Expressions: Complete Waste of Fame (2004)

Complete Waste of Fame (2004)

Since watercolors are not known for their precision, Complete Waste of Fame (2004) starts with the paper washed and rewashed in a shapeless multi-color frenzy. Layer one screens a packet of lines that will later be "hidden" but currently is set out to segmentize the background.



Layers two and three increase the number of graphic elements - from which an epic battle for style is released - bringing a chaotic fullness before the viewer. Slowly, some of the fame is being absorbed into the canvas backing.

Bogus Slogan Poster #37 - Inside View

Trying to get a successful music festival off the ground is guaranteed to stress the founders. South by Southwest and Lilith Fair are incredible success stories, but Snugglefest was a fully implemented disaster. Bogus Slogan, always looking for new revenue streams, hooked into Snugglefest from the beginning. Based on the original founder's promises, Bogus Slogan had fellow band friends, The Fragging Dolls and SpiffyKick sign up as headliners for the Friday and Saturday programs. Each cut their usual appearance fee by 60% to help get the show into profitability.

The disaster began to bloom when in August, a month before the festival, legal notice from the state of Virginia was received in the management offices of all three bands, indicating that the construction, entertainment, controlled beverages and public assembly permits that were applied for had been denied. The next day, a similar letter from the city arrived. When a Federal notice of Non-Compliance came, everyone thought the gig was dead.

Phone calls to the founders became a massive double talk conspiracy. Everyone was told that "adjustments" had been made and all the permits were issued. Calls to the various government agencies to confirm typically ended with the bureaucrat saying "We don't care." And then hanging up the phone.

Bogus Slogan never got to play the Hard Chine Tavern. Six hours after the festival's "start," the founders were located at Norfolk International Airport with first class tickets to Valparaiso, Chile. After serving 3 years for fraud, the promoters disappeared into the heart of Europe.

Bogus Slogan Meet & Greet Club, Concert & Backstage Party

Bogus Slogan, American Tour 2006, rolls through the mid-west in August. Get VIP status to meet, greet, listen and party with the Band. Arrangements have been finalized for the August Meet & Greet in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Insiders will get to meet and greet the band at the Vortex Palace Club. Cocktails, dinner and an accoustic club concert follow.

Then by limo, to the Table Mt. Stadium concert, with headliners Bogus Slogan and supporting acts "Upper 40," "the Reduced Flow" and "QuasiTension." A post concert champagne backstage party concludes the festivities. A box of Bogus Slogan swag will seal the deal. Tickets are limited for each VIP Meet & Greet. Get inside now!

Bogus Slogan Poster #36 - Inside View

The Desoto Point Arena poster's back image of a relaxed afternoon, hanging out at the general store, displays some of our bad human habits: burnable fossil fuels, cigarettes, and processed sugar soda drinks. Maybe one should be more worried about the porch's foundation, the add-on stair steps and the exposed wire lighting. Today's building codes would strip mall this picture into oblivion. And hanging out (loitering) is no longer an option unless you have paid, in advance, for permission.

KoKo Cola Commodiities Syndicate (no relation to CocaCola, Inc.) organized and promoted this concert after learning of the Netherlands Constitutional Monarchy suggesting a branding program to provide for all its citizens their own service number.

This concert's admission fee was used as a symbolic message of protest. Since we the people are the government - we must protest against our own anonymous dehumanizing polices for making legislation for the authorization of the numbering of our citizens. Bogus Slogan is a 'for our profit' rock 'n' roll group, this symbolic protest fee paid for the new playroom in the Band's recording studio.

Because, Bogus Slogan only visits the South, they bring as much music as they can. And because their's is not a native sound, they hired Kentucky's "The Joyless Future" as support for the tour's Southern turn. The Vicksburg arena show was a sellout. The concert gross was sufficient to garner 4th spot in Billboard's "Boxscore" column. BS sends a thank you to all those who attended.

