Lowbrow Literati

Chi Chi

Tue, 19 Mar 2013 12:45:16 -0700

By Heylownine

The Chi Chi is practically a prototypical tropical cocktail. It's two primary flavors, pineapple and coconut, are synonymous with Hawaii. It's light and easy to drink. So easy to drink, in fact, that it gets knocked for being too simple and not so serious a cocktail. But when done right, that can be ok too.

Like any cocktail worth drinking, a little effort goes a long way. The ingredient list is so short, that taking a shortcut by using a "mix" would be just as much effort. All that's called for is pineapple juice, coconut cream, vodka, and ice (Sound familiar? A Chi Chi is pretty much a Piña Colada with vodka rather than rum.). The Chi Chi is blended, but is not a slurpee. If you find yourself in a bar and you fancy a Chi Chi, check the source. If it oozes from a machine, order a beer.

The recipe:

5 oz unsweetened pineapple juice
1 oz Lopez coconut cream
2 oz vodka
1 cup crushed ice.

Add all ingredients to a blender, blend for 5 seconds, and pour unstrained into a hurricane or pilsner glass. Garnish. Please.

The only real "trick" is in the coconut cream. There are two that are easiest to find in liquor stores: Coco Lopez (in a can) and Coco Real (in a squeeze bottle). Coco Real is the more tempting choice. It requires very little maintenance, but the flavor is a little off. There's a distinct coconut burn as you drink it. If that suits your fancy, then that's the choice for you. Coco Lopez comes in a can and likes to separate itself into solids and liquid. Stir all you want, but you'll never integrate it properly. But if you dump it into a metal cocktail shaker, and then hit it with a stick blender, it'll come together perfectly and actually look like coconut cream. I find the flavor superior to Coco Real, but it is a little more involved in getting it into your glass.

As for the Chi Chi, it tastes how you'd expect. The pineapple dominates,cand the coconut cream adds a slightly thick consistency to the drink. The vodka stays in the background by design. The biggest caution for the Chi Chi is that a well-made version will induce you into drinking 3, 4, 5, or more at a time.

So if the Chi Chi is a simple, light, easy cocktail then where does it fit for a cocktail enthusiast? It's the proverbial gateway cocktail for those that don't (yet) enjoy stronger flavors. Have friends that aren't up to a Test Pilot, a 3 Dots and a Dash, or a Donga Punch? Serve them a Chi Chi. They're going to love it and if they love a Chi Chi, they'll like a Piña Colada. Rum is now in. If they like that, then move them to a mojito and then a real daiquiri (again, no slurpees please). And once you've got them asking for real daiquiris, they're in. Cocktail achievement unlocked.

The Missionary’s Downfall

Mon, 18 Mar 2013 15:11:25 -0700

By Paranoid123

Missionary’s Downfall

Don the Beachcomber had a knack for coming up with cocktail names to titillate and tease, bringing up imagery of paganism and taboo: the Vicious Virgin, the Cannibal Grog. One of the most famous and well known of these drinks is the Missionary’s Downfall. And guess what? It’s a blender drink! Yes, it shares something in common with the Pina Colada, Mudslide, and the frozen Margarita.

The first ever mention of the Missionary’s Downfall was in 1937. But like many of Don’s drinks, the recipes were in constant flux, he was always tweaking and changing them over time - which must be maddening for cocktail historians like Jeff “Beachbum” Berry. The recipe used in this article was created during the 1940s.

The recipe is a light and refreshing little tipple with a confetti of green from the mint, and was suggested to be served as a dessert or palate cleanser. In the book “Hawai’i Tropical Rum Drinks & Cuisine”, there is an apocryphal story about how Don introduced mint plants to Hawaii. Don would smuggle seeds and a few sprigs of mint during his trips to Hollywood in his hat band, then have his Japanese gardener propagate them. True or not, Don was a pioneer when it came to fresh fruits and produce.

Our particular recipe is taken from Beachbum Berry’s Remixed, which was given to him by the family of Hank Riddle, who was a bartender at several Don The Beachcomber’s restaurants.. Hank Riddle was written about extensively in the Remixed book.

Missionary’s Downfall (1940s)

½ ounce fresh lime juice
½ ounce peach brandy
1 ounce honey mix
1 ounce light Puerto Rico rum
2 ounce (¼ cup) diced fresh pineapple
2 ounce (¼ cup) fresh mint leaves, tightly packed
6 ounce (¾ cup) crushed ice

Put everything in a blender and blend for 20 seconds. Pour into a coupe or champagne saucers, or cocktail glasses. Garnish with the tips of mint sprigs.

