I just can not get over this story of a praying mantis catching and eating a hummingbird.
via Boing Boing

I love the art of Chiho Aoshima. She's my favorite of all the Superflat type artists.

Steve Bard Weird Home Update-
I talked to Steve last night and told him about the amazing response to his house- he suggested interested parties might swing by his open house (he does it for his work buddies but anyone can come) on Wens August 17th 3:30-9pm. You can try emailing him at stevebard@netscape.com or email me at kir23@mindspring.com for his phone number.

See these naughty bunnies and lots of other naughty stuff at the Roq La Rue "Devil's Hobby Hut" show featuring Charles Krafft and Frank Kozik 8/12 at the gallery. Do The 'Rue!

"Belladonna Swan" by Alan Aldridge

I really enjoy 70's/80's nostalgia sites like RetroCrush and Bubblegumfink, it's pretty fun to look at stuff and think "Oh yeeeeaaaahhh- I had/wanted one of those!" But actually- my most potent childhood memories are of the books I had, which definitely warped my little brain into who I am today...Specifically the great Eloise books by Kay Thompson, and The Peacock Party illustrated by Alan Aldridge (who also did Elton John's Capt Fantastic album cover- he's pretty much a genius-check it out) I just found these illos for The Peacock Party and it was shocking how familiar they are even after not seeing the book for easily well over 20 years.

"The Tailor Bird" by Alan Aldridge

Freakshow Overdrive
This is a gigantic post, but I wanted to post all these pics I took of this crazy house. My friend Steve Bard lives in a Victorian style house literally crammed to the rafters with high weirdness. It's like the Addams Family mansion dialed to 11. And when I say crammed I really mean it- there is NO place to sit- only a tiny walkway meandering through all the rooms...the rest is devoted to weird taxidermy, pickled...things...,monster movie props, victorian hair art, strange books, questionable medical devices, sci fi art, toys, funeral ephemera, and basically anything really unusual. Every year he throws a big party. I've been to Steve's house before- but this year I went with my friends David, Angela, and Scott...this is a tour of the house...

Welcome Foolish Mortals....

The entrance....David and Angela chuckle nervously..."Uh...sure is a lot of STUFF in here..."
Nash, the baby, seems to dig it though.

One of my fav things is the FeeGee type mermaid hanging by the stairs. You see all that stuff around- that is EVEYWHERE in the house.

Lots of taxidermy...I think we spotted several gazelles, antilope, bears, bobcat, a DOG, peacocks, monkeys, a tiger, numerous fish and birds, and that's not to mention the strange stuff- like the siamese weasels, chicks, and kittens. Or the siamese calf- he's coming up soon...

The fireplace...

Lookit that little guy...CUTE! He looks happy.

Because it's just not "home" without a massive elephant skull being ridden by a skeleton in the livingroom.

Wicker caskets in one corner, siamese calf in the other. And because Steve's no pinko commie, a nice 'merican flag in the middle (Is that a siamese flag?). Just ignore that severed head in the middle there...

Do you love Satan? Then you might enjoy the devil room just off the library. This is one corner.

While in the library looking at the books, I felt like someone was just...staring...

Better not crack any of those book spines- or you'll have General Warthog to answer to, missy!

Mysterious things in jars! Pickled punks (real and fake), siamese kittens, two headed chicks, a pickled bat, and I think a giant tapeworm is around there somewhere...
By now we have gotten optical overload- so the last stop in the house is the Sci Fi Room in the basement...once you go through the revolving door- you see this:

Wowza! A whole room full of glow in the dark, flashing, strobing stuff! (Plus an isolation tank) It's like a Spencer Gifts exploded in there. The effect is strangely quite refreshing after all the dusty Victoriana.
And so- we stumble outside to join the rest of the party and play with the animals...

Geez! Even the pets are weird! This little beauty is not a demented rabbit, but a llama.

And so after we had rested and had a little snack we were conked on the head and offered up as sacrifices to the Great Beast of eBay Finds. Some people have garden gnomes or pink flamingos in thier yard, but only Steve has a gigantic kick ass minotaur! Steve offers tours if you are in Seattle. I would recommend offering him some dough or some thing weird in return- you'll be in there for a good 2 hours. Kenny and I gave him some Basil Woolverton figurines and an embalming machine and he seemed pretty happy with that...