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Mr. Creepy Crawly Bug Thing: Metal Art after Your Own Heart

creepy crawly bug art
creepy crawly bug art

Creepy and crawly does not have to be gross. It can instead be as sweet as this alien monster burnt-edged bug thing.

What a cute little creepy crawly critter.

This cute creepy crawly critter features metallic gold paint mingled with black polka dots and edging for contrast. His edges were cut with an electric welder, giving him a ragtag, rugged look perfect for imagining him scampering about your yard or living room.

Mr. Creepy Crawly makes a perfect addition to any children’s room, especially if you hang him on the ceiling directly above their beds.

This guy measures approx. 15 in. long from tail tip to neck, 19 wide from bent leg to bent leg and stands about 10 high at his highest point.

Bendable metal legs make it easy for you to place him on a fence, atop your mantle or creeping up a tree.

Buy now on Etsy.

Filed Under: art, art as a way of life, metal outdoor indoor art, ryn's brain, SHOP art, voodoo, upcycled goodies Tagged With: creepy art, creepy crawly bug thing art, metal art, ryn gargulinski, ryn gargulinski art, rynart, tucson art, tucson artist, twisted, unique bug gifts, unique insect gifts, upcycled art, upcycled metal, wacky art, weird, whimsical

Same-sex marriage hassles include gifts: Problem solved with same-sex wedding Lucky Voodoo Doll couples

From “His” and “Hers” towel sets to “His” and “Hers” china cups that cost too much and no one uses, there is no dearth of wedding gifts for the bride and groom.

The happy groom and groom same-sex wedding Lucky Voodoo Dolls/Art and photo Ryn Gargulinski

But when it comes to same-sex marriages, finding suitable presents for the groom and groom or the bride and bride can be a bit of a challenge.

Enter Same-Sex Marriage Lucky Voodoo Dolls.

[Read more…] about Same-sex marriage hassles include gifts: Problem solved with same-sex wedding Lucky Voodoo Doll couples

Filed Under: art blogski, blogski, life, odd pueblo Tagged With: art, bride and bride gifts, bride and groom voodoo dolls, cool, gay marriage gits, gay marriages, gay weddings, groom and groom gifts, hers and hers gifts, his and his gifts, kooky, kooky wedding gifts, lucky voodoo dolls, odd, odd pueblo, ryn gargulinski, rynski, rynski's blogski, same sex marriage, same sex wedding gifts, tucson, tucson art, tucson artist, tucson artists, voodoo dolls gifts, wacky art, Wacky RynArt, wedding gifts, whimsical

Shut people up with Blabber Meter: Tech device silences Chatty Cathy coworkers, friends, family – even mother-in-law

Sometimes we wish certain folks would just shut up.

The Blabber Meter helps get blabber heads off the phone/Thinkstock

We all know at least one Chatty Cathy type – although one is often loud and loose-lipped enough to sound like seven different people.

These types don’t even care what they’re saying. They’ll talk about the weather, their sweater, the rain, their pain, the sun, their operation, their baby’s latest bowel movement – enough talk, talk, talk to drive us insane.

They corner us in the supermarket, explaining the holistic benefits of organic bananas or oolong tea. They stifle us at the workplace, crowding like cackling hens around our desk or flooding us with words near the office water cooler, mere inches from the doorway and escape.

They let loose on the phone, spewing nonstop talk like vomit, or pin us to our porches on our way out the door, slathering words into our ears until they bleed.

Sometimes they even enter our homes – disguised as drunk uncles, chatty cousins or one heck of an obnoxious mother-in-law.

Well now we have a solution.

While a gag, muzzle or swift punch in the mouth comes immediately to mind as a way to stop the ceaseless babble, there is something that is much more humane – and not as likely to get us arrested.

Enter the Blabber Meter.

The Blabber Meter computes how much time - and money - incessant talkers waste with their blather/submitted photo

This handy, dandy tech device looks and feels like a small silver desk clock. But it is so much more. The Blabber Meter comes completely equipped with a timer that automatically converts minutes into money units.

This way you know and can show how much time – and money – the incessant talker is wasting with every word about the weather, every description of their baby’s latest bowel movement.

You might even get in good with your boss, when you show her how a stifling, long corporate meeting is eating up hundreds of dollars in company profits. Just be wary when using on the mother-in-law.

