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Sculpture titled: Three Businessmen Who Brought Their Own Lunch: Batman, Swanston And Hoddle
*Sculpture is situated on the corner of Swanston and Bourke Streets.
By Alison Weaver and Paul Quinn
Bronze sculpture
1993
"This whimsical, life-size sculpture of three businessmen carrying lunchboxes is located in the heart of Melbourne. Artist Alison Weaver claims that while the men are named and motionless, they are also intended to be anonymous and to represent being 'trapped in the perpetual motion of consumerism'. Weaver figures these three Melbourne pioneers as 'pedestrians of vast time' who have returned to the city streets, and says her interpretation of them is driven by humor rather than by iconoclasm."
"Three Businessmen Who Brought Their Own Lunch was commissioned in 1993 as part of the Swanston Street Art Works Program, and was a gift to the City of Melbourne from the Republic of Nauru to celebrate the city's 150th anniversary."
Photograph by: Rouben Dickranian
Mozzarella is the leader of the Moofia, a gang assembled to extort milk from the lunchboxes of schoolyard bullies. Mozzarella is loving and kind to good kids, but ruthless and feared by those who harass the innocent.
Star Wars IKEA Billy Bookcases
Sigma Statues, Lunchboxes, Vintage Kenner, Galoob, & Hasbro - Black Series
The dabbawalas getting the lunch boxes ready outside Churchgate Station in Mumbai.
"Since 1890, dressed in white outfit and traditional Gandhi Cap, a Mumbai Army of 5,000 Dabbawalas fulfill the hunger of almost 200,000 Mumbaikar with home-cooked food that is carried between home and office daily. For more than a century our team have been part of this grime-ridden metropolis-of-dreams.
About 125 years back, a Parsi banker wanted to have home cooked food in office and gave this responsibility to the first ever Dabbawala. Many people liked the idea and the demand for Dabba delivery soared. It was all informal and individual effort in the beginning, but visionary Mahadeo Havaji Bachche saw the opportunity and started the lunch delivery service in its present team-delivery format with 100 Dabbawalas"
Seaside Antique Mall, Seaside Oregon.
Displayed on a pair of small shelves in a Seaside, Oregon antique mall was an unexpectedly rich cross-section of mid-century American popular culture: a miniature library of Big Little Books and their close relatives, arranged much as a child might have kept them eighty years ago.
These compact, brick-shaped volumes once fed the imaginations of Depression- and wartime-era readers, offering affordable adventures tied to radio heroes, movie cowboys, comic-strip families, and pulp-style wanderers of the American frontier.
Seen together today, they form a vivid snapshot of the characters who dominated children’s storytelling before television—Gene Autry and Roy Rogers, Tarzan and the Lone Ranger, Tom Mix, Red Ryder, Buck Jones, Blondie and Dagwood, even Charlie McCarthy with his ventriloquist’s smirk.
The Collection
What follows is an ordered survey of every book on the shelves, from top to bottom and left to right, noting the author, publisher, plot, and the factors that shape each title’s modern collectibility.
1. Gene Autry and the Raiders of the Range
Author: Gaylord DuBois (likely; BLB house writer) Publisher: Whitman – Better Little Book Synopsis: Autry stops a rustling syndicate threatening isolated ranchers.
Rarity: Moderate Desirability: High Importance of Condition: High — bright, tight copies command strong premiums.
2. Boss of the Chisholm Trail
Author: William Colt MacDonald
Publisher: Saalfield Synopsis: A cattle-drive adventure featuring rustlers, sabotage, and competition on the Chisholm Trail.
Rarity: Moderate Desirability: Medium Importance of Condition: Medium–High — Saalfield bindings wear easily.
3. Buck Jones in Ride ’Em Cowboy
Author: Uncredited (movie tie-in)
Publisher: Whitman – Big Little Book
Synopsis: Buck Jones protects ranchers and mentors a younger cowboy while thwarting outlaws.
Rarity: Moderate–High
Desirability: High Importance of Condition: Very High — photo covers lose value quickly when worn.
4. Andy Panda and the Pirate’s Gold
Author: Uncredited Publisher: Whitman – Better Little Book Synopsis: Andy Panda follows a treasure map and must outwit bungling pirates.
Rarity: Moderate Desirability: Low–Medium Importance of Condition: Medium
5. Flame Boy and the Indian’s Secret
Author: Uncredited; illustrated by Sekakuku Publisher: Whitman Synopsis: A Southwestern boy uncovers a hidden tribal treasure and faces rival treasure hunters.
Rarity: Moderate–High Desirability: Low Importance of Condition: Low–Medium — scarcity drives demand more than condition.
6. Gene Autry – Special Ranger Rule
Author: Gaylord DuBois (probable)
'Publisher: Whitman – Better Little Book Synopsis: Autry is deputized to break up a train-robbery ring aided by an inside man.
Rarity: Moderate Desirability: High Importance of Condition: High — color quality strongly affects value.
7. Rangers on the Rio Grande
Author: Millis
Publisher: Saalfield Synopsis: Texas Rangers battle smugglers and a hidden guerrilla band along the Rio Grande. Rarity: Moderate–High Desirability: Medium Importance of Condition: Medium
8. Blondie and Dagwood: Hot Water
Author: Chic Young (characters), prose uncredited
Publisher: Whitman – Better Little Book Synopsis: Dagwood’s attempt at home plumbing repair leads to domestic chaos.
Rarity: Low–Moderate Desirability: Medium Importance of Condition: Medium
9. The Lone Ranger and the Menace of Murder Valley
Author: Based on characters by Fran Striker; prose uncredited Publisher: Whitman – Better Little Book Synopsis: The Lone Ranger and Tonto investigate disappearances in an outlaw-run valley.
Rarity: Moderate Desirability: Very High Importance of Condition: Extremely High — top-grade copies are dramatically more valuable.
10. Tarzan (juvenile edition; spine not fully visible)
Author: Edgar Rice Burroughs
Publisher: Whitman – Better Little Book Synopsis: A simplified Tarzan adventure involving jungle rescue and hostile intruders. Rarity: Moderate–High Desirability: Very High Importance of Condition: Extreme — Tarzan BLBs in strong condition are rare and prized.
11. The Arizona Kid
Author: Uncredited
Publisher: Whitman – Better Little Book Synopsis: A masked Southwestern vigilante helps settlers resist land-grabbers.
Rarity: High
Desirability: Medium Importance of Condition: Medium — scarcity stabilizes prices even in worn state.
12. Roy Rogers (spine truncated)
Author: Uncredited
Publisher: Whitman – Better Little Book
Synopsis: Rogers uncovers and defeats a corrupt cattle syndicate threatening homesteaders.
Rarity: Moderate Desirability: High Importance of Condition: High
BOTTOM ROW
13. Lightning Jim: U.S. Marshal Brings Law to the West
Author: Uncredited
Publisher: Whitman – Better Little Book
Synopsis: Lightning Jim dismantles a multistate outlaw organization.
Rarity: High Desirability: Medium–High
Importance of Condition: Medium — rarity blunts the penalty for wear.
14. Prairie Bill and the Covered Wagon
Author: Uncredited
Publisher: Saalfield Synopsis: A wagon-train journey filled with storms, bandits, and internal sabotage.
Rarity: Moderate
Desirability: Low–Medium
Importance of Condition: Low — common wear does not greatly affect value.
15. Tom Mix and His Circus on the Barbary Coast
Author: Uncredited
Publisher: Whitman – Better Little Book
Synopsis: Tom Mix aids a circus threatened by waterfront criminals in San Francisco.
Rarity: Moderate–High
Desirability: High Importance of Condition: High — circus covers fray and chip easily.
16. Gene Autry and the Raiders of the Range (duplicate edition)
Author: Gaylord DuBois (likely)
Publisher: Whitman – Better Little Book
Synopsis: Autry defends ranchers against an organized cattle-rustling ring.
Rarity: Moderate
Desirability: High
Importance of Condition: High — differences in grade heavily influence value.
17. Blondie and Baby Dumpling
Author: Chic Young (characters); prose uncredited
Publisher: Whitman – Better Little Book
Synopsis: Domestic comedy centered on Baby Dumpling’s escalating mischief.
Rarity: Low–Moderate
Desirability: Medium
Importance of Condition: Medium
18. Hall of Fame of the Air
Author: Capt. Eddie Rickenbacker
Publisher: Whitman
Synopsis: Short heroic episodes featuring notable WWI aviators.
