Shark Week 2026: Group Photo #6

    MEG: a Novel of Deep Terror by Steve Altin came out in 1997. I had a first edition hard cover, but I kept it in my classroom when I exclusively taught language arts, and it got really beat up by the guys who would fight over it during my required reading time. 

    The MEG movie came out in 2018, and I was disappointed the filmmakers didn't use the same opening as the book. In the book's prologue, a herd of Shantungosauruses are on a beach feeding on a smaller group of dinosaurs when a T-Rex breaks up the party and flips the script by making the herd his prey. But when he stumbles into the nearby ocean, a Megalodon emerges from the depths and kills the T-Rex with it's superior size and jaws. Or something like that... I think The MEG 2: The Trench used this idea for its prologue. Both films used Jason Statham, and that's always a good thing.

    Great White's LP Once Bitten came out in the summer of '87. I was working 60 to 80 hours weeks on a road crew so I could pay for my freshman year of college. I had my tuition covered by the end of June. I had enough cash for my dorm room, books, and food by late July. In August I bought a few records to bring with me, and Once Bitten was in that lot. I'm not gonna lie. Working the road crew was zero fun. It's probably also the reason why my dermatologist keeps coming at me with a scalpel. 

    The Black Demon movie came out in 2023, and the novel Extinct by Charles Wilson was published in 1997. Both also have a Megalodon as the antagonist. I like how the covers echo each other. Extinct's cover says a it was coming to NBC-TV presumably as a made-for-TV movie, but that - spoiler alert!- didn't happen.

    When I bought Shark Night from Goodwill, I didn't know the original title for the film was Shark Night 3D. Of the four Jaws movies, Jaws III, or Jaws 3D, is my least favorite. I also didn't know that during the credits the cast was going to be in a music video performing the song, "Shark Night Cast: Shark Bite."     

Here's Char hamming it up at Flix when she was about to turn eight

Shark Week 2026: Group Photo #5

    The plot to 1981's The Last Shark is so similar to Jaws that Universal sued, and the film was removed from theaters after two weeks. I like how the AI generated summary on IMDB states that the "shark" in this film resembles a pool float. 

    At least the filmmakers of The Last Shark tried to use their own special effects. In 1976's made for-TV movie Shark Kill, they used previously shot stock footage and wrote their boring screenplay around that.

    I'm using the soundtrack to West Side Story because the rival gangs in the film were The Jets and The Sharks. Even I'll admit that's a bit of a reach.

    What can I say about 2003's Shark Zone? It's the third sequel to 1999's Shark Attack, and a bunch of scenes were taken directly from Shark Attack: Megalodon and the unrelated Dog Watch. At least the cover looks good. This DVD is going back to Goodwill because...

     I now I own the four film collection the Shark Attack movies. I haven't even torn the plastic off of this set yet, but Casper Van Dien stars in the first Shark Attack film, and any movie with Johnny Rico can't be all bad.

    Today's vintage t-shirt is in honor of The Last Shark's inordinate amount of windsurfing.

Shark Week 2026: Group Photo #4

 

    Like the movie Jaws, The Deep also stars Robert Shaw. 

    Like the novel Jaws, the novel The Deep was also written by Peter Benchley.

    Like the novels Jaws and The Deep, the novel the The Beast two-part TV series is based on was also written by Peter Benchley.    

    Today's LP is Deceptive Bends by 10cc. I chose the album based on the cover art work by Hipgnosis. The LP's title was inspired by a warning road sign in Surrey, England. I assume the art work was inspired by the word "bends" being associated with the decompression sickness some sea divers can experience.

    I999's Deep Blue Sea is the only proper shark movie on the shelf today. I saw this film in the theater, and at the time I thought it was the greatest shark film ever after Jaws. I probably still think that.

    Here's the back of today's shirt. Charlotte found it for me when we were thrifting in Oceanside, CA. Good eye, kid!

Shark Week 2026: Group Photo #3

    For today's post I'm picking the soundtrack to 2021's The Suicide Squad due to the King Shark character voiced by Sylvester Stallone. You can see him there on the left.

    I think buying Blu-ray movies just because they have a slipcover is dumb. I thrifted 47 Meters Down because it came with a slip cover...