SysOps Notice 2006.07.01

Catch a wave and you're sitting on top of the world

With an earth, comprised of eternal humans, only a few cloning cells and DNA tweaks away, I can look at my mortality, and laugh at why I ever drove 50 miles (round trip for 17 weeks), to record, off of the television speaker, the SOUNDTRACK to the British TV program The Prisoner. No coughing was allowed. The show was originally broadcasted in the late 60's and I watched it with my nose nearly on the tv's glass screen. I actually played back the audio only tapes. During the silent sections, I tried to imagine the course of action. Thank goodness the series came out on laser disc.

The show is an iconic fable of a dis-associated individual being bent to society's control. Episode after episode found the main character foiling his controllers' plan, but also failing to escape his village jail. In the last two episode, No. 6, the Prisoner, does turn the tables on his captors with a hallucinatory contest of minds, where logic is ignored in favor of a Monty Python sketch. The psychedelic 60's on film.

In 1977 the show was replayed on cable tv. Limited cable, but no satellites, no internet, no napster, no bit torrent. The show was not on VHS or BETAMAX tapes. Since I did not have cable or a VCR, the weekly sojourn began.

The series always had a cult following, but that does not mean commercial sales. DVDs were unknown and many years away. Getting the show on laser disc greatly helped, but finding all the episodes was another adventure. The Prisoner DVDs are being re-released in an anniversary box set with background documentaries and alternative episodes.

Another fave, The Man From U.N.C.L.E. is on the DVD horizon. There are two corporations that claim copyright ownership and are fighting over the distribution rights, but that will get resolved. It is only about money.

Listening to the Soundtrack CD of the music from the series - Jerry Goldsmith's Crime Jazz Space Age Pop - bongos, flutes, percussive organ riffs galore, trumpets!!!! With Robert Drasnin, Gerald Fried, Lalo Schifrin, Richard Shores composing episode scores from the Goldsmith's U.N.C.L.E. music template. Bring on the THRUSH villains. Open channel "D."


And the first season of The Wild Wild West with Michael Dunn as "Dr. Miguelito Quixote Loveless," the master arch villain, in elegant Black and White, is available.

Killing my television might have to wait a bit. Technology has restored the fun. I think I have time to return to my childhood.

ZenithPointStudio PopWorks 4

INCLUDES:

Ring of Fire • Cool & Crazy • BobCat • Pants Puppet • Queen B Bar-b-que

Irwindale Raceway • Drag City • Car Selection • Dick Dale

POPWORKS 4a     (mp3) (60MB) (51m) (1985)

INCLUDES:

Porridge Lawn • The Cool & the Crazy • KNAC Bumper stickers • Dan Hicks

something's in the bag • Dr. Science • rambo's big bloodbath

POPWORKS 4b     (mp3) (61MB) (51m) (1985)

REMEMBER: definitely ABSTRACT FIDELITY

LINK is good for at least 30 days

Washes: Close at Hand (2005)

Close at Hand starts with a vertical focus. Two nine foot, "wavy," purple columns bracket the canvas. Then color shimmers are blocked in. A number of black and grey "prints" add a foreboding feeling.

They are followed by diagonal sheer lines which diffuses the viewer's focus.

Reversing mountains of "V"s center the painting. Above, a cloudy mist soften the jagged peaks.

Close at Hand (2005)

"..as if stricken, beneath a ranistorm inside a forest of trees. Falling forward - clutching for the wet leaves, she felt nothing within the grasp of her fingers. Lost to gravity, slowly fading from..."

Bogus Slogan Poster #35 - Inside View

Our little space guy has no difficulty pointing out the great bands playing that night. Little Buddy System almost stole the show. The group had just released their first album and they were on their first record company sponsored tour. They were hyped on their own publicity. Ton o' Static and Escape for Fun were bands that routinely played through out Texas. With Summer just arriving, the Bogus Slogan's fans were dancing wall to wall from start to finish.

