I know, I know – it’s been ages and I never got to my 365 posts. No excuses (and I can’t even blame Snowball), but here’s a gorgeous stop motion treat a new friend shared with me. Enjoy!

MARCEL THE SHELL WITH SHOES ON from Dean Fleischer-Camp on Vimeo.

After a foiled attempt last year, the Midgets and Associated Persons Society (MAPS) successfully convened in Stockholm for a thoroughly enjoyable weekend together. In between airport antics and chocolate tastings, we managed to squeeze in a bit of culture at the excellent Kulturhuset downtown. It houses everything from an art filmhouse,  a (comic book) library, dance and theater stages to kids’ space on the fifth floor for reading, drawing and playing, complete with a traffic light visible from street level so parents can see how busy it is before making the trek upstairs.

Appearances can be deceiving, as we found out when trying to decide what to do. The best poster was for Hyun-Jin Kwak’s frankly baffling Girls in Uniform photo exhibition, while Alessandra Sanguinetti ‘s photo biography of two Argentinian cousins turned out to consist of arresting images of a pampas coming-of-age friendship. The photo above was the first one she ever took of Guille and Belinda in 1999, and the forty photos on show follow them through to today. The contrast between the ultra-realism of rural life and the surrealist scenes the cousins created through their games is striking, as is the abandonment the girls quickly showed as they became more comfortable with the camera.

Ms. D not only tipped me off about Liu Bolin’s work, but also complained when a post didn’t immediately appear. And Ms. P took me to task quite seriously during our recent and thoroughly enjoyable trip to Malaysia, about my blog name being a misnomer. So, high time to make the final dash to the finish line of 365 posts! And here’s the bribe: if you tune in right to the end, you’ll be privy to the next Myyear project, preparations for which are already seriously underway…

All this to say, I’m still here! Which is debatable for Liu in his Camouflage series, in its painstaking detail. My favourites are above and below, but check out more of his work here. At a time when all artists are busy shouting out their presence, it’s calming – if slightly disturbing – that someone is doing his very best to disappear into the background.

Last night’s hoped-for sneak preview of Staff Benda Bilili turned out to be more indirect than expected, due to the members of this band from Congo needing a bit more time to adjust to a wet and November-y Oslo. But French filmmakers Renaud Barret and Florent de la Tullaye who are busy getting their documentary about the most famous handicapped band in Africa did a great job in whipping up enthusiasm, not only for Benda Bilili’s show tomorrow at Rockefeller, but also their singularly no-nonsense approach to everything that life deals out to them.

After being thrown out of various other bands in Kinshasa (for always being late, since moving around town in their home-made wheelchair-trishaws isn’t trivial), the various members decided to start their own band, playing on the street, and rehearsing in the zoo (which is why you can hear toads on their track ‘Polio‘). In between all that, they also find time to protect street kids from the cops and take care of their own families – and now be the hottest new rumba funk band on the planet.

Don’t believe me? Just go to their show, I’m planning to tomorrow and can’t wait. They’re also playing in London, Paris, Amsterdam, Edinburgh, Bristol and Oxford this month – that should cover all six remaining Myyear readers. Sorry though toc – their show in Copenhagen was on Sunday, but you guys gave them the Womex 09 prize, so you rock anyway!

Only polar bears can make curling for a snooze up on an ice sheet look so inviting.  I’ve had a thing for polar bears ever since Little Jacket and I went to this exhibition in London, which traced and tracked down every single polar bear that ever made it to the UK… stuffed. The photos of some of their final resting places (pub entrance, cobwebby attic corner) were a little sad, but some of the (very large) individuals who made it in bear-son were imposingly impressive.

Now Steve Kaslowski (who possibly has even more of a polar bear thing than me) has photographed several of them in Norway’s remote Svalbard archipelago, in quite different, distinctly un-stuffed states. Visit here for a view that will transport you thousands of kilometers up North in an instant. Happy travelling!

Art that almost isn’t there, unfolded origami. Simon Schubert‘s amazing 3D-in-2D art has to be seen to be believed. A preview above, or if you’re lucky enough to be in Berlin, live here. Some of the pieces are surprisingly large!

Awkward Family Photos is the latest addition to my RSS feed. This photo is entitled The Cling-ons.

It’s mean, really, but I feel justified in my giggling, if only because I know my own family album is full of similar gems with big glasses, big hair, and yes, day-glo clothes (so cool). I just hope I won’t find myself featured as an entry one day…

Another complete gem from that unique Montreal-based comic book publishers, Drawn and Quarterly. I don’t think I’ve ever even seen any comic books set in an African country before. Marguerite Abouet’s main aim was to tell a different African story, one that did not involve war or famine. Her resulting books on Aya, in collaboration with her illustrator husband Clément Oubrerie, is the funnest, and funniest, trip back to 1970s Ivory Coast I have (n)ever taken.

I won’t spoil the fun by giving too much away, but Aya and her girlfriends, like teenagers all over the world, are occupied with homework, chores at home, clothes, plans for university, gossiping, and of course… boys! All against a backdrop of a regular Abidjan neighbourhood, which, again like the rest of the world, appears not to have been immune to the delights of disco music and bell-bottomed trousers.

I raced my way through Aya, and its sequel Aya of Yop City (go here and here to read full-colour excerpts of both) and am now awaiting with bated breath the newest book in the series, due for publication in September 2009, Aya: The Secrets Come Out. Ms. Super-G is in the same state after her May Day visit last weekend, and Mr. Snow is ¾ the way there, having finished 1½  Aya books as of last night. Maybe you will be too?

Almost May, really? Time flies when you’re having fun! I’m still planning on making good on my 365 post-promise, and the good news is that I’m cherry picking the best of what I’ve seen, read and eaten the last few months for your pleasure.

To start with, a serious, but visual delight of storytelling. Waltz with Bashir was on my Film Fra Sør shortlist last year, but it took me till now to get to see it at the cinema. The first animated film to be nominated for a Best Foreign Language Film Academy Award, it tells the story of how the director Ari Folman uncovers his long buried memories of his personal experiences in the Lebanon War.

If you are at all a fan of the graphic novel, this film is definitely for you, as it’s a graphic novel come to life, grippingly and heart-stoppingly so. Few judgements are made on what happened, why and how, but a solemn reminder that every armed conflict affects and marks individuals, people like you and me.

Mr. Snow\’s cousin tipped me off on this one. I\’m sure this has made it into the Shepherding Hall of Fame where he lives. Watch and be azamed. Tusen takk, D!