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June 19 What does Hong Kong Willie mean???
“HONG KONG WILLIE THE NAME OF THE ARTIST. IN 1958 HIS MOTHER TOOK HONG KONG WILLIE TO AN ART CLASS. THE NAME STARTED THEN. AN ART TEACHER WHEN DOING CRAFTS OUT OF GERBER BABY BOTTLES, MADE A STATEMENT, IN HONG KONG REUSE WAS COMMON. WILLIE FOR AN AMERICAN NAME.” Quote by Joe Brown of Hong Kong Willie. Hong Kong Willie should have done a little more research before naming a green art group after Hong Kong. Exporting your waste to other Countries is never a solution to the problem. Is it possible that when Joe Brown was 8-9 years of age, his teacher lied to him or is what Joe Brown states the name was derived from just a lie? My vote is for the latter! Below is the definition of what Joe Brown calls “Willie for an American name”: May 25 The Hong Kong Willie Message for all.Now you will understand Hong Kong Willie.
We do not ask for your compost, or your trash. We do not want you tired of recycling. It is your corrupt we claim. It is your bad habits that will be sought by us. With every breath, we shall hunt them down. Each day we will spill their ideals, 'til it rains down from the skies. Just Reduce, Reuse and Recycle. These are principles which every person of every faith can embrace. These are not polite suggestions, these are codes of behavior, and those of you that ignore them will pay the dearest cost. There are varying degrees of Hong Kong Willie. We urge you lesser forms of recyclers, to push the bounds and cross over, into true green living, into our domain. For if you do, one day you will look behind you and you will see Hong Kong Willie, and on that day we all will reap the rewards. And we will praise you for it. And shepherds we shall be, for thee my recyclers for thee. Power has descended forth from the trashcan, that I write and Hong Kong Willie may swiftly carry out thy commands. So we shall flow a river of ideas forth to thee, and teeming with Hong Kong Willies shall it ever be. Another idea from Hong Kong Willie to be passed on to you: Trash Art!
April 24 Hong Kong Willie Used Buoys Plagues Tampa Florida
It is one thing for Hong Kong Willie to sell used buoys for $2.00US plus shipping and handling to tiki bars or nautical theme restaurants/bars. Used Buoys from Hong Kong Willie Art in Tampa, Florida may also be used by eccentric people to decorate their backyards as well. The problem lies in the fact that Hong Kong Willie has in their stock over 47,000 used buoys collected over years. Considering Hong Kong Willie’s past sales figures for used buoys, that amount is enough for at least two lifetimes.
Since Hong Kong Willie prides themselves on leaving less of a footprint on Earth and has gone to all the trouble of collecting this massive amount of buoys, a few points should be considered. Keep the used buoys that Hong Kong Willie believes they can sell being reasonable, if possible. Then they can recycle the rest of the tens of thousands of buoys in their possession. Hong Kong Willie might be asking at this point; there is no way to recycle these used buoys and keep them out of our landfills. This claim is completely false. Hong Kong Willie must be pure to living a green life as they claim to do.
Used Buoys are often recycled for insulation in homes or buildings, making packing materials for shipping items such as Hong Kong Willie art, as well as many other uses thought up by individuals who think out of the box and think green. Now it is time for Hong Kong Willie to think out of the box and recycle the used buoys that they will never use. Hong Kong Willie doesn’t need about 30,000 used buoys to decorate Hong Kong Willie Tampa. Keep some for decorations but seriously, Hong Kong Willie is out of control with their used buoys. Hong Kong Willie to this day is still being mistaken for a bait shop or a fishing store which they are not. I strongly advise Hong Kong Willie to take my advice just because it would help them present themselves as artists and not just “sticking it to the man” by sticking out like a sore thumb. One more important benefit for Hong Kong Willie and their connections to various large media outlets. If Joe Brown plans everything right, the media will be claiming that Hong Kong Willie has truly left less of a footprint on Florida and Hong Kong Willie truly leads a pure life of living green. Following is a picture of a used buoy recycling machine made and used in Japan as well as a link to a company that offers these used buoy recycling machines to create new products to help our Planet from keeping buoys out of our landfills. Come on Hong Kong Willie. Do I have to do all the thinking for you?
RecycleTech makes these machines too! Keep the Oceans clean of used buoys. Get the pitch Hong Kong Willie ???? April 17 Hong Kong Willie Burlap BEACH BAG cost $$$$$$$$Hong Kong Willie won't be selling many of these supposed designer handbags anytime soon. These bags are made mostly of burlap and range from $20.00US all the way to $200.00US. I've heard of overpricing for tourists but this is absurd! Joe, just get a job won't you? Don't forget your retail store is closed since you never optained the proper licenses. You won't have to worry because at those prices, you won't have any sales Hong Kong Willie. For more info on these beach bags follow this link and read the fake comments Hong Kong Willie left on this article. Hong Kong Willie Burlap Bags BEACH BAG TRUE GREEN Designer Handbags,
January 25 Hong Kong Willie by Hong Kong WillieJanuary 14 Think Hong Kong Willie aka Joe Brown
Looking at the history of Art and Artists there are several common mistakes that Hong Kong Willie Art Group is making. First of all there is the “weird factor” of artists which I don’t mean in a bad way. Artists such as Kim Brown of Hong Kong Willie seem to see what they are creating before starting a piece of art. That is a very interesting talent that most true artists have. The artists mind is always influenced by their childhood, surroundings, thoughts (both past and present), and current mindset. Every true Artist is different which gives the artwork its own unique qualities. Because it is so hard to get into an Artist’s mind they tend to be called weird, strange, or even crazy at times but this is what the “weird factor” of an artist is all about. I believe that Hong Kong Willie Art Group realizes this from my interactions with them.
