IT’S OUR BLOGOVERSARY! 17 YEARS OF STUFF!

On Friday, 3 August 2007, the date of our first posted post that was posted, the world twitched imperceptibly, a global nanoflinch, an earthquake with the power of a morning fart, or less.

3 August 2007 – Whelped
3 August 2008 – 1st year Blogoversary
3 August 2024 – 17th year Blogoversary!

As of this date, there are exactly 6,594 posts in our archives, +10.8 K comments and over 3.1M referral links that comprise

Steal, lift, purloin, burgle and abscond with anything you find here, just link back and give us credit for finding the stuff before you did.

We’ve featured the Top 11 Posts every year since 3 August 2008 and this year is no different.

—>Last Year’s Top 11 Hits linked here<—

The numbers adjacent to the titles indicate ranking for the previous 12 months, followed by the previous year’s ranking, and the third number is for all-time popularity (August 2007 – August 2024).

“NR” denotes “Not Ranked.”

Click on any link below and it’ll take you to the original post. So let’s go!



No. 11 / NR / NR – This is Robert. He wants to meet you.


No. 10 / NR / NR – Meme Peeps


No. 9 / 7 / 97 – Cliffside Path, China


No. 8 / NR / NR – Horrorchids


No. 7 / 3 / 48 – Professional Shadow Puppetry


No. 6 / 6 / 63 – The Best VW Repair Manual Ever


No. 5 / 2 / 75 – St. Pancras Hotel


No. 4 / 4 / 95 – Monetary Disfigurement


No. 3 / 8 / 34 – Bigass Ammonite Fossil is not a Bigass Ammonite Fossil


No. 2 / 5 / 38 – Pelicans Trying to Eat Other Animals

And the No. 1 Post for the past three freakin’ years:

The Most Terrifying Bird In The World

Posted on 1 June 2021, this garnered a surprising rank of 1/1/28 – Number One for three years in a row AND THE BIRD IS PURE AWESOME.

Top 5 Audio posts for past year:

[I do not own copyrights to these recordings and they are posted for entertainment purposes only.]

Thanks for all your visits, comments, favorites and linkys, and I wish you all the best.

Bunk

P.S. Follow @bunkstrutts on Twitter for automatic updates and ephemeral inanities; ditto for you folks on Facebook. Both accounts are spam-free. Also, muchísimas grassyass to those of you who contributed to the PayPal Donation Account. I’m not in this for profit and don’t beg, but that doesn’t rule out blogwhoring. In any case, I appreciate it, and a dime a day keeps the meerkats away – cutesy little standy-uppy weasel-lookin’ bastards.

Rhonchisonant Hot Links

Theme to the Green Hornet, Al Hirt (1966) The melody, titled Полёт шмеля (Flight of the Bumblebee), was written by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov for his opera The Tale of Tsar Saltan, composed in 1899–1900. It was jazzed up for The Green Hornet TV series theme by arranger and trumpeter Billy May.

Pipe jazz.

Tiny tools.

Bites Guide.

Eggs of film.

The perfect toy.

Glassy beasties.

A.I. ballet [h/t Pam M.]

Airpods Max headroom.

Norty Blues Episode 74.

Bád fada báite Cé Essex.

Rev. Peyton, Fishmancer.

Good dancer / bad dancer.

One second per day for a year.

Mama Colugo [via Bunkerville].

Kinetic mask [via Mme. Jujujive].

Reaperman [via Memo Of The Air].

Secret Service Girl [Full song here].

Major Taylor [h/t Queen Hepzibah].

Dark Horse, Dead Ringer and other phrase origins.

Free at no extra cost [via The View From Lady Lake].

Statue of Sir Winston Churchill, Parliament Square, 2024.

[Top image: Protest goon outside of the 2024 RNC National Convention.]


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

Saturday Matinee – The Raveonettes, Fred & the Healers, John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers

Award winning indie retro post-punk noise rock duo from Denmark channels Phil Spector’s Wall of Sound. The Raveonettes are Sune Rose Wagner on guitar, instruments and vocals, and Sharin Foo on bass, guitar and vocals. From the album Chain Gang of Love, the lineup includes Manoj Ramdas on guitar and Jakob Hoyer on drums.

