Gossamer

Welcome Spring! What took you so long?!

Monday, March 22, 2010

That mounting tape Jeanne recommended

Here's one of the places where I got my supplies: framingsupplies.com sells the 11"x50' roll for $37.50. They charge insurance (less than 50c) and shipping was a little expensive ($8.64) but it arrived really fast. I placed my order on Tuesday and got it by Thursday.
I'll get the name for the place where I got the boards and put that up soon.

Friday, March 19, 2010

Contrast/Comparison Project

Let me know what you think about the direction I'm taking for the comparison project we have. I started on two different techniques, the first being a more refined approach and the second a light and sarcastic approach.
Here's my topic:
Michael Jackson Through the Years: The Noses and the Women in His Life (the title is a work in progress itself)
APPROACH 1:
Michael Jackson—A Comparative Analysis of the Ascension and Decline of His Career, the Proboscis Malformation, and the Feminine Perspective
Or Michael Jackson, His Nose, and the Women in His Life

Let’s face facts, Michael Jackson was “out there.” A true phenomenon. But why? How did he achieve the grand status as one of the greatest entertainers of all time?
Was it merely based on talent? Did his creation of the moonwalk propel him into superstardom?
Did he get a big learning curve and a desire to stay in the spotlight through his experience with the Jackson 5?
Or was it the women in his life that kept him going, that kept the fire burning and also influenced his appearance?

APPROACH 2: (for the Onion)
Michael Jackson’s Noses Donated to the Smithsonian After a Lifetime of Changes

An unnamed source has donated all four of the former noses of the greatest entertainer of all time, Michael Jackson, to the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History. The noses were held in the vault of the surgeon who performed all the Jackson proboscis modifications. Because of the surgeon’s recent death, and Jackson’s, the noses have been released and are now in the hands of a Smithsonian historian.
Jackson’s first nose, the one he was born with, lasted him through his early years with the Jackson 5. His parents, particularly his mother since his father was too busy beating them, supported him and his brothers but also recommended that he get a nose job since he needed to have a grander appeal to his audience and his birth nose was just plain ugly. While he had the original nose, his skin remained a creamy chocolate—his mother did not complain about that. The surgeon who modified it noted that the excess skin and cartilage weighed about 5 ounces when it was changed.
It was during his teen years that he met and momentarily dated Tatum O’Neal. Tatum, though younger than he, behaved in ways that were far older than Jackson had ever known and kept putting a strange substance up her nose that made her want to touch him in ways that were unfamiliar to him.
It was after this relationship that he released his “Off the Wall” album.
Jackson met Elizabeth Taylor when he was XX years old and created a bond that lasted him throughout his life. She was able to convince him that her stardom as a child was similar to the acclaim he’d reached as a boy.
Jackson’s second nose carried him through his late teen and early twenties. After the initial surgery, Jackson was left with a slight whistle when he inhaled and thus caused him to consider a third surgery. Brooke Shields, his companion for these years, tried to persuade him against any additional surgeries because she felt that it would keep them out of the limelight and away from the Grammy and Oscar parties.
Because of the whistle, Jackson went ahead with the surgery and got a more sculpted nose that cleared up the whistle and also gave him more of a nose like Brooke. The surgery caused his immune system to go into hyperdrive and he then started having light patches appear on his skin. He used this as an excuse to start lightening his skin as he thought that this too would get him closer in appearance to Brooke and thus strengthen their relationship.
Brooke, upon finding out that he had gotten the nose job, was repulsed and ended their relationship. The two remained close for a few years after but their relationship was never the same and Brooke distanced herself from him more and more.
By this time, Jackson had released his mega hit Thriller album. After dancing with zombies, Jackson was overwhelmed with “all the death” and went into seclusion. In this seclusion he managed to emerge long enough to meet Lisa Marie Presley and convinced her that the two belonged together. His argument of persuasion was that he was the King of Pop and her father was the King (in general and in total) and that somehow they could have a king of a child that would ultimately rule the rock ‘n’ roll, R&B, pop and crossover markets.
Their relationship ended after their staged kiss at the XXXXXX awards went awry and Lisa Marie could not understand how a man so fluid on stage could be so immobile in bed. Added to the fact that when they kissed, she noticed that his nose felt artificial and unnaturally small. Devastated that their union did not produce a mega-child, Jackson then went in for another surgery and more skin bleaching. Instead of a mega-child, Jackson created his mega-hit, XXXXXXX and had a thinner and even smaller nose.
While at his dermatologist for his skin problem, Jackson met his future and final wife Debbie Rowe. Debbie would become the baby incubator for two of Jackson’s children. When the first child was born, Michael, another new nose, and Debbie posed for the cameras in what can be seen as the most artificial picture of all time.
Debbie and Michael managed to eke out another child (through what some have called “the turkey baster method”) and Debbie also managed to work with her lawyers in negotiating her settlement for getting out the marriage and walking away from her children.
While Debbie moved out, speculation that Michael’s nose had fallen off during one of his last surgeries flooded the world. The procedure to create the new nose left skin and whatever cartilage was left that weighed only .5 ounces. It was however, the material that went into sculpting the new nose that weighed over 2 ounces.
Jackson’s old nose skin and cartilage from all his surgeries will be housed in the special plastic surgery area of the museum in a display called “Don’t Stop ‘til You Get Enough.”
Along with the noses, vats of the skin brightening cream he used throughout the years were also found. The Smithsonian declined this donation as they thought it would only create problems with containment, as the vat was extra slippery and attempts to store it elsewhere were futile since it kept oozing through all types of container.



So...what do you think?