PHOTOGRAPHY TIP

Drab vacation photos? Push your stomach through those face-through-the-hole photo-op thingies to achieve an image that's reminiscent of a Terry Gilliam movie or a Pink Floyd video.
(Photo taken at The Big Texan, 2004)

GRANNY JO ANNE'S

A couple of years ago my wife told me that she'd discovered a sign about a half hour from our house which she suspected I would be interested in. It was apparently advertising a joke and magic shop and it had a skeleton on it. Yes, I was interested.

On the next available Saturday a magic-enthusiast friend and I set out to visit this unusual discovery. In this modern age you're lucky to find a gag retailer in even the most tourist populated areas. However, my wife's directions were leading us further and further from civilization. As we traveled we theorized that the sign was probably a remnant from a place that had closed down ages ago, or maybe an auction find that someone was proudly displaying. Soon I came to a stop in the middle of the country road... there it was.


The sign demanded to be read aloud.. "Granny Jo Anne's Magic and Joke Shop!?" (I later learned that it's pronounced Granny Jo Annie's, as in Little Orphan...) It was greater than I had ever imagined. It was impressively large and the grim reaper was nicely and stylishly illustrated. I noted the timeless quality of the monument. Granny Jo was clearly doing this thing right, and I found myself suddenly excited. The sign was located on the grounds of a sprawling rural "flea market" that consisted of several buildings resembling the chicken houses that are so prevalent in this area. The near-empty, dirt parking lot made us question its operational status, but the wide-open doors gave us hope.

The interior was jammed with second and third hand products and there sat a man watching television behind a counter which seemed to be a designated money-exchanging area. We silently deduced that the place was indeed "in business" but I saw no pranks or grim reapers or grannys (well, maybe a couple, but they weren't Jo Anne). The offering of goods were a bit rougher than the typical flea market fare, and it was a place where most patrons enjoyed their freedom to smoke while they shopped. Bucking the typical booth system, everything in the room looked to be the property of the TV watcher. But then we saw an entrance to another area.

We walked through to find a dimly lit mall-like layout. There was a long, cement walkway with "stores" on both sides that were divided by wooden planks and chicken wire. Some were padlocked, some were dark, and some were floor-to-ceiling with knick-knacks, but few were manned. Most of the folks shuffling around the hall seemed to be shopkeepers visiting with one another.

There on the right..Bingo!..Granny Jo Anne's (This time the words were on a less interesting sign.. a banner of dot matrix printer paper). Thankfully the lights were on. It only took my friend and I to make the 9' x 9' "show room" feel crowded and the piles of packages on the floor didn't help. Granny must have been conducting business elsewhere because the heavily cushioned stool behind the display case was empty. There was a surprisingly wide selection of products. Most were newish, some were homemade and all were haphazardly displayed. My eyes instantly started mining through the clutter. I was quickly crestfallen as I realized the bulk of their selection was produced by that all-too-prevalent pollutant of the joke biz... Loftus.

Loftus is a horrific brand of novelties that spread through the country like a plague during the 1990s. They achieved widespread distribution by undercutting established joke dealers with chintzy knock-offs of all the classic gags. They are the arch nemesis of industry originators like S.S. Adams and even Franco American Novelty.

(Click to enlarge)

It's likely that your eyes have already been violated by their grotesque packaging. They adhere to a visual landscape of metallic fonts and gaudy gradients inhabited by rosy-cheeked, over-sexualized, anime-influenced characters. In harsh contrast to the classic jolly joker in a plaid suit, these vector-illustrated drones seem to treat pranks and magic as nothing more than foreplay.

I continued to scan the room for diamonds in the rough when the enormous clerk pushed his way to his perch behind the counter. He asked us if we wanted any free stickers bearing anti-drug slogans.. for the children in our lives. We politely accepted them. After the initial awkward moments we realized that this prank pusher was a whole lot of fun and wanted nothing more than to talk shop and demonstrate magic tricks. We gabbed about everything from the local magic scene to the store's fictitious namesake. My friend and I took turns shopping and speaking. We both understood that this man, who was "in it for the love," deserved some patronage on this dismal Saturday morning. I grabbed an Adams' Production Box trick and a handful of others before I unburied a pretty cool find...


It was old and the box was terrific (I love the slogan "Entertaining but Harmless") although the items inside seemed to be a Granny Jo Anne's custom mix of trinkets. Some fun stuff (vintage even), but not an authentic assortment.

(Click to enlarge)

Although judging from the mismatched typfaces in this ad that I found, the box may have been designed to hold any products in need of liquidation...


