“The ART of Dealing (With It All…)” by Richard F. Yates

In the shadows of WWI, a small group of weirdos gathered together in a little, dingy bar in Zurich, and they made an UNGODLY racket in protest of EVERYTHING. The war was senselessly killing an entire generation, the societies of “enlightened” Europe had fallen prey to the GOO-GOO MUCK of modern nonsense, and faith in human progress had been replaced with a feeling that the world was entering a new dark age. The WAR TO END ALL WARS would give way, just a few decades later, to ANOTHER WAR—and this one brought us NUCLEAR DEATH… (I see some parallels with our modern Utopia, for some reason…)

But the artists and poets were right there—pointing out the senseless, and then picking up the broken pieces and making NEW things that spoke directly to their situations and sensations…

Elegant blasts of hectic participation…

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So what have YOU been up to in this topsy-turvy time? I’ve been at home, mostly, except when I HAVE to go out… (Icky.)

But I’ve kept busy. I’ve been listening to music—LOTS of music: Jon Batiste, Alan Vega, The Soft Boys, Arcadia, Blondie, The Cure, Dead Milkmen, Subway Sect… Kenny Rogers… Lots of music. It’s one of my primary refuges against negativity and depression. (Put the Adam and The Ants Prince Charming album on the record player and just TRY to be depressed. It’s impossible!)

Do you know what ELSE is impossible? Trying to TYPE when you’ve got an orange, furry shithead biting your foot! I’m trying to barricade myself with pillows, and he’s just EATING the pillows…

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I’ve also been doing a LOT of drawing, lately. Some of it has proven useful.

My older daughter asked me to upload a design to a site called “SPOONFLOWER.” She’s been making face-masks for people, and she wanted to make some masks with one of my designs, so I did THIS…

…which you can see HERE:
https://www.spoonflower.com/designs/9908239-up-away-4-apr-2020-by-richard-f-yates-by-richardfyates

I don’t know if you’re allowed to just BUY the pattern on fabric or not. I haven’t purchased a “proof pattern,” yet, so it might not be for sale. (If you wanted to make a prom dress or a tux for a wedding out of the design, but CAN’T because I haven’t “finished the process” or whatever, send me I note, and I’ll see if I can finish the thing.)

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I also like to make LITTLE drawings, like 2 inch by 2 inch, big. I frequently cut up cereal boxes and other food containers to use as my INITIAL drawing media, which I will then photograph, blow up a bit, color, tweak, and manipulate—often adding digital drawing over the photos. It’s fun, and I like the visual “noise” that you get from blowing a small image up to really large size. You see the inconsistencies in the ink distribution, the bits of debris and texture of the cardboard, and other unforeseen anomalies, which I think make the finished pieces more interesting.

Here are a few bits that I’ve recently cut up for art making…

I’m sure I’ll share the artwork, once I’m done making it!

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Speaking of art, I’ve ALSO recently uploaded a new piece to my REDBUBBLE site:
https://www.redbubble.com/people/richardfyates/shop

They’ve started making BUTTONS, which people can buy along with the t-shirts and postcards and coffee cups and other goodies, so I thought I’d make a mostly circular piece—but I kind of did it wrong! (Ha!!)

“Totally Tacky”

Check it out on a bunch of “PRODUCTS” here:
https://www.redbubble.com/shop/ap/46439924?asc=u

I THINK (although I’m not certain) that I was inspired by the Weird Al song, “Tacky,” and maybe a bit by the Mr. Yuck sticker… Who knows…

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Another thing that my wife and I have been doing to keep our spirits up is our radio program. We’ve recorded two episodes, so far, and we’re enjoying the process. Here are links to the two episodes (which I’ve made as video slide-shows and which are hosted on 3Speak!)

Ep. 1 – https://peakd.com/hive-100421/@richardfyates/xhmmayaq
Ep. 2 – https://peakd.com/hive-100421/@richardfyates/bzrzirwd

The slide-shows that accompany the audio are comprised of photos and art (by me, so that I don’t have any copyright issues), and they’re usually just about having fun. Here are a few from the newest show:

[This is the sign out in front of our favorite bowling alley (where my younger daughter bowls league—which is currently cancelled because of the HORROR.) The guys that run the bowl have a sense of humor! (And they like The Big Lebowski!)]

After listening to our shows (thanks for doing that, by the way), feel free to send us a couple of questions or topics that you’d like us to consider. Our second episode was about 50 percent based on questions sent to me by my friend and frequent collaborator, Richard O’Brien. (Not the guy who wrote, The Rocky Horror Picture Show—the OTHER Richard O’!)

