A different take on folk songs

Butch Ross is another favorite from the Kentucky Music Festival. I stumbled on this video while I was researching the "Shady Grove" post. His version of that song was too long to use, but I grabbed this one--a favorite of mine--to share instead.

Yes, that is a dulcimer he's playing. Yes, he's standing up, but it's still a dulcimer.

Enjoy!

Bound for the Shady Grove

If there's anything sweeter than Emmylou Harris singing with Jean Ritchie, I cannot imagine what it is. This has to be the perfect combination: Emmylou and Jean singing a Carter Family song on Mountain Stage. If heaven exists, this is what it must sound like.



I've never been to Mountain Stage, but I've seen both performers a few times. Emmylou Harris is, of course, the Goddess of Music, as anyone who has hung out at this blog should well know. Jean Ritchie is one of those musical legends I am so glad I got to see before it was too late. She has been a regular at the Kentucky Music Festival here in Louisville for years and years. Seeing her is always a rare and special treat.

A couple of years ago, Keith went backstage to have her sign a picture he had taken of her performing. Her husband, who is a photographer, started chatting with Keith about cameras. Before long, she told both of them to either be quiet or leave the area so she could hear the other performers. Keith still regards being shushed by Jean Ritchie to be one of the highlights of his life!

Here's a bonus video of Jean Ritchie singing "Shady Grove" back in the day. This is probably my favorite traditional tune.



I first heard this song at the "Down from the Mountain" tour that started in Louisville a few years ago. I think it was the second DTM tour. Emmylou sang "Blue Kentucky Girl" and I was just in heaven.

Patty Loveless was filling in for Allison Krauss and one of the songs she did was a version of "Shady Grove." Loveless had just released her Mountain Soul album, which was a kind of a tribute to the mountain music she grew up with. She sang "You'll Never Leave Harlan Alive" that night and made the hair on my arm stand up.

What I remember most about her version of "Shady" was that she accompanied her band by beating a rhythm on her hips as she sang. It was actually kind of comical. For a long time after that, every time we heard the song, I'd start slapping my hips in time.

Not sure why I like this song so much. The driving melody, particularly when played on a banjo is kind of compelling. It's also kind of refreshing to hear a traditional tune about love that doesn't end with someone getting killed.

Like a lot of traditional songs, this one has been recorded and performed innumerable times. A search on YouTube turns up dozens of performances, by both the well-known, the less known, and the unknown. Wikipedia has an incomplete list of artists who have performed the song.

Another characteristic of traditional music is the variety of versions that exist. Some verses are more common in some regions than others. According to Wikipedia, over 300 verses have been claimed for Shady Grove.

Probably the most common variation comes in the chorus. The last line ranges from "I'm going to go away" to "I'm bound for the Shady Grove" (as in Jean Ritchie's version above) to a popular version here in Kentucky that says "I'm going back to Harlan."

Harlan is a city in Southeast Kentucky. I'm convinced that someone around these parts realized that "darlin'" and "Harlan" kind of rhymed and a new chorus was born:

"Shady Grove, my little dove (or love)
Shady Grove, my darlin"
Shady Grove, my little love (or dove)
I'm goin' back to Harlan"

Obviously, that's the version I'm most familiar with.

When my mom bought my great-grandparents' farm fifteen or so years ago, she referred to it for a while as "Shady Grove Farm" which kind of had a nice rhythm to it, since it was located in Falls of Rough, Kentucky on Pleasant Run Road.

Shady Grove Farm
Pleasant Run Road
Falls of Rough, Kentucky

Sounds like a quaint, peaceful place, doesn't it? Almost makes you want to visit. Living there was kind of my mom's dream for a long time. I'm glad that she got to do it for so many years before she got sick. The place was auctioned off several weeks ago. Somebody else will develop it according to their own vision. But a part of it will always be my great-grandparents old farm, my mom's home, Shady Grove Farm.

I just can't be bound for that particular Shady Grove any more.

Back to the musicology, there's some speculation that this British folk song is the basis for "Shady Grove" given their similar melodies. It's a good old tune in the "someone's got to die" tradition. There's an annoying midi file of the song that starts up when you get to the site, so turn your speakers down.

And in amongst the recordings and performances by the usual suspects, there are a few surprises. One of them is this gem, by the Stray Cats, which is surprisingly faithful to the song's roots:



And, with that, I'm bound for the Shady Grove myself. Or am I going back to Harlan? I never can remember....

It's been way too long...

