Animal House

[Found here.]

Rembrandt, Vermeer and Van Eyck

The Syndics – Rembrandt

The Milkmaid – Vermeer

The Arnolfini Portrait – Van Eyck

“In early 2004 I was invited to create a new work for an exhibition at an art foundation in Holland. The subject of the exhibition was humor. I decided to depart from the field of new-media experiments, while remaining in the ‘digital’ realm, by having some fun with the great Dutch Masters — Rembrandt, Vermeer, and Van Eyck. My partner Andrea made all of the costumes and spent a long time crouched underneath a cardboard box while I carefully positioned and photographed her fingers. It was a new experience for me when the show’s curator refused to exhibit the work he had commissioned, even though it was already listed in the catalogue. The explanation he provided was that the photos “weren’t funny”. About a week later I received an even more puzzling request to exhibit the project in a Taiwanese digital art festival.” -Golan Levin

[Images & caption found here. Finger Spies available here.]

Saturday Matinee – Max’s Journey to the Moon, The Fabulous Thunderbirds, Ry Cooder & Taj Mahal

Cool animation required 600 pancakes [found here]).

Bassist Keith Ferguson is ‘playing’ one of Jimmy’s 6 string guitars upside down.”

The original Fabulous Thunderbirds in 1980:
Jimmie Vaughan (guitar), Kim Wilson (vocals/harmonica), Keith Ferguson (guitar) and Mike Buck (drums).

If Things Could Talk (1974)
Ry Cooder – guitars, vocals; Russ Titelman – bass; Jim Keltner & Milt Holland – percussion, drums; Bobby King, Gene Mumford & Cliff Givens – backup vocals. (Mumford & Givens sang with The Dominoes.)
40 years later:

Taj Mahal & Ry Cooder play Blind Willie McTell‘s 1928 Statesboro Blues in 2014.

Have a great weekend, folks, and we’ll sure do something or other tomorrow.

The .Gif Friday Post No. 624 – Ostrich Prank, Raccoon Roadtrip & Block Car Race

[Found here, here and here.]

Russian All-Purpose Hybrid Vehicle

That’s probably a VW Golf  spliced onto a modified Russian GAZ 69 Goat.

[Found here.]

Mushroom Cloud

[Found here.]

Laissez les Bons Temps Rouler! – It’s Mardi Gras!

King Oliver & His Creole Jazz Band – Sugar Foot Stomp (1926)
Louis Armstrong played 2nd cornet, married the piano player Lil Hardin.

Lil Armstrong & Buck Washington – Or Leave Me Alone (1936)
That’s Mrs. Louis Armstrong to you.

Al Hirt – When The Saints Go Marching In
Not sure what year, but I’m pretty sure that’s Pete Fountain on clarinet.

Might as well throw some Cajun into the mix while we’re at it. No idea who the artist is or what year, but the song is called Toot Toot.


Joyeux Mardi Gras!
J’espère que vous en avez un gros!

[Gator roast .gif found here.]

The First Del Taco, Yermo, California

“Ed Hackbarth and David Jameson opened the first Del Taco in Yermo, CA in 1964. With a menu of 19¢ tacos, tostadas, fries and 24¢ cheeseburgers, Del Taco brought in $169 in sales on its first day in business – the equivalent of 900 tacos.”

Seems that the Del Taco pictured above opened in 1961, predating the one that opened in Barstow in 1964. It was originally named “House of the Taco,” er, um, “Casa del Taco.”

$169 in 1961 is about $1,500 in 2020 dollars. Not a bad first day.

[Image found here, caption here.]

UPDATE: Ed Hackbarth Jr. points out that Dave Jameson had nothing to do with the Del Taco Yermo. He joined Ed Hackbarth later 1964-65, opening the Del Taco in Corona CA. – Thanks, Ed.

Onomasiological Hot Links

Racing possums.

Augmented Hand Series.

Build your own trebuchet.

And not a single US flag…

This song is stuck in my head.

Fill in the blank: “No ____ no gain.”

The murder of Jovanni Alexander Sierra.

“Bullied 9-year old dwarf is a fraud” is a hoax?
(He’s also a young actor.)


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


[Top image from here.]

The .Gif Friday Post No. 623 – The Rain Train, The Getaway & Really Tired

[Found here, here and here. Related train .gif here.]