IT'S CHRISTMAAAAAAAAS!
All that hair!!!
Small joint of reduced Value beeef from Tesco for dinner today. There's only the two of us.
Tomorrow my son and his fiancee are coming for dinner and it's a leg of lamb cooked in this little beauty from Aldi.
Unfortunately Aldi have removed the image. So think large oval casserole made by a certain french sounding merchant of expensive cast iron wares and you will get the picture. It is a rather nice warm red colour.
Bought it last Thursday and it will be it's first outing. If it's anything like the others in the range I've got, it will be good.
Rayburn + cast iron pot + leg of lamb = Heaven!
Merry Christmas everybody.
Saturday 25 December 2010
Monday 13 December 2010
An Amazing Concept
Chris Cobb, a local San Francisco artist did something amazing to a bookshop called Adobe Books- he arranged every single one of the 20,000 books by color. {Can you see this would be my fantasy?} The project is called "There is Nothing Wrong in This Whole Wide World" and is based on a simple idea:
"Even though there is so much to be unhappy about in this world, we should try to create something amazing and beautiful and interesting despite all of the problems." Chris Cobb
Chris and a team of 16 volunteers stayed up all night (ten hours, several pizzas and 30 bottles of water later) and arranged all of the books by hand. Inside every book there is a tag saying where it belongs.
Unfortunately this piece only existed until January 15th 2005
Link
"Even though there is so much to be unhappy about in this world, we should try to create something amazing and beautiful and interesting despite all of the problems." Chris Cobb
Chris and a team of 16 volunteers stayed up all night (ten hours, several pizzas and 30 bottles of water later) and arranged all of the books by hand. Inside every book there is a tag saying where it belongs.
Unfortunately this piece only existed until January 15th 2005
Link
Sunday 12 December 2010
Hello blog
Long time no post!
I've been getting acquainted with my new (castoff from more tech-savvy and wealthy son!) Google phone.
Going to be a steep learning curve!!
I've been getting acquainted with my new (castoff from more tech-savvy and wealthy son!) Google phone.
Going to be a steep learning curve!!
Tuesday 16 November 2010
Max Richter
Watched an episode of Auschwitz, The Nazis and the Final Solution last night and recognised excerpts from Memoryhouse by Max Richter.
The Website is here
There are tracks from the album (and others) on the site.
This is my favourite track.
November by max richter
The Website is here
There are tracks from the album (and others) on the site.
This is my favourite track.
November by max richter
Ulrich Schnauss
Haven't rambled here for a while.
As I am rather partial to the music of Ulrich Schnauss, I visit these two sites on a semi-regular basis.
A Strangely Isolated Place
Schnaussifier
This site has some very good neo-classical music.
Lend Me Your Ears
As I am rather partial to the music of Ulrich Schnauss, I visit these two sites on a semi-regular basis.
A Strangely Isolated Place
Schnaussifier
This site has some very good neo-classical music.
Lend Me Your Ears
Monday 15 November 2010
Half Remembered Song
Watched a bit of Neil Diamond on the Electric Prom. He sang a song I haven't heard for a long time and sometimes hearing a song like that stirs memories and emotions. It was Love Song written by Lesley Duncan.
Elton John covered it on his album Tumbleweed Connection. While I was tracing this song I was saddened to learn that Lesley Duncan died last March, she was 66.
Lesley Duncan website
Elton John covered it on his album Tumbleweed Connection. While I was tracing this song I was saddened to learn that Lesley Duncan died last March, she was 66.
Lesley Duncan website
Saturday 13 November 2010
Tuesday 9 November 2010
Mazey Day again
It's 8am and it's cold and raining. Time to revisit Mazey Day.
Shots of the flags on the promenade from various years.
Shots of the flags on the promenade from various years.
Monday 8 November 2010
Canadian Medical Association Journal
As Christmas creeps upon us again, it is time to remember the Canadian Medical Association Journal.
Pathology in the Hundred Acre Wood: a neurodevelopmental perspective on A.A. Milne became rather famous a while back.
Every December issue has a holiday review, containing such gems.
The Sasktoon Clamp is a classic.
The definition of 'double blind' design is hilarious.
Pathology in the Hundred Acre Wood: a neurodevelopmental perspective on A.A. Milne became rather famous a while back.
Every December issue has a holiday review, containing such gems.
The Sasktoon Clamp is a classic.
The definition of 'double blind' design is hilarious.
Welcome
I see that nice Mr Chris Wild of Retronautical fame has linked my name to my blog.
Welcome to all that have strayed here.
