Ming Red

I'm really busy with other things that I should be working on, so what better time to update my much neglected blog?! Here's a detail from a piece that I had in a recent group show in Chicago at the Oh No! Doom! gallery...

I recently(comparred to my last post, anyway) finally got an art desk. It's by Haskell of Pittsburgh, and the inspection tag says the color is Ming Red, though it just looks orange to me. I couldn't believe how clean this thing was when I found it.

I found this MASSIVE hanging light at an antique store in Marshall, MI for like $80. Eventually, it's gonna hang above my matching Electrohome Apollo record player.

Here's my desk in inaction. The Burke Inc. chair is fresh out of my dad's barn. We had a whole dining set at some point when I was little, and my dad tossed the probably still decent condition table years ago and used the chairs in the garage to sit on while working on his cars. Most of 'em got pretty nasty with grease and dirt. All 4 were still out there when I grabbed this, the least fucked up one. I also recently salvaged some hairpin legs from a formerly cool, now trashed 50's coffee table my dad had rotting on the porch for some reason. The repro "Orgy Of The Dead" poster was one of my X-mas gifts from Melanie. You can score one for yourself on Ebay(I forget the name of the people who make these) for like $12 or something. They also make KILLER Weird-ohs model kit advertising mobiles. I have one of those too!

My band recently downsized when our drummer Tiffany and her girlfriend Lane relocated to NYC, and our rhythm guitarist, Rudy, switched to drums. I just repainted his kick drum head. I outlined the letters in neon blue! I'm pretty happy with the results.

I'd like to say that I'll start updating this page more regularly, but it seems that the more promises I make, the more I drop the ball. Until next time...

A Rare Update...Food, SICKLES, and Girls!

Finally!!! I wanted to do this update MONTHS ago, but my computer crashed, and I lost tons pictures and stuff...everything was a mess that I didn't wanna deal with...but I'm diggin' out finally.

I got a new ride! A restored 1957 Puch Allstate!



I still need some parts, like a cover to keep my pant leg outta the engine...but it runs and is quite fun to ride...except something's now loose...so I need to take it into the shop next time I have money.



Check out that paint job!



The dude I got it from found it in a dumpster 2 years ago, and restored it with parts scrounged from the Internet.



Glistening in the sun. The White walls are NOS Pirelli's from the early '60s



The speedometer doesn't work, but it smokes my friend's Metro scooter...



Here's me right after riding it for the first time. I later lowered the seat and fixed the mirror.



In with the new, out with the old...I traded away my Hondas to the guy that restored the Puch. Hopefully I have some cash in a couple years, so I can buy the bike he builds from them.



About a month ago, I went to the Speedshifters wheel club's annual summer-end party. I didn't get there 'til late, but I still got some decent Pics of my buddy Cody's AMAZING rides. Here's one of his choppers...



I LOVE his metal flake red '60 Chevy gasser!



It used to be my favorite local hot rod...



...But he's sure topped himself with his new bubble top rod!



HOLY SHIT!!



I wish it was light enough out to get the interior...White fur and clear plastic seats!

Lastly, for Halloween, The Hemingers are gonna perform as one of my all time favorite bands...The Mummies!!!



...and our buddies, No Bails are gonna be Wire!

The GO sounds of H.O.A.!

So, as usual, it's been a loooong time between posts, but this time it's not my fault. This post was held up waiting for an eBay package that took forevvvver to get here. Another future post is gonna be on my biggest purchase since starting HOA, but it's currently being repaired by more skilled hands. There's a hint to what it is in one of my pictures this post.

I've been wanting the Revells "Go sound of the slots" record ever since reading about it in the fantastic "Bubblegum Music is the Naked Truth" book, and I recently scored a copy. It's a Slot car themed surf/drag record mostly penned by the late Gary Usher. You may know Mr. Usher for his work with the Byrds and the Beach Boys. He co-wrote "409", amongst other hits...that's even his car revving up at the beginning of "409". Most of the songs on here sound like a second rate Beach Boys, unsurprisingly...but my favorite song here is actually a faux soul number that reminds me of the Who's cover of "Please, Please, Please". It's also one of the few songs on this record NOT written by Gary Usher...but I bring him up because he'll surface again later in the post. Anyway, hear "My Little Slot Coupe" here.

Also in this picture is a record by a band called The Revengers. I found it at the local Salvation Army, and I can't find ANY info on it. from the label I've gathered that it was a local Coldwater, MI band in the 60's, and it was recorded in the Holland, Michigan area, but that's all I can find. The a side is decently done country-ish rock, but that's not really my bag...Listen to the surf instrumental "Revengers' Theme" here.



Lastly, we have "The Big X-L" by Ougie and the Ougots. I found this randomly in a pile of my dad's albums that he hasn't listened to since the 60's...but he claims he has never seen it, so I assume it belonged to my uncle Christopher, who was killed in Vietnam. All I've been able to find on these guys is one picture online, and I learned that they were from Georgia. Big X-L refers to the Ford Galaxie 500/X-L. Check it out here.



The kid's record player pictured I found real cheap at our local antique mall along with the Lesley Gore record. The record on the turntable is a beat-to-hell copy of J. J. Barnes' "Baby Please Come Back Home"/"Chains of Love". Some of you may know "Chains of Love" from the Dirtbombs' cover of it on "Ultraglide in Black". The green and white Platter Pak is from UHF in Royal Oak, MI, and the monster button is from the vintage clothing store next door. The orange swirl Platter Pak I scored on Ebay, after losing out on many others of the same design. I wish it was in better shape, but whatever...It's still awesome, and it's in use too.



