Animation, Art, and Other Shiny Things
Take one homicidal cat given side-scroller game inspirations, add an atmosphere of smoky electro-swing, and this is what you get.
Song by Cazzette.
A simple story of making friends that hits you right in the feels.
A Pixar SparkShort directed by Rosana Sullivan.
Have you ever wondered what your cat does when they’re out? Well, this documentary short tells all. (Well, it may not be an actual documentary, but I’m sure it’s close)
Animation by Victoria Vincent.
Molly is a fish stuck in her bowl longing for the ocean that she can see through the window. Her unlikely friend, the cat, decides to fulfill her wish.
A sweet little film done in a soft, ‘Studio Ghibli’ style by students at Nanyang Polytechnic’s School of Interactive and Digital Media (nyp/sidm)
Gotoku-ji Cemetary watercolor by Mister Kha
The legends surrounding Maneki Neko are many and varied. The bones of the old narratives appear placeable in history, but much that wraps them have their roots in Japanese folklore and tradition. (as well as occasional, simple, voracity)
The legend I prefer takes place during a dark and stormy night at a monastery near Edo, Japan (now Tokyo) in the year 1615.
Gotoku-ji temple was very poor. The monk had barely enough food for himself and a cat he had taken in, Tama, but he made do, tending the monastery and following his path as best he could.
Ii Naotaka
After splitting a particularly meager meal, the monk said to Tama, “Your companionship means much to me, but I can not assure you a good meal. You should not starve with me, but find yourself a home worthy of your company.” The cat, of course, did not reply, but went to sit in a window of the temple as cats are wont to do.
Outside in the rain, Ii Naotaka, second son of Ii Naomasa, hereditary owner of Hikone Castle, was returning from the Battle of Tennōji. With the storm worsening, Ii Naotaka and his men took refuge beneath a tree. Looking around he saw the cat in the monastery window. It’s paw raised, the cat seemed to be beckoning the Daimyo to take shelter in the small temple. As he approached the monastery, lightening stabbed down and split the tree that he had just been standing beside. He surely would have been killed had he remained by the tree.
The urn purported to contain the ashes of Tama (Gotoku-ji Temple)
Welcomed in, Ii Naotaka found the old priest to be wise and kind and devoted to his path and his companion Tama. To repay the cat and priest for saving his life he became Gotoku-ji temple’s patron. When Tama died, the cat was given a place of honor in the temple cemetery, where many important members of the Ii family are also buried, and the first Maneki Neko statue was created in his memory.
Today, Gotoku-ji temple is still open for worship and attracts visitors from all over the world.
But the story of Maneki Neko is far from over. Read more of this post
Besides being a funny little tale, this is one of the best cut-paper animations I’ve come across in a long while. The sets are intricately drawn without being over-drawn or distracting.
‘Catwalk – Black Cat Crossing’ is a humorous animated short film that takes the viewer into a lovely and detailed designed comic city. There you’re going to witness a row of odd incidents that are obviously related to Matilda, a quite inconspicuous old lady (via)
Animation and concept by Dennis Beckstein, Patrick Kayser, Marian Sander, Manuel Ritter
As a teen back in the 70’s I spent a good amount of time prowling the twisted little by-ways of the Pike Place Market. The tourists generally stuck to the open and obvious areas of the Under-Market and if they did wander down the small meandering hall branches beneath the fish market and farmer’s stalls most often they were lost.
And all the better, in my opinion. Back there was no place for tourists. Back there were the tiny artisan shops where niches were filled and cultures were served. Controversial rubbed elbows with the obscure and the unusual. Back there wasn’t so much a different Market, but the essence of Pike Place sensibilities in it’s purest form: local globalism with a craftsman’s eye.
One of my regular stops was a little head shop tucked well away from oft-traveled paths. There, besides the regular plethora of glass and soapstone, were brilliant tied-dyed clothes, psychedelic posters, funky boxes, dragons and faeries sitting on or clutching crystals, and of course, magazines.
And there, courtesy of Fat Freddie’s Cat, I was introduced to underground comix. These weren’t your everyday Superman issue – they were outrageously illustrated and full of sex and drugs (and rock-n-roll too), They not only showed you stuff your parents didn’t want you to see, but poked fun at things your parents took seriously. These didn’t just tip sacred cows – this spun them around a few times, gave em ten bucks in singles, and set ’em up in stage-side seating. Here was a way for cartoonists from the underground newspapers to expand their stories and stretch their art as well.
The Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers, Zap, Fritz the Cat, Mickey Rat, and eventually Heavy Metal. (i’m not sure HM actually fits in as an “underground comix”, but at that time, since it had sex and drugs and was definitely NOT for kids it was relegated to those racks)
And in all those pages I came across the art of Robert Crumb. Certainly the illustration is top-drawer, and I love the way he draws his women, but what reeled me in was the angst. Self doubts, internal turmoils, and everyday demons infuse his work, all cranked up to eleven – I could understand that and still do – I related.
Over the years R Crumb got out of the underground comix biz and he began to pursue more mainstream applications of his considerable talent including album covers and illustrating some of the American Splendor issues. One of his most recent endeavors was the illustration of Genesis, the first book of the Bible.
He married Aline Kominsky in 1978 and they’ve collaborated on several projects over the years, she being a cartoonist in her own right. Apparently, friends of Mr Crumb had noticed a resemblance, in both name and curvature, between Ms Kominsky and a drawing Crumb had done for Snatch Comics #1 depicting “Jail Bait of the Month, Honey Bunch Kaminski” around 1968 (you’re gonna have to google that one yourself) and thought to introduce them. One of their most notable collusive efforts has been a series of domestic tales, called Dirty Laundry, where they each draw themselves. (later along their daughter Sophie joined in) I’ve seen (and may even have — somewhere) several of those comics and it’s striking to see the obvious differences in drawing style within the same panel.
Fantagraphics here in Seattle has published a series of his comics and sketches under the title The Complete Crumb (of course it’s not ‘complete’, but at 17 volumes it’s intensely comprehensive) and Taschen published a limited edition (1000 copies, signed and numbered) Robert Crumb’s Sex Obsessions in 2007. They’re still available and run about $700. Fortunately, for the rest of us they’ll be releasing an unlimited run at the end of next year; December 12th, to be precise. (so depending on which math you use in your end-of-the-world calculations you’ll get it on The Rapture, or a bare week or so prior. In either case, the mere possession of it will insure you won’t be going anywhere. but i digress…)
Speaking of which,
Robert and Aline have finished their latest twelve-page strip, so this and all of their collaborations will be compiled into one book called Drawn Together. That will be released this fall in France and by Norton in the U.S. at the beginning of next year. This summer, Robert is organizing and compiling his sketchbook pages to be published in an upcoming release by Taschen. It will be in ten volumes, containing the works of his sketchbooks done between 1964 until the present.
That’s via the Official R Crumb Website. There’s alotta stuff available for the Crumb connoisseur to purchase (i think there is a brother-in-law involved here somewhere, so that probably explains that) but with my measly wallet contents I stick to the About pages. And there is a spot well worth an extended perusal.
R Crumb and The Cheap Suit Serenaders played 1920's tunes in the way of the day. This CD was given away with The R Crumb Handbook
What I think many folks may not know about Mr Crumb is his long time love of 1920’s and 30’s blues and jazz. To this end he’s not only produced trading card sets of “The Heroes of the Blues“, “Early Jazz Greats“, and “Pioneers of Country Music” but also included a CD of many of these musicians’ work in a book that collected the 3 sets into a single volume called R Crumb’s Heroes of Blues, Jazz and Country.
Besides drawing album covers for many-a old-timey music release, in the 1970’s he formed R Crumb & His Cheap Suit Serenaders and regularly joins Eden and John’s East River String Band on Mandolin. You can catch more of their tunes on YouTube. (its really quite good, imho)
And finally, for a good view on Mr Crumb’s life and work, check out the 1994 documentary Crumb. A good glimpse into the world of a gifted artist.
It’s been a week! My apologies at being remiss in posting a new digression, but as you can imagine, the Calf household has been a bit out of whack since losing Miz Jaz. It’ll be a couple weeks still until we start crawling the shelters looking for a cat that needs a family, but I’ll see what I can do about posting around here in the meantime. I’ll keep ya posted, as it were…
For now, please watch this instructional video carefully. Take notes if you need to. This film will save lives…
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The Ruffled Crow 