So, I says to Mabel, I says..

Cheating?

2009-06-02T08:37:00.000-07:00

Get with the times

2009-05-21T05:56:00.000-07:00

we didn't do it

2009-02-05T04:09:00.001-08:00

shoot jpegs and die

2009-01-28T13:57:00.000-08:00

cos theres no better things! o dear

2009-01-28T13:39:00.000-08:00

Id make a rubbish film critic. im speechless. "Better things". director- Dwuane Hopkins. DOP- Lol Crawley (?) Does anyone know how they did the gradual light through the cloud scenes?! I can't figure it out.

Voila

2008-12-30T15:20:00.000-08:00

So there I was standing. no walking. in Paris. and from a distance I spotted the text of an independent film before it was even legible. You know the one. Handwritten. black and scrawly.
'Mister Lonely'
Oh dear. im the fish in the middle of the landing net. 'hook me' written on a billboard strapped to my head with elastic bands. two of them doubled round.
Get over it I scream to myself. Get. Over. it. Its a poster.

As I approach a little closer... central to the picture in smaller text (same font)
the directors name. Central in the poster, I might add and you might like to take note...
Harmony Korine that's who.
Voila, the next moment I was sitting there in the dark, the poster had removed itself from its wall and slapped me into the cinema seat. six rows back from the front.
...

The 'film' was bad. Oh dear. there was cringing. and lack of laughter.
However, I've never walked out of a cinema during a film. and I never will. So I didn't. And by the end, I'm hoping that all the things I got from this film were the director's intentions so I can be happy to let this film sink into my memory as 'a bit bloody clever'.

Children

2008-12-11T13:14:00.000-08:00

Dr. Barnardo

He believes in children.

Chris (me)

I believe in children.

Minsu Song

He believes in children.

Timothy Keeling

He believes in children.

Do you believe in children?

I was just riding the longest wave of goosebumps...

2008-10-02T14:31:00.000-07:00

Ice Dance - Danny Elfman

I was just sitting there alone in my room and this song started to drip into my ears as though from nowhere.
I cranked up the volume and fell into an ocean.
Of course I've heard it lots of times before...
but this time was different.
so different.

Do you believe in GHOSTS?

2008-10-01T12:03:00.000-07:00

BELIEVE IT NOT this is an unedited photograph taken by my mum on a short trip to Edinburgh recently.

Look carefully in the window...

The image has been taken straight from the camera.
It was taken at night in hotel room one floor up from the ground floor at about 7-8pm on Saturday 20th September. My mum says she was alone in the room.
She did say the television may have been on but it was angled towards the floor from a higher spot on the opposite wall. She also claims no access to a computer and the image still remains on camera.
The yellow orange oval shape is also unexplainable.
Any ideas?

Be scared...be very scared

2008-09-30T09:00:00.001-07:00

Photos from todays METRO newspaper

TM

2008-09-30T03:39:00.000-07:00

So i started a course in TRANSCENDENTAL MEDITATION...

Its all on a FORK.

2008-09-25T16:57:00.000-07:00

In continuation to a previous post 'Its all on a PLATE' where I am caught ranting on about entertainment and regression, I have since found some interesting information by Anthony Storr in regards to music...

He says...

"When we take part in music, or listen to an absorbing performance, we are temporarily protected from the input of other external stimuli. We enter a special, secluded world in which order prevails and from which the incongruous is excluded. This in itself is beneficial. It is not a regressive manoeuvre, but reculer pour mieux sauter; a temporary retreat which promotes a re-ordering process within the mind, and thus aids our adaptation to the external world rather than providing an escape from it. (...) If there is to be an escapist element in musical participation, it is because our culture is so concerned with achievement and the pursuit of conventional success that it makes ordinary life into a tense and anxious business from which the arts are absent."

And also in response to the post 'Sci-Ryllacisum'-

"Music not only brings order to muscular movement, but also promotes order within the mind."

