Kid Charm

This Is A Test!

2009-06-12T20:31:00.001-04:00

This Is A Test! This Is A Test! This Is A Test! This Is A Test!

the adventures of fluffy time.

2009-03-08T12:15:00.002-04:00

hello and howdy again to all.
it's been too long since i was through this way.
i thought i would show off my newer marked plushies.

mark two, affectionately called "teapot" for his shape, was a disaster.
he ended up lumpy and ratty, which should surprise none. he was made from an old laundry bag, stuffed with cotton balls, and felt embellishments were added.

mark three, is this little turtle-cowboy guy.
he's a step up from the first two. he's only partially made from a tatter of old jeans, most of him is store bought felt, ritzy! and he's stuffed with proper fire retardant stuffing. it's springier then cotton balls.

The Wind Beneath My Periwinkle Chiffon Fairy Wings

2009-02-26T11:38:00.003-05:00

Fun with gender bending performance artists Thursday - has anyone caught Ru Paul's Drag Race reality show, by the way? It's America's Next Top Model with queens - and their damn talented! Double the glamour, double the duck tape, double the drama, double the fun! It's enough to make me rethink canceling my cable! These are pics of two of the gender bending legends, Amanda Lapore (below) and Leigh Bowery (below-est).

Photo: Monika Tichacek - Lineage of the Divine 2

Leigh Bowery in all his bespeckled glory.

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2009-02-23T05:00:00.000-05:00

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2009-02-22T05:00:00.000-05:00

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2009-02-21T05:00:00.001-05:00

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2009-02-20T05:00:00.002-05:00

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2009-02-19T10:13:00.000-05:00

heart of fluffness.

2009-02-12T09:00:00.000-05:00

i just finished making my first plushie!
. . .
what's that you say, snide little reader?
plushies are a girlish endeavor, better suited to 14 year old girls than strapping bucks such as i have tried to occasionally classify myself?

nuts to you!
plushies are awesome!
that's just one of the umpteen reasons i'm glad i have a girlfriend, i can buy plushies and no one thinks a thing about it!
sure, the sponge bob and patrick and in her room, but make no mistake about it, those were gifts for me too.

and so it was only a matter of time until i tried my hand at creating some cuteness all my own.

and here it is.

constructed entirely out of an old pair of sarah's jeans and acrylic paint. i stuffed him with $2.00 worth of cotton balls.
no blood, sweat or tears required.

Kontemporary Krampus

2009-02-11T08:50:00.001-05:00

Here's another great contemporary toy version of Krampus by Christopher Bonnette, Macula Art. It's an adorable little DIY cut and fold paper craft guy. Bonnette's got a lot of these figures on the site. Sadly, I haven't been successful downloading the pattern. I needs me some paper krampus toy!

Kontemporary Krampus

2009-02-10T08:30:00.001-05:00

Artist Tricia Anders made this mini Munny into a contemporary version of a Krampus ornament. Not only is the Munny extraordinary, but the photos of it (especially the first one) are pretty fantastic, too. Here's a link to Anders's Flickr portfolio, where you can see more of her art dolls and paintings.

Speaking of Racial Undertones - Krampus

2009-02-09T08:50:00.002-05:00

No pictures for today's post...gasp!

As with the Bearenstein Bears below (awesome post), the story of Krampus begs its own discussion about race.

As the pictures of plump white kids would indicate, the Victorian Krampus story was told to keep white kids in line. Krampus can be interpreted as a slave figure (often with a dark face, carrying chains), akin to "Black Peter" or the devil. The racial fears of the day most likely helped shape Krampus. We can look to any culture's villans to reveal the fears and anxieties of the time.

Contemporary American versions of the Krampus figure pop up today. I've got posts lined up for tomorrow and the next day to show you. Certainly, American racial fear narratives still exist, as do racial triumph stories. So, I guess one question would be - can a present day American artist's reinterpretation of Krampus avoid negative racial connotations and help redefine the character's meaning?

I'll let you be the judge...check back 2/10 & 11. They're pretty adorable Krampuses!

