Author: Bunk Strutts

Boogah Boogah.

Saturday Matinee – Bovine Spring, Biergarten, Man In The Woods & James Cotton (1935-2017)

Vandaag was het weer groot feest bij boer Brandsma in Bolsward! Na 5 maanden mochten de koeien weer voor het eerst naar buiten!

Springtime in the Netherlands and the cows are released from their winter shelters (via) and THIS is definitely related.

Proof that German cattle know what a Biergarten für Rinder sounds like.

This creepy short animation was a student project from 2014 [via].

We lost J. Geils recently, but I completely missed the news of one of the greatest harmonica players I ever heard. James Cotton (aka “Mr. SuperHarp”) passed away at the age of 81 on 16 March 2017 in Austin Texas. Cotton recorded “The Creeper” in 1968. It predates Richard “Magic Dick” Salwitz‘ 1971 recording of “Whammer Jammer“, falsely accredited to “Juke Joint Jimmy”.

Here’s James Cotton at his finest, and having fun with it, too.

Have a great weekend folks, be back here tomorrow for something or other.

The .GIF Friday Post No.480 – Dumbo Octopus, Don’t Taunt The Bull & Whale Carcass Blows

whale-carcass-explodes

[Found here, here, and here.]

No Brains Accepted

Grammar Nazi has been summoned.

[Found here.]

Prototype Babe Magnet

prototype-babe-magnet

What a great ride, but there’s only one problem: Where are the hot chicks going to sit?

[Found here.]

Job Security

[Found here.]

Sophia’s Squat Shops

Bulgarian “Squat Shops” emerged in Sophia after the collapse of the Soviet Union and Bulgaria rejected fascism and communism in favor of capitalism.

In the late 80’s, private ownership of production was legalized in Bulgaria. Among the first businesses to appear were these small “Squat Shops,” operated out of floor-level cellar windows. Despite more legitimate storefront space becoming available, these small portals remained operational and lucrative – miniature convenience stores catering to the cigarette fix of the passing pedestrian or the midday thirst of those waiting on bus stops, for which patrons have no objection to stooping to street level. An idiosyncratic, now common element of the Bulgarian capital, over time the shops have evolved elaborate displays, framing the small street level openings with bottles of alcohol, coffee, and cartons of cigarettes, often in eye-catching bright colors. –Ivaylo Getov.

Did you get that? No one was allowed to own a private business in Bulgaria until about 30 years ago, and they’re still recovering from that brutal economic oppression.

[Click on any image above for detail. Found via here.]

Easter

Saturday Matinee – The Growlers, Leo Bud Welch & J. Geils

Did I post this before? I still like this song by The Growlers. It’s retro rock on many levels.

Leo “Bud” Welch is now into his eighties and only recently began his recording career. Here’s his website. Classic Delta blues mixed with the Chicago sound.

RIP John Geils.

That clip is from 1972 and features the classic J. Geils Band line up. I didn’t find out about those guys until a couple of years later when I got hooked on the sound and the fun. None of the players in his band stood out as heavy hitters individually, but as a group they kicked ass, with Danny Klein, Magic Dick Salwitz, Stephen Jo Bladd, Peter Wolf and Seth Justman. They lost me in 1980 with their move to pop rock.

Have a great weekend, folks, and remember what Easter really means tomorrow.

The .GIF Friday Post No.479 – Turkeys Circling Dead Cat, Jerome Howard & Little Kim Un

[Found here, here and here.]

Fang Blenny

I presume that’s the skull of a fang blennie, and one species injects an opioid venom to mess with their predators’ brains.

The fang blennies have, generally speaking, evolved into rascals. Their ancestor probably used its fangs to scoop flesh out of bigger fish, much like the non-venomous bluestriped fang blenny does today. It’s a visual mimic of a cleaner fish, which allows it to get in close without raising an alarm. Then it strikes. “A total asshole move, of course, since that bigger fish is going to take this out on the next innocent cleaner wrasse it encounters,” says biologist and study co-author Bryan Fry of the University of Queensland.

[Description and image found here, via here.]