The Friday Flush #9

The Friday Flush #9

   It's been a week, and that's a fact. I was rear-ended in L.A. a couple of days ago, by a foreigner who had no insurance. It put a funny haze over everything else. I was a bit shook up, but will also be out a small chunk of change (just as we head into the holidays, no less) to get the car fixes. Thus, it's time to flush. This week's wrap up takes us to my birthplace in spirit, an interview with a cartoon great, and some random ferret fun. 

Toothpick San Francisco
   I stumbled across the images of Scott Weaver's toothpick San Francisco and was awe struck. As an artist and a native of San Francisco, I'm torn between being amazed and being freakin' amazed. It's says that it took the artist over 100,000 toothpicks to make over the span of 35 years. I can't get to garage projects half the time, let alone fathom the amount of time that Scott dedicated to this project. There is a Vimeo video in the link where artist takes you on a tour of the project. Here's where it gets crazy nuts awesome. The piece is a complex kinetic sculpture, meaning that he places ping-pong balls in the piece toward the top, and they roll and bounce their way through the entire structure. The pictures are amazing. The video is just mind numbingly cool. Think of a project in your past that took a long time and tell me anything that might come close to this one. I gotta step up my game.

Interview With Bill Watterson
   I've been a fan of the Calvin and Hobbs comic for many years. Bill Watterson had me in stitches with his satire on so many things, portrayed through the eyes of a young boy and his tiger. In a rare Bill Watterson interview by Jake Rossen, we get a few more snippets from the creator of a comic loved by so many. When I first stumbled across the comic, it was random, and I laughed out loud so many times that I lost count. The trouble Calvin would get into, the imagination he had, the sarcastic retorts that Hobbs would lob back at the boy. As I've become a parent, I get to now see the other perspective. That of his parents. Dealing with a 3YO boy with an active imagination feels like living the comic. Calvin likes to empty the bathtub in his story, and so does my 'Lil Man. So the window into an man's perspective things like children, parents, girls, teachers, and such rings true and has evolved. I have the anniversary book, but this extra time with the man is precious. If you don't know of Bill Watterson and his baby, Calvin and Hobbs, please check it out.

Ferrets Playing In Packing Peanuts

   I've watched this video of ferrets playing in packing peanuts,....twice,...the whole way through. I don't know if it's because I owned a ferret in college a long time ago and I miss that little guy, or if it's just that cute & funny to watch. There's a brown one and a white one, and once they realize where they are, the fun ensues. I remember my little guy when I took him out into the snow. He sniffed around, walked in a bit, and then dove head first into the foot deep powder and disappeared. Only for a second, but it's clear that these little fellas in the video are in heaven. It's a nice little break and always fun to see cute animals having a good time.

   And thus we end The Friday Flush #9. After a nice long week, I hope we all can take a breather and regroup before the next round. We've taken a different tour of San Francisco, spent some time with a comic legend, and relaxed with our furry friend the ferret. All my best.

J.