Behind the card

profkampf’s deck of cards project is just about done. My card, the King of Spades, is in the lower right corner.

As I mentioned to Ray, I knew before starting that I wanted to preserve the general layout of the classic king of spades, since certain card games refer to the physical posture of the face cards. For example, “one-eyed jacks" (jacks in profile) and "kings with swords through their heads” (swords held behind their heads) are designated as wild cards in some games, so I didn't want to alter the king so much that his wild card status would change. (I didn’t know what others would be doing with their cards, but I knew what I wanted to do with my card.)

For inspiration, I started by taking a look at the classic card, and noticed that the eyes reminded me of the Eye of Horus, an ancient Egyptian symbol of royalty and permanence. It’s also a common tattoo design. I then saw that the spade shape could be made out of two pyramids, a small one in front of a larger one. From there, it was no great leap to changing the European king into an Egyptian pharaoh. In place of the king’s traditional sword, an exotic wavy dagger would be in his left hand, held upright just as in the original card design. The crown was changed to an Egyptian headdress. Since the original king has a large spade over his right shoulder, I repeated the pyramids there, in perspective. The pendant with the ankh refers to a similar design on the original card.

Originally I made the pharaoh white, but his appearance was too similar to the traditional king. The thin black lines that defined his features also made the card appear too cartoonish, when I wanted the effect to be more like "blocks of color." Changing the face to all-black, with just the Eyes of Horus visible, gave him a menacing air I liked (although I didn’t consider the cliché of a black man being the ‘king of spades’). Anyway, black hands would get lost in his black cloak, so they became red. I lost the right hand when there turned out to be no room for it -- originally it was holding the pharaoh's traditional crook and flail. A faintly exotic font for the “K” and I was finished.

This artwork (except for the sizing) was done entirely with Microsoft Paint, one of the simplest illustration programs and the only one I had available.

I’m pretty pleased with the way my card came out, although it has no great personal meaning for me. It’s just a King of Spades done as an Egyptian pharaoh. I’m happy that it keeps company with so many wonderful examples of our community’s creativity.

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Man, it’s been hot here lately. It was 72 in our bedroom last night! How are we supposed to sleep in such heat?

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And because I was tagged by boyshapedbox and kevin_v5 …

The LJ name meme, where you explain the meaning of your LJ handle: Well, back in the early ‘90s, I needed an online handle for that exciting new service, America Online. After a few abortive tries I can hardly remember, I wound up with “rootbear,” which got in the bear name (new and exciting at the time, remember) as well as being a pun (on “rootbeer,” in case you are slow and couldn’t figure it out). Well, flash forward a year to when I got pissed off at a friend of mine, and I didn’t want him to e-mail me any more, so I deleted the “root bear” handle on AOL, and then almost immediately regretted it. How would my other friends know it was me? So I decided to create something similar, and “root beer” was taken, so I picked “rootbeer1.” (If I had to do it all over again, I’d have gone with a number that couldn’t be confused with a letter, like “rootbeer7.”) Anyway, I went on to use the rootbeer1 name on various online sites, like ICUII, ISPQ and Bear411, just so anyone who wants to contact me would know how to do so. Plus, the name gives people a conversational peg online if they want to say something semi-witty (“Root beer, eh? are you cool and refreshing?”). In the meantime, I got the “root bear” screen name back on AOL, but it’s just a spam repository now.

As for the second part of the meme, listing seven songs I’m into … well, that’s harder, so I’m doing something easier, listing CDs I have by my PC, which I’ve been listening to as I work:

1. Too Many DJs - As Heard on Radio Soulwax Part 2. I never thought I’d see this for sale here because of clearance issues, but I found several in the series at a Medium Rare Records sidewalk sale last week when zoxobear was visiting. Oddly, they’re TDK CDs with computer labels pasted over them – pirated versions, or low-rent enough that the authors couldn’t afford anything better? At least they were cheap. Anyway, it’s dancey and mash-like and has me squirming in my seat with dancey, mashy pleasure. Among the many samples: Velvet Underground, Peaches, New Order, Breeders, Stooges, Dolly Parton, Residents, Cramps.
2. The Clash - The Clash. My original copy went missing, so I ordered a remastered replacement from Amazon. No need for me to listen to this anytime soon, as it’s all ingrained by this point. But I still wanted to have a copy.
3. The Go-Betweens -- 16 Lover’s Lane. The recent death of band member Grant McLennan reminded me that I wanted to get a copy of their best album, now in an expanded two-disc version. I’ll give away or sell the original.
4. Various Artists -- Rough Trade: Post Punk Vol. 01. I could do without the post-‘80s tracks, which pander to nostalgia for the period. The originals just amaze – Delta 5, Gang of Four, Liquid Liquid, Wire, Slits, Pigbag, my favorite LiliPUT track, etc. Eager for Volume 2.
5. The Go! Team -- Thunder, Lightning, Strike. Favorite album of last year by far.
6. Noonday Underground -- Self-Assembly. Haven’t listened to yet. Arrived in the mail with the Clash and Go-Betweens.
7. Various Artists, Frozen Margarita With A Dash of Cuervo. Close friends know that I often make commemorative mix CDs as souvenirs of vacations, housepainting parties, or being laid up in the hospital with broken limbs. This one commemorates my trip to Texas last summer and includes music I listened to while I was there – Marshall Crenshaw, Creedence, Paul Butterfield, dB’s, southern rock, etc. texwriterbear definitely has a copy of this, as should mattycub and woofytexan (unless I fell down on the job when I got back and never mailed them copies).

As for the third part of the meme, tagging other people, I don’t want to pressure anybody! But consider yourself tagged if you like.

And as for the “interest/user pic” meme, if you have any questions about any of my listed interests or pictures, feel free to ask. Heck, this doesn’t have to be a meme. None of this has to be. Can’t you just ask me a question? Why does everything have to be a meme? “It’s the ‘hello in June’ meme – if you want to say hello to me, during the month of June, leave a comment saying ‘hello.’ Then post the meme in your own journal and see who says hello.”

I mean … really.