Astro-Weenie Geodesic Dome :o :o :o
Whaaaaaaat!? John Trivisonno and wife Betty have braved the Imaginative Beyond to create TWO of the most insane Trees known to exist! Unfortunately, their first creation - THE ASTRO-FORTUNE COOKIE TREE - was devoured without a trace of proof. Nothing exists, not even the architecture plans. However, they have come through full force with this incredible photo essay/ode. Many of these photos have nothing to do with Astro-Weeniedom, but I’m sure will be of interest to all. Note:
“As you know, I failed to take pictures of the Astro-Fortune Cookie Tree created for my Christmas get-together. But when it was announced that a friend’s New Year’s Eve party would be Expo67-themed (2007 marks the 40th anniversary of Montreal’s International and Universal Exposition), we figured what better way to celebrate than create the Expo buildings and logo out of food!
First, a picture of our Astro-Weenie Geodesic Dome, based on Buckminster Fuller’s US Pavilion at Expo67 (see: here):
A photo of the Expo67 logo in the guise of a cheesecake, dubbed “Man and His Cheesecake” (the theme of Expo67 was “Man and His World”):
Architect Moshe Safdie’s modular apartment building, Habitat 67, made out of a banana meatloaf and renamed Bananatat 67 (see: here -you’ll notice that I’m wearing a Habitat 67 t-shirt in the photo):
And finally, my wife Betty and I, again, with our respective Expo67 souvenirs:”
Breathtaking, amazing, awesome. This is like a science experiment gone horribly right. You should apply to have these items committed to the Smithsonian for all times and let superhuman creatures adore them in the year 81,000. I worship and cherish these photos and welcome you 9,003,022 times over to the Astro-Weenie Hall of Fame! Congratulations!!!!!!!!!!
bob said,
January 12, 2007 @ 4:39 am
I love the “Man and His Cheesecake” : the absolute tribute on the montreals tables next april 28th!
Chuck Bell said,
February 20, 2007 @ 8:42 am
HEY! Just wanted to say how nice it is to see people under 40 into expo…(well u look young..lol)
My folks met at Expo67…I wouldn’t be alive if my Dad hadn’t played a gig there…my mom was this groovy chick hangin around backstage…thats what im led to believe..lol…(he was a performer with Motown Records, an american who stayed in Montreal after his tour…etc!!!) I know this site is about deeelishious stuff…but your Expo goods/stuff got me a little excited…wheee!
Francine Lacoste said,
July 7, 2007 @ 2:40 pm
Hello! I visited your site and enjoyed it. I went to Expo 67 when I was a child and have many many memories of this event. Your photos of your culinary exhibition is very funny to look at and…I would like to know where your t-shirt comes from? I would love to buy a t-shirt with the Habitat 67 on it to give it to my son!
Thanks and have a good day!
Francine Lacoste
Brian Maged said,
August 9, 2007 @ 5:28 pm
My you seem to have started a franchise here - Expo Foods. Imagine all the wonderful pavilions, the tastes, the smells, the colours of a great fair. Served in some of those wonderful glass creations from the Czeck pavilion. With fancy lace table settings and white gloved hostesses. Bonne apetite mes amis. A multiscreened sweet table and the piece de resistance, the giant Canada Day Cake, why it could portend things like the giant omelet at Montreal’s comedy festival. But this is Quebec, not Ontario, mon cheri, I guess that’s what’s great about being a big, happy Canadian family. We learn from each other.
Maple smells are everywhere and a few traditional logs from Fort Edmonton.
Reminds me of that time in the 1990s that I worked with Hatians at the Barclay tenants association and tasted peanut butter chicken. Too bad we didn’t have a Macdonalds back during Expo. Fortunately the horrible food served at snack establishments forsaw the improvements. President Johnson probably realized this when he toured the American pavilion and only saw soup kitchens. Give us Mortons steaks and McDonalds burgers! But please the stuff is meant to be non-toxic, so you don’t get a stomache ache trying to taste things you don’t know how you’ll react to on holiday, which could if your rushed ruin your vacation. Fast food is great for quick holiday getaways when you are uncertain of what your eating. Unfortunately that was an invention that would follow Expo. The cremaries were already there.
The creme-I mean crepes,like the CrepeBreton were new and appearing on Crescent street. The bozos of Felix were being displaced by the Montreal West and NDG crowd and the seeds of St. Denis were being laid for festivals and things to come - like UQUAM.
Colonel Sanders first establishment was right near Piazza Tomasso on de la Savanne. This is because the owner had an interest in horse racing.
If you didn’t get sick from junk food than a friend of Marvin Tinkoff’s Dave Singer might have been taking care of the sick horses who did, at blue bonnets. In those days we would still ride for miles across town to broadway street in the east end to get the best french fries in town. There were always a bunch of painted cartoon characters around. You know this kind of thing was even tried on Decarie with a circus theme and a live circus. At Expo there was an animation retrospective and two of the greatest were there- Max Fleischer who owned an eatery on Times Square, and had 50 foot high cartoon characters, and Paul Terry whose Terrytowns always had to have one his Terry sandwiches in their hand which during war time got so scarey that it scared kids away from his once successful establishment and eventually forced him to sell.
Broadway chips was on the way to Marvins and the Richelieu racetrack. Marvin had left years before Expo and set up in West Covina california - a carpet cleaning business. After the moon landing I went for a visit to see Disneyland and stood at his wifes ( a cousin on my father’s side) house. His older daughter later became a secretary at Nasa. In the year of 1969, the year before I visited the Tinkoffs I got a letter from Mayor Jean Drapeau - he did not include any chocolates or any national dolls - I recieved one of those from the Czeckoslovaks,
but it read: Thank you for your encouraging support, I am deeply touched from the bottom of my heart. The date - February 13th, the day before Valentines Day.
My mothers birthday was on the 20th of February. She made the greatest meatballs and chicken soup and meatloaf.
Which brings me back to your Habitat. I was student of Dan hanganu who designed the Cirque de Soleil extention, the landscaping including real pumpkins. The organic cereals that I bought at Loblaws included Pumpkin seeds. How the world has changed since the primitive Expo days. Hey hey, hey friend to progress!