Woodbridge
I decided to go and see a friend of mine, Gillian, who is now manager of the newly opened Oxfam bookshop in Woodbridge, Suffolk, which is just the other side of Ipswich.
The journey was a bit dull, up the A130, onto the A12 and then via the A14, but Woodbridge is very pleasant. I'd got there a bit early and, when I asked at the shop, she wasn't on shift until 1PM, so I had some lunch and did a bit of shopping, as well as walking by the picturesque river Deben. When I got back, she'd arrived and she made me a cup of tea and we chatted about the new shop and the old one. I hadn't been to Chelmsford in a while, so it was good to catch up with the gossip.
Blood Pressure & Work
Due no doubt to work and the stress of commuting, my blood pressure has hit new highs. I test it myself on an irregular basis and I've been having a few problems, so I wasn't surprised when it hit 180/90 the other week. I decided to go and see the quack about it on Wednesday to see what he had to say. When he tested it to confirm my findings, the machine didn't work at first, but then registeres 208/100, or thereabouts. "I never trust the first reading", he said, and tried again, when it came up with the same reading I got. He's put me on Ramapril, with an initially low dose, ramping up after a week or so to 5mg a day.
Work, of course, is the main cause of it and, although I won't go into the details, I've had better jobs.
Sunday, 27 March 2011
Saturday, 12 March 2011
Deathwatch Latest
Fantasy Flight games have produced yet another free suppliment for their Deathwatch RPG.
You can get it here along with other supliment, free adventures and previews.
You can get it here along with other supliment, free adventures and previews.
Monday, 7 March 2011
Sunday, 6 March 2011
Top Ten
As some may know, I've been a comic book fan for getting on decades. I've been going through the collection weeding out those that can be donated to the charity shop, having read them and not thought them worthy of keeping, and it occurred to me to set out a list of the best ones (so far).
Concrete, by Paul Chadwick.
I read these stories when I was in my mid-twenties and, having now collected them in trade paperback (TP) format, they are still excellent. They move comics from the super-hero vs villains format to telling truly human stories.
The Treasury of Murder Series by Rick Geary
This true murder series, spanning the 19th and 20th centuries, seem a little bit like CSI, but Rick has turned them into works of art far superior to anything on TV. The books have a truly Gothic feel to them.
100 Bullets by Brian Azzarello and Eduardo Risso
The ultimate comic crime series. No super-heroes, no cops, just bad, bad, people trying to stay alive. The first stories were excellent, really hard boiled, making Sin City look like a Doris Day movie. After that, it seemed to get embroiled in a dark conspiracy plot that I just found to be confusing. I've got all the TP's so I'll probably give it another go at some point.
Scalped by Jason Aaron and R. M. Guéra
My current favourite crime comic at the moment. Think Raymond Chandler on a Native American Reservation.
The Umbrella Academy by Gerard Way and Gabriel Ba
Okay, if you want a super-hero comic book, I'll give you this one. This will blow your mind. It's what League of Extraordinary Gentlemen should really have been, but funny, rather than just pompous.
BPRD and Hellboy
I've included these together as they represent the work of Mike Mignola, even though he's not having much to do with them these days. Plus the movies weren't bad.
The Losers by Andy Diggle and Jock
The movie was okay, but it came out at the same time as The Expendables and The A-Team and got lumped in with them. Not only was the movie better than the others (oh, yes it was) but the comic books were better than the movie.
Stray Toasters by Bill Sienkiewicz [pronounced sin-KEV-itch]
A work of true genius, and I don't say that lightly. You know the saying that there is a thin line between genius and madness. Well I think that he must have wandered over the line a few times doing this. The fourth, and last, issue didn't seem to have a proper cover, it was just black, until you tilted it and it caught the light. It was gloss black printed on matte.
DMZ by Brian Wood and Riccardo Burchielli
This is an unusual war comic book, about as far removed from Sargent Rock and Major Eazy as you could ever get.
Queen and Country by Greg Rucka
Back in the seventies, there used to be a spy series called The Sandbaggers. Not Bond or even Le Carre. It inspired this series about MI6 operatives.
Transmetropolitan by Warren Ellis and Darick Robertson
Although it tails off a bit at the end, this is Ellis's magnum opus and what a work it is. The first episode is free to download if you can find it.
