now he's alive, now he's dead
I have an announcement.
Some of you may remember that in October, Hannah Catabia gave me as a gift an arts and crafts project hailing from the souvenir shop of the Tower of London. The title: “Executioner: an easy-to-assemble moving model!” (Yes, that one.) The contents of the box were a series of stiff paper boards which were to be cut out and assembled in the prescribed manner. This was a labor of love that we took on this weekend. After untold hours of work, our hands covered in dried glue and scotch tape, and spectacular near-death encounters involving an X-acto knife, we are now the proud parents of a newborn…sculpture macabre. Shuo Huang was in attendance at this historic event and provided invaluable moral support.
It works like this. The project is a foot-tall, three-dimensional moving model of an executioner beheading a nobleman with an axe. As you turn the crank in the base, the axe descends and the head falls into the basket. But wait – turn the crank again, and the executioner lifts his arms as the head pops back out of the basket and back onto the victim’s neck. But with the next turn of the crank…
Now he’s alive. Now he’s dead. Now he’s alive. Now he’s dead. Now he’s alive. Now he’s dead.
Hee hee.
Hopefully a photo will soon be forthcoming.
In the meanwhile, Harvard taspers should drop by Hannah’s to visit our newborn child, and bring gifts to lay at his feet. (Hannah has temporary custody because I’m an obviously unfit parent.) You won’t be disappointed.
Some of you may remember that in October, Hannah Catabia gave me as a gift an arts and crafts project hailing from the souvenir shop of the Tower of London. The title: “Executioner: an easy-to-assemble moving model!” (Yes, that one.) The contents of the box were a series of stiff paper boards which were to be cut out and assembled in the prescribed manner. This was a labor of love that we took on this weekend. After untold hours of work, our hands covered in dried glue and scotch tape, and spectacular near-death encounters involving an X-acto knife, we are now the proud parents of a newborn…sculpture macabre. Shuo Huang was in attendance at this historic event and provided invaluable moral support.
It works like this. The project is a foot-tall, three-dimensional moving model of an executioner beheading a nobleman with an axe. As you turn the crank in the base, the axe descends and the head falls into the basket. But wait – turn the crank again, and the executioner lifts his arms as the head pops back out of the basket and back onto the victim’s neck. But with the next turn of the crank…
Now he’s alive. Now he’s dead. Now he’s alive. Now he’s dead. Now he’s alive. Now he’s dead.
Hee hee.
Hopefully a photo will soon be forthcoming.
In the meanwhile, Harvard taspers should drop by Hannah’s to visit our newborn child, and bring gifts to lay at his feet. (Hannah has temporary custody because I’m an obviously unfit parent.) You won’t be disappointed.
posted by Anonymous at 2:47 PM
2 Comments:
The fact that the executioner has a little checklist of his jobs is just perfect.
"who brings him here alive or dead"
COME SEE THE YEOMEN OF THE GUARD WHICH TAKES PLACE IN THE TOWER OF LONDON AND HAS AN EXECUTIONER AND A SCAFFOLD THAT WE PUT TOGETHER DURING EVERY SHOW.
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