Tag: sock monkey

A month or so ago, Christopher commented on Facebook how much he missed my annual sock monkey Oscar Contest. I admitted that I’d thought of reviving it, but I hadn’t had any inspiration for a good monkey… and then it hit me! FREDDIE MONKCURY.

I had a monkey mostly put together from a few years ago, so he took shape fairly quickly. I found a very basic pattern for doll pants in the right size and used material from an old pair of jeans. His “I Want to Break Free” outfit was a little harder. The “leather” for his skirt is actually polyurethane from a $5 bag I found at Kmart. His bouffant wig started out as sculptural felt that I then handsewed black chenille pipe cleaners onto. (I also fashioned a very basic vacuum cleaner too!)

Ready to submit your entry? Just head over to https://krishoward.org/oscars.html and register. I have a new system this year (more on that in a second) that allows you to return to update your predictions if you change your mind later. You can also see the current aggregate predictions.

Application Architecture

For the first 11 years, the Contest consisted of a custom PHP and MySQL application that I’d built. For this year, I decided to challenge myself to completely rebuild it on Amazon Web Services (which is where I work!). Here’s how the architecture ended up:

As a starting point, I worked through this Web Application serverless workshop. I was already using Route53 to serve krishoward.org from S3, so I decided to put the Contest files there. Upon finishing the workshop, I had a working web app using Amazon Cognito for user authentication and a serverless backend consisting of an API Gateway-fronted Lambda function that writes data to DynamoDB.

The next step was to customise it! After I changed the images and CSS to my own branding, the next thing to change was the data saved to the database – I changed it to a form with all the Oscar categories and nominees. Next, I wanted users to be able to review and update their votes, so I added another Lambda function that retrieves a logged-in user’s votes so the form can be populated correctly. I then added a third Lambda function that scans the complete database, processes the votes, and publishes an aggregate JSON file to S3. (This is triggered whenever the DynamoDB table is updated.) For actually displaying the prediction graphs, I used ChartJS.

I think that covers everything! Please have a go and let me know if you encounter any issues. Many thanks to the Snook (my rubber duck and eternal programming mentor) as well as David, Jody, and Amy for their help with testing.

My ELEVENTH annual Oscar Contest is now open! If you pick the most correct answers, you’ll win a set of FOUR super-powered Avenger Monkeys! You get Captain America (with shield), Iron Monkey, Thor (with Mjölnir), and the Incredible Hulk Monkey. No, I didn’t do any of the lame human characters. If you want a monkey with an eyepatch or a bow and arrow, you can make your own. 🙂

And remember, in the event of a tie, the person that entered earlier wins. So don’t wait too long! Read on for more photos, or go here to enter.Here’s a body shot of Captain America Monkey. As you can see, he comes with a really sweet shield (painted by Mr. Snook himself!).

A close-up of Cap’n’s face.

Here’s Iron Monkey. (If you’re handy with electronics, you could make his Arc Reactor light up!)

And here’s his face. Sorry, Robert Downey Jr. not included.

Here’s Norse god Thor himself. He’s got a long red cape, flowing blonde locks, and a mystical hammer. (But don’t squish it too hard because it was sculpted out of clay, again by Mr. Snook.)

And here’s Thor’s close-up.

And lastly – HULK MONKEY SMASH!

You can’t tell from the photos, but he really is bigger than the other 3. (Unfortunately socks don’t really allow for a lot of muscle definition, so I had to embroider his pecs on.)

What are you waiting for? Go enter the contest!

My annual Oscar Contest is now open! If you pick the most correct answers, you’ll win the big prize: The Monkey with the Dragon Tattoo. Yes, I made Lisbeth Salander Monkey. She has piercings; she has a Macbook; she has a golf club; and she has the titular tattoo. I think this is the most work I’ve ever put into a single monkey! (She’s also the first one that’s probably Not Safe for Work, given the slogan on her T-shirt.) And remember, in the event of a tie, the person that entered earlier wins. So don’t wait too long! Read on for more photos, or go here to enter.Here’s Lisbeth Monkey in profile. Check out that fringe.

