All of Anthony's steampunk lamps, guns and other goods are handmade. This military boy, turned artist runs his own construction business and building his art is his way of relaxing and enjoying life.Each piece is ONE OF A KIND.With built in dimmer switches, solid brass and wood, plaques with interesting historical diddies, vacuum tubes, guns or milk glass...you never know what you may find in Anthony's workshop. Anthony builds his creations from recycled materials such as solid brass, vintage and antique parts and pieces, wood...and no plastics.Thank you for supporting local & independent artists!All gauges and meters are decoration only and may feature antique, vintage and even rare pieces.Due to the nature of the antique, vintage and recycled items used to build these lamps, there will be natural flaws, dings, scratches and imperfections. Pieces are sold as-is.

Tuesday, July 30, 2013

Local girl is North Carolina's "Queen of the Hoop"

astewart@newsobserver.com
                
Carolyn Mabry, better known as “Caroleeena” to her constituents, is what you might call North Carolina’s “Queen of the Hoop.”
Just follow the drumming sounds every Wednesday night in Pullen Park and you’ll find dozens of people by the historic carousel, spinning in circles with a simple children’s toy that first gained popularity in the ’50s.
At the nucleus of this weekly gathering is Mabry, a 10-year hula-hooping veteran from Raleigh who is quite a big deal in hooping circles.

Mabry, 50, founded a yearly international hooper conference in Efland called “ HoopCon,” in addition to the free weekly play dates at Pullen Park.
Her biggest hooping focus is on encouraging adults to get out there and “play,” she said.

“My goal was to figure out how to do the things I love to do anyway as a service to others,” Mabry said. “Each week I bring a truckload of hoops in a variety of sizes, all of which I made, and help people get started hooping. A lot of people think they can’t, even if they could as kids, when really, all they need is a hoop that fits and the tiniest bit of instruction.”

Mabry frequently offers classes around Raleigh, and you can find her spinning hoops – some of which she sets on fire – at many city events. She has also taught hooping sessions at the Governor Morehead School for the Blind and has created dozens of hooping projects for Boys and Girls Clubs and for children and caregivers in the pediatric units at Duke Hospital.
Hula hoop dreams
Mabry’s hoop dreams began six years ago when she first started the Raleigh Hoop Jam in Pullen Park, the biggest such jam in the state. Since collaborating with local drummers to include a drum circle on the same night, Mabry regularly attracts a group of children and adults that ranges in size from 30 to 100 people every week.

Mabry isn’t just an expert twirler, she’s also well-versed on the timeline of hooping.
“Hooping has existed in some form or other since the beginning of recorded history,” she said. “I have a photo of a petroglyph in Dry Fork Canyon, Utah, of a Native American with a hoop around his waist that is estimated to be 1,200 years old.”
The hula hoop we know and love from childhood appears to be a rip-off of the original.
“The guy from Wham-O who is credited with inventing the hoop actually saw it during his travels in Australia,” she said. “He just made a plastic version.”
But the most recent resurgence of hooping is way more rock ’n’ roll.

“A jam band – String Cheese Incident – would buy tubing at the hardware store and make hoops on their bus between gigs in the early ’90s,” Mabry said. “They would throw out these hoops as gifts from the stage and people started hula hooping. Because there was music, people started dancing with these hoops and a whole new form of hoop dance was born.”
Since then, hooping has become a quirky subculture that is especially vibrant in North Carolina. This year, Asheville won the Hooping.org Community of the Year Hoopie Award. Several local hoopers are mentioned on the website, which is a news hub and bulletin board for the hoopers trying to stay in the know.

Natalie Shaw, 45, of Chapel Hill has been hooping for seven years. As a working mother of two, she says it gives her a meditative break from her hectic everyday life.
“It fills different needs at different times,” she said. “It’s something that is solely self-feeding and self-serving; it lets me leave the role of mother and wife and lets me just be Natalie again.”
The health benefits aren’t bad, either.
“With hooping you can burn up to 400 calories an hour, and it’s great core exercise,” Shaw said. “Off-body hooping (twirling a hoop on your arms) can work triceps, biceps, and be a sustained cardio workout.”

