Photo Album: Geneva, 1983

Two posts in a row featuring McDonald's!

I accompanied my father on a business trip to Geneva, Paris, and London in 1983, just after graduating from high school. Geneva is really a boring but beautiful city; it's Europe's San Diego, really. The above kiosk advertisement amused me greatly. If anything, it shows how my obsession with corporate marketing is nothing new.

The collage below (click for bigger) is more interesting: posters and graffiti I shot in search of Swiss subculture:

Sonic Youth were nobodies outside New York at this point; this must have been their first European tour. Note also the Bauhaus stencil and humorous "corrected" punk tag. Alors!

Also: remember those awful sticky-pages photo albums? 

Fashion Victim: Promotional Belt Buckles

Wait, what? A Dennison's Chili belt buckle? Huh?

You have to understand 1970s marketing. Belt buckles were a common promotional item back then, like t-shirts and trucker hats. I assume that the original owner of the top one shown here obtained it by sending in a form from the Sunday coupon section along with a few proofs of purchase. I've got several of these things, enough to know that they were hardly rare.

This is the kind of thing that makes my coworkers shake their heads and give up trying to figure me out (mission accomplished!). Heck, even I can't figure out what kind of person wears a Dennison's Chili belt buckle.

You have to admit, though, that the copyright symbols lend them a touch of grandeur, no?

Things I Love: Vagina Dentata Imagery

No, no, I don't own these. These come via eBay. Psychologically complex!

Painting: Georgia On My Mind

Georgia II, 2001, acrylic on hardboard, 16x20. Click for bigger!

I generally dislike Georgia O'Keeffe, and not just for professional reasons (she instituted a policy at my workplace which is the bane of my existence). What's hilarious about her –actually, the only hilarious thing about her– is the way she used to deny that her flower paintings were vaginal. The suggestion upset her!

So I decided to make a painting that was absolutely ridiculously genital, and achieved this goal by using the Nestlé and Lawry's logos.

This is the second version. The first was a reverse painting on plexiglas and quite a bit wider (with the Lawry's Ls farther apart).

Abba Merchandise Order Form

I believe this sheet came with the Voulez Vous album in 1979. The hats are incredible, but the "bridal satin" tour jacket looks like Paul Smith's bad dream. You can click both of these for bigger!

The Greatest Sign In The History Of Ever

Click for huge! I'm totally making this my new desktop image at work. Related post.

Inside The He-Man Lunch Box

Click for bigger

1. Mostly used tube of Clubman mustache wax and comb. This is from about 1994 when, yes, I sported an affected mustache. You'll be seeing drawings by famous cartoonists of that mustache here, eventually. How embarrassing. Ew, I think I can throw these out now.
   
2. Quote I jotted down from a friend about his philosophy of art appreciation.
3. Reaganbusters button. Political!
4. Crazed looking Bugs Bunny Pez™ dispenser.
5. Dan Clowes/Peter Bagge tour button.
6. My father was made an honorary citizen of Uzbekistan in the 70s because he totally revolutionized their way of doing blood transfusion and is awesome. At the ceremony, they gave him beautiful silk robes and a dagger for each of his sons. Sorry, sisters, nothing for you! Anyway, this is my special dagger. Handy!
7. Gruesome severed arm of ET.
8. My friends and I went to Denny's (second mention on this blog!) once, and all the waitresses were wearing these great "Have Some Orange Juice!" buttons. We admired them and our server surprised us by giving us a bunch of them! Trust me when I say that on a Denny's waitress the button made sense, but on us they became peculiar Dada statements. Have some orange juice! Go ahead!
9. Howard the Duck campaign button, 1976. You used to be able to watch Howard the Duck - the Movie at Hulu, but they seem to have taken it down. It's OK, though, because it really is a terrible movie: unfunny, not enjoyable in an ironic way; it really is just hopeless. But have you ever seen the original comic books? They are absolutely great in every way, satirical and hilarious. Recommended!
10. Garbage Pail Kids badge. Oh, god, my friend Nicky and I loved GPKs and collected them obsessively. And we were in our twenties! Later, I became friends with their inventor, Mark Newgarden, who said that he always got a special lift when he'd see kids' dressers plastered with them in thrift stores.
    

Still Life: Bimbo and Wienermobile

Click for really quite a bit bigger.

Oh, hey, it's Betty Boop's pal Bimbo! All ready for a ride on the Wienermobile! Yay!

Sketchbook: The Excitement Never Stops

(Houston, Texas, 2002)

Book Shelf: Instapublishing, 1981

This is basically the early-80s version of a Tumblr blog, right? It took three people to write this book! And believe me, it's not because the contents belie genius brainstorming between the authors; they just wanted to get the book printed and on the shelves as quickly as possible, to strike while the fad-iron was hot.

Trust me when I say it isn't worth excerpting.

I was in high school when the Rubik's Cube hit. I wasn't into it. My friends and I loved mocking trendy junk like this; we collected, for instance, terrible/weird ET merchandise. We were, after all, hardened and cynical kids, like most born in the mid 60s. I'm pretty sure I bought this for 10¢ at Pic 'n' Save.

Food Photography: Doritos Truck

Click image for 1200x800