Hatching Phoenix

thefrogman: I am a team player.

Tue, 21 May 2013 22:07:46 -0400

I am a team player.

jamescfemmer: gruntledandhinged: ALL of this. Encourage people...

Sat, 18 May 2013 14:43:58 -0400

gruntledandhinged:

ALL of this. Encourage people to try new words, to mess them up, to experiment with vocabulary, to learn complicated adjectives and verbs and nouns, because words are fun.

Also, don’t be a jerk.

Because this happens to me.

art-of-swords: Sword-Catching Parrying Dagger Dated:...

Sun, 12 May 2013 09:49:46 -0400

art-of-swords:

Sword-Catching Parrying Dagger

Dated: 1600

Culture: Italian

This unusual fencing dagger demonstrates the way in which the artistic qualities of a weapon could be influenced by the practical concerns of the swordsman. The Renaissance duel was usually fought with rapier and dagger. The rapier, as the main weapon of attack, was complemented by a parrying dagger held in the left hand, used primarily for defensive movements.

However, by 1600 fighting with the rapier alone was becoming the latest fashion. The opposing blade could still be parried or beaten away with the left hand. The free left also allowed the duellist to grab hold of his enemy’s swordblade, temporarily immobilising it to expose him to a lethal counter-thrust.

This distinctive fencing weapon is designed to provide the blade-grabbing ability of the free left hand, while retaining the dagger for defensive action. The arrow-like barbs allowed a sword blade to enter the ‘jaw’ of the dagger, but made it difficult to free it again. With his weapon ensnared, the enemy was exposed, if only for an instant.

The practical challenges of creating such a specialised weapon were considerable. The hardened and tempered steel blade had to be carefully cut with the series of dramatically barbed teeth, a laborious process. The spaces between the teeth have been elegantly filed with ornamental edges, while the base of the blade has been finely etched and gilt- an unusual feature, even for high-quality weapons. In this way, despite its very specific function as a fighting tool, the weapon’s artistic merit is evident.

Source & Copyright: The Wallace Collection

"A woman from the audience asks: ‘Why were there so few women among the Beat writers?’ and [Gregory]..."

Thu, 09 May 2013 09:23:36 -0400

“A woman from the audience asks: ‘Why were there so few women among the Beat writers?’ and [Gregory] Corso, suddenly utterly serious, leans forward and says: “There were women, they were there, I knew them, their families put them in institutions, they were given electric shock. In the ’50s if you were male you could be a rebel, but if you were female your families had you locked up.”

-
Stephen Scobie, on the Naropa Institute’s 1994 tribute to Allen Ginsberg (via thisisendless)

FUCK

(via femmeboyant)

I’m just frozen. Absences of women in history don’t “just happen,” they are made.

(via queereyes-queerminds)

thefrogman: I didn’t come to rescue your sass, princess.

Sat, 04 May 2013 23:28:44 -0400

thefrogman:

I didn’t come to rescue your sass, princess.

paddymacjr: Really, the New Yorker magazine? Marvel...

Sat, 04 May 2013 00:14:00 -0400

paddymacjr:

Really, the New Yorker magazine? Marvel Entertainment drew that image? Not Jack Kirby and Don Heck? Really?

Sure, your art department was happy, having ironically depicted the goofy, clunky, first comic book appearance of Iron Man to illustrate the review for the new-fangled, shiny, 3D movie version of the hero-robot. Sure, the legal department cleared it because, yes, a court of law has upheld the fact that a corporation created this art. But your massive fact check department let an attribution like this slide?

When every other week your back pages feature an “illustration” or two that’s nothing more than some Photoshop fun with stock photos, the person doing the shopping gets credited as well as the people who snapped the pictures and the syndicate who bought them. Why couldn’t the same respect be extended to one of pop culture’s most tragically under respected creators?

A couple years ago a Harry Bliss cartoon appeared in your caption contest which was an homage to Kirby’s cover to Tales to Astonish #39. It features a typically lumpy and dumpy Kirby monster scaling the wall of an apartment building, and a typically upper-middle class New Yorker cartoon character talking on the phone and sipping red wine, completely unaware of his impending doom. There was a bit of a tizzy when the denizens of the internet pointed out that the cartoon was based mostly on a Kirby drawing, and Kirby wasn’t credited. Although I think an “after Kirby” note probably should have accompanied the new drawing, I’ll never begrudge a cartoonist for appropriating existing work. Especially when the very meat of his joke is taking a hokey comic book monster and putting him into the context of snooty, high-brow Manhattan everyday life. But this is different. This straight-up is a Jack Kirby drawing. Of Iron Man. Illustrating a review of Iron Man 3. With no credit.

The New Yorker has done so much for comics. You give cartoonists who think in terms of one-liners a chance to actually make a career of it. With the influence of Françoise Mouly and Art Spiegelman, you’ve helped to legitimize alternative comics among the literary elite. Please stop treating Jack Kirby, who those few of us who are more interested in comics than in superheroes call “King,” like nothing more than a finger in the hand of the corporate master he once served.

DISCLOSURE: I know some people who work at the New Yorker, and happen to be madly in love with one of them. I’ve also been madly in love with the magazine ever since I was a little boy flipping through each issue once it arrived in order to find all the cartoons, swears and boobs within.

tompeyer: This contraption is a kaboodle of...

