Word of the Day: Neoteric

Neoteric \nee-uh-TER-ik\ adjective

1. Recent in origin; modern; new.

Origin:  Neoteric derives from Greek neoterikos, from neoteros "younger", comparative of neos "young, new."

Word of the Day: Deus Ex Machina

Deus Ex Machina \DAY-uhs-eks-MAH-kuh-nuh\ noun

1.  In ancient Greek and Roman drama, a god introduced by means of a crane to unravel and resolve the plot.


2. Any active agent who appears unexpectedly to solve an apparently insoluble difficulty.

Orign:  Deus ex machina is New Latin for "god from the machine"; it is a translation of the Greek theos ek mekhanes.

 

Weekly Beast- Mycena Luxaeterna

Mycena Luxaeterna may not be an actual beast, but I had to share with all of you these glowing mushrooms that were discovered in Brazil.  These mushrooms are very small, and San Francisco State University's Dennis Desjardin put it perfectly, "when you look down at the ground, it's like looking up at the sky... Every little 'star' was a little mushroom..."

How amazing would that be to see glowing mushrooms in the rain forest?

Word of the Day: Alacrity

Alacrity \uh-LACK-ruh-tee\ noun

1.  A cheerful or eager readiness or willingness, often manifested by brisk, lively action or promptness in response.

Word of the Day: Quidnunc

Quidnunc \KWID-nuhngk\ noun

1. One who is curious to know everything that passes; one who knows or pretends to know all that is going on; a gossip; a busybody.

Origin: Quidnunc comes from Latin quid nunc?, "what now?"

Vintage Movable Review: Max’s Machines

I remember years ago at a Movable Book Society conference where I was checking out amazing pop-up books on dealer’s tables and an older collector ambled by and whispered, ‘If you think that is good, you should check out Max’s Machines, it’s the best pop-up book ever.’ Hyperbole or not, when someone hints about a great pop-up then I quickly look into it. Turns out the book costs a few quid so it took awhile for me to get my grubby mitts on a copy. It was worth it.

Max’s Machines was created by Willy Bullock in 1999 for Scholastic in the U.K, and right there on the cover boasts ‘the best pop-up book – ever’. (Seems like British paper engineers were always trying to one up each other since Richard Scarry released this book a year earlier.) Bullock creates three giant pop-ups in this five spread oversized book. First up is an intricate racecar that is lifted high above the page with the pull of a tab. Next is a giant dump truck that tips its load of dirt at the yank of a lever. And for the finale, our hapless hero Max is ejected from his supersonic jet when the tab is pulled.

Nowadays, Tim “Willy” Bullock has turned his attention to creating clever and complicated paper automata. He recently released his fun ‘Rude Moose’ kit which can be found on his cool4cats website. I can’t wait to see what is next.

~Kyle

Word of the Day: Mephitic

Mephitic \muh-FIT-ik\ adjective

1. Offensive to the smell; as, mephitic odors.
2. Poisonous; noxious.

Origin: Mephitic is the adjective form of mephitis, "a foul-smelling or noxious exhalation from the earth; a stench from any source," from Latin.

I Spy: S-L-O-W J-E-L-L-O

It has been a while since we shared and "I Spy" post but everyone at the studio was so mesmerized by this video that we had to share it. This high speed video of gelatin cubes bouncing on a mirror surface is brought to us from the mad geniuses of Modernist Cuisine. I usually reserve 'poetry in motion' for pop-up books and maybe figure skaters but we think this takes the cake. JELL-O turns out to have an interesting origin story - created by industrialist, inventor and philanthropist Peter Cooper. That same scientific approach to food is repeated years later by the folks who developed the amazing videos and photography for their six-volume reinventing of cooking. I can't tell if I am drooling over the Jell-O or these books.

~Kyle

History Lesson: Patent for Blue Jeans is granted

On May 20th, 1873, Levi Strauss and Jacob Davis are given the patent to create work pants that are reinforced with metal rivets.  Thus marking the birth of one of the world's most famous garments: blue jeans.

Word of the Day: Embonpoint

Embonpoint \ahn-bohn-PWAN\ noun

1.  Plumpness of person; stoutness.

Origin: Embonpoint is from French, literally means "in good condition" (en 'in' + bon 'good' + point 'situation, condition')

Weekly Beast: Honey-Pot Ants

As their names suggest, honey-pot ants are like living pots of honey.  They come from the edges of deserts.  After the rains, there is so much nectar from plants, that there is actually more than enough food.  Good food is never wasted in the desert.  So the ants gather nectar and then feed other ants in the colony with it until their abdomen swells up with honey!  The honey-pot ants save food this way.  The abdomens can become the size of grapes!  Then when the drought comes back, the honey-pot ants will feed on the honey that the other ants have stored it in their abdomens.  Their abdomens eventually shrink to normal size.

