Here is a rare glimpse into the creative process involved in bringing these works of art to life.

I present to you,  “Electro-Charles versus Hairy Potty!”

Enjoy!   Transcript as follows:

Maebius: Here is the master comic, hard at work.

The Artist: Oh hi!   I’ll start with the face… Then draw the rest of the hair… The eyes, the nose, and the mouth…

The body, his legs, his arms…  I added spears since he’s in battle.  Facing a Hairy Toilet.

Maebius: Could you read the comic for us quickly before you finish the artwork?  So that the read… viewers of this video can see the comic?

The Artist(affecting his ‘erudite’ accent):   Alright, I’ll finish it later.

Electro-Charles versus…

Electro-Charles versus Hairy…

Electro-Charles  (points to picture) versus Hairy potty (points to picture).

(turns page) Zaaaaap!

(third page) Hairy potty is terrorizing the city with his henchmen.

(while pointing out features of the illustration) Henchmen… city people…  (Maebius mumbles something in the background to acknowledge the contents of the illustration)

(turns to final page) Electro-Charles defeated Hairy potty and saved the world.

Maebius: Excellent!  We’ll have pictures when the comic is finished and coloured.   Good bye.

http://freerangekids.wordpress.com/2010/10/21/why-scouting/

One quote from the bottom summarizes what I was going to say already:

It is the same earth, but we have grown in this short time from 3.5 billion to 7 billion people.  The outdoor code, to be conservation minded is no longer quaint — it is part of the solution. To do your best, To be prepared…

This week’s spelling words, made into a song, to the tune of “Loony Tunes”.

Lyrics:
I do NOT want to play with you,
I sent you a NOTE.
Bunnies just HOP around,
I’ll get to school I HOPE.
I’m fishing with my new ROD
I RODE in the car.
TOT is for toddler,
you put things in a TOTE.
I take a bath in the TUB,
straws are mini-TUBEs.
Everyone knows what a bear CUB is,
at school we have a CUBE.
US means you and me,
we USEd up the ice-cream maker.
I can CUT with scissors,
my mother thinks I’m CUTE.
I eat BECAUSE I’m hungry,
your letter is FROM meeeeee——————————————————-!

The sharks smile as they swim past in the big tank at Boston Aquarium:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BsyRTXJeEs4

Jellyfish (Pacific Sea Nettles).  The photo didn’t turn out nearly as well, which is sad, since I wanted it as a potential background for my PC.  Very relaxing to watch. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2JcKna8bnAo

A whale feeding, just off the starboard side. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uYBS1fJZJpw

Another whale, making the bubble net and feeding, then diving back underwater. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aZAthIq3UZk

The kid, playing in the fountain near Quincy Market, Boston.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lT2oVbcZ_bM

Sprogling’s first soccer game.  We were “Those parents” who yelled and cheered, and I even tried to get the others to do ‘The Wave‘.  Sadly, the other parents tended to mostly sit on their chairs watching, or chatting on cell-phones, or reading. *sigh*    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RARh3qX_tes

Kid throwing the ball back in-play after it went out-of-bounds.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O75XtDRQxhg

Photos:   During the Soccer game.
The penguins at the aquarium.
A seal, at the aquarium.
Happy Kid, after playing in the fountain.
Happy Maebius, eating with a tasty brew.

In the course of these events, we cleared out a small cement ‘pit’ approxinately 2 feet deep and 4×5 feet, which is within a few feet of the well. Our guess is this is a trough of some sort from when the well had a hand-pump. Our plan is to use it to grow worms or other compostable critters, since is is moderately self-containing.

As we cleaned out the decades of trash from this pit (which had bits of pipe, broken bottles, barbed wire fragments, and lots of rooty weeds) the kid decided to do a bit of archeology himself with the last few bits of stuff found at the bottom amongst the dirt. Since this past Monday, he has been actively pondering these artifacts and asking the grandparents, his teacher, and random strangers what these clues add up to.

There are NO wrong answers here. (I’ll post the best theories he came up with later this week, and unfortunately, our camera is broke, so no photographic evidence. you’ll have to settle for MS Paint!)

Can you solve the mystery, using these clues?!

Clues:
1) A small glass ‘tiger claw’, (actually: shard of broken window glass) approximately 1 inch in length.

