Jim Morrison, the lead singer of American rock group The Doors has died in Paris aged 27. He was found in a bathtub at his apartment at 17 Rue Beautraillis by his girlfriend, Pamela Courson. A doctor’s report stated the cause of death was heart failure aggravated by heavy drinking.

The rest of the band – keyboardist Ray Manzarek, guitarist Robbie Krieger and drummer John Densmore – are currently in the United States. Morrison, also known as the Lizard King, was born in Florida in 1943, his father Stephen was in the US Navy and rose to the rank of admiral. He formed The Doors with Ray Manzarek in 1965 in Los Angeles.

Morrison had come up with the name after reading Aldous Huxley’s account of drug experiences, The Doors Of Perception.The group became the first popular "new wave" band.

Their first album, The Doors, released by Elektra Records in 1967, was a number one hit in the US, though only just scraped into the British charts. Their following albums, Strange Days and Waiting For The Sun, provided further American hits and, in Hello I love You, a British number 15.

Arrested for lewd behaviour

But with its ever growing fame, the band lost some of its credibility in the rock underground. Morrison’s behaviour, fuelled by drink and drugs, became more outrageous and in 1969 he was arrested for "indecent exposure, lewd conduct and public intoxication" after a concert in Miami’s Dinner Key auditorium. Though some of the charges were later dropped, the scandal made it hard for the band to perform live for some time.

Morrison used the crisis as a spur to creativity and produced one of the group’s most critically acclaimed albums, Morrison Hotel, in 1970.

Over the past year he has made clear he wanted to drop music altogether to become a writer. He has already published two volumes of poetry, The Lords and The New Creatures, and planned to begin a literary career once his contractual obligations to Elektra were fulfilled.

In Context

Jim Morrison is buried at Père Lachaise cemetery in Paris, where his grave has become a shrine for successive generations of fans. In 1991, the 20th anniversary of his death, the cemetery had to hire extra security after police used tear gas to disperse rowdy fans.

Since Morrison’s death his records have never been out of print and Hollywood, too, has found The Doors music attractive. The End was used in Francis Ford Coppola’s Apocalypse Now, and in 1991 Oliver Stone helped cement the Morrison legend with his film biography The Doors, starring Val Kilmer. The film created a whole new generation of fans.

The three surviving members of the group released a new album, Doors Box Set, in 1997. It included three CDs of previously unreleased songs.

Text from BBC’s OnThisDay

1934 Hispano-Suiza Type 68 Drophead Coupé

The largest and most magnificent luxury car to be produced during the 1930s was the V12 Hispano-Suiza, which first appeared in 1931 with a 9424cc power unit, uprated during 1934 to 11,310cc. The wondrously extravagant car shown here is a 1935 example of the 11.3-litre Type 68 bis with two-seater drophead coupe body by Saoutchik, and an overall length of some twenty feet! The last V12 Hispano was built in 1938; after the war, Hispano experimented with a Ford-engined fwd car, but soon abandoned it.

1935 MG PE

Typical of the MG sports cars of the 1930s and 1940s is this 1935 PE, introduced at that year’s Motor-Show. With a 939cc engine, engine, the PE was a development of the 847 P-type of 1934, itself a refined version of the 1932 J-Type Midget. Again, it was styling which sold the little MGs for, although they had good acceleration and roadholding, they were not particularly fast in a straight line.

1935 SS 90

In 1935, the first SS sports car, the SS90, appeared , with a sixcylinder, 2.7-litre Standard 20 power unit in a special 104 inch wheelbase chassis. The ’90′ in its name suggested, perhaps a little optimistically, the designed top speed. The SS90 sold for only £395, but was a transitional design. Just fifty had been built when it was replaced by the meretricious SS100.

1935 Triumph Southern Cross
 

The Southern Cross was a sports version of the 1935 Triumph Gloria, a range of cars named after a glamour girl of the day. Built on an 8ft wheelbase. the Gloria was available with a four-cylinder 1232cc engine or a six-cylinder 1991cc power unit.

Originally from Houston, Texas, Teresa is based in Los Angeles where she has assembled a group of some of the top LA based touring and session musicians in her band, The Rhythm Tramps. They have been working in the LA area and at blues festivals and clubs throughout the US and Europe for many years. For the last 12 years, the band has also been a favourite on Delbert McClinton’s Sandy Beaches Blues Cruise.

She has released 8 CDs  – her most recent, COME ON HOME, was released in August, 2012 and has been getting regular airplay on stations around the world and charting for weeks at a time on the Roots Radio Charts (topping off at the #3 spot). It has been listed on many ‘best of’ lists for 2012 and has been receiving raves reviews from writers and DJs everywhere.