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And, last, here are a few random art bits that I’ve created lately. I’m having some serious fun being trapped at home with my wife! We’re keeping busy and trying to MAKE some stuff! Hopefully, you are too! Here are just a couple of the art pieces (drawings, photos, digital works, etc.,) I’ve finished in the last few days…

“Multi-Dimensional Space Worm” (5 Apr. 2020)

“Another Victim” (2 Apr. 2020)

“A Place in the Sun” (4 Apr. 2020)

“Friendly Spectre” (30 Mar. 2020)

[This is one of the pieces that the baby helped me with. Notice the strategic folds, smashes, and drool stains. She’s a genius, I tells ya!]

And this one seems to me to be the starter for some strange short story:

While we were sitting in line (for a LOOOOOONG time) at the bank a few days ago, I spotted that sign, and I thought it had some great character names:

Queen Memory – a mysterious cyber-hacker
Foam Matt – an addict with a heart of gold. Will he redeem himself before the tragedy unfolds completely?
DJ Base – the rave DJ who is ALSO a government spy! With Foam Matt’s help, can DJ Base foil Queen Memory’s nefarious plans before the counter, set at 999 minutes, reaches ZERO—when it will be TOO LATE!

Maybe I’ll write that story—or one something like it—in the next few days. Maybe I won’t. I’m pretty flaky! However, if you WANT to see how that story turns out, let me know. Perhaps a bit of encouragement will spark my pen into action!!!

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Okay, folks! How have you been holding up? Are you doing anything interesting with all the extra time you’ve been saddled with? Watched any good movies? Read a good book or comic? Listened to an awesome record or CD (or digital album)? Let me know! Always looking for something new to sink my teeth into!!!

Later, skaters!!!

—Richard F. Yates
(Primitive Thoughtician and Holy Fool)

SUPPORT INDEPENDENT FOLKS WHO ARE JUST MAKING STUFF BECAUSE THEY LOVE IT!!!

https://peakd.com/@richardfyates
https://noncom.art.blog/reviews-books-movies-music/
https://makersplace.com/store/richardyates/
https://primitiveentertainment.wordpress.com/

Covid-19 Relief Auction!

Hey folks! Wondering what you can do to help out with this whole, nasty, virus situation? If so, here’s an opportunity! There is an effort, coordinated by NonFungible and MakersPlace, to raise some money for covid-19 relief efforts via a crypto-art auction! There are a number of different artists who have donated pieces for the auction, and I think most of them are still taking bids (for a little less than 24 more hours.) Even if you aren’t into collecting rare digital assets or crypto collectibles, you can still help out by visiting the auction page, clicking the little hearts on the pieces you find interesting (it makes the artists feel good, and most of them are giving their profits from sales to the relief effort), and by SHARING the link to the auction!!! Here’s that link, again:

https://makersplace.com/nonfungible/?utm_source=discordcovid19&msID=8dc55e5e-443f-4998-a34f-650204d6af5b

I even have a piece in the auction, a painting gone digital called, “Virus”:

If my piece sells, I’m donating 100% of my cut to the relief effort!

So, if you have a few minutes, click on the link, take a look at the cool artwork on display, pop a couple of hearts, maybe drop a bid (even $5 or $10 would help!), and SHARE THE LINK with other folks who might be interested! Let’s kick this virus in the rump and help as many folks in need as we can!

—Richard F. Yates
(Primitive Thoughtician and Holy Fool)

SUPPORT INDEPENDENT FOLKS WHO ARE JUST MAKING STUFF BECAUSE THEY LOVE IT!!!

https://peakd.com/@richardfyates
https://noncom.art.blog/reviews-books-movies-music/
https://makersplace.com/store/richardyates/
https://primitiveentertainment.wordpress.com/

“Hive is Alive!” by rICHARD f. yATES

Hey Folks! You know how I’ve been going on and on for the last YEAR about this cool, exciting blockchain based social platform, called STEEMIT, and how I said it was awesome, and you could make crypto currency just for posting your drawings and photos and stories and blog posts and poems and stuff there? And, even if you’re just a spectator, you can make crypto for upvoting other people’s stuff and commenting, and it was so easy and fun… And I probably mentioned decentralization and censorship resistance and freedom and all that…

WELL FORGET IT!

Some rich guy bought the company that was the FACE of the blockchain and went full EMPIRE / 1984 on everyone’s ass(et)s.

He TRIED to control the blockchain using power and influence and money, and the community came together and said, “Fuck off, dude.” And we calmly and with great dignity, FORKED OFF ourselves, and started a brand-spanking NEW blockchain, called HIVE!

It’s just gotten rolling, like less than a week ago, but a substantial portion of the (formerly) Steem community has jumped shipped and moved over to the new chain, AND it’s now open for NEW FOLKS to come in and sign up. ( hive.io ) Check it OUT!!! If you USED to be on Steem, but left years ago, your previous stake is probably still available (it was flash-cloned and teleported to the new blockchain as an “airdrop,” which is something you youngsters seem to enjoy! I’ve actually been UP in a little airplane with folks jumping out—with parachutes—and I am NOT a fan of dropping…terrified of heights…but this airdrop thing worked to move my powered up coins to the new platform.) If you’re hearing about this whole mess for the first time, as a NEW THING, it’s a good time to get IN while the gettin’s still good! (The cement is still wet! You can write your name in it!!!)

