I have this 34 x 11.5″ gauche painting by Harper but I can’t figure out what it was for. Harper worked as a set designer for Warner Brothers in the 40’s then worked on several Disney projects including Art Directing 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea (which won an Oscar for the design), and later, after Disney, the famous Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, and The Fantastic Voyage. If you have any clue what film had a scene like this set in North Africa or someplace with moorish ruins occupied by British? soldiers – let me know. I can’t find anything.

UPDATE: As the commenter below noted it MIGHT be from the 1936 Charge of the Light Brigade – watching the trailer suggests the same costumes and the same settings. But Harper would have been about 25 at the time, and would they have rendered color illustrations for a B/W film?

for a new job i started (which u will be hearing more about later), i found this, with no explanation. U have to poke it to make it big enough to read.

Waaaaayyy back in October 2007, my friend asked me if I’d be his one man art dept. for a music video shoot for a reality/game show on VH1 called “Shoot to Kill.” The show was two teams compete by remaking their version of a classic 80’s music video. You’re allowed limited crew, two days to shoot, and $500. That’s it. This was one of my set sketches for our “Walk Like an Egyptian” set.

The show was not a pilot, they shot six episodes and we were told the show would air in March of ‘08. Then August ‘08. Keep in mind we got these updates by running into one of the TWELVE executive producers at various restaurants and asking them what the deal was.

It’s almost February ‘09 now and there’s nothing to be found online about the show. Calls to VH1 and the production company go nowhere so I’m guessing it went to TV limbo. Which is sad ’cause there was a great interview where I’m referred to as lieutenant Sparkle, and argue with the director about the amount of gold and gayness in ancient Egypt.

Here’s some images from my book Obscene Interiors: Hardcore Amateur Decor. These are real online personal ad pictures posted by men. In my book I gray out their silhouette and comment on the interior design, or lack thereof,  they’re posing in.

Here’s some images from a print campaign for Lorgan’s, an Asian chain store dealing in retro furnishings. If campaign Executive Creative Director, Todd McCracken; Creative Director, Eric Yeo; or Art Director, Kat Tan care to respond to what I see as a blatant case of plagiarism (or at least severe unoriginality), please send me an email because I’m sad now.

…and they’re currently for sale on ebay. The seller explains: “We purchased this group of related drawings and paper at a local estate auction. The estate sale was that of a designer named Aureli – according to the auctioneer who sold this he had been an architect and had taught at both Columbia and MIT.” (A quick search didn’t turn up anything on this name Aureli.) Let’s hope Disney’s recently announced “new” House of the Future will have interiors this super.

SEE ALSO: Looking At It’s A Small World, Seeing Modern Art

Living across the street from a major motion picture studio like I do, means you frequently get little notes in your mailbox explaining why tonight you might hear “simulated gunfire,” a “simulated helicopter crash,” or see smoke from a “simulated fire.” Rarely do these notes elaborate on what will burn or who’s getting shot. Which brings me to “Cloverfield” a.k.a. The Super Secret Untitled J.J. Abrams Project, the (totally awesome) teaser for which ran before Transformers and has resulted in much speculation about what’ll be attacking New York on 1-18-08 and how it will play out. Well, last week I got this note in my mailbox:

“…on Thursday July 12 and Friday, July 13 Paramount Pictures will be filming night scenes for their feature film, “Cloverfield,” on the Hennessy Street set on the Main Lot. The filming will simulate an army firefight – including gunfire (blanks) and explosions (powder flash). Any sound-related effects will be completed before 10:00 p.m.”

So there you go. “Cloverfield” will feature an “army firefight.” But those usually ensue after monsters attack New York. Sadly I was in Fargo so I have no report of how how it went down or if the locals heard the mysterious roar.

Muslims aren’t supposed to eat pork, but apparently viewing pork in cartoon form is also forbidden in the Middle East. I assume this means Dr. Seuss’s Green Eggs and Ham is out too. Charlotte’s Web? Babe? From QatarLiving.com.

I found it on this blog. ART FORUM BERLIN tells me the artist is Fred Eerdekens, and he’s represented by Spencer Brownstone Gallery, NY.

When Bitney Spears is refered to as one-dimensional, I wince. They mean to say two-dimensional, that is, she lacks depth. Likewise I cringe when a 3-D film that incorporates in-theater effects is promoted as “4-D.” The fouth dimension is time, not smell or water squirting on your face or seats that move.

For a flash film explanation of all 10 possible dimensions visit the site for the book, “Imagining the Tenth Dimension” and poke “Imagining the Ten Dimensions.” Your brain may explode before the narrator gets to number seven.

The same author is also working on, “The Anthropic Viewpoint” and other songs about the ten dimensions – yay!

Years ago, while designer/Disney historian, Dave Mumford was researching wrought ironwork in the Disney Company library, he found a photo of a building that resembled Disneyland’s Haunted Mansion (top photo, below). I was working nearby and he showed me the book and we agreed it had an uncanny resemblance to Disney version. I made a couple Xeroxes right there, and Dave checked out the book. (Sadly I never got the name of it. “Frances Lichten’s Catalog of Victorian Artwork.”) It wasn’t until later when I compared the book photo to Ken Andersons’ 1958 sketch (second photo) that I knew this was the source of the mansion’s design – Ken had copied every visible detail in the photo, details that would be realized as the Haunted Mansion at Disneyland (third photo).

Now the second half of the mystery begins, where is this original house? It was previously believed Disneyland’s mansion was based on the Evergreen House in Baltimore (last photo) but clearly that is not the case. The caption beside the b/w photo from the book Dave found does say the house is in Baltimore. Any Baltimore historians recognize the house in that top picture?

This week, the world’s largest sporting goods store opened in Fargo, North Dakota, the same week I happened to be visiting. Now, understand, sports are huge up here, huge as spectator sports, that is. Actual athleticism isn’t as popular. It’s “sports as leisure,” if you will. Therefore, it makes perfect sense for Fargo’s mega-sporting goods store to feature a Ferris wheel, candy shop, and shooting arcade. A rock-climbing wall would require effort, possibly sweat, and that’s no fun.

A “living statue” has nothing to do with sports but no one seems to care.

You can practice with toy guns in the shooting gallery.

Or aim for your husband with the real thing.

Buckets of candy replenish valuable carbohydrates.

And for no logical reason, Lincoln, and seven other presidents, line the second floor balcony. That’s my Fargo!

Someone please tell me what became of these two sailors "preparing for their future" at the Wilton cake decorating school while on leave in 1965.