The Blabber Meter is lightweight and completely portable, ideal for those on-the-go situations at the supermarket or front porch.

Yes, the Blabber Meter is for real – learn more or buy one today for only $24.99 at its website BlabberMeter.com.

Yes, the Blabber Meter – because money is time, time is money and nothing is as golden as silence.

[tnipoll]

–

Ryn Gargulinski is a poet, artist, performer and TucsonCitizen.com Ryngmaster who sometimes wishes she had a Blabber Meter when a certain someone talks and talks through the movies we rent. Her column appears every Friday on Rynski’s Blogski. Her art, writing and more is at RynRules.com and Rynski.Etsy.com. E-mail rynski@tucsoncitizen.com.

What do you think?

Will you be purchasing a Blabber Meter?

What Chatty Cathy types annoy you most?

What methods have you used to make people be quiet?

Filed Under: blogski, column, danger, gross stuff, life Tagged With: blabber meter, chatty cathy, danger, fun gifts, gag gifts, gag gifts 2010, humorous gifts, kooky, peace quiet, quiet, ryn gargulinski, rynski, rynski column, shut up, talkative people, tech gifts, tech gifts 2010, tucson, whimsical

Cheap yard sale Halloween decor really human skeleton – Rynski radio – UPDATE with playlist and download

One couple got the Halloween scare of a lifetime when the faux bones they purchased as $8 decor at a yard sale ended up being an authentic human skeleton.

No bones about it/File photo Ryn Gargulinski

That story and more are up this week on Rynski’s Shattered Reality radio show on Party934.com and FM 94.9 in Hudson Valley, N.Y.

Next show is Wednesday, Oct. 13 (today!) and every Wednesday online at Party934.com. Showtime is noon in Arizona, 3 p.m. EST.

Party 934 is a radio alternative for listeners sick of stations that play one song followed by 500 commercials.

PLACES are again the theme this week, complete with some wholly patriotic ditties in the lineup. Next week’s theme of ANIMALS already has some beastly requests in the queue. Please leave any additional ANIMAL song suggestions below.

Thanks! to all who contribute.

What: Rynski’s Shattered Reality Internet radio show
When: Every Wednesday for one hour
Time: Noon in Arizona, 3 p.m. EST
Where: www.party934.com and FM 94.9 in Hudson Valley

UPDATE

Missed the show? CLICK HERE to download

Playlist for Rynski’s Shattered Reality 10/13:

Theme: Places, part 2 of 2

B-52s – Private Idaho

The Doors – L’America

West Side Story soundtrack – America

Rammstein – Amerika (Beezel)

Muse – House of the Rising Sun (Leslie in TX)

Black Moth Super Rainbow – Happy Melted City (Giovanni in MS)

Jerry Jeff Walker – London Homesick Blues (Radmax in AZ)

The Beatles – Penny Lane

The Animals – San Francisco Nights (for the 77 cats who need new homes)

Led Zeppelin – Black Country Woman (Linda in UK)

Madness – The Clerkenwell Polka (polka always for parents)

The Rolling Stones – Miss You (Stones always for Deb in AZ)

Kronos Quartet – Summer: Coney Island Dreaming

Kronos Quartet – Winter: Atlantic Ocean (listen closely)

Frank Sinatra – New York, NY (for Anna in NY, abridged version)

Filed Under: blogski, life, media, music, radio, radio teasers, weekly show, archives Tagged With: cool, funky, kooky, ryn gargulinski, rynski radio, rynski shattered reality, rynski's shattered reality, sick, tucson, twisted, weird, whimsical

Pigs are people, too: Animal abuse, haters and worldly woes quashed in debut cartoon video by two Tucsonans

Tucson talent rocks. Evidence includes funky trash cans on Fourth Avenue, mosaics on highway overpasses and now an animated music video produced by Tucson’s own Eric Heithaus with art by yours truly, Ryn Gargulinski.

Please enjoy watching “Everyone I Know Needs Love” as much as we enjoyed creating it.

Main character Dollie is a cartoon I drew years ago, inspired by Quint’s line in “Jaws” about a shark’s eyes being like a doll’s eyes.* Doggy is my standard dog image that resembles my dog Phoebe yet also works to embody every dog in the world.

Dollie and Doggy/Art Ryn Gargulinski

This is my first illustrated animation project and one on a long list of Eric’s successful music – and other – productions.

