My Christmas Tree

Shock horror. Yes I do have a job. And occasionally it does seem to include stop frame animation.

Me eating a banana

At last, I've starred in my first stop frame animation.

Story Time: Fats and the Helter Skelter

The last one. Hope they made you laugh. We had fun making them up.



One sunny day, Buttons, Fats and Harry decided to go to the playground. Their favourite playground – the one with the long, curly slide. They packed some snacks and drinks and set off. When they arrived they climbed to the top of the long, curly tube slide. It took a long time as there were a lot of steps…the top of the slide was nice and high. Harry went down first, then Buttons, then Fats. Buttons and Harry waited ages at the bottom of the slide but there was no sign of Fats. Buttons put his head in the slide and shouted ‘Fats! Fats!’ There was muffled reply ‘ I’m stuck’.

Fats sounded a bit upset so Buttons and Harry decided they should try and help him out. They climbed back up to the top of the slide and slid down again to try and push Fats out. It didn’t work. No matter how fast they slid down and bumped into Fats, he stayed stuck. ‘I’m hungry’ said Fats in his muffled voice. They decided that Fats should not have anything to eat in case he got more stuck.

It was getting late when Buttons suddenly had an idea. If they could make the slide really slippery then perhaps Fats would just slip out. Harry and Buttons remembered the butter in the sandwiches that they had brought with them. Butter makes things slippery. They took turns climbing into the slide and rubbing the butter all over the inside of the slide. When they had finished, they went back to the top and slid down really fast. They both crashed into Fats and he started to move until POP! They all tumbled out of the end of the slide and fell in a heap at the bottom. They laughed and laughed and then went home for a hot bath to wash off the sticky, slippery butter.

Story Time: Sweet Dreams

One night when Buttons went to bed he fell into a deep sleep more quickly than usual. Suddenly he woke up and sat bolt upright in bed. He’d been dreaming that there was a dummy knocking on his bedroom door and as it rushed into his bedroom (dummies can move in dreams) he woke up. Now he was awake, the dummy had gone but he could still hear a strange knocking at the door. Buttons was scared and pulled the duvet around him more closely.

The door opened and it was FATS. Fats told Buttons that he’d been dreaming about a dummy knocking on his bedroom door. ‘Strange’ said Buttons, that’s what I was dreaming about. They both snuggled under the duvet and were just beginning to feel cosy and safe when there was another knock at the door. Buttons and Fats clung tightly to each other.

The door opened. This time it was Harry. Harry began to tell them about his dream. ‘That’s exactly the same dream we had’ said Buttons and Fats together. Harry scrambled under the duvet and the three friends snuggled up together. But then, there was another knock at the door. Eeeeeeek. Who could it be this time?

The door was flung open and there was the dummy again moving towards them. Buttons yelled and sat up in bed wide awake. He threw his pillow at the door. But the dummy had gone and the pillow hit his dad on the head as he was coming in to check Buttons was OK. Harry and Fats has disappeared. Buttons pinched himself to make sure he really was awake (he was because the pinch hurt) then he told his dad all about the dream.

Story Time: Buttons sleeps on

It was Christmas Eve and Buttons was very excited. But he was also so, so tired. Buttons had stayed up really late to go out for a delicious Christmas Eve pizza with Fats and Harry. They’d all eaten crispy cheleb pizza with extra pepparoni and cheese and a big bowl of pickled onions. Yum. And then they’d finished off with strawberry and sticky marshmallow ice cream. Even Fats felt full after that lot.

Buttons had a bubble bath and felt even sleepier – he could hardly keep his eyes open. He snuggled down under his duvet and fell fast asleep. He slept all night and all the next day. When he finally woke up on what he thought was Christmas Day, he was so disappointed when he went downstairs and saw that all the presents under the tree had been opened. He ran upstairs…what was going on? Then he realised what had happened. He couldn’t believe it. How could he have slept through the whole of Christmas Day? And Christmas lunch? And all the presents being opened? Buttons felt very sad and began to cry. Just then, the doorbell rang. It was Harry. He had a large parcel with him. ‘This is for you’ he said. He’d saved a present specially for Buttons. Buttons was so pleased he gave Harry the most enormous hug and almost knocked him over. ‘Heeeeeeep’ said Buttons, ‘thank you’. Then they all sat down to a special Boxing Day lunch.

Buttons made his mind up that he would always go to bed early on Christmas Eve and never miss Christmas Day again.

Story Time: The Swamp

One warm, sunny day, Buttons and Harry decided to go for a picnic to the swamp. They packed a picnic with extra marshmallows, rubbed in lots of sun cream and set off. They went past Fats’ house on the way and called for him to join them. Off they went down to the swamp. They had a fantastic time sliding down the mud bank into the cool, muddy swamp. Fats made the most ginormous SPLASH when he hit the muddy water.