    One of my biggest thrift store pet peeves is getting stuck in the checkout lane behind someone who is is buying glassware. I found 47 Meters Down: Uncaged today at Goodwill, but the woman ahead of me ended up buying $93 in stemware. I was standing there for over 15 minutes while the clerk wrapped the glasses in brown paper. I hope the movie moves faster than that.

    1979's Up from the Depths was supposed to be a horror comedy, but Roger Corman had all the comedic elements removed in the editing room to make the film an outright horror piece. That didn't work. The VHS cover looks cool, though.

    I almost forgot to add this Flix Brewhouse picture from 2017 ----> link

    Today's outfit is courtesy of Snorkel Bob.

Shark Week 2026: Group Photo #2

    The Sharknado soundtrack is by a band named Quint. They are named after Robert Shaw's character in Jaws. The band is fronted by Robbie Rist who is an actor who played Oliver, a new and young character added to The Brady Bunch TV show's sixth season. It was an attempt to revive their dwindling viewership. That didn't work. The show really jumped the shark when Oliver showed up, but that's not his fault.

    The Holiday Horror Shelf is also displaying Sharknado, Sharknado 2, Sharknado 3, and a souvenir magnet from our vacation at Oceanside.

  Anymore, the only souvenirs I want to bring home when I travel are pictures, magnets, and thrifted t-shirts.

Halfway to Halloween 2026: Group Photo

"Six more months 'til Halloween, Halloween, Halloween. Six more months 'til Halloween. 

Silver Shamrock."

    We're already halfway there! Let's see what's on the Holiday Horror Shelf!

    I'm going with a camping theme since summer is almost here. I've already did a Friday the 13th shelf (with more to come), so here are two other summer camp movies. 

    1983's Sleepaway Camp is a bit of a Friday the 13th knockoff, but the movie is famous for the twist ending. Back in the day, the shocking denouement could have given the ending to Psycho a run for its money. I bought this used Blu-ray online and apparently Travis took this to a horror convention and had it signed by actress Felissa Rose. It reads, "To Travis - Meet me at the waterfront after the social."

    1981's The Burning can brag that it launched the acting careers of Holly Hunter, Jason Alexander, and current documentary director Fisher Sevens. This film is mostly remembered for Tom Savini's gory special effects. Apparently the film had to be heavily edited just to get an R rating. The uncut version wasn't released until 2007.

     1963's Camp Favorites by The Campers is exactly what you think it is except it features an uncredited Phil Ochs. Since the LP is on the horror shelf, I'll choose the track "Cannibal King." That song ends with, "Match in the gas tank. Boom, boom."

St. Patrick's Day 2026: Group Photo

    Happy St. Patrick's Day! Let's see what's on the Holiday Horror Shelf!

    From left to right: This is the seven movie set of the Leprechaun films. 

    If you haven't seen any of these horror comedies, skip number one and jump to Leprechaun 3 or Leprechaun 4: In Space. 

   2024's indie horror film Oddity starts with a serious you-don't-know-who-is-in-the-house-with-you scare and then morphs into a fun twist on the Golem monster.

    Here's how the imdb.com describes 2012's Grabbers:

    This Irish horror comedy can be fairly compared to Tremors (Kevin Bacon and Fred Ward were great in that). I liked the redemptive storyline for one of the leading Garda characters. 

    Musically, I'm going with The Pogues' LP If I Should Fall from Grace with God because it includes "Turkish Song of the Damned." Bandleader Shane MacGowan explained its lyrics as being a mixture of pirate and ghost story '...about a guy on a Turkish island who deserted a sinking ship with all the money and all his mates went down… then his best mate comes back, and all the crew, to drag him back down to hell or wherever they are.’" - Wikipedia

        It felt pretty timely when I found this Leprechaun Returns Blu-ray at Goodwill last week. I didn't even know there was an eighth film in the series. Apparently this one ranks pretty high with the fans. Some websites put this 2018 movie at the top of their lists. I haven't watched it, yet, but it was cool to find it in time for this post.