Okay, eleven, but I had to include the last one. In addition, the following are ones that I think are worth an mention:
Northlander by Brian Wood
A comic book about Vikings, but see his other work above.
Unwritten by Mike Carey and Peter Gross
What would happen to someone if the stories written about them became real.
The Boys by Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson
Despite the ultra-violence (which is what happened to spoil Ennis' Preacher) a worthwhile attempt at the anti-super-hero genre.
Cerebus by Dave Sim
This holds the record for being the longest English-language comic book by a single team (Usagi Yojimbo has the overall record). It's also self published, no one having the patience to handle Sim for any length of time. I only managed to keep up as far as Reads, Volume 9, but I got single issues up to Going Home, Volume 13. I liked it mainly because of the art work, which always draws me into a comic and Cerebus is fantastic to look at, the high water mark being Rick's Story, which looks like a modern Book of Kells.
From Hell by Alan Moore and Eddie Campbell
Why this one and not Watchmen or V For Vendetta? It's the notes in the back of the book which make this so good. You don't realise how much research goes into a comic book like this, and this alone made it worth a mention.
Concrete, by Paul Chadwick.
I read these stories when I was in my mid-twenties and, having now collected them in trade paperback (TP) format, they are still excellent. They move comics from the super-hero vs villains format to telling truly human stories.
The Treasury of Murder Series by Rick Geary
This true murder series, spanning the 19th and 20th centuries, seem a little bit like CSI, but Rick has turned them into works of art far superior to anything on TV. The books have a truly Gothic feel to them.
100 Bullets by Brian Azzarello and Eduardo Risso
The ultimate comic crime series. No super-heroes, no cops, just bad, bad, people trying to stay alive. The first stories were excellent, really hard boiled, making Sin City look like a Doris Day movie. After that, it seemed to get embroiled in a dark conspiracy plot that I just found to be confusing. I've got all the TP's so I'll probably give it another go at some point.
Scalped by Jason Aaron and R. M. Guéra
My current favourite crime comic at the moment. Think Raymond Chandler on a Native American Reservation.
The Umbrella Academy by Gerard Way and Gabriel Ba
Okay, if you want a super-hero comic book, I'll give you this one. This will blow your mind. It's what League of Extraordinary Gentlemen should really have been, but funny, rather than just pompous.
BPRD and Hellboy
I've included these together as they represent the work of Mike Mignola, even though he's not having much to do with them these days. Plus the movies weren't bad.
The Losers by Andy Diggle and Jock
The movie was okay, but it came out at the same time as The Expendables and The A-Team and got lumped in with them. Not only was the movie better than the others (oh, yes it was) but the comic books were better than the movie.
Stray Toasters by Bill Sienkiewicz [pronounced sin-KEV-itch]
A work of true genius, and I don't say that lightly. You know the saying that there is a thin line between genius and madness. Well I think that he must have wandered over the line a few times doing this. The fourth, and last, issue didn't seem to have a proper cover, it was just black, until you tilted it and it caught the light. It was gloss black printed on matte.
DMZ by Brian Wood and Riccardo Burchielli
This is an unusual war comic book, about as far removed from Sargent Rock and Major Eazy as you could ever get.
Queen and Country by Greg Rucka
Back in the seventies, there used to be a spy series called The Sandbaggers. Not Bond or even Le Carre. It inspired this series about MI6 operatives.
Transmetropolitan by Warren Ellis and Darick Robertson
Although it tails off a bit at the end, this is Ellis's magnum opus and what a work it is. The first episode is free to download if you can find it.
Okay, eleven, but I had to include the last one. In addition, the following are ones that I think are worth an mention:
Northlander by Brian Wood
A comic book about Vikings, but see his other work above.
Unwritten by Mike Carey and Peter Gross
What would happen to someone if the stories written about them became real.
The Boys by Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson
Despite the ultra-violence (which is what happened to spoil Ennis' Preacher) a worthwhile attempt at the anti-super-hero genre.