Time to dust off that old Waring.

Rene Garcia at Project One Walls SF

Tue, 12 Feb 2013 20:32:11 -0800

Photos by Double D

Project One Gallery, located in the Potrero Hills district of San Francisco, is launching an ongoing series of rotating murals from an eclectic array of artists. The inaugural exhibit will be curated by Project One Gallery director and Yerba Buena Center for the Arts board of directors, Brooke Waterhouse along with White Walls founder, Justin Galaria.

The inaugural murals will include works by:

Ben “EINE” Flynn
Casey Gray Ricardo Richey (Apex) Jet Martinez Rene Garcia Jr. Nick Flatt

Today we are highlighting Rene Garcia’s 3D mural. Don’t forget to bring your 3D glasses to fully enjoy the mural.

Ben “EINE” at Project One Walls SF

Mon, 11 Feb 2013 14:03:11 -0800

Photos by Double D

Project One Gallery, located in the Potrero Hills district of San Francisco, is launching an ongoing series of rotating murals from an eclectic array of artists. The inaugural exhibit will be curated by Project One Gallery director and Yerba Buena Center for the Arts board of directors, Brooke Waterhouse along with White Walls founder, Justin Galaria.

The inaugural murals will include works by:

Ben “EINE” Flynn
Casey Gray Ricardo Richey (Apex) Jet Martinez Rene Garcia Jr. Nick Flatt

Today we are highlighting Ben EINE’s mural, “OUCH” which looks like a mash-up of his Circus font and Shutter font.

Introducing Double D

Mon, 11 Feb 2013 13:30:17 -0800

Photos by Double D

Double D (aka: Double Down) is a designer and photographer that grew up in Toronto, Canada and found new roots in the San Francisco area. He has done work for major brand name clients and is currently enjoying exploring the SF bay area.

Please enjoy his latest coverage of the Ben “EINE” Flynn opening at Project One SF.

Okuda in Mexico City

Mon, 21 Jan 2013 08:40:14 -0800

Photos by Emilio

Happy Monday! Please enjoy Spanish graffiti artist / illustrator Okuda’s mural in Mexico City. Our contributor saL send us these photos.

Miles Thompson Part 7: Don’t Call it a Comeback.

Tue, 1 Jan 2013 23:08:14 -0800

By The Gorgon

In the Summer of 1993, in between his 2nd and 3rd year at Cal Arts Miles was having problems with his girlfriend. For reasons not necessarily clear to Miles himself he decided to try drugs. Whether it was to ease problems with his girlfriend, to see how it was going to affect his creativity, or just plain old curiosity, he decided to smoke a joint for the first time in his life. “I decided to have an intellectual experiment,” as he recalls his first drug experience, “[I wanted to] denude myself and see what’s inside.” “Maybe it’s cool? Maybe it’s not?” shrugging his shoulders admitting the indefinable motivation. With his roommate they smoked a bong in the hallway of the dorms. At first he felt nothing, almost wondering if marijuana would even have an effect on him. They returned to their room, and then it kicked in. “It felt like there was a 2 inch wool blanket on top of me and I didn’t move.” They laughed, they ate all the boxes of cereal stashed in their dorm room, and when the cereal was consumed, they turned to the vending machine down the hallway and constantly visited it.

As the saying goes marijuana is a gateway drug to other harder drugs appeared to be more than a saying and appeared to be a fact for Miles. He admits that overnight he developed a love for experimentation and to satiate the hunger for experimentation, he decided to try the psychotropic mushroom peyote 5 days later. To add to the fun, he and his roommate decided to watch Steven Soderbergh’s 1991 film, “Kafka,” waiting for the peyote to take its hallucinatory effect. Kafka is played by Jeremy Irons and the film starts in black and white, then transitions into color. The hallucinatory experience takes full advantage of the color transition in the film, which explains their choice in Soderbergh’s flick. There was an early death sequence in the film, which Miles empathized with and internalized. He tells me that he felt he was dying several times over. Miles was so distressed by the whole experience and decided to seek his ex-girlfriend who luckily was able to calm him down.

