A wonderful old school witch with the coolest fingers ever.
This is the sort of prop that got me into yard haunting.
October Effigies blog.
Thursday, January 7, 2010
October Witch
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
Now Playing: Humanoids From The Deep
Great old school soundtrack by composer James Horner.
The album features two scores:
Tracks 1-16 Battle Beyond the Stars
Tracks 17-31 Humanoids from the Deep
Listen to samples here.
Animation Art
An incredible and very detailed blog by Hans Bacher featuring amazing artwork from animated films and background on the artists and techniques that created them.
© zagreb film
i
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
Pumpkins
Every year, a couple of days before Halloween when the pumpkins have been purchased and are itching to get sliced, I convince myself that I'm going to carve their faces as though a demented witch got to them. As though she was mocking our traditional customs. I've had years of this mental discussion. And it never really happened. This year was the year it got the closest. After carving the pumpkins, I took a screwdriver to the eyes, noses, and mouths... chiseling the edges to create a rough disturbed appearance. I loved the result, but I still feel it didn't quite get there.
Back in 2007, I carved the pumpkins a week before Halloween to let them mold up and get a little rotten. It was gross moving them and re-stocking their candles, but it looked great.
Monday, January 4, 2010
Dead Spider 2009
I've been waiting to see images from her display this year, and she didn't disappoint (of course).
More images here.
Now Playing: Dark City
Amazing film score by Trevor Jones and a super cool track by Hughes Hall called Sleep Now (Track 5 on the album) that I featured in my 2007 Ghost Dead video.
Saturday, January 2, 2010
Pumpkin Steak
Neat recipe from the Firefly restaurant in San Francisco.
PAN-ROASTED JACK-O-LANTERN PUMPKIN STEAKS
Firefly Restaurant, 4288 24th St., 821-7652
One large organic jack-o-lantern pumpkin (try to find one that has straight sides)
Olive oil
Brown sugar
Salt and pepper to taste
Cut the pumpkin in half from top to bottom. Remove the seeds and stringy pulp with a spoon, and cut the pumpkin into square chunks with 4- to 5-inch sides. From a large pumpkin, one could get up to 20 portions.
Place the pumpkin chunks skin side down on a baking sheet. Brush oil on liberally, then sprinkle with one teaspoon brown sugar per chunk. Sprinkle with salt and pepper, and bake in a preheated 350-degree oven for 1-1/2 hours, depending on the thickness of the pumpkin. To test for doneness, stick a knife into the pumpkin. When the knife goes all the way through easily, remove from oven and allow to cool.
Once cool, cut off the skin and season again with salt and pepper. Then dredge in flour, coating well but without excess.
When you're ready to serve, heat some olive oil in a frying pan on medium heat. Place the floured pumpkin steaks skin side up in the hot oil and cook until brown and crunchy, a couple of minutes. Turn the steaks and brown on the other side. Since this side doesn't have sugar on it, it will take a little longer, about 3 to 4 minutes. Note that for thicker pieces, it might be necessary to finish the cooking process in the oven to make sure the pumpkin steaks are thoroughly done in the center.
Halloween Blessings
A recent work by a favorite artist of mine - Mike Egan.
Image source.
EganPaintings.com
Plague Avoided
I built this plague mask to be used on my PLAGUE scarecrow back in 2008. He was going to be cloaked and torn and weathered. It just didn't work. He looked more like a demented Plague Doctor than a scarecrow, so I ditched the idea and went with diseased bones and bandages.
Inspired by this peculiar plague mask design.
Friday, January 1, 2010
Pumpkin Hot Sauce
This hot sauce is a sweet and picante blend of chipotle chiles and pumpkin puree. Goes well with smoked meats, turkey, sweet potatoes, soups, and stews. Pour some over cream cheese, pumpkin pie, or even cheesecake!
HotSauce.com
Open Letter To Artists, Photographers, Musicians, Creators
After receiving a comment from a photographer who accused me of "stealing" her works simply by posting them in one of my blog entries while providing a direct link to those images, I wanted to address the issue. It's not the first time I've had to remove a blog post for that reason. I'm having a difficult time finding the harm in featuring someone's creations if a link is provided. Isn't it like recommending an art gallery or a museum? Or directing someone towards a favorite restaurant? Or letting someone know about a great album? I just don't see the harm.
I get a lot of traffic on my blog. Depending on the time of year, anywhere between 1,000 to 3,000 hits a day. I figured that would be appealing to someone who has a web presence, since the whole point of having a blog or a website is exposure. I'm guessing that it's a matter of ego - that it's an issue with asking for permission. And I have a hard time wrapping my brain around that.
That said, I get a lot of emails from artists thanking me for featuring their work. And that's really cool. And I love when people feature my works on their sites with a link back to mine. I really appreciate the effort and the traffic. So I just don't get it. I don't see the harm. But I'm certainly not close-minded about it. I'm open to getting someone's insight on the matter.
Now Playing: Nostromo
Ultra deep ambience, based on the first 8 minutes of the movie 'Alien' which depicts the deep space haulage vessel slowly moving through the void. The disc takes you through a slow trip into the ship via tracks DECK A - E, deeper and deeper into the bowels of the 'Nostromo'. Colossal dark ambience from the abyss, with beautiful artwork that evokes the sinister atmosphere of the ship.
Listen to samples here.
Hardware
Watched this neat film from 1990 yesterday.
Currently addicted to a song featured in it.
Click the image for a listen.
Proving that robots can be a pretty scary theme for a yard haunt.
Appropriate lyrics for New Year's resolutions -
"This is what you want...This is what you get."
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