Giant Squid Creations

So there's this development in the creative scene called crowd funding. Many of you may well have heard about it; it's been around for a while now, someone I went to uni with has even used it. But it's come more strongly to my attention through projects by Amanda Palmer and Tom Dickins - names that have popped up once or twice in this blog before. Amanda's in particular is turning heads as it has raised well over half a million and is still going. For those who don't know what crowd funding is, here's the basics. There are websites, two that I know of, Kickstarter in the US and Pozible in Australia, I'm sure other countries have them too, where artists from any creative medium can propose projects they are trying to get up. Using Tom as an example, he wants to make an album but has zero money and no backing from a label or anything. So, he's put up a project on Pozible and told his fans about it who have spread the word too. When they go there they can...

As most of you will already be aware, Maurice Sendak died last night at the age of 84. There has been quite a huge outpouring of grief and reminiscence since, so in many ways it could be said I’m jumping the bandwagon here, but I want to put my two cents in. I think it fascinating that this man’s death is getting such a reaction; after all his best known work – the only one I know about – was a short children’s book written decades ago. But it’s that very book causing such a stir, because what a book it is. I know next to nothing about Maurice Sendak; I believe he was a wonderful man with great creativity and a way of looking at the world we should probably all envy. But for me to write anything more about him would be wrong, I simply don’t know. But I do want to talk about Where the Wild Things Are. This book must have been one of the first I remember reading, and re-reading and re-reading. It’s easily one of the most important books of my childhood – even more important than the po...