Once in a while you meet some one in the entertainment industry who really does not belong. Donni 'The Mud Gripper" Blethow, short lived president of Amusements Diversified, Inc., is a solid example of just such a person. Blethow's true talent, the one that got him to company president, was his accuracy in accessing totals. Send him to a concert, let him see how big the crowd was, and he could immediately state what revenues the concessionaires would finish with, and certainly, the receipts from the gate.
He was so good that his error percentage was under 0.5%, If promoters even heard of his attendence, they would worry more about employee embezzlement, than providing artist management with incorrect totals.
What got him in trouble and fired from Amusemnt Diversified was his personal passion for visiting local businesses prior to these concert duties. There he would patiently explain to the manager how much he was skimming from the owner and that for a small donation, he would proceed no further. This practice may never have been discovered had he not attended the Bogus Slogan concert at the Contact Arena in New Phoenix, Pennsylvania.
Unfortuneatly for Donni he did not know that the local paper had printed an article about his promotion of the biggiest concert that the town had seen in over a decade. There was a large head shot of him on the paper's front page.
As Donni was finishing his shake down at the Black Tassels Gentlemen's Club, one of the lovely dancers personally thanked him for bringing the band to town. Whereupon the manager pulled a baseball bat from under the bar. Donni, seeing an emergency exit sign, jumped up on the runway, slipped on the glassy surface, and skidded blindly towards the back of the stage where the mud wrestling ring was stored when not in use.
One of the patrons, in violation of the club's no camera policy, was able to capture, Blethow's wild ride, including the passage through the plastic pit as Donni frantically grasped at the mud to stop his progress. The video played nonstop at the next NAMM convention.
Bogus Slogan Poster #53 - Inside View
Photos: Eagle (2003)
This is a color photograph. The lack of any direct sunlight and the heavy cloud cover brings forth the magic of form. Our eagle, waits. Waits more patiently than we can observing him.
Bogus Slogan Poster #52 - Inside View
Time! Thanks to the theory of relativity we know that it is elastic - maybe curvey. Anyway, since there are so many humans with extra time and imaginations we get machinery designed like the Magna International Mila. Truly high speed cool. Make sure you use proper horn etiquette as you blaze past fellow road warriors.
And hopefully you had time to catch Bogus Slogan's concert at the John Anson Ford Amplitheatre. The boys had just attended an Amused Plaything Enterprises private gala at the famed Petersen Automotive Museum. The evening's festivities ended with the concert as Bogus Slogan played an entire performance of songs about cars.
From Arkie Shibley and His Mountain Dew Boys's "Hot Rod Lincoln" to Jeff Beck's "Big Block" with the Beach Boy's "409"; Jan & Dean's "Dead Man's Curve;" The Who's "Going Mobile" and more inbetween. Two and a half hours of high music cool.
You know that I would die
or kill somebody, just to move this hunk of steel one more block"
Expressions: We Got a Deal? (2005)
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If your depth perception is working, seeing "We Got a Deal?" in person can make you a little woozy. As you stand before this 6 feet by 4 feet expression, the sides will seem to curl in as if to give you a hug. If properly hung in the gallery, the top drifts away, pulling your conscientiousness inside the art.
Our repeating graphic pattern prevents the viewer from getting lost, but good luck trying to figure out where you were to begin with.
Bogus Slogan Poster #51 - Inside View
Twin Falls, Idaho is one of those strange towns where you wonder why anybody hangs around. You may even wonder why anybody showed up. Originally, it must have been a day's ride from somewhere else and allowed an easier pass across the Snake River Canyon. Today's modern bridge that spans the gorge is huge. Some one must want to go somewhere.
So what is Bogus Slogan doing playing the Brice Theater? Obviously a paycheck of some kind, but music is universal and even a backwater needs fresh run off. I think Bogus Slogan tour manager Terry "White Bread" Pressner said it best as he stepped from the bus, ""Where the %$&#@* are we? &$*#(@, did that %#^&**@! bus driver screw up? &^#%@*? "(Pressner is a colorful guy).
