Despite the 90 plus degree heat, which we've endured now for almost four weeks straight, the relentless sunshine, and the oppressive humidity we went to the annual Tree Streets yard sale yesterday. The Tree Streets are a section of town where all the streets are, wait for it, wait for it, named after various trees! It's nice section of homes, with the exception of various frat and sorority houses which emit the scent of stale beer, urine, rotting pheromones, and failure, and a few apartment complexes of the damned.
After trudging around in the heat and humidity for a few hours I came up with a few observations about people and yard sales:
- At some point in the past a lot of people bought a lot of crap items.
- Later those same people will always try to sell those crap items for far less than what they paid for it.
- There is no end to the amount of dirty mingy looking children's clothes people will try to sell.
- Some adults love to sell overpriced water and soft drinks to people who should be buying lemonade and ice water from kids who are trying to make a buck.
- Most things made pre-1975 smell moldy.
- Antique dealers are incredible assholes, unless you, my dear blog reader, are related or married to one, or you are one. The streets were full of local antique dealers trying to scoop up merchandise for nothing which they will turn around and resell at a sky high price later in their shitty un-air conditioned stores.
I ended up buying three cheesy album covers that I will frame at a later date. I now present those album covers for your perusal:
I loved the art on this little jewel of a cover. This one is also about one third smaller than usual album covers which I thought was neat.
Totally bitchin' graphic design. I love the black, the grays, and the muted blues.
What's not to love about a purple tinged Afro-Cuban looking guy screaming?
And now here's some pictures of the crap that people were trying to sell:
I kind of liked this little bee toy, it reminded me of the toys I had when I was a toddler.
Yard sales: Where dolls go to die.
The north American shirt tree.
Box o' Joes.
An oscilloscope.
14 comments:
How much did you pay for the oscilloscope? Or do you already have one? Because while every household needs an oscilloscope, two is just greediness.
I found some great album art on my trip as well, but only took a photo. Perhaps I should have bought it.
Oh, man, an oscilloscope. I'm not even sure what that thing does, but I totally would've bought it. For some reason, I just need one. And a theremin. And a zither. And other strange-sounding words.
That oscilloscope looks like something from a cheesy sci-fi movie. Actually my dad probably had one of those things AND knew how to use it.
I love the observations. Someone ought to do a sociological study of people who have yard sales and people who shop at yard sales.
Do you ever experience this phenomenon in your fair city? You can't go to a yard sale without seeing at least one Asian -- usually Chinese -- single male riding up on a crappy bicycle. It actually makes sense here; we're a university town with many international graduate students who are looking for a cheap way to furnish their apartments (unlike my daughter who dragged me off to Target.)
Do the tree streets have, like, trees on them?
Barbara-My gf would have killed me if I bought the oscilloscope. But I wanted it bad.
Samurai-I totally agree man.
Suzy-It's so cool your dad had one of those. I did not see any Asian guys on bikes but I did see many Hispanic people, we have lot of migrant workers here, buying stuff. And yes the tree streets do have trees on them.
Lately, I have been inspired by you Dr. Muckey. I have started to go aroung taking pictures of ramdom shit. I got two rainbows in one week because of my mental preparedness and my camera phone. I seem to want to take pictures of all the Ron Paul signs I'm seeing down here, but any one unto itself would just seem like a plug.
What does an oscilliscope measure? Is it dizziness after spinning in circles?
And lastly, but not leastly, I will someday, someway, when you least expect it steal that shirt tree picture and that is a threat (to something.)
I would have bought the oscilloscope just so I could say I owned and ocsilloscope.
And then I would sell it at a yard sale a year later, when the novelty wore off.
love the artwork on the flower drum song album cover!
seriously, though, i had to check out oscilloscope on wikipedia. interesting device!
"Yard sales: Where dolls go to die." hahahahaha!!!!
i didnt realize you visited all those Doll cemetaries........
maybe you should start a doll-sized gravestone company on the internet --- it would beat driving all over the place.
as for the oscilloscope - if you really want one there are 811 on sale on eBay right now....
one more thing on the oscilloscope -- it looks like the one that Professor Pepperwinkle used to turn everyone upside down in The Adventures of Superman.
on great Dr. M.
Noel Neill or Phyllis Coates? (no Margot Kidder, sorry)
Hey Dr. Monkerstein, Dámaso Pérez Prado was a Cuban who more or less invented the mambo while he was living in Mexico in the 50s. He's famous for his grunts, with which he would urge his band on. He was also influenced by the dissonant chords that he heard in Stravinsky, and incorporated them into his mambos. Strangely, his best mambos are merely numbered ("Mambo no. 5," "Mambo no. 7") His most famous songs, light fare like "Patricia" and "Cherry Pink and Apple Blossom White," shouldn't really be considered mambos.
Perez Prado AND Flower Drum Song.
I love you - you damned Monkey you!
And mad props to Mark for all that great Perez Prado trivia.
Freida-Me? Inspiring? Go figure. My mother would be so proud.
Whiskey-Sounds like a plan! I'll pick you one up next time.
Notsoccermom-I was blown away as soon as I saw that album cover.
Dcap-What can I say, I visit lots of places!
Mark-Wow,thanks for teaching me about thatguy. My respect grew a ton for him. I actually dig that kind of music so I will look for his CDs now.
Fran-Of course you love me, I'm a solid metric ton of monkey love.
Wonderful pictures and descriptions, man.
i want to buy the bee, please send me informations...
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