    Great Irish Tales of Horror: A Treasury of Fear was first published in 1995 and is divided into three sections: Lurking Shadows, Wake Not the Dead, and To Make the Flesh Creep. AI says 1861's "The Child Who Loved a Grave" by Fitz-James O' Brien is the most famous story in the book, and he's known as the Celtic Poe.  I'll rate that story as "meh" since a child dies at the end.

    Don't forget to wear your green. You don't want to get pinched!

Buying Used Vinyl: Free Surprises Inside!

I've written about thrift store records many, many times, so I won't get into any back stories today. I just want to write about vinyl surprises. 

For instance, I bought this LP last weekend.

It's Stephen Stills', self-titled, first solo album, and it was released in 1970. I knew that Mr. Stills was in Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young. I also knew the hit song, "Love the One You're With." I wondered, What else is on here? The record was in decent shape, so I took it home to find out.

What I should have wondered was, Who else is on here? Turns out, quite a lot of people. Jimi Hendrix played the lead guitar on song four, "Old Times, Good Times." Then on the next song, "Go Back Home," Eric Clapton takes lead guitar duties. Ringo Starr, using the pseudonym Richie, plays drums on two songs. Graham Nash and David Crosby provide a little help for their friend with backing vocals, as did John Sebastian, Cass Elliot, and Rita Coolidge. Man, who wasn't on this thing? I had no idea. Talk about this record being a surprise...  

But that's not the kind of record surprise I want to talk about.

Hidden Surprise #1:

This doesn't happen very often, but sometimes I'll bring home an LP with more than the vinyl inside. For instance, I also bought this LP last weekend.

This Neil Young & Crazy Horse record from 1979 is "complete," which is nice. It has the lyric sheet and the original, photo inner sleeve. 

I knew the song "My My, Hey Hey (Out of the Blue)," but that was it. Luckily, the record's first owner surprised me by adding the original Rolling Stone review from the October 18, 1979 issue. I didn't have to do any research on this record because RS's record review editor, Paul Nelson, had already done the heavy lifting for me.

I have always needed someone to point out the deep layers hidden within art for me to fully appreciate its complexities. That's why I enjoy music and film criticism. I need an artistic tour guide, and that what writers like Paul Nelson are. 

Reading a RS review on newsprint paper really brought me back to my high school days in the 80's. Rolling Stone was my gateway to a musical world beyond Iowa's rural Sioux county. I learned a lot about Rust Never Sleeps, too. (Note: Side two is now cited as an inspiration for the grunge movement of the 90's, but Paul wouldn't have know that was coming. The last song, "My My, Hey Hey (Into the Black)" is so sludgy it would be at home on a Melvins record.)

Hidden Surprise #2:

I didn't remember much about Charlie Sexton when I took this record up to the register last summer, but the clerk sure did. 

I had brought her a small stack of LPs, and the clerk fanned them out on the counter to get an accurate count. She gasped when she spotted Charle's record, "Charlie Sexton! Woa... I loooved Charlie Sexton!" She then placed a hand on her chest and a patted out a quick heartbeat, "I wonder what I did with my record?" She was then lost in thought for a moment, undoubtably trying to trace her steps back to 1985 when Charlie Sexton was a 16-year-old with a hit song, "Beat's So Lonely", mad guitar skills, and a video on MTV. And hair. He had a lot of hair.

It must have all worked for him, though. When I removed the record from its sleeve, several magazine pages slid onto our kitchen counter. The previous owner of this album was quite the Charlie Sexton fan.

I can tell the page on the left was once used as a poster because on the back side each corner has damage from a tape loop being removed.

There is a little irony in that Sexton's album is entitled Pictures for Pleasure. 

Whoever had this picture of Charlie hanging on their wall was hardly alone. The set designers for the movie Ferris Bueller's Day Off placed Sexton's poster on the wall behind Ferris's bed.

That's actually cooler than having your video play on MTV. Videos come and go. Bueller is an 80s icon. Talk about bragging rights.

Hidden Surprise #3:

Here's George Michael's Faith LP. Like Charlie's record, I think an 80's teenager used to own it. But I think this teenager was sneaky.

The previous owner made a poster out of the photo on the lyrics sheet.

Again, you can tell from the tape marks. 

But that's not the hidden surprise. That lyric sheet was supposed to be in the LP's sleeve. This is the surprise:

Okay, let's play detective!

