Submitted by:
jmusic22
03/19/11
Submitted by:
baofferdal
03/12/11
Submitted by:
JSimmons
04/12/11
Submitted by:
Candace Chipman
04/14/11
Submitted by:
XrayHuff
03/18/11
May 31, 2012
There’s little history on the subject, but it must have gone back to cavemen who had the necessary backlighting, large hands, and proper dark cave.
“Look, Ogsti, "You've made a “Big Lizard.”
Either that, or there was an actual big lizard behind them.
We do know that in ancient China, puppeteers stretched donkey skin, dried sheepskin and many varieties of animal skin, on their hands. Scrunched them into all sorts of wondrous things with the light passing through, and told stories, creating the first puppet shows.
Hand shadows reached their absolute zenith (such as it was) in the 19th Century, thanks to candlelight, the gas lamp and Henry Burcill.
Burcill's main claim to fame was, along with Sir Edwin Landseer, sculpting the four great lions in Trafalgar Square and wrote (I should say drew) the two classic books on the subject, “Hand Shadows” and “More Hand Shadows.”
First published in 1859 and 1860 (in two parts), they're simply books of pictures. No words. No page of text describing the history and variations of each pattern.
Might have wanted to keep a few secrets to himself.
However, Albert Almoznino, in a small 1964 classic, “The Art of Hand Shadows” spills all the beans.
He’ll tell you how to hold your hands in order to make a lumbering dinosaur, a pair of playing monkeys, an eagle that slowly takes flight and for his coup de gras, a cat that scratches itself, lashes its tail, and jumps towards the audience.
Hand shadows.
From a simpler time.
An unsung art that deserves a hand.
still thinking about today...
Submitted by:
crystalchip
03/23/11
Submitted by:
stunt362
03/28/11
Submitted by:
Rachel1985
03/12/11
Submitted by:
handrail
03/07/11
Submitted by:
krusson
03/17/11
The Shadow knows.
Unfortunately, there is a ubiquitous, one-finger hand sign that really should remain in the shadows.
Happy Year of the Dragon.
Hazel, be careful what you ask for.....dragons can incinerate you with their flaming breath, and My guess is that their moodiness means that they cannot be trusted.
It's a good day for a "Peterman "Light" topic, something giving us all a chance to reflect on what may perhaps be good childhood memories. Shadow puppets are PERFECT to fulfill the mission...
Puppets? I remember Kukla, Fran and Ollie when I was a child. Kukla and Ollie were hand puppets, and Fran was a charming lady. The creator and director was Burr Tilstrom. When the TV show went from an hour to a half hour, I wrote in protest, and got a charming reply back from Burr Tilstrom as well as a yearbook of the show. It was as charming as Sesame Street with no attempt to have as serious a purpose.
Shadow puppets by flashlight on that old pup tent then making the church with your hands complete with forefinger steeple and opening up the thumb doors to see the peeps inside. Arm farting, Bronx Cheering, knuckle popping, snapping fingers or popping your inflated cheek your favorite tunes. Cloud watching and finding your favorite animal. Closing your eyes while looking at the sun to see psychedelic images and colors. Whistling blowing out or sucking in. Doing Barbara Ann and singing all the parts. Holding a firefly in your clenched hand and peeping in through the natural peephole to see him light up. Wondering why you have an Adam's Apple and why men have nipples. We never thought we were poor. It didn't occur to us.
I remember when Wendy Darling sewing on Peter Pan's shadow was the hottest thing I had ever seen. oooooh! to be Wendy Darling.........
Sometimes it's not a good thing to be (as we are now) so removed from a state of innocence that can find such pleasure in such simple things, and that can make shadows and hands seem magical. The ultimate in low-tech entertainment!! Remember soothing a fretful child with such games? Would they soothe as easily and quickly now if their video games and toys were out of commission? I call for a moratorium on the toys for a couple of weeks at a time and let children--and the child in us all--travel back to that Innocence and reclaim some of the wonder that we've lost.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i-4uKgXRnpI&feature=related ;
Do we ever get removed from a state of innocence, Carol? I still delight in squeezing the sides of snapdragon flowers to make them 'talk' to me.
I adored what's her name with the simple knitted sock called Lamb Chop.
