Sorry I only made it a few hours into my Shadow Art Fair live blog before I had to bail out. You’d think that I’d know better by now, having tried to document these things live on several occasions over the past half dozen years. I always think, “this time, it’ll be different,” but it never is. Circumstances always conspire to keep me away from my computer, and I suppose that’s a good thing. I’m on the computer enough as it is. It’s probably healthy to have one day a year where I focus on real, face-to-face human interaction instead.
I believe I already mentioned that, during the course of the Shadow, I had the opportunity to sit down and talk with, among other people, Clementine’s beloved second grade teacher, my friend Mike G, and a reader of this site who happens to be running for Washtenaw County Circuit Judge. I didn’t mention, however, that I also had very nice conversations with Paul Saginaw (founder of Zingerman’s) and his wife Lori, Chris Becker (the former editor of Factsheet Five), Ben Connor Barrie (the man behind the website Damn Arbor), Patrick Dunn (the former editor of Ann Arbor’s ill-fated version of The Onion), and lots of friends, former co-workers and the like. Unfortunately, most of the conversations weren’t taped. Here, however, is one that was. It’s with a former Ypsi resident by the name of Josh Steichman, who successfully parlayed an EMU journalism degree into a career working for Larry Flynt in what he lovingly refers to as the “porn Death Star” in Los Angeles. Josh has since moved on to better things, but I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to ask a few questions about what it was like working for the giant man-baby that is Flynt.
While we’re on the subject of adult imagery, here’s another piece of video that I shot yesterday. This one is with Dustin Krcatovich, the designer of our 2012 Shadow Art Fair poster… I thought it only fair to give him an opportunity to explain the graphic sexual imagery apparent in the dog’s snout. (See above.)
OK, and here are some random photos.
A baby with a contraption that keeps it from enjoying music.
Our Friends at VG Kids debuted a new coffee at the Shadow, developed in cooperation with the Ugly Mug. I haven’t tried it yet, but it smelled really good when I submerged my nose in the beans.
Martha Bishop’s redecorated plates… Linette and I bought one with a giant squirrel on it.
Those of us who plan the Shadow Art Fair have been wanting to do a manscaping booth for a while, but the idea languished until Trevor Stone and Natalie Berry took it on. Unfortunately, no one took them up on the offer to go “behind the curtain” for a “comprehensive” consultation. Lots of mustaches and beards were trimmed and painted on, though. And, to their credit, I only saw one Hitler mustache… and the woman sporting it was adamant that it was a “Chaplin.”
The Foraging Florist was super cool. In just a few minutes, he taught me tons about what it takes to grow moss, ensuring that I’ll never be hungry again.
My short-lived “Say whatever you want through a megaphone… $1 for 10 seconds” booth. I only had one taker. My daughter’s friend Juna gave me 25-cents for 2.5 seconds.
There was a lot more, but I’m still exhausted and I need to sleep now… If you came out, thank you. I hope that you had a good time.
