Christmas Cottage Papercraft

Ah, it's the time of the year for Christmas papercraft. This quaint little snow covered cottage is the work of designer Joshua Humphreys. I think he did a pretty good job on the textures. Since there are no instructions, building this becomes more of a Christmas cottage puzzle, but that is not necessarily a bad thing. ^^ The template for the cottage is located on Humphreys' deviantART page here.

Heroscape Papercraft Dice Tower

One of my favorite board games of all time is Heroscape. Heroscape is a customizable miniature gaming system that lets you build your own battlefields and create custom armies from a wide assortment of characters such as dragons, secret agents, robots, samurai, vikings, aliens, cowboys and orcs. You can imagine my delight when I found something that combines two of my favorite things: papercraft and Heroscape. This papercraft dice tower was created by a Heroscape enthusiast for use with the game and contains nice touches such as some surprise images on the baffles inside the tower that can be seen when looking down though the hole in the top. The template for the tower may be downloaded from the Heroscapers forum here.

Antique Toy Circus Papercraft

The Victoria & Albert Museums of England are offering an antique toy circus papercraft on their website. The original template for the circus was created by a French company around 1930. The best part of this papercraft is that it is an automata of sorts. Twirl the flag on top and the performers spin around like a merry-go-round. In addition to the usual cardstock, a piece of cork and a barbecue skewer are also required to build the circus. The template for this papercraft may be found here.

Shakespeare's Sonnet 29

When, in disgrace with fortune and men's eyes,

I all alone beweep my outcast state,

And trouble deaf heaven with my bootless cries,

And look upon myself, and curse my fate,

Wishing me like to one more rich in hope,

Featured like him, like him with friends possess'd,

Desiring this man's art and that man's scope,

With what I most enjoy contented least;

Yet in these thoughts myself almost despising,

Haply I think on thee--and then my state,

Like to the lark at break of day arising

From sullen earth, sings hymns at heaven's gate;

For thy sweet love remember'd such wealth brings

That then I scorn to change my state with kings.

This sonnet by Shakespeare is a remarkable demonstration of the flux that goes on in the human psyche, and how abruptly self-perception will shift from one extreme to the other.

We are presented with a depressed point of view, the very attitude and frame-of-mind each of us know intimately. It's when we measure ourselves against others that we feel so inadequate. The "outcast" state springs to mind because suddenly we're fixated on our lack versus what others seem to possess naturally and have a sheer abundance of.

If only I had Richard's talents, or Geraldine's riches, or Samantha's good looks, or Marko's confidence . . . then I would be happy!

I know because my mind will often drift into this "sullen" sphere. Before I met my girlfriend, I believed my luck with women was horrible. There were so many men who "just had it"; it was something I couldn't define, but I was sure whatever it was I did not have it.

And I deeply resented this about my fate--I was destined to watch women flock to other men. When I contemplated my future, I was very much in the mind of Shakespeare's discontented speaker.

I all alone beweep my outcast state,

And trouble deaf heaven with my bootless cries,

And look upon myself, and curse my fate,

The shift in the speaker's self-perception is remarkable because it represents the shift that occurs when we stop obsessing about ourselves and turn our thoughts to a loved one.

The fixed belief I had about my poor luck with women changed when I got a chance to spend a weekend with one woman in particular. Then my thoughts were set on her--not myself--and I was able to hear, if not the "hymns at heaven's gate", then maybe the chorus of "Mother of Pearl" by Roxy Music.

The last line of the poem enacts a complete reversal of the first in sense while it mimics the precise meter of the first line in sound.

Between the first and last line, Shakespeare has given us a microcosmic demonstration of the self. He dramatizes the process of self-reflection--moving from an embittered, deflated ego to an elated, love-swept self that affirms the Beatles when they sing, "All you need is love/love/love is all you need."

More writings by the author

Escape into Life: Issue no. 5

Nicholas Hance McElroy, from The Heart is Bigger than the Gland

This last week I've been researching the next novel for "25 Profound Works of Literary Genius" . . . so expect that soon.

In the meantime, I have the pleasure to present to you Issue no. 5 of Escape into Life, online arts journal. A wonderful synergy occurred with the coming together of this issue--from the fabulous poetry of Chris Tysh's "Molloy" to an in-depth interview with Juliet Harrison, a horse photographer who is not your typical horse photographer. Here are some of the highlights:

White Horses: An Interview with Juliet Harrison . . . . Harrison told us in the interview, "I call myself an artist, first and foremost. My objective is to create Art that in turn can speak about the horse."

Molloy: The Flip Side . . . . Chris Tysh's verse transcreation of Samuel Beckett's "Molloy". Mark Kerstetter, poetry editor for EIL, gives a wonderful reading of her work.

Revolutionary Content: Online Publishing . . . . In this inspiring essay, Dan Kern talks about how new media is changing our world.

Knowledge is Pleasure: Ambient Mixtape . . . . Enter the vast ambient landscape of Escape into Life’s guest DJ, Wildcat.

1953 Dodge M37 Truck Papercraft

The Dodge M37 is a three-quarter ton four-wheel drive truck that was used extensively by the US Army during the Korean War. I don't know for sure, but I think versions of this truck probably appeared in the M*A*S*H television show which was set during the Korean War. This papercraft is offered by a member of the Military Vehicle Preservation Association who owns a real life M37 which he restored himself. A PDF template of the truck is available here.

Half-Life Papercraft: Glock 9mm Handgun

It looks like I am not the only one interested in making papercraft of grainy textured 3D models from late 90's video games. :) A reader requested that I do some papercraft of models from the Half-Life video game and I was happy to oblige. This papercraft is of the Glock 9mm handgun that appears in the game. I did some research to insure that the finished model is as close as possible the size of an actual Glock. Look for more Half-Life papercraft in the future as I find time. The template information for this model is as follows:

Scale: 1:1
Finished Size: 7" (17.8 cm) x 5" (12.7 cm) x 1.25" (3.2 cm)
Number of sheets: 2
Number of parts: 6
Difficulty: 2/5
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