A Little Bit Zombie, and a Little Bit Rock and Roll

I have a quart of mint-flavored fake blood and a snappily-dressed skeleton torso in my closet. The highlight of Thomas' night, last night, was finding a fake severed tongue for five bucks on ebay. We're not exactly normal people.

(I assure you, we're perfectly nice. Okay, maybe not perfectly, but nice. We're definitely nice. Just odd.)

Photo Credit: Mattel

So, a couple of years ago, we ran across this rag doll in a new collection called Monster High, we had to pick one up for our niece (she's not normal, either. She's just plain awesome). Niece went nuts for it, and even went as Frankie Stein for Halloween last year. Now, since she enjoys the brand so much, I tend to keep my eyes peeled for anything new and cool, especially with her birthday creeping closer. That's how I discovered that this existed:

Photo Credit: Walmart

Forget the munchkin; I want this one!!

She is Operetta, the daughter of the Phantom of the Opera (a mystery never fully explained). I promise, I will keep her in the original packaging, and place the box in a place of honor on the shelf in my office! She can keep me company while I practice singing! Please, please, please!! My birthday's first, you know!

*ahem*

Excuse me for that sudden outburst. My love of the Phantom goes back a long, long time, and runs deep. I apologize. 

The doll is gorgeous. She's styled in rockabilly fashion, which I think was a bold, amusing choice. Considering she's supposed to be a teenager, it makes sense she'd rebel against her father's love of classical music by embracing a wildly differing genre. Rockabilly is also so stylized that it borders on theatrical. A lot of careful thought went into her look, and it shows. 

I'm a fan of Monster High. The dolls are cute without being cookie cutter, and I feel like it teaches kids to accept each others' differences. It's those differences that make us special. There's also a coordinating book series, and I'm always up for anything that makes a child want to pick up a book. Plus, there's always a chance that they'll want to read about their favorite character's dear old Mom or Dad when they get a little older. Somewhere, I think Mary Shelley and Gaston Leroux are smiling.

Monster High dolls are manufactured by Mattel, and can be found at Toys R Us, Walmart, Target, Amazon, and many other retailers. For more information, click here, or check out this forum here. If you want to lose a day, click here for a downright addictive dress-up game.

Barbie's Dream Wedding Album

Between singing for weddings, attending weddings, having photographer friends, wearing the old bridesmaid dress, and also having had my own Big Fat Catholic Wedding, I've seen and/or posed for plenty of wedding photos, and I've noticed that there are always some key stock poses scattered throughout the sets. It's inevitable. See, even though every couple is different, most weddings aren't. Sure, the venues and themes change, but I think we can agree that you're more than likely going to have the kiss, the cake (or dessert of some sort. I hear pie is coming into fashion), the first dance, the bouquet toss, and the couple's exit. According to Rock n Roll Bride,

"There are certain photo set-ups that you see all over wedding photography (the shoe shot, the dress shot, the bridal portraits just after she’s got ready, the groom getting ready with his boys etc…)"  

You know, key ingredients. Hence the key stock poses. This is not a lack of creativity on anyone's part. It's just documentation. Can you name one bride who wouldn't be completely miffed not to have a picture of herself in her wedding gown, or with her new husband in those first few minutes of marital bliss? 

Of course, good photogs know how to spice things up with personalized shots based on the couple's tastes and personalities, and the wedding's location, theme, etc. Really good ones can even grab those sparkling candids that become so precious to us. I have a couple of fantastic shots of the bouquet toss, when some kidlets ran in and snapped up the flowers before any of the single ladies knew what hit them. I also know that somewhere, floating around, there's an awesome shot of just my heels coming out from underneath a friend's bridal gown, when I had to crawl under her skirt to adjust her inner lacings. It's probably, like my photos, wedged between a photo of the pearls on her veil, and one with the bridesmaids holding out their bouquets. Not that there's anything wrong with that.

French photographer Beatrice de Guigne understands the situation, and decided to have a little fun with one of her couples: Barbie and Ken. Really. In this, believe it or not, beautifully shot album, the photographer explores all those stock poses we've come to expect, and shows us why they're so loved. It's witty, artful, and surprisingly sweet. See below for a taste. More photos are available at Glamour.com (or click the above link). 

Photo Credit (All): Glamour