Cerebus by Dave Sim
This holds the record for being the longest English-language comic book by a single team (Usagi Yojimbo has the overall record). It's also self published, no one having the patience to handle Sim for any length of time. I only managed to keep up as far as Reads, Volume 9, but I got single issues up to Going Home, Volume 13. I liked it mainly because of the art work, which always draws me into a comic and Cerebus is fantastic to look at, the high water mark being Rick's Story, which looks like a modern Book of Kells.
From Hell by Alan Moore and Eddie Campbell
Why this one and not Watchmen or V For Vendetta? It's the notes in the back of the book which make this so good. You don't realise how much research goes into a comic book like this, and this alone made it worth a mention.
Vegetarian Friday
Apparently, the Belgian city of Ghent has a vegetarian day once a week, to decrease it's impact on the environment so, in order to eat a little healthier and to reduce my own environmental impact on planet earth, I've decided to have a vegetarian day, Friday. I was already having vegetable soup on Friday evening anyway, so I thought I'd go the whole hog. Lunchtime was a bit of a problem. My usual supplier, Pret-a-Manger, don't have much of a veggie selection beyond cheese and pickle, but Eat seem to be a bit better. I might try going up to Camden Lock where the food stalls are to see if there's a better selection.
A Long Ride Home
On Fridays, to break up the monotony of the ride home, instead of taking the tube to Bank and then Fenchurch Street, I get the Overground from Camden Road to Stratford and then the Jubilee to West Ham. This week, just short of Hackney Wick, the train came to a shuddering halt and we got stuck there for about half-an-hour. Turns out there was a signalling fault at Stratford and the driver didn't want to risk smashing into the train in front. I would imagine that this is due to all the work they're doing for the Olympics next year: that's going to be commuting fun next summer. When we got to Stratford, there were huge queues of people waiting for the train, a bit like a Tunisian-Libyan border post.
A Long Ride Home
On Fridays, to break up the monotony of the ride home, instead of taking the tube to Bank and then Fenchurch Street, I get the Overground from Camden Road to Stratford and then the Jubilee to West Ham. This week, just short of Hackney Wick, the train came to a shuddering halt and we got stuck there for about half-an-hour. Turns out there was a signalling fault at Stratford and the driver didn't want to risk smashing into the train in front. I would imagine that this is due to all the work they're doing for the Olympics next year: that's going to be commuting fun next summer. When we got to Stratford, there were huge queues of people waiting for the train, a bit like a Tunisian-Libyan border post.
Sunday, 27 February 2011
A Netbook Operating System
I tried to upgrade my netbook a few weekends ago. It already had Ubuntu 10.04 installed on it, but I wanted to install the latest, 10.10. It had been a little flakey with the wireless link and I was hoping the new version would sort things out. No such luck. After about an hour or so installing, all it did was keep trying to connect over and over again. I was about to go back to 10.04 this weekend, so that I would have at least a version that half-worked (I also don't like the new Unity user interface that much), but I'd read a review in Linux User & Developer magazine that recommended Jolicloud, so I installed that instead. It's not too bad, although perhaps a little too web oriented for my taste (part of the installation is for you to sign up to their web site or Facebook page, which is a bit off putting), but it did connect to the wireless router.
As a passing thought, if you want to check out an operating system on a PC, it might be worth using it from a boot drive first to see whether it will support all the hardware, etc.
As a passing thought, if you want to check out an operating system on a PC, it might be worth using it from a boot drive first to see whether it will support all the hardware, etc.
Insane on the Train
Would you risk almost certain death to catch a train?
No, obviously not. I mean you'd have to be stark staring mad, wouldn't you. Well, I saw this very thing on Friday night.
I caught a slightly earlier C2C train from Fenchurch Street on Friday evening. I'd managed to get to West Ham station via the Overground and the Jubilee and a rather crowded 18:00 train pulled up as I got on to the platform. I was stood up most of the way until we got to Basildon at around 18:20, when the vast majority of the train emptied. As the doors closed, a bloke launched himself at them, missing by a few inches, and started banging on them to be let in. However, they're electronic and once shut, you can't open them again, neither from the outside nor the inside. There was a guy stood next to the doors and he tried to open them too, but to no avail. This is where the insanity came in.
