificant? Similarly a great goalkeeper might appear in an average or even poor team. And why place emphasis on the spectacular, when security is paramount, rather than acrobatics? Clean sheets, particularly in a defensive minded team, are not necessarily a reflection of superlative goalkeeping abilities. Maybe nowadays the ability to save penalties, when so many top level matches are thus decided, is the measure?
Statistical analysis does not always help. Accepted wisdom is merely opinion stated as fact.




Statue of Yashin at Dynamo

There appears to be a consensus amongst experts on the game that Lev Yashin ( Dynamo Moscow & CCCP) was the greatest goalkeeper of all time. He is the only goalie to date to be European Footballer of the Year (1963) and in 2000 was named FIFA World Keeper of the Century.

In 812 career games Yashin kept 480 clean sheets. In 78 internationals he conceded 70 goals . It is believed that he made over 150 penalty saves during his career.
We read of games in which Yashin’s feats kept the score respectable (1958 vs Brazil) and others in which he played poorly as his team surrendered a strong position (1962 vs Columbia, when he conceded a Gol Olimpico). He featured spectacularly in the 1963 FA Centenary match at Wembley , when he appeared in the Rest of the World XI against England and made a number of breathtaking saves.
Yashin is credited with several tactical innovations that have since become common practice- punching clear, using the quick throw of the ball to launch counterattacks, coming out of the penalty area to anticipate danger (acting as a sweeper), and the command and organization of the defenders.
We will revisit the position of goalkeeper from time to time, and suggestions are always welcome!

Van Gogh vs Tretchikoff.

Express your passion, do whatever you love, take action, no matter what- Tretchikoff
What would life be if we had no courage to attempt anything? -Van Gogh

Why the one is considered an absolute genius and the other The King of Kitsch?
One never sold a painting in his lifetime whilst the other made a fortune from his work…
What are the relative merits of these paintings?
My argument is: The people who involve themselves in art are by nature romantically inclined. They become seduced by a tragic story such as that of Van Gogh- his life blighted by some mental infirmity or neurological disorder. His determination to produce art in which no one else saw any merit, his unrequited love…we wish to see ourselves in stories. So the cult grows and it becomes a case of the emperor’s new clothes.

Astrud Gilberto

The Astrud Gilberto Album (1964).
To many people Bossa Nova is encapsulated by one song- Tom Jobim and Vinicius de Moraes's Garota de Ipanema- and of the hundreds of recorded versions of that song it is probably Astrud Gilberto's that is the most familiar. The breezy seductiveness of the tune and it's languid imagery complimented perfectly by her voice.
Anyhow- in the year that Astrud made a hit with that song she also recorded this, her first solo LP:



Features also the talents of Antonio Carlos Jobim (vocals, guitar); Bud Shank (flute,alto saxophone, flugelhorn); Joao Donato (piano).
Astrud has lived in the USA since the mid sixties and she is now dedicated to painting and promoting animal welfare.
Link: http://rapidshare.com/files/263615767/Astrud_Gilberto-_The_Astrud_Gilberto_Album_1964.rar

Astrud Gilberto website: http://www.astrudgilberto.com/

Mood Hat...

Joao Kartoshka likes a hat.
You know that business about JFK killing off hat wearing? It’s an urban myth. JFK’s hatlessness merely reflected a trend– and he did wear the traditional topper to his inauguration.
But look at this ad:



Joao Kartoshka is intrigued by the notion of shaping one’s hat to fit one’s mood! Imagine giving your old fellow a wide berth just because you notice where the creases are in his hat? What about sufferers of affective disorders? Surely their Dobb’s Double Life would wear out in no time!

Home entertainment...

Do you remember those lengthy instructions that were printed on the inner sleeves of certain 'gramaphone records'? Store vertically, away from light and heat, always return the record to its sleeve... Looks like the owners of this gorgeous Motorola have disregarded all the advice about care of their records...

Pythagoras in boots...

Football is simple, but the hardest thing there is, is to play simple football- Johann Cruyff.
In the Netherlands in the late sixties there was a revival of the theory of total football. The idea was to build a team in which all of the players had equal levels of technical ability and physical strength. In its execution it meant that all the players were capable, at any point in a game, of switching into each other's roles as circumstances demanded.
From this era of total football, Cruyff was the total footballer- As a Dutch international, Cruyff, played 48 matches, scoring 33 goals, he led Ajax to three consecutive European Cups (1971, 72, 73) and was personally named European Footballer of the Year on 3 Occasions (1971, 73, 74).
Cruyff's ‘special one’ status was reinforced by his image- whilst his Netherlands team mates wore the standard adidas jersey (three black stripes on the sleeve) Cruyff’s number 14 shirt always only had two black stripes.

Charlie Byrd

Charlie Byrd (1925-1999) was a classically trained guitarist who studied under the great Segovia. He also had, from an early age, an interest in blues and jazz, especially Django Reinhardt, with whom he played in the 1940’s. Byrd, who was from Virginia, did a great deal to popularize Brazilian music in the USA through his 1963 hit album with Stan Getz Jazz Samba. In 1999 the Brazilian government made him a Knight of the Rio Branco. Brazilian Byrd(1965) is Charlie's take on the music of Jobim.

Link: http://rapidshare.com/files/262300094/Charlie_Byrd_-_Brazilian_Byrd.rar

Шахматная горячка-2

Шахматная горячка-1

Here, in two instalments, is V.I Pudovkin’s 1925 classic Chess Fever.
World champion José Raúl Capablanca makes an appearance, and scenes were shot at the Moscow International tournament of 1925, featuring other leading players of the day.

Drive Time...

From time to time the music here will reveal a more eclectic taste...

Joao Kartoshka doesn’t drive a car. Ecological reasons? No, he just can’t do it. Too many distractions. Just sitting behind the wheel breaks him out into a nervous sweat.
But if Joao Kartoshka had a car (perhaps if he was driving in his dreams), it would by a Ford Galaxie 500. And even though Joao Kartoshka is a little too old for the cult of car stereo, if he had this dream car he would play music as he drove along. And it would be the Mighty Dub Katz- Magic Carpet Ride…here are four versions of that excellent track from Norman Cook and Gareth Hansome.

Link:http://rapidshare.com/files/261928708/MDK.rar