Posts Tagged ‘whimsey’
What am I sappy cat blogging?
March 13, 2015
Need some extra cuteness for your hot chocolate this winter season? How about a cat paw? Or even better, a whole cat? The Yawahada Marshmallow Shop creates adorable cat-themed marshmallows modeled after a cat named Hirokichi. (Depending on your vantage point, these can either be taken as uber-cute or a cruel image of a cat drowning.)
The marshmallows come with a vanilla coating and chocolate ears and paws to create its likeness. The cat-shaped sweets, which can be ordered online, go great even with tea or coffee, says the shop owners. With New York getting it’s very own cat café, we see a bright future for the marshmallows.
Re-blogged with thanks to Spoon and Tamago.
What am I drawing?
March 4, 2015
Just kidding – but only because I do not have a handy Canadian five-spot.
The story here from Huffington Post. Wilfred Laurier, Canada’s seventh Prime Minister and first fracophone leader, is immortalized on the five dollar bill and bears a resemblance to Star Trek’s Mr. Spock (RIP Leonard Nimoy).
The Canadian government says that “Spocking” the bills is not illegal – nor is it encouraged, eh?
What am I knitting on tattoo Tuesday?
January 27, 2015
This is a pair of socks I made using a double strand (Madelinetosh and Koigu yarns), 36 stitches on #4 needles. The cuff was knit on #2 needles. The furry part was knit on #4 needles. I had the furry yarn on hand. I cannot remember the manufacturer. I thought these socks would be nice and warm to wear around the house – or the office instead of wearing my boots all day!
I bought the sock yarn at Bo-Peep Fine Yarns in Ligonier, PA. This is a wonderful yarn shop!
Because it is Tuesday, here are some tattoos. You have heard of tattoo sleeves. It turns out there are tattoo socks, too. These designs, however, take the name literally.
What am I watching this time?
January 26, 2015This cool, little video is described as follows:
These 3-D printed sculptures, called aniforms, are designed to animate when spun under a strobe light. The placement of the appendages is determined by the same method nature uses in pinecones and sunflowers. The rotation speed is synchronized to the strobe so that one flash occurs every time the sculpture turns 137.5º—the golden angle. If you count the number of spirals on any of these sculptures you will find that they are always Fibonacci numbers.
For this video, rather than using a strobe, the camera was set to a very short shutter speed (1/4000 sec) in order to freeze the spinning sculpture.
What am I sappy cat blogging?
January 23, 2015These are my super-model cats, Commander Samuel Vimes (his Grace), and Hobbes (erstwhile materialist philosopher).
Cmdr. Samuel Vimes in a contemplative mood.
Sam and Hobbes – Maine Mountain Cats scaling the mantel.
Sam watching the news.
And paying close attention to the weather report.
What!? Now he’s buying a car!?
All of this activity is truly exhausting.
What am I wishing you?
December 24, 2014Merry Christmas!
I am a fan of paper sculpture. These lovely zoetropes were created for Spanish television broadcaster, TVE by Comodo screen. They made me smile.
What am I Lego-loving?
December 15, 2014
Building and playing with Legos is fun. Building and playing with model railroads is just as much fun. However, there are not many things better than when the two are combined.
It doesn’t matter what your age is, model trains and Legos have withstood the test of time and remain popular with kids, adults and hobbyists alike. There is just something about the creativity and imagination that are inherent qualities of both activities, and they’re even better when the two are combined.
This was certainly the case for Henrik Ludvigsen, of Denmark, and 80 of his friends. As an avid Lego enthusiast, Ludvigsen had amassed a large number of Lego rail pieces (from the 1960s and 1970s); therefore, he decided to do something grandiose with them all. Along with his fellow Lego advocates, he set out to design one massive, continuous railroad track out of nothing but Legos – a creative adventure that would place him and his associates in the record books.
Ludvigsen and his team of helpers pooled together all of their Lego pieces and solicited the help of fans all over the world to donate additional blue and / or white Lego pieces (tracks and support pieces). By the time they were ready to construct the railway on May 10-11, 2013, the team had collected nearly 100,000 Lego pieces for the project.
Ludvigsen and his team of 80 helpers worked tirelessly for six hours to build the complicated train layout. While the final design was void of any kind of accessories, decorations or scenery, there was one thing it was not short of … tracks. The end result was a winding track (with plenty of straightaways, as well) that stretched for nearly 2.5 miles in total distance (2.485 miles to be exact, or 4,000.25 meters). The project was so large that it earned the title and distinction of being the world’s longest plastic toy train track and the world’s longest Lego railway, according to the Guinness Book of World Records.
You would probably think the venue that played host to such an enormous task would have to be rather large, and you would be correct. The team of Lego lovers set up the track in a gym in Denmark, covering a majority of the floor.
When it came time to test the railroad, they placed a small train – also made out of Legos – on the tracks (it is not the same train featured in the video above, although the track is the same). Due in large part to the length of the track, but also because of the locomotive’s slow speed, the train took approximately four hours to make one circuit around the entire railroad.
Unfortunately, the set-up was only temporary. Ludvigsen and his team dismantled the track shortly after constructing it.
While building a massive model railway system may not be something you have the space or time for, releasing your inner child and embracing your love of all things model railroading (even if they aren’t your traditional model railroads) is a great outlet and can span generations.
What am I sappy owl blogging?
December 12, 2014
You have seen this. I just wanted to look at it again. Cool owl.
Gunsmoke and Knitting 