After they had finished off their picnic, they lay down in the sun to sunbathe. After a few hours they woke up and found that Fats, who was still asleep, had a very red, sunburnt bottom. They woke him up. ‘Heeeeeeeep’ howled Fats, ‘I forgot to put any sunscreen on and my bottom feels like it’s on fire’. Harry and Buttons held Fats over the swamp so that he could cool his bottom down. Then they walked home. Very slowly. With Fats moaning all the way. When they got home Buttons and Harry covered Fats’ bottom in soothing cream and put him to bed with an ice pack.

Story Time: The Robot

I told you there'd be more stories, just taken me a while to get them down. Like buses. Suddenly they all come at once.


It was a cold, rainy day. Just the sort of day for messing about and making stuff. Buttons and Fats decided to try making a robot. One that worked. They wandered into the garage to see if they could find some robot making stuff, but they only found a few bits of black wire that looked like liquorice and a battery that had run out of power. They decided they needed some more kit.

Buttons and Fats decided to use some of their pocket money to buy a kit like the one they’d seen in the shops. Buttons’ mum helped them to order a kit online, but they had to wait more than two weeks for it to arrive.

When it finally arrived they were so excited. They took all the bits out of the box and started to build the robot. But there was a bit missing. They needed an old drinks can for the robot’s body. Fats found an empty one under his bed and they finished the robot. It was great. It trundled all round the house on its little wheels and went up and down the slide when they took it to the park. They watched as the robot climbed to the top of the climbing wall and suddenly took off – it was flying. ‘I didn’t know the robot could do that’ said Fats sounding surprised.

That wasn’t the only thing they didn’t know about the robot. When they took it home it made itself a mug of hot chocolate with marshmallow and sat there drinking it through a straw. When Buttons asked the robot if it would make some for them, it did, but only when they remembered to say ‘please’.

It was getting towards bedtime and the robot started to get slower and slower. Buttons made a little bed for it in its box and it closed its eyes and fell fast asleep, snoring gently.

Story Time: The Sparkler

Story and pictures by Sam. More soon.

Story Time: Cheleb

Every day I am forced to make up at least one story. So this week I am going to write them down. You may think they are bizarre and that I have been drinking too much banana juice, but we (my mate Sam and I) like them.

Most of the stories revolve around three characters. Buttons is a small, grey hippo who is a little bit plump. He has two friends: Harry who is a very thin hippo and always does the right thing and Fats who, yes, is a very fat hippo who rarely does the right thing and always gets stuck. The only one of these characters who we have actually seen is Buttons. The others exist purely in our imagination. If you see them, tell us what you think they're like.

Some things that everyone should know about these hippos. Buttons likes drinking pickled onion juice and loves Cheleb (bread from Poland) really just because he likes the sound of the word. All three hippos love marshmallows.

Buttons with Cheleb toast and Marmite

OK onto the first story. Let's call this one Cheleb.

Buttons loved Cheleb. Mainly because he liked the sound of the word, but also because it makes the most fabulous crunchy toast. He knew the bread originally came from Poland, but he didn't know much else about it. One day Buttons was making some Cheleb toast when he noticed a competition on the wrapper and the prize was a trip to the factory in East London where Cheleb was made. Buttons read the wrapper over and over again. Entering the competition seemed easy: you had to make an amazingly delicious sandwich using Cheleb, take a photo of it and send it to the address on the wrapper.

Buttons went into the kitchen and looked through every cupboard and the fridge to see what he could find that would make an amazingly delicious sandwich. In the end he decided on peanut butter, strawberry jam, salami, holey cheese and a large pickled onion. It certainly looked amazing. Buttons' mouth began to water and he was about to bite into the amazingly delicious sandwich when he remembered the photo. He found the camera and took photos of his amazingly delicious sandwich from various angles. Then he bit into the sandwich. WOW! The strawberry jam was running down the edge of the sandwich and mixing with the pickled onion juice which made the amazingly delicious sandwich and Buttons' paws very sticky. Yum. He finished the amazingly delicious sandwich and licked his paws. Then he sent his photo off to the address on the wrapper.

