(male announcer) Production funding for this program is provided by the DeBruce Companies, proud to serve agricultural communities throughout the Midwest with high-speed grain handling facilities, fertilizer and feed ingredient distribution terminals, and retail fertilizer operations.

(man) ♪ Welcome to a show about things you can see ♪ ♪ without going far, and a lot of them are free.

♪ ♪ If you thought there was nothing ♪ ♪ in the old heartland, ♪ ♪ you ought to hit the blacktop ♪ ♪ with these fools in a van.

♪ ♪ Look out, they're driving hard, ♪ ♪ checking out art in their own backyard.

♪ ♪ Randy does the steering so he won't hurl.

♪ ♪ Mike's got the map, such a man of the world.

♪ ♪ That's Don with the camera, ♪ ♪ kind of heavy on his shoulder.

♪ ♪ And that giant ball of tape, it's a world record holder.

♪ ♪ Look out, they're driving hard, ♪ ♪ checking out art in their own backyard.

♪ ♪ Look out, they're driving hard, ♪ ♪ checking out the world in their own backyard, ♪ ♪ checking out the world in their own backyard.

♪ Mentholatum and bougainvillea.

(Don) Dear TV Mailbag, what are they talking about, and what are we looking for now?

Hi, Don the camera guy here following these two TV weasels in search of Sam Houston's head, which we have found both on the ground with its own special viewing area and atop a genuinely gigantic body that stands along I-45.

(Randy) I think this is the second largest statue in the country.

(Don) Uh, Statue of Liberty?

Number one.

Sam had something he liked to say to the people: "Govern wisely and as little as possible."

(Don) With a big stick.

(Mike) Heh, shtick.

(Randy) Here's some Asian tourists come to explore the joys of America.

Where are you guys from?

(man) Ta iwan.

Do you have anything like this in Taiwan?

Huh?

Do you have anything like this in Taiwan?

Not so big.

(Don) So the next thing you know, we're right in the midst of a true roadside rendezvous, complete with a traveling Taiwanese choir to serenade us.

[singing in Taiwanese] (Don) We left this towering colossus with a song in our heart and a new respect for the kinds of mementos they sell here.

Oh, that's a challenge.

(Don) Then proceeded to head south in search of more great grassroots art and offbeat attractions, as this show is wont to do, proceeding towards Houston, a place we know from prior experience is rich in just such things.

For example, more big heads, presidential noggins, to be precise, prototype for a big-time tourist trap going up near Mount Rushmore.

But who needs South Dakota when Texas has all this?

(Randy) Cl inton and LBJ, Ike.

Harry S. (Mike) Alex Karras?

Yeah, I think th at's Alex Karras.

Ward Cleaver.

Can you see Gerry Ford over that minivan?

There he is.

It's a Ford behind a Chrysler.

Now, does the Secret Service pr otect the heads?

(Don) Okay, it's time to give credit where blame is due.

We'd never have known about this parking lot panorama were it not for Larry Harris, friend and helper to this show who's never been seen on it until now.

Not on camera.

(Don) Larry's also friends with the folks at the Orange Show-- not a TV program, but Houston's folk art focal point, built by Jeff McKissack, a retired postal worker, in colorful homage to his favorite fruit.

Thanks to a lack of zoning laws and the hardworking Orange Show Foundation, Jeff's dream has remained intact and, in fact, served to inspire what has become the world's largest art car parade, a three day-extravaganza which-- can this be coincidence-- is under way this very weekend.

Whoo-hoo!

[alarm blaring] Whoo!

Hi!

How are you?

(Randy) I' m good.

Ho w are you?

I'm great.

I'm having a great day.

Are you having a great day?

Really great day.

What kind of mileage yo u get in that thing?

I get 40 miles to the gallon because that's a special engine.

It's a '92, and it's a VX.

Used to get 50 miles to the gallon.

Then I glued all this over it.

This is the Flutterbug all the way from Ashland, Oregon.

