POP ART EATING! ANDY WARHOL EATS A HAMBURGER

Since I just finished my Pop Art Burger and Fries I thought you would all get a kick out of seeing the real Andy Warhol eat a hamburger!


I've watched this several times trying to see what brand of burger he's eating and can't - but I can see that the bottle of ketchup is Heinz, lol.

This is Pop Art Food Performance Art! Maybe I should start recording my forays to fast food joints, lol. I could do 15 minutes on french fries alone!

POP ART BURGER & FRIES
by PopArtDiva

Image Copyright 2010 by PopArtDiva.Com. All Rights Reserved.

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POP ART BURGER & FRIES and some Fast Food Nostalgia

Image ©2010 by PopArtDiva.Com. All Rights Reserved.
No permission is given to copy, share, distribute, reproduce, post or print without written authorization.
Contact PopArtDiva.Com for licensing information.

CREATING THE POP ART BURGER & FRIES

As I threatened in my last post I did go ahead and do a Hamburger & Fries Pop Art for my Pop Art Food series. I did use the background from my Pop Art Cookies to inspire me but this time I used square instead of circles. Maybe the Pop Art Hot Dog will have triangles. . .(update 8/7/2010 - nope it ended up with ovals!)

The hamburger was a lot of fun to sketch and I drew it like I like to eat my burgers - with lettuce, onions, tomatoes and pickles and a lot of ketchup. I am not a 'mustard on hamburger' kind of person - mustard is for hot dogs!

When I got to the color stage I found it a bit of a challenge because I was not too sure about odd colored beef but I liked the purple pickles, pink lettuce and blue tomatoes idea. In the end, I decided to leave the burger and bun naturally colored and just adjust the condiments and the fries. Pop Art is all about messing with cultural icons - taking the common of the day and turning it into "art" using commercial art techniques so, if Andy Warhol can turn Marilyn green, I can certainly turn a pickle purple and some lettuce pink!

I always ask for extra pickles on the side because I just like pickles so you will see my side order of pickles on the right! If you look very close you will actually see the salt on the fries though probably not in the small image above.

You can order up your Pop Art Burger and Fries on Posters, T-shirts, Aprons, Cards, Business Cards and other goodies at The PopArtDiva Gift Gallery.

MEMORIES OF BURGERS & FRIES

I grew up in Wichita, Kansas which just happens to be the birthplace of White Castle Burgers. Interestingly enough I never had a White Castle Burger until I was in my twenties and went back East for an ad job, but I do remember my folks taking us to Griff's.

In those days a burger was fifteen cents and fries were eleven cents. Mom would order each of us kids a small burger, fries and a milkshake. I always got my burger with just ketchup and pickles (you could custom order your burger, at least in those days) and I got a chocolate shake. I would dip my fries in the chocolate shake - something I will still do if I get the opportunity.

Griff's was one of the burger joints that had car hop service so we kids were often in our pajamas eating our burgers. I guess our folks liked the idea of just being able to drop us into our beds in a carb coma after dinner, lol. I just thought it was cool to go out to eat in my pajamas that had feet!

The Griff's company closed decades ago but there are still some of the individual drive-ups open and operating in a few states. Had I known there was one in Albuquerque I would have hunted it down and ordered my old favorites just for the nostalgia. I can still remember that particular grease taste and those lard fried potatoes - honestly, nothing beats a french fry cooked in lard!

I'm making myself hungry again.

Pop Art Burgers & Fries Copyright 2010 by PopArtDiva.Com. All Rights Reserved. No permission is given to copy, distribute, e-mail, share or reproduce without written permission from PopArtDiva.Com

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POP ART COOKIES - Cookies that won't go to your hips!

POP ART COOKIES

When I was working on my newest pieces in my Pop Art Food Series I did a quick cookie sketch too but it was not my favorite of the three and I almost didn't do this pop art. I mean how much can you do with a stack of cookies?? Interestingly enough, my POP ART COOKIES turned out to be my favorite. I think it's because I love the kind of retro background I created for this one. There's something about those circles that just really pop the cookies. Plus it was fun making the chocolate chips in a rainbow.

I may use this background idea for my Pop Art Hamburgers, Hot Dogs & Fries too. It's got that retro drive-in feel to it. I'm having a great time with this series of Pop Art Food, every one of these remind me of being a kid and eagerly anticipating one of my Mom's homemade desserts. It's nice when my own art brings me wonderful memories.

They also make me hungry and I ended up making a batch of chocolate chip cookies yesterday - yes, I used M&M's instead of chips, had to have my rainbow colors!

POP ART COOKIES

Available on Posters & Prints, Clothing, Home Decor, Cards & Stationery, Games & Toys & Other Fine Gifts

National Chocolate Chip Cookie Day is August 4th.

