This is what happens when a playground equipment designer watches the movie Frankenstein one too many times on the late, late show. The screws are a dead giveaway.

It’s a playful tribute to the sci-fi superstar stylized as a cross between a giant toy robot and birdcage with googly eyes, and long reaching arms that double as side-by-side slides.

Beautifully finished in a striking shade of bright orange the monster stands…

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When news of having Cherpumple for New Year’s got out, requests for the Astro Weenie came pouring in. But wait, Christmas is past! Never fear, there’s sparklers and other Americana. Besides, most people leave their tree up for at least a week. Should we have made the Astro Weenie the week before and brought a leftovers tree?

Anyway, this tree, seen here just lifting off, has lots of weenies, cheeses, olives, onions, cauliflower,…

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Our friend Alan, from LA, came up to the sticks of Northern California for New Years, and good food. He brought my attention to your Cherpumple, and then I read it. You DARED me to do it. I’ve never successfully passed up a dare.

It turned out beautifully, and it tasted great. I admit I went the extra mile and baked the pies from scratch (including homegrown pumpkin and apples) and made butter…

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We had the pleasure of meeting Charles and attending his holiday slide show in the Seattle area recently. We had plans to go to a new years eve party hosted by friends in Tacoma. Since we live in Seattle and enjoy watching the fireworks at the needle we decided to recreate the needle and take it with us. We decorated the needle with various savory bites applied with frilly, sparkly toothpicks for the…

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My significant other, Drew and I don’t eat meat, so when our friend AlexSandra asked us to bring an Astro Weenie Tree to her New Year’s Eve party I knew we’d be making a few changes to it. We substituted veggie meat balls for the weenies, added a few extra veggies, put the whole thing on a lazy Susan surrounded by four different kinds of dips, and topped it with…

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Charles super-charges the classic living room slide show into a live, laugh-out-loud celebration of mid-century American life and style … car culture, space age suburbia, fast food stands, drive-ins, theme parks, local landmarks, local legends and much more! Festive retro dress is encouraged but not expected!

PAST SHOWS:

Friday, Feb 19, 2010, 7:30 pm – Ace Hotel, Palm Springs, CA
Plus VINTAGE TRAILER SHOW & VINTAGE ROADSIDE t-shirts!

Saturday, Feb…

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Cat-eyed teenage girls consume chocolate frosted white sheet cake in a less than dainty manner sure not to please their charm school teacher. Their painted lips match the traditional print on the slip-covered sofa they are gathered on. Plastic straws in several pastel shades emerge from mostly empty bottles of Pepsi, America’s second favorite refreshing cola beverage,. The beautiful bottles share the coffee table with festive napkins, forks and plates of uneaten remains…

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We had so much fun making an Astro-Weenie-Christmas-Tree-inspired forest of food for our New Year’s Eve celebration! Of course we did a weenie tree, with cheese curds to boot, and a fruit tree, but we also made small trees featuring the kids’ favorite foods. So, we had a perogie tree, a chicken wing tree, a marshmallow and maraschino cherry tree, and a sugar coated fruit tree. They were a hoot I tell you!…

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A basement ceiling bouquet of colorful crepe paper hangs twisted and streaming over a pair of party guests posing with nylon stockings stretched over their heads. Why collectively as a society have we turned our backs on crepe paper as party decor? It’s SO festive and fun! And covering our heads with nylons for memorable party portraits, what has happened to that New Years tradition? Perhaps it never was one. But it’s never…

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