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Copper kettles, woolen mittens, brown paper packages tied up with string...

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  • Vivi Davvero by Giorgia
  • Learn to Fly by the Foo Fighters
  • Fables: 1001 Nights of Snowfall
  • Robot Chicken: Star Wars
  • Totally ubiquitous, and totally ignored, movie sounds
  • Buffy cast reunion panel
  • Pop-up books: a superficial, 2D look
  • Buffy sings! Once more, with feeling…
  • The Tales of Beedle the Bard by J.K. Rowling
  • Pixar’s short films - what everyone really cares about

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  • January 2009
  • December 2008
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  • October 2008

Pop-up books: a superficial, 2D look

Pop-ups may seem like “children’s books,” but they’re crafty little things. They deceive you into thinking they’re nothing but light-hearted, nostalgic, childish entertainment, and then spring things like “in-depth exploration of topics” on you.

Entertainment Weekly recently did an article (sadly, the online version does not include pictures - kind of a must with pop-up books, don’t you think?) on some note-worthy entrants to this field of pro-paper manipulation. Picks include a pop-up take on a children’s classic (eh, what else is new? but it is the mag’s personal favorite), but also much-more-awesome-sounding pop-ups that depict topics like the moon landing, ships, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, and predators, as shown in the cover above.

However, for some truly stunning pop-up books, check out this very cool post. And, fortunately, it does come complete with lots of pictures, and even videos! Really, you won’t know what pop-up books are capable of until you’ve seen the images shown there. Best-seller Robert Sabuda’s books, as depicted in the post, are especially view worthy. Sabuda’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland is definitely fun, there’s no doubt (watch playing cards literally surround Alice!), but my favorite has to be his informative, yet fun!, book on dinosaurs (and no, I do not have an unhealthy obsession with predators - it’s just coincidence). Don’t let that plain cover to the left fool you, the pop-ups in this book are amazing. In fact, here’s PingMag’s video of a T-Rex popping out of the book:

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Buffy sings! Once more, with feeling…

Any committed Buffy the Vampire Slayer fans on your holiday shopping list? Then this is what I would recommend, something they might not already have in their possession:

This album, with music from a “very special episode” of the show Buffy the Vampire Slayer, is dramatic, often corny, and features lots of superhumanly good-looking people (double entendre intended) singing their under-coached lungs out. So perfect for the holidays. And certainly more reasonably priced than the Wii Fit. You can buy the MP3 download ($8.99) or the physical CD (remember those?) for $14.99 on Amazon. It doesn’t seem to be available on iTunes yet (for some reason…), but you can buy the MP3 download listed above on Amazon and directly import the songs to iTunes.

Okay, that’s all well and good, you might ask, but what exactly is this?

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The Tales of Beedle the Bard by J.K. Rowling

Featured brown paper packaging - SPECIAL EDITION

Well, when I said I wasn’t going to talk about it, I lied. I admit it, I bought the collector’s edition (I ordered it back when splurges weren’t yet quite so forboden) of J.K. Rowling’s new Harry Potter book, The Tales of Beedle the Bard. Available, as they frequently remind us, exclusively through Amazon.com. And, what can I say, since I like to highlight fun pop culture packaging, I just couldn’t resist a little photo gallery of my own.

So before we get to the pictures… what gives with the collector’s edition’s steep $100 price tag? (The standard edition sells for about $7.) Serious, serious packaging. We’re talking at least three layers to just get to the book itself. And with an outer case (shaped like a gilded-paged book) sized at about a foot, and the enclosed book itself a peppy little 7 inches, it does come across as a tad… overdramatic? Only J.K. Rowling gets packaging like this for a short story collection that comes in at about 170 pages. A short story collection with a fake leather cover, raised metal engravings and “replica gemstones” no less. (The multi-million dollar, handcrafted, original version of the book has the real leather, silver and gemstones.)

Nevertheless, do I think it was worth the money? Heck, yes! Plus, all proceeds go to charity.

Here’s what this megalith consists of, in a comprehensive photo gallery (special thanks to my photographer!):

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Pixar’s short films - what everyone really cares about

Yes, Pixar’s feature films are hailed as “masterpieces,” as “visual works of genius.” They’re “revolutionary,” and “expertly crafted.” Blah blah blah.

(I’m just paraphrasing of course and not quoting anyone in particular. I don’t really think they’re exaggerations of the critical acclaim heaped on most of Pixar’s productions though.)

However, we all know the true source of Pixar’s popularity: its short films. Sure, you might think of Nemo, or Buzz Lightyear, or a family of superheroes (moment of silence out of respect for Edna Mode), or even George Lucas perhaps, when you hear the word “Pixar,” but there is no denying the power of the shorts.

They set the stage for the feature film after all! And they’re much more challenging. I mean, they have to tell a funny, clever, visually stunning story in just a few short minutes. A few minutes of pure, unadulterated genius. For the most part. Plus, the studio uses the short films as a training ground for soon-to-be Pixar gods (i.e., career advancement for staff), and to test new methods and ideas.

Thankfully, Pixar (or its new parent, Disney) recognizes the genius of the shorts as well, and last year released a collection of them, ranging from the mid-1980s all the way up through 2006. Here’s what the collection includes (plus bonus features), according to Wikipedia…

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Harry Potter, for adults’ eyes only

Celebration of the recent release of J.K. Rowling’s The Tales of Beedle the Bard seems to be pretty widespread among booksellers, so in recognition of this pop culture moment (or, whatever, like I need an excuse to talk about Harry Potter), I thought that instead of one more post on that new release, I’d talk about what made it such a big deal to begin with: the actual Harry Potter series itself!

For those of you living in the US (like me), you may not have seen all of the numerous editions of the books that are available (and really, numerous is not an exaggeration). HP’s original publisher, Bloomsbury, alone publishes multiple editions in the United Kingdom, including a children’s edition, adult edition, and special edition, among others. My personal favorites are the adult versions, shown above and below.

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• string theories

  What line of work you in, Bob?
  
  - Ryan the Temp to "Bob Vance, Vance Refrigeration" at The Office's Christmas party
  
  

• featured brown paper packaging

  What is it with accessories and DVD sets these days? Are knick knack companies going through some rough times? Or are studios just really desperate to sell DVDs? (Probably the latter.) First there was A Christmas Story (Ultimate Collector's Edition), with its cookie cutters, recipe book, apron, commemorative Christmas tin... (Whoa, I know.)
  
  And now there's The Notebook (Limited Edition Gift Set), which comes with a scrapbook album (with stickers!), notecards, envelopes, and "themed" bookmarks. But... wait for it... no new DVD extras or features! So totally worth it. Check out Entertainment Weekly for the lackluster DVD set review (a grade of D - harsh). Or, even better, Amazon's video montage of the contents, set to the soothing, Jane Austen movie-esque sounds of The Notebook's theme music. Hey, they know their audience.