Shriya Saran was seen in Hyderabad during the promotional event of Lux products. Shriya looked glamorous in pink dress and she had a photoshoot too during the event.05 more images after the break...
Saturday, November 19, 2011
A Bad shot at Wedding
A Bad shot at Wedding, 10 more images after the break...
The Cat was Born with two Faces
Frank and Louie the cat, was born with two faces, two mouths, three eyes, and lots of doubts about his future. Twelve years after Marty Stevens rescued him from being put down because of his condition, the exotic blue-eyed rag doll cat is not only thriving but has made it into the 2012 Guinness Book of World Records. He's the longest surviving member of a group known as Janus cats, named for the Roman god of transitions, who has two faces. 07 more images after the break...
10 facts about Queens
01. Queen Rania became the youngest queen in modern history: she became queen at age 29. In just over a year before the coronation, she worked in a bank in Amman. 09 more after the break...
Photos taken at the Right time
Photos taken at the Right time, 35 more images after the break...
Sleeping in a Coffin from last 23 Years
For the past 23 years, Brazilian Zeli Ferreira Rossi, 61, has been going to sleep not to his bed, but straight into a real coffin…06 more images after the break...
Interesting Drive
Interesting Drive, Can guess what see in next picture, 07 more images after the break...
Music Video: Bjork's “Human Behaviour”
This is by no means new. It is a video of Bjork's first solo single, “Human Behaviour” from 1993. The video by director Michel Gondry was inspired by Yuri Norstein's animated film "Hedgehog in the Fog" and has some Goldilocks and the Three Bears influences. The song isn't fairy tale influenced, but the imagery is interesting.
Advertising: Student Work: Burger Kind and Fairy Tales
It’s another story. Burger King
Advertising School: Miami Ad School/ESPM Sao Paulo, Brazil
Copywriter: Renato Maroni
Art Director: Rafael Voltolino
Illustrator: Edson Yamasaki
Via Ads of the World. The concept on these is pretty weak and doesn't sell the brand, but they are apparently student work, so I'm not going to rip them very much. The illustrations were intriguing, so I thought I would make these a Saturday post. The more I look at them, the Little Red Riding Hood is the most effective and doesn't earn as strong a panning from me.
And, by the way, Burger King has used fairy tales in real advertising. See my old post of tv spots from Germany for Burger King.
Friday, November 18, 2011
Trailer for Brave
The trailer for Pixar's Brave for which I have read so many conflicting reports of it being or not being folklore based. Well, it appears to be in a very general way, but no specific stories here. It's set to be released June 2012. I usually enjoy Pixar films and at least we are finally getting a heroine from them.
If it's a success--and when is Pixar not?--I imagine a slew of Scottish influenced stories descending upon us. Hmmm, what Scottish folktale would you love to see as a movie? I vote for Kate Crackernuts. Someone out in Hollywood get right on that for me, yes?
New Book: There Was an Odd Princess Who Swallowed a Pea by Jennifer Ward
There Was an Odd Princess Who Swallowed a Pea
by Jennifer Ward and illustrated by Lee Calderon was released a few months ago. Yes, it's another riff on the children's song, but this one uses fairy tale related items. It's zany and silly. 
From the publisher:
A wacky fairy tale–inspired version of the popular song "There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly."
And here's a book trailer:
Advertising: Rapunzel & Zain
Sometimes things don't turn out exactly like you'd expected. But this TVC is all about making life's journey a more pleasant and satisfactory one. Drawing on the much-loved fairytale, Zain takes us on an epic journey of magical, heroic, and humorous proportions, proving yet again that when it comes to a wonderful world, expectations are always met.
Credits:
Advertising Agency: M&C Saatchi, MENA, UAE
Executive Creative Director: Samer Younes
Creative Director: Odile Riachi
Associate Creative Director: Pierre Khoury
Senior Art Director: Rola Ghotmeh
Copywriters: Maya Macaron, Maral Ghanma
Producer: Elie Zreik
Director: Michał Sabliński / Platige Image, City Films
Composer: Harry Hadeshian
Account director: Olfa Mourad
Account manager: Raneem Mourad
Published: April 2011
So what did you think of that one?
