According to the show guide book, “Fantastic art can be a slightly skewed, off-kilter view of reality or a full-blown creation of imaginary lands and the people–and creatures–that live there.”  Given that definition, the art fair definitely provided examples of the fantastic – from fairies to the macabre, there was a little something for everyone.

Click on any of the images to go to the artist’s site.

Spectrum Fantastic Art Live show poster outside exhibit hall

Tom Bishop's booth

Andrew Martin, working on sculpture pieces

Baby Chewy by Bobby Chiu

"Imagine" by Karen Hollingworth

"The Search Begins" by Edward Howard

"Joan of Arc" by Donato Giancola

"The Haunting" by Brian Despain

Finally, we were also lucky enough to see some friends from college there. One of my good friends from the dorm was there with her artist husband, Jeff Miracola, who is of course (shall I say it?) fantastically talented. He has done a lot of art for Magic: The Gathering cards, and is focusing now more on digital art. Check out the gorilla and owl faces in the background of this photo.

Artist Jeff Miracola, my husband David, and my friend Silvia

Pretty fantastic, huh? Which artist(s) would you like to see at a fantastic art show?

Links of Interest:

• Spectrum Fantastic Art Live
• Tom Bishop‘s page on Texas Society of Sculptors
• Andrew Martin
• Bobby Chiu‘s deviantart gallery
• Karen Hollingworth‘s work
• Edward Howard‘s work
• “Joan of Arc” by Donato Giancola
• “The Haunting” by Brian Despain
• Jeff Miracola‘s site

Marvel’s The Avengers (2012)
Director: Joss “The Man” Whedon
Starring: Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Hemsworth, Scarlett Johansson, Jeremy Renner, Tom Hiddleston, Clark Gregg, and Samuel L. Jackson
142 minutes
Rated PG-13

Last week Kansas City was one of the select cities to host The Ultimate Marvel Marathon in AMC theaters. We took a “family day” to enjoy and revel in the geekiness. It was advertised as “one epic day” – it did not disappoint.

The marathon featured all five of the individual movies in the order they were released – Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk, Iron Man 2, Thor, and Captain America – followed by the midnight premiere of the Avengers. Despite the 15 hours in movie theater seats, it was really cool to see them back to back – I caught quite a few more Easter Eggs than when I watched them singly.

AMC put on a great event – in-between each movie they did trivia and giveaways, which was fun. They also had order forms from the adjacent Fork & Screen venue, so you could order from their menu and pick it up at a designated time at Guest Services. I heard they sold about 2000 tickets between the Marathon and the Avengers midnight showing, but concession services seemed to move pretty quickly and smoothly. With 25-45 minutes between movies, we were still able to move through and get soda refills as necessary (I don’t even want to think about the amount of caffeine and sugar we consumed that day!)

But you don’t really want to hear about what a fantastic time I had at the Marathon, do you? You’re here for a review of the Avengers. Did it really live up to the hype? Could it really be that good? In a word – yes. I’ve heard more than one person say it is the best superhero movie they have ever seen.

Again, we were lucky enough to see the premiere in a crowd of like-minded folks – everyone cheered and clapped and yelled at all the appropriate times, and were generally boisterously enthusiastic. This heightened the overall experience of an otherwise fantastic movie.

The movie basically chronicles Nick Fury’s (played by Samuel L. Jackson) first-time assembling of the Avengers team to battle a common foe bent on world domination (that would be Loki, Thor’s adopted brother, played by Tom Hiddleston). I really liked how the gathering efforts were depicted – the characters didn’t all “play nice” with each other right off the bat. Thor (played by Chris Hemsworth) and Tony Stark/Iron Man (played by Robert Downey Jr) rubbed the wrong way, and had a great fight scene against each other. Stark also didn’t get along with Bruce Banner/Hulk (played by Mark Ruffalo) – some of the lines from that confrontation scene will have you rolling.

The script is really what made this movie. Director Joss Whedon co-wrote the story with Zak Penn, and also wrote the screenplay. While I wouldn’t say the dialog had characteristic Whedon one-liners a la other Joss properties like Buffy or Firefly, the back-and-forth between characters was breathtaking. The story moved at a very steady clip, and was definitely the most funny and entertaining of the now 6-movie franchise. You will not leave this movie without laughing and cheering.

