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Horseless Carriages: the thread about the first motor car in Edinburgh and Scotland (and why motoring began with deliberate law breaking)
I’ve been waiting for July 19th to write this. On this exact day – 127 years ago – something momentous happened. Something that would change Edinburgh, and Scotland, forever: The first ever motor car entered the city, on the first ever (legal) cross-county drive in Scotland. Thomas R. Barnwell Elliot of Cliftonpark, Kelso, had been causing a stir in the south of Scotland ever since he imported his 3.5hp Panhard et Levassor Phaeton “horseless carriage” from France in December 1895. It was the first motor car imported into Scotland, the 7th in the UK.
T. R. Barnewall Elliot and his car. At this time the Daimler Syndicate held the British rights for Panhard et LevassorAt this time, the Locomotives Acts, meant any “locomotives” (which included motor cars) on the road were limited to 4mph (country) and 2mph (city), and a man had to walk 20 yards in front. (The red flag requirement of popular lore was actually abolished by the Locomotive Act 1878.) Barnewall Elliot was the son of the Deputy Lieutenant of the County of Roxburghshire, and had been given exemption by the county constabulary from the restrictions of this act within their borders, unless any specific complaints were raised against him.
The “Red Flag” acts didn’t actually mean a red flag was carried infront of motor vehicles.The July 17th trip took him from Kelso, via Edinburgh and Stirling, to the Highland Show at South Inch in Perth. The Provost of Perth had invited him to demonstrate his contraption there and had gained an exemption for this journey from the 14 police jurisdictions he had to pass through.
The car had been imported via the Daimler Syndicate (hence sometimes referred to as such). It had a 2hp engine, weighted 1 ton, had iron tyres, tiller steering, no radiator, ran on petrol (at the rate of 1pint / hour), had a range of 100 miles and could do 12mph on the flat. It could seat 4 persons, but on any sort of a gradient 3 of them would have to get out and walk. Barnewall Elliot took his first drive in it on December 27th 1895 and made local news headlines (and turned many a Roxburghshire head) when he drove the 50 miles from Kelso to Ladykirk in it on 31st January 1896. On February 2nd, he went to Jedburgh, where Inspector Dickson of the Constabulary stopped him. However, after a brief check of the facts and that all was in order, he went on his way again and proceeded along the Jed water.
Edinburgh Evening News illustration of Barnewall Elliot’s Panhard et Levassor Phaeton. Monday 10 February 1896On 19th March though he did something he shouldn’t have: he drove it over both county and country borders and into Northumberland. When he was stopped by the Police in Berwick, he agreed with them that he was “probably breaking the law” and he was charged. This was deliberate on Barnewall Elliot’s part, he was trying to force a test case, and was successful. He admitted to the magistrates that he drove at “up to 14mph“, defending himself with the contention that his motor car was not a locomotive as defined in those acts. The magistrates were sympathetic, but stuck to the letter of the law. Describing Barnewall Elliot as a “most obliging defendant” they found him guilty, buy only with failing to have a man walk 20 yards in front of him and fined him a total of… 6 pence! (plus 19s 7d costs)
These events made Barnewall Elliot something of a household name in Scotland. At this time, the organisers of the Highland Show were keen to have an exhibition of motor cars as it was felt they would be of great transport use to country farmers, and so Barnewall Elliot – a gentleman farmer – was the perfect man for the job. He accepted their invitation and “those who witnessed [his demonstration] were struck by its easiness and steady progress“.
He had bought his car for £250 (c. £27k in 2023). After driving a few thousand miles in it he sold it in October 1896 for £112 in order to buy another. He suffered 55% depreciation on account of the crummy build quality of these early vehicles.
A Panhard et Levassor Phaeton of the type driven by Barnewall ElliotBut although his was the first motor car imported into Scotland, and although he made the first legal road journeys in it, it was not actually the first horseless carriage in Scotland. That honour goes to Glaswegian locomotive engineer George Johnston. ohnston had been engaged by the Glasgow Corporation to build a tramcar that did not require electricity or horses. He came up with an oil-fuelled steam tram. Unfortunately it burned down before it could really prove its worth. Johnston went back to the drawing board.
Illustration of Johnston’s mechanical tramcarHe gave up on the idea of the steam tram and having seen a motor car in operation, decided he could build one of those too, but better. He imported a Panhard chassis and Daimler engine via Leith and combined them with a “dog cart” carriage body in late 1895. Very early in the morning of November 12th that year, Johnston took his machine for a test run through the streets of Glasgow. He knew full well he was breaking the law and even invited a journalist for the Scotsman along for the ride.
The Johnston Dog Cart in 1897, probably not the original model from the 1895 test run, however it did not change much in subsequent years.Not long after midnight, they set out from Springburn, taking Buchanan Street, to cross the city. They went along the Broomielaw to Shawlands “and back by a more circuitous way“. They deliberately tested a range of road surfaces, noting that macadam roads gave the best ride. The 3 occupants noted “the feeling of greatest exhilaration” on the Parliamentary Road when Johnston took them up to the giddy speed 12mph. The Glasgow Polismen on their early morning beats were dumbfounded and didn’t know what to do. The law caught up with Johnston on January 24th 1896, when he was convicted by Judge Mitchell in the Glasgow Police Court and given a token fine of 2s 6d. He would go on to become one of Scotland’s most successful early motor engineers under the Arrol-Johnston name.