Artist Watch: Aurora Andrews

Aurora Andrews went to Harvard's Visual Arts program.  She is originally from Tucson, Arizona.  She says "...I always draw from life, and never photographs, because for me the most interesting pictures come out of relating to three-dimensional objects." And you can really feel the space around the objects and also the weight of the objects-- like you could pick them up off the page.  I really admire Andrews' line work and the addition of color to her sketches.  There's just something so real and moving about her pieces, like you've been there before.  Please check out her extensive collection of work here.

Word of the Day: Lexicography

Lexicography \lek-suh-KAH-gruh-fee\ noun

1. The writing or compiling of dictionaries; the editing or making of dictionaries.
2. The principles and practices applied to writing dictionaries.

Origin: Lexicography is derived from the Greek lexicon (biblion), a word- or phrase-book (from lexis, a phrase, a word)+ graphein, to write.

Whats Popped Up: Carter Cards

David A. Carter is no stranger to this blog. I have tremendous respect for the man and he is a delight to be around. The studio recently came across an assortment of his pop-up cards and they were quickly snatched up. These 5” x 6” cards were designed in 2008 and published by Clarkson Potter (better known for their cookbooks and lifestyle titles) and produced by Millenium in China. I believe there are eight different designs with names like: Dots & Spots, Curlycue, Blossoms, Wave, Kaboom, Clicker, Paisley and Twister. Many of the compositions will be familiar to fans that followed the One Red Dot series. Each set contains a single design in four different colors printed on eight cards with colored envelopes. The cards have a universal appeal and are wordless, which allow the pop-ups to be used in a variety of occasions. The packaging mentions that the designs are influenced by the works of Matisse, Calder and Gehry among others and remember to pester him more about some of the hidden meanings and inspiration in his work. It also notes that David has authored over 70 pop-up books, so it looks like I have to start looking into more of his back catalog and find some of his earlier works, which may show up on this blog in short order.

~Kyle

Giveaway Update

Last Friday Blogger had a major hiccup and was down for most of the morning.  It looks like this hiccup has erased a few of the comments (and entrants) to the Limited Edition Monsters & Dragons book giveaway.

Please check the comment board to see if your entry is still there.  If not, you may enter again and we'll make sure that we have a record of the entry.  Good luck to you all!

Word of the Day: Lapidary

Lapidary \LAP-uh-dair-ee\ adjective

1. Of or pertaining to the art of cutting stones or engraving on them.
2. Or or pertaining to the refined or terse style associated with inscriptions on monumental stone.

noun
1. One who cuts, polishes, and engraves precious stones.
2. A dealer in precious stones.

Origin:
Lapidary is from Latin lapidarius, "pertaining to stone," from lapis, lapid-, "stone".

Listen Up: Radiohead's 'House of Cards'

Radiohead is usually ahead of the times in their music and also music videos.  Their 'House of Cards' video was done completely with scanners and lasers!  They used "Geometric Informatics scanning systems produce structured light to capture 3D images at close proximity, while a Velodyne Lidar system that uses multiple lasers is used to capture environments such as landscapes.  In this video, 64 lasers rotating and shooting in a 360 degree radius 900 times per minute produced all the exterior scenes."  Phew!  What a mouthful.

I'm not going to pretend to understand exactly how this video was produced, but I understand that the lasers and scanners took the data it collected and produced the 3D images we see in the video.  The other really interesting part of the process was that on set they used a sheet of plexi glass with little pieces of mirrors on it that was put in front of Thom Yorke while 'scanning' him.  This was to make the image break up and become irregular, which you'll see in the video.

Here's the 'House of Cards' video:



And you can check out more about how they made the music video here:

Word of the Day: Amanuensis

Amanuensis \uh-man-yoo-EN-sis\ noun

1.  A person employed to take dictation or to copy manuscripts.

Origin: Amanuensis comes from Latin, from the phrase (servus) a manu, "a slave with handwriting duties," from a, ab, "by" + manu, from manus, "hand".

