Media madness for the bored and restless
Way back in 2018, when the world wasn't turned upside down with a pandemic and we could go and see the wonders of life, I managed to catch an exhibition by Mothmeister held in London. Excitedly I rushed home and wrote about them, as I was so in awe and inspired by their work. I... Continue Reading →
What I really enjoyed about the end of last year, was how everyone I know got very excited about seeing the back of 2020. It was almost as if some magical force would take away COVID and Donald Trump and we would be left with some utopian society that would live harmoniously together. Now that... Continue Reading →
It's a tale as old as time right? Father wanders into someone else's house, crashes for the night and then goes to steal some roses, beast comes out and say he will kill him or he can hand over one of his daughters. Said daughter turns up, is terrified of the beast, but it is... Continue Reading →
We all know the story of "Little Red Riding Hood", right? WRONG! No, you know the tamed edition which is nice and child friendly where Red escapes with the help of a friendly woodcutter, and they manage to cut Grandma out of the wolf's stomach and everyone lives happily ever after. Well...while the Brothers Grimm... Continue Reading →
As a kid (and to an extent, still today) I loved disney movies, although not overly the ones with Princesses in... I know I drove my brother to distraction watching "The Jungle Book" and I loved watching "The Fox and the Hound" with my Dad. As soon as you start to venture into Princess territory... Continue Reading →
In the weird story game, Europe has to be up there in the top 5, which is probably what made it so easy for the Brothers Grimm to collect so many creepy and totally dark tales of people being either completely manic or mistreated. This is not to say that other cultures don't have such... Continue Reading →
I find it amusing how simple and compliant the heroines in stories can be sometimes. Some of them have been through horrible things, but don't appear to have trust issues of any sort. They appear to walk blindly into traps, and hope by the grace of God that there is a man around to help... Continue Reading →
I often talk about the importance of understanding stories, culture and history as a key to understanding art and films. It gives you a firm grounding to use applied knowledge and link subjects together that are comparable. Folk/fairy stories serve a purpose to deliver a moral and to entertain. Many of the tales we tell... Continue Reading →
Have you ever watched something, and immediately wanted to watch it again? This film was exactly that for me. It is so rich in symbolism and so dense with nods to other stories, elements and film productions that it really get the brain ticking. It is a film that sucks you and a leaves you... Continue Reading →
You know, Disney has a lot to answer for in the mutilating a story stake...I am not talking about your "Dumbos" or "Bambis", more things like..."Pocahontas" and "The Hunchback of Notre Dam" where they butcher either history or a well written story to present a cutesy happy ending, when in reality it wasn't quite so. ... Continue Reading →
Did you know that the fear of belly buttons is called omphalophobia? I can't really imagine being afraid of, what is essentially a scar which reminds you of your own creation, but I don't like people on stilts, so each to their own. Michelangelo, was a bit of a rock star of art, having the... Continue Reading →
Peacocks are beautiful aren't they. I have recently had one tattooed on my leg as there is so much symbolism that surrounds them, they are vain and showy, but also deemed as royalty and a protector because of the association with with Hera from Greek mythology. When I saw this picture I was obviously drawn... Continue Reading →
You know, I saw a tweet the other day which was encouraging people to stop following influencers on social media and to start following artists, as influencers tend to drive poor self image in people (because they are always picture perfect, tanned, primed for looking their best) and make the younger generation aspire to a... Continue Reading →
It has been an absolute age since I have written about anything remotely mythy, so unashamedly, I admit, that after re-watching the first season of "American Gods" (fantastic series, I recommend watching...or read the book), I felt the urge to dust off my mythy geekdom and have a bash at trying to explain a tiny... Continue Reading →
As I am sure you guys know, I have been banging on about doing a course on Greek mythology for a while. Well my final assignment is in and up for marking, but I found it a really interesting subject, so thought I would share it with you. This isn't really about any particular piece... Continue Reading →
I have really had fun writing these posts, as it has given me a lot to look over in areas that interest me - art (albeit some of it awful), Greek mythology and the actions of people. I have received some great feedback from readers, so if there are other things like this, that you... Continue Reading →
I apologies now for starting on an ugly picture, but I left off just before the Cretan bull, and frankly the pictures of Putin in heroic Greek stance get uglier from here on out... but as Magnus Magnusson used to say..."I've started, so I'll finish" (for anyone who isn't British and have no clue that... Continue Reading →
I don't really know if you have been on tenterhooks or not for the next round of Putin as Hercules, but I am hoping that you are finding the perception of him fascinating! So where were we? Hercules had Killed the lion and the hydra and got the deer. Putin has fought with terrorism, staved... Continue Reading →
Do you ever have one of those days where you think...maybe I made the wrong choice? Perhaps you put on a pair of shoes that are really uncomfortable, or you told someone some advice that you later felt was probably inappropriate, or maybe you helped pick out the fairest woman alive, not knowing that your... Continue Reading →
Depending on your outlook on life, you may believe in horoscopes or you might just think they are a bunch of hocum. Personally I think that one horoscope reading a day/week/month for the amount of people that would fall under that star sign is a little far fetched, and they are kept intentionally vague to... Continue Reading →
It was International Women's Day yesterday... if you hadn't heard. It's a day to break down barriers and try and dispel behaviours which bring about a gender gap. I like to think that the gender gap is dwindling, but there are times when the perception of men and women wildly differ. For example, if a... Continue Reading →
