Listening to... "I Have Become Overcome With Thoughts Of You" by Tim Bass

Seven questions... with Joe Rixman

1. Who are you and what do you do?
   Joe Rixman, Deputy Probation Officer with Riverside County, California
2. What are you working on at the moment?
   A screenplay about how technology + capitalism = lots of bodies and great ratings
3. Who inspires you?
   Artists, writers and musicians who can take me to another world. Artists I admire include Thomas Kinkaid and other naturalists. Writers who I admire include David Morrell, Stephen King, John Sanford, Philip Dick, Scott Heim and John Irving, not in any particular order. Composers and musicians I admire include Jerry Goldsmith, Vaughan Williams, Fleetwood Mac, and Frank Sinatra.
1. Name an artist who has inspired you.
   My father, a vaguely talented painter of mountains and seascapes. He loved to paint and I have several of his painting hanging in my home.
2. Name a place that has inspired you.
   The Philippines; Murfreesboro, Tennessee; Hollywood, California circa 1975; Sedona, Arizona
3. Name some "thing" that has inspired you.
   A picture of an old ghost town near Philipsburg, Montana; a town portrait of the citizens of said ghost town
4. What drives you to do what you do?
   The ability to do so; the desire to know more about people’s motivations and reasons for the things they do.
5. What values do you wish your creativity to express?Honesty and curiosity
6. What role does community play in what you do?
   Community is a subjective term. Which community do you refer to? Community, in general, allows me all the targets I need to ask the questions I need to ask…and provides me all the opportunities to learn the answers to those questions.
7. What is next for what you do?
   Not sure. I have numerous screenplays in the works but also love to be challenged and learn new things…so whatever comes along, I’ll embrace it and have as much fun as possible with it. Hopefully, I’ll provide something people will enjoy.

My thanks go to Joe for completing my wee blog interview. For more on Foreshadows... go here > http://foreshadows.net/index.html

Off on my summer holiday

Tonight Olly, the we’ans and I... along with our trusty hound Pippin... break for our summer holiday. We are heading down to Norfolk for a dual-location break... a week at the sea near Great Yarmouth and a week in the city near Norwich.

My plan is to stay away from the internets as much as possible... albeit I will be on twitter now and again... checking into foursquare etc. As such, I've scheduled some content for your delectation while I am away:



1) I have been working on an interview with John LaSala... one of the main folks behind the awesome stories / illustrations / music book and CD package called Foreshadows... for ’this is not a scene’ and while we were talking I asked if he and some of his cohorts would like to complete my wee blog interview... I think most of them obliged! So look out for their interviews over the coming weeks.



2) I have been in dialogue with Gavin over at Twice Removed Records... a micro label from Australia that specialises in deep soundscapes. He was kind enough to give me access to his back catalogue and whilst time has not permitted me to provide reviews of this material... I intend to feature the various releases on his label and embed their music to let you hear them. I will follow up with some thoughts when I return... but I can admit to being very impressed with the content on Gavin’s label... and a wee bit jealous.

Speak soon... and stay curious!

Tx

What I listened to in June 2012

Another great month for quality music!

Tx

July 2012's calendar / wallpaper

There is something wonderfully architectural about this poppyhead... I find it fascinating and think it works as a background. What do you think?

All the usual flavours are included below. I hope you enjoy it and thanks for everyones' willingness to have my photography on their devices... it is appreciated by me.

Tx

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iPhone with Calendar + iPhone without Calendar
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Loving... PopSpots

Taking nerdery to wonderful new extremes... http://www.popspotsnyc.com/ is a blog where they seek to document the exact Spots where famous events of Pop culture took place (with a focus on New York City.)

It is a fascinating blog... well worth dipping into. I was particularly taken with their write up of "Wednesday Morning, 8AM" by Simon & Garfunkel (above)... and the inner gatefold of "Blonde on Blonde" by Bob Dylan.

PopSpots is a website about those places, primarily in New York City, where interesting events in the history of Pop Culture took place; like album cover shots, places where movies and tv shows were filmed, and sites on which paintings were based.

If you are looking for a wee visual treat... please check out http://www.popspotsnyc.com

Tx

(with thanks to PSFK.com with thanks)

What I hope to read on my holiday

The Library Book with contributions from Seth Godin, Stephen Fry and others.

According to Amason... famous writers on libraries real or imagined, past and future; why libraries matter and to whom. In aid of The Reading Agency.




Books in the age of the iPad by Craig Mod

Following on from 'Hack the Cover' and 'Post-Artefact Books and Publishing'... this is the next in the series of essays from Mod that I want to immersive myself in.



The Innsmouth Syndrome by Philip Hemplow

An story based on H.P. Lovecraft's classic weird fiction short... 'Shadow over Innsmouth'.



Falling while sitting down... a collection of seven short stories (first four by Joshua Fields Milburn) that, according to Amazon, may vary drastically, but all share one thing in common: each story is about what it’s like to be a human being during incredibly complex times.



Oh and the 10th instalment of Justice League!