Belgian blues band Fred & the Healers cover Junior Wells‘ classic from 1960. Current lineup is Frédéric Lani / guitar and vocals; Bertrand Lani / bass; Nicolas Sand / drums.

John Mayall and the Bluesbreakers performed at Mayall’s 70th Birthday Concert, Liverpool, England ,on 19 July 2003. Dubbed the Godfather of British Blues, Mayall passed away on 22 July 2024 at the age of 90.

Anyone watching the Olympics? If so, keep it to yourselves because I’m not interested. Tomorrow’s porch time shall commence promptly at whenever so see you then.

Jasperated Hot Links

Heartbreak Stroll, The Raveonettes (2003) Award winning indie retro post-punk noise rock duo from Denmark, The Raveonettes are Sune Rose Wagner on guitar, instruments and vocals, and Sharin Foo on bass, guitar and vocals. From the album Chain Gang of Love, the lineup includes Manoj Ramdas on guitar and Jakob Hoyer on drums.

Gigs.

Big fish.

Not today.

Bunkie Life.

Naked ‘pacas.

Yo-Yo for ducks.

Baby Got Back (ASL).

In memory of Laika.

Poster [via IDHMGO].

Norty Blues Episode 73.

On the roof of the Rijksmuseum.

Pork roll, egg & cheese flavored vodka.

Mysorean Rockets [via Memo Of The Air].

Sad and Worried Animals [via Mme. Jujujive].

Belton’s 1785 semiautomatic rifle [h/t Andy R.]

If a Little is Good, More is Better and Too Much is just right.

Trump looks ridiculous with that bandage.” [via Bunkerville]

[Top image found here, story unknown.]


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

Saturday Matinee – The Electric Device Orchestra, Reverend Peyton, The Luca Giordano Band w/ Jj Thames, and Dirty Sweet

Electric Device Orchestra: Electric Toothbrush 1 / lead vocals, Electric Toothbrush 2 / bass, The Four Credit Card Machines / backing harmonies, with Typewriters 1 & 2 / percussion. [h/t Mme. Jujujive.]

Reverend Peyton (sans his Big Damn Band) in the cotton gin at Dockery Farm in the Mississippi Delta, the place where Charley Patton was raised.

Hurricane Jj Thames backed by The Luca Giordano Band at the Cafe’ De Amer in Amen, Netherlands November 2023. In 2005 Giordano left Italy for Chicago, made a name for himself backing various blues greats, and eventually returned to Europe where his trio spreads the word.
Jj Thames is nothing but amazing. Born in Motown, moved to the Delta, and has an impressive style (and resume). Apparently she had a rough time in the music business and announced her retirement in 2020.

San Diego based Dirty Sweet is/was a roots rock blues band who took their name from a lyric in T.Rex’ Bang A Gong.

A lot of disturbing history happened this week and it ain’t over yet. Interesting times indeed. I’ll be on the porch by the time I get out there. See you then.

Dacnomanic Hot Links

Stardust, The Benny Goodman Sextet (1939) One of the most popular versions of Hoagy Carmichael’s 1927 classic, with Benny Goodman / clarinet, Fletcher Henderson / piano, Lionel Hampton / vibraphone, Charlie Christian / guitar, Artie Bernstein / bass, and Nick Fatool / drums.

Aw shoot.

Skunk sounds.

Thracean coffee.

Pictures of chocolate.

It’s not about the nail.

Norty Blues Episode 72.

America’s deadliest beach.

The party is in your stomach.

The Sultan of the Squeezebox.

Kowloon Walled City cross section.

Proving a negative [via Bunkerville].

Makin’ wheels [via Memo Of The Air].

About the 2025 Presidential Transition Project.

The best Chinese lost tire ballad you’ll ever hear.

Stainless steel aircraft carrier [via Mme. Jujujive].

[Top image found here.]