The Catacombs Club was a wonderful venue. Lots of energy, fun people. The club is no longer in operation, but the people of Houston, TX have no problem partying. The backdrop image, a 1950's child's view of space exploration, confirms that while space may be unknown territory, being armed and dangerous helps.

This BS Poster is a rare outside production for the Catacombs Club. 200 were printed. Fifteen are in the hands of Bogus Slogan Poster Collectors. When "No Problem Here" was last at action (9/1983), the transfer price was a staggering $4,650.00. In 2001, ZenithPointStudio transferred its three existing Artist Proofs to the Pacific Trust Collection of Laguna Beach.

Pacific Trust Collection Art Lottery Selections

The first stage of the Pacific Trust Collection Art Lottery within a lottery is done!

Five pieces of art from the Ninety-Seventh American Natural Objects Competition sponsored by the Pacific Trust Collection of Laguna Beach which will be given to five lucky lottery winners have been selected.

The Art Pieces selected are:

1.  J. Kipper:           CHILDREN AMONG RED FLOWERS (2006)     Oil   28" x 16"
2.  Rondal Garcia:   CHARGING UP SAN JUAN HILL (2003)    Bronze   46" x 18"
3.  Maggie Klein:      BOWL WITH GRAPES & ORANGES (2005)    Watercolour   18" x 14"
4.  Presten Jamis:   ADOBE AT SAN GABRIEL (2005)    Acrylic   30" x 20"
5.  Tilley Frame:      RR BRIDGE AT SUNSET (2006)    Oil   12" x 9"

Lottery drawing for the selection of the five art pieces was June 16th. Our Celebrity Drawer was none other than film star, Torsen Fleur, the lead in "The Iceman Cometh" now in Summer Performace at the Laguna Beach's Paramount Theatre. The winners are on special display at the CityView Gallery in the Capitol Building in downtown Laguna Beach until July 15th when a second lottery drawing will be held. This year's Celebrity Drawer for the second drawing will be Stacko Record's Mellow Chord Robinson. During the week of July 15th, Mellow Chord will be performing at North Laguna's famed Acrylic & Oil Lounge. The winners will be invited to come and take their prizes home.

You can still participate. No purchase necessary. Place your name into the lottery by filling out an entry form at the CityView Gallery or sending your name and address on a piece of paper to the Pacific Trust Collection of Laguna Beach's Executive Office. Once again, good luck everybody.

Abstracts: Family Vacation (2004)

Eternal Dreaming,
Kissed by the Trembling Summer
Laughing Children Run.

Bogus Slogan Poster #34 - Inside View

When artists set out to create a memorable image, sometimes they don't see what they create. Sometimes they try to get what they see past the censors. Sometimes everybody is in on the flow. Our concert poster backdrop is from a book cover where the self reflection asked of human kind is mixed with an image of physical exertion.

But let us return to the centering of our ego. Placing it firmly at the front of the stage at the IT Club. Bogus Slogan Time. This show's opening song was Fishbone's "It's a Wonderful life (Gonna Have a Good Time)."

Unify in the crushing presence of a delirious mission.
Not one ballad - 115 minutes at 110+ beats per minute.

Expressions: Moral Comeback (2004)

Moral Comeback (2004)

Painting is also about hiding and suggesting. In Layer 1 below, a dramatic set of white lines are painted in the canvas center. Each successive layer begins to hide this strong element, until in the finished painting, only a suggestion is left.

We all need a moral comeback - but... you first.

Bogus Slogan Poster #33 - Inside View

In less than a century, the cult of the automobile has redirected the attention of males and a few females, to the greatness of speed and style in a moving box. The heyday has come and gone - the muscle cars of the 1960's with high octane leaded gas for $0.30 a gallon - but the design capabilities of humans thrives and today, everybody can have their own pocket rocket. Tomorrow?

