“There is no progress in art, any more than there is progress in making love. There are simply different ways of doing it.”

— Man Ray, in his essay “To Be Continued, Unnoticed” (1948)

For me, the drawing is the process of arriving at this image. This process is usually very fast to begin with. I work with charcoal and charcoal dust, and within the first minute, the large expanse of white paper can be turned into a dirty grey. I’ll put lines across it, finding vague geographies of where things will go, and then the process of drawing is the remaining hours or days it takes to work through the drawing. The art is to try to finish at the same speed you begin with – to not let the drawing become more and more cramped, to try to keep a looseness and an open-endedness right to the end.

Often, the finished drawing is different from what I had in my head when I started off, and the better ones are those that don’t look anything like I thought they would. The ideas are not the driving force in drawing, nor is meaning. The need to make an image is the driving force. It isn’t like a writer who has a story they have to tell, and so they write a novel. It isn’t as if I have an image the world has to see. Rather I have a need to be making marks on paper. Drawing isn’t a decision, it is a need.

Everyday is like Wednesday

via this isn’t happiness.

The end of our civilization. If you believe in global climate change and Al Gore, which I do (both) then as much as Gore doesn’t want to say it because it would be counter-productive for him to, our civilization is on the path to self-extinction.

Why should we fight to get our economy growing again? Isn’t growth the whole problem? Shouldn’t we see the economic downturn as not only inevitable, but as our last hope for salvation? These are fair questions imho.

The inescapable truth that no one wants to speak out loud is that we have too many people, and we’re adding more people at too fast a clip. The planet can’t sustain what we have now without destroying the climate, yet we haven’t done anything to limit growth.

So maybe this isn’t the biggest downturn since The Great Depression? Maybe it’s bigger than that. Maybe this is a corner-turn for the human race, maybe last September was when it finally occurred to us, collectively, that we couldn’t keep going as we were going, and we hit the brakes in the way the Invisible Hand does. Maybe the efforts to “jump start” the economy won’t work, and maybe that’s as it should be, and maybe that’s a good thing?

via Scripting News: 2/15/2009.

You’ve been taking your time
And you’ve been living on solid air
You’ve been walking the line
And You’ve been living on solid air
Don’t know what’s going wrong inside
And I can tell you that it’s hard to hide when you’re living on
Solid air.

You’ve been painting it blue
And you’ve been looking through solid air
You’ve been seeing it through
And you’ve been looking through solid air
Don’t know what’s going wrong in your mind,
And I can tell you don’t like what you find,
When you’re moving through
Solid air.

I know you, I love you
And I could be your friend
I could follow you, anywhere
Even through solid air.

You’ve been stoning it cold
You’ve been living on solid air
You’ve been finding that gold
You’ve been living on solid air
I don’t know what’s going on inside
I can tell you that it’s hard to hide
When you’re living on
Solid air, solid air.

You’ve been getting too deep
You’ve been living on solid air
You’ve been missing your sleep
And you’ve been moving through solid air
I don’t know what’s going on in your mind
But I know you don’t like what you find
When you’re moving through
Solid air, solid air.

I know you, I love you
I’ll be your friend
I could follow you, anywhere
Even through solid air.

You’ve been walking your line
You’ve been walking on solid air
You’ve been taking your time
But you’ve been walking on solid air
Don’t know what’s going wrong inside
But I can tell you that it’s hard to hide
When you’re living on
Solid air, solid air.

You’ve been painting it blue,
You’ve been living on solid air
You’ve been seeing it through
And you’ve been living on solid air
I don’t know what’s going on in your mind
But I can tell you don’t like what you find
When your living on
Solid air, solid air.

I know you, I love you
And I’ll be your friend
I could follow you, anywhere
Even through solid air.

Ice blue solid air
Nice blue solid air

We are greatly honoured to join the millions around the globe congratulating you on taking office as the President of the United States of America. We believe that we are witnessing something truly historic not only in the political annals of your great nation, the United States of America, but of the world.

Your election to this high office has inspired people as few other events in recent times have done. Amidst all of the human progress made over the last century the world in which we live remains one of great divisions, conflict, inequality, poverty and injustice. Amongst many around the world a sense of hopelessness had set in as so many problems remain unresolved and seemingly incapable of being resolved. You, Mister President, have brought a new voice of hope that these problems can be addressed and that we can in fact change the world and make of it a better place.