CLICK to watch Soderbergh’s “Kafka”

By the middle of Summer drugs began to influence his art and he decided to move on to stronger man made psychotropic drugs, LSD (lysergic acid diethylamide). The drug use was not purely for recreation, he was truly interested on how it would affect his creativity. “We’re not going to a party to get fucked-up,” Miles explains “What will this do for me? Will it change my perspective? Will I create something different?” Fortunately, by the end of Summer he decided that he had learned enough and seen enough. “I’ve gone too far,” as he explains why he stopped using heavy drugs, “I’ve lost the ability to communicate and language was failing me.” Not all was lost though during the brief foray with LSD and loosing control, for he gained a new appreciation of life. “There’s something beneficial to loosing control, which is fundamental to appreciating every single day. You can’t appreciate life until you almost loose it –symbolically or otherwise. And that happened with drugs. It opened the free thinker in me and it changed the way I made films.” Miles might have given up strong psychotropic drugs such as LSD and peyote, but he still smoked marijuana intermittently on a recreational basis until recently.

After his divorce in 2007 and his “California” show at La Luz, he decided to liquidate some of his assets after the divorce settlement. He sold his house, and rented an expensive apartment in Los Feliz, surfed Malibu every day for 2 years and disappeared from the fine art and animation world. During this time he was able to heal and eventually fall in love again. He met his current girlfriend, Brianna, and they surfed in the morning, had lunch in the afternoon and read books 4 hours a day. To be specific he read the works of Trancendentalist Henry David Thoreau and Ralf Waldo Emerson who are both big advocates of Naturalism and Individualism. These aren’t easy books to read. I remember taking Philosophy 101 in college reading Thoreau’s, “Walden” and having to re-read the page several times over, because the language and ideas were so deep. On the other hand, Miles consumed these books like candy on a daily basis for 2 years.

One cannot deny the influence of these two American philosophers in Miles work. Two recurring characters in the Miles Thompson universe are Woodsy the Owl and Smokey the Bear, which are both the public face of the U.S. Forest Service. Woodsy is known to say, “Give a hoot…don’t pollute,” while Somkey is famous for his, “Only you can prevent forest fires,” campaign. Both characters are promoting preservation of nature and the positive effect of one individual on their environment, which is what Thoreau and Emerson are advocating. Miles and his art is a product of his environment, his times and the books he reads.

Smokey The Bear

“Smokey & Wild Butterflies” (2012)
5.5” x 6.5”
Gouache on board

“Hooot” (2009)
4” x 6”
Gouache on paper

Unfortunately, during this 2 year hiatus Miles suffered a chronic fungal infection due to his environment –his Los Feliz apartment. The symptoms were masked for a long time due to his heavy consumption of marijuana and it took several visits to the doctor to properly diagnose. Marijuana not only increases the appetite, but also acts as an analgesic thus masking symptoms of pain and discomfort. Miles complained of a chronic sinus infection, which his doctor prescribed antibiotics. The sinusitis would disappear, then immediately re-appear. A new round of antibiotics were prescribed and the cycle repeats anew. Over a year later, the problem was finally identified as 3 varieties of black mold and Miles admits, “I haven’t been the same since.”

Since then Miles has quit weed, alcohol, and reduced his sugar intake. He once stated in his blog, “I’m 10 pounds lighter and 10 times the man.” He tells me that the lion share of his money goes to healthy foods and probiotics. “That’s why I don’t go to Tiki-Ti as often,” he sadly confesses. He is now sensitive to dust and mold and tries to avoid old dusty places. Despite all of Tiki-Ti’s clutter and charm, it is a pretty dusty place. A friend of mine once joked that if Tiki-Ti dusted their place, then it would loose all of its character –that’s the ambiance you pay for. If you’re lucky you can still catch Miles at Tiki-Ti, but he only has one drink and no longer stays at the bar for hours on end.

CLICK to watch LL Cool J’s
“Mama said knock you out” video

Tell your friends that the newly rejuvenated and healthier, Miles is BACK! He’s working on more paintings, cartoons, board games, and his very own art Miles book. He jokes, “I’m not back with a vengeance, but I’m certainly not the guy that is going to roll over and die.” In the wise words of modern day philosopher LL Cool J, “Mama said knock you out…don’t call it a COMEBACK.”

