Three Brother's Pizza!

Something fun..... I made, almost everywhere in the Philadelphia region there is a generic Three Brothers Pizza or some kinda' of Brother's Pizza. Here is a Three Brother's Pizza most people under 40 would recognize.

In the middle is the original video game hero Mario who became famous with Donkey Kong.

On the right side is his true brother Luigi who became famous in the underworld with Mario Brothers while working in the sewers.

Finally on the sinister-left side is Wario, the mean anti-hero of Mario. We still don't know his exact relation to Mario and Luigi. But I think Wario is perhaps 1/2 a brother because of his pointy ears? Maybe he's half Vulcan or something?

But vexillologically speaking the flag of Italy is on the background!

Below is a catchy retro Nintendo commerical made with late 80s-early 90s funk....

A New US Colonial Rebel Flag?

Colonial Kerchief made before 1779

In the Vexillological scholarly journal, The Raven: volume 14 – 2007, an article was written by Laura K. Kidd. It was entitled: Wave It or Wear It? The United States Flag as a Fashion Icon. Laura's article is a whitty and insightful essay that showcases the use of the American flag on clothing. I definitely recommend its reading.

Kidd makes a fascinating discovery on the 'yin yang shift' of the left and right opinions in the use of the American Flag since the 'Anglo-Saxon Cultural Revolution of 1961.'

On an illustration in black and white shows that ‘the first commemorative textile with a flag motif is a linen kerchief printed to honor General George Washington.’ (The Raven) The inscription around General Washington read from twelve o' clock reads:

'GEORGE WASHINGTON E.S.Q. FOUNDATOR AND PROTECTOR OF AMERICA'S LIBERTY AND INDEPENDENCY'

Flags from the Four Corners

(click on any pic to see a larger clearer image)

The original source of this illustration is from a book by Herbert Ridgeway Collins: Threads of History: Americana Recorded on Cloth 1775 to the Present, Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington DC, 1979.

There are two flags on this kerchief that caught my eye: a flag that seems to have a rising sun design, like Japan, in the upper left corner; and a 25 striped flag that has 13 horizontal red and 12 white stripes.

Is it a Colonial Red Ensign or a some sort of unknown 13 Ray Ensign?

The flag with the 'rising sun' design is described as a ‘Colonial Red Ensign.’ However on close examination with my computer, that description does not seem to fit. The exquisite work in the kerchief reveals the designer had an attentive eye for detail. Thus if it were a 'Colonial Red Ensign' it would and should look like one, but it doesn't. Furthermore the 13 darkly coloured rays do not match with a theoretical lazy version of UK flag. Otherwise it would make more sense to have 12 rays rather than 13.

4 rays for the red cross of England + 8 rays for the eight blue triangles of Scotland = 12 coloured rays

13 is a patriotic number anyways. Perhaps it was not the intention of the designer to make a Colonial Red Ensign? Maybe this flag is an undocumented or personal revolutionary flag?

According to Kidd, this kerchief was made somewhere between ‘1775 unto 1778.' There were a variety of colonial rebel flags flying in this period.

Kidd also states it is possible that, ‘if printed after the passing of the First Flag Act in June 1777, the designer did not use the 'official' United States flag as a design motif. Perhaps the textile designer did not know that there was now an ‘official’ U.S. flag – or the new flag did not have meaning to the designer.'

13 Striped Son's of Liberty Flag:red stripes are labeled with red numbers and white stripes are labeled with white numbers

The second flag of intrigue seems to be an accidental variation of the Son’s of Liberty Flag. The usual Son’s of Liberty flag has 7 red and 6 white stripes for a total of 13. But this Son’s of Liberty flag has 13 red and 12 white stripes for a total of 25. Perhaps the person making the textile made an honest mistake? One can easily get confused upon reading a description that the Son's of Liberty that is supposed to have 13 stripes; one could easily interpret that this meant 13 red stripes, instead of the proper total of 13 stripes via 7 red and 6 white?

