Every Halloween, my elementary school music teacher would trot out a well-worn record of Saint-Saens Danse Macabre.  She’d explain the story behind the piece and then command the class to close our eyes, and listen.  It was definitely the first piece of classical music I felt I “knew.”  Since then, Halloween never seems the same without a little Danse Macabre.

I was excited to find the Neil Gaiman is reading The Graveyard Book over a banjo version done by Bela Fleck.  You can check it out коли под наемhere.  Or you can listen to the traditional Danse Macabre below.

My infinitely cooler-than-me friend Tim sent me this awesome Comicon-only miniature version of the uber-expensive Goliathon 83 Infinity Beam Projector Raygun (part of the Dr. Grordbort collection).  What makes it even cooler is that he had the raygun’s designer, Greg Broadmore,  sign the box!

Although lacking in the glass details of the original, the gun has a nice degree of detail.  It still doesn’t beat my fave:  the Victorious Mongoose 1902a Concealable Ray Pistol in cuteness.  Anyone have a spare $500 lying around they’d like to send me?

Tim also turned me on to the hardcover Doctor Grordbort’s Contrapulatronic Dingus Directory which is going for only $10 on Amazon right now.  Needless to say, it was ordered, but only after I also pre-ordered the collector’s edition of Rowling’s The Tales of Beedle the Bard.  I can’t believe how close to the original this replica looks.  It’s gotten me excited about Potter all over again!  The best part is that the net proceeds of the book sales go to a children’s charity in Great Britain.  Oh, but expect to pay a replica price:  the collector’s edition is $100, but it sure beats the $8 paperback.

Susan, an educator for Raptor, Inc. is taking suggestions for a name for the newest education bird: a barn owl. Barn owls were pretty common where I grew up, but are not so common in Cincinnati, so it’s a treat to be able to not only see this pretty boy, but to know that hundreds of others will be able to see him through Raptor’s educational programs.

Since the owl is so unique and special to the center, I decided to take my naming suggestion after Hedwig, certainly the most unique and special of the owls in Harry Potter. Rowling named Hedwig after Saint Hedwig the patron saint of orphans. Keeping with that trend, I vote for Ambrose after Saint Ambrose the patron saint of learning.

Of course, no post about Harry Potter owls is complete without a link to Laura Erickson’s Owls of Harry Potter page.

Hurry on over and post your suggestion.

If you’re looking for some great inspiration as to why you need to pick up a block of clay RIGHT NOW, you absolutely have to check out this video by Chuck Ferrell of Skull13 Studio. Chuck’s work really focuses on the horror genre, and he’s was at this year’s Horrorhound show. A lot of his stuff reminds me of Ray Harryhausen’s early work. Chuck and I went to the same itty-bitty high school smack dab in the middle of a cornfield, so it’s nice to see some mad creativity coming out of the area.

Three months after committing to a swap, I finally finish. All I can hope is that it was worth the wait. A full write up on both the craft and my failure to keep a crazy project under control here.

I’ve certainly been lax in both posting and creating. I did take a pretty darn fantastic plein air painting class (guaranteed to be the next big art thing — oh wait. . . I may be a few centuries too late). I also completed a project that has a little something to do with the above logo, however as the packages this logo is attached to are winging their way across the universe, you’ll have to be content with the teaser.

компютри втора употребаI volunteer for a raptor rescue, Raptor, Inc. (It’s pretty much the only legal way in the United States to really work with and get up close and personal with owls and other birds of prey). I am in the process of redesigning their Web site and have started by revamping their adoption page. The page now allows the adoption of banded raptors via credit card and Pay pal.

To celebrate this new functionality, I’ve designed a special Potter-fans-only raptor certificate. (A fine piece of papercraft if I do say so myself.) Adoptors who e-mail me and say they’ve adopted will receive (in addition to the regular adoption stuff) the special certificate.

Adopting an owl is not only a great way to show your love of owls and raptors, but a great way to add flavor to a Potter package — because you really “have” an owl deliver it. (I recommend the itsy-bitsy screech owls.)

Do you long to parley with a python? Converse with a cobra? The Parselmouth Web site is an itty-bitty site (with Google ads galore) that allows you to translate any word or phrase into parseltongue and download the translation as an mp3.

Curious about how Curious Goods sounds? Click here.

It’s going to be a busy weekend at Curious Goods headquarters. First there’s the weekend’s wonderful winter workshops (W4) being held by the Cincinnati Calligraphers Guild. (I’m taking decorated letters and gilding, both taught by the talented Holly Monroe.) That evening there’s an evening adventure play-testing Heroes of Yore, Justin’s masterpiece of a role-playing game. Sunday is a hiking trip par excellence – traversing the hills of Brush Creek Forest in search of reference shots (or if it’s not too cold, a day of plein air painting). Oh, and somewhere in the midst of it all I want to find time to a gorgeous “animated” howler following mizutamari’s tutorial. I think it will make a great complement to my howler.

I’ve been meaning to do this piece for awhile, the logo and Lon Chaney’s photo have been sitting in my “to do” folder for months. While it’s not the most exciting of props, it is from a fun movie AND it’s free for download here. I’ve also added a bit of a contest – I need help deciphering the back page. If you think you can help, leave a comment or send me an e-mail with what you think the back of the magazine says.