roaming gnomes take 2

I've been looking at pages of gnomes lately. Mostly to find stuff for this blog, but also because I'm bored.

I ran into some gnome napping sites. If you don't know what gnome napping is, its basically a variation on an old prank. Stealing a friend's (or non-friend's) semi-precious item and then sending pictures of that item back to them in a variety of different places has been around for a long time. I believe this happened in Calvin and Hobbes. They kidnap Suzy's doll, but she gets Calvin back by kidnapping Hobbes.

Gnome napping is the same premise, but specifically with Gnomes. The idea is one steals someone else's gnome from their property and then travels everywhere with it, sending back pictures of the gnome on vacation. Travelocity picked this idea up and uses a gnome-napped traveler to sell online travel deals. This gnome is probably the most well known, wearing a blue coat, black belt, and pointy red hat.

Other famous depictions of gnome napping include the 2001 film Amelie, starring Amy Tautou. The main character, Amelie, steals her father's gnome and sends it on a worldwide trip with her stewardess friend. It is also a plot device in the 1994 film Threesome starring Lara Flynn Boyle and Alec Baldwin and appears in the 2009 film Up in the Air starring George Clooney.


According to the Christian Science Monitor, gnome napping is not very unusual.   

Dr. Emery, an urban legend specialist (another cool-ass job I want) says stealing gnomes is a trend dating back at least 20 years. UPI published a story of an Illinois woman losing 14 gnomes to theft, and stated that gnome napping in the United States is starting to catch on. The police released a statement labeling this theft a felony... True, stealing is stealing, and illegal, but a felony? Pretty sure theft of property under $300 dollars in Illinois is only a misdemeanor. 14 garden gnomes can not possibly be more than 300 bucks.   

The Christian Science Monitor states that "gnome-napping" can be a serious offense when "gnome-nappers" go "too far".  Apparently there is (no lie) the GGLF, the Garden Gnome Liberation Front, which has "liberated" thousands of gnomes. The GGLF has a website. I looked it up, of course, in the name of research.  

The website pledges to free the gnome from garden enslavement by returning them to "the wild". There are pictures of freed gnomes, mail from disgruntled "oppressors", and calls for boycotts on Scotts Lawn Care (sells lawncare and garden care products), Home Depot (trader in gnome slaves and gardening supplies), Great Britain (for allowing such abuses in gnome rights). They even have an FAQ on how to start a GGLF cell at your local college.... You can put this on the list of things people do when they have a lot of imagination and no hobbies. Its also pretty damn funny.  

This kind of takes all the fun out of the prank of gnome napping. I think, family members and close friends taking things on trips and documenting the experience is amusing and fun. Stealing gnomes from random strangers in the name of liberation and civil rights for "woodland creatures" is silly and also allows the law to overreact with threats of felony, which is also silly, given the circumstance.   

Anyway... here are some websites devoted to this sort of thing:  

Gnomes on the Roam. This site is warm and fuzzy, despite Phil being an Eagles fan.  

Kyoto has a Blog. First hand account of gnome napping... this could lead to kleptomania

There is a Wikipedia entry also.

more comic time: Legend of Bill

I can not believe I haven't seen this online comic before! Legend of Bill is an epic fantasy comic farce. It reminds me of Hagar the Horrible, the Wizard of Id and Dave the Barbarian. The comedy is funny and well done, even if it feels like its been done before. The coolest part of these comics, unlike other cheap barbarian gag strips, is that it tells a story.

Even though bumbling barbarians are hilarious, this post is on a gnome themed blog...

Which is perfect for the Legend of Bill Gnome Syndicate section. Its about gnomes...  spying gnomes. The CIA of gnomes.  I am so excited for this. Cheap gnome jokes with a serialized storyline. Awesome!

The main characters of this side strip are Gnome 12 and Gnome 13. Apparently syndicate gnomes only have numbers, like the MIB. Gnome 12 seems to appear only in the Legend of Bill cartoons, Gnome 13 appears to be the main protagonist of this Gnome Syndicate cross-over. Other characters include Gladys, the Todd, Miss Keebler, Agent Shirley, Kirby, and Chief Perry.

Definitely a cartoon to read and follow.