Very seldom do you see an artist making a living out of their own art. Hong Kong Willie knows the tremendous amount of pressure felt by the artists to give the public what they want or to be pure to themselves and create whatever comes to them. This isn’t a production line you know. Another form of pressure for an artist like Hong Kong Willie is trying to continue to create art at a pace to match the demand. True Artists just don’t put out so many pieces of art each day. They must be inspired first and then in their own time they will create. Hong Kong Willie Art Group should know that for these reasons alone by putting so much pressure and anxiety on any artist it is possible for them to loose their will to create. Any true artist must be left alone to create art at their own pace with no outside pressures riding on them such as paying bills or generally creating income. That time will come but Hong Kong Willie just can’t push it and rely on an up and coming artist to be themselves with all that pressure. This is just not the way true Art and Artists work. Hong Kong Willie must fully realize that the Conch or Florida Keys art that is created will never work as a job. Being an artist is not a job, it is a passion. Hong Kong Willie Art Group specializes in a certain niche of the art world and not the whole spectrum of art. That means that only some people will be drawn to Hong Kong Willie Art. This of course limits the demand for their Conch style of art. The other problem that Hong Kong Willie faces is there location in Tampa and no location in the Florida Keys where people expect to see that style of art. The Internet can be a big help in that problem but will never be as good as having a storefront in the Florida Keys. All I am trying to say is that is an obstacle to overcome for Hong Kong Willie Art Group and not something to worry about. In my opinion, you already have a great location in Tampa so why not make the best out of it and start another business such as the Fish and Tackle Store that you once had. The one point I am trying to make is that stock that is in storage and not selling is called dead stock because you aren’t making money out of it. In a business a zero turnover is dead stock. Joe Brown, you were successful for years as a fish and tackle shop and if you devote your time and expertise I am sure you will be successful once again. You have the location so why not? All that must be remembered is that Hong Kong Willie Art Group is separate from whatever business you desire to create. This suggestion that I have presented to you now and in the past might just be what is needed as we approach the year 2008. Think about it. You are already getting recognition in Tampa:
October 28 Hong Kong Willie the Zen of Junk
Have you read my previous posts about Joe Brown and the Hong Kong Willie articles? If you have then you realize that Hong Kong Willie and especially Joe Brown have blatantly avoided much of the truth about how Hong Kong Willie came into existence. Finally I have found an article written by the Tampa Tribune just a few months prior to 9/11/01. This article written by Jim Tunstall tells the truth about Joe and Kim Brown shortly before Hong Kong Willie ever existed. In my past posts I have felt obligated to inject the truth in red on most of the sales pitches that Hong Kong Willie promotes as being true. In this article, there is no need for that because the truth has been finally let free. I enjoy helping to promote the ideals and the history of the Hong Kong Willie Roadside Attraction. I am a firm believer in preservation and recycling more than our little green bins that the city of Tampa offer. I now present the article that tells you some of the behind the scences of the Brown family and how Hong Kong Willie came about. I quote the following from a Hong Kong Willie flickr description and highlight in GREEN what I have been trying to get people to see with my previous posts of Hong Kong Willie. This article also hints at why Joe Brown has threatened Gandolfo and myself and we were forced to quit helping Joe spread the message and ideals of Hong Kong Willie as we were doing almost daily for over 15 months.
“ROADSIDE ATTRACTION ” I believe every individual has a purpose. When you start going on your journey to discover yours, you learn some things along the way.” For more on Hong Kong Willie here is the famous Fox 13 Tampa spot: October 12 Zen of Junk is Hong Kong WillieZen of Junk is Hong Kong Willie
Great job Hong Kong Willie being noticed by Creative Loafing for the " Zen of Junk " article written by Alex Pickett. This was a very well written article from the authors point of view and what information Hong Kong Willie decided to divulge. Deeper truths lie within this Award Winning article that must be written to the masses. This is where I will again quote a Hong Kong Willie blog with the article and include more truth in RED. "The zen of junk A Tampa couple devotes itself to creating something from nothing BY ALEX PICKETT Published 12.06.06 print email mail us del.icio.us digg facebook reddit click to enlarge Alex PickettROADSIDE ATTRACTION: Located off East Fletcher Road between hotel chains and high-end office parks is the gift shop and folk art gallery Hong Kong Willie's.Drive south on I-75, look to the right around East Fletcher Avenue, and you can't miss it. The tree appears first, hundreds of buoys wrapped around its branches, resembling a sort of Dr. Seuss-ian Christmas ornament. Then the rest of the 20,000 buoys come into view -- thousands of strands of the multicolored foam balls stretching from the tree to two wooden shacks ( This is their supposed Art Gallery ), hanging from their roofs and walls, and stretched out over the property. Strewn about the lawn is a menagerie of surfboards, car doors, CB radios, wooden sculptures and painted signs. A 1979 Ford pickup sits in the front driveway, painted with a rainbow of colors, four racks of antlers affixed to its roof. An old stuffed caribou sits in a lawn chair beckoning visitors. Of the thousands of motorists who pass by this eclectic landmark off Exit 266 every day, few stop in the funky gift shop and Key West-themed folk art gallery that is Hong Kong Willie's. But this is not your typical roadside store selling cheesy Florida magnets and beach T-shirts (although they have those, too)( Most of the flea market style cheesy cheap items Hong Kong Willie sell are from Taiwan or China ). From the moment the owners come out to greet you, it's clear that for them this isn't just a business -- it's a lifestyle.