This nail lady is brilliant! Visit her youtube channel here and see what other stuff you can find. In the meantime here are a few Valentine’s Day tutorials from Professional DQ:
Voodoo and hearts? Of course!
Pirates and hearts? Why not!
Skulls and hearts? Hooray!
Black and white striped gothic hearts? Woo hoo!
More gothic hearts? Goodness!
Sparkly pink heart pendant (but still cool, don’t panic)
The strangest book in the world and I’ve never heard of it? Well, yes, there’s probably quite a lot I haven’t heard of. Never mind, here’s a link to an article on a very odd book in an unknown language with intriguingly bizarre pictures. 
What’s that? An entire book filled with stuff from my brain? Wow, where can I purchase such a thing?!
Well, worry no more. With just a few clicks of the button you too can be a proud owner of my words (and technically the words of Burning Bulb Publishing). If you’re from the UK you can purchase on the kindle from here, or on paperback via here, or if you’re American you could buy them here or here. If you are from elsewhere, I apologise for not including your Amazon links. I hope we can still be friends. 
These are amazing! Hirotishi takes stones and rocks and transforms them into something odd and fantastic. The English translation on this blog is somewhat interesting but still perfectly understandable. 
Merry almost Easter! Is it me or does the date keep changing? Here we’re used to exchanging eggs and dancing naked whilst weeping (just me?) but other countries have their own ideas of spring tradition.
1. Girl Whipping (and Soaking) in Eastern Europe. Yes, show those Slovak ladies who’s boss! In the Czech Republic you give them a good hiding with a willow stick and then a dousing with freezing water! The water tradition occurs elsewhere in Eastern Europe too. Apparently the voracity of the dousing can vary from “having a teaspoon of warm tap water dribbled over you to a bucket of frigid well water thrown at you.” Likewise the strength of the stick beating can depend on how drunk people are, but it’s not really supposed to hurt. Read more about it here.
2. Semana Santa in Spain and Latin America. An odd spectacle indeed, chosen members of the Christian Order of Penitents wear robes known as capirotes. Read more (and see videos and pictures) here.
3. Crucifixion in the Philippines. Flagellation, genuine crucifixion… these people take the grim part of religion very seriously. Be warned, the video below features some very unpleasant business. Have a read about it here.
4. ‘Halloween’ Easter in Finland. In a kind of reverse trick or treat children dress up as witches and bring gifts door to door. Those gifts might be twigs and crepe paper but it’s the thought that counts, and they still manage to extort chocolate so all is right with the universe.
5. Pot smashing in Greece. Greeks just love breaking stuff! If you’re ever annoyed with a person it’s probably best to get down there and smash up a load of china – just be sure they’re not trying to eat off it at the time.
6. The Dance of Death in Spain. If you go to Verges, Costa Brava, you may find yourself surrounded by a procession of skeletons. Apparently to remind people that ‘death can occur at any time,’ everyone dances to drums and carries something ‘death related’ such as a scythe.
A friend sent this page to me and I felt it was odd enough to pass on, like a weird kind of influenza or repetitive song. Have a read on this link.
Good afternoon and Merry New Year! Just a quick post to share with you some of my favourite vintage cinema films.
Not only were people excited by the idea that movement could finally be preserved, but their story telling imagination had free reign. Enjoy!
First is the 1897 film The Dancing Skeleton by the Lumiere Brothers:
Here’s the 1903 film Kingdom of Fairies by George Melies (of a Trip to the Moon fame):
Next is the jaunty (and possibly a little creepy) 1933 experimental musical animation The Peanut Vendor by Len Lye. Annoy your friends by singing it constantly!
Next up is dancer Lina Esbrard in a 1902 film by Alice Guy-Blache (yes, lady film makers existed):
And finally I leave you with another ‘spooky’ (but quite cute) offering by Melies, the 1903 film The Monster:
I really love freaky fashion as I’ve said many times, and this definitely falls under that category, have a look at plenty more on this link. I’d really like to see Britain’s Next Top Model do stuff like this (no, I actually would, I’m not ashamed to admit I love that programme).
What is it about automatons that some people find so disturbing? Perhaps it’s hard for us to understand when a thing that looks so much like us has…nothing behind the eyes.
Yet they’re amazingly clever, and here are a few to prove this.
This mortuary scene was created by John Dennison. Follow the link to read more about him:
This Japanese lady shoots arrows while a tiny man turns cogs beneath her. I like that tiny man, I’d like him to be my friend:
This was an advert to go outside a butcher’s shop and is now on display at The Museum of Automatons in La Rochelle, France:
Marvin’s Marvelous Museum in Michigan (say it quick, I dare you) is home to this lovely Hell monster:
This modern creation is based on an 18th century occult magician:
Well, there we are! Sleep tight, don’t let the soulless monsters bite.
Well howdy there pardners. Sorry I’ve been watching Deadwood. Except no one actually says that in Deadwood. Technically if I were to speak how they did in Deadwood it would be “F******* you c******* and your ******** with it’s *******. **********.”
So anyway….go here to see the spooky specimen artwork of Alex CF, featuring mummified fairies, nymphs, demons, aliens and probably others, and the explanations accompanying them. Just remember those creatures don’t actually exist. Or do they….?
Madeleine Swann 