Pictures of Bottle Caps

American artist began painting at the age of thirty years and is a self-taught. Almost ten years have seen a case, which defined the main direction of her work for years to come. Molly Bee Wright (Molly B. Right) was born in North Carolina, but in the age of six moved to Charleston in South Carolina. Live and work here so far. One day, Molly drew the attention of the rusting iron sheet. The artist decided to use it to create a picture, but as a halo for copies of the "Shroud of Turin," she decided to use the bottle caps. The idea is very pleased and the next year Molly has created several works consisting entirely of covers. On one such artist in mosaic leaves from three to seven thousand caps. The average size of works ranging from 2 to 4 square meters, and weight (with sheet iron-base) is not less than 50 kg. 26 more images after the break...

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Moon Stone — Park Zeybil Dubai

New Moon - an architectural project, developed Varabyeu Partners specifically for the international contest of designers as part of the Park Zeybil (Zabeel) - a new park in Dubai. Building in the form Crescent, which is in the East as a symbol of power and energy, intended to emphasize the prosperity of the modern United Arab Emirates. 05 more images after the break...

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Advertising: Golden Crisp Cereal & Jack and the Beanstalk

Blurry, but still discernible. Anyone remember this one? I wasn't in the demographic in 1993 when this aired so I don't remember it.

Disney Defrosts, Thaws Out "The Snow Queen"

Remember a year ago when many people were upset when the media blitzed that Disney was foregoing fairy tale films for the foreseeable future--I discussed it some in my Thoughts on Tangled post. Yes, only a year later and we have Princess Sofia announced and even bigger news, Snow Queen is being defrosted.

Now, I have a long history with Snow Queen and have mentioned it before. Back in 2000 when my husband worked for ABC Online, he rode the train to Burbank and became friends with a few of the Disney animators. A few dinners and conversations later, I had some backdoor insights and peeks at Snow Queen which were fascinating. To sum up: It was nothing like the fairy tale, at all. There was a Snow Queen. That's it. If the plot had been described to me without any preface I wouldn't have ever placed it as the HCA tale.

Then Disney needed to layoff employees to make its year end numbers--which included those animators and my husband--and Snow Queen was tabled yet again. ABC was in the state that NBC is in today and Disney itself wasn't doing much better. VSPs (voluntary severance packages) were the topic of conversations, not The Snow Queen. I've lost count how many times the project has been tabled. And, fortunately, my husband was kept on a few extra months to finish some major projects so we walked away with the package and a new job the following Monday, a blessing since we had moved across the country for the job, far away from family and a much lower cost of living standard. Our rent then was hundreds more than our mortgage now that we live back in Nashville.

But now, with headlines about defrosting, thawing, etc. the media is announcing that the film has been resurrected yet again. Just one article is here but a news search will produce more. There's not much beyond the title and confusion over whether it will be handdrawn or CGI but the consensus is that it will be 3D. I still don't understand Hollywood's misconception that 3D sells seats and DVDs. They might consider offering women viewers some strong female roles and some non-gross romance. (See Movie crowds dip to 16-year low as apathy lingers By DAVID GERMAIN.)

Now the movie will be one word-titled "Frozen." Yes, those onscreen TV guides have oversimplified our lives. And we wouldn't want to disenfranchise male viewers with a girlie title either.

I enjoyed Tangled. I'm not a Disney fan, but I am not a big detractor either. Honestly, more of my own distaste comes from those days dealing with Disney in Burbank when my husband was employed there and I worked down the street at a branch of the Burbank Library. But that's neither here nor there for this post.

As always, I am happy about any big media project that brings more focus on fairy tales, and, let's face it, Disney is hard to surpass for visibility. So let's hope "Frozen" finally gets defrosted, cooked and served at our tables!