Her 2008 release, THE BOTTOM LINE, garnered her a nomination by the Blues Foundation for Contemporary Blues Female Artist of the Year and her 2010 CD, YOU KNOW YOU LOVE IT,was a finalist for an Independent Music Award (IMA).

She has performed live with such legendary artists as Levon Helm, Delbert McClinton, Eric Burdon, Marcia Ball, Tommy Castro, Big Al Anderson, Kirk Whalum, and many others. Her voice is featured on albums by Randy Newman, Eric Burdon, Tommy Castro, Bill Medley, and Walter Trout, among others. She has also sung for television and movie soundtracks; She and her band were featured in the Disney movie and soundtrack for “HOLES“.

Teresa’s band is an eclectic mix of Los Angeles based musicians who have worked with a wide range of artists including: Jimmy Reed, Eric Burdon, Jackson Browne, Taj Mahal, Bonnie Raitt, Jennifer Warnes, Was Not Was, Johnny Nash and many, many others.

Text from teresajames.com

The Mazda K360 (Japanese: マツダ・K360) is a three-wheeled light truck made by Mazda. It first went on sale in 1959 in Japan. Production ended in 1969. In total, 280,000 vehicles were produced.

The vehicle is 2.975 metres in length, 1.28 metres wide, 1.43 metres tall, weighs 485 kilograms, and has a top speed of 65 km/h.

Text from Wikipedia

…….. to change the records in that jukebox.

I know the French love those utterly sad and desperate love songs that tends to put you in the drabbest of moods, but filling the whole jukebox with songs like that was maybe not a very good idea – Ted :’(

Picture taken by Ed van de Elsken in Paris sometimes in the fifities

I’ve spent the first 19 parts of this series dissing members of the advertising profession so since I have been at least semi part of the profession for about 30 years I thought it was time to show an ad I have nothing what so ever against. (Apart for the fact that I wouldn’t be found dead in a ditch in a BMW, but that is more because the kind of people that usually choose to buy one around here than the car itself.)

The ad is clear in its concept, straight to the point and best of all, cruel enough to drive that point home. Just like a campaign like this need to be. For the first time on this blog; Well done Mad Men – Ted

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…. bastard that keeps tagging all over town. I must say I am a bit surprised – Ted

Image found in GhastlyDelights

Michael Caine, Morgan Freeman and Liam Neeson

Image from IndypendentThinking

One would think that there was a close relationship between the NSU and the NSU-Fiat companies, but this is not the case. In the late twenties, the majority shareholder in NSU, Jacob Schapiro, held a number of different business interests. He brokered a deal wherein NSU of Neckarsulm would merge with his various companies, which promptly proceeded to go south. This deal caused grave financial difficulties for NSU, so it was decided that the recently built NSU factory in Heilbronn was to be sold. Fiat purchased the plant, which came with NSU shares and the NSU name. Fiat had no dealings whatsoever with NSU in Neckarsulm itself, as the Heilbronn plant and name was purchased from Dresden banks. Fiat, under the name NSU-Fiat, agreed to finish the remaining NSU cars in the new plant and then to manufacture and distribute Fiat cars from there. NSU in Neckarsulm would manufacture only two-wheelers until the mid-fifties, when they returned to car building with the Prinz.

During the thirties, NSU-Fiat at Heilbronn distributed imported Italian Fiats and produced German versions of the Italian Ballila, the Topolino, the 1100, and the 1500, which were bodied by local firms, mostly Drauz and Weinsberg. The Weinsberg roadster on the Topolino chassis was particularly attractive. Post-war, they built the 500C Topolino, the 600 Jagst sedans (171,355 examples), and the 500 Weinsbergs, as well as the 850 Adria, the 1100, and the 1400/1900 series.

In 1955, NSU of Neckarsulm was the world’s largest producer of motorcycles, but they saw the market going soft and began the development of a car that became the Prinz in 1958. To avoid confusion between the two companies, NSU-Fiat changed its name to Neckar, after the nearby river, although cars usually continued to carry the NSU-Fiat badge.

