Monday, October 16, 2017

Jen's Gems: David Bowie, Middle Earth, & Lemon Head Babies!

It's Monday, you need these smiles.

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Last week Neil Gaiman shared one of the sweetest things I've read in ages, but it wasn't written by him. It's by Paul Magrs, who in turn is recounting a story HE heard from one of his friends. Mild spoiler, it's about David Bowie, and you're going to love the Goblin King even more after you read this.

Take five minutes and go read what happened here.

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Regal Robot shared a few photos from a magical place in Switzerland called The Greisinger Museum, and LOOKIE:
 

This is the museum entrance. Wha whaaaaaaat. Even better: most of the museum rooms are underground.

And check out the staircase leading down!

As you may have guessed, The Greisinger Museum is dedicated to all things Middle Earth. It opened in 2013, and you can find more photos and info on their website.

It does my heart good, knowing places like this exist.

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This little girl Groot spotted at the Knoxville Fanboy Expo is giving me life:


I can't stop staring at her perfect Groot feet!  (Watch 'til the end to see the big smile under the mask.)

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One more convention vid, this time from New York Comic-Con. I think I've watched this half a dozen times now, because strangers being silly together just makes me happy:



A post shared by Lulu (@little_lulu_puff) on
(No sound needed)

I love how the dino is instantly into it, lol. See what I mean? PURE HAPPY.

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My love of art has sparked a new art doll obsession, so I'm following a lot of new sculptors and plush makers on Instagram. Nastya of Fancy Creatures is a maker in Siberia(!!) who creates the most bizarrrely cute little dolls, and the second I saw this Lemon Head baby it was love at first sight:


... so I bought my first art doll, you guys. (EEEE!!) It's sitting on a frame beside my computer, and I get a little joy bubble every time I look at it.

I realize these may be more creepy than cute for some of you, but check it out:


I am smitten. Go follow Nastya for lots more!


And finally, these racoons' reaction to their adoptive mom holding up a new stuffed animal is too cute for words:


The little ears back! Ah!

The whole Instagram account is in Russian, but I *think* it's some kind of raccoon sanctuary? Follow them for lots more trash panda cuteness. :D


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Happy Monday, gang! What's the happiest thing you've seen lately?

27 comments:

  1. I love the David Bowie story. It reminds me of Terry Pratchett's book "Maskerade". Which kind of makes me wonder if he and Neil Gaiman had friends in common, and maybe Sir Pterry got to hear this story years before Neil did. Probably not, but it's a fun thought.

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    1. Better yet, Pratchett and Gaiman were extremely close friends. It's possible he got to hear it from Gaiman himself.

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    2. Well, it seems like Gaiman only recently heard it. But I could be misreading that.

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  2. Awww, gawd. Haven't commented in so long, but that Bowie story...argh...so many tears. What a sweet gift and lovely memory that little boy was given. Thanks for sharing that with us, Jen.

    KW

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  3. I'm not crying. I'm not. It's dust. Or onions. Or allergies.

    All right, I'm crying.

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  4. The David Bowie story totally made me cry. Then I instantly beamed at Harley Quinn and the T. rex. Balance. <3

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  5. OK, the Greisinger Museum is now totally on my bucket list!! Thank you for pointing that out (and for all the other goodies in this post - d'aww!)

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  6. Thank you so much for showing the Bowie story. He was really incredible.

    ps. It took me ~1 minute to write these few sentences because my eyes would fill with tears and I could no longer see the keys.

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  7. Oh wow, I NEED to visit the The Greisinger Museum! Thanks for sharing about it.

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  8. What an amazing gift David Bowie gave the boy! Thank you for sharing it with us.

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  9. Love your doll. It has Lily's eyes. which makes it extra special.

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  10. i am forever grateful that you shared that david bowie story. and the raccoons video! gems, indeed!

    thank you, thank you.
    xo

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  11. Whenever I need a pick-me-up, I head over to "Keeping Up With the Kattarshians" and get my fill of itty bitty kitty cuteness! "The cutest slow-TV on the Internet. Watch as the drama goes down in the purr-fect little house of kittens" http://nutiminn.is/kattarshians/

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  12. woah, that story though! I was never a particular David Bowie fan, but this story makes me understand why so many people think he was so special. I might have to do a little catching up. Thanks for sharing it.

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  13. Art dolls are my jam. The animal style ones are my favorites and the youtube channels by some of these talented artists are super relaxing.

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  14. That story! What a great guy, he didn't have to do that at all. Amazing. And the raccoons... I had NO IDEA that raccoons wag their tails! Love!

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  15. Hi Jen, i speak Russian and while i'm not a great fan of racoons, i checked out the racoon instagram and site so i could tell you about it.

    So, it's called the Racoon House. And it looks like it's, sadly, more for entertainment than for the benefit of the racoons. Their full site has links to everything racoon related, toys, books, cartoons, christmas ornaments. The info about the center plays up the idea that you can play with their tame racoons, at your location or theirs.

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  16. Love the blog, needed some cheer! You might be interested in the dolls my cousin has started making. She hand sculpts people's cats! She works in stop-motion animation and I feel very proud of her! If you're interested you can see pics on http://www.moonwhiskersdolls.co.uk/

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  17. You guys must have broken Gaiman's Tumbler, I've been trying all afternoon to get to it and it's not responding. :-D

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  18. Thank you, Jen for brightening up my whole day. David Bowie has always been a particular favorite of mine. I got to see him in concert on his Glass Spider Tour. A. Maz. Ing. Now, to read this sweet story about him, makes me lurve (and miss) him even more. That man had so many layers of talent!

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  19. Totally not teary eyed after that story. Noppee. (JK, I'm totally a mess, how cool) Those are adorable art dolls!! I love creepy fun. I need to get the set I started sculpting back in the works. ^_^

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  20. I needed that David Bowie story today. Thanks for linking it.

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  21. There are so many feelings going on within me about the David Bowie story that I don't know where to start. It's good to hear that there are others like me out there and that someone cares. Most just don't understand...

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  22. Thank you so much for sharing the David Bowie story. I have to deal with some hideous anxiety triggering stuff this week and reading that story was more helpful than Xanax this morning.

    My daughter and I love to look at dolls together and we've never seen anything like the ones you posted. Little Lemonhead is a cutie. That eyeball doll, though.....stuff of nightmares!

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  23. I get the sense that David Bowie was a genuinely cool and kind of astonishingly humble guy. My husband met him once, at some surprise pop-up concert thing at a bar in Toronto, where, after the show, Bowie just wanders around through the bar, introducing himself, all "Hi, I'm David." I just find the chillness of that juxtaposed with the fact that it's David Freaking Bowie so surreal. But also awesome.

    I wonder how many more amazing little stories like this there are about the man.

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  24. Jen, on the subject of David Bowie/Labyrinth, I wanted to share this fun item that went on sale a little while ago: A Labyrinth Christmas Sweater!

    https://www.fun.com/labyrinth-character-sweater.html

    They have two designs for Labyrinth, as well as two designs for the Dark Crystal. I've got mine in the mail right now, I'm super excited to see it in person.

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