When I was in boarding school, after 'lights out and no talking' we would get out our reading under the blankets torches and make shadow plays on the walls.
TommyTypical~ Here's the church, here's the steeple - Open the doors and there's all the people. Here's the parson going upstairs and here's the parson saying his prayers.
Shari Lewis!
Hazel, I love snapdragons for that very reason. Have you ever made a dragon lady doll? You take a tooth pick and stick it in the bottom of a hollyhock and then put a snapdragon on the top and it sort of looks like a lady and you can turn it into a puppet by making the snapdragon "talk". My sisters and I would spend hours in my grandmother's back yard making those dolls and playing make believe with them.
Sadly, overall, I do believe there is widespread loss of innocence. Ours can be recaptured in the moments such as you describe, Hazel, but I'm afraid for the majority of folks it's lost. We are certainly born innocent, but there is an awful lot of competitive parenting going on--and a large degree of non-parenting--so that early on, when someone should and can be amazing children with shadow puppets and talking snapdragons and whistling grass they are, instead, buying a new/newer/newest version of toys or else totally ignoring them. ********Maybe we should have a lights out approach and enjoy the mystery of the night and shadows.
Miss Blue ~
Genius.
"Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men?"
you are still innocent if you remember the childhood magic of : "If I close my EyEs, You can't see Me"
Any one else have a feeling of Deja Vu?
DeJa Vu, again?
RoadYacht, that works with dogs as well, I call it "Blanket Theory". I posted about it last year http://nachista.blogspot.com/2011/09/annieballz.html
STONEY--my Dad's favorite!
You can only use good light to make shadow puppets.You can't use bad light because bad light must go to prism.
This topic brings back memories of when my daughters were little, and we would lose power because of a storm or high wind. In the country it gets very dark, and I had a supply of flashlights (torches for Hazel) and candles always at the ready. The candles were prefered. Bed time by candle light always meant a shadow display before tucking in. What fun to try to tell the Tale of Peter Rabbit from heart while the girls and I also tried to make shadow images on the far wall that somehow resembled Peter, Mr. McGregger or even the garden gate. Six little hands and my two larger ones would dance in the candle light most times only vaguely resembling what I was reciting. It was such fun we'd all groan if the lights came back on.
Do any of you Shadow Fans know who the Voice of the Shadow was ... on Radio ???
(Hint: It was NOT Alec Baldwin, and contrary to what Jack Benny thought, it wasn't Mel Blanc ...)
the voice of LaMont Cranston was......I can't tell you, he'd kill me......
Yes, the art of the shadow form is timeless. Thanks for bringing it back into the light.
Paolos, that's the best groaner pun I've read in a long time.
Rusty I actually look forward to the power going out, as long as it isn't out so long that all the food in my freezer spoils. I have a couple of small oil lamps that I press into service, as well as countless numbers of candles (I'm a massage therapist, it comes with the trade). Even though I have flashlights and battery powered lanterns, I used them only as a last resort. But one thing I've learned is that almost everyone looks good in candle/fire light. It softens angles, camoflages imperfections, makes the skin look rosy, makes the eyes twinkle, and the shadows are hypnotic. LED has nothing on the original flame in my book.
Speaking of fires, I miss the smell of coal and turf fires from my time in Ireland. My brother was at a Lush Cosmetics store and found a mens shampoo bar that smells like a turf fire. He bought it for me and I break it out when I'm feeling homesick. I have to keep the tin it is in inside a ziploc bag or else my entire house would smell like that all the time and it might be a bit hard to explain to my coworkers at the day job why I always smell like a fire.
Miss Nachista ~ I can't claim it as my own, but thank
you. I am certain there is a villager or two whispering in your ear
"don't encourage him." There might even be another shouting it
from the roof top.
http://www.petermanseye.com/photos/598801
My first bloom this year.
HAZEL:
This is my year since I was born in a dragon year many moons ago.
IVAN:
I had to google it.
Orson Welles was the voice of The Shadow.
It was my favorite show to listen to when my family would go for a Sunday drive way back when.
korthal~ Your flower is beautiful. Greetings, dragon baby!
nachista~ Peat fires .... O YES!
