Cocktail Recipe: The Polar Bear

Listening to: Happiness by Goldfrapp from Seventh Tree

Ah vodka how I love thee. Let me count the ways. 1, 2, 3, 4...

I came up with this new way, earlier this evening.

The Polar Bear

In a high ball glass build in the following order;

two or three scoops of lemon/lime sorbet,

a two or three fingers of vodka,

fill with soda water.

Stir with preferably with a metal straw-spoon -it is the biz and maximises ya fizz!.

The First Men in the Moon by H.G. Wells

Despite Wells' modesty about glossing over the science with fiction (namely Cavorite) in The First Men in The Moon, I found it to be one of his most scientific pieces so far. His explanation of defying Earth's gravity, how life forms might evolve in the absence of earthly gravity, and how humans might find moving about on the moon then returning to earth were all scientifically plausible if not accurate. Well's background in natural science is highly evident in his descriptions of lunar vegetation, its habits, and in particular its growth cycle.

None of this is to say that the science overwhelms the story for indeed it does not. True to form this is as rollicking a Victorian adventure as any Wells has written. Woven throughout the book is a philosophic pondering on the often exploitative and violent nature of humans. Allowing the audience to read the story from the two characters' viewpoints in two, carefully spliced sections of the book adds a clever twist to what could otherwise have been an anti-climatic ending.

Childhood favourite Sesame Street segments

Still my favourites as well :)


The Yip Yip Martians meet a telephone (blue Martian puppeteered by Jim Henson)


Grover's Health Minute - Teeth


Grover the Waiter - Big Hamburger


Born to Add


The Beetles, Letter B

Most memorable animations:


Me and My M.


The Ladybugs' Picnic


Number 12 from the Pinball counting song, sung by The Pointer Sisters

I could go surfing You tube all day looking for more but I'll leave it at that!

Nurdles aka mermaid tears

Nurdles are tiny plastic pellets from the plastic moulding industry. Raw plastic is formed into pre-production plastic pellets or plastic resin pellets less than 5mm in size. Their size and shape make them easy to feed into the hopper of a plastic moulding machine. Not every nurdle makes it into the hopper. Some may be spilt or blown away on the wind. These usually end up in waterways.

Nurdles are also known as mermaid tears because they make up a large portion of marine debris. Scientists have been aware of the danger of marine plastic debris for some years now*. However it is only the recent set of images of dead albatross chicks that have made a wave in the sea of public consciousness.

*So have I (see blog entry here) though not as long as they have obviously.

Rant about marine plastic debris

Never mind chaos theory's flapping butterfly: one carelessly disposed of plastic item inland, could end up in the gut of an albatross chick on a remote inland thousands of kilometres away. That object could be one of many plastic fragments and particles that will fill this bird's belly thus starving the animal to death.

Hundreds of seemingly insignificant nurdles are swallowed by other animals such as fish, leaching toxins into their bodies.

What can anyone do about any of this? We can all learn to be responsible. We can tell others about it. We can share articles and images with our friends and family to help them understand no piece of plastic is insignificant. It means life or death for the animal that eats it. That animal could indirectly be us. As the dominant species on this planet we have the capacity and therefore the responsibility for our collective actions.

Hail to the train driver

'Train driver: "Sorry about the late running of this train ... we had been held up by bunyips that have escaped from the zoo ... on crack."'
Overheard, MX, December 15, 2009

Santa meeting Uncle Sam

GREETINGS!
Inside card: 'NOW AND FOREVER _ _ Merry Christmas AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR. Corp. and Mrs Jake de Hartog.'
Circa early1940s, USA made greeting card featuring a map of USA inside

The artful swan dodger

Chateau de Chillon et la Dent du Midi*

I understand that white swans have grumpy temperaments. With that in mind I would give these giant swans a very wide berth.

*Vintage postcard circa 1910/20.

Ellen is generous

Clint Eastwood on the Ellen show
"I'm just here for my stuff."

Cookie sings Rammstein

This reduced me to helpless laughter! How fortunate that Cookie had that row of numbers and not one of the others.

Napoleon's Imperial Star

IMPERIAL STAR
(From a contemporary Picture. Time: The Austrian Marriage)

Image and caption from 'The Portraits of Napoleon the First',The Magazine of Art, c. Victorian era.

How to make a fascinator: Part 2

Due to the unending popularity, and recent 'emulation'*, of my How to Make a Fascinator post** the fun will now continue!

Here are new instructions and tips from creating my sister's wedding fascinator, with step by step photographs to make it easier for you to make your own. If this is your first time here, and you're planning to make a fascinator, please take the time to read the original post because much of what I had to say still applies.

