Spock's Pickled Brain

Welcome to Starbat's Oh-God-What-Have-I-Done-I-Just-Wanted-To-Go-To-The-Dollar-Store segment, in which slightly improbable things are made out of shitty plastic and assorted crap. So, it may not be a secret that I love hats and headdresses. The bigger and weirder, the better. Fortunately, the realm of Dinotopia also seems to revel in hats with a startling variety of shapes, sizes, forms, and functions. So I saw this as a perfect opportunity to try out a new kind of hat. The character I'm building for this project is something of a researcher/librarian so I thought some kind of sun hat would be appropriate, inspired by some of the Asiatic hats worn on the Earth farm in the Dinotopia miniseries: As well as the woven and paper hats seen in Chinese fashion, such as this one: I meant to make this a basic, functional hat. I, uh, didn't really succeed. It actually ended up as a wind hazard to rival Mary Poppins' umbrella, but I still contend that it is awes...

While Dinotopia is namely a dinosaur-human utopia, it is also a milliner's fantasyland. With such a diversity of clothing styles spanning many cultures and time periods, hats of every shape and size also appear. So in my attempts at creating an original Dinotopia character, I decided to try my hand at millinery. And here it is with the rest of the costume: In particular I decided to focus on the variants of bicorns and tricorns. If it doesn't ring a bell, think of the hats fancy British sea captains and dastardly pirates alike would wear in stuff like Pirates of the Carribbean and Master and Commander . Two styles of bicorn hats in Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World A very battered tricorn in Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl It's hard to get good screenshots of this, but they're a common crowd-filler for some wider shots in the Dinotopia mini-series. You can see them more in the right side of this shot. ...

1. Dinotopia (2002) Half-brothers Carl and David Scott couldn't be more different, but when they go off on an island-hopping vacation with their dad they end up spending a lot more time together than they anticipated. When their plane crashes, they're left alone on the beaches of a strange island. Far from deserted, the island is home to a remarkable civilization built on the cooperation and bonds between humans and dinosaurs. And though they are surrounded by amazing sights and kind people, Carl and David struggle to accept the loss of their father and adjust to living in this new world. Not knowing what's right or wrong in this society they blunder right into trouble just beneath the surface of this near-utopian society, and what follows is a great adventure few have ever dreamed of. Based on the delightful illustrations and stories of James Gurney, this mini-series takes you into a modern take on the secluded island nation of Dinotopia. True to the art design of t...

Whether you're a newly arrived dolphinback or a twentieth generation Dinotopian, it certainly helps to have someplace to keep notes of the remarkable journeys to be had. For this project I simply added a new cover to a cheap notebook featuring faux leather and some original stylized Parasaurolophus designs.  And the close-up: Inspirations Materials -Cheap pocket journal with cover -Faux leather vinyl -Gold paint marker Tools -Scissors -Hole punch -Superglue 1. Gather the materials For this project the key ingredient is a cheap journal, which was from a CVS pharmacy store for about $3. The faux leather and gold paint marker are basic craft/fabric store items. 2. Cut the materials In order to cover the entire journal cover, first a few measurements and a little math is needed. This'll be different depending on the dimensions of the journal you decide to recover. First I took out the notebook and spread the cover flat. The dimen...