ZenithPointStudio uses Chip Foose's redesign of the late 1960's Chevrolet Camaro as this Bogus Slogan poster's background. Lower to the ground, state of the art steering and suspension, 200+ more horsepower than the original - She's a beauty. Only, gas is now an investment and you share your patch of the road with lots of moving obstacles.

The gig was an end of the tour date. Always a tough show. Some want to go home, some are sad to see the tour end, most are still hungover from last night. For Bogus Slogan, the guys always take a week off before the last show. Most times they hang out together in some happy-go-lucky tourist spot. Prior to Detroit, they road the rails along the eastern and southern coastal edges of America. With their private train, they backtracked into New Orleans, then north, highballing for Detroit on the old Illinois Central mainline.

Bogus Slogan American Tour 2006

Get your money out. In fact, go on line now and purchase the Bogus Slogan IV currency drip.™

In support of their brand new release, "A Little Heart," Bogus Slogan will begin a 12 week - 50 date tour of America, June 14th, in Jamestown, Florida at the World Famous Tindley Ballroom. On September 15th the tour will close out with a weekend appearance at the Made Butler Club in Cleveland, Ohio.

Inbetween are arenas, stadiums, clubs and ballrooms galore. Advance tickets on sale now. Special VIP passes are available. Tour merchandise already shipping.

Look good now!

Make your life a Bogus Slogan™

Photos: UP 5021 • Whittier, California

Shooting trains in the urban environment is a challenging task. Most great train pictures need elevation above the subject and a background that will not put the viewer into a vegetative state. Bridges solve the first problem - except in our high security world, hanging over a railing brings forth questions not artistic support. Getting a shooting angle, with good lighting, a worthy background and a train takes patience. Many a time I have watched the direct sunlight track across my camera's focus point with no train in sight. Sigh.

Union Pacific 5021 is leading its train into the Los Angeles basin. The remaining miles are primarily single track, so she is not going to slow down for her picture to get taken. I especially like the level train/tracks and the "tilt" that the electric towers make. No bridge available, so down on the ground I go. Shot with a 20mm lens, you can "see" vinnetting in the corners from the circular polarizing filter - Kodachrome 64, f5.6 at 1/250.

Photoshop makes it easy to to create a black & white print which I think can hold its own.

Bogus Slogan Poster #32 - Inside View

Early morning, the Southern Pacific Coast Daylight, is leaving Los Angeles, to run along the California coastline before turning back into the San Joaquin Valley on its trek to San Francisco. Crossing the North Broadway bridge over the L.A. River, is a 1950's era bus taking workers and shoppers into the downtown area. The elevated tracks on the right are the Union Pacific's branch line into Glendale/Pasadena. Behind the bridge is the ATSF Pasadena Division's LA River crossing. In a few seconds, the smoke from the GS-4 steam locomotive, will completely hide the train and bus as the engineer opens the throttle. The video still back drop is a composite made from the excellent documentary DAYLIGHT The Most Beautiful Train in the World.

The concert was an unsanctioned celebration of the Freedom Riders who helped liberate the South of overt segregation in the 1950's and 1960's. People left their ordinary lives to make an extraordinary change. This Bogus Slogan concert was a thank you for the sacrifices made and a reminder that life and liberty are not catchphrases.

Anothert concert for freedom is sure to come, so choose your own method of transportation, but just be sure to get there.

Washes: Loveless Payoff (2004)

Loveless Payoff (2004)

When viewed at its original size of nine feet by six feet, the sense of motion is undeniable. A coral reef swaying to the moon's tidal sweep - sixty or seventy thousand flowers in a soft spring breeze.

In layer one, a blue "t" lays seige against a dark purple "i." A distraction to this combat comes from a patch of orange. Layer 3 shows how the painted underlayers are advanced to a more finished painting by bringing another patch of orange as counter balance and additional shades of blue for tonal harmony.

There's your girl, the far end of the bar, swirled up in smoke. Ice cold martini. In her purse, a nickle plated .38 special. She's been waiting for you.

