Selkie

Thanks a bunch! I'm not sure why they weren't showing up on my seaches, unless it's because the seller doesn't explicitly state he'll ship to the U.S., but I'm on the trail now.

I think they might talk about liking to be spanked here....keep your eyes open, wolvy! :)

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Christian, around here we do things properly: the "girls" do the spanking. :cool:

Right, if someone has treated you like dirt and got away with it (so to speak) do you write them a letter pointing out what a shitbag they are, or do you not. How do we all feel about this?

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If he's a human being who happened to behave like a shitbag, he already knows what he did. If he's a shitbag through and through, none of what you say will make an impact on him.

 

If writing the letter will provide cathartic value to you - and having tried it, I can say from personal experience it sometimes does - then do it. Send it, or not, as you see fit. Personally, I've found writing the letter is what does the trick, and sending it just adds a layer to my misery. YMMV.

If you can find it, in a Hellblazer vein: "Nobody" (AiT/Planet Lar) artwork by Charlie Adlard.

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Oh yes, excellent choice. Shame that it's been in and out of print so it's hard to tell when it's available.

 

Another one that just occurred to me: Fort: Prophet of the Unexplained, from Dark Horse. Librarian investigating Lovecraftian beasties, with H.P. as a fictional callow youth. It's quite a bit of fun and contains some pretty artwork.

 

ACXChan, I loved Top Ten! Of all the ABC titles, that's the one that deserved the longest run, and had one of the shortest.

Pooka, a little relieved to see I'm not the only one who isn't entirely thrilled with Harlequin Valentine.

 

Below are some eclectic recommendations, mostly different from each other and all of them good:

 

Transmetroplitan (based on your other titles, this was the first thing I thought of).

Maus (2 volumes)

Persepolis (2 volumes)

Epileptic (brilliant, but depressing)

Age of Bronze

The Complete Baker Street

Berlin

Courtney Crumrin

Leave It to Chance

Finder (probably not readily available at most comics shops, but worth the hunt. I particularly recommend the first two volumes, collectively titled Sin Eater)

Girl Genius

The House on the Borderland (really a wonderful adaptation, and excellent for Hellblazer fans)

Jinx: The Definitive Collection

Nowheresville

Mr. X (there are now two TPBs out covering the entire series, but I can't for the life of me think of their individual titles)

Terminal City

Planetary (stick with the regular series, and skip the volume of crossovers - the Batman one is outstanding, but the other two....)

Queen & Country

Rex Mundi

Sleeper (the first two volumes are excellent; the third, just out, is more hit-or-miss)

Vogelein: Clockwork Faerie

Strangehaven (only if you're patient - there are two volumes out, and the glacial release schedule of the singles suggests it'll be a very long time before there's a third)

Heavy Liquid

Pooka, forgive me if your tastes are already well-documented on these boards but aside from Hellblazer, and discussions about Fables, I'm drawing a blank as to what you have read and liked or disliked. A quick rundown would help a lot, and I'm pretty good at recommendations. Are you looking for older "classics" or newer material, or both?

You might be pretentious for using the word "lagomorph" but certainly not for calling yourself a real sculptor!

 

Wait till you see it.

 

Between this frog and the dog you posted before, I think you've more than proved your talent.

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Mark, amused is good. I like amused. Heck, she even amuses me, in a way that is Wrong but nevertheless genuine.

 

Keeyah, I think the wet appearance is due to the metallic-colored bits in the plastics (yes, she really is plastic). I love using the metallic clays because they help me see angles and irregularities I might otherwise miss, especially because I sculpt in low-light conditions.

Aww, thanks for the warm fuzzies everyone! Every time someone mentions that she looks like she really is moving, or that she has moist skin, or even just that she's "cool", I feel all tingly inside. One never quite knows how other people will react to something like her - so far, I've got a lot of "why is there only half of her done?"

 

I'm extra proud of this one, probably because she's the most "me" of all my creations (which, I suppose, makes sense for a sculpture that's all about how the sculptor is the tool, not the creator). Should anyone doubt Charlie's assertions that I'm a dangerous critter myself who should not be approached without using extreme caution, consider this: my original conception of this piece was to have a *cute* big-eyed treefrog freeing itself from the block. When my subconscious got ahold of the idea and ran with it, what emerged was this Lovecraftian Elder Beast. I think that says something important about the way my mind works. :o Someday I'll let the rest of the monsters out of my subconscious (there are quite a few jostling around inside, waiting to be born) and into clay, and then the world will be REALLY scared!

