Authentic. Real. Not weird.

Minnesota Governor Tim Walz and his daughter Hope at the Minnesota State Fair.

Don’t know who produced this. Don’t know if it was the Harris-Walz campaign (doesn’t look like it to me). What I do know is it didn’t come across as a slick political ad. Whoever is doing the social media stuff for the campaign knows what they’re doing. But this really works because these are two, real, normal people…not mouthing talking points (and looking creepy). NO talking points. Just father and daughter at the state fair.

Now, let’s take a look at how legacy media (WRAL TV in Raleigh, North Carolina) covered Governor Walz and North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper when they stopped by Cook Out for milkshakes.

Compare that with the same “event” as it appeared on Tim Walz’ YouTube channel. See how WRAL sucked all the life, all the humanity out of the moment. Why would you ever talk to a local reporter when someone with an iPhone can do this so much better.

Drag queen helping conservatives with makeup

Landon Reid describes himself as “Artist, Oddball, Dork, Decorator, Costume designer, reaching across the aisle to help conservatives re-create their favorite makeup looks.” (Can you say “niche”?)

As far as I know I am not personally acquainted with any drag queens. But based on what I’ve seen in films, TV and on YouTube, nobody does bitchy-snarky satire better.

While it’s unlikely Marjorie Taylor Green will ever see the video above, it was viewed 192,000 times in three weeks. Mr. Reid has also re-created the makeup look of Ron DeSantis, Ted Cruz, Kimberly Guilfoyle, Rudy Giuliani and many others. (Side note: he seems to be really good at doing makeup). 

A parody of Creep

This is one of the better parody songs I’ve seen. Production values top-notch, but the cheap suit might be the best part. Had not heard of Don Caron but found this on the Parody Project website:

For over 50 years Don Caron has been active in the entertainment industry as a composer, choreographer, pianist, sound engineer, editor, screenwriter, author, producer, and director. He has composed extensively for orchestra, choir and chamber groups and his music has been performed and heard world-wide.

Junk

I was unable to express why I found these piles of junk so interesting. Fortunately my friend Dave got it immediately.

The video gave me very interesting vibes. I became curious about when each piece had been placed, what the intention was for saving it, and what the area looked like when they placed the first piece. And, which was the last piece added. And what became of the person or people who put it all there. And what will become of it. Will it stay forever? Will it all be taken to a different junkyard? Will archeologists find it all someday? 

Everything placed carefully. I can imagine him saying to someone, “are you needing to keep this McDonald’s I’m Lovin’It sticker? May I have it?” 

Wes Fewell’s Club Juana

Some guys will put a big screen TV and a couple of BarcaLoungers in their basement mancave and call it a day. Not Wes Fewell. Wes is an athlete and a hunter. And an artist. He designs beautiful furniture and his skills are on full display in his basement.

He didn’t offer much history of the original Club Juana so I went looking online and found this from 2006 (source unknown)

The Club Juana was a landmark in Casselberry, Florida, for 43 years, first as a nightclub, later as a strip club. It attained national notoriety in 2002, when its owners staged regular productions of “Macbeth in the Buff” to circumvent local lewdness laws. The Club finally closed in June 2006 and was demolished on November 2 to make way for a freeway overpass. Its famous “Club Juana: Parking In Rear” neon sign, however, was spared by the Morse Museum of American Art in nearby Winter Park. The Museum, best known for its Tiffany collection, saw the sign as a worthy example of public art and local history. The Club Juana sign will join other neon signs from vanished Orlando-area businesses in the Museum’s collection. All of them are warehoused, and none are on public display.

I love books

WARNING: The final two seconds of this 4:30 screencast contains a perfectly good word that some might find objectionable. If you are one of the half dozen people that occasionally read this blog, you’ll be fine. As for The Word, every child over the age of ten has heard and (probably) used the word.