Krewe of Tow’s New King

Posted on January 31, 2008 by Varg

The feared and reviled Krewe of Tow will be out in full force this Carnival with a brand new king heading up the group.

The Samson Lift Technologies LLC’s patented Side Loading Vehicle Retriever is prowling the area looking for perpetrators who park to close to intersections, crosswalks, hydrants and in parade routes.

According to the Samson Web site:

– Removal of vehicles in under 45 seconds.
– Vehicles are lifted only by their tires eliminating all “towing” damage.
– Operator never has to break into a vehicle eliminating “break-in” damage.
– The unique ability to tow parallel parked cars.
– The ability to lift cars from either side of the tow truck.
– Operator can perform all towing functions from inside the cab.
– Entire process can be videotaped to document damage free towing.
– Increases efficiencies and allows increased revenue for private tow operators.

Tow damage? But they always told me that was there before! Break in damage? WTF? Strange that even in the wording the video tape only serves to document damage free towing.

Anyway, make your donation to the Krewe of Tow today! I know I received my invoice last weekend in front of my house for “parking against traffic.” Only $20 thankfully.

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Rejoice!

I say that a lot. I sign many pieces with it. I do this because I believe our lives are a true happenstance. A brilliant occurence from nothingness. We are so rare. We are so unlikely. And simply being born isn’t enough. From there we must survive, endure. So each morning, after our Sun departs and is reborn again. Please, for the sake of your ancestors and the Universe in general, hoist that cup of joe up and say, “Rejoice.”

Ours is a soulful existence. No matter how many McMansions, polyester fabrics, auto-tunes, modified foods and social networks we surround ourselves with, we are all still native, passionate beings made of ancient matter. We are organic and we have soul.

Wood also has a warm, soulful quality. Wood has a memory. It retains smells, traumas, events. It even has a calendar. This is why I have chosen it as my medium, for its old soul. I like to think the wood in my work is in its third incarnation. First a tree, then a home and now art. If you have a room that needs a little soul, get a piece. A room can never have enough soul.

My inspiration and subject matter comes from many sources, among them: Humanism, old ballads, trickster tales, flora and fauna, science, myths and folklore, stringed instruments, brass bands, amber spirits, lady vocalists, general relativity and quantum mechanics. Some of my pieces are there just to make a short, simple statement about what’s important in life. Some are more diffuse and abstract in meaning. A personal drama, an enduring line from a poem or novel, a poignant song lyric, the legacy of an important person, a fleeting thought … these are the subjects of my art.

I use hearts often because they are a very abstract way of depicting the human soul without also employing the very subjective human form. The symbolic heart is an apt representation for a person’s experience and essence. A body can immediatly conjure happiness, sorrow, youth, age, anger, bliss. These emotions can get in the way. Sometimes it’s simply about the experience.

I am the son of a sailor and a social worker, the grandson of a gypsy, a dancer and a nurse. I spent my youth moving from port city to port city, watching a lot of road go by and reading World Book Encyclopedia. After my parents settled down on the Gulf Coast, I was a miscreant youth, destroying cars and taking the wrongs things too seriously and the right things not serious enough. Eventually I began replacing my imagination with experience.

I will use any salvaged wood but prefer swamp cypress and longleaf heartwood pine.

I despise waste. Particularly the waste of organic matter. Trees are magnificent. They were here before we arrived and they’ll be around after we are gone. I’m making an effort to save as much wood as possible. Creating art is fun too. But beyond communicating with folks, but beyond making money ad providing for myself, beyond rescuing flooded parts, beyond reveling in the ethereal aroma of heartpine that hasn’t seen the light of day in 400 years, beyond all that, I am trying to make a simple comment on waste.