Tx

Sequence4 from Futuresequence

One of my favourite FREE compilation series - Futuresequence's Sequence - has released it's fourth instalment containing another 42 tracks of bleeding-edge music from a wide range of experimental ambient artists.

http://futuresequence.bandcamp.com/album/sequence4

I haven't had a chance to listen to it... but if it is anything like the first three in the series it will be something else entirely.

I can't wait.

Tx

PS I have embedded it below for you to listen to... enjoy!

Scanned... the illustrations of Elena Odriozola in "The Story of Noah"

I found this book... The Story of Noah... in my local Poundland. I have a thing for beautifully illustrated Biblical stories and this is beautiful... in my opinion.

The illustrations are by Elena Odriozola and I haven't seen anything quite like them before. I can't find much on Ordiozola... other than a list of her books on Amazon.co.uk. She has a number of other books under her belt. I think I may be adding some of them to my collection.

Tx

Happy 11th birthday to my Miriam

Today is my youngest daughter Miriam's 11th birthday and I wanted to pay tribute to her... and celebrate her life with a few pictures. She is rambunctious, energetic and opinionated... and I wouldn't have her any other way... well ok... maybe if she turned her inner dial down from 11 to maybe 7 or 8.

Happy birthday honey... love, Dad!

PS... she has two different coloured eyes as you can see in the pic below.

Loving... the illustrations of Roy Petersen

My dear friend Roy Petersen is a talented film maker who is also an inspired illustrator. He shares his latest 'doodles' over on his tumblr :: http://orb-world.tumblr.com/ 

I thought I'd share some of my recent faves and encourage you all to bookmark his site... I think his work just gets better and better... and I'm glad to have been on the journey with him for a while now. I would love to see what he'd do if given the opportunity to illustrate a kid's storybook.

Enjoy.

Tx

http://orb-world.tumblr.com/

Scanned... the artwork of Janet and Anne Grahame Johnstone

I found this book up in our attic when we were cleaning it out... Dean's Supreme Book of Bible Stories. It is illustrated by Janet and Anne Grahame Johnstone... and it is these illustrations that really make it something special.

According to Wikipedia... Janet Grahame Johnstone (1 June 1928 - 1979) and Anne Grahame Johnstone (1 Jun 1928 - 25 May 1998) were twin sisters and British children's book illustrators best known for their delicate, detailed prolific artwork and for illustrating Dodie Smith's classic book The Hundred and One Dalmatians.


Over the course of their career together, the sisters illustrated more than 100 books. These included classic fairytales by Hans Christian Andersen, the Brothers Grimm, J. M. Barrie, Charles Kingsley, a series based on Biblical tales, Roger Lancelyn Green's Tales of the Greeks and Trojans (Purnell and Sons, London, 1963), as well as a large variety of rhyme and modern story-collections. Early commissions included Enid Blyton's Tales of Ancient Greece (1951), and new illustrations for a shocking old German children's morality book, Struwwelpeter (1950).


Janet and Anne also illustrated many company logos and advertisements, including a wine label designed by the twins for their own brand of wine (Chateau Badingham). Their work was also featured in the British children's magazine Finding Out.

From the work presented in this book... I will be on the look out for more of their work. It has a particular charm... and is indeed something special.

Tx

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Janet_and_Anne_Grahame_Johnstone

Amanda & Cameron's Wedding Reception

Amanda with Michael, the best man

Last night... Olly, Dayna, Miriam and I had the privilege of attending the wedding reception of our dear friends Amanda and Cameron Laird... over at the Bothwell Bridge Hotel, in Bothwell.


Cameron with Amanda

The above pic is an example of how Cameron looked throughout the night... he was the cat that got the cream!!! and what cream... Amanda looked stunning... she's beautiful inside and out... and he's marrying into one of sweetest families in the world. He's done well!


Amanda and Cameron

But then Amanda was very happy too... and she has every right to be... Cameron is a true gent and a steadfast friend... a hard-working sleeve-roller... someone you want on your team or, in Amanda's case, by your side.


Cameron with his mother-in-law sharing a joke with Ian Milligan, the ceilidh band leader

The evening was an utter delight... the opportunity to meet up with friends from the Salvation Army in predominately the West of Scotland. There were so many folks there that I have the upmost fondness for... too many to mention by name. It was simply wonderful to be part of something so joyous... a true ceilidh... a real 'bringing together' of the clans.


Leanne

It was also a great opportunity to spend sometime with Olly and the we'ans... albeit why are 10 year olds drawn to expensive photography equipment???


My Olly... 15 years ago it was our turn


Olly, Cameron, Amanda and yes... me in a bow tie!

What Olly and I particularly appreciated was how free the whole wedding party (Amanda & Cameron + the parents) were with their time... they mingled and really spent time with their guests. As a guest I do appreciate how busy a wedding reception can be and, as such, am grateful for the time given. I think this warmth set this wedding apart... as something very special indeed. Something I am proud to have attended.

I wish Amanda and Cameron God's richest blessing in their continued life together. They make me hopeful for the future!

The rest of my photos are on Flickr :: LINK

Enjoy.

Tx