Sam Brown at Exploding Dog offered to do an original drawing for everyone who sent in a SASE and title to him. I was a huge fan of ED back in its early days, but eventually stopped visiting every day for no real reason. I once made a huge jpg of my 16 favorites and printed it out on the archy plotter at Bond Hall during my sophomore year. I still have it on my wall here. Then this offer comes along…
The title I sent in was “Woodland Creatures.” The paper is slightly warped because it was folded in my mailbox during the whole damp weekend. I’m pretty sure framing will flatten it out nicely though.
Plus free sticker! [Already on my laptop]. You can see the rest of the submissions here.
Saw this, and wanted to share. Reminds me of what’s happening with the Church.
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No Shelter
Why an all-ages club grew old so quickly.
By Jason Bracelin
Article Published Aug 13, 2003
In a little more than a month of operation, the all-ages club Shelter was already showing signs of progress.
“We were kicking butt,” says owner Doug Kirschner. “We had some pretty good shows, where the place was packed, and the kids were loving it. Parents were loving it. Parents were dropping their kids off and actually staying to see the shows.”
But if parents and kids were loving the Shelter, the City of Cleveland wasn’t. While Kirschner was out of town on business in late July, the club was shut down by the city for operating without an occupancy permit. Kirschner says he applied for the permit and was under the impression that he could run his club in the meantime.
“I did talk with the City of Cleveland before we did this, to see if they were about it, and a lot of people we talked to were right on with it,” Kirschner says. “Then, when push came to shove, they weren’t with us anymore.”
The city has a different take.
“I talked to Doug, I told him what some of the concerns were from the community,” says Merle Gordon, councilwoman for Cleveland’s Ward 15, which includes the Memphis-Fulton Plaza where the Shelter was located. “I asked him if he had all the appropriate permits, and at that time, he wasn’t sure what permits they had; nor did he really know what time the club closed. He told me everybody is out by 10 o’clock, and that’s not in fact true.
“There was never a desire to close the establishment down — that was not the intent at all,” Gordon adds. “It’s just that he needs to have the appropriate permits, and we need to make sure that they’re not bothering the neighbors, that they’re not there past a certain time, that loitering issues are dealt with.”
For his rush to open the Shelter, Kirschner is left clutching a good idea that went bad — and struggling to climb out of a hefty financial hole.
“I lost over $10,000 within the last month,” he says with a sigh. “I lost my house. I lost my car. I lost everything I had.” He may consider getting back into club booking, once he gets his finances in order. For now, he’s looking for a new line of work.
“I can’t really book shows anymore, because all the booking agents are pissed off with me because I had to cancel shows,” he says. “My career in this is pretty much dead.”