Related articles:
Miles Part 1 - The Well Examined Life of Miles Thompson
Miles Part 2 - For Every Thoreau there is an Emerson
Miles Part 3 - God in Disguise
Miles Part 4 - Edward Scissorhands in Awesometown
Miles Part 5 - Night of the Tiki
Miles Part 6 - Paradise Lost

Miles Thompson Part 6: Paradise Lost

Thu, 20 Dec 2012 07:59:14 -0800

By The Gorgon

Former stockbroker, Paul Gauguin left his aristocratic lifestyle in Paris to venture into the French colony of Tahiti in 1891. He abandoned his wife, 5 children and lucrative profession to escape the frivolities of modern day Paris for the more savage, yet genuine existence of the native Polynesians. He was searching for an untamed paradise. He arrived at the port of Papeete on the main island of Tahiti after months of travel only to discover that the missionaries that arrived a decade prior (1880) have erased and modernized the untamed paradise he was looking for. There were churches, general stores, and government offices and Tahiti was beginning to look like the Europe he was running from. What was missing was the hard carved wooden gods, which the Polynesians called tiki tiki tangate (or tiki for short), which he read from memoirs of previous travelers. The missionaries destroyed most of them; according to the missionaries, there can only be one God. Gauguin eventually had to travel to Hiva Oa (Marquesas Islands) to rinse the unpleasant aftertaste of French colonialism on Polynesian culture.

“Tahitian Landscape” (1893)
by Paul Gauguin

“Two Tahitian Women with Mango” (1899)
by Paul Gauguin

By 2004 Miles seemed to have found his paradise. He was married to former Hanna-Barbera executive Stephanie, they have a beautiful daughter, and Miles’ career as a fine artist was gaining traction. He had a very successful first solo show at the Dion Gallery, his work is being coveted by high-profile artist/collector, Shag, and shortly after he was offered a solo show at Copro Gallery (formerly Copro-Nason) titled “Idol Time.” Idol Time featured images that strongly resonated with the online community, Tiki Central. “I had a procession of hardcore Tiki Centra-lites supporting me the whole time,” as he laments about the success of the show. He had it all: family, career, and free reign to be creative as profession. However, just like Gauguin the perception of paradise versus the reality of living in paradise were not the same.

“Untitled” (2004)
by Miles Thompson
from “Idol Time” show at Copro

“Untitled 2” (2004)
by Miles Thompson
from “Idol Time” show at Copro

Following the success of Idol Time, M Modern gallery (Palm Springs) offered him another show. Miles wanted the show in Palm Springs to be highly conceptual and depict a story of love, loss, revenge and redemption. The title of the show was “Tell Tale Tiki,” and was composed of 36 paintings ranging from medium to large pieces. Akin to the first conceptual album (The Beatle’s Sargent Pepper) each song loosely contributes to the much greater picture, thus telling a story. The story might not be linear or completely cohesive, but that’s the beauty of Sargent Pepper and the genius of The Beatles. The gaps allow the audience to fill-in the blanks in the story and create their own interpretation. Miles accomplished that very same task, but with 36 paintings.

“Undersea Lament” (2004)
20” x 20”
Gouache on board
from “Tell Tale Tiki” at M Modern

“Hippy Hip” (2004)
20” x 20”
Gouache on board
from “Tell Tale Tiki” at M Modern

I didn’t want to ask him what the entire story of Tell Tale Tiki was, for I enjoy the mystery and being allowed to participate in the process. But from what I could ascertain Tell Tale Tiki involves a surf competition, the loss of a talisman (tiki necklace), a mermaid who discovers the tiki, and she makes a wish to walk on land. The tiki grants her wish and she falls in love with the surfer who wore the talisman. After that the story become a little bit more open to interpretation. A monster resembling the creature from the Black Lagoon tries to recover the talisman and separate the two lovers. It was pure genius and was popular with collectors. However, it wasn’t critically acclaimed and he was being stereotyped as only a “tiki painter.”

As much as Miles loves tiki culture –and still does, he didn’t want to be type casted as only a “tiki painter.” With sincerity he states, “I want to be an artist.” Furthermore, critics saw his work as too much of an animator and not enough of a painter. Miles summarizes the criticisms, “I was too hooked on telling a story, instead of doing a painting.” He admits that there a strange dichotomy of opposing forces in creating a painting, “There’s always a push-pull, love-hate and unforgiving abandonment a the end of every painting.” When asked what he though of the critics the night we met he simply replied, “I think they were right.” However, he does admit, “It’s still a story I would like to tell.”

“California: A History”
by USC professor Kevin Starr

For his 2007 show at La Luz De Jesus gallery he wanted to do something different, and use a different media. Miles, Stephanie and their 5-year daughter were walking in the neighborhood of Silver Lake and entered Skylight books. Prominently displayed was a recently published book about California History by USC professor, Kevin Starr. Having grown-up in California and personally witnessed the drastic changes that have transpired in his lifetime, Miles decided to pick up a copy. The book and the subject matter became an obsession with Miles. He bought it, read it, and immediately started collecting California ephemera. “It was something I absorbed and digested immediately,” as he describes the endless inspiration the book provided. “I dog-eared and highlighted the hell out of that book and pretty much everything born out of the show came from that volume of history.” The show title was eventually dubbed as, “California.”