1902 Arrol-Johnston Dog Cart car. Note the similarity to that in the previous photo. CC-by-SA 2.0 Graham RobertsonWhile Glasgow and Kelso took an early lead in motoring, the Edinburgh Evening News noted “Edinburgh people… Did not readily take to innovations and preferred to wait until they gained experience from others.” We can be confident that Barnewall Elliot indeed brought the first car to Edinburgh because when the Locomotive Acts were repealed on 14th November 1896, the Evening News reported there were no cars in the city at that point and his had been the only one to pass through up until then. Despite the repeal of the Acts, it was not until 11th December that another car came to Edinburgh, when Glaswegian firm Colosseum Warehouse Co. brought a Daimler with a taxi cab body to the city and gave rides in it. It took until February 1897 for a citizen of Edinburgh to troubled themselves to get a car, when Mr John Drew of Belford Road exhibited an “almost noiseless” electric car of the Neale type that he had built.
Illustration of the Neale electric car from “The Automotor Journal” March 1897It was not long thereafter that the Rossleigh Cycle Company (named for partners Thomas Ross and the Sleigh brothers) went into the chauffeuring business with a number of Daimler Dogcarts acquired for the purpose. Driver Thomas Morrison is seen here in Holyrood Park in 1897.
Thomas Morrison, Holyrood Park, in a Rossleigh Daimler Dogcart 1897.On 22nd September 1899, Sarah Renicks, a domestic servant from Broxburn, was the first reported person to be knocked down by a car, when a vehicle of the Edinburgh Autocar Co. hit her as she stepped off a tram on Princes Street. She sued for £150. In January 1900, the Edinburgh Autocar Co. was again in court, having knocked down Thomas Woolard in Newington. Sheriff Maconochie however found that the car was not being driven in a “furious and reckless manner” and that the pedestrian was at fault for not looking. In April 1900, James Collins of Duncan Street, Newington, was fined £5 (or 20 days imprisonment) for having driven his car in a “reckless and careless manner” on Lothian Road and crashed into a horse and carriage.
On June 16th 1902, the first pedestrian fatality as the result of being knocked down by a motor car took place on Princes Street. Christina Currie, 56, of Cumberland Street was hit by a vehicle being driven by Thomas Morrison as she crossed the street at the foot of the Mound. A policeman on tram points duty witnessed the event, and estimated the accused had driven at 15mph. He said he had tried to stop the vehicle but it had not. Other witnesses put the speed between 12 – 17mph. The defendant stated the victim had stepped out from behind a tramcar. A jury took only half an hour to find Morrison not guilty, however the foreman expressed “their strong disapproval of the too common practice of driving motor cars in crowded thoroughfares at too high speeds and without due regard to the safety of the public“.
Register of deaths entry for Christina Currie. (685/4 659)Note to readers: unfortunately in April 2026, a third-party plug-in more than exceeded its authority and broke many of the image links on this site. No images were lost but I will have to restore them page-by-page, which may take some time. In the meantime please bear with me while I go about rectifying this issue.
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#Lochend #Logan #Restalrig #StMargaret -
#Introduction continued because I realized after I hit send that I left out some important info. I’ve been married for 13 years to @sblarose and she needs to start using #Mastodon more. I have one daughter from a previous marriage, 22 years old, and she currently chooses to not have any contact with me. I hope/pray that won’t be forever. Sarah and I are Christians, definitely #progressive and absolutely #affirming with all that implies. Okay, I think I’ve covered it all now.
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Enter new markets and embrace a distributed workforce to grow during a pandemic - Sarah Cole
Contributor
Sarah Cole is a senior associate in Taylor ... - http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/PI_KzShbDng/ #humanresourcemanagement #entrepreneurship #venturecapital #europeanunion #telecommuting #employment #remotework #startups #column #europe #labor #asia -
The Blogs: From Meitzarim to the Strait of Hormuz: Living the Bible in Real Time | Sarah Rindner
On the seventh morning of this past holiday of Passover in Israel I walked gingerly to synagogue, still…
#Israel #News #2025HostageDeal #BenjaminNetanyahu #DonaldTrump #Iran #israelatwar #Passover
https://www.europesays.com/2914828/ -
https://www.europesays.com/iran/64068/ The Blogs: From Meitzarim to the Strait of Hormuz: Living the Bible in Real Time | Sarah Rindner #2025HostageDeal #BenjaminNetanyahu #DonaldTrump #Iran #Israel #IsraelAtWar #Passover
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The Blogs: From Meitzarim to the Strait of Hormuz: Living the Bible in Real Time | Sarah Rindner
On the seventh morning of this past holiday of Passover in Israel I walked gingerly to synagogue, still…
#NewsBeep #News #BreakingNews #2025HostageDeal #BenjaminNetanyahu #breakingnews #DonaldTrump #Iran #Israel #IsraelatWar #Passover
https://www.newsbeep.com/480900/ -
Irish Fiddling for St. Patty’s Day!
I’m super excited I was invited to provide two hours of Irish fiddling at one of my most favorite places in the Inland Empire, Nuno’s Bistro and Bar in Upland!
I’ll be there playing from 7pm to 9pm on Tuesday March 17. Come by and enjoy the best drinks, food, service, and atmosphere!
