BlogDogIt

Summertime from Michel De Meester on Vimeo.

Not long ago the BlogDogIt article "Bitchkoemer and Friends Go to Fano" was inducted into the K+Club (a place of honor for posts that receive over 1000 hits.) This is a story featuring a travelogue wherein three "amigos" take a motorhome on an excursion to Fano for a week of Beach Buggy hijinks in conjunction with the 2009 Fano Kite Festival in Denmark.

As I was moving that article to the K+Plus hall of distinction I was devastated to learn that the original website I discovered - that commemorated their trip - had been taken off the air (yes, that is a pun.) I was however, relieved to find the embedded video (hosted on Vimeo) was still available. In the process of investigating this business I found that Michel "Bitchkomer" De Meester had recently added a couple of videos of himself playing saxophone in what appeared to be a dimly lit jazz club. One of these videos (featured above) is of a very respectable jam session among several talented artist coming together to cover the George Gershwin classic - "Summertime"

The video lacked a description and gave no indication of the location or purpose of this performance; if not for the presence of that quarky little leather overnight case, emblazoned with the hand-painted word(s) "HerbieBlues" - situated mid-stage - I might never have learned the identity of the harmonica virtuoso, who was conspicuously absent from his signiture sachel. It was a search on "HerbieBlues" that revealed the hidden world of this most unique performer.

Lucky for you that the hard part is over, all you need do now is click the play buttons on the clips that follow. So prepare to be entertained. If this selection serves to "whet your whistle" click on the HerbieBlues logo below and visit Harbert Grezel's website and get to know this mouth-organ master.

Enjoy! 

Custom Logo By masodo

BlogDogIt has been running on the Geeklog CMS platform ever since our inception in 2010. While I have many other sites going that run on various platforms it is BlogDogIt.com that gets most of my attention these days in terms of modification / customization. It is the sensible organization of files and functions within Geeklog that makes tinkering around in the code so much fun for those so inclined. Add to that a great group of developers eager to help and you will understand why the thought of moving this website to another platform has never crossed my mind.

As I am sure any frequent visitor of BlogDogIt will attest, we exist mainly to highlight interesting findings from the "web less traveled" and through the years have found many interesting purveyors of content and have made it a point to show appreciation in the form of gratuitous promotion by sharing of content and providing links to these virtual friends of BlogDogIt. On several occasions I have featured the RSS Headline Feed of many of my favored internet sites so that I could stay abreast of activity from this collection of bloggers and content creators.

RSS (Rich Site Summary - also affectionally known as Really Simple Syndication) is a method for making available regularly changing web content. An RSS Feed is a specially formatted file that is created by default by most blogging software platforms and by accessing this file anyone can see a summary of the latest posts without even having to visit the source website proper.

Geeklog CMS comes with a feature known as "Portal Blocks" which allows the webmaster to add an RSS Feed "widget" for any known website by simply entering the URL for that special website summary file. For example, the address for BlogDogIts' Feed File is http://blogdogit.com/backend/BlogDogIt.rss and by using any of several various so called "Feed Readers" a person might follow the posting activities of this website without necessarily visiting us directly.

The "Portal Blocks" feature will typically deliver a list of the headlines for a site, displayed as linking text to each article. I have long wished for the ability to capture only a sites latest post and have it reproduced in a dedicated widget to add this syndicated content directly into the page here at BlogDogIt.

Rather than wait, I have begun working on the development of an extension for the Geeklog platform that will allow the creation of a customized widget for featuring the latest content from a selected website. The working title for the project is RSS Tail.

The project is coming along nicely and the results will be exhibited among the left and right columns in the BlogDogIt Topic Area. Using the RSS Aggregator Function hack  as a starting point for the source code I hope to develop this feature into something useful for the many Geeklog aficionados.

If I am featuring your site and you would like that to stop please let me know. If your site is featured and you would like to offer advice on how you would like to be featured we can have that discussion as well. Your own website should offer several configuration options for how your RSS Feed file is created but the actual options are platform dependent. If your RSS is featured here feel free to tweak your RSS settings and see the results by checking right here.

If you would like to see your RSS Feed featured here please let me know and I will see what I can do. If you are interested in obtaining the code for use on your own Geeklog site I will gladly make it available to you on request - that's why it's called Open Source :D

My bookshelf has long been home to one of my all-time favorite non-fiction books: "Pirating Plants: The Gardener's Guide to Getting Something for Nothing" (1975 - Tobey Publishing Co.) This is a book I refer to often for both the information it contains as well as the swashbuckling entertainment it provides. In a purely innocent "where are they now" internet search for its author, Peter Tobey, I found myself emerged in some of the most enjoyable internet I have encountered in quite some time.

