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Mechanical pencil eraser refills - so cute.

AMAZING JAPANESE HUMAN ART

I am stunned. I think this is one of the most creative stage performances. Miranda would love this.

Solar Eclipse

So, upon the suggestion of a reader, I sent this post to The Sun, and just today, 42 days later, received a friendly rejection letter.

Little Otik visited for breakfast

Laurie and I watched Little Otik today after breakfast.

Synopsis:

Surrealist master Jan Svankmajer (ALICE) brings a famous Czech legend eerily to life in this darkly hilarious cautionary tale. An ordinary couple, Karel and Bozena, are unable to conceive a child. When Karel digs up a tree root and whittles something vaguely resembling a human baby, Bozena’s maternal longings transform the stump into a living creature with a (literally) monstrous appetite that can’t be met with baby formula. Svankmajer brilliantly mixes his wicked humor with his subversive politics and love of mythology into a stunning live-action fable for our times.

tip toeing

dinolution

Order one of these bad boys here.

flickrvision

I love flickrvision.com.

most fabulous piggies

The Sword & The Son

Not long ago there was a king who had two sons. When his sons were of the horse-riding age, he showed them his sword, which belonged to his great-grandfather, a captain in the civil war. Even though the sword was old and had patches of rust, it shined in the boys' eyes.

The eldest son, Gustav, saw in it the history of his family, and imagined the great distances they must have traveled to get to the new world, only to fight in its civil war. If this Captain had not survived, Gustav would not be here as Gustav. Perhaps he would have been born as someone else, but that someone else would have never seen a sword with their last name engraved in its handle.

The other son, Jorge, saw the blood shed by the sword, spilling onto the baked soil and slashing at the throats and wrists of scared men. He imagined the Captain's enemies were all scared of the Captain, who like a storm, swung so fast his blade was a blur of metal and blood. He wondered if heads were staked, or guns stolen, or money taken, all for the family to keep.

"Where's the Captain's money?" Jorge asked. His father responded there was no money left, just the sword and a book of poetry, owned by the Captain's wife. Gustav asked to see the book of poetry, and his father presented it to him later that day. Gustav read the whole book, many of the poems familiar by now, but many unknown till now. What fascinated him more were the letters stuffed between the pages. Letters from his great-great grandmother to the Captain, along with the Captain's letters were there. They painted a portrait of a lonely woman, who wanted the war to end, and the Captain who leapt into a bigger battle each time. She did not see him for four years.

Years later, the sons left the castle with the promise of finding more land for their kingdom. Jorge went west and Gustav went north. In Jorge's mind, he dreamt of slaying dragons and rescuing a princess. Gustav saw the sword glowing, and the history he could add to it.

Jorge joined an army, but instead of fighting, they sat around and drank grappa. Jorge would compose letters then, and send them to his family. After several months, the king wrote to Jorge and urged him to leave the army and return home. He refused at first, but after several drunken fights, a cut forehead, and broken finger, he left the army camp late one night and immediately ran his horse into the forest. He was lost for days, but eventually found his way and returned to his father's castle. He said he would never be bad again. And the king believed him.

Gustav found a city in the north that was known for its architecture. There, he established himself among a group of intellectuals and artists. It was also there he met a soldier named Perceval, and they quickly fell in love. When he wrote letters to the king, he told his father of his love, and his father wrote back that he approved. Gustav was shocked but happy.

Jorge soon moved away to an island off the western coast, and met a peasant girl named Penelope. Not long after their initial meeting, she was in the family way, and Jorge decided he must marry her. He held the wedding on the island, so that the king and queen had to visit him. Gustav and Perceval were vacationing in the mountains, and did not attend the wedding.

And then the baby was born. A young girl named Elyzabeth, she learned to walk and talk within a few years.

One day Gustav brought Perceval to his father's castle, and they had a feast. Gustav passed on the steak and potatoes, but ate plenty of the salad and bread. Gustav told his father he had information about their family, and showed paintings of their ancestor with the civil war sword.

The king told Gustav that the sword would be passed on to Jorge, simply because he had children, otherwise it would have gone to Gustav. He asked Gustav to pass him another mug of grappa.

So Gustav took the sword and cut off his father's head. The blood bathed the blade of the sword, and removed all the rust so that it looked anew. And he and Perceval rode off into the red sunset to slay dragons and river monsters.

THE END.

