He’s presumably somewhere in this building in Lubumbashi, Democratic Republic of the Congo. [Found here, via here.]
City Hall
Something’s Not Right, Ma.
In the early 1900s a German, Max Kruse, criticized commercially made baby dolls as being “hideous” and refused to buy them for his kids, so his wife Käthe began making her own, modeling them after their own children. It became a hobby. She started taking orders for the handmade dolls, made of muslin stuffed with reindeer hair, and heads of painted papier maché.
The dolls were popular in Germany, and a 1910 exhibition in New York City brought her dolls international attention. In 1916 she received two orders (750 dolls) from a large New York toy retailer and she opened a successful manufacturing business.
After the deaths of two sons and her husband during WWII, Käthe Kruse began painting sorrowful faces on her dolls. Chancellor Hitler noticed and personally ordered her factory shut down in 1944 – the dolls didn’t look cheerful and optimistic enough for wartime (and she had refused to dismiss her Jewish employees).
In the 1950s her custom doll manufacturing business resumed, but with difficulty. It eventually recovered and her name brand is still going. Käthe Kruse passed away in 1968, just shy of her 85th birthday.
Antique Käthe Kruse “Little Hempel” dolls are collectors items (beware of counterfeits) and can fetch up to $1,200 0n Ebay.
[Images at top found here.]
Smile
[Found here.]
Vending Machines
[Found here.]
Illecebrous Hot Links
Pressure Drop, The Clash (1979)
“Now when it drops on your dirty little head (oh yeah)
Where you gonna go?”
In 1979, premier UK punk group The Clash covered The Maytals’ 1969 hit.
Rat kings.
Rat king dumplings.
“It’s a Jeff Lewis Meal Deal.”
The Teether [via Everlasting Blört].
Astronaut Michael Collins’ secret fear.
Catchin’ crawfs [via Memo Of The Air].
10 minutes of ant noise [via Thompson, blog].
[Image at top found here. Don’t forget to call Mom.]
From the Archives: 1 year ago. 5 years ago. 10 years ago. 15 years ago.
Saturday Matinee – Monster Mike Welch Band, Joe Ely, and Colin James w/ Amanda Marshall
Monster Mike Welch Band: Mike Welch / guitar & vocals; Alex Schultz / guitar; Lorenzo Farrell / keyboard; Derrick “D’Mar” Martin / drums & faces. Welch has been performing and recording for over 30 years. The bluesman from Boston was only 13 when Dan Akroyd gave him the nickname.
Texas roots rocker Joe Ely kicked the Austin progressive country music industry loose in the 1970s. Besides his own solo work, he performed with many other headliners, including Bruce Springsteen, Uncle Tupelo, Los Super Seven, The Chieftains, James McMurtry, The Clash, Lyle Lovett, John Hiatt, and Guy Clark. After suffering from Lewy body dementia and Parkinson’s disease, Ely passed away at the age of 78 in December 2025 [obit].
Colin James‘ 1988 self-titled debut was the fastest-selling album in Canadian history. It won him his first of seven Juno Awards and an opening spot on tour with Keith Richards. So far he’s got seven Gold-certified albums in Canada, including four Platinum albums and two Double Platinum albums.
———
Canadian singer and songwriter Amanda Marshall was 16 in 1988 when she met blind guitarist Jeff Healy; he was so impressed with her vocals he took her with him on tour. In 1993, Marshall’s self-titled debut album was released in 1995 went on to become one of only eighteen albums in Canadian history to achieve Diamond status, and achieved Gold or Platinum status in fifteen countries.
Enough to keep yer bones a-rockin’ and yer earballs a-poppin’ – at least until Porch Time. Tomorrow. On the porch. Be there or be L7.
The .Gif Post No. 954 – Miniskirts ‘n’ Boots, Shake Your Thang & Do The Spazz
Dumbo of the Deep
Dumbo Octopus
Members of the genus Grimpoteuthis, these critters are the deepest-living octopus known to science and can be found near the seafloor at depths of up to 13,000 ft (4,000 m). These adorable cephalopods flap their ear-like fins as they move through the water—a behavior that inspired scientists to name the genus Grimpoteuthis after Disney’s flying elephant. Unlike many other octopuses, Dumbo octopuses do not have ink sacs. Some scientists think it’s because they rarely encounter predators in their extremely remote, deep-sea habitats.
Photo: NOAA Office of Ocean Exploration and Research, Wikimedia Commons
Credit: American Museum of Natural History.
[Image and description found here. Dumbo octo gif found here; more cephalopod stuff here.]
Shades of Green
Cinco de Mayopia
[Caveat: I don’t own the copyrights to any of these recordings. They are presented here for entertainment purposes only. Images found scattered around the internets.]
Tacky Raccoons 