Evil Squirrel's Nest

Share Your World – Week 278

Posted on May 2, 2024 by evilsquirrel13

Ah, that antique, ancient year of 2000.

May 2, 2000 was a game changing day of the technological revolution of the 21st Century, as per executive order from President Bill Clinton, the United States government opened up access to its Global Positioning Satellite technology, which it had been using exclusively for military operations for over two decades, for civilian use. I remember the car my Mom rented for a trip in September of that year had a very crude GPS device in it, which was a precursor to the GPS systems that were still a few years away from becoming the latest hot gadget everyone had to have. Those dashboard mounted devices have already been obsoleted by the GPS technology that is standard in those smartphones everyone but me has in the 2020’s. Did you know the US government owns and maintains the GPS system used everywhere on the planet? I didn’t until about a year ago…

That should elicit a shudder around the world…

Now that we found our way here via asking the guy at the filling station for directions, let’s answer this week’s Share Your World questions from Di!

The pioneers didn’t need GPS…

Have you ever had a hangover? How old were you?

It’s hard to get a hangover when you’ve never been drunk, or even tipsy.

My Shelf Critters have plenty of experience with the bottle, though….

And….. other intoxicating drugs of choice.

Was your favorite social gathering place a pub, club, or restaurant?

My favorite anti-social gathering was my room…. or post-internet, whichever room has the computer. Like the room I’m in now!

With the gaming computer of death.

Which do you prefer to play: darts, pool, table ~~football~~ soccer or a card game?

I had a dartboard when I was a kid, and somehow managed not to maim any of my sisters with the real metal darts. We played the shit out of card games…. war, rummy, canasta (a family favorite), Uno. Pool and foosball were luxuries that I might occasionally wander into during a gathering at a much richer relative’s house. I loved playing both when I got the chance, but never got the chance to play either regularly…. and now, well, you can’t play foosball by yourself.

And Ody doesn’t care for games with balls…

Do you still meet up with your friends on a regular basis?

Who?

I don’t even meet up much with these friends anymore.

Gratitude AI Image:

Just because I don’t have any friends doesn’t mean everyone else shouldn’t. Here’s a pair of possum BFF’s that I’m sure will tug at Draliman’s heartstrings!

Box not included….

Posted in Share Your World | Tagged answers, gps, questions, Share Your World | 5 Comments

River Music

Posted on April 29, 2024 by evilsquirrel13

No, not “Fire” by The Ohio Players to celebrate the Cuyahoga.

It’s Monday and that means we’re reeling in the years once again with DJ Scratchy and her Dusty Vinyl Archive! Crack open an ice cold Foster’s while you enjoy this week’s lost earworm…

While so much of the music we’ve enjoyed over the years in America has been homegrown or imported via invasion from the British Isles, I’ve raved before at the number of underrated artists that can be found north of the border. But even more criminally forgotten about is the contributions to our pop musical heritage that came from that country that makes you not only spin the globe around, but turn it upside down as well…

What did he call this weird thing? A globe? Why not just use Google Maps?

1970’s and 80’s Australians bands were absolutely kicking ass at rock and roll music. And not just AC/DC, The Bee Gees and (gulp) Air Supply… but bands that have flown under the radar for far too long like INXS, Pseudo Echo and the Eurogliders…

And today, we’re going to add one of the best (gulp) “yacht rock” bands of them all to the mix, Melbourne’s own Little River Band!

“Help Is On Its Way” was one of TEN Top 40 singles LRB managed in the US during their late 70’s/early 80’s heyday, and it’s one of my favorites by the group. It reached #14 on the charts in 1977, and was a #1 hit and Record of the Year in their homeland. Sadly, like so many other great Aussie groups, they only managed to find a secondary market in the US and were almost completely ignored by the rest of the world, which is a crying shame!

Hang on! Help is on its way…

Another lost hit coming your way next Monday!

Posted in Dusty Vinyl Archive | Tagged 1977, archive, dusty, forgotten, help is on its way, little river band, lost, music, vinyl | 10 Comments

Immodest

Posted on April 27, 2024 by evilsquirrel13

Almost covered

Animals did not eat fruit from the Tree of Knowledge, and therefore have no qualms about going about their daily lives completely in the buff.

This week’s Saturday Squirrel still has quite an impressive furry coat left over from the winter, but it’s not quite long enough to completely hide everything…

I guess it’s at least a good thing that this squirrel isn’t feeling “happy” at the moment….

Could I have some privacy, please?

Go on and do your thing, Mr. Squirrel… and everyone else, have a great weekend!

