Posted in Arty sparks, Sparky gifts, WWWhat?

Livers & thyroids & brains, oh my!

These bright, colourful and strange looking soft toys caught my eye on Fab.com recently. And when a product line is described as ‘anatomically correct plushies’, you know you’re on to a winner. Whether you want to encourage a med student, commemorate a successful surgery, or just have some organs scattered around your lounge room, these designs from I Heart Guts are worth a look. They appear to feature most of your big-ticket organs, like the pink and blue lungs shown on the left (which appear to be selling out, so if lungs are your thing, better get in fast). And of course, red hearts and purple kidneys and blue brains. Ho hum.

I really like some of the other organs though – the ones that I imagine are slightly less popular at sale time. The good ol’ gall bladder, source of such pain for so many. Or the pretty pink and purple ovary, yellow (of course) bladder, bright green spleen or worm-like orange appendix. There’s even a pancreas and a whole heap of different glands, in case you’re a fan of those unsung heroes of the body. And the I Heart Guts website is educational too, with great descriptions for kids (or adults who aren’t great with science) like this summary of your smiley orange stomach: The stomach creates a highly acidic environment used to digest all the cookies, ice cream and bacon you gobble up. This lil’ guy’s digestive juices help break down food for the intestine, which absorbs the actual nutrients. Don’t forget to chew. Say stomach in Japanese: Ibukuro!

Wendy Bryan, I salute you. You and your cleverly designed plush organs.

Need some guts? Look here.

Posted in Sparky gifts, WWWhat?

On fire

I like fire. Not in a call-the-police, lock-up-your-matches kind of way, but I do like being around fireplaces, especially in winter. The problem is that I live in an apartment, so any fire here is probably not going to be a relaxing, toasting marshmallows kind of affair. More like a mad dash to grab the photos, grab the icecream-maker, grab some chocolate and run. So I was excited to see these bizarre looking fire bowls on Fab.com – they’re made by Lumacast and they cost around $3,000 for a 32 inch ‘fire wok’. I like the idea of carrying the bowl over to the dining table to scare guests who think that you’ve overdone the Masterchef flambe and burnt their dinner, but apparently these handcrafted concrete bowls are meant for patio use only. Though since my balcony isn’t gigantic and already features one gas-powered fire machine (which also cooks delicious food), I think this will have to wait til I’m grown up and living in my dream house. With a hi-tech sprinkler system installed, just in case.

Posted in Sparky gifts, WWWhat?

Free fingers

This image caught my eye(s) on Fab.com – it’s kinda creepy that the gloved hands are just hovering there in mid-air.  And typing an email shouting about FREEHANDS GLOVES.  (Who is the email for?  And why the shouting?  WHAT IS GOING ON HERE?)  And maybe I watch too much tv, but those particular gloves look just like the ones that psychotic murders wear (no offence intended, Hand Model Guy).  Apparently Josh Rubin and his “glove-maker-father” developed these so that you could protect your hands from the freezing US winters while still texting and emailing your peeps.  And playing Words With Friends.  They’re sort of like little hoodies for your thumbs and pointer fingers (sorry, I don’t think that second one is the correct anatomical term).  Think about the marketing possibilities…these little beauties are not just a must-have item for geeks-on-the-go, but for nose pickers, outdoor-winter-fingerpainters, freezer-loving-cross-stitchers and those people who insist on frequently applying lip gloss out of teeny tiny pots.  Which probably covers 97% of the population.  Genius idea!

Posted in Arty sparks, Sparky gifts, WWWhat?

Well Hello, Dolly

Wow. That’s all I can say. Well, that and eeeeeeeeek! These Chaquira Doll Head Sculptures were featured on Fab.com recently and as much as I delight in sourcing quirky and original gifts for people, I am at a loss to think of who might appreciate these little beauties. The collection has been designed by DFC studio in Mexico City, in collaboration with Mexican artists, and features a range of creepy looking dolls. Well, doll heads, to be precise. There’s that weird looking Smurfy one with the big earrings.

And then there’s this guy, who appears to be based either on a soccerball or Justin Bieber riddled with measles. Spooky.

Or this little lady, who looks even creepier because of the hand that’s holding her head-on-a-stump, which appears to be wearing some sort of chainmail fingerless glove. Rock on. She looks a bit like Lady Gaga, but for me, it’s the eyes that do it – they might appear to be sunken into the little doll’s head, but they follow you wherever you move. Even if you move to another city and think you’ve left this doll deep in a box in storage.

Ok, one last pic and then I’ve reached my limit of creepy for the day.It’s either Cindy Brady or a Cabbage Patch Kid gone wrong. The hair elastics suggest a game of tennis, while the eyelashes scream the late show at Fifi’s Bordello.

I don’t know about you, but I find these very confusing. Although even more confusing is the price – any of these doll head sculptures will set you back nearly $600. Yes, really.

Posted in Sparks in the wild, WWWhat?

Something fishy

For too long, most of us have been stuck with goldfish – or perhaps the slightly more upmarket Siamese fighting fish – as friends.  Sure, they’re pretty and they swim around, probably wondering why on earth there is a strange castle or cactus or volcano in their tank.  And in fairness, Siamese fighting fish are pretty bad ass, almost certain to kill their fishy neighbours if you don’t keep a wall between them.  But now I’ve seen this amazing Desktop Jellyfish Tank, by Jellyfish Art (thanks Fab.com) and there is no going back to goldfish.  You get 3 ‘Moon Jellyfish’, six months of food, an LED tank light that changes colour (giving the tank a disco vibe) and a heap of other complicated sounding stuff.  They note that Moon Jellyfish don’t sting, although I’m not sure that you should be getting them out to play very often.  The downside – I don’t know how long they live, you probably can’t pick a favourite as they all look the same and you can’t make eye contact with them.  But they are very cool – like little ghosts of the sea, trick or treating around the tank.