The last two weeks, and Quantum of Solace

Hi,

I have been a busy fella.

In work I have been told that they are advertising the job I have been doing for the last year as a permanent position (I had been covering a maternity leave) and this post will be internally advertised only.

This is a good thing for me.

I have told the rest of the RISPACS team that I would be happy to give them references for the position, but I think no one else will apply. This means that, bar me threatening to kill people at my interview, I should have a good chance of being made permanent.

Which Is Nice!

The job is starting to get interesting at the moment. We are implementing a major project in the early part of next year, and another major project at the end of next year, both of which I will be heavily involved with.

I have also been recording with the band, and rehearsing for a couple of gigs next week. I am excited about putting all of the ideas I have for our songs onto disk, and hearing how they go. I can't do this live, as I don't have 6 arms.

So after a hectic 14 days, I took us all to see Quantum of Solace, the new 007 film.

I would recommend it.

Daniel Craig is superb, the script is sharp. The action painful, and the story has heart. It also has one of the best and most cathartic endings in any action-er I have ever seen. Well worth your 10 bucks.

It has been Thanksgiving week, and it has been a curiously flat affair. Last year, lots of chatter on the net, this year, little. I think maybe that the economy is dampening the enthusiasm, or maybe the election has exhausted everyone.

No worries here mind, NZ has an economy based mainly on food and other agriculture, so financial crashes, whilst they will affect us, do so less powerfully than the UK or USA. Still, my best wishes go out to those who are suffering economic hardship, may you find better times soon.

I have been bemused by the piracy happening off the coast of Africa. I flew over there earlier this year on the way to Dubai. The aircraft (A450, great plane) had downward facing cameras, so you could watch the ground go by.

I counted 3 F15's, 2 F-16 and an A10. That's just when I was looking, and they all flew directly under my plane.

Someone wants the price of oil up, and now that the Iraqi's seem to be getting it back together, this happens. Coincidence? Answers on a postcard please...

Be Good

10 things you should know about me

1. I was bullied at school. 

School days are the happiest of your life, some one once sang. That thought, when I was 14, was enough to make me suicidal.

I hated school with a passion.  

I was incarcerated at Penlan Comprehensive school in South Wales. I was an easy target, I was overweight, not sporty, and a bit of an arrogant twit. I also was completely hopeless at fighting, being a bit of a sensitive soul. 

I was bullied physically and emotionally for my entire school days. I even learned how to cough, and so took nearly a year out. Bullying continued when I got back. Only stopped when I went to college, and my time playing Rugby, weightlifting and my martial arts training finally gave me the self confidence to stop being a victim.

2. I have no emotional intelligence.

I cannot tell when someone is upset with me, or happy with me, or anything., People are a closed book to me. This is because I have Aspergers traits apparently. All I know is that up until my 30's, the reactions of those around me, good and bad, were always a surprise to me. Jacqui bless her, has learned how to cope with my oddness, and she says that she finds it "cute" Hmmmm.

3. I don't like teachers

My wife has two good friends, both teachers, I have a couple of mates in my pub quiz team, teachers, and I know (because I have met them) that most Teachers are selfless, hardworking, warmhearted individuals who love their charges. But I don't like Teachers because if there is one profesion perfectly suited to he spineless, sadistic bully, it is Teaching. I ran into a few when I was a nipper, but that is for another blog.

4. I love NFL

Being a Brit, I wasn't exposed to the American version of Rugby when I was a kid. My Bother Dessie was a running back for the Swansea Dragons, but it didn't make a dent. Then I came to NZ, and got badly sunburned over Christmas. Being NZ, there was nothing on the TV apart from college and national football. I watched 4 games and was hooked.

5. I once saved a toddler from drowning.

Perhaps the only solid contribution I have ever made to humanity. And I got covered in shit for my trouble

6. I hate bigots

As in viscerally despise all bigots. Homophobes, sexists, racists, "fattists". Before you judge, at least give someone the opportunity to piss you off. Comes from noticing that the people who bullied me, also went after the gay and black kids in school, or at least badmouthed them. Wankers.

7. I hate Political Correctness

PC often seems like bigotry given a makeover. Surely we can say what we think, and believe what we want to, and not be condemned personally for that belief? If you not agree with someone, debate, but don't make them feel that they are evil for holding a contrary viewpoint (unless that leads to direct harm: See J.S. Mill for a full exposition of the harm principle)

8. I study Philosophy

Most interesting subject known to man, and the subject most likely to make you a better person as a result of study

9. I love America

Not as it is, but the idea of America, a land of personal freedom, with justice for all and a government of the people, by the people and for the people. I am not so dumb as to think that the country as it is comes up to that high standard, but the fact that the country's aim is those principals means it has firmer foundations than 90% of the rest of the World. That includes the constitution less and undemocratic UK.

10 I am 5'7" with size 10 feet

This means that I am stable in crosswinds, and unlikely to be hit by low flying aircraft. Which is nice.

Be Good

Being Creative

Hi,
i love art me.

I have always thought that art is the one thing that separates us from animals. Its the divine spark.

A while back I began to paint. I have always drawn in pencil, but painting looked a bit hard really. Then I saw a programme in NZ called "Mastering the Art, with John Myatt. John was an art forger, and an extremely successful one (Google him).

I watched the artists each week trying, and often failing to capture a great artist, and I though I think I might give it a go.