Meanwhile, I’ve been drawing BEE related things… (You know…cuz “HIVE…”) Here are a few:

And I even modified my BUSINESS CARD to reflect my new association. (Peakd is pretty much what USED to be Steempeak!)

So what I’m saying is, if you’re into adding to your social media experience, (along with Twitter and Discord and Instagram and Faceboot and Ello and Medium and Tumblr and….), then see what you think of HIVE: the community owned and operated blockchain that told a rich asshole to move along and mind his own business! Now THAT’S ANARCHY!!! Yup…

—Richard F. Yates

(Primitive Thoughtician and Holy Fool)

SUPPORT INDEPENDENT FOLKS WHO ARE JUST MAKING STUFF BECAUSE THEY LOVE IT!!!

https://peakd.com/@richardfyates
https://noncom.art.blog/reviews-books-movies-music/
https://makersplace.com/store/richardyates/
https://primitiveentertainment.wordpress.com/

#hive #blockchain #decentralized #diy #hiveisalive #digitalart #humor #socialmedia #censorshipresistant

“Is There Any Value In ‘BAD’ Art?” by Richard F. Yates

[This piece was originally posted, 11 Mar. 2020, on the Steem Blockchain, because my BLOG there is my main gig. HOWEVER, because I’m all about SHARING, I thought I’d let you non-Steem folks have a look, too! ALSO—Steem is fracturing at the moment, and a new thing is coming this Friday; a large portion of the Steem community is jumping ship and starting their own chain, called HIVE. It’s weird… (If you read a LOT of my posts, here on NON-COM, you’re going to see this note a lot for the next few days, and I am a bit bothered by that. However, I know that not everyone is going to read every post, and I want to get this information out there so that folks who are interested in blockchain junk AND self-publishing will know about HIVE. It’s exciting, if you ask me. Meanwhile, here’s some art stuff!!! —RFY]

I’m asking the questions here! Where were you on the night of March 10th? Did you know the victim? How many psychologists does it take to change a light-bulb???

DON’T CHANGE THE SUBJECT!

Let’s just calm down here… Brass tacks. Just the facts.

Let’s establish a baseline: I like to make things, you know—drawings, photographs, drawings ON photographs, and other stuff, but the funny thing is, I’m not very GOOD at drawing. (Unschooled, sure…but also INTENTIONALLY wonky. Technical term, “wonky” means kind of distorted or amateurish or catawampus—mostly that last one.) I like to play. I try to draw QUICKLY, just slapping junk down, playing with colors, playing with contrasts, and because I’ve been drawing for so long (nearly fifty years) I have a handful of MOVEMENTS that I repeat—with variations—to create facial features or weird wobbly legs and arms… I like the way things look, usually, when I’m done…

BUT sometimes things DON’T turn out too good… It happens. Some junk just SUCKS! (Ha!) I know it—and I’m ashamed to SHARE that stuff—but I usually DO share it, even when it’s bad. The point is PLAY. I’m having fun. I’m LEARNING—even when I make something HORRIBLE… Let’s look at a pieces (and have a laugh, together!)

Bad Art 1 (28 Feb. 2020)

All digital. The background didn’t really work for me, nor did the rainbow outline on the ghost. However, I like the expression on the ghost’s face, and that’s something!

Bad Art 2 (9 Mar. 2020)

Again, all digital. This one flips the parameters from the previous one. I really like the background here, with the webby bits and the neon lightning bolts—but that FACE on the monster is just gross. It’s so ugly it’s almost not funny at all… (I’m not very comfortable with the darkness evident in some of my artwork, and this sucker is just yucky…)

Bad Art 3 (9 Mar. 2020)

I like the horns, the hands, and the background on this one, but overall, it just didn’t work. Something about the shape of the monster and the rather bland face… Boring. (But I do like the background quite a bit.)

Bad Art 4 (8 Mar. 2020)

The background, again, is my favorite part of this one, but I also like the monster’s face. The body shape, though, is just uninteresting. Again, this was all digital. It’s funny—I almost always like what I draw when I use a pen or pencil or Sharpie on paper or cardboard, but with these little digital drawings, usually made on my phone, there’s only so much room to move, and I think that restriction can sometimes lead to some interesting, simplified outcomes… But they don’t always work. Nope.