It is the result of my wanderings both virtual and real.
I hope you find things to interest and amuse you.
Welcome to all that have strayed here.
It is the result of my wanderings both virtual and real.
I hope you find things to interest and amuse you.
Comic Art
Another of my random voyages through the web turned up the image below.
There is an interesting discussion on the Kitsune Noir blog.
It brings back memories of going up to Sheffield and Rotherham to see my Gran, uncles, aunts and cousins. One of my cousins had a big stack of American pulp comics, I'd never seen anything like them before and was totally blown away by them.
I haven't been up there for a while but thanks to the magic of Google street view I have taken a virtual walk down the street where my Gran used to live.
There is an interesting discussion on the Kitsune Noir blog.
It brings back memories of going up to Sheffield and Rotherham to see my Gran, uncles, aunts and cousins. One of my cousins had a big stack of American pulp comics, I'd never seen anything like them before and was totally blown away by them.
I haven't been up there for a while but thanks to the magic of Google street view I have taken a virtual walk down the street where my Gran used to live.
Friday 5 November 2010
Time
Source
Musing on the subject of time and wandering around on the internet yielded the wonderful image above.
I Googled a quote from Star Trek 7 and found a poem by Delmore Schwartz. The last verse is below.
Each minute bursts in the burning room,
The great globe reels in the solar fire,
Spinning the trivial and unique away.
(How all things flash! How all things flare!)
What am I now that I was then?
May memory restore again and again
The smallest color of the smallest day:
Time is the school in which we learn,
Time is the fire in which we burn.
Thursday 4 November 2010
Tuesday 2 November 2010
Peter Callesen
Just sent someone a link to Peter Callesen's webpage amazing artwork.
Alive But Dead
Holding on to Myself
Alive But Dead
Holding on to Myself
Sunday 31 October 2010
Two Interesting Websites
Just discovered two very interesting websites:
Curious Expeditions
Under a heading of Librophiliac Love letter is a collection of photographs of beautiful libraries.
This is the library at Strahov Monestery in Prague
and
The Museum of Lost Wonder
Plenty to explore here.
Curious Expeditions
Under a heading of Librophiliac Love letter is a collection of photographs of beautiful libraries.
This is the library at Strahov Monestery in Prague
and
The Museum of Lost Wonder
Plenty to explore here.
Saturday 30 October 2010
Saturday Morning Frivolity
Always carrying my digital camera pays off sometimes.
Spotted these wonderful examples on the streets in my home town.
Patience is exhausted.
No don't.
I don't think they want visitors.
Slippery customers these Enlish.
And when a well known greeting card and gift shop closed in the town.
Spotted these wonderful examples on the streets in my home town.
Patience is exhausted.
No don't.
I don't think they want visitors.
Slippery customers these Enlish.
And when a well known greeting card and gift shop closed in the town.
Sunday 24 October 2010
Maurits Escher
Saturday 23 October 2010
Mazey Day
My favourite day of the year is Mazey Day. This is one of the last events of the Golowan Festival which takes place in Penzance in the last week of June.
There is so much to see and I have taken so many photographs over the last five years that it is too much to put into one post. So this post is about the fantastic creations that are paraded through the streets.
These are from various years from 2006 to 2010.
Golowan Festival Website
Photos on Flickr
There is so much to see and I have taken so many photographs over the last five years that it is too much to put into one post. So this post is about the fantastic creations that are paraded through the streets.
These are from various years from 2006 to 2010.
Golowan Festival Website
Photos on Flickr
Friday 22 October 2010
Thursday 21 October 2010
More Frivolity
Should have saved this for December. But what the hell, the shit's in the shops already!
Experience Mobile Mobile from James Théophane Jnr on Vimeo.
Tuesday 19 October 2010
Clangers!
A bit of Tuesday morning frivolity...
Clangers
The Clangers Election Broadcast
Cult TV
Brilliant. Thanks BBC!
Clangers
The Clangers Election Broadcast
Cult TV
Brilliant. Thanks BBC!
Sunday 17 October 2010
The Mysterious Geographic Explorations of Jasper Morello
Love this video, amazing visuals.
The Mysterious Geographic Explorations of Jasper Morello - 2005 from debora censi on Vimeo.
Saturday 16 October 2010
Curiouser and Curiouser
The Cabinet of curiosity I blogged about here does not actually exist. It is a wonderful Trompe l'Oeil artwork, made all the more remarkable by the fact that it is not a painting but is constructed from slivers of inlaid stone.
