We will NOT be Serving on Toilets, around Toilets or involving Toilets....YUCK!

Are we so jaded that we just will accept anything? Have we forgotten what good taste and Fun really is? Do we really need to have Toilets and food done together?

Rockhoppers SAYS NO to this!! and Prays this is just a fad and that people aren't really this stupid!~!

"There's poop everywhere! Y-u-c-k," says 6-year-old Jordan Lien as he and his family dine at the Modern Toilet, a popular Taiwanese restaurant chain that's expanding into China and other parts of Asia. The boy was looking at the poop-shaped lights and dish covers and the curry on toilet-shaped plates.

Diarrhea for dinner? That's the point. "It's supposed to shock and confuse the senses," says Modern Toilet manager Chen Min-kuang. But as Jennifer Finch, an American who was dining there, described it, "They do it tastefully. It's all very clean."

Every customer sits on a stylish acrylic toilet (lid down) designed with images of roses, seashells or Renaissance paintings. Everyone dines at a glass table with a sink underneath. The servers bring your meal atop a mini toilet bowl (quite convenient, as it brings the food closer to your mouth), you sip drinks from your own plastic urinal (a souvenir), and soft-swirl ice cream arrives for dessert atop a dish shaped like a squat toilet.

I went there on a Wednesday evening, and the place was packed with students and families who were having a jolly time eating out of the john. "It's very progressive and irreverent, like a practical joke," says junior high school teacher Chen Kin-hsiang, who went because her students raved about it. "It's a little gross when you see other people eat," she says, "but when you're eating, you don't notice it, 'cause you're hungry and the aroma is appetizing." Smell is one poop-like quality the chef does without.

The reasonably priced food includes curries, pasta, fried chicken and Mongolian hot pot, as well as elaborate shaved-ice desserts with names like "diarrhea with dried droppings" (chocolate), "bloody poop" (strawberry) and "green dysentery" (kiwi). Despite the disturbing descriptions, the desserts were great. But after seeing curry drip down a mini-toilet, I may never have that sauce again.

The Chinese can take this, Finch muses, because they are more nonchalant about bodily functions, such as burping, farting or even going to the bathroom — an act performed squatting sans doors in some places in China. But many Westerners enjoy the novelty of toilet dining too. Chris and Julia Harris took their visiting mother, who they say is obsessive-compulsive about cleanliness, to "freak her out," but she had a great time (though she refused to drink out of a urinal). The only people who have a hard time, says Chen, are the elderly who have exclaimed, "I will not eat on the toilet!" (Folding chairs and normal dishware are available for the faint of heart.)

Toilet creations aren't new to China. The ancient Chinese may have been the first to use the throne — a flush toilet was found in a tomb of a Western Han Dynasty (206 B.C. to A.D. 24) king — and they invented toilet paper in the 6th century. Modern Toilet owner Wang Zi-wei, 29, an ex-banker, got his idea from the Japanese robot cartoon character Jichiwawa, who loves to play with poop and swirl it on a stick. Inspired by that image, Wang began selling chocolate ice cream swirls on paper squat toilets. Customers loved them and wanted more edible excretion experiences, so he opened Modern Toilet in 2004. The theme-restaurant chain now has seven outlets in Taiwan, one in Hong Kong and one opening in Shenzhen, China, this week. Plans for other cities in China, Macau, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia are also under way. Dinner à la latrine, anyone?

Find this article at: http://www.time.com/time/arts/article/0,8599,1882569,00.html

No Toilet Restaurants on Whidbey Island.

Coming this month to Rockhoppers

So this month's events are posted. This weekend we welcome Beverly Graham. Beverly is the founder of Operation Sack Lunch and is a truly remarkable woman with an incredible voice. It is always wonderful to have her here to sing and I truly am honored that she will come sing here at Rockhoppers for us.

We did have our first meeting of our artist's co-op and this was resulted from that meeting.

First organizational Meeting of Rockhopper’s Artist Co-op Friday February 27th at 5:30PM

After some discussion for this group it was decided that the following would be the criteria for belonging to The Rockhopper Artist Co-op. The standard ‘dues’ for belonging to the Co-op would be: $50.00 per month per artist, 20% commission, and a minimum of 8 hours of work in the gallery. Each artist would also be expected work on at least one of four committees.