Anybody able to put up a video clip of an Indian/Chinese shadow puppet show? They really are impressive.
Oooops! Manners! Hello and welcome, Michael. If you see out of the corner of your eye, a scruffy mutt, it's Floyd our virtual dog coming to check you out.
MICHAEL:
Welcome to the fray of the EYE.
Maybe fray's not the right word.
Maybe mayhem.
No, maybe bedlam.
Join us often.
Thanks HAZEL.
Your comments have been quite enjoyable today. They have left me with a smile.
Miss Korthal ~ Where did the color come from? I thought your other blooms were white.
Yes, I saw the white ones last year.
Duvet time in Wales. Nos da, dear people. x
Michael- Aloha and this is but a mere shadow of things to come. Love your EYEdentity motto. So does Life.
Korthal, magnificent blosson!
Michael, welcome. We can promice you'll find life here most intriging.
This morning I thought the topic had been hand selected for me. When I reached "from a simpler time" my thoughts turned to my two younger daughters and how easy it will be for them to become too jaded, too soon. I took out my yellowed copy of Salinger's masterpiece and reread the last two chapters where Holden takes Phoebe to the Central Park zoo and then to the carousel. After all his lamentations, he sees her grab for the golden ring and decides that it's just the way things are, always were and always will be.
I think every generation looks back at a simpler time and bewails the loss of innocence of the younger generations. Yet these generations survive, not because it is all that they can do, but because they are taught to compete and taught to survive. With every lesson our children can loose a little bit of their innocence. But we are also teach them to hold on to that simpler life and to hold on to their innocence. We teach them to sing and dance, to draw and to tell stories, to plant gardens and to care for their pets. We teach them of hand shadows and of angels and prayer, we teach them to love and be loved. We teach them to laugh and to wipe away tears. Each time we pass along this knowledge, it strengthens their grip on the innocence that for some reason, we all treasure. We teach them and often in our teaching, we are fortunate enough to learn a thing or two from them, along the way. It makes the journey a little easier and our time here a bit more simple, knowing we are mere shadows dancing on a darkened wall.
Beautifully put Paolos!
PAOLOS:
I have several epis.
The white one will bloom later. The white one only lasts one night and is very fragrant.
This one, Wild Thing, lasts about 2 days but has no fragrance.
My next one will be Jungle Night. It has never bloomed for me before.
I'll post that one when it blooms.
Thank you all.
I'm happy you are enjoying my epis.
The shifting sand is the real constant. Plato's shadows are as close to reality as the prisoners ever get. The storm has knocked out our power and here I sit in the dark remembering if you light a candle you cast a shadow.
p-yep. Hot Lips Perspective in her birthday suit. You can almost "feel her warm Brazil and touch her Panama. But her Tierra del Fuegos are nearly always froze." After all
it was Korea.
paolos ~
First rate observations as always.
Funny thing innocence, it offers protection against only the unknown and things that have not happened… yet.
The bumps, the bangs, sadness and sobs, longing and loss that come to us all could be said destroy innocence. Good. We are as a result, tougher where we need to be, softer and more empathetic when we need to be and set up through faith, family and friends to deal with what comes our way and there is always something.
Carol, Stoney ~ Grazie.
Miss K ~ Can't wait for that jungle night.
TT ~ yep, yep
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hIl78knyIRY
Enjoyed a day in the book store with granddaughter today....The 5th grade reading list for summer is out and she got 5 of the 37 on the list. She is an avid reader, a nd for that I am glad. Today's topic gives me an idea for something to try tomorrow with her. We will find the right place for the light and shadows!
Old is new to her, as she discovered and has unleashed my old electric portable typewriter and is having a great time with it. The actual workings and bells and clicks are intriguing to her, never having seen one. She is so proud that she knows where the keys are from her hours tapping away on the computer!
Friday is horse riding at 10, lunch, then sailing lesson at 1:00, and getting her back to her mom at 7:00pm. GG will have a day's rest before another week of granny/granddaughter bonding next week as I shuttle her to/from fencing lessons! My childhood pales in comparison to this child's experiences!
MISS KORTHAL: That really is a Beautiful Blume ... Hope you get lots more just like it !!!
Thanks for sharing it with us !!!