...Since I posted a Go-Gos video! I should make up for that right now, I guess. I don't know what this one is from, but it looks interesting, especially with that clip of Jane talking about the origin of the song.

The other day in Half-Price Books, I found a copy of Belinda's memoirs, then promptly spent the better part of an hour skimming through it. I've put it on my list of books to track down. Can't even afford a half-price copy right now. Maye for my birthday.

Addenda and Updates and stuff

Thanks for your patience and forbearance with last week's "Yard Sale Week" extravaganza. I was looking on an old flash drive and found those pics. I had originally taken them to make a blog post about yard sale finds from several weekends. That was at least two years ago.

What is most interesting about them is that they all date from a time well before I ever thought about renting a booth. Okay, well, I was kind of thinking about it, but had not yet gotten to the point of taking any definite steps. In other words, I was out yard saling for fun and not profit.

The little globe things all came from the same house. There were a ton of them there and I bought them all. I think they were a buck a piece. They all used to hold water, like snow globes. You can see some left in one of the Mary globes. I remember this weekend really well because Keith and I were out on our bikes as a part of Worldwide Car Free Day. It's difficult to yard sale by bike, but not impossible! I've done it more than a few times since.

At one point, I was thinking about doing regular blog posts about my finds, hence the photos. I ultimately decided against it as being a little self-indulgent. Even the few such posts I've done recently really don't strike me as anything anyone would want to read, even from the point of view of the booth. I think instead, I'll stick with focusing on the most interesting/unique/fun items I find. So expect more of that in the future.

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Speaking of the booth, I'm well over 500 in gross sales this month, so every day is like a new record for me. I'd love to top 600, but we'll still have to wait and see on that. I'm cautiously optimistic. Another month or two like these past two and I'll start feeling like this is something I can consistently do and not just some sort of fluke. My new wild-eyed dream is to gross enough over 600 that I can take home 400 after the rent for the next month is deducted. We'll see. If nothing else, it's a new goal.

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Since I haven't been blogging for so long, it's been ages since I've done any kind of linking to anything in literally forever, so it's time to make up for that a little.

One of the women behind the always excellent Yard Sale Bloodbath went to Europe this summer and presented this report on what it's like to shop second-hand overseas. It's fun reading.

Meanwhile, at Yard Sale Queen, Her Majesty recently encountered some questionable decorating choices.

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I'm realizing that I need to overhaul my links and such, and maybe even my template. I'm adding that to my list of things to do over the next few weeks.

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Among other things I want to do:

A photo tour of the booth(s) these days
Something about what I look for when I go out merch-hunting
Something about camping
And (finally) some stuff about Mom's passing

It's actually been about three weeks, and I'm still keeping up with this thing. It's only taken five years, but I may have finally become a blogger.

And now that I've said that, this will turn out to be the last thing I post for six months. Just you watch. I have now tempted fate. And fate hates me.

This is another thing I made...

This is a thing I made...

And then there appeared from nowhere...

...A Multitude of Marys! (Mary's? Maries? Marii?)

Possibly the Most....um....Unique Item I've Ever Picked Up at a Yard Sale

Just to clarify:

1. It was morbid curiosity that prompted the purchase
2. This is a new, sealed box.
3. It has not been used since purchase
4. It was part of a "fill a box for 5 dollars" deal at the end of a sale.

St Joe Under Glass

Another old pic of yard sale finds

Okay, so it's really plastic. But "St. Joe Under Plastic" doesn't sound as cool.

And then there was the time the gnomes rose up against their oppressors

Flee the power of the Gnome Movement!

It's a Plethora of Popes!

An old pic of some yard sale finds.

Some Candye for a Saturday

Candye Kane that is! She's the toughest girl alive, you know.



She's one performer I would love to see live, but she doesn't make it through these parts very often. I have a hard enough time tracking down her CD's.

This ones for all us nerds

Been a hectic week and I'm kind of brain-fried. Looking forward to the weekend to catch up son some things, yard sale a bit, and rest and recharge. Here's something to tide you over until I can return with real content:

Some call it Booty!

I call it Treasure! Either way, it sells (and re-sells) the same. Here's a look at some of the finds from my Labor Day weekend excursions. You can kind of get an idea of some of the things I look for when I'm out hunting for booth stuff.

