Tilting Windmills

Don Quixote is a 1955 sketch by Pablo Picasso

"The Impossible Dream"

from MAN OF LA MANCHA (1972)

music by Mitch Leigh and lyrics by Joe Darion

To dream the impossible dream

To fight the unbeatable foe

To bear with unbearable sorrow

To run where the brave dare not go

To right the unrightable wrong

To love pure and chaste from afar

To try when your arms are too weary

To reach the unreachable star

This is my quest

To follow that star

No matter how hopeless

No matter how far

To fight for the right

Without question or pause

To be willing to march into Hell

For a heavenly cause

And I know if I'll only be true

To this glorious quest

That my heart will lie peaceful and calm

When I'm laid to my rest

And the world will be better for this

That one man, scorned and covered with scars

Still strove with his last ounce of courage

To reach the unreachable star

Legend of the Indian Wrapper

Always a big fan of the Star on the Tootsie Pop wrapper. I didn't find my first one until I was 30 believe it or not!  What can I say I just love it. It's suppose to be good luck. Who can't use a little bit of that these days?!

This is not the first time I've used the Indian theme on a logo. I'll post the Hyde Street Records logos later.

Legend of the Indian Wrapper:

The Indian Wrapper legend has circulated for decades from generation to generation. But once and for all, here is the meaning of the special Indian wrappers that occasionally appear on a Tootsie Pop.

Long, long ago, when all lollipops were made alike, a man one day decided to make a different kind of lollipop for people. He already had a lollipop that looked different than other lollipops because they were flat and he made his in the shape of a star. But he had an idea to make his even better. All he had to do was figure out a way to put a chewy candy center inside his star shaped pops. That way, his lollipops would really be different, and many more people would enjoy them.

He tried everything to get a chewy candy center inside his lollipops but he always failed. Then, one night while the man was asleep, a flash of light appeared in the center of the man's room. The man awoke to find a grand Indian chief smiling at him. The chief told the man that he would help him make a lollipop with a chewy candy center, if the man promised the chief that he would never, ever, stop making them for people.

The man promised. As the legend goes, the chief smiled, and walked over to the window where the twinkling of a bright solitary star appeared in the sky. The chief opened the window and reached for his magical bow and arrow. He pointed the arrow directly at the star in the sky and let it fly. The man watched the chief continue to smile as he kept watching the flight of the arrow. Then suddenly, there was another flash of light that came through the window which completely covered the chief. The man covered his eyes but when he quickly regained his sight, he found the Indian chief had vanished.

Still stunned over his remarkable experience, the man went over to the window to close it, only to find that the star was gone. In its place shone the fullness of the round moon. The man was very confused, but he knew that all of these events had to do with the promise he and the chief had made to each other. Sensing this, the man dashed over to his lollipop shop only to find that all of the star shaped lollipops were gone. In their place the man found round lollipops instead. Inside the shop he grabbed the first round lollipop he could reach and quickly bit into it.

A great big smile covered his face because he could taste the chewy candy center that the chief had magically placed in it. That's when the man knew that the chief had kept his promise. Well, from that day on, the man has always had lollipops with a chewy candy center. But legend has it, that once in a while, the grand chief goes to the man's shop to check and see if the man has continued to keep his promise. The "Indian Wrapper" is supposedly a sign that the grand chief has personally checked that particular lollipop for the chewy candy center.

Well, how Tootsie Pops get their chewy candy center is still a secret. Some say it's magic, but however it is done, you can be sure of one thing, the grand Indian chief, "Shooting Star," will always make sure that the man continues to make Tootsie Roll Pops with their chewy candy centers. Since we enjoy them so much, aren't we all kind of lucky that the chief still cares?


Copyright 1999 Tootsie Roll Industries, Inc. All rights reserved.

Why Don't You Go Ask Mr. Owl?

I was just a kid when this commercial was ran ever 5 minutes during my Saturday Morning Cartoons in the 60's. The images stuck in my head clear up till my Junior year of college in 2006. The marriage of watercolor splotches and my pen & ink drawings  fit together effortlessly. Oh ~ and I am a big fan of the candy too!

