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bookmark_borderGhosts of DFW music history blog series

Posted on by PAO Productions
Silver Dollar Rock House photo, courtesy Rockulapresents YouTube channel

The 1980s and '90s were arguably the heyday of local, home grown music in North Texas. On the west side of the DFW metroplex, the 1980s bore witness to the birth of the local metal scene in Arlington and Fort Worth, and, on the east side, the solidification of the rock/punk/pop scenes in Dallas, all of which led directly to the national prominence of the area in mid to late 1990s radio and culture. "Ghosts of DFW music history" is an ongoing blog series in which I visit the former locations of DFW area music venues and record labels of days past, showing them as they are today and putting each into the context of its time. Each entry will feature a bit of historical background, an up to date photo of each location as it is today, and period flyers, photos, and/or memorabilia. As this series progresses, direct links to each of the planned posts will be added below. Once the entire series has been posted, this page will be retooled to serve as an official table of contents. Please enjoy the installments and feel free to comment if you remember or were a part of those days!

Featured posts:
East wall of 2111 Commerce, © 2023 Peter Orozco
East wall of 2111 Commerce Street, former site of various iconic punk clubs in the 1980s
All material on this page is © 2023 Peter Orozco (all rights reserved) except the following:
Silver Dollar sign photo reproduced from Rockulapresents YouTube video upload, used per terms of Creative Commons Attribution license. Original footage taken by Laurel and/or Dee Wilson of Dallas Music Videos.

bookmark_borderOn vacation for 2023

Posted on by PAO Productions
I'm currently on vacation, partaking in my annual road trip across the U.S. and Canada. I had originally planned on having at least the first entry of my upcoming blog series completed by my departure date of 10/6, but for various reasons that didn't happen. After my return home sometime next week, I'll resume work on that series and also post one or two other entries that are nearly ready to go. In the meantime, I am taking time off from things to have some adventures up here north of the border.

bookmark_borderThrift store and secondhand finds

Posted on by PAO Productions
I like to hit the thrift stores from time to time looking for clothes, older electronics, music, or just the random unexpected item I can't live without. These are some of my best scores to date.

VitaMix 3600

One afternoon in 2013, while the rounds of the K Avenue thrift stores in Plano, I stumbled upon an incredible find. It was the base and motor portion of an old Vitamix 3600, which dates to sometime in the late 1960s. Vitamixes are renowned for their power, longevity, and long-term reliability, and after plugging it into an outlet I was able to confirm that the motor worked as well as ever. Unfortunately, there was no price tag on the base, and the rest of the unit was missing. I took it up to the checkout counter and asked for a price, only to be told that the manager would need to look at it and get back to me. A couple of days later, I was able to finally get a price quote... ten dollars. I sourced a vintage carafe, lid, and Action Dome off eBay (not dirt cheap, but still much better than trying to buy a complete unit) and using them I was able to assemble a completed machine. As I already owned my own high powered Vitamix blender, I gave the thrift store one to Hannah (she of the lemonade post), who I knew would appreciate it. Top notch new Vitamixes can retail for $500 to as much as $1,000.
Hannah showing off the fully reassembled Vita-Mix 3600. Photo by Corey Geloneck. Hannah showing off the fully reassembled Vita-Mix 3600. Photo by Corey Geloneck.
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bookmark_borderHomemade vegetable stock/broth

Posted on by PAO Productions
Vegetable stock
Vegetable stock

There are plenty of vegetable stock recipes out there. This is one I've come up with that has worked so far for me. There is no salt or pepper in my version, and as usual for my recipes, this uses fresh (not canned!) ingredients.

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bookmark_borderUpdate concerning future and ongoing projects

Posted on by PAO Productions
I tend to always have multiple things going on creatively, with as many as five or six projects in progress at one time in various stages of completeness. As a result, new material on this site tends to go up in spurts, with large amounts of content being added all at once as a project is completed. Even this blog is usually updated in spurts, which several entries being edited simultaneously and ultimately posted in groups of two or three, all of them post-dated to go live at a later date. This entry here is no exception. But there's a lot of other work going on in the background for which these semi-regular blog posts are biding time.

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