[edit 20/11/09]

My sister and her new hubby on their big day. Just lovely and they're so cute together :)
Photo by Nic Daws.
[/edit]


Materials
Following the praise received for my first fascinator, I volunteered my new found millinery skills to my sister for her wedding. She independently went to Spotlight and bought approximately $20 worth of materials;
two feather flowers,
hair slide combs, and
a pick of short emu feathers.
We discussed what she wanted - nothing too big or showy - soft and pretty. She had a pinky red and black theme for her wedding though her dress was a traditional white.


In addition to the materials my sister brought over I used
a foam disk (a soft and flexible projectile from a children's toy),
some scrap red satin,
organza (sheer) ribbon,
additional emu feathers,
craft glue, and
polyester thread.
She did not buy a base so this presented an opportunity to make one from scratch. The foam disk could be cut from a sheet of what is commonly known as craft foam, available at art and craft shops. Whatever you use to create a base, it needs to have a combination of rigidity so that it holds its shape while still being flexible to curve around the head when being put on. For this project the base is relatively small making this fascinator more of a big hair accessory rather than a hat substitute.


Making the base

1. The ironed, circular piece of satin was stretched over the foam disk. A pin helped keep it in place during the stitching process.


2. The reverse of the disk.
As you can see the stitching and stretching needs to be even and neat. Fortunately the foam is very easy to work with and sew through. I used the stitches to put a curve into the disk matching the curve of the slide comb. I gently brought opposite sides of the fabric together. Then I brought in the corners, squashed them down and stiched them to lie flat.

The pick of emu feathers was seperated into three even picks which were bound together with craft glue and thread. After rolling the ends between my thumb and fore finger with some glue, I wrapped the thread around the ends and put a little more glue.

An interesting and useful thing about emu feathers is that they come in pairs. Don't seperate these pairs. It will probably make them harder to sewn on.



3. The base was then double thread sewn to the comb.

Use a double thread for all construction sewing to minimise handling and maximise hold.

Something very useful I figured out all too late in the process is:

Slip a rubber band around the comb to stop your sewing thread from getting caught on the teeth.

Construction

The dimple of the base provided a cradle for the flowers' stems. They, and all other components were sewn on.

Make it attractive from from all angles.

The feather flowers are the star of the show. Their placement allows this fascinator to be worn on either side of the head. To achieve this flexibility of wearing it needed to be attractive from all angles. While this is always a concern with millinery, it is particularly important if the piece can be worn more than one way.



After virtually completing it I decided it needed 3 or 4 longer feathers. I hand coloured 4 emu feathers I had*** using Copic markers to match the bought feathers. Once dry the ink from these markers is more or less waterproof**** I did check out the central city store of Lincraft for an extra pick of emu feathers but much of what I sought looked like it had been trampled in a stampede or possibly plucked from roadkill. This was the week before Melbourne Cup Day. I wasn't going to pay $8 for a pick of 5 feathers with one looking FUBAR.

Be fussy about your materials.
Take your time choosing them.
Get your money's worth.
Get in early or go suburban to get the best.

The organza fans (see original post) add contrast, conceal the base and the feather quill ends. Each fan is made of about 5.5" of ribbon. The emu feather picks add volume from all angles.


This piece was about about one and half to two hours work.


*One case of the P word. Please just let me know if you would like to republish any part of my posts/blog and give credit where credit is due. I'm very happy to share - I don't make any money out of this - but I'd like some credit for it.
**Now 2 years old and still responsible for about 90% of my traffic, and about 99% during the Spring racing period.
***From my collection of exotic feathers accumulated from childhood visits to the zoo. Yes I'm a hoarder but I'm organised and it pays!
****Disclaimer: Depending on what the substrate is. I have used it on fabric to retouch colour, and subsequently laundered it without issues. It takes a few washes to get it out of your skin/fingers. I can't vouch for feathers but I am assuming they will be no worse than store bought coloured feathers...

For medicinal purposes

I'd like to show you the coolest piece of furniture I own. Okay, so I don't own a lot but it's still very cool!


This is the $40, vintage, doctor's cabinet I got from my local Salvos. We have a shortage of cupboard space in a our kitchen so this was a welcome addition to our home. I stripped back the paint on the decorative hinges, maker's plaque (a Melbourne manufacturer originally based on Swanston Street) and nifty door clasp. I'm guessing it goes back to the 1950s.


Wheeling it to the car and into the apartment, my brother and I found its squeaky wheels and metallic clunky sound amusing. It reminded me of the UWW (Unidentified Wheeled Whitegood) from the moon in Wallace and Gromit's Grand Day out. So of course I had to put my figurines on there! The measuring glass in the background is from the 1950s and bought for a buck at Savers.

Exhibition: Paper Butterflies

Hosted by Melbourne CBD's most unique shop Wunderkammer, Paper Butterflies will be a showcase of my most recent works. Some have been shown previously while others, notably the Paper Butterflies, have been created specifically for this event.


