"The 12 Chairs of Xmas"

I rec'd more cards today than I did before the holiday. & thankfully the one I was anticipating most.

John Zabrucky was an art student at Kent State in the '70s. I no longer recall if his major was graphic design or film. but he was active in both. I recall an ad he designd for a campus screening of "The Wizard of Oz." John went to Hollywood where he workd as an art director. & along the way became the man behind a business calld Modern Props. if you're making a movie & need a telephone or a table you can rent it from his company.

for years now perhaps the most covetd holiday mailing in Hollywood has been from Modern Props. in the past they've sent everything from a deck of cards to temporary tattoos. with the arrival of the year's final month you begin to wonder what will come next.

this year was a delight: a DVD calld "The History of the Chair in a Holiday Minute." you see a babe in skimpy white costume & high heel black boots on one side of a large turntable. on the other side a stud in lederhosen & scarf. going around between them is a series of chairs from Charles Rennie Mackintosh (1897) to Dani & Roz Hayes (2003). & of course they can all be rentd from Modern Props. the video was directd by a longtime pal of John's -- Gerald Casale. he composes & makes music videos now but you may remember him as a member of DEVO. we were all at Kent at the same time.

I haven't seen John in some 14 years. at one point last week I had a flash: nothing in the mail from Modern Props. I began to feel sad. but then today it came & one more holiday was all the brighter. thx John...