Friday, May 09, 2014

Alien Lore No. 262 - The Origins Of Mankind

By Jack Brummet, Alien Lore Ed.

[creator unknown; the image appears unatreibuted on 18 Websites, according to TinEye.]

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Thursday, May 08, 2014

The earth-cam, now live from the International Space Station

By Jack Brummet



An earth-cam (actually four cameras) has been created on the International Space Station and is streaming video back to earth 24 hours a day.  This is amazing.

Notes:  "Black Image = International Space Station (ISS) is on the night side of the Earth. Gray Image = Switching between cameras, or communications with the ISS is not available. No Audio = Normal. There is no audio on purpose. Add your own soundtrack."


Live streaming video by Ustream
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Drawing: Faces No, 802: The support group (scratchboard drawings)

By Jack Brummet

[9" x 12" India ink scratchboard + digitally reversed scratchboard]


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Tuesday, May 06, 2014

Ex-Governor Jeb Bush: Running for President?

By Pablo Fanque, National Affairs Ed.


From Time Magazine, May 1, 2014: "Former President George W. Bush gave his younger brother Jeb his endorsement Thursday should he decide to run for the White House in 2016.
"'I hope Jeb runs,' Bush told CNN. 'I think he would be a great president. I have no clue what’s on his mind and we will talk when he’s ready. I noticed he’s moving around the country quite a bit.' 
“'Hey Jeb, if you need some advice, give me a call,' Bush said."
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One take on the affordable care act: Naked Lunch's Dr. Benway

By Jack Brummet, Medical Ed.






Listening to a rabid Republican tonight raging on the radio against ACA/"ObamaCare." I swear his description of the care ACA will offere came straight from the pages of William S. Burroughs' Naked Lunch. Dr. Benway in particular:
"Dr. Benway. . .looks around and picks up one of those rubber vacuum cups at the end of a stick they use to unstop toilets. He advances on the patient. . .'Make an incision Doctor Limpf,' he says to his appalled assistant. . .'I'm going to massage the heart.'

Dr. Limpf shrugs and begins the incision. . .Dr. Benway washes the suction cup by swishing it around in the toilet bowl. . .

Nurse: 'Shouldn't it be sterilized, doctor?'

Dr. Benway: 'Very likely, but there's no time. . .Did I ever tell you about the time I performed an appendectomy with a rusty sardine can?'

Dr. Limpf: 'The incision is ready, doctor.'

Dr. Benway forces the cup into the incision and works it up and down. Blood spurts all over the doctors, the nurse and the wall. . .the cup makes a horrible sucking sound.

Nurse: 'I think she's gone, doctor.'

Dr. Benway: 'Well, it's all in a day's work.' "
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Monday, May 05, 2014

Kent, Washington's El Rancho Drive-In

By Jack Brummet, Green River Valley Ed.





There were three drive-ins in Kent, but we mostly went to the El Rancho, because it was cheap. They showed whatever was cheap to rent, like spaghetti westerns, scary movies like I Saw What You Did And I Know Who You Are, monster movies like The Blob, Invasion of the Body Snatchers, or ass-kicking movies with Billie Jack, Charles Bronson, and Clint Eastwood.

If you were lucky, you might see an R-rated potboiler by Russ Meyers, like Vixen, or The Stewardesses.  There were also the memorable exploitation movies like Wife Swappers.  This is where I saw my first Woody Allen movie—Take The Money and Run.


There were several other El Ranchos around the country.  One survives in Nevada, at 555 El Rancho Dr, Sparks, NV 89431.


There were two other drive-ins in Kent: The Midway, on West Hill, which still exists, as a swap meet location (the screen has long been dead), and the Valley Drive-in (which closed in the last two years). 


The fantastic marquee out front showed a gigantic cowboy on the range, cooking bacon in a cast iron skillet over a campfire. At $3.50 a carload, so you could see a movie for about seventy-five cents.

Lining the street in front of the drive in were a row of stately Lombardy poplars. The El Rancho was torn down in 1975, but you can still see a few of those poplars, in between the concrete tilt-up buildings and warehouses.


More drive-ins close every year, but a few remain in Washington State, but a few remain:

  • Samish Twin Drive-In Theater, Bellingham
  • Auto Vue Theatre, Colville
  • Dayton Drive-in Theater, Dayton
  • Puget Park Drive-In, Everett
  • Your Drive In Theatre, Longview
  • Rodeo Tri Drive-In Theatre, Port Orchard
  • Blue Fox Drive-in Theater, Oak Harbor
  • River-Vue Drive-In, Pasco
  • Skyline Drive-In Theatre, Shelton (with an actual Indian totem pole at the entrance)
  • Wheel-In Motor Movie, Port Townsend
  • Vue Dale Drive In Theatre, Wenatchee
  • Country Drive In Theatre, Yakima



one of the two murals in front of the theatre


An aerial land survey view of the El Rancho before it was demolished
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Friday, May 02, 2014

The Four Walls

Drawings by Jack Brummet
Photography by Philip Palermo

click images to enlarge




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Remembering a passageway along Meeker Street in Kent. Wash.



This alley--which must be in England--reminds me of the passageway I used to walk through every day in my youth Kent, Wash. It was maybe two feet wide and  two or three doors east of the Ben Franklin store, sandwiched between two brick buildings, one of which I think was Grunstead's Cafe (which had several other names over the years).  

The passageway led from the sidewalk on the south side of Meeker Street to a parking lot behind the buildings, and then onto Gowe Street.  Depending on where you were headed, it cut a block off your walk. Do any of my fellow Kentites remember this? Link to an earlier post about Meeker Street: go here.
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