The Show Must Go On...

Apologies for the lack of Famous Friday posts recently, the camera cable decided to wander off and I was under pressure to find it and update you on Mr.P's latest costume. Fortunately, as if by a kind of magic, it showed up today, so the show must go on.

Mr. Pigeon has already dressed as royalty (I thought he made a killer queen), but today he decided to pay homage to rock royalty. Can you guess who Mr. Pigeon is?

If you guessed Brian May and Freddie Mercury of Queen, then you are correct.

(Though if you thought the first one was Cher or Jimi Hendrix I can forgive you. Pigeon hair-styling is no easy task)

Mr. Pigeon will be on holiday for a little while, feeling the sun on his feathers and pecking paella by a pool*, so ¡hasta luego, amigos!

*more likely he will be getting squashed in my bag between a bottle of water and an iPod.

Greetings!

This post has been a long time in coming. My sketchbooks are full of ideas for greetings cards, but I finally took the plunge, went from sketch to reality and got the very first batch of Pigeon Loft cards printed.

Look how snazzy they are!

They have a nice silky finish and come with white envelopes and everything!

Yes, yes, you're quite right, graduation season is nearly at an end, so who will you send a "bird brain" card to? Well, GCSE and A-level results are out this week and Masters and PHD students have to wait a while yet. (I should know- a polyester gown and mortarboard are not enough to keep you warm during a snowy November degree congregation!) Maybe you just fancy telling somebody what a huge clever clogs they are.

Mr. Pigeon cards are available in the Etsy shop now, but a lucky comment-leaver or two *may* be randomly selected to receive one in the post :-)

Famous Friday: Here You Come Again

Have an Oxford Dictionary definition:

dolly bird (dol·ly bird)

noun

British informal

i. an attractive and stylish young woman, considered with reference only to her appearance.

ii. crochet pigeon disguised as country music legend.

Mr. P does Glee

It's Mr.Pigeon's "Famous Friday" again!

Making pigeons is a fairly unexciting, repetitive business, so it helps to have something fun on in the background. Since starting in 2007, I've been through an Andrew Lloyd-Webber phase (Phantom and Evita on repeat), crocheted to Almodovar films in Spain, Bauer Sucht Frau (a rather excellent German farmers' dating show) in Heidelberg, and watched every series of Desperate Housewives, Dexter, Mock the Week, QI, The Simpsons, Futurama, Blackadder, Scrubs and Nurse Jackie. 
Several times over.

To celebrate the Pigeon Loft's 100th blog post, I set myself a 15-costume tribute challenge to another show that keeps me entertained when making what seems like the 100,000,000th pigeon foot, wing or beak. It's fun, it's colourful, it's musical. It is Glee.

(l-r, top to bottom: Mercedes, Emma, Mr. Schu, Artie, Santana, Puck, Quinn, Rachel, Sue, Finn, Kurt, Lauren, Blaine, Brittany, Tina. Phew.)

Famous Friday: For Your Eyes Only

Newcomers may not know that every pigeon and hen produced comes with a number. I have just sold Mr. Pigeon 072 and hen number 021.

The pigeon you see featured in this blog is not the first Mr. Pigeon, but the seventh. That's right, he's Mr. Pigeon 007.

The name's Pigeon... Mister Pigeon.

I'm afraid this association has given him a taste for speed, danger, gadgets, martinis and, of course, bikini-clad chicks...

I think the other pigeons are a bit jealous.

It may explain why I found Mr.P 069 dressed like this...

"I shall look forward personally to exterminating you, Mr. Bond"

Putting the cat among the pigeons is never a good thing.

Dear Pigeon Fanciers...

Hello. Just a note to remind everybody on the mailing list to make sure that their spam filters are set to allow messages from thepigeonloft[at]gmail.com. This is to make sure you receive pigeon release alerts. The next release is on Thursday at 9pm GMT. Good luck!

Famous Friday (sort of): Mr.P and Bea

After all the hard work I've been doing making pigeons and little costumes for Mr.Pigeon's blog, he kindly offered to give me a break this week. He offered to buy his own new fashion item. Something classy, chic and memorable.

I wasn't quite sure where he was going to get the money from, but my piggy bank now feels strangely light.

I was also intrigued to find this up on my computer screen the other day...

...looks like Mr.P is a fan of online shopping.

Sure enough, a few days later a little parcel arrived and Mr. Pigeon scheduled a photo shoot for his latest accessory.

What do you think?

I guess we now know who the mystery bidder was!

See Twitter for another stunning shot :-)

Famous Friday: Imperial Mr.Pigeon

After last week's post it could be assumed that Mr. Pigeon is in favour of Monarchism. In actual fact, I don't think he even knows what that means. He's just in it for the fancy hats.

The Pigeon Loft is an unbiased blog and Mr. Pigeon has no political affiliations... at least he doesn't think he does. He doesn't remember buying any and, if he did, he must have left them somewhere.

So, in the interest of balance, Mr. Pigeon has gone to the other extreme this week in time for Bastille Day on 14th July.

Vive la France! Vive la république!

Let's just hope Mr. Pigeon doesn't meet his Waterloo any time soon.

Famous Friday: His Royal Fly-ness?

When I suggested that Mr. Pigeon dress up as "the one with the curly hair from Queen" I had Brian May in mind.

Not this...

That pigeon's getting ideas above his station. He'll be wanting his face on stamps next.

Mr. Pigeon's Famous Friday: Masquerade

I've noticed Mr.Pigeon has been swooping about mysteriously lately. He has been quite reclusive, but he has also started listening to organ music and crooning loudly at night.

I presumed it had something to do with his Darth Vader cape.