1) Using the words "Parents", "dismissal", and "Inservice" suggest this is a note from school.

2) Faith was released on November 2, 1987. November 1st fell on a Tuesday the next year, so we can assume this note from is from 1988.

3) People were pretty conservative in the 80s. I don't think many parents of a junior high student (the phrase "middle school" wasn't a thing, yet) would let their kid put up a picture of the guy who sings "I Want Your Sex" in their room. This is a note for a high school student.

4) Somewhere a school secretary used a typewriter to write this message four times on a single sheet of paper, photocopied it, and then used a paper cutter with one of those huuuuge swing arm blades to slice stacks of paper into four piles of strips. I'm guessing that this note is from a small, Iowa school with an enrollment under 500.

    a) I found this record in an Iowa thrift store. It's probably from an Iowan donor who went to an Iowa school.

    b) If you handed out 1200 strips of paper for 1200 kids to take home, you'd have 1000 strips of paper all over the floors of the school.

    c) It's harder to get away with making a "mess" is a small school (trust me on this). In a smaller school district, most of the notes would have probably gotten home.

Hypothesis: Some sneaky kid who attended a small high school in Iowa hid this note inside the record sleeve.

This note isn't like a picture of a celebrity crush that you hang onto even after you've moved on. It isn't memorable, so why save it? No one has ever said, "Dude, remember that time when the teachers had that sweet inservice? I still have the note! Check it out." 

I think someone got the note from their 8th period teacher. Then while walking to the parking lot with some friends, they decided that if their folks did not know about the early dismissal, then they would have an extra hour or more to do something their folks wouldn't approve of. (Remember, there was no internet, no email, and no text messaging back then. Report cards were handed out on conference nights. In small towns, snow days were announced by the local radio stations.)  I bet the owner of this note discovered it in their back pocket when they were in their room, and they quickly hid it from their parents in a record sleeve their parents would never open. 

And that's where it stayed for the last 37 years.

I could be completely wrong, though. 

Maybe it really was a sweet teacher inservice. 

Scratchy, But Very Playable

Before I begin this post, I'd like to state for the record that I do buy new records. I was a member of Vinyl Me, Please and Vinyl Moon. I buy new records from Bandcamp, Discogs, Amazon, and eBay. I also buy new records at local record stores and record shows. 

BUT, that's not as fun as scoring used LPs out in the wild, wild, west of thrift. The new and used LPs in record stores, at shows, and online are organized, categorized, and alphabetized. No surprises there. 

You never know what you are going to find out in the wild. For every 100 religious records, you might come across one or two interesting specimens. There's a How did you even get here? aspect that is surprising and fun. If the LP is great shape that's an added bonus. I've found pristine LPs that are actually worth 30 times or more than what I paid. There's quite a rush when that happens.

With this mind, I'll explain why I've stopped ignoring scratched up and beat up records.

Usually I'd skip this Shades of Deep Purple LP. The vinyl is visibly scratched. The worn, outer sleeve has splits on the top, side, and bottom. That used to put me off. Now I pause before I flip to the next LP in the box on the bottom of a Goodwill shelf.

I ask myself, Should I give this bad boy a chance? 

I also ask myself some other questions to determine an answer:  1) Do I know the artist? 2) What is the artist's genre? 3) What is their style? 4) When was this recorded? 5) What condition is the vinyl in? 6) What condition is the sleeve in?

Notice which questions are last.

Dirt and debris do not deter me. I wet-vacuum clean almost all of my thrift records before I play them. If I see a feel-able scratch or a deep warp, then I'll pass. I hate it when a record skips. I'll also move on if it's covered with a haze of scratches. The rest really is up to chance. Some scratched thrift store LPs sound really good. Others not so much. It's really hard to know just by looking. You have to buy it and test it at home.

Why throw good money at "bad" records? 

1) Why not? You're not throwing much. Used LPs around here range from 79 cents to $1.49. People throw more change than that into fountains. 

2) You are forcing yourself to focus on one artist and their one statement by buying a scratchy album. You can't fast forward or skip. Limitations can be liberating. There is just too much music out there to absorb. Narrowing your focus sharpens your perceptions.

