choose your groove

The Magic Kingdom

When you wish upon a star....
Watch what you wish for!

what it is?

Rice-A-Roni, the San Francisco treat...pause....NOT!

Then what is it? IT’S-IT.
It’s what? No, IT’S-IT.
Oh, is it? No IT’S-IT!
Well, then, who’s on first?

Actually this special treat was born in 1928, even before Abbott & Costello honed their baseball routine in the mid 30s. Originally IT’S-ITS were sold only at San Francisco’s Playland At The Beach for over four decades. When Playland was demolished in the early 70s, the IT’S-IT disappeared. Life became cruel and grim for the masses, who longed for that vanilla ice cream between old fashioned oatmeal cookies, bathed in dark chocolate.

Happily the IT’S-IT was reborn in 1974, evolving from mom & pop stores to the much larger facility of today. I had my first one when I lived in San Francisco in the mid 70s. It was a revelation. You know what? Every time I have one, it’s a revelation.

Now, I am pretty strict in my healthy eating regime. No red meat in the last 20 years. I augment the vegetarian cuisine with some occasional fish or fowl. (I did have that Spam sushi at Chris & Juli's party by mistake, thinking it to be some new variation on Unagi...It wasn’t so bad.)

I usually posture about not being a dessert person. However, once every few months, I get that craving for something decadent. And what might that be? It is what it is.....IT’S-IT!

The Children

“A relaxing Christmas vacation turns into a terrifying fight for survival as the children begin to turn on their parents.”



If you are a parent, this may sound like business as usual, but think again. In his darkly atmospheric film, Tom Shankland creates an unnerving tension. A mysterious virus slowly transforms these once lovable offspring into deadly adversaries. And these young actors are well chosen for their creepiness.

And of course, the film gives a bit of a nod to the classic Children Of The Damned.

There is something fundamental about parents and unconditional love for their kids. The film explores just how much it takes to push that envelope. What parent won’t appreciate that? I’m just glad my kid took his cues from the innocuous Home Alone. The booby traps in this movie are a bit more extreme, though violence is more implied than full on. It’s all about the mood and growing intensity.

YOU BROUGHT THEM INTO THE WORLD...
NOW THEY WILL TAKE YOU OUT!

Dead Man's Party

Danny, Downey, Sally & Rodney....this party ain't so dead!

Long live the 80s!

Dead People's Stuff

“I don’t get the attraction here”, exclaimed Steve. “You’ll just be foraging through a bunch of dead people’s stuff!”

“Well, we prefer to think of it as Estate Sailing”, we quipped back with somewhat of an air of exclusivity. After all, we weren’t even planning to hit any of the more ubiquitous Spring yard sales.... just the estate level for us.

The Friday “early birds” do get first dibbs it’s true. Making the scene on a Saturday afternoon is so much more laid back though and prices by then are often half off. There’s always esoteric items that have been overlooked too...like those Oriental trivets I got. Hey, you can never have too many trivets, right? And there were some crazy retro ties at the late doctor’s house...but I’m more of a bolo guy.....found a sweet bolo for just two bucks.

Yeah, it is a little creepy that with folks barely in their graves, the vultures descend upon their belongings.

A little Brasso cleaned up those trivets real nice and some Woolite has my bolo lookin spiffy again. So, allow me to get all philosophical on you. Though people have passed on so that we may paw through their possessions; it is we who have given their stuff a whole new life.

WAY Unleaded

Meanwhile Back In The Gas Guzzler Days....



WARNING: If you play these simultaneously, DaBlog will self-destruct!!

Jumanji...Not A Bored Game

So....I decided to make my own version!!

Rhio's Dumb Video

See what happens when someone sticks a camera into the face of this crusty old curmudgeon!

Fatal Woman

Well, I couldn’t resist this femme fatale by Detroit’s renowned graffiti artist, Sinister. (See earlier posts of 3/9, 3/2, 2/6, & 2/5) She keeps looking my way with that diabolical eye of hers….. think old film noir like Double Indemnity or The Postman Always Rings Twice. I do need to make a stop at Videodroid to catch up on my viewing.

So there’s been some further e-mailing with the folks at Winking Zombie Artist Collective and I’ve shared my photo imagery in the process. Long story short, I was stoked to get this comment.....

Sorry it took so long Matt..things have just been outta control for the past month..it's the big art show season around here and Sinister keeps biting off more than we can chew! He's been saying yes to too many shows around here..lol..he's killin' us! lol..Glad the painting fits..and you really need to start showing some of your work! Great stuff! We'll shoot you a line when we get our gallery opened and see if you want to display anything here in the Motor City! –Lyds

And then more stokage, after sharing my current slide show, came this.....

WOW MATT!! great slide show! AWESOME stuff! I can't wait to show it to Sinister..he'll dig it! Great music mix up too..thanks for sharing that and including the Sinister stuff! Great work! -Lyds

Siren Song

I grabbed this shot from the sea wall before today's session. I thinks it's David... aka "David who rides the Becker Board". Yes, we all get our identities from Lorenzo's Surf Journal.

And Doug, I saw your truck, but was seduced by the Sirens of The Patch. Their enchantment was more about fun than danger today. Setting up by their perch, the big outside rock, led not to my demise but to some fun rides as the tide went out.

I noticed one of the many stickers on my wetsuit bin after the session. It said, 'Life Is Better When You Surf'. Oh yeah!

WORLD PREMIERE of MATT'S LATEST

Browse through a mind menagerie of curious curios and stay one step ahead of a scare, while you groove to Night Scare by Chris Joss.

First Word On The Street: Awesome video dude!.... Very relaxing and entrancing too....Absolutely SICK!!!....Lov'd it to death Matt, good work Bro!

sleeps with the fishes

Sonny lit a cigar and took a shot of whiskey.

Michael, bewildered, said. 'What the hell does that fish mean?'

It was Tom Hagen the Consigliere, who answered him. 'The fish means that Luca Brasi is sleeping on the bottom of the ocean,' he said.

Astral Projection

Press Again...Pez Again

I came upon some eye candy today in a local antique shop.....


No wonder I spent so much time in the dentist chair as a boy. The dentist was actually my dad's poker buddy; so I had to go to him even though he had a heavy hand with that old belt driven mechanical drill. At age 58, I finally had the last of those old deep fillings restored.

Still, you gotta love the Pez.