“Iho”
8” x 10”
Oil on board

“One Armed Bandito”
12” x 12”
oil on board

Again it seems that Miles has arrived at paradise, but unfortunately his 10-year marriage with Stephanie was dissolving. He recalls that difficult time in his life, “I painted that show in my own apartment away from her.” I distinctly remember seeing the show at La Luz back in 2007 and noticing that Miles did not have a single tiki in the lot. I also noticed that he has now moved on to several different media: oil, wood, graphite, and found objects. A stand out piece was, “Sweet Rose,” which is portrait of a little girl (graphite on paper), then collaged with a rose necklace (also graphite on paper), and finally each corner is anchored by cut playing cards. What I missed at first viewing, but is so prominent now is an inverted red spade cut in half to resemble a broken heart. Another impression I felt from the show was an overwhelming sense of sadness. Miles confirms my suspicion by stating, “If you look at the children they are abandoned and without hope.” “That’s why I write and paint; to help people cross the bridge,” he concludes. Despite all the sadness and difficult memories of the show Miles states that the “California” show is one of his favorites.

“Sweet Rose”
7” x 10”
Mixed media on paper

After the success of his California show Miles’ mysteriously vanished for 2 years. His gallery shows became infrequent, which counter intuitive to the high demand for his work. In addition to his physical absence, his online presence was also inexplicable. His website (www.kooch-e-koo.com) inexplicably was no longer registered and it created a commotion at Tiki Central and a thread titled, “Calling Miles Thompson” was started. The Tiki Central panic was finally silenced when Miles (with the handle KooChe) personally replied to the post. The reply was refreshing to the Tiki Centra-lites, but vague on the details of his disappearance. He finally tells me the real reason.

Related articles:
Miles Part 1 - The Well Examined Life of Miles Thompson
Miles Part 2 - For Every Thoreau there is an Emerson
Miles Part 3 - God in Disguise
Miles Part 4 - Edward Scissorhands in Awesometown
Miles Part 5 - Night of the Tiki
Miles Part 6 - Paradise Lost
Miles Part 7 - Don’t Call it a Comeback

Try reading “Paradise Lost” with a “Missonary’s Downfall”

Miles Thompson Part 5: Night of the Tiki

Thu, 13 Dec 2012 18:48:52 -0800

By The Gorgon

It is June 4, 1976 and the newly formed band The Sex Pistols stand on the stage of Manchester’s Lesser Free Trade Hall for the first time. There were 42 people in attendance. History is about to be made. Johnny Rotten can’t sing and the rest of the band only knows 4 chords, yet the audience is absorbing the raw energy the band is emitting and will be inspired to do great things of their own. In attendance were the future members of the Buzzcocks, and journalist Tony Williams who was later inspired to start Factory Records. Other notable attendees are, Ian Curtis, Peter Hook and Bernard Sumner who form Joy Division that very evening and later New Order after Curtis committed suicide in 1980. Tony Williams signs New Order to Factory Records and they release the 12” single “Blue Monday,” in 1983 and was massively successful. New Order and Tony Williams invests the money in their night club The Hacienda, which will spawn other great Manchester bands such as: The Smiths, The Happy Mondays, and The Stone Roses, and Oasis to name a few. The Hacienda becomes the epicenter of the “Manchester Scene” and will forever change the history of music.

What does the history of Punk music and its aftershock have anything to do with Lowbrow art? Besides the fact that Punk is the music the Lowbrow artists grew up with and was inspired by, it’s the tiny little connections in the superficially mundane history that connects the artists together and eventually defines a music scene or an art movement.

For the record, Miles doesn’t like punk –he told me so. But he is about to make seemingly mundane connections that launch his painting career. In 1993, after 3 years at Cal Arts honing his animation skill, Miles received a lucrative job offer from Hanna-Barbera to work on the cartoon, “Two Stupid Dogs.” His Cal Arts classmate and friendly competitor Craig McCraken is the Art Director of the show. After 2 seasons of Two Stupid Dogs, Hanna-Barbera decided to cancel it and move on to a half-hour show that features three 7-minute cartoons every week called, “What-a-Cartoon.” The show is not as avant-guarde as MTV’s Liquid Television, but the success of Spike & Mike’s format is spreading to the masses. Craig McCraken hired a young freelancer who just finished a project with John Kricfalusi’s music video, “I Miss You” for Bjork. Enter Tim Biskup. The question was who was going to use this freelancer background artist at the Hanna-Barbera? Enter Miles Thompson.