Rarity: High
Desirability: Medium–High
Importance of Condition: Very High — aviation titles were heavily read and good ones are scarce.
19. Roy Rogers: Robinhood of the Range Author: Uncredited
Publisher: Whitman – Better Little Book
Synopsis: Rogers confronts a self-styled “Robin Hood” whose motives prove corrupt.
Rarity: Moderate
Desirability: High
Importance of Condition: High
20. Sybil Jason in Little Big Shot
Author: Uncredited (film adaptation)
Publisher: Whitman – Better Little Book
Synopsis: A tough, streetwise child becomes entangled with gangsters in a movie-based story. Rarity: High
Desirability: Medium
Importance of Condition: Medium–High
21. Red Ryder and the Secret Canyon
Author: Based on characters by Fred Harman; prose uncredited
Publisher: Whitman – Better Little Book
Synopsis: Red Ryder uncovers an outlaw hideout in a remote canyon and stops a series of ambushes. Rarity: Moderate
Desirability: Very High
Importance of Condition: Extremely High — clean Ryder copies bring sharp premiums.
22. Gene Autry and the Mystery of Paint Rock Canyon
Author: Uncredited (likely DuBois)
Publisher: Whitman – Better Little Book
Synopsis: Autry investigates a disappearance tied to a canyon landmark, a treasure map, and rustlers.
Rarity: Moderate
Desirability: High
Importance of Condition: High
23. Two-Gun Montana
Author: Tex Reynolds
Publisher: Whitman – Better Little Book
Synopsis: A lone gunman challenges a corrupt cattle boss ruling a frontier town.
Rarity: High
Desirability: Medium
Importance of Condition: Medium — rarity keeps prices fairly stable despite wear.
24. The Story of Charlie McCarthy and Edgar Bergen
Author: Uncredited
Publisher: Whitman – Better Little Book
Synopsis: Lighthearted episodes featuring America’s most famous ventriloquist act.
Rarity: Low–Moderate
Desirability: Medium–High
Importance of Condition: Medium — bright, clean colors increase value noticeably.
25. Shooting Sheriffs of the Wild West
Author: Uncredited Publisher: Whitman – Better Little Book Synopsis: Episodic tales of frontier sheriffs confronting outlaws and jailbreaks.
Rarity: Moderate–High Desirability: Medium Importance of Condition: Medium–High — spines are often damaged, so intact ones are valued.
The Most Collectible
Here are the Top 10 Most Collectible Titles from the set, ranked by combined factors of rarity, demand, and market value:
The Lone Ranger and the Menace of Murder Valley
Tarzan (juvenile Better Little Book edition)
Red Ryder and the Secret Canyon
Buck Jones in Ride ’Em Cowboy
Gene Autry and the Raiders of the Range
Tom Mix and His Circus on the Barbary Coast
Hall of Fame of the Air
Lightning Jim: U.S. Marshal Brings Law to the West
Roy Rogers: Robinhood of the Range
Two-Gun Montana
About Big Little Books
The Big Little Book (BLB) was one of the most inventive and commercially successful children’s book formats of the early twentieth century. Introduced by the Whitman Publishing Company in 1932 at the height of the Great Depression, the BLB condensed the excitement of radio dramas, movie serials, comic strips, and pulp adventures into a compact, affordable brick of a book. Thick in the hand but small enough for a child’s pocket, each volume paired short, briskly paced chapters with bold illustrations on every facing page. For millions of children, the BLB offered an intoxicating mix of visual storytelling and accessible prose at a moment when inexpensive entertainment was not just welcomed—it was essential.
What made the BLB revolutionary was not merely its format, but its integration into the larger media universe of American popular culture. Whitman licensed the most recognizable heroes of the day—Gene Autry, Dick Tracy, Tarzan, Red Ryder, the Lone Ranger, Blondie and Dagwood, and many others—characters children already knew from radio, film, newspapers, and toy shelves. The books acted as portable extensions of those worlds, giving young readers the sense that they could hold a piece of their favorite serial adventure in their hands. Before long, the BLB became a cultural phenomenon, selling in the tens of millions and shaping the way a generation of American children read, imagined, and consumed stories.
Despite its enormous popularity in the 1930s and early 1940s, the Big Little Book began to fade from the cultural landscape in the years immediately following World War II. Several forces converged to bring about its decline. The rise of comic books, with their vivid colors, dynamic layouts, and cheaper production costs, offered children a faster, more visually intense form of entertainment—one that the BLB’s alternating text-and-picture format could not compete with. At the same time, the booming postwar economy expanded children’s access to pocket money, allowing them to buy a wider variety of inexpensive media. Radio was giving way to television, whose serial heroes captured youthful attention in ways print could no longer rival. As storytelling migrated to screens and comics racks, the BLB’s squat, bricklike form began to feel old-fashioned, even quaint. By the early 1950s, the format had largely disappeared from stores, leaving behind a distinctive, compact legacy: a perfect snapshot of Depression-era ingenuity and the first great experiment in cross-media storytelling for children.
Marketing Tie-Ins for Better Little Books: A Full Narrative
Better Little Books did not exist in isolation; they were part of one of the earliest and most ambitious experiments in what we would now call transmedia marketing. Whitman, their publisher, understood that a child’s enthusiasm for a character was rarely rooted in the written page. Instead it grew out of a thick, almost omnipresent web of movies, radio broadcasts, comic strips, serialized adventures, toys, cereal-box promotions, department-store displays, giveaways, and corporate sponsorships that permeated Depression- and wartime-era childhood. BLBs were therefore conceived as a kind of sponge — soaking up and reflecting back whatever characters were already thriving elsewhere in American popular culture.
Film tie-ins were among the strongest pillars of the BLB ecosystem. Western stars like Gene Autry, Roy Rogers, Tom Mix, and Buck Jones dominated Saturday matinees, which were largely attended by boys aged 7–14. Studio publicity departments gladly reinforced this by allowing Whitman to produce and distribute juvenile editions that expanded the movie’s universe in print form. In many cities, theater lobbies displayed BLBs next to still photographs and cardboard standees. A child who had just watched Gene Autry rescue homesteaders from rustlers could walk out of the cinema and immediately buy the book version, ensuring the emotional high of the film translated directly into a sale.
Radio tie-ins were even more powerful, because radio reached into homes every evening. Shows like The Lone Ranger, Charlie McCarthy, and numerous aviation or detective programs had millions of devoted young listeners, many of whom owned fan-club membership cards, premium badges, or cereal-box decoder gadgets. Whitman cemented this connection by advertising BLBs on radio programs themselves, or by having characters mention the books indirectly through sponsor messages. The result was a seamless feedback loop: radio increased book sales, the books reinforced devotion to the show, and the show brought new children into the fold weekly.
Equally potent were the tie-ins with newspaper comic strips, which served as the daily wallpaper of American childhood. Strips like Blondie, Little Orphan Annie, Popeye, and Dick Tracy appeared in virtually every major newspaper. Children saw these characters every morning over breakfast while their parents read editorials on the opposite page. Whitman exploited this universal visibility by converting comic-strip heroes into book protagonists, creating an inexpensive print form that extended the strip’s universe beyond a few daily panels. Because newspaper comics required no special effort from the child — no ticket purchase, no scheduled tuning — they functioned as perpetual advertising for BLBs.
The fourth major tie-in realm involved merchandise, toys, puzzles, games, paper dolls, and premiums, all of which created a halo of affection around the character and kept it at the forefront of children’s imaginations. Whitman itself manufactured many of these items, which meant the same characters appearing in BLBs also appeared on jigsaw puzzles, coloring books, board games, and even valentine cards. Other companies joined in: cereal brands, candy makers, and novelty manufacturers produced inexpensive premiums decorated with characters like Buck Rogers, Red Ryder, and Dagwood. A child playing with the puzzle or wearing the pin-back button was, without knowing it, participating in an ecosystem designed to make them seek out the BLB version when they visited the five-and-dime store.
Finally, there was the retail environment, which mattered enormously. BLBs were typically displayed at the front of Woolworth’s, Kresge’s, and Kress stores, often alongside racks of comic books, small toys, and movie souvenirs. During holidays, stores built end-cap displays featuring current BLB releases, sometimes with cardboard standees of Gene Autry or Tarzan to draw attention. Because these stores were among the few places Depression-era children could spend a nickel or a dime, BLBs functioned as both an impulse purchase and a souvenir from the wider entertainment world.
