Actually, this is just an excuse to link to Wikipedia, the do-it-yourself encyclopedia.
Look up a subject.
Is the entry you found inaccurate, badly written or just plain wrong? Rewrite it!
Don’t find an entry? Create one yourself!
Here’s the entry for the Land of Oz. And here’s one for Oz Squad. Interesting.
I got a call at work. Aged Mother is expecting a package from Esteemed Brother. She has found the lid to the box she received from him last week. Since she is expecting a package this lid must be from that package. A.M. has been bugging Nizzibet wanting to know where her package is. Nizzibet wants me to explain things to A.M.
Ever tried talking to your cat?
This was a similar experience, only this cat speaks English. A.M. insists that somehow the mailman delivered this package while she was sleeping. I ask her what the date on the package is and she reads me the return address. And the mailing address. I thank her and ask her for the date on the package. She starts to read the mailing address again. Sigh. I tell her that I’ll talk to her about it when I get home. I promise her that we’re not hiding her package. She says she knows that but it came so it must be here. I tell her that no package has come. She tells me that I’m lying.
I finally had to hang up because a client called and I am at work. Putting A.M on hold would have just confused her. More. I called back a few minutes later and Nizzibet tells me that A.M is wandering around the house looking for her package.
The Wisdom of Oz – Reflections of a Jungian Sandplay Therapist. Found by way of Schuyler who, when she lived in Japan, lived next to a woman who worked with L. Frank Baum’s great-granddaughter. Apparently her mother’s name was Ozma. She was writing a book at the time about the psychology of Oz and this is it.
There’s a six unit course as well.
Ozstory – an anthology of all things Oz. Features many illustrations by Eric Shanower, the best of the modern Oz artists.
Wicked –
The original novel
The Broadway musical
Thanks to Maya for mentioning it. Haven’t read it myself. It seems to be primarily inspired by the MGM movie rather than the original novel. (Though, of course, it must claim the novel as inspiration because the novel is in public domain while the movie is not.) I think I’ve got it on my shelves somewhere. I looked for it yesterday but didn’t have any luck.
The Twisted Land of Oz or MacFarlane’s Magic Torture Show. (With bonus winged monkeys and Munchkin!
Just because I link to it doesn’t me I’m endorsing it. I don’t care for these plastic bits. The website is certainly slick. A lot of craftsmanship has gone into making them but they’re just … icky. And what’s the point of this perversity?
From the Armchair Empire review –
“If this was Hell, Dorothy would be its queen… and she would rule the kingdom.”
“Her secret was out; the bondage freed her in ways she simply hadn’t imagined.”
But it does finally explain why the characters are sculpted they way they are. I grappled with the idea of spoiling the ending of the story in this review. Do I? Don’t I? Yes, I will as the Wizard may be the least sought figure therefore the answers will never be known by casual action figure fans. So, here we are with the quick explanations: in a past life the Lion was a Crusader that turned tail and left his buddies in a lurch, the Tin Woodman was “in a previous existence… a sickly doctor who removed the limbs of healthy patients with an ax,” the Scarecrow was an Inquisitor who performed “unique” craniotomies, Dorothy was secretly into bondage, and Toto? Toto wasn’t guilty of anything, he was simply “corrupted” by that fresh OZ air. And the Wizard? If you can’t tell, he’s the devil.
The Empire also has reviews of some of the other figures.
And then I found these nifty upgrades over at Slap Happy North’s Big Honkin’ Custom Page of Fun. These I’d like to own.
What’s the difference between the originals and the rebuilds? The originals are mass market bad taste. The rebuilds are personalized bad taste. Somehow that makes it all right.
The Black Seal’s website has updated in anticipation of publication of issue #3. Go to the contributor’s page to find the portraits I did of the various writers and artists who worked on this issue. Click on the portraits if you want to see larger versions.
Amusingly enough, there are no entries for Grant Emerson or Chloe Summerfield. I originally did their portraits on a whim (they are notoriously camera shy) and then volunteered to do portraits for everyone else. I think Chloe’s article may have gotten cut but I know Grant’s report is still planned for publication. Odd.
(And yes, Nick is right, he is better looking than I drew him. Assuming, of course, that those were actually photographs of him rather than his young and virile “ward”.)
The Emerald Burrito of Oz. I loved this book. Go read it.
And for a bonus today – an interview with the authors.
