Pay no attention to the lack of recent posts. Look at this shiny object in my other hand!
I, like most geeks, dig internet memes. All your base, Leeroy Jenkins, Numa Numa, Badger Badger Badger, and the sheer absurdity of Lolcats never fails to bring a smile to my face. I was browsing the web tonight and I saw Lolcats taken one step further to a more obscure and nerdy extreme. I laughed for a good five minutes when I saw this.
You all know Sister Mary Lisa right? Brilliant, funny, talented woman that she is she came up with an idea that I'm wholeheartedly embracing and making a regular feature. Both being artists, we've got those that have inspired us from ancient masters up to more contemporary works.
We started sharing with one another but I decided it's yet another thing I could list in my pile of obsessions to the right so everyone could partake.
Most of you probably know the inaugural artist by his re-working of the Creation of Adam by Michelangelo. I'm in awe of his ability to paint using Photoshop and, being the gamer I am, I love his concept updates for old games. The fact that he breaks down his technique and gives you a mini-education in light & shadow, color, and form with his tutorials just endears me to him even more.
I'm a bit of a music fiend if you've noticed (you should be ashamed if you haven't) and lately I seem to be gravitating towards women that are similar. Luckily they seem to have similar taste in music and I've been flooded with new bands to listen to. The one that tops them all though is Stolen Babies. I haven't been this excited about a band in a long time.
You probably had the same reaction I did when you heard the name. "What kind of two-bit amateur group has a name like Stolen Babies? Are they some kind of speed and/or death metal band from Norway? Do they dress in viking armor and growl unintelligibly into a megaphone?"
The best way I can describe them is a mix of Oingo Boingo (even going as far back as the Mystic Knights) with some Siouxsie and the Banshees, toss in some My Life With The Thrill Kill Kult and even a little No Doubt. On the album I picked up their style oscillates wildly between all those groups, from angry thrashy to melodic melancholy. You just don't get bored listening to them.
John Avila, the bassist from Oingo Boingo, produced their one video so far and it's definitely got a heavy Tim Burton influence with some nods to Boingo as well:
