I've been away for a while. Life took an unexpected turn, I learned some hard lessons, and came away with a better understanding of myself and the people around me. Grateful for the growth, and glad to be sharing things again.

It's been 3 years since the highly successful MSP Shkp (and associated Mike Watt concert). On my way home I found this gem of a hot dog stand on the banks of the Mississippi in WI.

Source: https://jackcheng.com/2026...

https://www.tumblr.com/whitepeo...

#retrowork #noAI

I grabbed this from the Fangoria website:

https://www.fangoria.com/best-hor...

Looks like the original is from the back page of the Trick or Treat Studios
catalog:

https://online.fliphtml5.com/kvuxs...

this is how it's done, people

"Freeman, who worked at the hospital at the time, told hospital investigators she did not agree with federal immigration officials “separating people from their families” and that she “was going to set him free”, the FBI complaint says. The undocumented man had still not been caught by the time she was charged in August."


https://www.theguardian.com/us-news...

Here’s a dog. Titan.

source: https://infosec.exchange/@i0null...

source: https://jack-kirby.over-blog.com/album-13...

Awoooooo! #kirbythursday is here for October. (Concept art for Hanna-Barbara's Halloween 1981 episode of the short-lived cartoon Space Stars.)

source: https://www.laphamsquarterly.org/roundtab...

Abolition Teapot, by Josiah Wedgwood & Sons, c. 1760. Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery.

this is from a terrific set of street photography shot on Hollywood Boulevard: https://www.reddit.com/r...

We're playing a show tonight (at Pilllar in Mpls) and i remembered this photo from our last show, when our lead guitarist made a reminder for himself.

I am horrified by the alleged gang rape of a student at Cornell University by members of a fraternity. The fact that the local district attorney's office didn't think her original complaint in 2024 was worth investigating, and the DA is still engaging in victim blaming even as he reopens the case under pressure is disgusting.
https://www.bbc.com/news...

Aesculus hippocastanum puts on quite a show.

(First shot was taken April 14th, last one was today)

artist: maria jesus contreras
artist’s site:
https://www.mariajesuscontreras.com/

via Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/p...

Yep.

Source: https://www.instagram.com/sseongryul/

source: https://www.tumblr.com/cult-pul...

Sadly so. And sad for the cost of everything else.

source: https://bsky.app/profile...

Some small finishing details to do, but it's a complete working bass now. I only have an hour of playing on it so far, but i like it - it's comfortable to play and at least on my little practice amp sounds great.

The project started with the pickup, a re-creation of the gold foil pickups used on 1960s Harmony (and some other) basses. I bought the neck from an eBay seller but modified it a bit for my preferences and to fit the body. The body i built from scratch, it's sapele and maple, with a very thin amber varnish finish. Body shape is a fairly close copy of an aluminum-necked Kramer bass. There's only 1 knob for volume, there's a static tone circuit that's the same as if the tone knob was always turned fully up.

I'll have the first band practice with it tonight, and will probably let it settle in a bit before bringing it to shows. I'm really pleased with how it turned out, just what i was hoping for when it was still just a graph paper drawing earlier this summer.

Full project writeup with many more photos here:
http://bill.fidean.net/projects...

Unprecedented warm ocean temperatures have brought new fish and their prey to this latitude. But these guys are not taking to it, to the rate of one dead bird every ten or so feet along the beach. At the north end we saw this guy facing a cliff, his back to a bloodbath.