As we can see, there are bad drawings and there are BAD drawings, but however bad, we can learn from them. (I mean, ALL of my art is kind of bad—by design. It’s how I like to have fun!) There are little bits of each drawing above that I enjoyed, even though the finished products, ultimately, weren’t satisfying. I’ll try to remember the techniques for making the backgrounds and to replicate the facial expressions from some of these creatures on new drawings, though. Useful. At least—and there’s still some funny stuff here, though…

Now here’s the part that I always try to push: HOPEFULLY, you’ll see what I’ve done when you look at my art and say, “I can do better than that!!!” And then you’ll go make some art of your own. It’s okay to draw badly. It’s okay to make ugly stuff. It’s okay for your stuff to SUCK—a lot—for a long time, as long as you keep going. Eventually, you’ll make something that you think is funny! And maybe other people will think it’s funny, too! (That’s a bonus!)

Don’t believe me that BAD art doesn’t have a place in this world? Here are a few works of CRYPTO ART, made by me and tokenized by MakersPlace, that have SOLD in the last few months! (As in, people found them enjoyable enough that they transferred actual currency to me, some in USD and some in ETH, to own them! And if I can do it, so can YOU!!!)

“He Looked Almost Human…” (sold 9 Mar. 2020)

“Don’t Jump! (Desperate Chicken)” (sold 24 Feb. 2020)

“Ghost Guy” (sold 13 Feb. 2020)

“Coyote God Mask” (sold 7 Jan. 2020)

“Eye Remember” (sold 7 Jan. 2020)

See what I mean? People PAID ME for these!!! (To see more of my crypto art, check out my MakersPlace store / slash / gallery. You’ll see how WACKY artwork can be!) I love making silly, humorous, absurd, nonsensical, weird art. Some people like it. Some people don’t. Whether you like it or not, it should prove that ANYBODY can make “ART.” And I firmly, 100 percent, believe that everybody SHOULD make art. It’s fun (if you’re doing it right!!!)

—Richard F. Yates
(Primitive Thoughtician and Holy Fool)

SUPPORT INDEPENDENT FOLKS WHO ARE JUST MAKING STUFF BECAUSE THEY LOVE IT!!!

https://steempeak.com/@richardfyates
https://noncom.art.blog/reviews-books-movies-music/
https://makersplace.com/store/richardyates/
https://primitiveentertainment.wordpress.com/

“Arting with the Grandkid” by Richard F. Yates

[This piece was originally posted, 9 Mar. 2020, on the Steem Blockchain, because my BLOG there is my main gig. HOWEVER, because I’m all about SHARING, I thought I’d let you non-Steem folks have a look, too! ALSO—Steem is fracturing at the moment, and a new thing is coming this Friday; a large portion of the Steem community is jumping ship and starting their own chain, called HIVE. It’s weird… (If you read a LOT of my posts, here on NON-COM, you’re going to see this note a lot for the next few days, and I am a bit bothered by that. However, I know that not everyone is going to read every post, and I want to get this information out there so that folks who are interested in blockchain junk AND self-publishing will know about HIVE. It’s exciting, if you ask me. Meanwhile, here’s some art stuff!!! —RFY]

Today was another babysitting day, and I thought I’d try making some drawings…with the eight month old. It turns out, she was far more interested in TASTING the pens and cardboard than in putting the ink from the one onto the surface of the other.

I think, even if she didn’t QUITE get what we were doing, just getting her exposed to and comfortable with making stuff is good. To teach her that she CAN make things (when she’s old enough.) I always made things with my own kids (when they were still kids!), and they grew up confident and creative. (Coincidence???) Now’o’days, I only have my granddaughter two or three times per week, but I’ll still try to get her into reading, music, and art, as much as I can while she’s here.

Anywho, these are the pieces we made today. (They are all marker on found cardboard with digital embellishments and color.)

“Bird”

“Thunder and Lightning Storm”

“Saint-Like Monstrosity”

“Jellyfish Ghost”

And there you have it! Some fun, slobbery, wrinkled, digitally manipulated artwork and a handful of “performance” photos of the two of us…four, technically, counting the kittens…making these bits. I had fun! Hopefully, the kid did, too. I’m sure the little kid will get a little more out of these types of activities as she gets older! Still fun for me, now, though!

See you folks later!

