Demolition: Part 2.5- The Mystery Deepens!

Ok, so yesterday I got all the yellow floorboards pulled up, and under the threshhold (deliberately placed there) I found (what's left of) this woven piece of material! Pretty intricate. I am currently in the process of trying to find out what it might mean, and why it was put there. I'll update when I do.

Bugs Bunny Show intro auf Deutsch.

I was just looking for the regular one, but I came across this German one. I love it! I speak a little German, so I found this particularly interesting. Funny that they didn't use the same tune. German or English, they just don't do show intros like this anymore.

Jesus Illusion

I love optical illusions. Especially ones that involve retinal afterimages. I came across this one recently. It's pretty cool.

Sheck it out meng.

Demolition: Part 2

I thought I would post an update of what I have been doing. Last time I posted pictures of what the room looked like. Since then I have gutted it completely, and took nearly a ton of plaster, lathes, and old (and new) blown in insulation to the dump. Here is what the room looked like as of yesterday before I started doing the electrical work. There was only a ceiling fan for a light (no wall switch) and one outlet. I now have 4 outlets in the room, and two wall mounted lights and a switch with a dimmer. (this brings the number of light switches in our house up to 3!) Check out the pictures tho...
This is the wall where the six foot sunflower once resided. Adios muchacho! off t'th'dump with it...

As you can see...there isn't much left to see.

Now to the wall treasures! Actually everything I found was in the ceiling under the floorboards in the attic. I found a bundle of curtain rods, a lid to a cookpot, stove parts including a warming shelf, trivet, and baking rack, a round piece of glass about 1/2 inch thick, and some sort of grate. The really cool thing I found tho was a invite to graduation for the local high school (which is now the elementary school) from the class of 1943! I didn't post a picture of it, but it has all the names of the graduates (many of them familiar to me) and is in really good shape still.
Above the door on a piece of wood I found an old shopping list. Here's what I can make out:
50 Sugar 2
40 Lard 3

2 Chicken
25 Pork

The rest is pretty illegible to me except the price being 16.70 something and then 'Paid Nov 13 05 (?) The date seems odd to me as my house was built in 1894. Guess someone has had this wall open at one time before me...???

Of course Finnegan was there to "help".
I also found one big ass fishhook. This fell out of the ceiling in the closet when I tore that down. Cute, huh?

This one has me stumped. It is a piece of glass the size of strip of film, and has pictures of these women on it looking very early 1900's.
And of course there were more curtain rods. Oh boy!


Stay tuned for part 3....

Mardi Gras

Happy Mardi Gras to all. (tomorrow) Here are some classic Professor Longhair tunes to put you in the mood.

Mardi Gras in New Orleans- Professor Longhair

Jambalaya- Professor Longhair

Big Chief (Live)- Professor Longhair w/ Earl King, Dr. John, Art Neville, and about a billion other people on stage

Best bike in the whole wide world

I can't believe I missed this one! Pee-Wee's bike from the movie was just up on Ebay! Even more unreal tho is the fact that in this condition it sold for over 17 thousand dollars! I hope the new owner restores it to the condition it deserves to be in.

Why do I have a funny feeling though that the new owner is one Francis Buxton?


http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ih=002&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWA%3AIT&viewitem=&item=120082973348&rd=1&rd=1

Album Covers: We're Only In It For The Money

Aww look, Hendrix is giving that little girl a hug. :)

In my opinion, a great cover can also be a parody of a great cover. Case in point, The Mothers of Invention's album "We're Only In It For The Money". This is a perfect spoof of one of the most famous covers of all time. (Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band of course!) Lets look at the front cover first.
It's pretty obvious what Frank and Co. are trying to achieve here, but the question is how far will they take it. Opening up the record reveals they are willing to take it further. The gatefold shows a similar portrait the Beatles used on theirs (yellow background, dude in middle is cross legged much like McCartney is in Sgt. Pepper) however the Mothers are dressed in womens garb, and IMO have got to be one of the ugliest freakin' bands ever!
Turning over to the back cover...lyrics are laid out in the same manner on a red background, but on Sgt. Pepper McCartney was the only one turned backward (which fueled th fire for all the "Paul is Dead" conspiracy types). Here all are reversed save one.

