Werepuppy's (Attempt At) Doll-A-Day 2019!

[Lejays17]

He looks much better with the eyes in. How are you going to do the face-up if your skills don't lie in that area (mine certainly don't, so I'm really curious what your plan is).

[werepuppy]

Jack looks much more "alive" now with the eyes in place. You selected a nice color that suits him nicely.

I was originally hoping for a blue set but since these ones were on sale and I knew there was a chance I could mess up - having never done the whole putting eyes in before - I thought it would be better to start off with the cheaper set. I really do like them, I don't know if I'll swap out for the blue.

Handsome lad! Congrats on getting the eyes in!

Thank you! It's a lot easier to admire him with eyes than without, lol.

He looks much better with the eyes in. How are you going to do the face-up if your skills don't lie in that area (mine certainly don't, so I'm really curious what your plan is).

He really does. No longer does he have gaping black holes, but actual eyes! I genuinely don't have much of a plan yet in regards of what to do for Jack's face. I'm hoping that something will come to mind sooner rather than later, but as it is, with the eyes in he does seem more of a being than he did without so face-up isn't as bothering for me right now.

- - -

48. Darles Chickens

Matilda beside some books by her favourite author

[neon_jellyfish]

I admire people who can read Dickens. I can't... But then again, she is a genius capable of psychokinesis... (we're talking Dahl's Matilda here, right?)

[werepuppy]

I admire people who can read Dickens. I can't... But then again, she is a genius capable of psychokinesis... (we're talking Dahl's Matilda here, right?)

Exactly Dahl's Matilda, yup. Happens to be my favourite of Dahl's works for children. It had it's 30th anniversary in late 2018. (Weirdly Oliver Twist is also a favourite of mine but I've not read it in years. I should try to re-read it soon.)

[davidd]

I admire people who can read Dickens. I can't....

I read... sort of... A Tale of Two Cities in a high school literature class. At that time, I doubt I could have made my way through it on my own, and I definitely would not have understood much of it, if the instructor were not guiding us through nearly every chapter, page, and paragraph.

I guess I'm a little bit smarter now, and better at deciphering antiquated writing styles, because a few years ago I attempted, for the first time, to read A Christmas Carol, and to my surprise, I discovered that the story is funny! It's not entirely the grim, gloomy story presented in movies, but rather, it is rich in satirical humor and wordplay that I was not ekspecting.

I would imagine that reading Dickens in English as a non-English speaker would be extremely challenging, seeing as how his works are a bit of a slog for most of us who are native English speakers.

I suppose that among Dahl's works, or at least among those I've read (I have not read Matilda), my favorite would be James and the Giant Peach. Again, satire and snark. Some people, so I understand, do not care for it because it is "mean spirited." Back in the day, it was merely funny. Plus, the part about the aunts being eaten by an escaped rhinoceros has stuck in my mind since the moment I read it.

Curious thing, Dahl wrote the screenplay for the film Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. That would eksplain some of the more subversive, not-exactly-a-kids'-movie elements in the film.

[werepuppy]

I read... sort of... A Tale of Two Cities in a high school literature class. At that time, I doubt I could have made my way through it on my own, and I definitely would not have understood much of it, if the instructor were not guiding us through nearly every chapter, page, and paragraph.

I guess I'm a little bit smarter now, and better at deciphering antiquated writing styles, because a few years ago I attempted, for the first time, to read A Christmas Carol, and to my surprise, I discovered that the story is funny! It's not entirely the grim, gloomy story presented in movies, but rather, it is rich in satirical humor and wordplay that I was not ekspecting.

I would imagine that reading Dickens in English as a non-English speaker would be extremely challenging, seeing as how his works are a bit of a slog for most of us who are native English speakers.

I suppose that among Dahl's works, or at least among those I've read (I have not read Matilda), my favorite would be James and the Giant Peach. Again, satire and snark. Some people, so I understand, do not care for it because it is "mean spirited." Back in the day, it was merely funny. Plus, the part about the aunts being eaten by an escaped rhinoceros has stuck in my mind since the moment I read it.

Curious thing, Dahl wrote the screenplay for the film Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. That would eksplain some of the more subversive, not-exactly-a-kids'-movie elements in the film.

Dickens is one of those writers we're introduced to young and it's held up as this work of art... And then you find out he was paid by the chapter and published in a cheap newspaper of the day, and often read by the "lower educated" of the time. (Though Dickens also had some standing thanks to his days of reporting on parliament and knew how to appeal to upper classes. There's good reason Oliver is such a little saint...) Kind of like the moment you realise Shakespeare has a ton of dirty jokes peppered throughout all his plays. Actually Much Ado About Nothing, well the title itself is a dirty joke.

A Christmas Carol is wonderful. There's a reason the Muppets rendition is actually the best adaptation and most book loyal. Not even kidding, even with added Muppet-ness.

James and the Giant Peach just has a lot of absurd humour and I think it throws people a bit. But I did not know that about Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. It ex.plains a lot.

(Matilda is well worth a read, as is The Witches. Rainbow Toys does a range of stuffed plush dolls for various Dahl works.)

[davidd]

And then you find out he was paid by the chapter and published in a cheap newspaper of the day, and often read by the "lower educated" of the time.

