1. It's a good thing that owls grow up to have such beautiful plumage that makes them look so stately and perfectly competent - -
an 'outfit' perfectly tailored to make them appear so on their game - -
'Cuz the reality of what they look like naked and immature can just ruin their image.
I suppose it's that way with many of us...
... But no, that's all flawed human projection.
This photo (from The Hungry Owl Project of San Anselmo, California) shows a handsome rescued barn owl orphan who looks just as he should.
If we think he looks like a weird hand puppet, well - -
that's just our own problem, then, isn't it? (Thanks go to My Friend Topic for the link)
2. I had a nice comment come in this week from Kevin Kidney; he'd enjoyed 'blissfully frittering away his entire evening' visiting my blog.
Thanks Kevin - - and I must dutifully direct folks to your blog, chock full of gorgeous
mid-century Disney images. A treat!
3. Another visual treat that popped up on my radar this week is grain edit; "...inspiration from vintage kids + rare graphic design books."
"Grain edit is focused on classic design work from the 1950s-1970s and contemporary designers that draw inspiration from that time period." - - and it's a great site to visit. Check it out.
4. Thanks to hawk-eyed Joe Sixpack, who sent along a link to a New York Times article on adman / graphic artist George Lois - - 'The King of Visceral Design'.
The article spotlights a MoMA exhibition that opened recently, and includes a slideshow gallery featuring some of Lois' covers for Esquire magazine that ran in the 1960's and early '70's.
5. Comics geek cartoon alert!
Coming to DVD this summer - -
'DC Super Heroes: The Filmation Adventures'.
This batch of DC comics character 'guest appearance' cartoons ran in 1967-68 as part of 'The Superman/Aquaman Hour of Adventure' on Saturday morning TV.
(I must confess I love seeing the old DC 'bullet' logo evoked on that DVD cover. They must have seen me coming when they designed it.
Fortunately they didn't figure out that I'd likely buy any old crappy thing if they'd put the 1960's DC 'Go-Go Checks' on the packaging.)
This was a production of Lou Scheimer and Norm Prescott's Filmation studios, who did a very effective job of economical quantity-over-quality productions that usually managed to actually entertain as well.
Featuring animated versions of The Flash, Green Lantern, Hawkman, The Atom and others, the good news is you'll no longer need to travel to a funny-book convention to gawp at these odd 1960's TV cartoons.
The bad news (perhaps) is that they were never that good to begin with.
Fun, nostalgic, a bit out-of-the-ordinary - - absolutely, but - - umm, not the height of animated excellence.
- - More like cartoon junk food. Tasty and comforting, especially so when it's not your steady diet...
6. Speaking of packaging that's hard to resist; Have you seen the Predicta TV website?
No, these aren't the original Philco Predictas of the late 1950's, but newly-manuactured models using the classic designs.
Personally, I'm relieved to discover that these new specialty production Predictas are fairly 'spendy'.
Choosing to just look is a much easier decision than picking a favorite model and cabinet color scheme!
- - More like cartoon junk food. Tasty and comforting, especially so when it's not your steady diet...
