At the movies
Thursday, December 31st, 2009If anyone is interested, I’ve posted my fav films of the decade.
If anyone is interested, I’ve posted my fav films of the decade.
I had been posting a bunch of found images on my personal blog but decided to make my life easier by starting a tumblr site. If anyone is interested you can see some of the nifty photos (and whatnot) that I come across on the web.
We have two new characters in residence at the OYG studio:
the first is a true street find. Veronica and Deanna found this solid wood statue walking around the neighborhood. We are hoping he isn’t a bad luck omen as they found him on friday the 13th. We’ll see if there is some sort of brady bunch scenario that develops. Veronica is affectionately referring to him as OYGbaby.
The second is a mouse. A real mouse. A rather ballsy mouse too. He’s been running around all morning and likely will get big and fat and be impossible to get rid of by humane measures. We’re thinking we might just get a habitrail for him and make it official.
photo of his likeness below.
I was wrong about the jack o’ lantern display in my neighborhood. They actually put the pumpkins out on Halloween and leave them up throughout November.
Check out the Kane Street Pumpkins for yourself.
Happy Day of the Dead! Now’s the time for you to go visit any family members buried in cemeteries. Clean up their gravesite and leave some pretty flowers or a little pumpkin.
Because this is mostly a dead blog, I’ll leave you with some lovely Day of the Dead skulls and skeletons. You can’t deny they are perfect Halloween decorations. Or in my case, year round decorations (in my world, everyday is Halloween) – here’s one I picked up one summer at the beach with friends.

Some fun skulls I found on the web:
And of course there are the sugar skulls:

Some Day of the Dead Photoshop brushes and pngs you can download for free:
You can purchase a lovely book of antique prints:
And to end the month of madness, the mother of all Halloween movies:




I hope everyone has a frighteningly wonderful Halloween!
Oh Tim Burton, why did you have to go and marry the beautiful Helena Bonham Carter when you were obviously meant for me? Hell, I’d marry Helena Bonham Carter too if I had the opportunity!
Starting November 22, 2009 and running until April 26, 2010, you can see Tim Burton’s artwork and films at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City.

© Tim Burton. All rights reserved. Used without permission.

© Tim Burton. All rights reserved. Used without permission.

© Tim Burton. All rights reserved. Used without permission.

© Tim Burton. All rights reserved. Used without permission.

© Tim Burton. All rights reserved. Used without permission.

© Tim Burton. All rights reserved. Used without permission.
Well, Gorey-esque is more like it.
Two selections from Twentysix Tiny Tombstones, a tribute to Edward Gorey’s Gashlycrumb Tinies.

© Jordi Villaverdi All rights reserved. Used without permission.

© Carlos Braña All rights reserved. Used without permission.
Check out these wonderful illustrations from Jesse E. Larson:

© Jesse E. Larson. All rights reserved. Used without permission.

© Jesse E. Larson. All rights reserved. Used without permission.

© Jesse E. Larson. All rights reserved. Used without permission.
This one would make an excellent Christmas card:

© Jesse E. Larson. All rights reserved. Used without permission.
Here’s a fun Gorey-esque short:
Dead All Along || Ceri Frost from Giles Timms on Vimeo.
NB – check out Trixie’s Treats for more great Halloween art.

Did you know that without bats there would be no tequila? Or that bananas, dates, figs, cashews, avocados and many other night-blooming tropical plants depend on bats for pollination? Or that a single little brown bat can catch more than 1,000 mosquitoes in an hour?
I guess you can tell I’m a big fan of bats – even my dog Ren looked like a flying fox. This is my computer wallpaper:
More bats


View a BBC One video of the biggest gathering of bats in the world.
Dawn Summers and I encountered some flying foxes while in Sydney Australia. Once again, she ran screaming like a little girl. I wanted to pet them. Aren’t they cute?
If you’re in New Orleans this month, check out the Matthew Kirscht exhibit at Big Top Gallery. You can also buy prints, postcards, books and buttons on his site.

© Matthew Kirscht. All rights reserved. Used without permission.

© Matthew Kirscht. All rights reserved. Used without permission.

© Matthew Kirscht. All rights reserved. Used without permission.
And check out his Dangerous Desserts – fun!
Did you know that originally, Jack o’ lanterns were were made from turnips and potatoes in Ireland? History.com has a fun section on the history of Jack o’ lanterns and Halloween.
In my neighborhood, every October someone would carve out a ton of baby pumpkins and impale them on their cast iron fence. As the month went on, the grinning or grimacing pumpkins would decay into shrunken heads. I went by there this evening to take some new photos but alas, no pumpkins. However, my friend Steve took a bunch of great photos last year. Here’s some old photos of the pumpkins during the middle of their decomposition:


Some jack o’ lanterns found on the web:

Gourds in Hell

Got the munchies

Crazy intricate Death Star
Some fun jack o’ lantern galleries:
Jack o’ Lanterns
Geeky Jack o’ Lanterns
Tips to carve your own:
Pumpkin-carving.com
Walt’s Pumpkin Carving Secrets
Pumpkin Masters