Thanks to his LinkedIn profile, I discover that not only is Peter Toby alive and well (a genuine concern often expressed toward those of my contemporaries who tend to exist mainly in my memory) but find him to be the CEO of an East Coast boutique marketing agency by the name of Fuse & Company. Among the impressive display of clients listed in this companies portfolio section of their website is one aptly (if not redundantly) named "EncoreAgain."

After exploring the highly effective e-commerce solution developed by Fuse & Company for EncoreAgain, I immediately sought and secured permission to share elements of his self-described "Tobey-esque" website with the readers of BlogDogIt and encourage each and every one of you to visit this most unique creation and by all means take full advantage of the "Once in This Lifetime Offer" presented therein (and only hinted at below...)  

Everyone understands, intuitively, that death is bad. So are misery, grief and hopelessness. Yucky conditions, each, that doom some lives, gone wrong and headed nowhere. Until now. Suddenly, for a limited time only, change your universe, putting a move on destiny, free.

We offer a remedy for every woe. Not just a better life, not merely 'improved.' We're talking a whole new ball of wax: Reincarnation.

Normally, our double-your-money-back offer guarantees the future of your choice for a measly $2.95. But, for a limited time only, you can request a 60-Day Free Trial Reincarnation. If you aren't happy with our service, pay nothing. And, for simply trying us out, keep the glorious Certificate of Guarantee with our complements.

The Re-do Guru

P.S. Finding a better life is just the start. You can also give a really nightmarish existence to some deserving louse. (Can you think of anyone?) Check out our "Send a Scum Some Doom" gift program. This too is free for a little while, certificate and all. Better hurry.

Neophytes to the reincarnation process should review our How It Works section.

Step by Step - In easy to understand terms, we review the requirements for pondering, selecting and securing a rich and rewarding future life.

Gifts - Giving a new existence is different from shopping for yourself. We offer some cautions.

Scum - If you know someone whose ethical DNA is directly descended from the stuff growing on the surfaces of ponds, we have a plan for you.

Start now. All you have to do is click How It Works.

Brianna Wray - Interdisciplinary Artist

I have been keeping an eye on this lady for a couple of years now and feel the time is right for shining the BlogDogIt Spotlight her way. As a self-described interdisciplinary artist, Bri - I hope I can call her that - has her hands in many media of self expression.

With a flair for the upbeat she imparts through her art those properties we all associate with sunshine. With warmth she illuminates her world, highlighting the colorful nature of her creativity. Like those rays of sunlight we have all seen breaking through a sky filled with clouds Brianna breaks through the internet with a fresh and honest presence; a truly spirited artist and skilled internet artisan worthy of attentive patronage.

"...I’d like my work to contribute to fond memories and reflect the world around us in a whimsical way."
-- Brianna Wray - [Artist Statement]

On the WraysOfSunshine.com website Brianna has interviewed several of her local compatriots in the art world - gain insight into her love of art as she celebrates others who are driven to create. Perhaps one of the best introductions to Brianna Wray herself is in the form of this video self-portrait; Brianna: Wray of Sunshine - Final Project for Art360: 30:60:90: Identity & the Moving Image.

Enjoy!

The Video: https://youtu.be/eNl6j3B69AQ

Now how could you not want to learn more about this
ray of sunshine named Wray?  Her linkage:

After taking a little time off from blogging to recover from a debilitating, unannounced GoDaddy server swap^† I am happy to report BlogDogIt has (finally) been upgraded to the latest version of GeekLog CMS (GL_2.1.2 up from GL_1.8.1.) I had been putting off the upgrade because so much of the new system was not directly compatible with the older system, but when I could not get BlogDogIt to run on the new server I decided to "take the plunge" and do the update.

Although I had backups of the website complete with database I was still concerned since the tables used to store the articles were not the same as the backed-up version and required modification of the existing data structure to make it readable, so as to restore all articles to the BlogDogIt archives.

It was a learning experience that - in all likelihood - served to up my geek score a few points. It highlighted the fact that I do indeed know enough to be dangerous but also restored my confidence in my ability to learn what I needed to know to get the job done. There are still a few features around here that have yet to be restored (if you noticed any of them missing then bless your heart.)