This explanation is from here
Amazingly, this is not a painting! It’s a picture made of a mosaic of tiny slivers of inlaid stone. It was done about four hundred years ago by Flemish artist Domenico Remps, and usually it lives in a small institution in Florence called the Opificio delle Pietre Dure.
The subject is a so-called cabinet of curiosities. These were little display collections of natural and artistic curiosities, placed in specially made cabinets by wealthy collectors between four and three hundred years ago. They went out of fashion as collections of such things became too large and specialised for a small cabinet, but they are the ancestors of today’s museums.
Trompe L’oeil is french for Trick the Eye. The idea of pictures in this style is to be so realistic that, ideally, viewers might be deceived into not realising that they were looking at a picture rather than the real thing.
This explanation is from here
Amazingly, this is not a painting! It’s a picture made of a mosaic of tiny slivers of inlaid stone. It was done about four hundred years ago by Flemish artist Domenico Remps, and usually it lives in a small institution in Florence called the Opificio delle Pietre Dure.
The subject is a so-called cabinet of curiosities. These were little display collections of natural and artistic curiosities, placed in specially made cabinets by wealthy collectors between four and three hundred years ago. They went out of fashion as collections of such things became too large and specialised for a small cabinet, but they are the ancestors of today’s museums.
Trompe L’oeil is french for Trick the Eye. The idea of pictures in this style is to be so realistic that, ideally, viewers might be deceived into not realising that they were looking at a picture rather than the real thing.
Victorian Surrealism
Saturday 9 October 2010
Blogs as Wunderkammern
Wow!! This is exactly how I think about mine!
The difference is that mine isn't very public, I have one invited reader and I gave my son the link. There may be others who have stumbled here...Welcome to the flotsam and jetsam of my mind.
The difference is that mine isn't very public, I have one invited reader and I gave my son the link. There may be others who have stumbled here...Welcome to the flotsam and jetsam of my mind.
More Books
A trawl through the charity shops in my home town yielded two cracking books.
Berlin: The Downfall 1945 by Anthony Beevor
Image source
And Dry Store Room No 1: The Secret History of the Natural History Museum
Amazon Image
The Beevor book covers the events inside and outside the bunker. I watched the German film Downfall a while ago. Bruno Ganz was excellent as Hitler.
In my opinion there are three films to see regarding the Second World War
Downfall
Schindler's List
Conspiracy with Kenneth Branagh
I haven't seen Cabaret for a while, but I think that should receive an honourable mention.
Schlindler's list is a very difficult film to watch, heartbreakingly so at times. That and Downfall convincingly portray a society where every social and cultural norm have broken down.
The Fortey book looks fascinating. The Natural History Museum is not just a cabinet of curiosities but a whole building. Now we are beginning to make scientific sense of everything and that adds another layer of interest.
Both £1.50 each. Bargain.
Berlin: The Downfall 1945 by Anthony Beevor
Image source
And Dry Store Room No 1: The Secret History of the Natural History Museum
Amazon Image
The Beevor book covers the events inside and outside the bunker. I watched the German film Downfall a while ago. Bruno Ganz was excellent as Hitler.
In my opinion there are three films to see regarding the Second World War
Downfall
Schindler's List
Conspiracy with Kenneth Branagh
I haven't seen Cabaret for a while, but I think that should receive an honourable mention.
Schlindler's list is a very difficult film to watch, heartbreakingly so at times. That and Downfall convincingly portray a society where every social and cultural norm have broken down.
The Fortey book looks fascinating. The Natural History Museum is not just a cabinet of curiosities but a whole building. Now we are beginning to make scientific sense of everything and that adds another layer of interest.
Both £1.50 each. Bargain.
Saturday 2 October 2010
Bulb mania
I love the Eden project in Cornwall and being local I can take advantage of the all-year free entry ticket.
These are some shots of the Bulb Mania displays taken in May 2006.
I'm not the most expert of photographers but I always manage to take good ones at the Eden project.
These are some shots of the Bulb Mania displays taken in May 2006.
I'm not the most expert of photographers but I always manage to take good ones at the Eden project.
Wednesday 29 September 2010
Paris 360 and more
I had this image on my hard drive but lost it somehow.
Just found it again in Gammagoblin's blog. Who got it from here
Thank you to Gammagoblin for putting it in an iFrame.
Apparently the i-Frame doesn't work in some browsers. Apologies to those affected, click on the image for an enlarged version.
There are more stunning photos of Paris here.
Just found it again in Gammagoblin's blog. Who got it from here
Thank you to Gammagoblin for putting it in an iFrame.
