20090330

COCA COLA - Nostalgia Pop - Coke Commercials

It's day here on Retro Commercials Monday. So sit back with a bottle of your favorite Coke product and enjoy some nostalgia in the form of commercials from the past:





Here's some of the slogans for Coke/Coca-Cola from the past:
  • 1940 - The package that gets a welcome at home

  • 1941 - A stop that belongs on your daily timetable

  • 1942 - The only thing like Coca-Cola is Coca-Cola itself

  • 1943 - A taste all its own

  • 1944 - High sign of friendship

  • 1945 - Coke means Coca-Cola

  • 1947 - Relax with the pause that refreshes

  • 1948 - Where there's Coca-Cola there's Hospitality

  • 1949 -Along the highway to anywhere

  • 1950 - Help yourself to refreshment

  • 1951 - Good food and Coca-Cola just naturally go together

  • 1952 - Coke follows thirst everywhere

  • 1953 - Dependable as sunrise

  • 1954 - For people on the go

  • 1955 - Americas preferred taste

  • 1956 - Feel the difference, Makes good things taste better

  • 1957 - Sign of good taste

  • 1958 - Refreshment the whole world prefers

  • 1959 - Make it a real meal

  • 1960 - Relax with a Coke, Revive with a Coke

  • 1961 - Coke and food

  • 1962 - Enjoy that refreshing new feeling

  • 1963 - Things go better with Coke

  • 1964 - You'll go better refreshed

  • 1965 - Something more than a soft drink

  • 1966 - Coke...after Coke...after Coke

  • 1971 - I'd like to buy the world a Coke

  • 1972 - Coke . . . goes with the good times

  • 1975 - Look up America, see what we've got

  • 1976 - Coke adds life


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Unless otherwise noted, all images and art on this site are © PopArtDiva.com 2002 - 2009. All Rights Reserved.

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20090327

Big Band Music and Martinis - Cure for a Bad Day

Today's theme for Old School Friday is "I had a bad day". Now, I have my bad days too and what I usually do to fix that is mix myself a couple of martinis (from my own extensive recipe collection at TheMartiniDiva!) and pull out the Big Band music, particularly Glenn Miller!

For some reason this music has always had a place in my heart. Maybe because I grew up listening to it with my Mom and learning to dance to the sounds of Glenn Miller, Tommy Dorsey, The Andrews Sisters, Duke Ellington, Artie Shaw, Benny Goodman and Kay Kaiser, among others. There is an upbeat, swinging sound to this era of music that just makes you want to stand up and boogie woogie!

So the next time you're down in the dumps, click over to The Martini Diva™, stir up some juice and get your jive on with the Big Bands of the forties!

Glenn Miller, String of Pearls:

Glenn Miller, Moonlight Serenade:

Glenn Miller, In The Mood:

AND TO REALLY GET YOUR BLOOD MOVING AND YOUR SPIRITS UP- BOOGIE WOOGIE BUGLE BOY!
The Original Andrews Sisters Version:

A rockin' "scaled up" version by The Divine Miss M, Delores and the DeLago sisters or as you might know her from the movies, BETTE MIDLER:


Baby, if you don't feel better after these and a couple of martinis you may not be savable!

------------------------
This meme was developed by Marvalus View and Mrs. Grapevine
Click here to join in the fun!

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Unless otherwise noted, all images and art on this site are © PopArtDiva.com 2002 - 2009. All Rights Reserved.

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20090325

13 ART TRIBUTES to ICONS, LEGENDS & HEROES

Thirteen of my Art Tributes & Fun Parodies
on the
Heroes, Legends & Pop Culture Icons
of My Youth





13. THE LOST MUSICIANS OF MY YOUTH - John Lennon, Jimi, Elvis, Janis, The Lizard King, all gone too soon with music unheard.

VIEW THE REST OF MY ART TRIBUTES & PARODIES AT POPARTDIVA.COM.

--------------------------------
Links to other Thursday Thirteens!

1. (leave your link in comments)

Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!
The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!

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Heavy Metal Hip Replacement Music - Retro Gets Medical

I started doing some fun little illustrated "nano" fiction for my cocktail blog, The Martini Diva™ last week and people seem to really like the idea. So, when I found myself doodling this retro style platform boot straight out of the seventies and a KISS concert and thought I'd do a little micro story for you guys too!

