Look At All My Many Friends

Hypertufa Totoro in the garden

 

Keychain Totoro guarding my office key

Papercraft Totoro hanging with Fingerpuppet Totoro

LEGO Totoro

Window Hanger Totoro, reposing on FDPG's pinboard

Book Review: Amulet

These books are FDPG's latest obsession. She loves these books. We bought the first one at Costco, almost as an afterthought, because it was a) lovely to look at and hold, and b) it was cheap. Call me shallow I am never averse to a cheap and beautiful book. Even better, it's delightfully floppy to hold. All in all, an amazing package.

This is the first book: It's called The Stonekeeper. It's your usual 'children whose mother has been kidnapped and they have to win her back from bad things/people/worlds and perform all sorts of heroic deeds along the way' kind of story. It's a bit disjointed in the telling, with all kinds of plots twists and characters and it can get slightly confusing, but don't let that sway you; this is a truly wonderful and original piece of storytelling, despite its flaws. My sense was that this is a first novel (although I don't think it is) and the author, the very clever Kazu Kibuishi, is just warming up. According to the fellow at our local Comic Shop, Mr Kibuishi is young and just starting out. It shows, but it doesn't matter, if you get my meaning.

Here is the second book in the series: The Stonekeeper's Curse. What made us buy this one, nay, compelled us to buy it, even though Costco had since sold out of them and we had to hunt around in the local bookshops, was the last scene in the first book. It's like something out of a Miyazaki movie.











See? Is that not a great shot? Don't you want to know what happens next?

So did we. In fact, I think FDPG might actually have gasped when she came to this page. And then put it down on the coffee table with a bit of a bang. And a sigh. And a frown. FDPG is not one for cliffhangers.






So take a glance at these books next time you pass them by. They are fun and weird and dramatic and creative and oh-so-artistic.

It's like discovering a hidden cache of material from this fellow:

Almost.

Girl Power

There was an article in this morning's National Post, an article I actually read out to my kids, not because it was particularly gripping, per se, but because it pertained to our favourite animator: Hayao Miyazaki. This article, sandwiched as it was between an article on the heroin poppy cultivation in Afghanistan and an article on Canada's 'near-American in its vulgarity' position on foreign policy, was written by Michael, Taube, a "former speech writer" for the current Prime Minister, which made it all the more startling. Not something I'd expect to see from a former speech writer, not to mention to see in the first few front pages of the newspaper.

The author's main point was that Mr Miyazaki's latest movie effort, Ponyo, had been snubbed by Oscar voters in the animation category. "Politically," Mr Taube writes, "Miyazaki should be a good fit with the Hollywood elite. He's an ex-Marxist, who peppers his work with a distinctly leftist, anti-war tinge...You'd think Miyazaki's passion for environmental issues would have caught Hollywood's eye too." He even cites a comparison to the movie juggernaut Avatar to prove his point.

Now I like environmental issues as much as the next person, although I haven't seen the thing that is Avatar (although my dad has, what's with that). I also happen to love everything Miyazaki, as do my kids (the Teenager might roll his eyes but he doesn't leave the room when the movies are on). I've even written about our adventures into the world of Totoro food, Totoro toys, seeing Haku in the sky, weird things other people do with their Miyazaki love, and Totoro origami and papercraft. So I should be nodding my head with all this Oscar snubbing going on, shouldn't I. Shouldn't I?

No, I'm not. Because I know why Miyazaki has yet to crack the American market. There are two main reasons in my mind:

1. Americans in general don't like weird Japanese cartoons.

2. Sexism. Miyazaki's females are almost to a person all the same: strong, independent, opinionated girls who don't always care if they end up with the guy, or if they do they prefer to call the shots. And if you look at the last 20 years of American cinema you'll notice that those kind of roles for younger women are not a really salient aspect of American cinema. Women might be strong and witty and clever but they always know their place and in the end they always have to buckle down and marry the real hero, even if he is a bumbling, language-challenged, gruff, otherwise-unappealing fellow. Oh, and they have to be beautiful but not know it. Heck, even Pretty Woman had a retrospective in the newspaper the other day: The Honest Prostitute who got her guy. It's insidious, folks.

And that's why I like Miyazaki's movies so much. I have an FDPG in the house and it's good for her to see young girls doing their own thing. Girls who are smart and clever and funny, with no mention of how beautiful they are or aren't. Girls who can think on their own, without needing men to do their thinking for them. Girls who don't need to look or act like young beautiful hookers with a heart.

And that is what Hollywood doesn't like.

My Frankenstein Totoro

I was making a paper Totoro from this site and thinking idly of using this particular picture as my new avatar because I need one that isn't quite so nostalgia-inducing (it's FDPG when she was a wild and crazy 4 year old). I took a few pictures from various angles, thinking each time the camera reflected the glue in a bad light that I am really terrible at gluing (he doesn't look this bad IRL I don't think). I finally came to the conclusion that it's a Totoro Frankenstein and if I were to use it as my new avatar people might think I am either a really crappy crafter or that I have strange necromantic tendencies. As far as I can tell, I am neither, although I do feel rather drawn to The Crappy Crafter as a blog name.


While I was contemplating my Frankensteinic crafting abilities, a friend sent me this picture - from the upcoming Toy Story 3. Look in the back there. It's a stuffed Totoro.

I forget all about nicknaming myself Victor and instead convinced the twins to accompany me to this movie when it comes out. Then we watched My Neighbour Totoro, and daydreamed about one day going to the Studio Ghibli museum.




We all love Totoro here. Well, the teenager pretends not to, but he loved him in his day. He's just too mature to admit to it anymore. If you need some more Totoro, check these out.

