Pack Rat is going cold turkey as we quit our addiction to cold turkey.

Bonjour, mis amies. I feel like that is probably not spelled correctly, but I took Spanish in school, not French, so just considered it a best guess. If you are easing into the dog days of summer, and you’re looking for some footwear that will reflect your laid-back lifestyle, head over to Lady Harvatine’s blog and check out the sweet tutorial for summer slippers. (They’re like flip flops, but softer! and more cozy!) They are super stylish, and won’t make your feet sweat in the summer heat.

And this has absolutely nothing to do with anything, but blogger Liz Harvatine is originally from Connecticut. And as someone else originally from CT, this pleases me. There, I’ve said it. I’m a nutmegger.

Photo courtsey of Liz Harvatine

Pack Rat’s grandma flipped her ‘vette.

I’m listening to Nick Swardson’s Party album as I type this, so I apologize for any typos that may be the result of laughing. So, most of you are probably familiar with the old school internet phenomenon, the Flying Spaghetti Monster. If you are not, here is a snippet from the wikipedia entry:

“The religion was founded in 2005 by Bobby Henderson to protest the decision by the Kansas State Board of Education to require the teaching of intelligent design as an alternative to biological evolution. Because intelligent design implies the existence of an intelligent but not necessarily omnipotent or omniscient designer, some, like Henderson, argued that this designer could be anything imaginable…Henderson parodies the concept of an intelligent designer by professing belief in a supernatural creator called the Flying Spaghetti Monster which resembles spaghetti and meatballs. He furthermore calls for the “Pastafarian” theory of creation to be taught in science classrooms.

People took this idea and ran with it. I, personally, never saw the humor in it. Sure, intelligent design has no place in the classroom, and yes, Henderson made his point, but really people, it’s not that funny. That being said, the blogger at HistoryWeaver has provided a crochet pattern for a delightful, bendable FSM stuffed animal. She also, in Flat Stanley fashion, has her FSM roaming the country. My favorite is the one below of her FSM double fisting two pints of beer. Use her pattern to make your own traveling friend.

(photo by HistoryWeaver)

Pack Rat Magazine knows not to mess with The Luggage

The subject of this blog post comes via Crafty Crafty

If there’s anything the British seem to know, it’s humor. Monty Python, Eddie Izzard, Douglas Adams, the list goes on and on. For all of you über nerds out there, I certainly hope you have read, or are planning to read the books in the Discworld fantasy series by Terry Pratchett (p.s. I just googled über to make sure I was spelling it right, and I read a whole Wikipedia entry devoted to that one word. Talk about obernerdy). The Discworld is a lot like our own…only different. There’s way too much to go into here, but essentially the Discworld is a planet shaped like a disc that is carried on the backs of four elephants who ride atop a giant turtle, floating through space. Trust me, it’s hilarious. I especially love the character of Death, who always speaks ALL IN CAPS and who loves KITTENS AND BAKING.

Anywho, the long and the short of it is that I’m hardly the only person in love with these books. Kimberly Chapman and her husband Corran are also fans and they have expressed their love in the best way possible: cake form. Visit Chapman’s website for the how-to for this scrumptious literary dessert.

Pack Rat Magazine separates the wheat from the chaff. And then we ditch it all for some fried dough.

Let me walk you through what a day of searching for a blog topic is like. So I start out with a list of websites that I have on file…stuff I haven’t written about yet for one reason or another. It’s a long list, compiled of many a Stumble Upon and Google search. I close my eyes and randomly select a site. Today I landed on Hello Indie, a shopping ‘zine for indie goods. I really enjoy the articles in this ‘zine and have almost mentioned it a few times in the past, but I hesitated because they look like they haven’t put out a new issue since 2006.

Today I read through their archives, looking for something I could highlight, and I came across their article from Issue #2 called “Out Of Control Photography” about a new trend (movement?) in digital photography. The artists take their cameras and toss them into the air so that the resulting photographs are a surreal blur of light and shapes. The article linked to photographer Ryan Gallagher, so I clicked on his link and went to his flickr page. But I didn’t poke around there very long before I saw that he had his own blog called Camera Toss (The Blog) where he showcases his own “kinetic photographs” and his general musings about photography and life. I found the how-to guide for camera tossing to be particularly interesting. But I wanted to get a better sense of what this technique could accomplish, so I headed back to the flickr pool and I found some photos to share with y’all. They are from left to right: Kinetic 1023 by mtnrockdhh; Cameratoss from the archives by Beer 30; and Toss 109 by AKA33

And that, my peeps, is a sneak peek into the web sluething I do to bring you blog postings every day.