In the meantime, here’s a couple of old fiddling videos for you to enjoy…
https://youtu.be/fux1akJ79cg?si=O6NDw-p9ODOTja9q
https://youtu.be/LfCPz30wwdQ?si=D9P_OsWe44qWVJuh
#celtic #fiddle #livePerformace -
Irish Fiddling for St. Patty’s Day!
I’m super excited I was invited to provide two hours of Irish fiddling at one of my most favorite places in the Inland Empire, Nuno’s Bistro and Bar in Upland!
I’ll be there playing from 7pm to 9pm on Tuesday March 17. Come by and enjoy the best drinks, food, service, and atmosphere!
In the meantime, here’s a couple of old fiddling videos for you to enjoy…
https://youtu.be/fux1akJ79cg?si=O6NDw-p9ODOTja9q
https://youtu.be/LfCPz30wwdQ?si=D9P_OsWe44qWVJuh
#celtic #fiddle #livePerformace -
Irish Fiddling for St. Patty’s Day!
I’m super excited I was invited to provide two hours of Irish fiddling at one of my most favorite places in the Inland Empire, Nuno’s Bistro and Bar in Upland!
I’ll be there playing from 7pm to 9pm on Tuesday March 17. Come by and enjoy the best drinks, food, service, and atmosphere!
In the meantime, here’s a couple of old fiddling videos for you to enjoy…
https://youtu.be/fux1akJ79cg?si=O6NDw-p9ODOTja9q
https://youtu.be/LfCPz30wwdQ?si=D9P_OsWe44qWVJuh
#celtic #fiddle #livePerformace -
THE POSTHOLE
Monday, 11 May 2026 · Night Edition · Vol. 1 No. 152
MJD 61172.00LEAD — STATE & LOCAL
Aaron Gleeman, World’s Best MN Twins Writer, Goes Indie After The Athletic Eliminates His Twins Beat
-- RacketPlus teen reporters fight ICE, reluctant mystery amphitheater deets, and a rare look inside the ol' Zimmerman place in today's Flyover news roundup.
STATE & LOCAL
▸ Art-A-Whirl, Thai New Year, TC Gemini: This Week’s Best Events
-- Racket
It's an epic festival weekend.▸ Kink, Politics, and the Edging of ‘Normal’
-- RacketINVESTIGATIVE
▸ A Trump U.S. Attorney’s Professional Misconduct Must Be Kept “Private and Confidential”
-- The Intercept
A legal disciplinary panel won’t disclose any details about its inquiry into John Sarcone, a Trump loyalist in New York. The...▸ Israeli Real Estate Expo Advertising West Bank Settlements Returns to NYC
-- The InterceptRESEARCH
▸ Racial gerrymandering may be here to stay
-- The Conversation
A recent Supreme Court decision is sparking a major push for partisan redistricting. Douglas Rissing, iStock/Getty Images Plus...▸ What makes a good teacher? Ask a Republican and a Democrat, and they are likely to agree
-- The Conversation▸ ‘Devil Wears Prada 2’ shows how Christian imagery circulates in unusual ways through the fashion industry
-- The ConversationGOVERNMENT
▸ CBO's Baseline Projections of Federal Subsidies for Health Insurance
-- Congressional Budget Office
Presentation by Phill Swagel, Sean Dunbar, Sarah Masi, and Sarah Sajewski.IN BRIEF
• GM agrees to $12.75M California settlement over sale of drivers’ data -- BleepingComputer
• Official CheckMarx Jenkins package compromised with infostealer -- BleepingComputer
• New GhostLock tool abuses Windows API to block file access -- BleepingComputer
• Cangjie, a New Open-Source Compiled Language with Native Effect Handlers and Algebraic... -- InfoQ
• Coder Agents Enable Running AI Coding Workflows on Self-Hosted Infrastructure -- InfoQSECTIONS
Tech Talk: GM just laid off IT workers to hire those with stronger AI skills #tech
Tinseltown Tour: Westworld Movie Remake In The Works After HBO's Cancellation Of... #film
Politics Fightbox: A Modest Uptick in Supreme Court Popularity #politics
Science Showcase: Sucker fish are hiding in manta rays’ ‘butthole,’ new study... #science
Guns Galore: Remington Model 17 Police Special: The Shockwave a Century Ago #firearms
Podcast Pack: Legends 79: Lone Scar #podcast
**USA News Firehose... -
https://www.moezine.com/2070514/ 「ファッション界の帝王」ジョルジオ・アルマーニ氏死去、91歳 | ロイター イタリアのファッションデザイナー、ジョルジオ・アルマーニ氏が死去した。写真は２０２５春夏オートクチュールコレクションのショーの最後に登場した同氏。フランス・パリで１月撮影（２０２５年 ロイター/Sarah Meysson #APPA #CLEB #CMPNY #CYCP #CYCS #DEST:NOJPENM #DEST:NOJPTPM #DEST:NOJPZTM #DLI #EMEA #ENT #EUROP #EZC #FAS #FASH #fashion #GEN #it #JFOR #JLN #LIF #Lux #MENCLO #NEWS1 #pro #SOCI #Tex #TOPCMB #TOPNWS #trn #wear #WEU #WOMCLO #ファッション
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Sarah Knafo fait plonger les audiences du 20h de TF1: la candidate de Reconquête pour les municipales à Paris a surtout été interrogé sur.. la présidentielle de 2027, Tandis que Gilles Bouleau s'est refusé à la présenter comme une élue d'extrême-droite, le JT à perdu un million de téléspectateurs perdus en 5 minutes, selon Quotidien. Zéro sur toute la ligne...