Thursday, November 17, 2011
Catwoman to Katniss Conference 2012
I think I will have to drive 30 minutes down the road to this one since I can. I'm in Murfreesboro at least a few times a month anyway. :) And that makes three conference posts in one day. Good since there won't be one next Thursday since it will be Thanksgiving here in the states. And if there are any readers out there interested in submitting fairy tale related papers to this one, a round table would be interesting and I could be there...
From the Catwoman to Katniss Conference 2012 site:
Catwoman to Katniss Conference 2012
March 15-16, 2012 • Murfreesboro, TN
Middle Tennessee State University
Catwoman to Katniss is an interdisciplinary conference examining female images in electronic, graphic, and textual media within the science fiction and fantasy genres. Featured in this conference are keynote speakers C.S. Friedman and Dr. Rhonda Wilcox. Friedman is the bestselling science fiction and fantasy author of such works as In Conquest Born, and The Coldfire and Magister Trilogies as well as many other novels and short works. Dr. Wilcox is a professor of English at Gordon College, a founding editor of Critical Studies in Television: Scholarly Studies in Small Screen Fiction, Editor of Studies in Popular Culture and Coeditor of Slayage: The Journal of the Whedon Studies Association.
While women have occupied many roles in science fiction and fantasy text and media, the last several years have produced a wealth of images of women as both heroine and villainess, offering a new and unique view of the female body and image. This conference seeks to interrogate these representations of the female form, and how they contrastingly strengthen or challenge prevailing ideas of gender, class, and power. We wish to examine the extent to which such female figures exercise agency, or whether they merely appear to, within their fantasy and science fiction milieu. This conference welcomes papers on all aspects of female representations of “good” and “evil” within an imaginative context, including but not limited to:
• Folktales
• Epic Fantasy
• Children’s and young adult fiction
• Television and film
• Graphic novels / comics
• Traditional fiction and literature
• Video games
• Manga and Anime
• Robot, cyborg and psychically enhanced female figures
• Myth / Legend
• Classical female figures (goddesses, etc.) in twenty-first century narratives
Additionally, papers and presentations interrogating the below topics, artists and authors are strongly encouraged:
• Women in film and television: Sucker Punch, Marvel films, Game of Thrones, V, The Vampire Diaries, True Blood, Torchwood, Doctor Who, Battlestar Galactica, etc. While Twilight and Harry Potter would certainly fall within the grasp of this conference, only original approaches to these topics will be considered.
• Heroines and Villainesses in graphic novels, comics and manga
• Treatment of women in epic fantasy by both male and female authors.
• Depictions of women by male authors: Robert Jordan, George R.R. Martin, Terry Goodkind, etc.
• Women in the works of Anne Rice, Marion Zimmer Bradley, Anne McCaffrey, Sherri Tepper, Octavia Butler, Ursula LeGuin, Kelley Armstrong, Charlaine Harris, Kim Harrison and Mercedes Lackey
• We strongly encourage participants to propose panels and/or roundtables for discussions of any of the above, or other, topics.
Please send 300 – 500 word abstracts by December 1, 2011, to Conference Organization Committee, Middle Tennessee State University, Department of English, catwomankatniss@gmail.com.
Thanks again to Valerie Frankel for sharing...
PCA/ACA National Conference 2012: Fairy Tales in Popular Culture
2011 and 2012 are strong years for studying fairy tales in popular culture with the flood of new interpretations across medias. The PCA/ACA (Popular Culture and American Culture Associations) National Conference in 2012 has an entire section devoted to fairy tales (and many other related topics such as children's literature tracks). But I will focus on the fairy tales section and the dates for submitting materials if you are interested in presenting or just attending.
From the website:
Fairy Tales
The Fairy Tales Area of the Popular Culture Association invites submissions on any topic involving fairy tales for the 2012 Popular Culture Association/American Culture Association Conference, to be held April 11 - April 14 in Boston.
While our interests are broad and inclusive, we are particularly interested in papers that discuss fairy tales in contemporary popular culture (tv shows, movies, graphic novels, advertising, toys, video games, popular literature, etc), revisions and adaptations of fairy tales, and pedagogical uses of and approaches to fairy tales. Still, we are interested in as wide an array of papers as possible, so please do not hesitate to send a submission on any fairy tale related subject.
