The “Hocus Focus” Edition :: Rusty’s Electric Dreams, Issue #117

 

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Rusty's Electric Dreams

Rusty’s Electric Dreams, an inbox zine by Rusty Blazenhoff
Issue #117 :: The “HOCUS FOCUS” Edition :: 1:04:2017

HOCUS FOCUS…

I don’t really set New Year’s resolutions, but I have decided to set an intention for 2017. It’s summed up in a word: Focus.

Years ago I was gifted the “eagle eye” by a boyfriend. It gives me the ability to see things other people skip, miss, undervalue, or are hesitant to acknowledge. It was bestowed on me as a kind of joke. He wanted me to get better at spotting cool things at the flea market so we could up our collections. (If you have been to my house, you know I became VERY good at finding cool collectibles!)

So, recently, I realized that this “eagle eye” of mine has become fine tuned over the years. In fact, I have used it to survive. It’s what I use for blogging, and it’s what I use to scope out content for this very inbox zine.

But now, I want to really FOCUS. I have a clear vision of what I want from 2017 and I’m going for it.

I had a really vivid dream the other night, my first of the new year, and it really stuck with me. There was a large bald eagle who stood as tall as a man. He was muscular and had extremely sharp talons. I wasn’t afraid. In fact, I embraced this enormous majestic bird by hugging it. He took me under his wing and looked at me with his “eagle eyes.” I felt safe.

Everything is going to be ok. I just need to squint into the sun and focus on my (hopefully) bright future.

What about you? Have you set any resolutions or intentions for 2017?

<Art PSA>
For my SF Bay Area peeps: It recently came to my attention that FREE one year “All Access Level” memberships are available at YBCA for low income applicants. This is a steal! It includes reciprocal admission to other arts and culture organizations nationwide. Want in? Ping membership@ybca.org for more information.
</Art PSA>
–Rusty Blazenhoff
P.S. Send juju for me this Thursday at Noon (PST). I have an important appointment!

This space intentionally left focused

As seen on the Internets

 

2017 Wertzateria Calendar

:: Misfortune cookies Thanks, Greg!
:: https://eatthedead.com/2017/01/01/black-sesame-and-almond-misfortune-cookies

:: Advice from wise elders
:: http://imgur.com/gallery/ygq7RK8

:: Bookstore owner giving away his bookstore
:: http://www.petaluma360.com/entertainment/6465611-181/final-chapter-for-petaluma-bookstore

:: Fucking Apostrophes
:: http://amzn.to/2iBZQxO

:: Best viewed on a desktop: An interactive visualization of every line in Hamilton
:: http://polygraph.cool/hamilton

:: Disneyland’s Electrical Parade is returning
:: https://youtu.be/Upsn63HT3j0

:: Why Japan has so many different kinds of Kit Kat candy bars
:: http://nowiknow.com/japans-lucky-break

:: How to L*E*A*R*N* by Ellen Petry Leanse
:: https://medium.com/the-mission/how-to-l-e-a-r-n-eeed7d6861eb#.z0rpxhuve

:: “Brutal truths” about creativity Thanks, Nina!
:: http://thenextweb.com/brutal-truths-about-creativity-that-no-one-wants-to-talk-about

:: “One Man’s Quest to Change the Way We Die” Thanks, Meg!
:: http://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/03/magazine/one-mans-quest-to-change-the-way-we-die.html

:: A real gem: Bob’s Big Boy car-hop training film (1947) Thanks, David!
:: https://www.facebook.com/driveinmenu/videos/2/?type=2&theater

:: Chimney climbing wall
:: http://justintheweekendwarrior.com/chimney-climbing-wall

:: Cracking the code on produce stickers Thanks, Diana!
:: http://tiphero.com/produce-stickers

:: Glass tiki mugs Thanks, Doe!
:: http://www.andrewiannazzi.com/store/p39/Set_of_Four_Tiki_Mugs.html

Real things you can actually buy: Oui!


Press for Champagne

Artist-in-Residence: Angela Owre

This painting is simply called “Peggy.” It’s a still from the show Mad Men. Next week “Joan” will be featured, the sister piece to “Peggy.”