Well the concert was a great event. Earlier, about 100 kids skipped school; stood outside in the KTTF parking lot waiting for the band members to finish their interview with station DJ Matt "Hammerlock" Stentel. Stentel had submitted a petition with 5,000 unique signatures demanding Bogus Slogan play Twin Falls. It worked. In the interview, Hammerlock admitted that he forged all but one (his own) of the signatures. It had taken him only 3 vacation days. Gotta love your BIC.
CityView Gallery
97th Annual American Natural Object Competition
Closing Date
October 28, 2006 will be the closing date for the 97th American Natural Objects Exhibition at the CityView Gallery in Laguna Beach.
As a special memento of the Gallery's artistic presentation, Joan Tolles' historic "Flash Runway" kinetic sculpture will be ceremoniously dismantled in the main salon, allowing visitors to see her unique method of attaching objects together.
Come out to see, the greatest collection of American Art for 2006 before its disbursement to museums and private collectors or returned to the artists and creators.
Bogus Slogan Poster #50 - Inside View
Back in the 60's, on Bogus Slogan's first visit to Australia, the band came to the land DownUnder as virtual unknowns. While the band had work permits, they did not have a tour booked. In fact, only the Stupid Foreign Fan Club had fronted them a paid venue in the "High Noon" town of Broken Hill. (Band Members were greatly amused when a native showed them Broken Hill on a map).
However, things worked out...Bogus Slogan was able to play a dozen major shows as a supporting act. On off nights the band would find a local bar with a stage and play for beers and tips. After two months, it was time for a vacation back home.
Recently, in honor of the long past Stupid Foreign Fan Club, the band held a dance and ice cream social. Hancock Arena was turned into a Winter Wonderland with free ice cream for everyone who had a ticket. What a beautiful mess. Concert proceeds were donated to local charities. Cherry Garcia anyone?
Bogus Slogan Tour
Mexico & Central America
From any point of view, Bogus Slogan's Tour America 2006 was a success. Box office and merchandise sales set records - costs were streamlined so that the beloved category of net profits was as fat as a 'Yo Mama' joke.
Now BS fans in Central America & Mexico can exercise their rights to Rock n' Roll. From October 15th to November 22nd, the band will play 12 concerts in El Salvador, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Belize, and Panama. Finishing with 6 dates in Mexico, Bogus Slogan has big plans for the transfer of currency. Big plans.
To make your rock experience an enjoyable one, we suggest a set of custom earplugs. Keep those high frequencies coming for a lifetime.
Bogus Slogan Poster #49 - Inside View
If Bogus Slogan was coming to play your town, you started to worry if you would be able to get tickets. Then you worried about getting a good seat. If you were in a major city the anxiety would depend on how many play dates the group set.
In a smaller market, like Albequerque, New Mexico, there was one shot, one concert since Bogus Slogan probably would not return during your high school or college tenure. Withl the best concert facility only seating 2500, ticket scalpers saw rainbows over the desert.
Enter the members of the Sand, Surf & Turf Club from the University of New Mexico Pumella Dorm. They did not get tickets. They did not see rainbows. But they did see an opportunity. Through a series of letters sent to a local paper, enough questions about the safety and health standards caused the authorities to close the concert hall for repairs.
Of course the SSTC had a replacement venue in mind, Conrad Coliseum, capacity 48,000. Now the unicorns found their rainbows and everybody lived happily ever after. Oh - The final ticket sales were 9,756. Merchandise sales were 310% above expectations. And the fee for renting the coliseum which had been waived was happily paid by the band.
SysOps Notice 2006.10.01
but I would not want to live there.
Since I had a break in art projects and Apple had come out with the Mac Pro Workstations, I figured the transition window was open. The machine had met or beaten expectations. And I knew sometime, that I was moving to the new system (2x 30" LCD screens for display). When I change systems, I pass my current set-up to my best friend from High School.
