Monday, October 20, 2008

Paulrus Is Dead.


Paulrus Is Dead IV
Originally uploaded by skomra
My best thinking is done on the bus. Somehow my brain synapses fly freely twice a day when the bus lurches to a halt every block and a half for 60 long ones. Some run for clarity. Some yoga. I public transit.

Of course, not all my thoughts are brilliant. This evening, for instance. For the hundredth time, my eyes caught a PAULRUS IS DEAD graffiti tag. I'm sort of in love with the brainchild behind PAULRUS IS DEAD.

Some theories:

Paulrus is what an overly sensitive, acne-covered 16 year old's bully brother had taken to calling his little brother Paul following a particularly creative trip to the zoo. Paulrus spent a summer working out at the local YMCA gym a la Rocky, read plenty of Philip Roth and grew three feet in a summer. Paul emerged and was accepted early-admission to Vassar, but didn't go before righting his big brother's wrong all over town.

Someone is out to get Paulrus. Yikes. Paulrus is marked. PAULRUS IS DEAD.

Paul thought he and Russ were solid. They even adopted their namesake, a show pug named Paulrus. Forever haunted by the boy that came between them, the dream of PAULRUS IS DEAD.

I'm not the only obsessive. PAULRUS IS DEAD has a devoted Flickr group.

11 comments:

Eden From Sweden said...

Canela's theory is that Paulrus was a band with a schizophrenic member who is depressed that the band is no longer together. He now goes around Portland writing Paulrus is Dead as therapy.

Anonymous said...

Here's a sad thought: What if the whole tagging process was really just a guerilla marketing tactic? Check out Paulrus Is Dead on myspace. http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=370154834

Coincidence? As much as I don't want to, I can't help but think no, not so much.

Unknown said...
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Jason said...

While not in the know about the graffiti the connection I get when I see Paulrus is Dead is the Beatles. On the White Album John sings in Glass Onion "the Walrus was Paul." Then there was the whole craze over Paul being dead due to an urban legend supposedly part-disseminated from the Beatles themselves. Wikipedia has a great little article on it. Anyway rumor was Paul was replaced by a lookalike singalike & part of the thinking that he was dead came from the cover art on Abbey Road where he was barefoot & out of step with the other members of the band. Just my random addition. Not a big postmodern guy I still am amused at the idea of a new urban myth spawned from referencing an old urban myth even if it is about Pretty Boy Paul my least favorite Beatle.

Teapot

Jason said...
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Unknown said...

And in the Magical Mystery Tour inner sleave, there was a photo of someone in a walrus costume, in uniform, and sitting at a desk with a sign in front that had an acronym that was purported to be the Brit version of the US DOA - dead on arrival. Thus the walrus is paul and the walrus is dead - hence Paulrus is dead.

I Want My Family Back!! said...

I know the answer, but do you want to know or keep reveling in mystery?

Anonymous said...

@I'd like my family back, I'd like to know the answer. I remember that the tags used to say "Paulrus come home …" and then one year switched to "Paulrus is dead."

Nikolas Sanow said...

Paulrus is Dead is all over New Orleans, too.

Unknown said...

Paulrus likes climbing. he wants to be a mazama. he also helped build the dinosaurs. a band is named after him. friends were sad when he left but paulrus was dead when he returned. one time while involved in some horseplay he fell in a pile of dog shit.

everything i said is true.

Unknown said...

but i'm not sure if he's ever been to the big easy.