A few weeks later a letter arrived addressed to Buttons. He ripped open the envelope and blinked as he read the letter inside. He'd won the competition. His amazingly delicious sandwich was going to be served in the Cheleb factory cafe. The envelope contained two special tickets for a train journey to London. Two tickets meant that Buttons could take a friend, so he decided to take Fats. Buttons and Fats were very excited when they arrived at the Cheleb factory and even more excited when they saw the bread being made into Buttons' amazingly delicious sandwich. But they could also smell something sweet, something that smelled like Christmas. Buttons and Fats stood on the steps of the factory and looked across the road to where the sweet, christmassey smell seemed to be coming from. There was a little bakery across the road where they were making Panettone. Yum. They loved Panettone. The two hippos went and pressed their noses against the window and decided to take some Panettone home for Harry. It was very hard not eating the Panettone on the train on the way home, but they didn't, not one nibble. When they got home they shared the Panettone with Harry. 'Even better than my amazingly delicious sandwich' said Buttons.

Interactions on the Street

Just doing my stuff. More street photos. Looking at the interactions between people and things in their environment.

Did you notice the dog?

Sometimes people notice you...

....and sometimes they don't

Shame the dog didn't turn round

Turl Street bus stop

On the 280. She was fab.

Back on the street

Well actually I was on the bus. Just messing about with my camera again. Like these shots. Taken near Queen's Lane in Oxford. I liked the back-drop and could have sat there for a long time watching the comings and goings, but the bus driver had other ideas.

Are you Awake?

As we were pulling out, I spotted this shop window. My favourite subject: dummies. The bus was moving, hence the strange angle of the shot. The photo explains itself, but the question is should they have been covered up?

You want to know what I was doing out so late (dusk is late for this monkey)? I had been OUT FOR A MEAL. A truly rare thing.

And then there were 3

They're back and they've got company. Could be a smidgen of jealousy surrounding the feather skirt on the right.

Came across some stuff by Julian Opie. Liking the dummy effect art work. And the texture. Take a look.

Kidnap?

Not long after they vanished their window was painted. That makes sense. The girls wouldn't want to risk getting covered in paint splats. And covering themselves in white sheets would not have been cool.

Painting complete, but still no sign of them. This guy looks worried. Maybe he knows something? Kidnap? Will check back in a few weeks.

Starbucks have stuck some new signs on their window obscuring the view. Actually, I quite like the effect. And yes, I did have a large Cafe Misto and a banana and a Galaxy Bubbles. Predictable monkey.

Rain

Rain in Oxford last Friday.

Me? I was in Starbucks (again). I had to wait for the window seat today. Drank Cafe Misto (extra large as I needed warming up) and ate a banana (of course) and some Starbucks milk chocolate (quite good).

They've disappeared. Are they on holiday? Have they been stolen? In case you wonder what I'm talking about, take a look at my favourite dummies - just click on dummies in the labels section and you'll see them. Could be a dummy story coming this way soon.

Monkey out.

View from a bus

And so, here it is: View from a Bus. Quite a lot of views actually. Things I learnt from the experiment: buses are erratic, they move fast, brake heavily and pull away just as you've framed the perfect shot. This calls for a fast assessment of each photo opportunity and an equally fast frame and shoot. Or the moment has passed as the bus moves on. Good fun and highly addictive as you see so much stuff from a bus. And annoying when you see a picture that you can't take 'cos you're moving to fast. 

My shots are what they are, some of the blurring caused by the bus moving actually made for a interesting result. The sequence starts with a video of me on the bus to show how a bus moves (in case you have never been on a bus - you'd be surprised...) I'm not going to put any commentary on the shots this time, just see what you make of them. My favourites are the wall-builders and the girl with the red trousers.

The Ghost

On my way home yesterday through a long ginnel*. Saw this excellent piece of graffiti.

* ginnel is a Lancastrian word that means passage way.

Louis Vuitton and Spots

Inspired by Yayoi Kusama's spot exhibition at the Tate Modern (remember I went there in the summer). Entitled 'moon cushion'. Definitely make your own souvenir time as the original cushions were £150. Wowzer. 

Notice that Mr Vuitton has teamed up with Yayoi to produce a range of clothing and accessories. He never does anything in my size or budget. Take a look at the link though as the stuff is gorgeously spotty., although on further inspection some is a bit naff. Black bag with spotty trim? Spots should not be confined to the trim! Obliteration!

Moon Cushion by me, Velvet Monkey.

Excitement at Ikea

I have never been to Ikea before. Can't really see what all the fuss is about. Although I did like the cinnamon bun and the rug department. 

Close encounter with a cinnamon bun

Me and my reflection

My first rug

My second rug. Love the texture.

A wonderful pile of rugs. I told you I liked the rug section. And the colour. Banana.

Rug number 4.

My favourite rug. Number 5.

Detail of texture and colour on number 5.

Some good colour down in the lighting department.

More colour.

I did not get lost. Luckily.

My trolley. And my fish ice-cube tray.