2) One strangely shaped bone, approximately 4.5 inches long (broken scapula? Skull fragment?)

3) A small dark blue, 2-hole button (such as on a shirt)

4) A small length of chain, with fat 1/2 inch links, un-rusted, approx a foot long found buried in the dirt.

5) A very rusty fork, with four straight tines and a simple pattern.  (cheap flatware)  One of the middle tines has 1/4 inch missing from the end.

6) A handful of sandy dirt.

I got a NEW CAR today, to replace the one that decided to blow up the engine on my way to work earlier this week.    Here’s a picture of the same model and colour that I will be driving for [hopefully] the next 10 years.    So far I need a nickname, but Pumpkin and Tigger have been ruled completely out.   (My old blue Hyundai Accent was called “Bluey” by the kid).

As I mentioned over on this post, I was attending a few College classes on herbalism and such.   Unfortunately, the first class was canceled due to low attendance numbers and I missed the rain-date.

Tonight, I will be actually attending the second course, and just got confirmation that the class is not postponed.

Off to grab my notebook and supply of pens!

I so totally want to go see this movie the more I read about it.   This link was sent to me by a kindly lady at work to warn me that Sendak appears to be a rude SOB and it’s a scary movie potentially inappropriate for my son.    I read the interview, and am actually more willing to take him now.

In summary:

Ever since the media got word of the film, reporters have hounded Sendak, Eggers, and Jonze. One of the main questions reporters are asking is, Will this film based on one of the best children’s books of all-time be appropriate for children?

Reporter: “What do you say to parents who think the Wild Things film may be too scary?”

Sendak: “I would tell them to go to hell. That’s a question I will not tolerate.”

Reporter: “Because kids can handle it?”

Sendak: “If they can’t handle it, go home. Or wet your pants. Do whatever you like. But it’s not a question that can be answered.”

The main issue I see, is concerned parents being actually interested in the movie and wanting to apply their filters to anything inappropriate or not.   This is a good thing, and it is beyond MY ability to say if your particular filter deems one thing or another “bad”.

The author seems to be thinking along those lines (but being particularly witty/snarky/pompous in his wording). He can not tell one person if this movie is inappropriate or not.  And if it is found to be “bad” to a particular person, it is not his fault.

The other subtext here is one of overprotective parenting.  I myself have steered my child away from some topics.  He isn’t going to be watching “Saving Private Ryan” this year, even if it would foster a discussion on war, or social injustice, or bravery.    Yet  think I’ve tried to be  open enough to let him try new things and offer to discuss his thoughts afterwards.

It’s a fine line, we parents try to tread, but I agree with the author’s (presumed) point here.  They made a movie about being a kid, not a movie For kids.  It’s not his job to then tell us parents if it’s appropriate or not.

A young boy is playing a video game, involving the usual slaughter of fantastic creatures and gaining more and more power.  The character portrayed assembles a collection of allies to help fight, including a tall dark-skinned desert-warrior with a staff, and a strange moon-creature with a machine gun.

In this game, the characters carry a supply of water, which slowly is reduced over the course of play, and can be refilled by stepping into clear puddles, or purchasing in-game bottles of water.

Consider the fact that when they first join the party, the Desert dweller has a moderate ‘water supply’ limit, and can hold a few quarts of water before any special items increase that maximum.   The moon creature can only hold a small bottle.  This means the moon creature must use some special items to increase this water-limit, or risk taking more damage (due to thirst) or carrying a lot of inventory bottles to refresh the small amount he holds.

The kid smiles as this last character joins the group, and excitedly turns to his parents to confide in a conspiratorial stage-whisper that “the Desert guy obviously had more water since in the desert you need to carry water a lot and there’s not much room in the moon suit, right? Right? Cool, huh!”

Multiple choice test for all you readers.  No right answers, but I’d like you to honestly consider and discuss WHY you may choose a particular result.  (and yes, it’s biased, but that is intentional)

What are your thoughts on the above situation?

A)  Why is a kid playing so many video games? Running around killing imaginary things is not good lessons to learn.  Go outside and play!

B) Why is a kid playing so many video games?  Yes, they are fun, but you could be doing crafts and other family oriented activities.

C) That’s nice, but now turn off that game, and lets hit the Library to research Desert peoples, and the scientific feasibility of actually living on the barren moon.