After working so hard behind the scenes - up to my belt-loops in code - I have been itching to get back to the entertaining task of posting to this blog (in an effort to get that whole episode behind me.) It is only natural to wish to record for posterity the events of the last couple of weeks but I was torn as to whether I should share this tale or just opt for the usual sharing with y'all of something interesting that I've happened upon while perusing the interwebs.

Since I had not really taken the time to enjoy the internet at large lately, I instead choose to rely on my email inbox that today shared with me a suggestion from Ello.co that featured Lucya Koroleva; the creator of the goofy little gifs that now adorn this article. Those who regularly follow BlogDogIt will know I have an underutilized fascination with stop-motion animation (clay and otherwise - see The Great Race - among others) so you will have little trouble understanding why I chose to use these active little images as apt illustrations for this piece.

After following Lucya (nothingisfunny) on ello.co I was anxious to discover which (if any) other vehicles she has chosen to utilize to highlight her craft - I was rewarded with quite a number of sites and would like to share the following introduction made by the artist in a BoredPanda article:

I Make Short Claymations For Fun
Hi! Just wanted to share silly short claytoons, that I make. Shot on an iPhone attached to a tripod that is wrapped around a wine bottle, which is taped to the table - the usual setup in my "studio". Thanks for taking a look!

 Explore the fascinating world of Lucya Koroleva
with the following links:

https://ello.co/nothingisfunny
https://nothingisfunny.tumblr.com/
https://www.instagram.com/ohmannothingisfunny/
https://www.etsy.com/shop/nothingisfunny
https://www.depop.com/nothingisfunny
http://www.boredpanda.com/author/if_the_kids_r_united/
https://medium.com/@nothingisfunny
https://www.facebook.com/nothingisfunnystore/

Enter your text above - click "say."

Source: http://www.program-o.com/

I have always liked the Town of Oaklandon, Indiana. In the late 1970's I was employed by Lawrence Parks Department and was often tasked with mowing the grass, picking up litter and emptying trash barrels at the Oaklandon Road "Play Park" (beneath the landmark water tower on the corner of Broadway Street.) Many years ago my wife and I had the chance to move out of the Near East Side of Indianapolis and found a charming "fixer-upper" in Oaklandon and continue to enjoy this town.

From what I have been able to gather, Oaklandon, Indiana has a very interesting history. However, it has not been very easy finding specific information about our town on the internet. It occurs to me that fellow community members might never learn many of the interesting facts about our community due to the disbursed nature of available information. I have decided to create this website as a way to consolidate the available information and hopefully learn more in my quest to build and maintain this website. It is my sincere hope that you might find it useful and entertaining.

Thank you for checking out the website. Visit Historic Oaklandon and environs when you get the chance and experience the home-town vibe for yourself.

http://oaklandon.deburger.com/

It is always great fun to see what the good folks at Big Biting Pig Productions have unleashed upon the world with each of their annual horror productions. This year's release is their tenth movie to date. Written, directed and staring Steve Hudgins, it is titled "It Lives In The Attic" and perhaps the scariest thing about this film is that it ever lived in the mind of Steve Hudgins. You know what they say... better out than in. Oh, really?

The pre-release trailers for this film did little to reveal any more about what to expect than does the film's title; this signaled to me that the actual story line was being held close to the vest. Wishing not to take away from that spirit of mystery, a thorough review of this film is going to be little tough to do. I will say however, that it was fantastic to see Michael Coon in a leading role, all grown up and enjoying life as happy-go-lucky Andy. It was also good to see that Jessica Leonard was none the worse for wear; coming from her starring role in last years Big Biting Pig monster hit, to figure voluptuously into this tapestry of madness as Ellie, the girl next door. Steve Hudgins channeled his inner "Aqualung" in a masterful "perv"formance as the standoffish Barney.

I really don't think it is much of a stretch to say this production has crossed the line into a soft-porn classification but you may rest assured the horror is there in ample quantity to spoil the mood. Many familiar Big Biting Pig performers contribute admirably to the film and a good many of these seemed just a little too convincing when letting their freak flags fly.

Disturbing? Yes. Uncomfortable? Yes. Horrific? Oh, yeah! Honestly, I came away from this film with much the same feeling as after having first viewed Stanley Kubrick's classic "A Clockwork Orange." In fact, to my mind, I think of this as Big Biting Pig's "A Cuckoo-Clockwork Orange" (I mean this in a good way.) Steve Hudgins and the Big Biting Pig crew always seems to bring us smart, thinking-person's horror, so you will want to bring your brain; of course it will be of no great help with this one, but you will still want to refer back to it as the closing credits begin to roll.

It Lives In The Attic? If only...