Mr Bean and The Web Pixies

© Kyle Bean

First things first - what the hell??? I leave my humble online abode for just a few wee days and come back to find web pixies have been wreaking havoc in my absence. Pesky pixies. As soon as I finish this post I’m off to sort them out. Or at least taking a wee spin over to see what in the world’s going on at Photobucket…  

Anyway, back to blog business! I’ve another of those artists to share this evening that you’ll probably already be familiar with. Even if you haven’t come across the name Kyle Bean before, chances are you’ve stumbled across the British designer at some point in your wanderings.  Specialising in hand crafted models and props, his work pops up all over the place. My personal favourites have to be that funky chicken above and these fantastic matchstick insects:

Oh, and how could I forget about this book/laptop hybrid, a statement on “how we’re sourcing information”:

 

Not too shabby, eh? The words ‘want’ and ‘now’ come to mind. Speaking of books and loveliness, you may even have a sample of the talented Mr Bean’s work on your shelf beside you since he’s also tried his hand at cover art…

…as well as dabbling in the publishing world himself. This is his Guide For The Unlucky, an interactive popup guide on how to avoid falling victim to everyday charms and curses:

 

What were those two words again? ;) Find out more about it here, and don’t miss the wonderful little video preview when you're there. Anyway folks, hope you’re all well and having a lovely week. Must get by your places for a wee visit just as soon as I go confront these pixies! 

A Fun Little Book Game!

 [Warning: Random post-pub post.]

So today was World Book Day! Or rather yesterday was, I’m just home from my Thursday pub quiz and only now realised it’s actually tomorrow (I’m in the future, yippee!). Anyway, a friend of mine posted this to Facebook earlier and the responses were such fun I thought I’d try it out here. It’s a game! 

 To play all you have to do is grab the closest book you have to hand, open to page 56 and post the 5th sentence either to your own blog or in the comments below. Don’t say what book it is or anything and let me and whoever else wants to play guess.  Seriously, this is good craic! 

  
Oh, and by the way, you’ll notice the distinct lack of cynicism on my part between this post on World Book Day Vs. my previous one on National Tree Week. Maybe those couple of beers tonight had an affect on me after all :) Ahhh - women, trees and now books. It’s been a good week! 

p.s. Whoops! As just pointed out by the lovely Sydnii, I forgot to include my own.  (That'd be the beer again.) Here we go: "True to his word, Miller eschewed a drink, but he appeared happy enough surrounded by the high spirited pub-goers."  

p.p.s I've no idea what's going on with the mad spacing and font sizing on my posts recently, it's not intentional. Apologies.

Guilty Pleasures

Some of my not-so-guilty pleasures :)

 

One of the main reasons I’ve been neglecting blogging so much recently is, put simply, guilt. It might sound mad but I feel guilty because I love it so much; I love writing posts about pointless things, I love wandering the web hunting for arty treasure to share, and I love catching up with all my blogging buddies. Lately, though, every time I sit down to do any of the above I’m overcome with self-reproach and an overwhelming sense that I should be doing something more ‘constructive’.

For fear of sounding melodramatic, I’ve been feeling rather panicky of late regarding my ‘direction’ and all that carry on. I’m fully aware that we’ve been going though the worst recession for generations, and I am accepting of the fact that I’ve had health issues hampering my quest, but I just can’t help shake this gloomy frustration at my faltering career. ‘Career’? I hate people who whine about their ‘career’! And I do  feel terrible even complaining about it because I realise I have it so much better than BILLIONS of other people and I have no right to moan whatsoever. I’m only mentioning it because this frustration is at the root of my guilt - I feel I always could be applying for another job instead spending time blogging.

Anyhow!  I came to a realisation this evening while taking a break from yet another siege of applications. I’d gone down for a cup of tea and decided to watch some TV to relax. I love films but except from a select few shows I don’t usually watch much telly. I usually read, write or play around with my photos to unwind but, with my head a bit fried from all the ‘hire me I’m great’ begging letters to newspapers and press offices and the like, tonight I felt I needed something a little more mindless. And so I found myself watching Eastenders, the most depressing of all the British soaps (which are all pretty darn depressing to be honest). That’s when it occurred to me that blogging is ‘constructive’!