Paper butterflies, in progress.
mixed media

About Wunderkammer:

'The shop specialises in science and natural history. In the collection are antique botanical prints, anatomical models, specimens preserved in vintage glass canisters, fossils, medical instruments, beetles and butterflies in hand blown specimen domes: the scope of Wunderkammer is as broad as the scope of human scientific enquiry. The owner of Wunderkammer, Ray Meyer, chooses the objects for the collection based on standards of beauty, rarity, historical or educational value and, of course, the ability to inspire wonder. '

Paper Butterflies
Exploring our relationship with nature and the ephemeral.
Oct 23 to Nov 24th 2009

OPENING NIGHT: Friday 23rd October from 6pm

Wunderkammer
439 Lonsdale Street
Melbourne, Australia
Opening Hours:
Tuesday-Friday 10AM-6PM
Saturday 10AM-4PM
Enquiries:
96424694
info@wunderkammer.com.au

Bananas

"It was the banana! _Nobody_ expects the banana!"
This was in response to the security gate beeping because I missed the sticky tag on the banana carrier - an actual lunch box, banana shaped product, not a euphemism.

'The Gentle Art of Smoking' [insert sarcasm here]

This post virtually writes itself!


Dust jacket of 'The Gentle Art of Smoking'*
Unfortunately the art by James Arnold inside this publication is less remarkable.

From inside the dust jacket:
'People smoke now more than ever before; but all too often they only acquire an unthinking habit, and neglect the subtleties of an art both ancient and universal. Alfred Dunhill ... [insert sarcasm here] ... has long felt the need of a book which will help the modern smoker to cultivate less of a habit and more of a pleasure.
'Here is also the story of snuff ... [Dunhill rubbing his hands] a fashion which shows signs of regaining its popularity. '

Dunhill A, 'The Gentle Art of Smoking', Max Reinhardt, London, Reprint 1968 (originally published 1954),

In a galaxy far far away. 7,500 light years to be more precise

Amongst the latest images form the Hubble telescope is this jet in the Carina Nebula which instantly reminded me of Watto from Episode I of Star Wars. I'm wondering if anyone else has noticed it. Surely yes? I'm not even a fan of Star Wars and had to ask my brother what the name of the character was. Anyhooo here they are together for your amusement :)

Cole's Funny Pictures

Cole's Funny Picture books were a Melbourne based publication full of strangely entertaining pictures for children, and accompanying text which often encouraged reading and and moral behavior. Several generations of Australian children have grown up with these fascinating books. They don't make them like this any more! Here are two typical images and an atypical image from one of the books.


Our Studious Pussy
Anthropomorphic animals have always been popular. Images of animals and people reading were used throughout the books, to encourage literacy in children. W. Cole ran two book arcades: the first in Melbourne and the second in Sydney.


Banyan Tree: A mystery of the dark continent.
Find out horse, camel, elephant, giraffe, kangaroo, & monkey.
Pictures with hidden animals and people as well as optical illusions are always of interest.


French incubator for rearing weakly babies.
This one is weird yet it's an atypically factual representation rather than fancy. I wonder if these inspired the saying 'a bun on the oven'!

Images from: Cole's Pleasant Learning Land (Child Land or Pleasing Poems for Pretty Pets) Number Two, Melbourne, 1900.

Edwin and Angelina the newts.

The author collected a pair of newts from a neighbouring pond.

'They fondled each other, waltzed round their glass home, played hide-and-seek among the pebbles, and became so tame, they would eat any day from their keeper's hand. Alas! a day came when that keeper had to leave home for a short time ; in other words, the aquarium must be left to the tender mercies of a housemaid more zealous than wise. So when I returned, there was much to hear, though rather less than usual to see, for Edwin had disappeared altogether, and Angelina had laid a golden egg, which the foolish housemaid swept away by mistake!'




'No wonder the poor thing pined for the loss of husband and child ; indeed, she died at last, I thought, of a broken heart, and was immortalised in spirits of wine, with a suitable epitaph written on the label outside an old scent-bottle.'

*Images and text from:
S.M. Crawley Boevey, Chapter II, 'My Aquariums', Sunday Reading for the Young, Wells Gardner, Darton & Co, 1892

Koala Shoes

As a kid growing up in the 1980s I collected stickers. For a while anything with a sticker would make it into my sticker book (which I still have) including the labels from fabric softener, shampoo and assorted fresh produce. On each visit to my local shoe shop I got at least one Koala Shoes sticker. I only ever stuck the ones I had doubles of. The rest I collected loose and there are a lot of them. Here are scans of the most adorably dated ones. I'm not sure if they still exist as a brand.


These ones predate my own collection and were bought second hand at some point. However the one on the lower left was much later, maybe early 1990s?


Celebrating Australia's win of the America's Cup. He's so cute! I drew koalas like this for a while, with those eyes. Willy, Australia's mascot from the LA Olympics in 1984 looked a lot like this.


So 1980s :)


In the late 80s they changed from the circle, tabbed shape to squares.

It's rather ironic that most of the koalas - and this goes for the rest of the series as well - aren't wearing shoes!