Each of these standards serve the same value so if you are unable to spend 8 hours working in the shop then you can substitute the value by increasing the cost per month and the commission so the value would be as follows:

0 hours working in the gallery $75.00 monthly payment and 30% commission 16 hours working in the shop $0.00 monthly payment and 20% commission It was decided that only those with food handler’s permit and liquor license could substitute time working in shop for monthly payments.

10% of the commission for art sold goes to Rockhoppers with the other 10% going to the artist that is working on the floor at the time of sale or the artist that facilitated the sale. It was also decided that if a piece was purchased from a site other than Rockhopper’s site on the internet or through outside sales, that no commission would be expected by either Rockhoppers or the artists working the floor.

Committee work is divided into 4 committees who will often be working with another committee to get their work done.

Jurors committee: This group will be responsible for selecting new members who want to display in the Co-op. This group’s task will be to make sure that items coming into the gallery meet certain quality criteria and that they fit into the atmosphere of Rockhoppers. Those artists that are just starting will not be discouraged from participating in the Co-op since one of the main purposes of Rockhoppers is to encourage new artists however, we also recognize the importance of having established artists displaying their work as well so quality of work will be a determining factor. ( 3-5 members)

Display committee: This group will do setting up and taking down of monthly displays and rearranging of all art. They will also be responsible for pricing and making sure each item is marked for sale. They will not have control over the chairs and furniture in the shop unless that furniture is used for display purposes only. They will be able to close off shelves, arrange decorations on walls and move display areas as needed. This group will probably use all of their hours per month in the shop doing this committees work. (as many as possible)

Marketing committee: This group will be responsible for helping to establish marketing and advertising campaigns working with Rockhoppers to ensure that both establishments benefit from this endeavor without conflict. They would also be responsible for write ups and promotions of events and artists displays in the papers. (2-3 members)

Event Committee: This group would help schedule and establish artist receptions, boutiques, art shows, and events that will promote The Co-op. This group would work closely with Rockhoppers to ensure there would be no scheduling conflicts and that Rockhoppers would be able to provide for the catering that would need done for that event. This committee would also be expected to make a presence at all events held by the Co-op. (as many as possible)

Rockhoppers Co-op is hoping to have 20 artists who will be participating in this Co-op. Our core group that met last night did decide that we would try and extend our efforts to do more than just run a Co-op at Rockhoppers. We saw the Co-op as a place to promote art and artists through one man shows, boutiques, art shows outside and working artist studio times as well. So if you cannot obligate yourself to be in the Co-op at this time then you may want to consider doing a show in the future. This would require a one time payment for the rent of the space and you would assist the display committee in setting up and taking down your pieces. The rent for the space for one weekend would be $150.00. If longer than a weekend then the price would be slightly more. The co-op has temporarily set the rent for this amount however the amount may change at a later time.

Rockhoppers feels that this is the place that promotes all forms of art from music, to writing, to Art in all forms. Rockhoppers also feels that the community of friends and family that have become its foundation makes this opportunity to be a place of creativity that knows no boundaries. We are excited to be able to offer this to all our artists and we hope that through work, laughter and living that our art will grow along with us!

So with everything that is happening here at Rockhoppers we are asking you to be patient with our posting. We will be doing more very soon but we have some fairly large projects planned in our little space and a lot of our time will be spent making sure they happen. Still we will try to keep you up to date as things progress. Thanks.

Rockhoppers is getting ready for spring on Whidbey Island.

Comic Tuesday

Sorry, I took the week off from Comic Tuesday last week. Did you miss me? Posting has been light in general, but hopefully will get back up to speed soon.

Today we have a gem from the past, A Book of Drawings by Henry Mayo Bateman, published in 1921. Kept here at the Internet Archive, what really drew my attention to this is the nice movie from these drawings, made by Hanuman.

I guess this weeks comic actually qualifies as a Read This! entry, too. So double your fun!

Vaccuums of Whidbey Island.