Vintage Movable Review: Black Cat, White Cat

Today we are looking at a pop-up book of opposites. Black Cat, White Cat was created by Chuck Murphy in 1998. (It should not be confused with the excellent Yugoslavian adult comedy that came out the same year.) This smaller format, five spread book was published by Simon & Schuster as a follow up to his successful series that includes One to Ten and Color Surprises. Chuck Murphy is one of most solid paper engineers ever to lay scissors to paper and his work is among the first I turned to when I was teaching myself about pop-ups. He has a very easy and distinctive style, with high contrast graphics that compliment the rhyming text. I always get the feeling that his books are all very well thought out with careful attention paid to his children audience. You can read more about Chuck’s ideas from an older interview with Robert Sabuda and learn about his background from a short biography found at Random House.

I’ll leave you with a short video of the finale in this book. Still pictures just would not suffice. Enjoy!

~Kyle

We're Having a Giveaway!

This month to celebrate the release of our newest book Encyclopedia Mythologica: Monsters & Dragons, we are having a giveaway contest!  One lucky reader can win a personalized copy of a Limited Edition Encyclopedia Mythologica: Monsters & Dragons!  The Limited Edition Encyclopedia Mythologica: Monsters & Dragons is a cloth bound pop-up book that has a special pop-up in the cover of the book and has a cloth covered slipcase.

Enter to win by commenting on this post and leaving your name and email address.  We will choose a winner at random and the contest will close on June 15th.  We will contact the winner via email to confirm the personalization of the book.  Good luck!

Word of the Day: Pogonip

Pogonip \POG-uh-nip\ noun

1. An ice fog that forms in the mountain valleys of the western United States.

Orign:  Pogonip originates as a word of the Shoshone people, paγɨnappɨh, "thunder-fog".

History Lesson: Captain Blood

On May 9, 1671, Thomas Blood, who was an Irish adventurer better known as "Captain Blood," was captured for attempting to steal the Crown Jewels from the Tower of London.

He had disguised himself as a priest and managed to get up to the Jewel House and past the keeper.  The keeper's son showed up unexpected and was able to sound an alarm about the robbery.  King Charles was so dazzled with Blood's audacity to steal the Crown Jewels that he made him a member of his court instead of punishing him.

Artist Watch: Luisa Canovi

I had the pleasure of meeting Luisa Canovi at the beginning of last year and was lucky enough to work along side her in an internship at her studio.  She's an incredible artist specializing in origami, suminagashi (whirled patterns that are produced on paper when ink is floated on the surface of water, very much like marbling paper), mobiles, oriental binding, and many other arts related to paper.  She introduced me to the magic of paper, teaching me the secrets and the beauties of this material.  Check out more about her incredible paper sculptures and her other works here:

http://www.origami-do.it

~Gio

Weekly Beast: Nomura's Jellyfish

Nomura's Jellyfish (Nemopilema nomurai) is a very large jellyfish that was discovered to be a new species in 1921.  The average diameter of a Nomura's Jellyfish is 6.6 feet and they weigh up to 440 pounds!  They primarily live in the Yellow Sea and East China Sea.  Though because of global warming these jellyfish (well, most jellyfish in general) are starting to inhabit more of the ocean, including the North Seas, Mediterranean, and Chesapeake bays.

Word of the Day: Autoschediastical

Autoschediastical \aw-toh-SKEE-dee-az-tik-uhl\ adjective

1.  Something improvised or extemporized (to do or manage something in a makeshift way).

Origin: Autoschediastical enters English from the Greek by way of the German autoschediázien, "to extemporize."

Whats Popped Up: Pop-up Events

Matthew Reinhart had a great time this past Saturday at Books of Wonder sharing his new Dragons & Monsters pop-up book and signing copies along side prestigious picture book illustrators Leo & Diane Dillon. If you missed the event, you can still stop by the bookstore and see the paper dragon window display and pick up an autographed book.

And if you are in the D.C. area tomorrow be sure to catch the final talk in a series of pop-up lectures when Bruce Foster will talk about “The Magic and Math of Harry Potter, The Pop-Up Book” at noon in the Carmichael Auditorium at the National Museum of American History.

~Kyle

Word of the Day: Lineament

Lineament \LIN-ee-uh-muhnt\ noun

1.  A distinctive shape, contour, or line, especially of the face.  Or a distinguishing characteristic feature.

Origin:
Lineament comes from Latin lineamentum, "feature, lineament, from linea, "line".