Krampus

2009-02-08T12:01:00.003-05:00

Since seeing a Victorian Krampus ornament a couple of years ago at the Taft Musuem of Art's annual antique holiday display, Krampus has captured my imagination. The antique paper ornament was only Krampus's head with his evil toungue threatening to, I don't know, lick little children all the way to hell?

Krampus preceded Santa. He was an imaginary figure, who, as parents would have their children believe, kidnapped naughty kids and delivered them to hell. What a great story! If ever I have children...most Krampus's had one hoof and one foot. He also normally carried a basket on his back (to put the children in) and switches or a broom to beat them with. Harsh!

OH! HOHO! oh...

2009-02-05T13:58:00.004-05:00

I must share this cake wreck blog with you. Behold the wedding cake below...I have the feeling this has been at some of the finer weddings in my own hometown! Beautiful.

Cake Wrecks

Papa Bear and the Unfair Social Stigma.

2009-02-02T07:30:00.003-05:00

we all read the Berenstain Bears as kids didn't we?
i know my family did, there's a bin of them in my mom's attic right now. good wholesome values, and a certain religious air that i can't quite put my finger on, but from all the adventures i can recall reading it seems a few slipped past me in my youth.
like this book summarized on wikipedia.

The Berenstain Bears' New Neighbors
Papa Bear has trouble adjusting to new neighbors that are different from him. The rest of his family is excited about new neighbors, and through meeting Mr. Panda and convincing that different is good, Papa Bear accepts the new neighbors.
It has been said that this book has racist undertones as pandas come from a different region, and Papa dislikes them.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_The_Berenstain_Bears_Books

papa bear, racist? you must be joking wikipedia!
but don't take wikipedia's word for it.
that's right gentle readers, i have the whole book scanned right here.

see for yourself.

weird!

Some 2009 Star Wars Sets

2009-01-27T21:31:00.009-05:00

Here are some good shots and some not-so-good shots of a few of the Star Wars LEGO sets to be released in 2009! Being the 30th anniversary, there's a couple nods being made to the original trilogy so be ready to become filled with that warm & fuzzy feeling...

...Did you catch those Tauntons!? Damn strait you did. ;)

Now for those of you looking to collect massive amounts of bricks for small amounts of dough. Check out this Article. It's mind blowing!

Homage, Rip-off, or Just my Imagination?

2009-01-26T07:30:00.004-05:00

just to mix things up a little i thought that i would pose this question to you all:
homage, rip-off, or just my imagination?

the first here is a painting by the grandfather of fantasy art, frank frazetta, and it dates from 1979. it was for an unnamed japanese sound company. the scan is from the book "testament: the life and art of frank frazetta."

the following is a book cover from the paperback edition of poul anderson's "fire time." the book's original copyright is listed as 1974, the the Baen Enterprise first printing listed as 1984. the cover artist is david mattingly.

i'm not sure who i think came first here. frazetta is a widely emulated artist, but this seems to be an obscure peice of art. i don't know how likely it is that mattingly would have seen it. mattingly on the other hand had his art nationaly published, so there's a very good chance that frazetta would have seen it. frazetta has unconsciously mirrored artists before.

here's mattingly's personal website: http://www.davidmattingly.com/
and here's frazetta's too: http://www.frazettaartgallery.com/ff/index.html

anyway, thoughts?

Candy Hat

2009-01-22T12:50:00.003-05:00

I was in the fabric store trying to find inspiration for a hat to wear for my birthday extravaganza. I was looking in the flower section, but only found dull, sad silk flowers.

So I sulked over to the candy section and stumbled upon bright pink PEEPS! I'm now exploring the possibilities of a hat made entirely out of candy and toys. Check out this great candy hat I found at Deviant Art! We'll see what I come up with. BTW, there aren't nearly enough candy hats out there. Unexploited niche for the aspiring haberdasher!

Not sure about that thing she's doing with her tongue...

cop out!

