Retro Prosperity Cartoon

Dirty Boy

HA!

Kat Von D Does a Rockin' Cut Up Tshirt

Have a tat on your back? Kat Von D's tshirts rock it. And she is one cool chick, like a real life Catwoman.

Easy Baked Macaroni and Cheese Casserole - 3 ingredient recipe

This easy baked macaroni and cheese casserole recipe must be at least 60 years old. I learned how to make this by watching my Dad, now in his 70's, and my Grandma used to make it for him. The crispy cheese top adds a tangy cheddar flavor to this retro mac and cheese. It only takes three ingredients to make this but I recommend the can of tomatoes to add after cooking.

You need:
3 cups of dry elbow macaroni
1 can Campbell's Cheddar Cheese Soup
1 to 2 cups of shredded cheddar cheese (depending on how cheesy you like it)

Add the macaroni to a large pot of boiling water and cook just until tender. Check the pasta's package instructions for an estimated time. Make sure to stir occasionally so the pasta doesn't stick to the bottom of the pot. *Another tip from my Dad; add a teaspoon of butter or margarine to the pot of water to prevent boil overs. Weird, but it seems to work.

Once the pasta is cooked , pour it into a strainer and rinse with cool water. Shake the strainer to get rid of the excess water and transfer to a baking dish. Any size dish will do , but a 9"by12" is recommended for good cheese coverage.

Open the can of cheese soup and scoop onto the macaroni and mix them together. The still warm pasta should melt the soup enough to coat the noodles with it's cheesiness. Now sprinkle grated cheddar on top of the macaroni and put in the oven, uncovered.

Cook at 375* F for 20 minutes or until the cheddar on top starts to bubble and turn brown. While the mac & cheese is in the oven, open the can of tomatoes and heat in a saucepan on the stove at a medium heat.

To serve, dish up a portion of the macaroni, being sure to get some of the tangy cheddar top on each plate. Spoon warm tomatoes over top and dig in!

First Tattoo

I was camping under the pinion pines in New Mexico, south of Santa Fe on Route 66, when I drew up this design for a tattoo. I said to myself, while I was sucking up some nasty java in the middle of the desert on a Sunday morning, "What ever I draw now I am going to have done up as a tat on my leg." After I finished the drawing, I jumped into my Little Red Chili Pepper (my name for my car), and drove into town. By some miracle, the tattoo shop was open. There was one person in the shop, she had come in for an appointment she had that morning. She locked up the shop and did my piece. Unbelievable luck. Part way through her boyfriend came in and waited while she finished up. They were good people and I had a great visit with them. Such a great experience for a Canuck on vacation. The funny thing is, just the other day I got a message on myspace from a gal in Cali that saw the original drawing and wanted to know if she could use it for a leg tattoo. I told her, just send me a picture!

Low Brow, High Brow

Okay, lowbrow art is in my mind one of the sexiest, coolest forms of art out there. What makes it so sexy is what it ain't, highbrow art. Yeah, I know, clear as those globs of paint you smeared with your hands in kindergarten until it turned the color of mud.
Well, let me put it this way, to make those brows raise you have to go to school for a few years and come out saying things like "the dicotomy of the juxtoposition of conflicting iconic elements". To lower those brows you just get busy doing it your way without the education in B.S. A good dose of kustom kulture, hot rod lovin' pin-up tattoo style is good spice to add to the mix. Because lowbrow has become so cool all the system educated artists wanted in on the action so the mutant child of highbrow and lowbrow art was born and it was called Pop Surrealism.

Here's a lowbrow art history lesson.
A pop surrealism gallery.
An excellent link to check out the book Pop Surrealism; The Rise of Underground Art.

Johnny Cash Picked Up My Mom

Every time I turn around this week it's Johnny Cash. I was watching “Walk the Line” for second time the other night. Then today there was a bulletin from the band Townline on myspace asking people to check out their new song about the big JC. When I clicked on another myspace profile picture(attracted by the vintage car) there was a video of this guy singing, he's spanish, living in Spain and HE'S wearing a Cash t-shirt.
My mom went to see Johnny Cash in concert when she was a saddle shoe and rolled up jeans wearing doll. I don't know where or how she managed it, and she's not here anymore to ask, but she fell over the big guy's guitar case. Johnny picked her up and put her back on her feet. She couldn't remember anything he said, she was too nervous, I'm sure.
Anyway, it has always made him more real to me and all of these reminders just take me back to memories of my mom. You don't always need to look to big names to get in touch with the retro rockabilly style. You're likely related to your best resource. Just go dig in your parents or grandparents photo albums.