Collector finds future though living in past. (Weekly Briefing).FULL-TIME kitsch-culture collector and author Charles Phoenix began buying old family slides a decade ago at thrift stores and flea markets See computer flea market. flea market yard sale of used items at low prices. [Pop. Culture: Misc.] See : Inexpensiveness . With over 200,000 slides in his collection, Phoenix has created slide show presentations chronicling the life and times of mid-20th Century America. Phoenix's current show, "God Bless Americana: The Retro Slide Show Tour of Southern California Southern California, also colloquially known as SoCal, is the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Centered on the cities of Los Angeles and San Diego, Southern California is home to nearly 24 million people and is the nation's second most populated region, ," wanders through the first rides at Disneyland to backyard Tiki Tiki Tick of Dow Jones Industrial Average component issues. parties in suburbia. "I had been collecting other people's slides for a few years and all the while showing people my favorites in my living room. One day someone said I should do a show at the California Map and Travel Center. I went over there and said I wanted to show old vacation slides and they said I was nuts. But I knew better so I started doing shows in libraries and museums for free. As I started getting more people, I started charging. "I began showing at the Egyptian Theater in November 2001. Right now I'm doing the Southern California show, which ends June 29. It is a celebration of our culture as it was in the 1940s, '50s and '60s, seen through the lens of amateur photographers. It loosely traces the reality of the period and I blend history with the hilarious. "The show attracts a wide range of people. Older people see the lives that they led when they were young and younger people see a world that is familiar but hard to imagine until you see the pictures. Occasionally people shout out, 'Hey, that's my drama teacher!' "I've managed to write a new book and a new slide show over the past few years. This is the third show and I have five books. In a slide show there is a lot of storytelling Storytelling Aesop semi-legendary fabulist of ancient Greece. [Gk. Lit.: Harvey, 10] Münchäusen Baron traveler grossly embellishes his experiences. [Ger. Lit. . It's a lot of research for stories and history. And keeping track of all the images. I have an entire room in my house devoted to slides and I'm quickly outgrowing that. "We do not pay for advertising because it's too expensive. The long-term goals Long-term goals Financial goals expected to be accomplished in five years or longer. are to get to the point were we can pay for advertising and move into a larger venue. But I'm still at a point were I'm comfortable at the Egyptian. "After the show closes, I'm diving into a new book called 'Southern California Land,' and then going to New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of for a film festival in August for two weeks. I'm also doing a retro school bus field trip of the Pomona Valley The Pomona Valley, adjacent to the Inland Empire and San Gabriel Valley in California, straddles the border between Los Angeles County and San Bernardino County. Some residents consider the Pomona Valley to be a unique geographical area, independent of both. on July 6. I'll be your personal tour guide." |
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