Above is my first Illustrated Retro Micro Fiction story entitled Heavy Metal Hip Replacement. I'll pop one in whenever the mood and the muse strike! Now, enjoy some heavy metal sounds to go with:




My Art Tribute to Gene Simmons of KISS..
This image is not for sale it is only a tribute to a pop icon.
© PopArtDiva.com 2002 - 2009. All Rights Reserved.


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LOOKING FOR THE SATURDAY SOAPBOX? Check the latest Saturday Posting!

Unless otherwise noted, all images and art on this site are © PopArtDiva.com 2002 - 2009. All Rights Reserved.

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20090323

RETRO MOVIE CANDY - The Classics are Still Alive and Kicking!

I went to the movies the other day and was thinking how strange it is that some of my favorite movie treats are still there in that display box. Milk Duds, Dots, Good and Plenty - classic movie treats when I was a kid and still there today.

Yes, there are boxes of Nerds and an occasional fad candy like Pop Rocks shows up, but the good old standbys still have their place in the sun - or rather the glow of the popcorn machine! Isn't it nice to still see those comfort food candies awaiting us when we go to the movies?

I loved Good and Plenty candy. When I went to the movies I wanted popcorn, Dots and Good and Plenty! Junior Mints were always good too.


And speaking of Dots, this is a fun way to play with your food. But then my mother always used to yell at me for playing with my food!:


And, of course, there's another of my favorite candies as a kid, Tootsie Roll Pops. Remember this, "How many licks does it take to get to the center of a Tootsie Roll Pop?" I made it past 3 but never to the end before I crunched down. How about you?:



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Unless otherwise noted, all images and art on this site are © PopArtDiva.com 2002 - 2009. All Rights Reserved.

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20090321

Today's Economy - What's It Doing To Retiring Boomers?

SOAPBOX SATURDAY
Bringing Baby Boomers Out of the Old Fogey Closet
A Meme for the Young Minded Over Fifty Crowd
------------------
TODAY'S ECONOMY AND THE RETIRING (?) BOOMERS

First, I would like to toot my own horn and a little and show off a post that Eileen over at Feisty Side of Fifty wrote about my branding and design work for her website and new online store, Colorful is Her Middle Name. I had a great time designing and branding Eileen's site, she was super to work with and her sixties style and feisty attitude were a great theme to design for! If you're a Feisty Boomer check out her online store here - Feisty Boomer Boutique. And if you are building your online business and need help with your image and graphics branding, please contact me at BrandingSolutions@PopArtDiva.com.

Now, on to the topic at hand, the economy and it's effect on the Baby Boom Generation's plans for retirement.

This past week the big news was AIG and their use of bail out money for executive bonuses. It seems the whole country is in an uproar and rightly so. I got so mad I posted about it - twice - on the Brat in The Hat. The first post, More of Our Money Down the Bloated Exec Drain, was my initial anger and the second post, Thirteen Ways To Get Your Poached Pennies Back from the Bail Out Monies, was kind of a snarky humor post about how to get our money back from the banks that are abusing the intent of the bail out.

But despite the humor of the second post I am NOT AMUSED at this disgusting trend of the institutions that created a lot of this economic mess grabbing their bag-o-money from Uncle Sam then running home to continue "business as usual". From the uproar on the internet and on television I gather no one else is amused either, especially those of us over 50 and sliding down the money hill towards retirement!

Those of us who are hoping to retire have already seen our Social Security become more insecure than a juicy peace of bacon in front of a hungry dog. We are watching in helplessness as our investments and our homes lose all the value we've built up over the years, we are seeing our children and their families coming back home because they are out of work, we are watching in horror as neighbors, friends and family are sent packing when their homes are foreclosed on by those same institutions that are now having parties and handing out bonuses!

What I want to know is when will this stop or will it stop at all? Is there a solution to this? Does our current administration have the answer or are they floundering in a quagmire of status quo? Are we all going to have to change the way we live permanently or is this temporary and, if it's temporary, will it be over before we end up having to start over again at an age when it's the most difficult to find work, build our nest eggs back up and be secure and safe when we will need it the most?