Update: 

Apparently this comic is in some kind of limbo. The website is down? In progress? Being Built? Anyway, the website is linked above and on the Links Menu. Dave Reddick, the artist/writer, has his website here. but even he links to the same website. 

Link me up, Scotty

A few links for you to peruse in your spare time.  I have a lot of this lately.

The first is from a monster database/encyclopedia.  Based off of Wil Hygen's book of gnomes (which I have previously cited on this blog long ago), this account of gnomes is pretty classic.  Also, this doesn't end with just gnomes, the rest of the site is full of cool entries on all sorts of things that go bump in the night including aliens, Godzilla, fairies, and mummies.
http://faerie.monstrous.com/gnomes.htm

http://www.gnome.org/

Speaking of nerds... this next one is from World of Warcraft, of which I do not play.  I gave up on the franchise after War Craft Three, some things are just too time consuming.  Anyway, this is the WoW (i cant believe i just used that acronym) site's article on gnomes.  It seems that they have confused gnomes for gremlins, or some sort of mechanically inclined dwarf.  Either way, I'm not impressed.
http://www.wowwiki.com/Gnome


I included this website because, well...  why not?  They seem to be passionate about gnomes, just like me.  So, I figure, a little free promotion doesn't hurt.  Although, no one reads my blog anyway.  According to this site, there is a World Wide Gnome Association with a president...  and a queen.  This site is full of links to gnome related material, including poetry, diaries, pictures, biographies, etc.  Not sure how many are dead links, but you can find out for yourself.
http://www.foundus.com/jani/gnomes/welcome.html

This last link is for all the gardeners and outdoorsy types who like to decorate with gnome themed items.
Gnome Town USA (appears to be somewhere in northern New Jersey) sells garden gnomes in three sizes, outdoor furniture, birdhouses, and artificial rocks (I can't imagine why).
http://www.gnometownusa.com

Drinking does not require any senses

See no Evil, Hear no Evil, Speak no Evil  is a Japanese maxim from the 17th century. Not only is it a symbolic philosophical teaching tool, it is also an example of word play. The idea is a lesson in morality, basically, be of good mind, body, and spirit, do good always, etc, or pessimistically a statement on how ignorance is perceived as bliss. Instead of monkeys, the above cartoon uses gnomes to not only speak to the blissful act of self indulgence, but also to puns and word play.  

By the way, remember Ottmar Hoerl, the German artist? He also did a gnome model of this very same maxim. Check out this and other works here

OH THE HORROR!

So, I was searching the interwebs, as I often do when bored. Sometimes I find interesting things. Today, as I wandered around the internet I found an independent comic site. There are a lot of these on the web. Some are stupid web comics with kindergarten drawings of angry faces, or stick figures with adult content, pretty lame and unfunny. But occasionally I run into good things like Mike Maihack's CowShell graphics, or Peterson and Nicholle's Jesus Christ in the Name of the Gun. Today I found Angry Gnome Comics!

Since this blog has a theme, I bet you saw something like this coming.  Although, aside from the name, Angry Gnome Comics has nothing to do with gnomes as far as I can tell.  Horror comics are pretty awesome, and this one seems to have plugged into the horror pulp magazine vibe, especially with their short story collaboration books.  This is refreshing, as it seems like contemporary horror comics are all about zombies, or vampires.

Personally, I like my horror comics to have a sense of humor, like the Goon.

comic time

The Travelocity Gnome is a cold blooded killer, apparently.  Gnomes dont like to be pushed around. This is from Ryan Paigelow's Buni comic.

Movies: part two

Remakes are all the rage now in Hollywood. Some would even say Hollywood forgot how to make original films. If I were to remake a film, I would definitely pick something that people have forgotten.  Something like... this:

The Gnome Mobile was made in 1967 by Disney. The plot is basically: eccentric rich dude is ostracized and labeled a crazy person for believing in gnomes. His grandchildren, with the help of the actual existing gnomes, help clear his name and save the gnome community at the same time.

This could be remade as a family film with a Fern Gully-like environmental moral... or it could just borrow the title of the movie and book that its adapted from and completely change the entire premise. I'd watch a movie about 50s style greaser gnome gearheads who are persecuted by grumpy old people and rival gangs of gremlins. Either way, it ought to stay a musical.