Please send a 250-word abstract, with title and contact information included, via email to both holland-toll@moc.edu and rnicks@utk.edu. Please email submissions as a Word attachment. The deadline for submission is December 15, 2011.
Linda J. Holland-Toll
Area Chair, Fairy Tales
Department of Language and Literature
Mount Olive College
919-658-7845
lholland-toll@moc.edu
Robin Gray Nicks
Area chair, Fairy Tales
Department of English
311 McClung Tower
University of Tennessee--Knoxville
Knoxville, TN 3996-0430
rnicks@utk.edu
Dates:
Boston 2012
April 11 - 14, 2012
Note: This is a week later than we have traditionally held it in the past.
Deadlines
Registration:
Paper Proposals Due December 15, 2011
Proposals Due for Endowment January 7, 2012
Tentative Program on Web January 28, 2012
Early Bird Registration Ends January 31, 2012
Regular Registration Begins February 1, 2012
Regular Registration Ends March 31, 2012
Late Registration Begins April 1, 2012
Last Day for a Refund February 15, 2012
You can read more about proposal submissions here.
Thanks again to Valerie Frankel for sending this to me.
Sirens Conference 2012: Tales Retold
It's Thursday! Must be conference day! I don't know if you've noticed but somehow most of the conference announcements on the blog occur on Thursdays. It wasn't planned but it kept happening that way--such as receiving emails on Wednesdays--although this one arrived a few days ago and I am just finally sorting through to it. Thanks to Valerie Frankel for sharing this one and another one I will announce when I learn a bit more.
This one, however, sounds wonderful! Read on for more information:
Sirens Conference 2012:
In fantasy worlds, women embark on daring adventures. They slay dragons and lead nations, spark revolutions and solve riddles. In their worlds, beauty is nice, but cleverness, perseverance, and fairness are nicer. They are wise, powerful, stubborn, charming, shy, angry, changeable. So are the women who write them. And so is Sirens.
Sirens is a conference on women in fantasy literature. We are part scholarly examination, part networking weekend, part personal retreat—and always a chance to discuss fantastic women. We welcome adult readers of all types, including scholars, authors, librarians, educators, and publishing professionals. We encourage all attendees, regardless of background, to share their perspectives as part of our conference, and all attendees are welcome to submit presentations for our programming.
Within our focus on fantastic women, each year Sirens features a fantasy-related theme—and in 2012, that theme is "tales retold." Women have been storytellers, oral historians, and eloquent entertainers for thousands of years, and in 2012, Sirens will celebrate—and participate in—that tradition. Within the larger question of women in fantasy literature, we will examine and dissect retellings of tales from around the world: fairy tales, certainly, but also myths, legends, and folklore. To further our discussion, we have invited three guests of honor, each of whom has brilliantly retold classic stories, to join us: Kate Bernheimer, Malinda Lo, and a third, yet unannounced guest.
In 2012, Sirens will take place October 11–14, at the Skamania Lodge in the Columbia River Gorge. Located in Stevenson, Washington, Skamania is a resort in the style of the grand Pacific Northwest lodges, with a soaring foyer, a roaring fire, and expansive views of the Columbia River. Your free time during the conference can be spent either chatting with other attendees or rejuvenating your spirit in the spa, the woods, or the library.
Our website's sections describe the many aspects of Sirens, so please use the navigation bar above to learn more about our conference, programming, registration, traveling to Skamania, and connecting with other attendees. If you would like to learn more about our three previous years of Sirens, please visit our archive. If you need more information or assistance, we look forward to hearing from you. We hope you join us!
The SurLaLune Bookstore
One of my recent projects has been updating the SurLaLune main site. It's been a good project post vacation since it requires detailed, but not much creative, thinking. I am an organizer and sometimes just organizing things is soothing and relaxing and helps me settle back into day-to-day living. SurLaLune benefits when I am in those moods. I added titles to the lists and imagery on the individual tale pages--I still haven't finished and have been procrastinating Cinderella although she gets the most traffic. She's just so prolific... But most 2011 and even 2012 titles are there and more will be appearing.