Here is a piece inspired by the commercial. My kids told me the guy in the commercial was naked! I had never noticed. I think they are all on Crack! Still, it was a funny thought, so I hope you don't mind that my guy is naked too.

Fun Facts From Wikipedia  (So you know it's true!)

Rumors and set attempts for Tootsie Pop

At some point, a rumor began that the lollipop wrappers which bore three unbroken circles were redeemable for free candy or even free items like shirts and other items. The rumor was untrue, but some shops have honored the wrapper offer over the years, allowing people to "win" a free pop.
Some stores redeemed lollipop wrappers with the "shooting star" (bearing an image of a child dressed as a Native American aiming a bow and arrow at a star) for a free sucker. This was clearly up to the store owner and not driven by the lollipop manufacturer.

One convenience store in Iowa City, Iowa, for example, gave candy away when the children asked. In 1994, the owner of Dan’s Shortstop told a reporter that when he first opened children came by often, but after a while, he said, he had to stop giving stuff away…. Giveaways also occurred in Chico, California, where a 7-Eleven store manager in the Pleasant Valley area, said she had to stop because it had become too expensive.

Since 1982, Tootsie Roll Industries has been distributing a short story, The Legend of the Indian Wrapper, to children who mail in their Indian star wrappers as a "consolation prize". A superstition of the same wrapper is that it gives the bearer good luck for the rest of the day.

A student study at the University of Cambridge concluded that it takes 3,481 licks to get to the center of a Tootsie Pop.

Another study by Purdue University concluded that it takes an average of 364 licks to get to the center of a Tootsie Pop using a "licking machine", while it takes an average of 252 licks when tried by 20 volunteers. Yet another study by the University of Michigan concluded that it takes 411 licks to get to the center of a Tootsie Pop.

A 1996 study by undergraduate students at Swarthmore College concluded that it takes a median of 144 licks (range 70–222) to get to the center of a Tootsie Pop. Harvard Grad students created a rotating mechanical tongue and concluded it took 2255 licks. It took 2256 licks on one attempt for a normal raspberry Tootsie Pop to get the center showing.

Codex Seraphinianus

[Dave's Notes] This is amazing. Strange. Still amazing. Posted it mostly for my needs.

In the late 70s italian architect, illustrator and industrial designer luigi serafini made a book, an encyclopedia of unknown, parallel world. it’s about 360-380 pages. It is written in an unknown language, using an unknown alphabet. It took him 30 month to complete that masterpiece that many might call “the strangest book on earth”. Codex Seraphinianus is divided to 11 chapters and two parts - first one is about nature and the second one is about people.

Five hundred years ago there was another book somewhat like that - voynich manuscript.

Page from Codex Seraphinianus

See the Codex Seraphinianus

Wish I Dunnit!

My friend Dion Dewald did this drawing years ago. The lines move in there own unique way... Oh, I don't know, what can I say, it just speaks to me. I wish I had drawn it. But, hey at least I know the guy that did!

I Was Dating This One Girl

I was dating this one girl ~ beautiful! I walked out to my truck one night. There was a Mercer Mayer book tucked under the windshield wiper blade. If you asked me which one now I couldn't tell you.  ~ Oh, I could narrow it down. The one that was mine was signed "I love you! ~ Jen"

Sucker punched with a children's book!

However did she find that weakness? It was all over from there ~ All of our kids grew up on Mercer Mayer. I've given you a few covers to peruse. If you want me to wax all philosophical and stuff, I won't. He is sweet and simple and to the point. Just as it should be sometimes. I will say my favorite cover is "Just Lost!"~ Maybe you can relate.

This was the book title; just in case you were still wondering!

Sherlock Holmes and the Fairies

I found this while I was researching for my last project; I always liked this story. ~ d.