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

Saturday Matinee – Hermeto Pascoal, Sugaray Rayford & The Rhythm Shakers

Known as o Bruxo (the Sorcerer), Pascoal often makes music with unconventional objects such as teapots, children’s toys, and animals, as well as keyboards, button accordions, melodica, saxophones, guitars, flutes, voices, various brass and folkloric instruments. [Wiki]

Brazilian improvisational avant-garde musician Hermeto Pascoal e Grupo play with water in Música da Lagoa, a scene from the 1985 movie Sinfonia do Alto Ribeira by Ricardo Lua.

Texas born Caron “Sugaray” Rayford grew up in starvation-level poverty. His mother struggled to raise three boys alone while battling cancer; when she died, the siblings were relieved. “She suffered and we suffered. Then, we moved in with my grandmother and our lives were a lot better. We ate every day and we were in church every day, which I loved. I grew up in gospel and soul.”

From The Rhythm Shakers‘ website:

As red hair is flailing and double bass pounding, Marlene Perez of the Rhythm Shakers closes out another show in Los Angeles. Ripping wails and howling vocals are rocketed from her torso more reminiscent of Tina Turner and Amy Winehouse than the echo dripped hiccups of the 1950’s rock and roll genre the band exists within.

Happy weekend to all, and tomorrow porch time shall commence promptly at whenever. See you then.

Gary’s in a damp parking lot and he’s getting down to business.

Couldn’t save this for the Saturday Matinee post for obvious reasons.
The video is the full album; click the forward buttons to find your favorite.
More about Gary, aka Gary Solo, aka Dr. Gary Soloman here.
[h/t Pam M. via FB.]


UPDATE:
Gary’s at No. 8 on this album cover rating site. Let’s get him to No. 1. He deserves it. https://classicovers.sprucemoose.digital/album/getting-down-to-business.html

Obnubilated Hot Links

 

New Life, Little Johnny Christian (1983) John Christian grew up in Cleveland, Mississippi singing gospel in local church choirs. He was 15 in 1951 when he left for Chicago and joined The Highway Q.C.s, a post-WWII group with an ever-changing lineup that launched the careers of many gospel and soul singers. Tire of touring, Christian sang and played bass guitar in bar bands around the Chicago area, eventually forming his own R&B group,  The Chicago Players, in 1968. [More at the link at top.]

Eat me.

Birdhat.

Florida man.

EMTs & BFGs.

So many signs.

Dining Lounge.

White Pocket AZ.

An 1838 shoeshine.

Norty Blues Episode 71.

Watterson’s musing [thread].

This behavior is unacceptable.”

Shell station in a grocery store.

R. C. Anderson, Psychic Bullfighter.

The life of a modern cowboy [via Bunkerville].

Animation vs. Geometry [via Memo Of The Air].

To the Red White and Blue [via Feral Irishman].

All the little birdies go tweet tweet tweet [via Mme. Jujujive].

[Top image: Japanese decoy tank constructed from lava rock, Iwo Jima, WWII (colorized); Decoy Warfare: Lessons and Implication from the War in Ukraine, USNI Proceedings April 2024.]


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

Saturday Matinee – Fatboy Slim, Lucky Chops, Tom Mansi & the Icebreakers, and Big Monti Amundson

Not my favorite musical style, but the video amused me.
Norman Cook, aka Fatboy Slim, specializes in big beat / techno / dj rock. In 2008 he reportedly held the Guinness World Record for most top-40 hits under different names.

Formed in 2016, Lucky Chops began as a group of subway buskers from Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School, New York City, and now they perform world-wide. Reminds me of New Orleans second line parades.

Tom Mansi & the Icebreakers kick rockabilly in the UK. Can’t find details about the group other than their own description: “Rock n roll blues alternative originals 3piece fronted by howling doublebass player with drums and guitar.

Big Monti Amundson backed by Bart Kamp / bass and Henk Punter / drums. Amundson definitely has the Texas blues sound down. I hear Jimmy Vaughan / Fabulous Thunderbirds, others compare him to SRV.
(More about Amundson on WikiP, but be careful with his website – Malwarebytes flagged a trojan.)

Wrapping up what for many is a four-day weekend what with the 4th landing on a Thursday and all. Hope you still have all the fingers you started out with, and we’ll see you back here tomorrow whenever the porch wakes up.