The “Choose your own Tradition” Edition :: Issue #009

 

Rusty’s Electric Dreams :: Issue #009 :: The “Choose your own Tradition” Edition :: 11:26:2014

Rusty’s Electric Dreams, an inbox zine by pop culture activist Rusty Blazenhoff
Issue #009 :: The “Choose your own Tradition” Edition :: 11:26:2014

Wow, here we are again.The holidays are back.

Full disclosure: I’ve been sitting here for an hour trying to type this out.

“Just say something nice about Thanksgiving,” I hear myself say.

Truth is, Turkey day is not my favorite day. Well, that’s not totally true, let me correct that. My “Thursday” (as my friend Veek coined it) morning each year is rather swell. It becomes stickier later in the day when I turn into the dreaded “holiday orphan.”

I have an annual tradition with my daughter on Thanksgiving morning. We get up early and head over to Oakland’s Chinatown to get, what we call, “Chinese donuts.” You might be familiar with them, they are the hot round fried balls of gluten-y dough that are covered in sesame seeds. The ones we get have red bean paste stuffed inside.

[I have just learned that this dumpling-like pastry’s real name is “jin deui.”]

Nope, they aren’t good for you, which makes us crave them even more.

After we’ve downed the greasy dough-wads of slow death, we walk around a bit and look at things we don’t normally see (the knockoff Hello Kitty store is always a hit), and then the girl heads off to spend a more traditional holiday with her Dad et al. Then the skies darken and I question every choice I’ve ever made in my adult life…just kidding, kind of. Hallmark holidays can be such a buzzkill.

I am a rather untraditional kind of person so I made up an excuse to share some meaningful time with my kiddo, on a day that can be difficult emotionally for me. And, for that precious time with her, I give thanks.


Rusty Blazenhoff

You Turkey!
This space
intentionally
left traditional

The countdown until I legally become “Rusty Blazenhoff”motionmailapp.com
I know, right!? It only took me 20 years.

Real books you can actually read!

“To understand bad taste one must have very good taste.” —John Waters

The Encyclopedia of Bad Taste by Jane and Michael Stern

Shock Value: A tasteful book about bad taste

As seen on the Internets

ASTRO-WEENIE TOM TURKEY DOG !!! ... Turkey meatloaf skewered and studded with turkey wieners, turkey kielbasa, turkey ‘lil smokies and fresh cranberries ...
:: Astro-weenie Tom Turkey Dog by Charles Phoenix, “Turkey meatloaf skewered and studded with turkey wieners, turkey kielbasa, turkey & lil smokies and fresh cranberries”
:: https://www.facebook.com/charlesphoenix.usa:: Inflatable turkey
:: http://mcphee.com/shop/inflatable-turkey.html:: How to make a corncob pipe (1973)
:: http://www.motherearthnews.com/diy/how-to-make-a-corncob-pipe-zmaz73jfzraw.aspx:: San Francisco dump art exhibits
:: http://www.recologysf.com/index.php/next-art-exhibition

:: Sunny Side Up Breakfast Nachos
:: http://www.instructables.com/id/Sunny-Side-Up-Breakfast-Nachos/

:: Thriller sweatshirt
:: http://belovedshirts.com/products/thriller-sweatshirt

:: There’s a pirate ship for sale in the SF Bay Area, because OF COURSE there is!
:: https://sfbay.craigslist.org/pen/boa/4774822938.html

:: For Schlomo: the poop emoji bucket hat
:: http://belovedshirts.com/collections/beloved-hats/products/poop-emoji-bucket-hat

Real things you can actually buy: nay!


WHALE KABOBS


If you are a writer, or want to be –or if you’re an artist of any kind– take a listen to this speech by Ursula K Le Guin.#Freedom
We all have a lost love, a forgotten romance, a missed connection. What would you say to the one who got away?“Answer that question by calling 718-395-7556 and leaving a message.

Real things you can actually buy: yay!


Pepperoni Pizza crocheted scarf

Choco Taco

Bank roll pillow

Artist-in-residence: November 2014

Meaghan Kennedy: Piñata Artist

Meaghan Kennedy: Pinata artist

 

“I have been going crazy the last while…Everywhere I turn (in my shoe box size apartment) there are little people! I paint their eyes last so I don’t feel like I’m being watched…” — Meaghan

You only have a few more days to enter to win a custom pinata by Meaghan! It can be in YOUR likeness or someone else’s. The winner is picked on November 30th. [UPDATE: CONTEST OVER!]

:: Her site: yourpinata.com :: Her email: meaghan@yourpinata.com

Thank you to Meaghan for being the zine’s first A-i-R! I really had a lot of fun working with you.