Arthur Conan Doyle, Spiritualism, and Fairies

By Donald E. Simane

Frances and the Fairies, July 1917, taken by Elsie. Midg Quarter camera at 4 feet, 1/50 sec., sunny day.
Photo No. 1. (detail) This photo, and the four which follow were provided by the James Randi Educational Foundation. These pictures are cropped to show the important details clearly.
 

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Photo No. 1, above, taken in July, showed Frances in the garden with a waterfall in the background and a bush in the foreground. Four fairies are dancing upon the bush. Three have wings and one is playing a long flute-like instrument. Frances is not looking at the fairies just in front of her, but seems to be posing for the camera. Though the waterfall is blurred, indicating a slow shutter speed, the fairies, are not blurred, even though leaping in the air.

 

Photo No. 2, taken in September, showed Elsie sitting on the lawn reaching out her hand to a friendly gnome (about a foot high, with wings) who is stepping forward onto the hem of her wide skirt.

 


 Photo No. 3 "Francis and the Leaping Fairy" showed a slightly blurred profile of Frances with the winged fairy suspended in mid-air just in front of her nose. The background and the fairy are not blurred. Hmmm...

Photo No. 4 shows a fairy hovering in mid-air offering a flower to Elsie. Well, this fairy may be standing on a branch, for the fairy images are of indeterminable distance from the camera.

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 Photo No. 5 "Fairies and their Sunbath" is the only one that looks as if it could have accidental or deliberate double exposure.

 

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Photographic experts who were consulted declared that none of the negatives had been tampered with, there was no evidence of double exposures, and that a slight blurring of one of the fairies in photo number one indicated that the fairy was moving during the exposure of 1/50 or 1/100 second. They seemed not to even entertain the simpler explanation that the fairies were simple paper cut-outs fastened on the bush, jiggling slightly in the breeze. Doyle and other believers were also not troubled by the fact that the fairy's wings never showed blurred movement, even in the picture of the fairy calmly posed suspended in mid-air. Apparently fairy wings don't work like hummingbird's wings. Hardly anyone can look at these photos today and accept them as anything but fakes. The lighting on the fairies does not match that of the girls. The fairy figures have a flat, cut-out appearance. But spiritualists, and others who prefer a world of magic and fantasy accepted the photos as genuine evidence for fairies.Three years later, the girls produced three more photos.

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The girls said they could not photograph the fairies when anyone else was watching. No one else could photograph the fairies. There was only one independent witness, Geoffrey L. Hodson, a Theosophist writer, who claimed to see the fairies, and confirmed the girls' observations "in all details".

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.

Arthur Conon Doyle not only accepted these photos as genuine, he even wrote two pamphlets and a book attesting the genuineness of these photos, and including much additional fairy lore. His book, The Coming of the Fairies, is still in print, and some people still believe the photos are authentic. Doyle's books make very interesting reading even today. Doyle's belief in spiritualism, convinced many people that the creator of Sherlock Holmes was not as bright as his fictional creation.


Some thought Conan Doyle crazy, but he defended the reality of fairies with all the evidence he could gather. He counters the arguments of the disbelievers eloquently and at great length. In fact, his evidence and arguments sound surprisingly similar in every respect to those of present-day books touting the idea that alien beings visit us in UFOs. Robert Sheaffer wrote a clever article drawing these parallels beautifully.


Over the years the mystery persisted. Only a few die-hards now believe the photos were of real fairies, but the mystery of the details of how (and why) they were made continued to fascinate serious students of hoaxes, frauds and deceptions. When the girls (as adults) were interviewed, their responses were evasive. In a BBC broadcast interview in 1975 Elsie said: "I've told you that they're photographs of figments of our imagination and that's what I'm sticking to."


In 1977 Fred Gettings stumbled on important evidence while working on a study of early nineteenth-century book illustrations.  He found drawings by Claude A. Shepperson in a 1915 children's book which the girls could easily have posessed, and which were, without a doubt, the models for the fairies which appeared in the photos.

