Well, they're packed pretty tight in here tonight....

Elton John's most rocking hit "Saturday Night's Alright For Fighting" made it's chart debut today (8/11) back in 1973. A bit of a dud for EJ, this one only made it to #12, in the middle of a dozen Top 10's (including ten top 5's and five #1's!). From the classic "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road" album, which (IMHO) was crative Elton's peak, if not his commercial peak. Elton had a whopping 24 top 40 hits in the 70's, but most of what came after 1974 doesn't thrill me.

Go Cards!

I’m no ornithologist, but I do like birds… This is from our backyard. I think this is an immature male cardinal, rather than a female. It's a bit smaller than outr usual Cardinals, and seems to be in the process of changing colors. But I'm just guessing. This was taken at the back window, when I was supposed to be getting ready for work.

Aqualung my Friend........

Ian Anderson, lead singer of Jethro Tull, is born on this day (8/10) in 1947, in Edinburgh, Scotland. The group has two No. 1 pop albums: "Thick as a Brick" in 1972 and "A Passion Play" in 1973. The group's first 10 albums are certified gold for selling at least 500,000 copies. The 10th is also certified platinum for selling at least 1 million copies (it is released in 1976, the first year albums are able to earn the platinum designation). I was just listening to "Aqualung" last night!

He Gonna Rate Your Record High.......

The Guess Who, clearly in their waning years (and post Randy Bachman), hit the charts on this day (8/10) in 1974 with "Clap For The Wolfman". This one made it to #6, the last Top 10 for the Guess Who. Most notable for the vocal rap by DJ "Wolfman Jack", which includes the phrase "pompitous of love", better known from Steve Miller's "The Joker...

Thieving Rodent!

A sneaky squirrel, taking the roundabout route to the bird feeder. When we moved to Illinois (at the end of the 80’s), it amazed me that there were virtually no squirrels. At least compared to Pittsburgh or Washington, DC. Rabbits out the ears, but not many squirrels. Well, I planted as many trees as I could fit on our 0.30 acre, and 15 years later, we have squirrels. Squirrels that eat the food I put out for the birds. GRRRRRRR….

More Warped (Warped More?)

Some more playing with the Polar Co-ordinates filter in Photoshop Elements….If you’re interested, here’s the original.

The Long and the Short of It.

I was listening to the Kraftwerk’s “Autobahn” during Friday’s commute. It got me thinking about long songs… Long as in the length of an album side (20 minutes+). The longest song I could think of was Jethro Tull’s, Thick As A Brick, which was split over both sides of the album, part 1 and part 2, with a fadeout between. The album side length song wasn’t that uncommon back in the 70’s, though, and quite a few jump to mind. My adult-ADHD mind soon jumped to the converse, short songs… The immediate thought was The Ramones, who kept the tunes coming fast and furious. But what band mastered both types? It didn’t take long for me to settle on The Residents. I discovered this San Francisco based art-rock outfit with their opus “Third Reich & Roll”, the politically incorrect homage to the pop music of the 60’s. It features 2 songs (1 per album side). Sometime later, they made an album called “The Commercial Album”, which featured 40 songs, each of which was exactly 1 minute long. Now that’s art. And, of course, I have both albums.

Warped!!

I discovered a new (to me) filter yesterday: “Polar Coordinates”. No, it has nothing to do with the March of the Penguins. Nor is it related to math/engineering, and r+jx versus phasor representations….. Just a funky little filter under “Distort” that wrapps the edges of your photo around to the center. Or the converse. Run it 4-5 times in a row, and this is what it can do!

Just Shoot Me #793

On this day (8/5) in 1978, Nick Gilder's atrocious song "Hot Child In The City" made it's debut on the Top 40 charts. This smash hit went all the way to #1, and made me want to smash the radio whenever it came on. I actually had the privilege of seeing Nick Gilder in concert back then, as warm-up act for some southern rock outfit playing Pittsburgh (I think it was the Outlaws, but I went to a lot of southern rock shows back then)... Let's just say that it wasn't exactly the ideal audience for gelding Gilder, I remember a lot of stuff being thrown on stage, and his set cut short.

The Loner

I liked the way the one tree stands off from the others. The title is inspired by the Neil Young song of the same name... This is Sliver Lake Park, in Highland, IL. It's not far from my work, a great place to spend lunchtime.

Skunked!

From Billboard's "This Day In Music" site:
on this day in 1974, Guitarist Jeff Baxter quits Steely Dan and joins the Doobie Brothers. I always liked Skunk Baxter, even though he invited Michael McDonald to ruin the Doobies..... "For example, when I joined the Doobie Bros I brought Michael McDonald to the band, I think you would agree that there was a definite change. "

But I Did Not Shoot The Deputy.....

Eric Clapton's #1 version of the reggae standard "I Shot The Sheriff" made its Top 40 debut today (8/3), back in 1974. For some reason, this song really bugs my 18 year old daughter, she usually makes me turn it off. She says it's the repetitive-ness, but that seems unlikely, considering some of the other stuff which doesn't offend.......

Pine Cone Market

This is among the first photographs I took with my fist SLR, my Canon TX. If my moldy memory serves, this was during spring break, 1975. Near Winchester, VA, where Rt. 17 cut across from I-81 to I-95. This was our DC-bypass driving from Pittsburgh to points south, and a great drive back in the 2-lane days. This abandoned gas station was maybe a mile east of the I-81 interchange, I took this shot from the back seat of a moving car. I've always liked this picture, although it was taken before I really knew what I was doing. Even then I had a "thing" for old buildings....

Fame, Fame, Fame, Fame.......

On this date (8/2) in 1975, David Bowies biggest hit of the 70's made its Top 40 debut. "Fame" would end up topping the pop charts, as owie's only #1 (of the 70's). I remember listening to this one while crusing around with my cousins in North Carolina in late summer of '75.... I'm not a very big fan of Bowie's later stuff (Let's Dance, China Girl, Blue Jean), but the 70's stuff is great. And, of course, Ziggy Stardust and The Spiders From Mars is classic.

More Sycamore.....

Another shot of my backyard sycamore tree. I remember looking up sycamore trees someplace, back when I was “foresting” our yard. Whatever source I was looking at declared them to be nuisance trees. Said that they shed their bark, and drop branches and have lots of huge leaves that fall off in autumn. All of which is true, but doesn’t bug me a bit! 15 years down the road, I wish I'd planted more of these, and less silver maples.