Empress Pam recently turned me on to an interesting decorating idea found in an unusual place: The restroom of a DC restaurant called Oyamel. (She’s not the only one who’s noticed it, either; about half the reviews I found online mentioned the restroom decor.)
One wall is lined floor-to-ceiling with small shadowboxes, each containing a calavera or other ethnic artwork, not to mention a hell of a lot of glitter. They’re like miniature shrines, and are perfect for highlighting small treasures. This would be a great way to display a collection of small items (like the calaveras), and each box could be decorated differently to really showcase its contents.
The Oyamel shadowboxes look fairly deep, so they probably wouldn’t be suitable for a small room where they might eat into the floor space. A wall of shallower boxes or a border of deeper boxes at eye level might work better. You’d also need to be careful if you put the shadowboxes in a bathroom or kitchen where humidity or aerosolized grease might damage the display items. “Real” shadowboxes with glass fronts can be expensive, but since these lack the glass you could build your own simple wooden boxes or even use sturdy cardboard. Cheap, easy, and highly unique.
I’ve mentioned DadCanDo in the past, but since they’ve done a bit of reorganizing I wanted to call your attention to The Dragonry.
It’s a whole section of dragon-related items, like these dragon eggs made from blown eggs and hot glue, the Dragon Hunter’s Goggles which could double as an inexpensive Steampunk accessory, and loads more. The projects are fairly easy and use readily-available materials, and they’re a marvelous source of inspiration.
A “real” dragon’s egg would make a wonderful and unique gift for a child (or a Game of Thrones-obsessed adult). It appears that their example uses a chicken egg, but since it’s embellished with hot glue and then painted there’s no reason you couldn’t use a larger plastic or wooden egg instead. Add some suitable documentation as to the egg’s provenance and perhaps a pretty wooden box to keep it in, and you’d have a lovely display piece.
Legendary steampunk modder Jake von Slatt has just completed his most ambitious–and, apparently, his last–makeover. He bought a 70s-era kit car on eBay and completely transformed it into a phenomenal steampunk confection. He offered it for sale and it was purchased within a day, but you can still see his process photos and drool over the vehicle in this video:
Although he’s claiming that this is his last steampunk project, it doesn’t seem to mean that he’s retiring from the steampunk community. He’s just not planning to do any more mods involving “steampunkifying” modern objects. A pity; he has a definite gift.
Rik Garrett is launching a new video series which explores “the historical exchange between art, science, and the occult.” The first episode covers the beginnings of Spiritualism.
Flayed Human Skull Antipasto Platter – The “meat head” is a fairly standard Halloween party dish, but this one is quite nicely done. Also includes a link to a recipe for coal-black bread. (Hat tip to DeVries)
Voodoo Cloaks – A look at the “technicolor” clothing associated with the religion of Voodoo in Benin.
Lost American Superstitions – Neat list of “lost” superstitions from early 20th Century America. My grandma subscribed to more than a few of these. (Hat tip to pdq)
Last week in Japan the opening of a national baseball game was “interrupted” by the ghosts from The Ring and The Grudge. Sadako (whose cleats, I believe, are my favorite part of this whole weird endeavor) pitched against a blood-streaked Kayako and her ghostly son. Because why not.
It was a promotion for the upcoming horror movie Sadako vs. Kayako, but I could just as easily believe that it was something the baseball team had decided to do for the hell of it. You could tell me literally anything happened in Japan and I would accept it without question.
Here’s a trailer for the upcoming movie. It’s a crossover in the Freddy vs. Jason vein, and according to Wikipedia the film was first teased as an April Fool’s joke last year. I can believe that, too.
Siouxsie and the Banshees’ cover of “Dear Prudence” became a top five hit for the band. What band originally recorded the song?
Today Transylvania is a part of Romania. However, when Dracula was published in 1897, the region belonged to which country?
A) Turkey
B) Poland
C) Albania
D) Hungary
E) Serbia
In Harry Potter, what was Tonks’ first name?
Clive Barker’s dark fantasy novel Weaveworld involves the magical race The Seerkind attempting to avoid the attentions of a destructive force called what?
A) It
B) Shadowman
C) The Scourge
D) Bane
E) The Darkness
The Orcs in Lord of the Rings couldn’t withstand sunlight, but Sauron and Saruman bred a stronger race which could. What were these warriors called?
Stephen King’s collection of short stories Night Shift included both a prequel and a sequel to his novel ‘Salem’s Lot. The prequel was “Jerusalem’s Lot.” What was the sequel titled?
A) “One for the Road”
B) “Nightflyers”
C) “Graveyard Shift”
D) “I Know What You Need”
E) “Sometimes They Come Back”
This DC Comics superhero is the ghost of Boston Brand, a former circus acrobat who was allowed to return from the dead to avenge his own murder.
The religion of Santería emerged in the Caribbean but has its roots in the mythology of which West African people?
A) Hutu
B) Yoruba
C) Zulu
D) Berber
E) Amhara
Frankenstein begins and ends with letters from an explorer named Captain Robert Walton describing his encounters with Victor Frankenstein and his monster. Where does he encounter them?
Charles Dickens’ The Uncommercial Traveller includes “nurse’s stories” recounted to him by his nanny. One of them was a retelling of the legend of Bluebeard, featuring a villain called whom?
A) Chips
B) Old Grim
C) Mr. Feeder
D) Doctor Death
E) Captain Murderer
Dust Buddies is a story about the friendship between two dust bunnies, Fuzz and Lint, who live peacefully under a couch. When an evil maid comes to clean the house and sucks Fuzz into her vacuum, Lint must overcome his fears and set out to rescue his friend.
Famous Last Meals – A modest collection of the last meals of criminals who received the death penalty. (via Jes)
The Costume Mercenary – Blog devoted to “photographs, sketches and concept art of pseudo-historical, fantasy, steampunk and scifi costume.” Gorgeous stuff.
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I’ve mentioned DadCanDo in the past, but since they’ve done a bit of reorganizing I wanted to call your attention to 
Legendary steampunk modder Jake von Slatt has just completed his most ambitious–and, apparently, his last–makeover. He bought a 70s-era kit car on eBay and completely transformed it into a phenomenal