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Illustration for Alfred Noyes' poem "A Spell for a Fairy" in Princess Mary's Gift Book by Claude Shepperson. (Hodder and Stoughton, no date, c. 1914, p. 101ff). Compare the poses of these figures with those of three of the fairies in Photo No. 1. The figures have been rearranged and details of dress have been altered, but the origin of the poses is unmistakable. 

     

Does it matter?

Does it matter? Natural world disappearing from kids books

Books set in nature like "Where The Wild
Things Are" are becoming far less common, according to new research.

Prof. Chris Podeschi discusses his new research finding a sharp decline of nature and animals in children's books.

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From wild animals to jungles and forests, a new study says kids books about nature are becoming a threatened species. Researchers from several universities reviewed nearly 300 award winning children's titles written between 1938 to 2008. Study co-author, Prof. Chris Podeschi of Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania, told 97.3 KIRO FM they found a troubling trend when comparing books written in the past to the near present.
"Earlier, the books were really sort of more nature centered, the settings chosen, the animals present were just more prominent," Podeschi said.
Books like "Where the Wild Things Are, "The Very Hungry Caterpillar" and "Little Red Riding Hood" have given way more and more to urban settings with fewer animals.
"We're just worried that along with grownups, now kids are increasingly isolated from the natural world in their actual experience."
And he said while there are plenty of great books still being written about the natural world, they worry people will ultimately stop caring about nature and animals as they turn increasingly to a technology centered world.
"We urbanize substantially, park visitation is down as a society, we turn to electronic gadgets that are more and more prominent in our lives," he said.
Not exposing kids to nature through books sparked plenty of conversation and disagreement among the Seattle's Morning News crew. Co-host Linda Thomas argues kids get a bum rap, and any reading is good reading.
"I just thought as long kids were reading or parents were reading to kids, you're ahead of the game there. I really think as long as kids are reading, it doesn't matter what they're reading," Thomas said.
Co-host Tom Tangney argues kids get plenty of exposure to nature from other places. He says his nephew's favorite show is "Dinosaur Train," a weekly exploration of natural environments and animals.
"I think there's a real push in all sorts of different platforms. Nature is more popular than ever," Tangney says.
"That's not nature, that's the nature channel...a screen is not the real world," replies co-host Bill Radke.

"Look What I Can Do!"

New Favorite Lyrics

Hey, did you hear about the one that got away,
they say he looked left,

she turned right-meant to be together but not that night,

it's when fates running late,
we tend to make mistakes,

we go round and round from love to love

it's either way too much or not enough

Train ~ "I got you"

Cleaning House

I would sit drawing at my desk as a teenager for hours. I would draw things mostly from my favorite album covers. That kind of stuff still comes out of me as an adult when I’m “cleaning house” trying to make room in my head for new ideas. These hand drawn logos are as rough as they were in high school, but they're leaps and bounds from then in how much more colorful they are. This is good!

Art of The State (Continued)

After my Snow White post the other day I got sent pictures of old SW album covers. Thanks for thinking of me. Here is the one I was talking about. I love the Internet. The album is as cool as I remember it. If you need more info read - Sunday, May 30, 2010 "Art of the State" I'll talk more in depth about this album.
By the way, Disney re-released SW in 1967; that is when my sister took me to the drive-in to see it.

Here is what was posted with the artwork:

ST-3906, 1962
Songs by L. Morey, F Churchill
Music from the soundtrack of the motion picture

This is the Magic Mirror storyteller LP, originally released in 1960. The first version was released in 1957 as the "round cover." It isn't a read-along, though the album cover does fold out to reveal a full-size storybook. I can't find it mentioned anywhere on the album or the cover, but the Golden Age of Walt Disney Records 1933-1988, a pricing guide, lists Annette Funicello as the narrator.

To Tattoo Or Not To Tattoo

People have come to me lately and asked me to design tattoos for them; which I have, and it reminds me of a story. I was asked by a friend of mind some time ago why I don’t have any tattoos. One reason was I didn’t know what I wanted; the other reason was, if I came up with an idea I would probably come up with more, and then turn myself into a coloring book.

