Kitsch and candy…does it get any better? Well, there’s kitsch IN candy, courtesy of photo prints by
Boopsiedaisy.
This one reminds me of those horrific “ball pits.” Even as a child, I thought these were the nauseating filth factories:
Her slightly disquieting combinations seems like the most logical thing in the world to me.
I’ve actually embroidered a number of the subjects on Sublime Stitching in my own projects, but I’ve never sewed a sexy librarian (an image close to my heart since it celebrates the combination of femininity and intelligence).
I’ve done anatomical patterned stitching on Get Well gifts (back when I didn’t take any pictures of my crafts before giving them away), but kudos to their fine rendition!
I am utterly confused as to how we consider ourselves the top rung of the evolutionary ladder when these creatures exist.
Water bears are able to survive in extreme environments that would kill almost any other animal. They can survive temperatures close to absolute zero, temperatures as high as 151°C (303°F), 1,000 times more radiation than any other animal, nearly a decade without water, and can also survive in a vacuum like that found in space. -Wiki
Think of the big production involved in allowing a human to float through space…Tardigrades could just wander off the space ship naked and be no worse off for it. We would burn, freeze, mutate, dehydrate and in all other ways expire when exposed to a tiny fraction of what these little sweeties find quite comfortable.
Humbling, isn’t it?
Fred Einaudi’s work gives me chills, in a wonderful way. The stories he tells do not always have a happy ending.
Some are deliciously creepy anachronisms:
All are worth a look.
And my personal favorite (search no further for your Xmas tree, friends!):
The search was inspired by this io9 post about the differences between science and magic, and how the two have been blended in modern sci-fi.
My opinion on the science .v. magic question is most closely aligned with Ted Chiang’s statement in the article:
Roughly speaking, if you can mass-produce it, it’s science, and if you can’t, it’s magic. As an example, suppose someone says she can transform lead into gold. If we can use her technique to build factories that turn lead into gold by the ton, then she’s made an incredible scientific discovery. If on the other hand it’s something that only she can do, and only under special conditions, then she’s a magician. And I don’t mean that she’s a charlatan; she might actually be able to transform lead into gold. But scientific phenomena are reproducible by other investigators; they aren’t dependent on a specific person.
And my favorite quote: Magic is when the universe responds to you in a personal way.
A good portion of the science I’ll be using in my Behavioral Medicine practice was once cast off as mysticism. The difference? We’ve developed machines to “prove” and display these mystical concepts. Even as a calculating and logical human being, it always seemed arrogant that we tend to award credit ONLY to that which we can measure on our own instruments.
Before the arrival of the Internet in my house many years ago, I found myself glued to one of Jacek Yerka’s books in Barne’s and Noble.
Yerka’s paintings embody the warmth of childhood memory spliced with fantasy, creatures and feats impossible in time and space as we know it. His skill for realism is free from the constraints of physics and dimension. Worlds intertwine, float, twist and tumble.
This place looks like paradise to me:
After seeing a number of hospitals, you start to notice some incredible nonsense in medical institutions, hence my appreciation for this video from the 14th Dimension ER series (particularly after 1:30).
There’s even a theme song for 14th Dimension ER, by Wickness (whose musical career seems tragically limited to this video). Come on guys…get the band back together!
I think after Pan’s Labyrinth I’ll see any Guillermo del Toro project. In the wake of this fantastic monster I can’t wait to see what he does with the new Hellboy characters.
Wired recently featured an article on the film realizations of Hellboy sketches, and the book chronicling the collaboration of Del Toro and Hellboy creator Mike Mignola.
Some people never learn. And by some people, I mean me. I bookmarked the “Craziest Kewpie Doll” collection, because I absolutely had to have Gross Q.
Now he appears to be gone, replaced by Crap Q (this is one of those delightful moments when the literal title/expression is identical to the sarcastic joke I would have made describing it).
I have nothing against Crap Q, but Gross Q achieves the rarely seen fusion of two of my very favorite things: kitsch and anatomical models. *Sigh* Time to buy a Kewpie Doll and some paint, and get to work recreating this fleeting treasure.
Note: Strap-ya World is worth a look. I’ve never used a cell phone charm but it’s incredible to see the vast array of miniature absurdities here.
I’m totally floored by Satoru Aoyama. At first glance I thought this was photography, but it’s EMBROIDERY!
It’s causing significant dissonance in my brain as I try to decipher SOME trace of needle and thread, to no avail. This is by far the most impressive stitch work I’ve ever seen.
Too bad more of his work isn’t gathered online.
SheWalksSoftly 
