Glass octopus sculpture

At $400, I probably won't be buying one of these gorgeous glass octopus sculptures from Plantation anytime soon, but if I had $400 to burn, this would be a fun way to do it! Link (Thanks, Matt!)

I write books. My latest is a YA science fiction novel called Homeland (it's the sequel to Little Brother). More books: Rapture of the Nerds (a novel, with Charlie Stross); With a Little Help (short stories); and The Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow (novella and nonfic). I speak all over the place and I tweet and tumble, too.

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sexyrobot

gorgeous. i had an idea a few weeks ago while looking at some glass figurines in a window (clowns, mice with GIGANTIC breasts, etc) and thought about how nice it would be to make a big glass bowl with really thick sides with HORDES of tiny glass octopodes stirred into the mix. but then i remembered i dont blow glass and the classes are more expensive than this guy…sigh. (at about a foot across, tho, this is kinda worth it, and its ‘motion’ is beautiful) …ape lad’s ebay suggestion is rad…that one with the gold fingernails is in-sane!
Clyopa

If it were a lamp… it would be lovely)

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Pyros

Cory, Red Octopus Fund Has Been Created at Beyond Quotes.
gretagretchen

I think I know what to ask for for Christmas!
seyo

come on cory, thats only three gama go hoodies. and i’d venture to say that, accidents notwithstanding, this sculpture would last a lot more than 3 times as long.
Ape Lad

A thing of beauty!
seyo

PS: look back at all your posts on art objects and other curiosities, and you almost ALWAYS start it off with this pseudo humble statement on how you can afford this or that but if you could you would.
Ape Lad

Searching for “glass octopus” on ebay produces some interesting and affordable results.
Diatryma

In years past, there’s been a guy at my county fair who does work like this, and more elaborate (if smaller) pieces. You could probably find a glassblower of some sort and have a cephalopod commissioned.
Michael

That’s lovely.
webmayin

If only you could smoke out of it…
Dennis Coles

I really dig the sealife glass art. Lurking around the web, I found this site that has similar stuff.

http://www.kanemarie.com/shop/catalog/category/view/s/american-craft/id/34/
Cory Doctorow

Pyros, that’s VERY nice of you, but absolutely unnecessary. If you want to raise money for a good cause, raise it for Creative Commons or Amnesty International or the ACLU!
Halloween Jack

I’d like one that also includes the happy lady, and I think you know what I mean by that.
Pyros

Cory,

Don’t you by now have much more than ordinarily falls to the lot of mortals as the result of the success of Boing Boing? Surely you could afford the octo.
Skwid

Why do octopi get all the art & toy glory? You can find octopus stuff everywhere, but squid stuff…much more rare! Is it just that an octopus head looks a bit more humanoid than a squid’s? Is it the extra two arms?

*sigh*
Cory Doctorow

Pyros — if only. I live in London, and Boing Boing (along with pretty much everything else I do) pays in US pesos. Have you noticed where the dollar is headed these days?
Pyros

Hi Cory,

Wow, I had no idea that you actually read these comments–especially mine. I’m really flattered (not kidding).

Secondly, I think you should have that damn red octo if you want it. I know I fucking want it. But you deserve it more than I do. You do a lot of good things for the common weal and I’ve gotten the vague sense over the years that you have a particular appreciation for objets d’art. Mine doesn’t really compare. Additionally,I always end up smashing these kinds of things when I experience unrequited love which happens often so I think it should be yours.

I’m going to start a fund on my website where people can make a pay pal donation, and when I receive the requisite funds, I’ll send you a check. (again, not kidding)

To answer your question, no, I haven’t noticed where the dollar is headed. I live in a self-imposed news black-out since I feel so powerless to make the world over more to my liking. I also think that the phony news industry is trying to trick me in to feeling depressed and blue about all the shit I can’t change–babies being fed in to wood chippers in Peoria, children being electrocuted in Maryland, the peso rising against the dollar–that sort of thing. Too depressing, and I don’t want anything to interfere my comment making on your glorious website.

So, for this reason Boing Boing is pretty much my only news source, and if it isn’t on here, then I don’t know about it and I don’t want to know about it, frankly.

Back to your comment though, I received a notice from my landlord demanding all future payment in Euros. I gave it little notice at the time, but now I’m beginning to suspect that it might be connected to the thing you mention.

Here’s what I think. If the dollar is falling against certain currencies like the Euro the Yen, the Pound, or the Looney, we need to start comparing the dollar against other currencies. I mean, in the larger scheme of things, what difference does it make if the dollar is falling against the Euro, the Looney or the Pound if it is rising against the Zloty, the Dong, and the Tolar? See, this is why I don’t watch the phony news because they’re always focusing on the bad.

Anyway, since America seems to be heading toward a 3rd world economy, it doesn’t seem like a good idea to keep comparing ourselves to our European, Canadian, and British betters. Let’s face it, they grow taller than we do, they live longer, far fewer of them end up in prison, their infant mortality is much lower, etc. Oh, you didn’t read about any of these things on the phony news? I didn’t think so.

The bottom line is that if you’re of below average intelligence, you don’t compare yourself to the smartest kid in school. You compare yourself to the class idiot, right? Only makes sense. That’s what always worked for me at least in the few instances when I attended a school where there was someone less intelligent than I.

Oops, some news reader has just informed me that the dollar IS falling against the Zloty, the Dong, and the Tolar. But don’t lose hope. It is STILL rising against the Iraqi Dinar! America is #1!!! Hee Haw!