( It is a lifestyle for the Brown Family so if they are having a bad day, you will receive bad customer service as many have told me. They are extremely sensitive when you question the highly expensive prices on Hong Kong Willie art ) As I step out of my car, Joe Brown ambles toward me wearing a red Hawaiian shirt and khaki shorts. With his disheveled shoulder-length brown hair and strong jaw line, Brown, 56, looks a lot like Mel Gibson in Braveheart ( Does he really? Please look for yourself Joe Brown ). He ends most of his sentences with "Do you follow me?" and stares with wild gray eyes until you nod in agreement ( If you don't agree with Joe then he has a problem with you ). His 46-year-old wife, Kim, who bears a strong resemblance to Grace Slick, sits near the shop's open sign, branding her latest creation. Wearing large sunglasses, she gives a smile, hardly looking up. Joe and Kim -- Tampa natives -- bought the half-acre property off Fletcher Avenue and Morris Bridge Road in 1985. For the next two decades, the Browns operated A-24 Hour Bait and Tackle, living on the premises and bagging worms for K-Mart and Wal-Mart to make a few extra bucks ( Without letting the cat out of the bag here let's just say they were involved in a few alleged illegal activities using their own EXIT brand ). But in 2001, they decided to abandon fish food to pursue the fickle business of art, although they will tell you Hong Kong Willie's was always "part of the journey." ( Hong Kong Willie , the name , was invented in or after 2001 as said in my earlier posts. I was threatened by Joe Brown for injecting the truth but you can't sue me for telling the truth. I haven't let the dark side of Hong Kong Willie out of the bag because I have one objective which is keeping Hong Kong Willie honest and true to their values. ) "We were artists," says Joe. "We were born that way. We had no choice. You follow me?" ( Then why start being artists in a later time of life? Why aren't they known for their art already instead of just being discovered. ) The underlying theme of Hong Kong Willie's is creating art out of objects destined for the landfill ( Burlap and untreated Wood is not filling up our landfills ), and while browsing the items, I get the feeling the Browns are trying to make a point rather than a sale. "Thirty percent of the gifts given will be in the dumpster by next Christmas," Joe says. "Most Christmas gifts will be given because they think they have to. Very few will have a social impact." ( Correct Joe but Christmas gifts are usually not made of Wood and Burlap. These Christmas gifts do have a long half life and usually come from other Countries such as India, Taiwan, or China. These are the items destined for the landfill ! ) Every item at Hong Kong Willie's is either art made out of an object destined for the landfill or products that other companies were throwing away and the Browns retrieved before they made it to the dumpster ( Please Hong Kong Willie , show us some items you sell retrieved by the dumpster that do not have a short half life ). But don't call this recycled art. The Browns prefer "preservation." Recycling implies the material will be used for the same purpose. "If you get stuck in that word, then you get stuck in that form," Joe explains ( The definition of recycling is Recycling is the reprocessing of materials into new products as I cite Here ). Instead, the Browns create a whole new use for an item that would have been otherwise thrown away. Kim looks up from her painting after Joe finishes his long ramble. "We've always been able to take nothing and make something out of it," she says. Although most people assume Joe is "Hong Kong Willie," he says the name refers to the origin of junk: Hong Kong ( aka China ) produces much of the useless merchandise that Americans buy and quickly throw away, he says. So it's up to the Willies of the world -- i.e. the Browns and other conservationists ( such as myself ) -- to find new uses for the trash. "All of us who believe what we believe is Hong Kong Willie," Joe says. The gift shop is a space not much bigger than a tool shed, cluttered with handmade candles, pottery, ceramic figures and deer skulls painted tie-dye style ( Now called an Art Gallery by Hong Kong Willie ). Joe, who's not content to allow me to wander by myself, darts from item to item, sharing each one's origins. One of the first objects he shows me is an old scuba tank cut in half, stenciled with yellow and purple spray paint with a weighted rope attached on the inside. What would have been a heavy addition to a landfill or junkyard, the Browns now sell as a nautical-themed bell. Another popular item: a used Starbucks Frappuccino bottle filled with sand and shells, and the words "Florida Beachfront Property" written in paint on it. "Is it really pragmatic to say this had one life -- to have Frappuccino in it?" he says, holding up the $3 gift. "That's not true. You follow me?" Joe picks up a droopy glass vase -- the result of an Arizona Ice Tea bottle stuck in a kiln for too long. He says it's a collector's item: Only 300 were made and none look alike. "People really want something that is one of a kind and something that means something," he says, holding up the vase and pointing to a stack of Beanie Babies. "Which one is the real collectible? The one that cannot be copied or the one that is mass-produced just on a small scale? You follow me?" Most of the materials the Browns work with come from Key West. Every few months they hop in the pickup, drive