In short, BLBs thrived because they stood at the convergence of film culture, radio culture, comic-strip culture, merchandising culture, and retail culture. They were the physical artifact that a child could take home to extend the excitement created elsewhere. Few book formats in American history have ever enjoyed such a dense and coordinated web of cross-media support.
Books in this Collection With the Most Marketing Tie-Ins
Among the mini-library in the photograph, several titles benefited from unusually powerful multi-platform promotion. They are listed here in order of the breadth and intensity of their cross-media presence at the time.
1. The Lone Ranger and the Menace of Murder Valley
Nothing in the BLB universe touched The Lone Ranger for cross-media saturation.
One of the most listened-to radio shows in America
Enormous merchandising footprint (badges, masks, holsters, premiums)
Newspaper-strip presence
Later movie serials
Children’s fan clubs
This is the definitive transmedia character of the era.
2. Tarzan (Better Little Book edition)
A global property by the late 1930s.
Feature films starring Johnny Weissmuller
Newspaper comic strips
Pulp novels
Radio programs
Toys and games
Tarzan was everywhere, and kids adored jungle adventure.
3. Gene Autry titles (three in your set)
Autry was a marketing juggernaut.
Regular film releases
His own radio show
His own records
Touring concerts
Comic books
A massive merchandising line
Autry arguably rivaled Disney characters in total merchandise footprint.
4. Roy Rogers titles (two in your set)
Rogers took over Autry's mantle in the 1940s.
Feature films
Radio
Fawcett comic books
Toys, lunchboxes, cap guns
Clothing lines (shirts, kerchiefs)
His name recognition among kids was extraordinary.
5. Tom Mix and His Circus on the Barbary Coast
Although Mix died in 1940, his brand was enormous:
Dozens of films
His own radio program (“Tom Mix Ralston Straight Shooters”)
One of the biggest cereal-premium fan clubs in the U.S.
Children collected Mix gear with religious devotion.
6. Buck Jones in Ride ’Em Cowboy
Jones was a top Western star with:
Universal film serials
Merchandising tie-ins
Strong boy readership in pulps
He was slightly below Autry and Rogers in promotional reach but still major.
7. Blondie and Dagwood: Hot Water / Blondie and Baby Dumpling
Blondie had extraordinary mainstream visibility:
Massive daily comic-strip readership
A hugely successful movie series
A long-running radio show
Toys, puzzles, and Whitman paper products
Even though not an “action hero,” Blondie was everywhere.
8. Red Ryder and the Secret Canyon
Red Ryder was a merchandising powerhouse, especially for boys:
Comic strips in newspapers
Dell comic books
A wildly popular toy line (BB guns, cowboy gear)
Movie serials
Red Ryder gun sets alone made him a household name.
9. Charlie McCarthy and Edgar Bergen
This title rode the momentum of:
One of the most popular radio shows in America
Enormous publicity (including the famous W.C. Fields banter)
Doll and puppet sales
Film appearances
McCarthy merchandise was big business.
10. Andy Panda and the Pirate’s Gold
Andy Panda came from Walter Lantz Studios (same as Woody Woodpecker):
Cartoon shorts in theaters
Licensed toys
Coloring books
Not top-tier like Autry or Tarzan, but still strongly marketed.
DISCLAIMER
The evaluations of rarity, desirability, and the importance of condition presented in this overview are informed by general trends in the Big Little Book and Whitman collecting markets, but they are not definitive appraisals. Actual market value can vary significantly based on regional demand, specific printing states, provenance, and rapidly shifting collector interest. Likewise, the “Top Ten Most Collectible” list reflects a synthesis of typical collector preferences and cross-media cultural significance, rather than an absolute or universally agreed-upon hierarchy. These assessments should therefore be understood as POTENTIALLY ERRONEOUS contextual guidance for enthusiasts, not as formal valuations or guarantees of current or future market behavior.
This text is a collaboration with ChatGPT.
Made using Ann Kelle 'Super Kids' fabrics for Robert Kaufman.
Check out more photos and my testers' bags!
First school term is over, now we all can enjoy homework free time, don't have to rush preparing lunchboxes, get ready, pick up, drop off... We just sit down, relax at home, enjoy the sunshine and cool air. Gotta love school holidays.
It was too nice not to take photos today. This panda lunchbox is one of my favorite pieces of Re-Ment (I wish they would come out with a whole set of cute lunchboxes like this, I so want more). I am also so happy I found my teeny-tiny ziplock bags, which came with some miniature Christmas Cards I bought at the Dollhouse and Miniature Show a few years ago. They are the perfect size to pack a tiny lunch.
School's out and I'm calling Mom to come pick me up. Check out my cool custom lunchbox from Dollee Pocket! It is customizable with your name (up to 8 letters.) Coming soon to The Cove (Sept 15th.)
The outfit is available at the Dollee Pocket mainstore now. Available in four colors! Thanks to Dollee Pocket for sponsoring this post!
maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Cherry%20Moon/65/14/20
- Featured -
★ Outfit (Sweatpants, sweatshirt): [DP] Sweatsuit - Pink/Navy
maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Cherry%20Moon/54/36/21
★ Lunchbox: [DP] Animal LunchBoxes Gacha- **Gold Unicorn lunchbox (Rare)
maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Cherry%20Moon/74/36/21
★ Cellphone: [DP] Ipear Gatcha 2019- White iPhone
maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Cherry%20Moon/74/36/21
- Additional Items -
★ Earrings: EARRING HOOP-WIDE GOLD -RYCA-
marketplace.secondlife.com/p/EARRING-HOOP-WIDE-GOLD-RYCA/...
★ Shoes::*BABY*: CandyPop Sneakers { ToddleeDoo } - (HUD White)
marketplace.secondlife.com/p/BABY-CandyPop-Sneakers-Toddl...
★ Nails: [IK01] TD Nails Applier - Ombre (Pink/Purple)
marketplace.secondlife.com/p/IK01-TD-Nails-Applier-Ombre/...
★ Hair: Unorthodox- Lemonade Braids (Hair Fair 2019)
maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/XODOHTRONU/192/197/27
- Body -
★ Shape: Babyfaces Kianna (Modified)
★ Body: ToddleeDoo - Baby (v.4.1.0 FITTED)
★ Skin: Babyfaces- Simone 400
★ Head: TD Alice (v.1.0.9)
★ Facial Expression: *TD* Bento Mesh Head #Alice - Animation HUD (v.1.0.5)
★ Stickers: Izzie's - Face Stickers (Stars)
marketplace.secondlife.com/p/Izzies-Face-Stickers-TD-Omeg...
- Photography -
★ Environment: Fairy Blue Paulina
★ Pose: :*BABY*: ToddleeDoo Fierce Poses- 01
marketplace.secondlife.com/p/BABY-ToddleeDoo-Fierce-Poses...
★ Lights: FOXCITY. Projector Lights (VIP Gift 3-19)-
FOXCITY. VIP Basic Projector
maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/FOXCITY/180/69/21
★Location: Backdrop City- School Scenes
maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Backdrop%20City/125/213/2517
- Me -
★ Second Life: my.secondlife.com/amandalynne
★ Flickr: www.flickr.com/people/182834663@N06/
★ Facebook: www.facebook.com/stella.solei.79
Sculpture titled: Three Businessmen Who Brought Their Own Lunch: Batman, Swanston And Hoddle
Camera: Leica Camera AG M Monochrom
Lens used: Leica 90mm Summicron f2.0. This is the 1960 Silver version lens, which is known as "Beater".
*Sculpture is situated on the corner of Swanston and Bourke Streets.
By Alison Weaver and Paul Quinn
Bronze sculpture
1993
"This whimsical, life-size sculpture of three businessmen carrying lunchboxes is located in the heart of Melbourne. Artist Alison Weaver claims that while the men are named and motionless, they are also intended to be anonymous and to represent being 'trapped in the perpetual motion of consumerism'. Weaver figures these three Melbourne pioneers as 'pedestrians of vast time' who have returned to the city streets, and says her interpretation of them is driven by humor rather than by iconoclasm."
"Three Businessmen Who Brought Their Own Lunch was commissioned in 1993 as part of the Swanston Street Art Works Program, and was a gift to the City of Melbourne from the Republic of Nauru to celebrate the city's 150th anniversary."