Apparently the i-Frame doesn't work in some browsers. Apologies to those affected, click on the image for an enlarged version.
There are more stunning photos of Paris here.
Thursday 23 September 2010
Hello Blog
Waves from a distance. Will be back soon when the computer is behaving itself.
There now follows a brief intermission...
Wednesday 15 September 2010
St Ives
My computer needs sorting out, it's a bit cranky. That's why I haven't been here so often. Hope to get it sorted soon.
Just to have a presence here I have decided to upload some pics I took of St Ives in June.
The weather was perfect, brilliant light. This is the reason why artists came here to form the St Ives School.
The sea was a beautiful turquoise.
The Island, taken on a different occasion.
Where else can you stand on a platform waiting for a train and that's the view!
Just to have a presence here I have decided to upload some pics I took of St Ives in June.
The weather was perfect, brilliant light. This is the reason why artists came here to form the St Ives School.
The sea was a beautiful turquoise.
The Island, taken on a different occasion.
Where else can you stand on a platform waiting for a train and that's the view!
Sunday 12 September 2010
Thursday 9 September 2010
My cabinet of curiosities revisited
Realised I hadn't included an image of the bottom shelf. a slightly different theme.
Another example, with a short article.
Cabinet of Curiosity
May 17, 2008 in Science & Society
“Cabinets of curiosities (also known as Wunderkammer) were encyclopedic collections of types of objects whose categorical boundaries were, in Renaissance Europe, yet to be defined. Modern science would categorize the objects included as belonging to natural history (sometimes faked), geology, ethnography, archaeology, religious or historical relics, works of art (including cabinet paintings) and antiquities. “The Kunstkammer was regarded as a microcosm or theater of the world, and a memory theater. The Kunstkammer conveyed symbolically the patron’s control of the world through its indoor, microscopic reproduction.”
“A found object, in an artistic sense, indicates the use of an object which has not been designed for an artistic purpose, but which exists for another purpose already. Found objects may exist either as utilitarian, manufactured items, or things (including, at times, dead bodies) which occur in nature. In both cases the objects are discovered by the artist or musician to be capable of being employed in an artistic way, and are designated as ‘found’ to distinguish them from purposely created items used in the art forms.’
‘Found object’ can also refer to a small object found by chance which, though usually of little monetary value, captures the imagination of the finder and is therefore kept as a keepsake. Perhaps it is a penny or an unusual stone or even a pretty piece of metal. Often found just “on the ground,” it is kept as a curiosity or even a good luck charm. They are often associated with a trip or a special memory or an important time in a person’s life. The connotations of mystery about where it came from, the feeling that it is a lucky or providential occurrence, and the sense that it is simply a ‘free gift from the world’ or “from nowhere” can add to the sense of wonder or magic surrounding a found object. A ‘found object’ may stand alone or may form the basis for a collection.”
Link It has the links to the Wiki pages
Another example, with a short article.
Cabinet of Curiosity
May 17, 2008 in Science & Society
“Cabinets of curiosities (also known as Wunderkammer) were encyclopedic collections of types of objects whose categorical boundaries were, in Renaissance Europe, yet to be defined. Modern science would categorize the objects included as belonging to natural history (sometimes faked), geology, ethnography, archaeology, religious or historical relics, works of art (including cabinet paintings) and antiquities. “The Kunstkammer was regarded as a microcosm or theater of the world, and a memory theater. The Kunstkammer conveyed symbolically the patron’s control of the world through its indoor, microscopic reproduction.”
“A found object, in an artistic sense, indicates the use of an object which has not been designed for an artistic purpose, but which exists for another purpose already. Found objects may exist either as utilitarian, manufactured items, or things (including, at times, dead bodies) which occur in nature. In both cases the objects are discovered by the artist or musician to be capable of being employed in an artistic way, and are designated as ‘found’ to distinguish them from purposely created items used in the art forms.’
‘Found object’ can also refer to a small object found by chance which, though usually of little monetary value, captures the imagination of the finder and is therefore kept as a keepsake. Perhaps it is a penny or an unusual stone or even a pretty piece of metal. Often found just “on the ground,” it is kept as a curiosity or even a good luck charm. They are often associated with a trip or a special memory or an important time in a person’s life. The connotations of mystery about where it came from, the feeling that it is a lucky or providential occurrence, and the sense that it is simply a ‘free gift from the world’ or “from nowhere” can add to the sense of wonder or magic surrounding a found object. A ‘found object’ may stand alone or may form the basis for a collection.”
Link It has the links to the Wiki pages
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)