Do you remember 'Ghostbusters 2'? You know the one where a picture tries to get a museum worker to steal a baby so that it can put its spirit in it. Under the streets of New York there is a river of reactive slime and the statue of liberty is brought to life? Do you... Continue Reading →
Today is the day when hallmark are rubbing their hands together as people everywhere exchange cards, declaring that today they love each other more than any other day of the year, but actually the really St. Valentine is a far stretch from the patron saint of love that you might believe that he is. I... Continue Reading →
I have really enjoyed the gauntlets which some people have thrown down for me, but you can always guarantee that someone will throw something your way that makes the cogs tick more than most. I can thank Artschaft for throwing this head scratcher at me. Heine was a german artist, born in 1867. He was a... Continue Reading →
We all have our own personal idea of hell. Mine is either being stuck in a room full of crying babies or being in a world where I was unable to get a caffeine fix. Ok so neither may seem that terrifying or daunting and there are hundreds of things that in reality are worse... Continue Reading →
Did you know that during the years 1920-1940 the film industry instigated colour coding for good guys and villains in cowboy films? Good guys got white hats and bad guys had black ones. While this was a standardised convention during this time to assist audiences in categorising the characters the first time this was used... Continue Reading →
There is a reason that my alias is WidowCranky, one it is obviously a play on the panto character, Widow Twanky from Aladdin, the comedy stock character, who nags and moans, which led me to the change the name to Cranky as I only really moan when I see something that doesn't sit right with... Continue Reading →
We all know the image of the chubby cherub. The one with the bow and arrow that can spark love in an instant. The image is used every February on cards that we send as a hallmark tradition to tell that special person that we love them more on that one day than any other,... Continue Reading →
Some days I just wish I could turn up to work riding a giant clam. I think it would start the day off with some form of excitement, rather than sitting in traffic waiting to drive over a fly over which appears to have been built out of mechano. Although turning up naked to the... Continue Reading →
Life is short and fragile, yet it continues on in a cycle of birth and death. Nature really is a wonderful thing. The seasons taking taking the nature around us through this cycle yearly. We start in the spring, with new life rising from the earth and follow it through summer to an abundance of... Continue Reading →
I hate people coming to my front door...but it's usually the Avon lady or some form of religious group, all of who hand me leaflets or books which I either need to dispose of or give back, and that is annoying in itself. If however someone turned up at my door, for the soul purpose... Continue Reading →
Today I am sticking with Iceland, simply because I have found their Christmas traditions quite entertaining. So if the Yule Lads and Grýla weren't scary enough for you, maybe the final in the trio will top off the Christmas fear factor for you. The Yule Cat, or Jólakötturinn, presents another threat for all people in Iceland, not... Continue Reading →
For those of you that have children, I am sure that there are many of you that sometimes wish that the little darlings would just sit down and behave. I appreciate that you all feel that your little angels are amazing, but as Christmas approaches, excitement peaks and they can get a little over exuberant... Continue Reading →
I quite like a little jaunt out. Get a bit merry, maybe cause a little bit of frivolity now and then, but as I get older it gets a bit fewer and further between jaunts. That is nothing compared to the Yule Lads as they are now confined to coming out for 13 nights a... Continue Reading →
How many times have you been left a piece of coal? Probably never, unless your family think that they are hilarious in trying to make you think you've been naughty and Santa has left you nothing but a sooty handful. While this is a bit of a forgotten empty threat these days, there is actually... Continue Reading →
If you could wish for anything at all, what would it be? World peace? Money? Life time supply of chocolate? I am sure there is something we would all wish for given the chance. I would love to say I would wish for something really honourable like solving world hunger, but right now what I... Continue Reading →
'Good Morning Mr Magpie, How's your lady wife today?' is a common phrase muttered if you see a solitary magpie, or if you are like me and lazy, you might just give it a nod. Mostly because I try and logically talk myself out of superstition, but some habits die hard. Superstitions are odd, for... Continue Reading →
Occasionally I will come across something that completely baffles me. It's not often as I really like to profess my utter geekdom in all things mythical, but this one has me stumped. I've done a fair bit of research, but Chinese myth is fraught with overlapping images and/or lots of things which can all be... Continue Reading →
I’ve recently been watching Twin peaks the return. Now if the original series wasn’t bizarre enough, this revamp is seriously far out if you’re not on David Lynch’s wave length. Interestingly, it all seems to revolve around the theory of a Tulpa which is a mystical theory where manifestations can be created by thought forms... Continue Reading →
Jellyfish are odd aren't they. Some teeny tiny like the Irukandi jellyfish, some glow in the dark and some are just outright mean like the Portuguese man o war. Jellyfish don't have brains as such, they have nerve nets, which sense environmental changes and coordinate their responses. There is a wealth of things I could... Continue Reading →
If you have read any of my blogs you'll know when I was a kid I desperately wanted to be either a mermaid or a unicorn (I was a fantastical kid). Not the chinsy mermaids and unicorns which now fill the high street, but the dark and enigmatic creatures that were untameable and held wondrous... Continue Reading →
Don't you get it when your delivery of 7 virgins and 7 youths is late because UPS won't deliver to your island. All you can do is stand in your tower looking out to sea, hopeful that what ever secondary delivery company they have farmed it out to will turn up soon. Watt's captures the... Continue Reading →
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