World Dumbination - Stupidity Ad Infinininitum

Sunday, September 18, 2005

September, September

So, September the fourth marked the two year anniversary of my blogging.
3 different domains and several sabbaticals later and I'm still carrying on with it.
All the archives are still there, if you haven't read them all. I'm not necessarilly saying there's anything worth reading in them, but hey...
This should be post #504 so that's less than a post a day.
I suppose with all the time out I took, and the very limited net access I have these days that's quite a lot.
Though 99% of it is shit(The other 1% is stuff nicked from elsewhere).

I'm not quite sure where this blog fits in to the world.
It doesn't have a set niché or topic to categorise it, and so because of that it doesn't really get read.
My friends read it for which I'm greatful.
Even without the comments I know they're checking up on me occasionally.
Which is cool.
The thing I use my blog for the most (other than bitching and venting, naturally) is probably reading other peoples. I find it easier ucing the blogrolly sidebar than using a favourites list/folder.
Dunno why... it's just like a homepage portal I suppose.
Even though my own site isn't set as my home page.
Fuck knows.
I say that a lot really.
Anyway, two years... woo-woo... Or something.

Oh yeah, I'm 25 in 7 days.

Bloody month.

Ohhhhhhhhh yeah....

Tuesday, September 13, 2005

Heh heh heh...

Total Immersion


I didn't make this...
Originally uploaded by worlddumbination.
Okay, so I live in a city with a large art university. Funnily enough it's where I studied. The community around me is quite an artistic one, yet at a infant stage in it's development. There's lots of artistic types around, and lots of schemes and projects in the works. This is pretty reassuring to me, and gives me some confidence and encouragement when I need it. I'm not sure exactly what it is I'm going to do, or how I'm going to do it, but I KNOW that I am going to do it. Whatever IT is.
As to the total immersion... within this city of artistic types, there's a lot of grafitti around. Legally it's vandalism, but it's not just your usual tagging and obscene gestures everywhere. There's loads of really creative really cool artwork everywhere around the town, from Banksy-esque template spraypaintings to full works of art. There's one particular tunnel that leads from the pub/club side of town to the university art block (and local football ground), which for the last 4 years has had stuff painted on the inside. Every summer the government will paint over it, and a few days later a new 'gallery' of artwork will be there for public consumption. I can't remember what was up the first three years I lived here, but the (educational) year just gone by there was an amazing, lifesize painting of the Grim Reaper. I've included a dodgy phone cam pic of one of the more impressive pics wiht this post, an when I get my new digital camera I plan on collecting a whole web-album of stuff around here. I've got no part in any of it; I wish I was that artistic, but I'm not. It's just stuff that's really cool, that I appreciate. Hopefully the Reaper'll be there.

Monday, September 12, 2005

Oh yeah...

Made this at the start of the football season;


Never did post it.

Untill now obviously

Big news for Small Press...

Rich Johnston's brought to light some possibly very scary news about a change in Diamond's policies. A bit too long for me to post here, but the jist seems bad;

This Wednesday, it was announced that there will be a $600 minimum on all purchase orders. Which means every listing has to generate a minimum of $600 wholesale (around $1500 retail) before Diamond will pass it on to be filled by the publisher. That's around 500 copies, and this applies to Order Again listings as well.

Do you...

... live near a Bell End, A Clitsome Farm or a Shavington Ho?

Find out for yourself (UK only);

http://places.jump-around.com/closest/

Blatantly stolen from The Cornish Rambler, a blog I happened to find on a Jasper Fforde search, and have added to my regular reads. Check it out.

Quick Sketch/Quick Scan



I have plans...

Monthly Mixtape #07 - August '05

*trumpets play*
Almost getting back to a regular schedule...

