This is the House of the Future (or Plastic House of the Future) at Disneyland, California circa 1957 – where you could get a glimpse of what the future held in technology and comfort in the year 1986. Look at all those fancy buttons all over the place, I crave more buttons in my apartment too! Many things would probably be regarded as somewhat retro-future kitschy today, but one gadget that was eventually invented was the microwave oven. The house was open until 1967 when the it was demolished to make room for other projects. Parts of the construction was so sturdy seeing it was rated for earthquakes it was impossible to remove it and couple of the remaining pillars for the house can now be seen in Neptune's Grotto. One more video after the jump. (Via)

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Imagine the following. Late 1960s, gorgeous models moving in slow motion, cutting edge fashion, the city pulse, pans around various locations in what looks like a European city in either northern Italy or Germany Place de la Concorde in Paris. Everything accompanied to beautiful dreamy strings, do-do vocals and a groovy beat with a phaser effect. The song is Across the Universe performed by Sounds Galactic (John Keating) from the 1971 album An Astromusical Odyssey. Hope this will start off your week in a great way! (Via)

I wish there were more expositions like the one held in Seattle in 1962. Going under the name Century 21, it showcased the best, brightest and most future minded technology available at the time - including pagers, exciting cars that looked like they could fly, various satellites and the NASA Mercury project to name a few. The grounds of the fair were divided into different areas for easier navigation with names such as World of Science, World of Century 21, Show Street, Gayway, Boulevards of the World, Food and Favors and so on. I love how the photos below bring out the innocence and positive future thinking from that time, something that the world needs more of today I think. Additional Century 21 goodness after the jump.

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For those of you who missed the first show, the next Swank Pack Show is due on July 2 at the Pasadena Jazz Institute in California. Tickets start at $20 if you book in advance. For more information and bookings, visit pasjazz.org.

Straight from their smash opening on June 4, Douglas Roegiers and Dave Cox are back to dazzle and enchant with their classic brand of musical and magical entertainment, this time with special guest, LA’s jazz diva deluxe, Suzy Williams. Taking their cues from the swinging big bands and the crooning Rat Pack, Roegiers and his band perform numbers taken right out of the Great American Songbook in a manner of which Sinatra himself would be proud. Likewise, Cox delights audiences with his unique style of comedy and magic. In short, the Swank Pack delivers an old school, Las Vegas-style variety show, the likes of which one would be hard-pressed to find even in Las Vegas nowadays.

For those of you who have tried downloading Shaft: Shut Your Mouth! lately it seems that the file hasn't been working very well. So today I have uploaded a new copy of it so you can enjoy the compilation again! Also for those who are wondering about future compilations, yes there are two more in the works which will be released very soon. Both of them are actually continuations of two of my ongoing series of cocktail and bachelor pad music. More on that in a future post.