D) You know, the kid’s pretty bright, to have made such a connection at something like a simple Video Game.  Do you sit and play with him, or just let him do his own thing until he asks for help?

E) Nice observation! Lets talk about deserts and moons (see # C) tomorrow after school.

…

…

Your grade, according to the local community educational institution, is apparently the letter of the choice you made.    Need a re-test?   :/

So, instead of classroom learning, I will recount some soup we made earlier in the week while I was home to help cook.   It was the kid’s “Amazing Soup” and I am proud to reveal the ‘secret recipe’ below.

The nice thing about this was the hands-on approach the kid took with this meal.  I gave him free range to make whatever he wanted, and offered myself as ‘sous chef’ in charge of such things as sharp knives and hot stove-pans.   Whatever ingredients were added, were chosen by him.  (I made one suggestion to add some mushrooms, at the end just for my own selfish delight, and to allow him to use the Magic Bullet to powder-ize them himself)

We do this kid-cooking from time to time and while we ALWAYs make what he suggests, there have been times we secretly made a small pot of Mac&Cheese or Paste&Sauce as backup for when we know it is going to taste nasty.  I’ll have to post his “awesomeberry pie” recipe (which is actually more a  fruit crumble).

All ingredients, with the exception of the mushrooms, and the bouillon, is from our garden, or roadside veggie cart near our house.  Details of some ingredients after the recipe.

*** Maebius Jr’s Amazing soup ***

• 1 pan of water (approx 1 quart)
• 1 ear of hybrid sweet/’indian’ corn.
• 2-3 green beans, broken into 1/2 inch bits.
• 1 heaping Tbl of beef bouillon (more or less to taste)
• 1 dash of “spice mix”.
• 1 carrot, sliced thin.
• 3/4 yellow onion, “Whopper Chopper‘d” finely.
• 1/2 small Aubergine cut into ‘chunks’.
• 1 big leaf Bok Choy, ‘shredded’
• 1-2 small dried portabella caps, powdered in food processor.
• (optional: handful of pasta, as Rotelle or mini Farfalle)

Add all ingredients except Bok Choy to the pan and bring it to a boil until carrots are soft and onions are starting to dissolve.

Toss in the chopped/shredded leaves (alternately,  Lambs Quarters or Spinach) and continue boiling for another 10-15 minutes until suitably wilted.

At this point the soup should be slightly thickened.  If not, boil it a bit more with the lid off, or add pasta and simmer until done.

Serve in bowls with a clover flower garnish, and a side of bread or crackers & cheese.

The corn, we planted sweet corn along with a row of decorative ‘Variegated maize‘, and they have cross-pollinated, resulting in the sweet corn being sweet, but rather tough and having a few purplish/red kernels on each ear.

The Spice Mix is my own creation, which consists of a rotating jar of fairly random spices and dried herbs.  This collection of flavorings is generally ground together in a mortar & pestle, then put in a small jar.  When the jar starts looking half-full, I restock it with what I find around the counter at the time, so it changes and is complex by this point.  Mostly garlic powder, dried chile powder, black pepper, crumbled Dulce, sea salt, celery seed, ginger, nettle leaves, and dashes of other stuff-I-find-in-the-kitchen (basil, paprika, dill, etc).

Such thoughts brought humanity from the fire-lit caves of ancient times to walking on the moon (and deforestation and pollution, but I’ll discount that aspect for this post).

And so, tonight I will take up my bookbag, hoist a notebook and pen, and step forward into the frightening realm of Academia once more.   I hope you’ll join me later this weekend, as I regale you with tales of higher learning, wrenched from the inner sanctums of Herkimer Community College.

…

Or, more accurately, I signed up for 4 non-credit courses at the nearby college, taught by someone I know and have on my blogroll!

Tonight is the class “Local and Bioregional Herbal Remedies“,  followed by “Herbs of Children and Family” on Oct 22nd,  the exciting “Preparations and Kitchen Herbs” in November, and finally one in December that does not appear to be updated on the site yet. 

I havn’t been to ‘school’ for years now, so am just a wee bit nervous. Gotta get my brain in gear to do some Serious Learnin…

Still, I’ve heard the teacher is kinda hot. 

Green blessings from my yard to yours.