The adventures and various works of a photographer, road tripper, former patron of the local arts, aspiring app developer, and late night coffee drinker and conversationalist.
This is the first installment in a series of posts exploring locations of former DFW musical landmarks
Jimmy's Lil' Rockhouse
The original 1986 flyer
The story begins in April of this year, when I stumbled across a copy of an old hand drawn flyer while browsing some listings on eBay. The bands being advertised were ones I'd never heard of, as was the venue listed for the performance, but I recognized the included "Z Nites" logo as that of a long defunct radio network that was on the air during my middle and high school days. Upon closer examination of the embedded (also hand drawn) map to the venue, one "Jimmy's Lil' Rokhouse," I recognized the names of several streets and was able to discern that the area being pictured was in Arlington, between Dallas and Fort Worth and literally down the street from the University of Texas at Arlington, my alma mater from 1998-2000. The dates given on the flyer suggested a year of 1986, based on when those particular dates and Friday and Saturday nights would line up. Where exactly was this Jimmy's Lil' Rockhouse, and what was it today? I decided I wanted to find out.
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!
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.
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.
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.
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.
Hannah showing off the fully reassembled Vita-Mix 3600. Photo by Corey Geloneck.
