Wednesday, August 17, 2011

Space monkey


As I mentioned before, pink monkey isn’t the biggest weirdo in its family. In their on-tree house You would find some exceptional souvenirs inherited from uncleJimmy. Those objects, treated with love and care, are real treasures. Lets look at them. In the central part of the house, often decorated with flowers, stays bust of uncle Jimmy. But what is worthy of note, is the space suit, in which he is presented. 



Some would say “he was an eccentric with excess of ambition”. Be careful with quick and unfair opinions! In family album You can make further interesting discoveries, like those two photos:



Here uncle Jimmy watches launch of a rocket. As the note on the other side of photo explains – he was on the way to a gym, just a week before his own launch. I couldn’t find who was in the rocket, but last words on the photo: “Farewell, dear friend”, indicate that fly to the stars wasn’t successful.



Second picture is really extraordinary – monkey on some celestial body, probably Moon. Actually, this photo is well known for those, who are seriously interested with space conquer. It was studied thousands times, often with highly specialized tools. You wonder why? Here is the answer: some people claims this photo as a fake! Human envy has no limits! But to stay honest, I feel myself obliged to refer their charges and responses on them:

Q: Jimmy supposed to be alone on the Moon, so who took the photo?
A: self-timer

Q: Why flag is waving? It shouldn’t
A: It’s not waving, it was shaped that way

Q: Why sun is so close? It shouldn’t be
A: Optical illusion

Q: There is something very wrong with shades and perspective, some bad graphic designer had to draw it on Earth
A: Optical illusion

Jimmy had one answer for all those unbelievers - "I was there!"

Thursday, August 11, 2011

Circus is in town!


It was long time ago, I hardly can remember… Fortunately I found some old postcards, so I can tell about this curious circus…



There were two owners, both quite eccentric. Tobias, jovial man on the left, had great intuition for animals, but he lacked it in fashion (not only this time, when he was convinced, that angora tuxedo was all the rage). Skinny Wilbur, raised for accountant in accountants family, always wanted to be an artist, to do “crazy things” (those pants are the craziest thing he ever done). He was circus accountant – life can be ironic…



Seal between them, was very important figure – he negotiated the contractual terms with any new animal and decided who could be hired.
One of the stars was Pinky – monkey-philosopher



Oh, yeah, Pinky during the show could declaim poems, read books, resolve even complicated mathematical problems… but whole Pinky’s family was extraordinary... You would be surprised!



A pièce de résistance of two white elephants (they had flowers tattoos!)...

With hollyhock-like sign...


With thistle...



... was a dance on giant pumpkins. The only problem with this showpiece was that in some years pumpkins were growing too small…



Leonard,shy king of jungle, with his claws and tail could make incredible origami. Everybody was impressed, because he used to hum old time favorites…



One day, they were gone and never came back, as circuses are doing usually…

Friday, July 29, 2011

Dasha, white wolf from polar circle

I want to tell You today a little story about my (felt) friend from far, frost-bound land. Dasha, that’s her… 
That's me!

…is light-hearted she-wolf with great ability to find friends of different species. She keeps away from wolves, saying that they’re howling too much. She prefers to wander alone, feel the cold wind in the fur… 
I was born to run :)

or play with polar bear Goro and seal Stephania. Goro and Stephania created incredible fishing duo – Stephania chases out fish, Goro catches it in blowhole. 
Hey, Goro! I found something here! Come and see!

Despite such a successful cooperation, their friendship is expose to danger. It’s because of Goro's problems with sharing the prey. In those moments Dasha distracts his attention, so Stephania can grab her part of the fish, and when Goro is chasing the seal, she-wolf can also get her snack. There is one more thing that Dasha loves to do, and that is sniffing flowers. 
Sniff, sniff...

If You think, that she hasn’t too many occasions to see some greenery, You’re right. But who would guess that passion for flowers will get her into trouble?! Seeking for adorable scent, Dasha wandered of her snowy home. One day she met another wolf, but different then she was… 
I like Your fur...

And that was the end of carefree days. Soon Dasha had to become responsible… 

Friday, July 22, 2011

Stereotypes can be fun!


Today let me present not-so-short film „How the Cossacks play football” (“Як козаки у футбол грали”). I should wait with this video to the next year. Football fans will immediately realize why, but for the rest of us here is a short explanation: Poland and Ukraine will host UEFA EURO 2012 tournament in football. It is a big deal – building roads, stadiums, hotels, etc., and finally, of course, great sportive event.


It is the second animation from Ukrainian series “All about the Cossacks” (“Все про козаків”), created in 1970 (so Ukraine was a part of USSR at that time) by Volodymyr Dakhno. I wonder if You’ll guess who are antagonist of Cossacks’ team? First one is tricky – I found two different versions on Wikipedia.
And if You would like to know more about Zaporozhian Cossacks, start on Wikipedia, Britannica or Encyclopedia of Ukraine.

Tuesday, July 19, 2011

Hungry wolf


It may look dangerous at first sight, but let’s come closer and listen…
Whatcha gotta in the basket??? Gimme, gimme, pliiiiz...

Yap, he doesn’t seem ferocious any more (grey wolf felt brooch simply can't be ferocious). Let’s see if we can discover, what he ate lately…

Sorry for blurry image, but I have only an out-of-date RTG device.

Bean! That’s all! Poor, starving creature. Maybe that nice little girl in red will invite him to party. 
I'm graceful dancer! Really!

I heard the Bears Brothers are coming!
There is no party without pair of bears...



 P.S. Autumn is sooo close...

Thursday, July 14, 2011

Swimming sea otter felt brooch

Sea otters are quite smart (even if they are just felt brooches). They’re using stones to tear out sea creatures of the seabed. And if they catch “food in can”, like snails or oysters, they put stone on their own belly and crash hard shell on it. Et voila! Dinner’s ready!

Below lovely photo by Jon Cornforth. Ah! that face expression.
Fern Harbor Sea Otter 30 by Jon Cornforth ❘ Cornforth Images (CornforthImages) on 500px.com
Fern Harbor Sea Otter 30 by Jon Cornforth ❘ Cornforth Images

Wednesday, July 13, 2011

Winsor McCay and his dinosaur

I should sing the praises of this great cartoonist and pioneer of animation, but I don’t feel prepared for such a responsible task. May I just send my Dear Readers to reliable sources and express my private opinion about wonderful animation “Gertie The Dinosaur” (1914). Any of You, who has a dog, will recognize pet-like behavior of Gertie. Isn’t it impressive? One of the first animation and already such a personality. Those little gestures, that make dinosaur live again :) I just love it! This version is a combination of   “normal film” and an animation. You can read about McCay and his film simply on Wikipedia, or look for some goodies on coconino-world site. I hope You like it!