SysOps Notice 2006.06.01

You are a wonderfull person

I know where I want to hang out with what ever free time I may have. Grand Teton National Park and its neighbor, Yellowstone National Park provide all the physical distractions that I think I would need. All four seasons. I can see myself, trudging in the snow, trying to get to an overlook before the sun rises over the eastern edge of the park. Or savorying an ice cold beverage from the portable cooler as the fading summer sun lights the park floor with long shadows.

LAKE JACKSON • Grand Teton National Park
Robert Soelberg (1995)

In a companion blog, "A Greeting From," Family travel post cards are being posted. What a surprise to find Grand Teton and Yellowstone Park locations that I have photographed.

YELLOWSTONE FALLS • Yellowstone National Park
Robert Soelberg (1995)

The locations for Lake Jackson and Yellowstone Falls are easily accesable by motor car and a short walk. The Lake Jackson location has a seating area for probably 1,000 people!

The sunset at Lake Jackson was a happy accident. I had only one day in the park so I scouted this location early in the day and planned my movements around the park to return for the sunset. So much to see, I barely made it back in time. Hurriedly, I set up my tripod/camera next to a woman who was watching her husband fiddle with his wide format field camera. I said hello and mentioned how lucky we were to have a beautiful sunset.

Laughing, she said her husband (and of course herself) had been waiting through five cloudy days.

Timing, Light and Luck.

The Yellowstone Falls is a morning shot and with a steady hand you can match my photo shown above.

ZenithPointStudio PopWorks 3

INCLUDES:

Weird Al • The Cool & the Crazy • Black Lassie • Concert Drugs • Dire Straits • Dr. Science

Marshall Crenshaw • Aimee Mann • Laurie Anderson

POPWORKS 3a   (mp3) (48MB) (51m) (1985)

INCLUDES:

The Cool & the Crazy • The Big Bust Out • Rock-a-Billy • Eddie's Sexateria • Uzi Demo

Monty Python • Women with Meat on their bones • Electric Flag

POPWORKS 3b   (mp3) (48MB) (51m) (1985)

REMEMBER: definitely ABSTRACT FIDELITY

LINK is good for at least 30 days

Bogus Slogan Poster #31 - Inside View

Since most people, happily, hate violence; and therefore try to not support it- the United States of America's military, the best that violence can be, is critiqued by friend and foe alike. Since our Forefathers explicitly wrote that providing for the national defense is our highest priority, it should be second nature to cherish those who place their healthy lives in harm's way for the continuation of representational government and worldwide freedom for all humans who wish to be so governed.

While our three WW II doughboys are not happy to see the camera, they will be happy to know that Bogus Slogan cranked the volume at the Boyle Heights Armory. The Armory, built during WW II, was converted to a community entertainment center in the early 1960's. Over 15,000 square feet and with a barrel roof, the acoustics were tough to take. Raising the volume helped.

Supporting bands, Truth Speakers, the Flats & Cons and Seventeen Seconds; were winners of a local battle of the bands contest. Whether they sounded their best, with the professional sound reinforcement system rented by BS, was lost in the eight second reverberation of the armory's interior.

Pacific Trust Collection Art Lottery

The wondrous Pacific Trust Collection Art Lottery within a lottery is here!

Five pieces of art from the Ninety-Seventh American Natural Objects Competition sponsored by the Pacific Trust Collection of Laguna Beach will be given to five lucky lottery winners.

Lottery drawing for the selection of the five art pieces will be June 16th. Those winners will go on special display at the CityView Gallery in the Capitol Building in downtown Laguna Beach until July 15th when a second lottery drawing will be held. These winners will be invited to come and take their prizes home.

No purchase necessary. Place your name into the lottery by filling out an entry form at the CityView Gallery or sending your name and address on a piece of paper to the Pacific Trust Collection of Laguna Beach's Executive Office. Good luck everybody.