Our lengthy conversation with the clerk was actually interrupted several times by children hitting him up for anti-drug stickers. He told us that he used to give out free balloons but they just caused too many problems.
Another welcome diversion occurred when the Latino blanket salesman from next door (a regular customer) stopped by in search of the perfect prank to play on his visiting mother-in- law. The clerk rattled off a list of suggested joke items but the man said he had already pulled every last one of them. The customer eventually discovered the Gelling Joke, a powder that instantly turns liquid into gel (I can vouch for its effectiveness). His eyes lit up. He gleefully paid and exited with a wide grin as he muttered in his thick accent "Oh, yes.. this is good. This is very, very good."

I topped off my shopping bag with a seven inch, pinkish, glow-in-the-dark, rubber skeleton...


I was amused when the clerk assured me that if I unveiled it in a darkened room during a faux seance, it could easily pass as a life-size specter standing in the doorway. This has not proven successful. I blame stupid old depth perception.

My friend and I walked out of the primitive mall quite satisfied and knowing that we had a new story to tell. I never did return to Granny Jo Anne's. There's just no way that another visit could ever top my first.

COMIC ART MAGAZINE #8

Just FYI- I'm a contributor in the latest issue of Comic Art magazine. I wrote a brief article called "The Art of S.S. Adams" that's followed by an eight page showcase of said art. Most of the images are straight out of my book, but I gave them a couple pieces that didn't find a place in Life of the Party.

If you're not familiar with it, Comic Art is sort of a dream-come-true for comic enthusiasts. Their web site says it best...
"Comic Art is the only beautifully produced, full-color art magazine focusing on the comic medium. The material covered is wide-ranging: newspaper strip, magazine panel, and comic book art, both historical and contemporary... Comic Art emphasizes outstanding print quality and lush production values..."

The latest issue has taken the publication to a whole new level. With 172 sturdy pages, It feels more like a book than a magazine. Each feature is lengthy and in-depth, and the coverage ranges from pure "pop" to stuff so obscure you will probably never see it anywhere else. Therefore art from a turn-of-the-century French humor magazine gets equal treatment as Warlock, Marvel Comics' rarely honored "cosmic adventurer" from the 1970s. Kudos to you Comic Art! As Cabin Boy would say.. "Awards all around!"

SKULL RIDERZ, WITH A "Z"

I saw this interesting item today at Wal-Mart. It's called a Skull Riderz and it's from the West Coast Choppers series of remote control vehicles. He jumped out at me as quite a cultural Frankenstein. Here are a few influences that I picked up on...
-Ghost Rider skeleton-on-a-motorcycle concept
-Freddy Kruger striped sweater (well.. with black instead of green)
-Outlaw Biker red German stahlhelm
-Chuck Taylor-esque high tops (with Khaki pants of all things.)

I laughed aloud when I noticed that one of his hands is designed to form the classic "devil sign."

While in the store I had a few chuckles and moved on, but now that I've pondered the power of the Riderz I've added him to my shopping list.

CHEVY SHOWROOM MUSIC 1972

It should be of no surprise that listening to vintage music is a favorite pastime of mine. I've also noticed that there's something extra fun about music that was never intended for consumer use. I have a number of recordings that were meant to be played during a certain time, in a certain place and then discarded. This is an ephemeral favorite of mine.. it's a record that Chevrolet distributed to their dealers called Building a better way to see the U.S.A. Music. Here's a description from the back of the jacket...

"Looking for a happy, encouraging sound- listen to this complimentary record. It's the theme music taken from the '72 Announcement meeting. We encourage you to share this happy sound with your showroom visitors. It's all part of a great new advertising campaign that will be seen and listened to by your prospects in the next few months...a better way to sell Chevrolets."
(The record is only a half hour long, so the salespeople could potentially hear it up to sixteen times a day. And hopefully they had a record player that could restart automatically.)

The LP opens with a vocal track that's all about the vastness and diversity of the United States...

"It's a land that's made from differences
but where all the edges touch
from the Mormons out in Utah
to the Pennsylvania Dutch"

After some hopeful introductory music there are a couple tracks dedicated to Chevy history (musical stylings that are synonymous with black and white footage of jalopies spouting smoke). These finally lead into the relaxed beat of the "modern" showroom. The remainder of the album consists of distinct variations of the main theme, each representing a different Chevy model. From easy going ditties for the Station Wagon, Nova, and Monte Carlo to the sophisticated melodies of the Impala and the Caprice (which is seen on the cover). Naturally the Corvette and Camero are musically portrayed with brassy excitement. The El Camino music is particularly interesting because it's your standard, twangy "chase music" that brings Smokey and the Bandit to mind. Are they implying that the El Camino is the ultimate getaway car?