These three shots are part of the Unique haul:







The booth was in part an outgrowth of not only my comic book and book habit, but also my collection of religious articles. I simply needed to clear some of that stuff out and felt it would take more than a yard sale to do it. It's established itself as one of the niches for my booth and I have regular visitors who search out these items. Not just Catholic-oriented items either. You can see the menorah and dreidel in the last picture. Judaica moves well for me. I also do pretty good with Buddhist and Hindu items, when I can find them. Carrying this stuff has not only enabled me to work on thinning my collection down to a few choice pieces, it's greatly reduced my urge to hang on to them. It's like I'm satisfying my interest in them by providing them for others to buy.

That big blue thing in the second photo is a University of Kentucky Santa hat, of course. And you didn't think such a thing existed. While it's not quite Santa-hat season yet, it is almost autumn, making all the Halloween gear in the last photo seasonally appropriate.

This next batch is part of the flea market stuff:







No real pattern to point out here, just a bunch of random stuff I think I can resell. The middle pic is the nerd haul. I'll keep most of the comics, I think. I'll get rid of the Silver Surfer book after I read it. I've been wanting to get ahold of that one for a while. I think that John Buscema's art with its heavy blacks and dark backgrounds of space will look really good in black and white, something you really can't say about a lot of other mainstream comics art that was intended for color publication. I always pick up CD's and DVD's when I can get them cheap enough, regardless of the artist or movie. It's good to have a small stock of those on hand at all times. Some of the items in these pics are actually new items I picked up to try and market as gift ideas for the holidays.

And a couple of final shots:



This is the infamous Easy Bake Oven from the flea market. I forgot to take a pic before I had it priced for the booth. The pans and instructions are in front. I bagged them and taped the bag to the top of the oven so everything would stay together. When I bought it, the pans had been jammed inside and I didn't even know they were there until I was putting it in the car. It was a cool deal.



Another religious pic. I got this one because it's different from the more Catholicky, flowy Jesus stuff I usually see. This looks like a pic from an old Sunday School class. I thought it was kind of charming. The fact that it is framed is a plus. Framed religious pics move pretty well for me.

Well, that's about it for now. That's not everything I got, but a few highlights. Not so sure a photo-tour of my shopping spree would be that interesting. I'm going to try and do some new photos and maybe some video at the booth soon. Until then, take care and remember everyone:



And so does He-Man's tiger's butt!

Thrift Store Madness

Labor Day was a Monday holiday, and like a lot of recent Monday holidays, I celebrated the holiday at the Unique Thrift Store half off sale, which they do every Monday holiday.

Now, I didn't get up before the crack of dawn and go stand in line for an hour (or more) before they opened, although I did do that once. I've since realized that they keep restocking all day long, so if I miss out on something, there will be something else to take its place. Besides, if you don't know you missed out on it, did you really miss anything?

I have shopped at the Uniques ever since I came to Louisville, over 20 (!) years ago. One of my earliest purchases there was a black London Fog vintage trench style overcoat/raincoat that I bought for five bucks. I just loved it and wore it everywhere, until Christmas, when my brother talked me out of it.

If it hs ever existed, you can eventually find it at Unique. This I truly believe. Especially at the older store, which is in this old warehouse in one of the poorer parts of town. Shopping there is an amazing experience, which is not to be missed in my book. One time when my brother spent a weekend her and he wanted to do "Louisville things" one of the places I took him was Unique, where I ran into a co-worker and her husband who were shopping for outfits for work.

I've seen a lot of complaining in some online forums that the prices at Unique are high for a thrift, and to an extent that's true. They certainly are much higher than they used to be, but they're by no means outrageous. It's still more than possible to find several good bargains there in a short visit.

For resale purposes, I do have to rely on the half price day to be able to put stuff in my booth and make a profit, but for ordinary thrifting, Unique is more than worth a visit. In the pre-booth days, I'd make a list of thrift stores in town and Keith and I would visit them as a part of the celebration. The Uniques were always on the list.

Part of the fun of a Unique visit is wandering through the furniture and large items (and the nick nacks) and seeing what turns up. I've seen antique wheelchairs and prams in there, and once saw a really old prosthetic leg.

One of the reasons people try to get there before the doors open on the sale days is to get a cart. There just are not enough carts in the store to accommodate everyone. Carrying a lot of stuff in your arms just isn't practical. People will wait by the registers to get a cart from someone checking out. On Labor Day, I spent about half an hour doing that myself. Only at Unique. Other things I have tried include getting large bags from the luggage and purse sections to carry stuff around the store. I've not gone so far as to bring my own cart, but it's not uncommon to see that on the half proce day.

The second Unique is in a former store, so it doesn't have the atmosphere of the older one, which takes away from the experience a bit. The prices there seem to be a little lower on some things as well. It's still awfully hard to get a cart there on sale days, though.