#Politique #Reconquete #Defaite #Zemmour #Audiences #JT #TF1 #Television #Municipales #ExtremeDroite #Presidentielle #Medias #Compol
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Exclusive: 'World-class' Russell has Bath dreaming of 'glory days of old' - Monye
https://www.eurosport.com/rugby/premiership/2023-2024/exclusive-finn-russell-has-bath-dreaming-of-glory-days-in-most-competitive-premiership-rugby-season-_sto9833457/story.shtml
#NorthamptonSaints #NewcastleFalcons #GloucesterRugby #LeicesterTigers #ExeterChiefs #BristolBears #Premiership #FinnRussell #Harlequins #SaleSharks #BathRugby #Eurosport #Saracens #Rugby -
“I was served at the checkout by a tall man who casually asked if the traffic was still bad outside. I don’t think he really expected me to then pour out not only my journey woes of sitting for and hour and a half in a traffic jam between two junctions but also the tales of my mum in hospital and my lack of water."
1/3
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What was your #ChildrenInNeed highlight?
“My son has been challenged to do 25 kind things as part of a Children in Need challenge and I actually really love how he is seeking out opportunities! Tiny things all for a tick on a sheet. But hope it plants a seed... I can see the joy it brings to all of us”
What a great example of how charities inspire #kindness from Kate Llewellyn.
Photo credit: Children In Need Pudsey Bear by Philip Halling, CC BY-SA 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons.
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The Finisher is a documentary about ultra-runner Jasmin Paris completing the Barkley Marathons last year. It's inspirational and mind-blowing that someone can push themselves so hard.
Resharing now as was discussing Sarah Cox's Children in Need challenge with a neighbour on the school run and looked up the link for them. Jasmin Paris lives nearby, in #Midlothian.
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#Free #Webinar
From Knowledge to Practice: Advancing #Biodiversity Positive #NatureBased #Climate Solutions#Hybrid Event: #Online or in #Ottawa
Thu, Jun 22, 2023 9:30 AM - 4:00 PM EDT
Session 1: Advancing Biodiversity-positive Nature-based Climate Solutions for #Adaptation (AKFC & #IISD)
Session 2: Nature-based solutions for climate and biodiversity community of practice
tickets: bit.ly/NbS-Jun22
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https://www.alojapan.com/1483855/glover-garden-spring-bloom-views-in-nagasaki-2026/ Glover Garden: Spring Bloom Views in Nagasaki 2026 #bloom #garden #glover #JapanTours #may #Nagasaki #Spring #tours #Views As cherry blossoms peak in early May 2026, Glover Garden offers US travelers stunning harbor vistas from its hillside mansions. By Sarah Chen, Travel & Culture EditorSarah Chen is a travel journalist with over 12 years of experience covering East Asia, including in-depth reporting on Japan’s cultural sites and seasonal fe
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https://www.alojapan.com/1483855/glover-garden-spring-bloom-views-in-nagasaki-2026/ Glover Garden: Spring Bloom Views in Nagasaki 2026 #bloom #garden #glover #JapanTours #may #Nagasaki #Spring #tours #Views As cherry blossoms peak in early May 2026, Glover Garden offers US travelers stunning harbor vistas from its hillside mansions. By Sarah Chen, Travel & Culture EditorSarah Chen is a travel journalist with over 12 years of experience covering East Asia, including in-depth reporting on Japan’s cultural sites and seasonal fe
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Added to the back of my motorbike :) #emotorcycle #emotorbike #electricmotorcycles #electricmotorbikes
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Added to the back of my motorbike :) #emotorcycle #emotorbike #electricmotorcycles #electricmotorbikes
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Added to the back of my motorbike :) #emotorcycle #emotorbike #electricmotorcycles #electricmotorbikes
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Added to the back of my motorbike :) #emotorcycle #emotorbike #electricmotorcycles #electricmotorbikes
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@sarahjeong.bsky.social
I found writer Sarah Jeong's article about gas masks and respirators extremely readable, informative, and entertaining in a currently apocalyptic way. 5 stars and only one note: It's a must-read.
Thank YOU, Verge, and Sarah!
#GasMasks #FirstAmendment #SarahJeong #Verge -
@sarahjeong.bsky.social
I found writer Sarah Jeong's article about gas masks and respirators extremely readable, informative, and entertaining in a currently apocalyptic way. 5 stars and only one note: It's a must-read.
Thank YOU, Verge, and Sarah!
#GasMasks #FirstAmendment #SarahJeong #Verge -
@sarahjeong.bsky.social
I found writer Sarah Jeong's article about gas masks and respirators extremely readable, informative, and entertaining in a currently apocalyptic way. 5 stars and only one note: It's a must-read.
Thank YOU, Verge, and Sarah!
#GasMasks #FirstAmendment #SarahJeong #Verge -
@sarahjeong.bsky.social
I found writer Sarah Jeong's article about gas masks and respirators extremely readable, informative, and entertaining in a currently apocalyptic way. 5 stars and only one note: It's a must-read.
Thank YOU, Verge, and Sarah!