(For December I’ve got someone great lined up for the residency. Stay tuned!) — Rusty.

“If you had asked me what I did over the weekend, and I explained I had spent 12 hours contorted inside a glass display case the size of a tree stump in the ATA gallery window on Valencia street, you’d probably say I was crazy…” — Mirabelle Jones
Join the Lost Hour Challenge: On November 27th, John Law & Julia Solis will present the #losthour videos during The Influencers festival in Barcelona.[Details]

Events of note

Kinky Boots
Multiple cities
[ongoing] The Blind Cafe A pop-up event where you are served dinner by legally blind servers, eat in the pitch dark, and listen to live music…with strangers! Thx, Tyler H.!

[11/28, Everywhere] Buy Nothing Day (Also, c’mon, don’t shop on Thanksgiving.)[11/29, TV] World premiere of Grumpy Cat’s Worst Christmas Ever !![12/13, SF/LA] Santacon

Alameda
[12/13] Mid-Century Holiday Potluck Extravaganza! All ages [Tix] –This is a super-fun event!

Austin
[11/28-12/24] Blue Genie Art Bazaar

Chicago
[Until 1/4/15] David Bowie Is at Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago

Landers, CA
[12/21] MOBY: Live at the Integratron

Los Angeles
[Nov/Dec dates] KrampusFest 2014

[12/5-12/7] Comedy Hack Day at YouTube Space LA [apply]

[12/21] Margaret –“an evening of music and story based on the life and writings of Margaret Rucker, a poet whose tragic yet serendipitous story was rescued twenty years ago from the bottom of a garbage bin.”

Miami
[12/5] A special screening of Tim Burton’s film Big Eyes at Art Basel Miami Beach

Oakland
[12/2] Bad Dyke Book Release + Bawdy Storytelling

[12/5-12/7] Holiday gift & craft faire at American Steel Studios

[12/7] Frank Portman’s King Dork Approximately book release show: “‘acts,’ oddities, bookselling, meet the author, the Oxford comma, rock, and roll.”

Portland
[ongoing] 60 Minutes to Escape [Tickets]

San Francisco
[11/28] Royale With Sleaze: A Pulp Fiction Burlesque Experience

[11/29] The John Waters Christmas Show— SOLD OUT

[11/30] Homo for the Holidays: a “big queer craft fair on the patio at El Rio” — $5

[12/2-12/28] Kinky Boots

[12/4] Wunderfaire, a celebration of local craftspeople hosted by IDEO — <3 this event!

[12/5-12/15] Another Hole in the Head, an indie horror, sci-fi, dark fantasy, and exploitation cinema film festival

[12/12] BoneSaw Bros, Scary Stories: Christmas edition: “scary live christmas stories performed by theater group Ham Pants Productions” — $20

[12/13-12/14]  San Francisco Bazaar

[12/14] Charles Phoenix Retro Holiday Slide Show at Empress of China [TicketsDon’t miss this one! Not only are his shows FAB, but the Empress of China is CLOSING at the end of the year. 

[12/6] KrampusCon

[12/20] Margaret –“an evening of music and story based on the life and writings of Margaret Rucker, a poet whose tragic yet serendipitous story was rescued twenty years ago from the bottom of a garbage bin.” See you there!

[12/31] NYE: Extra Action Marching Band at Brick & Mortar music hall

San Leandro, CA
[12/4] Rainbow Rumpus Book Talk with author Benjamin Wachs

Santa Monica, CA
[12/13] MAS ATTACK 7

Ukiah, CA
[12/5-12/7] Digital Detox Retreat at Shambhala Ranch

~~ Tickets ($140) are now available for Camp Tipsy 2015 ~~
~~ Tickets for both 2015 sessions of Camp Grounded are now on sale —

Artist Michael Wertz has an inbox zine too! Yay!


Wertzeen, an inbox zine by Michael Wertz

What I need from YOU!

 

Your support –even for $5/month– will help me rock this thing even harder.If you can’t offer financial support, would you consider asking your friends to subscribe to this newsletter? C’mon, let’s find the Others.

Also, ENTER TO WIN that awesome art pinata by Meaghan Kennedy! ($250 value, ends 11/30)

Know about something cool that would be a good fit for REDLemme know about it.

Rusty’s Electric Dreams is a weekly inbox zine by Rusty Blazenhoff. These personally curated missives are beacons to signal and celebrate the global tribe of weird, wonderful, and “different” people (“the Others”).

:: Subscribe now ::
:: Read the Archives ::

My Blog

My Email

Facebook

Twitter

Google+

Copyright Blazenhoff Industries LLC, All rights reserved.