Art/Photography, Friday Favorites

Friday Favorites, the second: Red Nose Studio

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With Tim Burton’s Corpse Bride and Mirrormask coming out on DVD in the last few weeks and the first pictures of next year’s Dark Crystal sequel The Power of the Dark Crystal hitting the internet, puppets, muppets and stop-motion animation are in the air…or at least in the air in my head! In that same spirit today’s Friday Favorite features Red Nose Studio.

[Editor’s Note: just a reminder that Friday Favorites features a site from my Favorites file…in case you forgot, or cared, or wanted to know, or could care less…]

Chris Sickels is the creator behind Red Nose Studio. Chris is an illustrator, but a somewhat unconventional illustrator in that his illustrations are created three dimensionally. Among his clients are The New York Times, Village Voice, Spike TV, the L.A. Times, and H.O.W. Design. It was through the H.O.W. Design magazine that I discovered Chris Sickels’ work and a more thorough article about Chris Sickels can be found on their website. His work has won several awards and it is easy to see why as it is very unique and creative. Because his creations actually exist and are then photographed there is a depth, texture, and “realness” that just cannot be duplicated with traditional two dimensional media. I get excited by many and varied styles of art and creativity and the Red Studios work is really phenomenal.


(Editorial picture entitled Failure of US Intelligence)

Chris creates sets and puppets from a wide variety of materials including wire, fabric, cardboard, wood, minitatures and found objects. Chris Sickels’ puppets are slightly eerie, and oddly whimsical, creations that have an air of the familiar about them. Chris molds the puppet heads from sculpey, fires them in the oven, and then paints them to give them their unique and charming personality. The creatures of Red Nose Studio vary in size often depending on what materials Chris starts with. He may find some object that he wants in the set and will then build everything to scale around that object.


(Cover to The Borribles by Michael de Larrabeiti)

A visit to the Red Nose Studio site will not only reward you with several pictures of Chris’s memorable creations but will give you the opportunity to see his experimentation with stop-motion animation. The four shorts are raw, and weird, but show a great deal of potential. To me Chris Sickels’ work cries out for the stop-motion animation treatment and I am glad to see that he is traveling down that road.

I am very impressed with the work of Chris Sickels. His creations have the look and feel of old friends and I have no doubt if I visited his studio that I would want one of these little guys to follow me home. I will continue to keep regular tabs on the Red Nose Studio site in the hopes of seeing more fun films and more great creations by Chris Sickels.


(The lighting and sense of discovery in this one are fantastic!)

Visit his site, look at the pictures, watch the short films and join me in marveling at the unique talent of Chris Sickels.

Film

Murderball

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Continuing a recent trend with documentaries, Mary and I sat down last night and watched Murderball. Murderball tells the story of men from the United States quadraplegic rugby team as they make their way towards the Olympic Games in Athens in 2004. It is a hard hitting, rough, in your face documentary that echoes the ferocity of the sport. The movie chronicles the lives of several different men from the United States team as well as Joe Soares, an American cut from the US team due to age, who seeks his revenge by becoming the coach of the Canadian team.

Make no mistake, these guys are athletes in the truest and purest sense of the word. Watching Murderball now, during Olympic season, fires the fuel of patriotism even more as you watch these competing nations duke it out for gold. The documentary goes far beyond the action on the court, however, and reveals an intimate portrait of men whose lives were forever changed by a wide variety of horrific accidents and illnesses. There are some truly touching stories here and the men that the documentary focuses on are all personable, charismatic, rough and tumble guys that you can’t help but like as you watch their stories unfold.

The men of Murderball have all been quadraplegic for years and have learned to thrive despite any initial setbacks. To get a different perspective the film makers chronicle time in a young man’s life, Keith Cavill, starting 4 months after a motorcross accident leaves him paralyzed. It gives a very real look into what early life was like for the rugby players and the film makers interconnect these two stories in a very cool and touching manner.

Murderball is not a movie to watch with the kids on your lap…unless of course you want your kids to perfect their skill at using expletives. It is a very real movie that meets these guys where they are. It also tackles the question that the guys insist is on everyone’s mind: can you still have sex? Though funny and sometimes graphic this issue is addressed maturely in Murderball.