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Post-it flag.

bathroom style

I found this in a bathroom stall on the U of Minnesota campus today.

so excited... just can't hide it...

Today I started a 7-week summer job at a local technical community college, where I'll be an academic camp counselor for high schoolers. My knowledge about the job so far had given me the impression that it would be fine, normal, average, do-able. Not a drag and not a thrill.

Well.

First of all I was hugely impressed with the school facilities. Very modern, recently remodeled, ample equipment for the students, etc. Very clean, organized, neat, updated -- a huge improvement over the war zone that is the Oakland school system. Secondly, I found out that every day of summer school I will be in the classroom with the students while they learn various technical trades and I'll be expected to learn along side them.

Eek! Yay!

This means I'll get to use big, noisy, messy equipment! Paint things! Wire houses! Use fancy architecture computer programs! Drill! Draw! Design!

I'll get to learn all sorts of fun, new things that I've always wanted to know and then can apply to making art in my own personal life.

I'm so excited.

snail mail spam

This is outside of Burton Hall on the University of Minnesota campus.

I like it here already

A very nice dino approached me in Rice Park today. I got a practically-free lunch there, too. I like it here.

rendering

This is a beef rendering facility outside of Greeley, CO. The red shape kind of freaks me out.

Best place to blow your money in NV

This is a perfect example of how many little towns in NV have one convenient place to blow your money. Under one roof you can get scantily-clad women, booze and slot machines. Lathrop Wells, NV, provided the first one after leaving Death Valley, CA.

I just loved the color and have never seen a place like this before or since that was so... pink. I love the way it contrasts with the light blue sky.

Sprinkler spray

I took this image on the way down the mountain from Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Monument in western Colorado. I wanted to get closer to the spray, but there was a fence in my way and a farmer on a tractor nearby, so I didn't have the guts to trespass. I saw a lot of beauty in the various means of irrigation necessary to successfully cultivate crops.

Desert Dino Sculptures

The roadtrip was highly adventurous, moderately stressful and mildly creative. I didn't do nearly as much art as I thought I would due to all the crazy shenanigans I had to deal with, like a dead bunny in my grill.

I did, however, come across several dinosaur sculptures made from scrap metal. The Desert Inn Motel was deserted. I can't remember what the nearest tiny town was, but in was somewhere in southeastern Utah.

reflectors a wagging

Download this video for your iPod.

dino down the hall

I can't believe it. There has been a dino down the hall from me for at least a month. I ran into Dan today as he was putting the finishing touches on a Minnesota Music dino he and his wife worked on.

Fence

We built a wood fence this weekend. It was fun. Now I want to build lots of fences.

As you will see, it was attached to an existing concrete wall. That concrete has always looked odd, like a little island. Now it looks better.

travel companion

On day four of the road trip Alpha hit a bunny as she was driving along the highway in Utah. Day four was a hot day in the desert. That night there was a windstorm and she spent another day in very hot Utah desert. Day six was spent in mostly cold Colorado and there have been two nights of freezing temperatures since then.

This morning Alpha walked out to her car and there was a big truck parked next to it with two big, burley men standing outside of the truck. They asked her, "Is this your car?" She answered yes, thinking that maybe she was blocking them. Then one of them asked, "Do you have kids?" She answered no, still wondering what they wanted. Then he asked, "Is that your bunny? Because if you have kids, they're not going to want to see that."

She walked around to look at what he had pointed out and indeed, the road kill bunny had pushed the grill back on impact and stayed nested in the grill for the last four days.

The man went to get a plastic bag and she asked him, "are you going to help me take it out of there?" He answered yes and she let him. As he was at work on Adventure Bunny she asked him if it stunk. He simply answered, "It's a good thing it's been cold the last few days."

They were able to dispose of Adventure Bunny and pop the grill back into place. So you see, Alpha hasn't been alone all this time. Adventure Bunny has been keeping her company.

She is going on a hike this morning then she'll drive closer to Denver so she can pick me up tomorrow morning and I can replace Adventure Bunny as her travel companion.

growth rendering device?

I wonder what this is?

circles in the desert

Look at how weird Utah is from the sky. Green circles in the desert.

dino invasion

The dinos have arrived to St. Paul, Minnesota.

grain

Geneva, Minnesota

orange and green

fluttering Post-its

invisible idea

I like the idea of the invisiblia, but I'm not much of a photoshop painter. I did a slight modification on the original idea.