Photograph by: Rouben Dickranian
New Bookcases with mostly '70s and '80s Star Wars: Kenner, Sigma statues, Lunchboxes, and Burger King Glasses
"Three Businessmen who brought their own lunch: Batman, Swanston and Hoddle" was unveiled on 20 April 1994 by his Excellency, the President of Nauru Hon. Bernard Dowiyogo M.P. A gift celebrating the 150th Anniversary of the City of Melbourne from the people of Nauru.
Location: corner Swanston and Bourke Sts This whimsical, life-size bronze sculpture of three businessmen carrying lunchboxes is located in the heart of Melbourne. Artist Alison Weaver claims that while the men are named and motionless, they are also intended to be anonymous and to represent being ‘trapped in the perpetual motion of consumerism’. Weaver figures these three Melbourne pioneers as ‘pedestrians of vast time’ who have returned to the city streets and says her interpretation of them is driven by humour rather than by iconoclasm. Three Businessmen Who Brought Their Own Lunch was commissioned in 1993 as part of the Swanston Street Art Works Program, and was a gift to the City of Melbourne from the Republic of Nauru to celebrate the city’s 150th anniversary.
The Firefalls of Yosemite Park are a natural phenomenon that occurs during a two week period every year. Set in the Yosemite Valley, itself part of the Sierra Nevada mountain chain in California, this has to be one of the most beautiful and fiendishly rare natural sights in the world. As the sun sets on the Yosemite Valley, the Horsetail Waterfalls of El Capitan are illuminated from behind by the red glow of the light rays, turning them into a huge and spectacular optical illusion – as if fire were raining down from the top of the cliffs.As the phenomenon only occurs in February, bad weather conditions and abnormal water flow can prevent it from happening fairly easily, which is exactly what makes it such a rare event. The spectacle can last from a quarter of an hour to 30 minutes and according to witnesses grows in intensity throughout until finished.
Though it has become quite an attraction in recent years, this is no tourist trap, given that it involves more than just getting on a monorail with a hangover and the vague hope of Burger King. There are no Firefalls glow-in-the-dark keyrings or commemorative Lunchboxes with a free water bottle; you need to know when, and how, in order to appreciate its natural beauty.
I pictured both these books side by side since they are in a series together. In a way, you sort of need both books to get all the information. The detailed section on head molds for instance is located in the 1990s edition. All the softies and porcelain dolls are in the 1980s book. No, it doesn't make sense why things were divided that way. But if you are an avid Cabbage Patch fan or are looking to get the most information, you'll need both of these books. I purchased mine off eBay from two different sellers. While I was more interested in the 1980s dolls, I also thought it would be fun to learn about the 1990s ones too. It worked out in my favor that I purchased them this way, because I wouldn't have known what info I was missing.
Let's start with the "good" stuff about the books. This paragraph is going to be painfully short. I'm sorry, I don't find these books have many positive attributes. Firstly, there aren't other guides on Cabbage Patch dolls like these two. In fact, the only other collector book I saw was for merchandise (like lunchboxes, figurines, etc). Basically, if you wanted a printed encyclopedia, these are your only options. Secondly, the quality of the pages is impressive. I noticed this immediately the first time I flipped through my 1980s book. They are very heavy and smooth. They won't tear from regular use and are easy to turn. Some doll books use lower quality paper that sticks together and gets battered with a lot of use. Thirdly, there is a wealth of information and photos in both books. There are enormous paragraphs with lots of detailed information and so many photographs that it gives you a headache. I definitely feel that the authors knew what they were talking about. I don't doubt their knowledge. Finally, there is a decent variety of information about CPKs. In the 1980s book, there is a section on soft sculptures/porcelain dolls, one for birth certificates, one for speciality lines, several on standard dolls, a chapter about foreign dolls, etc. The 1990s book documents Hasbro, Mattel, pets, patterns, and has a guide on head molds. Since Cabbage Patch dolls were manufactured by several different companies over the years, it's refreshing to see authors tackle all that was available (during the years these books were published obviously), rather than only focusing on the originals. Often times, newer generations of dolls get snubbed because they are "inferior," but these two books provided fair coverage.
Now that we've gotten the positive attributes out of the way, I have to tackle all the things that went wrong with these guides. Normally, I try to be upbeat when talking about dolls...it is supposed to be a fun hobby after all. But when it comes to doll books, it's all business for me. I buy guides/books for research and information. It's so hard to find detailed reviews or information about many of these books because they tend to be so old. That's why I chose to be a bit cutthroat with my "review" of these two books. I honestly feel that where things went wrong was with the fact that there was more than one author. There are two main authors--the person who put the book together and the collector whose dolls were primarily used for photos. But there are seven other collectors credited at the front of the books. One person didn't write all the introductions to each chapter, and several people's dolls were photographed. This is the main basis for inconsistency and repetition. Sometimes a poorly coordinated collaboration is worse than one person who is very organized sharing what they know. Such was the case with these two books.
Firstly, while there is a ton of useful information, the way it is arranged is an eye sore. There are pages of just walls of text. When you want to reread something for clarification, it's hard to even know what section you originally saw it in. It's easy to miss critical information because your mind has trouble absorbing all the words (this is coming from someone who reads well and my sister who reads all the time). I wish the sections were broken down into more manageable, concise ways. Placing appropriate pictures in the middle would have helped. While there are photographs in these parts of the book, they tend to be put in strange places. There also things that could have been photographed for clarification and further explanation, but were not. Some information was repeated over and over again, throughout the book. This was not limited to text, but also with photos. I can't tell you how many time "rarities" were brought up in both books. Yes, 90s "rarities" were mentioned in the 80s book and vice versa. I did not like how so much crossover information was put into both books when the author made a clean cut divide between the decades. I understand some reference to the 80s in the 90s book (and the other way around), but to copy so much of the same information was redundant and out of place. To give you an idea of how trite these two books are, the mass market Cabbage Patch chapter is IDENTICAL. The only difference being that the 80s books has a few reference photos sprinkled in this section. Literally word for word is the same in both editions. The same coverage was given for both decades. No further info was added to elaborate more on the decade that was the topic of said book either. The rarities section in this chapter is nearly TWO pages long. Then at the start of every consequential chapter the rarities for the given section are REPEATED. Sometimes the entire introduction for a chapter is comprised mostly of relisting all the rarities for that time frame. It's exhausting, repetitive, and quite frankly useless. Yes, there are some collectors who care about rarities, so there is a place for them in a book. However, when dolls are supposedly so rare, the average person might not ever encounter them. So wouldn't it be more useful to elaborate on information that is practical and concerns the typical dolls you will find? Imagine if an identification guide had better documentation of super rare dolls and extremely skimpy poor coverage of the most produced ones. How on earth would you get much use out of it, and would you even be able to learn much about the majority of your collection?
The repetitious information reappeared in each chapter with the way every doll was described. I show examples of this in my sample of pages photographs. LIterally the hair color, eye color, manufacturer, etc is listed EVERY time. Do we need to know a doll is made by Mattel in the MATTEL section? Can't we tell on our own that a doll has brown hair and brown eyes? Listing the head mold and tag information was useful. But the majority of the information just clutters up the notes, and makes them a chore to read. Plus, the clarification about outfits was a disaster. Sometimes it was unclear if the outfit came on a doll originally, or the collector bought the doll secondhand and they happened to be in said ensemble. Speaking of clothes, there was hardly any coverage of the outfits. The explanation of how the CPK wardrobe worked was shoddy at best. I would have loved it if the authors clarified that outfits were often repackaged as fashion sets, that some ensembles were sold for four or five years, etc. I had to figure all this out by myself...and it was considerably easier for me to get the gist of how it all worked as I collect a wide variety of dolls. But for a newbie doll collector, they might have more trouble realizing how it all came together. I also don't understand why some fashion packs were pictured in the books randomly, but there wasn't a designated section for clothing. There could have been so much other info added to this book to add clarification. I would have loved a size chart for each era of CPKs. I had trouble figuring out if my first doll was a Preemie or not...this book was no help. I also was confused when I bought my first girl and she had a super small #1 head mold. While the books do mention head size variation, it's so hard to find the information and absorb it since it's organized poorly. I won't go into great detail about every chapter in these books, since I have in depth sample of pages photos that delve deeper. But I will say that the chapters were all put together strangely and often had inappropriately placed information. The areas that needed more explanation were either entirely skipped over or slapped together incoherently.
