Dave Brigham's Blog

It Came From the Basement: "Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms"

The latest in a new series with which I'm trying to reinvigorate the DaveTronik 2000 blog. In these posts, I will write about an item or items currently stored in the unfinished side of my basement. Many of them have been stashed in boxes for decades, waiting for this moment.

This is a book that Super Sam gave me during my intership at my hometown weekly newspaper, the Farmington Valley Herald, during the summer of 1986.

"Who was Super Sam?" you ask. His full name was Louis H. Sampliner, a...

It Came From the Basement: Ramones Alarm Clock

The latest in a new series with which I'm trying to reinvigorate the DaveTronik 2000 blog. In these posts, I will write about an item or items currently stored in the unfinished side of my basement. Many of them have been stashed in boxes for decades, waiting for this moment.

This clock's alarm should just be Dee Dee yelling, "1,2,3,4!" on repeat until you slam it off.

Or better yet, stage-dive off your bed onto it and smash it after a single use.

I believe my in-laws gave me this clock, ma...

It Came From the Basement: The Never Bird's Wheelchair

The latest in a new series with which I'm trying to reinvigorate the DaveTronik 2000 blog. In these posts, I will write about an item or items currently stored in the unfinished side of my basement. Many of them have been stashed in boxes for decades, waiting for this moment.

This looks like something out of a late-19th century British orphanage, doesn't it? Made out of wicker and standing just shy of two feet high, this wheelchair -- or is it a carriage for a small child? -- was a prop that ...

It Came From the Basement: My Favorite Stuffy?

This is the latest in a new series with which I'm trying to reinvigorate the DaveTronik 2000 blog. In these posts, I will write about an item or items currently stored in the unfinished side of my basement. Many of them have been stashed in boxes for decades, waiting for this moment.

Four posts into this new series, I feel the need to talk etymology. When I was a kid, my family used the word "cellar" to refer to the lowest level of our house -- where we stored toys, sports equipment, tools, old...

It Came From the Basement: Freakshow Wine Bottle

Welcome to a new series with which I'm trying to reinvigorate the DaveTronik 2000 blog. In these posts, I will write about an item or items currently stored in the unfinished side of my basement. Many of them have been stashed in boxes for decades, waiting for this moment.

Today's item: an empty bottle of Freakshow Wine, a Cabernet Sauvignon from Michael David Winery.

I gravitate toward things with strange names, whether on a restaurant menu (huaraches, for example, a lovely Mexican dish fea...

It Came From the Basement: TT the Bear's Beer Menu

Welcome to a new series with which I'm trying to reinvigorate the DaveTronik 2000 blog. In these posts, I will write about an item or items currently stored in the unfinished side of my basement. Many of them have been stashed in boxes for decades, waiting for this moment.

Bullet LaVolta.

Jack Drag.

Giant Sand.

Franz Ferdinand.

Mobius Band.

And You Will Know Us By the Trail of Dead.

Flaming Lips.

These are just some of the bands I saw over the years at the late, great TT the Bear's Place in C...

It Came From the Basement: Uncle George's Banjo

Welcome to a new series with which I'm trying to reinvigorate the DaveTronik 2000 blog. In these posts, I will write about an item or items currently stored in the unfinished side of my basement. Many of them have been stashed in boxes for decades, waiting for this moment.

Was George Brigham a banjo master like Bela Fleck, Earl Scruggs, Pete Seeger, Roy Clark and Steve Martin?

Perhaps. But my uncle, who was born in 1924 and died in 2008, never let on if he was able to pick and grin with the bes...

Grandpa's Film Archive: Act One

I recently wrote and posted a video about my grandfather's collection of slides, home movies and film projection and editing equipment that my cousins gave me (see November 24, 2021, "Grandpa's Film Archive: Opening Scene"). Today I will provide a a more detailed look at the trove.

Looking through the items, the first thing I learned about my grandfather, Al Bogert, that I didn't already know was that he was damn good at record keeping. He was my mother's father, and he died in 1986 when I was 2...

Grandpa's Film Archive: Opening Scene

I've become the Library of Congress for both sides of my family, the repository for old photo albums, diaries and instruments. I like this job; it suits me. I love poring over pictures of, words by and information about long-gone ancestors, trying to understand better who they were, what their times were like.

Over the years, my cousins on the Brigham side have given me their father's banjo; family photo albums, including one that our grandfather filled with photos from trips to Europe, Russia a...

A 5th Grader Talks About the King of Rock 'n' Roll

Elvis Presley, for those who don't know, is a popular rock and roll singer. He lives in Memphis, Tennessee, in a big house with his parents. He has been in many movies and when he sings, people get excited. He sings songs like "Hound Dog," "Don't Be Cruel," "Jailhouse Rock" and, my momma's favorite, "Picious Minds." He's called the King of Rock 'n' Roll. Also, Old Chairman of the Board, or something.

He's on the $1 dollar bill, so I think maybe he was president when he was in the 1950's. I foun...