"If every device for reproducing music was destroyed, we should still have tunes running in our heads, still be using music to order our actions and make structured sense out of the world around us"

and 'Innovation'-

"The human species is compelled to theorise and strive to make sense of both life and the universe. Because human behaviour is not principally governed by the in-built 'instinctive' patterns of response to stimuli which direct the behaviour of animals lower in the evolutionary order, human beings are forced to become more inventive. They are compelled to try to understand the world and themselves, and, in so doing, can reach new and better adaptations. The processes by which this is achieved are both unconscious and conscious. "

"'Projective identification':the process by which a person imagines himself to be inside some object external to himself. Imitation is not only the sincerest form of flattery, but a way of learning. By identifying ourselves with those more gifted, we can actually improve our own capacities."

This guys been reading my blog!
He worked it all out,
...invented a time machine
AND wrote a book!
Clever stuff.

So, now i can sympathise with the idea of this entertainment presenting structures for the mind to operate more efficiently. The very reason why we whistle and sing lyrics. The very reason why I am personally always perfecting a beat at the end of my tongue or tapping my fingers. The very reason why I enjoy writing this blog. Order for the mind. Control for the driver.

I sometimes paint and this brings into support a idea I was trying to explain to my younger brother who is currently painting from a photo. To become a painter, you must strive to become the best through means of imitation. By all means aim to get the exact colours and to perfect the shape and content, for this learning process is vital to gain a stronger control creatively, not only skillfully but mentally. The more time and effort you put into your work, the more passion is built for art and you understand more about the logical nature of composition of things. Not only on the surface but within. By this I mean to go on and better yourself as the creative person. There is logic in every art form. Painting contains the very elements to create layers; create perfection. This goes alongside drawing from life and illustration ;)

IMPORTANT INFO FOR FILMMAKERS

2008-09-24T06:00:00.000-07:00

So yeah I've been writing my dissertation on this guy...

Sand down your sides,

2008-09-18T15:29:00.000-07:00

the thought of it made me taste tears

Rooms.

2008-09-17T08:03:00.000-07:00

Have a butcher's hook.

2008-09-16T09:07:00.000-07:00

THE FRANCIS BACON exhibition at the Tate Britain.

This exhibition provides viewers with an analytically deep cross-section of the artist, similar to the way he cuts open the subjects in his own paintings. Viewers see a truthful insight into his personal life, beliefs, inspiration and experiences.

Alot of his paintings show an underlying, perceptual logic and true, expressive skill combined, depicting strong contrasts and balance that do not just visually open doorways to the viewers unconscious but raise questions among human existence even today. One in particular would be Bacons opposition to religion. The controversial artist that ripped his own route into the canvas of art by following his beliefs and remaining true to his work, shines strong as a major influence to many contemporary artists today. There's no denying this man rights of a master artist.

My favourite painting of the show was 'Study after Valazquez's Portrait of Pope Innocent X'.
Only truly experienced infront of the canvas, its vertical lines move the subject like an optical illusion. Background and foreground blurring together, conveying reality and an impossible dimension running in and out of the violent brush strokes. A picture that truly X-rays its subject while you are looking at it.

Mario's Retirement...

2008-09-15T06:23:00.001-07:00

Compositions

2008-09-14T17:05:00.001-07:00

So I went to France for a day.

Yes, one day.

Georges-Pierre Seurat

2008-09-13T18:01:00.000-07:00

So I went to Romford.

Yes, Romford.

Lit-er-all com-ed-E

2008-09-12T06:29:00.000-07:00

Innovation

2008-09-11T13:02:00.000-07:00

For a time, I have been trying to understand exactly what innovation is in order to understand how to innovate. Puzzling as it may be, I am certain that there is someway of defining it.

It is true that pure innovation has to be the different.

but the different cannot be the unseen.

Everything already exists.

Innovation is CHANGE.

Innovation is fueled by hybrids.

Innovation is fed by creativity and inspired by the unconscious.

The unconscious constantly permutes. e.g. when you dream.

Permutation is a way of order and arranging.

There is only one number of certain possibilities of hybrids.

Therefore there exists a limit.

Innovation has become harder to achieve because of the decreasing number of possibilities.

However, there is no limit to time.

Time is therefore the key.

Live the present,

Understand the past,

Know the future.

Is this stuff valid?

DREAMachine?