You and I would simply curse our bad fortune, kick the doors maybe, rant and rave for a few minutes and simply wait for the next train, due about five minutes or so after us. Not this bloke, oh no. He tried to open the doors by pulling at them. If he'd had some kind of jemmy or crowbar, he might have done it, but not with bare hands. Then we started to move off, so he stood on the tiny ledge outside the door, which is about two or three inches wide, as we accelerated down the platform. He hung on to the train for a good fify yards or so, screaming at the guy on the inside to pull the emergency cord, which a woman in front of me told him not to as it would stop the train (yeah, obviously), but would you have let the bloke on the train by now? The mad bloke eventually jumped from the train as we were doing about 20 miles an hour and someone said that he'd fallen as he landed.
Now whether this is commuter madness or Basildon madness or just some random nutter, I'll leave that for you to decide, but I hate commuting.
No, obviously not. I mean you'd have to be stark staring mad, wouldn't you. Well, I saw this very thing on Friday night.
I caught a slightly earlier C2C train from Fenchurch Street on Friday evening. I'd managed to get to West Ham station via the Overground and the Jubilee and a rather crowded 18:00 train pulled up as I got on to the platform. I was stood up most of the way until we got to Basildon at around 18:20, when the vast majority of the train emptied. As the doors closed, a bloke launched himself at them, missing by a few inches, and started banging on them to be let in. However, they're electronic and once shut, you can't open them again, neither from the outside nor the inside. There was a guy stood next to the doors and he tried to open them too, but to no avail. This is where the insanity came in.
You and I would simply curse our bad fortune, kick the doors maybe, rant and rave for a few minutes and simply wait for the next train, due about five minutes or so after us. Not this bloke, oh no. He tried to open the doors by pulling at them. If he'd had some kind of jemmy or crowbar, he might have done it, but not with bare hands. Then we started to move off, so he stood on the tiny ledge outside the door, which is about two or three inches wide, as we accelerated down the platform. He hung on to the train for a good fify yards or so, screaming at the guy on the inside to pull the emergency cord, which a woman in front of me told him not to as it would stop the train (yeah, obviously), but would you have let the bloke on the train by now? The mad bloke eventually jumped from the train as we were doing about 20 miles an hour and someone said that he'd fallen as he landed.
Now whether this is commuter madness or Basildon madness or just some random nutter, I'll leave that for you to decide, but I hate commuting.
Sunday, 13 February 2011
Giant Gobstopper
I thought I'd buy a giant gobstopper from that sweet shop in Southend.
How anyone is going to eat it, I don't know. I suppose you'd either break bits off it with a hammer or wear it down slowly by licking it.
How anyone is going to eat it, I don't know. I suppose you'd either break bits off it with a hammer or wear it down slowly by licking it.
Sunday, 9 January 2011
Beetroot and Apple Juice
Seriously. Sunraysia do a Beetroot and Apple Juice, and it is lovely. Apparently, beetroot is very good for lowering your blood pressure as well as being loaded with anti-oxidants for clearing up them free radicals.
Thursday, 30 December 2010
Seven Languages in Seven, er, Months
A week or so before Christmas, an intriguing book popped up on my recommended list at Amazon. This was Bruce Tate's Seven (Computer) Languages in Seven Weeks (ISBN 193435659X). The idea behind the book is to teach certain programming concepts through the medium of the languages that embody them the best. Object orientation and dynamic typing are taught using Ruby, a language in which Tate does most of his work; prototyping, which I'm not very familiar with, is demonstrated through Io, a language I'd never even heard of before; functional programming is through Haskell; concurrency (using actors not threads!?!) through Erlang, and so on. There is also a chapter on Scala, which I've had some experience of, so I'm intrigued to see what he has to say about that.
Saturday, 18 December 2010
New Sodastream Flavour
I was shopping the other week in Maplin when I spotted some new Sodastream flavours.
The first is American Cream Soda. Not bad, but with a slight soda water after taste. Definitely recommended, though, and very much as I remember.
The second is Dandelion & Durdock. Fantastic!!! Not as good as a Fentimans, but on a par with the better own brands.
The first is American Cream Soda. Not bad, but with a slight soda water after taste. Definitely recommended, though, and very much as I remember.
The second is Dandelion & Durdock. Fantastic!!! Not as good as a Fentimans, but on a par with the better own brands.
