Separated at birth?
Separated at birth?

I found these two…years apart. The craggy old woman, back in May of 2012. I knew she was special. Sure, she was special in a “why do they call it a ‘crisper’ anyway?” sense of the word, but still, any specialness is special, especially special specialness. Her grandson turned up a few days after New […]

Ignoble savages
Ignoble savages

With apologies…I like to dredge up the bad Native American stuff around Thanksgiving. And Columbus Day, too, but I can never remember when Columbus Day is, and then it’s past. If there’s not a movie of the week to mark an occasion, it didn’t happen. This remarkable set popped up at the Salvation Army near Anderson […]

(NSFW?) Small, embarrassing children
(NSFW?) Small, embarrassing children

There’s a fine line between innocence and exploitation. When it comes to Dollar General ceramics, the line gets trampled on by a herd of cattle. I really don’t want to offer up any commentary about these for fear of seeming like a creepy sleezeball. But what the hey, I’ve already got the bowl of free […]

Thank you for being you
Thank you for being you

It’s good to see a man who’s enthusiastic about his work. Really, he’s like a fox at a chicken trade show, about to get a free sample of all the 2013 models. “Don’t make me use the truncheon, because neither one of us is going to enjoy it. Well…I tell a lie. One of us […]

That whole “noble savage” thing
That whole “noble savage” thing

It’s good to get these silly myths out of your system early. That iconic image of an aging Native American warrior on a horse looking eastward, a single tear rolling down his cheek? Wrong. Based on 400+ year of a misapprehension. Centuries of cultural war between Native Americans and European colonists were started entirely because […]

Hooked on a feeling. Vague nausea, I think.
Hooked on a feeling. Vague nausea, I think.

ooga chaka, ooga chaka! It’s been a while since we had a nice, resin-cast child here, and I think I remember why. Of all the forms resin can take when it glops and pools in the great resin-swamps east of Houston, the most obnoxious is the resin-cast child. At least, that’s what I thought. Turns […]

Apologies in advance…
Apologies in advance…

I always feel a sense of vague guilt for these posts. Not a LOT of guilt. Perhaps I should lay the guilt at the feet of the crafters themselves, but I’m not sure it would stick. Question: Why was this in the Christmas display? What part of this screams “santa” or “elf” or “good idea”? […]

Please buy my pre-bagged children
Please buy my pre-bagged children

“Please buy my fine, pre-bagged children. You will never again, this side of home furnishings, find a collection of children quite this deliciously cooperative. Lay your feet upon them. They’re okay with this. Chopsticks? Chopsticks the size of railroad ties? Sure. That’s why they’re here. That’s why I’m selling them…to you.” “You have that ‘thinking […]

Fail.
Fail.

…And that was when the amusement park was finally shut down. There’s a lot about this piece that I don’t quite get. I’m really not sure why the elephant has to drag a large log across an endless plain, and given that he DOES have to perform this thankless task, why is the log so […]

The battle at Suzhou
The battle at Suzhou

So, I’m giving myself permission to be a bit non-PC this week, because I’ve been saving up some fun finds for the week of the Lunar New Year, and this be it! I apologize in advance if I confuse China and Japan. In my defense, the original images were kind of confusing to begin with. It […]