Kevin's Watch

Hate paper doll
You never get cut, but you're looking at me
Hate paper doll
You never get back, but you never can see

Taking it all, cut from a sack that you got on TV
Paid for it all, taking it back 'cause I wanted it free
Wanted it free now, you just want it to be just like me

Paper dolls are figures cut out of paper, with separate clothes that are usually held onto the dolls by folding tabs. They have been inexpensive children's toys for almost two hundred years. Today, many artists are turning paper dolls into an art form.

Paper dolls have been used for advertising, appeared in magazines and newspapers, and covered a variety of subjects and time periods. They have become highly sought-after collectibles, especially as vintage paper dolls become rarer due to the limited lifespan of paper objects. Paper dolls are still being created today.

Some flat plastic figures are similar to paper dolls, like Colorforms figures and Flatsy dolls.

When I was a kid, maybe fourth or fifth grade, I went through a paper-doll-making period. Drew the dolls on cardboard, colored them and cut them out, then made clothes for them. I used little folded bits of Scotch tape to hold the clothes on, rather than tabs -- the clothes with tabs always popped off too easily. I think I had ten or twelve of 'em. Then I wrote a series of short stories in which my paper dolls were members of a rock band. I remember turning in one of them for a writing assignment in fifth grade.

If only I'd known about the possibilities of cross-promotion back then...

Now that I have a daughter I'm more tolerant of paper dolls, but yeah they give me the creeps-like doilies...

i would love to make some for an art project.

ali : you don't happen to have any of that material anymore?

danlo : they are creepy, therefore i must work with them.

Sorry, no, mine went to the landfill long since. You wouldn't have wanted then anyhow -- I can't draw worth a flip.

Why do you guys say they're creepy?

because i find most dolls creepy - something about the dead eyes.

i can imagine strange people in an old attic playing with paper dolls - like the twins from the Shining...

aliantha wrote:Why do you guys say they're creepy?

On a slightly different note, I bought two miniture figurines today I saw sat on a shelf on the shop floor. They are brasslike. One is a bearded King holding what might be a rolled up scroll, the other a Cavelier with a handlebar moustache holding a sword.

I had to have them. For the longest time I've always wanted to play a game of chess using a set of alternative rules, ie when the rook is turned upside-down it looks like a platform for another peice.

Anyway, I thought the Cavieler could enter the game once a Knight has been taken. The King, I'm not sure yet how he could be used.
I'll have to look up the source of, "A horse, a horse...my kingdom for a horse!" which might give me some more ideas on this.

If anyone has some ideas how the brass peices could be used in a game, please let me know.

KK, that quote is from Shakespeare's Richard The Third, act 3, scene 4. Richard has been unhorsed in the heat of battle, but is unwilling to withdraw. He calls out for a new mount, which is provided by the servant Catesby.

Krazy Kat wrote:I'll have to look up the source of, "A horse, a horse...my kingdom for a horse!" which might give me some more ideas on this.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=g2gqtmLchGM

Krazy Kat wrote: I'll have to look up the source of, "A horse, a horse...my kingdom for a horse!" which might give me some more ideas on this.

Someone told you where it's from...but don't follow the [common, misinterpreted] out of context mistake that it means "Give me a horse, I'll give you my kingdom." It really means
"DAMNIT! Lose the Kingdom because someone killed my HORSE? Not Fair!"
[roughly].

BUT: Love the alternate chess thing. Used to do that with peeps when I was wee. Never changed the King or Queen rules, but did do things like the knight could move 2 L's as long as it ended up sideways or behind where it started, and couldn't capture on that move. Also, pawns, instead of moving, could "shoot" any enemy pawn that was open, forcing them to move one space in any direction, determined by the shooter.

I had an idea for your cavalier...not saying it's a good one, but it cracked me up...once your cavalier has entered the game, whatever his basic "move" is: Cavaliers protect high-born ladies...so when your queen is threatened, if he has an open path, he can move to intercept/capture the attacker. HOWEVER, since cavaliers may be cavalier, your opponent may use him once as a free move as if one of his pieces [not on the same move you use him for intercept of course.]

BTW everyone, and to nod at the topic: I once ended up with a minor black eye and slightly bleeding nose because of a life size paper doll. [cannabis my have been implicated, but is keeping its mouth shut].

Thanks guys, for the quotes, and links.

Vraith -
A long time ago, I would play a game we called 'suicide chess'. The first to loose all his peices wins. Fast fun!

Sometimes I can't see the wood for the trees. It's a case of looking into the character and ideals of the Cavalier. A protector to a Queen is a great starting rule.

Also, last night I dusted off the chess box and set up the peices. It wasn't untill then that I tried turning the rooks upside down. The two figurines sat comfortably on them. Although, I'd prefer a bulkier and heavier set if a game was to begin with the figures balanced on the rooks.

I had another idea that the eight white pawns could be thimbles. Big enough to accomodate the figurines would be excellant!

Oh no! still in the 'hate paper doll' thread

kat : i am the king of off topic postings. so post away for your chess pieces here. i will fix the thread title for you if you like.

suicidechess.ca/index.php

When men on the chessboard
Get up and tell you where to go
And you've just had some kind of mushroom
And your mind is moving low
Go ask Alice
I think she'll know

The rules of the game are the same as those of chess except for the following additional rules:
Capturing is compulsory.
When more than one capture is available, the player may exercise choice.
The king has no special prerogative and accordingly: It may be captured like any other piece.
There is no check or checkmate.
There is no castling.
Pawns may also promote to King.

In the case of stalemate, there are different rules: It is a win for the stalemated player (international rules).
It is a draw.
It is a win for the player with the fewer number of pieces, and if both have the same number it is a draw. The type of the piece makes no difference (FICS rules).

A player wins by losing all his pieces, or being stalemated (as detailed.) Apart from move repetition, mutual accord and the fifty-move rule, the game is also drawn when a win is impossible, such as if a dark-squared bishop and a light-squared bishop are the only pieces remaining. In another little-played version, forcing the opponent to checkmate the king is another option to win.

What do paper dolls have to do with chess?

mrsnull wrote:What do paper dolls have to do with chess?

it is how my mind works - here is a pic of what my mind is like...