Saturday Morning Soul - THE FATBACK BAND

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R.I.P. Harvey Korman

HARVEY KORMAN (1927-2008)

What The Hell?

Tim Schuster found these pics and sent them to me. There is a lake somewhere out there where people have seen and photographed this creature. I would imagine that if you have a sighting you should keep your distance. Move over Loch Ness Monster, there is a new creature in the lake.

Happy Birthday Shuf and Turner

2 years ago the LA, Phoenix, and San Diego crews converged upon San Felipe, Mexico for a wild Memorial weekend celebrating Shuf's and Turner's birthday. See the participants here.

Those who were there know the story. 

Springfield

While doing a google search for Gary Carter I came across this map of Springfield from the Simpsons. It is pretty cool and very detailed. I don't know what relationship there is between Gary Carter and Springfield. Maybe he once played catcher for the Springfield Isotopes. To download the map go here.

100 Years Ago Today

OIL DISCOVERED IN THE MIDDLE EAST

Today, more than ever, oil is on everyone's minds. This weekend in California the price of a gallon of gas rose above $4. Five years ago when I move to California gas was $1.63 a gallon, and I thought that was expensive. 

On May 26, 1908 a British team discovered oil in Persia (now Iran) after 7 years of searching. William D'Arcy had sent explorer George Reynolds to the Middle East to find oil. D'Arcy was about to lose everything he owned funding the fruitless expedition until Reynolds made one last attempt at drilling and struck oil on this date 100 years ago. The company would later become know as British Petroleum or BP as we know it now.

Today record high oil prices are making oil companies record profits and causing hardships on consumers and the economy. In 2003 a barrel of oil cost around $30. Today it cost $133.

Here is a clip from Werner Herzog's 1992 film "Lessons Of Darkness" about the oil fires after the Gulf War in 1991.

I Have To Hand It To JUSTICE, Their Videos Are Bad Ass

Stress

DVNO

Dance

Saturday Morning Soul - ROCKMASTER SCOTT AND THE DYNAMIC 3

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Tree By The Lake

Monday I decided late in the day, 3:30pm, to drive 2 hours to the dry lakebed at El Mirage to shoot a Joshua tree. I had spent the weekend at home avoiding the record heat and making great progress on some personal projects. I had been thinking about going out there to shoot the tree at sunset and it seemed like a good way to get out of the apartment and the city as well. 

I got there around 6 after a quick side trip to Lake Los Angeles which turns out to be a small desert town, not a body of water. I found the tree which is at the entrance to the park and I had time to go out on the dry lakebed. For most of an hour I was the only car out there. It is a lot fun to drive around miles of open space with no speed limits or other traffic. Inspired by a past trip to the lakebed where Joe attached a video camera to his car, I decide to try the same and I just happen to have a clamp to do it. I made a video from the footage. See the video below.

A Porsche showed up so I headed to the tree to give him some room.  I shot the tree until dark. Here is a trio of images of the progression of the sunset. 

Stub Stories #5

GEORGE CLINTON AND THE P-FUNK ALLSTARS

1993. Mike Snee and I met up after work to drive to Greensboro to see George Clinton. I was living in Raleigh at the time so I had to leave straight from work. Greensboro was an hour and a half drive. We made it to the show in time to get our seats before the show started. George Clinton and the P-Funk Allstars took the stage at 8. There were no openning bands. The band was huge. Maybe 10 or so members. One guitarist was wearing a diaper and another was wearing a wedding gown. Clinton had his colorful mane of hair. Every song was an extended jam. Sometimes up to 10-15 minutes long. They played all the hits, "Maggot Brain", "Chocolate City", "Flashlight". 

It was a sort of homecoming for Clinton because he is from North Carolina. At one point he brought members of his family on stage to honor them. It was a party atmosphere and there seemed to be nothing stopping the party. At 11pm the band had been playing for 3 hours and there were no signs of slowing. Finally, at midnight Mike and I threw in the towel. We could not give up the funk anymore. It was time for us to head back to Raleigh. As we walked out of the auditorium George Clinton and the P-Funk Allstars were still playing with no signs of stopping. I don't know how long they kept playing but for all I know they could have still been playing by the time I made it home around 2am. 

10 Toys That Made You Gay

What If Javier Bardem's "No Country For Old Men" Character Was Very Effeminate

28 Years Ago Today

IAN CURTIS kills himself. 

Ian Curtis was the singer of Joy Division who are best know for their song "Love Will Tear Us Apart".  Just before heading to America for their first American Tour Ian tragically killed himself. 

CONTROL,  a movie about the life of Ian Curtis by Anton Corbijn was released last year. It is an excellent film and I recommend you watch it. Sorry if I spoiled the ending. 

Rocket Man

In the movie Ironman Tony Starks builds a suit that is capable of flying at high speeds. A jet pilot has developed his own flying suit which isn't as cool as Ironman's but it is impressive.

Saturday Morning Soul - DAVID RUFFIN

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2 Years Ago In Mexico

Play That Funky Music

Morehead PSA

I found this old video of a band visiting my hometown. It was filmed a little before I was born and made me nostalgic so I looked for more videos. I didn't find any other older videos like it. Hopefully some will appear in the future. Here are some videos I found featuring Morehead City and Atlantic Beach including my video from last fall. 

A band visits Atlantic Beach in 1966

Come live your dream 

Graveyard of the Atlantic

Not so great skateboarding in Morehead, but cool video

My last trip home

Truck Racing

27 Years Ago Today

BOB MARLEY dies of complications of cancer in 1981.

Mr. No Legs Will Kick Your Ass

Saturday Morning Soul - MARY JANE GIRLS

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Shreds Lives!

I'm happy to see that the series of Shreds videos created by Santeri Ojala still exist after disappearing from youtube. Funny stuff.

Eddie Van Halen

Paco De Lucia

Jake E Lee

Metallica

Santana

Hey Man, Nice Shot #4

SHAWN LINEHAN

Shawn Linehan is a photographer in Portland, OR. She is an old friend from photography school in NC. She has been working on a project called Matrixes. She mirrors an image 4 ways to create amazing patterns and designs out of everyday landscapes. Very cool stuff. Check them out.

Flickr collection.

Website.

I Like This Song

MIKA MIKO

Donny Miller

See more of Donny Miller's work here.

Saturday Morning Soul - THE BLOG

Introducing:

Kill Palm Trees presents a new blog that scans the internet for classic soul music performances. Saturday Morning Soul. Start your weekend right or recover from Friday night with the sweet sounds of soul music. 

Saturday Morning Soul - JIMMY CLIFF

Why Am I Watching This?

Curse you Time Warner On Demand. 

One night while seeing what On Demand has to offer I came across a show called Bad Girls Club. I had to see what it is about. From the creators of Real World, Bad Girls Club puts 7 women with problems and large attitudes in a house with plenty of alcohol. This show is like a car wreck. You pass by but you just have to look. I'm ashamed to say that thanks to On Demand I have seen most of the episodes and I just can't stop looking. Yes my brain is rotting away.