—Richard F. Yates (Holy Fool)

“Crypto Art (Because I’m a Believer)” by Richard F. Yates

[This piece was originally posted, 4 Mar. 2020, on the Steem Blockchain, because my BLOG there is my main gig. HOWEVER, because I’m all about SHARING, I thought I’d let you non-Steem folks have a look, too! ALSO—Steem is fracturing at the moment, and a new thing is coming this Friday; a large portion of the Steem community is jumping ship and starting their own chain, called HIVE. It’s weird… (If you read a LOT of my posts, here on NON-COM, you’re going to see this note a lot for the next few days, and I am a bit bothered by that. However, I know that not everyone is going to read every post, and I want to get this information out there so that folks who are interested in blockchain junk AND self-publishing will know about HIVE. It’s exciting, if you ask me. Meanwhile, here’s some art stuff!!! —RFY]

Howdy Steemfolk! Today I’m sharing TWO of my newest works of crypto art, which have been tokenized on the Ethereum blockchain by the magical humans at MakersPlace! Both of these pieces is being released as single edition of ONE, and they will not be reprinted. First come, first served, and when they’re gone…they’re, like, GONE man… Totally…

To see these works (if they haven’t sold yet) and dozens of others, check out my ultra-fancy, high-tech, idiosyncratic…kinda freaky MakersPlace store / slash / gallery!

Below, you can see some shrunk-down versions of the images AND read the (hopefully humorous) “explanations” for the artwork. Yep—you can do those things below… Go ahead. It’ll be cool…

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“Grumpy Gull (Raw)”

Here we see the dreaded GRUMPY GULL, a cynic who refuses to see the bright side of ANYTHING! Pollution, the current fad for removing environmental protection laws, political bickering…even social media…he just can’t see the HUMOR in any of it! Poor gull. (If you’ve seen the COLOR photo of the gull, you’ll remember that he has the COOLEST plumage, dyed rainbow hues and glowing brightly, all thanks to that STUFF that he’s been swimming around in and seems to think is BAD.)

Get a sense of humor, Mr. Gull! You’ll feel better…

[P.S. – I hope I don’t have to say this, but just in case: ‘This short bit is SATIRE. I hope nobody actually thinks I or any of my fragmented personae are PRO environmental crisis. Destroying the only place you have to live seems like a bad idea to me.’]

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“Flappy Monster Guy (Demanding Attention)”

Hey!!! You! Yeah, you!!!

Come here for just a minute… No, I’m not selling anything! I just wanna know something…

No, I don’t want money. Jeeze… Talk about cynical…

I just wanna know…

What do you think of my hair?

[P.S. – The purple boots came from a second-hand shop! They’re perfect for Washington’s wonderful weather!]

[P.P.S. – The image is ink on notebook paper with digital embellishments and color.]

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Those are my two new pieces of crypto art. If you’ve found any of this neat (or perhaps even NEAT-O) check out my MakersPlace store / slash / gallery. There’s some wacky stuff there that might entertain or even INSPIRE you! (Like how everyone who watched the Sex Pistols play live went, “I can do better than that!” I bet you’ll look at my artwork and say, “I can draw better than that! People buy this stuff!?” Yep. They do. Exciting, fun stuff!!!

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In OTHER news, if you haven’t been keeping up on the Justintronsun vs the-community-here-on-Steem drama, you should definitely look into it. In response, I re-allocated my votes to give my support to REAL witnesses. You certainly need to do that, too! Go, now, and do it…then come back and look at more of this fancy crypto art. It’s exciting stuff!

THEN, go read a damn book.

—Richard F. Yates
(Primitive Thoughtician and Holy Fool)

SUPPORT INDEPENDENT FOLKS WHO ARE JUST MAKING STUFF BECAUSE THEY LOVE IT!!!

https://steemit.com/@richardfyates
https://noncom.art.blog/reviews-books-movies-music/
https://makersplace.com/store/richardyates/
https://primitiveentertainment.wordpress.com/

“That’s so CRYPTIC! (New Crypto Art!!!)” by Richard F. Yates

[This piece was originally posted, 8 Mar. 2020, on the Steem Blockchain, because my BLOG there is my main gig. HOWEVER, because I’m all about SHARING, I thought I’d let you non-Steem folks have a look, too! ALSO—Steem is fracturing at the moment, and a new thing is coming this Friday; a large portion of the Steem community is jumping ship and starting their own chain, called HIVE. It’s weird… Meanwhile, here’s some art stuff!!! —RFY]

Greetings folks,

It’s Saturday, and I spent today working on ART junk! I cut up a bunch of cardboard boxes that I’d been stockpiling (some came from my older daughter, who dropped a bag of cardboard boxes off a few weeks ago), which I will eventually use for drawings and other art bits. Today, though, I drew on a teeny tiny piece of cardboard and on my thumbnail. Then, I photographed and digitally manipulated these drawings, ending with TWO works of crypto art (and two written things, which are both odd, but hopefully funny!!!)

THEN I sent the works to MakersPlace where they were tokenized on the Ethereum blockchain as unique digital collectibles! Each one is being issued a single time, will not be reprinted, and are available on a first come, first served basis! Once they’re gone…they’re gone… (It’s kind of sad, really. But is anything ever TRULY gone, when it comes to the internet? Yes. Some things are…) To see these or any of my other fancy digital works in their natural habitat, check out my MakersPlace store / slash / gallery! It’s like dipping your head into a steaming bowl of idiosyncratic outsider soup! (But in a GOOD way…)

Here are the two new pieces along with the “descriptions” that I provided:

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“It’s Really More of a Thumbnail Sketch”

[Highlighter and ultra fine point Sharpie on thumbnail, with digital embellishments and colors. 2020.]

