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“The Recently Deflowered Girl” (1965) – Illustrated by Edward Gorey

This article was updated on May 11, 2009 in response to a request from attorneys for Edward Gorey’s estate. They were actually pretty cool; instead of a full takedown notice, they said I could keep up to 10% of the content of the book in the article and state that permission to reproduce said excerpts has been provided by the Edward Gorey Charitable Trust.

I knew that Shel Silverstein published different works aimed for “kid” and “adult” audiences, but I had no idea that Edward Gorey did the same – at least not until I saw The Recently Deflowered Girl. It’s a 1965 parody of etiquette books that seems quaint now, but must’ve seemed racy back in those days when Playboy was where you got not just the pictures of nude women, but good advice on stereos and cocktails.

Someone on LiveJournal published scans from the book this week. Since its posting, it got popular and the account – and hence the scans of the book – were deleted. I copied the images before that happened, and — with the permission of Edward Gorey’s estate’s lawyers, I’ve been allowed to publish a selection of the pages from the book for your enjoyment.

Present-day pop culture likes to portray Asian men, a category of which I am a member, as effete and unmasculine. Oddly enough, The Recently Deflowered Girl bucked this trend in that ten percent of the book’s deflowerings were carried out by Chinese men, the most-cited ethnicity in the book. I thought it only fitting that I post those two deflowerings. To my horny Asian brothers, this one’s for you, and as we like to say: Everybody Wang Chung tonight!

Click on any of the scans below to see them at full size:

recently_deflowered_girl_01

recently_deflowered_girl_08

recently_deflowered_girl_21

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Help Daniela!

Daniela and her 3 children

Pictured above are Daniela and her three children: Daniela (age 9), Brandon (age 6) and Evelyn (age 4). Daniela and her family are in a difficult situation, and David Armano (VP Experience Design at Critical Mass, a Chicago-based marketing and design agency) is trying to rally some help for her.

Daniela is a Romanian immigrant who divorced her husband after years of physical abuse. Her youngest daughter Evelyn has Down Syndrome. She makes very little money cleaning houses and lost her house when her mortgage went unpaid.

David and his family have taken Daniela and her family into their home. They’re trying to get her an apartment through a fundraising drive. The goal is to collect at least US$5,000 so that she doesn’t have to worry about rent or a deposit while trying to improve her situation.

Here’s a photo taken inside David’s garage that shows everything that Daniela owns in the world:

All of Daniela's worldly possessions

David wrote in his blog post about about Daniela that he understand that getting donations in these tough economic times is difficult. In spite of that, he’s asking people to make donate even just a little money to help Daniela out.

I would argue that in times like this, it’s even more important to make an effort to perform acts of kindness. Pulling together and helping each other, especially those of us who are most vulnerable, is how we’ll all ride out the Credit Crunch. As Douglas Rushkoff wrote in his essay Riding Out the Credit Collapse:

The more we are willing to do for each other on our own terms and for compensation that doesn’t necessarily involve the until-recently-almighty dollar, the less vulnerable we are to the movements of markets that, quite frankly, have nothing to do with us. 

As of my writing this, David’s campaign has raised over $9,000 for Daniela. Even though he’s raised nearly twice the target amount for Daniela, I would still suggest that you make a donation if you can. $5,000 isn’t going to last very long, and with three kids, Daniela will have expenses other than rent to worry about.

To make a donation to Daniela’s fund, click here to see David Armano’s blog article.

[Thanks to Jay Goldman, whose Twitter message led me to David Armano’s blog.]

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From Sun Chips to Sun King

Here’s proof that art relies more on the artist than the materials: here’s Louis XIV, the “Sun King”, rendered using snack food and toilet paper.

The famouse "Louis XIV" portrait, done using snack food and toilet paper at a convenience store.
Click the photo to see it at full size.
Photo courtesy of Miss Fipi Lele.

For those of you not familiar with the original portrait, here it is:

Louis XIV's portrait

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Vintage TVOntario Images

Here’s a nostalgia trip for those of you who watched TVOntario during the late seventies and early eighties: a montage of images from its daytime educational shows. Did any of you ever watch Parlez-Moi, Write On!, H&G Mysteries, Bits and Bytes or Math Patrol?

Montage of stills from TVOntario's educational shows from the late 1970s and early 1980s.
Images courtesy of Miss Fipi Lele.

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Your Last Chance to Get JPG Magazine

Stack of issues of JPG magazine. JPG magazine was beautiful but unsustainable. A photography magazine whose contributors were also its readers, it was part publication, part online community and part art project. You didn’t have to be an established professional photographer to get published in JPG; all you had to do was submit a really good shot (and everyone’s got one really good shot in them). Photography magazines aren’t really my thing, but I actually bought a couple of issues of JPG because the photos and articles they featured caught my eye.

With the public’s flagging interest in print media, the current economic situation and the costs of running a print publication on photo magazine-quality paper, JPG magazine was running out of money. They tried for months to find buyers or investors without success. Yesterday, they announced that they will be shutting down completely – not just the print magazine, but their website as well – on Monday, January 5th.

If you’re a JPG reader or are just interested in what the magazine was all about, you should follow their suggestions, which include:

Remember, if you want to download PDF back issues, do it before Monday!

[This article was also published in Global Nerdy.]

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Spam Fritters

Package of Spam Fritters on a refrigerated grocery shelf.
Photo courtesy of Miss Fipi Lele.

I like the Hawaiian treat called “Spam Sushi” (it’s properly referred to as Spam Musubi since the rice is salted rather than vinegared), which is probably why I the idea Spam Fritters (“succulent pieces of SPAM covered in a deliciously light and crispy golden batter”) sounds all right to me.

According to this article at MeatInfo.co.uk, the Spam Fritter was re-introduced to the UK market along with two other spam variants: Spam with Stinky French Garlic and Spam with Bacon. These new products are meant to reach “a younger demographic, as well as satisfying the needs of its core market.”

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“Sexual Healing” as Done by the Hot 8 Brass Band

As long as I’m in a jazzy, funky mode today (see today’s earlier blog entries featuring Branford Marsalis and Thelonious Monk), I thought I’d point to one of the tunes currently getting heavy rotation on my iPod: Marvin Gaye’s Sexual Healing, as covered by New Orleans’ Hot 8 Brass Band, who give the classic track some gumbo-flavoured gusto. I’d love to see these guys play live:

If you like the cover, there’s an excellent studio version on their album, Rock with the Hot 8. Here are some links: