wasting bandwidth since 2005

This week is something I ran across this last weekend. In the search for old band photos (see sidebar under rock n’ roll) I was going through a stack of negatives. I ran across some that I didn’t know I even had. They must have been from my roommate at the time because the negs also had pics of his girlfriend and family. Among these shots was also us moving in and me working on a painting for a art class I was taking at the time. That’s where this photo comes in. I don’t remember ever seeing this pic but that might have a lot to do with the fact that at the time when you had your photos developed anything that was questionably a sub-par photo was not printed so you didn’t eat the cost of printing the crap you had at the beginning or end of a roll or something you screwed up. This neg looks like it would have fallen into that category.

My big idea was to do a painting you had to stand 100 yards away from to see what it was. Well that’s how it started. Then realizing you would, at best, be 20 feet away I altered my idea into something more workable. This is pre-Photoshop. I found a picture of a girl in some fashion magazine that I wanted to used and spent countless hours half toning different shots at different size scales to get the large dot that I wanted. Shot it on film, then projected on to the canvas, to paint it in. It was huge. That is my shoulder in the picture and I am 6’2″ and much closer to the camera. The canvas was over 6′ wide. It came close to being finished then painted over in some other mad idea I wanted to try.

Chalk this one up to capturing a moment. With nothing to show for all the work years later. At least I have this to remember the late evenings standing on my bed to paint dots on a large canvas. The act of doing it was enjoyable. I just wish I had something more to show for all the work.

Artists lament.

Masto.

The deadliness of a woman with the strength of a man. He-She! I think I met this one night in the old highlighter bar in Phoenix. Not exactly the deadliest of women or the strongest of men, but did tell me the story of her fighter pilot fiances death on some secret military training run. And how it had emotionally destroyed her since she had unfortunately witnessed this tragic accident. She had only witnessed this super secret operation because she, of course, was the most decorated woman fighter pilot in the history of the Air Force. Now I was a little suspect about her story. Not as suspect as I was about her adams apple and 5 o’clock shadow.

The above is a page from “Boys Stories” comics from 1943. Not exactly the scariest of super-villains but hey it was the 40′s what do you want? Your other options were Hitler guy and buck toothed, green skinned, glasses wearing, short Asian creep. I kid you not. Go back and look at those covers. Their portrayal of Japanese was horrific by today’s standards but common back in the day. So all considering maybe He-She isn’t such a bad option after all. You only had to wait a couple of years before all the atomic, communist villains took over anyway.

Masto.

Back in 1984, after 6 or 7 years carrying Pee-Chee folders around school, I swore, as I left high school for the last time, that I would never touch one of these god damn things ever again. Well for the most part I have stayed true to that promise. But it seems that, for whatever reason, after I returned home I tossed the thing, I used through most of my senior year, into a box of assorted mementos. I ran across it awhile ago and was glad I had kept it. It’s a hysterical snapshot of the spring of ’84.

Now over the years of talking to people it seems the whole Pee-Chee thing was very West Coast. These things were completely ubiquitous in the schools of Southern California in the 70′s and 80′s. I defy you to find someone from that place and time that doesn’t know what they are. Most people I have talked to from the Midwest and East have had no idea what I am talking about.

Pee-Chees were cheap 20 cent folders that were good for holding your classwork in. Both sides had 3 sports illustrations and to this day, anytime someone brings up the folders, anyone familiar with them can tell you the more popular improvements people made to the artwork. As the year would unfold they would be a mess of doodles, from you and others, and tape, to hold them together. Now why you wouldn’t just replace the damn thing I have no idea. But I can only remember doing that on a rare occasion.

I’m going to have to go out tonight and see if I can find if they still exist. I think I need some for my desk at work.

Masto.

Ah… the year was 1992 a simpler time. We didn’t have American Idol And every assclown with a cellphone texting his vote in for the singer of the week. No we had scores of idiots lined up at the post office to vote on their favorite Elvis stamp. Would it be fat, bloated, rhinestone Elvis? Or slim, hunky, sharkskin suit, fifties Elvis. Well no shit the American populous voted overwhelmingly for the skinny version.

Going through my cache of crap I ran across this cartoon by then co-worker and friend of mine Rick Leddy. Great cartoonist who did stuff for L.A. Weekly and other publications in the L.A. area. I immediately laughed my ass off remembering him passing Xerox copies of this cartoon out to everyone at work trying to explain why this should be the stamp of choice for discerning Americans nationwide.

It’s been 16 years passing but I still can’t help but think that Rick was way ahead of the curve.

Masto.