Miles and Tim became fast friends and ended up directing each other’s cartoon shorts for the show. Miles’ short, “Boid and Woim,” aired on January 1, 1996 and around the same time Tim Biskup was starting his Burning Brush Auctions. Tim invited Miles to participate in his art auction experiment in 1998. Miles fondly remembers Tim’s dedication and drive, “He told me Turner Design gouache is the brand. You have to use Kolinsky brushes. He might have even driven me to the store to buy those supplies?” Miles sums up Tim’s character in one word, “Fearless!”

Click to watch “Boid & Woim”

During their time off work and spare time, they would draw each other and trade paintings as practice for the auction. Both artists highly inspired by jazz and the album art of Jim Flora, they decided to paint their respective jazz idols and swap paintings. Tim painted Miles famed Parisian Sing legend Django Reinhardt, and Miles painted Tim a blues guitarist whose name escapes his memory at the moment. Miles has received literally hundreds of offers for his Tim Biskup painting, but he clearly states, “I’m not selling that. My daughter is going to inherit it.” One common threat I’ve noticed in interviewing painters is that they themselves are avid collectors.

Jim Flora’s record cover design for Benny Goodman.

Miles Thompson’s painting proudly hangs in Tim Biskup’s home.

Detail of Miles Thompson painting

When asked if he ever thought of painting prior Burning Brush Miles replies, “I knew I could do [background painting]. I knew with some practice I could set my self apart. After contemplating for a couple of seconds his friends influence is clear to Miles, “I do thank Tim [for] he was the spanking [I needed].” Miles has some paintings completed, but wasn’t sure if they should make it to the auction. Despite his hesitation he listened to his friend Tim and took them to the Bigfoot Bar in the Los Feliz neighborhood of Los Angeles. “Everything sold for a couple of hundred dollars each. I made $800 that first night,” as he summarizes his first foray into the fine art world. “And it’s been that way ever since. If I share it, then I can sell it.”

Around 1999, gaining confidence from several Burning Brush events and with the advice and help from his good friend Tim Biskup, Miles decided to sell a painting on this burgeoning new website called eBay. Miles recalls series of fast events, which launched his painting career, “Tim is a master of marketing. He did the description and everything…and he loaded it with keywords. He even hooked himself in the description and Burning Brush, so that whomever was there would find it on eBay.” The person who purchased the painting on eBay holds the largest collection of Miles’ paintings to date, and is Tiki Central member who goes by the handle, SirGin. Tim even went as far as fulfilling the deal by shipping it to SirGin. Shortly after someone from Redondo Beach contacted Miles for his first solo show at the Dion Gallery.

Miles is about to transition from TV animation into the fine art world with his first solo show titled, “Island Images,” in 2000 at the Dion Gallery –which is historic. However, we must go back to 1994-5 when Miles was merely 21 and was about to enter his first bar before concluding the story of his, “Island Images,” show. Miles’ roommate in Valenica and co-worker at Hanna-Barbera, Greg Miller, decided to introduce him to a cool bar in L.A. called Tiki-Ti. Prior that night he never had an alcoholic beverage nor stepped into a bar. Behind the bar was a Filipino migrant and the proprietor of the bar, Ray Buhen. The late Ray Buhen has been credited to invent several well-known tiki drinks and was one of the original bar tenders at Don the Beachcomber. Miles entered the tiny bar and was amazed by the wall-to-wall clutter of tiki ephemera. He sat at the bar and was severed his first alcoholic beverage (Chi Chi) by the late Ray Buhen. Miles’ “night of the tiki” experience with his roommate Greg Miller caused him to frequent the bar and eventually became a Tiki-Ti regular.

Ray Buhen’s grandson, Mike Jr., now mans the bar with his Dad, Mike Sr. and younger Brother.

As the Island Image show is about to wrap-up at the Dion Gallery, Miles decided to drop of some promotional post cards for his show at the Tiki-Ti. Days later he received a call from a Mr. Piet Agle who saw his promotional post cards at Tiki-Ti. Piet Agle is the brother and manager of Josh Agle (Shag), a Lowbrow artist who at the time was gaining extreme popularity and sky rocketing painting prices. Piet Agle informed Miles that Shag couldn’t attend the opening night of his show, but would like to have a private preview. The 3 met at the Dion Gallery with all 32 painting still on the floor. “Shag pulled out his checkbook and wrote a $3,000 check to the gallery,” as he recalls the seemingly surreal events, “What the FUCK just happened!” Shag purchased 2 pieces (one small and one big), the titles escaped Miles’ memory, but he does remember a trio of tikis being one of them and a landscape was another.

