February 21 - Flamangos

"You can be my flamingo, because pink is the new kind of lingo."

~ Steven Tyler, Pink

Without their usual shrimp-filled diet, the flamingo of Mangonesia do not develop the soft pink feathers.  Instead they have a deepened golden hue, a direct result of a mango fruit obsession.

Perhaps the most unsettling difference, though, is the sound. A flamango smacks its beak after every bite, producing a sticky, echoing squelch that has been described as "more wet than it needs to be".  

This flamingo design is one from the Isopresso balloon instruction channel.  I was about to make one in pink when brain shouted this might have possibilities ... brain sometimes not so smort.

(view other flamingo)

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Other balloons by and inspired by Isopresso:

February 20 - Iso Walrus

"The time has come," the Walrus said, "to talk of many things: Of shoes and ships—and sealing wax—of cabbages—and kings."

~ Lewis Carroll, Through the Looking-Glass

This design is another Isopresso creation from YouTube, and at first, it felt like a bit of a puzzle.

Sometimes tutorials prioritize efficiency over proportions, attaching things at odd places in order to efficiently use all of the balloon without tearing or building things in a certain order. 

One of the things a mentor taught me when I was a fledgling computer programmer is "early optimization is the root of all evil".  A refined process is a harder one to adapt.

(view other walrus)

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Other balloons by and inspired by Isopresso:

February 19 - Hermit the Crab

Sunny day, nap in the sand all day
Waves roll in, while the dolphins play
Can you tell me how to get, how to get to Hermit Crab Beach?

Rise and stretch, feel the ocean breeze
Find a shell, live a life of ease
Can you tell me how to get, how to get to Hermit Crab Beach?

In an infinite universe, the infinitely improbable is not only possible - it's inevitable (so I read).  Somewhere out there, on a distant world, the Muppets have all evolved into hermit crabs.

It is also very easy to be green, probably the easiest.  Very tough to be mauve though.

The hermit crab design is one of a few shell designs Isopresso shows on his YouTube channel.

(view other crab or Kermits)

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Other balloons by and inspired by Isopresso:

February 18 - Bee Proud

"The freedom to be yourself is a gift only you can give yourself."

~ Doe Zantamata

Be(e) proud of who you are - the world thrives because of all of it's beautiful colors!

This little bee is another Isopresso design, built from one of his YouTube tutorials. His channel is great about offering both realistic and cute versions of different creatures, and this bee falls right into that category. But something about it felt... incomplete. No hands. 

Now it can hold things. Like a flower. Or a pig. Or a .. flowerpig?

 
(view other bees)

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Other balloons by and inspired by Isopresso:

February 17 - Golden Dumpster Fire

"The measure of a civilization is how it treats its weakest members."

~ Mahatma Gandhi (attributed)

February 16 - Iso Piranha

"When you fish for love, bait with your heart, not your brain."

~ Mark Twain

I'm not saying I'd go swimming with piranhas, but I read that most of the hype comes from a staged feeding frenzy Teddy Roosevelt witnessed on a trip to the Amazon. He wrote about it in his book, and Hollywood ran with it - turning piranhas into tiny razor-toothed villains.

Real piranhas mostly scavenge or eat fruit, but thanks to movies, we think of them like underwater chainsaws. Meanwhile, my Oscars ate fish like the alien from Nope -- Shloop!  Shloop!  Alive and wriggly and screaming (probably) in their belly.    The monsters.

These were taught on Isopresso's YouTube channel, the orange is more true to a piranha's color whereas the purple is a rare version found in .. nahhh it's just purple.

(view other fish)

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Other balloons by and inspired by Isopresso:

February 15 - Quiet Apocalypse

The algorithm has given a bounty!

Quiet Apocalypse is a two minute cosmic horror short film and well worth the watch.  

YouTube channel "insolitum." (I don't know more than that) has given a poetic glimpse at a world going dark. Brilliant imagery and soundtrack - a work of art.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5DJu_fK5T2I

Instagram doesn't allow a clickable link in a post, so you will have to either search for it, or go to my blog site (link in bio) for today.  It will be there (or above.. depending on where you read this.)  

Feast upon this bounty!!