Word To The Wise

“Men are respectable only as they respect”

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Lucid

"I love my grey hairs. I've earned each one.”

He sat waiting outside a café whilst thumbing through a book, I rushed flustered and breathless into a firm handshake. A face that threw me for a loop, open and sun speckled, inquisitive blue eyes, greying temples and an easy smile. Gentle voice with umm’s and quiet laughter.

Breeze blowing across the park bench as Canada turned 143. With chai tea warming my palms I stole glances, teeth glimmering as he spoke of Indonesia, language, history, insects, music and life experiences. I felt like a child bestowed with a secret as he showed me a city garden hidden by a thicket of green.

The city splayed as we walked.
13 hours spent spinning stories and revelations regarding lack of inner images.

An insatiable curiosity about the world
Hesitancy

A hug farewell.

Never one to leave a sentiment unspoken,

believing honesty to be the only policy .
Over analysing the 'why's' and 'how’s' and 'what’s'.

Walking away disappointed as Ms Emma Goldman returns home.

Image: SoulStealer

A Hundred Other Words

There are those you let into your life, confide in, spend time and energy with, trust in & care about. These people support you; there’s an exchange of energy, respect and friendship.

Then there are those who you let into your life, confide in, spend time and energy with, trust in & care about. These people lie, take what suits and offer nothing whatsoever in return. The kicker is that they don’t have the courage to discuss it; instead choosing to build a wall of silence. Tired of trying, now I’ve chosen to walk away.

This one is for you

Amadán

Satire

Main Entry: sat·ire

Pronunciation: \ˈsa-ˌtī(-ə)r\

Function: noun

Etymology: Middle French or Latin; Middle French, from Latin satura, satira, perhaps from (lanx) satura dish of mixed ingredients, from feminine of satur well-fed; akin to Latin satis enough

Date: 1501

1 : a literary work holding up human vices and follies to ridicule or scorn
2 : trenchant wit, irony, or sarcasm used to expose and discredit vice or folly

It's not pretty, is it? Neither is the state of the so called 'freedom of press' in Ireland. As i mentioned in this post it's not about the incident involving the paintings anymore. It's about how a national broadcasting body apologised, completely unnecessarily in my opinion, to a politician and his family for "any embarrassment caused" by a piece of news.

The apology wasn't issued because the information that was broadcast was inaccurate or untrue. RTE reported the facts as they stood-it was a legitimate story. It merely didn't sit well in the rotund belly of Mr Cowen. After a bout of informational indigestion a wobbly was thrown along with demands for the removal of the 'offending' images. If he'd had the sense to take the incident with a pinch of salt or in good humour; the chances are that it would have been forgotten in a few days.

By having a hissy fit and demanding the removal of the information that shows him in a less than flattering light; he really has shown what he thinks of the Irish people. Protecting his/Fianna Fáil's reputation and image (no pun intended) are seemingly top of the agenda. Are we not entitled to voice our opinions, be it on a TV station, newspaper or blog on how shoddily the government are dealing with the dire economic situation? Is the use of Satire offensive to him? Or does it sail over his head?


Is this the way information will be distributed in future? The government are terrified of being portrayed in a negative light hence RTE won't run any items which may question or offend the government. Should we just remain quiet and unquestioningly watch reruns of fair city whilst the country continues to fall to pieces. How does that work for you Mr Cowen?

RTE should have stood by their story instead of regularly editing the website, removing the video footage and photographs. The apology was the final straw. Y'know what? I want an apology from RTE for issuing an apology to Cowen. The money which pays the TV license fees and the taxes that pay the salaries of the politicians should give me enough of a right to throw some demands around. Do you think if i call them and express my opinions they'll put it on the 9 o'clock news?