The only other time my artwork has moved around on its own was during a horrific nightmare where all creatures in my house and backyard started attacking me.

It is much more pleasant when such critters are captured in a little box on the screen.

Thanks! Eric for working with me and coming up with this idea while vacationing on a San Diego beach. The video, all told and in between day jobs, took about a year to complete.

I’m posting the full press release that goes with the video below, which gives you more on the story and where we’re both coming from.

P.S. If you cannot tell from the video, we are both avid animal lovers. The partnership mentioned at the beginning of the clip, “Sawyer and Mr. Angel Association,” is named after our dogs.

PRESS RELEASE:

PIGS ARE PEOPLE, TOO

Animal abuse, haters and worldly woes quashed in debut cartoon video

Animal abuse leads to people abuse – we don’t need a rocket scientist to tell us that. We don’t need a rocket scientist to come up with a way to stop it, either. We just need a wacky artist working with a creative music video producer to come up with a funky, fanciful story of two cartoon characters bent on saving the world.

Oh, yeah – we also need a bomb.

The story

Haters are everywhere – and our heroic cartoon duo of Dollie and Doggie make it their mission to stop it. The sweet team starts off thrown in a garbage can, from whence they scamper only to witness a litany of animal abuses. Horses pureed to pulp in a glue factory. Pigs slaughtered for sausage. A puppy mill. The animal abuse works as an analogy for the people abuse, maltreatment and general hatred that saturates the world at large. The video’s song, “Everyone I Know Needs Love,” offers a hint of the solution in store.

The cartoon video collaboration

Dollie and Doggie star in the video, a project born from the twisted collaboration between two Tucsonans. Producer Eric Heithaus worked on the music and animation end of the project. He produced the catchy “Everyone I Know Needs Love” song with pianist Sly Slipetsky and vocalist Angel Diamond, as well as toiled long hours making a stuffed pig fly. Artist Ryn Gargulinski worked equally as hard creating a cast of cartoon characters that always seem to look like they just got hit by a truck. We think it must be one of her trademarks.

The producer

Tucsonans Eric Heithaus and his wife, Amy, are the masterminds behind Heithaus Productions. While their company has produced everything from documentaries to news and features, it is now focusing on music videos. Eric’s music video production tops competitors as he not only produces the video portion, but he’s a talented music producer. His successes include Tucson’s colorful and creative street musician Black Man Clay, vocalist Laura Ward and his band Children of Gods. More at www.heithaus-productions.com

The artist

Ryn Gargulinski, Tucson resident, Michigan native and longtime New Yorker, has her own list of successes and talents. Writing and art have long topped the list, but this video marks her premiere animated project. Other credits include two illustrated humor books: “Bony Yoga” and “Rats Incredible,” both published by Conari, dozens of news and feature articles, a weekly column and myriad artwork published in a variety of newspapers and journals from New York City to India. Her current gigs include writing four blogs for TucsonCitizen.com and her art business of RYNdustries. More at www.rynrules.com and www.rynski.etsy.com

WATCH the video on YouTube at www.youtube.com/watch?v=6-oVcJf-yCI at  Heithaus Productions at http://heithaus-productions.com/everyone-i-know-needs-love/ or on Rynski’s Blogski.

Contact producer Eric Heithaus at ericheithaus@hotmail.com and Ryn at rynski@tucsoncitizen.com

*Quint’s doll’s eyes quote: “And, you know, the thing about a shark… he’s got lifeless eyes. Black eyes. Like a doll’s eyes. When he comes at ya, doesn’t seem to be living… until he bites ya, and those black eyes roll over white and then… ah then you hear that terrible high-pitched screamin’. The ocean turns red, and despite all the poundin’ and the hollerin’, they all come in and they… rip you to pieces.”

[tnipoll]


What do you think?

Are you a fan of music videos? Of cartoons?

Is is just me or are today’s cartoons quite lame compared to the cool ones we used to get?

P.S. A cashier at Best Buy yesterday looked confused when I mentioned “The Flintstones.”