The photography is also equally as frustrating in these two books. For instance, the same doll would be pictured two to three times on one page. This repetition served no purpose either--it would simply be the doll photographed by him/herself, in a random group shot, etc. Most of the time, the multiple photos had no informational value, like say a facial closeup and a boxed/loose photo. Even if there were occasions when several pictures of the same doll were useful, they were often split up over the two pages. In the head mold section of the 1990s book, the head molds don't run in a strict order. You'll see them bounce between #4, #6, #5, CB39, #6, #8, etc. That order is absolutely erratic and makes what would be a useful section impossible to follow along with. There are random objects placed in some of the pictures which serve no purpose other than decor. We don't need to see your Beanie Babies, potted plants, baskets, etc with the dolls. These books are encyclopedias, not blog posts. Some of the dolls were pictured with actual Cabbage Patch items, like furniture and vehicles. But they were NOT shown anywhere else in the book. Why was there no furniture section when clearly the collectors who contributed had a lovely selection of them?!!! I'm a stickler for detail, and I personally think consistency is so important when you are trying to lay information out for somebody to use. It makes a massive difference if all the dolls are photographed in the same way (meaning on the same backdrop, in the same pose, etc). This makes the dolls themselves the focal point, and not the random teddy bear that was tossed in with them. I will say that this was less of an issue for the 90s volume, since most of the dolls were photographed in their boxes. However, there was unequal coverage of some of the dolls in the 90s book...like pages upon pages for Snacktime Kids. Some of the pictures are abysmal quality too. They turned out so blurry and out of focus that they aren't even useable. For a professionally printed, published book, this is unacceptable.
These two books had so much potential. It's a shame that collectors with a great deal of knowledge and sizeable collections weren't used in a better way. Ultimately the organization is what ruins these two books for me. If someone with a heavy editing hand had gone through these books and fixed some issues (including omitting repetitive information and photos), they could have both been amazing reads. I do not regret purchasing them as I have learned about Cabbage Patch dolls through reading them. However, there are several blogs online that may have less information, but are much easier to digest. Sometimes tackling a smaller topic and going more in depth is the better option. I feel that ultimately the collaborative effort worked against these two books, rather than bolstering them to be better. I ended up with more questions than answers too. Basically, I had to use these books much like the way I use eBay--for "field research." This means that I had to flip through the pages in the books and come to my own conclusions by comparing the dolls and information to things online, in order to have my questions answered. The topic of Cabbage Patch dolls as a whole is very confusing and impossible to fully document due to their randomized nature. But with better editing, an easier to follow layout, and more concise chapters, these books could have been phenomenal.
A bat in purple-ish skies.
And down here on earth, the POETRY INVASION continues unabated.
WITHOUT TRUST
Without trust, might as well just
Forget it. Without trust, suspicion
And doubt will multiply to feed on
Your well-being until what could
Have been a good thing is over
Before it’s even begun. Without
Trust, it’s just mutual using, fine
Until you have to take responsibilty
For it. Without trust, togetherness
Is just an illustion, beautiful at first,
About as permanent as a raindrop.
We’re like freezers now, forever
Cold and closed. To understand
Why, look at our story from the
Very beginning, look at all that’s
Gone down, and ask yoursellf
How such a complete absence
Of trust could ever come to be.
SINK
Way too deep in the dirty, shitty,
Polluted waters of bad emotions,
And trying not to sink. Swim on,
Keep going – as sure as the waters
Are not supposed to be this way,
There must be something cleaner
Up ahead. Don’t drown because
Another was carelessness with
Their ocean. Swim on, these
Waters are just part of a much
Bigger sea that cleanses itself in
Time and will dissolve all this filth.
BIG EGGY
Eggs came flying from the hens
Like bullets. Hens on a steady
Amphetamine diet in the egg
Factory, meeting the demands
Of America’s breakfast each
And every morning. Till one
Day the hens used the eggs
As their weapons, rebelled,
Shot their way out of slavery.
Hens like Spartacus, a band
Of feathered refugees, on a
Quest to find freedom in the
Land of the free. I thought of
This after a really good omlett.
Maybe there realy are drugs in
The eggs. Or else this freedom
Thing is just contagious.
AN HONOR THING
I can get conflicted about returning
Somewhere I’ve previously been
Declared unwelcome. If you treat
Me like someone you’d rather not
Have around, until I hear differently
That’s how I’ll always see you. It’s
An honor thing. That might sound
Completely outdated in this day and
Age, but I’m talking about honor
Given, not just honor received. If
You’ve asked me for distance, then
The respectful response is to give
You that distance. If you’ve ever felt
Differently, you’ve never so much as
Lifted a finger to show it, so what is
The respectful, honorable thing for
Me to assume? Sorry if I’m sounding
Redundant, but sometimes you look
Upset at me for ignoring you.
NAKED
When a fully clothed man feels
Naked, that’s his problem. When
A naked man feels fully clothed,
That’s our problem. As much as
I try to undress a subject with
Words, without resorting to
Coarseness of speech, we keep
A veil over the unadorned truth
For the sake of public decency.
THE DOGS WHO ARE OUR FRIENDS
I don’t mean to feed the rats. I
Don’t want to feed the rats. But
Then there are the dogs who
Are our friends. The ones who
Belong to no one, no security,
No guarantee of the next meal.
Grateful for the scraps –different
Value system. You feed them and
They’ll guard you. Unlike people –
You feed them and they’ll rob you.
I am not my brother’s keeper and
I know even less about keeping a
Dog. They just stay close because
They want to, I guess.
SPINACH BELIEVER
Speechless – don’t even feel like
Talking. But it’s these moments
When speech eludes me that I’m
Probably closest to the truth, when
My particular state of affairs, state
Of being, state the union makes
Like Popeye, proclaiming, I am
What I am, and there you have it.
You can see clearly now, the rain
Is gone. Ok, Mr. Spinach Believer,
Kindly explain what’s up with this
Not being able to sleep? With this
Nagging feeling something isn’t
Exactly right? That I’m not quite
Where I’m supposed to be? Is
This a never-ending lesson in
Patience? The Buddha, I’m told,
Sat under a tree for years until
He’d transcended attachment
And found enlightenment. I don’t
Have the patience to follow his
Example. I think enlightenment
Hides behind these big questions
And little mysteries that never
Fail to leave me speechless.
SPIRITS IN MANU’A
People here so casually mention
Spirits in Manu’a, I have no doubt
They believe in them. I think it’s
Great there are spirits in Manu’a –
Spirits need a higher visual profile,
For sure, because people will only
Pay lip service to what they can’t
See. It’s high time the spirits kick
Some ass on the legion of stupid
Humans who would dare to mess
With them. I know most people
Here firmly believe Manu’a spirits
Exist. This fills me with fear, not
Because I think the spirits would
Harm me, but because so many
Here know that spirits are real
And still act the way they do.
PRECIOUS THING
Maybe someday when it doesn’t
Really matter, you’ll tell me what
Was going on in your head and I’ll
Tell you what was going on in mine
And we’ll both feel like idiots. We
Both felt the precious thing, and
Proceeded to create conditions
For it that the other couldn’t even
Cognate, never mind live up to.
Having no way to tell which way
Was up, it became more a matter
Of who was trashing it the worst.
I guess that’s the true nature of
The precious thing – it doesn’t
Really teach you that much about
Someone else, just about yourself.
YUM, COMFORTABLE SLUG
Fear reinforces conformity,
But, I’d wager to say, does
Not engender excellence.
For conformity stifles the
Aspirtion to rise above the
Anonymous mediocrity, to
Risk getting noticed out of
Line. Therefore, be a rebel
Or be a slug. Imagine if you
Breathe your last and the
Best thing you can say
About your life is, “It was
Comfortable”. Yep, very
Comfortable in a shell, in a
Mental cell, under the spell
Of mindless conformity.
Content to be just another
Comfortable slug, quietly
Waiting in line to provide
Some bird with breakfast.
SUMMER
We’re both living organisms
And nature made us a layaway
Plan. This is totally organic,
The most popular mechanics,
Encyclopedia Britannica
Defines it as life carrying on.
These cells weren’t meant for
Confinement, and the high
Court of nature recently ruled
In their favor. Time to think
Of future generations and
Whether they’ll remember us.