Bogus Slogan Poster #30 - Inside View

Once a year, the city authorities in Radiant City let the hair flow freely. One weekend, 72 hours, where everything goes except crimes against another person. Crimes against property can be defended by force, so the mayhem is usually limited to extreme self intoxication and the mishaps that inevitably occur. Medics and doctors are shipped in from neighboring cities. Something like New Orleans on steroids is the result. Most everybody starts with public nudity and the festivities expand from there.

Bogus Slogan has been the Saturday headliner several times, with the third annual Cultural Jam being their first appearance. The concert began on time, but there was so much audience participation that Bogus Slogan did not get on stage til 4am Sunday. The group held the stage until 7am when a wave of naked karaoke carolers claimed the stagefront - placing three different beatboxes, playing three different songs - then everyone chose their favorite to sing. Several attempts were made to regain control of the theatre, but all were unsuccessful.

Abstracts: Wait for Sugar (2004)

An overhead perspective suggests tables in a courtyard, winter trees providing minimal cover as the employees come to lunch. Coming from the side, sets of diamond flags drape naturally behind a designer mesh screen. Looking up - one sees a custom made fresco, reminiscent of a charming seaside villa in Spain. Maybe, the spangles on a belly dancer's constume. Boy, figuring out ths art stuff is hard.

Wait for Sugar (2004)

Bogus Slogan Poster #29 - Inside View

One lovely Friday afternoon, as the staff of ZenithPointStudio casually dreamed of the tequila and beer to come - Petal, from N•Verso, L.L.C., the Bogus Slogan's management company, called asking if we could make a commercial poster for the band's appearance at the Three Four Ballroom. This confused us since we already had sent a Three Four Ballroom poster to the printers. On speakerphone, Petal assured us that this was a new one. A new one?

"Sure, Dougie (the BS manager) added a second show and told me to call you guys to get a new poster done. You know - today, by five."

We put Petal on hold, began a cursefest, ended that cursefest, then apologized for keeping her on hold for so long. We asked for the details for the new poster. "Oh - everything's the same - all the bands, same. Only a second show on the 25th. Can I get it today? By 5? Dougie is taking me to the Fragging Dolls tonight. I need to buy..."

We slapped on two bars with the new info, compressed the band names and the new poster was ready by 4pm. A couple of days later, Petal emailed a pic of her, Dougie and Blandy Weathers, the lead singer of the Fragging Dolls. Petal looked hot!

Expressions: Appearing Nightly (2004)

Appearing Nightly (2004)

Angular and stubborn. Piercing and unfocused. A new combination with every viewing. Always vulnerable.






Layer one sets a double horizon line and then immediately challenges this figure with dark vertical clouds. On to layer 2 and textured colors, sweep to and fro - setting the canvas into motion. Additional shapes (see layer 3) restrict this freedom of motion, but now add the complexity of multiple asymetrical shape combinations. Appearing Nightly, no cover charge.

Bogus Slogan Poster #28 - Inside View

The Hiawatha of the Milwaukee Road fame graces our Shank Hall Bogus Slogan Poster. This 3/4 photo gives evidence to the power, speed and beauty of steam rail. Gears, wheels, pipes, valves are hidden behind the streamline cowling of 1930's industrial design. This magnificent engine is probably cruising at 60+ mph. Nearly too fast for the shutter.


The Proletariat Artist League combines imaginative people from all avenues of the world of art. Their annual Benefit All Mankind™ concerts are consciousness raisers on the futility of war. Each year a new location is used to help spread the word. Funds raised are used for commercial campaigns to advertise the crimes of despots and corporation abuse of the environment.

This concert was a ripping success. Drunk with Lead was called back for a second encore which cut into Bogus Slogan's set time. But this was not a problem - Bogus Slogan's encore was two songs in one. A musical trick the band has used since their beginnings. The drums held a steady rhythm as bass / keyboards played "Belittle One" and guitar played "ReSpirited." Vocalist, Mason Kimmers, alternated between the two.