Filed Under: animals, pets, art blogski, blogski, crime, danger, death, life, media, music, notable folks, heroes Tagged With: angel diamond, animal abuse, animal cruelty, animation tucson, art, black man clay, cartoon music video, cartoon video, children of gods, cool, danger, dog, doggy, dollie, eric heithaus, everyone i know needs love, funky, heithaus productions, heithaus-productions.com, jaws movie, jaws quote, kooky, laura ward, love bomb, love saves, music video tucson, quint doll's eye quote, ryn gargulinski, ryn gargulinski art, rynski, rynski art, rynski's blogski, save the world, sly slipetsky, tucson, tucson art, tucson artist, tucson artists, tucson bands, tucson cartoons, tucson creativity, tucson music, tucson musicians, tucson producers, tucson talent, tucson video, twisted, wacky art, Wacky RynArt, weird, whimsical

A tale of two logs: Far-log vs. Stump Stove – Tucsonan and Canadian have same bright idea, one gets patent, other gets mad

Who’d a thunk a tree stump could be the basis for so much creativity – and pain.

Far-log aflame/Ryn Gargulinski

The creative part came to Tucson-area’s Andrew Farley in a dream. He awoke one morn with the grand idea to create a self-contained, safely burning campfire log by drilling out the center of a tree stump and lighting it from within.

He dubbed his invention the Far-log and has been promoting it since 2008.

The pain came when he when one of his pals dropped in for a visit earlier this year and told him he saw the same dang idea being sold as a Stump Stove at a general store in Verde Valley.

Farley then learned Stump Stoves were not only in stores in Arizona, but various locales throughout the United States and Canada, as well as promoted online at StumpStove.com.

“Yeah, I’m pissed,” Farley admitted in an e-mail. When asked if he punched anything in his fury, he said no. “But I did kick the hell out of a punching bag dummy right outside my door.”

Tree stump creativity had also apparently been hewn in longtime Canadian logger Rich Blackmore, who has lived his life in British Columbia. He’s been working on his Stump Stove idea since 1997, he said in a phone interview, and finally started the patent process in late 2007.

His Stump Stove was granted “patent pending” status in fall 2009 and he started selling his product in January.

So where does that leave Farley?

Tucson's Andrew Farley invented the Far-log/Ryn Gargulinski

Stumped.

Although Blackmore did graciously offer to help Farley market and sell the Far-log once he heard about it, and Farley may have a few options for getting his own patent if there are enough differences between the products, the whole patent process seems set up to shaft the little man.

The patent process

Money is one of the most painful obstacles facing an inventor wanting a patent.

“I never patented the thing because of the cost,” Farley said. “(It was) $7,500 plus other costs so I took the ‘Poor Man’s Copyright’ idea from my brother. He says, ‘Put (the idea) in a sealed box, and mail it to yourself and don’t open it when you get it, put it on the shelf and forget about it (until you need it).”

Blackmore added to send the idea to yourself registered mail, with photos, so it holds even more weight.

He also said $7,500 to start the process is just a start. His patent process, which includes lawyers since he learned what can happen when you don’t go by the books, has already cost him at least $15,000.

Once you’ve amassed thousands of dollars in cash, next up is the research.

Canada's Rich Blackmore invented the Stump Stove/Courtesy StumpStove.com

The government is kind enough to let you do all the research yourself once you file a patent search. This worldwide search lets you check for any and every invention that could have any similarities to your own.

“There was stuff coming up from the early 1800s,” Blackmore said of his search for patents for inventions similar to the Stump Stove. “They were not the same idea but a similar type of procedure of a fire burning on the inside of a wood.”

Once your massive research and tedious paperwork are complete, the government reviews it all while they grant “patent pending” status. This, too, usually lasts several years.

Other inventions

Unfortunately, both Blackmore and Farley know what it’s like to invent an item – only to see the same or similar product marketed and sold by someone else.

Blackmore saw one of his inventions blatantly stolen. He came up with a bag packed with sawdust meant to stop erosion, another idea from his logging work.

He skipped the patent process and went right to a marketing company to market the bag. The company, however, took the idea and ran to the patent office.

“They came back to me and said they would sue me if I kept making my own product,” Blackmore said.

“I probably could have gone through all the fight of lawyers and dates but at some point it is more costly to fight it than to not and move on.”

Far-log/Ryn Gargulinski

Farley has never had an invention stolen per se, but his big ideas always went to line somebody else’s pocket.

“The only ones that were stolen I signed off on and received $10 and I could keep my job.”

One of his top inventions was a wallpaper pasting machine he calls the “Farley-bar” that kept the paste mixed as it zippily slathered it on the wallpaper. This was at a company later gobbled up by 3M.