We are in some ways reminded today of the excitement and enthusiasm in our own country at the time of our transition to democracy. People, not only in our country but around the world, were inspired to believe that through common human effort injustice can be overcome and that together a better life for all can be achieved.

Your Presidency brings hope of new beginnings in the relations between nations, that the challenges we all face, be they economic, the environment, or in combating poverty or the search for peace, will be addressed with a new spirit of openness and accommodation.

There is a special excitement on our continent today, Mister President, in the knowledge that you have such strong personal ties with Africa. We share in that excitement and pride.

We are aware that the expectations of what your Presidency will achieve are high and that the demands on you will be great. We therefore once more wish you and your family strength and fortitude in the challenging days and years that lie ahead.

You will always be in our affection as a young man who dared to dream and to pursue that dream. We wish you well.

Sincerely

Signed N R Mandela

The Wild Frontier at The Times » Blog Archive » Nelson Mandela’s message to Barack Obama – full text.

I ask him the question that has been nagging, the question that lay at the heart of his book and at the heart of the country: is his vision of South Africa born of objective analysis or psychological necessity? Is it out there in the city, or inside his head?

‘The thing was,’ he says, ‘if I had been born black in this country would I forgive me, people like me? Would I fuck. I would cheer for Mugabe as well. It seems so logical to me. South Africa needed to have this really brutal dialogue with itself: black South Africa would say, “Look, you came here, you stole our lands and our cattle, you raped our women, you destroyed our lives completely, we hate you.” And white south Africa would respond, “Yes, but look at you now in your BMW with your cell phone; everything about you would not be like that if we had not been here. It cannot possibly be as simple as just to say race no longer matters in South Africa.’

Tim Adams travels to Johannesburg to meet the controversial writer Rian Malan | Books | The Observer.

The problem with the word GOD, or GAAD in American Baptist (GAWD in London), is that no one can define what they mean by GOD – it could be almost anything, from a bearded man in the sky, to a general term for the sum total of everything. And if the answer is GOD – what is the question?

There is no point rattling on about a term if there is no clearly defined definition. I have a feeling that if you manage to define the term you will be half way to forming a new religion – and before long you will have more money than god (who is always broke).

Should you be able to define Gaad , you will also probably discover all his hidden names, and he will appear before you and split your head asunder. Though I doubt you can find any of His names, as God uses a different vocabulary to the average mortal – when was the last time you used the word “asunder” (or “smite”)?

But using “God” as a search term is always rewarding, you get the occasional theological discussion, a lot of cussing/swearing, a fair smattering of politics (too much GW Bush perhaps), the latest news on just about every war on the planet, and a not inconsiderable amount of Eric Clapton and various guitar legends. Not a half bad search term for a broad view of the general zeitgeist of the day. Economical to type, mostly entertaining and informative, even a little mysterious.

Jim Morrison’s 1966 ecological message – still great after all these years:

What have they done to the Earth,
What have they done to our fair sister?
Ravaged and plundered and ripped her and bit her
Stuck her with knives in the side of the dawn,
And tied her with fences and dragged her down.

So when the music’s over,
Turn out the lights.

A must see – if you have broadband and a spare hour and a half .

Good music i believe does the same thing. Our musical tastes are expanded when a common sound takes a new twist. We also seem to like music that conjures up the past, even the recent past. A good tune is almost never interesting on the first listen, and a crappy tune we digest and get bored by after only a few plays.

cover of the punk band “Dead Kennedys” single “holiday in cambodia“

Not funny? But you are safe..

Music also seems to be innate, we all like some of it. Even the dumbest understand music. Not everybody likes abstract art, yet music is totally abstract. Music seems to beat the time of our lives -starting with our mothers heartbeat. As we get older some music we have listened to in our past makes a short cut to memories in our brains, much as a smell from our childhood can take you right back to buried memories.

I wonder if rock and roll will survive the internal combustion engine? The rise of rock and roll could be linked to adolescent access to dads car in an affluent America of the 50′s. “Driving” power cords on a Stratocaster sound similar to an engine (just play “Born to be wild” by Steppenwolf or L.A Woman by the Doors ). If you are driving in the USA, there is good driving music and there is crap driving music- non of it can be played on an acoustic guitar.