Jacqui paints as well, and does beautiful copies of impressionists. There is a marked difference between how we approach an art-wok. Jacqui will absolutely fearlessly start throwing paint at the canvass, beating it into submission, and achieving great results. I however am slightly different.

I can't copy. When I was a kid my Dad would talk with absolute disdain about copying another mans work, to the point where drawing from a photo was "copying" because it didn't come from your head.

I do paint from photo's it is too complicated otherwise. I paint nudes, because I love the shape of the human form. I paint naked ladies, I don't want to be sexist, but painting a knob isn't something I want to spend my Sunday doing. Also male nudes are harder, and you cant get decent male nude photography is something hard to find, most of it isn't artistic, but verging on porn.

Same thing with the female nude actually, but I didn't mind searching for the nice pose so much.

Anyway, this was my first attempt.



Not bad, so then I did this one, which was a lot more challenging



Now Jacqui did a painting of a close up of one of Modigliani's portraits, and I loved it.



Here is is, I became enamored in how Modigliani achieved a face with so little work, so whilst watching TV, I showed Jacqui how you could draw a female figure using as few lines as possible



Here is the result. In pen, whist watching Brian Sewell on the box. So looking at this I thought i could use the face in a nude.

Unfortunately I didn't photograph the preparatory sketched, but basically I tried to do as much with as little. The background is my bedroom, and Van Gough's Starry Night is out the window. I was more interested in the composition of the colours than the details, (they had to look nice, and I painted the nude with subtle shading (like Modigliani) but with a strong outline technique I stole from Hockney, who stole it from Matisse. I also pinched the hair from Roger Dean and Alan Aldridge (He did the Beatles later artwork)

This is the result



I have to say I am absolutely thrilled how it has turned out. All from within my fevered brain, and onto canvas. It looks simple, but it took me 3 weeks to do, just thinking about what I wanted to achieve.

I can say this is my own work, my own style, and i am pretty happy with myself.

Not quite as good as Modigliani, but better than Matisse!! :-p

Be good

Politicians, Politics and We Get What We Deserve

Hi,

Most Europeans have a pretty high opinion of themselves politically, and with some justification. Over the time I have been paying attention it has been a given that the standard of political debate on one side of the Atlantic has been of a far higher standard than over the other side.

The reason I say that without feeling like a dick is because it was true.

A politician in the States could get a huge voter approval by wearing a badge, looking constipated/having angina during the National Anthem, and declaring his love for Jesus.

Believe me, no European could have got away with that.

The reason is that even if you agreed with the badge wearing, constipated Jesus freak, it was understood that to lead, or be a part of leading a nation, you needed more, you needed to have a set of policies that stood on their merits.

Not once in my time in the UK was any politician ever smeared with the character attacks we were used to seeing in the States (Jeremy Thorpe excepted, but that was in the 70's).

If a man was a Homosexual, Atheist who was an ex communist and wanted to abolish the house of Lords and the Monarchy, it was only the last to that were ever commented upon.

The political stuff.

We watched mouths agape when politicians were attacked for changing their minds (Kerry), or having an affair (Gary Hart, Clinton) or having bailed out of a burning aircraft (G.H.W. Bush..wtf??) or collapsing during a marathon in a heat wave (Carter) and we kind of laughed "Silly Americans, paying attention to all that shite, what are they thinking".

Well we laugh no longer.

For the first time in my life, I can say the American people picked their President based on a political, rather than a personal factor. I liked John McCain, I saw him as the authentic voice of caring conservatism, prepared to stand up to bigotry in his own party, and to fight for the political conservative creed. I don't agree with him personally, but I respected him.

However, it appears that to get to be a candidate for the Presidency endorsed by the GOP, you need to get the more extreme elements on your side. So Sarah was the VP choice. You then had to "go after Obama" to get the "base excited" so here come the innuendo's the distortions and the out and out lies.

But this time something was different.

The people heard what the ads said, and then they Googled, and You Tubed, and Blogged and found out the truth.

People do not like being misled.

Hence come election time Obama wins big. What I found strange was that it was patently obvious that the scare tactics were not working, but they still kept coming.

President Obama.

I saw the speech he gave in Chicago. I had tears in my eyes. He is an inspirational politician, and seems a genuinely good person. I would vote for him in a heartbeat.

Of course, in the present climate, a lot of what he said he would do he will not be able to do. You don't take over a bankrupt country and hand out tax cuts, first get the country in surplus, then comes the sweeties. Is that lying? Possibly, but i am sure that John McCain would be in exactly the same boat.

His tax cuts just wouldn't be for the middle class, that's all, and the rich can wait, they are OK.

I watched John McCain's "acceptance of defeat" speech. All I can say is if he had run an honourable campaign, if he had concentrated on the issues, and shown how his way forward was better, if he had stood up for tolerance, respect and civility and if he had stared down the batshit mad part of his party, we may have had President McCain.

However, if he had done that, he wouldn't have been the GOP candidate in the first place.

We have had an election in NZ, and National have got in. National are kind of like the GOP in NZ politics, except their policies would be called dangerously Socialist in the USA.

I don't know if this will be a good thing or a bad thing, but I do know most people here vote on their own narrow self interest, with no thought to how the policy they benefit from in particular, will benefit the country in general.

So now the US voter can look at the NZ voter and condescendingly say, "they are so naive and stupid, when will they learn" and be justified in saying so.

In Final

Well done USA, and God Bless America!!