Advertising: Sky's Campaign Success and Boy Who Cried Wolf

I've featured several of the Sky TV fairy tale ads over the last few years, especially the last few months with my daily fairy tale advertising posts, especially at Advertising: Sky TV Spots and Fairy Tales and Advertising: SKY Satellite TV and Fairy Tales. Well, a new one was launched in the UK on Christmas Day, "The Boy Who Cried Wolf" this time. While it is a fun ad like the rest, what I found most interesting was some of the media coverage, such as this from Sky hails success of fairytale TV broadband ad campaign by Nigel Adie:

Sky has claimed its 'fairytale' broadband advertising campaign is so well-recognised that the satellite broadcaster has been able to spend less while still attracting more customers.

Since launching the ads in 2010, unprompted consumer awareness of Sky Broadband has risen from 51 per cent to 66 per cent, the pay TV giant's figures show.

The company is now planning to shift the adverts to digital and owned media platforms, although the TV campaign's latest installment - based on Aesop's Fable The Boy Who Cried Wolf - is set to premiere on Christmas Day, reports Marketing Week.

Lucian Smithers, director of brand strategy and communications at BSkyB, explained Sky spent less on media this year than in 2010.

"The campaign has become so well-known now that our maintenance levels are lower, but our acquisition numbers are still high," he remarked.

You can also read a case study about the campaign at ThinkBox.

“The construct of a typical fairytale often starts with the hero or main character in a distressing situation, but finishes with a happy ending. It’s with this in mind that the Fairytale campaign was conceived […] the DRTV ad’s liberation of broadband from its (distressing) past pricing and lack of value to the happy ending of being part of a great value bundle with Sky TV and calls […] The 40” advert resulted in record levels of efficiency for Sky DRTV with a CPA of £127 versus an expectation of £250, and has since been re-used with similarly impressive results.”

Now folks, that's the kind of success ad agencies salivate over. It is a savvy campaign.

Puss in Boots (2011): DVD Release 2/24/2012

Puss in Boots (2011) has been announced for DVD/Blu-ray release for February 24, 2012. It really is about three months now between theatre release date and DVD release date. No wonder I have less and less interest in going to the movies anymore. Well, then there's also the quality and content of the movies, but that's another conversation... Still, I tend to preorder the few movies that interest me since a DVD is still less than a trip for two to the theatre and I can watch it again.

You currently have two options for formatting: Puss in Boots DVD and Puss in Boots (Two-disc Blu-ray/DVD Combo + Digital Copy). The prices are average right now but I imagine they will drop a few more dollars which will happen automatically if you order somewhere with a lowest price guarantee like at Amazon.

Also, for a limited time, you can save $5 select discs when you use the code "SOFTPAWS" at checkout on Amazon. I almost missed that, so I wanted to point it out to you, too.

I haven't seen the movie yet. Probably won't until it is on DVD. I haven't seen The Muppets yet, either. I just finally saw and enjoyed Kung Fu Panda 2 with the family over the holidays. I am not much of a movie goer anymore as I said. But since The Muppets DVD is already up for preorder, too, I will probably wait.

 

Bargain Ebook: The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood

The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood isn't really a folklore book, but it is of interest to many readers here so I thought I would share it as Amazon's Daily Deal for only $1.49 for the ebook version today only.

Here's the description:

The Handmaid's Tale is not only a radical and brilliant departure for Margaret Atwood, it is a novel of such power that the reader will be unable to forget its images and its forecast. Set in the near future, it describes life in what was once the United States, now called the Republic of Gilead, a monotheocracy that has reacted to social unrest and a sharply declining birthrate by reverting to, and going beyond, the repressive intolerance of the original Puritans. The regime takes the Book of Genesis absolutely at its word, with bizarre consequences for the women and men of its population.

The story is told through the eyes of Offred, one of the unfortunate Handmaids under the new social order. In condensed but eloquent prose, by turns cool-eyed, tender, despairing, passionate, and wry, she reveals to us the dark corners behind the establishment's calm facade, as certain tendencies now in existence are carried to their logical conclusions. The Handmaid's Tale is funny, unexpected, horrifying, and altogether convincing. It is at once scathing satire, dire warning, and tour de force. It is Margaret Atwood at her best.