welcome to blog, v.2

I wanted to put out tasty word snacks and sound bites for a bloggy open house. No time! I wanted to mess with the header and spiff up the side navigation and blogroll. And there needs to be more protection on the comments option. Forget it. Maybe later. If I waited till I was ready [...]

pinhole camera

Do I have the time to actually study this, set it up and take some exposures? Maybe not now, but someday I’ll make pinhole photos that will enrapture a generation of art lovers, photographers, and phonies who want to pretend they understand my pinhead genius. Or not. It’s a cool present, however, and I will [...]

relief for the spiritual seeker

This little cardboard wheel has dozens of religions listed around the edge. Point the arrow to any one of them and a get a capsule summary of what that religion promises for an afterlife, as well as its perks and drawbacks. A handy portable reference for making an informed choice about where to place your [...]

i shall destroy all the civilized planets

It’s a book of comics from the early 40s by an artist and writer named Fletcher Hanks. Most feature the exploits of a superhero named Stardust. He’s got a small head. Typical plot: Stardust, from his super lab in space, spots a bunch of criminals on earth who are about to destroy New York [...]

kawaii characters

In Seattle we have a street sign with a stick-figure pedestrian crossing the street. The sign is often altered to say “Stop for me. It’s the claw!!” (instead of “law”) and his hand has been changed so it protrudes ominous pincers. In Japan, instead of little stick figures they have kawaii characters. I’ve got [...]

tiny vacuum pig

shonen knife is alive and well

Matching pink guitars; punk-like all-out sonic assault; happy, happy, happy. Shonen Knife makes me happy. The band is totally unpretentious when they sing about cats, food, and so on. The are exactly what they seem–fun, simple, and a great rock band. They played some of my favorites, such as “Explosion” and “Concrete Animals,” plus [...]

from rio with love

So I go to the Shonen Knife show with Greta and Sandi, and Greta’s friend works at Salon Dewi/Red Drawers, a block from Chop Suey (the concert venue), and Salon Dewi is having an open house and they’re going to perform a Brazilian wax job on a guy in the storefront window and we have [...]