Intermission
Thursday, February 28, 2008 ~ 6 comments so far
The past week was comprised of several acres of sleeping, a variety of coughs from a phlegm-shifting bark to a wheezy airless hack, the swallowing of many small sharp edged rocks, and the application of an ever-tightening metal band around my head.
In other words, I have man-flu.
More technically, I have a chest infection (confined to my left lung) the result of which means I have 4 weeks worth of antibiotics to take. I’m on the mend.
Normal service will be resumed shortly.
What is art?
Wednesday, February 20, 2008 ~ 11 comments so far
During a Saturday afternoon wander in London, joining the throng of tourists meandering along the river, I decided to head to the Tate Modern. It’s been some years since I’d been there (Anish Kappor’s Marsyas was the installation at the time) and my art tastes veer towards that end of the scale so I do enjoy visiting it
The current installation is a large crack in the floor of the old Turbine room, installed by Doris Salcedo, and represents:
Whilst I’m still trying to figure out HOW the crack was made (it’s definitely the original floor, or a very very good copy), what was more interesting to me was how people were reacting to it, and interacting with it. Like myself, most people started at the top end, nearest the entrance, and traced the crack the length of the hall, peering down into the depths, occasionally glancing back. Young children hopped over it, adults stood astride it, intrigued, puzzled and in no small matter fascinated.
Wandering the entire length of the hall only to find that the end of the crack doesn’t reveal anything more, or less, than the beginning, I wondered what had driven me to do that. Surely there must be more, surely it can’t just be a crack in the concrete? I wasn’t alone, with huddles of people at the bottom end of the hall discussing the whys and wherefores.
As ever it was the human interface to the art, seeing the piece through the eyes of others, that was most interesting. To those standing astride the chasm there was almost a sense of dominance, of man over matter. The ability to overpower something that was not fully understood perhaps? Given that the crack, even at it’s deepest point, was no more than 7 or 8 inches deep then surely the subconscious was more at play than any conscious thought?
Moving upstairs to view a few of Munoz’s pieces was a completely different, and personally far more disturbing experience. Two pieces in particular, both of which deliberately feature midgets (his words, not mine) to challenge our preconceptions of sculpture and beauty. The pieces themselves were simple, a young man standing on a table, clutching a chess set, a young woman on tiptoe to view photos of herself spread out on a pool table. The featureless faces adding to the discomfort of viewing. Interesting experience.
Alas, the rest of my wander round the galleries wasn’t as inspiring with the Idea and Object level being particularly hit or miss but I’m glad I went. As far as art goes, like most people, I know what I like but I’m also open to being challenged with what I view.
What is art? The question is the answer to itself if you ask me. If you have to ask, you’ve already been provoked/challenged/intrigued enough to consider the question and that, is art. Although, re-reading that sentence, isn’t it just the kind of self-righteous, head-up-arse response you’d expect from an artist… oh dear.
Publishing
Monday, February 18, 2008 ~ Comments Off
Prompted by the You’re Not the Only One… wait, you’ve not heard of it! Well a few bloggers are:
…putting together a book for WARCHILD written by bloggers and here’s where you come in:
We would like you to submit a written piece about something you’ve been through from any aspect of your life that you want to share. It can literally be about anything: your relationships, your past, a road not taken, being a parent, an illness or your regrets etc. We’ve called it “You’re Not The Only One” to reflect the camaraderie of blogging.
[All] Proceeds will go to WARCHILD
If you are interested the full details are on the site, submissions need to be in by the 29th February. I’m sure it’ll be a success, and even if you don’t contribute, or don’t make the final edit, make sure you buy a copy – for charidee!
I’m considering submitting something from this, as I’ve had a few emails over the years thanking me for sharing my experiences here, largely because they had been (or were going through) something similar. One piece leaps out but I’m not sure I want to revisit it…
So I’ve been trawling my archives to see what else is hidden away in there and I have to admit that I’m shocked, and somewhat disappointed in myself. Place is bloody littered with bad grammar, spelling errors and general sloppiness. Now, I’ve always stated that this blog is informal and I certainly don’t apply the same strict rules here as I do in my daily work but still, it’s embarassing.
I really must buck up and start checking my posts before hitting Publish.
Of course, I say that but…
*clicks Publish*
Been and went and done it
Monday, February 18, 2008 ~ 18 comments so far
I spent the weekend in London and have a posts garnered from a rather wonderful weekend. Here’s the first one:
Friday evening, a pub in London, and a gathering of bloggers. What can I say, a great night in the company of smart, funny people.
I’ve been blogging for a while now, and over that time I’ve retained a central group of blogs that I always visit. They are my daily reads (at least they were, the advent of RSS means they are now the “read as soon as they’ve posted” reads) and their popularity is well deserved.
During the evening, at a point that is slightly hazy (not only are they nice people, they are very generous too, hic!), I suggested that us bloggers should be less self-effacing and be proud of what we do. Sitting around the table were people who have been published, people who write for magazines and newspapers, and all of whom share one thing. Quality.
Then there was little ole me… (yeah, I don’t handle praise all that well…).
Quite seriously I had to pause myself during several points of the evening to take in the slightly surreal gathering. To give a comparison, most people, when asked, could provide a list of people who’d they invite to a dinner party. You know, Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Hitler.. that kind of thing.
Well Friday night was my equivalent. Although, with all respect to the people who turned up, not QUITE in the same league. I mean who would bother chatting to Gandhi if mike from Troubled Diva was there?! (for the record, mike couldn’t make it, and truth be told it would be a hard decision to decide between him and Gandhi…).