Pack Rat Magazine hates the pomp, but we don’t really mind the circumstance.

I came across this Russian blog called elfF houSE the other day that is home to some truly weird images. Maybe some of the pictures might be less bizarre if I spoke the language, but for some of them there can be no good explanation. I did, however, find some pretty cool craft pics there. Check out the crocheted tree project and a felt artist’s sculptures below. I wish I had more info to give you on either subject, but this is all I’ve got. Both projects just seemed too cool to ignore. Hope you feel the same.

Pack Rat Magazine likes to kick off its Sunday shoes

Update 5/8/08: Apparently I was jumping to conclusions, Thrift Shop Project is still up and running. Hurray! Huzzah!  I will be looking forward to more thrifty fun.

I found a blog today that looks like maybe, possibly it’s been abandoned. I say abandoned because it hasn’t been updated since October 2007, but nevertheless is still a fun read. Called Thrift Shop Project it’s one woman’s travels through this great thrift shop riddled land of ours and her many splendors she has found. I like this blog in particular because a) she has a keen eye and a retro sensibility so her finds are things that I myself would love to own, b) her voice is fun and friendly and c) she’s a New Englander so I feel not only a close sense of kinship (she too is located in Boston) but also a thrill that some of the places she mentions I have seen/been to. It’s kind of like celebrity spotting Check out some of her awesome thrift scores below.

Pack Rat Magazine: 1984 Winter Olympics Gold Medalist in crafts

Good afternoon friends. So glad you could join me here at the Pack Rat Corral, where we rope up the best darn D.I.Y. finds this side of the Mississippi (and across it, too). Today’s great find is about Geekware, a line of recycled tech crafts made by Acorn Studios and more specifically artist Nicola. Fun treasures range from circuit board earrings, keyboard key rings, and (my favorite) the CD clocks. She also has a fantastic blog about recycled craft and techy-nerdy craft which I found to be completely addictive. And, a fun projects page with recycle d.i.y. ideas like a tie coin purse, or an empty CD tower bagel carrier (just take a look below). This is a terrific stop to get inspired.

Read Pack Rat Magazine, for suffering sucatash.

Now this is just fun.  Surfing around the internet (does anyone even use that terminology any more?  It’s so 1997) I came across this art exhibit that has come and gone from Arario Gallery in Seoul.  It’s a larger than life recreation of famous cartoon’s skeletons.  I don’t know what it is about this that is so very appealing, maybe its a little bit tongue-in-cheek morbid (Bugs Bunny looks like the freaky rabbit from Donnie Darko), maybe because it takes our favorite characters out of fantasy land and turns them into reality. Or maybe it’s just funny to see museum-sized skeletons for something goofy like cartoons instead of typical dinosaur bones.  Who knows!  All I know is I’ve been coming back to this site to look these sculptures over for about a week now.   My favorite, Tom and Jerry, are shown below.

Hi kids!  the Feb/March Issue is finally out and rarin’ to go.  Click on the pdf link below!  And remember, if you think you could do better, you’re welcome to show us what you’ve got. Submission deadlines for next issue will be March 20th.  Happy reading.

issue3.pdf

Pack Rat Magazine. The name you’ve come to love.

Let me level with you guys.  I’m pretty tired today so you’re probably going to get a series of shortish blogs.  Don’t hate me.  In fact… I think I’m just going to post all of the links in this one little blog.  Dont’ worry, I’ll get a good night’s sleep tonight, I promise.

First up is Pepika.  This is Amigurumi central for all of you who love the Japanese softies.  You can buy patterns, finished softies and there are even a few free patterns for you to digest, like this one for the “holiday chick.”

Next, try out Bodocus a.k.a. the Best Online Documentaries.  It is as the name suggests, a catalogue of the best free online documentaries.  There’s stuff on musician Jeff Buckley, Buddha, and global warming just to name a few.  They claim to have 659 videos available and sound like they are an excellent resource.

And finally, looking to be part of an on-going art project?  Check out Moleskine Project, a website dedicated to displaying doodles done in moleskine journals. Its goal it to give all artists, both good and bad, a place to showcase their work.  It’s about diversity and equality in art.  And some of it is pretty good too.  Like this Untitled piece below.  And that is that folks.  See you tomorrow!