This week’s image contributor Susan Hope Lanier submitted so many good images for publication that I wanted to show the outtakes here. They’re from a series of her friends and family members dressed as these beautifully rendered characters from a story unknown to the viewer UPDATE: These images are actually self portraits of Susan dressed up as different family members. These are the best kinds of photos: the ones suggesting a full story you get to fill in the blanks in your head.

Thanks Susan!

Literary costumes are weird. Unless you hang out with a dedicated book crowd, chances are you’re going to be standing in the corner by yourself at the party, occasionally launching into 5 min+ speech explaining your costume to the sexy maid who was unfortunate enough to ask.

But maybe I’m wrong. Send pics of your literary costume I’ll post them and we’ll let the internet decide if they were effectively scary/funny. Best costume gets a free copy of Annalemma Issue Five!

Pic: The Inkwell

Dear friend and issue five contributor Bryan “Bear” Soderlind recently uploaded a cache of photo gold. He exhaustively covered the 32nd Annual Orlando Gala. For decades it has been considered the social event of the season not because everyone dresses their best and looks fantastic, but because of all the scandalicious activities that take place there.

Check out the facebook album.

Speaking of facebooks, don’t forget to add yourself to the Annalema page while you’re there!

We’re working on a big project. These are some out-takes.

Wish I could tell you about it but it’s a secret for now.

A big secret. Oh, if you only knew!

A big and strange secret.

I’m very excited about it. I can’t wait to show it to you.

It’s really going to be something special.

I don’t know much about Stephen Berkman, except that his other-worldly images have the power to make you smile with inspiration and freak the hell out of you at the same time.

Most interesting is how he gathers heavily from the late 1800’s to create a vibe of surreal whimsey, particularly his use of old-timey ambrotype technology (positive image burned on to a sheet of glass, as opposed to daguerreotype, in which the image is exposed to polished silver). I couldn’t decide on which image I liked the best, so I just included all my favs. Here’s to a delightfully nightmarish weekend!

Dear friend and fashion guru Jen O’Malley unveiled a new bunch of headbands this week. Dunno of she’s selling them yet (UPDATE: She is!) but if you’ve got a special lady in your life this would make a pretty sweet gift. And if you are a special lady you might wanna get your hands on one before one shows up on the noggin of Bat for Lashes or Joanna Newsome and by then you’re behind the fashion curve. Which is undoubtedly a fate worse than death.

A lot of ladies are into quilting these days, but none of them have taken the craft to such surreal and extravagant heights as California artist Sarah Moli Newton Applebaum.

Things have been slow over at Annalemma for the past couple of weeks. I’m going to upload some new shizz in the next few weeks.

Holy Shit. Hulu just recently posted Howard the Duck. Howard the fucking Duck. The entire movie. For your viewing pleasure. For free.

When this movie first came out I wasn’t allowed to watch it due to all the gratuitous sex in it (still got a PG rating somehow). But I’ve been intrigued by it ever since. Why? Not sure, maybe just cause the simple look of the Howard character is so creepy, borderline nightmarish, and I wanted to see how if the filmmakers got away with making him endearing. It’s really hard to find on DVD and if you want the VHS you have to search around eBay. So I was really psyched when I saw it posted up there.

But then I watched it. Wow. I wish my parents had let me watch this movie when I was five as it’s probably the only age where I would have enjoyed the shit out it. Honestly, the script sounds like it was written by a smart-ass middle schooler. The puns, the corny one-liners, the space aliens, the rockin’ guitar solos, and let’s not forget the gratuitous sex that barred me from seeing it in the first place. It was filled to the brim with all of that and more.

Things I can’t believe:

That this movie got past a pitch meeting, much less got made. That George Lucas produced it. That I watched the whole thing start to finish. And I loved it.

While you may not enjoy subjecting yourself to shitty movies as much as I do, you owe it to yourself to see this film. If only to say that you have. Plus it’s the holidays, you’ve got nothing to do tomorrow so pop some popcorn and get read for a quack-tastic time.

Hey! It’sa da Pope!

She freaking made these. Out of what, I’m not sure. All I know is I’m impressed. And jealous.

End of virtual studio tour. Keep in touch stranger. See you at Art Basel.