Big Eye/Sad Eye Awesomeness part One

Heeeeyyyyyy....I'm smashed. I'm making Mojitos in celebration of finishing a long, intricate, time consuming art project...and I have tomorrow off, sorta. Actually, I'm going to see Nobunny, and I'm spinning records in between bands. Any way...

I LLLOOOVVVEEE cheesy, kitschy, 60's/70's Keane influenced big/sad-eye stuff...here's a few pieces(notice where I put 'part one' up there...I gotta stretch this shit out!) from my collection/hoard pile.

I found this guy in my last trip to Shipshewana, which I previously blogged about here. He was buried amongst the MOUNDS of junk in that American Pickers-esque barn. There's STILL a few goodies outta that place that I'm saving for later posts. This Japanese Enesco piece might look familiar to readers of HOA...He's a less cool(but still cool), and beat up version of these. I got it for a dollar, just like everything else in the barn. I looked up 'Enesco' on google. As far as I can tell, they're still cranking out cheap junk...I typed "Enesco" into Ebay, and got 40,000-plus results!



The Enesco cats look like this cat. I dunno who made these...I know there were a bunch of these sad cats and dogs made in (I assume) the early 70's, and if I wasn't seeing double, and having to go back and re-type every other word, I'd probably look it up...

Anywhozzle, I grabbed this at a semi-local antique mall for $5.



I also have a lamp of it. I found this on my last trip to Ohio, at an antique store, while I was waiting in line to pay.



Here's another view...



...and another...



Speaking of Ohio, HOA is going on the road this July. I'll have a table at the record trade/flea market/Poppets and Sweet Sixteens show/cookout at Now That's Class on the 11th. Come buy some collectibles or some artwork(Saving up for Gonerfest/My band's tour), and say 'hi'. I'm excited...I've never spent any time in Cleveland. Gonna visit friend and fellow blogger Erin, of the wonderful Trash You Up blog. I gotta start getting stuff around to sell. I know Melanie is gonna bring a bunch of cool vintage dresses.

Anyway...Here's some 70's puzzles Melanie and I found and put together....

This one was missing a piece, bah!



I remember, we did this one during Obama's first State of the Union address...When Joe Wilson yelled 'you lie!', we were finishing the border of the brim of the hat.



Both puzzles are labeled 'Bright Eyes'...I wonder if that's where Conor Oberst got the name for his shitty music.



Wellll...like I said, I'm friggin' smashed, thanks to tasty mojitos. The Mojito has made somewhat of a splash as of late as a hip drink of choice. It's unfortunate that most places make them wrong. I make real Mojitos...a recipe I learned from my Italian friend Mario, who learned the proper technique while on vacation in Cuba(birthplace of the Mojito). Here's how to make a real Mojito

In a glass, crush half a lime and a generous few sprigs of mint, and some natural cane sugar. Add crushed Ice, and equal parts spiced and light rum...maybe a slight bit more light rum. I like to keep a spoon in the drink, and stir it before each sip, otherwise, the lime and sugar sink to the bottom.

A lot of bars just use light rum and a mix. Some bars use soda water, or sprite! That is not a mojito.

You Don't Go In The Bathroom With Me!

If you don't get the Misfits reference, don't worry, this post isn't about poop...Hell, that song isn't even about poop, it's about murder. This post isn't about murder either, though. It's about the redecorating job I did on the bathroom at the bakery.

I wish I had pictures of this bathroom when Melanie bought the place. It was UUUUGGGLLLLLYYYY! It was a dark red, with gold poorly sponged over it, with 80's navy blue light house wallpaper half-assedly glued half way up the wall.

This is what I did with it...



On the two larger walls, I hand painted this design. I based it a lot on the background painting from shows like the Flintstones, the Jetsons, and Ren and Stimpy, along with mid-century(and mid-century influenced) hipster artists, like Shag, and Jim Flora. Also, cheap motels and gin and tonics. Yes, it took a very long time to get it just right...I was a total Nazi about it too, just ask Melanie.



The door was just a plain, light, cheap, wood office door. I redid it(along with all the doors in the bakery) in a 50's mint green, same as I used in the middle of all the squares on the walls. The trim is a gloss gray.



The trash can under the sink we picked up in Ypsilanti, MI. I forgot why we were there, probably on the way to Detroit for a show. I had seen these online and had it in mind when I did the bathroom, so I had to grab it the second I saw it. It isn't old, and was really cheap, like $10 I think.



The clock is a Lux(No Cramps relation). I see these a lot and for cheap. In fact, there's two at the local antique mall right now for around $30, if I remember right. I think we got this one for $15 or $20, I don't remember. I do remember that we bought it the day our apartment in Kalamazoo got robbed, and I was carrying it in when I noticed stuff was amiss. I'm guessing it's from the later 60's. It plugs into the wall, but I wound the cord up behind it, because it's an ugly, kinked up cord, and the clock is loud when plugged in, and I don't usually go to the bathroom to check the time.



I found this lampshade at this weird antique used mug/junk store that used to be in the neighborhood. The owner died, and I bought a ton of random crap off her son, who I think just wanted to shovel everything into a huge dumpster. I painted the blue squares on it though. The 70's green glass lamp used to belong to a friend of mine who had a bunch of cool late 60's/early 70's stuff...Lots of owl stuff, puke green chairs, things like that. She's one of those people, though, that just snapped one day, got an office job, stopped going to shows, stopped hanging out, married some random boring guy and started shitting out kids. What bummed me out the most is that when she changed lifestyles over night, she abandoned a couple paintings I'd done for her. Another friend of mine rescued them from the trash. What the hell. Anyway, I managed to save a few neat things she was tossing, this lamp being one.



Here it is turned off. The table it's on I picked up at a church sale for $3. The reading material is Atomic Ranch...Which I took WAY too long to find out existed.



I feel bad for going almost a month without a new post for y'all. I've been pretty busy/distracted/drunk. Here's some more posters I've done lately, I hope you enjoy them.

I wish I was in Florida for this...that's one hell of a lineup!



This one's for a show in Dublin, Ireland!



I'm going to this in a couple hours!



I wish I coulda made it to this one too!