#GasMasks #FirstAmendment #SarahJeong #Verge -
@sarahjeong.bsky.social
I found writer Sarah Jeong's article about gas masks and respirators extremely readable, informative, and entertaining in a currently apocalyptic way. 5 stars and only one note: It's a must-read.
Thank YOU, Verge, and Sarah!
#GasMasks #FirstAmendment #SarahJeong #Verge -
Big Town (1994) Review
Contrary to the title shot, there isn’t any lumber to be seen what-so-ever. Plenty of wood though.Released by Plum Productions in 1994, directed by Anthony Spinelli, this is a porn feature film starring the likes of Jon Dough, Rebecca Bardoux, Nikki Sinn, Celeste, Heather Lee, Steve Hatcher, Steven St. Croix, Tina Tyler (Credited as Tina Tedeschi), and Woody Long. A star-studded cast for sure. Anthony Spinelli is a prominent figure in the feature film porno category, having directed a number of hits in the genre, many with notable budgets. A veteran by this time, though it only casually shows in this picture. He knows what he’s doing, he just doesn’t feel like doing it at his best.
The film revolves around the voyeuristic exploits of a bum named Bob, as he walks around the city (the titular “Big Town”) watching people have sex. That’s really all there is to it.
The foible of the main character through which we experience these raunchy jaunts around the “City” (Which are really just re-arranged dingy backdrops), is that he is – or we assume him to be telling the truth – a man of stature who has fallen on hard times. A biochemist who somehow lost everything and his wife left him, and now he rummages through the streets for wine bottles trying to ogle people fucking. Sounds like my kind of guy, to be honest.
That is the cleanest back-alley brick wall I have ever seen in my entire life.The first scene stars the beautiful Rebecca Bardoux, who is fighting over a bottle with Bob. She stole it while he was flagrantly yelling at shadows, giving us the tip-off that he’s not just some random sleazy bum, he’s “Einstein!” (in his own words). He nails the mannerisms of being drunk, unfortunately he is not convincing even superficially as being a drunk in his actual acting. I paid 10 dollars to see a drunk bum fuck Rebecca Bardoux, you could at least TRY to emulate the aftermaths one of the many party ragers I know you’ve ended up wasted and blacked out on the floor from.
The scene itself is rather blunt. He takes his bottle back, they chit-chat briefly and he tells her to suck his cock. But she will NOT do it…Unless he asks nicely. Now damn, why the hell didn’t I think of that? I’m off to the convenience store to try that on the hot cashier always dropping my Juul’s on the floor!
That’s the nicest ass I think I’ve ever seen on a “bum”. Don’t ask what I have to compare it to.The scene itself is rather straight forward; some oral, some vaginal, then we finish with a filthy anal scene. How fitting. The highlight would be the oral scene, which features very intimate close-ups, almost uncomfortable in how it relishes her lips around his cock. We also have a nice close-up shot of them making out. Very oral focused, which is not something I would have assumed.
The dominating lighting for the scene seems to be an overhead key light that gives the whole scene a rather moody, harsh, and dramatic appeal. The only way we can see their faces properly illuminated is if they look upwards, or are laying down, making the whole act feel depraved in a subconscious sort of way, evoking the theme of them being at the very bottom, with the literal spotlight being on them in this moment. Or hell maybe they only had enough money for the one light, fuck if I know.
“I’m so glad we chose this location, right next to the seedy bum-filled alley with the window looking out directly at a brick wall to have sex!”The next scene features the very wasted potential of the amazing Celeste, and Woody Long, who are in a rather interesting scene to shoot for a porno; a long narrow corridor. You honestly do not see that very often. What you see even less often, is a sex scene in a hardcore porno where there is ZERO penetration action. You see some spirited oral action, with Celeste working her face off to try and get him rock hard, but he seemingly was just not able to perform.
The most action we see from him is getting a blowjob, and then working her over with his mouth and a dildo. All the “penetration” we see is implied, with a couple of glimpses showing that he is doing the softcore trick of just dry-humping as we can see a hint of what I believe is his flaccid penis at a couple points, sporadically mixed in with some shots of Bob lingering outside, looking through the window watching these…newlyweds? Party-goers? Who cares, people in fancy clothes “fucking” (emphasis on the quotes).
The scene is bathed in a nice red key light, at one point painting their entire bodies in red, with some white highlights from fill lights, and nice backdrop lighting of yellow and blue creating a scene that screams warm, inviting, and intensely urban.
“Don’t you know it’s illegal to be sexy? Now bend over and let me show you my Night Stick!” – Or something like that.The scene transitions as quickly as possible to the next one with Nikki Sinn and Steve Hatcher, where the dynamic in this vignette is a cop taking a hooker into an alleyway to coerce sex from her.
This scene is hampered by the fact that Nikki Sinn cannot suck cock at all. She is biting it, flailing her tongue at it, and bobbing up and down on it like she’s trying to stab herself in the throat. This is leveraged though by the fact that she has a fat, dumpy ass. Perfectly balanced, as all things should be.
If you’re wondering, yes, he splits that ass wide open.The aftermath of this scene has her kissing the cop, and going back to her street corner, as she has a small chit-chat with Bob (which is where we learn he is a biochemist, after a comedic exchange). Bob is trying his hardest not to pass out while listening to the hooker go on and on about loving fucking cops and talking about Sarah Lee cakes. I am not sure if Jon Dough was actually on the verge of falling asleep listening to this dialogue, or if he was acting, but I feel for him. God damn I feel for him going through this scene.
