RIP: Johnny Otis, often referred to as the Godfather of Rhythm and Blues, passed away in his LA home yesterday after struggling with ill health for years. He was 90.
Otis, a white man born to Greek immigrants, was raised in a black neighborhood in Berkeley where he developed a strong predilection for black culture. He changed his name from John Veliotes to the more “black sounding” Johnny Otis when he was a teenage.
“As a kid, I decided that if our society dictated that one had to be black or white, I would be black,” Otis was quoted as saying. His olive complexion led many to believe Otis was actually black.
The singer, songwriter, bandleader, and radio host had many hits during the 40’s and 50’s. However, his biggest chart-topper by far was “Willie and the Hand Jive” (above).
Otis wrote songs for and influenced many of R&B and rock and roll’s greatest vocalists, including Etta James, Gladys Knight, and Elvis Presley.
Later in life, Otis dabbled in other art forms and even politics, but always returned to his first love — music. He opened an organic grocery store where he would perform for customers every Friday and Saturday night.
Otis leaves behind a wife, two sons, two daughters, and a number of grandchildren.
[ap.]
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![thedailywhat:
Google Street View Stumble of the Day: A woman was walking along Rua Flor de Espatódia in the Brazilian town of Belo Horizonte in July of last year when she suddenly tripped and fell.
Normally, this wouldn’t merit a mention, except this particular misstep happened to be captured by a passing Google Street View van and uploaded online for the world to see.
Follow this link, and then click on the woman to recreate the fateful moment that will forever associate this street with her stumble.
[reddit.]
Why am I finding this so funny?!](http://29.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lxnr3h40Yp1qzpwi0o1_500.jpg)
![thedailywhat:
Upgraded Childhood of the Day: Artist Yayoi Kusama made a whole bunch of dreams come true for kids in Australia by letting them run wild with stickers inside her “domestic installation” at the Gallery of Modern Art in Brisbane.
Last month, the museum’s youngest visitors were invited to give Kusama’s white space a colorful makeover, and they happily obliged.
The result — dubbed The Obliteration Room — is currently on display through March 12th as part of the artist’s Look Now, See Forever exhibition.
A few more photos here.
[colossal / 22words.]](http://27.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lx70fmeDCI1qzpwi0o1_500.jpg)
![Want me an Imus map! I want it super enlarged and use it as wallpaper. Be all geo-savvy and what not.
thedailywhat:
Homemade Map of the Day: After spending some 6,000 hours over the course of two years creating a map of the United States from scratch, 35-year-old cartographer David Imus was awarded “Best in Show” by the Cartography and Geographic Information Society over the likes of National Geographic, the CIA, and the U.S. Census Bureau.
“The Essential Geography of the United States of America” (embiggen) is a 4’ x 3’ labor of love designed and executed by one man working alone out of a farm house in Eugene, Oregon.
“He used a computer (not a pencil and paper), but absolutely nothing was left to computer-assisted happenstance,” says Slate’s Seth Stevenson. “Imus spent eons tweaking label positions. Slaving over font types, kerning, letter thicknesses. Scrutinizing levels of blackness. It’s the kind of personal cartographic touch you might only find these days on the hand-illustrated ski-trail maps available at posh mountain resorts.”
Learn more about what makes Imus’s map so special here. Also, you can purchase your very own print of “The Essential Geography of the United States of America” on his personal site for only $12.95.
[slate / visualnews.]](http://i.imgur.com/s2Y2Z.jpg)
