Anatomy of Kaiju

No, not Steve (god, Steve!).  The other kaiju. Mythic fiction author and editor Midori Snyder posted an article on her blog this morning about Yōkai Daizukai, an illustrated encyclopedia of Japanese monsters. Intrigued, I checked out her source, (pinktentacle.com):

authored by manga artist Shigeru Mizuki, [it] features a collection of cutaway diagrams showing the anatomy of 85 traditional monsters from Japanese folklore (which also appear in Mizuki’s GeGeGe no Kitarō anime/manga). 

I'm incredibly amused by the preview entries. But it only makes sense ... the only thing that rivals the Japanese aesthetic for bizarre creatures is the old D&D Monster Manual. I wonder if there's a correlation there ... perhaps Gygax and crew consumed too much wasabi at some point, and it pickled their brains. That would explain the Rust Monster, wouldn't it?

For the record, the Kijimunaa is much cuter in Devil Survivor. (Really, what would a Shin Megami game be without fairy-demons?)

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Fun OCW Classes at ND

Did you know Notre Dame has a free, non-credited, online class in Creole Language and Culture? Or one on Reinveting the Fairy Tale?  Crime, Heredity and Insanity in American History could be fun, too.

I find these ... intriguing.

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IU Press 1-day sale: 60% off

Wow, three posts in one day.  (Am I having trouble focusing at work? Why yes -- yes, I am.)

Kaiju very kindly sent this over a little while ago:

IU Press is having a 60th anniversary sale tomorrow (the 17th). All regularly-priced books, journals, and DVDs are 60% off regular price. Shipping is free over $25. Use the code SIXTY at checkout.

 

http://iupress.typepad.com/blog/2010/02/one-week-until-our-60th-anniversary-online-sale.html

If you click on the link to their Books section at the left of that page, you can see the various categories -- say, for example, Myth and Folklore...

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Airship pirates, back to work, and the Queen of Crows

Will was right. There is something amusing about blasting Abney Park's Aether Shanties while trying to navigate the winter roads of Northern Indiana. A pirate airship would definitely fare better in this weather than my Corolla.

Yesterday was the first day back to work. It does suck, not being able to take the pain meds during the day. Both for the obvious reasons and for the fuzziness and exhaustion that follow during the evening. Unfortunately I've been back in insomnia mode for the last two nights, as well, so evidently all that recuperating last week used up my sleep minutes. Bah.

In less grumpifying news, I mentioned in an earlier post that the fabulous Monica Valentinelli drafted me to do editing, typesetting, and the cover illustration for her Queen of Crows project, which has been great fun. I'm slowly plugging away at my end -- even more slowly now that I've been essentially out of commission for a week -- but there has been progress. (For those who are either new to EFI, or may have stumbled across this post in a fit of whimsy, QoC is a short story set in the world of Monica's very cool Violet War novel-in-progress, Argentum. I do recommend checking it out if you get a chance.)

Artist Leanne Buckley is providing the character art for the QoC character, so I'm really looking forward to seeing how it matches up to the image evoked by Monica's writing. (M. herself seems thrilled with what she's seen so far.)  More details will follow soon on that project -- but in the meantime, here's a peek at the cover I did for the story (click to embiggen):

 

Mind you, I'll be the first to confess I'm more of a writer/editor/typesetter/webmonkey than a graphic designer.  I do like to play with Adobe programs, though, and this was a lot of fun, so I'm glad she talked me into it. I think it turned out pretty well (for an amateur!). 

Finally, this blog will be getting an overhaul in the next few weeks if I have time. There is much reorganizing and re-templating to be done. (I believe the Violet War site will see its revision first, though, so I'll post here when Monica has the new site up and running.)

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Grammar geekery

It's all worth it for the last panel. (Click to embiggen.)

(Bitches!)

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Owww. Stupid February.

In the space of two weeks, I've slipped twice on slick pavement and fallen to my doom. Today's adventure was bad enough it involved workman's comp, X-rays to check for fractures, crutches, and narcotics. (After the fall, not before.)

I think February has it in for me this year.

Luckily I was scheduled to be off campus tomorrow anyway, at another Illustrator class. I found out today that I can dial in and take the class from home, if all goes well. Otherwise, I have a doctor's permission to stay home the rest of the week. I may take him up on that, considering how battered and bruised I'm currently feeling.

Unfortunately that also means so far canceling a hair apt., and missing a boba tea date with Cher Mere. And sending Will and Charlie to fetch my car from work before it gets irretrievably plowed in.

I think we're still waiting for the rest of the winter storm that caused this mess, too. I will be watching it from the comfy, comfy couch.

Good news on the house front, we finally have a contractor, who has worked twice this week. And that means we have ceilings again, and insulation upstairs. Woot.

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Geek of the Week

A very quick note: Lowell Francis is officially the Geek of the Week. No, really.

Hint: If you go to RPG Geek / GeekDo and post questions on that thread, I'm pretty sure he's legally required to answer them. Several of his players have already joined the RPGG regulars in attempting to whittle his typing fingers down to nubs.

And now ... back to impossible deadlines.

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