November 2009

Soft sculptures are in vogue these days. Sorry, softies or plushes would be more correct terminology.  There are annual shows like Plush You! and Lovable + Huggable dedicated to plush art.  I like the monsters and creatures but I really like the recreations of everyday items.  I really appreciate the detail on the sculptures by sewnbyblythe, a Canadian artist. She does cameras, typewriters and appliances,

and a whole Christmas tree with old fashioned toys underneath. 

I think these 1960's French Halloween masks are creepy.  Here's another great one.

Miss Eye-Full Tower.  Wow.
In addition to Halloween costumes, Phyllis Galembo photographs practitioners of Santeria and Vodou, and other carnivals and masquerades.

Librarians at the Denver Post recently rediscovered this collection of Native American portraits, tucked away in a filing cabinet.  They were taken between 1915 and 1930 by William Pennington and Lyle Updike.

The Oatmeal's assessment of the Twilight phenomenon is pretty funny:

Beyond that, it's just a romance novel with the occasional vampire teen drama bullshit peppered here and there. It doesn't really break any new ground in the realm of vampire fiction, other than portraying vampires as a family of uncomfortable retards who prance around the woods eating deer and bunny rabbits.

We went to see New Moon on the Friday after it opened.  I thought it would be fun to go with a big crowd (it was) and fun to watch a dumb movie while keeping expectations low (it wasn't).  I hated New Moon, mostly because I hated the main character: she's a superficial, empty-headed asshole who shits all over her friends at every opportunity.  And teenage girls are meant to identify with her.  Yuck.  We're supposed to believe that Edward loves her more than death-life itself, but even he can't provide with any specific reasons why he feels this way.

Also the werewolf special effects were lame.

Also the movie would have been 25% shorter if Kristen Stewart could have delivered her lines in anything but a Shatneresque, halting mumble.

Also the wigs.  Oh, god, the wigs.