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There's a movement under foot. It's a blend of art and toys and it's struck a chord with toy collectors and art lovers alike. It's Urban Vinyl and this is a brief history for those who'd like to learn a little more about this art movement in the making. First, to understand Urban Vinyl, one must throw aside their conventional ideas of what makes a great toy. Sure, design of the piece plays a big part in the making of both. But the big difference is that Urban Vinyl is original from the start. This is true art, not a replication of another form. For example, more than likely, you base how much you like your Gonzo action figure on how much it looks like the actual Gonzo. In order to appreciate Urban Vinyl you enjoy it for what it is. There are no preconceived notions because what the piece is; is all it is, man. Also, things like articulation aren't as important because the Vinyl isn't always made to be played with. Yes, I know you play with your Skeletor. We all do. [Ed note: Shake it more than twice and you're playing with it.] But Urban Vinyl is created with art sensibilities in mind, so sculpt and design are the most important ingredients. Now I'm not saying that people like the Four Horsemen aren't amazing craftsmen. They are. Bu t what they are doing is giving us their take on an already designed character. This is original to a point, but Urban Vinyl is original all the way to its core. So how did the plastic move from the pegs to the pedestals? It all starts in Hong Kong with a man named Michael Lau. It was the late nineties and Lau was showing paintings in galleries and working in advertising. He was employed by a music group named Anidoze to create the cover art for an upcoming album. Instead of a 2-D design he created an original action figure and photographed it. He had been making original figures for a while for friends and family, and decided to create one for the cover, showing a broader audience his style. It received a very warm response and led to the first official Urban Vinyl line, The Gardeners. These were 12 inch vinyl figures that represented a modern positive lifestyle. No violence or drugs, but tattooed, pierced, and wearing clothes that the urbanites were wearing at the time.

Atticus, Throughout to Kill a Mockingbird Essay

Throughout the novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, although Atticus Finch appears to be a loving and caring father, he proves himself to be more of a friend through the eyes of his children. The author, Harper lee, created Atticus to be a loyal friend to Jem Finch and Scout Finch. Atticus has potential to be a friend to his children because, first of all, the children call him by his first name. Secondly, he seldom scolds his children. Atticus has little or no rules set for his children to abide by. Lastly he does not try to mold his off springs into something they are not, though he does supply them with good advice. Typically adults and parents think that it is more respectful for children, particularly their own, to not call them by their first names. Jem and Scout refer to their father as â€Å"Atticus.† Scout asks her father, â€Å"Are we poor, Atticus?† (pg. 21) this shows that she calls her father by his first name on a regular basis. Jem says to his father while reque sting permission from him, â€Å"Atticus, if it’s alright with you†¦.† (pg. 61). This shows that even the older son refers to his father as Atticus. â€Å"†¦ Jem asked Atticus if he remembered anybody who ever won†¦Ã¢â‚¬ , as Scout narrates her story, she still refers to her father as â€Å"Atticus.† Throughout the story, Atticus never shows any sign of being offended or upset with his children calling him by his first name, like a friend. All through the novel, never once did Atticus scold his children for inappropriate behavior. The Finch’s had over a poor boy, named Walter. Scout insulted him with out understanding how it was rude,â€Å"†¦Atticus shook his head at me again. ‘But he’s gone and drowned his dinner with syrup†¦Ã¢â‚¬â„¢Ã¢â‚¬ (p24). All Atticus did was shake his head; he left the rest of the punishing up to Calpurnia, the nanny. When Jem and Scout snuck into the court case that they knew they were not supposed to be in, Atticus did not show the slightest bit of aggravation with them. â€Å"†¦A tticus and Calpurnia met us downstairs. Calpurnia looked peeved, but Atticus looked exhausted,†(pg. 206). When Jem got furious with a horrible old lady, Mrs. Dubose, he destroyed her garden out of anger. When Atticus found out that Jem did this, he says, â€Å"†¦I strongly advise you to go down and have a talk with Mrs. Dubose†¦come straight home afterward.†(pg. 104). Normally, if friends get upset with each other, they do not have the right to â€Å"punish† their friend. Atticus has that right as a parent, but chooses not to use it. Many parents set rules and restrictions for their children. Atticus, for some reason, does not feel it necessary for his two young children to have rules to abide by. The only rules that he ever gave to his children were to not go near the â€Å"Radley house† anymore after they had been teasing Boo Radley in the front yard. It is not common for friends to set rules for one another, but very common for parents to want their children to know where their boundaries lye. Jem and Scout don’t have any rules set by their father to follow, and no known consequences for breaking any rules. Atticus Finch does not try to influence his ideas or beliefs about things on his children. He does not â€Å"make† his children into something they are not, just because that’s what he believes. Most parents try to get their off springs to believe the same things they do, or want the same things they want. Atticus just teaches his kids to the best of his ability through his advice. When the teacher, Miss Caroline, was upset with the fact that Scout was being taught how to read by her father, Scout got the idea of not liking school anymore. Atticus made a compromise with her saying that if she was good in class, then he would continue reading to her. This shows that Atticus was not going to force Scout to like school just because he thought it was a good decision. When scout got into a fight with Cecil Jacobs, Atticus said, â€Å"†¦you just hold your head high and keep your fists down. No matter what anybody tells you, don’t let ‘em get your goat. Try fighting with your head for a change, it’s a good one†¦Ã¢â‚¬ (pg. 79) this is important because it shows that he is not forcing his daughter to think some way, or be someone else, he is not even getting mad at her; he is just giving her good advice. When Jem and Scout got guns for Christmas, Atticus told them one thing, â€Å"†¦Shoot all the bluejays you want, if you can hit ‘em, but remember it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird.† This shows that Atticus is not threatening his children with this statement, he is just simply giving them the best advice he can in this situation. Friends do not expect each other believe the same things they believe, but just hope that people will take their advice into thought. Throughout the novel although Atticus Finch appears to be a loving and caring father, he proves himself to be more of a friend through the eyes of his children. He shows himself to have much potential as a loyal friend to his children. Maybe Atticus as a loyal friend to Jem and Scout was more meaningful than him being a father figure.