What do you think? Do you have a solution? Let's see if we can put our senior moment heads together and pull this country out of the danger zone! Add your comments, post your answers in the blogs and come back and link them here - let's get all those 74+ million boomers thinking and creating economic security!

Now, one of my solutions: Go out and spend fifty dollars today on something you were too afraid to buy. I believe that fear is our biggest enemy in this fight for solvency so let's toss that fear aside today. In fact, let's try tossing it aside for a week or so - maybe have a "Spend In for Economic Security" - what do you think?

PREVIOUS SOAPBOX POSTS:
Are We Wasting The Resources of Our Elders?
Reinventing Boomers - New Life After 50
-------------------
JOIN IN THE BOOMER POWER MEME:
Here are the rules to follow and post on your blog response:
  • Come here every Saturday and read the current post.
  • Create your own post on the current subject or anything else pertaining to boomers that might be on your mind.
  • Post a link back to THIS BLOG at this url - http://popartdiva.blogspot.com - on your post.
  • Then make a comment HERE leaving a link to your current blog post. If you do not comment members will not find your blog post!
  • After you've posted your blog with a linkback here and left your comment here go read some of the other posts and comment on their posts too. This creates "link love" and generates traffic for all involved BUT the biggest effect it will have is getting the word out about the Baby Boomers, their issues and maybe even some answers to those issues!
  • Post these rules below your post each week. Simply copy the rules between the purple hash marks and paste them below your post in writing section of your blog's posting area.
  • No personal attacks, no hate, no meanness, no spamming or rudeness is encouraged nor will it be tolerated. PopArtDiva reserves the right to delete any or all comments she considers inappropriate.
-------------------
Unless otherwise noted, all images and art on this site are © PopArtDiva.com 2002 - 2009. All Rights Reserved.

Get my Retro Inspired Pop Culture Art on Cool Stuff like Cups, Tees, Cards, Aprons and more at the POP ART DIVA BOUTIQUE!

20090320

Baby, Have I Got Some Retro Nostalgia for You!

Today's Old School Friday theme is Baby. So, once again I'm going to have a little fun with the topic in a nostalgia - retro way, of course!

First, please enjoy the theme from the movie Rosemary's Baby. Yes, I did go there!


And here's King Cry Baby from Cry Baby starring Johnny Depp. I never understood why they didn't let Depp sing for this movie - maybe they didn't know what all Depp fans knew way back when - this guy can do anything including sing. We were proven right when Sweeny Todd came out:


And here's Sonny and Cher in 1965 singing "I Got You, Babe" - okay, it's only one letter off! Besides I thought you'd get a royal kick out of the threads Sonny and Cher were wearing (not to mention Cher's old nose!) in this rare clip:



Hope I brought a little humor into your life today, Babe! Have a great weekend and I'll see you all tomorrow for the Saturday Soapbox!

------------------------
This meme was developed by Marvalus View and Mrs. Grapevine
Click here to join in the fun!

-----------------------
LOOKING FOR THE SATURDAY SOAPBOX? Check the latest Saturday Posting!

Unless otherwise noted, all images and art on this site are © PopArtDiva.com 2002 - 2009. All Rights Reserved.

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20090317

HAPPY ST. PATRICK'S DAY 2009 - Céad Míle Fáilte!


Happy St. Patrick's Day!
Beannachtam na Femle Padraig!

One hundred thousand welcomes!
Céad Míle Fáilte!

THIS YEAR'S ST. PATRICKS DAY MARTINI IS HERE

Saint Patrick's Day at Wikipedia

The History Channel's St. Patrick's Day Site- Great!

Find a St. Patrick's Day Parade in Your Area

A little music to help you celebrate St. Patrick's Day:





Go mbeire muid beo ar an am seo aris ~ May we be alive at this time next year.

20090316

BARBIE TURNED 50 - She's a Boomer Now!

Last week, March 10th to be exact, our favorite doll - Barbie - turned 50! As a belated birthday greeting to her here's a couple of her best retro commercial from the sixties. Just to let you know how big a Barbie fan I was - I had the original Barbie from the fifties, a Ken, a Toni, a Midge, the cool peach and turquoise Barbie car and more clothes for all of them than I've ever had in my closet at once, lol.





Sure wish I looked that good when I was 50 - heck, wish I'd looked that good at 30!

