Spiderman, Spiderman, does whatever a pizza can.

Italian Spiderman – the movie!  Excitement builds as I imagine a crusty Italian director hunting furiously for just the right adhesive mustache for our hero to don.

GRAZIE, ITALIAN SPIDERMAN!!!

*and thanks to Brian Creasy for the laugh.

Consumer spending up, ad creativity down

Gone are the days of unexpected ads, you say?  I’d tend to agree – for the most part.  But vanquish the thought that there are no new ideas yet to be had.  Ideas are contextual.  New ideas will continue to blossom as culture changes around us.  That said, cultural change of the sort that opens the door to genuinely new thought is slow and often imperceptible.  So for now, it’s safe to say we’re stuck with idiomatic recycling as our primary source of “new” ideas.

It is in that context that I approached this recent ad from John Lewis department stores in the United Kingdom.  I won’t deconstruct its use of consumer goods to create an assemblage object which casts the shadow of an idyllic scene on an empty wall – wayyyyy too much to sort through in that tangled mess of meaning(lessness).  For now, I’ll just enjoy its surprising sensory delights.  And I hope you do too.

Gotham redux, Nov 2007

From our midnight arrival Friday night to our Sunday flight through the Canal St. nightmare swag marketplace as we made our way for the Holland Tunnel, our New York micro-vacation was at once brisk, relaxing, renewing, intoxicating, and stimulating. Let’s take a look…

Friday
5:00 PM: Depart Pittsburgh with T-bones goodies for sustenance
11:59 PM: Arrive at Robbie Cook’s house at 13th St and 7th Ave in Brooklyn.
12:20 AM: Find parking for my car for the weekend. Stop for a 6-pack of Brooklyn Brewing company Pilsner.
12:35 AM: Commence regalia and camaraderie.
2:20 AM: Four adults consumed three beers in nearly two hours. Getting old, folks. That’s 4-3-2.

The weather along the way was horrendous. It was a miracle to have survived the turnpike between Donnegal and Breezewood. Many of you know what I mean.

Saturday
8:00 AM: Rise and shine, drink coffee, shower and chit-chat, review SAIC Alumni Directory for omissions, old crushes and friends. No hurry.
10:30 AM: Long brunch at 2nd St. Cafe in Park Slope. Excellent Eggs Florentine, fresh squeezed OJ (crying set-up), and outstanding company.
1:30 PM: Finally make our way from Brooklyn up to the Met for the Age of Rembrandt show.
5:00 PM: Depart the Met and make our way down to Washington Sq. Park to meet up with friends.
7:00 PM: Every single friend running late. This is NY. Let’s eat at Matthew Broderick’s supposed favorite restaurant on MacDougal and 3rd.
8:30 PM: Arrive at Stoned Crow on Washington, friends start to appear.
11:55 PM: Last friend finally appears.
2:00 AM: Time to find a cab back to Brooklyn.

Great day, great friends, great show. Met a couple of fascinating folks today, including painter David Jon Kassan, with whom I had a terrific conversation at the Stoned Crow. Long overdue catching up with longtime friends Raha Raissnia and James Covert.

Sunday
8:00 AM: Are you kidding? Two days in a row? No way. We’re still sleeping.
10:00 AM: Starting to stir.
11:00 AM: Stirring slightly more.
12:00 PM: Drink coffee, shower and pack. No hurry.
1:00 PM: Grab brunch on 7th. More coffee.
2:00 PM: Turn left onto Flatbush heading for the Manhattan Bridge.
2:10 PM: Manhattan Bridge in sight.
2:20 PM: Get on Manhattan Bridge
2:23 PM: Get off Manhattan Bridge
2:25 PM: OMG, It’s Sunday on Canal St.
2:51 PM: Finally made it through the swag vendor corridor and enter the Holland Tunnel.
3:01 PM: Emerge, victorious, from the Holland Tunnel. Victorious means we’re in Jersey City??
9:00 PM: We’ve made it through the Squirrel Hill Tunnel exactly six hours after escaping Manhattan’s gravitational pull. Dinner time.

After a day like Saturday, we needed a little downtime – and this day was filled with it. Even the drive back was relaxing.

Yeah, this is the redux version. Look for the youtube video some day.

Josh Keyes @ Hang Art in San Francisco

If you’ve never been introduced to the incredible art of painter Josh Keyes – and if you’re fortunate enough to be in the Bay Area these days, consider checking out his new show at Hang Art Gallery on Sutter St. in San Francisco.  I have known Josh for over a decade, had the tremendous good fortune of going to school with him in Chicago, and have been inspired by his painting for so, so long.  I constantly marvel at how he manages to keep lit things so beautifully simple, yet completely described, in impossible contexts.

A great review at a cool, if bizarrely named, art site, Fecal Faces.

More of Josh’s paintings at his website, Joshkeyes.net.