Dancing panda commercial: Snickers

I don't like the Snickers candy bar so much, but this is one of the greatest commercials of all time.

Hughie Thomasson dead at 55

New York, NY (CNS) - Hughie Thomasson, the most influential member of the Southern rock band, "The Outlaws," has died of a heart attack. Known for his signature voice and Fender Stratocaster guitar sound, Thomasson also wrote most of the songs for the band including their three biggest hits, "Hurry Sundown", "There Goes Another Love Song," and "Green Grass and High Tides."

According to his family, Thomasson, 55, passed away late Sunday from a heart attack during a nap at his Brooksville, Fla., home.

(AHN)

The Outlaws were one of my favorite bands from days of yore. I've had the instrumental tune "Waterhole" in my mp3 player this summer. The jams of the Southern boogie bands like Lynyrd Skynyrd, the Outlaws and the Atlanta Rhythm Section (no kidding--check out "Angel" or "Another Man's Woman" sometime) laid the foundation for the deep appreciation for instrumental guitar music starting with the Dixie Dregs around 1980 or so.

Here's a video with recent tour footage with a new Outlaws tune as the soundtrack.

Hughie sounds pretty good. He'll be missed.

Skippy the Bush Kangaroo

No, not the remake! The original version!

"Skippy the Bush Kangaroo" was absolutely hilarious. It was like "Flipper" with a kangaroo substituted for the dolphin, except "Skippy" was Australian.

Though some of the comedy was achieved with the pioneering use of fake animal forelimbs--a couple of fur-covered sticks took care of quite a few tasks that might have taxed Skippy's manual dexterity or willingness to perform on command--most of the absurdity came from the plot.

Take the Jerry King character, for example. Jerry pilots the helicopter at the ranger station at Waratah National Park, where the vast majority of Skippy's adventures take place. Jerry probably crashes his helicopter a dozen times, but still seems to have no trouble retaining his pilot's license.

Or who can forget the episode the pitted the Hammond children against a jewel thief while riding a parade float through downtown Sydney? Truly a pinnacle in the art of staging a cheesy fight scene.

Some diabolical use of the theme song compounded the effect. One episode ended with a church wedding--and that episode ended with a shot of the church exterior as a church organ played the "Skippy" riff. Shameless!

The only downside is that some of the scenes probably bordered on animal cruelty (the show is from the 1960s, when there was less concern in the movie and television industry over such issues). It seems certain that off-screen assistants "helped" Skippy jump into the car or launch through the air to tackle an escaping bad-guy. Even then, it's hard not to laugh at the absurdity of what you're seeing.