Category: Cool

Saturday Matinee – The Heavy, Big Guitars From Texas, Eric Johnson and Booker T. & The MG’s

Formed in 2007, The Heavy are a rock / soul / R&B band from Bath, Somerset, England. Kelvin Swaby / lead vocals, Dan Taylor / guitar, Spencer Page /bass, Chris Ellul / drums.

Big Guitars From Texas ca. 1985: Evan Johns, Don Leady, Denny Freeman, Frankie Camaro, Keith Ferguson and Mike Buck. Buck / drums and Ferguson /bass were original members of The Fabulous Thunderbirds, Leady & Ferguson were also members of The Tailgators, Leady, Buck & Johns were with The LeRoi Brothers.

From Wikipedia:
Eric Johnson (born August 17, 1954) is an American guitarist, vocalist and composer. His 1990 album Ah Via Musicom was certified platinum by the RIAA, and the single “Cliffs of Dover” won the Grammy Award for Best Rock Instrumental Performance.

R.I.P. Steve Cropper (1941-2025)
Booker T. & The MG’s opened this Creedence Clearwater Revival concert at the Oakland Coliseum, 1/31/70. Seen offstage are John Fogerty, Doug Clifford (w/beard), and Stu Cook (w/glasses).

Thanksgiving leftovers are almost gone, Christmas is just around the corner, and I’m still on Halloween. Guess I’ll have to reset the calendar one of these days, but not tomorrow. I plan to have some QPT (Quality Porch Time) at precisely sometime o’clock. See you then.

Adhesive Safety Warnings

[Found here.]

Authentic Saloon Decor

The Table Bluff Hotel and Saloon, Humboldt County, California. 1889

Seth Kinman (September 29, 1815 – February 24, 1888) was an early settler of Humboldt County, California, a hunter based in Fort Humboldt, a famous chair maker, and a nationally recognized entertainer. He stood over 6 ft (1.83 m) tall and was known for his hunting prowess and his brutality toward bears and Indian warriors. Kinman claimed to have shot a total of over 800 grizzly bears, and, in a single month, over 50 elk. He was also a hotel keeper, saloon keeper, and a musician who performed for President Lincoln on a fiddle made from the skull of a mule.

[Interior of Seth Kinman’s Table Bluff Hotel and Saloon in Table Bluff, California, 1889, found here.]

Apollo was a Frog

Coloured etchings by Christian von Mechel showing “stages from the frog to the profile of Apollo”, after the ideas of Johann Caspar Lavater, 1797

“The etchings above, commissioned by Lavater from the Swiss printmaker Christian von Mechel (1737–1817), put the physiognomist’s ideas into color and motion. Across twenty-four frames, the profile of an unassuming amphibian slowly metamorphs into that of Apollo (considered the epitome of masculine beauty). At its core, Lavater’s physiognomy relies on the belief that a creature’s true character and morality can be discerned from their “lines of countenance”, often revealed by analyzing silhouettes. In many ways, he spent his career trying to offer scientific proof of the ancient Greek concept known as kalokagathia — that goodness manifests as beauty, evil as ugliness — the focus of his greatest-known work, the four-volume Physiognomische Fragmente (1775–1778).”

[Etchings and description found here. The .gif was created in my kitchen of wonder.]

Ceruminiferous Hot Links

Cooties, Aimee Allen (2007) Aimee Allen, aka Aimee Interrupter, sang this outro for the movie Hairspray. (Not to be confused with Amy Allen or Aimée Allen.)

This smile.

Craig’s Hut.

This faucet.

Manipulation.

Buddah down.

383 GALLONS.

Ohiotown USA.

Tom the Horse.

Paint World 34.

The combsmith.

Cat toy surgery.

Number cruncher.

Channeling Caesar.

The Great Bank Heist.

“Hundreds of racisms.”

Henna with a purpose.

Long distance operator.

Theatre of Small Convenience.

“Look what the bank did to my car.”

The Nightmare [via Everlasting Blört].

Chinese thunder [via Memo Of The Air].

Jean Critchfield’s pipes [via Thompson, blog].

Ancient Tenochtitlan 3d viewer[via Nag on the Lake].

The Pitch Drop Experiment has a live cam. [h/t Kirk W.]

Top image: Papa Danny Doodles wood toy sold by Schoenhut circa 1916 found here.

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

Saturday Matinee – Lil’ Ed & The Blues Imperials, Grace Bowers & The Hodge Podge w/ Petar Janjic, and The Riccardo Grosso Blues Band

Lil’ Ed & The Blues Imperials are killer.
Lil’ Ed Wiiliams (vocals, slide guitar), Ed’s half-brother James “Pookie” Young (bass), guitarist Mike Garrett (guitar) and drummer Kelly Littleton (drums) have been jamming for over 30 years. Lil’ Ed & Pookie learned from their uncle,  J. B. Hutto.

Grace Bowers & The Hodge Podge (with Serbian drummer Petar Janjic). Bowers is an amazing powerhouse jammer. Born in 2006, she was only 18 at the time of this performance from 2024, and she looks like she’s having fun.

“Blues is my foundation, but I don’t want to be the next copycat. My goal is to deliver the missing soundtrack of your life – and mine.” R. Grosso
Riccardo Grosso Blues Band‘s cover of Slim Harpo’s Shake Your Hips is a steady driver. There’s an interesting interview with Grosso on Bluesmoose Radio here, and it includes more examples of his excellent harp shredding.

It’s finally here – my favorite week. Yep, we gots a lotsa LEFTOVERS!
See you on the porch tomorrow and I’ll tell you all about them.

The .Gif Friday Post No. 931 – Do The Mr. Happy, Do The Locomotion & Do The Jerk Now

[Found here, here and here.]

20 Songs that have nothing to do with Thanksgiving

These randomly chosen songs above have been posted previously; more playlists here. Image at top created when I was messing around with Grok.

[Caveat: No copyright infringement is intended; songs posted here are for entertainment purposes only.]

“Press 1 for English…”

Lazarus department store, Columbus, Ohio (1951).

[Found here.]

Storm the Transformed Ninja

Henshin Ninja Arashi (変身忍者 嵐, roughly translated as “Storm the Transformed Ninja”) is a 1972 Jidaigeki Toku series created by Shotaro Ishinomori.

“Set in the Edo Period of Japan, the series follows a young ninja named Hayate, who is the son of a man who developed a special technique called the “Transformation Jutsu” capable of granting a superhuman form. However, their Ninja clan, the warmongering Blood Wheel Clan, begins using the Transformation Jutsu to spread fear and terror all throughout Japan as part of their campaign to conquer it.”

[Found here via here. More about him here.]