52-Week Illustration Challenge, Week 8

Toy chicken and polar bear. Double-ended waterproof black Sharpie.

Week 8: Crosshatching

Up in front

The February 2010 issue of the teacher-librarians' professional journal, "Scan" (vol 29 no 1) features a photograph I took on my iPhone late last year, as we were wrapping up the Bear and Chook books rap at school. Note the presence of a ubiquitous Bear and Chook in the lower left hand corner.

Vacation photo roundup, Part I

I'm back from vacation: a restful time spent with friends Maria, Peter and little Ben, as their house guest over Christmas and the New Year.

The Macbook Pro came with me, although there weren't too many opportunities to go online, although the last three days gave me several long sessions using a McDonald's free Wi-Fi connection, and it was a good way to wean myself back into the virtual world.

Part I of my special holiday subset of the 365 Photos project:


Jack begins to suspect I'm packing for a vacation without him. 20 December 2009.


Leaving on a Virgin Blue jetplane. Taken at Sydney's domestic terminal, Mascot. I actually had to restage this shot at the end of my holiday because it was lost in a computer program malfunction. Image representing 21 December 2009.



Golden, foil-wrapped balls, supposedly Fererro Rocher chocolates, are all individually suspended from the Myer Centre ceiling. Brisbane CBD. I lost this shot in a computer program malfunction, but luckily had already forwarded the image to my Facebook page, via my iPhone. 22 December 2009.


My Brisbane hosts' new Christmas tree, a bargain eBay purchase. I also had to restage this shot because the original was lost in the computer program malfunction. 23 December 2009.


My Brisbane hosts' three year old son, Ben, who had a ball dressed as a Santa's helper elf to ride the Christmas Express miniature railway at David Jones, Brisbane CBD. 24 December 2009.


Christmas Day canine visitor: Meg, the dog with a hole in her head. "Thar she blows!" (All her other spots are grey.) 25 December 2009.


Christmas fruit mince pies on Boxing Day. The chef complained they weren't "Women's Weekly Cookbook" enough, but I told her they were "rustic". And delicious. 26 December 2009.


Gorgeous blooms in suburban Brisbane. 27 December 2009.


I told people this was from a preview of "The Enemy Within" remake scenes of the next "Star Trek" movie. Twin transporting Kirks in the doorway of JB Hi-Fi, Brisbane CBD. 28 December 2009.


A rather self-conscious usher completes this art deco shot at a Hawthorne cinema, screening "Avatar" in 3D, Brisbane. 29 December 2009.


Frolicking polar bear at Sea World, Southport, Queensland. 30 December 2009.


Dreadlocked dog in the doorway of an art gallery, Bulimba, Brisbane. 31 December 2009.

To be continued...

Bears and chooks iiiiiiiin spaaaaaaaaaaaace!

Bear and Chook's space adventure: fun with Kindergarten book rappers in the school library today.

The students created three new adventures for Bear and Chook and we uploaded the photos as a Flickr slideshow:

Please click here!

They (and I) hope you enjoy this digital story. You can request to read the captions while the slideshow plays.

On the beach

Bear and Chook explore a "rockpool" in the sandpit at school. The making of a PowerPoint presentation. Note Chook's hanky hat, the subject of a different PowerPoint procedure.

Progeny?

One of the students at school brought in her baby "Sea World" polar bear to visit with Bear and Chook. (We wondered if it hatched out of an egg?)

Meanwhile...



Flipping through some old photo albums this week, I noticed that today was exactly 28 years since the Seven Network in Australia bought the rights to rerun Star Trek - for the first time the entire series was to be aired here in colour!

I'd quite forgotten that the gala costumed event was scheduled for so late at night! I do recall that the people leaving the last screening for the day of "Clash of the Titans" at Sydney's beautiful old State Theatre, only to find the foyer filling up with Star Trek aliens, ASTREX members and USS Enterprise officers.

The episodes chosen were a bit of a secret Although the plan had been to screen "The City on the Edge of Forever" and "Let That Be Your Last Battlefield", if I recall the fliers correctly, it turned out to be "The Menagerie", Parts I & II, on the big screen. I was a little disappointed because I'd only just bought those two episodes on Betamax, while the other two episodes were not available commercially Down Under.


Therin of Andor at the State Theatre (1981).

(Yeah, those are two baby tribbles perched on my right shoulder, and I'm also wearing a silver Enterprise pendant! The Polaroid camera bag was a very useful Starfleet accessory for Andorians allergic to Retinax 5 - a reference we wouldn't even know until the highly-anticipated release of "Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan" in the same venue just under a year later!)

Three in one

Through the security glass, at night.
12 August 2009.


Bear and Chook wait for a taxi. A big day
of filming at Caddies Creek Public School.
13 August 2009.


The Fool, or court jester, Shakespeare Collection
series of figural Toby jugs. Staffordshire Ceramics.
14 August 2009.