1. Kula Shaker - Sound Of Drums
2. The Rakes - Work, Work, Work(Pub, Club, Sleep)
3. Kenickie - In Your Car
4. The Subways - Rock & Roll Queen
5. British Sea Power - Remember Me
6. Biffy Clyro - The Ideal Height
7. Sometime Sunday - Blur
8. Six By Seven - Speed Is In, Speed Is Out
9. The Raywells - Dance Round The Fire
10.Just Jinger - Truely Faithful
11.Haven - Out Of Reach
12.Snoop Dogg (Ft. Charlie Wilson & Justin Timberlake) - Signs
13.Jamie Callum - Frontin'
14.Jason Miraz - Sleep All Day
15.Mull Historical Society - Only I
16.AiM - The Girl Who Fell Through The Ice
17.Massive Attack - Angel (blur Remix)
18.Wumpscut - Wreath Of Barbs (Neurotic Fish Remix)
19.David Bowie - Starman

*please note that track 7 'Blur' is the title of the song, not the artist*

Go make a difference.



HELP: A Day In The Life
Music that makes a difference

22 sensational tracks from Radiohead, Gorillaz, Razorlight, Manic Street Preachers, Babyshambles, Kaiser Chiefs, Belle & Sebastian, Go! Team, Bloc Party, Mylo, Tinariwen, The Zutons, Maximo Park, Magic Numbers, Keane, Hard-Fi, Emmanuel Jal, Elbow, Damien Rice, The Coral, George & Antony and last but not least Coldplay.

Tracks are available in MP3, WMA and AAC formats so they will work with any computer or portable player.

All proceeds to War Child.


http://www.7digital.com/shops/default.aspx?shop=15

Sunday, September 11, 2005

*sob*

Go visit Cally and let her know how much you'll miss reading her posts.
Or at least how much I will.

Modern Toss



I found this t'other day at FP.

Funny as fuck. I seriously cannot recommend this enough.

Find it.
Buy it.
Love it.

Friday, September 09, 2005

Ahhh... memories...

Thursday, September 08, 2005

The closest he's ever going to get...

Saturday, September 03, 2005

Some thoughts on comics as art.

Snipped from a debate over at CDP; some won't make sense, but there ya go -

Art is all relative and perception based.
There is no good or bad, no right or wrong.

However there is the general consensus of 'normal' 'and the majority view, thereupon on.
Where something is widespread and generally agreed upon it becomes the standard which everything else is based upon.
Because of this, society has a tendancy to brand things as bad, as wrong.

Another problem is the constant comparison between art styles.
For some reason it's natural to look for similarities.
When describing things we (humanity, society, whatever) will always look for something similar to help the description and relating to, of.
This then tars things with the same brush, and the two always being connected.

On a more comic related focus, the problem with comics art is that while it's (mostly) fictional and will have magical powers and strange creatures and so on and so forth, it's 99% rooted in reality.
The main focus is (usually) people.
So the obvious point is going to be representation.
If a human figure doesn't resemble a human figure then all point of contact is lost.
The reader/viewer has no connection.
They don't see a human, so can't identify with the human.
Something that the story quite obviously intends to be human, looking wholly un-human. Or at least too un-human for enjoyment.

I'd like to see more abstraction in comic art, but then that makes linear story telling hard.
Very few artists can pull it off.

But that then leads into the whole area of comics not being art.

Comics are storytelling.

They're sequential art.

Which makes them "arts" rather than "art" ?

Then there's the issue between splashpages/pin-up's/covers vs the actual storytelling and just create a whole comic full of splashpages and call it sequential.

None of this of course is me trying to say that comic artists aren't artists.

I'm not a big fan of portraiture.
Probably because I was born and raised in the age of the camera.
For me (the majority of) portrait paintings (tend to) hold no excitement, because they're simply capturing an image. There's no emotion, no personality, no style.

I'm a big fan of expressionism and surrealism, abstraction and 'modern' art.
I love the personal take on artwork, and the many different meanings different people can take from artwork.
This'd be where I get my love of Sienkiewicz, Wood and Templesmith from.

But that doesn't mean I don't like more traditional artists.
Comics thrive on being able to produce anything they can imagine.
If it can be thought of, it can be drawn.
For me, that's enough individuality and personality; converying something which can't be real, yet looks it.
Capturing raw emotion.

In fact I don't even know what it is I'm trying to say here, which is probably the reason this debate exists.

However, I'd probably rather see a photgraph of shit in a can, than generic superhero female with breasts cliché pose #32873268732643756438765435.

Would I buy either? Doubtful...

I want...

... to get a decent looking blog, but I can't be arsed to play with the format.

Foxes In Soxes

Kilgore DeGaul.

There.