We leave behind poems and
A long story for others to tell
As summer approaches.
FULL MOON
I was born under the sign ruled by
The Moon. Its fullness has the
Strongest pull on the tides. We’re
Mostly liquid, but not enough for
The Moon to make us levitate.
How strange that would be – the
Bigger you are, the closer you’d
Get to the Moon. Even if we don’t
Float into the sky, the waters inside
Us feel the pull of the Moon. Our
Thoughts, feelings, emotions and
Perceptions all grow more intense.
It’s a time when joys can run high,
Sorrows deep. The stillness of the
Moon throws into contrast all the
Turbulence we carry. Things seem
Slightly distorted, but no, it’s just
The agonies and ecstasies of daily
Existence amplified by the Moon.
In a heightened state, transfixed
By the glow, I sometimes wonder
If floating into the sky might not be
Such a bad idea after all.
CRISES
Emotional crisis, health crisis, plumbing
Crisis – can you blame me if I think life
Has something personal against me?
Am I using too much air? Would the
Food I eat be better allocated to the
Starving in Africa? Do my words add
Irreparable damage to the general
Peace, harmony and understanding
Among mankind? Is even thinking I’m
That significant just another ego trip?
So many questions… Meanwhile, the
Crises need tending to. One by one
I’ll put a band aid on each and carry
On just like any other day.
ETIQUETTE
Look, sorry if you think this is
Strange, but on the planet I
Come from , this would be
Considered good manners.
This would be considered a
Gesture of affection and
Sincere respect. It would
Express appreciation for
All the things so special
About you, for the way you
Make things better just by
Being you. On the planet I
Come from expressions
Such as these are not
Considered in poor taste,
And are given and received
With grace. On the planet I
Come from it’s considered
Important to express such
Things if you feel them. But
On this planet everything
Is the opposite.
I.O.U.
There’s a difference of opinion
Over what my civic duty is. My
Controversial purse strings are
Being called to account. The
Public sticks its nose into my
Business records as if I owe
Them, as if the check is in the
Mail. They’re just jealous of
Success, real or perceived,
And think a high profile gives
Them an excuse for low blows.
NANNIES
Sometimes crimes don’t seem
Like crimes at all at the time,
More like a smart move – too
Bad the other dimwits missed
It – a chance to take advantage
While the tides have turned in
Your favor. So there you sit
Trying to explain what you did
To all the people you hurt, and
Your only defense is no one
Stopped you, as if all the laws
Of the courts and the heart are
Nothing more than nannies,
Derelict in their duty to keep
You from burining inquisitive
Fingers on the hot stove.
FILE
Judas on the computer, forwarding
The Pharisees useful tidbits they
Reward with pieces of silver and
Crumbs of approval. We keep a
File on you. Everything you’ve
Done, all you’ve ever shared with
Anyone, is documented, can be
Used as proof. When good times
Turn bad, good time friends turn
Witness. Think Heaven has issued
You a free pass? It doesn’t apply
Till you expire. Till then, you’re
Liable for an outstanding balance
Here on earth, and we’ll collect
By any means necessary. That’s
Why our meticulous file records
Everyone you ever sold out to get
Where you are. Just call it looking
After Number One, like Judas did.
FOREST
Subtleties of understanding are
One thing, but lacking an idea
In common, you can’t see the
Forest for the trees. The same
Thing looks different from a
Few feet away. The sublime
Just sounds crude unless you
Describe it with the right kind
Of English. It’s simple enough
We’re in a forest, but all the
Subtleties filter the light so
Differently, making the path
Appear a dead end. I left an
Offering of crumbs to mark
Some kind of trail, but now
My knapsack’s out and every
Direction looks no different
From the other. Have to find
My way through this forest
Of understanding on intuition
And faith, which is another
Way of saying I’m lost.
TOOLS IN HAND
Tools in hand, I threaten to carve
In stone a yes or no. Instead, it’s
Something ridiculous engraved
On this unsuspecting rock. I’d
Hate to immortalize anything
Really important on this eternal
Surface. Importance is so often
Nothing more than a response
To a moment. Subject the ages
To it? That would be like waking
Up one morning with a tattoo
You’re not so sure you even
Like anymore. So tools in hand,
Hoping to look important, what
Shall I carve in stone? Try sound
Profound – We need to laugh
At the ridiculous, or else it’s too
Easy to become frightened by it.
TIP THE SCALES
Weigh my flawed actions,
Speech and understanding
To see if they tip the scales
Of blind justice, knowing
Justice is never really blind,
Just suspending plain sight
To avoid judging solely by
How things appear. Blind
Judges use a third eye, feel
Vibes, an otherworldy sense
Of knowing , a logic of the
Subconscious. Still , among
Humans no objectivity is
Pure. At best, there is only
Balance or its absence, and
So the symbol of the scale
To weigh the right or wrong,
Inconsequence or severity
Of our every flawed action,
Speech and understanding.
PAIN
Pain wants to have a conversation,
Making its presence known. Pain
Has the uncanny knack of leading
You to believe it’s moved on, but
Just when you’re basking in the
Sun, a moving shadow distracts
You from your warm imaginings
And you just know. Pain wants to
Powwow, update its files, inquire
Discretely, do a routine service
Check while you’re still under
Warranty. Our relationship is
Purely professional, pain and me.
I don’t exactly relate, just grow
Accustomed to how it comes
And goes. I asked why, how long,
It looked at me thoughtfully and
Replied, sorry, that’s classified.
Not knowing just comes with the
Pain, and vice versa.
STAR AND DIRECTOR
Very few actors can handle being
Both star and director. This leads
To the shocking revelation that
The star isn’t really what’s best
About a movie, only what’s most
Visible. If it’s only the star that
Matters, then how come some
Of them turn out one lousy film
After another? Star, director,
And some mysterious X factor
All combine to make a movie
Memorable. We might both be
Stars in our own way, or even
Directors when someone needs
To take that role. Neither of us
Might require star billing, but I
know we’d both resist taking
Direction from each other. This
Has something to do with self-
Perception, artistic vision and
Who controls either or both.
How dare you presume you can
Direct me??? We two could only
Combine talents were we to cede
Direction to a source that’s bigger
Than the both of us.
LETTERS TO A LOVE
It meant something to try and
Make contact and keep in touch.
I wonder how many great love
Poems are really letters to a love
That never was. Whether you’re
A poet, a house painter, or a
Parking lot attendant, you’ve got
To have hope, do something
With what you know inside, try
To make contact and keep in
Touch, just so someone knows
They’re not the only one who
Feels the same things you do.
CONVENTION
Snub convention or take advantage
Of it, that is the question. I brought
With me the conventions of a
Different location, which renders
Me unconventional in this context
But a leopard can’t change stripes.
Boundaries, social responsibilities
And persona space all have their
Place, but I have two legs, I could
Walk through all that. You’ll notice
I won’t, because that would be
Ignoring the boundaries you set by
Implication. Your actions demarcate
Where the boundaries should be,
Until you indicate differently. That’s
The system, the convention, the
Way things are done among those
For whom doing things right means
More than simply victory or defeat.
True, I have two legs, I could walk
Through all that, but only if I knew
You wanted me to.
ONENESS AND LUST
Oneness, I wish I could bring you
A worthier gift than lust, than an
Admission of my weakness, than
A diagnosis of my disease. Little
Wonder you fail to find these
Attributes attractive. Or is it my
Own shame at the mortal truths
That reduce us to something so
Un-godlike we fear we displease
God who made us this way? You
Can read my intention at a glance,
And I don’t like feeling exposed
Any more than I like feeling alone.
IGLOO
In our polar bear skins, we blend in
With endless white, color of purity.
Since the cold comes so naturally
To you, I’m going to build an igloo
Where we can rendezvous. I don’t
Cherish the thought of killing seals
And walruses, but if we don’t eat
Them, something else will. Please
Let me draw the line at porpoises.
I’d even eat a porpoise for you, but
Only if we have to, and even then
With some regret. Alas, unfortunate
Porpoise, friend of man, it was you
Or me, buddy. That’s life in an igloo -
Not a McDonalds in sight but plenty
Of penguins.
ROPE
Judas, rope is not the answer.
Do you think running away
From what you’ve done will
Inspire compassion? Some
Would say it was all written
Before it happened, that you
Simply acted out your part as
Scripted. What is this, a last
Minute bid for sympathy?