---------------------
LOOKING FOR THE SATURDAY SOAPBOX? Check the latest Saturday Posting!

Unless otherwise noted, all images and art on this site are © PopArtDiva.com 2002 - 2009. All Rights Reserved.

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20090314

I'VE BLIP-ed, TWITTER-d, TUMBLR-d and PING-d MYSELF ALL OVER THE PLACE!

SOAPBOX SATURDAY
Bringing Baby Boomers Out of the Old Fogey Closet
A Meme for the Young Minded Over Fifty Crowd
------------------
TWITTER IS NOT SOMETHING THAT TWEETY-BIRD DOES ANYMORE!

Mini Social Networking, Micro Bloggers and Baby Boomers - Bringing the world to your doorstep in 140 characters or less!

As a generation of humans who did not grow up with computers baby boomers are coming late to the party and some of us feel a bit like we've dressed incorrectly. Unlike the youngsters out there (the ones who said "Mac" before "daddy") we are swimming in uncharted waters when it comes to all things bit and byte. We're a little wary all those bytes might be from The Great White Technology Shark ready to gobble us up because we're too slow on the uptake of the learning curve!

Many of us are just learning how to e-mail and now we're faced with "Social Media" "Twitter" "Blip" "Tumblr" and other terms that once meant something entirely different to us. I mean doesn't a bird twitter and isn't a tumbler a glass? It can be a bit intimidating for newbies (yes, another techno-term).

But have no fear - your computer, the internet and all the twitters, tweets, blips and tumbles out there are not dangerous, in fact they are quite the opposite. These platforms are ways to connect to people from all walks of life, all over the world at any time of the night and day. They are a doorway to places and people you would never have met without a computer and an internet connection. And they can do it in 140 characters or less!

Like other social connectors on the internet (think MySpace, Eons, Facebook, Growing Bolder), first you join and create a profile page. You put up a picture of yourself or something that represents you (these are called avatars.) You write a little something about yourself that you want to share and you can even "pimp" your profile if you want to personalize the look of your page (make it yours by changing colors, backgrounds, layouts etcetera). Then you can start posting either text posts, images, music files, videos or whatever is allowed on each particular platform. You look for other people with similar interests and "friend", "follow" or "favorite" them so you can build your audience or networking "family".

I use several of these "micro-bloggers" and "mini-social networks", primarily Twitter, Blip and Tumbler. I also use Twitterfeed to automatically feed my latest blog posts to Twitter and Ping.fm to automatically feed several of my social networks special announcements or news and bit.ly to shorten urls and get stats on my micro-posts. Here's a brief little run down on those for you:

TWITTER is the hot platform now - celebrities are there (Ringo Starr, Yoko Ono, Brent Spiner, William Shatner), regular people, wackos, promoters and techno-gurus by the bazillions. Sorta like the real world, huh?

Twitter allows text only "tweets" BUT you can include some html and put in links that point to more detailed and rich content by using an html a href tag (here's some great tutorials for doing simple html things like that - don't get scared, it's really easy - do you remember where you put your Thinking Cap?).

You can also send other "tweets" to Twitter using interfaces like Twitterfeed (will feed a synopsis and link to all your blog posts to Twitter), BLIP (will feed some text and a link to music you choose on Blip to Twitter), TUMBLR (will feed some text and links to a photo, video, audio, quote and other media to Twitter). There are several sites like this that act like a sort of switchboard for connecting your chosen social networks including Tweetdeck, Tweetie, Ping.fm and others. You'll see at the bottom of some people's tweets "1 minute ago from TweetDeck" or "9 minutes ago from twitterfeed" and these will tell you just where they are sending from!

Twitter allows you to "follow" the people you choose, block those that annoy you and see who's following you. You can Twitter by phone too, if you're so inclined and have an internet connection on your cell. You can configure your settings to be notified by e-mail of certain events like other social networks.

XX

BLIP is like Twitter with music! You can search the Blip data base for musicians or songs or even themes, choose that, add a little text and "blip it". You get to save your favorite blips to "reblip" later, you can do that with other people's blips, and you can have Blip feed your blips to Twitter automatically! You can also keep Blip open and play all your blipped music while you serve other pages. Again you have your friends/followers and you can follow others.