On Labor Day at the older store, a customer called the Fire Marshall to complain about the crowds. That led to a line at the door and one person being let in for each one coming out. That's the way it was when I got there. I didn't have to wait in line too long, and we could stay in there as long as we wanted. Surprisingly for the crowd control measures, it was still pretty crazy inside. I still had to avoid several aisles for the people in them, and still had to wait in line quite a while to check out.

My favorite places to check out at Unique are the racks of smaller items that they've placed in bags. You can find some real bargains there almost all the time, and on Half Price Days, it's even better. I'm a fan of bagging up set of items for my booth, so I like this approach to selling. I also like to buy someone else's set and break it down into smaller sets for resale. You can do a lot with a baggie full of toys or magnets or whatever.

Labor Day yielded some good finds for me. I got some Halloween costume items and decor to sell, some odd nick nacks, a new hoodie for me, and of course lots of bagged sets. I'll put some pics up sometime soon.

Behold! The World's Sweetest Kitty!

Yes, it's a cat blog post. Get over it. She's our little old scraggly-voiced sweet loving Bennie cat and I'll post about her if I want to!

I was messing around with my camera the other day and took these shots of her on the couch. She looked so cute, I just had to use them. She looks pretty good for an old woman of 18, huh?



She's at that age where she pretty much sleeps most of the time, but she has her active moments. Her lap detector goes off frequently, compelling her to the nearest sitting down person for a visit. she still good for a love nibble or two and an affectionate head butt. Jumping from my chair to the couch is not a problem for her, neither is getting in my chair. She started having problems getting in the bed a few years ago, so we got some steps for her, which she loves. She's not the little kitty who could jump up on top of doors (really!) any more, but she's not ready for a wheel chair yet either.



There she is, folks! You can see the marks of age on her, but she's as much a cutie pie now as she was the day we brought her and her sister into the house as babies. They were all ears and tail then. out of all the cats we've had, I can honestly say that she's the only one who has never had a single habit or behavorial issue that we had to deal with. She's just always been the best.



She's always been the low kitty on the totem pole in our house. Basil was the leader and she was always the follower. Then, when the boys came along, they both pushed her aside for higher positions. But she doesn't mind. She knows two things:

1. She's a better hunter than any of them. She's caught more mice than the much bigger, faster, younger boys.

2. She's more clever than they are. She knows all she has to do is hiss at one of the boys and they'll get in trouble for bothering her.

She was supposed to have been a boy, but turned out to be a girl. We thought Bennie was a good name for a girl too, so we kept it. It was to be short for Benedict (as in Saint Benedict), but now it's short for Benedicta.

Her full name is Gratia-Plena Benedicta Scholastica Maria-Theresa Guadalupe Evans-Mitchell. Quite a mouthful for such a little lady, huh? You can just call here "Bennie." She'll probably strike up a conversation with you if you do, she's always liked to talk.



World's Sweetest Kitty. Can there be any doubt who it is?

All Apologies!

Terribly sorry about the unplanned service interruption over the weekend. I was doing another cat-sitting gig, this time at a house with no internet access, so I was off the grid.

I had planned to drop in somewhere with wifi and update from there, but I ended up hanging around the house watching cartoons.

Oh well.

Regular blogging resumes tomorrow.

Quite Possibly The Greatest Cross-Cultural Mash-Up Ever!

Old-time all-female string band in a traditional clogging match with cheesy Kung Fu movie fighters? I'm so there!



Uncle Earl: "Streak o'Lean, Streak o'Fat"

The banjo player is shouting Mandarin phrases throughout the song, which is what I think inspired the video. I remember an interview on NPR a couple of years ago where she talked about her music studies in China and her work with a traditional Chinese instrument similar to a banjo. She eventually recorded a few songs in Mandarin on her solo album.

Here's some more Uncle Earl, this time from the River of Music Festival in Owensboro, Kentucky. I've not been to this festival, but very much hope to at some point.



Uncle Earl: "One True"

I love the line about candy bars!

Stuck in my head

So, ever since I got that Easy Bake Oven at the flea market, this song has been stuck in my head. I was humming it this morning and realized that I've never posted anything by Girlyman to the blog before.

This is a situation that simply has to be rectified immediately. So here they are singing the song that's currently stuck in my head:



Apologies that the vid is so crappy. It was honestly the best of the choices that YouTube had to offer. To make up for that, here's a better video of another of their best songs:



Funny where going to the flea market can lead, huh?