Front view. As you can see, she has an eyebrow piercing, a nose piercing, and a lip piercing. She’s also got black spiral earrings and a necklace chain with a razor blade on it. (Special thanks to the Snook, who crafted the razor out of plastic and spray painted it.)

She wears combat boots, of course.

She wears a hoodie over a ripped-up T-shirt. Oh look! She’s hacking on her Macbook.

I wouldn’t piss her off if I were you. Chick has a golf club and she knows how to use it.

If you pull down her T-shirt in the back, you can see her dragon tattoo. (FREEHAND, BABY!)

I told you it was Not Safe for Work.

What are you waiting for? Go enter the contest!

My annual Oscar Contest is now open! I have added an additional category this year (“Best Cinematography”) to hopefully help avoid ties. If you pick the most correct answers, you’ll win the big prize: a pair of custom-made, one-of-a-kind Black Swan and White Swan ballerina sock monkeys! One is beautiful, pure, and repressed; the other is totes sexy-crazy. They might just be my best sock creations yet. (However, I disclaim all responsibility if you use them to act out the movie and then it drives you insane.) Read on for more photos, or go here to enter.SPOILER ALERT!

Once upon a time, there was a young ballerina named Nina. She was beautiful and pure and kinda repressed, and her greatest dream was to dance the lead in Swan Lake. She lived with her demanding mother in a tiny womb-like apartment and didn’t have any friends. She was a little weird.

Through a series of events that may or may not have involved a pilfered lipstick and a stolen kiss, Nina got her wish and got picked to play the Swan Queen. As rehearsal wore on though, Nina started to get paranoid. She began to fixate on the new dancer Lily. Was someone following her? Who was that lurking in the shadows and behind mirrors?

Nina was perfect as the White Swan, but she couldn’t embody the sexuality and ecstasy of the Black Swan. She tried everything, but mostly her creepy Mom kept thwarting her. It really started to get to her. She spent a lot of time looking in mirrors. She got a weird rash on her shoulder.

On a night of reckless abandon, Nina goes to a club with Lily, drops Ecstasy, and makes out with a random dude. Then in the taxi, Lily makes a move…

They spend the night together – OR DO THEY? – and it pretty much facilitates Nina’s full psychotic break. She freaks out on her Mom and has some more avian hallucinations. On opening night, she wrestles with Lily in the dressing room and dramatically stabs her. Nina’s Black Swan persona finally emerges.

Exhilarated, Nina dances the third act as the Swan Queen passionately and sensually. As she dances, her arms sprout feathers and become full black wings. She loses herself and transforms into the Black Swan, earning a standing ovation. The whole audience wonders what the hell just happened.

But what becomes of the White Swan? Pretty much just what we all expected. OR DOES IT?

THE END

Actually, I’ve got some more photos so you can see the details of the prizes. First, the White Swan. She features a white dress with feather detail, white tutu, pink ballet shoes, and white feathered headpieces. She has a mysterious rash on her left shoulder.

 

 

Next, the Black Swan. She features a black dress with feather detail, black tutu, pink ballet shoes, and a black crown (of pipe cleaners). She has red button eyes and hand-painted makeup on her face and hands. She also features velcro down the back of each arm so you can attach a pair of black feathered wings.

 

 

What are you waiting for? Go enter the contest!

Massive thanks go to Kunaal and Josh for all their help, especially with the fantastic photos. And as always, thanks to the Snook for inspiration and assistance.

Oscar Contest 2010… is open!
The Eighth Annual web-goddess Oscar Contest has finally begun. I’ve added a thirteenth category this year – Best Original Score – to lessen the odds of a tie. As usual, the number of dead people in the obituary montage will be the tiebreaker. And what do you get if you win? Why, it’s a Sparkly Emo Vampire Sockmonkey Playset! (And don’t worry, Twilight-haters. I’ve catered for you too.)

You can go here to make your entry. You can see all the current entries here. The contest will end the minute the ceremony begins! Read on for more photos and details of the prize!

Once upon a time, a girl named Bella fell in love with a very sparkly emo vampire named Edward. He gave her piggy-back rides in the trees.

But her long-haired Native American friend Jacob didn’t approve and warned her away.

