They don't make 'em like this anymore!

How to Get Killed in One Easy Lesson (1943)
Starring: Stephen McNally, Barry Nelson, and an Anonymous Narrator
Director: Anonymous
Rating: Seven of Ten Stars

A captured Japanese sniper explains how American soldiers make themselves easy targets.

I've had to sit through many, MANY training films and video presentations over the years... and very few have been as entertaining as "How to Get Killed in One Easy Lesson". Maybe if they were, I wouldn't feel like going to "training" was such a waste of time.

Take a few minutes out of your day to watch this WW2-era short film... maybe you, too, can learn how not to be seen! (I wonder if someone working on "Monte Python's Flying Circus" might have seen this film as a very young man? There are several similarities between it and some of the more famous sketches on the show.)

Fanny Friday

 

"Flapper Fanny Says" (later just "Flapper Fanny") ran as a single-panel daily cartoon from January 26, 1925 until June 29, 1940. The series was part of a wave of popular culture that focused on the flapper look and lifestyle, and it was created and initially drawn by Ethel Hays (1925-1930), then Gladys Parker (1930-1935), and finally Sylvia Sneldman (1935-1940).

Flapper Fanny will be appearing here at Shades of Gray, on every other Friday for the foreseeable future. We're kicking things off with the very first "Flapper Fanny Says" cartoon, although future weeks will bring a random selection of Hays' run on the strip (which was very Art Deco in style and consistently featured a flapper cartoon and a witticism), Parker (whose work on the series was more what in line with what is traditionally thought of as a comics strip format), and Sneldman (who combined elements of both her predecessors and increasingly drew upon an expanded cast of characters that had been introduced by Parker).

You can read a little more about the publishing history of Flapper Fanny here. 

Happy birthday, Emily Blunt!

Actress Emily Blunt turns 40 years old today. Here's a celebration in pictures!

It's National Cat Day (in Japan)!

Feb. 22 (2/22) is National Cat Day in Japan. This day was chosen by the nation to celebrate the greatest animals on planet Earth, because the date (2/22) sounds to Japanese ears like a cat meowing--nyan-nyan-nyan, which "two-two-two" in Japanese.

Here are some pictures of ladies and their pussies in observation of this very special day!

 
 

Where are the dancers?

On International Dance Day 2022, the ballerinas ran off into the wild. We're trying to keep track of them, and we'll try to bring you updates on the last Wednesday of each month until International Dance Day 2023. Here's what some of them have been doing recently:

Sarah found herself (which is fitting, since we are posting on 2/22).

Miko found what may be the Stairway to Heaven...

... while Sydney may have found the Highway to Hell (at the Bridge Over Troubled Waters).

But there's no doubt that MacKenzie and Zarina found themselves further from home than anyone else: They ran into a group of short guys and tagged along for a trip to Mordor.

A 120+ year-old movie that's still fresh

The Brahmin and the Butterfly (aka "The Butterfly's Chrysalis") (1901)
Starring: Georges Melies and an anonymous dancer
Director: Georges Melies
Rating: Eight of Ten Stars

A sorerer (Melies) uses magic to create a beautiful winged woman by enchanting a giant caterpillar... but things don't go quite as he planned.

 "The Brahmin and the Butterfly" is one of my favorite shorts from early special effects wizard Georges Melies. It's a little goofy, a little creepy, the effects are pretty good even by modern standards, and it's got a story with a twist. All in about two minutes!

What's more, I think the story will resonate with modern audiences. Take a look and let me know if you agree! (The version I'm providing below features a modern score done specifically for this film, which makes watching it even more enjoyable.)

Musical Monday with New German Cinema

Singer/songwriter Jessica Weiss, who has been the face and voice of UK-based band Fear of Men since 2011, recently unveiled a solo project. Check out the first video released in support of it below... and enjoy the ethereal spookiness! (I don't think I've enjoyed a song of this genre as much as this one since C'est la Mort in the early 1990s.)

Firearms Friday with Raquel Welch

Born in 1940, Raquel Welch was an international cinematic sex symbol and genre-film superstar for a decade from the mid-1960s through the waning years of the 1970s. Whether it was spy thrillers or spy comedies, science-fiction adventures, or historical actioners of questionable accuracy--from the American Wild West to the French pre-revolutionary period through the days when dinosaurs roamed the Earth alongside girls in fur bikinis, Welch could be counted on to bring sexiness and lots of personality to her roles.

As the 1980s dawned, Welch's career shifted focus from the Big Screen to the television where she often produced and starred in movies tailored to her talents. She also turned herself into something of a cottage industry, serving as the spokesperson for numerous beauty products and appearing in comedies as "herself".

With the turn of the century from the 1900s to the 2000s, and Welch entering her 60s, she remained a gorgeous as ever and standing as the very definition of "aging gracefully". In 2017, at the age of 77, she played her last major role as a supporting character in the 10-episode Canadian television series "Date My Dad".

Raquel Welch passed away on February 15, 2023, following a short illness.

A big welcome to our new sponsor!

Is this how you deal with annoying relatives or guests who overstay their welcome?

 If so, be aware that murder is illegal, bodies are hard to dispose of... and that we know someone who can offer you a better option! We're proud to announce a another sponsor who makes it possible for the Shades of Gray team to bring you all the great content you find here!

Check out this sort ad, visit their shop, or give them a call! See if they can't improve YOUR life!

Wonder Woman Wednesday

It's the day after Valentine's Day... and Wonder Woman is wrapping things up.