Saturday, May 26, 2012

OneSize Anno 2012

Baba Yaga



Baba Yaga or Baba Roga (also known by various other names) is a haggish or witchlike character in Slavic folklore. She flies around on a giant mortar, kidnaps (and presumably eats) small children, and lives in a hut that stands on chicken legs. In most Slavic folk tales, she is portrayed as an antagonist; however, some characters in other mythological folk stories have been known to seek her out for her wisdom, and she has been known on rare occasions to offer guidance to lost souls. According to Propp, she often fulfills the function of donor; that is, her role is in supplying the hero (sometimes unwillingly) with something necessary to further his quest. (vrijbuiter)

Rockwell Turbo Encabulator (Version 2)

Friday, May 25, 2012

Oyasumi Punpun, Asano Inio


(hi-mi-zu)

Ceramic art by Carol Gouthro


 















“I have a strong interest in natural forms, cultural artifacts and personal mementos. I am drawn to ornament, embellishment, pattern, and texture. For the last ten years the vessel forms in my ceramic work have slowly been evolving into botanically inspired hybrid sculptural forms. In working on these pieces I have become more involved with the details, the close ups, the abstract, the peering into. My interest in detail, layers and encrustations has been heightened by repeated travels to India and China. I am fascinated by the complexity, diversity, beauty and danger of the natural world and this leads to thoughts about growth, nourishment, attraction, and sexuality. Built into these hybrids are some of the artifacts and mementos that form my DNA.” (bookspaperscissors)

The Sentient

Wednesday, May 23, 2012

William S Burroughs.







Marvelous

“That same evening, all the participants got envelopes with a demarcated route, a detailed description of the dreams they were supposed to have at individual stages of the journey, and individual tasks. Immediately it became obvious that the warnings of the Grand Master’s emissary were not just empty phrases. Without those warnings, the tasks would have made everyone wonder. I will cite just a few: One Bicyclist, for example, was to buy ten grams of hashish in a certain street from a certain man in Istanbul, and then to smoke it during the month of September in room 213 of the ‘Paris Hotel’; another, on the other hand, was ordered to buy an old house in Smyrna, to renovate it, furnish it and then give it to a third Bicyclist who was to arrive in Smyrna on August 15 in order to set that same house on fire during the night of the 16th and 17th; one was actually supposed to open a fabric store in Athens, and another to become a chef at the residence of the British ambassador in Ankara.”
- Svetislav Basara, The Cyclist Conspiracy   (Via: Invisible Stories & Ride the Machine)

Wednesday, May 16, 2012

Welcome to Weirdsville: The Book!

As some of you may know, I've written a whole bunch of short weird history, weird art, weird science and just plain ... well, weird pieces over the years for sites like the late-lamented Bonetree, The Cud, and - especially - Dark Roasted Blend.  

Well, I am very excited to be able to announce the publication of a whole collection of these pieces - and more! - in Welcome to Weirdsville by the fabulous Renaissance E Books/Pageturner Books!

As part of publicity for this fun project I'm also going to be posting some of the articles here on Meine Kleine Fabrik (both the Blogger and the Tumblr version).

Avi, by the way, just posted a delightful announcement about the book on Dark Roasted Blend.  Thanks so much, Avi!



"A wonderful compendium of interesting subjects and fascinating topics. Will keep you reading just to found out what's going to be covered next. Highly recommended for all lovers of weird & wonderful this side of the Universe." -Avi Abrams, Dark Roasted Blend.  
Sure, you may know M. Christian as an erotica master - or even as a respected author of science fiction (see his Love Without Gun Control for example) but did you know that he is also the author of this brand-new book of historical - and humorous - essays and tidbits?  Read Welcome to Weirdsville and we'll promise you'll never look at the world the same way again! 
Peek under the rugs, open more than a few drawers, peek in the back shelves and you'll find that ... well, Lord Byron himself said it best: "Truth is always strange, stranger than fiction." Lakes that explode, parasites that can literally change your mind, The New Motor, a noble Word War 1 German pirate, the odd nature of ducks, the War Magician, the City of Fire, men and their too big guns, a few misplaced nuclear weapons, an iceberg aircraft carrier, the sad death of Big Mary, the all-consuming hunger of the Bucklands, the giggling genius of Brian G. Hughes, the Kashasha laughter epidemic.... Ponder that in a world that holds things like kudzu, ophiocordyceps unilateralis, The Antikythera Device, The Yellow Kid, Leopold and Rudolf Blaschka, Alfred Jarry, Joseph Pujol, and suicide-bombing ants ... who knows what other kinds of wonders as well as horrors may be out there?

Monsieur Hulot

Tuesday, May 15, 2012

Just A Reminder -


- to check out my Flickr feed for a few of my experiments in getting back into photography.