Bella didn’t care. She and Edward frolicked in a meadow and he sparkled.

Jacob cut his hair and took to wearing cutoffs and hanging out in the woods in the rain.

But what’s this? It’s Buffy the Vampire Slayer! With a flash, she whips out Mr. Pointy and reduces Emo Edward to dust.

Yes, ladies and gentlemen. If you win this year’s Oscar Contest, all this melodrama could be yours. You get three different sock monkeys: Edward, Bella/Buffy, and Jacob.

Edward comes with foofy auburn hair, amber eyes, embroidered six-pack, and a black peacoat. Oh, and he sparkles in the sun.

Bella has long brown hair, a grey coat, and a treasured copy of “Wuthering Heights” (with hand-embroidered cover). She’s also very clumsy and lacks any sort of personality. (Just like the books!)

Jacob (in his younger incarnation) has long brown hair, an embroidered six-pack, and a pair of denim cut-offs. He’s friendly and nice and has no idea he has a latent werewolf gene.

Later, Jacob gets ripped, cuts his hair, finds out he’s a werewolf, and kinda turns into a jerk. See? You can tell he’s scowling. Poor kid has no idea Renesmee is in his future.

With a quick change of wig and the addition of a crucifix, Bella becomes Buffy! Buffy has long blonde hair and a wooden stake. She’s also quick with a pun and has very little patience with mopey emo vampires.

The four wigs (Bella’s long, Buffy’s long, Jacob’s long, and Jacob’s short) all have a strip of Velcro on the underside that corresponds to a strip on the appropriate monkey’s head. You can mix and match to your heart’s content!

So whether you’re a Twi-hard or a Twi-hater, there’s something for everyone in the Sparkly Emo Vampire Playset! Don’t forget to enter the Oscar Contest for your chance to win…

Oscar Contest 2009
The Seventh Annual Web-Goddess Oscar Contest is now open for entry! This year’s winner will take home a one-of-a-kind pair of Batman and Joker sock monkeys. (I almost didn’t do them because it seemed too obvious, but I also couldn’t resist the opportunity to make my second Heath Ledger tribute monkey.) I have to say, the Joker monkey is without a doubt the most DISTURBING sock creation of all time. He features hand-hooked green hair, a green waistcoat, a purple duster, and a SUPER-CREEPY painted face. Batman features a utility belt, a bat crest on his chest, his bat mask/helmet, and a long black cape. You could act out your favorite scenes from the movie… or slash fiction! Up to you. More photos and details after the jump. Now go enter!Please note: You’re welcome to save these photos to your server as long as you give me credit and link back to the contest. If I catch you hot-linking them or claiming credit, I reserve the right to replace them with something nasty (or poke you in the eye with a pencil).

Anyway, I know this picture is enormous, but it’s also my favorite and I can’t resist. I’ve got this set as my desktop wallpaper right now.

Here’s the full view so you can see how long their arms/legs/tails are.

Joker close-up. Note: I used acrylic paint on his face, so you can’t ever get him wet or it’ll come off.

Batman close-up. I’m really proud of how his mask turned out.

Batman interrogates the Joker.

Good luck with your entry!

Soctopus Attacks Oscar, Film at 11
As you probably read elsewhere, the 2005 Oscar nominations were announced this morning and you all know what that means… The Third Annual web-goddess Oscar Contest has offically launched! This year the first prize is a one-of-a-kind, never-before-seen sock creation: the Soctopus! (Thanks to Christopher for suggesting the concept.) Second and third prizes are the ever-popular mini sock monkeys. Remember, do your research and take as much time as you need before you enter because you can’t go back and change your entry later! But don’t wait too late, because ties can be broken based on who put in their guess first… Good luck everyone!

Oh, and if you want to see more pictures of Soctopus in action, here are some shots of him attacking the Snook. (Matt used them to create the awesome promo image for the contest this year.) In terms of his construction, he’s a slight cheat since I actually used two pairs of socks. The skinny black tie was a joke reference to the modern tuxedos worn by guys like Brad Pitt, and the hat just seemed like the perfect accessory. Matt thinks it makes him look like a “ska-topus.” I can see that.