the 425 miles to the Keys and start looking for the junk no one else wants: used dive tanks, the lobster trap buoys, burlap bags and even old wooden planks from ships or homes destroyed by storms. ( The only item mentioned that would fill our landfills for a long period of time is the bouys and dive tanks. ) In fact, the latter is one of their biggest sellers. They bring back an imperfect piece of lumber, slap some urethane on it and Kim paints everything from colorful fish and birds to old Key West landmarks on it ( One of the secrets, since everybody can be a Hong Kong Willie is the titanium based paint ) . Every piece is branded, marked with a lobster cage tag and affixed with brass rings or forks with which to hang them. In the building opposite the gift shop, among stuffed animals and fish (Joe was once a taxidermist), 30 of these painted planks hang from the walls. Customers are few at Hong Kong Willie's ( and still are unfortunately ) , but the Browns say they're doing well. They never try to push their art on anyone, figuring that if someone stops and buys something, it was meant to be. ("A piece of art is a love affair," Kim says.) They count Gaspar's Patio Bar and Grille in Temple Terrace as one of their best customers. Their other business comes from Tampa residents looking to add a tiki feel to their backyards. Among Joe's most popular creations are old car doors outfitted with waterproof speakers ( Car doors can easily be reused or crushed and don't fill up our landfills ) . A few Key West bars bought the unique sound systems to hang from their ceilings. But the Browns are not just content to sell their art to passersby -- they want to live the ideals that inspire their art. The couple is working on getting their business off the electrical grid and powered completely by solar energy. Kim wants to start a coffee and ice cream shop with free wireless Internet to bring in likeminded people. Joe wants to be in the Guinness Book of World Records for hanging the greatest number of buoys to a structure (it's not a category yet). And they're always trying to find new uses for the trash they see lining area roads. "We're not just sitting out here being weird," ( There is always a weird factor with artists as you can view on Hong Kong Willie on Fox 13 ) Joe says suddenly. "We're actually taking objects and making these thousands of people say, 'What's that?' We're doing it because it's the right thing to do." His eyes get wide. "You follow me?" ( Yes already, I follow you ) " October 02 Is Hong Kong Willie a junk pile or a preservation art group ?
This is my most recent comment on my blogs written early this morning. My friend Gandolfo has been threatened once again by Joe Brown of Hong Kong Willie. He talks about it as follows: "I know how you feel, I had Joe Brown come by my home yesterday and threaten you and me again. He couldn't understand why I wasn't falling in line as one of his sheeple but I guess he forgot about threatening you and me almost three months ago after we helped him for a year. From what I gather he doesn't remember a lot of what he says and does such as "if these things (Key West dream catchers) sell, you’ll see some of it." I guess I know why he was dressed up yesterday. Now Joe, I don't know where/how you were raised but when anyone threatens someone/me where/how I was raised, that is the/a first strike. If you want people to leave you alone, threatening them is the stupidest thing you could do. Do you pull a gun on a person who says your worms are "a little high," that's right you pack flares. The worst thing you did was start this war when Niko's Father was dying but it all comes out in the wash, are you ready to get clean?!? Now don't get me wrong, I like what you all are doing, art wise but the way you conduct yourself in a civilized society is lacking. Now as for me being a "big boy." Only women call me that, are you trying to say something. Funny thing happened while writing this. My mother asked me what I was doing, I said work. Since I haven't been able to go back to work since I broke both legs, she gave me a funny look. Then I told her that you had threatened me yesterday and then I told her "conspiracy." She asked me "is he on drugs?" Conspiracy, for your information, needs two people to be reading from the same playbook in the commission of an illegal act; this sounds more like your territory. If I was not the one who put you on the internet, then why did you not remove my work if you wanted peace, I did! So we will see what a little motivation will do. Art is for the soul, not money. Artists have patrons; I guess this is where Derek and comes in. Girls and boys, stay tuned for the next instalment of "Hong Kong Willie Gone Wild" 12:26 AM" The Joe Brown that I am telling you about is pictured below in these photos. Also I have enclosed pictures of Hong Kong Willie location in Tampa for you to make a decision of your own. Is this place just a pile of junk or is there a statement to be drawn from the Hong Kong Willie location in Tampa, Florida? I guess that City Code Enforcement lets this location get away with whatever they like. Am I write or wrong???
September 25 Is Hong Kong Willie threatening me ?On September 24, 2007 at 10:19pm, I received a call from Joe Brown who threatened to sue me in regards to my posts. I had no response for him. I am telling everybody the truth as I know it from Joe Brown talking directly to me. If any of my statements turn out to be false, that would mean that I was lied to by Joe Brown. I ask Joe to prove me wrong on any fact that I have written in my blog about Hong Kong Willie. If he is successful, I will delete it. Well Joe Brown, please state what I have said that was completely false. Are you up to the challenge? September 22 Back to the basics Hong Kong Willie pleaseIf you recycle as much as possible, it means you are a Hong Kong Willie as well. The following quote from every Hong Kong Willie blog has been used so many times but still I must inject the truth by adding the real facts in RED.