2008-09-10T15:22:00.001-07:00

click here

One and the same

2008-09-10T07:33:00.000-07:00

Alfred Hitchcock's 'Jamaican Inn'

Sir Humphrey Pengallan (Charles Laughton) seen at 9 minutes 20 seconds...

'Little Britain'

Bernard Chumley (Matt Lucas) seen at 16 seconds...

Coming soon...

2008-09-09T17:44:00.001-07:00

Sonic the hedgehog.

An icon specific to my generation. He has become a strong character in my memory and will remain so for my lifetime. The reason being is that psychologically, I associate him strongly with my childhood, social times and hours upon hours of entertainment; my personal distraction from the regularity and mind crushing regime of school; my lady in the radiator.

In the wider context, video games are an addiction designed for the younger audience.

A harmless looking industry, slowly merging its fantasy with reality like a frog in heating water. Having rode the wave, owning at least ten major consoles and a countless amount of games, I am a victim. I became sonic, I was inside that television/monitor. Perhaps some will reconcile with a particular episode of the classic sci-fi comedy Red Dwarf.

'Better than life'. Watch the nicely pixelated episode here...

The episode conveys the very essence of a possible future. The comedy of it adds to the exaggerated fantasy of the idea but the tragic consequences shine a light on a structure that is building within the video game industry and fundamentally technology.

This is a drawing of my inner self.

In retrospect, my time spent in front of the computer has been one of procrastination and one that has limited me from creating/working at a younger age. The drawing is in fact a costume plan that is yet to undergo construction... I thought I'd share it with you so that you can see how the idea evolves at the same time as me.

Im working with a fashion designer to construct the outfit and it is primarily for a photograph I am 'painting'. This means the whole photograph will be set up including the background and will mimic a documentary style photograph.

The photograph I hope will add to a series of at least three based on the same topic but with different characters and address a wide audience of my generation that will relate as strongly to the characters as I do.

The camera as a creative tool provides a strong sense of realism visually. Although everything in scene of this project will be set up, the visual factor will bring the fantasy its aesthetic contrast for humour to play its part and simultaneously deliver a horrific truth to those still stuck in this fantastical pixelated world.

The photograph represents a moment frozen in time. My time spent under the cold glow of the screen, clicking buttons to compensate for my blinking, was a time spent frozen and potentially active to freeze my creativity again...

In summary, I want to portray this culture specific to my generation, in an exaggerated form in order to really attract those relatable for ultimate comical effect that paradoxically delivers a horrific truth.

The real art will be in achieving this balance successfully. Watch this space.

intellectual abstraction?

2008-09-09T14:06:00.000-07:00

So i had this dream...

and i expect my dreams to sink into the unconscious as per usual by the afternoon...

but not this one...

Its not a full blown story or anything, just a particular 'scene' and it lasts about 3 seconds. You can feel the colour cream with a tint of yellow and it is set on a mountainous beach under the sun but its a bit cloudy. Anyway, I'm sitting on this exercise ball...

except this one was a grey/blue colour. All of a sudden I'm speeding up and down all over the hills, riding it like a car and it would bounce and skid... real fun you know.

A few hours after remembering this dream, I realised it would be scientifically impossible to actually ride a ball like that...

Thinking back, I remember this advert for Dyson hoovers on the tube that had weirdly stuck in my mind for some reason and may have just inspired this dream...

I also have the same exercise ball in the living room downstairs.

and remember those toy eyeballs where the pupil would always remain facing up when you rolled it along the ground?

Obviously, the outer layer spins round but imagine being able to sit on that green area securely...

That's what I'm talking about.

I'm not that stupid but science isn't a big part of my life so the logic of falling off the ball while riding it didn't occur to me in this dream.

The question is, would I have still had this dream had I been better at Physics at school?

'Lynch (one)' 2007

2008-09-07T20:01:00.000-07:00

I watched this documentary after much trouble getting my hands on it. The DVD seems to be non-existent in region 2. This eighty five minute feature at twenty four english pounds (...thats about twenty eight pence a minute...) was no bargain. but worth every penny.

In short, some guy fortunate enough to be around David pretty much everyday (and remains anonymous), filmed an enormous bulk of his life over two years from before and during the making of the film 'Inland Empire'. This includes not just on set directing but witnessing an artist at work amongst several platforms of creativity. sound, painting, set decorating, getting ideas etc.

