Banksy in Bristol!

Waiting in the queue in the pouring rain, which thankfully didn't last for the 2+ hours we were standing in it. The garbage bags were an impulse buy at the beginning of the storm, which I happily distributed to others around us who also lacked proper rain gear (although Thing One and Thing Two had rain jackets on underneath).

The main things we learned at the Banksy vs. Bristol Museum exhibition, which closed today:

• Art can be funny!
• Undoubtedly, there is no nationality better at civilized queing than the British (see: Wimbledon and this exhibit, where people were waiting in a queue up to a mile long, according to news reports)

• A treasure hunt for Banksy pieces through the Bristol Museum is the only way you would ever look at its exhibition on British china in the 18th century or geological formations.

• A two and a quarter hour wait for the Exhibition of the Year (if the national press is to be believed), is nothing if people in the final weekend were waiting up to eight hours during the last weekend.

• Knowing the name of an anonymous artist is only valuable if the name means something to you. As we don't know anyone from Bristol, I don't really care what Banksy's name is.

• If you follow your child's enthusiasm for some things, it may develop into your own enthusiasm. (Thing One liked Banksy first, and it was his idea to go to Bristol for a trip to see the exhibit. We're glad he did.)

• Our friend, Charming Baker, is a more talented artist. And it's *possible* that Banksy may have attended one of his shows. But we'll never know for sure.

But the best way to talk some more about this is to show you some pictures:

The lion was hungry! The poor tamer...

The speech balloons say, (left) "Does anyone actually take this kind of art seriously?"
(Right) "Never under estimate the power of a big gold frame."

If you're interested in seeing more Banksy pictures from the exhibition, or just need a laugh, go to this BBC slide show or to this collection on Flickr. My pictures don't really do it justice.

If you'd like to know more about Banksy, the British guerilla artist/millionare, go to his very exhaustive Wikipedia entry.

For U.S. Girls Living in the 1970s

If you were a little girl in the U.S. during the 1970s....

You had that Fisher Price Doctor's Kit with a stethoscope that actually worked.

You owned a bicycle with a banana seat and a plastic basket with flowers on it. (I didn't have one of these, but my best friend down the road did and I was jealous. I got my brother's hand-me-down Chopper, which, in retrospect, was FAR COOLER.)

You learned to skate with actual skates (not roller blades) that had metal wheels.

You thought Gopher from Love Boat was cute (admit it!)

You had nightmares after watching Fantasy Island .

You had either a 'bowl cut' or 'pixie', not to mention the 'Dorothy Hamill'. People sometimes thought you were a boy.

You had rubber boots for rainy days and Moon boots for snowy days.

YEAH! You owned a 'Slip-n-Slide', on which you injured yourself on a sprinkler head more than once.

You owned 'Klick-Klacks' and smacked yourself in the face more than once!

Your Holly Hobbie sleeping bag was your most prized possession.

You wore a poncho, gauchos, and knickers.

You begged Santa for the electronic game, Simon.

You had the Donnie and Marie dolls with those pink and purple satiny shredded outfits, or the sunshine family

You spent hours in your backyard on your metal swing set with the trapeze. The swing set tipped over at least once.

You had homemade ribbon barrettes in every imaginable color. (Oh yeah!)

You had a pair of Doctor Scholl's sandals (the ones with hard sole & the buckle). You also had a pair of salt-water sandals. (Nope. My mother wouldn't let me get these. She thought they were bad for the feet.)

You wanted to be Laura Ingalls Wilder really bad; you wore that Little House on the Prairie-inspired plaid, ruffle shirt with the high neck in at least one school picture; and you despised Nellie Oleson!

You wanted your first kiss to be at a roller rink! (But mine wasn't. It was in the closet of my kindergarten class.)

PONG! ('video tennis' ) was the most remarkable futuristic game you've ever heard of AND it was AWESOME.

Your hairstyle was described as having 'wings' or 'feathers' and you kept it 'pretty' with the comb you kept in your back pocket. When you walked, the 'wings' flapped up and down, looked like you were gonna 'take off' .

You know who Strawberry Shortcake is, as well as her friends, Blueberry Muffin and Huckleberry Pie.

You carried a Muppets lunch box to school and it was metal, not plastic. With the thermos inside some were glass inside and broke the first time you dropped them.

You and your girlfriends would fight over which of the Dukes of Hazzard was your boyfriend.

YOU had Star Wars action figures, too!

It was a big event in your household each year when the 'Wizard of Oz' would come on TV. Your mom would break out the popcorn and sleeping bags!

You often asked your Magic-8 ball the question: 'Who will I marry. Shaun Cassidy, Leif Garrett, or David Cassidy?'

You completely wore out your Grease, Saturday Night Fever, and Fame soundtrack record album.

You tried to do lots of arts and crafts, like yarn and Popsicle-stick God's eyes, decoupage, or those weird potholders made on a plastic loom.

You made Shrinky-Dinks and put iron-on kittens on your t-shirts!

You used to tape record songs off the radio by holding your portable tape player up to the speaker.

You had subscriptions to Dynamite and Tiger Beat. (Nope. Mom wouldn't let me.)

You learned everything you needed to know about girl issues and life from Judy Blume books.

You thought Olivia Newton John's song 'Physical' was about aerobics. (?? its not??)

You wore friendship pins on your tennis shoes, or shoelaces with heart or rainbowdesigns.

You wanted to be a Solid Gold dancer.

You drowned yourself in Love's Baby Soft - which was the first 'real' perfume you ever owned.

You glopped your lips in Strawberry Roll-on lip-gloss till it almost dripped off.