In this off-the-rack world, with my pedestrian tastes, most people have my stuff. Not my exact stuff, just one just like it. I thought I was a little unusual with my Swiss Army Knife. It’s a little hard to find. But nooooo! Johnny L.A. has mine too.
So this got me thinking: What do I have that isn’t in everyone else’s house?
Maybe this…
[ul]
[li]14" tall Talking Tick[/li][li]Bubble gum machine[/li][li]Andis AG clipper[/li][li]Trangia alcohol stove[/li][/ul]
So, you got any of that?
And what’s your obscuria?
[li] Vintage department store mannequin.[/li][li] Top half of an early 20th century headstone.[/li][li] Small collection of animal skulls.[/li][li] 12" plastic Dr. Doom Action Figure.[/li][li] Old hatpin made from a bird claw.[/li] Chainmail halter top.
I have the innards of a smashed VCR hanging from a nail on my wall. My computer chair is a green living room type chair that rocks and rotates. Got it for $10 bucks at a garage sale. The surface of my desk is about 12 inches lower then my chin when I sit up straight, but its comfy.
a life-size stand up of Mel Gibson as Braveheart, complete with flag. Okay, so it’s disassembled behind my desk now. But I still HAVE it and it used to hold a place of honor guarding the dining room back in college.
an Elvis pillow cover that is fabulously hideous and was purchased in TUPELO, Missippippi (his birthplace).
A Plaster of Paris mold of my face sitting on the shelf. When I look at it, it reminds me of the scene in The Abyss when Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio looked at her bland, watery, face shape. Creepy and cool. The terror of breathing through straws stuck in your nose for a half hour and the difficulty of the plaster’s removal is, however, another story.
-A sheath knife, blade maybe 5.5", with a handle made of antler, carved in a beautiful Celtic knotwork pattern. A gift from a friend, since deceased. Fits my hand perfectly.The handle includes a piece of walrus penis bone.
-A 1963 pre-CBS Fender Music Master II. Just a student guitar, but in great shape, and has a wonderful sound.
A portable, russian gramophone.
Oh, and a stack of old 78s of course. (But in english, not russian.) A couple are cut on only one side.
That’s about it I guess. Fairly dull I suppose.
Wait, I forgot- add a brass boar’s head torque to the list.
-A small gallery of anthromorphic portraits of me and some of my friends done by Master William Blackfox when we were still in the SCA (and he was still alive) that are now the envy of many Scadians who never got around to having them done.
-Egyptian mummy beads.
-a Helga action figure from the new Disney movie Atlantis
-Claudia Christian music
-a set of books called “My Little Leather Library” that are about 4" tall and bound in green leather that are really old. Don’t know how old, since there’s no publication date on them anywhere…hmmm. Possible GQ there.
Sorry, Rue DeDay, but I’ve got a gumball machine, too.
Also:
[ul]
[li]a kinda 3-D reproduction of Davinci’s Last Supper. It’s in a super gaudy “gold” frame with a light in it. It’s the tackiest item I’ve ever seen–I got it for $2 at a rummage sale.[/li][li]about 30 empty Irish Spring boxes. Never mind where I got them. I’ll probably use them for some Warholesque art project, but I’m not sure what yet.[/li][li]a copy of The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Sex circa 1950[/li][li]a “1/5 MILE” road sign.[/li][li]an anthopomorphic Easter egg, nailed (well, thumbtacked, actually) to a cross (Okay, I made this myself, so maybe it doesn’t “count.” I’ll leave out the rest of my weird art)[/li][li]a photo I tore out of Rolling Stone, of Liam Gallagher and Bono very graphically french kissing[/li][li]a piece of driftwood I fished out of Lake Superior[/li][li]ceramic horns on a brown shoelace–see, you tie it to your head and brush your hair over the shoelace, and it looks like you’ve got real horns. It’s pretty cool; I got it at a Rennaissance Faire.[/li][li]a harmonica, circa 1900 (one side reads “FR.HOTZ” and the other “ATTA BOY” Made in Germany, it sez.)[/li][li] a camera, circa 1902 (a No. 2 Folding Pocket Kodak, Model C)[/li][li]a painting, executed in spray paint–done surprisingly nicely, a space scene–that I bought off some guy in Hollywood in 1995. He was doing them right on the street, it really fascinating to watch.[/li][li]a bookbag circa 1957. It had a picture of the Cat in the Hat, and the caption “I Like to Read”[/li][li]a cast iron ash tray shaped like a fish with its mouth wide open. Its toungue is sticking out, and that’s where you’re supposed to rest your cigarette. I don’t even smoke.[/li][/ul]
and, umm, a bunch of other random stuff. Yeah, I’m moderately weird.