When I eat oranges, the peels stain my fingers and nails, and they make me smell like citrus. The Moon doesn’t like that scent. In addition, the tiny demon that lives in my thumbnail and would rather have blood than oranges—although he likes Doritos, too—gets really angry and tries to escape. (We hope this never happens.)

Treat yourself kindly. Eat oranges, even if they stain your fingers and make you smell like cleaning products and piss off fingernail demons. Oranges are good for you! Blah! Blah! Blah!!!

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“Liberty…And Then It Was Gone”

This little figure clearly lives in a (very tiny) dystopian future—with rather poor resolution. (Poor guy.) See what MIGHT happen if we don’t do the things that we need to do to keep things like this from happening! It’s SO important. (I can’t stress it enough.)

Hopefully, this conceptual micro-piece has given you a tiny bit to think about! Don’t let THIS happen to US!!! (Whatever it is that happened…but, whatever it was, we all know it was BAD…)

[P.S. – Having visions is fun!]

[P.P.S. – These images are ultra fine point Sharpie on found cardboard with digital embellishments, “animated” with a free, online gif animator program.]

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That’s it for this batch of crypto bits! Like I mentioned above, check out my MakersPlace store / gallery to see all the other weird, fun stuff there! I bet you’ll chuckle, at least a bit—or say to yourself, “I could do THAT!” And, if you do say this to yourself, then I seriously recommend that you DO IT! I love seeing other people’s artwork, too, so let me know if you have crypto art of your own available! (Drop a link in the comments!!!)

Okay, now I’m going to watch some more of The Mandalorian… Later!

—Richard F. Yates
(Primitive Thoughtician and Holy Fool)

SUPPORT INDEPENDENT FOLKS WHO ARE JUST MAKING STUFF BECAUSE THEY LOVE IT!!!

https://steempeak.com/@richardfyates
https://noncom.art.blog/reviews-books-movies-music/
https://makersplace.com/store/richardyates/
https://primitiveentertainment.wordpress.com/

“Thirteen Hiccups (That Refused to Rule the World)” by Richard F. Yates

The point of creation is… The last click of the clock. My goodness! How frightening! The ceiling was drooping, perhaps from the pressures of…

Spider-like, the community scuttled about producing potholes and listening to vibrations and echoes. Webs everywhere… But we knew that Kool aid powder with a little water could make our hair spiky and blue!

We had our plan… And it was good…

Let’s see what the toothsome bridge trolls found in the lake today…

Not necessarily in this order:

1. “‘Miscommunikation’ Slide 34” (26 Feb. 2020)

2. “‘Liberty…And Then It Was Gone’ Slide 2 (Alt.)” (7 Mar. 2020)

3. “Still Life (With Man Ray Eyes)” (8 Mar. 2020)

4. “Gitzy Beast” (26 Feb. 2020)

5. “It’s Really More of a Thumbnail Sketch” (7 Mar. 2020)

6. “Moon Thru The Trees From The Backyard Gate” (10 Feb. 2020)

7. “Portland’5 Center for the Arts Lobby Ceiling” (14 Feb. 2020)

8. “Tiny Drawing” (1 Mar. 2020)

9. “Communication Comics #911” (20 Feb. 2020)

10. “‘Horace Crumpeteater’ (Pre-Color)” (8 Mar. 2020)

11. “‘Why?’ Slide 6” (28 Jan. 2020)

12. “It Used to Be a Beach (In Black Light)” (24 Jan. 2020)

13. “Breakfast” (5 Mar. 2020)

I’m happy with quite a bit of the art and photography and writing that I’ve been producing lately. I was worried that I’d lost my direction, that I’d slipped a cog—but my cogs are still turning. I’ve been painting and drawing and photographing and putting letters on paper and typing bits into computers. These are all things I enjoy doing, so I’m glad that I’ve had the chance to DO them, lately.

The WORDS are a free-write / slash / poem that I just composed based on the nonsense phrase that I came up with for a title. I enjoy juxtapositions and jarring bits and fragments. (Maybe you don’t, and that’s okay.) The IMAGES are things that I’ve created in the last few months that I’m fairly proud of. Some of them come from animated gifs, some are photos (taken with my phone), and some are digital art, often created by embellishing photographs of artwork that I drew or painted or assembled using digital editing techniques (usually on my phone—but not always…)

I like to make little gestures. They are simple, individually just minor bits of whatever, but the accumulation of a number of these creates a larger body of work, eventually. I’ve made THOUSANDS, literally, no-joke, not exaggerating, THOUSANDS of drawings, paintings, sketches, zines, photos, collages, stickers, poems, crypto-art, books, blah-blah-blah…over the last four decades—-but I’m not done. I’m not coasting. I’m still making new. I’m still having fun. It’s still enjoyable for me (and hopefully gives you a bit of a chuckle! That would be nice.) I’ll keep making, perhaps inspiring others to make things, until I can’t anymore.