The most neglected area was the SurLaLune Bookstore which I have completely revamped using applications through Amazon so it is easier to add titles and categories and has more functionality in many ways although I lost some of the features I liked about my older pages, such as my own notes. However, I don't have the time to maintain the area in that manner and have wanted to add categories and imagery for years. Now I can very quickly and easily. The area is still very much under construction for me but it is at least twice as big as it used to be already for those of you who only see the frontside of it. For example, adding to the Romance or other lists will just be a matter of a few clicks, not opening up a few programs, copying images, text and creating links, then uploading pages.
I am also limited to Amazon links in the bookstore, but that's not much of a loss for me since no one ever used anything but Amazon links when they do use links. Thank you when you do! As always, you support SurLaLune when you do so and help keep the site relatively advertisement free. Yes, I know there is some Google Adsense, but I have offers all the time to sell advertising space and monetize the site much more than I do. I do enough to keep the site paying for itself and my research, not to pay my mortgage. To date, Amazon is my best resource for that. (For example, in 12 years, I've received about $50 total through B&N so I've elected to no longer be an affiliate.)
My next question is whether or not any of you readers are interested in other Amazon sites, such as Amazon.uk and Amazon.fr? SurLaLune has a large international readership and I am considering building stores with those sites, too, if only just to feature the titles that appear in other countries. Is anyone else interested?
Again, as everyone does their holiday shopping this season, thank you for using SurLaLune's links for any of your online purchases--not just fairy tale related--especially on Amazon. I appreciate you so much! And those students in countries where SurLaLune is a boon and supplement to very limited resources thank you, too. I receive their thanks all the time and would keep doing this work for me and them, but it's wonderful that I don't have to use my "real world" income to pay the expenses.
Love Can Do Anything
It is a simple technique that combines the spiritual force of love with the power of visualization to miraculously transform any and all situations of life. And best of all it only takes few seconds to do it. 03 more images after the break...
World Map of Computer Chips
UK-based artist Susan Stockwell recently completed this gigantic world map made from recycled computer components for the University of Bedfordshire. Entitled World, the piece has been in progress since 2010 and uses motherboards, electrical wiring, fans, and myriad other components donated by Secure IT Recycling. Although Stockwell has worked with electronic components for additional projects, her work with paper is also extraordinary and has been making the rounds quite a bit.
08 more images after the break...
Famous Parents and Children with same manners
Katie Holmes and daughter Suri Cruise
Children often copy their parents' behavior.
Looking at these children, we can say with certainty who their parents.
09 more after the break...
400000 Black Balls Save L.A. Reservoir From Carcinogen
The Department of Water and Power workers in Los Angeles, as well as local officials and community activists opened a white tub from where they poured 400,000 black colored balls into the water. So, the question is: was this an artwork, some kind of statement or attempt to pollute the water? The answer on all fronts is no – absolutely and categorically no. In fact, it is an action intended to protect the quality of L.A. drinking water and preventing it from becoming a health hazard. The water needs to be protected and in the shade because of its composition of bromate and chlorine – if exposed to large amounts of sunlight, it could cause a chemical reaction and in high levels can cause cancer. Last year, abnormally high levels of bromide were signaled, but specialists claimed that danger levels were low because people had to drink the water for a lifetime - even so, the chances of contracting cancer were minimal.
06 more images after the break...
New Book: My Very UnFairy Tale Life by Anna Staniszewski
My Very UnFairy Tale Life
by Anna Staniszewski was released earlier this month in paperback and ebook formats. It's a book aimed primarily at middle grade readers and sounds like fun, lighthearted reading.This one riffs off several fairy tale and fantasy mainstays--such as a talking frog--not one fairy tale in particular, apparently.
Product description from the publisher:
"You know all those stories that claim fairies cry sparkle tears and elves travel by rainbow? They're lies. All lies." Twelve-year-old Jenny has spent the last two years as an adventurer helping magical kingdoms around the universe. But it's a thankless job, leaving her no time for school or friends. She'd almost rather take a math test than rescue yet another magical creature! When Jenny is sent on yet another mission, she has a tough choice to make: quit and have her normal life back, or fulfill her promise and go into a battle she doesn't think she can win.
The author was also interviewed over at The Enchanted Inkpot, here's an excerpt:
Where did the inspiration come for Jenny as a character? And what do you expect readers will like about
her?