My “list of bloggers I want to meet” has suddenly shrunk, far further than I thought (I retained a fear of sitting alone in a pub in London, desperately hoping someone, anyone, would turn up, only to be turfed out at the end of the night, alone).
Anyway, I guess I’d better name and shame. To all of you, thank you for taking time to come and meet me (even if not everyone managed to remember which pub it was in, and left a panic-stricken message on my voicemail, no names though…).
A list of attendees then, in no particular order as I after the first few drinks I kinda lost track…
- Random Acts of Reality
- No geek is an island
- graybo
- mad musings of me
- pixeldiva
- diamond geezer
- little red boat
- bobzyeruncle
- Sevitzdotcom
- Hydragenic
- Meish
- Girl with a one track mind
Phew. God, I hope I’ve not forgotten anyone.
I did take some photos as well, but I managed to capture everyone at their worst. So I’ll plead ‘privacy’ on those and they’ll remain hidden anyway (in reality I’m just scared that, if I were to post them, I’d be hunted down and forced to start up a MySpace page!).
Once again, thank you. Thank you thank you thank you. It really was a great evening, and I only wish I’d managed to get more time chatting to each of you. Of course that was just the FIRST time I’ve meet you, here’s to many more.
Spain was Spain
Friday, February 15, 2008 ~ 2 comments so far
Peggy enquired how we got on in Spain last week and I guess I should mention it.
Thing is it’s not really a holiday as such. It’s more a sojourn, or retreat, or… some other words that has the connotation of going somewhere warm and doing sweet fuck all.
On holiday I like to do things, visit places, learn about the area, sample the cuisine, the nightlife, the culture etc etc. But when we go to Spain we are there to visit my father-in-law and so we fall into his routine. We’ve seen the surrounding area and he’s not big on doing tourist stuff anyway… so our days were pretty straightforward:
- Wake up around 9am, sometimes later, sometimes earlier.
- Breakfast, coffee, then up onto the roof terrace for some sun.
- Midday, lunch. Usually in the flat, sometimes out for tapas.
- Either back to the roof terrace or out to the local shop for supplies.
- 4pm, pub for a couple of hours. A couple of beers and a coffee or two (Dos cafe con leche, por favor)
- Home for dinner.
- Siesta at 7pm.
- Back to pub at 8pm
- Home around midnight for a nightcap and bed.
We did venture up into the mountains one day, and had dinner out a couple of nights but that is largely our schedule for the week.
Peter, my father-in-law, like other ex-pats in the area, tend to develop such a routine. We see the same people come and go in the pub(s, he visits more than one) whilst we are there, and if someone doesn’t appear on time a phone call is made to check up. It’s a very tight knit community out there, and it makes it much easier on Louise to know that her Dad is taken care of… not that he needs it of course, but his little girl does worry about him sometimes.
Louise and I occasionally walk along the beachfront and just to prove that I was in Spain, here I am trying to look nonchalant whilst the locals were walking past wearing jackets, hats and scarves.
(more…)
Happy being ordinary
Wednesday, February 13, 2008 ~ 4 comments so far
I think it’s safe to say I am a fairly average guy, with an average life. I spend my working week at the grindstone, pottering about in the evening, watching TV occasionally, playing computer games, or mucking about on the computer. Weekends are usually full of family or the usual lot of the average man; B&Q, IKEA, and as much time spent sprawled on the sofa watching footie as I’m permitted. Occasionally we got out for dinner, or visit friends, or attend parties. Nothing particularly out of the ordinary.
It’s safe to say that I am not extraordinary.
And you know what, I’m quite happy with that. I’ve made peace with the fact that, whilst everyone is unique, mostly we’re all similar. We have similar habits, similar patterns to our daily to-ings and fro-ings. Yes, I’m happy being ordinary.
To a point.
Not being extraordinary does mean that you miss out on things. It means realising that others, those that shout louder, will get the attention and all too frequently the glory. I mean they do say “Nice guys finish last”, don’t they.
That makes me sound bitter when I’m exactly the opposite. I’m sweet. I’m sugar. Candyfloss and marshmallow am I.
Because, you know, one of the advantages of being ordinary is that when you do make a little noise, it goes a long long way. The rewards swing round, and you realise what you suspected all along.
Sure, the extraordinary noisemakers get the glory, but us ordinary people, we get respect and kudos. And you know what.
That suits me just fine.
Ready or not
Tuesday, February 12, 2008 ~ 2 comments so far
I have made the lists.
I have checked the lists.
The lists do not lie.
I think I finally have a grip on … dammit … just remembered something else.
OK, let’s start over.
The coming few weeks will be hectic. The arrival and fitting of a new kitchen requires preparation, the erecting of a new fence in the back garden requires a little preparation too, and there is the small matter of an (overdue) website, on top of some new stuff at work which is REALLY exciting and which I’m trying not to let intrude into my ‘downtime’ (I’m failing on that count but I don’t really mind).
So I have a list of things that need to be purchased. A list of things that need to be done, ordered by when they need done by (paint the kitchen ceiling before it’s fitted, for example), and split into things that need done on the computer, and things that don’t. Fairly simple.
This is always the way of things, I no longer get (too) stressed out knowing that, in the end, things will come together and with everything safely stored NOT IN MY HEAD, then I can tackle the tasks as and when needed.
Although I’ve just thought of something else I need to do…
Right, I THINK I’m prepared now. Maybe.
Lemme just check that list one more time…