For Mabry, being Raleigh royalty is no joke. Her schedule is an endless maze of performances, classes and play dates that would have anyone else spinning in circles. Even attempting to schedule an interview with her can have a reporter jumping through hoops.

“I am teaching tonight at Cirque de Vol, Raleigh’s first circus school, but it’s going to be pretty hectic all night,” she wrote in a recent message. “I have a short performance before, then I teach two classes, and then I’m going to hoop at Oak City 7 until 10:30. I’m not sure I could squeeze in a talk tonight unless it was kinda late.”

It isn’t easy being queen. _______________________________________________________________________________
Go to Pullen Park every Wednesday
to enjoy Hoop Jam for free! PULLEN PARK

Read more here: http://www.newsobserver.com/2013/07/29/3067711/north-carolinas-hoop-queen-reigns.html#storylink=cpy
A main attraction of Pullen Park is the Amusement Center. Adored by generations of Raleigh's citizens, Pullen Park is the fifth oldest operating amusement park in the United States and the sixteenth oldest in the world.

Center Features
  • Gustave A. Dentzel Carousel (1911), which is listed in the National Register of Historic Places.
  • C.P. Huntington miniature train, a one-third size, near-replica of the famous locomotive of the same name.
  • Kiddie boats
  • Lake Howell, offering pedal boat rentals
  • TVLand "Andy & Opie" statue
  • Playground
  • Children's amphitheater
  • Picnic shelters available for rent
  • Welcome Center where you may purchase ride tickets, make shelter reservations, or purchase souvenirs
  • Pullen Place Cafe serving fresh, locally produced foods and concessions

View Pullen Park Playground

View Pullen Park Carousel

View Pullen Place Cafe

Ride Tickets
Tickets are $1 for all riders 13 months and older. Riders 12 months and younger are free with a paying adult. Riders must be at least 42 inches tall to ride unaccompanied on most rides. One ticket is required per rider for the carousel, train, and kiddie boats.
Picnic Shelter Reservations
Reservations are now being accepted for 2013. All picnic shelter reservations require a two hour minimum and range in price from $24 to $30 per hour. There are several locations in Pullen Park available for rent, including:
  • 6 covered shelters in the upper picnic area
  • 1 covered shelter in the lower area
  • the carousel house (after-hours only)
  • Lake Howell gazebo
  • the event lawn
  • cafe patio area (after hours only)
  • the children's amphitheater
After hours shelter reservations are available within select areas. For more information or to check availability, please call 919-996-6468.
Pullen Park Overflow Parking
The City of Raleigh Parks and Recreation Department announces the following changes for parking during your visit at Pullen Park.

During the Week: Overflow parking is available until 5 pm at the Hunt Drive Soccer Fields on the Dorthea Dix campus. Patrons are asked not to park along Western Boulevard per RCC 11-2171(b)(1).

During the Weekend: Overflow parking is available at the Governor Morehead parking lot located directly across from Pullen Park on Ashe Avenue and the NCSU Cates Avenue parking deck which is less than a 10 minute walk to the park. This additional parking area will now be available on weekends through December 2, 2013.

As a safety reminder, patrons are asked not to park along Western Boulevard per RCC 11-2171(b)(1).

Hours

DayMondayTuesdayWednesdayThursdayFridaySaturdaySunday
Open10:00am10:00am10:00am10:00am10:00am10:00am10:00am
Close9:00pm9:00pm9:00pm9:00pm9:00pm9:00pm9:00pm

The above listed hours of operation are for the months of July thru September. Pullen Park Amusement hours will vary depending on the season. Some rides may close early due to darkness or inclement weather.
Ticket Sales close at 8:45pm with rides closing at 9:00pm.
Restrooms within the park will remain open until 9:30pm.

Location

520 Ashe Avenue
Raleigh, NC 27606
Phone: 919-996-6468


Wednesday, July 24, 2013

SOLD ITEMS
Its been a very busy couple of weeks! We wanted to keep everyone posted in regards to the most recent lamps to have left the workshop. If you were particularly fond of any that are now gone, please let us know, and we can always try and take a similar element, and make a custom piece just for you! 