Until then, let’s keep going!

Later!

—Richard F. Yates

(Primitive Thoughtician and Holy Fool)

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“Read a Damn Book – 174: Steaming Mad”

Greetings Citizens! Today, I’m bringing a “classic” work of subversive literature to you for your consideration. Mad magazine has recently ceased publication, but for more than six decades, it was THE source for my juvenile laughter (especially in the ‘70s and ‘80s), BUT does the humor still hold up? Let’s find out!!!

[This is a photograph that I took of the actual book that I read. The image is included for review purposes only!]

Albert B. Feldstein (Editor) – Steaming Mad (1975)

Steaming Mad is a compilation book, collecting a number of “skits” or “gags” or comics, or whatever you want to call them, from the regular issues into a pocket-book format. (I hesitate to call these “comics” because many of them are illustrations with blocks of text, closer to a picture book than a true comic—see Scott McCloud’s Understanding Comics for more on this distinction—I suppose I could just say cartoons??? Nah… Jeeze. It’s not really worth arguing with myself about this…)

Anyway, I have a whole stack of these little books, (I reviewed one other volume a few months ago), and I wanted to read something funny now, so I grabbed THIS book, hoping for a few laughs… And it provided a few…

Feldstein, the editor for this collection, was one of the key writers for E.C., the comics company that created such infamous titles as Tales from the Crypt and Vault of Horror, the kinds of titles that scared the shit out of parents in the 1950s, which led to congressional hearings about indecency and eventually spawned the Comics Code Authority. The CCA was a self-censoring agency, which evaluated every comic that hoped to be distributed to newsstands and grocery stores and such, and provided a stamp of approval to books that were boring and safe and sanitized. This essentially KILLED E.C., as everything that was interesting about their books was suddenly outlawed. Feldstein created Mad as a humor book, instead of a horror or crime title, and he remained the editor for decades. In addition, he brought a number of E.C. artists with him to the magazine, including one of the greatest comics artists to ever hold a pencil, Jack Davis. Mad originally started as a comic book series, but when the Comics Code proved too strict, Feldstein switched to a magazine format, so that they didn’t NEED the Comics Code Authority’s sticker-of-approval to sell to newsstands. (Magazines were held to different standards, thanks to “adult” mags, which sold well.)

Now on to THIS particular book… The content is fairly typical Mad material—spoofs, satirical pieces, and gag cartoons, with mostly GROANER jokes. Unfortunately, the material has dated pretty badly. (If the punchline of a joke is someone getting shipped off to fight in Vietnam, the material is a bit past its expiration date.) Some of the jokes would probably be difficult for modern readers to relate to, but this is because the Mad creators made a lot of topical jokes, which were appropriate for when the material came out. This collection was released in 1975, but the comics and stories in this volume come from magazine issues released in 1968 and 1969! That’s some OLD jokes…and no, they don’t all hold up. The collection starts with a story / slash / series of gags called “If Comic Characters were Psychoanalyzed,” written by Frank Jacobs and drawn by Bob Clarke. Clarke does an excellent job of copying the art styles of the comic characters they are parodying, like Charlie Brown, Dagwood, and Donald Duck, but the HUMOR is very dark—more depressing than funny. Plus, how popular are comic strips, like Beetle Bailey or Mary Worth, today??? I’m not convinced that younger readers are going to get this bit (and it’s not that funny even if you DO get it…)

What this book DOES have going for it, though, is the art. Some of the best, most interesting artists who ever contributed to Mad are represented in this book:

Jack Davis
Antonio Prohias
Morton Drucker
Sergio Aragones

[All of these images were photographed by me from the pages of this issue. They are included for review purposes only!!! People need to SEE this artwork to understand how great it is!!!]

So, even if the jokes are a bit dated, the art is still excellent. It’s all black and white, the pages are shrunken down from the original sizes that they were printed in the magazines, but for a pocket format book, it’s nicely put together—and a quick read. I would imagine most folks could probably read this, cover to cover, in an hour or so, AND there are a whole bunch of these books out there. (This one is marked as #39, so there are a LOT to find! Several dozen, at least…) If you like satire and parody, and if you can find one of these books at a garage sale or second hand shop for 50 cents or a buck, I would say, YES, grab it. The jokes are pretty bad, the humor is dated, the parodies are about pop culture items that ain’t really that POP anymore—but the art is brilliant and funny, and personally, I think that’s enough.

