If you didn't grow up in Chicago in the late '60s/early '70s, this might be completely lost on you, but you need to understand the kind of love people have for this thing.
Kind of hard to describe what made Bill Jackson's work so special, but I'll try:
#1: It was fiercely creative and genuinely strange, in a way not every kid would enjoy, and I liked that.
#2: I had a mini-crush on Bill. Also Dirty Dragon. This interview features some photos of him back in the day and you can see why I lost my heart a little bit.
#3: They ran a Valentine's Day contest where you could win a date with Dirty Dragon to the then-brand-new Hyatt Regency O'Hare, and I wanted more than anything to win that contest. To this day, every time we go by the four mirrored copper cylinders of that hotel, I think wistfully of my missed date with Dirty. Looking back that all sounds fairly perverted, but it was strictly above board at the time.
#4: Bill Jackson is still around, has his own site, and answers his own mail!! <3 <3 So now it's a major crush.
#5: Gotta love the Blob. The Blob was the town's monument: a big, voiceless, emphatically emoting hunk of gray clay on a pedestal that Bill would sculpt and interact with, and he'd add cardboard eyes or other props. The Blob had a distinct and sympathetic personality. Photos don't quite do him justice. Here's some video of Bill getting him ready for a date on a later show, Gigglesnort Hotel, so you get an idea of the voice.
1 comment:
This is laugh-out-loud funny! Susan, I think you can quit your day job and focus on your inner comedian! Thanks for the trip down memory lane.
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