(Randy) Wo w. Pretty good.

(woman) 19 67.

(Randy) Th e Happy McKnights.

Yes, sir.

How you doing?

How happy are you, Mc Knight?

Oh, I'm happy as can be.

You ought to see me when I ride my motorcycle.

You can count the bugs on my teeth.

(Susanne) We thought we were bringing together all these artists who were idiosyncratic artists making work on their own that they didn't know anybody else was doing.

And when we brought them together and put them out on the street, what happened is that other people said, "I want to do one too," and they did.

[horn honking] (woman) We just got back from the Main Street Drag, which was taking art cars to school groups, community groups that wouldn't otherwise get a chance to see the art cars.

We'd pull into a school parking lot, and the playground would just erupt.

And they'd plaster themselves against the fences, and they got to the point where they could no longer say words, and it was just-- [gasps and screams] Look at that.

Look at the work.

Oh, my goodness.

Toyboata, Toyboata, Toyboata, (man) Pe ople love the car.

People love seeing wh ere it goes.

It's more fun than a dog at the beach.

(Randy) Ar e those racing stripes?

On there?

Well, the way she drives, they're warning stripes.

[alarm blaring] (Randy) I saw you barrel in here.

Hey, raring down the highway.

Pretty good.

Looks like you took a few with you.

(woman) Yup.

(Susanne) You know, a lot of times, you hear works of art being dismissed by people who say, "Oh, I could do that."

Well, the art car parade is populated by people who say, "I want to do that," and they do it.

(Randy) Hey, is that us?

Is that you with, like, your mouth gagged?

That's how a lot of people would like to see you.

(Mike) Eating my own mustache.

(Blue Swede) ♪ Ooga-chacka, ooga, ooga.

♪ ♪ Ooga-chacka, ooga, ooga.

♪ ♪ Ooga-chacka, ooga, ooga.

♪ ♪ Ooga-chacka, ooga, ooga.

♪ ♪ I can't stop this feeling ♪ ♪ deep inside of me.

♪ (man) I'm glad you like it.

Without our team of-- oh, heavens, I'd say a good 15 people probably put in more than 100 hours each.

Over 30 worked on it.

We would never have gotten it together.

Oh, yeah.

(Randy) Unbelievable.

(man) It's not a vehicle that one uses to get at a fast speed anywhere, especially because if you try to run errands in it, you start to, you know, go into the grocery store.

Well, people insist that you stop and play it for them, you know?

You can't just walk in, buy your stuff, and leave.

(Randy) So you're out for weeks.

Oh, yes, it takes a long time.

(Don) Now, officially, the Tabernacle is not part of the parade.

It's just here to soak up the scene and see old friends.

But even at this late hour, others are applying finishing touches so they can ride the route, like Mark Bradford, also known as Scrap Daddy.

Mark lives in Houston's legendary beer can house as an artist in residence.

But right now, he's up to his armpits in last-minute modifications to a complex creature he calls Monga.

I started off with a street-sweeping motor.

Came out of a street sweeper that hydraulically turns bristles.

And then I lined up four 1987 Impala rear ends, and instead of turning wheels, they turn these cams.

My theory is, is that the cam comes up, it hits this switch, kicks the leg forward, cam comes around and sets it down, and it makes a step.

See, I use the art car parade here in Houston as some kind of stopping point, you know.

Otherwise a 2,000-hour project could go on for years, you know?

(Don) Clearly Mark needs all the time he can get to get this baby walking by tomorrow.

We wished him luck and headed off, making a brief stop at the nearby Art Car Museum, understandably empty because all the action is out on the street.

[man over radio] ♪ Mama's gonna make a little shortening bread.

♪ (Don) Meanwhile, downtown, the party's definitely shifting into a higher gear.

(man) ♪ Mama's little baby lo ves shortening, shortening, ♪ ♪ Mama's little baby loves... ♪ Right on the corner of Preston and Milam.