TUMBLER is great for artists, musicians, photographers or anyone who wants to share pictures, video or music - BUT BE WARNED the terms of service on Tumblr are rather greedy, read them before you post anything you want to protect as intellectual property! I don't post any of my artwork that is part of my product line - I do, however, post a link to my own art blog or other sites where I can post my copyrighted works.

Tumblr has a really nice post editor where you can easily add links to text or images and get a little fancier than you can in a micro-blogging platform.

PING.FM is a great place to post any announcement that you want to go to several of your social networks. It will automatically post a short message to MySpace, Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and a score of others. This makes your life much easier if you are all over the darn place like I am!

bit.ly is a platform that allows you to insert a long url/link and get it shortened for the micro-platforms so you can keep your character count down and get the link in. You can also name that link something that fits in with it's content! Plus bit.ly gives you stats on your micro-posts!

You can micro-blog-twit-blip-etcetera 24/7 if your little heart desires. You'll meet people from across the globe and across the street. It's faster than e-mail for quick comments and immediate if you're on the site. You can do this on your computer and even on your smart phone! You find some hilarious comments, great recipes, interesting news and some truly interesting people.

You can promote your brand, your business, your products and your services. You can make it as personal or as business oriented as you choose and you can post all day long (but the people who use Twitter as a chatbox get axed by me! I don't want to open up my page and see rows of one dip-stick talking about his dip-stick or some other boring drivel - hitting the "unfollow" button now!).

I use these micro-bloggers to promote my business, but I always try to give good content whether it be just a fun song, a quote, a link to something interesting or just a silly remark that fits in with the art or product I feature. I try to add entertainment value to my micro-posts and I also try to have a little fun with myself and others!

It's up to you how you use these new methods of communication and connection. There are large corporations who use them to build customer service and accessibility, there are people who use them to promote themselves and there are those who just twitter within their own family.

You can make the internet your own with these micro-networks; create a new life of international friends, unique news, entertaining content and connectivity suited just to you. But you can't do that if you don't dive into the waters and get your feet wet!

Hey, those weren't really Great White Technology Sharks after all - they were the Friendly Dolphins of Tweeterdom come to ask you out to play!

-------------------------
Soapbox #1 - Are we wasting the resources of our elders?
Soapbox #2 - Reinventing yourself after 50
-------------------
JOIN IN THE BOOMER POWER MEME:
Here are the rules to follow and post on your blog response:
  • Come here every Saturday and read the current post.
  • Create your own post on the current subject or anything else pertaining to boomers that might be on your mind.
  • Post a link back to THIS BLOG at this url - http://popartdiva.blogspot.com - on your post.
  • Then make a comment HERE leaving a link to your current blog post. If you do not comment members will not find your blog post!
  • After you've posted your blog with a linkback here and left your comment here go read some of the other posts and comment on their posts too. This creates "link love" and generates traffic for all involved BUT the biggest effect it will have is getting the word out about the Baby Boomers, their issues and maybe even some answers to those issues!
  • Post these rules below your post each week. Simply copy the rules between the purple hash marks and paste them below your post in writing section of your blog's posting area.
  • No personal attacks, no hate, no meanness, no spamming or rudeness is encouraged nor will it be tolerated. PopArtDiva reserves the right to delete any or all comments she considers inappropriate.
-------------------
Unless otherwise noted, all images and art on this site are © PopArtDiva.com 2002 - 2009. All Rights Reserved.

Get my Retro Inspired Pop Culture Art on Cool Stuff like Cups, Tees, Cards, Aprons and more at the POP ART DIVA BOUTIQUE!

20090313

Child Singer Crossovers - from TV and the Movies to Recording Stars

Today, Old School Friday is featuring child singers and I immediately thought of Shirley Temple and The Good Ship Lollipop, so that is my main entry for Child Singers.


Of course, you can't think of Shirley Temple without also remembering a young Judy Garland and Mickey Rooney in all those fun "let's put on a play" movies that were rebroadcast in the fifties on Saturdays when I was a kid:


Two other young actor/singers who came to mind were Deanna Durbin and Bobby Breen, though these two are going way back - even past my childhood - but I also remember hearing them sing in old movies on the Saturday Matinee when I was a kid:


Then I started thinking of all the teenage television stars I grew up watching who cut some vinyl in their bids for rock and roll stardom. These were the days before they actually created TV shows around rock music like The Monkees and The Partridge Family. Though technically not child stars, I thought it would be fun to find some of the more obscure recordings of these singing attempts.