3) It's a great way to test run a LP. A clean, scratchy record will have better highs and lows than anything you can stream. If you like the music, you can get a better idea how a nicer copy would sound on your system. 

4) These records were not created by accident. For major releases, there was a small army of people putting their record together. Most didn't put their effort and money into it because they thought it would stink. Independent records have even more loved poured into them because they were a passion project. I like to think that every record has at least one interesting track on it. 

5) There's also a chance you'll discover "new" music. Marvin Homes And The Uptights's Ooh Ooh The Dragon and other Monsters came out in 1969. I discovered it almost 50 years later as a scratchy record, and it's one of my favorite finds. I've since purchased a much better copy. I still love my original scratchy one because I listened to it like that for years. Sounds weird, but you get used to the surface noise, and it sometimes revisiting the scratchy one just feels right. 

6) You're saving a small piece of musical history. I like to think that I'm giving the record a final chance to fulfill their purpose to entertain someone once again. 

7) Used records are a good time. Grab 'em when you can.

Okay. So let's go back to the Shades of Deep Purple LP. I'm familiar with the band ("Smoke on the Water," anyone?), and I checked Discogs to see what their earlier genre and style might be.

Four styles of rock sounds good to me. I took Shades home, cleaned and air-dried it, and put it on the turntable. Man, there are some great songs on this record. I hadn't check the tracklist earlier, and I didn't realize "Hush" was on here. I forgot they even sang that song. I also didn't know they did a slow and brooding version of The Beatles' "Help" or a banger cover of "Hey Joe". 

What also stood out was the surprising sound effects. Hush begins with a lonely wolf howling in the night. "One More Rainy Day" begins in a storm, and "Help" inexplicably begins in a B-movie science lab. My favorite effect comes after the last track. When the music for "Hey Joe" ends, you can hear what I assume is a recording engineer say, "That's the one." Then you hear someone else reply, "Right." Then they yawn, stretch, and heavy foot steps travel from one ear to the other (if you're wearing headphones). A squeaky door is opened and then is slammed shut. At that moment the turntable's tone arm raises and slides back to its cradle. 

That's how you end a record.

(I find it difficult to photograph record scratches. But holding the LP in sun seems to help.)

And that's the good news. The other news is that side 1 is in decent shape. You can hear clicks and pops in-between the songs, but the music overcomes that. Side 2 is slightly rougher. That's a shame because the static almost overpowers the understated opening to "Help". The music is louder on "Hey Joe", and the noise is masked quite a bit there. 

So, I was reminded that "Hush" is a Deep Purple tune, and that they also do two cover songs that I really like. That's worth more than the $1.50 spent for sure. I'm on the lookout for a better copy of Shades, but this does work for now. 

El Chicano's self-titled LP is another example of a scratchy find. I hadn't heard of this band before.

Rock, Latin, Funk, and Soul? Sign me up! Also, this was recorded in 1973 - a sweet spot when it comes to funk records. I really like the lead track, "Tell Her She's Lovely" and the instrumental covers "What's Going On" and "We've Only Just Begun." I can say that I did not see a Carpenters cover coming. This record gives off Santana and Brazil '66 vibes.

The vinyl's surface noise wasn't obnoxious, but I found a much better copy on Discogs for only $10. The outer sleeves are really close in condition, but one on the right is the keeper. The guy on the left is going back to Goodwill so he can inspire another. 

Let's try again.

This looks a lot worse than it is. That's some serious ring wear on the cover, but that doesn't bother me. Inside, the vinyl is VG to VG+. I like this record as-is. I am not seeking out a better copy. As an added bonus, this LP is BoBo approved.

I need to explain that last part. BoBo is our cat, and he hangs out with me in basement. Years ago the Science Center of Iowa had an exhibit about sound. One of the displays stated that scientists believe that animals can hear music, but they have no idea what the animals are actually are hearing.  

I believe that animals can hear actual music although I haven't done any scientific research. BoBo leaves the room if he doesn't like what I'm playing. If he does like what's on the turntable, then he jumps up on the arm of my chair and listens.

He moves his head from speaker to speaker with the stereo effects. His ears twitch when the music changes. When he's really listening, and I try to pet him, he pulls back from my hand and meows a sharp rebuke. 