Abstracts: Coming Down the Mountain (2004)

Coming Down the Mountain (2004)

With so many years of recorded media and the worldly scope of the internet, today's artist needs only to create - (If an artist wants to make a living or be famous, then crank up the publicity / marketing machinery) - We, the audience, have seen innumerable images, heard countless sounds; and with so many choices, have expectations of paying little or nothing for our art "fix." Comics, novels, music, magazines, tv, newspapers... All are inexpensive inter-changable alternatives. The meaning of life has been co-opted into 15 minutes of attention. Fame, a la Andy Warhol not being necessary.

Before high quality repoductions were available, an original painting had to present its meaning and symbolism in an inspiring image. Today's image "Coming Down the Mountain, is a throwback to those earlier times. C'mon...smile. Stay with me.

Bogus Slogan Poster #27 - Inside View

Girls with Snakes. In their farewell performance. What should have been a 35 minute opening act, lasted 3 and 1/2 hours, ending in a bedlam of chaos as the County SWAT team cleared the Orpheum in what was clearly not a practice drill. G w/ S was a foursome of shapely, heavily tattooed women who were highly prized as performers by the locals. Music was an after thought because eventually, the girls writhed as much as their pet snakes did.

Our men of Bogus Slogan happily watched from the theatre's backstage, as each girl brought forth (from large storage boxes at the back of the stage) their beloved snakes. By the end of the musical part, all four girls were center stage "dancing" with the reptiles. At this point, one would assume that after a few minutes, the writhing would end and the next act, Man and Pearl, would get their 45 minutes. Nope...

Benjamin Owen, BS's drummer, walked on stage and started playing on the G w/ S's drum kit. As a stripper's "bump n' grind" beat echoed in the hall, the remaining BS members ran to the dressing room to get their instruments. Now everybody was happy.

After ninety minutes of audience participation, the theatre's management became unhappy. Responding police saw 2000 delirious fans. When it was learned that cutting the power to the stage would make the whole theatre go dark, (a public safety issue), the authorities called in the professionals.

SysOps Notice 2006.05.01

No one here, gets out alive

In a Bogus Slogan poster, I used a radial blur filter that took my Mac Dual-core 2GHz PowerPC G5 processor over an hour to complete at 100% usage on both cores (27" x 40" @ 300 dpi). At the same time I was watching TV on a second monitor and surfing the internet, with the Mac OS polling the email server every 15 minutes. The amount of computer processing had to be incredible. In the first few seconds, my system probably surpassed one of the original computers, the ENIVAC of the 1940's.

It certainly left my original Apple II in the dust. A 6502 cpu running at a snail's pace. I was very loathed to leave that simple world behind; especially since I had been able to program in assembly (machine) language. But, Apple EOL'd (end of line) the II. I continued to use an Apple IIe, even buying a replacement from a friend when my original motherboard failed. But then I saw the bouncing ball of the Amiga 1000. I know now, I wasted my money, but that machine was fun.

The Amiga also introduced me to a couple of professional programmers writing ada code for the Department of Defense. They introduced me to Q, their roommate who was writing games in 6502 assembly. Q ( David Van Brink) wrote the Tempest arcade game look-a-like "Tubeway." His second game, "Ankh (64 Rooms)," was released just as the game distributor, Datamost, went bankrupt.


Q, coded his games using only a green screen 9" monitor. He did not have a printer. He wrote and debugged his source code on the screen using a special display code to indicate color.

My amazement was so sincere, that he gave me a copy of Ankh (on 5 1/4" floppy disk). It took me a week or two to solve all the puzzles, but that was just the start. Also on that disk were his source code and the editors for creating the elements of the game. I tried to return the software, but Q said don't worry about it. So I wrote Ankh 2.

ANKH's Lobby (64 rooms)

ZenithPointStudio PopWorks 2

POPWORKS 2a   (mp3) (48MB) (51m) (1985)

POPWORKS 2b   (mp3) (48MB) (51m) (1985)