Monday, 6 December 2010
And The Turner Prize winner is...
A few months back, I blogged about the Turner Prize, which was exhibited at Tate Britain. Well, my second choice, Susan Philipsz, won it for her "aural sculptures".
Wednesday, 10 November 2010
Wednesday: A walk to Shoeburyness
I thought I'd take a last walk from Southend to Shoeburyness today, as with starting the new job next week I might not get the chance for a while. Unfortunately, in what seemed like a bad omen, the train line was shut down between Chalkwell and Leigh-on-Sea, due to a faulty power line, and there was a replacement bus service.
The light was very good and I took a few photos. There's been some building work going on, on the sea front all year and I noticed these:
They've got lights on the inside, angled to shine down onto the promenade.
At Southend, I visited a Victorian-style sweet shop, all very steampunk, and bought a packet of Victory V's and some cough candy (do Goths eat Goth Candy, K.T.?). It was a very nice shop and had gob stoppers about the size of my fist. They've even got a Facebook page.
The light was very good and I took a few photos. There's been some building work going on, on the sea front all year and I noticed these:
They've got lights on the inside, angled to shine down onto the promenade.
At Southend, I visited a Victorian-style sweet shop, all very steampunk, and bought a packet of Victory V's and some cough candy (do Goths eat Goth Candy, K.T.?). It was a very nice shop and had gob stoppers about the size of my fist. They've even got a Facebook page.
Friday, 5 November 2010
Friday: Signing off
There's a Judge Dredd story called "Sunday Night Fever", (2000 AD, Prog 416). In Mega City One, there's a gazzillion percent unemployed and jobs are quite rare, so instead of Sunday night being quiet, with most people preparing for the following work day, it all kicks off like a bad night in Bas-Vegas. The story concerns a guy in a bar. He says that he's lost his job as a human canary at the local Munce factory (Mega City One's equivalent of Soylent Green). Somehow, he mistakes someone at the bar for the guy who took his job and kills him in a fight. "You know what this means", says someone. "There's a job going at the Munce factory!!". The resulting job riot results in a chemical explosion at the factory, wiping out half the sector.
With that thought, I signed off at the job centre today. I got a job, starting on the 15th for a software company in Camden. The Job Centre is the only place in the world where you can say "I hope I never see you again", and get a smile.
With that thought, I signed off at the job centre today. I got a job, starting on the 15th for a software company in Camden. The Job Centre is the only place in the world where you can say "I hope I never see you again", and get a smile.
Saturday, 30 October 2010
Saturday: Surface Detail
Surface Detail
I finished the latest Iain M. Banks Culture novel, Surface Detail, last night. I'm afraid that it was a big disappointment and, for the first time with a Culture novel, I was looking forward to the end of the book.
The main problem is that the story is told from way, way too many perspectives. There is, essentially, a very thin story, or rather two intertwined stories, stretched to breaking point by telling it from several different perspectives in order to pad out the book to just over 600 pages. The main perspectives are:
In addition there were other perspectives, but these were simply walk-on parts, not even essential to the story, but adding to the confusion and tedium. I felt like shouting "For Christ's sake, GET ON WITH IT!" at regular intervals.
Olaf Stapledon's Last and First Men
I thought I'd have a bash at this next, as it's considered to be a classic. Written in 1930, it's the history of Mankind written five million years in the future by the last man.
I finished the latest Iain M. Banks Culture novel, Surface Detail, last night. I'm afraid that it was a big disappointment and, for the first time with a Culture novel, I was looking forward to the end of the book.
The main problem is that the story is told from way, way too many perspectives. There is, essentially, a very thin story, or rather two intertwined stories, stretched to breaking point by telling it from several different perspectives in order to pad out the book to just over 600 pages. The main perspectives are:
- A virtual person, a disembodied consciousness, fighting a never ending war;
- Another virtual person suffering in a simulated Hell;
- A reborn person seeking revenge for her own murder;
- The person she's seeking revenge against;
- A Culture agent sent to stop her.
In addition there were other perspectives, but these were simply walk-on parts, not even essential to the story, but adding to the confusion and tedium. I felt like shouting "For Christ's sake, GET ON WITH IT!" at regular intervals.
