John Steiner, the blogger behind Journeys With Johnbo, has this prompt he calls Cellpic Sunday in which he asks us to post a photo that was taken with a cellphone, tablet, or another mobile device. I thought this might be fun so I decided to join in.
Yesterday my wife and I drove out to Richmond, CA to a place called Riggers Loft Wine Company, across the Bay from San Francisco. Our daughter and her husband had their wedding reception there in November and we had a small family get together there yesterday to celebrate her birthday.
The photo above is our table as we were getting ready to leave after enjoying pizza, wine, and spiked cider for lunch. We were serenaded by a three-piece jazz and blues group while we ate.
It was a cool, windy day yesterday, so the doors to the outdoor sitting area were closed, but I took this photo in September of last year, when it was a beautiful day and there were sailboats on the Bay.
When I was growing up in the Washington, DC area, there were Sinclair gas stations all around. It wasn’t the largest gas station chain in the area, but it had a significant presence. And part of its presence included Dino (pronounced die-no) the dinosaur as part of its logo and brand identity.
Sinclair’s advertising writers first had the idea to use dinosaurs in Sinclair marketing back in 1930. They were promoting lubricants refined from crude oil believed at the time to have formed when dinosaurs roamed the earth.
Dino was called a Brontosaurus when he was first used in Sinclair advertising. But now they claim he is actually an Apatosaurus. Dinosaur fossils are rare, which makes it difficult to study and classify them. Since 1903, paleontologists have had conflicting opinions about whether the Brontosaurus is its own unique genus, or whether it’s the same as the Apatosaurus. Sinclair has followed the prevailing opinions of the scientific community, which currently favors calling Dino an Apatosaurus.
At one point in its 100+ year history, Sinclair gas and Oil was ranked high on the list of the largest privately owned American corporations. It owned and operated refineries, gas stations, hotels, a ski resort, and a cattle ranch. And at its peak, it had more than 25,000 branded service stations across the country.
I can’t remember the last time I saw a Sinclair gas station, but there are apparently more than 200 operating in California today. So, Dino, the Sinclair dinosaur has successfully fought off extinction. In fact, today, Sinclair branded gasoline and other Sinclair fuel and lubricant products are sold at more than 1,300 stations, mostly in the Central Plains and Rocky Mountain regions. By 2024, Sinclair expects to double the number of Sinclair stations and be operating in most regions of the country. Most growth is expected to take place east of the Mississippi River.
Anyway, for nostalgic purposes, it would be interesting (for me, anyway) to see Sinclair gas stations featuring Dino the Brontosaurus (or Apatosaurus?) in the area. Of course, I drive an electric car, so I won’t be stopping by to fill up my car under the Dino sign.
Oh look. I found this photo on Yelp of a Sinclair gas station in Oakland, about 25 miles west of where I live.
I get some interesting spam comments on my blog, most of which are captured by Akismet, WordPress’ spam blocker. I generally do a mass delete of all of my spam comments after checking to see if any legitimate comments got caught up in Akismet’s spam-catching net.
I thought it might be fun to select a particularly interesting or unique or outrageous spam comment and highlight it each week.
This week, out of almost 100 spam comments i received, there was one stand out spam comment that I want to share with you. It was from Latosha Bittner and was in response to my Who Am I about page. Here’s the comment Latosha left:
Fantastic items from you, man. I've take ino accout your stuff prior to and y ou a r e just too fantastic. I r eally like what y ou've got here, really like what you are stating and the best way during which yyou are saying it. You make it entertaining and you continue to care for to stay it wise. I cant wait to learn much more from you. This is really a great site.
Latosha then invited me to visit her webpage. I did not, however, click on the link Latosha provided.
What about you? Have you read some catchy spam comments that you’d like to share with us? If so, put them ir #FSCW.
For this week’s Song Lyric Sunday theme, Jim Adams has asked us to find a song that was recorded at Muscle Shoals. In his post, Jim mentioned that, “In 1961, Muscle Shoals had its first hit record with ‘You Better Move On’ by Arthur Alexander.” That is the song I’m choosing this week.
Why? Well, I grew up in the Maryland suburbs of Washington, DC. My radio station of choice was a dawn to dusk AM station out of Wheaton, Md. But the radio station I most often listen to after WDON went off the air at night was WCAO out of Baltimore. And it was on WCAO where I first heard of Arthur Alexander and became a fan through songs like “You Better Move On,” “Where Have You Been (All My Life),” “Anna (Go to Him),” and “Go Home Girl,”
“You Better Move On” was a 1961 rhythm and blues song by Arthur Alexander. It reached number 24 on the Billboard Hot 100 in March 1962. The lyrics were inspired by Alexander’s real life situation, in which his girlfriend and future wife already had a boyfriend. Alexander said of the situation, “When I met her out of high school he was still hanging in there. His family was pretty well off. I didn’t have no money but I knew she liked me. It was a small town and people would be talking. That’s where I got the idea for the song. I didn’t talk to him personally. I said it in song.”
Alexander, was the first black artist at FAME Studios. His backing band on this track was all-white. He recorded this song in an abandoned warehouse on Wilson Dam Highway in Muscle Shoals, which FAME owner Rick Hall had rented. The song was distributed by Dot Records in Los Angeles, and became the first hit for the studio, selling about 800,000 copies and funding the move to 603 East Avalon Avenue in Muscle Shoals, where the studio still operates.
Arthur Alexander, born in Florence, Alabama, had a big role in bringing American soul music to England. The Rolling Stones and The Hollies recorded this song in 1964, and The Beatles recorded his song “Anna (Go to Him)” in 1963.
Here are the lyrics to “You Better Move On.”
You ask me to give up the hand of the girl I love You tell me I'm not the man she's worthy of But who are you to tell her who to love? That's up to her, yes, and the Lord above You better move on
Well, I know you can buy her fancy clothes and diamond rings But I believe she's happy with me without those things Still you beg me to set her free But, my friend, that will never be You better move on
I can't blame you for lovin' her But can't you understand, man, she's my girl? And I'm never gonna let her go 'Cause I love her so
I think you better go, now, I'm gettin' mighty mad You ask me to give up the only love I've ever had Maybe I would, oh, but I love her so Never gonna let her go You better move on (you better move on) You better move on (you better move on) You better move on (you better move on) You better move on (you better move on) You better move on (you better move on) You better move on (you better move on)
You better move on
For those of you who are interested, here is the cover by The Rolling Stones.
Welcome to Fandango’s One-Word Challenge (aka, FOWC). I will be posting each day’s word just after midnight Pacific Time (U.S.).
Today’s word is “arrive.”
Write a post using that word. It can be prose, poetry, fiction, non-fiction. It can be any length. It can be just a picture or a drawing if you want. No holds barred, so to speak.
Once you are done, tag your post with #FOWC and create a pingback to this post if you are on WordPress. Please check to confirm that your pingback is there. If not, please manually add your link in the comments.
And be sure to read the posts of other bloggers who respond to this prompt. Show them some love.
This, That, and the Other 