Gnome pranks and related shenanigans

Are you familiar with the gnome prank?

"Oooh, gnomes now!" --Mr. Tweedy

The TL;DR version: surreptitiously steal a garden gnome, have it send "letters home" explaining that it's gone on vacation, then photograph it doing various things on its adventures, sending them back to the owner. Eventually return it along with some mementos of its vacation. The Travelocity gnome mascot is loosely based on this prank.

But it doesn't have to be a gnome, and it doesn't have to be done without the consent of the owner, either. A friend of mine (hi Helena!) created a little wolfman toy named Grimmie and sent him on a trip around the world, visiting various famous places with her friends; Grimmie's adventures have been documented on Facebook. My sister Julie did something similar with Mr. Pubes, her naughty monster. Some friends of our family have a little Legoman who likes to explore the world (and who also has his own Geocaching account, but that's another story). And of course, there was Simeon von Pumpernickel, who set out seeking fame and fortune and ended up with a family in Tel Aviv, as you do.

If you'd like to host Legoman on one of his adventures, you should certainly let me know... but recently I've been thinking about starting another round of adventures with a traveling critter. Perhaps a monkey? Simeon comes from a large and illustrious family, after all. If I were to do this, would anyone be interested in participating?

In which we make a journey and discover a stowaway

I've mentioned here a time or two that Captain Midnight, Miss V and I were planning on getting together with my sister Jenny and cousin Tim to visit the Disney parks in southern California for a few days. Namely, the next few days.

So this is coming to you live from our fancy-pantsy suite about spitting distance from the entrance to Disneyland.

We arrived last night, and V and Tim made themselves right at home. (Captain Midnight also didn't take long to make the laptop feel right at home, either.

Then we went to unpack our luggage...

...and discovered a stowaway in CM's shirts. Upon further cross-examination we found out our small visitor was Legoman, who had decided he was going to use our suitcase (without our knowledge) to go out and see the world.

Miss V gave him a very stern talking-to. I'm not sure if it sunk in, though, because he was too excited about going to Disneyland the next day.

More in the next post!

Oh, how Horrible!

To answer a few possible questions:

• Yes, they are actually tie-tack pins made by me.
• Yes, they are made from a certain brand-name Danish plastic toy, but they are not and should not be construed as official merchandise of said company -- just a by-a-fan, for-fans bit of fun. Likewise, no connection with Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy or any associated persons or production companies is hereby implied or should be inferred.
• No, you cannot buy off-the-shelf Dr. Horrible minifigures. These were cobbled together by me from individual bits and pieces.
• Yes, the death ray and the suitcase are removable.
• No, there is no wonderflonium in the suitcase. Nor is the death ray a working prototype.
• Yes, I will be offering them at Seattle Square this weekend.
• No, they will not be sold separately -- just as a set. (Sorry.)
• No, sadly, there is no hammer logo on the shirt. (I really, really tried to get one. Literally, I postponed selling this set for over a year while I actively searched for one. But if you buy the set, you're free to find and attach a decal of your own. In fact, I encourage you to do so.)
• Yes, I might be convinced to make another set if response to the first one is positive.
• No, I am not going to make fifty gazillion of these to sell in your store.

I think that should probably cover all the bases.