Mirrors vs. Windows

The forests of Lebanon, the falls of the Nile

Sat, 14 Apr 2018 18:39:10 GMT

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Take a listen to this. Oud player Ahmed Alshaiba gives a Middle Eastern spin to a beloved soundtrack classic:

The Gael from The Last of the Mohicans

It's so fascinating to hear the effect when taking music of one cultural type and transforming it into music of another. This reminds me of what Loreena McKennitt did to God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen. Just lovely.

Enjoy!

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Lucas says hi!

Sun, 01 Apr 2018 22:14:06 GMT

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Hey, everyone. Sorry I haven't been around. I keep thinking I'm going to post more often, and then I don't. I think I might be tired of the internet. *sigh*

Anyway, I know some people don't like spiders, so I thought I'd post this. Lucas is an animation project by Joshua Slice, who decided to do something about people's arachnophobia. Thus, meet Lucas - the cutest spider in the world.

Lucas the Spider
He has too many eyeballs.

Lucas is voiced by Slice's five-year-old nephew, and is designed with all the visual tropes used by animators to humanize animals - big eyes that blink, short limbs, unthreatening postures. He is, in truth, the cutest spider I've ever seen.

Lucas has his own Youtube channel, where you can watch him playing in the sink, dealing with the new "polar bear" in the house, and cleverly escaping capture in a wine glass. (The one where he plays a tiny harp and sings a song will lay you out flat, it's so adorable.)

Here's a video about Lucas's origins and process.

Lucas's creator explains how he makes people
fall in love with spiders.

Enjoy!

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LOL

Sun, 28 Jan 2018 21:36:06 GMT

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Scratch, scratch, scratch, scratch...

The Spider Who Couldn't Hide

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Wonderful Youtube channel, plus a holiday reminder

Tue, 05 Dec 2017 01:23:34 GMT

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Hi everyone!

I'd like to introduce you to a wonderful Youtube channel called Townsends. It's run by Jon Townsend, a historial re-enactor. It's all about life, and mostly food, in the 1700's. Fantastic recipes, lots of great info on life in the 18th century, and Jon, who is truly a lovely narrator: genial, gentle, enthusiastic. I've made several of the recipes and they are delicious as well as being interesting. This is a great channel for hobbit writers, as it gives you a great view of life around the time (maybe a bit before) that parallels the level of development, more or less, of the Shire. The channel has been running for about 10 years, I think, with an episode around every 1-2 weeks, so there are LOADS of things to watch! Please check it out, and please pimp the channel to other hobbity folks. I'm sure you'll like it and will want to watch it further.

Here are a couple of their vids to start your off:

Here's a recipe Sam would absolutely have known how to make:

And a recipe for the holiday table. Frodo and Bilbo would have enjoyed this at Yule!

And now, a reminder: I still have a lot of hobbity stuff on my sale page. If you're looking for gifts for hobbity friends, please take a look! And please let other people know it's there!

Enjoy!

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