Friday, November 28, 2008

Monday, November 24, 2008

hp blogginstuff and sons


new goods:
-white tree
-night knee
-a pinata filled with taco fixings and everyone waits underneath with tortillas which are filled by falling fillings
-baked potato bar
-ambient sandwiches

Thursday, November 20, 2008

fam jam


this does not count. i am still on blogcation.
i'll be in indiana when this happens. i can't believe i'm going to miss the bay gulls (bagels). everyone in this show is amazing and all the work is silkscreens and affordable and it will be epic. bummed to be missing it.

Wednesday, November 19, 2008

the shirt that was in hawaii


i'm on blog holiday for the next few days, that's why i put up lots of stuff today. blogiday in the sun. back soon.

aa


i made this for my friend aaron (whose last name begins with an A, hence the altered chest tattoo). we used to watch that gg allin documentary all the time when we were younger and dumber. i'm pretty sure my new art is going to be all custom photoshop portraits.

UPDATE that's it. this is my new deal. putting peoples heads on gg allin's body in photoshop. perfect for the holidays! order now!

history of ag

Agnes Thatcher Lake: Equestrian Rider, Circus Performer, and Wild Bill’s Wife

By Phil Roberts, Department of History, University of Wyoming

Agnes Thatcher Lake was world renowned in the second half of the 19th century as a tightrope walker, lion tamer and equestrian. Western history buffs, however, remember her chiefly because she was Wild Bill Hickok’s wife—and they were married in Wyoming.

Writer/historian Nancy Thatcher Cerny states that Agnes was "born August 24, 1826, in Alsace, Eastern France, to the Mersman family. Her mother died shortly thereafter and the remainder of the family sailed to America in 1830, settling in Cincinnati, Ohio." At the age of 16 she met a circus clown performing at a “big top” near her home, they eloped and were married in Louisiana. Agnes and her husband, Bill Lake Thatcher (who was known professionally as Bill Lake), toured with the circus for 13 years. She mastered the high-wire and tamed lions. After she toured Europe in 1862 with another circus, she returned to work in a circus organized by Lake.

According to an article in the Cheyenne Daily Sun, published much later, Lake was killed in Granby, Missouri, in 1869 by a man who had tried to sneak into the show without paying. Lake was shot while attempting to evict the man.

Agnes took over management of the circus and it continued to tour America.. The circus visited Abilene, Kansas, in 1871, and Agnes met the town marshal of Abilene, Bill Hickok, during the short stand in town. In 1873 her circus was performing in Rochester, New York. Coincidentally, Wild Bill was there, too, in a “wild west show” with Buffalo Bill Cody and “Texas Jack.”

According to historian Cerny, Agnes continued to operate the circus until "her daughter Emma, the only surviving child of Bill and Agnes, eloped with Gilbert Robinson of the famous John Robinson Circus." Agnes sold the circus, making her wealthy.

Wild Bill and Agnes apparently kept up correspondence, but it wasn’t until February 1876 that they saw each other again. Agnes, returning from a visit to San Francisco, stopped to visit friends in Cheyenne. Wild Bill was in town preparing to leave for the gold fields of the Black Hills.

The result of the meeting is reported in the Cheyenne Daily Leader, March, 7, 1876: “Married: By the Rev W. F. Warren, March 5, 1876, at the residence of S. L. Moyer, Cheyenne, Wyoming Territory, Mrs. Agnes Lake Thatcher of Cincinnati, Ohio, to James Butler Hickok, Wild Bill, of this city.”

Moyer operated a saloon in Cheyenne and he and Mrs. Moyer were witnesses to the ceremony.

The minister was not convinced that the marriage would go well. He wrote in the Marriage Record of the First Methodist Church of Cheyenne (a microfilmed copy of which is the collection of the Cultural Resources Division, Wyoming State Parks and Cultural Resources Department): “Don’t think he meant it.” Hickok gave his age as 46. In reality, he was 39 and his bride Agnes was 11 years his senior.

The Cheyenne Daily Sun in its first issue, March 8, 1876, noted: “Wild Bill of western fame has conquered numerous Indians, outlaws, bears and buffaloes, but a charming widow has stolen the magic wand. The scepter has departed and he is as meek and gentle as a lamb. In other words, he has shuffled off the coil of bachelorhood.”

Following the wedding, the couple honeymooned in Cincinnati for two weeks. Historian Cerny, in correspondence with this writer on March 2, 2008, noted that the couple traveled to Cincinnati "so James (Agnes always called him James) could meet the Mersman family. Agnes stayed on to care for Emma who was about to deliver her first and only child, Daisy Robinson."

Hickok left Agnes at home in Cincinnati and returned by train to Cheyenne in time to complete arrangements for his trip into the South Dakota goldfields. He did not leave until sometime in June.

He wrote letters to Agnes from time to time and several still survive. In the last one, he wrote, “Pet, we will have a home yet then we will be so happy.” Wild Bill was not a good prognosticator. Two weeks after the letter was mailed, he was shot in the back of the head by Jack McCall in a Deadwood saloon.

Little is known of Agnes’ activities in the next year. She came to Deadwood in September, 1877, and made arrangements for a fence around Wild Bill’s grave. On her return she stopped in Cheyenne and, possibly, married her escort, George Carson. The marriage certificate, a copy of which is in the Cultural Resource Division’s collections, listed Carson’s age as 29. Agnes was no longer 42 as she was listed the previous year on the Hickok marriage certificate. She was “38.” (While the certificate was issued, there is no record of an actual marriage ceremony).

