Grigori Antonin knocked on my door

[Marie Wintzer]

 Imagine my surprise when I found an envelope from GA in my mailbox with a familiar Hello Kitty stamp on it. I rubbed my eyes in disbelief, rubbed them a little bit stronger, but it was really him, sending me mail from the Peninsula, one of the best hotels in Tokyo. The one and only Grigster was downtown, a few stops down the Yurakucho line, and he didn't tell his faithful Marie Antonette!! It's a shame, really. I would have loved to meet him. Imagine! A mail art legend like him! But I understand he also wants to keep the mystery around him, so it's fine. I laughed reading his letter because I imagined him asking his way in the metro, walking and walking, up and down the numerous stairs, meeting weird people etc....

 

And he did bring his mail art material and a bag of goodies with him, which is great! I got various prizes, including a ticket to see the Minnesota Orchestra (February 19th of this year, unused?), an a scholarship to the off scene Akademie of Hamburg.

 

A lot of No John Rays/Cavellini prints, and a baseball card featuring Hideo Nomo (LA dodgers).

 

My favorite part, along with the letter, is a blurred snapshot of somebody's face, possibly a self portrait. Or not. But I'll believe that this is Grigori leaving his footprint on Tokyo, and it fits quite well with the envelope made out of a japanese Fujicolor package.
GA, this was a surprise alright!! I hope you enjoyed the Elvis convention and the city! Thank you!

 

[De Villo Sloan]

The truth be told, Kat, DW and I have a private Toyota Yaris (aka Toy Yoda, ty Star Wars) that takes us to glamorous places like Waterloo, NY.

[Katerina Nikoltsou (MomKat)]

Sounds like a Fugi excuse to me, Sloan.

Marie, I am certain that Sloan and DW have their own private jets, and had to stop only for refueling.

(FUJI...Fuji, Fuji, Mt Fuji...FujiColor film...oh, will the spell chick ever learn?)

[De Villo Sloan]

Katerina, that's an interesting theory, but I did not jet off to Tokyo, or, earlier, to Prague for that matter. Try as I have, I am not good at making fake Grigori Antonin mail-art. It still shows the influence of the monkeys that supposedly he trained to make his earlier work.

 

Interesting though - When Marie fled Tokyo for Hiroshima during the disasters earlier in the year, DW did claim he was organizing a rescue mission for Marie. Nothing came of it, as he claimed he was not allowed to board the plane. Was he planning to relocate Marie to Waterloo? I don't know.

 

For such a shy and humble person, it does seem all the boys are courting Marie's favor. And - dare I ask - what has become of Little Red the Mail-Art Baby?

[Marie Wintzer]

Katerina, you make me laugh :-)) that would certainly be a great use of DVS' time. Who wouldn't hop on 4 airplanes to go post a letter in Tokyo? :-))

[Katerina Nikoltsou (MomKat)]

Ok, Sloan, own up! You flew off to Tokyo last weekend (or perhaps sent Dark Wall), made a stop over in Minnesota, picked up some items from Grigori (or are you doing a "recycled mail art" thang from his pieces, eh?), purchased  some FugiFilm stuff, tossed it all in a mail box in Tokyo, using a Hello Kitty stamp, of course, and returned in your private jet to Auburn.

Or:

Do you have a friend in Japan?

I'm askin' are you a-tellin?

[De Villo Sloan]

[Marie Wintzer]

Dark wall chan stop speaking alien.

[De Villo Sloan]

[De Villo Sloan]

I'll fill in some blanks for the mail-art mystery sleuths. Grigori Antonin is definitely a real mail-artist in Minnesota - just lookat his blog. He's not a fictional character, but he is becoming a legend for sure. By coincidence? Dark wall has been creating a comic strip with FICTIONAL characters who do have an accidental resemblance to people in real life. Could The Grigster be based on Grigori Antonin? Could TRRH be based on an IUOMA friend close to us aka Marie Antonette? Only Dark wall knows for sure. BEFORE Marie received her communication in Tokyo from GA, Dark wall made a FICTIONAL comic suggesting a secret liaison between TRRH and the Grigster and Prague, suggesting indeed romantic ties. Are not fiction and fact strangely intermingled in this whole affair? I puzzle along with everyone else.

.

[Marie Wintzer]

:-))) OK, comments criss cross. You are off the hook. For the now....