784: (234/365) Fold-me Elmo

Flipping through Tanteidan convention books I have I came across a delightful little figure that was screaming to be folded in orange:

This is Riki Saito’s “Mr Puppet Man”, but I reckon he looks a lot like “Elmo” so I am calling it so. (On second thoughts, isn’t Elmo Red? Oh well, never mind) Continue reading

780: (230/365) Bernie Peyton’s Woman In A Burqa

Elected members of the senate have a responsibility to represent their constituents:

When an elected member plans and then executes a stunt designed to trivialise, demonise and poke fun at an Islamic traditional garment some women choose to wear, I find deeply it offensive. Continue reading

769: (219/365) Male Monarch

The most fragile and protected piece on the Chess board is the King:

I find it interesting that the king has almost the least maneuverability of any piece (bar pawn), yet is often put in the position of having to run for his life from more mobile pieces near end-game. Continue reading

768: (218/365) Queenie

My favourite on-screen monarch of all time is Miranda Richardson’s character “Queenie” from “The Black Adder II”:

She portrayed an incredible mix of insanity, toddler and antichrist which will always make me giggle. Continue reading

766: (216/365) Horsie

The knight is the most awkward of the court pieces at times, with it’s trademark “L” shaped move:

I play reverse chess with a mate (*waves to Winston O’Boogie*) – the aim of reverse chess is to LOSE everything but the king. I find the Knight useful in this game indeed. Continue reading

765: (215/365) I’m the king of the CASTLE …

Continuing the exploration of court pieces, we move on from the Pawn to the Rook or Castle:

I like this series – there is a visual similarity with the bases on all of these pieces and the tops are fairly easy to recognise. this one has a simple geometric turret atop the pillar. Continue reading

764: (214/365) We are all Pawns

We begin another Chess set, this time designed by Mark Kirschenbaum. This is his Pawn:

A lovely little figurative foot soldier, lovely circular base and an interesting fold. Continue reading

760: (210/365) Akiko Yamanashi’s Scallop Box

To celebrate the 201st fold in this challenge, I was looking for a shellfish-based fold – not sure why but there you go:

Leafing through a Tanteidan Convention book, I came across a “Scallop Box” design designed by Akiko Yamanashi. Continue reading

754: (204/365) Gaff’s Blade Runner Chicken

My top 5 movies of all time includes the Sci-Fi classic “Blade Runner”. A couple of times during the movie, to confirm a character’s opinion of Deckard’s actions, his sidekick “Gaf” left an origami figure:

One was actually folded by the actor (Edward James Olmos) – a gum wrapper was fashioned into a Chicken. He said he did this as a way of staying in the scene without pulling focus, apparently the Director, Ridley Scott, noticed it and included it in the scene to counterpoint the main characters reluctance to get himself into danger, which later he does anyway. Continue reading

752: (202/365) Riccardo Foschi’s Koi

It was late, I was tired and I must admit to going to bed before folding yesterday. Full week, new levels of fatigue:

I found these diagrams on Pinterest – seems they are test diagrams (oops, sorry) but I love the shape and model structure. Continue reading

751: (201/365) Pushing Shiz Uphill

Sometimes work can be busy. When spares are sparse, classes all doing new/complex things and physical exertion hit their peak, sometimes you can feel like you are pushing shiz up hill:

This is a lovely little dung beetle, coveting it’s little ball of dung. It is a charming fold that I was unsure if I could complete with the size paper I started with.

Designed by Shinji Sasade, appearing in a Tanteidan I was leafing through, described entirely in Japanese so I hope I have fold it correctly. The dung-ball is a waterbomb, but the beetle actually locks into it – very cool. Continue reading

747: (197/365) Root Veg

Winter is for hearty food, stews and seasonal root veg:

With such open food importing and trade however we see every vegetable and fruit available all year round. Peru grows my Asparagus, Venezuela exports my Fennel and China supplies my Carrots at the moment. Continue reading

746: (196/365) Fairly Bloody Long Walk

My lovely daughter walked for charity last year and I was so proud of her (secretly regretting not doing it with her). This year, the same walk is on offer at, thankfully, at a much cooler time of year so we are both walking “The Bloody Long Walk” in early August:

Today, as part of our prep we did a fairly bloody long walk, from Brighton to Redcliffe and back again to see how far it is (apparently about 26km according to Google).

I returned to an Origami master – Akira Yoshizawa – his little person, made from the frog base is genius – spirit of the subject, glorious simplicity and I managed to fold it in my state after today’s test walk. Continue reading

744: (194/365) Wizard’s Hat

Anyone who has seen any of the “Lord of the Rings/Hobbit” movies will recognise the profile of this hat:

Gandalf the Grey wore a wondrous felt hat like this, Mike Luo’s “Witches Hat”. Continue reading