But there is a big art show here, and it is wild.

[harmonica music] ♪ ♪ (Randy) I think they really nailed this one, don't you?

♪ ♪ (woman) Laster Blaster's Rockin' Holy Roller.

It's kind of dedicated to good gospel feeling, you know, about spreading the joyful noise.

I mean, a lot of people quit doing art, you know.

They get discouraged, or they put it down.

They're like, "Aw, I can't do it," you know.

But the more you do it, I mean, the more it builds.

(man) We try to affect people one at a time, you know, and take it to the people, you know?

(Randy) Well, that's about how many see the show.

So, really, one at a time.

Hey, you out there, take it to the people.

♪ ♪ ♪ Ain't nothing wrong with me.

♪ ♪ Come on down to my house, baby.

♪ ♪ I need some company.

♪ [scatting] I was gonna say of all the vehicles, you may have the hardest time actually seeing out.

No, I can actually see fine.

We did all of this, and I actually worked with a defensive driving school to make sure.

It's amazing how little you really have to-- (Randy) How much crap you can actually put on the car and still see.

And still be street legal, yes.

♪ ♪ (Randy) Th ere's Candy Land.

Candy Land?

Cool.

Big checkers.

Oh, that game you were telling about.

(Randy) Hungry Hungry Hippo.

(Don) Hey, ever played Hungry Hungry Cameraman?

[laughs] No, what's that like?

(Don) Never heard of it.

♪ ♪ [scatting] (Don) Now, I don't mean to complain, but consider this.

With a fine photo op around every corner, this is a true visual feast.

But that's not enough nourishment, and I'll need my strength tomorrow.

Get off the tracks now!

Get off the tracks!

(Don) Did I mention the fire-breathing dragon?

[crowd screams] Elvis, help me out here, man.

♪ Take my advice.

♪ ♪ Treat me nice.

♪ ♪ Treat me nice.

♪ (Don) Now, it figures that the world's largest art car parade would attract the world's largest ball of videotape, created by us and, with the help of native guide Larry, wheeled easily into the eye of the storm.

(man) ♪ It won't matter when we die.

♪ Yeah, I should have probably rethought how bad of a skater I am.

(Randy) How bad of a skater are you?

I'm pretty darn bad.

(Don) No doubt about it-- today's festivities are, technically speaking, one big dang deal, drawing hundreds of entrants, thousands of spectators, and, alongside some clearly countercultural sentiments, just enough corporate support to keep the whole thing afloat.

(Ray) This is a great event.

It's about inclusion.

This event encompasses every strata of society in Houston like no other event in town.

And it's fun.

(Don) That sounds all well and good, but come on, Roy.

Why'd you really do it?

Um, they have pictures.

And they said they'll use them.

(Don) He is, of course, only kidding, I think.

But the point is, Everyone's art car parade is unlike any parade you've ever seen.

And since this show isn't all that long, we should cut to the chase so you can see what it is like.

[alarm blaring] [bluesy music] ♪ ♪ [applause] (woman) Ho, ho, ho!

[horn honks] Merry Christmas.

Ho, ho, ho.

(Randy) Wow.

I took wood shop, and I know there's a lot of sanding going on here.

(Isaac) I want to make it something that people, when they walk in the street, they see me, they have a blast.

They have fun, and I have more fun.

Just see all these beautiful smiles on people.

Are you a veteran?

That's my first time.

This is a ten-months-old car.

This is--nine months after this one, that's what happened.

Nine months later.

(Randy) Te ll me about your car.

All right, this is Mildred the Mad Cow.

It's a '92 Ford.

It's a Hereford.

And we've been driving it hairy for a couple of years.

[upbeat guitar music] ♪ ♪ Whoo!

♪ ♪ [laughter and applause] [alarm blaring] No, don't eat the fish!

Don't eat the fish!

♪ ♪ (Randy) Ro ach mobile.

Whoo!

(Tom) The Roachster.

It's a Roachster 2000.