Olaf Stapledon's Last and First Men
I thought I'd have a bash at this next, as it's considered to be a classic. Written in 1930, it's the history of Mankind written five million years in the future by the last man.
Wednesday, 20 October 2010
Wednesday: Shiny London and Typography
The Serpentine Gallery
After meeting with a friend up in London, I went to the Serpentine Gallery in Hyde Park. It was a bright, shiny day in Old London Town and I took a few photos.
The Serpentine Gallery is really small, only about two rooms, and contains only modern art (at the moment). One exhibit looked like the contents of someone's bed room squashed up into a really small space. Another was a set of photographs, like time lapse, being displayed on a wall. Another was a video of a bloke Moonwalking to some classical music. More intriguing was Anish Kapoor's mirror sculptres. Really simple, but rather beguiling:
Now this would get my vote at the Turner Prize.
Typography
As some may know, I have been interested in typography and fonts since I was a kid: my Dad brought home a Letraset book from work and it was facinating. There is currently a very good book on the subject called Just My Type by Simon Garfield, which is a very good read and highly recommended.
After meeting with a friend up in London, I went to the Serpentine Gallery in Hyde Park. It was a bright, shiny day in Old London Town and I took a few photos.
The Serpentine Gallery is really small, only about two rooms, and contains only modern art (at the moment). One exhibit looked like the contents of someone's bed room squashed up into a really small space. Another was a set of photographs, like time lapse, being displayed on a wall. Another was a video of a bloke Moonwalking to some classical music. More intriguing was Anish Kapoor's mirror sculptres. Really simple, but rather beguiling:
Now this would get my vote at the Turner Prize.
Typography
As some may know, I have been interested in typography and fonts since I was a kid: my Dad brought home a Letraset book from work and it was facinating. There is currently a very good book on the subject called Just My Type by Simon Garfield, which is a very good read and highly recommended.
Tuesday, 19 October 2010
Tuesday: Tunng and Duxford
Tunng
Yesterday I did my usual afternoon shift at the Oxfam shop. However, John, who's normally on the counter upstairs, was on holiday and so I replaced him. Although upstairs is quiet (it's the music/DVD section, full of old LP's), it has a little music centre and I took some CD's to play. One of them was a freebie from The Word magazine with the nicest, most charming version of Guns and Roses' "Welcome to the Jungle" you have ever heard, by Hellsongs.
Another CD was the latest album by Tunng, called "...And Then We Saw Land". They are a folk band, not a genre I have much to do with, but I heard them on "The Imagined Village" album, which won quite a few music awards, doing a version of "Death and the Maiden". They are a very original band, not avant garde exactly but as near as folk is ever likely to get. For instance, one song on the album ends with what sounds like someone dropping a scaffolding pole onto a concrete floor. I know it's hardly Throbbing Gristle, but we're talking folk music here, remember. The album is patchy, not all the songs work, but when they do it's quite something.
Duxford
I've spent most of the afternoon out at Duxford, photographing aeroplanes. The weather started okay, but by the time I got to the museum, it started to hack down, so a bit miserable. Still, I got to see the Duxford TSR2:
Wayne Rooney
As a long time Man. City fan, I can't help but feel sorry for the Salford Boys Club Football Team (a.k.a. ManU), and although I'm laughing on the outside, I'm also laughing on the inside. They've obviously run out of meat pies for Wayne, and there are rumours that he'll join the only real Manchester football club. City seems to get most it's players from Salford these days, anyway, and if he's as good as "El Torro", we've got the league in the bag. And even if he doesn't, it's still funny.
Yesterday I did my usual afternoon shift at the Oxfam shop. However, John, who's normally on the counter upstairs, was on holiday and so I replaced him. Although upstairs is quiet (it's the music/DVD section, full of old LP's), it has a little music centre and I took some CD's to play. One of them was a freebie from The Word magazine with the nicest, most charming version of Guns and Roses' "Welcome to the Jungle" you have ever heard, by Hellsongs.