 

Almost as scary is what she reveals about my friends. Someone who has never read a sentence of Lovecraft wrote that intro, and another friend who does hand-thrown pottery is salivating at the idea of using her as a topper for what he describes as some "unusual" vessels. I know his idea of "unusual" and I suspect the end result will be somewhere between Lovecraft and Uzumaki. We've already discussed using my filovirus bas reliefs to decorate them.

 

I'm also excited that although I didn't have any reference material for the chest and forelegs in that position until after the frog was almost done, I later found the perfect photo and discovered that I had gotten the details right.

 

Now if only the lagomorph and mole, both currently in progress, go half as well, I might just be able to start calling myself a real sculptor, instead of feeling like a pretentious fraud every time I use the word.

I'm trying to think how the federal government could do that.

 

That was my first thought, too. About the best I could come up with would be denying visas.... which would probably mean lots of noise about doing something, while realisticly doing nothing.

 

 

The only thing that immediately springs to mind is declaring the IRA a terrorist organization, and I'm not sure even that would be instant  or free from the possibility of noisy legal or political counter-action.

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I agree - the noisy legal and political counter-action would be deafening (says the woman whose city dyes the Chicago river green on St. Patrick's day :rolleyes: ).

Robots I was a little disappointed in this film. I would say that it's just a kid's film that works for kiddies but not grown-ups, except that there were so many abortive attempts to get laughs that the kiddies wouldn't understand. The fart and big butt jokes probably work for the intended audience, but left me cold.

 

What disappointed me the most were the number of good ideas that somehow got abandoned partway. There was an attempted swipe at the idea of planned obsolescence that, while incongruous in a children's movie, might have been interesting, but was lost somewhere. Ditto the more conventional "Love yourself for who you are, not what the marketers tell you should be" storyline. Somehow "old-fashioned values" got brought up, but dropped again. I haven't decided whether I like or loathe how funk, breakdancing, and other anachronisms crept into a fictional world clearly based on the fifties. (I'm leaning toward liking the fact the film mixed things up, but haven't decided). Either I blinked and missed when an important plot point was mentioned (and I don't think so) or a major element appeared with no build-up at the end.

 

Looked terrific, but not enough of a coherent or interesting story to hold my attention.

Happy birthday! Welcome to the post-20's club. :D

What fictional character - any medium - do you most closely identify with, and why? I'm not talking about a physical resemblance, but an emotional or situational one.

 

My answer always used to be Jane, from "Broadcast News." Smart overachiever who cares passionately about accuracy and ethics when no one else seems to? Yeah, that is (was?) me. The resemblence was so strong that people who didn't know I'd seen the movie would call me and say "Oh, you've got to see this movie! There's a character in it who's just like you!" I even do the crying-in-the-hotel-room-thing.

 

After watching the first season of "Arrested Development," though, I have to change that answer to Michael Bluth. I identify very strongly with being the straight man around whom a variety of truly nutty people revolve and depend on. Yeah, that's me alright.

 

So.... name yours!

I had a dream I was at Keeyah's house. There were animals everywhere.

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Are you sure your dream didn't confuse Keeyah's house with mine?!

 

No Alaskan King Crab sized spiders though. If such things existed, I'd keep one as a pet in a heartbeat. :o

NNNNOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

"Professor Phillips puffed on her pipe and warmed her cold hands on the cup of tea. She saw her breath in the squamous moonlight. Under her arm, she carried the Amphibinomicon, dusty and tattered and rumored to be bound with dried human skin, but she knew she had to be careful because it was due back at the Miskatonic University Library on Friday. Phillips' mind was open to new ideas never dreamed, new colors never seen, new smells never smelt. She needed to know more. She read from the ancient tome, and laboured to bring Frog-Goroth into this world, to make it Her own."

 

Ahem. In the interests of being eaten first, I present:

 

http://www.bluefrogcreations.com/images/Frog-goroth1.jpg

http://www.bluefrogcreations.com/images/Frog-goroth2.jpg

http://www.bluefrogcreations.com/images/Frog-goroth3.jpg

http://www.bluefrogcreations.com/images/Frog-goroth4.jpg

 

 

The ArtSpeak explanation will involve challenging assumptions about the relationship between the creator and the created, but I much prefer my friend's explanation above! (And, for that matter, both of Charlie's).

