Hoquiam Loggers Playday 2013

Nice to see the Hoquiam Loggers' Playday annual poster got away from a divisive political theme this year and just stuck to their consistent homoerotic image of loggers. Freud would've had a field day with these images.

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Detail of James Abbott mural, Elma, Washington

The "resting face" of the woman here reflects a modern condition

Postcard - Santa Monica, California

"Beautiful Santa Monica, California. Colorful view at dusk looking north toward world famous Pacific Palisades and the Malibu Beach movie colony - The loop of auto lights are the heavily traveled Pacific Coast Highway."

1970s.

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James Abbott mural, downtown Elma, Washington

Buster Brown Ad, 1908

Advertisement by Richard F. Outcault featuring Buster Brown, 1908. The lobster on Buster's costume is a beautiful off-the-wall touch.

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Entitled "Cycle of a Forest" and painted on a giant saw blade, this is yet another James Abbott work of public art that has vanished. Actually I am just sort of guessing he created this, but I think part of his signature can still be seen at the bottom.

Elma, Washington

Morty Comix # 2634

Morty Comix # 2634 was left in a propane tank filling shelter on a rainy afternoon next to Interstate 5 in Tumwater, Washington

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Tumwater, Washington

Postcard - Santa Monica, California

"Looking north along the Coast Highway, Santa Monica, California. This famed beach is one of the outstanding recreational areas of the Golden State. It includes Santa Monica Beach State Park, and Will Rogers Beach State Park."

1950s

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McCleary, Washington

Favorite Movie Quotes: Robin Hood, Prince of Thieves

"Cancel the kitchen scraps for lepers and orphans! No more merciful beheadings! And call off Christmas!"

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From the ruins of the Olympia Brewery, Tumwater, Washington

Morty Comix # 2633

Morty Comix # 2633 was left at a public area on the shore of the Fetid Lake of Doom, Olympia/Tumwater, Washington as another invasive species. As you can see the Legislative Building looms in the background.

Finding a place to stash this comic was not easy. At first I tried to put it behind a giant warning sign but didn't like that spot.

Then finally I crammed it into a slot behind the LAKE CLOSED ... sign where I figured it would be more shielded from the elements.

The FLOD has nutria and caimans swimming around in it, but it was the tiny New Zealand Mud Snail that "closed" the Lake. OK, in the first place, this lake was an estuary until the Post-War era, when humans dammed it up, creating this fetid polluted pool of slime that you see above. Now I ask you, just who is the real "invasive" species here? And who is to say New Zealand Mud Snails are not part of nature's plan?

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Fat Leo's Rollin' Bistro

Elma, Washington

Postcard - Point San Pedro, California

"Point San Pedro stands as a sentinel near the Portola campsite 'A'. San Francisco Bay was discovered from the 1200 foot mountain ridge in today's scenic Pacifica, 'X'. Here on November 4, 1769, the Portola expedition gazed out upon the world's largest harbor. Background shows San Francisco's International Airport, San Bruno, Milbrae, Burlingame, San Mateo and Foster City."

"Restaurants: Nick's - Moonraker - Papagayo Room - Sea Breeze Motel. All by the blue Pacific."

1960s?

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James Abbott mural detail. Faces were not his strong point and the technique of painting black, empty eyes gives the works a bit of a dark edge.

Schmuck Park is Enjoyed More and More

Headline from the Colfax Gazette, Colfax, Washington, June 3, 1921

The park still exists, by the way

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James Abbott mural, Elma Police Station, Elma, Washington

Hot Doggies! It's the Oscar Mayer Wienermobile!

During my lunch break yesterday I was honored to witness the Oscar Mayer Wienermobile in motion as it sped down Capitol Blvd. in Tumwater, Washington. Managed to get a couple quick phone photos of it. I will resist the too easy impulse to use a lot of condiment puns.

See? Every day in every way I am getting better and better.

Anyway.

One of my fantasies has always been to hijack the Oscar Mayer Wienermobile and then lead the police on a merry high speed chase. The thought of terrified pedestrians running and screaming from a giant hurtling hot dog somehow pleases my dark side. Of course I would bring a banjo player with me, who would play humorous high speed chase music during the episode. The event would end with me plowing into a hot dog stand (O the irony!).

In the 1960s there was a TV ad with a jingle for Oscar Mayer that was quite effective. I mean, here I am a half century after this bit of marketing came out and I can still recall the lyrics:

Oh I'd love to be an Oscar Mayer wiener
That is what I'd truly like to be
'Cause if I were an Oscar Mayer wiener
Everyone would be in love with me

A rather disturbing bunch of lyrics on many levels, eh? Even as a kid I wondered why would anyone want to be lower on the food chain? I couldn't figure out why people would be so desperate for a love that would only last a minute or so as they were mashed up by giant teeth, swallowed, and then forced to have their remains travel through their killer's digestive system. 

If Marmite ever hits the U.S. market with a Marmitemobile, I want to be the driver. Now that is product I can be evangelical about.

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James Abbott mural half-hidden in a hardware/lumber yard

Elma, Washington

Sammy Sings Bacharach

Not much middle ground with Sammy Davis Jr. When he was bad, he was reeeeally bad. But when he was good, he was amazing-- like in this 1968 clip:

This Guy's In Love With You

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Morty Comix # 2632

Morty Comix # 2632 was folded and camouflaged among the coffee additives as my daughter and I had a nice breakfast at the International House of Pancakes, Olympia, Washington. This time she didn't roll her eyes but she did shake her head quietly and sadly.

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Hettie

Postcard - San Francisco, California

"Cable car, Hyde Street, San Francisco. The cable cars which glide up and down San Francisco's famed hills were invented by Andrew Halidie in 1873. Regarded with affection by the City's residents they are a reminder of other times in a modern world."

1950s.

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Olympia, Washington

Favorite Movie Quotes: Reversal of Fortune

"Being a human being is very literal. You're trapped. Time moves in only one direction-- forward. Its stupid and boring and results in a lot of silliness. Example: the legal process."

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Olympia, Washington