Jenny first appeared in a scene I wrote several years ago when I was taking a break from a dark YA novel that was sucking the life out of me. In the scene, Jenny came into her room to discover a talking frog on her bed. Instead of being surprised or intrigued by the frog, she was annoyed. Not only that, but she threw the magical frog out the window! I knew I had to find out more about this character.
I think readers will enjoy Jenny’s sense of humor and resourcefulness, but they’ll also be able to relate to her on an emotional level. While Jenny might be braver than the average girl, ultimately she wants to find people who understand her. I think that’s something we can all relate to in some way.
Advertising: Rush Ultimate Chocolate and Fairy Tales
Rush Ultimate Chocolate
Just a little naughty
99% fat free
30% less sugar
Agency: De Pasquale, Australia
Writers: Grant Johnston & Cos Luccitti
Art Director: Grant Johnston
Photographer: Andreas Smetana
Producer: Ellie Smidt
Via Ads of the World.
I have to admit, I grow rather weary of the "bad girl" princesses advertising. Nothing really new here and the LRRH one is the best, but most of these girls come across as bad girl wannabes anyway. Which may be the point, but still...
Wednesday, November 16, 2011
From Cynsations: Interview with Anne Ursu
Anne Ursu, author of Breadcrumbs,
a Snow Queen retelling, has a compelling interview at Cynsations today. Here's the beginning:
In Hans Christian Andersen’s “The Snow Queen,” Gerda and Kai are best friends until the day a shard of magic mirror falls into Kai’s eye and he’s cruel to Gerda.
In Breadcrumbs (HarperCollins, 2011), the same thing happens to Minneapolis fifth-graders Hazel and Jack. They’re best friends in the world, until one day Jack just changes. And then he disappears. Hazel learns he’s been taken into the woods by a witch-like woman in white. Her plan is simple: go into the woods, save her friend, and they can all live happily ever after.
But the fairytale woods in Breadcrumbs are not a happily-ever-after kind of place. Really, fairytale woods rarely are. The Cinderella-type stories that end with palace weddings and promises of eternal bliss are the succulent gingerbread houses that lure us into the fey world of mischief, vendettas, curses, and cruelty, where children are neglected, orphaned, abandoned—and that’s just at the beginning.
Child readers devour the tales, knowing full well what really lurks inside gingerbread houses. I think the idea that fairy tales are happy comes from adults, from a wish they have for kids and for the stories they love.
It’s easy to be so dazzled by fairy-godmother glass slippers that you forget a pair of shoes can just as easily make a girl dance herself to death.
And more that simply shouldn't be missed:
That's it. The truth is not so terrible that it can't be told. Sometimes the world is completely outside of the child's control. Growing up is a process of change, all the time, and the rules change too. Friends fall away, people get sick, families break apart, other kids are cruel. Nothing is assured, least of all happy endings. But that doesn't mean the world isn't so terrible you can’t live in it. That you can’t thrive in it.
The trick is simply figuring out how. And this is what stories help kids do.
I haven't read Breadcrumbs yet, but I am drawn to it even more after reading this interview, so hopefully soon. I have to admit the primary problem is that I don't have it in ebook format which is how I read most of my fiction these days....
Magic Worlds Exhibit at V&A Children's Museum
'Fairy Queen' Cinderella dancing doll in original box, England 1955
Wouldn't you know that I learned about this one after my visit to London? Drat...
From the V&A Children's Museum website:
Magic Worlds
8 October 2011 - 4 March 2012
Delve into the realms of fantasy, illusion and enchantment with our major new exhibition revealing how magic has been embraced for hundreds of years.
Magicians were and are held in high regard, some as popular entertainers and some as higher beings. From the Indian rope trick to Derren Brown’s modern take on illusion, adults and children alike have always been in awe of magic and its practitioners.
Magic Worlds explores the world of fairy tales and fantasy literature, the history and origins of magic and how themes of magic have influenced many artists and writers. The exhibition takes the visitor on a journey into miniature magical worlds, complete with witches, wizards, fairies and magical creatures. Objects on display include costumes, tricks and illusions, film merchandise, optical toys, paintings and ceramics, otherworldly dolls and puppets and illustrated books, together with interactive hands-on activities.