Another CD was the latest album by Tunng, called "...And Then We Saw Land". They are a folk band, not a genre I have much to do with, but I heard them on "The Imagined Village" album, which won quite a few music awards, doing a version of "Death and the Maiden". They are a very original band, not avant garde exactly but as near as folk is ever likely to get. For instance, one song on the album ends with what sounds like someone dropping a scaffolding pole onto a concrete floor. I know it's hardly Throbbing Gristle, but we're talking folk music here, remember. The album is patchy, not all the songs work, but when they do it's quite something.
Duxford
I've spent most of the afternoon out at Duxford, photographing aeroplanes. The weather started okay, but by the time I got to the museum, it started to hack down, so a bit miserable. Still, I got to see the Duxford TSR2:
Wayne Rooney
As a long time Man. City fan, I can't help but feel sorry for the Salford Boys Club Football Team (a.k.a. ManU), and although I'm laughing on the outside, I'm also laughing on the inside. They've obviously run out of meat pies for Wayne, and there are rumours that he'll join the only real Manchester football club. City seems to get most it's players from Salford these days, anyway, and if he's as good as "El Torro", we've got the league in the bag. And even if he doesn't, it's still funny.
Friday, 8 October 2010
Friday: The Wounded Platoon
The BBC showed a program a few months ago in the "This World" series about a US army infantry platoon, 3rd Platoon, Charlie Company, 1st Battalion, 506th Infantry Regiment. It's a revised version that came out in the states. The documentary describes the platoon's tour of Iraq and what happened after they came back. Two of the platoon are currently in jail for murder and attemped murder in Colorado Springs, where the regiment was based while back home. It's worth watching.
Thursday, 7 October 2010
Thursday: Pharmacopedia Domestica and Surface Detail
Pharmacopedia Domestica
In a long and otherwise uneventful day at the Oxfam Shop, I came across an old book that Andrew was valuing. It's called Pharmacopedia Domestica by Thomas Fuller M.D. written in 1739! In it there's all kinds of bizzare recipes, including "Salts of Steel" and:
For Oil of Adder's Tongue (maybe a kind of plant, not real adder's tongues) this is "To be made in the common way".
Surface Detail
The latest Culture book by Iain M. Banks is out today. It's called Surface Detail and has got some good write ups, some saying that it's his best Culture book since Player of Games. I bought a copy and started reading it this afternoon. I'll let you know.
In a long and otherwise uneventful day at the Oxfam Shop, I came across an old book that Andrew was valuing. It's called Pharmacopedia Domestica by Thomas Fuller M.D. written in 1739! In it there's all kinds of bizzare recipes, including "Salts of Steel" and:
Oil of Earth-worms
Take of Earth-worms, well washed and cut into Pieces, six Ounces; Oil-Olive, a Pint and half; boil them together till the Wine is exhaled, and lastly, strain off the Oil through a Piece of Canvas.
It's Virtues
This Oil is Penetrating, strengthens weak Nerves, corrects scorbutic Acrimony, eases wandering gouty Pains, and particularly designed for the Joins.
For Oil of Adder's Tongue (maybe a kind of plant, not real adder's tongues) this is "To be made in the common way".
Surface Detail
The latest Culture book by Iain M. Banks is out today. It's called Surface Detail and has got some good write ups, some saying that it's his best Culture book since Player of Games. I bought a copy and started reading it this afternoon. I'll let you know.
Wednesday, 6 October 2010
Tuesday: The Turner Prize
After meeting up with a friend in town, I decided to go and see the Turner Prize exhibition at Tate Britain. I took the Thames ferry which runs between Tate Modern and the old gallery and got quite a good river side view of the city (I took some photographs) . I recommend it.
The Turner Prize is to promote contemporary art and the four artists this year are:
Dexter Dalwood
On entering the exhibition space, the first artist's work on display is Dexter Dalwood. Dexter paints canvases, which must be a refreshing change for the Turner Prize. It seems that part of appreciating the work of the artist is to know what the title of the work is and to have some knowledge of the subject matter. For example, this is quite a moody piece, a tree on a moonlight night:
But the title of the piece is "The Death of David Kelly", which puts a slightly different slant on the whole thing, Kelly's body being found in a wood, the controversy surrounding his death, etc.
The Otolith Group
This was lots of TV screens arranged around the room showing a documentary, with a larger screen showing another documentary. I think this is what is called "phoning it in".