Peggy has moved up from secretary to copywriter fast, and picked up a thing or two of the cutthroat ways of Madison Avenue in the 60s ad world. In this scene she turns a deal into her favor. That satisfied, triumphant smile while counting her money grabs people, but in a good way. Mad Men fans have said they remember that scene well, they felt proud of her for sharking the shark. Also, painting paintings in a painting gives you a Twilight Zone kinda feeling. It gives it the sensation of actually painting it and hanging it on the wall of the office. I’m not high.
This work was done in oils, and many layers of glazing.

Angela Owre is all over the place like most artists trying to make a living. She is an oil portrait painter, illustrator of family dogs and not very reassuring get well cards for family and friends, sign painter, storyboard artist, lazy cartoonist, tattoo artist and more I am sure. Her paintings have been featured in many shows in her new home of Vancouver, and she also loves to do commissions for people of people, animals, pet rocks, you name it. Her main source of inspirations are Robert McInnis, Robert Crumb, and Robert, I mean, Zack from Extra Fabulous Comics. Her website contains more good vibes check it out: angelaowre.com

Events + places to visit of note

 

Pop Americana

San Francisco [1/14] Pop Americana: an evening of art, music and performances at the brand new DaDa Bar, Mechanics Institute Building, 65 Post Street, 8 PM on

HEY YOU, YES YOU
Know about a cool happening, soiree, and/or event?  Been to someplace quirky? I can’t be everywhere and know about everything, so share it with me! I’ll do my best to include it in the next issue.


Various Cities
[Ongoing] Silent Book Club
[Ongoing] Escape rooms and adventures, curated by No Proscenium
[Ongoing] The Joy Experiment, “inspired by the ideas of the Dalai Lama and Desmond Tutu as chronicled in The Book of Joy, The Joy Experiment is an attempt to “test” those ideas in the real world”
[Ongoing] Puff, Pass & Paint, BYOC painting events

[Until 2/2017] A Good Trip Tour with Shaune Mauss, comedy centered around psychedelics

[Until 2/9] Mortified Live! “Witness a night of adults telling stories about their lives by sharing their most mortifying childhood artifacts (diaries, letters, lyrics, poems, home movies)… in front of total strangers”

Adelaide, Australia
[3/3-3/19] Adelaide Festival Thanks, Jeff!

[3/10-3/13] WOMADelaide 2017, the World’s Festival Thanks, Jeff!

Akron, Ohio
[2/10-5/7] Turn the Page: The First Ten Years of Hi-Fructose at Akron Art Museum

Alameda, California
[Until 1/8] The Little Ice Rink at Alameda South Shore Center

[1/13] Opening party for Dead of Winter Art Party, former A-i-R’s Adam Davis new show, at Julie’s Coffee & Tea Garden, 7 PM to 9 PM

[2/18] Bubbles after Dark at Rhythmix, 8 PM [Tickets]

Berkeley, California
[1/6] The Lookouting: A Celebration of Lookout! Records at 924 Gilman

[2/17] Analog Light Show Workshop at Berkeley Art Museum & Pacific Film Archive, 6 PM to 8 PM [Tickets]

Black Rock City, Nevada
[8/27-9/4] Burning Man 2017: Radical Ritual

Chattanooga, Tennessee
[Until 10/31] Wayne White‘s Wayne-o-Rama at 1800 Rossville Avenue, open Weds-Sun, 11 AM to 6 PM and by special appointment

Denver, Colorado
[4/8-4/9] DINK: Independent Comic Expo, “Urban art with literature, zines, small press publishers, underground comix and cocktails!” Thanks, Mike McDaniel!

Detroit
[4/2017] Allee Willis’ The “D” premieres at the Fisher Building, party to follow

El Segundo, California
[1/27] Tikiyaki 5-0 plus Aloha Screwdriver at the Purple Orchid, 9 PM on

Hermosa Beach, California
[3/11] Corey Feldman & The Angels at Saint Rocke, 9 PM [Tickets]

Las Vegas
[Ongoing] Akhob, an immersive “Ganzfeld effect” experience by artist James Turrell at Louis Vuitton [by appt only: 702-730-3150] HIGHLY recommended!

Los Angeles
:: Iconic diners of L.A.
[Ongoing] Mojo Maps: Venice Land Walking Tour, former Disney Imagineer and team “combine live performance, original music and interactive activities sending you on a journey to another time and place” via
[Every Wednesday] Scot Nery’s Boobie Trap, a “live variety show that features big names in cirque, variety, comedy, magic and music” at Cafe Club Fais Do-Do, 8 PM [Tickets] Thanks, Kyle!

