That Gnome is Radioactive!

Sometimes I like to watch television. Bones is a forensics show on Fox, and episode 106 dealt with a murder involving a very valuable gnome. The plot of the episode can be found here.

This particular episode had to do with the found body of a hoarder that fell through the ceiling of his apartment after being dead for a little while. The team ends up discovering that a possible motive for the murder could be his acquisition of a rare garden gnome made by the famous Fiesta Ware company from the 1940s.

Fiesta Ware is known for using radioactive glazes on their ceramics, and this discontinued line has become collectible. Of course, I looked into this, and there is no record of Fiesta Ware ever manufacturing garden gnomes. This is another cool concept created for television.  Bummer. The good news... because of the much more creative brains that write for television, we were treated to the whimsical cameo appearance of a garden gnome in primetime.  Speaking of primetime...

There is a show on A&E called Hoarders, which is about people who suffer from compulsive hoarding. Basically, the idea of reality television is to show humanity at its worst, and hoarding exposes this upsetting psychological disorder for the masses to see. Impressively, this show has lasted 6 seasons.

 In the television show, this particular gnome is napped by a collector that can't accept the words "no sale" from a crazy hoarder. $50000 is a lot of money to pass up. Hoarders can be pretty strong willed, and a little nuts!  

But what if they decide to hoard gnomes?  Apparently this is just called collecting... no intervention needed.

David Bowie and the Chipmunks?

 I can't believe I've never heard of this until now.

David Bowie's song the Laughing Gnome predates his break out album Ziggy Stardust. I've heard he hates this song. It is different than his later rock sound, but not really completely out of character. He starred in the Labyrinth with a bunch of Jim Henson Muppets, remember? Anyway, enjoy this track and it's silliness. It sounds like David Bowie is doing a duet with Alvin from the Chipmunks.

You may have to go to YouTube to listen, because the company that owns the rights lets YouTube post the song where everyone can hear it for free... but posting it on another blog where everyone can hear it for free isn't allowed. I never understood common sense.  

Waiting for the Robots to Take Over

Most people recognize the two major software frameworks. When asked, I would assume the Apple and Microsoft frameworks to be the only ones most people would recognize. However, there are others, and for obvious reasons, this post is about the best one.

As part of the freeware project GNU, Gnome used to be an acronym meaning GNU Network Object Model Environment. No longer part of GNU, Gnome is the default desktop interface for all Linux and Unix operating systems. Gnome has strived to be user friendly, cognitively ergonomic for all users, including the disabled.

In 1997, Gnome was developed for GNU in order to no longer be reliant on a toolkit program that had an expiring proprietary license. Gnome operated under a public license, which better suited the freeware philosophy of GNU. By 2011, Gnome had become the default interface for Ubuntu. 

David and Goliath is a Cheater

Awhile ago I used the above image in a silly post about Pink Floyd's song about gnomes. You can find it around here somewhere. I'm kind of ashamed at how ridiculous my writing is, so I won't link to it. The photo is from a tshirt produced and sold by David and Goliath Tees from Florida.

David and Goliath was founded in 2000 by Todd Goldman. The company followed an internet shopping trend that saw many tee shirt companies pop up selling similar fare. TShirt Hell, Threadless, and BustedTees are a few examples of the competition.

This is by far David and Goliath's best t-shirt design. I'm not biased, I swear.

In 2007, the company did get into plagiarism trouble. Some of his designs were proved to be ripped off of internet creator content sites. These claims were all settled, but like plagiarism claims against clothing giants Zara, Versace, Forever 21, and American Eagle, it opened up the discussion of what is protected on the Internet, how copyright law works, and how easy it is for independent creators to get screwed over by corporations.

Swedish Animation? Yes Please

Sometimes good things never make it to the United States.  I feel like film is one of these things.  And I have some proof today.

I found Gnomes and Trolls: The Secret Chamber playing on a movie channel today.  I looked into it, and although it is produced by a Swedish animation studio directed by Robert Rhodin, I couldn't find a White Shark website anywhere.  This film reached top ten box office in Turkey, Sweden and the Middle East where it appeared in cinemas, despite its small budget and quick production schedule.

I've read some mixed reviews.  Mostly, the reviews cite that the animation is not Pixar, but that company set the bar so high.  Described as a fun family oriented film, most of the reviews place it between 5 and 7 out of 10 stars.



This is the trailer.

There is a sequel too, released in 2010 called The Forest Trail.

Wroclaw: Gnome Street Art?

Recently, there has been an explosion of interest in renegade street artists. Mostly fueled by photoblogs and Banksy's indie film Exit Through the Gift Shop. Street art has become a medium for revolutionary political and social statements for generations. This is based on the presumption that once seen, this art can start the public thinking. And thinking can lead to change.

I found a few articles about a certain city in Poland famous for little sculptures that could be seen as street art. In the 1980s the Polish Orange Alternative used these little statues to protest Stalinist authoritarianism through peaceful means. Instead of confronting authorities in mass protest, which often leads to violence as seen recently in the Occupy Movement in the United States, the people of Wroclaw set up a multitude of little gnome statues doing harmless gnome-like things. The idea: how can you arrest someone for something so silly and expect the public to take you seriously? Waldemar Fydrych put it this way, "how can you treat a police officer seriously when he is asking you the question: why did you participate in an illegal meeting of dwarves?"

This, of course predates Banksy and the recent street art medium fad, and it uses gnomes to spread revolution. Pretty awesome.

There are a some articles from travel blogs about Wroclaw. Here are a few:

Feidler a's Blog

Europe a la Carte

Here are some more pictures of the Wroclaw gnomes. enjoy

Arm the Gnomeless

Look what I found...

http://twentytwowords.com/2011/10/04/combat-gnome/

Which led me to this...

http://www.thefirearmblog.com/blog/2011/09/30/i-never-got-the-garden-gnome-thing-until-now/

You've got to read the comments people left.  They're priceless.

It's a good day.

Custom Gnomes... Superheroes Edition

I find that people love to be creative, and the mediums to be creative in are pretty limitless.  This of course extends to all hobbies, including garden gnomes.  The most interesting creative things happen when two or more hobbies and mediums cross-over.  In this case, gnomes and comic books make for cool customization.

I would like to present Kris the Papier Boy's How to Guide to Gnome Customization.

Here are a few finished products:

Wolverine

Dynamic Duo?

Devo are kind of like Superheroes