Ink Sweat and Tears

Charles over at inksweatandtears.com has again very kindly published a piece of my work.

Check it out HERE.

Everything has changed/Absolutely nothing's changed

So I’m starting a new job next week and I have that new boy anxiousness.

The work isn’t rocket science, so I know I can do it, but still, new people and a new environment make me a little uncomfortable as I’m a creature of habit. Also when you think that you spend half of your week at work – the same amount of time you’re at home (or wherever else you may be doing the things you actually enjoy in life) it kind of makes you wonder how much you become your job, or how much your chosen work affects your identity.

Keats said ‘A poet is the most unpoetical of anything in existence, because he has no identity - he is continually informing and filling some other body.’

Now I don’t call myself a ‘poet’ but if you replace that word with ‘artist’ you can see what he means. So maybe it’s even more difficult for someone who willingly embraces differing personas to feel anything but unsettled when having to introduce ‘himself’ to new people. Especially those to whom a good first impression is so important.

This counts even more for those who have been in the same job for maybe 4-5 years. It must inform part of your personality without you even realising until you stop and consider it for a moment.

‘I am interested in madness. I believe it is the biggest thing in the human race, and the most constant. How do you take away from a man his madness without also taking away his identity?’ Saroyan.

Again if you think of ‘madness’ in this context as artistic or creative expression of some kind, you can see what I mean. It’s a tough balance – and at this point - even at my age and with all my experiences, I don’t know if it ever ends.

Quote of the day

“my father warned me about men and booze but he never said anything about women and cocaine.” Tallulah Bankhead.

Genius (literally)

Grigory Perelman, the maths genius who said no to $1m... Perelman cracks a century-old conundrum, refuses the reward, and barricades himself in his flat... Read more

Historical Kitten

 

So, about 6 years back I did a telephone interview with Kitten Natividad that I was trying to get into Bizarre magazine. Suffice to say they didn't use it but I just came across the interview itself and thought I may as wellpost it up here. There is a bit of 'blue' language - just in case I have any younger viewers...

Films like ‘Beyond the Valley of the Ultravixens’ and ‘Up!’ were like nothing else released at that time, with the extreme humour and cartoon-like dialogue. Were they received with some confusion? Oh no! People loved them baby, no one had EVER seen films dedicated to big titties like those before! They were freaked out but they loved them!

Do you don’t think there’s enough humour in adult films at these days? No way, it was all Russ, he was a genius! That’s why he's still here! That’s why I’M still here! Kicking butt! My fans are keeping it cult! Kitten interview at MySpace.

I need to be Columbo

Because if I was - while keeping one eye out for the STP/PJ double as reported below - I would have seen that these dudes are also playing that very same week. DAMN.

Countdown to 1996 Begins

Add these guys...


To these guys...


and it makes this coming June the best month of 2010.

O

To lexicographers it's just the 15th letter of the English alphabet. To designers it's a perfect shape for treatment: a world, a ball, a ring, a sun, a moon, a clock, a compass, a face. It's not even just a letter; it's a number, too – if zero counts as a number. It's a solid sphere or an empty circle... Read more

Amazing

I can almost guarantee I'm the only one who finds THIS SITE funny.

in my heeeeead!

Your favourite song comes on the radio. You hum the tune; the lyrics remind you of someone you know. Is your brain processing the words and music separately or as one? It's a hotly debated question that may finally have an answer.

People with aphasia, who can't speak, can still hum a tune, suggesting music and lyrics are processed separately. Yet brain scans show that music and language activate the same areas, which might mean the brain treats them as one signal. Read more

On a more positive note

 

I got some free wheels yesterday (cheers Jake) 

and this book came in the post, and will be on my person at all times.

Forgotten films PT2:

‘Pointy birds – a pointy pointy, anoint my head, anointy nointy.’

Hey – everyone remember when Steve Martin was funny? No me either – well ok, with the exception of this and maybe the one with Michael Caine where they’re hustlin’.ALTHOUGH - Man With 2 Brains does have a girl flash her boobs then sing Duke of Earl. And that was sampled for a Cypress Hill tune – so...

Forgotten films Pt1:

Not many people will have seen or maybe even remember this movie. It’s now 27 years old and I remember seeing it when I was around 14 and it being something that really blew my mind and actually with hindsight, made me ask a lot of the questions I still do today. It’s kind of hokey in places but the basic premise and way the film is handled is pretty amazing, and a few ropey effects aside it would still stand up today – at least story-wise.

I am genuinely surprised that in these days of lazy Hollywood remakes, no one has taken it onboard to fuck this up with a new version. I’d like to see it remastered maybe with some up to date CG replacing the 1980’s effects – but that aside it is a really good watch. One of Walken’s best of that era in my opinion, along with the Dead Zone. You can go find the trailer youself. What am I, your dad?

We Are Skateboarders