It’s constructive in that it makes me happy, as opposed to sad, doomed and depressed which is the usual outcome of a visit to those cheery folks on Albert Square. I had been thinking that blogging had become one giant exercise in procrastination for me, but why should I see it that way and then think nothing of consigning 30 minutes of my life to soapy oblivion? I could easily had a blog post up in that time and I would’ve felt so much better for it! Why should I feel guilty about something just because I enjoy it?  From here on I’m turning over a new blogging leaf, folks. This post aside, there’ll be no more moaning and nearly week-long absences. I’m going to strive to find you all the most frivolous fanciful things I can and I’m not going to feel one iota of shame at doing so. See you all again soon!

Oh, and because I hate posts without imagery, here are some more of my not quite relevant photos. Just a few of my favourite things: tea, books and taking pictures :) 

 

 

 

Doctor Who and The Phonies

**WARNING: GEEK ALERT**

Right, so this afternoon I was looking up novelty betting on Paddy Power (always good for a nosy) when I came across a couple of rather disturbing sets of movie-related odds. The first of these involved a certain Time Lord taking his Tardis state-side.  Now I do realise that talk of a Doctor Who film isn’t really news, but the last I heard the BBC had stated it was all speculation. Yet it seems bookies are still laying on prices for who’s going to play the man himself…hmm, very concerning.

Image via weheartit
  

Aside from the fact that a Hollywood remake is simply a bad idea- most of the show’s quirky charm comes from the fact it really doesn’t take itself too seriously, something that would probably be lost on the big screen-  it’s the actors who are being linked with it that are especially troubling. I’m sure a lot of you have already heard about Johnny Depp’s possible involvement. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve got absolutely nothing against Mr Depp and that pretty little face of his. In fact, like most girls, I’ve been pretty much in love with him since I was 14. Look at that picture above, how could you not be!  He’s not bad at the whole acting carry on either. But he’s just not The Doctor.  Though when you look at who else PP are putting in contention for the role you realise it could end up much worse:

Hugh Grant? Orlando Bloom? Robert flipping Pattinson??? Nooooooooooo!!! Give me Johnny and his dimples any day over that lot. At least there’s some real Doctors in there, my personal favourite being Christopher Eccleston. (Am I the only person who thought he was the best of the most recent bunch?) Still, the whole thing’s really quite worrying.

Image via Kamikazee Girl 

Even more alarming, however, are their predictions regarding another big screen adaptation, this time regarding one of my all time favourite reads- The Catcher in the Rye. Obviously Mr Salinger’s passing has opened up bidding for the movie rights,  but some books just aren’t meant to be made into films and I honestly think this is one of them. Believe me when I tell you that bookies KNOW STUFF. Their business depends on it. And when one of the biggest names in the business is putting Jaden Smith, Daniel Radcliffe, Justin Bieber and even bloody Michael Cera into the running to play Holden Caulfield, I think my fears are justified. Please, please, please just leave this one alone! 

New Month, New Journal

It’s been a while, I know, but I have actually been keeping up with my new journaling habit. I’ve even gone and got myself a lovely little handbag-sized book I can carry around with me. I’m still using my original July spiral pad but I keep starting and not finishing pages in it. I’ll get back to that one someday soon, but for now here’s a couple of wee pics of my new one and it’s first page. I can’t wait to fill the whole thing!

 

I got the book for 30p in a thrift shop. I really must decorate the cover next:

It’s Enid Blyton’s ‘The Mystery of the Disappearing Cat’. I never liked Blyton, so I don’t mind messing it up!

And here’s my first page, as messy as usual. Hopefully I’ll start improving soon:

p.s I just want to say thank you for all your much-too-kind comments on my previous pages. I’m always really paranoid posting them ’cause I think they look like something from playschool.  But it was blogging that got me started on this so I sort of feel an obligation to share. Anyway, thanks again!

More Lovely Book Art

All credit for today’s find has to go to the lovely Megan who, following my last post on altered book art, led me to these wonderful creations by Su Blackwell. I can’t believe I hadn’t come across her stuff before, it’s just my cup of tea. Thanks missy!

        

Words Create Worlds

Ok, so I realise that I’ve been sharing a lot of things I’ve found on other people’s blogs recently and I’m afraid I’m about to do it yet again. As Laura Grace said a few post backs, though, wonder can never be spread around too much! And these gems I found via Reader’s Corner certainly are wonderful. Plus, I feel a special attachment to these since I googled them.

