...Everyone Has One.



Acrylic on canvas, 24" x 24", framed size 25 3/4" x 25 3/4".

The Flying Eyeball is of course a nod to the late "Kar Kulture" artist Kenny Howard, better known as Von Dutch.

In 1973, I was pulled over by the cops in my All White western suburb of Chicago and subsequently beaten, pistol whipped on the back of my head, and when I collapsed to the ground on top of the curb, the cop bashed my head against the curb, repeatedly.

All of this for touching and being in possesion of one ounce of "marijuana," (the racist term for cannabis), as I had dropped the untouched/unsmoked baggie 'o' weed down the sewer grate I happened to be on top of.

I had not smoked even a pinch, it was a virgin OZ.

The fuckers went into the sewer and pulled the "lid" (as we used to call it) out of the sewer.

It was soaked with wet sewage, so it weighed 56 grams (so they claimed) instead of the 28 it really was.

I was charged with felony "marijuana/drug" posession, felony assault and battery on a police officer, resisting arrest - there were 6 total charges, whatever they were - all of which, if found guilty, had the potential for a couple of decades in prison.

My favorite aunt, Aunt Mary, was, at the time, the personal secretary to the VP of Sears Roebuck, a Mr. Kelstadt, IIRC.

Aunt Mary got one of the Sears corporate attorneys to represent me in court at my arraignment.

He was not a criminal defense attorney, but he did know the judge, personally, who was assigned to my case.

They had gone golfing before the arraignment, and my attorney convinced the judge that I was a good lad (I was 18), and it was all just a "youthful indiscretion," if you will.

At the arraignment, the arresting officer was present when the judge accepted my plea-bargained guilty plea for misdemeanor weed possesion, and fined me $500.

I heard the cop's jaw hit the ground when the judge passed his sentence. No probation or anything else.

The lawyer's fee was $1000 (approx $6600 adjusted for inflation today).

I was the recipient of All-American White Privilege In Action!

I was 6 y.o.

The clip was introduced by the local TV news guy at the end of his report on the imminent launch of Freedom 7.

I think it triggered my interest in "surrealism" and making art, in general.

From the YouTube link:

One of the most famous gag films from the 1960s, "The Lighthouse That Never Fails" was made anonymously by the good folks at Cape Canaveral. Supposedly it was inspired by a common gag. With so many tourists visiting the vicinity and asking "where are the rockets", locals would point to the nearby lighthouse which, from a distance, looked a bit like a rocket. During launches supposedly some tourists were told (with the local pointing to the lighthouse) to "keep and eye on that black and white rocket out there." When the real rocket would explode from its launch pad, the bewildered tourists' reactions were appraised by the amused locals.

Also features Eddie "Rochester" Anderson and Mel Blanc as the abused store clerk.

Funny stuff.



BTW, according to online inflation calculators, the value of $1.00 in 1960 was equivalent to $10.11 in 2022.

$40 in 1960 was equivalent to $404.22 in 2022.

Happy Xmas, and here's my band Green Sparkle Frog's official Xmas song, "Here Comes Christmas"

This video attempts to visualize what it's like to literally, "trip on acid" at varying levels of intensity.

IMO, it's so accurate that I was concerned, as I watched it, that it may trigger an "acid flashback"!