“Tiki Trio Verde” by Miles Thompson
24” x 24”
Gauche on board

Shortly after, a series of galleries began offering Miles solo shows. Everything seemed to be falling into place, but then unfortunate life events take place and the effects of which can be seen in his new painting style.

Related articles:
Miles Thompson - Warm Fuzzies & Cold Pricklies show
Tim Biskup Part 3 - Burning Brushes & Great Art Machine
Miles Part 1 - The Well Examined Life of Miles Thompson
Miles Part 2 - For Every Thoreau there is an Emerson
Miles Part 3 - God in Disguise
Miles Part 4 - Edward Scissorhands in Awesometown
Miles Part 6 - Paradise Lost

Miles Thompson Part 4: Edward Scissorhands Thrives in Awesometown

Mon, 10 Dec 2012 13:42:59 -0800

By The Gorgon

Valencia is the most suburban of suburbia. It is teeming with rows of cookie cutter McMansions inhabited by simpletons who guard their Thomas Kinkade reproductions with fervor –keyword reproduction. Case and point, in 2010 Valencia’s marketing campaign to recruit a future homeowners was the Awesometown campaign. The campaign slogan, which was plastered on billboards and buses, was “Just another day at Awesometown.” Outsiders and townsfolk who were born and raised in Valencia cringed at the slogan. Yet in the middle of this podunk, there’s a place where creativity thrives and people are encouraged to think outside the boundaries of conventional wisdom. That place is the California Institute of the Arts (Cal Arts).

It is Cal Arts lore –and probably true, that alumnus, Tim Burton based the setting of his 1990 film, “Edward Scissorhands,” in the town Cal Arts occupies. Furthermore, the mansion on top of the hill where Edward lives is supposed to represent Cal Arts. Ironically, Cal Arts sits on top of a hill overlooking Awesometown.

A billboard ad for Awesometown in Los Angeles

If you understand what a hashtag (#) is and does, or know what the acronym Y.O.L.O. represents, then you probably born after 1990 and don’t know who Edward Scissorhands is. You could multitask right now by logging on to Twitter and entering “#EdwardScissorhands,” on your iPad as you read this article, but I’ll save you the double-tap gesture. Johnny Depp plays Edward Sciccorhands who is a Frankenstien’s monster-esque creation that has scissors for hands. He lives on top of a creepy mansion over looking a cookie-cutter American suburbia. Edward’s odd looks –especially his hands, is feared by the town despite his kind heart, and becomes an outcast. Well…I’ll stop here. You should really stream it on Netflix or BitTorrent –I don’t want to ruin for you. It’s a good flick.

“Edward Scissorhands”

Miles was no Edward Sciccorhands nor was he an outcast, but he knew he was different than the other kids in high school. Our coffees arrive and his off the menu drink looks like a latte, but smells amazingly different. “What is that,” I ask. “It’s a soy latte with cardamom. You want to try some,” he asks. I take a sip and now I have coffee envy too. Having lived in Los Angeles and familiar with Valencia I ask him if he wanted to commit harakiri (a form of Japanese suicide) with a rusty samurai sword for being trapped in such suburgatory limbo. “It wasn’t boring old Valenica to me,” as he laughs and I scratch my head in bewilderment. He felt right at home at the creepy mansion on top of the hill called, Cal Arts. “I was with my own,” as he fondly recalls his time in Valencia, “After my first semester, it was very clear to me that I was a duck in a water.”

The lackluster instructors and classmates at Junior College may have caused Miles to slip into an intellectual coma and eventually drop out, but Cal Arts was the aquavit that he needed running through his veins. “I went head-to-head with people like Craig McCracken,” as he recalls his first year at school. Craig’s name might not be familiar to you, but you’re familiar with his work. McCracken is the creator of Powder Puff Girls and Foster’s Home for Imaginary Friends. Together Miles and Craig McCracken were taking a character design class with legendary Disney veteran, Mike Giamo. “Craig and I were vying for [Mike’s] attention every week,” as he explains his healthy competition with McCracken, “…and [the winner] was different every week.”