Angela de la Cruz
Get a pile of builders rubble. Put a tarpaulin over it and cover the tarpaulin with thick paint. Then enter it into the Turner Prize. I kid you not:
One of the funnier things about this is that with a work of art, the media is listed, e.g. Oil on Canvas, Silverpoint on Coloured Paper, etc. One of the submissions was "Untitled (Hold No 1), Oil on Aluminium Box and Metal Filing Cabinet". Now that's what I call mixed media.
Susan Philipsz
The problem with this work is that it relies heavily on the location. When you walk into the room, it's empty apart from four speakers playing the artist singing an old Scottish folk song. Reading the catalogue, the music is meant to be played under some bridge in Glasgow. This seems like an original idea until you realise it's also the idea behind lift music and the songs they play in supermarkets.
Conclusion
To say which one will win the prize, I'd have to go with Dexter Dalwood, with Susan Philipsz as a close second. The other two didn't seem to be putting the effort in. However, even these two seemed to be lacking something. What I was hoping for was something which engaged the viewer on some level, like when you walk into the room, a motion detector tracked you and produced a sound depending on where you were and how fast you were moving. There's an interactive art piece in the Science Museum which does something like that and there used to be one in the Meadows shopping centre in Chelmsford. This is 21st century art.
I think the last words on the subject should go to Calvin and Hobbes:
Calvin: Art isn't about ideas. It's about style. The most crucial career decision is picking a good "ism" so everyone knows how to categorize you without understanding the work.
Hobbes: You do goofy drawings on the sidewalk.
Calvin: Right. I'm a suburban post-modernist.
Hobbes: Aren't we all.
Calvin: I was going to be a neo-deconstructivist but Mom wouldn't let me.
The Turner Prize is to promote contemporary art and the four artists this year are:
- Dexter Dalwood
- The Otolith Group
- Angela de la Cruz
- Susan Philipsz
Dexter Dalwood
On entering the exhibition space, the first artist's work on display is Dexter Dalwood. Dexter paints canvases, which must be a refreshing change for the Turner Prize. It seems that part of appreciating the work of the artist is to know what the title of the work is and to have some knowledge of the subject matter. For example, this is quite a moody piece, a tree on a moonlight night:
But the title of the piece is "The Death of David Kelly", which puts a slightly different slant on the whole thing, Kelly's body being found in a wood, the controversy surrounding his death, etc.
The Otolith Group
This was lots of TV screens arranged around the room showing a documentary, with a larger screen showing another documentary. I think this is what is called "phoning it in".
Angela de la Cruz
Get a pile of builders rubble. Put a tarpaulin over it and cover the tarpaulin with thick paint. Then enter it into the Turner Prize. I kid you not:
One of the funnier things about this is that with a work of art, the media is listed, e.g. Oil on Canvas, Silverpoint on Coloured Paper, etc. One of the submissions was "Untitled (Hold No 1), Oil on Aluminium Box and Metal Filing Cabinet". Now that's what I call mixed media.
Susan Philipsz
The problem with this work is that it relies heavily on the location. When you walk into the room, it's empty apart from four speakers playing the artist singing an old Scottish folk song. Reading the catalogue, the music is meant to be played under some bridge in Glasgow. This seems like an original idea until you realise it's also the idea behind lift music and the songs they play in supermarkets.
Conclusion
To say which one will win the prize, I'd have to go with Dexter Dalwood, with Susan Philipsz as a close second. The other two didn't seem to be putting the effort in. However, even these two seemed to be lacking something. What I was hoping for was something which engaged the viewer on some level, like when you walk into the room, a motion detector tracked you and produced a sound depending on where you were and how fast you were moving. There's an interactive art piece in the Science Museum which does something like that and there used to be one in the Meadows shopping centre in Chelmsford. This is 21st century art.
I think the last words on the subject should go to Calvin and Hobbes:
Calvin: Art isn't about ideas. It's about style. The most crucial career decision is picking a good "ism" so everyone knows how to categorize you without understanding the work.
Hobbes: You do goofy drawings on the sidewalk.
Calvin: Right. I'm a suburban post-modernist.
Hobbes: Aren't we all.
Calvin: I was going to be a neo-deconstructivist but Mom wouldn't let me.
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