Really, the only thing I could critique in this movie is the Chitauri, an alien race that Loki encounters during his exile from Asgard. For some reason, the scenes with “The Other” from this race reminded me of the heinously-costumed villains from Power Rangers – think Ivan Ooze, Lord Zedd, and Rita Repulsa. I asked my husband when we could expect the “putties” to scrambling come out. I think Joss could have figured out another way to get Loki an army, but that’s just me. They weren’t a bad plot device or anything – just too reminiscent of my kids’ Power Rangers years for me. You probably won’t have the same flashback/problem.

What you’ll love:

• The dialog/banter – I’ll need to see it several more times to catch it all
• The fight scenes – there is one with Hulk and Loki that we still chuckle about
• The S.H.I.E.L.D heli-carrier – my husband says it’s dead-on true to the comics
• How Captain America doles out military strategy and helps unite the group
• The Iron Man geek-out gadgetry – the scenes where he “disrobes” from the suit, and one part where he “enrobes” in mid-air are spectacular!
• How Joss managed to tie 5 movies into one seamless heroic adventure

This film is definitely a MUST-SEE – do NOT miss the chance to see it on the big screen! You will not forgive yourself.

Links of Interest:

•  The Avengers on IMDb
• Avengers movie trivia on IMDb
• Marvel Easter Eggs
• Marvel crafts on GeekCrafts
• More Joss love on GeekCrafts

Here are five awesome creations:

Avengers Logo Glasses
Who wouldn’t want to host a marathoning party of the pre-Avengers movies, when you had these glasses to hold your guests beverages in? They’re pretty awesome!

Avengers Buttons/Magnets
As someone who obsessed with buttons, these buttons are adorable and geeky in the best possible way.

Superhero Wristies
Nerdifacts makes adorably geeky wristies inspired by superheroes, including The Avengers. Midnight showings can be cold, these should keep you warm.

Avengers Inspired Mini Bows
These bows are adorable and still vague enough that you could wear them with other outfits.

Vintage Virtue
When I first started searching for Avengers stuff, her stuff was popping up all over the place. Once I got to her shop, I was overcome with all sorts of nerd feelings. She has bows, earrings, tie clips, necklaces, and bracelets. All the having the perfect amount of nerdiness.

• Other Avengers Crafts on GeekCrafts

it glows in the freakin’ dark.

• Glow in the dark Spidey
• StitchFIGHT’s Flickr photostream

• Fighting-words fingerless gloves

For most of us in the United States, winter and its cozy accessories are becoming a distant memory. Before we get too far away from the cooler months, I want to give a little shout-out to these super-cute fingerless gloves. Annie Watts has the pattern for sale on Ravelry, so if you are a semi-hopeless knitter, you can get started on holiday gifts now ;-)

• Pattern for fighting words fingerless gloves on Ravelry

Luckily for me, and for my new found appreciation for glitter, TigerGalindo’s shop on Etsy has a slew of great glitter art for any occasion.  Some other celebrities that deserve glitter?  Elvis, Willie Nelson and maybe even Sarah Michelle Geller.

Check out the Glittery goodness!

Visit TigerGalindo on Etsy!

More Batman on Geekcrafts!

With some left over felt I had from other crafts, I cut out a pattern of the wings that I created. In order to get the to be able to clip in my hair, I cut a small opening on one side to slide the snap clip through. Hand-stitching two pieces of felt together I left the top open a little so that I could add a little bit of stuffing. Not a ton, just enough to give the clip a little plump. Lastly, I hand-stitched the lines to define the wings a bit more.

Overall, I think they’re going to be an excellent addition to my outfit for the midnight release of The Avengers. It was a really easy and super cheap craft.

• A video in which I talk about these clips
• Avengers crafts on Geek Crafts

This purse by StellarCheri is the perfect example!

I would feel more like Real Self if I could carry this bag with me to those many meetings at the school board that I attend. It’s stylish, not over the top, cool and classy all rolled up into one purse! Check out StellarCheri‘s other wonderful creations!

Comic Character Purse by StellarCheri on Etsy.