Text and images from RMauctions

Those of us employed on this publication don’t consider ourselves as odd balls. But lately we have been glancing at one another very surreptitiously. Finally we decided to sit down and figure out why a group of people, such as  we, should suddenly become suspicious of one another’s mental balance. We came to the conclusion that it all dated back to the first time that we used Sheba Britt as a model. Read the whole article and see the naughty pictures HERE Warning: Nudity do occur in this article. If you are under age or live in a country where watching images of nude women for some reason  is against the law  I take no responsibility if you click the link above. In other words you’re flying solo from here on – Ted ;-)

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Dominique Marie-Françoise Renée Varaigne (born 11 March 1951) is a French actress and former fashion model.

Sanda was born in Paris to Lucienne (née Pichon) and Gérard Varaigne. She appeared in such noted European films of the 1970s as Vittorio de Sica‘s Il Giardino dei Finzi-Contini, Bernardo Bertolucci‘s The Conformist andNovecento, and Liliana Cavani‘s Beyond Good and Evil. She also appeared in The Mackintosh Man (with Paul Newman) and Steppenwolf (with Max von Sydow).

In 1993 at the Théâtre de la Commune, in Aubervilliers, France, she played Melitta in Madame Klein (Mrs. Klein byNicolas Wright), directed by Brigitte Jaques-Wajeman. In 1995 in Italy, she played the marquise de Merteuil in Les liaisons dangereuses, based on Choderlos de Laclos‘s novel, directed by Mario Monicelli. From 1995-1996 in France and Belgium, she has been Lady Chiltern in An Ideal Husband by Oscar Wilde, directed by Adrian Brine.

In the 1970s, she lived with late actor/director Christian Marquand, with whom she had a son, Yann Marquand. In 2000, she married Nicolae Cutzarida, a philosopher and University professor of Romanian origin.

She won the award for Best Actress at the 1976 Cannes Film Festival for her role in the film The Inheritance.

Text found on Wikipedia

Generally credited with developing the signature BMW kidney grille, the Ihle brothers, Frank and Thomas, of Bruchsal, Germany, also built such racing cars as a competition variant of the BMW Dixie. After selling their racing car business to BMW, they established “Gebr. Ihle,” which translates to “the brothers Ihle,” aimed at producing cars for amusement parks and fairs.

These cars are extremely rare and collectible. This particular example is powered by a Hirth two-stroke, single-cylinder motor producing about seven horsepower, accessed through a simulated spare tire cover at the rear. With a length of only 93 inches and a weight of only about 600 pounds, it is a delightfully sprightly little motor car, finished in cream and black with one of two available front nose sections from Ihle, the other of which was simply intended to create some model differentiation in Ihle’s lineup.

Slowing down from a projected top speed of about 25 mph is accomplished via rear cable brakes. As this particular Schottenring car has been restored to perfection and is one of a few examples in existence, it should be considered your grandchild’s first rare and desirable collector car in their collection!

Text from RMauctions

At a jumble-sale this summer I picked up a stack of small cookbooks and among them was the one you can see in the illustration above, “Rumford Bakebok” from 1927. I suspect that it is translated from English as Rumford is not a Norwegian product but who cares. With a bit of fancy PhotoShoping I managed to place both the book and a tin of Rumford into the intro illustrations for the recipes from the little book.

The book had been appreciated as it was obvious that several generations of the woman in the Grindalen family had used it frequently (two generations had scribbled their name inside and one on the outside) before it ended up in my vast collection of old printed matter

The recipe is HERE

Summer is here, at least on my side of the blue planet so it’s time to don the Bermuda shorts and head for the croquet field. And what better to play with than a set you’ve made yourself – Plans in pdf format HERE

Related articles

Jim Morrison, the lead singer of American rock group The Doors has died in Paris aged 27. He was found in a bathtub at his apartment at 17 Rue Beautraillis by his girlfriend, Pamela Courson. A doctor’s report stated the cause of death was heart failure aggravated by heavy drinking.

The rest of the band – keyboardist Ray Manzarek, guitarist Robbie Krieger and drummer John Densmore – are currently in the United States. Morrison, also known as the Lizard King, was born in Florida in 1943, his father Stephen was in the US Navy and rose to the rank of admiral. He formed The Doors with Ray Manzarek in 1965 in Los Angeles.

Morrison had come up with the name after reading Aldous Huxley’s account of drug experiences, The Doors Of Perception.The group became the first popular "new wave" band.

Their first album, The Doors, released by Elektra Records in 1967, was a number one hit in the US, though only just scraped into the British charts. Their following albums, Strange Days and Waiting For The Sun, provided further American hits and, in Hello I love You, a British number 15.