Fantasy
A world of marvellous tales and exciting adventures. To enter a fantasy world is to step outside reality and expect things to be different. Fairy stories are pure fantasy. These are old tales passed down originally by word of mouth and later collected together by people such as Charles Perrault and Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm.
Fantasy literature started in the mid 19th century. Some of these stories are about completely separate worlds - some that exist in their own right, like Middle Earth, and some, like Narnia, that ordinary people step into. In others, the real and fantasy worlds exist side by side, as in the Harry Potter books, operating for the most part exclusive of each other.
Illusion
This is a world where you cannot believe your eyes. People have always been fascinated by illusion and trickery. Optical devices, particularly in the 19th century, used scientific principles and were designed to both educate and entertain. They are still as intriguing today.
Magicians and magic have long been associated with Eastern countries. The tricks of Indian street markets were brought back to England during the 19th century and quickly gained a foothold in the world of variety theatre. Magicians became the film stars of their day and performed to the highest in the land. Today magic as spectacle has become commonplace and magicians appear regularly on television.
Enchantment
This is a world of magical creatures and beings. It is above all a place of the imagination.
People can experience wonder in everyday life but still actively seek it out in the worlds of fantasy and magic. Fairies and other magical figures inspire artists to produce work that can be beautiful or sinister, or both, reflecting the different aspects of enchantment.Fairies, elves and pixies are usually regarded as kind creatures associated with the natural world. Witches and dragons generally belong to the darker side of magic. Other figures, such as wizards, mermaids and unicorns, lie somewhere in between.
Picture cubes, depicting a variety of fairy stories, Czechoslovakian, c.1930
And from Magic Worlds? The Museum of Childhood's show lives up to its billing: From Dürer to Harry Potter, an exhibition about the relationship between folk tradition and childhood comes up trumps by Jonathan Jones:
With great lightness of touch, Magic Worlds explores how folk traditions have interacted with the culture of childhood. It includes an early 19th-century painting of Cinderella by George Cruikshank, various editions of the fairytale collections of Charles Perrault and the Brothers Grimm, and ... Lego Harry Potter.
The Museum of Childhood is actually an outpost of the V&A, and I love the way this exhibition draws on the V&A collection – and loans including Derren Brown's props – to offer a genuinely rich exploration of its subject. It shows the ways magical beliefs become magical fictions, how fairytales evolved into fantasy literature, and how real superstition merges into conjuring tricks. Another fascinating exhibit is a 16th-century book on witchcraft that includes a depiction of the fairground trick known as the beheading of John the Baptist – a Tudor version of the modern magic trick of the assistant sawn in half.
I don't want to give a false impression of this show: it is no blockbuster. But it is an unpretentious, free, family exhibition at a museum whose main galleries are a treasure trove of historic toys. I learned more from it – and got more genuine pleasure from some of its exhibits – than many massively promoted, self-consciously intellectual events where children are encouraged to shush, instead of being invited to run about dressed as fairies. It continues through the winter, so if you missed it at Halloween it will add to the magic of the Christmas season.
Calvino's "The False Grandmother" read by John Turturro
This has been making the rounds around the internet, I discovered it on Midori Snyder's blog several days ago when I was recovering my trip. From her blog:
Actor John Turturro has acquired the rights to create a filmed version of Italo Calvino's Italian Folktales (perhaps my all time favorite fairy tale collection). Last year, Turturro tested the waters so to speak with a new play "Fiable italiano" adapted from Calvino's collection. It was performed before sold out audiences in Turin, Naples and Milan and included layers of languages from English to a variety of Italian dialects. (The play also included one of my favorites stories -- about a donkey that appears to defecate gold and a fool who makes sure it happens). The prospect of a film really, really excites me.
In the meantime, you can read more about the film project here...and watch this short animated film of Calvino's "The False Grandmother" (illustrated by Kevin Ruelle), a really creepy and scary variant of "Little Red Riding Hood" read by Turturro.
This is an exciting project since Calvino's tales are so rich and interesting. If you don't own his collection, Italian Folktales
, you should.
Advertising: MPH Classic Books and Fairy Tales
If children don't read, they'll never know. Classic fairy tales available at MPH.
Illustrator: okayboss.com
Published: 2007
Via Ads of the World.
This one just excited me since it used Princess and the Pea, not so common in advertising.
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