I cannot really say much more without ruining the film. What I will say is that even if you are not a particularly avid sports fan Murderball is a great film that has something for everyone. Family relationships, friendship, romance, team work, individual accomplishment, triumph, pain, pride and spirit all find their way into this film. Murderball is an entertaining film from start to finish and I highly recommend a viewing. And after you watch the film I suggest watching both the follow up with Joe Soares Q and A and the Jackass Murderball short in the extras section. Yes, the Jackass feature is exactly what you would expect but it is a fun watch just the same.

To view the trailer click here to go to the main Murderball site.

Fantasy, Short Stories

Harrowing the Dragon

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Harrowing the Dragon is the first collection of short stories by celebrated fantasy author Patricia A. McKillip. Patricia and I have a special bond. Early on in the development of my reading tastes I was exposed to science fiction by my uncle and could not get enough. At that point in my life I had not read any fantasy novels. Then one birthday or Christmas my brother Jason bought a book for me: The Riddle-Master of Hed by Patricia A. McKillip. It was the first in a trilogy and I devoured all three. Between the late 70’s when I read the Riddle-Master series and the late 90’s I hadn’t realized that Patricia was such a prolific writer. Around that time her novels began coming out in hardcover with wonderful covers by artist Kinuko Y. Craft and my fond memories of her earlier work had me buying these books. Her incredible artistry with language has kept me buying each new book the moment it is released.

Having read so many of her novels I was excited to see how her writing style translated into the short story format. Harrowing the Dragon contains 15 stories written between 1982 and 1999 that had not been collected before. Patricia A. McKillip writes fantasies. There is nothing of the science fiction vein in these tales. To be quite accurate about it, however, Patricia A. McKillip’s work always seems to have a strong sense of the fairy tale in it, much more than many fantasy authors I have read. Her stories have an atmosphere about them formed by tapping into the mythos of the fairy tales of old. These 15 tales are no different.

In Harrowing the Dragon you will find dragons and trolls, witches and princesses, love and loss, music and magic. You will not always find happy endings. You will also not be fed fairy tales in small, easy-to-digest nuggets. Patricia A. McKillip has a true gift of creating art with language. Her stories are not confusing by any means but they are thought provoking and several of these short tales hint at much more going on under the surface than one can see with a quick read through. It is hard to describe how Patricia A. McKillip is different from other fantasy writers, but she is. There are many good writers who do not necessarily have a unique voice. Then there are writers like Neil Gaiman, Gene Wolfe, Jonathan Carroll, and Patricia A. McKillip that you could recognize just by reading a few chapters of their work even if you weren’t aware of who the author was. Patricia’s command of the English language is present in these tales and they are truly enjoyable, but for the full effect of her work I would recommend her novels, Ombria in Shadow being my favorite.

Of the stories in Harrowing the Dragon my favorites are Baba Yaga and the Sorcerer’s Son which in some ways feels like a Hellboy story, Lady of the Skulls, Toad (which is the kiss-a-toad story told from the toad’s point of view), and the Lion and the Lark. Those are my favorites but that isn’t to say that the rest of the stories aren’t good. I actually enjoyed each and every one. Star-Crossed is a very interesting take on the deaths of Romeo and Juliet told from the point of view of the man on watch sent to investigate the mystery of their deaths. The Snow Queen tells a tale of a woman forced because of love lost to become more than she ever was before. There really are some great original stories in here standing side by side with wonderful reworkings of classic fairy tales.

When it comes to Patricia A. McKillip you really cannot go wrong. Her unique and talented voice has produced a number of memorable novels over the last 25 years and I look forward to many, many more. For me, walking into a bookstore and seeing a new Patricia A. McKillip book is akin to finding lost treasure and there are few authors that I would recommend more highly than her.

Home

Eye Candy

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Seeing that it is hump day and we are all counting down to the weekend I thought my offering for the mid-week post-Cherub-day, too-many-chocolate-hearts blues would be to offer you some eye candy.