I picked up my copy up at 'the cinema store' in charing cross,london. I only find out that its called Lynch (one) because there is three of them! Lynch two is on the extras of the 2disc region 1 DVD of 'inland empire' and im still trying to find out about the third...

Its all on a PLATE.

2008-09-07T19:25:00.001-07:00

People are entertained 24-7 and it is becoming easier and easier to get your fix.

Download music,
order films without leaving your chair,
switch on your tv and choose what you want to watch,
connect to the internet via super speed connection,
search engine your favourite scene of anything right from that spark of thought...

With such ease, such control, we have full power to manipulate how we feel in an instant.

Escape. escape from stress, escape from boredom, escape from work ;)

People don't care.

'Shock' is the little boy who dives to touch the bottom of the deep end at the pool only to know that he will always have to come up for air no matter how deep he goes, no matter if he even manages to lay flat on the floor of the pool.

Get over it.

Art is now an entertainment.

'Humour' is a funny emotion...literately.
The power to make someone laugh out loud is the power to attract attention.
The power to reach and scar someones memory...and
The power to shock is still an option.
We laugh to escape.
We are living to escape.

I love Business...

2008-09-03T08:46:00.000-07:00

Canon g9 tips and techniques no.34

2008-09-01T12:28:00.000-07:00

A handy trick if you're out without your tripod...

With the conversion lens adapter attached, any sheet of glass (e.g. window) can become a very stable surface for shots in low light. Simply hold your camera by the lens adapter pressing it firmly to the glass. The camera body is light enough to remain untouched. This technique will prevent any movement caused by you and your shtoopid pulse...

The world is corrupt...

2008-08-31T08:06:00.000-07:00

Septembers issue of Dazed and Confused.
Front cover news!
It said...

"Polaroid R.I.P? Portfolio with Steven Klein, Bruce Webber, David Lynch and more..."

Well that was enough information there for me to turn to the page. Im doing my dissertation on David Lynch, maybe it would provide me with some useful information, maybe a quote or two...

This is what I found...

Underneath it simply said-

"DAVID LYNCH, HENRY FROM ERASERHEAD, JUNE 1972
"First night shooting on Eraserhead""

WTF.
Worst article ever.
So what it was a 26page story with an informative history of the polaroid, a vast portfolio of sentimental snapshots by a number of big names, and technically the front cover wasn't lying or anything but...
come on, some of them had a quote from the artist about the photo. Few lines at least!
It doesn't even look like Henry from Eraserhead!

I found the photo and more on davidlynch.com from the first few days of shooting Eraserhead. So, if you wanted to BUY the set of twelve prints of Polaroids it will cost you $30...and if you wanted the set delivered to the UK?...$145.

(!)

The End.

Funeral

2008-08-31T04:35:00.000-07:00

A dog chases a ball with great energy and aggression.
It is in his nature to do so.
In the wild, this energy and aggression is channeled into catching dinner.
A dog chews bones. A source from dinner.
A dog buries bones. Why?

Sci-Ryllacisum

2008-08-29T09:02:00.000-07:00

lyricS. What are they for?

You listen to the song. You hear words.

Does it make it less alien to the human ear?

Is the human race more dependent on language than me?

When I listen to a song, even when the lyrics are crystal clear, I do not actually consider what the song is trying to tell me. It is not because I refuse to hear them, I just don't. It doesn't go in. Sometimes, I may hear a little word or two, maybe even a sentence... a few yea's, maybe a few no's, chuck in a HEY. Nevertheless, the human voice forms another rhythmic layer to the song like any other instrument. The difference being that it provides listeners with a chance to repeat it (out loud or in their heads), feel good emotionally in order to escape from the pressures of everyday-life, a mood-changer and a memory device to unlock good past times. In essence, audiences connect with the song and relate to it and others around who also enjoy the song. A good visual example would be the video to Nickelback- Rockstar.

Or infact ANY gig. Bringing people together.

Music provides a hole to sit in, groups to join, a good feeling on security amongst a wider nation of people. A social unity and a chance to make a bold statement about yourself and paradoxically become more individual.