“Past days have seen famed Conch artists ( Known in Tampa still as A24Hour Bait Shop ) after destruction from devastating hurricanes collect ship wreckage, building parts, car doors, any mass which could evolve itself into a canvas for expression ( Not doing much for the landfills because most of their selective medium is recyclable ) . HONG KONG WILLIE, renowned Key's Artist Collective ( There is no such thing as the Key West Art Collective because I made that up for them ) , gained notoriety only from the blatant choice of medium ( Rarely using anything you can not put in a recycle bin that our taxes are paying for) , and the artists' yearning to remain honest to originality. Every Original HONG KONG WILLIE piece is truly “One of a Kind", no piece is ever reproduced. Along with Burn-Etched Signature, SpinyLobster Trap ID Tag, and Hand Signature, any validation of an ORIGINAL HONG KONG WILLIE piece is definite. Visit HONG KONG WILLIE STUDIOS ( Not set up as a Studio but a small space loaded with what they can fit ) located in Tampa, Florida for a true insight into the work. Contact the Artists for appointment @ (813)770-4794
Joe, Kim, and Derek Brown always made the point over and over to me that they were trying to change the World with their lifestyle and ideals. That to them was the primary importance without any doubt. Now they seem to just be selling out as the year comes to an end. I don’t blame them for trying to make some money but Hong Kong Willie must see the light and get away from pushing their products. This was never the image they desired but it surely comes across to many this way. Hong Kong Willie is not even an authorized business at this point which is why they only deal in cash. Please Hong Kong Willie, take my advice and clear your heads so you can get back to the basics from just 15 or so months ago. I feel very sad for them at this point and I tried to tell them but it fell on deaf ears. At least I can say I tried. Tell the truth Hong Kong WillieThis is the story Hong Kong Willie wants people to believe but the following quote from recent posts are nothing close to the truth. Take this post from a knowledgeable but balanced outside view. Following is a quote used in a Hong Kong Willie’s repetitive posts and I inject the truth about the real Hong Kong Willie in the color RED.
“ HONG KONG WILLIE THE NAME OF THE ARTIST ( THIS IS NOT THE NAME OF ANY ARTIST. KIM BROWN IS THE ARTIST ). IN 1958 ( WHEN JOE BROWN WAS ABOUT 8 YEARS OLD AND KIM BROWN WAS JUST BORN ) HIS MOTHER TOOK HONG KONG WILLIE TO AN ART CLASS. THE NAME STARTED THEN ( THE NAME HONG KONG WILLIE WAS INVENTED AFTER 9/11/2001 ). AN ART TEACHER WHEN DOING CRAFTS OUT OF GERBER BABY BOTTLES, MADE A STATEMENT, IN HONG KONG REUSE WAS COMMON. AT THAT TIME HE THOUGHT THIS WAS VERY INTERESTING. HIS FATHER HAD LOW LAND, AT THAT TIME LANDFILLS WERE COMMON ALSO (LANDFILLS ARE STILL COMMON TODAY ) . THE COUNTY HAD TOLD HONG KONG WILLIE'S FATHER, IT WAS SAFE, BUT AS WE KNOW NOW THIS WAS NOT SO. SOMETHING CAN COME FROM BAD TO BE GOOD. HONG KONG WILLIE THE NAME CAME FROM THAT ART TEACHER ( AGAIN THIS IS A BLATANT LIE SINCE THE NAME HONG KONG WILLIE WAS INVENTED AFTER 9/11/01 ) IMPRESSING ON THAT YOUNG MIND THAT OBJECTS MADE FOR ONE USE COULD BE FOR MANY OTHER USES. HONG KONG FOR THE NEAT CONCEPT. WILLIE FOR AN AMERICAN NAME ( I GO INTO FURTHUR DEPTH ABOUT HOW THE NAME CAME ABOUT IN A PREVIOUS POST AND KIM BROWN HELPED TO CREATE THE NAME TOO ). SO FOR MANY YEARS HONG KONG WILLIE HAD A LIFE OF REUSE. HONG KONG WILLIE SAW FORMS IN A DIFFERENT LIGHT. HIS LIFE NOW WAS MEANINGFUL, KNOWING THIS WAS AND WOULD BE HIS LIFE ( UTTERLY FALSE BECAUSE THE FIRST MARRIAGE IN THE LIFE OF JOE BROWN, HE OWNED PROPERTY IN EAST TAMPA AND BEFORE HE DIVORCED HE LIQUIFIED EVERYTHING FOR CHILD SUPPORT AND ALIMONY ). ART MADE FROM FOUND OBJECTS, MAKING LESS OF A FOOT PRINT ON THIS WORLD. ART AND ART TEACHERS, HOW IMPORTANT. FOR THE ONES THAT HAVE, AND THE ONES THAT HAVE NOT. MEDIA CAN BE FOUND ( THE CORRECT TERM IS SELECTIVE MEDIA BECAUSE HONG KONG WILLIE USES A NAUTICAL THEME WITH NAUTICAL ITEMS ONLY ). NOW 49 YEARS LATER ( NOT TO MENTION THREE WIVES AND SEVERAL CHILDREN LATER ), WE KNOW BEING GREEN IS IMPORTANT. WE NEED TO LOOK AT THIS VERY CAREFULLY. OUR CHILDREN AND OUR WORLD NEED A DIFFERENT UNDERSTANDING. OBJECTS CAN BE USED IN MANY DIFFERENT WAYS. HONG KONG WILLIE THE TONS OF OBJECTS IN HIS LIFE THAT HAVE BEEN USED ( WHAT ABOUT THE TONS OF RUBBER WORMS AS WELL AS OTHER FISHING TACKLE THAT HE STILL SELLS TO SELECT PEOPLE. WHAT IS THEIR HALFLIFE HONG KONG WILLIE AKA A24HOUR BAIT SHOP? ), WITH OUT MUCH CHANGE. SO FOR THAT ART TEACHER WHAT SHE DID FOR MY LIFE THANK YOU, FOR HONG KONG THANK YOU, FOR AMERICA, THANK YOU, FOR THE PEOPLE THAT HAVE HELPED, THANK YOU FOR THE 76,266 VIEWS OF OUR BLOGS SINCE SEPTEMBER OF 2006 ( JOE BROWN IS TALKING ABOUT HIS BLOGGER PROFILE WHICH IS A FALSE NUMBER. THIS NUMBER IS NOT UNIQUE HITS ). I STILL HAVE THE GERBER BABY BOTTLE TILL THIS DAY. HONG KONG WILLIE" What ever happened with the Fox 13 Tampa TV spot Hong Kong Willie was given? That was the best thing as far as TV and Internet that would help the Hong Kong Willie cause and show the true artist ( Kim Brown ) as well as Joe Brown. “Everybody can be a Hong Kong Willie” the TV spot says. Unfortunately the entire endeavor for Hong Kong Willie has lost their way on the Internet and in real life I fear. Promises are made but rarely kept, as it usually is when money is involved. “By their deeds shall you know them.”