Apple did this amazing thing. Their web site provides the expected shipping date. And mine held steady. About a week. I had read some apple E-zines comments and found only a short delay at worse for this model production's start up . The week passed and my system did not shipped early. A morning email showed a 7 day delay. But, 12 hours later a order shipped notice came with upgraded overnight shipping.Not waiting was great. Migrating only had one slip, I imported (instead of reassigning) the new iTunes on top of of the original. The HD filed, so I had 500 or so duplicate names to purge. Not a big waste of time. Getting together with my friend came down to a specific day. I was going to swap an optical drive, both hard drives, upgrade what ever I could and send him home within 5 hours.
Only, one drive failed and I bent the pins on his master drive with all of his music data. If I had done that to my stuff with out a backup - for my heart attack, it would have been cool to have known the source of my demise. After jamming it in the upper hard drive bay (Apple's poor design of the G5 case), I am amazed, he was still thinking positive. My friend, himself, made the final re-connect of the damaged hard drive that let the migration continue, in-house. I was averting my eyes. All's well.I bought another drive, gave him a mid size data drive from my system. (the new Mac Pro has room for 4 HDs) + found a version 8 of Photoshop and the Toast DVD burning software to try to get him to backup. With bigger displays, more ram, he can run the programs with a little less wear and can spread out his workspace. I hope he finds time for Photoshop.
PopWorks & Commercialization 7
Photos: Cal Oaks Liquor • Pasadena, CA
At the beginning of this summer, this sign and building were coming down for redevelopment. Not an impressive sign, Even though rusted and neglected, it worked its whole lifetime. Nothing as vertical will be allowed and the new sign most likely will be a low profile corner piece. Probably less impressive.
Bogus Slogan Poster #48 - Inside View
loyalty beyond the call. The The Venture Brothers' professional bodyguard protects his chosen patrons, barely bothered by their idiotacy. So a world of Brock's, the equivalent of millions of the bestest big brothers who has and uses a license to kill. The just completed second season was a sensitive left turn.
This concert became a little adventure. The promoters were trying to mimic the El Dorado Natural Amplitheater celebrations that Bogus Slogan put on every few years in the barrens of Nevada. Only Bogus Slogan brings and pays for a small town to be set up to assist the concert goers. But in Poughkeepsie, the band arrived 18 hours into the event and nobody had any clothes on. Sure there was a lot of personal communication going on, but most were into the music.
Both the Men of Hearts and The Butter Flys, were "mTn Storm" bands. Band members would step in and out, but the sound would always be there. Songs did end and start, but their lengths could be in the hours. Any style, any combination could be played. We assumed Bogus Slogan's concert was meant to be a bathroom break. Instead, members of both "support" bands stepped in and out of the Bogus Slogan's songs
The boys in the band caught on pretty quick - started sharing - and a normal 3 hour concert became 15, before someone realized that Bogus Slogan should finish up and get to the next gig.
Expressions: Unbalanced Mess (2004)
Continuing in the "Complete Waste of Fame" watercolor system, Unbalance Mess deconstructs a flight of fancy. Color bleeds, blur a mechanical background that tries to drive through a top coat overlay.
Airy elements hint at feathers, in motion and at rest. A dramatic centerpoint spins out a sputtering ribbon of speed.
Bogus Slogan Poster #47 - Inside View
There she is. Looky there..across the room; down the bar; dancing at the rave... Unabashed. Willing to take chances. Confident, self-possessed. Round happy curves.
However; that girl is no match for Doctor Girlfriend. No one has hair that black - knows unrestrained evil and can wear, convincingly, a bow-tie bra. And with her monotone basso profundo voice, she can reject your ego without direct comment. Maybe it is better we look for a new squeeze at tonight's Bogus Slogan concert.