It's an open-top touring roach, as you can see.

It's a '78 Toyota Celica.

The actual steering wheel should be right about here, so where the steering wheel is now is where the hatchback used to be, and we had to move all the hydraulics, the brakes, everything like that, and move it back.

See, we didn't build this new for this year, so we took it easy.

But, boy, there are some really, really good cars out there, really good cars.

There's a huge art car community in Houston, relatively cohesive.

We have a lot of fun, do a lot of social things.

We do a lot of work with the hospitals and schools.

The parade is just the fun part of what we do.

(Randy) Who's Reverend Bob Cash?

(Robert) That's me after dark.

No, Reverend Bob is who I was supposed to grow up to be.

I was supposed to grow up to be a minister and got subverted by the '60s and never quite got over it.

Whoo!

♪ ♪ (Randy) Ba rk like a dog.

♪ ♪ [cheers and applause] ♪ ♪ How about a hot dog?

(Erika) Isn't this awesome?

Don't you just love it?

The dragon is just amazing, absolutely amazing, especially that they got it here from the desert of Arizona.

(Randy) How did they get it here?

(Erika) Flatbed trailers.

But it does shoot fire.

I think they're the only ones that actually got a permit for the parade to shoot fire.

(Randy) Yo ur vehicle shoots fire on occasion.

No, not intentionally.

[woman over loudspeaker] All right, guys, once again, the World's Largest Collection of the World's Smallest Versions of the World's Largest Things Traveling Roadside Attraction and Museum coming right down your street.

(Sue) My car is a hippopotamus.

Her name is Harmony the Hippo.

And that means it's a beautiful blending of work and play and fantasy and reality.

It's called a daily driver 'cause I drive her all the time, so I'm in a parade every day.

I just drive down the street, and people give me thumbs up and smile and laugh, and it's great.

(Allen) Well, the name of the car is Car-tography because it's made of maps and globes, of course.

We take a global approach to almost everything we do.

And we have spinner hubcaps, which the kids love.

There they are.

There are the kids loving them right there.

[rock music playing] ♪ ♪ [Sousa march playing] ♪ ♪ [man singing in foreign language] Don, I snagged you a little lunch.

I mean, literally, a little lunch.

Can I have your lunch?

(Don) Oh, man.

Would you like some lunch?

(man) Hey, over here.

[rock music playing] (woman) Whoo!

(Randy) So this is your fault.

(Lanie) This is my fault, yes.

(Randy) What were you thinking?

(Lanie) I love all things Egyptian and have always wanted an art car, so it just seemed natural to make an art car out of Egyptian themes.

This is one of our everyday vehicles that we drive around all the time.

We wanted to be full-time art car people.

(Bonnie) This is my second one.

But I've been here six times in the parade.

I did the rocks first.

And then about a year later, I got an idea to do a Women Rock art car just to honor women.

(Randy) Lo ng process to make a Women That Rock art car?

Hours and hours and hours?

About three months.

People don't realize what we put into these things.

But we love our art, and we travel around sharing with the world.

Whoo!

♪ ♪ The art car is almost ten years old now.

I built it in '96.

It's been around.

(Randy) What do we call it?

(Dennis) Mirror Image.

(Mike) Street legal?

(Dennis) No.

20 miles an hour, top speed.

Starts to wibble and wobble all over the place.

♪ ♪ (James) It was built by some electronic technicians in Dallas.

Took them four years, coffee breaks and lunchtime.

(Charlie) Ten of them.

She's been sitting for a while, and we decided to dig her out of the weeds and bring her back to life.

I remember one time getting pulled over by a cop and a neighbor that I'd never met pulling over and saying, "You're not giving her a ticket.

We love this car."

(Randy) Di d you get out?

Oh, yeah.

(Don) So there you have it.

Art cars can help keep your driving record clean, though it does help to have a good mechanic.

And in case you're wondering, Monga did not make it under his own power this year.

