Two new Mt. Holly Related Blogs

The dICEHOUSES bLOG is loaded with the latest on our submission to the 2009 Art Shanty Projects. Think of it as a journal of our progress, articles about our favorite games, and a really sweet James Gang video. Heck, maybe the First Lady may even post her recipe for Shanty Wangs? This will also host our reporting from frozen Medicine Lake.



I've updated my portfolio over at The Public Works Department; It's now a blog. This will make it a whole lot easier for me to keep it updated. Check it out for all of the art and advertising that we proudly export. There are condom machines turned comic book vend-o-mats, my gruesome visage putting food on the table, even some professional work. And, the best of all . . . there's more to come!

The lady just wanted to live in her house

Photo: Stuart Isett for The New York Times

Any of you who have had the misfortune to bring up real estate around me while I'm into my cups knows that I have some pretty strong opinions about the whole racket. Set aside what you would expect me to say about retaining history and celebrating quirky character within community. Yep, I'm all for those things. The real issue I have is with the phenomenon called "First Time Home Owners". A home is where one puts their roots down and stays. It is the bottomless container for memories. It is the place where the grass is never greener. It's the place where your kids will bring their kids to visit you. Most first time house owners, don't stick around for more than 5 years, their houses are nothing more than a series of growing investments. This results in the development of shitty, temporary communities with no infrastructure or character. Case in point. Try to find one of these new developments in your area that is in walking or bike-riding distance to a library. But I digress.

I read this article about Edith Macefield’s tiny house in Ballard, WA that made a really sweet point about the most important location in anyone's life, their home. Even though she was offered a cool mill for her house, she passed. Not because she was some wingnut with an itinerary like the crackpot who wrote the previous paragraph in this blog post, but because simply and earnestly it was her home.

From the New York Times article:

“Everybody that’s come in and tried to talk about this has tried to create that image of her,” said Mike Semandiris, whose family has owned a chili parlor around the corner for more than 70 years. “But she didn’t give a damn about preserving old Ballard. The lady just wanted to live in her house.”

I'm not to sure which side of the fence I'm on about the decision to sell her house for demolition following her death this past spring. A big part of me (again see the first paragraph of this post) thinks it should remain. But a bigger part of me feels that with no family to leave it too, her home became just a house with her passing.- Link

Mt. Holly 2008 - The year in photos

Cub photographer, Autumn Haeg, turned 4 this past year and also turned out a few hundred photos (beginning here and moving forward) documenting her view of life on planet Mt. Holly.

Some highlights:

At some point, I enjoyed a bowl of soup.
We spent a lot of time in the car.
An interesting study of the lighting inside Mystery Cave.
Ponies.

Overall, it was a pretty sweet year.

Add Some Music to Your 2009!

Add a little soul!
Add a little garage!
Add a bunch of junk!
Add some easy-listening!

If I turn you on to something here, please support the artists by buying their music!

Have a rockin' new year!

Chris Montez!

Oh, man how I love Chris Montez. I got turned on to him by my good pal John P. of King Cat fame, and if that is not reason enough to believe that Mr. Montez isn't something of a ray of sunshine on the face of all living creatures, check this!

Those Beatles fellas opened up for Chris Montez at his 1962 London show!

It is alleged that while in London for said show he got into a fight with John Lennon in a pub and that Lennon poured a pint over his head at one point.

Mr. Herb Alpert signed Chris Montez to his fledgling A&M record label, resulting in 3 amazing records of laid back, cheery, latin-infused bliss.

He provided me with a headlining track on the first mix tape that I made for The First Lady while we were still courting. (Who am I kidding, we are still courting!)

He still sounds as fresh and happy today. If you doubt me cast your peepers on this:

The Unknown Comic.

Ah, the pun-tastic humor of the Unknown Comic. Originally, Murray Langston, a comedian who fell on hard times. When life handed him lemons, he put them in a shopping bag!

From Wikipedia:

"Langston also invested in a nightclub restaurant called "SHOW-BIZ", but the club closed within two years, taking his savings. Strapped for cash, he accepted an offer to appear on The Gong Show. However, he was reportedly embarrassed about appearing on the show, so he put a bag over his head, memorized a few old jokes, and became "The Unknown Comic". The character was a hit, and soon developed a cult following, appearing on more than 150 Gong Show episodes. Soon, he was appearing regularly in Las Vegas and made the rounds of many popular talk and variety shows."

Bush Hit by Shoes Tennis Remix