Following that encounter we are introduced to Steven St. Croix, acting as a pimp, and the recently deceased Heather Lee (Rest in Peace, Latina mommy). Now, I am sure there have been greater disparities in acting, but this film does an excellent job inadvertently highlighting the difference between Jon Dough’s acting, and Steven St. Croix’s. Croix is what we like to call “Crossover Talent”, a pornstar who can perform, but also act, and he can act surprisingly well. His portrayal of the pimp is soft, seductive, with a hint of threat that oozes from his two-bit character.
The overhead key light is doing some heavy lifting, but I’m sure he’d be just as seductively imposing without it.Again we are treated to a lot of intensely intimate oral play, although this time the color dominating the scene is not from the key light, but the back light, giving them shimmering blue highlights, making it feel urban but in a more somber, subtly threatening way.
The main draw of this scene is the blowjob. My god the blowjob. Can Heather Lee ever suck a dick, I mean holy shit. The way she uses her mouth makes me think she would almost be better at sucking than she would be at fucking. Of course, we also get some of that too, although with much less fanfare, as they finish in an intense missionary on a soiled grimy mattress.
This all culminates though in the finale, where Bob comes face to face with a woman out of time, who does not know who she is, or where she is, but she sees Bob. Shortly after her introduction, we are led to believe this is Marilyn (Tina Tyler), I.E. Marilyn Monroe, and surely a hallucination.
Even her shitty, breathy Marilyn Monroe impersonation is better than Jon Dough’s drunkard.We get a long-winded monologue about how he is all washed up. She coaxes it out of him after doing a rendition of “Happy Birthday Mr President” in the most stereotypical Marilyn way possible. He was a biochemist, he lost everything, his wife, and he loved her, and so on and so forth.
She convinces him it is not too late to try to get her back, that he can salvage her, somehow, he just has to try. The camera really focuses on Jon’s face for this whole thing, and we get a near 30 second long take purely for dialogue and his acting alone, which is moderately impressive, especially for a porno film, as he waxes poetic about how he misses her, how she felt in his arms. I have absolutely no fucking clue what this is doing in this movie though, since it seemingly comes out of left field in terms of the emotional whiplash, although I guess you could argue there is a seedy, depressing undercurrent running through the film, now starting to get put together about how he misses his wife and his ogling of these other people makes him long for her. You COULD argue that. But it would be incredibly difficult due to the fact that there was zero buildup to it outside of the very first scene, and his brief single sentence worth of lines with the hooker.
So, after his monologue, this long, overly emotional release valve for something that was barely gaining any steam to begin with, what does our protagonist, “Bob”, do? He fucks her, naturally.
My wife…My wife! But how often do you get sucked off by Marilyn Monroe?Listen, when a pretty amnesiac blond woman who thinks she’s Marilyn Monroe walks into your life, you don’t pass up that opportunity blindly, even if she did just convince you to try and get back with your wife. There is a really nice quick-shot of the silhouettes of their shadows fucking against the wall, unfortunately we only get a glimpse of that. This scene plays out very similarly to the previous ones; heavy oral focus, typical fucking.
After fucking Marilyn, Bob “wakes up”, stuck in the same pile of trash he was in at the beginning, the other woman now gone; both the woman at the beginning and the Marilyn impersonator, with what appears to be morning light beaming through a window above from the left-hand side. It leaves you questioning if he imagined all of the sex, just the last girl, or if he simply passed out afterwards and woke up, deciding not to change anything. A surprisingly effective closer for this vignette-based film, and unusually depressing.
Overall, it was decent for a porno in regards to sets, the well-executed focus on oral, and the selection of women; their profiles matching their character types moderately well. However the failure of utilizing Celeste (Arguably the best woman on screen here) to her fullest potential, the shitty performance from Jon Dough, and the rushed scene transitions all drag it down, but not by much. I would say it is worth sticking around for the oral scenes, and if you are a fan of blowjobs this is definitely a great skin-flick, but overall, it manages to fall very slightly short.
4/10
For other recent blog posts…
Careful, He May Be Watching (1987) – Review
Released shortly after the fall of the Golden Age of Porn, due to the disintegration of grind house cinema and tighter regulation of what kinds of films could be shown in theaters, “Careful, He May Be Watching,” is not the finale of narrative-driven porn that dominated the 70’s and half of the 80’s, but it…
by theangryfishheadApril 12, 2026April 12, 2026GENRE: Arcade Action / Block BreakerGAME LENGTH: Variable (5 minutes to several hours, depending on your patience, or skill)REPLAYABILITY: HighDIFFICULTY: Desk-smashingly Annoying Released in 1976 in the arcades, this was a – no pun intended – breakout success. It became so popular it spawned an entire genre of imitators, most notably in Japan, with the…
by theangryfishheadNovember 20, 2025November 20, 2025Anatomy of a Weak Argument: A Case Study in Bad Criticism (Featuring SugarPunch)
So, as a joke, a friend of mine posted a link to some youtube essayist criticizing ‘Mortal Kombat X’. “Great!” I think to myself. I am always up for seeing well-informed and nuanced discussions, especially around content that I love. For example, seeing peoples reactions to the 1995 ‘Mortal Kombat’ movie is always interesting because…
by theangryfishheadJune 24, 2025November 20, 2025 #1994 #90S #bigTown #blowjob #celeste #erotic #erotica #feature #fiction #film #flick #heatherLee #movie #Movies #nikkiSinn #oral #porn #rebeccaBardoux #retro #reviews #sex #smut #stevenStCroix #tinaTyler #vintage #woodyLong #writing -
Big Town (1994) Review
Contrary to the title shot, there isn’t any lumber to be seen what-so-ever. Plenty of wood though.Released by Plum Productions in 1994, directed by Anthony Spinelli, this is a porn feature film starring the likes of Jon Dough, Rebecca Bardoux, Nikki Sinn, Celeste, Heather Lee, Steve Hatcher, Steven St. Croix, Tina Tyler (Credited as Tina Tedeschi), and Woody Long. A star-studded cast for sure. Anthony Spinelli is a prominent figure in the feature film porno category, having direct a number of hits in the genre, with notable budgets. A veteran by this time, though it only barely shows in this picture.