The scene on the cover is actually pretty inspiring even though the "family" is so ridiculously staged. Like action figures, everyone has their own accessory.. and little Billy had to bring his baseball mitt to the mountains.

This is one of my favorite records and I've always thought it would make perfect road trip music. So I finally took the time to convert it into highly portable MP3s. I see that this album is being offered for 200 bucks on a rare vinyl web site (I paid one dollar at a thrift store). Save yourself the expense and just download it here...

Download via Mediafire: HERE
Size: 41.7 meg
Run time: 29.5 min
Bit Rate: 192 kbps

SNAPSHOT- JANUARY 1982

(Click to Enlarge)

Fueled by my new addiction to this blog, I recently paid a visit to my mom's place in search of my childhood photos. It wasn't long before I located the mother lode.. or should I say my mother's load of pictures. Between the many albums of snapshots and the fresh memories they've unlocked I've got more new blog fodder than you can shake a joystick at.

Speaking of which... there's a certain perfection to the photograph above. Everything is as it should be. Two-player Space Invaders with some good friends. A couple of the guys felt like taking their shoes off to get more comfy. The boy in plaid is in classic belly-on-floor, legs-kicked-up entertainment mode. I (on the right) was having fun even despite my velour shirt. The kid on the far left probably walked in the front door and became mesmerized by the game so quickly that he sat down without removing his coat. Forty-five minutes later after he gets "game over" he'll realize that he's been broiling in his own sweat and rip off his Steelers jacket in a spasm.

Boy, that little corner of the house still seems so inviting to me. Everything is warm and earth-toned, as if we were all gaming in a cave during an autumn sunset. The fact that the Atari 2600 console was designed with a slab of fake wood on the front doesn't seem so strange when you see it in the context of this photo. It blends in seamlessly with the environment.. wooden walls, wooden television, wooden video game system. Though the picture is from the early 80s my living room was clearly reeling from the bicentennial year of '76. I mean my television appears to have been crafted by a Colonial woodworker. Can you spot the oil lamp, the old fashioned iron, the nineteenth century school desk complete with copper candlestick that's straight out of Dickens? (There's actually a butter churn hiding behind the guy in the jacket.) But please don't think I'm knocking the decor. Is the modern living room so much better? Have we found a couch pattern that's going to transcend time?

Anyway, I'll leave you with a parting thought inspired by the photo.. I wish you many times of simple pleasures among friends.

PEE-WEE HERMAN'S WALLET

Francis Buxton may have stolen Pee-wee Herman's bike, but I have his wallet! Well, this is a relatively ridiculous post, but I was recently watching one of my favorite flicks ..Tim Burton's Pee-wee's Big Adventure, and I noticed that the wallet Pee-wee hands over to the fortune teller is like one that I purchased at a dime store in Branson Missouri a few years ago.


It's only on the screen for a second, so no doubt you'd like to get a better view of the excellent Wallet...

The detail that sets mine apart is the faux wooden(?) background. It's tough for me to determine which one is cooler.

Upon further inspection, the wallet contains a photo of Pee-wee and his beloved bicycle.

Well, look at that. I too have a photo of myself with my own cherished bicycle. Now I suppose you demand to know how my bike could be anywhere near as awesome as Pee-wee's.

(Image borrowed from Tic Toc Toys)

Well, in 1980 Post cereal held a contest that invited young participants to draw themselves eating any Post brand breakfast cereal with their favorite DC superhero. The grand prize was a family trip to Hollywood where the winner would receive the honor of eating breakfast with one's DC hero of choice. The contest allowed for an unlimited number of entries, so I got to work.

I invested unprecedented amounts of time and attention to detail on these illustrations. Eventually I managed to generate a respectable stack of work (for a kid). My dad sat down and took a look at my creations. He quickly realized that he needed to have a delicate discussion with me regarding the difference between Marvel and DC heroes. A painful and unforgettable lesson was learned when I was told that roughly half of my artwork was ineligible.

But I persisted. A trip to the neighborhood convenience store provided me with a fresh list of "favorite" heroes. In the end, only a half dozen drawings made my personal cut including the one pictured above in which Aquaman summons swordfish to crack open a cereal-filled chest as he simultaneously fends off the giant, hungry sea serpent. Meanwhile I (in diving gear) proclaim that "I wonte [sic] the cereal." It's a classic "bird in the hand.." scenario because the commotion allows the octopus to steal our breakfast. I don't know if it was this one, the Batman one, or the Giant Apache Chief that did the trick, but...


