Doris Day Pops!

In spite of the dubious protestations in the title of his tumblr (see "I Am Not an Artist"), my brother is indeed a bona fide artist.  His work has been bought and sold and he is regularly shown in galleries and at special events.  While his work maintains a "low-brow" sensibility, he is a master of composition and he is constantly working on refining his skills and employing innovative techniques.  My favorite part of having an "artist" for a brother is the benefit of custom artwork.  

Our most recent Christmas celebrations found us drawing names for gifts; too many people and too few dollars made it a budget and time-friendly necessity.  Lucky for me, my brother drew my name and I got one of the coolest presents of my life -a matched set of pop art-inspired, Doris Day portraits.

Aren't these cool?!!
Hand painted and screened with Doris Day's visage, what isn't
visible in the photograph is the micro-glitter that
shimmers over the entire piece.  wacky tacky and glitter
are inexorably bound together!

I love this picture of Doris Day and the way he mirrored the slight tilt of her
 head; in my mind it makes it more of a set and looks more dynamic when hung.

The scale is great too; these 2x2', lime green and bright orange
 wall hangings make quite a statement.

After seeing the thrill I expressed upon removing the brown-paper wrapping from these beauties, do you think my fifteen-year-old cousin made fun of me by telling me not to cry?  Yep.  Did I cry?  I was close (we are huge crybabies in our family).  As I have mentioned before, I LOOOOOVE handmade gifts!!!  There is something so miraculous about the beautiful synergy of an honest "It's the thought that counts" sentimentality and the exhibition of time, talent, and love.  Unlike many of the gifts that are exchanged over the holiday season, most of which will quickly fall out of favor or fashion, these pieces will stay with me forever.  Interesting art and the thoughtfulness of a talented sibling - now that is good gift giving!  He might have a hard time recognizing and accepting his talent - but I don't!  MY BROTHER IS AN ARTIST!!!

"Any Way the Wind Blows" - Doris Day

Just because I made "the artist" and his girlfriend

 watch this scene from Please Don't Eat the Daisies

the other day as I sang along...

Cheers!

Mr. Tiny

WANTED: A Winner!

Have you seen this woman???

If you've seen or heard of the whereabouts for one RetroSandie, a dyed-in-the-wool wacky tacky woman, please direct her to Mr. Tiny for a major reward!

Okay, this seemed like such a good idea before I remembered that a wanted poster requires other people to turn in the miscreant for the bounty.  In retrospect it didn't really translate to our giveaway, but once I had created the poster (which in itself makes little to no sense due to the enforced brevity of the program), I just couldn't ditch the idea.  However misguided the idea, I want you all to take a moment to think of what a wonderful world we would live in if all wanted criminals turned themselves in just to claim a t-shirt.

Anyhow, a big congratulations to RetroSandie!  Thank you for entering our giveaway, for your comments, and for your support of the wacky tacky life!  You were chosen as the winner of our giveaway by a random number generator (I was too lazy to write all the names down and draw one from a hat - my preferred method).  To claim your prize, please send an email with your name, address, and the t-shirt size you desire to wackytackytiny{at}gmail{dot}com.

Don't forget, even if you weren't as lucky as RetroSandie, you can
still be the proud owner of the wacky tacky Signature Tee by
visiting Mr. Tiny's South Side Market on Etsy.

A hearty and heartfelt THANK YOU to all who entered our giveaway and to all of you who follow along!!!  We have already gone from 150 followers to 160 - again, thanks to your support and diligence in spreading the gospel of wacky tacky.   With your encouragement and enthusiasm, there will be many, many more giveaways to come.


Cheers!

Mr. Tiny

150!!! wacky tacky - We Dig GIVEAWAYS!!!

Can you believe it?  We are now up to 150 followers!  It is hard to imagine, given the ubiquity of self-published stream of consciousness on the internet, that anyone would have found, followed, or "friend-ed" us.  We are grateful for the friendships we have forged here and for all of the funny, kind, inspiring, and thoughtful comments you have shared over the past 183 entries into our wacky tacky journal.

Yes, for your friendship and patronage we are truly grateful.  To commemorate the auspiciousness of the occasion we have, in one fell swoop, both a thrilling announcement and an exciting giveaway (you must watch the video first).

  

Presenting the official wacky tacky t-shirt!  Destined to be the first in a long series of wacky tacky apparel, the wacky tacky t-shirt is designed and printed in the good ol' US of A by Tugboat Studios (the only resource for all of your design and screen printing needs).

"WACKY TACKY, WE DIG OLD STUFF"
Available in sizes Child's XL - Adult XXL

Just in time for the holidays, the official wacky tacky t-shirt, makes the perfect gift.  Aunts and uncles, dads and grads, any shape, any size, there is wacky tacky t-shirt for everyone on your holiday list - even yourself!

See, there is a t-shirt for anyone and everyone.
Yes, this is Mr. Tiny's actual family not a group of highly-trained, professional models.

wacky tacky pride

One of these t-shirts, plus our set of four collectible pinbacks, can be yours by simply entering our 150-Follower Giveaway!!!

Our first giveaway essentially had no rules at all except "follower" status because, as a rule, I hate rules!!!  The truth is, we would love to earn a larger following so we can spread the wacky tacky gospel to a broader congregation.  So, this time around there will be a few rules only so that we can get more people to join in on the fun.