Comparison of the Young Goodman Brown and the...

Setting and Symbolism in The Young Goodman Brown and The Rocking-Horse Winner The battle between good and evil is as old as Satan’s rebellion against God and his being cast from heaven with his fellow fallen angels that the Bible tells about in the Book of Revelation chapter 12, verses 7-12. Writers of fiction have been using this struggle for just about that long. The short stories The Young Goodman Brown by Nathaniel Hawthorne, and D.H. Lawrence’s The Rocking-Horse Winner illustrate the battle between good and evil with elements of symbol and setting. Drawn from the author’s Puritan background1, The Young Goodman Brown begins as the protagonist is embarking from his New England village home in the last light of the day, on a journey†¦show more content†¦Lawrence, in his modern story, presents a mother who wears a mask with a good mother face that she shows the world. Behind the mask she is eaten up with anger and resentment that she has no money and no luck. Lawrence uses the setting, the house, as a character in this story. The home is haunted, it speaks â€Å"There must be more money! There must be more money!†2 It is noteworthy that just as the writer uses an inanimate thing, the house, to personify the evil the mother created from her greedy and thankless spirit, he uses a person to incarnate the corruption of materialism. Paul is at once the symbol of the corruption of evil, he is an adept in the vice of gambling, and he is the face of the innocent victim. Paul really only wants his mother’s lo ve and his luck betting on the races is his attempt to obtain that love. Just as Paul’s mother in The Rocking-Horse Winner wears a mask, all of Hawthorne’s characters in The Young Goodman Brown wear masks. Lawrence’s character of the mother, wears her mask as a defense against what others may think if they knew who she really is. The masks Hawthorne’s characters wear are a more proactive deception. All of the people Goodman has known and respected his whole life are secretly Satanists and they wear masks of respectability in order to deceive others. There are the pink ribbons that Faith wears on her cap that symbolize innocence and purity as they â€Å"play† in the wind at