Sunday, November 29, 2009

Junk Thief TV - Season 4, Episode 4: Will Success Spoil Alton V. Yowells, VII...or...Valley of the Yowells


What an exciting but cruel place is this business called show. Alton V. Yowells, VII gets a taste of the big time, but will he pay a price for this sudden whirlwind of recognition?

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Much in Life is Defined by Burl Ives

After Friday's groovy shoot out at Hearse Castle in the rain, I returned Saturday with "Friendatella" who loves dark and dreary things but hates cold weather. Appropriately or not, it was a blazing blue skied day all over the city yesterday with possibly the most glorious view I've ever seen in the distance of Mount Diablo on the eastern horizon.

This afternoon, I reunited with Bryce Digdug to go see Fantastic Mr. Fox, perhaps the only "mainstream" holiday movie I have the slightest interest in seeing. (They had a preview for Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland that was originally slated for a Christmas release and is now pushed back to March with the hope that people will be too pre-occupied with Mardi Gras hangovers to bother with it. Even Meryl Streep managed to not ruin the movie.

As with any Wes Anderson movie, the music selection was half the fun of the film. Even in disappointments like The Life Aquatic and Darjeeling Express, there were great soundtracks. Could you really have stop-motion without Burl Ives? Fox has three Ives tunes -- "Fooba Wooba John", "The Grey Eyed Goose" and "Buck Eye Jim". Now before you start dismissing Ives as all sentimental Jolly Holly Christmas schmaltz, remember that he played Big Daddy and posed for the above Karl Van Vechten portrait, so he clearly was more than that happy snowman in his orbit.

After the film, Bryce and I had lunch at Sunflower were I was ogled and groped by our server and then down the street to the ever reliable Community Thrift Store. Never mind that Tower Records and Virgin Megastore are gone, Community Thrift never fails to deliver unexpected gems. They can also be political and downright subversive. I found a copy of "Anita Bryant Sings Her Favorite Hymns" wedge in between a sloth of albums by Judy Garland and Michael Feinstein. Right there in their racks was Burl Ives: The Best of Burls for Boys and Girls. No "Fooba Wooba John" but it has "Aunt Rhody", "The Fox" (why wasnt' that one in the movie?) "Shoo Fly", "Polly Wolly Doodle" and "Woolie Boogie Bee".

Was there ever a more evocative name than Burl Ives? Can't you just think of a burl sculpture of a bear covered in ivy? I don't like bears of the human kind (they make go "Ooof" not "Woof"), but I do like Burl. Just the thought of him makes me think of cinnamon in the oven and frost on the windows. Oh, and another song on that album is "What Kind of an Animal Are You?" I heard that was his opening line when he ran into Sebastian Cabot unexpectedly in an undisclosed watering hole south of 14th Street in 1957. But that's another story.

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Friday, November 27, 2009

On the Set

Bryce Digdug dropped by today, and he made a return appearance for an upcoming Junk Thief TV episode (the one after the next one). After a breezy studio shoot, we headed out to Ingleside for a location shoot. We planned to solve one mystery (which we accomplished) but had a surprise extra dividend of discovering Hearse Castle above. It was a perfect mix of the Addams Family and Edgar Winter.

I'd love to tell you more about the feature mystery, but if I did I'd have to kill you. Just stay tuned for episode five coming soon.


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Thursday, November 26, 2009

What We're Seeing in the Mission


Great new window display at ATA (Artists Television Access). Does anyone know the artist?

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Tuesday, November 24, 2009

Get Off the Facebook or....

Rodents riding trains, great street art, attitude. It's all on New York Shitty. This blog is a reminder of why we should all abandon our Facebook accounts and get back to blogging. Mafia Wars? Sorority Life? What State Are You From? Need I list the ways that Facebook is almost as bad as MySpace? Need I also add how much I prefer New York to San Francisco?

UPDATE: Be aware that the photo above is of Miss Edie who is a hamster not a rat and be sure to check out her guardian Victoria's blog: http://victoriabelanger.wordpress.com

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Uncanny

We're still not sure if Alton and Dalton Yowells are twins or just brothers. Do you have a thought?

In the meantime we visited Twinish.com where even if you don't have a biological twin you can find your doppleganger. Now, they do qualify their matches by percentages, and I have yet to find a 100% or even 90% match, but the following are intriguing.

So I just couldn't resist running a couple of my mug shots through to see who turned up and thought you'd enjoy the results. The resemblance is uncanny, no?

Now tell me, if you saw Mr. 78.44% and me walking down the street side-by-side, could you tell us apart?
87.33%

82.14%
78.44%73.83%72.41%
68.94%
66.34%
63.31%
61.37%
57.61%

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On the Set: Junk Thief TV, Season 4



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Friday, November 20, 2009

JTTV Season 4, Episode 3 - Astro...Grooves


Following their unexpected reunion last week on the moon's surface after 20 years apart, Alton and Dalton Yowells probe deeper into the stars as they introduce a new segment: Astro...Grooves

Pretty groovy...
Mighty funky...
Makes me wanna....
Shake it like a monkey!

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Sunday, November 15, 2009

JTTV - Season 4 - Episode 2: Alton V. Yowell's Lunar Adventure


Responding to a viewer question, Alton V. Yowell VII blasts into space and has a surprising reunion on the moon's surface.

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Sittin' Around, Hangin' Out, Doin' Our Thang



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Wednesday, November 11, 2009

Broccoli Rape?


Bizarre, even for the Mission.

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Tuesday, November 10, 2009

Corey Bleu. Cory Blue. 1980s. Jeans. Boys. Boxes


There were a lot of Coreys and Corys and Cories and bad hair and bad jeans (acid wash, stone wash) in the 1980s. But I would like to say a few words of praise for the Quebec sensation Corey Hart. Schmaltz, oui, but I had the same exact haircut in 1985, as did just about every boy I chased. And Corey really exemplifies why blue jeans were made for the male body. Just Saying. Enjoy.

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Sunday, November 01, 2009

I Need to Have It Again


Two years ago today, I was here. So much has happened over the past 24 months. I really need to return to this, my favorite city on this planet.

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