Author: Bunk Strutts

Boogah Boogah.

It’s All Mine

Mir Diamond Mine, Mirny, Yakutia, Russia.
At 3,900 feet in diameter and 1,722 feet deep , it’s one of the largest excavated holes in the world. It reportedly has its own weather system vortex due to temperature variations, and aircraft are forbidden to fly over it.

In the midst of the Siberian wilderness, there is a town known as Mirny, the only sign of humanity in a heavily forested landscape for miles around. Only a few full-time residents call the town home, all of whom live in a small community built on stilts to prevent the melted permafrost from flooding their homes in the spring.

Truthfully, the town of Mirny would be entirely unremarkable, save for one thing. There’s a giant hole in the middle of the town over 1,000 feet deep and over half a mile wide that churns out an unnatural and mysterious amount of diamonds. Oh, and it also sucks in anything that flies overhead.

[Image found here, story here.]

Dorsiventral Hot Links

Darling Can’t You Tell, The Clusters (1958)
The Clusters were a popular teenage group from Brooklyn, and earned a spot on The Big Beat, Alan Freed’s short-lived television show. The following year, Darling Can’t You Tell scored No. 10 on the Regional Billboard charts.

A Truth.

Crackers.

Mod Mobiles.

Coasterbears.

Karen’s books.

See the Engels.

See the campers.

Out of the bunker.

Messing with a blob.

Abusing the camera.

Relics of Coober Pedy.

Gruoch, Queen of Scots.

Norty Blues Episode 123.

Folding Miura [via Memo Of The Air].

There’s a railway in the crawl space.

Something’s odd about these celebrations.

“A potential bundle” [via The Feral Irishman].

Soviet propaganda posters [via Everlasting Blört].

[Top image: Meatball martini found at Bits and Pieces.]

From the Archives: 1 year ago. 5 years ago. 10 years ago. 15 years ago.

Saturday Matinee – Robert Jr. Lockwood, Champion Jack Dupree w/ King Curtis, Earl Hooker & The Parlor Mob

Born in Turkey Scratch, Arkansas, Robert Jr. Lockwood was the only known blues guitarist to have been taught by the most influential bluesman ever, Robert Johnson. Lockwood became one of the top session musicians for Chess Records before launching his solo career in 1970. Although he passed away in 2006, there are still annual birthday bashes held in his name.

Champion Jack Dupree with King Curtis, backed by Cornell Dupree on guitar, Jerry Jemmott on bass and Oliver Jackson on drums. Filmed at the Montreux Jazz Festival, June 1971, two months before King Curtis’ tragic death.

Earl Zebedee Hooker, cousin of John Lee Hooker, schoolmate of Elias McDaniels (Bo Diddley), tutored by Robert Nighthawk, recorded with Pinetop Perkins for Sam Phillips’ Sun Records, Charles Brown, Brownie McGhee & Sonny Terry, Jimmy Witherspoon, and B.B. King ranked him in the top ten of his favorite guitarists.

The Parlor Mob, an alt rock trio from Asbury Park, New Jersey, takes classic rock and blends it with more recent styles, aiming for a timeless sound.

The day after Splody Day always seems so peaceful until the local yahoos wake up and find the part of the stash they’d overlooked last night. Porch time begins after I sweeps the half inch of fallout away. See you then.

Happy Independence Day!

Independence Day 1919 Washington D.C.

Have a happy 4th, and if you do the splody things, may you have the same number of fingers tomorrow – your hair will grow back, but they won’t. For those in the BBQ and beer crowd, here are some random tunes from the archives in no particular order.

[Caveat: I don’t own the copyrights to any of the recordings. They are presented here for entertainment purposes only.]

El Planeta de las Space Bimbos Invasoras

[El Planeta de las Mujeres Invasoras (1966) found here.]

Hump Hump Day 2025

Celebrate as your cultural heritage allows.

Poppin’ It

[Found here.]

Superbelts

[Found here. Click any image for full power.]

Acarophobic Hot Links

Satisfacción, Los Apson (1965)
Spanish cover of the Rolling Stones by Mexican band Los Apson of Agua Prieta, Sonora, Mexico. The band was criticized for being malinchistas for performing rock and roll instead of ranchera music. Their biggest hit, Fuiste a Acapulco, was a comic ranchera song that topped the Mexican charts for six weeks in 1966.

Wharf cats.

Chic sticks.

A lucid dream.

An early chart.

The Seasoning.

Drawing peace.

Gator Gulag update.

The Arsinoitherium.

ICE arrested WHAT?!

Polyglot vs. ChatGPT.

What’s the magic word?

Norty Blues Episode 122.

Top 1oo prolific inventors.

Daddy! [via Everlasting Blört].

Porcapizza does Ray Charles.
Ravon Rhoden does Ray Charles.
The Khreshatyk Choir does Ray Charles.

Bob Riggles’ 2500HP rear-mounted hemi.

Homage to the Hinge [via Memo Of The Air].

Prayers for Bunkerville. He’s been fighting the covid for a month now.

[Top image found here. The mural commemorates the Jersey Shore shark attacks of 1916.]

From the Archives: 1 year ago. 5 years ago. 10 years ago. 15 years ago.

Saturday Matinee – The Big Wait, Jesse Dayton, and The Hoax

A couple readies a remote Australian town for visitors who might never arrive. The pair are the sole occupants of Forrest, a former railway town that’s home to an emergency airport, which serves as an essential stop for planes needing to fill up mid-journey. More about them here.

The song featured in the short documentary is Heaven and Paradise by Don Julian and The Meadowlarks (1955).

Jesse Dayton has been around for a while, playing a mixture of Texas blues, outlaw country, and punk, while collaborating with the likes of Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson, Rob Zombie, John Doe, and more recently, Samantha Fish.

From Devizes, Wiltshire, England, The Hoax is/was a blues band who got a lot of attention in the 1990s. Their debut album Sound Like This was named Best British Blues Album of the Year at the British Blues Connection Awards in 1994 and they’ve recorded several more since. [Their website appears to be defunct, but they have a FB page.]

What a week. First that, then the other thing, and now we have to deal with this. We definitely need some serious porch time tomorrow, and I’ll be there when you are.