Zelda Master Sword

Ok. So I am a big geek when it comes to The Legend of Zelda. I have been playing this game series since about 1987. I honestly had no idea that other people were as into it as I am (and waaaaaay beyond too) since I never hear anyone talk or games outside of PS or XBox. Now thanks to the internet, I can see other Zelda fans in their finery and take it to extremes I never thought possible. I have seen countless tri-force tattoos, an ice sculpture of Link, cars, and now...the Master Sword! Here's the link (no pun intended) to the article. It looks like a pretty well made sword. Check it out.
http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/newsArt.cfm?artid=9387&CFID=20085063&CFTOKEN=c9317d9bd5fde94d-27A8F8D6-C09F-3E62-05F0365ADD9EE975

Van of the Week (sort of): Liljack's Van Advertisments

Well, I hope that I can get back into a regular schedule of posting soon. This time around instead of focusing on one van, I want to share a collection that my friend Jackie put together. He scanned a shitload of old ads that used vans in them and the collection is pretty cool. Check it out. It's still a growing collection, and I have a few to scan and send him myself. Here is a couple...

The classic psychedelic Street Van ad from Dodge:





Here's one for BFGodrich that features the original Flying Eagle:


And this one which was available as iron ons, and posters and the like:


Check out the rest of his collection at http://iiidragons.com/gallery/Van-Advertisements

Album Covers: Black Sabbath

Originally called 'Earth', Black Sabbath took it's name from an old Boris Karloff film to portray a heavier image, and also become one of the first bands to do horror themed rock. They wanted to be the anti-hippie band, and set out to intentionally scare people. The subject of many of their songs included the occult (obviously), and the dangers to yourself for messing with it, nuclear armagedeon, anti-herion songs, and pro-Christian. Unfortunately they have been labeled as devil music by the religious right. Their loss for not listening to what is really being said.

In my opinion, the debut album by Black Sabbath is one of the most haunting images put on a record. The feeling I get from seeing it is one I can't describe. (I liken it to watching some classic Hammer films) But that's my own personal take on it. When I hear the opening to the title track with the rain storm and church bell, the image on the cover comes to mind, and I love it.
If you have never listened to them, definitely check out the Ozzy years. (1970-79)

Black Sabbath- Black Sabbath

Black Sabbath- Wicked World

Demolition: Part 1

My apologies for not posting much lately. I have been quite busy. Between work and my latest project I haven't had a lot of time for much of anything (except playing the new Zelda game "Twilight Princess") I can't believe I have been playing that series of games for 20 years now. I never would have though it, but that's another story for later.
As I have mentioned previously we have a baby on the way. Of course this means...you guessed it... I get to gut the spare room and refinish it! When I bought my house in 1998, one room didn't quite fit the rest of the house. I use to say it looked like a bad trip on there. It was simply hideous. Dig this:
Walls painted to look like the sky (which was a little groovy, but no thanks)
Yellow floor
Pink Trim
Grass Green area rug (which is now in my workshop in the garage

And my favorite...

A six foot sunflower painted on the wall. (well done I must say, but again...no thanks)

This room has been several things in the past 9 years. It started as a display room for my collection of toys, comics, and other bric-a-brac. It was then sort of a catchall room, and most recently it was done as a guest room. Now it will be the child's room. Here are a few pics I took before I started. (sort of. I had already pulled the trim off)

Feast yer eyes mates...






next:
progress and wall treasures uncovered!

Os mutantes - Fuga No. 2

Here's one more. If you like these clips, I recomend the albums A Divina Comedia Ou Ando Meio Desligado, and Jardim Electrico.

Have a great Friday night.

Panis Et Circenses

Ok, so todays post is sort of a cop out. I'm just posting a couple of Os Mutantes clips.
I love this band. To anyone unfamiliar with them, they were the Brazilian equivalent of the Beatles. They were involved in the Tropicalia movement, which blended Brazilan music with psychedelica. One thing they were also known for was wearing differnt costumes onstage. (Wedding Dress, Matador, Witches, etc.) Also, in Brazil at that time they were living in a military dictatorship, and being outspoken (which they were) and music (which they did) were definitely frowned upon. This is why the crowd is VERY unresponsive in this performance. (also I have always had the impression that the audience has armed guards around it just off camera from the way the people are looking around)

Enjoy!