In addition to McCracken, Miles collaborated with classmates such as: Conrad Vernon (Monsters vs. Aliens) and his first roommate at Cal Arts, Lou Romano from Pixar (Monsters Inc., Ratatouille, The Incredibles). Animation is a collaborative medium, so it taught Miles to foster a wholesome competition with classmates. He adds, “That’s the value of education.”

Another advantage to a quality education besides inspiring professors and top-notch classmates is cutting edge equipment. In 1991, when ¾” tape becoming the standard for producing animation shorts instead of film, Miles’ renowned and lively professor Eddie Fitzgerald, who is credited for being the inspiration for the cartoon character Pinky of “Pinky & the Brain,” handed him a cartoon to duplicate. As Miles was duplicated the half-hour cartoon and watched what was unfolded in front of his eyes he cried, “That was a mind fuck!” He was duplicating the first episode of John Kricfalusi’s Ren and Stimpy. “It was truly revolutionary,” as he almost leaps out of his chair, “I saw it before it was on Nickelodeon.” He used the jog wheel on the tape deck to study each frame Kricfalusi and his animators created. John Kricfalusi’s manic cartoon aesthetic imprints on the young Miles. Yet another Lowbrow artists inspired by Ren and Stimpy.

John Kricfalusi’s “Ren and Stimpy”

Even more subversive than Ren and Stimpy is Spike and Mike’s Sick and Twisted festival of animation. During his first year at Cal Arts, the traveling animation festival of Spike & Mike presented on campus and Miles attended the event not knowing what he stepped in to. Craig "Spike" Decker and Mike Gribble invites young animators to create cartoon shorts that would never been shown on network TV, either for being too gruesome or sexually explicit. In the dark Bijou theater located in the bowels of Cal Arts, Miles witnessed Pete Doctor’s (Pixar), “Neighbors,” and Mike Judge’s, “Frog Baseball,” which later became the icon of the 90s, “Beavis and Butthead” on MTV.

Spike and Mike’s Sick and Twisted Festival of Animation

Back in the 1990s prior the Internet, animation fans had to go to underground cartoon festivals to see demented cartoons. Spike and Mike was the only game in town. In fact, due to the festival’s success, MTV decided to cash in on the popularity and created a half-hour TV show with several cartoon shorts called, “Liquid Television.” Today with the advent of programs such as Flash and Adobe After Effects, and websites such as YouTube and Vimeo, anyone can easily create and upload their deviant cartoon for the whole world to see. Miles shares his epiphany, “It was novel and unbelievable…and they were all filmed on ¾ inch tape; not 35 mm film.” He summarizes the experience, “I saw the film festival and knew it was my bag…all of this before [MTV’s] Liquid Television and Flash was someone’s wettest dream.”

MTV’s “Liquid Television” aired between 1989-1994

Freshly inspired by the Spike and Mike film festival Miles was sitting in Disney veteran Robert Lence’s (Beauty and the Beast) animation class. The class project was to pitch ideas for animation shorts. Miles pitched his idea to Lence and the class of a very effeminate man who just finished mowing his immaculate lawn. Then a tiny dog lands on his lawn and with his bubblegum colored anus extrudes fecal matter astronomically much larger than the tiny dog. When the dog finishes defecating he walks away with the giant excrement still attached. Fade to black. Roll credits. The End.

The class goaded Miles to do it, while Lence in horror persuaded him not to do it. “I took the notoriety over good advice,” Miles smiles and concludes, “and I plan on continuing on doing that.” Miles submitted, “Dog Pile” while Craig McCracken submitted, “No Neck Joe,” to Spike and Mike. “I remember telling Craig McCracken that he would not sell No Neck Joe, and he did” as Miles tells his anecdote about his friendly competitor. Spike and Mike purchased, “Dog Pile,” several weeks later it was on the screen and Miles was able to see an audience experience it. “It was a heavy thing to see my film, because weeks later it’s on the screen and I could go to see 800 people screaming with laughter.”

A clip from “Dog Pile” from Spike & Mike by Miles Thompson

It’s hard to imagine that someone deemed a “D” student by the American public school system just sold his first cartoon for $2,000 during his freshman year at Cal Arts. Considering most students are not able to break through in the business until after graduation, this made Miles a living legend on campus.

Selling his first cartoon was only the first of many doors to open for Miles. Eventually he will leave Cal Arts and work at Hanna-Barbera where he meets Tim Biskup and is involved with the Burning Brush auctions.

Related articles:
Miles Part 1 - The Well Examined Life of Miles Thompson
Miles Part 2 - For Every Thoreau there is an Emerson
Miles Part 3 - God in Disguise
Miles Part 5 - The Night of the Tiki