To judge yourself unworthy
Of finding your soul again is
Not your judgment to make.
Who are you or I to shut the
Door to redemption for even
The worst, even ourselves?
It might seem futile atoning
For a crime impossible to
Forgive, but it would have
Mattered if you had at least
Tried. Judas, you’re not a
Bird, you don’t belong in the
Tree until you get your wings.
MENTALS
The mentals at the shopping center
Scare me by making me realize I’d
Like to slap them, report them to
Public Health, call the cops on them,
Complain to center management
(Or customer relations if they even
Bother).They make me realize I’m
Not such a nice guy after all, not so
Tolerant after all, not so forgiving
After all (but you already knew that).
You know you’re really nice, really
Tolerant and really forgiving when
In your heart you can pardon even
The mentals who ruin breakfast for
You with their thespian pleas for
Your extra change, not only those
More level-minded who really know
Better but steadfastly believe they
Can easily atone by simply making
The appropriately pious noises.
(inspired by the song “Royals”.)
TIDES
Our tides go in and out. So
Full at first, always ending
So empty. Nothing but a
Barren reef left sometimes,
But when the tide’s in, it has
A life of its own. Notoriously
Fickle, tides go where they
Will, but curiously, sooner
Or later they always seem to
Lead right back where they
Started. You can almost set
A clock by it. Ever feel like
The tides are trying to tell
Us something?
TWO HUNDRED GRAND
Hillary will give you a speech for
Two hundred grand. Once a price
Is known, it just makes you wonder
How far someone would go. Say the
Boy/Man Love Coalition had two
Hundred grand in the bank from
Bake sales - d’ya suppose she’d take
The gig? Or if a Saudi billionaire
Offered five if she’d read the local
Phone book for fifteen minutes,
Just as some kind of statement,
Would Hillary take it? For eight,
Would she pop out of a cake singing
“Emotions” to oilmen in Texas?
For nine, and an end to famine in
Africa, would Hillary strip down to
A flesh-colored one-piece live on
The web? And of course what they
All want to know – how many
Millions would it take for her to
Promise not to seek the Presidency?
Don’t take up a collection too soon,
Pal. What’s the matter? Afraid of a gal
Who knows her own worth and how
To budget her time?
CURVES
And so our story curves again.
I’m not afraid to comment, but
Taken out of context it might
Cause discomfort, which was
Never my intention in the first
Place. I was just hoping you’d
See the curve of my thoughts
And reconsider. Ideas come to
Me like freeway headlights, all
At once. I can only see them
Clearly for a second before they
Disappear. Sometimes one of
These passing thoughts makes
It all the way to the page. What’s
Inside me filters what’s around
Me and out comes these words.
Just so you’ll know if you have
Thoughts anything like mine.
HOOTENANNY MAN
Hootenanny man learned to use
Language to talk of things beyond
The barnyard. What makes the
World turn or the bar room fall
Silent. What makes schoolboys
Wish they could be president, or
Presidents wish they could spend
Summer at the fishing creek again.
Love growing from the ruins of war,
Our moment face to face with the
Eternal. Ever since we’ve had a
Language we’ve had poets using it
For more than the evening news,
Playing at being serious, seducing
With breathless invocations of the
Sanctified, reducing ageless wisdom
To blithe childishness, elevating a
Moment to eternal importance.
It’s not all contradictions, sings the
Hootenanny man, it’s as natural as
Having two eyes, two ears, two
Hands and two feet instead of one.
(Inspired by Bob Dylan)
LONG, LONG WAIT
Long, long wait for something
That never quite arrives. At the
End of the line, at least you can
Say you did your part. You try
And stay on a path with some
Kind of heart, hoping that if
You try to do right thing you’ll
Find the guidance you need
Whenever you come to a fork
In the road. When things go
Wrong, you try and take the
Knocks with grace, think about
What happened and why, and
How you can do better next
Time. Along the way, you’re
Going to lose a lot of Illusions,
But gain an insight or two that
Might help you make sense of
The long, long wait.
OVERBOARD
Overboard in matters of the heart,
Enthusiasms, passions, likes and
Dislikes, heartaches, suspicions,
Questions and more. Things seem
To resonate a bit deeper with me.
I have something to lose - you
Better take me seriously or take
A hike. But for the few I can trust,
I go overboard in my friendship
And wouldn’t think twice about
Giving whatever I can. I project
Balanced calm for appearances’
Sake, but shake the tree and I’m
Overboard before I can remember
My life vest.
PROFILE
How do you profile me in your
Mind? I’ve noticed how people
Do that – create you in their
Thoughts as whatever kind of
Character is convenient for the
Narrative they’re trying to sell.
Then one day you hear a person
Described who you don’t even
Recognize, and you realize its
Supposed to be you. Perhaps
You heard or saw something
That fit previously established
Prototypes, then constructed
A profile accordingly, but it’s
What you didn’t see or hear to
Factor in to your floor plan that
Brings me sadness.
HOPE AND DOUBT
Hope and doubt are battling it
Out. Emotionally speaking,
Self-protection can get violent.
Ideally, hope and doubt would
Just reach a balance, but mine
Want to get in each other’s
Faces and wreak havoc. Hope
Accuses doubt of having no
Faith in love. Doubt says hope
Is just an unrealistic fool. They
Both look bruised after clashing
Repeatedly. At the end of the
Day, for worse or better, I find
Myself favoring hope, only
Because doubt seems like a
Dead end. But I understand
Doubt’s resentment – just
Trying to look out for me and
Not being listened to.
DETECTIVE
Some people are scarier to think
About than to actually be around
Because they’re not like bank
Statements, easily reconciled
And confidently filed. Leave me
Alone with my thoughts for too
Long and my detective tendencies
Start me analyzing the profile,
Putting evidence together like a
Jigsaw puzzle. The emerging
Image isn’t always pretty which
Makes me question whether
Some pieces might be missing or
That’s it in all its contradictory
Glory. Bizarre as it may sound,
I really want you to be right, but
Can’t relax my guard untill my
Investigation of all the ways you
Could be wrong clears your name.
BUDDHISM 2014
The sins of this life, we pay for
In the next life, like karma is a
Credit card with a set limit to
How much forgiveness we can
Reasonably expect. Clear your
Balance of bad deeds in this
Lifetime and eventually you
Accumulate the bonus points
To transcend the karmic wheel
And buy into a timeshare in
Nirvana. But pass your limit
Too quickly and you’ll find
Your account overdrawn of
Grace, leaving you to a fate
Of paying back your debts to
Humanity while still human
(At least in appearance). All
This reveals why some can
Enjoy a spree of shockingly
Bad behavior and just smile
Like Mona Lisa, while others
Need only think a single bad
Thought and they’re promptly
Squashed like a bug under a
Bicycle. Splat: transcendence.
SILENCER
The national anthem asks, oh say,
Can you see? But some people
See more than they can say.
Like when I know I’ve been sold
Out – saying it aloud would only
Compound a painful absence of
Grace, so silence provides me my
Only solace. Wounds don’t need
Words or even sound to send a
Message, but if you see these
Soundless words, they’ll tell you
That what cuts even deeper than
Feeling sold out by you is the way
You can’t say you’re sorry. If you
Can’t say it, I can’t assume it.
ACCESS DENIED
Access denied because the
Password is some kind of
Family secret. What a fall
From lofty rank, like a big
Shot discovering he’s firing
Blanks. All thanks to the
Collective will of the herd,
Eager to hoof it for greener
Pastures and better friends,
While I fend for myself
Against coyotes. The herd
Heard rumors I know how
To download corrupt DNA
Into the deep end of your
Gene pool, making them
Panic for the sanctity of your
Bovine bloodline. Actually,
I was thinking one small
Small step at a time. What
Nerve of the herd not to
Investigate, just terminate
My access with no warning
Or farewell. If I’m outcast
So ingraciously, then may
It be coyotes instead who
Crack your sacred access
Code and bite you and your
Over-protective herd on
Your collective ass.
OVER-REACTION
Drop an atomic bomb on the mouse.
Oops, you took out the whole house –
Collateral damage. No, it’s not an
Over-reaction. We are the last bastion
Against the mice. It’s them or our
Civilization, like the Alamo defending
Us against Taco Bell.