Yessir, I got one of (probably) a couple thousand bicycles that were issued as "second prizes," which was fine by me because in hindsight I realize that the top award was nothing more than an elaborate lie. The grand-prize winning kid had to learn years after the fact that Superman or whoever (whom they'd flown all the way to Hollywood to dine with.) was actually just some guy who happened to fit into the suit. Years after the "winner's" deceptive vacation was but a memory I was still cruising town at ten different speeds.

I wonder what they would have done if the winner had requested a mega-obscure hero like, say Weirdo Legionaire? What sort of get-up would they have scrounged together?










Here I stand proud with my prize as my sister (in back) tests out her newly inherited "Coast King."

And while that bike photo is handy, I just want to point out one of my all-time favorite t-shirts. It depicted Frankenstein on the operating table with the slogan "Some mornings I need a jump start." See it in this blurry close-up...

So now you know the story of my favorite T-Shirt.... Wait, wasn't I saying something about Pee-wee Herman?

MY COMIC CON

I can't really call this "coverage" of the San Diego Comic Con because I covered so little ground last weekend. It was my third visit to "the world's largest pop culture convention," but this year I had to "work" for a change.. hawking my book and making multi-hundred dollar business deals with mega-powerful industry players who often treated me like the Simpsons' Comic Book Guy treats his customers.

That isn't to say I didn't have fun. I've finally learned that it pays to miss a couple of cool panel discussions if it means getting to hang out with friends, and doing so was by far the most enjoyable aspect of my trip. Anyway, I thought I'd share some photos of people and sights that I encountered along my pathway through the convention (which resembled Billy's famous dotted-line journeys in the Family Circus.)

I'll begin with some sweet original Wacky Package art from the Topps booth...

The Flap Jack Toys booth was my home base. This shot was taken during one of the few times it wasn't overflowing with people...


Universal Pictures displayed a life-size Frankenstein's Monster as a reminder to buy their 75th anniversary edition DVD.

Frankie's pink cousin stood outside the Funko booth as a reminder that breakfast is the most important meal of your life.

I got to meet fellow blogger Todd Franklin from Neatocoolville. He and his wife and I had a good chat while trying to avoid being trod upon by attendees in oversized costumes.
And I finally got to meet (in person) Dan Goodsell, well known vintage packaging collector and creator of Mr. Toast and the Imaginary world. I really enjoyed chatting with him and it was neat to watch people get genuinely excited when they saw Mr. Toast for the first time. "Aw, look! It's toast!" was just one of the exclamations I heard. Kudos to you Dan for not only surrounding yourself with the stuff that you dig, but for taking inspiration from it and putting something new and fun into the world.

I think this is the most wonderful piece of "art vinyl" that I've ever seen...

At one point I noticed I was walking right next to Tom Kenny, the voice of Spongebob Squarepants (among many other characters) He posed for a photo on the go...

A big highlight for me was getting to hear Shag, one of my favorite artists, speak about his rise to fame. It seems that the moment he put his work out there (by way of a small Californian coffee shop), the contemporary art world instantly embraced him. Not only do I savor his work, but I admire the fact that he's so successful doing what he loves... making paintings based on his childhood influences (tikis, hot rods, skeletons) and taking inspiration from mid-century artists (Jim Flora and other unknown album cover artists.) And he seemed nice too...

Shag recently did some unbelievable art for Disneyland's 50th anniversary. He said they kept asking him to do more, but he told them the next project he's interested in is the 40th anniversary of the Haunted Mansion. I'm pained just thinking about how great that art will be. Anyway, here's his take on Adventureland (how many Disney products depict a shrunken head these days?)...


Finally, on Saturday night I attended this...

A wedding reception? A fancy awards ceremony? You can stop the guessing because you're way off. It's Funko Funday 4, a gathering of folks who are crazy for all things Funko. This was my first time to attend one of these legendary events, and the moment I walked in the front door I was taken aback by the terrific vibe I got. Everyone there had one thing in common.. they were seekers of fun.

I quickly spied a table of booty that would later be distributed as awards for trivia, dance, costume and custom wobbler contests.

I sensed no backstabbing, greedy collector types.. in fact they cheered like crazy when their fellow funatics won priceless prototypes and unreleased Wobblers. Throughout the meal and the contests and the socializing I remained impressed with the whole situation. How many toy makers.. or anything makers put on events like this one where supporters travel from around the world (One guy came all the way from Switzerland) to gather face to face.

