Thanksgiving

William Burroughs recites ,12 years ago,  filmed by Gus van Sant.

Mumbai/Bombay

The Times newspaper will as from today be officially calling Bombay, Mumbai from now on. Not being a Times reader, I had not noticed this anomaly.

What has happened in Mumbai is absolutely abhorrent to me and not something I really understand.In addition the acts may have been perpetrated by University students ,something I find alarming. 

On the BBC news site, Pappu Mishra, an eye witness said,

"Their audaciousness was breath-taking." 

I have stayed at the Taj in a room overlooking the Gates, eaten several times at the Cafe Leopold,been to the railway station and even though,it was quite a while ago the memory of those places and India still linger.

To take a qoute from The Times Newspaper today 28.11.08, an understatement,

"By 5am, Peter Keep, a British entrepeneur, had counted at least 40 dead bodies at the St George Hospital. "It's not an experience that will leave me soon," he said."

Spare a few minutes thought for all victims of needless barborous crimes and ask, did it need to be this way.

cuppa tea

They say it's best not to read critical reviews of oneself but I was amused.

"Crazy, wacky, kitch with a critical edge etc etc."

from Safari to Viewpod

I came across this by chance.

Light Fantastic

BBC 4 have had a documentary series called Light Fantastic that might well be worth a look at. Some footage is to be seen on YouTube.

10,000 hours of dedication needed.

Hardwork, dedication + luck = success

According to Malcolm Gladwell that apart from talent you need to spend at least 10,000 hours to be good at something. Which translates into 4 hours/day for 10 years. 

Funnily, George Steiner mentions a similar figure of practice neccessary.

Einstein said it more succinctly - 1% inspiration, 99% perspiration. 

so anything new?well MG has a similar hairstyle to E

London Mapping

London profiler - could be of interest.

“Photography is an immediate reaction, drawing is a meditation.”

Henri Cartier Bresson

somebody is actually looking

Gill Lambert brought this to my attention.Thank you.

Second Nature.

It brought me onto this.

But  those In London should see this.

that's entertainment

So John Sargeant has quit the 'dance' competition. I can't grasp those who don't seem to understand that the show is about entertainment and not about the best dancer or even dancing. If it were, why do they pick those contestants. There are a number of these shows purporting to be 'real' .The worse are house makeovers which seem to have little grasp of the cost of things.I think they should give the audience a little credit in recognising fiction. Perhaps it should be more like golf and each of the contenders given a handicap.

Don't blame it on the sunshine

....

Blame it on the boogie.

hoax

I came across this while doing some 'research'. Apparently the word hoax came only into use in the 1700s and is said [well at least according to Wikipedia] from the magic incantation 'hocus pocus'.

I need to check these things out not just via the internet for verification and that means doing some legwork myself.

another article on hoax.

read it and weep?

Yesterday's headline for the ghastly Evening Standard was 50,000 estate agents jobs axed.

Today Jonathan Glancey writes for The Guardian of  how architects were effected by the last recession. Actually the figure was worse than I remember and the situation was dire, so much so, some I know killed themselves. The image of Zaha under candlelight I am still picturing. I have to echo Will Allsop's and Nigel Coates' comments. I am no fan of bureaucracy and form filling which to my mind is just timewasting linus blanket etcetera. I'm not sure if anybody reads anything anyway but I guess at least it's wrist action as it's highly unlikely to be eye candy. Also if it puts an end to some of the crass building and that the prevalent idea that the only end to architecture is built form so be it.

“HONESTLY, I NEVER SIT DOWN

TO WRITE ANYTHING WITHOUT

THINKING, THIS IS A WEIRD

THING TO BE DOING!WHY AM

I SITTING HERE WRITING?”

Dave Hickey

I am suffering from a bout of tonsillitis and it is quite a nuisance as I am a bad patient. The source of my 'suffering' is my daughter who is a virus cum germ factory. In addition the builders have put the wrong hinges on all of my windows which means they all [just under a hundred hinges] need replacing - so my mood is BLACK indeed, afterall I don't have money to burn in addition to other losses which have annoyed me too. 

 back of house

Anyway I am amusing myself by looking at things.Dave Hickey always makes me laugh as well as provide food for thought.

being a good ....... is difficult enough

Alec Soth has written this post giving advice to' young' photographers on the Magnum site. 

Magnum

Forbidden fruit

The good news.

The following fruit have had the rule book torn by the EU :

apricots, artichokes, asparagus, aubergines, avocadoes, beans, brussels sprouts, carrots, cauliflowers, cherries, courgettes, cucumbers, cultivated mushrooms, garlic, hazelnuts in shell, headed cabbage, leeks, melons, onions, peas, plums, ribbed celery, spinach, walnuts in shell, water melons and witloof/chicory.

The following 10 fruit are still under regulation, therefore need to comply with requirements, and represent approximately 75% of the EU fruit and vegetable market :

apples, citrus fruit, kiwi fruit, lettuces, peaches and nectarines, pears, strawberries, sweet peppers, table grapes and tomatoes.

The bad news.

The new regulations don't come into effect until 01.07.09

The International Herald Tribune

Boredom

It's been almost a month and I have been quite busy. I wish there were 48 hours in a day as I could certainly fill them as I always seem to find things to do.

Which brings me on to the topic of BOREDOM, which apparently is a recent word/condition first mentioned by Dickens in Bleak House  written in 1852, although the expression 'to be a bore' has been around for much longer. Wikipedia has an interesting entry for this and if you are interested you should look it up - sorry I'm not going to provide the link as you are more than capable of doing this yourself :)

Boredom can have a positive effect if the person is able to use it as a tool to stimulate interest themselves. Today, my daughter asked me if I found my work boring - I'll leave you to draw your own conclusions.