Gertrudes a winner!

Last Tuesday I was thrilled to see this blog clock up exactly 100 page views. This is so exciting. To celebrate this event I decided I should award a prize to my magnificent 100th viewer. I managed to track down a Ms Gertrude Leadbeater from Bagshot in the UK and offered her one of my Flying Rubber Bosci toys. Well done Gertrude.

 

Shame she didnt want the toy though. 

Flying Bosci toy

A while back, someone sent me two pictures they had taken in the Viaduct Basin area of Aukland, New Zealand. Two young artists were completing a massive mural and one of the characters looks remarkably like me. Me wearing a cape like a super-hero. This reminded me of how in my youth I had loved and collected rubber monster and super hero toys. 

I decided I should endeavour to make a toy of this type with myself as subject. These toys were prevalent in the 1960's and 70's and are now highly collectable. I found several images on the internet of the sort of things I remembered so fondly.

I began by sculpting a rough figure in plasticine. The toy would be made using a two piece plaster mould. I added detail like fur and wings to the plaster with tools after the rough cast was made.

It was a complex process made difficult by the confines of my small

cabinet. However I was very happy with the completed mould.

I am now able to mass produce these toys.

They have an elastic string in the back so they can be hung

dangling from the rear-view mirror of a conventional car.

Caught in the headlights

Whilst travelling late at the night last week I captured some images of something strange going on, which I want to share. We were driving quite slowly along a small dark road by the River Wensum near Ryburgh in Norfolk, not far from the B1146, when over a 2 km stretch of road we kept seeing and hearing some odd activity in the fields and undergrowth. I grabbed my old Pentax Me super SLR which was in the glove box (with black and white film) and started clicking away. We didnt want to stop. I have now had the film developed and printed and here are some of the pictures. I really dont know what was going on. We went back again the following night and all was calm and quiet.

Prevention of stuffiness

Recently I came across several old compilations of the Illustrated London News left outside on the pavement. Thank you to the generous person who was discarding these! They offer a fascinating insight into the past. These three large and very heavy tomes dated from 1908, 1907 and 1906. I'm sure they will be a source of continuing interest for me in my endeavour to know more about everything. One item and image from September 1907 struck an immediate chord with me and I wanted to post the picture here for viewers to see. The experimental cabinet depicted reminded me so much of my own current cupboard abode. The box in the experiment is a little larger than mine but my cupboard has to hold only myself. The experimental box obviously contains humans rather than my type but I'm sure the truths alluded to still hold. I've placed the clipping with my collection of other interesting snippets inside my cupboard as a reminder of the phenomenon mentioned. In the past I have wondered about installing a fan or air vent of some description in my cupboard. It might be  especially beneficial when I'm using candle-light to work or read by, which is quite often. 

More to follow soon.