The Humdinger Monster was apparently a 1 quart shake. In my quickie, half-assed research I found some neat Humdinger Monster puppets from '66 and an ad, but nothing saying who made the Humdinger.



Lastly, My newest eBay score...more Gary Usher madness! This JUST arrived on my porch today. I still need the other 2 Mr. Gasser albums...and I REALLY need the Weird-ohs and Silly Surfers LPs...if anyone's holding.

Don't trust anyone under 30!

Hey-a, loyal readers! Like always, it's been a long time between updates. I've been up to a lot lately. One thing I did since last update was have an art show as part of the return of the amazing Chicago Blackout. I sold a lot of paintings, but this one was one of my favorites!



Another thing I did was turn 30. The Hemingers got to play a super fun show in Kalamazoo with Peach Kelli Pop for my B-day...here's a pic!



I finally got my hands on one of these nifty bird banks. I almost got one a couple years ago, but when I showed up at the antique store with money, it was gone. This one is in REALLY great shape, and still has a key to open the bottom and a scroll with a poem on it intact. It's made by Oy Mk Tuote Ab in Finland, in I'm guessing sometime between '65 and '72. Gonked Glooked Slurped wrote about these a year or so ago.



Here's another view of it on my cruddy living room couch.



I got this neat ceramic drunk monk bank from the local goodwill for $2. There's no maker's marks, and I assume it's just something someone made in a ceramics class.



This folk art PBR can man was at one of my favorite local antique stores. It's neat but when you lift his can....



....he has a wang! The rubber band is broken, but when you lift the can, he's supposed to get a boner. I had to buy it, 'cuz I'm nothing if not classy!



We picked up this nifty Stanley cabinet last summer in Lansing, and I never got around to uploading the pictures until now. Our friend Colleen wrote about this exact cabinet last year on her excellent Space Age Squirrel blog.



We had our eyes on it for a long time, but it was out of our price range. Every time we saw it, it got a little cheaper until we finally snagged it for $95.



It's at Melanie's bakery,and is currently LOADED with antiques...and the bakery now has a cooler floor. Right after we got this, my mom scored a pair of even better cabinets by stanley at an estate sale for $75. I'm jealous!



There are no manufacturer markings on this KILLER chair. We found it in Marshall, MI at another of my favorite antique shoppes. I now need a giant world map with red pins marking my next targets, and a long haired cat to pet while I plot evil deeds.



This picture is in the bakery basement, but it currently sits in the office. Any info on the manufacturer would be much appreciated.

Taco Tuesday

I made a music video...

There's some of my art and some of my toys, and other people's art and toys, and a bunch of other random, eye pleasing stuff...and tacos. (click to view)




Our tape's out now for $5. You can email me for info...

hotbeefinjectionrocks@yahoo.com

...or get it from Floridas Dying.

Tonight We're Gonna Party Like It's 1993!

So, my brother still has my camera cable, but in the meantime I was able to borrow one...Yippee! Also, it should be mentioned that I just polished off a bottle of Merlot.

...Anyway, My new(ish) band, The Hemingers, Made a trip to Milwaukee and Chicago earlier this month. It was our first trek outta Michigan, and it was tons of fun, even though both David and I were in the middle of a nasty cold. I don't have a ton of pictures, because I was pretty hopped up on cold meds and free Schlitz, but I did snap a few.

Due to some engine troubles with my van, we had to borrow a car and rent a Uhaul trailer. The kids on the trailer are really creepy! That boy skins neighborhood cats out in the woods!



We played Frank's Power Plant in Milwaukee with White Mystery, Overnight Lows, and Slow Walker. They all kicked ass! I really dig the sign at Frank's!



There are a few nice Motorcycles on display at Frank's. This Triumph is pretty much my dream bike...if only it had a shorter fork and was painted metal flake gold-green, with red and white pinstriping.



You can see a video of us playing a cover of "Little Green Bag" at Frank's, as well as my awful white dude dancin', here.

...and Our cover of "The Zoo" here.

In Chicago, I found this neat mural of some Hanna-Barbera favorites. David took a pretttty blurry picture. He must've been coughing...there was a lot of that on the trip.



A couple days later(yes I did laundry...I didn't wear the Gonerfest shirt for a week straight), I got a package in the mail...



...It's pretty well wrapped(thank God, the post office fucked that box up!



...Hmmm...what could it be...



Why, a bunch of 45s from the heyday of Bay Area Budget Rock!



Notice my makeshift art table. My ugly couch's middle seat has a fold out table that I covered with masonite. This is where all the magic happens.



The Brentwoods! I'm a little obsessed with them. Their lone LP is one of my ultimate top ten favorite records. I still need their Estrus single, if anyone out there has an extra and wants some money or a flyer for their band or something...or, you know, June 3rd's my B-day...



These records rock so hard, they burned my hair off! Note "The Room" on DVD sitting on my table.



So excited, I Gotta Dance! You can see in the background that the Hoarder to Awesome ratio is about 50/50.



...and play air guitar like a dork(as a dork?).



Now, if you don't mind, I need some alone time with my new records!



Here's all the goodies! After buying this lot, I find the term "Budget Rock" kinda ironic.



Thanks to my buddy Chris for letting me score a whole bunch of my wants!

RIP Poly Styrene!