August 26 How does Hong Kong Willie manage the Internet ???After over one year of teaching Hong Kong Willie preservation art group how to use a computer and work the Internet, we have parted ways due to different ideals. Purity does not exist in any Search Engine including Google but relevance should and still does.
 So Hong Kong Willie started and continues to enhance their presense with search engines using what I would call Keyword Spamming. This method does not provide any relevant information as I will now show you by quoting HONG KONG WILLIE:"Past days have seen famed Conch artists after destruction from devastating hurricanes collect ship wreckage, building parts, car doors, any mass which could evolve itselfinto a canvas for expression. HONG KONG WILLIE, renowned Key's Artist Collective, gained notoriety only from the blatant choice of medium, and the artists' yearning to remain honest to originality. Every Original HONG KONG WILLIE piece is truly “One of a Kind", no piece is ever reproduced. Along with Burn-Etched Signature, SpinyLobster Trap ID Tag, and Hand Signature, any validation of an ORIGINAL HONG KONG WILLIE piece is definite. Visit HONG KONG WILLIE STUDIOS located in Tampa, Florida for a true insight into the work. Contact the Artists for appointment @ (813)770-4794" That was a quoted paragraph from Hong Kong Willie Blog posts which is very common and repeated often.
If by chance you just want to get to some facts about Hong Kong Willie just skip the rest of this post and go to:
and
Hong Kong Willie also seems to use the dreaded copy/paste of just about anything that is written about them over and over again. Following is another quote that you will see repeated over and over on his blogs so I quote:
"Getting lost out of Tampa on the way to Gibsonton, we saw this structure just off the exit ramp. We turned around to investigate and met Kim and Joe of Hong Kong Willie, an artist's collective that makes art out of buoys and burlap bags and other discards on Key West. Kim and Joe were a sweet couple and Bunny thought they wanted to adopt me. Joe explained that the name Hong Kong Willie comes from 1956, when the world changed and plastic turned this into a nation of nonbiodegradable disposables. I hesitate to call what they do outsider art because it can be a patronizing label; their work comes not from the inward obsession of much outsider art, but from a social conscience and a genuine desire to reach out and make the world a better place.
Posted by pat at 9:24 AM 13 comments: Miss Natalie said... What an eye sore! 1:02 AM JCinTampa said... I live in Tampa and work across the street from this junk pile. It is not art, it is just thier way of "sticking it to the man!" Nobody around here likes it and now they have littered cars all over the place to advertise this mess. The whole place looks like a washed up bait shop. 6:29 PM Sam said... These preservation artists have not only mowed the right of way on Morris Bridge for over 25 years, but have also been an integral part of keeping the area tidy and well kept through construction projects, excessive trash buildup due to interstate traffic, overall, being considerate citizens in their beloved community. I do wish for those concerned to research my comments, and validate my claims. 10:08 AM Jillian and Robert said... Go Go...Go Willie Go! We have lived here forever and never thought to stop and see just what the reason was for these objects we see daily, till we saw "Google Hong Kong Willie" Thanks. Kept up all the good work you do! 4:49 PM dave said... go past 5 days a week, i think it's great, better than the "Bob Evans, Baskin Robbins, Starbucks" see them everywhere stores. Fuck'um if they can't take a joke ! 8:17 PM Gandolfo said... I just moved to this area from South Tampa where we were worried about the encroachment of big business. If it were not for the unique eclectics this would be a boring cookie cutter world. If you have to point a finger just remember there are three more pointing back at you. I believe it is their property and in the U.S. of America for the most part they have the right to do what they want there, be it business or artistic expression. If it was not for some free thinkers we would not be free, this is usually forgotten until it is your rights that are violated or legislated out of existence. In the days ahead we should be glad that someone has the foresight to use their rights before we loose them. By the way J.C. take a chill pill and watch some more Boondocks, I know where you sit. 9:55 PM robo said... while visiting my mother at the cancer center in tampa, i had the distinct pleasure of meeting joe and kim. as a key west resident, i was shocked and incredibly pleased that the bulldozers of progress, read corporate greed and environmental destructionists, have been unable to replace "Hong Kong Willie's" with another business traveller, cookie cutter hotel on their property. get over it tampa, live and let live and stop mowing down all the trees. enough is enough. 3:52 PM HongKongWillie said... Here We Are...More To Come...Please Enjoy :-) Thank You, HONG KONG WILLIE http://hongkongwillie.blogspot.com/ 11:19 PM HongKongWillie said... http://hongkongwillie.blogspot.com 11:32 PM rebelniko said... I know that this preservation art group is gaining in popularity as the true story unfolds. What a small world it is when you are already have others using your name for their own agenda. That's life in the internet world, I guess? Check this link out: http://www.bigdomain.info/hong-kong-willie.com 12:32 PM bjccotton said... Hong Kong Willie is Awesome!! My husband and I had the pleasure of vacationing in Tampa and stayed at a hotel near the artistic contribution. We spent three days having such a good time betting back and forth on exactly what the objects were...as soon as we got home we had to google Hong Kong Willie to see who was right. Just remember, one person's "eye sore" is another person's most memorable part of a vacation. Keep on "sticking it to the man" Willie, WE LOVED IT!!! 5:07 PM logan said... the car, the truck, and the son have been at my school. the art is just that art, expression of the heart and soul. i have been touched by its genius. 