Its a win/win thing.  What am I talking about you ask?  Has the heat withered your already addled brain? (No I got the air fixed so its not the heat – see previous post if confused).  A new recording is being released entitled Nelson Mandela’s Favorite African Folktales.  A portion of the proceeds from sales of this CD will go to helping South African children who have been orphaned and/or impacted by HIV/AIDS.  The CD features narrations of these folktales by artists such as Gillian Anderson, Hugh Jackman, Helen Mirren, Don Cheadle, Samuel L. Jackson and Alan Rickman.  Here go to this site African Folktales to listen to excerpts of these narrations.  This only serves as further proof that Mr. Rickman should be doing more audio work – i.e., a CD of poems – John Donne in particular his poem, Song (you know… Go and Catch a Falling Star…  here I refer you to my previous post about that. The whole poem is there for your perusal.

Oh, and I saw this and got the link form the Alan Rickman Download Haven

Google is giving away ten million dollars to fund five projects that they believe will have a significant impact on humanity and the planet.  Its called 10^100 i.e., Ten to the Hundredth – which apparently is what a googol is (that’s the way you spell the number doncha know).  I knew a googol was a large number but ashamedly I didn’t know that that’s what it is – 1 with a hundred zeros after it.  The word “googol” looks to me like the name of some Russian writer whose works I’ve never read.  But I digress. All the details are here: 10^100.  I think we all need to come up with something to submit.  It doesn’t hurt and it might help.

Small ideas can change the world if put into action.  I recently read about Playpumps which I think are brilliant.  Using kid-playing power to pump water in underdeveloped areas by using a merry-go-round or roundabout or whatever your culture calls it.  Its simple – the children play and exercise and water is pumped!  Amazing.  I think that’s the kind of ideas Google is looking for.  Click on the image below for more info.

And if you’re thinking with the economy the way it is, I don’t have time to think about other people’s problems — here, try this website: http://www.globalrichlist.com/index.php — You put in your income (you don’t have to be exact – you can even lie or just be vague about it if you want) and it will let you know how rich or poor you are by comparison to the incomes of the rest of the world.  Give it a try. There are no strings attached and no donation to anything is necessary.  Its just interesting.

I’m finding that working within the ACEO* constraints has reignited my desire to draw. I’ve always drawn. I think every child starts off as an artist and then through lack of encouragement or perhaps too much discouragement children just stop expressing themselves through art. Fortunately, some get that little bit of needed encouragement just at the right time that keeps them working to get better and then there are some of us who are just too stubborn to be discouraged. …. But wait, I digress.. I was saying, I enjoy drawing within the confines of the ACEO dimensions.  Why look, here’s one now…

The Snow Queen

I read all the fairy tale books I could get my hands on as a child from the Blue Fairy Book through the Lilac, the Brothers Grimm, and Hans Christian Andersen.  And as light hearted as Danny Kaye’s film portrayal of Hans was, in re-reading Andersen’s stories as an adult – well, wow – he tackled some serious issues and frightening subject matter in those stories that probably would not be rated acceptable for children in this day and age. Actually, fairy tales are our most ancient stories and carry mythic themes and universal truths … Uh,  but I digress again… I remember this wonderfully illustrated version of the Snow Queen that I checked out of the library as a child.  It was beautiful.  The illustrations were pencil colored, just beautifully blended, something like the style of Jan Brett.   I remember trying to figure out how to blend colors that way.  I wish I had paid attention to the artist’s name but I was probably about 8 or 9 and that didn’t seem as important back then.  The Snow Queen itself is a very creepy story – its available on line if you’d like to read it.  Here is an annotated version:  ”The Snow Queen”

If you’d like to see more of my shop, just click (no, not your heels – click on the Snow Queen).  

ACEO stands for “Art Cards, Editions and Originals”. These cards have one main rule – they are 3.5 inches by 2.5 inches – the size of a trading card.

I’ve got the theme song to the Hans Christian Andersen movie going though my head now thanks to that YouTube link above…. be warned its very catchy.