[1/7-4/2] Pop Art Design at OCMA

[1/14] Soulgasm black velvet art show opens at Velveteria, 711 New High Chinatown

[1/19-1/22] Riot LA Comedy Festival

[1/27-1/29] stARTup Fair LA, “Los Angeles’s contemporary art fair for independent artists”

[1/27-5/17] David Bowie: Among the Mexican Masters at Forest Lawn Museum

[Starts 10/2017] Yayoi Kusama: Infinity Mirrors at The Broad

[11/10-11/11] National Beard and Mustache Championship

Malden, Massachusetts
[Ongoing] Boda Borg

Maxwell, California
[6/15-6/18] Camp Tipsy 2017, “an annual rotten boat building contest and campout”

New Orleans
[7/18-7/23] Tales of the Cocktail

New York City
Quirky NYC by Oriana Leckert:
:: “From Bumper Cars to Torah Taxidermy: A Guide to 25 of Brooklyn’s Most Unusual Museums”
:: “From Elevators to Outsider Art: A Guide to 16 Under-the-Radar Museums in Queens”

[Ongoing] Sleep No More at The McKittrick Hotel [Tickets]
[Ongoing] The Ferry Play on the Staten Island Ferry, $1.99
[Ongoing] More NYC events
[Ongoing] Madame Tussauds New York hyper-reality Ghostbusters Experience

[Through 1/8] Pip’s Island, an “indoor immersive experience lasting one hour for children between the ages of 4-10” [Tickets]

[Until 1/15] Pipilotti Rist: Pixel Forest at New Museum, 235 Bowery, Manhattan, Free

[Until 1/29] The Strange Undoing of Prudence Hart at The McKittrick Hotel [Tickets]

[Through 2/2017] Refuge, an “immersive performance and gameplay experience set in a mirrored 2016 reality where coastal cities are going underwater, temperature increases have caused nearly all vegetation to disappear, and natural disasters are wreaking havoc across every continent,” Needs a team of 4 to play [Tickets]

[1/8] No Pants Subway Ride 2017

Oakland
[Until 2/17] All Power to the People: Black Panthers at 50 at OMCA

[Until 4/2] Out of the Box: The Rise of Sneaker Culture at OMCA

[1/7] Pink Pussy Hat Party, 6 PM to 9 PM

[1/7] Tycho at Fox Theater, 8 PM to 11 PM

[1/7] Welcome to the Dollhouse at New Parkway, 10 PM [Tickets]

[1/15] Tourettes Without Regrets at Oakland Metrohouse, $15

[1/21] Kinky Salon: Armagedd it on, 10 PM

[1/29] Oakland Museum’s White Elephant PREVIEW Sale, 10 AM to 5 PM, [Tickets now on sale] $15-$20

[2/22-2/23] Mental Illness Happy Hour LIVE at New Parkway, 7 PM

[3/4-3/5] Oakland Museum’s White Elephant Sale

[3/25] 2017 Oakland Onesie Pub Crawl, 6 PM on

[4/19-4/24] Psychedelic Science 2017 at Oakland Marriott Center [Tickets]

Oregon
[8/17-8/23] Oregon Eclipse 2017, a “total solar eclipse gathering”

Pasadena, California
[Until 1/28] Enchanted: Forest of Light, an interactive, nighttime experience at Descanso Gardens [Tickets]

Plains, Georgia
[Sundays] (Former President) Jimmy Carter’s Sunday School Class

Portland, Oregon
[3/25] 2017 Portland Onesie Pub Crawl

Tulare and Sacramento, California
[Weekends until 1/6] Global Winter Wonderland

Sacramento, California
[6/11-9/17] Turn the Page: The First Ten Years of Hi-Fructose at Crocker Art Gallery

San Diego
[3/4-3/11] JoCo Cruise 2017, “a whole cruise ship full of music, comedy, and general nerdery”

San Francisco
:: “Best storytelling events in the Bay Area”
:: Upscale vs. Frugal SF
[Ongoing] Elsewhere Philatelic Society, highly recommended!
[Ongoing] More SF events
[Ongoing] Prelinger Library events
{Gallery] Keane Eyes Gallery featuring the art of Margaret Keane, 3040 Larkin Street

[Thanksgiving through New Year’s Day] Illuminate SF, a citywide festival of light [The PDF guide]

[1/12-1/29] SF Sketchfest
[1/14] Kids in the Hall: “Brain Candy” Live Staged Reading at Castro Theatre
[1/25] Bawdy Storytelling with Dixie de la Tour at Punchline Comedy Club [Tickets]

[Until 1/14] Street Talk: Puerto Rico, MFA Thesis Show, at Desai | Matta Gallery

[Until 1/15] LogJam Cafe, part of Tom Sachs’ Space Program: Europa exhibition, a must see!