POP ART PIES! Pop Art Food that's Low Calorie!

POP ART PIE
on Posters, T-Shirts, Aprons, Cups, Cards, Business Cards, Ties & More!

Like I said in my last post, I have wanted to do a series of Pop Art Food for ages. I finally got around to starting the series and did some Pop Art Cupcakes after visiting one of those hot, new cupcake bakeries for my birthday in January.

But I really got started on the series when I got inspired by a visit from the ice cream truck coming down my street recently. That little tinny jingle sent me flying to my purse to grab some money and get one of my favorite frozen desserts from childhood. I remember always pestering my mother for a nickle when I heard that ice cream truck jingle as a kid and it prompted me to write a couple of posts about those days:

How Popsicles became POPSICLES® - Ice Cream Nostalgia

Bomb Pop, Astro Pop, Creamsicles & Other Nostalgic Ice Cream Treats in the Atomic Age

With that kind of nostalgic inspiration I ended up doing a series of Ice Cream Martinis for my site, TheMartiniDiva.Com, then finally sat down and started my Pop Art Food series!

So far I've done:
CHILLAXIN' - POP ART POPSICLES
POP ART ICE CREAM CONES
POP ART CUPCAKES
POP ART CAKES
and these POP ART PIES
Tomorrow I'm posting my latest - POP ART COOKIES
(which I'll post tomorrow)

Yesterday I was grabbing a quick hamburger in a fast food joint and realized that it would also be fun to do Pop Art Hamburgers, Fries and Hot Dogs! Guess what my next pop art projects are?

I always say I can Pop Art just about anything - I've done company logos, people and their pets of course, celebrities, cocktails, money, rubber duckies, even famous landmarks- you name it I've done a Pop Art of it or I will!

HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY - No, I haven't done a Pop Art Flag yet - what was I thinking???

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My latest Pop Art - CAKES! Low Fat, no sugar - just sweet.

I've been wanting to start a series of pop art food for ages. I did my first one around my birthday in January - Pop Art Cupcakes, then last month I did a pop art of Popsicles and Pop Art Ice Cream Cones because I was posting ice cream martini recipes on The Martini Diva. It got me started!

Yesterday I did this fun Pop Art of a slice of cake with a fork stuck in it and a bite already gone. I added some fun confetti and streamers because cake and celebrations seem to go together.

I do all my designs for products sold on my online stores and this one is on t-shirts, posters, cups, aprons, cards, caps and other cute goodies at POP ART CAKE SLICE.

Check it out and let me know if it makes you gain weight!

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The Psychedelic Light Show of the 21st Century

Tie Dye VizLoop Active Light Show

In the sixties psychedelic light shows were everywhere. No party, gathering or concert was complete without one. In those days we had to rely on stage magic, black lights, disco balls with colored lights aimed at them and lava lamps for our visual experience.

Not anymore. Thanks to modern technology and one man's truly innovative and creative mind, anyone can have their own personal high definition light show at the click of a mouse or flick of a finger.

My friend, Brad, has created these wonderful animations called VizLoops - Active Art that will "turn your music on." The cool thing is they work with any and all of your music. Don't ask me how it works, Brad explained it to me and the explanation went so far over my head it needed an astronaut not a pilot! All I know is it does work and it will blow your mind - VizLoops are like a computer animated kaleidoscope on acid or valium depending on what music you're playing!

You can play these animations along with your own music and they sync together. Try it yourself - turn the sound off on any of these test drives and turn on some of your own music and watch for a few seconds. You'll start to see the animation picking up the rhythm and beat of the sound. Brad calls it "PsychoSync" - your mind will synchronize the visuals with the sounds, it's absolutely amazing. I remember watching several of these on his humongous flat screen monitor last year and I would sit there glued to the screen.

Can you imagine how cool a party would be with these playing on your hi-def TVs? You could also have them playing on every computer monitor in the house at the same time. Imagine all the lights dimmed and these playing with your party music. It would be an amazing experience.

If you think you've seen some cool computer light shows, think again. These are light years beyond anything else out there. Brad's VizLoops are complex, fluid and visually stunning. Here's The Story of the VizLoop Birth.

Brad has 14 up so far, each with it's own unique dynamic. So far my favorites are:

Lubralicious - this one is almost a meditation session!


Then there's Bubbleheart with the morphing hearts:


And ChromaSutra - I love the pun on Kama Sutra almost as much as the VizLoop:


Check out Brad's website:
VizLoops from eyetrix
for the other VizLoop Light Shows and to purchase one for yourself - they are only $2.99 for a widescreen HD experience!

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Happy Memorial Day

I would like to wish all of you a very Happy Memorial Day weekend.