Vintage Movable Review: Six Brave Explorers

I am a huge fan of Kees Moerbeek. This Dutch designer has made dozens of books over the years and his newest title, Aesop’s Fables releases in October. But today, we are looking at one of my favorite pop-up books he created with his wife Carla Dijs. Six Brave Explorers was produced by Intervisual for Price Stern Sloan in 1988. It was printed and bound at Carvajal in Columbia. I was once told that during the design of this book, Kees and Carla were told that the book was too expensive so they had to cut some corners. And cut they did. This six-spread book has a unique triangular format that sliced their paper usage nearly in half. What a creative idea!

The format of this counting book is based off the “Ten Little Indians” children rhyme and Kees is not afraid to interject a little death and colonialism in the pages. The simple central pop-ups stand tall over the main characters and an easy flow is established throughout the book. This book was such a success that two other titles: Four Courageous Climbers and Oh, No Santa soon followed. Let’s hope that many more books spring from the mind of Kees Moerbeek.

~Kyle

Word of the Day: Bloviate

Bloviate \BLOH-vee-ayt\ verb

1. To speak or write at length in a pompous or boastful manner.

Origin: Bloviate is compared to blowhard "a boaster or braggart".

Word of the Day: Elbow Grease

Elbow grease \EL-boh grees\ noun

1.  Hard work; vigorous exertion.

Origin:  Elbow grease was a metaphor for manual labor, as in elbow grease is the best wax for polishing furniture.  Now in an extended sense it can refer to any effort, physical or mental.

DIY Pop Up: Mother's Day Card

Mother's Day is this Sunday!  Have you made your mom a card yet?  Why not make her a fantastic pop up card to show her how much she means to you?  Click the link here to get started!

History Lesson: Munch's 'The Scream' is Recovered

On May 7th, 1994, one of Norway's famous paintings, "The Scream" by Edvard Munch was regained almost three months after it was stolen from a museum in Oslo.  The painting was found in a hotel about 40 miles south of Oslo.  It was recovered undamaged.

The fragile painting was stolen during a 50 second break-in on February 12, 1994.  The two thieves that broke in left a note on the wall reading "Thousand thanks for the bad security!".  In January of 1996 four men were convicted and sentenced in connection with the theft.

Weekly Beast: Chaetopterid Worm

The Chaetopterus pugaporcinus dwells at 3,000 to 4,000 feet under the ocean's surface.  It has a segmented body like other polychaetes but the middle segments are highly inflated giving it a round shape.  These worms are approximately the size of a hazelnut.  The Latin name translates into "Chaetopterid worm" which roughly translates to "resembling a pig's rear".

Word of the Day: Peripatetic

Peripatetic \pair-uh-puh-TET-ik\ adjective

1. Of or pertaining to walking about or traveling from place to place; itinerant.
2. Of or pertaining to the philosophy taught by Aristotle (who gave his instructions while walking in the Lyceum at Athens).

Origin: Peripatetic derives from Greek peripatetikos, from peripatein, "to walk about," from peri-, "around, about" + patein "to walk".

Artist Watch: Simon Schubert

Simon Schubert is a Cologne, Germany based artist.  He was born in Germany in 1976.  He works in white paper that is folded to create images and mixed media sculptures.  Schubert is inspired by Surrealism and Samuel Beckett.

His folded white paper pieces are usually of imagined architectural scenes.  Check out more of Schubert's work here.

Whats Popped Up: Adie Pena Visits

A surprise guest dropped by the studio last Friday after a long delayed flight from Manila, Philippines. Pop-up collector and advertising guru, Adie Pena was in New York for one of his biennial visits to the States. It had been years since we last met at the Movable Book Society conference in Washington D.C. and I was eager to hear what Adie has been up to. It looks like he is busier than ever as teaching three advertising courses at the De La Salle -College of Saint Benilde, as well as helping with a local theater production that involves a dress that unfolds over the entire stage as figures appear like pop-up elements.

Adie has been collecting pop-up books and movable advertising for over 18 years and is known as one tough critic of paper engineering but we were able to get a some smiles out of him with a few sneak peeks of our upcoming projects like Puppies and Rescue. We hope that he enjoyed the city during the wonderful weather this weekend and his return flight was smooth enough for him to concentrate on his other passion, anagrams.

~Kyle

Word of the Day: Benthic

Benthic \BEN-thik\ adjective

1.  Of or relating to the bottom of a sea or lake.
2.  The animals and plants living at the bottom of a sea or lake.

Origin: From Greek benthos ''depth of the sea"