Gadsden Flag with clear lettering

Finally it is difficult to make out what is written upon the Gadsden Flag. It seems to say 'DON'T TREAD UPON ME.' However most Gadsden flags read, 'DON'T TREAD ON ME.' So what's the big deal with 'ON' versus 'UPON?' Not much I suppose, it seems to be a common enough mistake. I suppose, 'DON'T TREAD UPON ME,' has a polite tone while 'DON'T TREAD ON ME,' has a more threatening tone.

'Upon' also has a mystical undertone: 'Once Upon a Time' vs. 'Once On a Time.' Perhaps the 'upon me' version could be thought as a polite-cautionary Gadsden Flag, while the 'on me' version is a passionate-threatening Gadsden Flag.

In conclusion, on one hand this kerchief offers up a new unknown revolutionary era flag with 13 rays emanating from the center, in the canton, that are assumed to be red. On the other hand, it could simply be an error or liberty of the artist's hand, or simply a distorted image of a 'Colonial Red Ensign.' If a clearer image of the kerchief in question can be found it could help clarify the issue or offer evidence of a 'US Colonial Rising Sun Ensign?'

Modern Rendition of the 13 ray colonial ensign:
assuming red and white are used: 13 colonies 13 stripes?

Doylestown Patriot Flag

At Doylestown's Triangle Park, a flag dedicated to fallen veterans flies just below the national banner.

Unlike the popular black POW flag, whose abundance of black conveys a more mournful statement, Doylestown's unique Triangle Park flag is charged with a special kind of purity and hope. Whiteness is the universal symbol of purity, and speaks of glory. Like the flag of Rhode Island that uses white, yellow stars, and the motto 'hope.'

Flag Pole of Special Flag

The writing on the flag that is written in red cursive reads, "Lest they be forgotten..."

A black machine gun is planted in the ground a with a black helmet on top. This is an echo, intentional or not, of the Japanese Samurai tradition of putting a fallen warriors headdress on a sword after defeat.

This flag spoke to me as if to say, 'mourn us yes, but also remember us..... ponder on our lives, and wonder why we died. By the perpetual grace of providence our lives were sacrificed for the greater good, overcome your sadness and seize the joy that is the perpetual shadow of freedom.... cast away hate and any bitterness and embrace the golden star of hope, forget us not...'

Video of Triangle Park Flag Flying

Robin Willams as the US Flag 1982

Robin Williams stand up act as the United States flag, performed on March 21, 1982. This is perhaps the best routine ever to be made about and with the US Flag.

Mr. Williams combines humor with the American Flag via class, respect, and joy.

ENJOY!!!!!!!

follow Mr. Williams, Robert at www.robinwilliams.com/

Texas Republic Mojo

Flag of Texas

When Texas gained independence from Mexico, Texas was much larger. According to the map the Lone Star Republic had territory that overlapped five states yet to be created. For nearly a decade (1835-1845) the Republic of Texas' most northern point was more north than Northern California and Southern Massachusetts. Texas even had territory on par with the southern tip of Canada.

Thus in honor of the five states that were is some way a part of the internationally recognized Nation of Texas, I have created five Post-Republic of Texas Mojo Flags for each state.

The pan handle of Oklahoma once belonged to the Republic of Texas, thus it should only be flown in the pan handle. The design is based on the original Oklahoma Flag (46 and red) and the current sky-blue colour of the current Oklahoma Flag.

1st Oklahoma Flag abandoned because
looked to communistic, even though
Oklahoma is an Indian word for Red Man

Official Oklahoma Flag

New Mexico's Texas Republic Flag is based on the current New Mexican Flag that only uses red and yellow. More than 50% of New Mexico was a part of the Texas Republic.

Official New Mexican Flag

Kansas' Republic of Texas Flag should only be flown in the south west corner of Kansas. Didja' know Kansas has Texan Heritage? Some states were born out of Mexico, Canada, but five had regions born out of Texas. Once again the colours of Kansas come from the current state flag. And PLEASE do not mess with Kansas' Flag!

Official Flag of Kansas

At nearly 1/3, a mid-western strip and the south eastern side of Colorado were once Texas Country. I guess this is where the South Park boys get their wild cowboy steak and shameless gumption to humour anyone and anything that should suit their fancy?