Doctor Girlfriend, from the The Venture Brothers, sets the stage for this Bogus Slogan Concert at the famous Green Hotel in Pasadena, California. Support group, The Swinging Rustys, were a Buckingham's tribute band who dressed like Dr. Thaddeus "Rusty" Venture (including bald head and thick framed glasses).
Everybody, Stand Clear!
Abstracts: Kascade of Kurls (2004)
Sleepy Dreams Bring Forth the Dull.
Morning Wash Sparkles.
Bogus Slogan Poster #46 - Inside View
Sunday in the Park in New York, always time for a Bogus Slogan concert. For a few years, the Bryant Park Summer Festival Co-Operative produced a summer full of concerts. Each day brought forth, from the wealth of local talent and, like Bogus Slogan, the occassional group on tour, an unlimited range of musical styles for those coming to or passing by Bryant Park. In order to get city permits, no amplifier could exceed 40 watts and no more than 4 speakers could be used for the public address system. Even with these limitations, the music got out to the People.
The vibrant background image of the poster, "Henchman," is from the Venture Brothers, an homage strange of "Johnny Quest." 1960's television in free fall.
Original Prints of the poster (125 print run) now sell at auction for about $840.00. Also available are approximately 600 "handbills." The Co-Operative left these in coffe shops, restuarants and cafes through out the city. Cheaper paper, cheaper price.
Washes: Qualified Dividends (2004)
Painting portraits is a tricky business. How much of the subject's soul do you wish to show. Maybe it is best to hide and obscure. The viewer may be to good in their interpertation - too honest, too effective.
Bogus Slogan Poster #45 - Inside View
From the artistry of Jean-Michel Basquiat; a dog, a man, feet on fire. Just the impetus to get out of the house and into the Chester Randolph Memorial Stage for a Bogus Slogan concert.
This is one of the most popular Bogus Slogan Concert posters. Not only did you get a copy of Basquiat's great art, but since the venue was only in existence nominally for a week, Bogus Slogan never played the "CRMS" again. The Band rented a movie production stage in the old Playtime studios and recorded the first of many similar multi-media events. From which, concert CD, concert DVD, music videos, promotional commercials, etc., were created. In the space of 72 hours, 18 unique revenue streams were invented for the public. When the last production light was faded to black, the entire set was struck, and unique fixtures and props were auctioned off as Band souvenirs.
A small production run of 375, insured the poster's value. Three days after the concert, a popular web site (pre eBay) had an impromptu bidding war. This particular poster had all the Band members signatures from the show. Some super fan parted with $2,100. Here's hoping he or she still has it hanging, because in recent years, auctions of the Basquiat BS poster fetch about $2,650. Profits for all!
SysOps Notice 2006.09.01
A great risk in music is listening to a vinyl record through headphones at high volume. One click, one pop and your faith in the human race is ruined. With iPods and Compact Discs, this unprotectable activity has been subduded. Hopefully, none of your MP3s are not from a flawed vinyl recording.Let's say you like music, really like music. With digital, you can idol worship without regret. Charlie Parker's saxophone (Bird Lives), Eric Clapton's Guitar (Clapton is God). Jimi Hendrix's guitar (Hendrix Forever). You can turn up the stereo and try to space your thoughts among the many notes coming from Bird's horn.
But the real life vinyl risk comes when you crank up the headphones to listen to the outro guitar solos, such as, "Axis, Bold as Love," or "Let it Rain." Long fades. Note after note sliding into silence. Why couldn't Hendrix or Clapton have done this great solo during the middle eight. The ritual of cleaning the vinyl would not resolve the anxiety. You just had to take the pressure to get the reward.
Those who are unhappy with the digital revolution should get out their 1974 Todd vinyl album. Slip on side two - track the last song "Everybody's Going to Heaven/King Kong Reggae" - turn up your headphones and wait for the fade. Rundgren sings about Cadillacs and Chevrolets and the big monkey. It is the longest, smoothest pre-automation fade I have heard. It is so good, you might get caught by the needle pick-up groove at record center.