Ever since I took that ‘trip’ out to San Francisco about five years ago I never was the same (as is always the case following my periodic ventures to the left coast). Unbeknownst to me, I was on a mission of transcendental proportions. Yes, I had paid several homages to this hippie homeland in the past, and for many, this is a mecca, where dreams either come true, or are at least, realized. My dream began with a simple invitation to participate in a video, and once realized, was hand delivered like a fresh Galactic pizza straight out of the oven and into the hearts and minds of hundreds of Minnesota kids, many of whom have since awakened to the mear possibility of a Dreamland…Long before there was a hat with the name, ‘Mr Fun’ on it, toys have been my tools and P L A Y has been my mantra. Starting a company dedicated to this lifestyle only made sense and gave me the opportunity to get kids off their couches and turn the remote on themselves. This was Playhouse culture to the core and I now had an endless arsenal of high octane FUN to shoot through the skulls of anyone who came my way.

Much of my jedi training came from San Francisco, a town which hasn’t come down from being dosed almost fifty years ago. I arrived one weekend to shoot a video for a new dance toy, and with that intention came a host of freakish affairs. We spent a sunny afternoon at the bandshell in Golden Gate Park where I was introduced to Medicine Drum and a new world of live trance music. Toys were spinnin, freaks were freakin, and the park began to thump with each beat and stomp. Kids decorated their bodies in paint and became tribal superheroes just as they were born to be. The climax would not stop! Once the sun went down, the fire was ignited and I was in the midst of my first live fire performance – the perfect way to close this chapter.