2009-01-18T11:30:00.002-05:00

ah, there ain't gonna be a samurai game pick this week.
i just couldn't muster the energy to get one done.

i've been playing chrono trigger instead, and after a scant 32 hours i beat lavos!
and now it's on to 'new game plus,' the three sweetest words in the english language.

if girl tells you that she wants to hear 'those three little words' from you, interestingly she isn't talking about video games. i haven't figured it out yet, but as soon as i do i'll be sure to let you all know.

i don't really wear hot pink pants to work or have acid yellow blonde hair, but there are only so many highlighters around.
give a guy a break.

We've Got Answers!

2009-01-14T15:01:00.001-05:00

Thanks to Fehdman we now know where this intriguing gif comes from...

...It's from the fairly recent White Zombie video: I'm Your Boogie Man! Who'd a thunk it!

...I believe the mad scientist is none other than Jim Carrey! Wo'd a thunk it, part 2!

Person Of Note No. 1

2009-01-13T12:01:00.003-05:00

89 reasons 'Mel Birnkrant' is the rock salt!

Educate yourself on Mel Here.

Crazy prolific sculptor, inventor of staple toy lines, a celebrated Disney collector, and equipped with a ravishingly robust ego... Any real toy buff should be aware of this guy.

Maybe that was a few more than 89... I'm not sure.

Samurai Game Pick 02: Onimusha: Warlords

2009-01-12T08:00:00.001-05:00

If you must make fun for me for not really playing any Silent Hill or Resident Evil then you have a lot in common with my gamer friends from about a decade ago.

I suppose that I could have avoided this scorn if only I’d have taken the time to play them, but I never could muster up the gumption. You might think it’s because I’m a hairy wuss who would reflexively wet himself if startled, but that’s only half the reason that I never bothered with either of those game series. The other half was the fact that they didn’t give you a sword*.

Which is why I jumped at the chance to play Onimusha: Warlords.
Onimusha promised all the fun of your standard zombie game, but with a distinctly feudal Japanese flavor. Of course nothing is perfect, so they insisted on adding in some hokey spiritual mysticism, but I can easily look past that for some demon hack n’ slash.

For most of the game you pilot Samanosuke Akechi, who isn’t the most interesting lead character, but coming from the ‘mute hero RPG’ era I prefer that. When you aren’t Samanosuke you’re playing as his improperly attired female ninja pal Kaede, who doesn’t blend in as well as Samanosuke, partly because she talks more and partly because she’s dressed in a very short pink kimono. However, I’m only making fun of her out of a ninjitsu principal; I’m not so high and mighty as to pretend that there wasn’t a part of me that enjoyed her… character design. Don’t judge me, I was single and lonesome.
The story might as well be something out of Mario Bros, an unholy monster has taken over the castle, kidnapped the princess and it’s up to you to save her, by which you’ll have to slaughter a bunch of baddies. Setting the games apart was the assortment of upgradable weapons so you wouldn’t be forced to throat stomp zombies to redeath, and the lack of body altering mushrooms, in their place you had healing herbs.

Shortly into the game Samanosuke is beaten nearly to death by a giant red crab-man monster with a club and an underbite. He is then chided by some Oni spirits who tell him he needs a mystical leg-up if he’s going to stand a chance at this task of his, so they give him a gauntlet with the ability to absorb souls. Every time you kill an enemy some little balls of energy will float around and you’ll have to press a button to slurp them up, some balls are good for health or magic, others are used in the leveling system. In addition to his fancy bracelet you eventually get better weapons too, a curved thunder sword, fire broad sword and double bladed wind thing.

With every step the game took it moved further and further from being what I had really looked forward too. The increasing mysticism was not my thing, as the weapons were upgraded they became increasingly large and spiked, the dependence on magical weapons made the game less frightening, who would be afraid of a room full of demonic foot soldiers if you had an eight foot flaming claymore? And worst for me was the dwindling Japanese esthetic; in its place the game became more and more Giger-esque.