King Mob, many thanks for the heads-up. Do you recall what the title of the listing was, and whether it was on eBay UK or US? I'm not finding it through searching completed or current listings. Even if it's not available, I'd like tos ee what it sold for so I can experience the sticker shock and prepare myself for what I'm going to have to pay for these little gems.

And, I've read the first three of the LA Quarter novels by Ellroy and just can't bring myself to read the fourth (White Jazz). He's just getting pretty loopy for me, and as much as I like him I weary of him. Anybody read it? Does Jazz just get out of hand?

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White Jazz flies completely out of the hand, over the fence, through the woods, and into another country. And I say this as someone who likes Ellroy.

Title says it all.

 

Stop laughing!

 

Stop, I say!

 

(They've got to be out there somewhere)

Aw, it looks cool. My guess it's either a post-modern statement using pre-industrial sensibilities to suggest womankind as natural creature escaping over-industrialization and mechanation by symbolically lifting herself from the morass of the condition represented in the marble

 

Please, PLEASE give me permission to use this explanation for a subsequent sculpture. I love it! I love it more than the official explanation for this particular piece, in fact.

 

OR it's the frog from the fairy tale retrieving the bauble (not pictured) for the prince (in the original tale it was a princess but I would expect you to turn gender things on their head, Selk).

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While we're at it, I want to do this one too...

 

Charlie K, how about you freelance as my artspeak writer in lieu of paying off that ticket? :cool:

 

The piece is crawling out of my subconscious at a ferocious fast rate, and if tonight goes as planned, she'll be done tomorrow. (Well, except for her base. Anyone know where I can buy a larger cube?) I love keeping vampire's hours!

Say, Selk, ain't you got a friend who will let you use their Turbo Tax software for free?

 

That's certainly an option I considered, but given that I have income from a W-2 AND my dreaded Schedule C AND will be taking massive medical deductions this year, it's absolutely crucial that I get everything right.

 

What kills me is that the reason I'm paying such an outrageous sum is purely that it is a Schedule C, not because of the amount I made as a business.

 

If not, yeah, write me a ticket and I'll pay up. 

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Oh goodie! I'll have to think of a suitable charge for the ticket. 8-)

Charlie K, if I drive to Michigan, may I have some of your money? I'm working on my taxes, and because I have to file as a Schedule C, H&R Block is going to charge me somewhere in the neighborhood of $450 to do my taxes this year. (Seriously, that sucks about all those unexpected expenses. Why do they always bunch up like that?)

 

Pooka, has your boss not learned the legal reasons why one does not give negative references?! Wow.

It'd probably be too long for a collection, but that reminded me of something! A few years ago, Neil said he was working on releasing a book of poems and rare stories. No word about it since. I really want him to release that collection!

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Something other than "Adventures in the Dream Trade"?

If Christian mythology is fact in the fictional context of the movie, then would an unbaptized/atheist soul really go to Hell? My knowledge is shaky, and I've only got Dantes' 'Comedy' as a guide - and I know it isn't canon - but isn't there a special place reserved for the souls which weren't converted which isn't either Hell of Heaven?

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The Catholic church does have a few loopholes that allow for a few non-Catholics to achieve salvation, but people like Mark and me are still doomed. :D Dante places the virtuous pagans who lived before the birth of Christ in Limbo, but whether that was canonical at the time or theological artistic license, I don't know. The site I linked to suggests the former, but I'm always skeptical of sites that have an ideological axe to grind, and make a special point of saying "This is what we've always believed! Really, it is!"

 

Most other Christian churches I've come into contact with allow even less wiggle room for non-believers. "You're not an X? It's straight to a toasty place for you!" There's a fire and brimstone Baptist church a few blocks away from me that I swear teaches their members more about hell than heaven.

Just for Charlie K, here's a really, really bad picture of the sculpt thus far. Anyone who can explain, with or without artspeak, what she's about wins the Faire Day goose.

Anyone actually carpool? I always hear people talking about it and never see anyone doing it.

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Bwa ha ha ha ha! I'd love to see the situation where two people living in reasonable proximity to each other also happen to work in reasonable proximity to each other, AND keep more or less the same work hours, AND can stand each others' driving and vehicle.