MY BORING BIRTHDAY

Well today was my birthday. I was born in Huntington Park, California on the same exact date as famous eighties rocker Billy Idol. Yes it was Nov. 30th 1955. Now one would think I would take the day off on my birthday, but not this ol' clown, I typically work on my birthday due to all the holiday orders...and this year was no different. In this edition of my blog I want to tell you about my Boring birthday. That's right! It was very boring. Because you see, I spent the day IN... Boring...Boring, Oregon. At first when I drove into Boring, it appeared everything was Boring.

Some places were not only boring, but were also quite square...

Now at first glance and a quick drive-through of the lovely town of Boring, Oregon one might surmise that it is actually a very boring place. But do not be fooled by the name! It is quite the little town with some very interesting people, places and things. For one, I was there, ha ha ha! The one and only Extremo the Clown!

It was time to break out the speakers and put on some funky disco music and get the party started! woo hoo!!

After all it was my birthday and I was determined to have an exciting time of it!

I was there to paint for a local motorcyle shop so I got my paints out and got to it.

...and I thought Boring was going to be boring, boy I was thankful Boring was turning out to be quite fun... paintin' puppets and passerbys made it more than pleasing!

...yes the local people were quite friendly, the guy down at the corner gas station gave me a free Pepsi due to the fact it was my special birthday day.

Here's some fine folks that stopped by to take a gander at the Never Never van in progress and hang with Spanky my chimp. They weren't boring at all, in fact, they were quite interesting and entertaining in their own right. (to be continued)

Pigs and Paddycake

Well it's monday! I like mondays, heck I like most days actually, well except punch a clown day. Anyway, today was much like most days in the world of ol' Extremo the Clown. Driving, singing, playing with Spanky and paintin'. Downtown Portland was my destination on this lovely November day. The weather was outstanding, albeit a little on the chilly side. After drivin' and clownin' a bit I arrived safely at Uncle Wally's BBQ. I have worked for Uncle Wally for the past few years at his Wilsonville location. Kitty corner to the job site were many construction workers so in addition to the typical somewhat busy streets of downtown Portland I had a fixed audience. There was nothing particulary unusual about todays job, just the typical goofin' and paintin' and dancing around. Uncle Wally asked if I would work on his van, I told him about cartatz.com (commercial plug) he's going to check it out. The job took pretty much most of the day, well I didn't get there until noon actually but I did work into the dark a little, it gets dark around 4:45 here this time of year.

When Uncle Wally gave me the check for my work he threw in some tasty goodies for me to go.

After I got home I went out into my studio. I am finishing up a piece for a show in Atlanta, Georgia. It's for a group exhibit with a bedtime stories theme. Here is the poem to my piece which is a latex casting from an original sculpture.

PADDYCAKE PADDYCAKE NIGHTMARE CLOWN

UNDER THE BED AS YOU LAY DOWN

HE LIES SO QUIET HE TASTES YOUR FEAR

IS THIS THE NIGHT HE WILL APPEAR?

Sorry to rush off but I need to package this art up and ship it tommorrow....see you next time...and have a good night!

EXTREMO

TGIF

Thank God It's Friday! hmmm...but wait, I am working tommorrow..and Sunday...and Monday and...well ,at least I get off Turkey Day, ha! But it was a good Friday nonetheless and I don't mean that in a religious context. My first stop was at a place on 82nd street that buys and sells stuff. I dig this account because Hal the owner gives me carte blache to come up with whatever my little clowny wowny brain desires.

