Alien Chestburster Puppet

Here's a test run of my latest bit of puppetry, made for Halloween 2010.



Gosh, it really turned out a lot more phallic than I'd intended. I don't think the shifty-looking overcoat helped much there, either.

I'm sure that the bit when it tries to bite me after I've been stroking it is a great metaphor for something.


Full DIY details here:
http://www.instructables.com/id/Alien-Chestburster-Puppet/ The puppet was sculpted in plasticine, then cast in latex from a plaster mould. Here are a few more photos of the process, with the finished costume (deep sea diver/alien victim) at the bottom.

How to fill a house party with interesting guests

So here's an idea I've been tossing around for a while. Living in a town where you don't know many people? Always meeting the same crowd at parties? Hoping to widen your social circle? Or maybe you're just lonely and don't have (m)any friends?

Try throwing a party using the invitation format below (click for larger image). It'll be interesting to see who turns up.


Yes, there's the risk that you'll end up with your house being trashed first by strangers and then by the police, but imagine how many people you'd meet!

Sociologically, it would be an interesting experiment. How many of your friends do you think would actually hand out invitations to strangers? How many strangers would accept? What criteria would people use for guest selection? I like to think that my friends are good judges of character, so my party should be populated by people with whom I'd get on well. Maybe.

Well, we'll find out in a couple of weeks at 999 Letsby Avenue (address changed for internet weirdo reasons). Wish me luck.


A note on the invitation itself: Yes, it's ugly, crowded and contains sloppy typography. Thanks for not pointing that out.

Photographic Terms for the Intrepid Fellow

Retro-anachronistic photographic visual puns abound!

Rather a large image here. Click for full size and watch out for concealed dinosaurs.

266 Words

Here's a riff on Alfred Eisenstaedt's “V-J Day in Times Square”. Gotta love that photo.

Click for a larger and more legible image.

The Copenhagen Misinterpretation

Quantum mechanics.

Half a cat was harmed in the making of this image.

And another shirt design

The animal is, of course, a chin chiller.

Knight Hawks