Mr. Pigeon has always been a bit of a prima donna, but today he made the strangest diva demand yet.

What would a pigeon want with a chandelier?

Oh. I see. The Pigeon of the Opera?

It's no wonder. It is one of my pigeon-making DVDs of choice.

NEWSFLASH

Good evening (or day...or morning. Take your pick)

Thank you for tuning in to the Pigeon News Network.

This is your host, Mr. Pigeon. (It really is him. Don't let the glasses fool you)

It has been an eventful week for the Pigeon Loft with many announcements to make and exciting plans for the future.

These are today's top stories.

PIGEON PRODUCTION CONTINUES. Don't worry, pigeon fanciers! Although Mr.Pigeon has been getting more than a few new outfits recently, pigeon production still continues in the background. A perfect new wool has been sourced that makes nice, chunky pigeons.

GREETINGS CARDS: Pigeon Loft greetings cards will soon be going into production. I have many ideas for designs and am eager to hear your opinions. What sort of cards do you usually buy? Do you prefer square or rectangular cards? Would you be interested in such a product?

STRIKE A POSE: Mr.Pigeon will continue to delight and entertain (and show off) in his impressive array of costumes.

I have an extra-exciting pigeon fashion challenge lined up for the next month. Mr.Pigeon will sport no fewer than (and probably more than) 10 costumes over the course of a week.

I'll let you know the theme closer to the time :-)

That's all this evening's news. Thanks for watching PNN.

Feel the Force on Father's Day

HAPPY UK FATHER'S DAY!

Today I heard a strange sound. It was something like an asthmatic vacuum cleaner.

I followed the noise and soon realized it was coming from a mysterious dark figure. He was holding this...

As I approached I heard him mutter something.

"I sense a presence..."

"Luke..."

"I AM YOUR FATHER!"

Now, my name is not Luke and, as far as I remember, my father is not blue-grey, crocheted or 15cm tall.

Must be a case of mistaken identity. How strange...

p.s. you may have noticed from the little button on the right of the blog that you can now follow Mr.Pigeon on Twitter. More on that story later :-) @thepigeonloft

Devil in Disguise

You may have noticed there's been a little less conversation around here lately. Things have been very busy since the last pigeon release and I'm all shook up, but let me assure you, Pigeon Loft readers, that you were always on my mind.

So wherever you are, whether it be way down in (Viva) Las Vegas* or in the ghetto, I want to tell you that this blog would not survive without the wonder of you. So for that I say...

*OK, I admit that was a bit of a stretch! Don't be cruel :-)

Last hen standing

Miss. Hennypenny 020 is in the Etsy shop! (UPDATE 13.06.11: not anymore!)

http://thepigeonloft.etsy.com

Yabba Dabba Doo!

Introducing...

You may remember (though it was two years ago) that Mr.Pigeon likes to dress up.

I had such fun making little costumes that I plan to make 'The Many Faces of Mr.Pigeon" a regular feature and I hope you enjoy Mr.Pigeon's fancy dress as much as I do.

To kick it off, here's one superhero dressed as another superhero...

Working Bird

I graduated last year fully convinced that I would soon open the job section of the paper to find the advert "German-speaking pigeon-makers wanted. Must be prepared to relocate to Bahamas. Daily cake allowance. Salary: £500,000 p/a"

This did not happen.

Never mind, Mr.Pigeon found himself a job which is the next best thing.

I'll give you a clue.

This is the name...

...and you can buy these...

Mr. Pigeon arrived for his first day and was soon serving behind the counter.

Except he didn't really like people trying to buy the chocolates.

He also discovered the bell...

... and thought it would be a good idea to test that it was working. Over and over again.

Deciding that he wasn't best at serving customers at the front, the manager asked Mr.P to make up drink and brownie orders, so he ordered himself a little cappuccino and a brownie.

He also worked hard at catching drips from the hot chocolate tap.

Mr.Pigeon then made an exciting discovery. This shop did not just sell chocolate and coffee!

He soon found out where the chocolate boxes, straws and chocolate cases were kept...

...and where he could earn some pocket money...

But woolly pigeons aren't cut out for all this hard work.

Mr. Pigeon tried his best to hide to avoid making drinks...

...to avoid customers...

...to become completely inconspicuous...

But it all got too much for him and, after squeezing himself under the brownie dome, he dozed off...

Mr.Pigeon's new colleague Becky and Manager Emma were not impressed.

At all.

Poor Mr. Pigeon.

Mr. Pigeon moves!

In the absence of a proper post, enjoy this little stop motion animation. It was my first attempt and stars a familiar face :-)

HAPPY PANCAKE DAY!

(Yes, I know it was yesterday, but shhhhh...)

Are you feeling peckish? Mr.Pigeon was, so we got out his little pan, little bowls and little utensils to make some pancakes fit for pigeons.

You will need:

Pigeon-sized bowl and utensils...

...and a willing chef.

Mix 135g flour, 1tsp baking powder, 1/2 tsp salt and 2 tbsp caster sugar in a large bowl. Mr. Pigeon's bowl was a bit small, so he only used a fraction of the amounts.

In a separate bowl or jug, whisk together 130ml milk, 1 large egg and 2 tbsp melted butter.

Pour the liquid into the dry mixture and beat until smooth.

Get your ladle handy...

Heat butter or oil in a little pigeon-sized pan. Add a ladle of batter to the pan and when the pancake begins to bubble, flip it over and cook until both sides are golden brown.

Remove carefully from the pan with a spatula.

You should have enough for a lovely stack of pancakes.

They look a bit dry on their own, so go mad with the maple syrup.

That's better!

HAPPY PANCAKE DAY!