My First Asian Lantern Festival: "Into The Wild"

Happy Friday, you ferocious firecracker! Have you smiled yet today?

If not, I got you:

Last weekend John and I visited our first ever Asian Lantern Festival at the Central Florida Zoo. These lighted festivals are apparently all the rage in zoos across the U.S. but I'm told ours is an especially snazzy example. Even better, this particular exhibit, "Into The Wild," travels! So some of you have seen these exact displays in your state, and some of you might see them soon. I love that, really spreads the joy around.

If you can't watch the video where you are right now, never fear; I also have photos, and there's so much more to see! I tried to video the ones with a lot of motion, but I took regular pics for the rest.

A line of giant candy-colored snails greeted us in the parking lot. Peep that reflection in the pond!

The entry is flanked by these froggy friends:

If you saw my video, you know they blink! ("JOHN, THEY BLINK!! YES I KNOW I'M BEING TOO LOUD.") Going in I only expected a few static displays, so this was my first inkling that we were in for something special.

These festivals are a DELIGHT to photograph, because by the time you lower the exposure enough to capture the colors, all the people in frame practically disappear.

("De-light"? See what I did there?)

The narrow entry path was flanked by lighted cacti, snakes, and even a giant scorpion and spider. This iguana was my favorite, though:

Snail TV, The Muppets Animal, & A Blockbusters Basement

Happy Tuesday, my tasty totchos! (I'm trying out some new nicknames - expect a food theme.) How was your weekend? I've been alternating between chair-dancing to Encanto songs and snuffling back tears to Encanto songs, ha. (I usually forget to mention Movie Nights here, but that was our pick last Friday/Sunday on the Epbot Discord. SO GOOD.)

Now, let's see what gems the internet has to offer us today, shall we?

Over in Jim Henson's Creature Shop (a FB fan group) Emily E. made her boyfriend a plush version of himself... in Animal form:

 AAAAAA! Y'all. We all need Animal avatar plushies now. This needs to be a thing.

Emily's boyfriend is a drummer who loves ice cream, plus Emily made a replica of his favorite hoodie. AMAZING. See Emily's original post with a few more photos here.

*****

Here's a fascinating nugget and resource for you crafters, art lovers, and anyone interested in copyright law:

Jasmine Becket Griffith - a rock star in the art world with official pieces in the Disney parks, Hot Topic, and shops around the world - is putting tons of her artwork into the public domain under Creative Commons licensing. Meaning anyone can use it, modify it, and sell it, for free. o.0 Jasmine says she may be the first living artist to do this, which is very possible.

Griffith is starting with 625 pieces, but reports she has 5 to 6 thousand she plans to add. She is actively encouraging folks to use her art on merch and sell it, no strings attached. (Though of course credit or a donation via her Patreon is always welcome.)

Check out her FB announcement here for more details on the how and why, then go browse all of Jasmine's available works for download here on her website. I'm excited to see what some of you do with this, and VERY interested to see if this will help or hurt Jasmine's income going forward. Such a fascinating, gutsy experiment.

*****

Over in 90's Nostalgia Nick C. turned part of his basement into a 90's era video store, and it's a blockbustin' blast from the past:

Raise your hand if this photo brings you back to your childhood.

::raises both hands::

And tell me this next photo doesn't make your inner 14 year old start screeching:

Now THAT is a Saturday night. Just needs some fresh-baked cookies.

Plus - PLUS - Nic added all kinds of fun galaxy lights and LED strips for nighttime!