Them Colorado boys sure are a shootin' jokes with mighty fine Texan Ranger accuracy and a none to powerful Texas punch. It's no wonder..... they're part Texan after all... waddja' expect?

And trust me.... you don't want to be on the wrong side of Texas.

Official Flag of Colorado

Finally, Wyoming's Texan Republic Mojo Flag: not exactly in the corner, but in Wyomings' south eastern region, a small portion of Wyoming was once one in body, spirit, and soil with Texas. Thus once upon a time TEXAS had land, more north than Philadelphia, Chicago, NYC, and even Providence, RI.

Official Flag of Wyoming

World Cup 2010

Flags become ubiquitous
during World Cups

When the world cup approaches, the waving of flags becomes a tradition. It seems that international flags are more intensely flown than on any other occasion, perhaps even more so than the Olympics.

Even the Yahoo Website has a soccer ball with flags displayed for its daily corner animation. See Below.

As of 2010 there is a great imbalance in the world cup via gender and politics, at least for the USA. The rest of the world (third world and first world) that have economies much less than par with the USA can always produce (much more than par-USA) soccer teams. How is it that nations smaller and with less always out play one of the largest, richest, and grandest nations of the world?

Ghana is an African nation with less people, economy and wealth. Yet the United States is no match. Does this mean if given the same blessings as the US, Ghana could potentially be a richer and more economically diverse nation?

But this US-Soccer deficit is true only in reference to Men's Soccer. When you look at US Women's Soccer (here is another weird imbalance). The women of the USA can kick the butts of all nations large, small, voluptuous, wide, flabby, and tight. For the foreseeable future the Women's USA Soccer Team will kick buns and reign on the podium for many decades to come.

Perhaps as the US Men's Soccer gets stronger the US Women's Soccer will get weaker. Which will come first: a Women's World Cup when US girls place below fourth or a Men's World Cup when the American boys place higher than fifth? Only time will tell.

This is a video of the Yahoo World Cup Logo 2010
Notice the flags and soccer ball

Flag Capture & Mine Sweeper

Back when Ronald Regan was president and Donkey Kong was King, Atari ruled the home video game market. The games were cutting edge at the time, but by 2010 standards Atari Games were about on par with late 1990s cell phone video games.

One vexillological game was Flag Capture. It was a simple logic game, an ancestor to the infamously free computer game Mine Sweeper, which uses flags as symbols-markers.

Since then no sequel or flag centered video game has ever hit the market, successfully. Flags have been in the background, but never as the key subject in a franchise. Yet the opportunity is there. Flags are visual things!

The cover art of Flag Capture has a UK flag, Danish flag, what maybe the Lithuanian flag and some kind of pirate flag. During the Atari Era the cover art and package was often more elaborate and beyond the truth of the game. It was nearly a deceptive tactic, an ancient sales tactic, visual bait to make a transaction. Remember Nintendo's over rated ROB? Didn't think so, only something about Schmicks? All my friends that had the Nintendo's ROB, totally felt like Schmicks.

However computers are so much more powerful. Retro game remakes that really reflect the cover art of box art can finally be made!

For instance I always wanted to play Zelda, Adventure, and Flag Capture in a game that like totally matched the cover art, or art in the instruction manual. Old school gamers would no doubt want to play the true-retro art remakes. It'd be a new genre game market. You could call it Truetro?

Imagine a Pac Man and Space Invader game were the game totally mirrored perfectly the characters and setting of the art!? A game that matches the original Metal Gear cover art would be like soo tubular, fresh, and gnarly. They could even just redo the first Metal Gear, with nearly the same plot and add elements from that era, like music, style, pics of Regan and Gorbi.

Screen Shot of Flag Capture
The Pac Man art on the side of the original game cart looked nothing like Pac Man in video game. Why not now make one? Since Tron is being updated....it's only natural. Finally in the game Mine Sweeper, as it was with Flag Capture, game play is based on logical deduction and avoidance of hidden bombs!
















For some Nintendo Nostalgia Click the video to see ROB (Robotic Operating Buddy) in Action. Most kids who got a ROB felt like they were robbed of their money and time