An article in the June 29, 1887, issue of the Cheyenne Daily Sun includes extensive biographical information about Agnes, “now living in retirement in this city.” Carson is not mentioned. “Madame Hickok is temporarily located here but expects to visit friends and relatives at Cincinnati during the coming month,” the newspaper article concluded.

Wild Bill’s widow died in New Jersey at the home of her son-in-law, Gil Robinson, in 1907. More than 80 years old at her death, she was buried in Cincinnati, Ohio, next to her first husband, Bill Lake.

And what about Calamity Jane? Many historians question whether she and Wild ill were ever romantically connected. Yet, in the Deadwood cemetery, her body is buried next to Agnes Thatcher’s husband—Wild Bill Hickok.

sketchbook agnes


Tuesday, November 18, 2008

pop

found these great photos of my dad:


as a kid, when i asked him what he did at work all day he said "you know, saving lives." not kidding.


this guy gets around more than i do.
smartest guy i know.
thinks he is the funniest.

life coach

knit together


here's a peep at something i've been working on that will be revealed sometime in the new year. i'll keep you informed.

Saturday, November 15, 2008

i am taking your portrait and conjuring up magical digital cameras at the same exact time

remember when i was telling you how i broke my camera? it's true. i was in los angeles trying to take a picture of a car that looked like a shark and i dropped it. dead. here is a picture of me discovering it was broken as the shark car looked on (picture swiped from the always amazing thank you blog sister, who witnessed this whole deal go down):



at the time, no big whoop. just another thing, right? yeah, but i realize now how much i use this thing and how much i liked it. this camera ripped. they've since updated it and whatnot, but who needs all that? i just want my little buddy back. so here's what i'm trying to do. i'm trying to conjure another camera by drawing a picture of a camera and somebody taking a picture with it in hopes that somewhere out there somebody want to either a) trade a camera for it, or b) buy it from me at the exact amount it will cost for me to get another one.

the beautiful Panasonic DMC-TZ3:


here's the drawing i did for it:



"i am taking your portrait"
ink on paper, 11x18 inches
$209.95 (free shipping!)

you know, the holidays are coming up, maybe you are in love with a photographer and want to impress them with art. this will do it, i promise. they will love you after looking at this little nugget in the flesh. you will get married. maybe you are a millionaire and you are in love with me. we will get married. maybe you work at a camera store and can get this thing for twenty dollars. you, also, will get married.

this may seem slightly pathetic. it probably is. but let's treat it as an experiment in magical conjuring. of digital cameras. or think of it like when npr has pledge week and you have to deal with fresh air with terry gross being cut short every day.

if you want it and wanna trade: crookedarm (at) gmail.com.

UPDATE: SOLD AND CONJURED.

letters



Thursday, November 13, 2008

mega egg




weekend freekend

please join me at the hemlock in san francisco on saturday night and allow some of my hoosier bros to slay us with the music. the impossible shapes are good people who also rip. they are from bloomington and i can honestly say you will be pumped. i will be there, stoked, putting emergen-c in beer and wearing a cutters outfit.
do yourself a favor for once.

note to elf part two

Tuesday, November 11, 2008

sickday

-why is it so hot in here?
-there are a lot of courtroom shows on tv during the day.
judge mathis is the best one.


-i wish we had cable, i could get into "Mask" (starring eric stolz and cher) right now:


-cereal
-naps

Monday, November 10, 2008

Sunday, November 9, 2008

floats

no art, just video tripping:


no, really watch this at least until she finishes chanting.


there was a documentary about abba on pbs last night. that reminded me of frida's solo record that phil collins produced. listen to phil kill those drums! i am in the middle of a phil collins awakening. i shouldn't give him such a hard time. he's just some guy like the rest of us.


there are a lot of different ways to do your "chants", man. i bet cliff and tina could've gotten along. got all zoned out together. the varieties of experience.

Friday, November 7, 2008

first dream


this is one from the show i did a few months ago that i'm coming back to. it's gonna lead to some other things. i have a feeling. i think this one is my favorite one. i wish they would make deadwood season 4 but have it take place on the astral plane. like high plains drifter meets dreamscape.

Wednesday, November 5, 2008

big bizness


secret spot


time travel passenger


dude?

the real

skeeter

stone cold


i heard on the news that there was an election yesterday.
here is my political thought for the day:
i don't understand how letting a couple dudes or a couple ladies get married is gonna mess things up for people in california. maybe you could explain this to me. i mean, if i'm "sick" i can go buy a joint but if i'm in love i can't marry another dude. maybe there is a website or blog or something i should check out.
it also kind of blows my mind that someone can be:
yeah, obama! no dice, gays!

Monday, November 3, 2008

no show


so i broke my camera and it means i am just going through old folders and files and finding stuff to throw up here, and i came across this. maybe two years ago i put together an art show when i lived at LOBOT. i have a lot of fond memories of that place and i got to do a ton of stuff like organize an art show and pick all my favorite people to be in it. i know i must have photos of it somewhere, but i can't find them. but i found this flier. that was a good excuse to get a whole mess of rad in one room. i want to do another one, but, you know, on the moon or in a swamp. the title "everywhen" is from a buckminster fuller quote, something about the everywhere and the everywhen. it was heavy.

is this too much to ask?