I remember buying 45s of Johnny Crawford (Mark from the Rifleman), Paul Peterson and Shelly Fabares (Jeff and Mary from The Donna Reed Show) and I also had Richard Chamberlain's recording of the theme song from Dr. Kildaire so I was a prime target for the cross-over attempts, lol.

Here's a rare and mostly forgotten Johnny Crawford recording:


Though he never really did make a singing bid like many of his fellow actors, I though you'd get a kick out of this clip of a very young Kurt Russell singing at Disneyland:



------------------
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Unless otherwise noted, all images and art on this site are © PopArtDiva.com 2002 - 2009. All Rights Reserved.

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20090310

A PopArtDiva HOOTENANNY! A Folk Music Festival Blog Post

Today I'm having a Hootenanny!
Yes, it's also my Thursday Thirteen early, ok? I'm lazy this week and killing two blogs with one post!

So sit back, grab your mug of black coffee, don your black beret and get ready to snap your fingers, Daddi-O 'cause here's thirteen of my favorite folk singers. It's a fun festival for you fifties folkie fans and hipster hippie beats.

I fell in love with folk music fairly young. When I was about ten my brand new brother-in-law, Larry, gave me my first guitar and a songbook of Kingston Trio tunes. It was my first real exposure to the folk music that was part of an emerging lifestyle that crossed over from hipster beatniks to hippie peaceniks.

Strumming my first guitar I had a momentary hope of being the next Joan Baez or maybe the fourth member of Peter, Paul and Mary. In the end I was more talented with crayons than a tune and my dreams of becoming a folk singer only ended up giving me calloused fingertips, but those dreams also fostered a love of real folk music that stays with me to this day.

The classic folk singers were Woody Guthrie, Pete Seeger and many of the Irish groups like The Clancy Brothers and The Chieftans. The next wave would be groups like The Kingston Trio, The Limeliters, The Smothers Brothers, Joan Baez and Peter, Paul and Mary, followed closely by the likes of Bob Dylan, Donovan and Paul Simon.

Soon after folk music and rock blended together for a new sound called folk rock performed by groups like The Byrds, Simon and Garfunkel and The Mamas and the Papas. But no matter what era the music, the melody is still magic and the stories still memorable.



























Cool, man, if it ain't beat it's dullsville! Here's a little trivia before you leave the PopArtDiva Beat Cafe today to go buy a set of bongos - the term "beatnik" was coined by none other than columnist Herb Caen of the San Francisco Chronicle when he was referring to the Beat Generation as a somewhat derisive spin on the name of the Russian satellite Sputnik.
------------
LOOKING FOR THE SATURDAY SOAPBOX? Check the latest Saturday Posting!

Unless otherwise noted, all images and art on this site are © PopArtDiva.com 2002 - 2009. All Rights Reserved.

Get my Retro Inspired Pop Culture Art on Cool Stuff like Cups, Tees, Cards, Aprons and more at the POP ART DIVA BOUTIQUE!

20090309

HOWDY DOODY, BUFFALO BOB & TWINKIES? Retro Commercials Monday

I stumbled on this live commercial from The Howdy Doody Show for Twinkies! (Which strikes me as funny is because I just did a humorous retro art design for my online store that mentioned Twinkies - see below.) This spot is kind of cute - Buffalo Bob is pretending to mix up a batch of Twinkies - and "Allah-Kah-Zamm!" two perfectly packaged Twinkies!


And for those of you my age who remember watching in the fifties, here is a clip from the very last episode (the 2,343rd episode!) of The Howdy Doody Show. This clip includes the final Howdy Doody goodbye song and Clarabell's First Time Ever to Speak on the Show!! Do you remember what Clarabell's only words were???


For some fun Howdy Doody Trivia check out my Art Tribute to Buffalo Bob and Howdy

And if you are a true Twinkie fan you might enjoy a Tee, Cup or other item - or even a Poster for only $25! - of OLD TWINKIES


----------------
LOOKING FOR THE SATURDAY SOAPBOX?
Check the latest Saturday Posting!

