The Lynx Lake critters

The Lynx Lake Store is just that -- a resort lake store, with a little bit of this and a little bit of that. Important items include fishing bait, smokes, snacks, a few staples that folks in the camping grounds might need.

And a grand collection of pricey kitch, in case you ever wondered where people found such stuff.

Of all the critters on display, I was drawn to the buzzard, though for the life of me I can't figure out where the designer got the idea that a turkey vulture has a crest or a long neck. No way, just that naked red head. Studying the picture below, I'd make a bet that the mold which produced our buzzard also produced, say, a flamingo or some other flashier bird. I can't believe that this is the product of a chain saw artist; at least, not a local artist who has seen a buzzard. Besides, the beak is whitish.

I had a difficult time pulling friend Patty away from the copper javelina. Then she saw the price tag -- $300. And, no, we do not have moose one (below) in Arizona. Maybe Idaho or Montana. Not down in the sunny Southwest, however. But, hey, it's kitsch we're talking about and when did kitsch ever have anything to do with real life?

Vintage Cars: I guess the love of old vehicles must be a worldwide phenomenon. Visiting Windy Skies for the first time in a couple of weeks, I chanced upon a vintage/classic car rally in Mumbai. Not just vintage. Not just classic. Also classy! And, now this -- Rich has a pair of warring lizards. Big guys, unlike the teensy guys I find on my logs.

Cat Xing

I thought my luck was with me this afternoon. There was the handsome neighborhood tuxedo cat posing, right next to The Sign recently erected at a nearby house. So I tried to get an image with both cat and sign. Hah! Dang car was in the way. You'll see I did my best, even as cat was getting bored.

However, I had seen a display down at the pharmacy. Same sign. Cutesy pooh. But then I'm a bit of a connoisseur of kitsch. As long as I was there, I had to take pictures of several similar signs (below).

There was even this Arizona special, which stylistically looks to have come from a totally different source.

$622 Mil Gross? -- Yes, It Is

Happened into the KMart recently and got about as close to Spiderman-3 as I'm going to get. Which is to say, I got my fill of tie-in merchandise in a hurry. Right next to the entrance.

The $622 million figure? It's the worldwide ticket take for the first 10 days of the new flick; the $500 million cost of production plus a bonus $122 mil. A serious questioning of The Google didn't get me estimated sales of the huge merchandise push; however, it did produce 206,000 links to "Spiderman-3 +merchandise."


A news release from Marvel Entertainment claims that Spider-Man Merchandising L.P. has signed a myriad of licensees to develop product lines inspired by the film. Leading the way are such industry heavyweights as: Hasbro, Mega Bloks and MGA (toy), Hallmark (social expressions and party goods), Activision (interactive game), Disguise (costumes), Harper Collins (publishing), Jay Franco (domestics), Zooth/Gillete (personal care) and Techno Source (handheld electronics). For starters.

Obviously, my pictures include quite a few more top brands, starting with food products (above) and games (below). You can get a good cross-section of the variety at Amazon.com, if you're curious.

However, isn't anything sacred anymore? I really don't mind The Amazing SPIDER-MAN® Hamster House sold by PetSmart. But it does break my heart to see my beloved Monopoly caught up in the Hollywood feeding frenzy!