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Title: When Strange Opportunities Knock Post by: RAT900 on December 20, 2011, 03:25:47 AM some people hear the peculiar sound and decide to open the door and let them step across the threshold.
Something showed up at my doorstep yesterday...quite unexpected and unimagined. Several months ago I was lamenting (probably more like whining) that I could not find a decent Quarter Moon door knocker for my house in Asheville...I think it was on the TOSAT thread.... grumbling about my misfortunes amid the usual Whitman Sampler of postings about things going down, going up, going right or going wrong in the greater membership's lives....real stuff as compared to my petty disappointments Amid the banter, din and racket of the TOSAT...for some inexplicable reason a certain individual heard my squeak amid the din...while this individual is usually dismissed as a close cousin to Krampus (and a fierce lawn guardian) he decided to set aside his disguise and enlist the aid of a resident elf on the DMF who runs the Triangle Forge This gem arrived at my door yesterday, I apologize for the poor imagery.... my iPhone's camera quality setting must be stuck on the "IZ effect"...the photo does not do justice to the hand-forged and hammered beauty of my new Man in the Moon door knocker, if you want something of beauty beaten into a piece of metal the Triangle Forge clearly should be your first stop (http://i230.photobucket.com/albums/ee91/visigoth9/knockers002-1.jpg) In any event I sent off a note of appreciation to these two unlikely DMF'ers and I thought it would only be appropriate that they understand the underlying drivers behind the how's and why's of my fruitless search. I have excerpted my explanation to them as follows: "The Man in the Moon-Quarter Moon was an icon dating back to my early childhood from the time I first saw it rendered in one of my grandmother's old Maxfield Parrish sort of art books as a little kid. To me it was a safety icon...one of the small handful of totems that kept me going through a pretty unpleasant and transient childhood. Nowhere was really a home, there was no safe place wherever we lived.... and that whimsical (lol) magical old 1920's-30's era picture, to me, portrayed the safety found in remoteness, the beauty of escaping into the night time sky, and it reminded me of the warmth, generosity and kindness found in my maternal grandmother's old english tudor home when I would always too briefly, stay with her... a reminder that there was a different, far better world and far better people out there than the one(s) I had known So you can guess it carries a lot of weight with me still, since I felt it was a symbol that belonged on the one house I have and love that represents my best cobbled-together sense of "home", of safety, of a safe harbor for any of my children or their children. Back up in the very mountains my family never should have left. I damn near wore the tips of my fingers off on the keyboard searching for the right representation of it on the web ...and I am a demon researcher..if it exists I can near always find it...but everything fell short until FedEx rolled up to my door yesterday" So there ya' go... sometimes you never get to know the value of a random act of kindness... whether if it is keeping some little kid's hopes alive............... or reminding them years later that paying things forward is an essential part of a life well-lived Thanks again Nate and Brad Merry Christmas, Festivus and Happy Holidays to us all RAT Title: Re: When Strange Oportunities Knock Post by: IZ on December 20, 2011, 03:38:55 AM [thumbsup]
Title: Re: When Strange Oportunities Knock Post by: duccarlos on December 20, 2011, 03:45:12 AM [bow_down]
Title: Re: When Strange Oportunities Knock Post by: ungeheuer on December 20, 2011, 03:48:20 AM [clap] [clap] [clap]
Title: Re: When Strange Oportunities Knock Post by: Speedbag on December 20, 2011, 04:10:02 AM [thumbsup]
Title: Re: When Strange Oportunities Knock Post by: Howie on December 20, 2011, 04:25:37 AM Gorgeous!
Title: Re: When Strange Oportunities Knock Post by: DesmoDiva on December 20, 2011, 05:23:00 AM [thumbsup] [clap]
Title: Re: When Strange Oportunities Knock Post by: WarrenJ on December 20, 2011, 05:42:09 AM Awesome
Title: Re: When Strange Oportunities Knock Post by: MikeZ on December 20, 2011, 05:48:06 AM Beautiful piece of iron.
[thumbsup] Title: Re: When Strange Oportunities Knock Post by: mitt on December 20, 2011, 06:32:30 AM Cool. Take a better picture sometime, I would like to see more details.
mitt Title: Re: When Strange Oportunities Knock Post by: Randimus Maximus on December 20, 2011, 07:11:48 AM Very cool.
[thumbsup] Title: Re: When Strange Oportunities Knock Post by: fastwin on December 20, 2011, 07:27:52 AM Awesome Indeed! [thumbsup] In the great words of Gene Wilder ("Young Frankenstein") "Wow, what big knockers!" Title: Re: When Strange Oportunities Knock Post by: AJ on December 20, 2011, 07:36:42 AM Awesome! [clap]
Cool. Take a better picture sometime, I would like to see more details. +1 It looks so good while IZified, it must be beautiful in focus Title: Re: When Strange Oportunities Knock Post by: LMT on December 20, 2011, 07:40:17 AM The DMF rocks! Or is it knocks [laugh]
Title: Re: When Strange Oportunities Knock Post by: thought on December 20, 2011, 08:38:01 AM that's great, much respect to nate and brad ;D
Title: Re: When Strange Oportunities Knock Post by: triangleforge on December 20, 2011, 08:53:59 AM Thanks are due to Rat & DP as well, for giving me good reason to try a couple of things I'd never done before - most notably, working with brass. I learned a number of new things, and got to finish off a piece that made me happy - and moreso because they like it!!!
Title: Re: When Strange Oportunities Knock Post by: ducatiz on December 20, 2011, 09:04:04 AM wipe the funk off your camera lens. use a q-tip and alcohol.
