From The Vaults #1 - Path Cra 911
I mentioned in an earlier post that I collect weird bits of ephemera and that I’d eventually start posting some of my collection on here. Well here is the first and it is a goody.
There are many things that you can find by trailing through the labyrinth of tiny alleys and streets which make up Marrakech’s souk , masterfully handmade leather goods , intricate brass lanterns , exotic spices , live tortoises , alien looking musical instruments , all sorts of things that meant absolutely nothing to me. When I travel and I’m looking for souvenirs my radar is set only to detect the tackiest , crappiest or the most baffling wares on the market.
Imagine if you will that you are an avid comic book collector and that you have just found a pristine copy of Action Comics #1 or that you’re a trainer freak and you’ve uncovered a pair of original box fresh Air Jordan 1’s or even that you collect something silly like , I don’t know , renaissance art and you’d just found a previously unknown sketch by Da Vinci that’s slowly been gathering dust for centuries in an attic somewhere in Florence ; imagine all those things and you’ll feel perhaps 50 percent of what I felt when I saw this magical item laying for sale on a dusty rug. For a connoisseur of crap I felt I’d hit the motherload.
Laying there before me was the product of some insane toy factory somewhere , exactly the kind of place where I’d like to sit in on a production meeting.
Somewhere in China
Worker 1: Okay , we need to produce a cheap , crappy , plastic toy with political undertones …any ideas?
Worker 2: Well we’ve still got a lot of train tracks left over and some of those skateboards that go on them.
Worker 1: But what are we going to do with them?
Worker 3: (Enters) Guy’s did you hear? Someone flew a plane into the world trade centre.
Worker 2: What?! Who?
Worker 3: Al Jazeera are saying it’s Al Qaeda.
Worker 1: Al Qaeda eh? Hmmm that gives me an idea.