The film revolves around the voyeuristic exploits of a bum named Bob, as he walks around the city (which I assume is the titular “Big Town”) watching people have sex. That’s really all there is to it.
The foible of the main character through which we experience these raunchy jaunts around the “City” (Which are really just re-arranged dingy backdrops), is that he is – or we assume him to be telling the truth – a man of stature who has fallen on hard times. A biochemist who somehow lost everything and his wife left him, and now he rummages through the streets for wine bottles trying to ogle people fucking. Sounds like my kind of guy, to be perfectly honest.
That is cleanest back-alley brick wall I have ever seen in my entire life.The first scene stars the beautiful Rebecca Bardoux, who is fighting over a bottle with Bob. She stole it while he was flagrantly yelling at shadows, giving us the tip-off that he’s not just some random sleazy bum, he’s “Einstein!” (in his own words). He nails the mannerisms of being drunk, unfortunately he is not convincing even superficially as being a drunk in his actual acting. I paid 10 dollars to see a drunk bum fuck Rebecca Bardoux, you could at least TRY to emulate the aftermaths one of the many party ragers I know you’ve ended up wasted and blacked out on the floor from.
The scene itself is rather blunt. He takes his bottle back, they chit-chat briefly and he tells her to suck his cock. But she will NOT do it…Unless he asks nicely. Now damn, why the hell didn’t I think of that? I’m off to the convenience store to try that on the hot cashier always dropping my Juul’s on the floor!
That’s the nicest ass I think I’ve ever seen on a “bum”. Don’t ask what I have to compare it to.The scene itself is rather straight forward, some oral, some vaginal, then we finish with a filthy anal scene. How fitting. The highlight would be the oral scene, which features very close, intimate close-ups, almost uncomfortable in how it relishes her lips around his cock. We also have a nice close-up shot of them making out. Very oral focused, which is not something I would have assumed.
The dominating lighting for the scene seems to be an overhead key light that gives the whole scene a rather moody, harsh, and dramatic appeal. The only way we can see their faces properly illuminated is if they look upwards, or are laying down, making the whole act feel depraved in a subconscious sort of way, evoking the theme of them being at the very bottom, with the literal spotlight being on them in this moment. Or hell maybe they only had enough money for the one light, fuck if I know.
“I’m so glad we chose this location, right next to the seedy bum-filled alley with the window looking out directly at a brick wall to have sex!”The next scene features the very wasted potential of the amazing Celeste, and Woody Long, who are in a rather interesting scene to shoot in for a porno; a long narrow corridor. You honestly do not see that very often. What you see even less often, is a sex scene in a hardcore porno where there is ZERO penetration action. You see some spirited oral action, with Celeste working her face off to try and get him rock hard. But apparently, he just was not able to perform.
The most action we see from him is getting a blowjob, and then working her over with his mouth and a dildo. All the “penetration” we see is implied, with a couple of glimpses showing that he is doing the softcore trick of just dry-humping as we can see a hint of what I believe is his flaccid penis at a couple points, sporadically mixed in with some shots of Bob lingering outside, looking through the window watching these…newlyweds? Party-goers? Who cares, people in fancy clothes “fucking” (emphasis on the quotes).
The scene is bathed in a nice red key light, at one point painting their entire bodies in red, with some white highlights from fill lights, and nice backdrop lighting of yellow and blue creating a scene that screams warm, inviting, and intensely urban.
“Don’t you know it’s illegal to be sexy? Now bend over and let me show you my Night Stick!” – Or something like that.The scene transitions as quickly as possible to the next one with Nikki Sinn and Steve Hatcher, where the dynamic in this vignette is a cop taking a hooker into an alleyway to coerce sex from her.
This scene is hampered by the fact that Nikki Sinn cannot suck cock at all. She is biting it, flailing her tongue at it, and bobbing up and down on it like she’s trying to stab herself in the throat. This is leveraged though by the fact that she has a fat, dumpy ass. Perfectly balanced, as all things should be.
If you’re wondering, yes, he splits that ass wide open.The aftermath of this scene has her kissing the cop, and going back to her street corner, as she has a small chit-chat with Bob (which is where we learn he is a biochemist, after a comedic exchange). Bob is trying his hardest not to pass out while listening to the hooker go on and on about loving fucking cops and talking about Sarah Lee cakes. I am not sure if Jon Dough was actually on the verge of falling asleep listening to this dialogue, or if he was acting, but I feel for him. God damn I feel for him going through this scene.
