(“Figs ‘n’ Flates” do?)<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n It was really hard to figure out a sequence for this stuff. There\u2019s no rhyme or reason to any of it, so there was no natural leadoff photo.<\/span><\/p>\n What to do? Pick something eye-catching and\/or ridiculous. A stuffed moose on a toilet is both, plus it\u2019s the perfect WTF-and-where-is-this-going image.<\/span><\/p>\n It also led me to create the sub-category of \u201cGuards\u201d – specific things that are stationed in specific places for good reasons. This moose spends 99.9% of his time standing on his head and antlers, guarding me from slamming my leg or toes into the metal corner of my Nordic Track in the dark:<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Felix the Cat guards the four large speakers in the corners of my living room. This one sits atop one speaker:<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Of these two, one sits and one hangs – both from almost 4\u2019 over and above two other speakers:<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n This last one sits less than a foot-and-a-half from the fourth speaker in his \u201cSIT FELIX\u201d mortar (you\u2019ll have to go to the 2010 post to make sense of that – it\u2019s not what you think):<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n This guy guards valuables (he hasn\u2019t failed me yet):<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Tie tacks, medallions and CDs are gorilla-guarded:<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n The Noids (remember them?) guard old cassettes:<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Godzilla oversees the entire room and guards three very valuable items: my unopened 2018 R\u2019n\u2019R Hall of Fame CD, my 2009 Opening Week tickets to the brand new Yankee Stadium and a Scorpions gold record (well, most<\/em> of it):<\/span><\/p>\n What? Where would he (or I, for that matter) get a Scorpions gold record?<\/span><\/p>\n At the Meadowlands when the Scorps played there in April 1991. There was a party\/presentation of gold and platinum records to the band in The Winners Club in the Arena\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026.and somebody dropped one!<\/span><\/p>\n Everyone kept their distance from all the broken glass and I noticed no one seemed to care about the big piece of gold record just laying there, so I grabbed it\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026and God-Z has been guarding it ever since.<\/span><\/p>\n And he gets no help from Little-Z:<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n By the way – on top of the speaker that sits right next to me at the computer, there’s some sort of father-son drama going on:<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cWouldn\u2019t you like to come and work with me in the office of a car dealership?” said the man who handled the books at one such place.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cAhhhhhhhhh\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026no.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n The father had two rebellious sons who chose paths other than automotive ones, so I\u2019m not sure who that other guy is:<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Dolls\/Puppets<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n You may recall these from an earlier post this year:<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n I picked up this Pee-wee Herman kit at a garage sale for a buck or two, but never had the interest to actually put it together, probably because he stole so much from a certain show I shot for:<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Speaking of The Uncle Floyd Show (was I?), I have something similar to his main puppet Oogie:<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n As you can see, Oogie has yellow hair and (trust me) no legs (if you\u2019d like to see a photo of Cyndi Lauper and Floyd with Oogie, you\u2019ll have to go to http:\/\/bobleafe.com\/<\/a><\/span> and look under \u201cUncle Floyd\u201d).<\/span><\/p>\n Mine is a similar Pelham puppet with orange hair and two legs and he’s guarding a bunch of CDs and some 1922 sheet music of \u201cOogie Oogie Wa Wa\u201d (non-Google translation: \u201cI wanna Mama\u201d to an Eskimo):<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n He\u2019s also holding an altered Ozzie Smith baseball card:<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n All three of these items are very rare.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n On the same CD shelf as Oogie, stands the very common Hugo – Man of a Thousand Faces puppet. Hugo was practically a cast member of the show and – with Mugsy\u2019s guidance – danced at the end of a lot of shows.<\/span><\/p>\n He\u2019s shown here guarding something that\u2019s fairly rare: The Uncle Floyd Show Album (which I shot the cover for) in cassette form. I can\u2019t find another one anywhere. That\u2019s why Hugo\u2019s not letting this one out of his sight:<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Here\u2019s a Hugo story that few people know about:<\/span><\/p>\n When Mugsy died, he was single and childless. The obituary in the local paper stated that he left a son behind named\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026..Hugo. The paper was pissed<\/em> when they found out that somebody fooled them, while we all had a great laugh.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Figurines<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Any idea what this little cutie\u2019s doing?<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Taking pictures!<\/span><\/p>\n My youngest sister gave me this for Christmas a long time ago.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Here\u2019s what it is and the back of it:<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n And here\u2019s what it looks like brand new:<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Wait a minute\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026why does mine have a blue<\/em> wreath and not a green one? Oh, I get it – mine must be the Elvis version:<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n These were my mother\u2019s. Mom – the owl freak:<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cOfficer – there\u2019s a naked blue lady bathing in my blue ashtray\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026..can I keep her?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Inflatables<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n The 2\u2019-tall Crush Monster seems to be very rare. I can\u2019t find another one anywhere online:<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n This 3\u2019-tall hammer is pretty dull. I have no idea where I got it or why:<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n The name thing probably got me to acquire these two items, but the Turning Leaf wine one is so boring that I never even opened it:<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n As for the baloney guy, I couldn\u2019t decide if I liked straight or crossed legs better:<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Dunno where I got it, but you gotta love the shark :<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n It seemed like every guy I knew had an inflatable guitar\u2026\u2026\u2026..this is mine:<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n But I took things to a ridiculous level when I got something that no one I knew had any idea even existed – an inflatable guitar tuner<\/em>! Gotta keep \u201cBud\u201d in tune, right?<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cBud\u201d is about 3.5\u2019-long and the tuner is about 3\u2019-long:<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n After that, I said \u201cNo more – getting too crazy\u201d. How crazy? I actually bought FIVE of those tuners! I gave one to a friend, opened another and here are the other three:<\/span><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/iaintjustmusic.bobleafe.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/1-IMG_9459-7-14-20-WM-min.jpg\")
<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n