Damn Flies!

Workin' it!

The houseflies seem especially bad this end-of-summer. They're everywhere...and for every three I kill three more take their place without any break in the action. The swatter has wracked up well over 100 kills in just the last week, sometimes bringing squishy death to two and even three at a crack. The shop vac has sucked up a veritable cornucopia of hornets and flies...enough to feed dozens of frogs. These little barf slurpers are just ticking me off big time. Tried the sticky strips, which are kind of cool because they remind me of the ones my Grandpa used to have in the barn, just covered with hundreds of mummified flies. They definitely work, but seem rather unsanitary (not that squished fly guts on the counter are particularly sanitary either). I always thought what an ingeniously simple device those strips were. I am going to stock up on Venus Flytraps next year...have them spread out around the room...that'll be fun. For now, I'm just waiting for a good first frost.

Invenusable Flytrap, one of the more interestingly goofy villains on Mighty Morphin Power Rangers. Where's this guy when you really need him?

Royal Order of Hipsters

One of my favorite, funky web sites is Fez-O-Rama (makers of handcrafted fez hats). I've always been intrigued by fez hats, especially the richly embroidered and bejeweled ones, with the little gold tassels. There's something goofy (picture an army of Shriners on scooters in any parade), exotically "Ali Baba and his 40 Thieves-ish" about a fez...it's one of those things that is "so unhip it's hip."

I'm thinking of having some made for a Stumpjumpers club at Stumpjack Coffee...a not-so-secret society of creative thinkers, java junkies, doodlers, bad poets, surfers, ne'er-do-wells and street preachers.

Picture an army of fez adorned Stumpjumpers on scooters in any parade...

Lava Lamps & Stumpjack Tiki Lounge

I picked these three little lava lamps at Kohls Department Store in GB a couple weeks ago. They were on sale for five bucks apiece. This really crappy picture doesn't show the bright red colors of the "lava." Also bought a big silver rocket ship lava lamp with lime green lava that I have by my bed at home. Who doesn't love a lava lamp...they are indeed one of the coolest inventions ever (and here's one place where you can learn even more trivial nonsense about this bit of inspired genius: OozingGoo.com)

From the very first genesis of the Stumpjack concept I have wanted to do a Stumpjack Tiki Lounge: coffee & cocktails. I'm still planning on seeing that vision through at some point, so I won't reveal too many details lest some jackanapes steal the concept ahead of us. But the lava lamps and a recent conversation got me thinking about this in earnest once again. The tiki concept is nothing new, it's current revival in popularity notwithstanding, but the idea we have has a few hopefully unique aspects to it to make it even more intriguing.

Some might argue that lava lamps and tiki really define two different styles or aesthetics, one being the retro 1960's/early '70's aesthetic that lava lamps are a part of and the other being the '50's/early 60's Polynesian Tiki aesthetic. I would agree with that wholeheartedly, and yet these days the two seem to have melded together quite comfortably in the consciousness of most people who appreciate the retro aesthetic that both movements celebrate. In any event, I'm just thinking out loud here...in preparation, I suppose, for moving forward at some point with defining and outlining our ideas for the Stumpjack Tiki Lounge.

Anyway, dig these other pics of lamps from the OozingGoo site.