You see they’re from a promotional campaign called ‘Words Create Worlds’ by Anagram Bookshop in Prague. One of most favourite things in the whole world is spending an afternoon browsing a bloody good bookshop, and when I seen the images of the shop on their website I realised I had done just that in Anagram a few years back. I had forgotten all about it but now I even remember my friend bought me the most lovely wee copy of ‘The Little Prince’ there (thanks Anicka!). So I just want to thank KY for not only bringing these fantastic creations to my attention, but also for helping me recall a happy memory. Anyhow, without any further ado, here are said wonders.

p.s Please note, construction is ongoing in the whole makeover project. Just don’t expect any more changes this evening as, in true Donegal workman style, I’ve taken the day off to drink tea.

Kingslayer Vs The Dragon Reborn

Image via A Dribble of Ink

For Sarah, Laura and anyone else as geeky as us: a fantasy showdown between A Song of Fire and Ice’s Jaime Lannister and a certain young sheep herder named Rand al’Thor. Anyone can submit their imaginings and even George RR Martin and Brandon Sanderson themselves have joined the action and offered their own interpretations of how the characters would fare. It’s somewhat of a master class in procrastination by the two authors (who better hurry up and get those books out, we’re starved here!), but it’s a little fix of dragon crack for us pathetic addicts.

If you’re not yet familiar with The Wheel of Time or A Song of Fire and Ice series, I strongly urge you to take a month or two out of your usual reading routine to gobble up all the fantastical escapism the novels have to offer. Now go on, do it, and I won’t take “I don’t like fantasy books” as an excuse!

Image Via Bectepoc ---->

Do you understand?

I’ve wanted to post this quote for a while and finally I have the chance. I’ve put it off because I’ve only ever read one Neil Gaiman book (and it wasn't even the one this came from) so it wouldn’t have really felt right. Fortunately a friend of mine, Jimmy, now knows about this blog and he's a big Gaiman fan so I can use him as an excuse. Hello by the way! And hello also to mxtodis123 who has too many blogs to mention so I'll let you take your pick. Now, back to this quote:

"You wish to see the distant realms? Very well. But know this first, the places you will visit, the places you will see, do not exist. For there are only two worlds - your world, which is the real world, and other worlds, the fantasy. Worlds like this one, worlds of the human imagination. Their reality, or lack of reality is not important. What is important is that they are there. These worlds provide an alternative. Provide an escape. Provide a threat. Provide a dream, and power, provide refuge and pain. They give your world meaning. They do not exist; and thus they are all that matters. Do you understand?"

-Neil Gaiman, "The Books of Magic"

Image by Jacek Yerka.

Altered Book Art

Some altered book art by Will Ashford, who claims to “rescue, salvage and recycle other people’s words.” Most images are created from copies of The Essays of Ralph Waldo Emerson, apparently. Click to enlarge them for best effect.

Not Another Alice Post

So just about everyone has seen Alice by now and the jury’s still out. Personally I enjoyed it, but I can also understand why so many people were disappointed. There’s great deal of expectation when it comes to reworking such a well loved story.  The only thing that surprises me is that there’s all this fuss now even though there’s been countless film versions of Alice over the years that have past by without comment. What’s so different about this one? Oh yea, a certain actor/director combo and a box-office opening. That’d do it.

Anyway, this isn’t a post about the film (god knows, there’s already no shortage of them out in blogland). I’m actually only mentioning it because it’s recent enough and it’s something to say as an introduction to these enchanting images by pareeerica. I’ve just spent the evening browsing through her Flickr account and I love her pictures so much I’m going to have to remember to share some more. Enjoy!

© pareeerica

Sshh! Or She’ll Get You

Oh ho, another follower! Thanks KY Warrior Librarian. (What a great name, ‘warrior librarian’.) KY lives over at Reader’s Corner where she shares her literary lookout on life. Put the kettle on and call in for a wee visit.

Pretty Things

I’ve been rambling too much here lately so today I’m just going to put up some random bits and pieces with as few words as possible. Enjoy it while it lasts!

TheMillineryShop

 ParAmourDesign

Eyvinds Alchemy

TeoStudio

carmenesque

Centaur1201

anticovalore

shellamie

aOlive

Bettys Kitschen