Robert Eringer

The Nocturne Wall April 11, 2013

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My Friend and art patron, Robert Eringer, has opened a new Saloon in Santa Barbara. It is called Palmeri's.  Once a seedy dive bar, Eringer has cleaned Palmeri's up, making it a location to come, have a drink and a chat, Listen to good music, and leave feeling you've had a "memorable experience," of leaving Santa Barbara without actually going anywhere.

He has taken a collection of my paintings; (38, out of the 86 he owns), and has decorated the inside of the saloon with them, and assorted pantings by his father, and Santa Barbara Artist Shawn Kirkpatrick.  The Nocturne Wall, of moonlit scenes, remains above the fray and frolicking customers  who are enjoying their libations below.

Most of the paintings depict images I painted on our Surreal Bounce over the last 13 years. Every painting tells a story about our quest; our search into creativity and madness.

Feedback from the clientele is that they love having artwork on the walls...

In my opinion, it sure beats plastic Budweiser pennants.

 

Photo: Robert Eringer

 

 

Clicking Frog of Calaveras County: Old Fashioned Road Trip April 10, 2013

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I've traveled all over the world with Author/Spy Master Robert Eringer, in search of creativity and madness. For a year  we traveled far and wide with the goal of getting to places  where famous American Literary Icons like Hemingway, Kerouac, Fante, Bukowski, Steinbeck, Brannigan, Miller, and Hunter S. Thompson, lived and/or committed suicide. One of the Authors we never got to investigate was Mark Twain.  So on this old fashioned road trip with my travel companions, I decided to have my own mini "Surreal Bounce" journey.

 

We stopped up on Jack Ass Hill to view Mark Twain's Cabin, where in 1865 he wrote his very first novel, "The Notorious Jumping Frog of Calaveras County".  Feeling the empty cabin with three chairs wasn't much to shake a stick at, we traveled on down the road tothe town of Angels Camp to find the tavern where it is said Twain heard the story while sipping liquor at the bar.

The Tavern, inside Angels Hotel is now an Antique store full of glimmering novelties.  I asked the owner if he knew where the bar was once situated way back in the day? He then pointed to some display cases over yonder. I walked over to the cases imagining them to be an old western bar where I could order a shot of Basil Hayden, (Bourbon Whisky).

 

Thinking to myself, "This is where Mark Twain once stood... way back in the day... when he was starving, striving to become a successful writer and searching for his voice.  The one that was loud enough to be heard like the croaking of a bull frog." 

Then, looking down into the case, I knew there must be something there for me to remember this moment by. There, sitting on top of a small box was this well-worn antique clicker, in none other than the shape of a frog! I knew I had to have it as a keep sake from this journey.  So, in my search to capture a glimpse into the spirit of Mark Twain, and in the continued tradition of a Surreal Bouncer,  I purchased this miniature clicking talisman that still works like a charm.