Judy Wallman, a professional genealogical researcher, discovered that Canadian Liberal Party leader Stéphane Dion’s great uncle, Robert Dion, was hanged for horse stealing and train robbery in Quebec in 1889. The only known photograph of Dion shows him standing on the gallows. On the back of the picture is this inscription:

“Robert Dion; horse thief, sent to Quebec Provincial Prison 1883, escaped 1887, robbed the Canadian Pacific Railway six times. Caught by Pinkerton detectives, convicted, and hanged in 1889.”

Judy e-mailed Stephen Dion for comments. Dion’s staff sent back the following biographical sketch:

“Robert Dion was a famous horseman in Quebec. His business empire grew to include acquisition of valuable equestrian assets and intimate dealings with the Canadian Pacific Railroad. Beginning in 1883, he devoted several years of his life to service at a government facility, finally taking leave in 1887 to resume his dealings with the railroad. Subsequently, he was a key player in a vital investigation run by the renowned Pinkerton Detective Agency. In 1889, Dion passed away during an important civic function held in his honour, when the platform on which he was standing collapsed.”

The Creature from the Black Lagoon may be the best creature-feature B-movie I’ve seen since the original King Kong. Dramatically, it’s not in the same league as King Kong, but it’s a good action movie with enough thrills and surprises so it never gets boring. The DVD Talk synopsis (edited): “Starry-eyed scientist David Reed, adventurer-investor Mark Williams and curvaceous Kay penetrate the Black Lagoon to search for a full fossil to match the skeletal claw discovered by professor Carl Maia. But what greets them is an aquatic man-fish that takes an instant liking to the way Kay fills out a contoured swimsuit. The Gill Man decimates the supporting cast while the leads argue the best way to capture it; after he blocks their exit from the Lagoon, the wily Devonian goes a step further and claims Kay as a romantic spoil of war.” The underwater scenes (impressive even by today’s standards) are exciting and especially creepy when the The Gill Man follows the “curvaceous Kay” while she’s swimming. The creature may be a guy in a rubber suit, but it’s a pretty damn affective rubber suit.

The Revenge of the Creature is a repeat of Black Lagoon but dumber — way dumber. The thrill is gone because there’s no mystery to the creature. And then they throw the poor guy into an aquarium at Sea World with a ball and chain wrapped around his ankle. Several shots of the creature from the first movie are blatantly recycled, and the new footage shows a constant stream of bubbles leaking from the top of the rubber suit. It’s bad.

The Creature Walks Among Us is even worse, if that’s possible. The creature is captured by some gun-toting scientists again and transformed into a air-breathing monster who becomes the quarterback for the Dallas Cowboys. He takes them all the way to the Super Bowl. Or not. Anyway, the creature does indeed walk among us and then walks back to the ocean. But he doesn’t have gills anymore, so I assume he escapes back to the ocean and drowns. That’s a great ending. There’s no reason to see this or the previous sequel if you’ve already seen The Creature from the Black Lagoon.

“And I’m looking around, and I realize, this guy having a tuque on has really great boots on, these sort of cowboy, motorcycle boots. And he was wearing really nice leather pants. And I realize I’m staring face-to-face with Bob Dylan.”

After the music legend and his manager were invited into the house, Dylan asked a lot of thoughtful questions, including about Neil Young’s old bedroom.

That’s the first time I’ve heard the words, “this guy having a tuque on.” Somebody want to send me a photoshopped pic of Dylan wearing a tuque so I can add it to this post?

For those not-in-the-know, here’s the Wikipedia entry for Skype:

Skype is software that allows users to make telephone calls over the Internet. Calls to other users of the service and to free-of-charge numbers are free, while calls to other landlines and mobile phones can be made for a fee. Additional features include instant messaging, file transfer and video conferencing.

First I installed an old webcam that’s been gathering dust for the past couple years. (Mac users don’t have to worry about this. Macs come with built-in webcams these days, right?) I had to install it on my XP machine because it wasn’t compatible with Vista (no surprise there). Then I did a quick download and install of the free Skype software. It took about a minute to test it with my webcam. It worked immediately, so I didn’t have configure anything.

I used the Skype search function to find my friend in France, added him to my contact list, clicked the call button and he answered right away. He used a headset the whole time. I had to use the webcam mic and my PC speakers, which means my mic picked up everything that was coming through the speakers, creating a slight echo for him, but it wasn’t too bad. Next time I’ll plug in some headphones. I got uncomfortable after we switched to video because I’m never too fond of being in front of a camera. Otherwise, it was just like talking on the phone. And it’s a free service.

I’ll update this post as I continue to use Skype. My initial impression, though: it sure beats paying for a long-distance call. Back when I first got my webcam, I tried instant video messengers from Yahoo, MSN, etc., and they were all junk compared to what I’ve seen of Skype so far. I’m pleasantly surprised.

UPDATE #1: I tried it out with my mother who doesn’t live nearly as far away as my friend in France, and it was garbage. Nothing else to say. It was crap. I would never bother with Skype if it was always like that. My mother might not have high-speed. I’m not sure what the problem was. I’ll look into it. But it was a waste of time.

UPDATE #2: My friend in France said, “Skype isn’t always perfect. But I would say most of the time it works quite smoothly. Network traffic will influence your experience, the speed of your internet connection (on both ends), and the speed of your computer… When I’m using Skype I generally close out most/all other programs. Definitely anything that uses the network connection, or anything that uses much processor power. Try that and let me know.” I will.

1. Tell Ol’ Bill
2. Dreamin’ of You
3. Everything is Broken
4. Mississippi (#1)
5. Most of the Time
6. Dignity (piano)
7. Dignity
8. Series of Dreams
9. Huck’s Tune
10. I Can’t Wait
11. Red River Shore
12. ‘Cross the Green Mountain
13. Ain’t Talkin’
14. Ring Them Bells (live)
15. Mississippi (#2)

This post was copied from Mud Songs.

Jolie Holland has a new album called The Living and the Dead. Click the link for more details and a free track. I like it!

He’s the love child of Howlin’ Wolf and the Cookie Monster’s sister and he’s only getting better with age. Tom Waits. He #1 on my list of performers I’d want to see live.

I’d pay big money for it, but he’s released an entire 2.5 hour concert free of charge on NPR.org from his recent Glitter and Doom tour. It’s a good quality recording. I’ve listened to it every day since I downloaded it last week. (I installed iTunes just for the concert.) Songs like “Make it Rain” and “Hoist That Rag” are shotguns blasts. He does “9th and Hennepin” and “All The World is Green” and others you think you might know, but you don’t. They don’t sound like the record (much like Dylan’s live performances). They sound like new songs. I love it.

They could have saved themselves some money and re-used the theme to The Beachcombers:

Now that’s a theme song!

In the seven decades since his mysterious death, bluesman Robert Johnson’s legend has grown — the tragically short life, the “crossroads” tale of supernatural talent, the genuine gift that inspired Dylan, Clapton, and other greats — but his image remains elusive: only two photos of Johnson have ever been seen by the public. In 2005, on eBay, guitar maven Zeke Schein thought he’d found a third.

In the telling of the photograph’s story, DiGiacomo paints the most comprehensive history of Johnson’s life I’ve ever read. Admittedly, I haven’t read much, but it’s still an interesting article. And it’s kind of cool to see a new photograph of someone who might be Robert Johnson.