While you're enjoying the long holiday, I hope you take a moment out to honor those who gave their lives in defense of our country. Tell your children or grandchildren that Memorial Day is not just a three day weekend, hot dogs, fun in the sun and a family outing, it is the day set aside to remember those who lost their lives defending our way of life.

Below is a video of John Wayne reciting the history of the song 'Taps'. At the end you will hear a chorus singing 'Taps', a song that many are unaware has words because most of the time we hear it it is being played on a trumpet:

Peace and Prayers to all those serving in the military - May you return home safely to your family and friends.

SEX and the CITY - My, How Times Have Changed!

Every time I watched an episode of 'SEX and the CITY' on HBO I always came away laughing and shocked. Laughing because the show was funny and a slice of a single woman's life. Shocked because I grew up in an era where the language and sexual freedom of Carrie, Samantha, Charlotte and Miranda would have almost had them wearing a scarlet "A" on their chests instead of a pair of scarlet souled Jimmy Choos!

It's amazing to me how the world has changed for women, not to mention their wardrobes, in my lifetime. I was born in 1951, spent my childhood in that very conservative, sexually repressed decade and came of age in the world changing sixties. Had I been born a decade or so earlier or later I don't even know who I would have become.

It's hard for me to imagine myself as a contented housewife wearing drab shirtwaist dresses and acceptable pearls like June Cleaver. But it's also hard to see myself in Samantha's wild and sexual, naked-toed Jimmy Choos. I think I'm a cross-dresser between Carrie's creatively independent Manolo Blahniks and Charlotte's naive and conservative Ferragamo pumps with a pinch of Miranda's dry, cynical Gucci tennis shoes tossed into the mix. The funny thing is I find Samantha to be my favorite character on 'SEX and the CITY" and her close to street-walker clothing to be somewhat appealing. There is something to be said for the total freedom Samantha represents.

But I am still a child of the fifties, a young woman who grew up fighting the establishment, fashion and authoritarian, to make my own place in the world. I carry a lot of Fendi baggage from the eras in which I spent my formative years and I'm not quite able to hurdle that last bastion of repression that was pounded into my fertile little female brain as a child.

But I am going to see "SEX and the CITY 2" today. Just like I saw every episode (twice at least by this time) and just like I saw the first movie - twice. Because, even though I'm not quite at the Samantha stiletto stage, I've eased nicely into a Carrie five-inch heel niche over the years. I'm going to go see "SEX and the CITY 2", bask in their friendship, laugh at their sexually suggestive "bon mots" and revel in their freedom to be who they are.

And I'm going to have a few Pink Flirtinis and some excellent New York City style nosh at a chic bistro after with a BFF - because that's just how those "SEX and the CITY" girls roll.
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Happy Mother's Day - More on POPSICLES and some MOM Giggles!

It doesn't have to be Mother's Day for you to give your Mom something fun,
Check out this trippy MOM POP ART on T-shirts, Cups, Aprons & Other Gear

I hope you didn't forget it was Mother's Day - if you did pick up the phone right now and call her! For those of you, like me, who have lost their Mom take a few minutes today to remember her and tell her Happy Mother's Day in your heart!

For those of you who are mother's here's some fun Mother's Day nostalgia and fun for you!

M... is for the million things she gave me,
O... means only that she's growing old,
T... is for the tears she shed to save me,
H... is for her heart of purest gold;
E... is for her eyes, with love-light shining,
R... means right, and right she'll always be.
Put them all together, they spell "MOTHER,"
A word that means the world to me.
--Howard Johnson (c. 1915)

Did/Does your Mom say these things to you too?

• Always change your underwear; you never know when you'll have an accident.
• Don't make that face or it'll freeze in that position.
• Be careful or you'll put your eye out.
• What if everyone jumped off a cliff? Would you do it, too?
• You have enough dirt behind those ears to grow potatoes!
• Close that door! Were you born in a barn?
• If you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all.
• Don't put that in your mouth; you don't know where it's been!

A Few Mother's Day Facts:

• Mother's Day ranks as the third most popular holiday in the world, after Christmas and Easter.
• Mother's Day is the third-largest card-sending holiday and it is the busiest day of the year for restaurants. Anna Jarvis of Philadelphia wanted to honor her deceased mother ans she created a letter-writing campaign to create a Mother's Day observance.
• In1914, the US Congress passed legislation designating the second Sunday in May as Mother's Day.

A Few of the Things Our Mother's Taught Us:

• My Mother taught me MEDICINE..."If you don't stop crossing your eyes, they're going to freeze that way."
• My Mother taught me ESP..."Put your sweater on; don't you think that I know when you're cold?"
• My Mother taught me TO MEET A CHALLENGE..."What were you thinking? Answer me when I talk to you...Don't talk back to me!"
• My mother taught me about my ROOTS..."Do you think you were born in a barn?"
• My mother taught me about the WISDOM of AGE..."When you get to be my age, you will understand."
• And, my all-time favorite - JUSTICE..."One day you'll have kids, and I hope they turn out just like YOU -- then you'll see what it's like!"

