Pinned Up
The other day I was walking through the hallowed halls of Coffman Memorial Union, and I came across a poster stuck to the wall.
Astute readers who are up on their pinup lore will know that this is an homage to Gil Evgren’s “A Spicy Yarn.”
No matter, for the poster did not have the correct approval stamp to be posted in the building, so I ruthlessly confiscated it and removed to my home. It is now on the table in my living/dining room. I did feel a little guilty about it, so I sent an email to the designer, figuring that he might know who had posted it (or maybe it was him), and then I could hand it off to whoever hung it to rehang it, only this time with the right stamp of approval. At least, that’s what I was telling myself.
Adam Turman was nice and let me off the hook. In fact, he told me to stop by his booth at the Craftstravaganza the next day and introduce myself. I did so, intending to pick up a signed poster with the power of my credit card.
I knew that I wanted this poster because it was completely badass. It was a partnership between Adam and Lonny Unitus — Adam did the bunny, Lonny did the tiger. Grrr! Fucking bad fucking ass. Adam wrote a bit about it on his blog. Lonny kind of did, too, but really he just posted the pic from the inside of the City Pages. I met Lonny and almost bought the poster from him, but I figured that I should see if I could get some sort of magic deal from Adam.
While I was waiting to introduce myself to Adam, he unrolled this poster for another customer, and I literally gasped. The colors in this image don’t have the same “punch you in the face” sensation as the real thing. I think he’s sold out now.
Cluster Bomb
If you’re wondering, he made this poster for the Poster Offensive show. If I had to hazard a guess it’s a response to the jingoist rhetoric we’ve been soaking in of late. (like Palmolive. Remember those ads? “You’re soaking in it!” Never mind.)
I also saw this poster (or maybe I just noticed it on his website), and it clued me in as to that feeling of “this looks really familiar” that I’d been experiencing.
The Hopefuls
See? It looks just like Artbabe. You remember Artbabe, right? No? I have this particular issue of the comic, you may read it if you wear the gloves while you handle it.
Putting two posters on my credit card gave me free stuff, like this mini poster:
Hot Dish
It’s a variant of this poster that he made for Veruca Salt:
Or maybe it’s the other way around.
It is a small world, of course. There was a weird “communicator’s forum” conference thing at work this week, where people who communicate for a living gather to talk about communication. I went to the same three break out sessions as my boss, Zach, so we could make sure that we both had the same information. I learned that Schell’s beer changed from brown bottles to clear bottles to show off their beer. If you’re me, you swore off Schells immediately. Of course, I left that breakout session craving beer and sandwiches, but what else is new?
Back to the point, which is the diminutive size of the planet on which we live. It turns out that our design manager Jody had gone to school with the esteemed Mr. Turman back in the day, so the next thing you know, we’re all sitting at a table together. I hadn’t had enough time to write this post and hang my new posters (must… have… frames…) so I just vibrated and tried not to be too annoying, despite wanting to pump him for information on the “poster scene” of which he spoke. Also, I was sitting next to Letta, who was a friend of his and used to do stuff for Burlesque of North America ™. She was from Fargo, so, you know, that whole fucking North Dakota business and all that.
“Hey, there’s a poster show at this First Amendment Place,” Zach said a few months ago.
“Oh, wow, that’s cool,” I replied. “How did you find out about this?”
“Oh, you know, I have friends,” Zach answered. Dammit. Then again, I am the one with the Blood Ocean poster, despite not having stuck around for the bands. What? You’ve never left an opening to go… do stuff… with your girlfriend?
I’m really not much of a scenester, but I occasionally try, and I’m a good man to have in your corner. I can sew up an eye like nobody’s business.
Wow. Maybe I shouldn’t drink gin and tonics while posting to my blog.
At least I’m listening to Sleater-Kinney to offset all the scantily clad ladies. Mmm… Sleater-Kinney…
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