Arrested for lewd behaviour

But with its ever growing fame, the band lost some of its credibility in the rock underground. Morrison’s behaviour, fuelled by drink and drugs, became more outrageous and in 1969 he was arrested for "indecent exposure, lewd conduct and public intoxication" after a concert in Miami’s Dinner Key auditorium. Though some of the charges were later dropped, the scandal made it hard for the band to perform live for some time.

Morrison used the crisis as a spur to creativity and produced one of the group’s most critically acclaimed albums, Morrison Hotel, in 1970.

Over the past year he has made clear he wanted to drop music altogether to become a writer. He has already published two volumes of poetry, The Lords and The New Creatures, and planned to begin a literary career once his contractual obligations to Elektra were fulfilled.

In Context

Jim Morrison is buried at Père Lachaise cemetery in Paris, where his grave has become a shrine for successive generations of fans. In 1991, the 20th anniversary of his death, the cemetery had to hire extra security after police used tear gas to disperse rowdy fans.

Since Morrison’s death his records have never been out of print and Hollywood, too, has found The Doors music attractive. The End was used in Francis Ford Coppola’s Apocalypse Now, and in 1991 Oliver Stone helped cement the Morrison legend with his film biography The Doors, starring Val Kilmer. The film created a whole new generation of fans.

The three surviving members of the group released a new album, Doors Box Set, in 1997. It included three CDs of previously unreleased songs.

Text from BBC’s OnThisDay

1934 Hispano-Suiza Type 68 Drophead Coupé

The largest and most magnificent luxury car to be produced during the 1930s was the V12 Hispano-Suiza, which first appeared in 1931 with a 9424cc power unit, uprated during 1934 to 11,310cc. The wondrously extravagant car shown here is a 1935 example of the 11.3-litre Type 68 bis with two-seater drophead coupe body by Saoutchik, and an overall length of some twenty feet! The last V12 Hispano was built in 1938; after the war, Hispano experimented with a Ford-engined fwd car, but soon abandoned it.

1935 MG PE

Typical of the MG sports cars of the 1930s and 1940s is this 1935 PE, introduced at that year’s Motor-Show. With a 939cc engine, engine, the PE was a development of the 847 P-type of 1934, itself a refined version of the 1932 J-Type Midget. Again, it was styling which sold the little MGs for, although they had good acceleration and roadholding, they were not particularly fast in a straight line.

1935 SS 90

In 1935, the first SS sports car, the SS90, appeared , with a sixcylinder, 2.7-litre Standard 20 power unit in a special 104 inch wheelbase chassis. The ’90′ in its name suggested, perhaps a little optimistically, the designed top speed. The SS90 sold for only £395, but was a transitional design. Just fifty had been built when it was replaced by the meretricious SS100.

1935 Triumph Southern Cross
 

The Southern Cross was a sports version of the 1935 Triumph Gloria, a range of cars named after a glamour girl of the day. Built on an 8ft wheelbase. the Gloria was available with a four-cylinder 1232cc engine or a six-cylinder 1991cc power unit.

Originally from Houston, Texas, Teresa is based in Los Angeles where she has assembled a group of some of the top LA based touring and session musicians in her band, The Rhythm Tramps. They have been working in the LA area and at blues festivals and clubs throughout the US and Europe for many years. For the last 12 years, the band has also been a favourite on Delbert McClinton’s Sandy Beaches Blues Cruise.

She has released 8 CDs  – her most recent, COME ON HOME, was released in August, 2012 and has been getting regular airplay on stations around the world and charting for weeks at a time on the Roots Radio Charts (topping off at the #3 spot). It has been listed on many ‘best of’ lists for 2012 and has been receiving raves reviews from writers and DJs everywhere.

Her 2008 release, THE BOTTOM LINE, garnered her a nomination by the Blues Foundation for Contemporary Blues Female Artist of the Year and her 2010 CD, YOU KNOW YOU LOVE IT,was a finalist for an Independent Music Award (IMA).

She has performed live with such legendary artists as Levon Helm, Delbert McClinton, Eric Burdon, Marcia Ball, Tommy Castro, Big Al Anderson, Kirk Whalum, and many others. Her voice is featured on albums by Randy Newman, Eric Burdon, Tommy Castro, Bill Medley, and Walter Trout, among others. She has also sung for television and movie soundtracks; She and her band were featured in the Disney movie and soundtrack for “HOLES“.

Teresa’s band is an eclectic mix of Los Angeles based musicians who have worked with a wide range of artists including: Jimmy Reed, Eric Burdon, Jackson Browne, Taj Mahal, Bonnie Raitt, Jennifer Warnes, Was Not Was, Johnny Nash and many, many others.

Text from teresajames.com