At home in the school library

First day of Term 3. Bear and Chook have moved into my school library
and made themselves right at home!

Thank God for the Salvo's!

Today I found the perfect stuffed polar bear I need for a school project (for the book rap on the children's picture book "Bear and Chook") at a local Salvation Army "Salvo's" charity store. I've been pricing toy polar bears all week, and this one was just $2. He was even dressed for Christmas (in July?), but even his garments are worth way more than $2! Boy, am I glad I didn't buy the one I saw for $130 during the week!

Even better, Bear's the perfect scale for my battery-operated "Choke-a-Chicken" (below left), who'll be standing in for the character of Chook. (Remember "Choke-a-Chicken"? A real novelty hit several Christmases ago. He does the Chicken Dance, and squawks in agony when you pick him up by the neck!)

It was the most amazing day. I was dropped off at the station today, to head into Darling Harbour and have lunch with friends at the Meat and Wine Co. I just missed a train, so I headed off to the shops for a while, and then decided to check out the stuffed toy section of the "Salvo's" charity store on High Street. Sure enough, there was Bear, waiting on a couch and looking resplendent in his Christmas outfit. You could have knocked me over with a feather when the woman serving me said, "$2 please"!

Of course, I then had to take Bear into the city with me - and pay an extra 95 cents for a recyclable carry-bag - but who cares when I'd just saved $128! I also missed the next fast train into the city, which was also frustrating, but again - who cares when I'd just saved $127.05!

I even managed to send profile updates and the pic (above) direct to my Facebook page from my iPhone! In the time it took to get into the city, there were many hilarious comments coming in from friends making puns about the polar bear that had made me late for lunch!




Introducing "Bear and Chook by the sea": Emma Quay, illustrator, and Lisa Shanahan, author.

Sickbed round-up

I've just spent a week very under the weather with flu symptoms that threatened to overwhelm me. Luckily, I seem to have thwarted it, despite everyone around me sniveling, coughing and complaining.

I haven't felt too much like blogging, but I have kept up with my daily photographs for the 365 Photos project:


Part of a very large pile of parcels I had to send out, containing
aluminium Star Trek water bottles. 5 July 2009.

I (stupidly?) volunteered to buy them up for 37 US members of the Playtrek action figures and collectibles listserv, and I'm hoping it pays off in plenty of toy karma. (Now I know why firms charge postage "and handling" - the time it takes to package up things and get them to the post office is deceiving. Every package has required flashing my Medicare card each visit, three signatures: on the parcel, the customs declaration, and a form attached to the declaration - and my address has to appear twice.)


Jack on the lounge, a few minutes to midnight. 6 July 2009.


Cover art of the picture books "Bear and Chook" and "Bear and Chook by the sea". 7 July 2009.

I spent the day writing programming notes for a book rap. These books by Lisa Shanahan and Emma Quay will be the focus of a book rap in Term Four.


The Shopping Trolley Graveyard, where lost and abandoned Penrith shopping trolleys
congregate before their ultimate demise. 8 July 2009.


View through a balcony rail at the Queen Victoria Building, Sydney CBD. 9 July 2009.


My cute new set of "Cosbaby" Nightwing, Robin, Batman and Batgirl figurines. 10 July 2009.


A cheeky poolside willy wagtail left behind a mess on Pan's head at sundown today!
He was using the statue as a springboard for his bathing expeditions.
And driving Jack crazy! 11 July 2009.


View behind the laptop, a few minutes to midnight. 12 July 2009.

On the ninth day of Christmas

Yesterday Jack and I managed to avoid the downpours of rain and spent about an hour walking briskly through historic Parramatta Park. I was pleasantly surprised that dogs were permitted, as so many public places actively discourage them, even when on a lead. We had to "stay ten metres from children's play areas and barbeques", but the rain had already scared away most of the park's users for the day.

After that, Jack got to visit Punchbowl, and a little white Maltese terrier he knows: she's the very cheeky Jessie and we are always guaranteed many belly laughs when the two of them romp together. Jessie demonstrated how she can spin in the air 360 degrees, and Jack showed off the new trick he's been learning: "Sit, drop, roll!", complete with an often-hilarious howl of embarrassment when he doesn't wish to do it again. (Who said you can't teach a middle-aged dog new tricks?)

Needless to say, he's still passed out on the couch, poor little guy...

How curious that I ended up going right past Punchbowl Public School, where I was teacher-librarian from the beginning of 1991 till the end of 1997 - and here I am this week describing Christmas ornaments from that period of my life! I now present today's batch, as we continue to journey back through time:



Above left: For 1990, the cross-eyed, stuffed polar bear carries an empty sack on his back, and can presumably be filled with sweets, although I've never done so. Another purchase from the Lakemba pharmacy/newsagency. (I'd forgotten how many of my collecton came from there.) The tiny dragon and knight ride a wagon, and comprise the smallest ornament in my collection. One year it got left on a branch when the tree was stored away. Purchased from Grace Bros. in Roselands.