10:26 PM "HONG KONG WILLIE" said... Thanks for the memories 10:40 PM the bloggy, bloggy dew a nameless yeast Monday, June 12, 2006 a message from hong kong willie Preservation artist goes home empty first time in 10 years. Empty in material projects but completely understanding and leaving full of knowing what the Florida Keys can give you. The Florida Keys have faced 3 hurricanes. All they need is a hammer. They will find the nails, straighten them and use the boards they find floating up. We will be back. --Hong Kong Willie. Posted by pat at 12:19 AM Labels: florida 3 comments: rebelniko said... This post has been removed by a blog administrator. 3:40 AM rebelniko said... This post has been removed by a blog administrator. 4:44 PM HongKongWillie said... Here We Are, More To Come...Please Enjoy... Thank You, HONG KONG WILLIE 11:38 PM Preservation artist goes home empty first time in 10 years. Empty in material projects but completely understanding and leaving full of knowing what the Florida Keys can give you. The Florida Keys have faced 3 hurricanes. All they need is a hammer. They will find the nails, straighten them and use the boards they find floating up. We will be back. --Hong Kong Willie. Posted by pat at 12:19 AM a 3 comments: HongKongWillie said... Here We Are, More To Come...Please Enjoy... Thank You, HONG KONG WILLIE 11:38 PM Post The zen of junk A Tampa couple devotes itself to creating something from nothing BY ALEX PICKETT Published 12.06.06 print email mail us del.icio.us digg facebook reddit click to enlarge Alex PickettROADSIDE ATTRACTION: Located off East Fletcher Road between hotel chains and high-end office parks is the gift shop and folk art gallery Hong Kong Willie's.Drive south on I-75, look to the right around East Fletcher Avenue, and you can't miss it. The tree appears first, hundreds of buoys wrapped around its branches, resembling a sort of Dr. Seuss-ian Christmas ornament. Then the rest of the 20,000 buoys come into view -- thousands of strands of the multicolored foam balls stretching from the tree to two wooden shacks, hanging from their roofs and walls, and stretched out over the property. Strewn about the lawn is a menagerie of surfboards, car doors, CB radios, wooden sculptures and painted signs. A 1979 Ford pickup sits in the front driveway, painted with a rainbow of colors, four racks of antlers affixed to its roof. An old stuffed caribou sits in a lawn chair beckoning visitors. Of the thousands of motorists who pass by this eclectic landmark off Exit 266 every day, few stop in the funky gift shop and Key West-themed folk art gallery that is Hong Kong Willie's. But this is not your typical roadside store selling cheesy Florida magnets and beach T-shirts (although they have those, too). From the moment the owners come out to greet you, it's clear that for them this isn't just a business -- it's a lifestyle. As I step out of my car, Joe Brown ambles toward me wearing a red Hawaiian shirt and khaki shorts. With his disheveled shoulder-length brown hair and strong jaw line, Brown, 56, looks a lot like Mel Gibson in Braveheart. He ends most of his sentences with "Do you follow me?" and stares with wild gray eyes until you nod in agreement. His 46-year-old wife, Kim, who bears a strong resemblance to Grace Slick, sits near the shop's open sign, branding her latest creation. Wearing large sunglasses, she gives a smile, hardly looking up. Joe and Kim -- Tampa natives -- bought the half-acre property off Fletcher Avenue and Morris Bridge Road in 1985. For the next two decades, the Browns operated A-24 Hour Bait and Tackle, living on the premises and bagging worms for K-Mart and Wal-Mart to make a few extra bucks. But in 2001, they decided to abandon fish food to pursue the fickle business of art, although they will tell you Hong Kong Willie's was always "part of the journey." "We were artists," says Joe. "We were born that way. We had no choice. You follow me?" The underlying theme of Hong Kong Willie's is creating art out of objects destined for the landfill, and while browsing the items, I get the feeling the Browns are trying to make a point rather than a sale. "Thirty percent of the gifts given will be in the dumpster by next Christmas," Joe says. "Most Christmas gifts will be given because they think they have to. Very few will have a social impact." Every item at Hong Kong Willie's is either art made out of an object destined for the landfill or products that other companies were throwing away and the Browns retrieved before they made it to the dumpster. But don't call this recycled art. The Browns prefer "preservation." Recycling implies the material will be used for the same purpose. "If you get stuck in that word, then you get stuck in that form," Joe explains. Instead, the Browns create a whole new use for an item that would have been otherwise thrown away. Kim looks up from her painting after Joe finishes his long ramble. "We've always been able to take nothing and make something out of it," she says. Although most people assume Joe is "Hong Kong Willie," he says the name refers to the origin of junk: Hong Kong produces much of the useless merchandise that Americans buy and quickly throw away, he says. So it's up to the Willies of the world -- i.e. the