Dessert?

Sandwiches!

Totorigami!

The Studio Ghibli museum website, a place we hope to visit one day.

Directions to the Studio Ghibli museum for the directionally challenged, including one of the more strangely compelling phrases I've ever heard (and might now have to adopt as my mantra):

"Less stress means more fun!"

Heck, this one was made for me. I might not ever develop a cheesy giggle, like Satsuki's, but I am not above repeating this to my kids. I can just see the effect this will have on the teen-ager...

signed,

The Crappy Crafter

And remember, kids, less stress means more fun!

Next Stop, Little Sister!

Summer Wraps Up

How was your summer? Mine, for the most part, was exceedingly fun. Some of the people in this house had a birthday party in which they were suddenly revealed to be EIGHT YEARS OLD. And seeing as how they were such Harry Potter fans I made them some fancy schmancy Harry Potter items to usher in this event: origami owls, letters of acceptance to Hogwarts, cards with miniature gear for their new school, paper wands in custom cardboard boxes, boxes of chocolate frogs with wizard cards (it's intriguing what some adults are getting up to out there, I tell you). We even convinced The Queen of Dairies to put a Hogwarts crest on one of their finest ice cream cakes, seeing as how we're always on holiday when this birthday rolls around, and my holiday kitchen in no way resembles the kind of kitchen one could bake or ice a cake in. Then, when we got home and had another birthday party for the relatives, I'd had enough of we'd kind of exhausted the whole Harry Potter thing so I made them a cake that was supposed to look like an Ohm, which is a creature from a Miyazaki movie called Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind. An ohm looks like a large woodbug. Well, a large woodbug with lots of blue eyes, which turn bright red when it's mad, which is usually when the humans do bad things to the environment (ack, go watch the film, I'm making it sound weird). And, in an occurrence that really shouldn't surprise me anymore, when I was trolling the internet looking for Ohm stills on which to base the cake, I came across a lot of Ohmu in various mediums, made by a lot of very odd creative people and there was even a Lego Ohmu. The people in this house who turned eight was thrilled with their particular Ohm, especially as it involved three layers of cake, a whole package of sparklers, and a ton of icing.

I made a dress out of this material (cast your eyes left) and endured an astonishing amount of comments from people who could not understand why I was wearing a) a dress made out of kid's fabric, b) a dress made out of material with SILLY LOOKING BUGS on it, and c) a really LOUD green dress. All I could say was "Umm, because I liked the material?"






I made chocolate leaves for yet another birthday cake, this time one for an adult who wanted something more sedate than an Ohm cake. Chocolate leaves are one of the more satisfying things one can do with a lot of leftover chocolate chips, they're super easy, and they always look really impressive. Oops, I'm outing myself here, aren't I? Trust me, they'll practically KILL you they're so complicated - and they take HOURS to make.

We also swam a lot. And played a lot. And built a lot of Lego structures. And caught the cat accidentally with the hose a few times (the places this cat sleeps!). And in a final, last ditch attempt at capturing the summer, the twins and I decided to enter a whole whack of categories for the local County Fair. We collected the longest bean pods we could find, the best pumpkins we could find, the reddest tomatoes we had, and Dominic even went all out and made some penguin cupcakes from the amazingly creative Hello Cupcake book he'd discovered at the library. I entered some of my canned things and a few garden items. FDPG made some pressed flower creations and some truly lovely greeting cards. It was incredibly hectic and exciting and breathlessly fun (some of us won a few Best In Category ribbons and a surprising number of firsts and some of us even won some - gasp - cash) and although we all agreed to enter at least 4 times as many categories next year, we also decided not to start everything the week before the fair. In the interests of not giving me a nervous breakdown...

And now it's the end of the summer. School is starting almost INSTANTLY. I like to mark this time. Something to mark the start of a new school year, a time of excitement and anticipation in this house even though we're homeschoolers and don't have to get up early to catch a bus or get to the classroom on time. If our school funds come tomorrow we'll be off to get some new pencils perhaps, or something in the workbooky line for the always busy FDPG, or the watercolours I'm planning for our Art Bags. Then it'll be back to dealing with the 5,392,190 tomatoes in the back yard. Tomatoes to turn into many many jars of salsa (a salsa that won me a Best in Category ribbon at the fair - does it get any more exciting than that?) for those long winter months.

We had a funny incident the other week, as we were on our way to meet a friend at the bank. We were racing to meet a friend at a bank, and some fellow in a coffee shop doorway said, å propos of nothing "Don't worry - they'll all be gone in another 2 weeks!" My kids, for whom this was a Mysterious Remark From Another Planet, all said "What did he mean by that? Where are we going?" They were uneasy. Disquieted, even. I was SO tempted to play a little game with them, but being the mature adult I (sometimes) am, I didn't. "He meant school," I said, "public school. All parents generally look forward to getting rid of their kids round about now." Then I looked at them all and laughed rather immoderately.

"Poor you," said Max, "You're stuck with us!" And then we ALL laughed rather immoderately.

Totoro!

This one's for Shaun. One's a finger puppet; the other is a window cling-thingie.

Look at all my happy friends!* I was going to include a little walking music for those of you who are Totoro enthusiasts (it's a strange world, I can admit it), but then I found this on YouTube and, well, life will never be the same again for FDPG (or me). Do my eyes deceive me or is that a full size Cat bus I see? And all those earnest little singers? And Aya Matsuura and her pink umbrella?

I think I see a visit to a theme park in our future. Some plane tickets. A Japanese phrase book. And definitely a sailor suit. Maybe a few pigtails. Better work on our giggle.


* secret code language