Thu, 02 May 2013 22:34:53 -0400

tompeyer:

This contraption is a kaboodle of doohickeys!

Remember when Iron Man looked like Vincent Price?

wheelr: princehamlette: In celebration of the new Star Trek...

Thu, 02 May 2013 22:27:51 -0400

wheelr:

princehamlette:

In celebration of the new Star Trek film FINALLY coming out, here is every main character from every series of Star Trek with carefully hand drawn silhouette profiles of all the actors who played them!

This is available as a print and a tee shirt/hoodie on my Society6 shop.

This is a lovely, lovely piece, but it makes me very conscious of the fact that Star Trek and “great costume design” are two things that never really managed to intersect. Tough to do character through costume when you’re a paramilitary organisation, of course, but they weren’t even good uniforms! In any iteration!

See, this is where Gundam has Star Trek beat. Sweet military uniforms.

buzzfeedsports: Jason Collins, a 34-year-old center with 12...

Mon, 29 Apr 2013 22:45:26 -0400

buzzfeedsports:

Jason Collins, a 34-year-old center with 12 years experience in the NBA, just came out as gay in the latest issue of Sports Illustrated.

[via]

Congratulations, Mr. Collins. May you be the first of many.

duck-tective: you can have 14 pancakes or 132 there is no...

Mon, 29 Apr 2013 22:39:00 -0400

duck-tective:

you can have 14 pancakes or 132 there is no inbetween

For a house of pancakes, stir 1,247 cups blueberries into batter.

nedroidcomics: Inspired by Candy Crush and so many other mobile...

Mon, 29 Apr 2013 08:23:04 -0400

nedroidcomics:

Inspired by Candy Crush and so many other mobile games

60bee: Chrono Trigger - One of the best games to date.

Sun, 28 Apr 2013 11:37:51 -0400

60bee:

Chrono Trigger - One of the best games to date.

odditiesoflife: Recycled Animal Art Driven by a combination of...

Sun, 28 Apr 2013 11:32:08 -0400

odditiesoflife:

Recycled Animal Art

Driven by a combination of her passion for fitting odd shapes together and a sympathy toward discarded objects, Japanese artist, Sayaka Ganz creates animals from thrift store plastics. She only select objects that have been used and discarded. She believes the best way for artists to help reduce waste is to show how beautiful the materials can be and what can be done with them.

allthingslaura: This has kept me giggling all morning. Theon...

Thu, 25 Apr 2013 16:43:32 -0400

allthingslaura:

This has kept me giggling all morning. Theon really needs some life coaching.

(Spoiler Alert)

Getting life-coached by Ramsey Snow didn’t work out too well for him.

chrisroberson: swegener: americanninjax: thesecretkeith: Okay...

Wed, 17 Apr 2013 08:13:57 -0400

chrisroberson:

swegener:

americanninjax:

thesecretkeith:

Okay so there is a sequel to My Neighbor Totoro (1988) , and it’s called Mei and the Kittenbus (2003)…

…Did people know about this why would tHEY HIDE THIS FROM ME OMG TOTORO SEQUEL KITTENBUSGDGSA!!

Whaaaaaat?

NEED THIS

WHAT?!

It’s a short presented in the Miyazaki museum in Tokyo. I don’t know if it has ever been released in the US. Sadly, they weren’t playing it on the day I was there.

billy-and-the-clonasaurus: nekoama: Went and saw Jurassic Park...

Tue, 16 Apr 2013 08:16:09 -0400

billy-and-the-clonasaurus:

nekoama:

Went and saw Jurassic Park 3D this weekend (I have never seen it in theaters and it was a blast)

Thought of how different the movie could seem from another perspective.

‘Let me hug you with my mouth.’

yamino: thefrogman: Please, think of the children. [original...

Fri, 12 Apr 2013 23:25:31 -0400

yamino:

thefrogman:

Please, think of the children.

[original via okcgoldmine]

I love Frogman.

Dammit, he’s on to me.

johnhexcarter: yokothetypo: nerdyshow: We interviewed Jeremy...

Mon, 08 Apr 2013 21:33:13 -0400

johnhexcarter:

yokothetypo:

nerdyshow:

We interviewed Jeremy Soule, composer for Skyrim, Guild Wars 2, and many other epic games. In this episode we discuss his new, landmark symphonic project, The Northerner, and review BioShock Infinite!

Part 1 is out now, part 2 this Thursday!
http://nerdyshow.com/2013/04/episode-131-going-north-with-jeremy-soule-part-1/

!!!!

this happened! i was unfortunately at work when it happened, but boy howdy was it a helluvan interview! listen in :)

A fascinating interview with one of the great composers of our time.

cutlerish: aidiera: ih8religion: Logical and Rhetorical...

Mon, 08 Apr 2013 21:32:17 -0400

cutlerish:

aidiera:

ih8religion:

Logical and Rhetorical Fallacies

Y’all better learn these. They’ll make you a better person.

ARB logical and rhetorical fallacies.

warrenellis: uncannypanels: Nextwave: Agents of H.A.T.E. #2 by...

Mon, 01 Apr 2013 22:37:17 -0400

warrenellis:

uncannypanels:

Nextwave: Agents of H.A.T.E. #2 by Warren Ellis and Stuart Immonen

Sometimes I genuinely wonder what the fuck was wrong with me, that year.