IN MY OWN WEENIE WAY
It’s not exactly a new idea, some
Joker typing away trying to capture
A voice in his heard. They used to
Do it with pens. When the Marquis
De Sade got thrown in a French
Prison for writing blasphemy,
Pornography and politically
Insulting poetry and prose, they
Took away his pen just to be
Cruel but he continued to write
On the walls of his cell in his own
Blood and feces. This man had
Something to say. So do I, though
I’m just a weenie compared to the
Marquis. I don’t write to you in
Blood, but in my own weenie way,
Believe me, I’m bleeding.
SCRUTINY
Like a frog in biology class, I can
Feel scrutiny bearing down. You
Want to understand my mechanics
Like Japan always striving for a
Better radio. I better copyright
My consciousness, bottle up my
Lightning and sell in on special at
Rip Off Mart. You can buy Beatle
Wigs, Springsteen lunchboxes,
Rolling Stone dildos and Grateful
Dead bongs. Would you like to
Own my itch, or just brag you’ve
Got accurate data, made a factual
Analysis? Anal, yeah sis? I am of
No commercial or academic use.
I don’t even see why you like me
Unless your screws are tinny too.
MILESTONE
They left me to figure things
Out on my own, so I guess it’s
No surprise I soon deduced
What works for me. No one
Insisted I pursue a certain
Direction, so my process of
Self-becoming never involved
Pleasing anyone else. Left to
My own devices, of course I
Quickly intuited my vices of
Choice, but hopefully with a
Virtue or two as well here and
There. This self-reflection bit
Feels perilously close to self-
Promotion, but it’s another
Milestone so I’m supposed to
Tally up where I am and how
I got here. Ok, so where am I
And how did I get here? The
Answer is, I don’t really know,
Which I suppose is what I get
For watching the scenery
More than the signs.
UNCONVENTIONAL COUNSELING
(NOT TO MENTION UNSOLICITED)
When I say they live in the past,
I don’t mean it as an insult to
Their good intentions, but they
Were young in the ‘60s and ‘70s
And you’re young now. In their
Own way, they’re just trying to
Protect you, but some protection
If they force on you a partner
Who’ll beat you, cheat on you
And divorce you. Then what are
They going to do? Say it was your
Fault? Partner selection is a very
Personal thing, not just another
Community undertaking. You
Used to marry whole families
Together – that was all fine and
Good – but nowadays even
Families can’t guarantee if a
Particular pairing will soar like
High flying birds or crash like
A train off the tracks, and
Doesn’t staying together just
For the children’s sake sound
Like a benign form of torture?
Marry for serious love or don’t
Do it, I say, but everyone has to
Decide for themselves.
Just a few of the thousands of lunch boxes rushing about for all those posh business folk :) As for the trolley... no idea why she is pushing that about!
The other display case with more 2x4 items, like lunchboxes, radio, bag, soft bricks, baggies filled with 50 2x4 bricks from LEGO etc etc.
wolvie > sentinel
I've had four lunchboxes in my life and wolverine was proudly on one of them (the thermos too!).
The guy fought ninjas, giant robots, and time-traveling spacefucks -- he needs to be on my lunchbox. The only bizarre part is seeing the character 20 years later in a movie being portrayed as a real person.
______________________________________________________________
Wolverine is a trademark of MARVEL CHARACTERS, INC. Copyright 2009 Marvel Characters, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
King-Seeley Thermos - Red Plastic Lunch Boxes
* Star Wars - Vader and Droids
* Empire Strikes Back - X-Wing with Small Montage
* Empire Strikes Back - Chewie, Han, Leia, Luke in Hoth Ice Cave
* Return of the Jedi - Cartoon Art of Wicket & R2
* Ewoks - Cartoon Art of Wicket Flying
I did some major grocery shopping over the weekend, stocking up on some amazing goodies for the lunches... but I also just instigated a Use-It-Up! theme for the week... so I made due with what I already had around the house (with one minor exception!)
Tomorrow is going to be difficult as I have to pack both lunch and dinner (my eBay-ed extra lunchboxes are bleaching as we speak!)
Sculpture titled: Three Businessmen Who Brought Their Own Lunch: Batman, Swanston And Hoddle
Camera: Leica Camera AG M Monochrom
Lens used: Leica 50mm Noctilux f1.0
*Sculpture is situated on the corner of Swanston and Bourke Streets.
By Alison Weaver and Paul Quinn
Bronze sculpture
1993
"This whimsical, life-size sculpture of three businessmen carrying lunchboxes is located in the heart of Melbourne. Artist Alison Weaver claims that while the men are named and motionless, they are also intended to be anonymous and to represent being 'trapped in the perpetual motion of consumerism'. Weaver figures these three Melbourne pioneers as 'pedestrians of vast time' who have returned to the city streets, and says her interpretation of them is driven by humor rather than by iconoclasm."
"Three Businessmen Who Brought Their Own Lunch was commissioned in 1993 as part of the Swanston Street Art Works Program, and was a gift to the City of Melbourne from the Republic of Nauru to celebrate the city's 150th anniversary."
Photograph by: Rouben Dickranian
Construction workers heading to their cars after their shift has ended. Thanks for your visits and stay blessed:)
Please click on the photo to see it large in the light box.
Now that he's had some time to recover from his imprisonment in a small box, Loki's getting restless. And he's not impressed with my attempts to keep his weapons from him.
"Does this look like a Tesseract-powered sceptre to you?"
No, Loki, it looks like a happy lunchbox and a marshmallow all set for roasting by a certain god of mischief!
"I do NOT roast marshmallows, and I do NOT carry lunchboxes!"
But there's chocolate and grahams inside so you can make ooey gooey s'mores!
"Point me to the fire."
...and Re-ment love, the polka set was I think what made me doolally for Re-ment in t he 1st place!
TEA: I have never tasted coffee in my life, the best tea in the world is REUM (sp.), little purple Alpine flowers, picked by hand in summer sun in the mountains, dried on the old stove at a Swiss farm and drunk when you're under the weather. Better than any medication. These same relatives homebrew absinthe, oh yes! And pine tree liqueur..really special stuff!
FLOWER FAIRIES: I grew up loving them, I love them still, why even my dollies have mini FF books!
BOOKS: growing up with a Dad who averaged reading one book a day, it was inevitable I would love books, too! *Some day* (I hope and dream), I shall have space to have a library, floor to ceiling books and a ladder that you shift across to access them..... .
Oh, and I love ladybirds, and boxes, and lunchboxes, and smelly stuff, and nice packaging, and Brit stuff (like the pepper and salt guards here) cos I grew up there, and Le Creuset becuse it's fab, and measuring cups, baking stuff, and CHERRY COKE - who knows where to buy this in Sydney???
An orange is a type of citrus fruit which people often eat. Oranges are a very good source of vitamins, especially vitamin C. Orange juice is an important part of many people's breakfast. The "sweet orange", which is the kind that are most often eaten today, grew first in Asia but now grows in many parts of the world.
Oranges are round orange-coloured fruit that grow on a tree which can reach 10 metres (33 ft) high. Orange trees have dark green shiny leaves and small white flowers with five petals. The flowers smell very sweet which attracts many bees.
An orange has a tough shiny orange skin. Inside, the fruit is divided into "segments", which have thin tough skins that hold together many little sections with juice inside. There are usually ten segments in an orange, but sometimes there are more. Inside each segment of most types of orange there are seeds called "pips". Orange trees can be grown from pips, but some types of orange trees can only be grown from "cuttings" (a piece cut off a tree and made to grow roots). The segments and the skin are separated by white stringy fibrous material called "pith". In most types of oranges, the skin can be peeled off the pith, and the segments can be pulled apart with the fingers to be eaten. In some oranges it is hard to take the skin off. With mandarin oranges, the skin, pith and segments can all be pulled apart very easily. Orange skin is often called "orange peel".
Oranges are an important food source in many parts of the world for several reasons. They are a commonly available source of vitamin C. They last longer than many other fruits when they are stored. They are easy to transport because each orange comes in its own tough skin which acts as a container. They can be piled into heaps or carried in bags, lunchboxes and shipping containers without being easily damaged.
The colour orange takes its name from the fruit. The word "orange" is unusual because it is one of only a few English words that does not rhyme with anything.
Fordite, aka Motor Agate.
A cab with the rough in the background.
Overspray on the equipment of the paint and baking shops at automotive plants was chipped off by workers and taken out in their lunchboxes. Layers and layers of automotive paint and primer created this specimen.
The man who cut the cab said it took about 3 minutes to do so - very soft.