RULES FOR ENTRY:

1. All entrants must be official followers of wacky tacky (new followers are definitely welcomed and encouraged).
2. All entrants must leave a comment in the comments section of this post (it can be about anything - food, your pet, news of the day - preferably something you love about Mr. Tiny's bowtie collection).
3. To earn a double entry, you must show a link, in the text of your comment, where you have shared the giveaway on your blog, Facebook page, Twitter account (sorry for my neediness).
4. All entrants must have a valid mailing address to which I can ship your prize (foreign or domestic).
5. All entrants must have a deep and abiding love of wacky tacky, Mr. Tiny, and accordion music (honor system, not necessarily in that order).
6. All entries must be received by Friday, November 30, 2012

There you have it.  It's as easy as one, two, three.  Follow wacky tacky, tell your friends about wacky tacky, and leave a comment about wacky tacky.  The winner will be chosen at random at an arbitrary time (7:03pm PST) after an arbitrary period of entry (one week) and will be announced in an upcoming blog post.  Odds of winning are entirely dependent on the number of entries.  The giveaway is open to wacky tacky followers anywhere in the world as long as they have an address recognized by the USPS.

If you don't happen to be the lucky winner, but you can't wait to get your hands on one of these beauties, fear not, for behold I bring you good tidings of adequate joy; the official wacky tacky t-shirt is available for purchase at Mr. Tiny's South Side Market on etsy right now!!!

You'd better enter or I'll sick these toughs on you!
The little one's the meanest!!!

Thanks again for your support and friendship.  We hope that you've enjoyed the blog and will continue to share in the love of all things wacky tacky!


Cheers!

Mr. Tiny

Book Review: Little Toot

As much as I love trawling thrift stores looking for treasures, the fact is that I am actually pitifully, pathetically, and painfully bereft of the thrifting mojo.  But sometimes the thrifting gods (probably just to mess with my brain by instilling a false sense of confidence) smile upon me.  For some people, their benevolence can be realized in a coveted Catalina swimsuit in just the right size, or a pair of lamps with matching, fiberglass shades, or a Heywood-Wakefield side table for under a million dollars.  For me it is found in the uncovering of a childhood favorite.  Imagine my surprise when at the very same thrift store, where a couple of months ago I found a well-loved copy The Little House,  I found a copy of Little Toot.

I will be honest, just like The Little House, I never owned the book Little Toot, which actually made finding the book all the more exciting.  I was introduced to the charming story as one of the animated sequences from Disney's cartoon revue, Melody Time, as sung by The Andrews Sisters. 

Little Toot is the story of a boat who, in his neurotic desire to become the best and most efficient tugboat,  nearly kills two cruise ships full of unsuspecting passengers, myriad dock workers and pedestrians, himself, his father, and potentially, a bevy of marine life as well.  It is the unflinching examination of father-son relationships, betrayal, forgiveness, and redemption.  It explores themes of self-loathing, bullying, depression, alienation, and most importantly, water safety - pretty heavy stuff for a children's book.

The boat in question
Don't be deceived by his cheery expression; this is an
emotionally disturbed tugboat teeming with
psychological troubles, pent-up angst, and unresolved
daddy issues.

Anybody would feel discouraged if all they could muster
 was "a gay, small - toot-toot-toot."

Happy one minute, sad the next, they were going to rework 

the story with trains instead of boats and call it "The Bi-Polar Express."

(Forgive me, my intention is not to make light of depression
or mental illness but that one made me laugh)

Okay, so maybe I was reading a little too much into the story.  Truth be told, Little Toot is an eager tugboat that makes a few mistakes but learns some valuable lessons along the way.  Published in 1939, Little Toot is a solid children's book with amazing, watercolor illustrations.  Here are just a few of the plates from the book.  I think it is cool how consistency was not an issue for Gramatky; as long as the key elements were there, Little Toot was sometimes a cheery, pudgy-faced, button-nosed, line drawing and sometimes he was heavy-browed, awash in color, and had dark, shoe-button eyes.

Papa Toot

The many faces of Little Toot

My favorite illustration in the book
The blue and the red in the water had me searching
for some 3-D glasses!

I love how strongly influenced the animators were by Gramatky's beautifully rendered watercolors.  You'll see that now as you enjoy Little Toot, as interpreted by the fine folks at Disney Studios.  Come on, it's a no-brainer.  The Andrews Sisters, plus Disney, plus a zippy little tug boat - what's not to love?

"Little Toot" (1940)

I know there was a greater power at work when I found Little Toot.  Just the night before, Mary asked me to pick a song at random and sing it and what song do you think I chose?  Hmmmm?  "Won't you ever grow up Little Toot?"  With the forces of the cosmos on my side, I am currently working on a song entitled, "New Car, Free House, and Five Million Dollars."

Cheers!

Mr. Tiny

We Dig Old Stuff

So my brother is a talented artist, graphic designer, screen printer, musician and world-class wise a**!  His screen print shop Tugboat Studios is the place for all of your shirt, poster and design needs.  We have been brainstorming/collaborating on some design ideas and this is what he came up with (I hate ending sentences with a preposition but sometimes it sounds pretentious to write properly).  A blog post about his shop will be forthcoming but until then here is what may be wacky tacky's first t-shirt!

For a full explanation on the techniques used to draw/paint the dinosaur, you would have to talk to him.  It is probably not a good idea to contact him, however, because he'll probably be mad that I posted this "rough draft" - he has acute perfectionist tendencies.  I LOVE the way it has the vibe of an old, roadside souvenir shirt.  Needless to say, one of our biggest influences growing up and continuing into adulthood is Pee-Wee's Big Adventure.  We were lucky to have grandparents who lived in Banning, CA which is just a short ride from Cabazon (where the dinosaurs live) so we were able to see them quite often.

Pee-Wee at the Cabazon Dinosaurs

I couldn't find the clip I wanted, so here is the trailer!

Cheers!

Mr. Tiny