"Hi How Are You" Mural

[Disfranchise]

How great that they changed their minds! How often does that happen?!
So something good came out of all of this aswell.
Because of the media coverage and all fans spreading the word to preserve it alot more people know about that mural and about Daniel Johnston.
I must say that I didn't know much about it before the news of the removal of the mural surfaced.






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[Anonymous]

Here's an idea: How about a commemorative "Hi How Are You" T-Shirt, closer in design to the image in the mural, with the date of it being "saved" and the words "We Saved The Frog of Innocence" or something?
The shirt space could be shared with a Baja Fresh logo on the back (small), and a percentage of the sales (special to rejectedunknown/hihowareyou etc!) could go to assist the owner in his costs to keep it and for upkeep.

I sent e-mails! I made phone calls! I burned a candle! Now let's make a T-shirt!

BTW:
What was that old saying about "...no such thing as bad press?"
Wonder how many hits Google had on Daniel following this mini-crisis?

[Henry Long]

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Here's an idea: How about a commemorative "Hi How Are You" T-Shirt, closer in design to the image in the mural, with the date of it being "saved" and the words "We Saved The Frog of Innocence" or something?
The shirt space could be shared with a Baja Fresh logo on the back (small), and a percentage of the sales (special to rejectedunknown/hihowareyou etc!) could go to assist the owner in his costs to keep it and for upkeep.

I sent e-mails! I made phone calls! I burned a candle! Now let's make a T-shirt!

BTW:
What was that old saying about "...no such thing as bad press?"
Wonder how many hits Google had on Daniel following this mini-crisis?

[j7on]

Good idea!

Sign me up for a couple of ones if such will ever happen!

-jason-

[Pascal]

All this mural story is just great...! Jeff Lewis sent a cover of one of his comics, featuring the Hi how are you mural, and they put it on HiHowAreYou.com.

Jeff also put an alert and a link on his site:
http://www.thejeffreylewissite.com/

Pascal

[tuna ketchup]

I was so happy when I heard they'd changed their minds... but it's weird to read all of the stories about it because everyone seems to have a different idea as to when it was painted... one story said ten years, one said eighteen years and one said twenty even but the thing is I was living in Austin from '88 to '95 and the went to sound exchange (literaly) every weekend and the mural didn't grace the wall until '92 by my memory... not that it matters, it's just humorous to read the varrying accounts. But I am so stoaked to hear they saved it... I totally have a different opinion of those baja fresh guys now... wednesday I was ready to go up there and do something crazy...

my Father and I were talking last night about when Daniel painted that mural and how it became an integral part of the city we lived in and how it was really a dominating presence... when you'd walk out of Dobie mall or off the campus or up from the capital area you'd always see the frog greeting you and I can't imagine the drag without that, especially since it is one of the only things that survived the "big boom" that the drag experienced in the mid and late nineties when all the original shops closed down to make way for the trendy corporate stores.  I am very happy that we will still be able to enjoy the frog.

[dejected]

This email from Craig Koon, who sounds like an authority on the AGE of the mural.

my name is craig koon; i am the man who had daniel paint the mural of
joshua. it was done in 1993 (or spring 1994 at latest), NOT 20 years
ago.
also, the store was called sound EXCHANGE, NOT sound design.

in  any case, thanks for helping save the mural - the landlord was
SUPPOSED to tell the new tenant about it, but he failed to do so.
john oudt tells me if he had known, he would have never planned to
tear it down.
Thanks, Craig.

[/b]

Of course, Daniel hit the AUSTIN MUSIC SCENE in 1984 - and was on MTV THAT YEAR announcing his cassette tape and performing on national TV.  Daniel has since be an important figure in the folk lore of the city.  

That painting of the mural apparently didn't happen until nine years later - 1993, but by that time MOST people knew what the mural MEANT.  So it is going on eleven years old.

If you've ever seen it lately, it has stayed in VERY GOOD shape (prior to their poking holes in it!) - the paint was still "healthy" - no cracks or chalkiness, no fading or holes.  It looked shiny and clean - very well maintained.

[Tartakov]

Of course, Daniel hit the AUSTIN MUSIC SCENE in 1984 - and was on MTV THAT YEAR announcing his cassette tape and performing on national TV.

Daniel's first MTV appearance was August 25, 1985.

[dejected]

Maybe Baja Fresh will help with such  commemorative t-shirt!!!  Fans could reciprocate by carrying some modest Baja Fresh logo on the other side of the shirt!  I'd wear i!

[dejected]

In case you haven't seen them, here are a few articles on the Austin, Texas Daniel Johnston frog mural:

Rolling Stones Magazine:
http://rollingstone.com/news/newsarticle.asp?nid=19164

Houston Chronicle (Saturday's paper also had a big picture and spread)
http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/metropolitan/2345712

AP Press
http://www.dfw.com/mld/startelegram/news/state/7673412.htm

News Channel 8 Austin January 6th
http://news8austin.com/content/top_stories/default.asp?ArID=94269

KVUE TV Austin January 7th
http://www.kvue.com/news/local/010704kvueFrog-eh.11c83290f.html

[dejected]

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BTW:
What was that old saying about "...no such thing as bad press?"
Wonder how many hits Google had on Daniel following this mini-crisis?

FYI - Hits on the site more than quadrupaled for a while:

1/5/2004 - 207 / day
1/6/2004 - 356 / day
1/7/2004 - 830 / day
1/8/2004 - 1162 / day
1/9/2004 - 962 / day