That’s my thoughts! Now, go read a damn book…

—Richard F. Yates
(Primitive Thoughtician and Holy Fool)

[P.S. – This review was originally posted on the STEEM blockchain!!!]

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“Breakfast Bunny Bowie Blondie” by Richard F. Yates

Howdy Humanoids,

My name is still Richard F. Yates, and I am writing to you because I like to write, and it’s more fun to pretend I’m writing TO someone rather than just talking to myself. (I’m usually kind of mean when I answer myself, so I’d rather talk to you folks.)

Today, I started off with BREAKFAST:

It’s not the most filling way to start the day, but it does help keep me out of the emergency room! Handful of pills, banana, and a bowl of dry cereal (Honey Nut Cheerios and a few biscuits of Frosted Mini-Wheats.) I’ve lost 16 pounds since the nasty day when I found out I had high blood pressure (like DANGEROUSLY high—over 200 diastolic!) Turns out, a lot of the stuff I loved to eat was BAD for me. (Too much salt. Too much sugar. My cholesterol was okay, though, which is weird…) HOWEVER!!!! I’m not letting these newly discovered health issues destroy me!!!

Moving on!

To set the TONE for today, I decided to put on one of my favorite films of all time, How to Draw a Bunny.

This is a documentary about (sort-of) Pop Artist, Ray Johnson, who was friends with a lot of folks in New York back in the 1950s, ‘60s, and ‘70s, but who committed suicide (by drowning) when he was 67 years old. Johnson was a unique spirit, a collagist and a postal artist, who LIVED his art (and, possibly, died for it as well.) Unfortunately, although many of his friends and acquaintances ended up making a lot of money and becoming famous, (Warhol, Christo and Jeanne-Claude, John Cage, etc., etc…) Johnson never seemed to crack into the popular consciousness. Which is horrible. His work is fascinating, funny, and bizarre, and it’s made from detritus and debris and pop culture scraps, making interesting images out of nothing—out of garbage.

Interestingly, Johnson actually DESTROYED a lot of his own work during his lifetime, but he did it for a reason:

“It gets to some point where—what can you do with it after you’ve done it? That’s why I began putting everything into envelopes. I had this stockpile of materials, so I just put them into envelopes and mailed them off to everybody, everywhere…What does one do with one’s sculptures or one’s paintings or one’s drawings? I solved that problem by chopping them up into little pieces and mailing them to people…” (Ray Johnson from How to Draw a Bunny).

The film is fantastic (I’m watching it for the second time, today, already—and I’ve seen it a hundred times before this), and it includes interviews with dozens of well known artists, producers, curators, photographers, and even the police chief in charge of solving Johnson’s death. It has a mystery vibe to it, but it’s also completely about the ART. One of the best documentaries about an artist I’ve ever seen.

Some Non-Com updates, if people haven’t noticed yet, I’ve added an image gallery to the site that collects drawings, digital works, photos and other stuff into an easy to navigate format. I think there are about 50 or 60 images in there already. I’ve also finally connected a “Books We’ve Made!!!” link, so all you great (and wealthy) people can buy all the Primitive Entertainment books you could ever want! (They make wonderful gifts for arty types, or confusing and annoying objects that you can give or send to people who you don’t like and want to cause great distress!) I’ve also updated the “Upcoming Events” page with all the out of town trips, concerts, and other happenings we’ve got scheduled for the next few months. If you’re going to be in the area where we’ll be adventuring, feel free to send us a note, and we can try to find a coffee shop or bar where we can get together! Might be fun to put some faces to a few names!

LAST, Mariah and I have finally purchased to “newest” works by David Bowie, Blackstar (2015), and Blondie, Pollinator (2017).

The Bowie was his last work before his death, and it’s DARK. I expected it to be, and that’s the main reason I waited so long to get it. In TONE, it’s very similar to Low and ‘Heroes’ (which I reviewed a few weeks ago), but with a touch of trip-hop or something similar in the mix. It almost sounds like Tricky or Massive Attack were an influence, and maybe Twin Peaks or some other David Lynch score, were melded to the experimental, dreamy, dark, and aggressive Berlin era materials. The Blondie album, on the other hand, is much more upbeat and fun. It has a rock ‘n’ roll flavor, but still has a lot of synths in it, and Debbie Harry’s vocals are still strong, though her voice is deeper now, and almost has a biting hiss to it, similar to the delivery style that Beth Gibbons uses in some Portishead tracks. The Bowie CD might take a few listens to get used to, but the Blondie is fun right off the bat. I recommend both but be prepared for a deep trip with Blackstar, and expect more of a party feel with Pollinator!

That’s it. I’ve got to try and write a BOOK REVIEW, now, before I have to get ready for work!!!

Later skaters!

—Richard F. Yates
(Primitive Thoughtician and Holy Fool)

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