- Details
- Written by: Rod Boyle
- Category: Blog
- Hits: 126
So, no news is generally good news. There was the Fox interview with a vice admiral Robert Harward, only it wasn't, it was someone wearing a hyperrealistic latex mask, you could see the seam flapping on his chest.
Fox News of course denies it.
Watch the video here and make up your own mind.
Then there's the news via Facebook that Jason, who ran the Magic Hippy bus at the ferry landing; read between the lines and you understand, the second such death in a month, the other, someone I knew to see but otherwise not at all.
There's a mental health epidemic at the moment.
On Facebook as well there's the warnings about all the various homeless people arriving in town, summer regulars, just like the tourists, only a lot of them are trouble, warnings to watch your children/wives/possessions, etc. Where were they up until now? Who knows, rehab, asylums, jail, in the country... But Nelson is the friendliest town and where a lot of them want to spend summer, and summer, well, it's here.
The Memorial Weekend, lots of out of towners, midnight, out for a cigarette, a couple of Bikers riding down the highway, surprised at a red light, the first one drops it in a mighty fine shower of sparks, the second one wobbles and goes down as well. It looks painful, and sounds worse by the cussing, but they manage to get back on and ride it to the curb to inspect for damage so probably not too bad...
More stuff to the Antique shop, it's all selling he tells me, mighty pleased, myself as well, but I haven't yet seen a dime...
And books to the bookstore and I'm going to have to make this inheritable - pass the credit on to my children; I will never live to read as many books as I have credit amassed already and there are dozens if not hundreds of boxes to go...
And yet as well to see a dime on my buttons and ties, that may have been a poor move trusting *** but we'll see.
- Details
- Written by: Rod Boyle
- Category: Blog
- Hits: 148
This morning, courtesy of friend (I hate asking for help, but until I get car there's no other choice) I take a ride to the locker. Drop off one of Milan's paintings (a less favoured one), and then pick a few boxes to take with me.
2 Boxes of books to process, and 1 1/2 boxes of art supplies.
Start with the art supplies, sort into boxes. 1 box for Watercolours & Tempura, 1 for Oil Pastels, and the last for pencils and charcoal. This leaves me with a pile of ink and cartridges, these I add to already started boxes of the same. A big box of pen nibs, a dozen, 2 dozen nib-holders, jars of ink, a collection of broken lighters (some still working), some fine vintage fountain pens - of note a Sheaffer and a Waterman, a dozen Cross pens, silver and gold, boxes of sealing wax, more ephemera...
It's always the same stuff I'm finding, over and over again, more pens, more nibs, paint, pencils, etc, etc.
A couple of "fly-tiers" - good, for the detail oriented hobbyist, and that's it.
One of the art boxes needs to be scrubbed, a mouse got in, gnawed through a tube of watercolours, sterilize, get rid of the droppings, just you wait, I'll be the next Hantavirus case...I wonder why only one? And, remarkably, for things I haven't touched in 30+ years, some still with the Czech label, they're still good...
When all is sorted - a box and a half, and there's more, always more, but thankfully that's left in the locker, it's on to the books. Only two boxes, and not packed in any sort of order, the son has mixed in a few of his (interesting taste, I must say), then take half a box to the used bookstore. At this rate it's going to take me months, but - better that than they tell me to piss-off, which would doubtless come about if I overwhelmed them. My credit there is huge, and in 4 or 5 months I won't be surprised if I own the place...
Now, to the library...
- Details
- Written by: Rod Boyle
- Category: Blog
- Hits: 152
So again on my day off to survey the members show & sale, now noticing how many pieces have sold and how off-the-map the pricing is.
For example, someone's created a hand-drawn bat to place in your window to keep birds from crashing. Very creative. He wants $500 for it. I want to say it's a joke, but you can't be sure around here...
Another, a linocut for again $500 - and - yet again, given you can buy an original oil or acrylic for the same price, who's going to pay that?
A fine felted wall hanging - $3500 - and while I appreciate the work that went into it $3500 is a big price for something that's going to attract dust...
Then there are the "prints on canvas" - another peeve of mine, they are never "limited", always too expensive (even if you wanted one); the artist currently hanging his work in the restaurant at the moment is the same - you're buying an unlimited run of prints on canvas for the price of an original. That said, the one selling out of our restaurant has now sold I think about 6 paintings, and he has work hanging in the art gallery, in Salmo, other places, and so - while it might annoy me he's clearly got the selling part of the business down...
- Details
- Written by: Rod Boyle
- Category: Blog
- Hits: 122
In the news quite literally nothing of interest, despite the pundits predicting the war in Iran and the inevitable outcomes of this. Just more Israel behaving badly, more nonsense from the US, nothing ever new, just more of it.
Oh, wait - the Hantavirus outbreak on the Cruise Ship. That was interesting, although it's already had it's run in the news - for a bit the human-to-human transmission was looking like we could be on to another Covid, then it disappeared; we'll see if it comes into play again. I can't help but think:
Don't dismiss
The Hantavirus
- it's foreshadowing a plague bubonic
Given the last pandemic was filled with similar misinformation and given as well the fact the current administration has proven even more incompetent/indifferent than it was last round I'm not yet convinced this is a dead story...
***
Meanwhile, when not fretting the state of the world; some efforts at painting - abstract, I've been enjoying Chris Loud's YouTube Channel, although I have to say my results vary a great deal from his (how is this possible that I can fuck up even abstract art??!!), some other YouTube prospectors including Everything is Spirit; and Barry's Economics although I find myself too much in agreement; and really would like once in a while to be exposed to a different point of view (one differing from mine own). Not the standard imbeciles that ornament the right side of the political spectrum, just something different.
Social Media, Facebook and it's buckets of AI generated slop; formerly comics of Gary Larson with the captions that made sense of the cartoon cut off, now it's AI drivel “after the style of" Gary Larson with nonsensical images and punch lines. Low effort engagement - but - hey -"made you look!!".
Digging out the art supplies again, inspired by Chris Loud, trying again the fluid acrylics only this time it's not working, not at all, and this - as I discover later in an "aha" moment is because the Floetrol has separated, try again after shaking and it works, after a fashion, although I'm going to have to tweak the recipe...
Outside, have a cigarette, feed the crows, the pigeon has proven fearless, landing beside me, trying to get on my lap or land on my head, a passer-by notices and congratulates me on my pet; the pigeon, meanwhile, is making love to my shoe, which I suppose makes sense as it's the hand that drops the peanut but the shoe that crushes it so the pigeon can eat it...
The crows, they'll play fetch for a bit and then get bored and carry on about their day, this pigeon, it's non-stop, and I'm half curious to go out with a full bag of peanuts and see how much it can eat, really, I mean it's pretty fat as is, I don't think it would stop...
And I am broke, not of my own bad money management but I've let a few paydays slide and I really must get a little more insistent, out of vodka, cigarettes, an empty fridge and a neighbour that constantly needs to borrow money and forgets to repay it; when I announce I'm out of cash she's over raiding my fridge, despite my having an empty fridge and hers being full she's taking the last of my tomatoes, sauce, she means well but it's getting a bit maddening...
Which catches us up to today...now to text work and see if I can claim on an old payday, get back to the flat and try painting again; see if I can't get a proper "acrylic flow recipe" going; find the next book to read; tonight, at work, a wedding, it's going to be loud, long and late and I need to find some way to psychologically prepare...
- Details
- Written by: Rod Boyle
- Category: Blog
- Hits: 135
A rather amusing nintendo-styled browser game in which you get to play the Donald in Operation Epic Furious.
If all the news was this amusing...