73percent of people do not know the majority of lyrics they hear in songs they hear on a daily basis (This is a lie, I dont actually know, I always find statistics highly misleading and in that sense great to prove points of view;)

Some lyrics tell a story we can all raise our hands to and say 'Yea I've been there, done that, bought your CD'.. Lyrics express experience. The artists are usually part of the audience or in fact designing the audience. But its just entertainment right? Is it not all about the money?

The chorus is part of the structure and I would say that it is the artists one part of the song where they really try to pummel into you brain during the average 16 lines or so, their tune, their selling point, their extra chance to really get this song into your head so as you will maybe buy their song and provide that artist with a small fraction of their salary.

The vocals of any song truly has the power to control and direct the song and become a catchy hit. Have a little listen to 'Blue Velvet'- Bobby Vinton...

Tune! but you can see how dated it is :S
It does seem to become a statement on not just how you sound but also what the you look like and how you act in the presence of the audience, especially when interpreting the time of the song in relation to its evolution through time to the present day. Music is fundamentally a wave of culture. Why is David Bowie so cool? Just look at him, what a LEG.END-

Image and lyrics go hand in hand. People can be won over in a few words. However clever.

a simple 'Rock and Roll' may suffice.

Lets look at 'Rock and Roll Part One' - Gary Glitter (another bad example)...

Chorus-

"Rock and Roooll, Rock and Roll, Rock and Roooll, Rock and Roll. Rock and Roll, Rock, Rock and Roll, Rock and Roll, Rock, Rock and Roll etc."

Thrilling.

His audience now understand he is a true rock star, obviously since anyone to really state it that many times MUST be. Now, who wants to be in his gang?

Okay, it was a pop song, lyrics are certainly not taken seriously and this genre simply takes the basic formula of song and is indeed all about the money and entertaining. Of course, there is more to a lot of deeper more skillfully written stuff.

'Like a Rolling Stone' Bob Dylan (greatest songwriter around some will say)-

Poetry.. of sorts? Not particularly well sung, especially in this vid, so its definitely not important on behalf of how it sounds. Its all about the lyrics hm? Err.. wossat Bob? I didnt quite catch what you were saying...

A trademark song for the cultural change of society in the 60's. Not very well received at the time but as a piece of art, it hangs on the wall in the invisible gallery of landmark music history. People in retrospect celebrate Dylan's breaking of convention. A particularly hard battle to fight in the present time. Especially for the creative under the eyes of the commerical.

A personal favourite- Aphex Twin-Windowlicker

This more contemporary artist definitely has an interesting style of music, one that innovates and breaks formula to produce either 'music' without any drumbeat, OR a flux of very fast drumbeats that almost take on the place of lyrics.

The majority of his songs are without lyrics on account of the selling point being that it is alien-esque music. Creating and working with an unheard contrast of 'Acid house' and classical 'piano', take his album 'Drukqs' for example.

Words are powerful...

In summary, to compare music as a form of art, the visual communication side of things seems to follow parallel. You can attract attention with the most visually exciting piece. This visual piece can be completely conceptless but can be skillfully produced. It can be done well, It can be done badly, its all a matter of opinion but is the real skill successfully balancing concept and visual in order to produce a piece on a higher level than the rest of most visual communication?

Its not all about the idea.

The problem with me is as a creative person, I am constantly in love with 'the different' which is why it makes so much sense to break rules and in turn admire the works and art of those that succeed doing it; breaking the barriers guarded by the commercial. e.g. David Lynch, Aphex Twin etc.

The thing is, if the world was the opposite to how it is now then I surely would be attracted to wanting it the way it is now.

To have what you can't have.

Lyrics create a seperate dimension. You don't need to hear them when you listen but its always a nice surprise to look underneath.

Sigmund Freud done it twice a day

2008-08-27T13:04:00.000-07:00

Don't kid yourself. We are animals.

Yeah?

2008-08-27T07:06:00.000-07:00

All art is subjective.

thinkings

2008-08-25T17:33:00.000-07:00

If wanted to learn a NEW language, would you learn faster if you used your opposite hand to write with?