Sunday, July 21, 2013

Photographers that can fulfill your every desire...

 

I have had the pleasure of meeting these extraordinary folks and I must say, if you want it done right, you've found the right place. So anyone near or willing to travel to the Raleigh area for a portrait by Dr Cowlicks, DO SO...you won't be sorry!



 


About Dr Cowlicks Photography (exert from website)

We have a passion to take ordinary concepts to another level. Specializing in creative portraits, we like to capture moments for the not so ordinary. Whether it's a family zombie portrait, a Gothic theme with ornate props, or a whimsical tea party, our goal is for you to enjoy the experience and take with you memories that will last a lifetime.

Creative, artistic photography is what we truly love and we put everything we can into each session to create a unique and special experience for every client! The process of planning concepts and ideas with our clients is as fun as the actual shoot. We get so excited as a team when we start to unveil the themes, styles, and locations for your session. Whether you are looking for a happy, funny, candid or serious session, we still wrap it up in a creative concept.


Click here to check out Dr. Cowlicks's website!

Wednesday, July 17, 2013

Kris Kuksi Facebook fan page

Kris Kuksi Website

 
“A post-industrial Rococo master, Kris Kuksi obsessively arranges characters and architecture in asymmetric compositions with an exquisite sense of drama. Instead of stones and shells he uses screaming plastic soldiers, miniature engine blocks, towering spires and assorted debris to form his landscapes.
The political, spiritual and material conflict within these shrines is enacted under the calm gaze of remote deities and august statuary. Kuksi manages to evoke, at once, a sanctum and a mausoleum for our suffocated spirit.”

Born March 2, 1973, in Springfield Missouri and growing up in neighboring Kansas, Kris spent his youth in rural seclusion and isolation along with a blue-collar, working mother, two significantly older brothers, and an absent father. Open country, sparse trees, and alcoholic stepfather, all paving the way for an individual saturated in imagination and introversion. His propensity for the unusual has been a constant since childhood, a lifelong fascination that lent itself to his macabre art later in life. The grotesque to him, as it seemed, was beautiful.
 
Be sure to check out his website, as his work is fascinating, even if it's not up your alley! 

Sunday, July 14, 2013

For our silent film buffs...


The VaudeVillain Revue is proud to present a tribute to the era of silent film...WHISPER. Featuring special guest, all the way from Providence, Rhode Island, one half of the infamous NYC duo The Minsky Sisters, flapper, tapper, and gal about town, KRISTEN MINKSY!!!
AND!!! Direct from Richmond, VA, sideshow, boylesque, and vaudeville performer of The Slomski Cabaret, BUSTER BRITCHES!!!
Not to mention, hailing from Wilmington, NC...boylesque and vaudeville performer extraordinaire, MILES O'TOOLE!
And di...sciple of the mighty banjo, CURTIS ELLER!!
Plus some of the VaudeVillains you've come to know and love including VIRGINIA SCARE, PURRRL VAN DAMMIT, MEKA LA CREME, and MORE!!!

This event will feature audience participation never before experienced at a VaudeVillain show! Gatsby-esque attire desired....$2 off admission at the door for folks who come dressed in costume!!

JULY 26, 2013
@ THE PINHOOK
Durham, NC 27701
9PM DOORS, 10PM SHOW
$8 per person

MORE INFO TO COME!!!

Friday, July 5, 2013

Help a steampunk kid get his bike!!!

Blaze is 12 years old and has mild cerebral palsy that affects the right side of his body, as well as epilepsy.
He would love to have a bike, but struggles with balance, so even a two wheel bike with training wheels is too hard for him.
Blaze is also a part of the Florida Steampunk community, which is why we're calling on Steampunk everywhere to help us raise enough money to get him a special Flaghouse Port-o-Trike by Christmas.



Click here to go to donation website and for more information.

Vikings are loose in NC.

What do you do when your brother looks like a Viking?
Why, dress him up in steampunk gear of course!
This gun and backpack were sold sometime back, and others have been made. There is nothing cooler than a Gatling gun made from a sewing machine...but it takes a Viking to carry one!