Unless otherwise noted, all images and art on this site are © PopArtDiva.com 2002 - 2009. All Rights Reserved.

Get my Retro Inspired Pop Culture Art on Cool Stuff like Cups, Tees, Cards, Aprons and more at the POP ART DIVA BOUTIQUE!

20090307

SOAPBOX SATURDAY - Reinventing Baby Boomers

SOAPBOX SATURDAY
Bringing Baby Boomers Out of the Old Fogey Closet
A Meme for the Young Minded Over Fifty Crowd
------------------
REINVENTING OURSELVES AFTER FIFTY

Balancing the Creaking Wheels of the Boomer Workforce

I have reinvented myself many times over the years. Not so much myself personally but certainly professionally. As an artist I have worked in many of the different fields of art over the years including illustration (the path I originally trained for), advertising design and graphic arts, as well as producing original fine art for sale through many avenues.

The art buying world is fickle; advertising is cutting edge - always looking for the newest look and youngest creative types, and illustration and fine art are as subject to trends as the high fashion and interior design worlds. This has kept me on my toes, challenged me and given me years of experience and expertise in a wide range of mediums and skills.

Even so, at age 58, I find myself again reinventing myself as an internet brand as the art market dries up with the economy and the ageism that permeates the work force narrows down my options. I went from being just plain Terri to PopArtDiva, the artist formerly known as Terri, lol!

This may all sound a little like a complaint, but it is not. It is actually a grateful reminder to myself that because I have been self-employed for many decades, because I have been frequently required to bring my skill and mind sets more current and cutting edge, and because I have never enjoyed the "security" of a paycheck, I am not frozen in fear at the prospect of rising unemployment. Because I know there is always some kind of work out there if you just know where to look. Though sometimes you have to really dig down into some unexpected holes!

My friend, Eileen of The Feisty Side of Fifty, in her post "Women Over Fifty—Reinvention All Over Again" speaks to the concept of knowing just what you have to offer, knowing your skills and salable qualities, as essential in today's job market for those of us over 50.

I would like to carry that a bit further. Knowing your skills and salable qualities is not only important to retain an existing job, or procure a new position, it could be the path to creating a new job tailored specifically to your skill sets! The skills and qualities you bring to the table for a salaried position, when coupled with your wisdom, life experience and years of working in the corporate or business world, are also just the things you can use to create a job tailored specifically to you!

Many people who have always worked for someone else find it hard to think outside the box when it comes to getting work. They are married to the idea of creating resumes, making appointments and applying for 9 to 5 jobs. They can't jump to the idea that you could actually look at a company, think what you have to offer it and go in and tell them they need to hire you! Why? Because you can save them time, money, mistakes and/or a myriad of other benefits that only you, with your background and experience, can bring to the table as a consultant, contract worker or independent contractor.

As an example, it occurred to me that in the current economic atmosphere, printers might be getting less contracts for work and this might cause them to cut their in-house graphics departments. They still need graphics done but they no longer have the means to keep an employee on staff. Guess what? This is an ideal time for free-lance graphic designers! I sent out my "particulars" to a few large print houses, explained I could quote a job, they could add 15% for their PROFIT, and I could easily work with their clients via e-mail, video chats and web conferences, no matter where they were physically located!
Guess what, I got jobs. Why? Because not only did I solve a problem (they still needed graphic design), I also gave them a new revenue stream (15% over my quotes) instead of a revenue drain (salaries, employee taxes, bookkeeping costs)!

In times like these it is the creative and aggressive that survive - the business world's "survival of the fittest" way of winnowing out the weak links. It is harsh, but it is the reality in hard economic times. In the fight for survival in the concrete jungle it is the fastest, smartest and most aggressive that will survive.

Just how hungry are you?

P.S. Thanks to my friend, Joyce from Hot Flashbacks, Cool Insights, I can give you the definition of a "meme" which I was too lazy to research and she wasn't! Along with this definition is her post contribution to the wonderful inaugural Saturday Soapbox last week, "Don't Act Like A Dinosaur"!

Don't miss last week's inaugural Saturday Soapbox
Are We Wasting The Resources of Our Elders?
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