Today however I was merely there to touch up an area their window washer messed up, check out the scraped snowjob. It took about three minutes to repair and I was on my way to the next gig.The next job was in Tigard, 12 miles from Portland. It was a brand new account, in fact the manager of this labor ready establishment knew very little about me, he didn't even know I was a clown and had a singing chimpanzee as my best friend. All I knew was he was very unhappy with the previous artist. He was was looking for a change. I had to take off the previous artists Fall design and put up a new Winter theme. The best part of this job was the guys across the street at the carwash. They seemed to find my dancing and painting and singing pretty entertaining, that kind of response always floats my boat. Next I needed to head back up north to Vancouver. It seems though on my way I got sidetracked in downtown Portland. This happens to me once in a while...er, uh, well maybe more than that but anyway once I am downtown I start to forget what I am doing and where I am going and why am I singing again with Spanky? ha ha ha! Maybe it has to do with all the people downtown...and you know I love entertaining people whther they like it or not! I often drive by Portland State University and what are commonly known as the Park Blocks here in Portland. Those kooky college kids just can't seem to get enough of ol' Extremo and Spanky the jovial and vocally talented chimpanzee. Today was no different. I pulled over to entertain the throngs of students with my best rendition of "Killing me softly" by Roberta Flack. Just then as I was barely into the second verse my old friend Amy (r) pops up with a batch of chocolate chip cookies for Spanky and me. She also introduced me to her friend Urbana (l). Everyone knows Amy's homemade chocolate chip cookies are to die for, so you can image our delight!

It was time to get back to work so we said our goodbyes and Spanky and I continued out journey out of downtown northward towards Vancouver, Wa. once again. This last job was on 164th street. It was for a finance loan office and they wanted a picture of Santa in a football uniform with the tag line "Kick off your holidays with CASH!" Sorry I didn't get any pictures of it, but I did get a photo of these two woman posing in back of the Never Never Van.

Well that's all for now. Stop back on monday, I will show you some art I am finishing up for a lowbrow show in Atlanta, Georgia.

Have a great weekend! ...and remember, if you don't laugh, who's gonna do it for you?

EXTREMO

Hanging out in the Hood

Gosh Darnit, I love this time of year, I love the Northwest, even with it's unpredictable and often times gloomy weather. It's my busiest season, holiday window splashes are in high demand. I work every single day for about 5 weeks. Then right before Jesus' birthday it goes back to a normal 5 day work week. Today I headed out I-84 towards the lovely tourist town and windsurfing capital of Hood River. The weather was very bad, alot of rain, alot of wind. It's about 60 miles east of Portland. As I drove along with Spanky at my side I reminisced about earlier such trips.

Spanky and I broke into song as we often do with "On the road again" by Canned Heat. "...You know the first time I traveled out in the rain and snow,- In the rain and snow." (repeat). I feel blessed to have such a reliable and close confidant as my dear Spanky. he's like no other. Telling tales of times gone by and singing songs of old and new made the time go fast. Before we knew it my little chimp buddy and I were at the first Hood River exit. Hood River is beautiful. I was there to paint a small furniture store I do on a regular basis. Great folks and a great little setup under a huge overhang in a small strip mall. I continue playing my tunes while Spanky usually has a banana and takes a nap while I work. I begin by washing off the previous seaon's theme.

Once in a while I will breakout in dance while I continue to attack the window with my favorite weapon of choice, the ever so popular 4" roller.

It was a great day with a myriad of inquisitive Hood Riverians young and old alike approaching me with all kinds of questions and reponses to my antics. At one point later in the afternnon a woman came up to me. She managed a little laundromat just kitty corner from the job site. She said she was cracking up watching me dance around to this car alarm that wouldn't stop for about 10 minutes. She also mentioned there was a patron doing laundry that asked her what the heck she was laughing at as she stared out the laundromat window. "look at that clown" She told him...the guy repsonded with "What the %#!?" Well...again, it was a fun day hanging out in the hood...river that is.

Today I visited my fine friends to the north in Vancouver, Washington. I was scouting out a location to do some holiday window splash painting, oh, if you didn't know, in addition to being the town freak I paint storefront windows for a living. Anyway as I was going east on Fourth Plain singing along with Spanky unusual as usual. Just then I spied a group of crazy girls in a compact car in the lane next to me. They were laughing their butts off at me. Now I must tell I got a rush seeing these young ladies jovial response to Spanky and my fine rendition of Sandman by Metalica. Of course I always change one line..."Rock to Never Never Land" to..."Rock to Never Never Van" ha ha ha! Anyhow, my new young fans were quite entertained to say the least. The girl riding shotgun whipped out her cell and started snapping pictures. They sped up and got in front of me. We both rolled up to a red light at Andreson, where I began singing Pretty Woman by Roy Orbison. When the light turned green they turned left onto Andreson and I continued on straight, the last thing I saw was them still cracking up, thank girls! your laughter is my drug.