Printing Day

Got myself all involved in a print exchange. It's been a while since I've etched a plate and the edition of 17prints is due Thursday (plate etched, printed, hung to dry, soaked and flattened!)

Here's a rough sketch of what it will look like:



Wish me luck!

My Boy Scout Badges

I wear them proudly.

The "Alive" one is my favorite.

Now don't go thinking you can hang around here without picking up a few tid-bits of useful and interesting history. That particular "Alive" was a standard visual element used traditionally on many side show banners.



Since I've got my own visual element in full effect, let's take a brief tour of the current accoutrements adorning the right breast of my denim waistcoat:

*The joker has been around since that eighteen month period of hype that preceded the first movie . It was found in a Christmas tin full of interesting knicks (absolutely no knacks were found in said tin.) Other objects of interest included:
Animaniac's Slappy Squirrel prize from Burger King
Accessories for several Spawn action figures
Small plastic horses and dogs
a conestoga wagon stamp
a stack of business cards from all over Toronto
the fully stocked plastic picture holder from my last wallet (I haven't had a wallet since 1997)
an inside door lock replacement knob that looks like a black die (dice "die", not death "die".
a baggy full of star shaped fabric studs, red and silver
a clear M&M man figurine from a strand of Christmas lights.
A Kawasaki Plant patch (oddly, not on the jacket)
a hideous amulet

*The hammer was a Habitat for Humanity momento from a college spring break that I spent in the Appelacian foothills rebuilding people's houses. It was not given to me then. Years later Kyle gave me one and I designated it as being in honor of time served. Highlights of this trip included:
getting to wrestle a goat behind some guy's barn to the cheers of my fellow habitual humanitarians.
One of the professors high-school aged daughters, named Nudey. She stole items of my clothing and that has always turned me on.
Sleeping in the basement of a Southern Baptist church, complete with dunk-tank and spare wheelchairs.
Building a ramp for a wheelchair basketball player for the Special Olympics, who in turn taught us how to drive her high speed sports chair in the church's gym.

*The doll button is a constant reminder of the demeaning nature of free art. A marker on my chest that warns against the perils of giving-in to the temptation of reaching someone's soul without charging for it. It's story is a secret for now.

Condolences to loved ones in pain,
-M

Unexceptional Tricks

Every once in awhile you meet someone who brings back memories of things known to you as a child. Things unlearned. Forgotten past-times and games of no-importance with major consequences. The high right before the skinned knee and the knocked-out wind versus the stack of pillows that will catch your fall. Boxes as castles presiding corrugated authority over utensil armadas. Scout's honor and the motivation to prove it to the world by earning the badge and wearing it.

Max rada dada stayed with us this week. He was in town to curate a show for the up-coming conference and to perform his unexceptional tricks. The Max rada dada sideshow brings the simple humors of everday life up onstage like nervous volunteers. Plays on words and words on play breathe life to a van-full of props and strang collections (30,000 spatulas!).

Having Max here was like a vacation at home. I think deep down inside I've always wanted to have guests like the characters that used to drop by on Pee Wee's Playhouse. I've always thrived on novelty. We all have. It's the healing power of the clown and the spirit that possesses every animatronic mall decoration.