Night Watch (Nochnoi Dozor) is, as it says, the first in an epic horror trilogy. Based on the best selling Russian science fiction novels of Sergei Lukyanenko (which also include Day Watch and Dusk Watch), Night Watch shattered Russian box office records in the summer of 2004 beating out LOTR: ROTK and Spiderman 2 at the box office. Why it has taken so long to get over here is beyond me but it opens in limited release this Friday. I am hoping that this does not turn into another Mirrormask situation for us here in Kansas City because this is one cool, freaky looking movie that I have to see on the big screen. Now! Go here for the trailer. Night Watch looks bizarre, fun, and eerie.
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Have you seen The Triplets of Belleville, the Academy Award nominated French animated movie? If not it is a must see, highly entertaining. While traveling the internet superhighway I came across this short film which mimics Triplets in style and humor. It is called Le Building.

It is very short and very cute. There is an extremely brief (non sexual) naked part in this so you might want to make sure your boss isn’t watching over your shoulder. Unless of course you have a cool boss who is into fun short animation. Click here to open site and watch.
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And sticking with the theme this is an animated insurance commercial, the Tomorrow Monster, by the director of The Triplets of Belleville, Sylvain Chomet. It too is short but very sweet and sentimental.

I like this style of art when I find it in a traditional sequential art format and seeing it animated is even more enjoyable. These last two animated shorts were found courtesy of the wonderful art blog Drawn!.
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And then there is the movie that I am looking the most forward to this summer: Nacho Libre. From the director of Napoleon Dynamite. ‘Nuff said.

Well, there is your eye candy for today. I hope you watch all of these and enjoy them as they are all visually entertaining and will hopefully add a little something to the hump day routine!

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Happy Valentine’s Day, Year Two

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(Image by mid 20th century illustrator Earl Oliver Hurst)

Valentine’s Day. That one special day of the year that is a boon to some, a bane to many. Whether you awoke today to delight or to dread there is no avoiding it, today is all about amour. For some, this day represents a day of acknowledged affection. For others it is the most hated holiday of the year, especially if one is alone, one’s partner is forgetful, or one has an abnormal fear of pink and red, hearts, flowers, candy or that certain fat naked baby with a bow and arrow.

I enjoy Valentine’s Day as much as any other holiday, but I am not objective. As a happily married man I have a guaranteed receiver for my tokens of affection. I know her well enough to know that there is not a big risk of disappointment and yet she still inspires me to new and creative ways to show my affection. That being said I think Valentine’s Day is more fun as a kid’s holiday. I remember decorating boxes each year to put Valentines in and the fun of going to the store and picking out just the right ones. Is it me or does anyone else remember that there were usually a few no-so-kind cards in the bunch for you to give to people you didn’t like? I also remember the fun of going home and opening up the Valentines and looking at the candy. Yes, it was a real treat. Even at 13 my daughter still likes to have this type of Valentine’s Day party with her friends at school, it will be sad when that time passes.

For those of you who may not have anyone else to say it let me wish you a Happy Valentine’s Day! For those of you whose love burned so passionately that you could not wait for a spring wedding I say Happy Anniversary! And for anyone who likes a bit of bitter, cynical humor I point you to last year’s Anti-Valentine’s Day card site (with added material for this year).

Or you could always express yourself with a little zombie love.

And for the learning inclinded a stop by The History Channels’ site will give you all the information you need concerning this day of love.

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For my darling wife Mary, I love you very much and am grateful for your love as well. Thank you for my favorite gift ever…you!

Happy Valentine’s and Anti-Valentine’s Day everyone!

Woman begins by resisting a man’s advances and ends by blocking his retreat. ~Oscar Wilde

Women are made to be loved, not understood. ~Oscar Wilde

I see when men love women. They give them but a little of their lives. But women when they love give everything. ~Oscar Wilde

Let me not to the marriage of true minds
Admit impediments. Love is not love
Which alters when it alteration finds,
Or bends with the remover to remove:
O no! it is an ever-fixed mark
That looks on tempests and is never shaken;
It is the star to every wandering bark,
Whose worth’s unknown, although his height be taken.
Love’s not Time’s fool, though rosy lips and cheeks
Within his bending sickle’s compass come:
Love alters not with his brief hours and weeks,
But bears it out even to the edge of doom.
If this be error and upon me proved,
I never writ, nor no man ever loved.

~William Shakespeare, Sonnet 116

and, just to end this mischeviously:

Bigamy is having one wife too many. Monogamy is the same. ~Oscar Wilde

Eclectic Musings of a Renaissance Geek