Just a thought for a Tuesday that's really a Monday

Short weeks end up seeming to be worse than the full work weeks, so here's a little humor to get you through the day.

Flea Market Follow Up

Well, it was an interesting day yesterday. Too many people there for me to take many pictures, but I did make a couple of my cart. I've always been a little shy when it comes to taking pics of things people have for sale, but there were some interesting items on display throughout.

Some thoughts:

As much as I love the flea market, I hate the crowds! I hate crowds in general, but here they make it so hard to take your time and browse. I passed some stands up just because I didn't want to fight to get over to them. That meant no food or coffee samples. Bummer!

The fairgrounds has raised parking to eight bucks, which is simply outrageous. While it didn't seem to hurt the crowds on this holiday weekend, I wonder how it will affect things during one of the non-holiday flea markets. That's an awful lot to pay for the privilege of parking your vehicle. Keith dropped me off at the front gate and picked me up there afterward, so we didn't have to pay.

Saw a lot more comic books than usual. In fact last time I was there, I only saw one or two dealers with them. This time they were everywhere! I even bought a few.

A lot of the same dealers are there from show to show, usually set up in the same spots. I like this, since it makes them easy to find. The people I get my bags and supplies from are one of the regulars. Just turn left when you go in and they're at the end of the first row. I can get that bit of business out of the way in the beginning.

There's another regular guy who usually has good stuff and his prices are pretty good, but he can be such an ass. A woman was asking about one of his items and he said to her: "You must be from Louisville. Only Louisville girls let their tits hang out like that." Sorry, dude. No money from me after that!

A whole lot of folks were going the "everything's a dollar" route in their booths, including the antique dealers. I got a lot of stuff that I never would have been able to in better economic times, including an old Easy Bake Oven, complete with pans and instructions.

Of course, there were still quite a few dealers with fancy things at fancy prices. I heard a couple of them talking at one point. Apparently, it was a good show for them too.

There seemed to be fewer of the people selling overstock groceries, cleaning supplies, and HBA stuff out of banana boxes. That's actually a good thing. A couple of years ago, they were about to overrun the place.

A couple of my favorite book dealers seem to have disappeared. I hope they just dropped Louisville from their circuit and didn't go out of business altogether.

Every time I go to a flea market and listen to the traveling dealers talk, it strikes me just how hard it must be to make a living that way

It's always a good place to do a little research about stuff. Six or eight months ago, I bought a small green glass cradle at a thrift and sold it in the booth. Never could figure out what it was for. Found out yesterday that it's a planter.

Also checked out a Holly Hobby toy oven like one I'm watching in a thrift right now. It's priced about half of the one I saw yesterday. So, now I just gotta wait a few days until the new half price tags go out and I can pick it up at a real bargain price!

And, finally, here's a couple of shots of my cart at the end of the day:



The yellow thing is the Easy Bake Oven. And, now, a side view:



The popcorn provided needed sustenance for the journey. I just love my little granny cart! It makes doing the big flea market so much easier.

All in all, very good day. Got a couple of things for me and a lot of things for the booth. I'll get some pics of the haul once I get it unloaded.

These fleas don't bite!

Heading out to the flea market today at the Kentucky Fairgrounds. I totally love the Stewart Promotions shows. I've been going since I was a kid. I remember going one time with my dad and being too sick to handle more than a couple rows of vendors. After that, I threw in the towel and went home to bed. The joke in the family was that I must have been really sick to have left the flea market before seeing the whole thing!

My flea marketing started early. In my hometown, there was a weekly flea market on Wednesdays at the stockyards. It grew out of the days when Wednesday was the day farmers took their livestock into sell. The flea market evolved as a way for them to buy tools and such on the spot. By the time I came along, you could find anything there. In the summer, my best friend Thomas and I used to head there and look for old comics. Once there was an article in a local paper about the flea market and it mentioned a boy searching through a pile of comics. I've always been convinced it was referring to one of us.

A lot of the small town roadside flea markets have gone away, but the one I went to as a kid is still there and still going. I think that's pretty cool.

Before she got sick, my mom and I would get together once or twice a year to go to this flea market. I went to the one on July 4 weekend, which was one of the ones we would go to. It was part of our celebration for her birthday, which was July 6. I really felt like I needed to go as a way to remember her. It felt strange being without her, but it also made me remember some of the fun we had going together.

My targets have gotten broader than comics these days, although I'll still look for those as well. I'll also be searching for merch, of course. The flea market has become the place where I pick up bags, stands and other supplies I need for the booth. I can find them there at a reasonable price.

