Author Archive
December 8, 2019 by tomdalzell
Collections
When I was putting together my latest blog about Will Squier and his ever-changing limit-stretching imagination-busting collection of toys and kitsch, I made a mental list of the other posts that I have written about unthemed collections. I wrote the list out. I thought of others to add. And I made this post. I […]
December 1, 2019 by tomdalzell
Laurel Skye Bio
Laurel Skye wrote me a whirlwind summary of her life experiences. I illustrate them here with photographs. Lived in Laurel Canyon in ’64, then I got busted for pot, crossing from Mexico. Hung out with Steve Mann, an extraordinary guitarist and singer who played with the likes of Janis Joplin (who was living in his […]
November 28, 2019 by tomdalzell
Thanksgiving Post: Me and Arlo
Today is a holiday, which would normally mean a post about a notional field trip to a quirky place not in Berkeley. Today, our travel is in time as well as place. I will tell you about my three close encounters with Arlo Guthrie, fitting because the story told in his brilliant and powerful anti-war song “Alice’s Restaurant” begins […]
November 25, 2019 by tomdalzell
Will Squier (at least) One More Time
I have posted about Will Squier and his every-changing monster collection of kitsch, toys, cut glass and strange things. In 2016, I updated an earlier 2015 post, so this makes this post a third post. I have seen Will around town, mostly at sales by the Addisons. He sometimes works their sales. There have been a […]
November 16, 2019 by tomdalzell
Al Geyer and his Annapurna
Annapurna and its owner Al Geyer have been part of Telegraph Avenue for 50 years. Annapurna was from the start part head shop, part import store. The term “head shop” was coined in the late 1960s to describe a store specializing in marijuana paraphernalia and items related to marijuana culture and the counterculture. The accepted narrative is that the first […]
November 9, 2019 by tomdalzell
1725 Eighth Street Kitsch
On Eighth Street between Virginia and Delaware is an elegant and simple ode to kitsch. Nothing says kitsch like a begging raccoon. Are you starting to see what I meant about elegant and simple? This plastic log cabin mail box may surpass / transcend the word “tacky.” There are no socially redeemable features. Pure junk. From […]
November 2, 2019 by tomdalzell
Murals
I have written many posts about murals. They are in our heart, they’re in our soul. Here are a handful of new ones. How can I not start with Connie Bleul, a Quirky Berkeley OG? I have posted on her public art and her private art. Now, a new micro-mural on Telegraph. Also on Telegraph […]
October 20, 2019 by tomdalzell
The Material Culture of Mexican Restaurants
The thought for this post came to me on a walk. We passed this burro. The burro has a black mask, hence the reference to Zorro, a fictional character created in 1919 by American pulp writer Johnston McCulley, and appearing in works set in the Pueblo of Los Angeles during the era of Spanish California (1769–1821). He is typically portrayed as a […]
October 12, 2019 by tomdalzell
More Print Mint
/Users/TomDalzell/Desktop/Screen Shot 2019-08-10 at 10.24.32 PM.png
October 7, 2019 by tomdalzell