Six Things I Am Happy About

Just creating lists today and decided to make this one to share with you all. :)


1. (Oh and this is number one by a MILE!) After more than 50 years, there is finally going to be a female Doctor Who! Jody Whittaker is taking the role in 2018 and I could not be happier or more excited! I still love to watch "my  Doctor",  the 4th Doctor Tom Baker, and I can't imagine anyone topping him for me. Though Peter Capaldi came very close the last three seasons with his dour, sarcastic leanings and those wickedly, wild eyebrows.

Anyhoo, this is lonnnng overdue and I have held out hopes we'd see our first female actor in the Doctor's shoes since the role of the Master was given, in a stroke of GENIUS, to Michelle Gomez a few seasons back.

I hope Ms. Whittaker will capture a whole new audience and generation with the role and I cannot wait to see her create the persona and make the role all her own.



2. Darci Lynne - Ventriloquism has always fascinated and, as a small child, frightened me. . .  it's always been there on my periphery as a somewhat mystical talent/ability. . . then someone sent me this link to 12 yr old Darci Lynne's audition for America's Got Talent: All I am saying is, whatever you may think of these types of talent shows or of the art of ventriloquism, it's something you'll never have seen done so well before and the final few minutes of the video are a tear inducing, feel good moment. :)  You GO Darci!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=paIYpech9pY


3. Levar Burton Reads Podcast - I love a well told short story and I love the actor Levar Burton. This new podcast has just a handful of episodes right now but I suspect it will be around as long as Levar wants to read to us. This week the newest edition was a story that I read last year and would have listed in my top 5 short stories of all time but, after hearing Levar read it, I'd say it's now my all time favorite short story. It's a tear jerker, so be warned. But it's just beautiful. . . it's episode 11,  " The Paper Menagerie" by Ken Liu. It's the most recent episode and the link to his podcast is below. I'd also suggest episode 9 called,  "1,000 Year-Old Ghosts", which I had never read, but which is now also in my top 5 of all time. (it's getting crowded in that top five these days!)

http://www.levarburtonpodcast.com



4.  Comic creator Gail Simone received an Ink Pot award for her work in the comics industry at SDCC last month. Gail has done so much for inclusiveness in the comic industry, writing diverse characters and bringing very modern storylines to the page that no one else would have thought of or written nearly as well. She's worked on Wonder Woman, Red Sonja, Batgirl and a host of others. If you don't know Gail's story, she is a former hairdresser who is now one of the biggest names in writing comics and, if I can share a little secret with you, Gail used to cut MY hair back in the day some 20 years ago. lol And I am not surprised at all that she has reached the heights she has. . . her compassion, fierce heart and fiery wit all combine to make her a force. . . and she just gets better, and more outspoken, with time. Cheers Gail! :)



5. Back to School - It's that time of year . . . again.  Just walking into the store the other day and seeing all the notebooks supplies etc in the front aisles gave me that same feeling I always got as a kid. I've said here before that I feel like September is the start of my year. A reset and check in that is, for me, far more effective than the New Year's tendency of a lot of people. Some of it is truly that something, namely Autumn's essence, is in the air! I am sure that some of it to do with all the school years of my youth. What I remember most was that, coming from a family who did not have a lot, it was the one time of year I could ask for art supplies, paper etc etc and NOT get that "look". lol  So that feeling of having what seemed like endless notebooks, BLANK paper, new crayons, gel pens or markers. . .  whatever was cool at the time. . .  and other implements for drawing and daydreaming, the possibility of it all. . . I don't think I will ever outgrow that nostalgic reminder or the way it rises in me again this time of the year.



6. County Fairs - Also took in our county fair in the past week. There is not much that compares to a county fair in a rural area like this. From the animals (cows, pigs, goats, sheep, ducks, chickens and more rabbits than you could ever hope to see!) to the beautiful fabric art (quilts, weaving, knitting) to the master gardener's garden and the exhibit halls (baking, canning, cake decorating, flower displays etc) it's a great time. And I won't even get into the food - will they never stop coming up new with things to batter and deep fry? :) I settled for a pronto pup and pizza. Passing on the favorites of old like elephant ears, curly fries and funnel cakes. Also, we tend to go on day one as early as possible. I imagine that by day three and four the usually smiling and delightful folk who work every facet of the fairs must be at wits end by then. . .

OK, New work coming in a day or two but I wanted to share that all with you and I hope there are dozens of such things in YOUR world making you Smile! Please feel free to share some of them here with me!

Until the next. . .

nicolas

A Tidy History with Sutekh the Egyptian God of Storms and Chaos

I had no way of knowing when I was a child that the "Osirian" character of Sutekh from the Dr. Who, 4th Doctor Serial, "The Pyramids of Mars" would one day be a major part of the world I create now.

I am certain this Dr Who episode was shown around the same time I was given a book about the tour of the treasures of King Tuts tomb which were in America for the first time and my world opened to the first ancient civilization that would shape my imagination in ways I could not grasp.

The character of Sutekh that was out to destroy Tom Baker's Doctor with his bulky mummies frightened the 7 yr old me while the protective, anthropomorphic and animal creatures I found in the books of Ancient Egypt were presented in ways that made them feel more like companions of my own.

It was only in the last few years I understood that the Dr Who Sutekh and this fellow below, more commonly known as Set or Seth, were one and the same in origin. And since I have been creating Him in statue form for my shop, they have become one of the most requested which inevitably is due to Set's association with Chaos and Storms. So much a part of all youth isn't it?

There is still much mystery as to what exactly Set is derived from. . .

And I tend to stylize the often boxy ears a bit but I find Him to be a regal form. :) 

So these days, when I make a statue of Set, I always think back to that wonderful time of discovery. As with so many of my creations, the past and present are inextricably linked. . .

If you have never seen The Pyramids of Mars, it is available as a streaming watch on Netflix under Classic Dr Who. I highly recommend it if you would like to know why Tom Baker is such an icon to fans of the show. He made every episode shine and in this one, he is at his very best. :)

So here's to Sutekh. . . Set. . . Seth. . . whatever you choose to call Him. a mystery and an inspiration for a lifetime. . . or several millennia. . . again, whichever you choose. :)
nicolas