In Fourteen Hundred & Ninety-Two, Columbus Sailed ...

My goodness, some people really do hate America. Where do they get such bad attitudes?

Actually, Kurt, it was thousands of years.

Ah, no wonder there was no mail today.

George Gershwin's Birthday Too

Gershwin & Coltrane, two of America's musical giants, born on the same date. Who'da thunk it?Gershwin died too young too.

His Masterpiece

Won't embed, but worth the listen, w/ live performances & alternative takes.

Coltrane's Centennial

Induction photograph, 1945.

Born on this date, 1926.J.C. died 17 July 1967, at the age of 40, killed by the pig society that drove him to drink, 50 yrs. too early.

73 & Counting ...

I can assure you I don't feel a day over 83.And I'd like to thank all for the sincere good wishes, presents, surprise party & so forth. It's so wonderful to have friends! (Who will cheerfully call the fucking police on me because I was righteously angry. W/ friends like that ...)

Monday Memorial Music: Sonny Rollins

Sonny Rollins would've turned 96 today, but he left this mortal coil in May. Active from from 1947 until 2014, he recorded more than 60 albums as a leader. Other than these two selections, this reporter will leave it to you to do your own research.And Max Roach! Tommy Flanagan's no slouch either.

Only known recording of Rollins & John Coltrane, who hits 100 the 26th.

The Future Is Now!

Time To Shell Out!

Would you like to know more?

"Goofy-Ass Uniforms"

It acknowledges the day Parisians stormed the Bastille fortress and prison in 1789, helping spark the French Revolution that overthrew the monarchy. Ukrainian fighter pilots and troops took pride of place the celebrations Tuesday showcasing support for Ukraine and symbolically flexing European military muscle.

Take that, puto Putin! As noted in the item directly below.

Off With Their Heads!!

The Bloody Standard is Raised!

New version cut w/ the Prague Symphonic Ensemble. Were there no French aggregations available?C'mon, Yanks! How much longer can you wait?

Déjà Le Quatorze Juillet?

I have never seen so many goofy-ass uniforms. Check the leaders & spouses too. Everyone nasty, I'm sure, save Zelenskyy, who's also the only one I recognize other than Macron.

Two Sevens Clashing

Actual Independence Day

Not The Fourth. Admittedly, "Declaration of Independence" is stronger than "Resolution of Dissolution".

Signing of The Declaration of Independence by Armand-Dumaresq, c. 1873

A letter from an American. More myth-making.

On July 2, 1776, the Second Continental Congress passed a “Resolution for Independence” declaring “That these United Colonies are, and of right ought to be, free and independent States, that they are absolved from all allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain is, and ought to be, totally dissolved.”

Also known as the “Lee Resolution,” after Virginia delegate Richard Henry Lee, who had proposed it, the resolution was the final break between the king and the thirteen colonies on the North American continent that would later become the United States of America.

Historians now think the signing wasn't until 2 August. The Continental Congress did approve the final draft on 4 July. More. Added trivia.

Added Sat. Freak Out

I should've held yesterday's Freak Out for today, as Freak Out! was released 60 (Count 'em) 60 yrs. ago today. I see there's a docmentary for which Apple wants money.Standard rental $4.99, HD a buck more, HD purchase $12.99, standard $9.99. 

 Here's another thing you could watch about those halcyon days of yore when ...Sorry, no one seems to know where Part 1 is. I'm certainly beyond caring.

Electricity!

Copyright 1876 by Currier & Ives, New York

Today is National Electricity Day, commemorating Ben Franklin connecting electricity & lightning on this date (or 10 June) 1752.I'm thinking this electricity stuff is overrated, or worse.

Look at that. First there is juice, then there is no juice, then there is.

Some of that intermittency is due to the searchlight car itself, so I s'pose now I'll have to blow 20 or so bones on a voltimeter. Battery makers: Please make an inexpensive battery small enough that it doesn't require a permanently coupled box car & will last four or five hrs. Thank you for your attention to this matter.If I have to buy a soldering iron & solder the damn rails together I will not be a happy camper. Unfortunately, there's really no one to blame but myself.

Cut 60 Yrs. Ago Today

"send us a dollar."

87 Today!

Friday Freak Out II

70 Yrs. Ago Today In Railroading History

Image by O. Winston Link. ©East Bumfuck Historical Society Collection. Used w/o permission.

A.T.S.F. Locomotive 2342 & Caboose 1353 pass the bean elevators at East Bumfuck, 19 May 1956.

Jacob Miller, 74 Today ...

... if he hadn't died (or been murdered by the C.I.A.) in an automobile accident in 1980.One of the greats & a great loss, his music lives on, what if ..., &c.?From his first session.Earlier numbers w/ Augustus Pablo.W/ versions.

It Was Fifty Yrs. Ago Today ...

No memory of watching this 50 yrs. ago (or any time since). 

Scheduled months ago, possibly before Mark (The Phlorescent Leech) Volman passed. And Martin Mull's been history for almost two yrs. now. Half-amazed I'm still here. One of these days this may be posts from a ghost. Have an item scheduled almost a yr. & a half out, because that's the 100th anniv., & no one cares about 99.

Four-Twenty

Why all the excitement about Hitler's Birthday? (20 April 1889 – 30 April 1945) What's wrong w/ you people?You know who else likes parades?