Tuesday, December 22, 2009

In the Bleak Midwinter


In the Bleak Midwinter

In the bleak midwinter, frost wind made moan, earth stood hard as iron, water like a stone; snow had fallen, snow on snow, snow on snow, in the bleak midwinter, long ago.

...lotsa snow... Merry Christmas.

Thursday, December 17, 2009

Go West


Go West Young Man
...


Go East Young Man
...

or just


Stay Where You Are

Monday, December 07, 2009

Moth to the Flame


Moth to the Flame

Another moth for you, Jeem! You might get a kick out of comparing it to the other one if you still have it. All the best, Phil.

Friday, November 27, 2009

Celebration


Celebration

Friday, November 20, 2009

Nuke it up


Nuke it up

Wednesday, November 18, 2009

Out From Left Field


Out From Left Field

Art musing: Minimalism has its place but would you want a steady diet of it? Yes! Well, that's what you get for asking a rhetorical question! :-)

Wednesday, November 11, 2009

Go with the Flow


Go with the Flow

Not always the best advice.

Monday, October 26, 2009

Pumpkin Pie


Pumpkin Pie

Ha, that and apple cider... that time of year again...

Sunday, October 18, 2009

Artificial Horizon


Artificial Horizon

Wednesday, October 07, 2009

Fat Tuesday


Fat Tuesday

Friday, October 02, 2009

Plays


Plays

Saturday, September 19, 2009

Ship of Fools


Ship of Fools

Monday, September 14, 2009

Opportunity Lost/ Lost Opportunity


Opportunity Lost/ Lost Opportunity

The first way sounds more poetic than the second.

Art musing: artists are supposed to have the soul of a poet. Hmmm. THE BOY STOOD ON THE BURNING DECK!!! Whence all but he had fled; The flame that lit the battle's wreck, Shone round him o'er the dead.

The boy stood on the burning deck
Whence all but he had fled -
The twit!

Thursday, September 10, 2009

Thank you C-c-c-c-captain Subtle


Thank you C-c-c-c-captain Subtle

Monday, September 07, 2009

One Thing Leads to Another


One Thing Leads to Another

Wednesday, September 02, 2009

See What I Mean


See What I Mean

Thursday, August 20, 2009

Descent into Detente


Descent into Detente

Glasnost, Perestroika!

Sunday, August 16, 2009

Cigar Box Guitar


Cigar Box Guitar

Friday, August 14, 2009

Old Skool


Old Skool

...


New Skool


...

Wednesday, August 12, 2009

Londonderry Way


Londonderry Way

Sunday, August 09, 2009

Lightning


Lightning

du u no wat? no, but i met hu at a party! text me baby, yeah

Sunday, August 02, 2009

Power of the Prestidigitators


Power of the Prestidigitators

Monday, July 13, 2009

The Big Idea


The Big Idea

Wednesday, July 08, 2009

Just Like a Fractal on the Wall


Just Like a Fractal on the Wall

Hey, that is a fractal on the wall. Picture courtesy of dj. Thanks dj!

Tuesday, June 30, 2009

The "Wright" Stuff


The "Wright" Stuff

A tip of the hat to intrepid fractal artist, poet, and blogger, Terry Wright.

Thanks for the six word review, dude!

Saturday, June 27, 2009

Having Writ


Having Writ

The Moving Finger writes; and, having writ,
Moves on -- Omar Khayyam

If I could have my druthers...

Monday, June 22, 2009

Revolution


Revolution

Fly the flag high.

Saw a pic of the Titanic's 3rd class staircase. Didn't know they had one. Maybe it wasn't exactly known as such. Functional, if not quite as fancy as 1st and 2nd.

Saturday, June 20, 2009

Move Along, Nothing to See Here


Move Along, Nothing to See Here

There's something about insubstantial art that invites the viewer to fill in the blanks. In my case, I fill them in with, "Why am I trying to envision what the art is supposed to be?! Isn't that what the artist is supposed to be doing for me?!" Haha, yes, I've been had again. The other one is supplying Chopsticks instead of a piano concerto. So there's another part of the art riddle for you: art ... is in ... the arrangement!

(but, but, but, ... I like Chopsticks! Well, Liberace's arrangement of it anyway...)

Thursday, June 18, 2009

All Washed Up ... If You Get My Drift


All Washed Up ... If You Get My Drift

Saturday, June 13, 2009

Archipelago


Archipelago

Statues peer out at you from behind the bushes on the islands of the fractal archipelago.

Sunday, June 07, 2009

Communing with the Spirits


Communing with the Spirits

Ambient music is good for that. Listening to the muses. Music. Amusing. The Muse. Spirits.