When the oil runs out, and assuming we can still light up our ipods, will hard driving rock music still be popular? Bach could never understand modern music, but maybe after a year or so on a road trip across the USA in a car with a big V8- he might understand why.

So when the oil runs out will we all get into new age humming. And after the last memories of the car have died off, will our descendants wonder what the hell we were listening to.

Oh, and just in case you think i have dropped a rod – I also think one of the first punk songs was the batman theme song from the 60′s TV show. Just have another listen to “You’ve got my Number” by the undertones.

Geek thrills are pretty sad.

scantily clad witch

As a younger lessgrump man, I spent over a year sailing the Atlantic, eastern USA and Caribbean as deckhand, mate, engineer and sometimes acting Captain of a 175ft three masted topsail schooner (the: Port Bougainville /Eric Borgman). It was an amazing time, a private vessel sailed by professionals (mostly). My teachers were the Portuguese ex bosun of the Sagres, Gesuino (Jesuino?) and Captain Jack Showers (not Sparrow, I met him later). I learnt a lot about the tall ships that sailed at the end of the 19th century. The clippers like the Cutty Sark and the famous iron masted P ships that rounded the Horn to Chile were the pinnacle of engineering- the end product of a millennia of refinements to the art of moving cargo across inhospitable oceans with just the power of the wind and iron men.

I have seen the Cutty Sark at Greenwich and while its a magnificent site, one cant really appreciate her as she sits in dry dock, the underwater lines can perhaps be appreciated by a student of naval design (most sailors), but the hull looks a bit squat out of the water, its a cargo ship remember. I am sure that only when you see her afloat and sailing can the real power and beauty of this tea clipper become apparent. The recent fire is a tragedy, sailing or squatting I certainly hope she is restorable- I have a hope they will restore her to full sailing capability, I would give my left nut to be passed by her on the ocean, but i doubt that will happen.

I was doing a google search for the Cutty Sark and used a useful new search criteria, if you are looking for anything that may have a history or chronology, just append “view:timeline” (without the quotes) onto the end of your search term. Look at the timeline for the Cutty Sark . I was interested to see that the Cutty Sark was re-rigged and renamed the Maria do Amparo in Cape Town after being dismasted off the Cape of Good Hope in 1916. I will be in Cape Town in a few days, perhaps a glass of scotch to the scantily clad witch is in order.

Legend has it in sailing circles, that the exposed breasts of a young women will placate the sea- hence the proud carved protuberance on the semi-naked figure below the bowsprit, well you can see the sailors mind at work here; should they come across a wench, the first thing to do is get them out and point them at the sea. Some believe this to be myth, but i can personally attest to it’s veracity.

Now- in the run up to what the Christians call “Easter” a chocolate Jesus is about the funniest thing that I can imagine, puts our modern condition right in perspective. Hey, much more chocolate than your average bunny, and the icing on the cake (or lack thereof), as reported by the BBC “the sculpture, unusually, depicts Jesus without a loincloth.” -classic. I wonder if it’s hollow.

It also occurs to me that in the run up to Aprils fools day, the BBC could have really hit the sweat spot with this one…

Have a look at these photos from South America – pretty much the same as we have been watching here.

Gather your disciples, put on your nike’s and break out the lethal cool-aid, the brightest comet for 30 years has appeared in the night sky!

Day 1 (Sam Harris): Why Are Atheists So Angry? | Jewcy.com

Much as i admire Sam Harris’ argument, and think that its very necessary to vocalise his view- in a time when fundamentalism from Texas to Afghanistan is buggering minds and nations.

I just wish that when discussing Gaad, that Gaad was first defined. Is Gaad the sum of everything, and is this sum-of-everything-being actually interested in the bedroom antics of your average Texan, or Iranian? Does seem kind of unlikely. Is Gaad a dimly perceived natural law of the universe that could aid your actions in life. Is Gaad in the universe or is Gaad apart from the universe. Enquiring minds want to know.
Well i guess the nature of Gaad would be another discussion. But i do wonder- if they could actually define what they meant by Gaad, then perhaps each side of the discussion would be able to understand what the other side is going on about… Doesn’t the Koran have something about the secret names of Gaad?

HalleLager

I am becoming so intolerant of intolerance – this manifesto is well worth linking to again.