Hello. This is Charlie Trotter.

Bless This House - Mahalia Jackson This is such a good song....

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 16:02:36 -0600

Bless This House - Mahalia Jackson

This is such a good song. From what I hear in her voice and from what little I’ve seen of her in videos, she seemed like such a sweet soul. This song really shows off the range of her voice: soft cooing and mighty shouting. It’s the kind of song worth stopping to give your full attention. Enjoy.

Charles J. Waller was my Pawpaw. He served in WW2. I don’t...

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 11:01:18 -0600

Charles J. Waller was my Pawpaw. He served in WW2. I don’t abide war with any romance or pride or sense of righteous justice. However, Pawpaw took immediate part in liberating at least one concentration camp. He set eyes on all the horrors therein. I can’t imagine the life-long nightmares lurking the minds of the men who witnessed those scenes, nor of the people who survived them. I don’t reckon that’s a matter of staying positive or memorizing some platitude and hoping it will keep you from wanting to tear your eyes out. So, if there is any sense of pride, it is that he had a chance and eagerness to help free the dying.

He and Mimi spent the first several years of their marriage apart. That top photo is Mimi seeing off he and Uncle Jack. It’s so amazing someone caught this moment. I’m glad you can’t see either of their faces; it allows them to be everyone.

The second photo is the two of them together in those days, and the last is one of my favorite shots of those precious dears of mine. Oh, I miss them. I spent some of the happiest memories of my life with them, and their love was such a powerful gift to me. I couldn’t have processed at the time how much it would shape me. I only knew the full, satisfied, secure feeling of being the object of their love, and they the objects of mine. And not to the exclusion of anyone else in the family, there is just something special God sets aside for grandparents and grandchildren.

comicallyvintage: Superman’s Girl Friend, Lois Lane ...

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 09:53:21 -0600

comicallyvintage:

Superman’s Girl Friend, Lois Lane #116

Wasn’t this an episode of House?

Veer (via Dunny) Paul Octavious is a talented photographer...

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 09:34:48 -0600

Veer (via Dunny)

Paul Octavious is a talented photographer I’ve been following for a while. If you’ve visited Threadless in the last two years, you’ve likely seen his work in product shots. My favorite, though, is his series of Puffin Clouds, followed quickly by his recent series, The Black Stuff, in which he melts vinyl into pestilential black clouds. Very Old Testament, and beautifully poignant.

Above he has entered a competition on Veer’s site where you’re supposed to recreate their logo out of all kinds of things and photograph it. A little narcissistic on Veer’s part, perhaps, but the results are quite nice. I’d like to ask you to go vote for Paul’s entry, and, when you’re done doing that, I’d like to ask you to keep up with his work, because it’s excellent.

Evie improvised a ‘T’ with available magnets.

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 18:18:53 -0600

Evie improvised a ‘T’ with available magnets.

"I’m guessing my sandwich artist blew his National Endowment for the Arts grant money on weed."

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 16:22:47 -0600

“I’m guessing my sandwich artist blew his National Endowment for the Arts grant money on weed.”

- Rex Huppke

merlin: Weezer - “Undone” [1994, Jon Stewart...

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 12:44:54 -0600

merlin:

Weezer - “Undone” [1994, Jon Stewart Show]

Whoa-oo-whoa-oo-whooooaaah…

Jesus, that looks like so much fun.

Boy, have the years ever been kind to Tina Fey.

Patrons of the Flying J truck stop have a well developed sense...

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 11:45:57 -0600

Patrons of the Flying J truck stop have a well developed sense of irony.

So it’s come to this.

Sat, 07 Nov 2009 13:05:42 -0600

So it’s come to this.

Love. This. Kid. (via chaztoo)

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 22:08:05 -0600

Love. This. Kid. (via chaztoo)

Poor Sojourner Truth. She was born too early.

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 16:37:10 -0600

Poor Sojourner Truth. She was born too early.

Swapping Yarns at the Heavy Metal Song Writer's Guild

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 14:20:12 -0600

Lars: How was your Summer?

Sven: I rode into the village on a werewolf, killed and ate the townspeople, then burned it to the ground.

Lars: Um... hello! Have you written that song yet?

ME: Give me the Egon. BARBER: Cartoon or live action? ME:...

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 17:51:14 -0600

ME: Give me the Egon. BARBER: Cartoon or live action? ME: Cartoon. All the way.

I’m only 30. When did I start using my shirt pockets?

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 09:52:48 -0600

I’m only 30. When did I start using my shirt pockets?

Bucilla ® Counted Cross Stitch - Picture Kits - Mona Lisa I...

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 12:53:26 -0600

Bucilla ® Counted Cross Stitch - Picture Kits - Mona Lisa

I think I just found a new hobby.

The Jungle

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 08:53:44 -0600

I finished reading Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle a week ago. The copy I borrowed was well edited by Maura Spiegel to include a time line of Sinclair’s life and its historical context. Barnes & Noble may be killing the independent bookstore, but their cheap reprints are not without virtue.

Many people probably know the book was influential in Theodore Roosevelt’s passing the Pure Food and Drug Act. Roosevelt was a Republican, which is why it is amazing to me, in light of our current political climate, he would have had anything to do with Sinclair, a known Socialist. Instead of renouncing Sinclair as a raging, frothing Socialist and his book as unabashed, unveiled propaganda (To be sure, it was just that, a fact Sinclair owned with pride.), he invited him to the White House for a visit. I highly recommend your reading Roosevelt’s letter. He clearly disagrees with Sinclair’s politics while accepting the seriousness of his claims about the packing industry. That seems like reasonable, sane and downright adult behavior. Send me a postcard.

Think of how that would go over in 2009. Think of President Obama trying to pass an act based on what he read in a book written by an evangelistic Socialist, originally published serially in a Socialist newspaper and which ends in a thorough, impassioned case for Socialism so unconcerned at that point with the story, Jurgis Rudkus is treated more like a mysteriously reappearing dinning room chair than a protagonist. There would be mutiny. Obama was accused of planting the seeds of Fascism when he asked America to offer an extra helping of community service in remembrance of 9/11. I’m not pretending I’m in possession of History’s big picture here, but I will say my guts tell me we are doing this discussion wrong.

(raw steak image via Food & Water Watch)

Gov’t Mule-Presence of the Lord (via Billotron)

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 10:41:29 -0600

Gov’t Mule-Presence of the Lord (via Billotron)

Go give this a star right this minute. The link in the toot goes...

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 09:06:57 -0600

Go give this a star right this minute. The link in the toot goes out here. It is really something special.

This is a slide from a presentation I’m working on....

Mon, 02 Nov 2009 10:13:36 -0600

This is a slide from a presentation I’m working on. I’m presenting to the Contemporary Christian Consumables Trust, a conglomeration of the top five producers in the industry. Sales are down due to the economy and they are struggling to find a way to keep profits high without layoffs. This is a classic case of needing to diversify their consumer base. Are Contemporary Christians the only ones who would enjoy the “My boss is a Jewish Carpenter.” bumper sticker? I submit to you: No.

delgrosso: thememegeneration: laurandlime: EL ATENEO: A...

Mon, 02 Nov 2009 09:50:31 -0600

delgrosso:

thememegeneration:

laurandlime:

EL ATENEO: A theatre turned into a library. Gorgeous right?

For Tony.

Oh great Caesar’s ghost. I think I need to change my underpants now.

Tony, I’m so glad to read I’m not the only one who has to poop at the sight of a well-stocked library. Solidarity, brother.