He also worked closely with inventor Daniel Poole at P.C. Manufacturing, assisting with inventions that ranged from a toothpaste squeezer to a toilet paper dispenser that eliminated that bothersome spring-loaded tube.

“I found a snap of our toilet paper line in a movie still. It was ‘Lethal Weapon 2’ with Danny Glover sitting on a toilet rigged to explode and behind him is the toilet paper holder.”

Even if the invention makes it to a movie scene and the inventor doesn’t, neither guy would give up generating new ideas. They probably couldn’t if they tried, as coming up with better ways to do things – and creative gizmos with which to do those things – is in their makeup.

Stump Stove in the snow/Courtesy StumpStove.com

Both also offer closing advice for any would-be inventors.

“Patent your thoughts as fast as you can no matter how small or ridiculous,” Farley says.

“People think an idea is not worth it and don’t pursue it,” Blackmore added, warning folks not to give up. “Keep at it and eventually it will be worth it.”

Besides, he added, it’s not the fame, fortune or cameo in a movie toilet scene that make your invention worthwhile.

“The key to being successful,” he said, “is enjoying what you do.”

Far-log vs Stump Stove

Concept: Same

Tree stump is hollowed out and burned from the inside, keeping flames contained in its own handy dandy ready-made outer wood casing.

Far-log keychain/Ryn Gargulinski

Design:

Far-log: Hollowed out stump features a “crossfire X” on the bottom to let air rise inward and an “asterix” hole on top to let air escape. Asterix design includes small wedges of wood that catch fire easily.

Stump Stove: Hollowed out log features a front opening to let air enter and open top to let air escape. Inside design includes “kindling fins” that catch fire easily.

Features:

Far-log: Branded with Far-log name atop log, available in variety of sizes and natural formations, different wood types – including a Far-tiki-log of palm tree – and with a “Johnson attachment,” a long, metal chimney placed atop the FAR-log to warm general area.

Stump Stove: Comes with starter kit that includes starter chips and in variety of standard sizes: 12″ Expedition; 10″ Hide Out; 8″ Explorer; 6″ Little Hiker. Shapes all the same, like a mini-chimney.

Stump Stove aflame/Courtesy StumpStove.com

Cost:

Far-log: “The secret to the FAR-LOGS is this: I never have sold one, not one,” Farley noted. “I give them away to people who enjoy them. If someone is interested enough to listen to me explain it, I outright give them away. It’s just a dream I had and I want toe world to call them by my name when I’m long gone off this planet.”

Stump Stove: Prices vary by size and location.

Inventors:

Far-log: Andrew Farley, 53, Tucson-area resident, longtime inventor. Lives on large ranch with dogs, FAR-logs and the Moon Dance Saloon.

Perpetual inventor with very cool girlfriend named Diane, four children, a dad who “looks like Lincoln if he would have survived the shot to the head and always had the ‘Abe’ look as we all grew up.” Oh, Farley also has quite a hat collection, ranging from Viking horns to his favorite, a silk opera top hat.

Far-log on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/far-log/335405179688

Far-log video on Rynski’s Blogski: www.tucsoncitizen.com/rynski/2010/03/03/what-the-heck-is-a-far-log/

__

Stump Stove: Rich Blackmore, 34, British Columbia native and resident. Married to Rachella at age 19, six kids, worked in family logging business entire life until branched out, pun intended, into his own custom log home and log trim business.

Has come up with dozens of creations while logging and camping. He said he doesn’t consider patenting a lot of them as they are all part of a day’s work. Unsure if he has any hat collections although we bet he has plenty of scarves and gloves.

Stump Stove online: StumpStove.com

Far-log burning/Ryn Gargulinski
Stump Stove burning/Courtesy StumpStove.com

[tnipoll]

What do you think?

Have you ever invented anything?

Was it like the Far-log or Stump Stove?

Have you ever seen something you created also created by someone else?

Filed Under: art blogski, blogski, environment, life, notable folks, heroes Tagged With: andrew farley, campfire invention, camping log, canadian inventor, canadian inventors, far-log, farlog, funky, inventions, kooky, patent inventions, patent process, patents, rich blackmore, ryn gargulinski, rynski, rynski's blogski, safe campfire, stump stove, tucson, tucson artist, tucson inventor, tucson inventors, weird, whimsical

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