Phone photo 3010

Montesano, Washington

Apollo's, 1994-2013

Phone photo 3001

James Abbott mural, Elma, Washington. He played with perspective in this one more than in his other works. It faces east, protecting it from the coastal winds, so this is in a better state of preservation than most.

Goodbye to Apollo's Pizza

One of my fave pizza places has closed up, I am sorry to say. Apollo's on Olympia's Westside made some of the best pizzas I have ever had. I even hid a couple Morty Comix there as well as phone photoed a discarded portable dental floss by their front door, so the joint had some history here on Morty the Blog.

This picture was taken a year ago when I hid a Morty Comix in that bench facing the camera.

Thanks for all the good memories, Apollo's. One of my best recollections was around 2007 when there was a bad storm and the power went out. Ian had a bicycle helmet headlamp he lent to you guys so you could continue working in the kitchen since the ovens remained hot and we all ate by candlelight.

Postcard - Bend, Oregon

"Skyline Steak House -- for the finest in Seafood, Steaks and Chinese Food. Skyline Drive-In -- Curb service Deluxe, On South Highway, 855 Wall St., Bend, Ore. Phone 1255-W."

1950s?

Morty Comix # 2669

Morty Comix # 2669 was tucked under a corner table in a Tumwater, Washington pizza joint. Interesting the word "new" is written under the tabletop amid the wads of dried gum.

Morty Comix # 2659

Morty Comix # 2659 was left in a stack of chairs behind a restaurant in Olympia, Washington

Morty Comix # 2657

Morty Comix # 2657 was slid under a tablecloth at a restaurant in Elma, Washington

Phone photo 2829

Dead seal on beach with fancy restaurant in background

Budd Inlet, Olympia, Washington

I could write something about two groups of diners at work, but I won't

A Morty Comix Twisted Conundrum

OK, so you and I are having lunch in sort of a weird new restaurant that includes a guy in a clown suit who entertains the customers by playing seriously romantic tunes on a violin as he roams the dining room floor. He doesn't smile even though his makeup indicates that he is supposed to be happy happy. Somehow the strange combination is meant to be ironic, but it just doesn't work.

We go to eat there for the first time mainly to watch this failed attempt at being hip, which we heard about from friends. We order and as we wait for our meals the clown plays "Let's Face the Music and Dance."

But then you notice that my eyes and the clowns eyes lock. You hear me utter, "Oh crap!" I turn pale, shove the table back as I pull out and run. You never knew my aging, portly out-of-shape self could move so fast. I'm out the door.

The clown yells, "Willis! Stop!" And from out his absurdly puffy costume he produces a sophisticated looking firearm. He bolts out the door in pursuit, pistol held high over his head. His comic oversize shoes prevent him from running too fast.

For about 15 seconds not a sound is heard in this eating establishment, but then the slow murmurs start and build to a sound like that of an air hose in action with nothing to fill, and you realize all eyes are on you.

About five minutes later the clown returns, empty handed. His fake nose, fake ears, hat, and wig have all fallen off. Streaks of sweat are traced on his facial greasepaint. He looks like our worst hideous nightmares of what clowns can be. He is panting, and pissed off.

The clown resets the chair I tipped over, plops down in it, crosses his arms with his elbows on the table, leans close and stares at you. In the distance you hear sirens. He presents you with some sort of official looking credentials and badge, representing some kind of national security agency you've never heard of with an acronym like the NSGV or something like that.

Then he reaches in his clown pocket, pulls out about a half dozen Morty Comix, and carefully arranges them on the table so you can see each one. "We intercepted these in odd places, like in gas stations, cafe menus, dead phone booths, you know, the usual place lowlife scum spies pass coded messages. Which is, in fact, what these are."

Meanwhile, the local police arrive and they appear normal except they are all wearing styrofoam Abraham Lincoln stovepipe hats. They see the clown and become very agitated and hesitant. None of them come close to him, but instead the one who seems to be in charge whispers into a radio communication device. Before you know it a man who looks exactly like Richard Nixon, dressed in an old-fashioned gangster pinstripe suit, complete with fedora, walks in the room and says to the clown in a commanding voice, "I'll have those Morty Comix now, Mister."

The clown starts to reach for his gun, but before he even touches it he is surrounded by officers who quickly draw their weapons and in an unified precision aim right at his heart. So he slowly rises and calmly announces, "You win. Let Hercules himself do what he may. The cat will mew and dog will have his day." 

There is always a bigger fish.

The styrofoam hat law enforcement officers allow the clown the leave quietly, but seconds later another set of sirens are heard in the distance, coming closer. The uniformed guys look at each other and the Nixon guy says, "Jeez, it's the REAL cops!" and they all run away, forgetting the original purpose of their mission.

So you are left sitting at a table with six Morty Comix and the sirens are getting closer. You have about 2 or 3 minutes to either cut and run or stay and deal with the authorities. What would you do, and what happens to the comix? 










 

Morty Comix # 2647

Morty Comix # 2647 was placed inside an issue of Portland Outsider and returned to the basket of reading material provided by a restaurant where I had lunch, Portland, Oregon

Phone photo 2801

Tumwater, Washington

Morty Comix # 2641

Morty Comix # 2641 was placed in a manner on a bulletin board so it appears to be peeking from behind a local broadside. This is in a bakery/sandwich shop on Olympia's westside.

Morty Comix # 2631

Morty Comix # 2631 was left in a strange sort of place. I discovered the booth seats in this excellent Olympia, Washington area restaurant had a slit that opened into a hollow space between booths. This particular restaurant looks out to Budd Inlet and I was afforded a view of the old St. Pete's Hospital on Oly's Westside where my brother was born.

Morty Comix # 2627

Morty Comix # 2627 was slid behind a decorative panel on the entrance to a now defunct restaurant in Tumwater, Washington. Since I placed this Morty Comix, vandals have torn off the panel on the left. In fact, it seems pieces of this building are destroyed on a daily basis by marauding gangs of defunct restaurant destroyers.

This particular building has a place in Washington State history. It was the headquarters of Jazz musician Red Kelly and his OWL (Out With Logic - On With Lunacy) Party, which ran for all the statewide offices in 1976.