Posted in Saturday Squirrel | Tagged adorable, cute, eating, furry, photo, photography, squirrel | 6 Comments

Share Your World – Week 277

Posted on April 25, 2024 by evilsquirrel13

Madame Mitzi’s Wheel Of Deathies! Oh, how I miss the glory days of Shelf Critter Theatre…

On April 25, 1792, French highwayman Nicolas Jacques Pelletier became the first person to be executed by that wonderful French invention that made everyone lose their head, the guillotine. While the specifics on the crime the committed to earn such a distinction are somewhat lost to history, his Wiki page notes that the French citizens were somewhat underwhelmed by this new method of public execution as it was too swift and failed to properly entertain as much as more drawn out affairs like hanging, draw and quartering, or a good old manual decapitation. While we tend to associate the guillotine with late 1700’s Revolutionary era France and a more unenlightened time, the guillotine was still the legal method of execution in the country up until capital punishment was banned in 1981 as saw its last head drop in the ancient year of 1977…

Ahem, ahem!

And The Nest would be remiss if we didn’t mention that today is also the 16th anniversary of what I’ve considered to be the creation of this blog’s flagship character, Evil Squirrel. Without him, I am not here today to educate you on fun methods of execution or to answer the wonderful Share Your World questions Di has for us this week!

And congrats to Cher on making the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame!

Have you ever attended a First Aid Course?

No. If you need urgent medical attention, I am the last person you want to need it around… as I not only am probably going to run for the hills, but with no cellphone I can’t even call someone who might save your ass…

You call for help, Mr. Fox. I’ll go get Hung Lo…

Incidentally, we got one of those zapper things at Mecca now that’s supposed to help restart a heart if someone goes into cardiac arrest. Communication is always poor on the night shift, but we have been wondering if anybody in the store is even trained to use it…

Apart from grazed knees and applying a band aid, have you ever applied First Aid?

No, as I’m busy heading for the hills. I’ve had to tend to my own cuts at work before, and I don’t even like doing that, because………..

Are you squeamish about the sight of blood?

I’m squeamish at the mere mention of blood. Those ads they like to do on the radio for blood drives alone are enough to make me sick to my stomach. I can’t even look when they draw my blood for testing. And yes, if you’re familiar with the SCT stories I used to tell here, that is probably a major shock to you… but it’s true. For some reason, though, I can set aside my blood queasiness when it comes to cartoonish situations…

It’s just pixelated ketchup… I think.

How far away is the nearest hospital?

I grew up just a couple blocks away from the hospital. Now it’s about a three mile drive from my house.

I just realized how well the SYW theme this week tied in to my historical fact about the guillotine…

Gratitude AI Image:

BLOOD! BLOOD! BLOOD! BLOOD! BLOOD! BLOOD! BLOOD! BLOOD! BLOOD! BLOOD! BLOOD! BLOOD! BLOOD! BLOOD! BLOOD! BLOOD!

Posted in Share Your World | Tagged answers, blood, guillotine, questions, Share Your World | 6 Comments

Sweet Home Chicago

Posted on April 22, 2024 by evilsquirrel13

Does anybody really know what time it is?

It’s Monday and that means it’s time to get down to earth on this Earth Day with another lost hit from DJ Scratchy’s Dusty Vinyl Archive! We love to recycle the earworms at The Nest, and here’s one from 1985 that has yet to biodegrade…

It’s kinda hard to believe that with Muzak Monday just a few weeks away from its tenth anniversary that I have yet to feature a single song by a band that was a consistent hitmaker during the entirety of the 1970’s and 1980’s… and that would be the band that named itself after a local government agency, Chicago Transit Authority!

I’m sorry, but you can’t use that name per local ordinance!

When the real Chicago Transit Authority complained, the group shortened the name to just Chicago. Chicago started out as the prototypical large 70’s rock band that came complete with a horn section, then morphed into a group that made its name with power ballads in the 1980’s. This is the version of Chicago I knew and loved growing up in the MTV era… and I thought of making a DVA out of “Stay the Night,” which was the first Chicago song I ever knew when it was released in 1984 off of the Chicago 17 album. Instead, I’m going to choose a song from that same album that even I had forgotten about until it surfaced as an occasional Mecca earworm over the past year…

“Along Comes A Woman” was the fourth and final single released from Chicago 17, which also made it the final Chicago single to feature the group’s best known member Peter Cetera on lead vocals, as he was booted from the band shortly after this single was released. It only reached #14 on the Hot 100 in 1985, but it really a pretty good rocker that also brings back the horns that made Chicago famous.