I'll be Tweeting more MOM all day today too!

Happy Mother's Day - take your Mom out for a Popsicle - or at least make her an ice cream martini or two!
---------------

HISTORY OF THE BOMB POP

CHILLAXIN' - POP-SICLES
Get it on Posters (from $14.95) T-Shirts (from $13.95)
Cards, Cups, Aprons & More Fun Gifts & Gear

James S. Merritt (founder of Merritt Foods) and D. S. "Doc" Abernathy (creator of Dole Frozen Dessert Bars and Mutant Ninja Turtles Ice Cream Treats) invented the Bomb Pop in 1955. When Merritt Foods closed in 1991, their partner, Morningstar Group, Inc., decided to stop producing and selling frozen confections. Wells Dairy bought the patent to the Bomb Pop and still produces it to this day.

Created at the height of the Cold War, the "atomic age" and the threat of the "Red Menace" the Bomb Pop was originally formed into a six finned rocket shape and layered in 3 flavors and colors: Blue - raspberry, Red - Cherry and White - Lime. Though the trademarked rocket shape has altered a bit over the years (thinner and longer), added new flavors and combinations, it is still one of the most popular ice pops (popsicles) being sold even today.

(Related Interesting Atomic Age Fact: Another iconic pop culture phenomenon was created during this same era of "nuclear threat" - The Bikini! Inspired by the A-Bomb and named after the Bikini Atoll where the original tests were conducted!)

The Bomb Pop Martini Recipe

More Ice Cream Nostalgia:
Ice Cream Nostalgia and The Cold War?
How Popsicles Became POPSICLES®

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How Popsicles became POPSICLES® - Ice Cream Nostalgia

CHILLAXIN' - POP-SICLES
Get it on Posters (from $14.95) T-Shirts (from $13.95)
Cards, Cups, Aprons & More Fun Gifts & Gear

I've been off on a retro ice cream treat jag this week, all instigated by a rare visit by an ice cream truck driving down my street last week. Yesterday I was musing over Bomb Pops, Astro Pops and the Atomic Age and I've created several Ice Cream Martinis over at The Martini Diva based on some of my favorite frozen treats of the past. (Yesterday I posted the Banana Fudgesicle Martini - I absolutely LOVED Banana Fudgesicles and you can't get them anymore so a martini was a must on that one!)

It got me to wondering about how Popsicles came into being. They're such a simple concept but sometimes the simplest ideas are the ones with the most complicated histories. Not in the case of the Popsicle - it's beginnings were quite simple and humble for such an iconic part of our childhood.

Like many other things in existence, "Popsicles" were invented in 1906 by mistake. A young eleven year old boy named Frank Epperson left a glass of soda powder and water with a mixing stick in it outside overnight and the temperature dropped below freezing. When he awoke the next morning he discovered his soda had turned into a soda flavored icicle with a stick in it. He ran water over the glass to loosen it, tasted the frozen mixture and the Popsicle was born!

Originally he called his discovery the "Epsicle" but his kids just called it "Pop's Icle" as in "pop's icicle". Epperson patented his discovery as the "Popsicle®" and began selling them to the public in 1922. Epperson collaborated with the Joe Lowe Company to bring the treat to the public in movie houses and amusement parks and they formed the original Popsicle Company in 1923.

Epperson obtained a patent on the Popsicle® in 1924 and immediately sold it to a totally new Popsicle Corporation of the United States which set out marketing the frozen treat as "a drink on a stick"and turned it into the pop culture food icon it has become today.

Here in America the name "popsicle" has become identified with almost all frozen confections on a stick but if you live in Britain you might call them an "ice lolly" and in Australia an "ice pole". Popsicle has a much nicer ring, don't you think?

Some Fun Popsicle® Facts:

• Cherry Popsicles® are the most popular (they're my favorite!)
• The Popsicle® stick is made from birch.
• The very first Popsicle® Ice Cream Truck was actually a horse drawn cart!
• The "twin" Popsicle® was invented during The Great Depression so two kids could share one five cent treat.

Enjoy some retro ice cream fun & nostalgia with my Ice Cream Inspired Martinis:
The CREAMSICLE MARTINI
THE BOMB POP MARTINI
BANANA FUDGESICLE-TINI
The POP-A-TINI (inspired by the Firecracker Popsicle)

More on the history of the Popsicle and "popsicles" at the National Archives:

• The Frozen Sucker Wars
• Popsicle's® Website

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