Mystery on Summit Avenue

I don't know what to think about this little still life on Summit Avenue. But it's interesting.

World Reserve Monetary Exchange $2 bills

"48-hour distribution: These seldom seen full uncut sheets of never-circulated $2 bills are being moved from the private vaults of the World Reserve Monetary Exchange for immediate distribution to St. Paul area residents."

Quote above and image below from a Universal Media Syndicate full-page ad in Sunday's paper (Sorry, the 48-hour distribution time for this offer has already expired!). This image of a vault could be completely realistic for all I know. But it looks completely fake to me. I've noted why in the second picture.

Click for bigger.

Big Futura Bold Condensed

I like this building.

And I like the big, hand-painted, weather-worn Futura Bold Condensed on the sign. And I like the snowman in the window. And I like the rabbit.

(Click for closer view.)

A couple more Ducks

Found a few more Wisconsin Dells Ride the Ducks postcards. Click for a closer view.




An earlier post on Ride the Ducks postcards.

When coaster brakes were sexy

Movie star Rita Hayworth sells the New Departure Coaster Brake. The ad is also promoting Hayworth's appearance in the 1940 movie, "Music In My Heart."



I took these pictures while visiting the Deke Slayton Memorial Space and Bicycle Museum in Sparta, Wisconsin. NASA astronaut Slayton was born in Sparta and there's a wonderful bike trail built on a railroad bed in Sparta. 2 + 2 = Space and Bicycle Museum.

A broken clock is not always right twice a day*

This clock on the corner of 6th and Cedar is valuable to bus riders. "Am I late?" "Is the bus early?" The clock will tell you. It also told you the temperature. Less directly useful, but still -- nice. But for month or so in December and January, it was broken and bus riders were left to their own devices.

But the clock was broken in an interesting way. Not just dark. It would be dark for the count of five and then quickly flash a -- usually -- non-number. Interesting! For a couple nights, I tried to count along and then snap a photo at just the right moment. The results were not great. Eventually I remembered (again) the camera can take video. So, over a couple nights, I took video to capture the different things flashing. There are actually more than I thought there would be.

Click the image for larger.

*You could argue that this clock was right once a day if you're using a 24-hour clock. But this clock -- when working -- is a 12-hour clock.

Snow Light Heat

This video can also be seen at YouTube, but I like Vimeo better.

Levi's tag, now on Roku

Levi's jeans have a little cloth tag on the back right pocket. They've had this tag for . . . well, forever, as far as I know.

It's a cool visual thing. Distinctive.


That little tag has now been adopted by Roku -- the Netflix-streaming, media box thingy! There's a Levi's-style tag on the Roku's remote control and on the unit itself! I find that to be mind-boggling. Sure, it's accepted that a piece of electronic equipment would have its name embossed into the surface or raised out of the surface or printed on the surface or stamped out of something that looks like chrome and stuck on the surface. But to have the name on a cloth-like tag sticking out of the surface? Boggling.


The little tag -- which is some kind of plastic-cloth with the name on it (unfortunately, I think, printed on rather than woven into the cloth) -- makes the remote stick out on the coffee table. Also, the little tag hits the hand holding the remote and reminds the user that, indeed, this is the Roku remote.



Unrelated, but also cool -- the remote opens to access the batteries through a solid-feeling end cap, not a flimsy little door. The remote opens and closes with a satisfying snap. Good job, Roku!

Grand Theft Garage Logic

Joe Soucheray, the Twin Cities newspaper columnist and radio personality, has written a book based on his radio musings. I'm certain his book has nothing to do with the video game Grand Theft Auto, but the choice of typeface suggests it is so.


Update: Type aficionado and type designer Mark Simonson mentions in the comments that the font in question is "Pricedown" and it's designed by Ray Larabie. The font is based on a font named "Pinto Flair" that was probably used in the design of the logo for "The Price Is Right" game show. If you want your product or event visually associated with "The Price is Right" or "Grand Theft Auto" or both -- you're in luck. "Pricedown" is available for purchase at Myfonts.com.

And your point is . . . ?

I'm familiar with people writing phone numbers on bills and putting mustaches or lipstick on George, and there's the bill tracking website wheresgeorge.com that follows bills around the country.

