The photo was taken after an earthquake in the Tottori Prefecture on October 21st, in a hotel owned by the Kishida family.
Given:
Cabinet with glass panels, earthquake-shifted valuable bowls. Task:
Extract the bowls intact without breaking any glass.
There are some great solutions offered, like this one:
Open the cabinet door just enough to allow the nozzle of an expandable insulation foam canister. Fill up the cabinet with expansive foam, wait for it to set. Open the door and chip off the insulation with a screwdriver.
I don’t know who posted that solution, but it’s brilliant.
Japanese theme park Nara Dreamland was built in 1961 but was permanently closed in 2006 due to declining attendance. At one time this place was filled with laughter; now it’s just spooky. This is what it looks like after years of neglect. [via].
“Are You Popular?” I wish I’d seen this 1947 PSA when I was in High School. All my dates could have been spatulas and 2x4s.
Tommy Emmanuel is amazing. No formal training, can’t read or write music, yet his sound is incredible with an unmistakable Chet Atkins influence. He reminds me of Leo Kottke.
Have a great weekend, folks. There’s more to come.
Chet Atkins‘ version of the jazz classic “Muskrat Ramble.” This is perfect early morning sunrise roadtrip music. From Wiki:
“Muskrat Ramble” is a jazz composition written by Kid Ory in 1926. It was first recorded on February 26, 1926, by Louis Armstrong and his Hot Five, and became the group’s most frequently recorded piece.
There’s some dispute over the authorship of the song, as Lil Hardin (pianist, composer, arranger, singer, bandleader, and the 2nd Mrs. Armstrong) may have come up with it and missed out on the credit. According to Sidney Bechet, Hardin merely renamed a song stolen by Kid Ory from Buddy Bolden (“The Old Cow Died and the Old Man Cried”). Eh… I’m not a jazz historian so we’ll leave it at that.
Satchmo in Munich 1962. I love this stuff.
Just a few years later, Joe McDonald stole the same music, renamed it, put words to it and performed it at Woodstock as an anti-Vietnam War protest song. (I didn’t realize until I scanned his bio – McDonald’s parents were communists and he was named after Joseph Stalin. Now it all makes sense.)
Yeah, we all know about the bloodshed that happened after South Vietnam got chumped, Joe, and I bet you never paid any royalties to Ory, Hardin or Armstrong either.
Okay, let’s lighten it up a tad.
Live from Tokyo, it’s The New Orleans Jazz Hounds. Recorded 14 May 2016, it features Kikuchi Haruka, Tamura Makiko, Sato Shingo. I don’t know who plays what, but it’s still a nice tribute.
Have a great weekend, folks. Let’s see what happens tomorrow.
There are some great tunes hidden in the back of Tom Waits’ attic under the Swanson TV Dinner trays, matchbox covers, PEZ dispensers and Bazooka Joe coupons for free 6-inch long telescopes.
Have a great weekend, folks. We’re gonna post something else that’s completely inane tomorrow.
“When I lived in Tokyo, I used to watch the crows take hangers from my neighbors’ balconies. (Hangers were used to hang out washing to dry.) The crows would work in pairs to remove the clothing from the hangers and then one would fly off with the hanger. I’d never seen the nests though.”
Approximately 200-400 years ago during Japan’s Edo period, an unknown artist created what is easily the most profound demonstration of human aesthetics ever committed to parchment. I am referring to He-Gassen a.k.a. 屁合戦 a.k.a. “the fart war.” In this centuries-old scroll, women and men blow each other off the page with typhoon-like flatulence. Toss this in the face of any philistine who claims that art history is boring.
Ancient Japanese art is a gas – but my hoax-alert antennae are twitching with the reference to “He-Gassen” even though I found another source here.
There are waaaaay too many things wrong here. The polkadot yukata for example. Did the Colonel ever serve watermelon in the Kentucky Fried Chicken franchises? Not in my memory. But to tell the truth, I’m ticked that KFC doesn’t deliver their buckets o’ artery-clogging flavor to my house anymore. I can only take so much pizza.
Tacky Raccoons 
Conceptual Art installations? Nope.
[Images & reader comment found here, via here.]