Tuesday, February 28, 2012

Homemade Miniature Rob Roskopp Skateboard 1987

DECK GRAPHIC. Construction Paper, Lego Wheels, Poster Paint, Cardboard, Rubber Cement

Side View

Top View

Miniature Homemade Lester Skateboard 1987

DECK GRAPHIC.  Construction Paper, Lego Wheels, Cardboard, Rubber Cement

Side View

Top View

Monday, February 27, 2012

F-Apt! Incidental Music

I sprung this track out of an old Barbie guitar.  Listen to that low bandwidth.  It's just like 36 Chambers, only with more of a hot-pink vibe.

Frankie's Apartment Incidental Music by Frankie's Apartment

Baloney M.D.

When Frankie was working on his hit young adult novel, The Sandwich Doctor, one of the stray early concept ideas popped out of his head and became this guy - Baloney MD.  The novel went on to be a piece of historical meta-fiction about the man who invented pepperoni and his struggles verse the evil "Plain Pizza Gang," but Baloney MD still hangs around the apartment, giving quacked out medical treatment to Frankie and the rest of his ideas - who are all a bunch of hyperchondriacs.

Baloney M.D. Puppet by Jeff Roberts

Fish Juice

"Fish Juice" in miniature fish bottle, purchased at Family Market in Astoria, Queens
Background is a lenticular Aquarium Fish cut-out, printed by Dai-Nippon
Frankie's fingers to show size

Knife Pin

Cloissoné Knife Pin on Brooks Brothers Corduroy Blazer

Metrocard Cookie

Money Clip

Friday, February 24, 2012

Frankie's Apartment Fan Art!!

I really don't know if there's anything better than fan art. These were emailed to my me@frankiemail.com address today. They come from Jordell Wallace. All the email said was, "I made these drawings for you. Jordell Wallace."

Frankie
Sudsy


Bill

Ninja Stars and Bagels

When I was in middle school ninja stars were the craze.  That's me down there with the one ninja star that my mom would let me keep.  I am dressed as Storm Shadow, the bad ninja from G.I. Joe.



There was a martial arts supply store on Junction Blvd. near my school - The Louis Armstrong Middle School in Corona, Queens.  This is a picture of the front of the school before they changed it.


Kids would sneak over to the Martial Arts spot during lunch - the stars were like 3 bucks apiece.  Then we'd mostly get in trouble for throwing the ninja stars up at the drop ceilings, and for rocking the ninja stars in our belts the way Spicoli rocked his bagels.


Here is the exact same ninja star after I rescued it from my old storage space out in Whitestone Queens. It was sitting in a puddle of strange mud/filth for the last 15 years.  It wasn't the best storage space, in a lot of ways, but it never failed me.


The storage space actually belonged to Jeff's Mom.  It was a part of her co-op, and was supposed to be a shared space with other tenants, but Jeff and I always seemed to have run of the place.  This is a picture of Jeff's Mom, Gerry Roberts.




This is the storage space after Jeff and I finally sorted the good junk from the garbage.


This is a picture of a drawing of Spicoli with the bagel in his belt by Mat Cerletty.  Mat also painted the portrait of Stuff, the imaginary friend, in my movie Stuff.  The pretty lady next to the drawing is Mirabelle Marden.

Wednesday, February 22, 2012

NEW VIDEO! Frankie's "Neck At Night" Talk Show, Ep. One: Frankie Interviews 17-Year-Old Skater/Intern Luca Guidolini

Anthropomorphics Anonymous

Frankie is currently in A.A. - not the one for alcoholics - the one that is for people who are dangerously over-obsessed with anthropomorphism - the "disease" where one likes to think that certain animals and inanimate objects have human characteristics.  Anthropomorphics Anonymous was founded in 1976 by the late and great Art Clokey - the creator of Gumby and Davey and Goliath.

Here's a definition of anthropomorphism as it appears in Wikipedia:


While this A.A. is membered mostly with cartoonists, comic book artists, people that do voice-over work for children's entertainment, everyone else that does anything in children's entertainment, puppeteers, clowns, crazy people, kindergarten teachers, weirdos, winos, children, toymakers, drug addicts, graffiti taggers, babies, sports mascots, and people that work for breakfast cereal companies - you'd be surprised at the number of "normal" people who have joined.  

