July 16, 2005

resurrectionary name plates


this is
  an eve pass thru 

   meat's  
 latest enstallment 
           of 
"  behold a flying horse;
             

        ( a 60 year look back
              at   the studio/lab
                             creation   
                              of 
                   the pre/ pro /post 
                         production con "

 episode 23: the resurection economy 

   tease:
           if the high 60's 
             saw the birth 
                of 
               the attack 
            of 
            the plastic  clone shops  


  the 80's
         became 

 the dawn of the dancing tomb - stones  


======================================


  sure sure sure

at one time 
when horses pulled honey wagons
  
   retail formats  
   
  took their name plate 
          reputations 
              very seriously


thats where the value rests 

if there is  any value

balance sheet
 good will 

retail ? 


good will 

thats the founder's metal

t 
exactly equal to 
                the name plate 

   the fuckin up/ down 

     the peter meter
    
 name plate  recognition/respect 
            is theeeee
                       box  score

  and  way back when 

              such 
            vintage  
cost fuckers  
                      time 
                       u  couldn't
                               
                              built a REP 
                                 except   up
                                   over years and years

 day by day
  by  word  and deed 
                   deed and word
       good will spread its legs
               but slower 
                           then a  nun
                                     closes playboy
           what a chore 
           
     even  by  spending large

             even by 
           wall to wall local    hypery
                   
                 a performance story
              can't  get instant pettigree
                       
    so u worked till it grew ....

                         
  but
       then came  
       the  go go new fronteer 

 the dawn of 
the instant success cult

the time when 
corporate amerika
  started rolling out 
 lab built 
           mad ave pumped 
                        mega chains


 but fuck 

these mega chains 
like the apollo project
were  
          super   expensive 


when the board room wanted
  nothin short of
       fast and furious 

no time to get it rightfirst

no time to get the kinks out


you build the first one
        
     and u  clone 
get a few hundred out there 

but despite
marketing blitzery 
   not every synthetic 
   hit parade format
  really wiggles like elvis

and so
people caught on 

         in the end
      after a 10 year flight
   the verdict went against
these bench built
       clonery jobs  

    they all cost  way too fuckin much  

 you had to build    
and buy your sales
             with  
          atomic bally hoo 
   and 
  what with every thing else 
turning to vinegar .....

by the late 70's
only the mall-lords 
        were making money

splat !!!!!!!


and then.....

then ...

there came 
          a second thought

a thought
           right  
         out of the tail pipe
                 of 
                 the reagan revolution



his  miraculous
       re-animation 
        and preservation

proved to marketeers 

one big truth


provided you act  smart

        learn to turn the right dials
             
stimulate
trhe right circuits  
          inside the minds
               of  the great american  dumbo herd 

   you can take 
             an old 
                  tomb stone
     and 
              with the right
                     zips and zaps
            
                have yourself
                  a  fightin  name plate 
                      in no time

                        as alive
                          seeming 
                                 as the original real  thing  
                             
                              maybe
                             
                                    even 

                                           more alive 
                                               

-----------------------------------------------
 yes
that was an 80's
                brake thru 

a   CE decade IV
          original 
   
 
   the  first spring time
                   of   
            artificial 
                     re-birth   
   the dawn  of 
          timely  resurrections
                    of the timeless 

  
     the hydra boys 
               forget 
          the from scratch 
                low 60's 
                     fronteer format
                          george jetson shit 


            ditched the whole cloth build ups

 


blew the  cob webbs
    off  venerable old  formats
            salvaged em
           re animated em
                 and swined us with em  


 no more  brand new  gallaxies far far away  
                        
                 give me
 a   declining
              old  gal 
             with vericose veins please 

--------------------------------------------
 its the real thing....




as my pal claes oldenburg 
       once told
the marketing  people at 
                    roy rodgers 


" better each stand
   have somethin like
      one  fake
          stuffed ball
         of the real trigger 
          then 10,000
plastic replicas of....roy"

who gives a damn
about 
some doodle like  the burger king
          or
          darth vader

vintage baby vintage 


hell how obvious does it have to  get ?


didn't those swinging 60's guys 
  learn
anything at harvard b school ?
  
 fuck 
  the catholic church 
knew this shit..way back....

               over 1000 years ago


fuck look at all 
         those 
       fake  splinters of the true  cross 

"yup  that is mary's last tampax"

 see the line here?

 now try to  focus 
   

 solid gold replica 
  of  whole things

  fuck 
  
 they  won't draw
 nothin like 
     so well
    as even  the tiny-est piece 
                           of.....
                                the  real thing 


 and even better
  heres the fine print point


a  small piece  is easy
                   to fake 


who knows the authentic look 
                      of a part 
                              when even the whole
                                    never really existed 


    do i need to give u  the translation ?

   
         famous  name plates 
        have are all the reality 
                        of the blessed mothers ......


