The "Pop! Goes the Package" Edition :: Rusty's Electric Dreams, Issue #164

“I love Los Angeles, and I love Hollywood. They’re beautiful. Everybody’s plastic, but I love plastic. I want to be plastic.” — Andy Warhol

Rusty’s Electric Dreams, an inbox zine from the curious mind of Rusty Blazenhoff
Issue #164 :: The “Pop! Goes the Package” Edition :: 1:31:2018

Pop! Goes the Package…

When I started putting this issue together over the weekend, I had almost nothing to share with you. But, by Tuesday afternoon, I had too much. This is my way of telling you that it’s a big issue.

Because of that, I want to point out something in the events section that I don’t want you to miss… a save-the-date announcement for the first ever SoCal Rusty’s Electric Dream meetup! It’ll be in Los Angeles and I’ll have more details to share in next week’s issue.

–Rusty Blazenhoff

P.S. I’m SUPER EXCITED.

This space intentionally left popped

As seen on the Internets

Ketchup & Mustard: This far out, font-heavy uniform is what Yankee Stadium food vendors wore in the late sixties and early seventies. [More of the story here.]

:: “Prisencolinensinainciusol” is a 1972 song composed by a legendary Italian entertainer. “The song’s lyrics sound phonetically like American English… but are clearly total, utter, delightful nonsense.”
:: https://www.atlasobscura.com/deep-roots-italian-song-sounds-like-english-american-medieval-comedy-nonsense

:: Mark Rothko’s lessons on how to teach art to kids: “Lesson #1: Show your students that art is a universal form of expression, as elemental as speaking or singing.”
:: https://www.artsy.net/article/artsy-editorial-teach-art-kids-mark-rothko

:: Oh, I know a little something about “‘Mosting‘: When People Come On Strong, Then Ghost”
:: https://melmagazine.com/mosting-when-people-come-on-strong-then-ghost-cafec9b78254 Thanks, Jess!

:: WSJ: “Business Cards Aren’t Dead, They’re Just Getting Weirder”
:: https://www.wsj.com/articles/business-cards-arent-dead-theyre-just-getting-weirder

:: “The reality is that being single is about being in a relationship with yourself.” A-men.
:: https://tinybuddha.com/blog/nothing-wrong-with-being-single-release-shame-stigma

:: An open letter to Google by Seth Godin on not putting blogs (or inbox zines, in my case) in Gmail’s dreaded Promotions folder
:: http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2018/01/an-open-note-to-google.html

:: Noted Cacophonist Carrie Galbraith passed recently. John Law wrote a beautiful eulogy about her:
:: https://johnwlaw.com/carrie-galbraith-enters-the-zone-for-the-last-time-photos-and-links-to-follow

Real things you can actually buy: moist

Knit sausage

MOIST: A much-hated word… now on a mug! $9.99

Real IG feed you can actually follow: yay!

Pop! Goes the Package

This is a new project of mine: My friend Jessica Lindsey (of Kooky Kitsch) has an absolutely mind-blowing collection of vintage pop culture artifacts. So, when we had dinner the other night, we got talking and it suddenly occurred to me that there should be an Instagram feed featuring some of it. In that moment, I decided to be its curator (heh) and, since I love product packaging design, I decided to start there. I went over to her place, pulled all kinds of packages off her shelves, and started shooting. I couldn’t believe some of the stuff she had (did you know that Howard Johnson’s had a canned soda brand? Or that Pillsbury made a beverage mix product called “Squoze“? Me either!).

Anyhoo, it’s called Pop! Goes the Package and I’d be delighted if you gave it a look.

Featured events

Adventure Potluck

Two things: Creative instigator (and loyal RED reader) Mark Krawczuk has 1) started a newsletter (!) and is 2) hosting an Adventure Potluck on February 6. Smells like Cacophony, folks…

Los Angeles, California
[1/30-1/31] John Doe and Exene play at First Fridays at the Natural History Museum

[3/17] Save the date for the first Rusty’s Electric Dreams meetup in Southern California! I’ve already booked my tickets and can’t wait to hang out in LA. There will be more details real soon but, seriously, SAVE THE DATE!

Oakland, California
[1/31] Untangling Local Myths & Legends with Oakland Librarians at Main Library, 7 PM to 8 PM

[2/5 and 3/5] Heather Gold’s Yarn, a comedy storytelling show especially for women who are ‘Hollywood old’ (age 29) at Homestead, 7 PM doors, 7:30 PM show

San Francisco, California
[2/2] My friend Absinthia is on a roll with her new absinthe business! On Friday she’s doing a tasting at Cask from 4 PM to 6 PM.

[2/3] Former A-i-R Doc Pop is hosting a mini-comics workshop at Mission Comics from 1 PM to 3 PM (See his downloadable mini-comic/zine template here)

[2/10] Odyssey Works is hosting a “Date Design” workshop at The Rathskeller Club, 12 PM to 3 PM, $40

[2/14] Decentralized Dance Party (theme: Fixes Everything), 6 PM to 11 PM

[2/15] Designers + Geeks: Don’t Call It That!, A dive into brand names with Eli Altman at Yelp, 7 PM to 9 PM

New York City
[March and April] Third Rail Projects has a bunch of immersive theater workshops coming up

Get off Twitter

Design professor Mitch Goldstein created a series of witty, on-point Venn diagrams for his project, A Helpful Diagram. I like his style.

via

Rusty’s Electric Dreams is a weekly inbox zine from the curious mind of Rusty Blazenhoff.

Described as, “One of the most inspiring, weird and off-kilter collections of curated kitschy ephemera for the big-brained.”

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