[ul]
[li]a slug of metal type spelling my name, held together by a rubber band[/li][li]an Ebbets Field Flannels replica 1938 Little Rock Travelers baseball cap[/li][li]an original Apple Macintosh (128KB RAM, no hard drive, with the original software diskettes, instructional cassette tape, manuals, bumper sticker, etc.), and an Apple-logo fabric carrying case for it[/li][li]an original Elektra Records release cassette of the Nuggets compilation; also, the original Beserkley Records cassette of Rock 'N Roll with the Modern Lovers by Jonathan Richman and the Modern Lovers[/li][li]1985 Baseball Hall of Fame induction ceremony program (Lou Brock and Arky Vaughan, plus Enos Slaughter and Hoyt Wilhelm); now if someone could just find me the 1983 program with Brooks Robinson and George Kell, I’d be set[/li][li]an actual-sized wooden replica of Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood Trolley[/li][li]A 1967 Sears Silvertone Model 1478 solid-body electric guitar. It’s the two-pickup job second from the top in the linked picture – except mine has two knobs missing, and has a red “Special 2/88¢” sticker from an expired loaf of bread on the pickguard[/li][li]two signed/numbered lithographs, with personal inscriptions by the artists to my wife and I, that we received as wedding presents: one an Asheville, NC street scene with a view down Haywood Street to the front of the S&W cafeteria, where our wedding reception was held, and other titled “A Wedding in Jerusalem” by Israeli artist Ben Avram (very similar to the examples of his work found here)[/li][li]an oil painting of my wife, done from a photo by the mother of one of her students[/li][li]my scorecard from an Asheville Tourists game in 1996, during which Tourists 3B Tal Light went 5-for-5, hit home runs in three consecutive innings, and drove in a total of ten runs for the night.[/li][/ul]
Now I’m jealous. I love the look and sound of the low-end Fenders. My frustrated desire for a Mustang or Duo-sonic led me to buy my Harmony-made 1967 Silvertone solid-body.
Some connection to the U of A? I lived in Fayetteville from 1976-1981 (seventh through eleventh grade). My dad was a student in 1976-1978, and my mom worked in the Horticulture Department for most of that time.
An old Smith-Corona portable typewriter, circa 1974 or so. Went to college with my sisters and me; I was the last to have it and I don’t have the heart to throw it out.
Two complete sets of turnout gear (firefighter stuff); jackets, pants, boots and helmets. It all still smells like smoke.
Two old brass fire extinguishers, waiting to be refinished and displayed.
Lots of old cookbooks that were my grandmother’s. Most recipes start with, “Two cups of lard, a pound of sugar, 10 eggs…” Not exactly heart-healthy.
A big collection of records and 45’s, from the mid 60’s on. Mostly pop, some Beatles, some Rolling Stones. Lots of late 70’s bubble gum pop.
A huge collection of Polly Pockets and Littlest Pet Shop Pets that were my daughters and they want to keep.
Wedding Flowers. My bouquet, the flowers I wore in my hair, the girl’s flowergirl baskets, and hubby’s boutonniere. Fake, obviously.
I don’t have much stuff. Don’t even own a couch, and my TV is sitting on a crate. But the stuff I DO have is cool:
A framed photo of the full earth from space, signed by the astronaut who took it, Gene Cernan (he was the last man to walk on the moon in 1972).
Six-foot unicycle
Full sized Tapper and Arkanoid arcade games (actually on order - should be here in two weeks)
An autographed Dick Dale guitar pick. He used it in concert in New York and gave to my date with the tiny miniskirt. She was useful at stuff like that.
rackensack, I am soooo jealous. I love Vasilik’s work – a print of her “Biltmore in Spring” is in our living room, and we’re about to order more of her prints as soon as we can pick just a few.
Rue, I do indeed have a 14" talking Tick figure, as well as assorted other (albeit smaller) action figures from the show. SPOON!
Only one by state association. I grew up mostly in Arkansas, which is where my mother and stepfather’s families are from. I lived in south Arkansas, El Dorado, to be exact, from 1969-1981.