But mark my words: When Scrap Daddy's done with him, jaws will drop.

At any rate, there are still trophies to be handed out and plenty of conviviality to be had.

But the lack of actual food and humid Houston heat have taken their toll on this camera guy.

In fact, I may be delusional.

(Randy) Mr .

President!

We love you!

(Don) Better drop that postcard quick.

(woman) Jackie O!

Jackie O!

(Don) Speaking of things that aren't quite right, how's this for an odd early-morning sight?

Seems our car-top carrier has taken a body blow, and triage is being applied, maybe just enough to get us through one more Houston stop.

We're looking for Cleveland Turner, AKA the Flower Man.

On our last trip through town, we found his house but not him.

He's moved since then, but guessing which one is his is not too tough.

(Cleveland) Well, I'm always in and out, in and out.

I might be here for five minutes and gone again, think about-- I call it junk when I'm talking-- to pick up, you know, to put on my house.

I just love to take junk and make art out of it, you know.

And where I get my real in life and far and out is when peoples come round to look at it.

I moved over here a little bit over three months ago.

(Randy) Hold on here.

This has been done-- (Cleveland) Yes, sir.

(Randy) This has been done in just three months?

(Cleveland) Three months, right here.

And I've been getting up and getting it, you know, for a old man like me, you know, 69 years old and still getting around.

(Randy) Well, can you show us some of the things here?

(Cleveland) Oh, sure, I'd be proud to.

Come on.

Yeah, I have marigolds and impatiens and mums and all kind of flowers mixed up.

That's what makes the beauty, all colors mixed up there together.

You got one color, just one white color, it just looks dead.

Red color, it just looks dead.

You mix them all up and bring the beauty out.

Now, did you grow this one?

No, I didn't grow that.

I found that one, and I just stuck it up there for right now till I think where to put it at.

(Randy) We noticed when we drove up that you got a little more color on the house than you used to too.

(Cleveland) Oh, yeah, yeah.

You call it sunshine yellow.

[laughs] (Randy) Sunshine yellow?

(Cleveland) Sunshine yellow.

Well, I have marigolds.

They're not quite the same color, but this color of the house and that color of the flowers, it match.

That's light yellow, and that's heavy yellow, and that's red, and that's all colors, and that's the way I get my beauty out of it.

When you're working with junk, you got to know what kind of paint to put on junk to bring the life back out of that.

(Mike) Just practice makes perfect, I guess.

Thank you.

That's what I'm trying to say.

Hey, I like the painted rock here.

Yeah, see, I painted those yellow too.

It's not quite the yellow as that is, but it's close to it.

Some people say, "What you selling?"

Not selling nothing.

Nothing worth selling, you know?

But it's just a decoration with a whole lot of flowers.

You see, I'm a country boy.

See this?

My plow here.

This is my plow I made.

You know I'm from Mississippi.

I was born on the farm, you know, and I keep me a plow all the time.

But I was just brought up like that, and flowers just got something in my heart.

I see my life in it, you know.

It's the worse, I see heaven in it.

[laughs] That's the way I look at it.

(Don) And the way Cleveland looks at it makes Houston look better.

Now if he could just do something about the heat.

With sweat starting to pour, this is Don the camera guy signing off.

(female announcer) To learn more about the sights on this show and how to find them, visit us on the web at: DVDs, tapes, and a companion book to this series are available by calling 1-800-459-9733.

Captioning and audio description provided by the U.S. Department of Education.

Captioning and audio description byCaptionMax www.captionmax.com (woman) It's Mobile Lisa, Mobile Lisa.

(Randy) So he's the master mechanic fr om God?

He's the master mechanic from God.

(Randy) Wh at's God charge an hour?

[laughs] Wouldn't you like to know?

[laughter] $40.

(male announcer) Production funding for this program is provided by the DeBruce Companies, with facilities providing customers with market information and marketing opportunities for domestic and international grain, fertilizer, and feed ingredient businesses.