Favorite Things Friday - Dragonflies and Crash Kings

Sometimes I rack my brain trying to come up with a Favourite Things Friday post, due in no small part to my propensity for waiting until the last minute and then scrambling.  But it was easy peasy this week.  I had a plan to tell you about a cool Christmas present, and then, on top of that, I discovered some new (to me) music just a few days ago.  So we have ourselves a two-fer!

Terry, my sister's fiance, is a whiz when it comes to working with metal.  He builds hot rods in his free time, which I've mentioned before.  I made him a quilt in 2009, which you can read about HERE.  

He came to the Christmas get together this year with some awesome garden stakes he made, and he gave each family one of his cute creations.  

The wings are made from upcycled stainless knives and the body is a long bolt.  I think it's fabulous!  

 

I love how the light reflects off the knives kind of like how it shimmers on real dragonfly wings. He says if you want it to rust faster, just stick it in a bucket of salt water.  I think I'll just let nature take its course.

His plan is to make a bunch to take to swap meets this summer.  I think they'll sell like hotcakes!  I'm keeping my eye out for utensils at the thrift stores to help keep him stocked with parts.  I've already got a bag of 8 or 10 started for him in the back seat of my car.

Favorite thing number two is a band called Crash Kings, which I just stumbled upon this week.  It's three guys, no guitars (except a bass), and the keyboard player plays an old Clavinet keyboard he's custom fitted with a whammy bar (!), which he can make sound like an electric guitar.  

There's a Jack White vibe to the song, "Mountain Man" which I've listened to more times this week than I should admit (obsessed much?).  P.S. - The keyboard player/singer is easy on the eyes, and I like his voice as much as his keyboard chops.

I couldn't decide which YouTube to post, so you get all four of my favorite versions of the song.  (The ones where he's playing the piano by himself at the radio station or the Gibson Guitar place are awesome in their own right.)  Click one or all!