Startlingly Lifelike Tableaux!

The Fiji Island Mermaid Press has directed highly trained employees of the United States Postal Service to deliver "Startlingly Lifelike Tableaux: Illustrating dramatic moments from great works of literature" to the homes of FIMP Book of the Month subscribers. They are fanning across the country as this message is being typed. Isn't that something!

A cautionary note - the words "startlingly" and "dramatic" have been used rather, well, carelessly in the title of this month's book.

The Tower of Babel

The joke that appears in subtitles in the final telling of the video is the original text, which was run several times through an online translation service. It was translated into Dutch, then French, then German, then back to English. You encounter 4 English versions in the video (two spoken and two in subtitles), which in order are the translations of the Dutch, French, German, and the original joke.

No wonder the world's a mess - we can't tell each other jokes. How could you translate "I can clearly see your (you're) nuts" in a joke, when it's only funny if "your" and "nuts" retain both of their meanings?

y'know, sort of a scary anxious pig-person type thing.

Zapatas

For when you need to fix your chairs and get a sandwich. Seen in Fentress, TX.

Getting an early start.

Maybe we're taking her to too many galleries. . .

Looking again

Robert Hirsch of Light Research sent this as a reply to looking. This is an image from his recent photographic work commissioned by the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra for its upcoming production of the opera Shining Brow.

I've wanted more than anything to have your respect

Return of the Cowboy

I am happy to say that the very large cowboy sign that had gone missing over a month ago has returned. The sign is a little different looking, but I am happy to see him back in place on my commute to work. I still don't know why the cowboy is there in the first place and there isn't even a driveway that I can see to go on the property. Something tells me that it wouldn't be a good idea to just hop the fence and start wandering around - as the cowboy reminds me, this is Texas (I'm still waiting to see my first baby stroller with a gun rack attached... I know it is out there somewhere)

How To Draw. . .

A Really Bad Day Bungee Jumping.
If you would like to see the entire image, just surf on over to the auction on eBay.

Welcome, little 300 millionth person!

FIMP would like to pause for a moment and welcome baby Miss or Mister 300 millionth person in the United States, who was born today at 7:46 a.m. ET. Congratulations! Welcome aboard! Do great things, and make us all proud. We're rooting for you.

Digging Pitt

John Morris over on his Digging Pitt blog posts his thoughts on some of FIMP's books . Digging Pitt Gallery, by the way, is one of THE places to see works on paper in Pittsburgh - he maintains quite an extensive set of flat files, open to the public. Be sure to check 'em out if you're in town.

Guardians

A new linocut and a strange postcard.

Should you need some new art in your life, you might want to visit FIMP's auctions on eBay. You'll find "Recital", a new linocut, a detail of which you see here, and a new "collaborative" postcard project. Check 'em out.

A Review of FIMP's Book of the Month Club

Shawn Hoke has reviewed several FIMP books on his "Size Matters" blog. Go check it out, along with his many other entertaining reviews of mini-comics!

Just try to keep things in perspective!

I remember seeing this movie when I was a kid, probably at one of the Smithsonian museums. I found it fascinating and a bit frightening:

POWERS OF TEN


Years later, another classic piece of film helped me deal with a similar problem of our place in the grand scheme of things:

THE GALAXY

From the Sports Desk here at FIMP News. . .

This morning my baby and I paused on our daily stroll to catch the kickball action at the local playground. At a particularly tense moment, the 3rd grader at the plate yelled to the pitcher as he was rolling the ball, "C'mon, put some pepper on that bitch!"

Someday I'm going to have to keep a straight face when I explain to my daughter how inappropriate that is. I'm just glad it wasn't today. I couldn't manage it yet.

It's a camera! It's a sculpture!

Isn't this a beautiful thing?

In a beautiful pinhole camera update, here's the finished camera/sculpture, titled "Memocam".