so
      go do the deed 

   re animate
  a workable chunk 
     of what lies under 
 some venerable          
              mossed over
                          tomb stone

  and  zap the shit out of it 
                 
        like  
     its 
         frankenstein's kidney 

 yes
         just  grab   
              some high klass 
                    left over parts

  some 
    tumblin  royal husks
 
  forget 
 
  how  long gone
         even   if  
        now the fuckers 
      nothin but 
             a spectral projection

buy it
 
(long as its
at least able to support
              a  plausible
                     tale of past glory)

long as  
 at one time  
 cash customers
bought its  bally hoo
             as  real 
              world beater stuff 
  
  as  a legendary
             status shop 

a place  believed
  to have had
   at   one time 
                   magical
                         selling powers 

  cause the rubes 
            wanta believe
in  
sleeping beauties

wanta believe  

    down there  
below  that  tomb stone 

 still waiting 
     to be drawn  out


   is a  gleaming  
              sword of arthur 



 
  a wonder
 
          only known by its  legend 

------------------  
  real legends :

here's a typical 
   mid 80's
  mission statement 
        i found

  that used to get   waved around 
by one  VC name plate 
                  reanimation  crew:

" we take once exclusive
              now   moribund legends 
         and     
  ship a shops worth of it 
                    to  every fuckin main mall 
           in every  fuckin 
                       small potatos burgville in amerika...."


 

 they  made em show up
                  every where 
                        over nite


                     like a case 
                             of the  measles  


" yes aunt cunty
            now you  too
              can experience 
                    5th avenues  finest..... "

 ya 5th avenue's finest alright


           finest 
               circa   
           " madge"   truman  .....

      oh 
  and did  this  pattern ever  travel well 

from sector to sector 
               

cloths 
  hats 
jewelry
leather bags 
    sporting goods 
                  candy shops 
          fur lockers 
          garden products ......


----------------------------------------------
 
  here was the basic 
                   road map :



   build  it out 
             cheap
but 
    make it look classic 


never spend your own money

get the name on an option 

and 
build the  proto shop 
               only
                 on paper 

 
keep bricks and glass  reality 
 
for when

"its  too late 
     to back out now "

        but build 
your   spread sheet all the way
        to the palace ball room
and build it 
               4-D


then go  
blow a few VC types

          show em
 u got 
      a  "can't miss 
             no matter what"
up front 
           easy pull out
               trap door 
                     bail  out equipped
                            air tight plan 
             and  its way  
                     too  big 
       for u  alone 

then once they buy in

comes the easy part

 u both go 
 hold up a "bank " 

key point:


steal all your  
 working cap 

 leave the cash  drawer empty except for 
    a pile of  poison promises 
           with the  back kick 
                    of a arkansas jack ass


    once you got an equity   line 
  start 
  splashing  out the shops fast 

             like apple seeds 

 really 
  do it fast

"  pon zu kia tat  zu "

   is the only way to fly

if you want
 a  for sure 
           short run
      hot straem of  
             half baked 
                  operating numbers 

remember 

     if u fire a dead turkey  
                   out of a big enough cannon
                     it comes out 
                fast enough
and  climbs  high enough
     just  like  its a fuckin  eagle


   then quick as hells caddies 

                   
 
            
                          I  P (fuckin ) O 
 
                         
           set up your 
                 cash  OUT 
               
            and  
           as  quick 
              as regulations allow 
                      
          move on .......
                        
               
                        "NEXT !!!!"


-----------------------------------------------
       now    thats the gold road

thats 

winning founders medal....

happens 
maybe once 
or 
twice a decade 


 a little more regular
is winning  

        silver...

especially as so often happens
 "  she "
      develops a loud  clink 
                             way too soon  
         thats when 
            u try to get  
  the shitty little jinx  box 
             gobbled by an old line 
                            multi format 
                                     type set up 
             one thats  lookin for 
            just such 
              a neat new shop show
                 to stage 
                       out there 
                   in about N  
                   of their  M  zillion
                 ALREADY
                              leased 
                      but empty 
                      or
                 oughta be empty
                   mall and  strip  center 
                                        slots  
----------------------------------------------------------

" meat
do ya   offer the old school outfit's 
          mid managers 
    ahhh
           deal sealing  bribes ?"

 well 
      thats  agent/principle stuff
           and a whole other story 

                        but.........
                                  
                   to be up front about it
                                   with ya

                            OH YES MY FRIEND 
                                              BY ALL MEANS 
                                             
--------------------------------------------------------


  but fuck 
scorin  fair play  silver
            is at best
                a one in  ten  roll 

and  even laying 
          after tall tale type  bribes 
          u're prolly           
              still no better then
                           a  one in sixer  
                
so
         since 

      so many 
                must  go
            the lead balloon route


learn to  pull out
   your taste with suave discretion
too much  
up front retainerfinders fee
                  moo moo 
                   fast pass thru  money 


             well there's federal cells
                  waitin for such folks 

               keep
                   the  future projects 
                          comin along faster   
   then u're taking it out 

 and when 
u  need to jump
             to 
      the next ice cake 

leave something for the clean up crew 

that way
 the "some" u keep
is  always more 
             then the "all"  you'll  lose 

oh 
and since plans are 
                  made by  mortals
 
          know on who and how  
                      you can bury
               the  evidence 
               

       u know
   lay down a nice  paper trail
                      
        right  from them 
               to any   decomposing 
                        stolen parts 


           is this clear?