Zero.  Which I find surprising because - how can you not look at a sandwich and see this:

Sandwich Puppet Concept Sketch by Jeff Roberts




















Or play with a baseball and see this:

Baseball Puppet Concept Sketch by Jeff Roberts

















Remember: Anthropomorphics Anonymous is an anonymous group of people.  People like Trey Parker (the genius who created Towlie on South Park), Paul Reubens (better known as P.W. Herman - the guy that sits on Chairy), and Tom Kinney (the guy who voices S. Squarepants).

These people all recognize that they have a problem and move forward in society by dealing with that problem in a positive way, often through doing super-fun activities like drawing eyeballs on their chins, laying backwards over their desks, and making the chin-people talk instead of their own selves. Whoever does the funniest voice each week wins the right to host the next event -- I mean -- meeting.

Whether we get dressed up in costumes or use marionettes or even just have a big draw-off - it's always a super fun good time where we make the toilet seats talk and put construction paper eyes on all the stationary supplies.  Last week we had some leftover ketchup packets from lunch and we put eyes on them too then made swords for them out of paper-clips - then we made the ketchup packets have a sword fight - and when the ketchup packets got stabbed - it was just like they were bleeding!  But don't worry, it was just ketchup - just like they use in the movies.

So this AA is kinda more sophisticated than the other AA, I guess.

Three Billy Goats in 15 Seconds

Three Billy Goats by Frankie's Apartment

Gingerbread Man in 10 Seconds

Gingerbread Man by Frankie's Apartment

It's Repost Videos Wednesday Again!

The Totem Pole Mystery:



My Short Film, "Stuff":



A Video With My Therapist:

Tuesday, February 21, 2012

Fake Food Tuesday

It might not be a national holiday, but at Frankie's Apartment, the Tuesday after President's Day is always Fake Food Tuesday.  To honor this event, I present to you a sampling from my vast collection of inedibles.

To start, a Banana Spoon.

Banana Spoon from a Banana Split Set

Fake Food: Stuffed Carrot

Handmade Carrot, Felt and Yarn

Fake Food: Hamburger Deluxe Pinback

Pinback Button Badge: Half-Eaten Hamburger, Krinklecut Fries, Onions, Ketchup, and Sliced Pickles on a Plate

Fake Food: Sandwich Eraser

Stackable Sandwich Eraser with Made In China Stamped Eraser Lettuce

Fake Food: Can of Schlitz

Dollhouse Miniature Can of Schlitz Beer with Realistic Poptop

Fake Food: Rubber Lamb Chop

Squeaky Squeezie Rubber Lamb Chop For Dogs to Chew On

Fake Food: Wooden Toast

Slice of Wooden Toast

Fake Food: Three Refrigerator Magnets

Submarine Sandwich on Semolina Bread Refrigerator Magnet

Spaghetti and Meatballs w/ Parsley Garnish Refrigerator Magnet

Slice of Pizza w/ Everything Refrigerator Magnet

Monday, February 20, 2012

G'Night Everybody

The following version of Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep is mad creepy.  Hang in there and listen till she starts singing.

Lay Me Down To Sleep by Frankie's Apartment

Linsanity Cookie from Zabar's

Houdini's Autograph and Performance Cloak

The Guggenheim Through My iPhone Six Times

Taken with the Camera+ App, then "clarified" 6 times

Critter Hats

I saw these advertised in marker on posterboard as "Critter Hats" and now that's what I call them.  Why does everybody wear these?  Even if you're a little kid, I feel like you should know better.  And where the hell are they all coming from?  I checked for MADE IN... labels - and there ARE NONE.  For real, I think something suspicious is going on.  THE HATS ARE BAD.



Ever see Halloween III: Season of the Witch? Michael Myers isn't in it.  Instead, it's about a weird Irish corporation called Silver Shamrock that makes halloween masks.  The hitch is that the company is evil and they want to kill all the kids.  The masks have microchips in them that are designed to receive TV signals that can not only KILL - but can literally squash & transform kid's heads into a pile of SNAKES, SPIDERS, and COCKROACHES.  Somehow, Silver Shamrock's satellite is routed through Easter Island and this gives them devil power.  The plan is to get all the kids to watch the Silver Shamrock Halloween Special, tell them to mask up - and knock out half the population.  And the bad guys win in the end.

Anyway, I think something like that is going on with these Critter Hats - only instead of snakes and roaches, kids' brains are being turned into just dumber, very unstylish brains.


This is The Silver Shamrock Song from Halloween III.

Silver Shamrock by Frankie's Apartment

And this is a song I made, using the Silver Shamrock sample. It's called Trick or Treat, from 2001.

Trick or Treat by Frankie's Apartment