Circo

Back to school shopping is much more tedious these days now that Little Missy actually has the nerve to express opinions about what clothes we buy.  What's that all about?  -> 

88 cents

Little tip: large paper clips work just as well.  ->

Cube

I cannot tell a lie.  I've been intrigued, more than once, with the concept of these bags.  But something tells me they work much better on the infomercials than they do in real life and I've yet to pull the trigger.  


I could embed the commercial for them.  But I won't.  Have you tried them?  What do you think? -> 

Hello kitty

Do you realize how long Hello Kitty has been around (1976)?  Did you know the character was originally introduced in Japan and has since become one of the most recognizable fiction characters in the world?  She has stores devoted to her.  Online sites devoted to her. She's become so ubiquitous that one guy devoted a blog to her (which you can now find on my blogroll, because the concept is brilliant.)  

I'm pretty ambivalent towards Hello Kitty, but I suspect I would feel quite differently if Little Missy ever became enamored with her and my house was inundated with her image.  Thankfully, I've been spared (*looking for wood upon which to knock*) -> 

Studio 35

Angry Birds

 

Now available on your pajama pants.  ->

Hallo

 

Oh, thank God.  I was really getting concerned that the Halloween tchotchkes hadn't made it to the shelves yet.  I mean, it IS July after all.  -> 

Collect

I don't like Mountain Dew. At all. And 7-11 had the nerve to serve Mountain Dew Icee's for a while. What the...?

Neon

I was going for a two-fer here: The neon bracelets which are must during summer night play-dates, and the fact that this child is carrying her mother's iPhone. (To be fair, it was just for a minute.)  But you can't quite tell it's an iPhone from this vantage point, so I'm not quite pleased with the shot.  Oh, well.  -> 


(On a completely different note, I wonder if I should tone down those colors?)  

(Yep.  I think so.)  

Jawgs

My brother, being a tru blue Gator, is going to kill me for this one. I didn't see any gator tents on the beach, though, so UGA wins. ->

-Posted using (enter requisite phrase which brags about your cool gadgets and applications for said gadget here)

Location:N Seaside Dr,Myrtle Beach,United States

Zelda and Spotty

When you are on vacation and you visit the aquarium there, a visit to the aquarium shop, thus a purchase of cute stuffed animals that reside in said shop, is required. At least if you're a grandmother. ->



-Posted using (enter requisite phrase which brags about your cool gadgets and applications for said gadget here)

Location:N Seaside Dr,Myrtle Beach,United States

John Deer

Lockey

"What" you ask "is that?" Allow me to enlighten you.

This is what's called a "slap bracelet" which is all the rage right now for the target market age group of five to eleven-year-old girls. I guess they're kinda cool. It's easier for a visual than for me to try and explain them so I think you'll find this Youtube video quite educational.

At any rate, the animal on top of said bracelet has been dubbed The Loch Ness Monster. This gem was a treat from the dentist's office. And while I appreciate them not handing out Smarties like they doctor's office does, I can't say I appreciate more worthless junk crossing my threshold and destined to be hanging with the dust bunnies under the bed inside of a week.

Little Missy named her "Lockey".

Maybe with that personal touch, it will be ten days before she's residing with the dust bunnies. ->



-Posted using (enter requisite phrase which brags about your cool gadgets and applications for said gadget here)

$74 7

-Posted using (enter requisite phrase which brags about your cool gadgets and applications for said gadget here)

Epic Fail

This is, without a doubt, one of the worst pictures in the series.  I was goofing around. I thought it would come out better than this.  I thought I took other pictures besides this one.  Sigh.  


It's supposed to be a silk flower.  Which I hate.  Hate, hate, HATE.  But it looks more like a group of newborn finches all cuddled up in their nest.  Have you seen newborn finches?  Not pretty.  


At any rate, it was the only one I had for the day, so I'm stuck with it.  -> 

Airport Wireless

Wow.  That's all blurry. It didn't look blurry on the phone at all.  Of course, when I took the picture I had been up for about 24 hours, so that may have had something to do with it.  -> 

Santorini Kitsch

Soft Tech

Sent from iFrank.

Press for Demo

 

Isn't it the cutest thing ever??  It's a FAKE butterfly in a jar.  But the jar has "Butterfly" embossed on it, so that makes it all the more special.  Get this:  When you press the button?  The butterfly FLIES around.  Just like a real one would.  How cool is that?  And you can barely see the cable that attaches it to the battery pack, so you can fool all your friends. 

Yours for only $12 at Wal Fart.  Hurry.  Offer ends soon.  -> 

Shoe Box

 

If there was ever an artist that was brilliant at combining art and commerce it was Andy Warhol.  His bread and butter from the late sixties until his death were his "celebrity portraits".  (No, not Liz Taylor or Elvis, or Marilyn.  He made those for art. Besides, Marilyn's death inspired that series. I saw this one a few years ago. ) 

No, I'm talking about all the others. Screen prints of celebrities and monied people made from a Polaroid picture, he charged $25,000 for the first portrait and $5,000 for each additional one. Which in today's dollars translates to almost 100 grand.  

A bargain, really.  

I can't remember now exactly what started my Warhol binge, but for a couple of years I read every book about him I could get my hands on.  He wasn't a nice man. He was a workaholic that tended to take advantage of those around him--use them and throw them away.  From the very beginning, even before he made his transition from commercial artist to a fine artist, he had people in his posse do work for him for free.  Many of his earlier works were actually completed and signed by his mother, with whom he lived for years. He was a media whore obsessed with money and fame; he had amassed an estate estimated at half a billion dollars at the time of his death.  He didn't strike me as a particularly happy man.  

And yet I've always had an affinity for his art.  I find it fun and whimsical and accessible. Well, accessible on museum walls anyway.  I certainly couldn't afford any of his originals, which ironically makes them not accessible at all as art should be.  So I satisfy my cravings with accessories like this and consolation prizes like these.  I keep telling myself I'm going to jaunt to Pittsburgh and see his museum there, but I've yet to go.  

Because he was a lover of technology and reproduction, I imagine he would have adored the iPhone and in particular the Hipstamatic and photo booth applications. (I made myself use the "random" mode for this particular picture today.)  And hey!  There's a Warhol app!  I would download it, except I'm fairly certain he had no pivotal moments in his life that occurred in Oklahoma. ->

Related articles

• Art: The Best And Worst Of Warhol (time.com)
• Andy Warhol Portrait of Elizabeth Taylor to Sell for $30 Million Dollars (femmesdallure.com)
• Art: A Caterer of Repetition and Glut: Andy Warhol: 1928-1987 (time.com)