I gained a new appreciation for Mike Becker's vision. He didn't just create a toy company, he took the collectors out of their basements and invited them to come together to experience a culture of like-minded folks and have some good, clean fun. Inevitably, lifelong relationships have formed because of it.

Ok, I'll stop raving, but it certainly was a great way to wrap up my Comic Con weekend. And it left me thinking that the whole Comic Con scene is great, but it's even greater when the convention is there to serve as a backdrop to friendship.

THE CON

Just a quick note for those of you who are attending San Diego Comic Con this year.. I will be setting up camp at the Flapjack Toys booth #4635 on Friday afternoon and Saturday attempting to peddle an extremely limited supply of my S.S. Adams books. Stop by and say hello if you wish.



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HOT OFF THE PRESS!

Hey folks! The S.S. Adams "visual history book" that I created and blogged about earlier, has finally made it's way stateside and has begun to ship! So I thought I'd take this opportunity to plug it again and offer a sneak peek. I'm thrilled with the way the printing turned out, as well as the quality of the paper and binding. In the photo above I placed it next to a Joy Buzzer to give some sense of the scale. Let's take a look inside...

The book is divided into decades ranging from 1906 to 2006. Naturally, the 1950s and 60s are my favorite period in terms of visuals. Just check out that amazing rack header on the page to the left. That's one fun-loving family of pranksters!
Sorry for the watermarks. Adams has always been extremely popular with the bootleggers and shysters so I don't want to temp them further. If you're wondering what all that other stuff is.. I laid the book on a glass display case that contains a chunk of my own prank collection.


By the time I was finished with the book I'd gained a far greater appreciation for design and illustration from the 1920s and earlier. Even practical joke packaging was ornate and elegant back then. When I first began laying out the pages I actually thought the early era would be a boring part of the book since many of the oldest items lacked colorful packages. How wrong I was. In many ways, it's the most beautiful.
That magician illustration on the bottom right is one of the many original pieces of art in the book. It was humbling to handle these historical works. It's amazing to see the pencil marks and the strokes from the ink brush, and thankfully these details come through in print.


Book designer and author extraordinaire Chip Kidd once said in a seminar that "Everything looks good when it's blown up huge." I took his advice many times in this edition. That 101 Magic Tricks booklet is about four inches tall in reality.


Above we find a special section dedicated to the can that launched a thousand snakes.

Well, I hoped you enjoyed this little preview. I'm still elated at the fact that this dream is now a reality. If your disposable income is piling up and you want to get your hands on a book.. you can order via email or toll free phone call from the S.S. Adams site and that's no joke. (haw! haw!)

PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN - 1967

Years ago I wrote a rather poignant essay which posed the question "Where have all the pirates gone?" Frankly, the enitre premise is now obsolete. They are everywhere and on everything.. especially movie screens. I'm not sure why I've been drawn to these smelly anti-heroes since I was a toddler, but I just have. My parents first fed my pirate cravings with the Weebles Treasure Island set. Soon after, I was introduced to the fine record pictured above. It's easily in the top three "most played" on my lifetime playlist. And if you too would like to have an eighteen minute audio tour of a village in chaos that's narrated by the brilliant Thurl Ravenscroft then you can grab it here via Rapidshare (sorry.)

What really kept me coming back to the album was the picture book that was glued into the dust jacket (until it was inevitably ripped out.) It's full of awesome shots of the ride from 1967, the year that it opened. I thought I'd share some of my favorites here. These photos are best viewed while laying on your stomach with your fists holding up your head by your chin as your elbows dig into the shag carpet...

Just imagine the anticipation and the excitement of having zero knowledge of what was ahead. Not one of those ladies in the front had ever seen a home video of the entire Pirates ride posted on YouTube. At best they might have seen some behind the scenes footage on The Magical World of Disney on some Sunday night. (All of these enlarge slightly when clicked.)

Don't you see? The treasure is cursed! Yet you just ignore all of the warnings.

Disney World has one drop while Disneyland has two. This is mere trivia unless you really dislike drops.

I guess you really can't take it with you! (Haw! haw! haw!)

Oh, now I understand what this is all about.

I guess you really can't take it with--- nevermind.

I love it when the inside of buildings are designed to seem like the outdoors. Disney has certainly mastered this art.

Well, if all of that isn't enough to swash your buckles, take a listen to this marvelous 1967 radio commercial for the classic ride. Click, or do a "save as" on this link.

That's the way it was back when it was "an entirely new kind of family entertainment." Be sure to stop by the souvenir shop on your way out.