Ah yes, that's right; Dickens was a writer of serialized fiction: penny dreadfuls, nickel weeklies, dime novels, most of which, both the material and the authors, were considered to be sensationalized tripe for the unwashed masses. Why, then, have Dickens, and the American Nathaniel Hawthorne, who also wrote paid-by-the-word serials, been elevated in status to literary greatness, while most others of their ilk continue to be dismissed as talentless hacks who churned out worthless drivel?

This also brings to mind another question that has long intrigued me, but to which I have not yet found a satisfactory answer: were people in the 19th and early 20th centuries better educated than students today? The vocabulary used in most serialized and periodical stories of the time, even those targeting the lowest-common-denominator demographic, was broad, rich, and by today's standards, often arcane. Yet supposedly many of these publications targeted the "youth market."

As an eggsperiment – yes, my idea of "fun" can be pretty boring – a while back I pasted a random sampling of dime novel text (from "Larry Lee, Young Lighthouse Keeper" - Pluck & Luck no. 46, 1899) into a handy online reading level calculator...

http://www.readabilityformulas.com/free-...-tests.php

... and the results indicate a reading level somewhere between 9th and 12th grade. "Afloat with Captain Nemo" from The Boys of New York no. 713, 1889, is assessed slightly higher, grade 12 to university level.

Having worked in public education, I can attest that it is a rare student who reads at or above "grade level."

While kids today may be adept at video gaming and text messaging (which consists largely of abbreviations and emojis), many of them ("many," in this case, meaning nearly all of them), particularly at younger ages, would have a difficult time immersing themselves in the serialized adventures of Buffalo Bill or Jack Wright and Frank Reade, Jr. And those are exciting stories! How the dickens young people could decipher Dickens back in the era when he was originally published is beyond my understanding.

I apologize for derailing your Doll a Day topic with a tangent into literature and literacy.

I do not believe I have ever watched A Muppet Christmas Carol. I shall have to do so. I find Mister Magoo's A Christmas Carol to be one of the most frightening versions. The Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come in that animated version is truly scary. But accurate, no.

[neon_jellyfish]

This also brings to mind another question that has long intrigued me...

*snip snip snippity snip*

I apologize for derailing your Doll a Day topic with a tangent into literature and literacy.

I so want to reply to this post, but I don't want to derail this thread any further, would you guys be interested in starting an off-topic thread where we'd babble about, er, I mean, discuss the noble subject that is literature in most eloquent of manners?

Not now, though, I really need to go to bed...

[Elfy]

On Dahl, he also wrote the screenplay for You Only Live Twice, and he actually worked with Ian Fleming during WW2. He was a fighter pilot, and I think he also invented the concept of the gremlin as a mechanically minded mischief maker. His Tales of the Uneected for adults were televised and they were often quite chilling.

[werepuppy]

I so want to reply to this post, but I don't want to derail this thread any further, would you guys be interested in starting an off-topic thread where we'd babble about, er, I mean, discuss the noble subject that is literature in most eloquent of manners?

Not now, though, I really need to go to bed...

I would 100% be up for that! From what I've seen on the forum, I think a lot of people would have excellent contributions to give to such a discussion!

On Dahl, he also wrote the screenplay for You Only Live Twice, and he actually worked with Ian Fleming during WW2. He was a fighter pilot, and I think he also invented the concept of the gremlin as a mechanically minded mischief maker. His Tales of the Unex.pected for adults were televised and they were often quite chilling.

I did actually read one of his short stories for adults back in high school. It was about a lady who murdered her husband with a joint of lamb, and got away with it by getting the police to eat the evidence. Weirdly, telling you that does not really spoil the story because it's all about how she manages to pull this off. It's really good.

Also I did not know he was involved with Gremlins!

- - -

49. The Matilda Pose

Taken in 2014, this is a picture of my 11cm custom obitsu - Matilda Wormwood - standing with a flyer for the musical adaptation of her origin source. The musical is awesome and you all should go, and tiny little Matilda is my darling little custom - smallest one to date.

[davidd]

Mini-Matilda has the pose down!

A musical adaptation? Would that be... Waltzing Matilda?

[neon_jellyfish]

Such a tiny doll, such a badass pose. So cute!

***
I'm spent today, so I'm postponing the literary discussion to tomorrow.

[Lejays17]

Literary discussion sounds like a fun off topic thing, we would be up for that (Elfy & I are big readers, it’s one of the things that drew us together when we first met. Also history.)

Excellent reproduction of the musical poster.

Davidd, unless the musical is about sheep-stealing and death by drowning, it’s probably not Waltzing Matilda (that’s a terrible joke you made, I’m impressed!)

[dargosmydaddy]

I did actually read one of his short stories for adults back in high school. It was about a lady who murdered her husband with a joint of lamb, and got away with it by getting the police to eat the evidence. Weirdly, telling you that does not really spoil the story because it's all about how she manages to pull this off. It's really good.

Ah, "Lamb to the Slaughter"! Dahl wrote a bunch of awesome/ twisted adult short stories. I have an anthology somewhere. There's one about infant Hitler that is also really memorable, and one about a baby that starts to turn into a bee...

[Elfy]

That’s a Matilda full of attitude. The Dahl shorts are probably Tales of the Uneected. They filmed a lot of them, and he did the intros.