A television screen is inset into an avant-garde cabinet for canned music called the “Kuba Komet” at the Radio and Television Exhibition in Frankfurt, West Germany, Aug. 5, 1957. As well as the television set, the Komet houses a radio, a record player and a tape recorder. The upper part of the assembly swings on a vertical axis to face any direction.
[Image and caption found here.]
[Found here.]
“We be eatin’ good tonight.” [Found here.]
Multi-tasking Bananas found here.
“I saw a sign that said, ‘NEXT REST AREA 25 MILES.’ I said, “That’s pretty big.”
Steven Wright was/is/will be pure awesome, and your pastor never has to block Wright’s commentaries from his 12 year old daughter either. Heavy duty clean comedy.
Ten Years After was (is) one of my favorite blues-rock bands before I knew what blues-rock was. Those English whiteboys played it nasty.
Next up is Edgar Winter, one of the whitest of the white boys, playing one of the biggest instrumental rock hits ever. Personally I liked his brother Johnny‘s stuff better, but so what.
Now about Rick Derringer…
Okay, I’m going to roll the dice and ask you loyal followers an honest question. What was your favorite song / band when you were 20 years old? Leave your answers in the comments below. I’ll try not to cringe.
Have a great weekend, folks, and we’ll do more stuff tomorrow.
Self-taught John Harrison spent 43 years overcoming engineering challenges to develop the first marine chronometer. Harrison won a British competition to resolve deep sea navigation problems, but it took him several years to win the full prize.
In 1714, the British government offered a longitude prize for a method of determining longitude at sea, with the awards ranging from £10,000 to £20,000 (£2 million to £4 million in 2019 terms) depending on accuracy. John Harrison, a Yorkshire carpenter, submitted a project in 1730, and in 1735 completed a clock based on a pair of counter-oscillating weighted beams connected by springs whose motion was not influenced by gravity or the motion of a ship. His first two sea timepieces H1 and H2 (completed in 1741) used this system, but he realized that they had a fundamental sensitivity to centrifugal force, which meant that they could never be accurate enough at sea. Construction of his third machine, designated H3, in 1759 included novel circular balances and the invention of the bi-metallic strip and caged roller bearings, inventions which are still widely used. However, H3’s circular balances still proved too inaccurate and he eventually abandoned the large machines.
Harrison solved the precision problems with his much smaller H4 chronometer design in 1761. H4 looked much like a large five-inch (12 cm) diameter pocket watch. In 1761, Harrison submitted H4 for the £20,000 longitude prize. His design used a fast-beating balance wheel controlled by a temperature-compensated spiral spring. These features remained in use until stable electronic oscillators allowed very accurate portable timepieces to be made at affordable cost.
£20,000 in 1714 = ±£3,837,000 in 2018 = ±$4,733,000 USD.
$110k/year is not a bad payoff for a 45 year-long side project. Harrison began as a 21 year-old, and was 66 when he resolved the problem and received the full amount of the prize. He died 17 years later in 1776.
The Chantays were from Santa Ana, California. The oldest was 17, the youngest 14, when they recorded their 1962 hit “Pipeline” (according to the liner notes on my LP.) I was a kid in the midwest when I first heard it, and I liked it, but I didn’t equate it with surfing. I imagined a rock n’ roll sludge pump.
According to Wiki, the Chantays originally called the song “Liberty’s Whip” but I have my doubts.
A year later, The Ventures co-opted the classic. Not sure if royalties were paid but their version didn’t make Billboard’s Top 100.
Johnny Thunders‘ (nee New York Dolls) take was kinda different. Clip is apparently from here, circa 1989(?).
Jimmy Vaughan taught his brother guitar IIRC, and SRV took it from there. Video above from New Orleans 1987.
Jimmy Vaughan is an unsung guitar hero IMO.
Have a great weekend, folks. Be back here tomorrow for more awesome than any human being can possibly handle.
HandiMonster. Click it.
“Mind taking a photo of us?” [via]
Beerball: 2 runs and 1 out. Strike 1.
Steve Allen & Jack Kerouac (1959).
If you get this joke, you’re old.
If you get this joke, you’re even older.
Never piss off a quart of Mountain Dew.
LOL. It wasn’t even a parking lot. It was a dirt road.
Maybe she’s generating business for her body shop? Nah.
SRV broke E-string, swapped out guitar with no stopping.
Scamming the scammers: Guy logs into scammers’ systems, deletes their files. Profanity ensues.
Apollo 11 Astronaut Buzz Aldrin had just about enough of this dickwad.
Florida 1: Well, poop.
Florida 2: Generating business for her body shop? Nah.
Florida 3: “Florida Highway Patrol […] trooper and a deputy jumped into the river to get the suspect.”
[Top image circa 1978, Cancún. I married the Lady In Red.]
Joanie Sommers‘ 1962 hit “Johnny Get Angry” was a complaint about a wimpy boyfriend who wouldn’t stand up for himself, let alone her (and includes a kazoo chorus for some bizarre reason).
k.d.lang & The Reclines‘ 1991 cover changed the message. There’s a bit of “Holiday For Strings” at 2:00, and that’s kinda funny.
The ghost of Patsy Cline lives on lang’s album “Absolute Torch & Twang.” Get a copy.
Maryann Lents hails from Tallinn, Estonia and nails American rockabilly. She mixes up band members depending on venue. Not sure if it’s “Maryann” or “Mariann” since it appears both ways on the FB pages (and yeah, she’s jamming chords).
Maryann Lants- rhythm guitar, vocals
Ivar Kannelmäe- solo guitar, vocals
Eduards Glotovs- upright bass
“Maryann & The Hi-Flyin’ Combo“
Maryann Lants – vocals, ac guitar
Wictor Johannson – el guitar
Igor “Garik” Golovenko – doublebass
Peeter Karo – drums
Maryann (Vocal, Rhythm guitar)
Artur (Lead guitar)
Peeter (Drums)
Mari (Upright bass)
Have a great weekend, folks. Stay tuned for more pure awesome.
Assuming that the girl in the sunroof is 5′-4″ tall, it appears that the actual car width is close to 14 feet wide. Awesome.
[Found here.]
“This guy could play an armadillo tail nailed to a railroad tie.”
Justin Johnson plays a 4-string hurley.
Camógaíocht is only played by women and is almost identical to Iománaíocht which is only played by men.
Georgetown University students opine on the President’s immigration policy.
Members of Congress attempted to deport a naturalized U.S. Citizen over false allegations.
Aynaz Anni Cyrus grew up in post-revolution Iran, where if a 9-year old is raped, she has committed adultery by default, and may be tortured and/or sentenced to death. LISTEN TO HER STORY.
On 16 July 1969, Buzz Aldrin, Neil Armstrong, Michael Collins and the team of Apollo 11 captivated the entire world by sending men to the moon and returning them safely to Earth in just 8 days.
When they were preparing for the moon shot, THIS was No.1 on the Billboard Charts. THIS was No.1 when they left. A month after the astronauts returned, the top hit was THIS.
Three years later, the crew of Apollo 15 placed the only art installation on the lunar surface, a memorial to those astronauts who lost their lives .
A Humble Request. Thanks to all contributors and those of you who continue to donate. The Goal wasn’t set arbitrarily, and we’ve still got a ways to go.
From the Archives: 1 year ago. 5 years ago. 10 years ago.
[Top image from here, but Empress Chili was the first in 1922. Not Skyline. Not Gold Star. By now I should be getting monthly shipments for free advertising. Buncha ingrates. 😀 ]
Tacky Raccoons 