I bought the Johnny Winter album on a Saturday morning. Bo and I listened to the entire album when it was clean and dry in the afternoon. I asked him if he wanted to listen to it again when it was finished, and he just stared at me from the arm of the chair. I flipped the LP over, dropped the needle, and Bo settled in for another round.

This is what BoBo's stamp of approval looks like.

I need to point out that I'm not always successful. I like The Ventures, especially their Xmas album, but I couldn't connect with this record. I was hoping for surf music, but the instrumentals were a bit on the slow side for me. There are some interesting tracks, but nothing that I need to play again. The vinyl's scratches aren't bad, so this one will go back to Goodwill for someone else to hopefully try. Note: BoBo was nowhere to be seen when I played this...

I suppose a record snob would look at my thrift store finds and hold their nose, and that's fine. 

I think it's normal to wonder what people think about you and your interests. The thing is, you just can't let others' opinions change who you are, what you do, or what you like.

It's not easy, but you have to try to stop looking at yourself through another person's eyes and imagining how they would judge you. You can't read minds. You can't predict what people will say. And you'll never really know what they are thinking. Worrying about that is just a waste of your time. 

These records aren't, though. They're fun.

Why Did I Buy This?

I didn't pack an LP mailing box when we went to Canada last year. I've mailed LPs home that I bought while traveling before, but it's a pain to get them to a post office, and that takes valuable time away from the family's vacation. The process feels selfish, and I promised myself I wouldn't do it again. 

I was regretting that decision after spotting some British New-Wave records in a thrift store. 

The OMD single "Shame" is a 12" single from 1987. The Naked Eyes LP is from 1983. The records were behind the counter's glass, so I'm sure they cost more than the riffraff in the boxes out on the tables. I didn't bother asking to see them even though I wanted to. I've been listening to the 1st Wave channel on Sirius XM, and that has renewed my interest in eighties music.

I've had this conversation with a friend at work who also collects records. He likes to point out that you hardly ever find LPs from the 80s for sale, "Where are they all? Bands like R.E.M. sold millions of records in the 80s, but you never see them anywhere!" 

He's not wrong. Decent LPs from the 60s and the 70s can be found if you're diligent. CDs dominated the 90's and 00s, so it's not surprising that LPs from that time are hard to score in the wild. But what about the 80s era? I have no idea where those records are hiding.

That brings me to this record. 

The back is even worse.

See? I told you. Let's look inside.

Man, the inner sleeve is really gross.

Yeah, I'm not sure that I should have even brought this thing into the house. 

Actually, the vinyl itself doesn't look too bad.

This Naked Eyes 12" single, "(What) in the name of love", is from 1984. My guess is that it was a new record that was dropped in the rain while someone was bringing it in from the car. Whoever made the fumble brought the record inside and left it to dry lying flat on its back. Then most of the back's artwork stuck to whatever surface it was lying on. 

I'm surprised that someone kept it for forty years after that. It's also kind of surprising someone would even donate a record in this condition to a thrift store. What's even more surprising than that is that someone actually bought a record in this condition. 

So, why (in the name of love) did I buy this?

1) The record looked sad and lonely.

2) That whole thing about 80s LPs being hard to find.

3) I had a hunch that this would clean up and sound okay. 

4) In the back of my mind, there was always something there to remind me that I didn't buy that Naked Eyes LP while we were in Canada. 

The first thing I did was throw that disgusting inner sleeve away. Next I cut away any debris from the outer sleeve that was going to fall off. I then vacuumed cleaned each side of the vinyl three times - two washes with record cleaner and one rinse with distilled water - and let the surfaces air-dry.

Looking pretty shiny there, guy. I can clearly see my reflection.

I slid the vinyl into a new paper inner sleeve, and then slid that into a new blank outer sleeve that's hiding behind the Naked Eyes sleeve. The whole thing is also covered by a clear protective sleeve. 

That's more sleeves than I wearing right now. 

How does sound after cleaning?

There is hardly any noise when the needle drops into the lead-in groove. The music is bright and doesn't suffer from surface noise. I don't think this vinyl spent much, if any, time on a turntable. I have new records that don't sound this clean.

I know this isn't a great story, and this isn't a great record, either. 

But you know what? 

I like 'em both.