While you was makin' Motown so big...

...there were more people out there contributing to the United States of America's music.

You might know them, Mister pResident, if you and your wifey had any concept of US history.











And, because neither Obama knows very much about the history of music in Chicago, I leave you with this:



Then, there's my favorite, because when I was a production Artist on "The Blues Brothers" in 1979, someone high up made a mistake and I had to kerosene-clean the character's car.

The character was CURTIS, played by Cab Calloway, who came up to me and asked, "Baby, What you doing to my car?"

I replied, shaking in my shoes, "Erm, Mr. Calloway, sir...someone wanted it aged down, but Mr. Landis wants it perfectly clean."

"Well, baby, can I help you?", Mr. Calloway asked.

"No, sir...that would be against union rules, sir.", I answered.

But he hung out with me anyway, and watched and talked as I gave his 'funeral car' two kerosene washes, a couple of Tide washes, and the final Windexing.

My mother, for some reason, loved this man as a performer. Me? I just loved him for who he was that day. Talk about COOL?



And, lest we forget the man--Ray Charles! If Ray was still alive, I'm certain he could teach Barky O how to dance, don't you think?

It's getting late for me...

...but, as I scrape the last remains from the Nutella jar, I wonder just why the MOO is trying so hard to look like June Cleaver?

She wasn't even a twinkle 'on Daddy's lap' until 1964 (the year I graduated from High School--so she doesn't know anything, as I went to a private school in Milwaukee, and she went to lowest-rated Chicago public schools.

That is why, at 47 years old, she is FIRST BEGINNING TO LEARN about nutrition!

All this garbage because she is black, and apparently she thinks blacks don't give a crap about nutrition--that is what she is saying.

I have a few black friends who say differently: they know and understand nutrition...and could take down this MOO at a moment's notice!

Bill the Cat is wondering why MOO salutes SEIU, because he misunderstood and brought long his 'Easter bonnet'! And he's also wondering why the back of her dress (which you cannot see) is, in fact, SEIU PURPLE, just like Jill's outfit!

Then, I wonder why her hubby, Barky, looks so ill lately (as though he may be HIV POS);

it's not as if he didn't know his daddy...just take a good look at his oldest daughter; you'll see Malcolm X (Little Shabazz) right there, alright! Butt...he's been a play-around-boy, especially here in Chicago, so many say.

Many say, you ask? Why not check out what the boys at www.hillbuzz.org have had to say in the past, re: Barky, Man's Country and, yes...Rahm, the mayor-elect of Chicago. (NOTA BENE: Hillbuzz is trading over to their new, improved website, so be patient. I am certain their archives will be available shortly.).

I'm also wondering why no one seems to understand Governor Scott Walker and his entire position re: the Dem-idiots who ran away.

Just wonderin'...like a normal citizen of the United States of America should be doin'--RIGHT?

I ask, again, for a few more minutes of your life...this could be the antidote to the Obamas

Watch...and listen.

You all deserve a break...today...tomorrow...and every day!



Outside the box of playing guitar...and beautiful music...has entered our Universe!

Beautifully produced, and even more beautifully incepted!

And 'fingering' is fast becoming a lost art, I fear.

Got a few minutes?

You might want to 'make time to take time' to watch this very--no--extremely well-done presentation. I found it at http://alwaysonwatch3.blogspot.com/ . You can view it here:

Then, watch it again, take some more time, and REALLY think about Liberty and Freedom, won't you please?

Sometimes...

...it's just better to stop--and play Solitaire, isn't it?

I consider myself 'a thinking person', as do many of you. Yet, at times, I have to let the brain calm down--and what better way to do it than play Solitaire, which, though boring, seems to relieve a lot of stress, and still allows enough of a challenge to keep the brain functioning?

This past week, the entire world seems to have gone 'off its rocker', hasn't it?

The Moslems have gone nutzoid, as have the unions and all the Democrats, including Obama re: the DOMA situation.

This doped-up Prez MUST realize (and come to grips with) the fact that HE is not the Judicial branch of the government of the United States of America.

HE is merely the head of the Executive branch...and MUST LEARN to conduct himself accordingly.

He (and his wifey!) must NOT be allowed to think he is our DICTATOR--ever!

And personally, I think he is a PUTZ!

It was a Sunday morning...

...in 1979, when I was working as a Production Artist here in Chicago on a film called "The Blues Brothers".

I had a boss, Gary Osborn, and his second-in-command, Jerry Palermo, who were members of the Studio Mechanics union out of Los Angeles. We were all working for Universal Studios on this film, but we found some spare time to walk around and shoot photos. Gary was very interested in photography. As a thank-you gift, I bought him a new lens for his camera. He was thrilled.

These are my pix, from a Sunday morning along S. Halsted Avenue, showing a couple of what we then called 'bums'. I wish I had Gary's shots!

The necessary bottle

The necessary 'air' guitar

Just why the crib was out in the middle of nowhere, and just what was written on the head and footboards...I have no idea any longer.

Just thought the whole post might be of interest to someone...somewhere?

A message from a troll...

...and I laugh.

"You'll never hear from me again"--Anonymous

Oh, the dichotomy!

Instead, if you'd like to know more about me...you might watch, and listen closely to, this:

I'm certain it's still there...

...somewhere near Cedarburg, Wisconsin.

Fences, these days, seem to block out everything in the name of 'privacy'. This fence was welded, piece by piece, and became ART.

These are 35mm film shots, scanned, and with no retouch, turned into digital photos. I took them with a borrowed Pentax in 1979. The negatives have been stored away in glassine envelopes all these years. There is no evident deterioration.

And...it's really nice to see these! I can finallly print some of my favorites from a time when I was exclusively shooting black and white!

ON: Birthdays

Just when we think we are crumbling, the Creator shows us the enigma of life: the complexity of the simplest of designs.

I had a thought today, as I retouched these shots I took 32 years ago. I hope you like them, at least a bit, as I no longer have these shells--I gave them away in 1987, when I was going to move to Italy. I continue to find surprises, as I look back on my life.

Eroded Shell-1979

Inside the Chambered Nautilus-1979

I had a thought today, as I retouched these shots from thirty-two years ago:

Marine life, according to the Bible, was created BEFORE Man.

Therefore, as these simple shells are so complex in their design, THAT design is technically older than Man. Think about that.

For those of you who may have a birthday (as does my friend, www.alwaysonwatch3.blogspot.com whom I am very priveleged to know), know that we, the sixth-day creation, are loved and protected by our Creator because of our faith.