Need a good laugh?

 Stephen Kroninger did this cut out animation for Chris Rock.  

His fun collage artwork has been in children's books, 

magazines, newspapers and the MoMA.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DYaP31mPCx8

Watch what happens when Mark Carwardine photographs a rare kakapo, an endangered flightless parrot, while comedian Stephen Fry looks on.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6A7uFSbRJ5w

Happy Record Store Day

You won't find any cds at Sydney Howells and Martha Oelerich's store, Rattail Records. Newly opened last fall, it's a neat place to shop and chat as you can see from Sydney's hilarious flier.  They make great t-shirts, fix and sell record players, and have fun shows in the back room.  Tonight I really enjoyed hearing Goodnight Stars Goodnight Air.

Tee hee hee

 

Heavenly t-shirt weather is just about here!  A few of my designs (and patterns for phones and tablets) are now on Red Bubble, a great site with quality prints and shirts.  Images look brighter when printed on white paper or backlit on a monitor vs. printed on fabric, so the site projects the actual future look of the t-shirts with more subdued colors.  The colors don't seem dull to me at all, though, they just aren't screaming, which is perfect.  The spray technique used is much better to keep the shirt softer than when the image feels caked on and cracks in the wash later.  Red Bubble offers organic cotton, different styles for men, women and children, and many colors of short- and long-sleeved t-shirts, tank tops, and hoodies.

All cantaloupes are subject to inspection and must be approved

 The Cantalobber Contest is a fun event held every year by Kutztown University's Physics Club. Trebuchets and catapults built by students propel cantaloupes hundreds of feet across a field.  Air cannons are stationed further back for even longer launches.  Though this crossbow looks mighty tough, it got a great laugh when its cantalope's trajectory ended in an abrupt thud about 20 feet away.  The short bursts of excitement between long pauses were worth the wait to see these great contraptions in action.  See much better pictures here:

www.kutztown.edu/activities/clubs/SPS/Cantalobber_Gallery.html

a few of my favorite things

take a moonlight drive

wee stage

A few months ago I had a vision of a cute little stage, sort of like the Hatch Shell in Boston, but made of textured metal from an old tin tile I got from Wendy at Renninger's.  I searched for compression rivets for a long time before finding some fat brass ones at Leid Shoes & Saddlery right down the road.  

For the stage I cut a chunk of wood from the Amish Home Depot.  I got new sharp shears and cut pieces of the tin for the shaped dome ceiling.  Sometimes it felt like I was wrestling a crocodile--my hands were scratched and bloody for weeks.

 

 I had saved a hundred small pieces of cherry wood since college and found them in the last box in the farthest corner of the garage.  Cutting them to make the floor tiles was supposed to be easy, but I had a lot of trouble with a crappy scroll saw I got at a flea market last summer.  No matter what blade or tension I tried, parts and pieces of the saw went flying past my face as soon as I turned it on.

 

My brother Chris meticulously went over every part of it with me and discovered that a screw in the blade holder had been put in backwards--through the threaded hole first and the smooth hole second, thereby not pinching the blade and letting it vibrate out of the holder.  Despite fixing this, the damn thing still didn't work right so Moe got me a new one at Lowe's!

I got the metal for the front panel and plaque from the lid of a box found in Crazy Lizzie's junk barn.  I never knew Gorilla Glue needed water to set because I never thought you had to read directions to use glue.  After doing it right, the stuff is ten times better and stronger.

The finials at the sides of the stage are brass screws with clear plastic baubles.  I thought they went well with the other materials and framed the stage nicely.
    

 And now tomorrow on Tumblr begins a show inside the hatch shell starring one wonderful wee object every evening.
http://inkletween.tumblr.com/