Following that encounter we are introduced to Steven St. Croix, acting as a pimp, and the recently deceased Heather Lee (Rest in Peace, Latina mommy). Now, I am sure there have been greater disparities in acting, but this film does an excellent job inadvertently of highlighting the difference between Jon Dough’s acting, and Steven St. Croix’s. Croix is what we like to call “Crossover Talent”, a pornstar who can perform, but he can also act, and he can act surprisingly well. His portrayal of the pimp is soft, seductive, which a hint of threat that oozes from his two-bit character.
The overhead key light is doing some heavy lifting, but I’m sure he’d be just as seductively imposing without it.Again we are treated to a lot of intensely intimate oral play, although this time the color dominating the scene is not from the key light, but the back light, giving them shimmering blue highlights, making it feel urban but in a more somber, subtly threatening way.
The main draw of this scene is the blowjob. My god the blowjob. Can Heather Lee ever suck a dick, I mean holy shit. The way she uses her mouth makes me think she would almost be better at sucking than she would be at fucking. Of course, we also get some of that too, although with much less fanfare, as they finish in an intense missionary on a soiled grimy mattress.
This all culminates though in the finale, where Bob comes face to face with a woman out of time, who does not know who she is, or where she is, but she sees Bob. Shortly after her introduction, we are led to believe this is Marilyn (Tina Tyler), I.E. Marilyn Monroe, and surely a hallucination.
Even her shitty, breathy Marilyn Monroe impersonation is better than Jon Dough’s drunkard.We get a long-winded monologue about how he is all washed up. She coaxes it out of it after doing a rendition of “Happy Birthday Mr President” in the most stereotypical Marilyn way possible. He was a biochemist, he lost everything, his wife, and he loved her, and so on and so forth.
She convinces him it is not too late to try to get her back, that he can salvage her, somehow, he just has to try. The camera really focuses on Jon’s face for this whole thing, and we get a near 30 second long take, which is moderately impressive, especially for a porno film, as he waxes poetic about how he misses her, how she felt in his arms. I have absolutely no fucking clue what it is doing in this movie though, since it seemingly comes out of left field in terms of the emotional whiplash, although I guess you could argue there is a seedy, depressing, undercurrent running throughout the film, now starting to get put together about how he misses his wife and his ogling of these other people makes him long for her. You COULD argue that. But it would be incredibly difficult due to the fact that there was zero buildup to it outside of the very first scene, and his brief single sentence worth of lines with the hooker.
So, after this monologue, this long, overly emotional release valve for something that was barely gaining any steam to begin with, what does our protagonist, “Bob”, do? He fucks her, naturally.
My wife…My wife! But how often do you get sucked off by Marilyn Monroe?Listen, when a pretty amnesiac blond woman who thinks she’s Marilyn Monroe walks into your life, you don’t pass up that opportunity blindly, even if she did just convince you to try and get back with your wife.
After fucking Marilyn, Bob “wakes up”, stuck in the same pile of trash he was in at the beginning, the other woman now gone; both the woman at the beginning and the Marilyn impersonator, with what appears to be morning light beaming through a window above from the left-hand side. It leaves you questioning if he imagined all of the sex, just the last girl, or if he simply woke up from last night, not changing anything. A surprisingly effective closer for this vignette-based film.
Overall, it was decent for a porno in regards to sets, the well-executed focus on oral, and the selection of women; their profiles matching their character types moderately well. However the failure of utilizing Celeste (Arguably the best woman on screen here) to her fullest potential, the shitty performance from Jon Dough, and the rushed scene transitions all drag it down, but not by much. I would say it is worth sticking around for the oral scenes, if you are a fan of blowjobs, this is definitely a great skin-flick, but overall, it manages to fall very slightly short.
4/10
For other recent blog posts…
Careful, He May Be Watching (1987) – Review
Released shortly after the fall of the Golden Age of Porn, due to the disintegration of grind house cinema and tighter regulation of what kinds of films could be shown in theaters, “Careful, He May Be Watching,” is not the finale of narrative-driven porn that dominated the 70’s and half of the 80’s, but it…
by theangryfishheadApril 12, 2026April 12, 2026GENRE: Arcade Action / Block BreakerGAME LENGTH: Variable (5 minutes to several hours, depending on your patience, or skill)REPLAYABILITY: HighDIFFICULTY: Desk-smashingly Annoying Released in 1976 in the arcades, this was a – no pun intended – breakout success. It became so popular it spawned an entire genre of imitators, most notably in Japan, with the…
by theangryfishheadNovember 20, 2025November 20, 2025Anatomy of a Weak Argument: A Case Study in Bad Criticism (Featuring SugarPunch)
So, as a joke, a friend of mine posted a link to some youtube essayist criticizing ‘Mortal Kombat X’. “Great!” I think to myself. I am always up for seeing well-informed and nuanced discussions, especially around content that I love. For example, seeing peoples reactions to the 1995 ‘Mortal Kombat’ movie is always interesting because…
by theangryfishheadJune 24, 2025November 20, 2025 #1994 #90S #bigTown #blowjob #celeste #erotic #erotica #feature #fiction #film #flick #heatherLee #movie #Movies #nikkiSinn #oral #porn #rebeccaBardoux #retro #reviews #sex #smut #stevenStCroix #tinaTyler #vintage #woodyLong #writing