What I try to say throught my work is simple. My message is as follows: “Love all creatures!” “Love everything that has life!”
I have been trying to express, in different ways through my work the message such as: “preserve nature,” “bless life,” “be careful of a civilization that puts too much stock in science,” “do not wage war,” and so on…
Tezuka Osamu
Bet you didn’t get one of these last time you boarded a cruise ship. Or airplane. Or train. Or anything.
I travelled by ocean liner to Europe on the MS Aurelia when I was seven, in 1965, and it was a fabulous experience. I shared a tiny interior cabin with my parents and sister Merri (she claimed the top bunk, pulling rank by dint of being three years older), and spent much of my time ranging all over the ship. I don’t remember much supervision, besides that of my sister. In addition to exploring, I recall the excitement of the lifeboat drill; begging my mom to buy me a book from the shop (I think I had picked out Profiles in Courage, but she steered me to Tom Sawyer. Thanks, Mom!); eating the hard rolls with butter and ham for breakfast; seeing A Raisin in the Sun in a small, dark, steeply-raked movie theatre deep in the ship; the sun rising earlier every morning as we travelled east (By the time we docked in Le Havre I wasn’t getting up until noon.); and, yes, throwing up over the rail. I also remember my disappointment when I found out that the only flavor of ice cream on board was coffee. Yuck!
You can read about the Caronia here.
With matchbooks like this, you’d think it was a pickup bar, but in the late ’70s and early ’80s, Bookie’s Club 870 was literally something else.
It was located on McNichols, a few blocks west of Woodward, in extremely dodgy Highland Park on Detroit’s northern edge. The first time I walked in the door, I felt like I had found home. Dark and loud, with a harlequin floor and circular deco banquettes which echoed the rings on the ceiling, Bookie’s was grimy and glamorous. But what Bookie’s was really about was the music.
I saw countless bands there: the Heartbreakers, the Damned, Gang of Four, the Cramps, X, Black Flag, and lesser known bands like the Victims and the Necessaries. Some shows by local groups were just as memorable: the Mutants, Coldcock, the Reruns, the Cult Heroes, Destroy All Monsters, the Romantics (yeah, they got bigger). Between sets, the room filled with the sounds of the some of the best stuff ever released on 45 rpm.
Did I ever use the handy matchbook to get someone’s number? Probably. I made some of my best friends there. Bookie’s changed my life. For the better.
©2009 John & Wendy
This may be the last time we see a booth like this.
And don’t worry. The hand kept moving.
See you next week.