if so 

then pal o mine
             u're ready to return to 1981 
                        

               good luck 

   ------------------------

the rest of this
            is  just for  insomniacs

----------------------------------

interesting isn't it 

that 

 no one till
 the  reagan Rev 
dared 
        to confect 
     such fools magic
but its true

 till "there u go  again"

            no one ever dared 
                 to revive
                      a  norma desmond type 
                                  name plate

 but after reagan's rise to the pinnacle 
  it became
like 
     a daily duty  


   when anyone back then 
in the mid 80's 
 presented
  their  golden egg  moment 

   it  was a variation on this .... 

      at   power point presentation

there'd be a flash up on the screen

  of the  one word

 " conservative "

and  then guy would say

"now 

    there's a hoary old  name plate"

 

    back in 65 
           that meant...... "

  he'd 
     flash up a picture 
              of  
               barry goldwater

in his  flat top stetson
           and geeky black rimmed glasses 

"but   by 85 

             it meant...."


flash up
of 


   ronnie's smile and wave   ..........



yes YES YES 



  --------------------------------------

p.s
 these are
   moral meanders   
  out 
of  the last few enstallments

   
                     

  the making of a name plate

and  
  the remaking 
of course 


and the   reviving 
and  the counterfeiting ...
and 
the morphing

and the blah blah blahing  

and the dot blah blah blahing 

is it really that ....kold  cut ?



no sis .....no 



sure sure sure   

things are mostly
                fake
                as minced pie 

but 
even now 
 some start ups 

are still
one off 
    start ups

by shootin the works quixote's 

 
gilder knights are real enough
just scarce 

there's 
   a few guys like
          in the old days 


some still  grow big
               all by themselves 

like acorns to oak trees


but face it 


the spontaneous way
  is wasteful   

 
what 
the brave new 
   hatchling  studio  systems  show 

is 
 all the loot 
the old way 
fuckin leaves out of
   pot 

all the sucker money
 not ever put on the table  



tons of
  sweat and hope and trust 

great for self worth
but 
whats it done lately 
for  your net worth?


   those old time 
"my  baby " type 
 start up companies  
       couldn't 
properly "publicate "
themselves
there
wasn't the  leveraged 

   the pot wasn't made sweet 
 wasn't made puffy wasn't made
can't miss  swipe-able 

no  
forget the old way

forget
 skippin yer own  lunch money 

 start recruitin'
              some  
        out to lunchm oney 

           some    dumbo  
            chester the investors
                                     
            got to get em
              to  lay
                    some  extra green 
                          on the table 

 doin it 
the old way
        the way before
                   " the  creative process "
                             never got 
                      the scam properly
                                        capitalized 

most  honest injun  start ups
                         bit the weeny in darkness
 
                              died all 
                                alone 

a lose 
only to the founders and such 
as in 
  a lose
out of 
"made  hard way
        inside money " 

 a crooked ass dream 
gone 
 before
even  one sharpee
could make 
 an  honest 
          hands clean
        cheap
 fast
and empty 
           buck 
off its  painful 
              descent 
            into oblivion 

---------------------------------
not so glamorous gang 


pps 
 the flavor 
of  all this hustle 
may taste good 
         to yer
              minds naive  tongue

but 


warning warning warning



 don't plan on  
  makin 
  head way
  with these vehicles 
   out there 
       in todays traffic

 man 
if u do

if you try 
 capturing
  your outside  clown's money  
                 on the fly 
                     with one of my recipes 

like
        its still
       morning again in amerika 

   aaahh

well 
plan  on running 
back up town
   as
   headless  as the rhodian venus 

         no matter 
how 
you say itu won't  sell it

in 17 seconds
these kap klub pirates 
 will have you strapped 
  to the conference  table
  and will be going
          at u 
with  a  circular saw 

---------------------------------------

sounded good at the time

but 90%
of these  vintage creepers 
turned  dixie  
          way too  fast 

if there's no pulse ..

not ever


then 
u can't get enough out 
 up front
before the stink gets around 

nope

 not even enough
to set up
 a harlem toe sucker 

nope 

wall street's  
         homeys  
          don't  play that
                          no more 

-------------------
god  almighty

   
ain't it all just 
  so damn 
          hollywood  


and  remember 

" even a trey 
       trumps the deuce "


---------------------------
thats 
final words
       so  go to bed


                     bye bye  suckers
  
--------------------------------------------------------------
 

next episode: 

"the producers complex : sadly a  fantasy"


-----------------------------------




Posted by pinky at July 16, 2005 07:57 AM

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