Title: Re: When Strange Oportunities Knock Post by: ducpainter on December 20, 2011, 10:02:45 AM Cool. Take a better picture sometime, I would like to see more details. It's a tough piece to photograph for us amateurs.mitt (http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7006/6544599797_ef619d184c.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/26408631@N02/6544599797/) door knocker 003 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/26408631@N02/6544599797/#) by nh_painter (http://www.flickr.com/people/26408631@N02/), on Flickr (http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7012/6544618987_1292b3160f.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/26408631@N02/6544618987/) door knocker 005 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/26408631@N02/6544618987/#) by nh_painter (http://www.flickr.com/people/26408631@N02/), on Flickr These aren't quite as IZ_, but I know Brad has better ones. Title: Re: When Strange Oportunities Knock Post by: MikeZ on December 20, 2011, 10:15:11 AM Simply Beautiful
Title: Re: When Strange Oportunities Knock Post by: Grampa on December 20, 2011, 10:27:18 AM a drive-by knocking.
[clap] Title: Re: When Strange Oportunities Knock Post by: Buckethead on December 20, 2011, 11:07:49 AM I love this place.
Title: Re: When Strange Oportunities Knock Post by: The Bacon Junkie on December 20, 2011, 11:50:21 AM This place ROCKS!!!
[clap] [clap] [clap] [bacon] Title: Re: When Strange Oportunities Knock Post by: mitt on December 20, 2011, 12:29:54 PM It's a tough piece to photograph for us amateurs. (http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7006/6544599797_ef619d184c.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/26408631@N02/6544599797/) door knocker 003 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/26408631@N02/6544599797/#) by nh_painter (http://www.flickr.com/people/26408631@N02/), on Flickr (http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7012/6544618987_1292b3160f.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/26408631@N02/6544618987/) door knocker 005 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/26408631@N02/6544618987/#) by nh_painter (http://www.flickr.com/people/26408631@N02/), on Flickr These aren't quite as IZ_, but I know Brad has better ones. Much better - thanks. And it looks great! mitt Title: Re: When Strange Oportunities Knock Post by: RAT900 on December 20, 2011, 01:30:51 PM Indeed it does Mitt...
and yes this place does in fact "rock" it is why I still come around and still have a Monster I charged the camera...and here are my best efforts...it is hard to shoot without glare if you're a graduate of IZ School of Photo Image Excellence (http://i230.photobucket.com/albums/ee91/visigoth9/knockers003.jpg) (http://i230.photobucket.com/albums/ee91/visigoth9/knockers004.jpg) (http://i230.photobucket.com/albums/ee91/visigoth9/knockers005.jpg) Title: Re: When Strange Oportunities Knock Post by: triangleforge on December 20, 2011, 01:41:37 PM At one point in the process, I asked Nate for photo tips, since I figured he had more experience than me at photographing very glossy items.
Don't know if its a reflection (http://instantrimshot.com/ (http://instantrimshot.com/)) on him or me that I never did any better at dealing with the glare... And yes, this place is pretty damn cool. Title: Re: When Strange Oportunities Knock Post by: Speedbag on December 20, 2011, 01:49:35 PM That thing is awesome (now that the pic doesn't suck [cheeky]).... 8)
Title: Re: When Strange Oportunities Knock Post by: AJ on December 20, 2011, 01:55:44 PM MUCH better, thanks for the in-focus pics.
That is such a cool piece, I really like his facial expression and the texture of the moon, great work triangleforge!! [thumbsup] [bacon] [beer] Title: Re: When Strange Oportunities Knock Post by: booger on December 20, 2011, 01:56:48 PM Rat, your excerpt resonated with me as I endured much the same. Glad you found your safe place. And a proper knocker!
It's a beaut [thumbsup] And thanks for educating me about the Krampus. I can't believe I didn't already know. Maybe I just forgot that I knew, who knows. Title: Re: When Strange Oportunities Knock Post by: brimo on December 20, 2011, 02:00:16 PM Love that almost whimsical look on the face of the moon. [thumbsup]
Title: Re: When Strange Opportunities Knock Post by: Stella on December 20, 2011, 02:24:51 PM Wow. Amazing work T-Forge! [clap]
And to you to DP. ;) Rat, what I basically want to say, without pointing this thread towards a lock, is that I hope all those who use the knocker are welcome and bring nothing but good karma into the home. Thanks for sharing the history behind it too - at your unfortunate expense. :P Title: Re: When Strange Oportunities Knock Post by: elyse on December 20, 2011, 03:33:26 PM & this is yet another fine example of why i love the dmf sooooo much!!
“People may not remember exactly what you did or what you said, but they will always remember how you made them feel.” ...super thoughtful gift guys! i have it on good authority santa has put both of you on his nice list this year :) Title: Re: When Strange Oportunities Knock Post by: dolci on December 21, 2011, 11:35:21 AM Absolutely beautiful. Glad you have your safe place Rat. [thumbsup]
Title: Re: When Strange Oportunities Knock Post by: cokey on December 21, 2011, 06:33:25 PM Awesome
Title: Re: When Strange Oportunities Knock Post by: Polpetta on December 22, 2011, 06:15:46 AM Incredible and beautiful!
Title: Re: When Strange Oportunities Knock Post by: Popeye the Sailor on December 22, 2011, 09:50:23 PM Incredible and beautiful! We're here-what is it? Title: Re: When Strange Oportunities Knock Post by: TiNi on December 23, 2011, 02:48:41 AM this is the feel good thread of the season [thumbsup]
beautiful! Title: Re: When Strange Oportunities Knock Post by: Monsterlover on December 23, 2011, 05:29:52 AM Nice work!
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