Contest (CLOSED): Win an Original Piece of Art from StreetSpirit Photography!

***UPDATE***  The contest is now closed. We have a winner! The lovely Nikki has correctly identified this as a photo of rocks and snow! She has chosen "The Doctor Is In" as her prize. 

In honor of it being only a week until Fraser makes the move to this side of the Atlantic, I've decided to have a contest!

Look closely:



The first one of you to identify what this is a picture of, by either commenting here or sending me a tweet @BaronessHeather wins the item of your choice currently listed in Fraser's Etsy shop. All photos were taken by Fraser and will be professionally printed off-site on professional-grade paper. The prize does NOT include matting and framing. You will win a print and only a print. I will contact the winner to get your mailing address and to determine which print you would like.

The contest will end when there's a winner. You may guess up to 2 times: once on Twitter, and once by commenting on this blog post. If you guess on Twitter, you MUST follow me, because I will need to be able to DM you to get your details if you win, and Twitter does not allow DM's to people who do not follow you.

Update: Please do not post your personal email addresses in the blog comments. I don't want you to get spam!

Who Needs Munny?

I recently found out about Munnys and decided I had to have one to inflict my will upon. Follow the link if you're not up to speed. I found a blank one for cheap on eBay, but having the Super Sculpey already on hand, coupled with more free time than I know what to do with, I decided to accost my little artist's dummy while I wait. I don't think he minded much. I think he's an old soul in a new life. In case you're interested, here goes Dummy of the Paradise, from beginning to end (I'm pretty sure clicking on the pictures will let you see them bigger):


1. Just a box of sculpting compound, a dummy, and some paint


2. Dummy now has a white face. This is the only colored compound I used.


3. Dummy now also has a helmet, which may or may not look familiar at this point.


4. Dummy is fully enveloped in compound.


5. Accessorize! Dummy Winslow now has a voicebox and a knife.


6. Add cape and lots of straps. Bake at 275 for 15 minutes. Tell roommates not to ask questions.


5. Paint! Next time, buy better quality paint. After several layers, Dummy Winslow is now ready to scream maniacally into the night and run off to find Phoenix.




I'm pretty happy with the way it turned out, especially for my very first sculpt of any kind since making pinch-pots in elementary school.
I was going for a cross between the Munny/cartoony look, with the mitten-hands, and something more like an action figure I guess. At any rate, I think I got the major elements of the character down and maybe the average 2nd grader would be impressed at my artistic prowess!

Things I learned:

1. Buy better paint.
2. Better yet, use pre-dyed compound, especially for capes, which are a pain in the ass to paint and paint around once baked.
3. You can, in fact, bake an artist's dummy without it catching fire (at least when it's wrapped in Super Sculpey)
4. Do not eat the Super Sculpey, and especially do not use it for making cake. Actually, I already knew that, but I was given that advice today nonetheless.
5. I need to make more of these. This was fun!

Note: Phantom of the Paradise, Winslow Leach, and Phoenix all belong to the people who... uh... legally own the rights. This is just a way for a bored fan to fill some long hours and is not intended to infringe upon anyone's legal whatsit.

April Fish!

The joke was on me when I tried to move this blog to Wordpress today. Ultimately, as you can tell, the blog formerly known as Uncontained and Immortal ended up right back where it was, with this devil I know that is Blogger.

Villain of the Day: Kenneth Anger

Today also brought my first experience with the films of Kenneth Anger. Fireworks was intriguing (and a good tutorial on how to make erotic films using only things found in your parents' basement), and I really liked Puce Moment without being able to tell you exactly why. I couldn't care less about Eaux d'artifice, but I suspect that has mostly to do with my dislike of Vivaldi's The Four Seasons, the Winter movement of which is used as the soundtrack for that film. Despite high praise for it by critics, druggies, and Michael, whose taste for weird movies and music usually jives with mine, and who encouraged me to experience Anger's work in the first place, I felt like I could take or leave Inauguration of the Pleasure Dome. I think it was just too long for what it was - too long to hold my attention, though I didn't necessarily dislike it. Lastly, and most importantly, I absolutely loved Rabbit's Moon.

If you enjoy commedia dell'arte and Harlequinade type things, especially strange twists on them like you'd find in Lisa Snellings-Clark's artwork* and Neil Gaiman's Harlequin Valentine**, odds are you'll dig this, too. Pierrot, Harlequin, and Columbine are all there, in this pretty little film that I wish I could set to continuous play and hang on the wall so I could visit it throughout the day.



The video quality there isn't very good, but I thought I'd share it here so you can get some of the experience. I'm told that the later version (which I'll see when Netflix sends me vol. 2 of Anger's films) is "differenter" for the changes made to the soundtrack. If you like it, I highly suggest begging, borrowing, or buying a copy of the collected films on DVD.

Let me know what you think!


*Incidentally, I love her work, and have a couple of tiny pieces adorning my writing-space. Also, my birthday is coming up. I leave it up to you to work out if those statements are related.

**Following that link takes you to the Last.fm page where you can listen to the author read the story in its entirety.

the LRD club

To reopen use of this blog with a bang, I decided to take the liberty of showing just what exalted company in which I find myself. That company is, of course, creators of silly personifications of death.
The short list, vol. 1 in no particular order*:

Me! for my Little Reaper Dude in the multiple-rejection-winning Eat the Comet.

Tatsuya Ishida, for Sinfest comics like this one.

Christopher Moore, for A Dirty Job.

Neil Gaiman, for Death of the Endless, American Gods, and co-writing Good Omens, among other things, I'm sure.

Terry Pratchett, for Death and Death of Rats, as well as co-writing Good Omens.

Lisa Snellings-Clark of Slaughterhouse Studios, for her Grim Ratter.

The folks at Despair.com for my favorite t-shirt.

Everyone behind Dead Like Me.

*If I missed someone who belongs on the list, comment and let me know!