My favourite amusing lyrics from pop music:

"Nothing came easy, nothing came free, nothing came at all until they... came after me!" - hmmm, then something came alright.

"What I choose... is my choice!" - haha, for a moment there, I thought I was actually getting something - Oh, I dunno, a pearl of wisdom, or something like that.

In a sense, when you appreciate the work of artists and composers who have passed away, you are communing with their spirits.

(lyrics from Alice Cooper and, I think, Smashing Pumpkins respectively)

Tuesday, May 26, 2009

Crossroads


Crossroads

Robert Johnson went down to the crossroads to get the magic pick. Wally Wood wanted the magic pencil. I'd like the magic - uh, whatever it is that makes fractals... uh, formula? Yeah, the magic formula... that old black magic, has got me under its skin. Hey, that didn't come out right!

Friday, May 22, 2009

Fallen World


Fallen World

I've often thought Religious Philosophy's "Problem of Evil" is just another way of saying "it's a fallen world", a point conceded very early on in most holy writings. We were kicked out of heaven. Are fractals heaven? In a way, yes. So what are fractals doing here?!

Wednesday, May 13, 2009

Saltland


Saltland

The reference shouldn't be too hard to figure out ... ;-)

Saturday, May 02, 2009

May Day


May Day

Workers of the world unite! I heard a story the other day of workers in a factory in France holding managers hostage who had come to tell them they were laid off. I think someone missed the point somewhere. I don't know how it was finally resolved.

Speaking of France, I believe "mayday!", the distress call, is derived from the french, "m'aider!", meaning "help me!"

I think May Day, the workers day, is actually May 1, so I should have posted this fractal then.

Saturday, April 18, 2009

Grape Stompers


Grape Stompers

Was watching a special on the prohibition. The ladies of the Women's Christian Temperance Union did have a point. There were cases where the breadwinner would come home having drunk up the pay leaving nothing for the dependents, and then take it out on their hides.

Tuesday, April 07, 2009

Walking on the Beach


Walking on the Beach

You know when you get the wet sand between your toes, yeah, and look out to the sky, think of the universe beyond, think of the world below the waves, sunken wrecks, sharks, then be so glad to feel the sun's warmth going right through ya...

Does anybody really know what time it is? Uh, 25 or 6 to four, man. As I was walking down the street, er, beach, one day...

Monday, March 16, 2009

What If I Got Nothing


What If I Got Nothing

WhadifIgutnuthin? Not a pleasant thought. OTOH, material things treasured, in the end can't be given away... "That's OK, I still got my guitar" - Jimi Hendrix.

Monday, March 02, 2009

Where the Truth Lies


Where the Truth Lies

A very fine Internet crank passed away the other day. John "Birdman" Bryant. His website has some pithy observations about truth in the abstract. However, when he applied them to certain subjects... watch out. Not for the easily offended. And yes, my ox got gored too upon occasion.

I was run over by the truth one day
Ever since the accident I've walked this way

- opening lines to Adrian Mitchell's poem, To Whom it May Concern. A counterculture classic from the counterculture decade. From time to time, YouTube has a clip of him reciting it in the Albert Hall. Very groovy, to borrow a phrase of the day. Adrian Mitchell passed away last December.

Monday, February 23, 2009

Desert Storm


Desert Storm

Not Operation Desert Storm, just a desert storm. Was the first operation desert storm really almost 20 years ago? How time flies. Saddam has met his Allah. The rout of all that old Soviet supplied hardware contributed to the collapse of the USSR. The cold war met its end... in the desert, you could say. There's some irony for you. Hey, I should have saved this fracky for Remembrance Day. Whoops!

Thursday, February 05, 2009

Art


Art

That? Yes, actually. "What is Art?" I don't believe there's a definition that can sum it up in one sentence. Rather, we have bits and pieces. Is a beautiful sunset art? Is craftsmanship art? Art is Italian for skill. Art is whatever an artist says it is. Which begs the question. Please, question, pretty please!

The tale is as old as the Eden Tree, and new as the new-cut tooth
For each man knows ere his lip-thatch grows, he is master of Art and Truth;
And each man hears as the twilight nears, to the beat of his dying heart,
The Devil drum on the darkened pane: "You did it, but was it Art ?"

- excerpt from The Conundrum of the Workshops, by Rudyard Kipling, 1890

I wont give away his punchline, but I'm sure you can use Google to find the poem and read it for yourself. If I didn't know better, I'd say Rudyard was being very sly. What do you think the title of the poem refers to?

Wednesday, January 21, 2009

Tempest in a Teapot


Tempest in a Teapot

...