[1/27] The Sound Healing Symphony at Grace Cathedral, 8 PM to 9:30 PM

[1/28 & 1/29] World’s Fair Nano, Pier 70

[Until 1/29] Curious Contraptions featuring cabaret mechanical theatre at the Exploratorium [Tickets]

[Until 4/16] Vintage: Wine, Beer, and Spirits Labels from the Kemble Collections on Western Printing and Publishing at California Historical Society

[1/4] Steven Johnson’s Wonderland: How Play Made the Modern World, SF Jazz Center, 7:30 PM

[1/6] An Evening with the Mark Growden Ensemble at The Lost Church, 7:30 PM to 10:30 PM [Tickets]

[1/9] An Elsewhere tribute to Kiyomi Tanouye at the Exploratorium, 3 PM to 9 PM

[1/11] Bawdy Storytelling’s ‘Choose your Own Adventure’ at Verdi Club, 8 PM [Tickets]

[1/14] Popcorn for Breakfast: The King of Cartoons at Roxie Theater, 11 AM  to 12:30 PM [Tickets]

[1/14] Opening reception for The Cakeland Fête Noir: Scott Hove Returns to SF at Heron Arts, 7 PM to 10 PM

[1/14] Pop Americana: an evening of art, music and performances at the brand new DaDa Bar, Mechanics Institute Building, 65 Post Street, 8 PM on

[1/19] You’re Going To Die: Poetry, Prose & Everything Goes at The Lost Church, 7:30 PM to 9:30 PM [Tickets]

[1/21] The Calling All Choir’s 2017 San Francisco Fall/Winter Finale at Mission Dolores Basilica, 8 PM to 10 PM

[1/26] The Story of Anchor Steam with tasting samples at Presidio Officers Club, 6 PM, Free

[1/28-1/29] Worlds Fair Nano [Tickets]

[2/12] Phenomenauts ~ Mustard Plug ~ Aloha Screwdriver at Bottom of the Hill

[2/23] BUFFY Musical Sing-Along at The Lone Star Saloon, 7 PM to 11:30 PM

[3/4] 2017 San Francisco Onesie Pub Crawl, 6 PM to 1 AM

[3/12] Breasts. An Art Exhibit of Form and Function. 6 PM

[4/21] Erika Chong Shuch’s For You at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts [Application]

[7/21-7/23] San Francisco Art Book Fair [accepting submissions in January 2017]

[10/2017] 50th Anniversary of the Summer of Love

Santa Fe, New Mexico
[Ongoing] Meow Wolf [Read this] [Tickets]

Scottsboro, Alabama
[Ongoing] Unclaimed Baggage Center Thanks, Farrah!

Seattle
The Obscure, the Charming and the Odd: Mark Pahlow’s Guide to Seattle

Stockbridge, Massachusetts
[Until 5/29/2017] Hanna-Barbera: The Architects of Saturday Morning at Norman Rockwell Museum via

Sun Valley, Idaho
[3/19-3/22] Dent 2017, a creative retreat for people who want to “put a dent in the universe,” as Steve Jobs once said. Highly recommended!

Venice, Italy
[5/13-11/26] We are from the Dust is participating in VIVA ARTE VIVA, The Venice Art Biennale: 57th International Art Exhibition

“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, concerned citizens can change world. Indeed it is the only thing that ever has.”
— Margaret Mead

Rusty’s Electric Dreams is a weekly inbox zine by Rusty Blazenhoff.

Rusty has collaborated with some of the biggest names in the quirky-cool corner of pop culture, including Pee-wee Herman, Allee Willis, Laughing Squid, and Archie McPhee. Her offbeat zine is chock full of art, unusual products, worldwide event listings of note, and other fun surprises.

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