Above right: For 1989, the miniature rocking chair, made of real wood, is a simple, yet bold, statement on the Chrismas tree. It came from Grace Bros. in Roselands. The round wooden frame, containing a small, handmade reindeer tapestry created by my sister-in-law, Michelle, was included in my Christmas gift from my brother's family.

On the sixth day of Christmas

While cleaning up some file boxes in the garage this week, I found a batch of my "Star Trek" movie scripts, which I haven't seen since I moved house in 2000. I'd forgotten that I owned three versions of the ST III script, in addition to Harve Bennett's slim bootlegged premise, ST III: "Return to Genesis".

But in the so-called FIRST DRAFT script of "ST III: The Search for Spock", dated March 23, 1983 -- well after the Romulan crew of "Return to Genesis" has officially morphed into a Klingon crew -- Mr Bennett has this to say about the controversial makeup change from TOS:

"Present are the 1ST LORD of the Klingons, and his command staff. The variety of Klingons will be fully explored. Elders have been seen in STAR TREK I. Forehead bumps are marks of age and wisdom, not common. What is common is that they are a dark race of large and frightening appearance."

The "elderly" Klingon idea has obviously been nixed by the REV. FINAL DRAFT script of September 13, 1983, because Valkris wears a half-veil to hide her own bumps, and Captain Kruge is described as a "handsome but frightening presence, and relative youth".

(Since those early days, of course, we've seen Alexander, Worf's son in "The Next Generation" series, as a toddler with a matching bumpy forehead to his Dad's. Then we had Worf's enigmatic comment in DS9's "Trials and Tribble-ations", and a two-part explanatory episode about the origins of smooth-foreheaded Klingons in "Star Trek: Enterprise".)

The early script also specifies a flotilla of Klingon heavy cruisers, and Kruge's cloakable Romulan Bird of Prey that "Trek buffs will recognize" from its "distinctive bird & wing motif". After they watch the Bird of Prey turn visible, the script goes on:

1ST LORD: What is this? None of you knew?

3RD LORD (hastily): It is his toy, sir. A Romulan prize. He has perfected their Cloaking Device.

1ST LORD: Commander Kruge, I want you here... Now!

INT. BIRD OF PREY BRIDGE - ON KRUGE

KRUGE: Always your servant, my Lord.

(He turns and CAMERA reveals his CREW, the most awesome collection of large, cruel and piratical men since the Pittsburgh Steelers of the Seventies. We will see more of them later.)

KRUGE: Well, my jolly lads, a few more triumphs like this and we'll all be back in prison.

(then turning)

Try to behave yourselves while I'm gone.

My take on it all? I reckon this Kruge probably should have had a Klingon parrot on his shoulder (but perhaps the lizard/dog from the REV. FINAL script ate it?)

A major character difference is the addition of vulcanoid (Romulan?) defector, Galt, who essentially fills the role taken by Maltz the Klingon in the final film. Galt is actually welcomed back to Vulcan by Sarek at the end of the movie.

Towards the end, instead of the REV. FINAL DRAFT and FINAL SHOOTING script version of Kirk saying to Kruge, "I... have had... enough... of you!" the FIRST DRAFT script has Kruge saying, "The last face you see, Kirk. The last face you ever see."

He then grabs Kirk in a choke hold, they struggle, and Kirk seems doomed - but when the zombie-like Spock grabs Kruge from behind, Kirk is able to break free, retrieve the Klingon dagger and throw it into Kruge's back. Then he asks Galt to beam them up, abandoning several remaining Klingons to their fate on the doomed Genesis.

Bennett's script notes also say: "The writer suggests to the producer and director that no acting credit be given for the role of SPOCK until the END CREDITS. (And that's what they actually did. There's a blank space in the opening credits of ST III, where Nimoy's acting screen credit should normally be.)

Cool, eh? Anyway, here are today's Christmas ornaments:

Above left: For 1996, the Coca-Cola polar bear mascot, sitting in the stocking to chug down his Coke straight from the bottle, was bought just after that Christmas, from a countertop display in a roadhouse (on the way to wherever I was holidaying in January 1997). Marvin the Martian, from "Looney Tunes", was a Hallmark boxed ornament. He has a Santa sack of (Acme?) dynamite over his shoulder and is, no doubt, trying to clear his view of Venus for Christmas. As Marvin would say, "Isn't that lovely?" Purchased from Grace Bros. in Roselands.

Above right: For 1995, the cute mouse on a swing has a hard head and a soft, stuffed body. He's actually standing up on a swing, and the swing's rope is what attaches to the tree. Another purchase from the Lakemba pharmacy/newsagency. The haloed angel cow is made of some form of clay and looks like it's been homemade, but was from Grace Bros. in Roselands.