So as soon as I said that ~ there I was with the best idea. In “that is so me” form. I decide I want a sleeve; thousands of dollars, hours of time, and in the end something that I don’t really need. I wanted something that reflected me and my kids, and because I always love Maurice Sendak’s artwork, I wanted his art work. My design has eight characters from “Where the Wild Things Are,” seven monsters to represent the kids and Max to represent me. I had two tattoo artists in mind, but time, and money, and pain being what there are, I have put this design on something a little bit more practical.

I’ve been living in my Mom and Dad’s house again and I’ve reconnected with it. I've taken one of the doors and painted the design on it. This way I can take a piece of the house with me when I go. Mom and Dad are both gone now, and their house will be sold eventually. There are so many memories associated with the house. My sister was six years old when they bought the house in 1956; I was brought home from the hospital to it. Now I've got the hall door, and I'm taking it with me. I'll probably have it for another 50 years.I think that is a better idea then a tattoo.

Here is a picture of the project do far.
Go check out Maurice’s illustrations. He did more than just children’s books.

The Art of The State

I was a little, little kid, like five, and I can still remember going to JC Penny’s to look at albums; my how things do not change! I saw a Disney LP for Snow White. The cover was beautiful. My mom would not buy it for me. I don’t know how soon after that, but I do remember thinking, “Well fine. I’ll just make my own.” I took out the scissors, the stapler, the cardboard, the crayons, and pencils. I made my own! I can remember thinking how cool it was going to be to listing to this. Did you already see this coming? Well, much to my disappointment, I looked into the sleeve; mine did not have the record! Never the less, this was my jumping off point for my love of album art. I would go through the seventies, eighties, nineties, and well into the new millennium before I would get to do real album art and much to my disappointment everything had gone to the smaller CD jewel case format. Just when I thought it couldn’t get worst. It did. With the switch to Internet download music, album art work has been reduced to postage stamp size art. So with all of this being said, here are two of my most resent pieces. Go to iTunes and cd baby and search for Brian Bateman. You'll like the music, and you'll see my stuff "in the rack". The project is a little bit bigger than a postage stamp here. I thought you would appreciate that.

Time To Try Something New

A friend gave me the idea for this watercolor. I do very much little traditional watercor painting, so I was surprised when I liked how it turned out.

The Man Who Minds The Moon

The piece you see above you is James C. Christensen's "The Man Who Minds The Moon". He is one of my favorite artist. He's pretty closed mouth about what his pieces are about, fortunately his art has a lot to say for itself. - "I'm OK on my own James" - What I like best, is to find out what gave him the idea in the first place. He taught at Brigham Young University in Provo, UT for twenty years. During that time he taught one of my professors from Boise State, Bill Carman. Prof. Carman was my teacher for most of my illustration classes. Look them both up. You'll be glad you did.

Batman Vs. Mickey Mouse

I’ve always wanted to be a superhero; not like Batman, though he’s by far my favorite. I would want to be the hero that has the ability to go anywhere I want - and take a friend. The place I would go the most would be Disneyland. I kind of have that ability with an annual pass. This last time I went though, some friends of mine rescued me. Wait. I have to back up a little. For almost as long as I have wanted to be Batman; I’ve wanted to work for Disney. However, given the opportunity right now to live in Burbank or Boise, I choose Boise and being with the kids. Getting to my point, I was in California Adventure and given the opportunity to draw Mickey Mouse! The five year old in me was having the time of his life! Here’s the picture.

The Inspiration

Mad As A Hatter

It’s a nice night out. The moon looks like the Cheshire Cat from “Alice in Wonderland”. This prompts The Hatter in me to ask, "Why is a raven like a writing desk?" Then you say, "Because Poe wrote on both."
Next time you get a chance, take a look at John Tenniel illustrations for Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (1865), and Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There (1871). They are beautiful. All his lines have meaning and purpose.

[thanks to Dion, for the answer to Hatter's riddle.]