But what is the reason for this stamp on the dollar bill?

There's a gun owner out there with a rubber stamp? Okay, not really a surprise.

"Let them take arms." My response would be, "Hey, knock yourself out."

Hand-lettered yard signs

Happy to see a local sign painter is getting some business. Usually this kinda stuff is just scrawled in marker on posterboard or laserprinted and stuck to posterboard. This way an actual artisan is getting some money. Good for the economy -- good for small businesses.



(Notes: The signs are referencing the following people, all, coincidentally, are Democrats. Betty McCollum -- the current U.S. Rep in this neighborhood -- is up for reelection. Her lawn signs read "Vote Betty!" The exclamation point seems to lather people up. Mark Dayton is running for governor of Minnesota. He's wealthy -- and he wants to raise taxes on the wealthy (and apparently kill jobs, too). The last sign is about Mark Richie, who is running for reelection as Minnesota's Secretary of State. Richie presided over the Coleman/Franken recount from the 2008 election. And because Coleman lost, the Coleman backers believe the recount was rigged by Richie.)

Charty charts

Charts -- like photos -- can lie. Not that this chart is lying -- but I think the secondary point it's making is a little misleading.

To me, this chart is saying the U.S. Chamber of Commerce is spending a lot of money for Republicans in this year's election. But the secondary point is: But look how much money the Democrats are spending on their side -- more than the Chamber by far!

I think the secondary point of the chart is Republican party supporters are spending more than Democratic party supporters. And that is obscured by the NY Times' chart.



So, I spent some time with Adobe Illustrator to remake the charts.

First, remaking the original chart, but using a straight bar chart. I occured to me that the Times was doing some kind of area chart/ bar chart combo where the bars are different widths. So the height of the bar is not representative of the amount. Odd.


Next, I grouped the bars by party, giving you something of a sense of the different amounts being spent by each side.


Next, the classic pie chart.


And finally, a stacked bar chart which puts an emphasis on the amount spent by both. Just under 110 million for the Republicans and just under 60 million for the Democrats.

The same data. A fairer chart? Maybe. A different secondary point? Absolutely.

Lawn signs -- stars

It's lawn sign season. Stars are a theme. Here the signs I've found in my neighborhood -- in the order of star count.

One star.





(I haven't found any two star signs.) Three stars.



Four stars. (Kinda like two thumbs up.)



Five stars.

Machete Machete

In the late 1970s, type wizard Mark Simonson designed a monthly broadside newspaper named Machete. Machete's slogan was "Never dull." It was black and white and fantastic all over. And the logo was unlike anything I had seen. Sharp, dangerous and very cool. After all these years it still looks great.


Anyway, I saw the movie "Machete" on Thursday and I just had to do this. As always, click for bigger.

Bike safety tips

Some instructional pictures from a bicycle safety brochure posted online at floridabicycle.org

I wish bike riding wasn't like this. I wish there were separate bike paths -- away from cars.

Anyway, these instructional drawings are taken completely out of context and are posted here strictly for amusement value. To see what they are really about, please refer to the original brochure.

Nice bumper sticker

Saw a great sticker on the back of a truck. I like the sentiment (Bikes have responsibilities). And I like the graphic.

But the average bike is a lot smaller than the average car. As I was thinking about that, I happened by this parked car. I parked my bike and took a picture.

Like watching paint dry. But it's glue.

Working on my crop art. The deadline is next Monday, Aug. 23. Coming up quick! Anyway, if you wonder what making crop art is really like, I'm blogging my very slow progress at another Blogspot site.

Lance Ward video

South St. Paul painter and cartoonist Lance Ward talks about his near-death experience and the effect it has had on his artwork. The video is illustrated with Lance's drawings and paintings.

[Please note: Lance uses strong language near the end of this video.]

My pal Ken Avidor had the idea to videotape Lance telling this story. I tagged along to run the camera -- and I then edited the final piece. Incidentally, the Wrapped Watertower video was recorded on the way home from Lance's house, so it was a very productive trip. Thanks for inviting me along, Ken!

All I wanted

Nice to know that you will get "all you wanted" when you sign up at a particular hospital group or insurance company. Bring on the higher expectations.