Browns and other conservationists -- to find new uses for the trash. "All of us who believe what we believe is Hong Kong Willie," Joe says. The gift shop is a space not much bigger than a tool shed, cluttered with handmade candles, pottery, ceramic figures and deer skulls painted tie-dye style. Joe, who's not content to allow me to wander by myself, darts from item to item, sharing each one's origins. One of the first objects he shows me is an old scuba tank cut in half, stenciled with yellow and purple spray paint with a weighted rope attached on the inside. What would have been a heavy addition to a landfill or junkyard, the Browns now sell as a nautical-themed bell. Another popular item: a used Starbucks Frappuccino bottle filled with sand and shells, and the words "Florida Beachfront Property" written in paint on it. "Is it really pragmatic to say this had one life -- to have Frappuccino in it?" he says, holding up the $3 gift. "That's not true. You follow me?" Joe picks up a droopy glass vase -- the result of an Arizona Ice Tea bottle stuck in a kiln for too long. He says it's a collector's item: Only 300 were made and none look alike. "People really want something that is one of a kind and something that means something," he says, holding up the vase and pointing to a stack of Beanie Babies. "Which one is the real collectible? The one that cannot be copied or the one that is mass-produced just on a small scale? You follow me?" Most of the materials the Browns work with come from Key West. Every few months they hop in the pickup, drive the 425 miles to the Keys and start looking for the junk no one else wants: used dive tanks, the lobster trap buoys, burlap bags and even old wooden planks from ships or homes destroyed by storms. In fact, the latter is one of their biggest sellers. They bring back an imperfect piece of lumber, slap some urethane on it and Kim paints everything from colorful fish and birds to old Key West landmarks on it. Every piece is branded, marked with a lobster cage tag and affixed with brass rings or forks with which to hang them. In the building opposite the gift shop, among stuffed animals and fish (Joe was once a taxidermist), 30 of these painted planks hang from the walls. Customers are few at Hong Kong Willie's, but the Browns say they're doing well. They never try to push their art on anyone, figuring that if someone stops and buys something, it was meant to be. ("A piece of art is a love affair," Kim says.) They count Gaspar's Patio Bar and Grille in Temple Terrace as one of their best customers. Their other business comes from Tampa residents looking to add a tiki feel to their backyards. Among Joe's most popular creations are old car doors outfitted with waterproof speakers. A few Key West bars bought the unique sound systems to hang from their ceilings. But the Browns are not just content to sell their art to passersby -- they want to live the ideals that inspire their art. The couple is working on getting their business off the electrical grid and powered completely by solar energy. Kim wants to start a coffee and ice cream shop with free wireless Internet to bring in likeminded people. Joe wants to be in the Guinness Book of World Records for hanging the greatest number of buoys to a structure (it's not a category yet). And they're always trying to find new uses for the trash they see lining area roads. "We're not just sitting out here being weird," Joe says suddenly. "We're actually taking objects and making these thousands of people say, 'What's that?' We're doing it because it's the right thing to do." His eyes get wide. "You follow me?"" As you can see, just about every blog post and news article written about Hong Kong Willie has been added over and over with little change. To show you this information I am using a Hong Kong Willie famed technique which is just copy/paste. I am hoping in the future that more will be said from Hong Kong Willie that comes from the heart and not copy/paste. How did Hong Kong Willie originate? What is the truth about how Hong Kong Willie now? Are they a real Tampa Touist Attraction? What is the future of Hong Kong Willie? There are so many questions left unanswered. This is exactly why in the past I wrote a little poem for Hong Kong Willie which follows:
So why not spam when everybody you know seems to Well after a year I wish their was more that I could have shown Hong Kong Willie. I allowed the Brown family to use my computer and with Gandolfo's help we teached them how to turn a Computer on all the way until recently. All of a sudden the Brown family didn't want us to do anything for them but remove our blogs, pictures, and anything left from a year worth of work. When I said "NO" we ended up going our own ways. After some 5 years of being close friends, the Brown family and I are no longer. Too bad.
August 19 Hong Kong WillieRelavance is the issue on the Internet. This way you are able to search on a search engine and gain legitamite results. Please see this post for what I mean. What is with Hong Kong Willie?
 Hong Kong Willie can not change the world by being a Keyword Spammer. What this preservation art group and Tampa tourist attraction needs is to get thier real story out. The only relevant information that I can find is a Fox 13 Tampa short segment located below:SO IF YOU DESIRE SOME REAL TRUTH ABOUT HONG KONG WILLIE I CAN TELL YOU. FOLLOW THE LINK BELOW WHERE SOME OF HONG KONG WILLIE IS EXPOSED. IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS PLEASE DON'T HESITATE TO ASK. PLEASE REMEMBER THAT THE WEIRD FACTOR IS WITHIN HONG KONG WILLIE WHICH MAKES THEM CONCH ARTISTS FOLLOWING A KEY WEST ART STYLE.
Hong Kong Willie Reveiled
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