You’d better clear your calendar before clicking this link because you’re going to be browsing for a while.
With a tagline of “Stay weird,” The Oddities Blog’s purpose is “to celebrate the weird and wild eccentricities throughout history.” It’s part medical curiosities in the vein of the Mütter Museum, part historical peculiarities, and part your crazy aunt’s attic.
Not only is this material fascinating for its own sake, much of it is a fantastic source of inspiration for art or props. There’s a lovely miniature curiosity collection which would be an amazing display piece or gift; it’d be fun to browse antique shops and thrift stores for treasures to display. There are lots of vintage medical illustrations and unusual woodcuts like this leaf from The Nuremberg Chronicle which would be great as part of a collage or scrapbook. And there are historical oddities like the relic which is purported to be the head of a possessed nun; a prop version would be a marvelous addition to a wunderkammer, particularly if you rigged it so that the eyes would occasionally glow red.
Note that a few of the images are technically NSFW, and more than a few are kind of squicky, so browse accordingly.
(No prizes, but if you can answer them all without googling you get bragging rights.)
Which “Scream Queen” made a horror workout video in which a masked killer stalks her exercise buddies, then she shows some out-of-shape zombies the best ways to keep fit?
A) Jamie Lee Curtis
B) Heather Langenkamp
C) Linnea Quigley
D) Debbie Rochon
E) Neve Campbell
This Japanese river imp has a water-filled depression on top of its head which is its source of power; it can be defeated by bowing to it, forcing it to politely return the bow and spill the water.
The TV series Being Human (BBC version) takes place in what city?
A) London
B) Cardiff
C) Bath
D) Glasgow
E) Bristol
This Discworld novel by Terry Pratchett sees Granny Weatherwax and Nanny Ogg pitted against Count Magpyr and his family of vampires.
The album Sunfighter includes songs about werewolves (“When I Was a Boy I Watched the Wolves”) and cannibalism (“Silver Spoon”); it was recorded by two members of this much more famous band:
A) The Grateful Dead
B) Jefferson Airplane
C) Cream
D) The Who
E) Jethro Tull
The Scottish were-creatures called Selkies can transform into what animal?
The first known mermaid stories are about the goddess Atargartis, from which ancient civilization?
A) Assyria
B) Carthage
C) Sumeria
D) Crete
E) Babylonia
The 1982 movie The Thing opens with a helicopter pursuing what animal?
In the Voudou religion, who is the supreme deity?
A) Papa Legba
B) Bondye
C) Simbi
D) Damballah
E) Baron Samedi
In Beetlejuice, what is the name of the Maitland’s case worker?
Here’s another film that didn’t do particularly well at the box office but deserves to be rescued from obscurity. It’s based on a “White Lady” legend local to the area where the film is set, concerning a ghostly woman who eternally searches for her lost children. It’s probably a bit too spooky for small children, but reasonably okay for older kids (with the caveat that part of the plot involves a serial killer of children).
You don’t even have to go rent this one, since the whole movie is available on YouTube. Ta-da:
Posted in Whatever|Comments Off on Underappreciated Movie: The Lady in White
We’ve been doing this virtual fake gift swap for a while now, and darned if we aren’t going to do it again.
It’s easy (and free!) to participate: Between now and December 10, leave a comment on this post or email me saying that you want to be part of the swap. On the 12th I’ll tell you who your assigned “giftee” is, and some time before December 21 you post a picture on your blog of what you would have gotten that person if you had money and, y’know, cared.
Your “gift” can be as silly or serious as you like, and since you probably won’t know the recipient, feel free to make up whatever story you want about why the gift is appropriate. (If you don’t have a blog, you can arrange to have your gift posted here.)
On December 24 I’ll post a list of everybody’s entries so we can all marvel at each other’s good taste. It’s a silly, fun way to take a short break from general holiday craziness, plus we can all discover new blogs we might not otherwise find. The more people who participate the more entertaining the gift list will be, so put your inner Scrooge in a corner and join in!
“High fashion” tends to make me roll my eyes a whole lot, but I ran across these two designs by Jean Louis Sabaji and they strike me as something that could be turned to darker ends.
The spiky bits on the red-and-black dress are beads (click the thumbnail to see more detail), but I initially thought they were made of Sugru, and I suspect that a low-rent knockoff could be made exactly that way. At the very least, you could add some dragon spikes to shoulders or neck.
The butterflies on the other dress appear to be made of hard plastic. I love the 3-D effect, and a dress or blouse would look stunning dotted with bats or ravens cut from acrylic film.
Sabaji’s site has a back view of the red-and-black dress which shows that the spikes run across the upper back, making it at least theoretically possible to sit down whilst wearing it. There’s no back view of the butterfly dress but you would want to confine them to the upper areas of the back, lest they poke you in odd places when sitting.
If you’ve got a plain dress or shirt and feel like experimenting, these would be a really unusual way to give them a lift.
The Smithsonian Will Allow 3-D Printing of Artifacts – If you’ve got access to a 3-D printer, this is a pretty fantastic resource. The collection of patterns is small at the moment, but should continue to grow. (Hat tip to WitchArachne)
Just in time for the holidays, here’s a site to spend a whole bunch of money! Woo-hoo!
EvaDress specializes in creating reproductions of patterns dating from the 1860s through the 1950s, including several interesting designs that I haven’t seen on other vintage pattern sites (the single caveat being the same one I have about most pattern vendors, in that men and children tend to be underrepresented). The prices are quite reasonable for repro patterns, and the styles are very goth-friendly: Of particular interest, obviously, is the Bat Dress dating from the 1880s. I’ve seen the drawing elsewhere and have always been struck by how adorably vintage it looked. (There are a couple more photos of the reproduction here.)
The site also has a companion blog with loads of photos and build notes, which are either an excellent source of inspiration or (if you’re like me) a super-fast way to feel really inadequate about your sewing skills.
There’s some gorgeous, really unique designs–go take a look!
You’d better clear your calendar before clicking this link because you’re going to be browsing for a while.
We’ve been doing this 
Just in time for the holidays, here’s a site to spend a whole bunch of money! Woo-hoo!