"No, you are dead Pinocchio. Lie down."

Watching Walt Disney films as an adult is a completely different experience than watching them as a kid. Tonight I popped in the VHS of Pinocchio and enjoyed the movie with my sisters, and I realized why as a kid I had nightmares of Monstro the Whale- he's scary as heck! In fact, the whole movie is scary! I didn't realize as a child that this film is a dark fantasy story. It's not just about a puppet boy who can do cute little tricks. There's a not-so-subtle moral to it about being a good little boy and doing what your parents and crickets tell you to do. For some reason I didn't catch onto that moral as a kid. I think I was spacing out to much on the art of the movie.
And the donkey thing?!

"I wanna go home to my mama!" was what one of the poor little donkey-boys cried to his captors. For some reason I don't remember that scene scaring me as a child, but seeing it today kinda pulled at my heartstrings! And they don't even resolve it! The audience is left to assume that the donkey-kids are doomed to eating hay and working at a salt mine for the rest of their lives.
Disney, your movie is freaky, and when I was a kid it made me feel uneasy and gave me nightmares of being chased by an angry whale. Now, I appreciate the dark approach to the story, and more so the quality of the animation and the detailed paintings incorporated within the film.
Also, thank you for Jiminy Cricket. Without him, the movie would be horribly depressing. BTY, is that the voice of Mickey Mouse?
Carlo Collodi wrote the original story of Pinnochio which began as a strip in the newspaper then later published into a book. This website contains every page of the original story, "Adventures of Pinnochio", as written by Carlo Collodi and illustrated decades later in 1926 by Attilio Mussino, translated into English. It is BEAUTIFUL!

I looooooove clowns. Almost every page has an illustration.

The moral of the story is less than just doing what's right, but more about respecting your parents and appreciating the sacrifices they've made for you.
There must be a place somewhere out there or online where I can get these kinds of books for my own collection.

EDIT: I bought the book. It is LOVELY!

Happy Art! :D

I learned about this book which encourages art, color, and happiness!:

http://www.lithe-apathy.com/colors_artbook/

All proceeds go to the National Organization of Rare Disorders, so these people are charitable AND talented!

TheFunTheory.com also hopes to inspire happiness. Here's the latest they've done:

Echochrome

The name of the game Echochrome is about as sweet as the game itself. I first came upon it when my little sister and I went to the M.C. Escher exhibition at the Portland Art Museum last Fall. Of course it was the only thing that little sis enjoyed about the visit, but I was definitely impressed by the game as well.

This Christmas, my older sis and her hubby decided to spoil my family by buying us a PS3. I'm so out of it when it comes to modern game systems, but I learned today that you can download games off the internet and straight into the PS3... That is so awesome! So the first game I get is Echochrome. Simply put: it's trippy.

Basically you are dealing with a three dimensional world using Escher type logic. The concept is as simple as a tetris game or pac-man, and everything is white except for the black outline that forms the objects. I don't know how to explain this game any better, so here are some Google pics to show ya what I'm talking about:The manequin guy is falling through the hole, but he is going to land on the object that is two dimensionally below him.

You can custom make levels. In fact, most of the levels you play are custom made by people like you and me.

In conclusion, if you've got a PS3 or you know somebody with a PS3, download Echochrome, especially if you like thinker-type games. Oh, and the background music is beautiful, too.

24 Hour Comics!

First, meet Invisible Man.

Now go here and see my comic that I did for the annual 24 hour comic challenge at the beginning of October. I can't believe I haven't posted this earlier! Read the other comics, too, because they are awesome. I did "Circus", and my brother-in-law did "The Haber-Dash." There's also some flickr pics of the cafe- called Backspace- that hosted the event.

I LOVE 24 hour comic day, and I encourage any artist, doodler, or comic book fan to try it out!

Do you Yudu?

Today a customer asked me if we had a screen printing product from a company called Yudu. It's suppost to be the new hi-tech printing wonder. I looked it up and didn't find it any more useful or easy to use than any other screen printing kit. It can hook up to a computer, but I'm not sure what the use of that is. The website was vague on that part.

I have yet to learn the ways of screen printing, but hope to find the time. Here's some websites that offer to print your own custom designs onto clothing, mugs, bumper stickers, bags, and a whole bunch more:

CustomInk (6 shirt minimum)

BrokenArrowWear (they offer a huge variety of different brandname clothing, 6 shirt minimum)

Zazzle (The best as far as custom making freedom and options, no purchasing minimum)

I designed some shirts on these websites just for fun, without ordering anything. Zazzle has the best options for letter fonts, and you can upload any jpeg or bitmat image from your computer. Cost for one sweater is about $34. The cost for a pair of keds shoes is $60- pricey, but it is fun to design one just for kicks and giggles.

I found images on the computer and applied it to the design of the above shoe (Toucan, orange flowers, and a whale tale). The nerd with the glasses is me in my 7th grade photo.

Toucan!

Whale tale!

And finally, some homemade slippers somebody created using only dollar store items! I currently am researching to see if there are instructions on making ones own outdoor shoes, but this is fun, too!

I'm posting this to win a contest, but in all reality I DO LOVE this blog. It is witty, wise, and... whimsical? Anyway, I enjoy reading the blog, and so might you! Also, the chick lives in the Portland area, so she's got an in on all the local shops! Check it out!

Daddy Likey

Hats n' stuff!

I really like the hippy, old-world style that's goin' on right now. Bohemian might be the word. These headbands and combs from whichgoose are a bit wild, but I would wear them if the price was a bit better.

Whiteowl uses recycled materials.

I could see these shawl-like scarves being worn by some of my college art professors as well as on chic students. Made by kiamichi7.

Since we're talking about handmade accessories...

I crocheted this hat myself! I'm so proud! I'm going to make one similar to it for my older sister for Christmas. My little sis is the model. :}