By 1808, Spain had had just about enough of French Imperialism and Napoleon‘s occupation armies, and there was a bloody rebellion in Madrid that lasted for days (and led to The Peninsula War).
Francisco Goya was commissioned for paintings to commemorate the rebellion of Dos de Mayo a few years later in 1814.
Oh, and BTW, General Grouchy was a real dickhead.
A Peavey amp, a Gibson, Black Sabbath, a Roman Candle, a hose and a folding yard stick is no defense from hornets. The part where he says, “Hold my beer,” is missing from the video.
From Laughing Squid:
Redditor Kathy Sitter very proudly posted a video of her 93-year old grandfather Tom Sitter telling an absolutely hilarious story to a very responsive audience during The Moth in Madison StorySLAM at the High Noon Saloon in Wisconsin. The theme of the night was “Love Hurts”, so Sitter spoke about his valentines from 1933, earning him a first-ever perfect score.
Kenneth White spent over 5 years building a replica wild west village from the 1880’s right in his backyard. White built everything from scratch including a saloon, a church with beautiful stained glass windows and an old-fashioned western jail complete with a prisoner in the bed.
What a great project. [Found here.]
How ’bout some modern country?
The Avett Brothers got the licks, and they proved it at Knoxville’s Tennessee Theater in 2015.
Bunkessa ran off to see The Magnetic Fields last night. The music isn’t quite my can of beer, but the animation is fun.
Have a great weekend, folks. See you back here tomorrow.
![Klek Shop [08]](https://i0.wp.com/tackyraccoons.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/klek-shop-08.jpg?w=276&h=276&crop=1&ssl=1 "Klek Shop [08]")
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.]
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.
ATLANTIC OCEAN (April 15, 2015) The guided-missile destroyer USS Porter (DDG 78) pulls alongside the Military Sealift Command dry cargo and ammunition ship USNS Medgar Evers (T-AKE 13) before a replenishment-at-sea. Porter is participating in Joint Warrior, a United-Kingdom led training exercise designed to provide NATO and allied forces with a unique multi-warfare environment in which to prepare for global operations. (U.S. Navy photo by Rohn D. Wallace/Released)
There’s an interesting timeline posted at USNI regarding the missile attack on the Syrian military airbase on 6 April 2017 that I haven’t seen elsewhere, and it gives hints about the strategy behind it… and more.
[Image and caption found here. USNI is updating their post as more information is released.]
Although [Yoneji] Inamura created several sculptures out of beetles, he spent 6 years in the 1970s constructing this one, which has become his masterpiece and the largest sculpture he ever made. When it was done he donated it to the city.
The sculpture, made from rhinoceros beetles, winged jewel beetles, drone beetles, longhorn beetles and other types of local beetles, depicts the senju kannon bosatsu (1000-armed bodhisattva), a popular Buddhist deity in Japan.
[Click on the smaller images to enlarge. More here, found here. Somewhat related posts here.]
Johnny Rotten weighs in on Briexit… and Donald Trump.
Roger Daltrey weighs in on Briexit… and Donald Trump.
Earliest known definition of “cocktail” as a beverage appeared in 1803. The actual origins of the word are disputed; here’s one analysis.
Groucho Marx once hawked cocktail napkins.
Ever wonder why cocktails are served in different glasses? Me neither.
No idea what the 1927 Jiggling Chair was supposed to remedy.
Attempted Escape of the Maniac from The Wild Witch of the Heath, 1841.
This is mildly amusing. Move your curser, then do it real fast.
From the You Gotta Be Kidding Me Department:
Cloned Woolly Mammoths are planned to be introduced to an Arctic Siberian park in order to stop “global warming climate change.”
Horrific April Fools Day pranks of the 19th Century, and some were lethal. More pranks here.
[Top: Original image of the TV-HiFi console hottie found here.]
Apparently it was an exercise required of applicants to a government job. The woman who posted this on Twitter said she was asked to leave after she voiced her disgust about the “I’ll Bet You’re A Bigot” test. (Note that they couldn’t even spell “Nostradamus” correctly.) I wouldn’t hire ANYONE who chose to participate in such an idiotic exercise, and walking out is the appropriate response, IMO.
And that’s exactly what she did.
Reminds me of this ill-conceived mind experiment, and the work of photographer Jill Greenberg (whose claim to fame is making toddlers cry as a political statement).
Puke.
[h/t @paperghost]
“I will tell you this much however, that the rays of the Sun and Moon and Dew must be collected in a clean Jar or Vessel, separated from Rain and dirt, stench, smoke, and also from flying and wandering animals. The ways of attraction are many, but it is as well at home, as in an open place in the wind. As also a most fit and convenient Receptacle.”
Alchemist Johann Friedrich Fleischer‘s invention is described in his paper Chemical Moonshine, published in 1739. A subsequent publication in 1797 included the illustration above, by Sigismund Bacstrom, for its frontispiece
[Image found here.]
“Hey, Bob! What’s going on this weekend?”
“The Stones are coming back again.”
“Aw, crap.”
“The [Nankai] Hawks were sold and moved to Fukuoka City in 1988 or 1989. Since the stadium was abandoned, the City of Osaka, working with a trade group, turned it into a giant outdoor home show with rows of various model homes from several construction companies.
“If I remember correctly, the houses were a failure, as most Japanese in the greater Osaka area were not interested in western style housing and the quality of construction was not up to their expectations. I think the stadium was finally demolished in the late ’90s.”
[Found in here, additional images and story found here and here.]
Tacky Raccoons 