There's also a special antique section this weekend. I always love to spend time in those. I usually can't afford anything (and there's definitely not much for resale), but the stuff is cool to look at. It's also a good place to learn about things I might want to know for my own reselling ventures.

I'm supposedly all grown up now, but I still love the flea market as much as I did when I was younger. Above all else, it's a fun way to spend the day. If I find anything cool or fun, I'll post about it later.

Yard Sale Round Up

Saling ended up on the light side today, for several reasons.

First, sales in general have been of a lesser quality this year. There is speculation on a forum I belong to that due to the economy people are either hanging on to their stuff longer or trying to sell it for higher prices than most of us are willing to pay. I know that I have seen even at huge annual sales less participation than in the past. The listings just weren't there for this weekend.

Second, I'm pretty well-stocked right now. I could not acquire anything for the next two months and still be able to adequately restock the booth, without even touching the backstock I have set aside for the winter months. I'm not sure how much more ahead of the curve I need to get, due to limited storage space. I do intend to keep picking stuff up, but now I can afford to be a little more selective.

Third, interestingly enough, I'm finding that I'm actually saling less now that I'm out looking for merch than I did when I was out just going for the heck of it. I tend to be a little less adventurous in my explorations now. Before, if I came up empty, it was no big deal. Now it can effect what the booth takes in. I tend to concentrate on certain neighborhoods, which are proven sources of the stuff I'm looking for and on places where I can get a lot of stuff at once: church sales, benefit sales, neighborhood sales. Not much of that action this weekend.

And, finally, the spirit was willing but the flesh was weak. I overslept considerably this morning. Consequence of being in an unfamiliar bed, I guess. I slept lousy last night, but got up early enough, then decided to lay back down for 30 minutes and ended up sleeping another couple of hours. So many folks end their sales between 11 and 12, that a late start can screw up your day.

However, there were some finds. I hit one of my favorite church sales, which thankfully was as good as past years. I got some nice vintage items, including a complete bridal shower bingo game and a stationery set.

Finds from the church sale

I also found a cool little stash of old religious items.

Religious items from sale. Item in center is small ashtray.

Everything else was kind of blah, until later in the evening, when I stumbled on someone's leftover freebie pile. Ended up pulling out a vintage wading pool, still in box, never used, plus a couple of other things. Most of it is "filler" stuff that I will use to fill out the spaces in the booth, but nothing. I would not have paid for it, but free is another matter.

Stuff from freebie pile.

Vintage pool n box. Never used!

Close up of cool pattern on pool.

So, in quantity, it ,ay all be down a little, but the quality was definitely there.

Holiday Weekend Eve

Well, I made it through the first week of the new part-time gig (henceforth NPTG) oay. It's pretty much right up my alley and I enjoy it tremendously. I only wish it was a few more hours a week, but it will work temporarily.

So I'm sitting for the weekend. Pet-sitting, that is. I'm staying in a top floor loft and keeping a 20 year old kitty (really!) company while her Daddies are away on a trip. I've been staying with her from time to time for a few years now. There are a couple of folks that I house/pet sit fir. It's a nice gig to have from time to time. It's like getting away without leaving town, so I try to treat it like a mini-vacation, with the added bonus of a little cash for doing it. It's also I good chance to veg out with some DVD's and a good book or two.

But not this weekend. It's Labor Day weekend which is a good time for yard sales in town, so I'll be out on the junk hunt. I did break 500 last month with the booth, so this time around, I'm looking too see if I can try it again. That means I got to keep the merch coming in. Luckily, there's severa; chances to do that this weekend.

Today, of course, is the above-mentioned yard saling. I've still gotta work out my route and such, but I know I'll be out there. Tomorrow, I'll be at the big flea market at the Fairgrounds. And, on Monday, I'll be hitting the half-price sale at one of the biggest thrifts in town.

All in all, a pretty full weekend for the hunt. I'll post more about my adventures as they happen. Have a good weekendl

Fair Use

Found this while cleaning out my stash of started but never finished posts. Whenever it was that I first found it, I thought that it was both clever and informative enough to want to share, so here it is.



Really well done.

Rebel Rock Armegeddon

Don't know about you all, but sometimes I feel like this for sure:



I got Rockabilly in my blood and radiation, too!

The Real Reason the Ice Caps Are Melting

It's the penguins and their damn cigarette factories!



Not to mention the smoking they do themselves!

Say it ain't so, fellas! Say it ain't so!