Man Attacked by Gourd*

In amongst the bits and bobs of antique book bits my father has for resale, I found this intriguing and beautifully rendered clipping:


Orson Lowell
Man Attacked by Gourd*



detail

Orson Lowell was born in 1871. He is best known for his finely penned illustrations for Life magazine where he worked from 1907 into the 1940s.

Online version of Rudyard Kipling's The Brushwood Boy, from 1907, featuring illustrations by Lowell here.

*not actual title :P

Falkor wearing grumpy pants

In my bloggish explorations I came across Monster Brains. Amongst the diversity of monster images on this blog I found one that just begged to be a 'seperated at birth', blog post.

The 17th century image at the top is sourced from here.
The other is Falkor the Luck Dragon from the NeverEnding Story.

A(n Unidentified) Giant Trunk

A GIANT TRUNK
Image from The World at Home, by Mary and Elizabeth Kirby, published by T. Nelson and Sons, London, 1888.

In this book written for 'young people' the species of tree isn't identified. We are told it's in a Brazilian jungle and fifteen 'Indians' can only just reach around it.
'A man can easily get lost behind such trees as these.
If he shouted at the pitch of his voice, his companions could not hear him ; and he might wander about till he died.'
Indeed he might although it's a somewhat non-specific and morbid thought for a kid's book!
[edited 17/8/8]
I expect some artistic license was taken with this illustration so I did a bit of research to see which trees could be the likely suspects. A species of the evergreen, Podocarpus possibly Capitulatis, Nemoralis, or Pratensis may be this tree. Images and descriptions at this site seem consistent with the illustration.

Vintage Cute Overload

Not accepted to the official CO site but meh.

Vintage LOLrus

Vintage LOLrus
digital file
2008

Original image of a walrus hunt from The World at Home, by Mary and Elizabeth Kirby, published by T. Nelson and Sons, London, 1888.

Labyrinth Ball 2008, photos

Last month we attended the Guild of the Golden Owl, annual Labyrinth Masquerade Ball. A huge improvement on last year in just the venue alone which was perfect for such an event. The Regal Ballroom is a gorgeous, classy, heritage ballroom, dressed in gold, cream and red with a soaring ceiling, and obligatory candelabras and crystal chandeliers.




More so than last year, people made quite an effort with their costumes. We hired ours. I was going to wear a huge white wig ala Marie Antoinette - it's something I've wanted to do since seeing the movie with Kirsten Dunst - which is why I went for a very plain mask. However I couldn't get the wig to cooperate with my mask on the night! I wasn't aiming to win the Best Dressed prize* although the wig might have helped get me nominated. I did get plenty of compliments nonetheless which was nice.




Musical chairs this year was bigger. There was no way I was going to play it in that skirt!

My dapper partner had been willing to wear his own snowy, faux, bouffant to match mine and had shaved off his side burns in preparation. I think he looked better without the wig anyway!





There wasn't as much Bowie played or Labyrinth soundtrack, and not all of the music was to my liking. Nonetheless I danced, and my skirt swished about in a bouncy way :)

The crew had put quite an effort together with the decor, staging an art show at the event, getting full colour flyers out. The nibblies were good too. Overall a fine night out I would recommend to anyone who loves the movie/relishes dressing up. I'm already thinking about what I'll do for my outfit next year!

*Thoughts on how to win the Best Dressed Prize at costume event
As someone who has awarded my own party guests with Best Dressed prizes I can tell you that making your own outfit goes a long way.
Attention to detail and a well coordinated outfit from head to toe shows you have put thought and effort into it.
If dressed as a character your cause may be supported by acting like the character.***
For a big event like this one you need to stand out from the crowd so avoid dark colours.
However:
you can accent dark colours with bold colour/sparkly**/furry trims etc;
you can compensate for an all dark outfit by going large.
Big hair/wig, head dress**, skirts, wings***, coat, and mask are some of the ways you can stick out a bit both literally as visually.

**Best Dressed Lady wore mostly black overlaying red with a lovely sequinned head dress featuring red butterflies.
***Best Dressed Gent was a bird. He was flapping about and hugging people :)

My jar of dirt is full of win.

Romping otters!

Fact for the Day
A group of otters is known, appropriately, as a romp.

from the
Website of the Day
Cute Otters