Still, despite my belly aching I merrily played it to the end. The combat was engaging enough, the bosses colorful enough, and the game interesting enough to push you along. One of the weirder things that was in there was this strange little cabbage half-man thing. I couldn’t find any screen shots of him, nor did my research turn up his name (but he is rumored to be a former priest driven mad by demons named Saimyou), as I recall he was in the ceiling of the Keep, and if you got close enough he would drop down. He was just a naked head and a torso wrapped in strips of paper suspended from a rope. Weird!

I liked Onimusha, I just wish that it had stayed the course a bit more. My favorite sword was always just the run of the mill katana that you started out with, my favorite areas of the game were the Japanese looking ones populated by the coolie hat wearing zombie foot soldiers, why did we have to grow apart Onimusha?

* Yes, I know that you can get a katana in Silent Hill. But you have to beat the game twice before they give it to you. And yes, in Silent Hill 2 you can get Pyramid Head’s Great Knife, and in Silent Hill 3 you can get a sword, in Resident Evil you start out with a knife, blah blah blah. Listen here, the battle with oncoming hordes of ravenous zombies is not a knife fight, it’s a sword fight, so come prepared. No excuses.

And if you have to play for more than ten minutes before you get a sword then you weren’t meant to survive. From any point in my day I’m never more than ten minutes from a sword and a health kit, I have them stashed all over town… just in case…
That’s what separates the men from the boys.

Cinima's Exiles

2009-01-09T11:37:00.001-05:00

Some Like It Hot

The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari

The Bride of Frankenstein

M - The Murderers Among Us

While in Florida last week, I happened to see Cinema's Exiles: From Hitler to Hollywood (just released in Jan 2009) on the local PBS station and wanted to share - it was pretty fantastic.

The film gives a history of the Jewish filmmakers of the "golden age" of German cinema who were forced out under Hitler's rule, migrated to Hollywood, and developed film noir, among other accomplishments. It provides interviews and excerpts of their films, home movies, and personal letters. Featured screenwriters, directors, composers include: Billy Wilder, Franz Waxman, Fred Zinnemann, Fritz Lang, Hedy Lamarr, etc. Film clips include: Bride of Frankenstein, The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, M - The Murderers Among Us, Casablanca, etc.

It does a nice job telling the global sociopolitical story via their personal stories and of illuminating the backdrop that informed their films. As a Billy Wilder fan and pop culture history documentary junkie, I loved it. I can't get enough of vintage artists' back stories. Unfortunately, the film isn't airing in Cincinnati anytime soon, according to the PBS site.

Here's the link to the summary, in case you're interested:

http://www.pbs.org/wnet/cinemasexiles/2008/12/02/about-the-film/

2009-01-09T11:00:00.000-05:00

Click 'Em To Enlarge 'Em.

New York Comic Con 2009

2009-01-08T22:30:00.008-05:00

Hello Adventurers! The New York Comic Con is February 6th-8th and Regalia & I are intending to venture up and make the frigid scene. A s a bit of a heads up to all the readers and participants of KidCharm, I thought it a good idea to inform everyone of what we're looking to accomplish and perhaps a few of you might like to join in on what is sure to be a marvelous experience.

We'll be 'flying' up on the 5th and returning the evening of the 8th. Not sure on the airport details yet, but I'll keep you posted.

The hotel of interest at the moment is the The Solito Soho Hotel... which may shift swiftly to the Chelsea Hotel, should Regalia work out a swank deal. The Javits Convention center will be a cab ride from either spot, but we'll be in the company of many great evening spots. ...additionally, We are interested in rooming with couples to lower the cost.

In the evenings and afternoons I plan to make my way around to local art toy shops, and hangout with a few of the local artists. Swearbear anyone? There are hopefully going to be a few gallery shows that open up in support of the NYCC, but I've yet to hear of any.

No thoughts on costumes yet. Maybe something lite... but nothing like my last outfit at the San Diego Comic Con. Dollar Store Kaiju was almost suicide!

So go be a model citizen and check out the NYCC website and get excited! If you find yourself becoming interested in a 'this just might work out' sort of way, say something. We might be able to arrange one hell of a fun trip.