Images via: http://www.caricatures-ireland.com/blog/

Laid Bare

Word filtered across the pond about this today, having made headlines in the US, Ireland and the UK. How i laughed at the true likeness depicted of our Taoiseach Brian 'Biffo' Cowen, as he leads our wonderful nation out of these troubled times.*Cough*

Fair play to those who shall remain anonymous ;p

Footage from RTE news co of Damien Mulley:

http://www.rte.ie/news/2009/0323/cowennude.html

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/mar/24/nude-paintings-taoiseach-brian-cowen

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/03/24/brian-cowen-naked-guerill_n_178415.html

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/northern_ireland/7960997.stm

Update: RTE has shown itself to be a pathetic bunch of spineless arse holes. They have bowed down to Fianna Fail/Brian Cowen and apologised for the coverage. The video clip shown by Mulley(above) and any pictures have been hauled from the site after Cowen complained about the coverage of the painting. This makes me so angry. Tax payers money is good enough to fund RTE (the Irish national broadcaster) but at the slightest sign of a slap on the wrist from a politician they remove the 'offending' news.Would any other news organisation have done this (and i use the term loosely when referring to RTE)? It appears we're now being spoon fed whatever news is deemed acceptable to politicians. Shame on you.

Brian, there's a blindingly obvious reason why people are walking into galleries and taking the piss out of you. Your reaction to the incident speaks volumes. Maybe you, and your self serving shower of cohorts in the Irish Government can continue to bury your heads in the sand at the utter dissatisfaction and contempt with which Ireland holds you in. Hopefully not for much longer.

Vancouver Art Box Show Scam

The Vancouver Art Box show was held at the Autumn Brook Gallery in Vancouver BC on the 30th of December 2008. It was set up and promoted by "Shawn Findley" and his girlfriend. The idea was to supposedly promote new and upcoming art talent while donating 10% of the proceeds to Gallery Gachet; a not-for-profit co-op that provides artists informed by mental health issues with opportunities to exhibit, curate, perform, read, teach and to develop their leadership skills.

According to the Vancouver Art Box Show website:

1. Artists pick up premade wooden boxes 2-3 weeks before the show
2. They create artwork using whatever methods they wish
3. We have a big show with ~ 200 boxes being made by various artists
4. Visitors mingle and peruse all the artwork, priced at $100 each!
5. Feel good about supporting the artistic community
6. Purchase original artwork at a very reasonable price

I attended on the night as i knew someone who contributed pieces and overall the standard of work displayed was excellent. I was tempted to purchase one particular piece on the night but instead took note of the artists name. I'm now glad i didn't as it appears that both artists and the Gallery Gachet were ripped off. The artists were promised $ 50 per sold piece and none to date have received payment for the pieces sold. Gallery Gachet has not heard anything from "Shawn Findley" since the event

The payment never arrived as the organizer appears to have fled, possibly with all the money from the show. Mr Findley who according to his facebook profile, hails from Austin, Texas. He has not responded to any communications enquiring about the status of the money raised from the show.

This concerns me as it will have an effect on anyone genuinely trying to put a show together, either to help emerging artists or to raise money for organizations. It isn't the typical behavior displayed in the Vancouver art community, where most people operate with integrity, goodwill and faith. The police have been contacted and i would advise anyone who participated, attended or bought art on the night to spread the word, contact the police or join the facebook page below to support the artists.

Artists who've been scammed facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?sid=72413949570ebf637c48ba98cc072b44&gid=82995200184

Original Vancouver Art Box show: http://www.vancouverartboxshow.com/

One of those days

Sometimes i wonder if some people get out of bed in the morning intent on trying to make others upset??

"As far as we can discern, the sole purpose of human existence is to kindle a light of meaning in the darkness of mere being"

Carl Jung 'Memories, Dreams, Reflections'

Picture Via Clig

Noir

A fool and their money are easily parted....i wandered into Brown Thomas and wandered out with the above...
Somewhere my 15 year old black lipstick wearing self is laughing. Hmmmm

YSL Pur Black

Image:Style.com