I haven't done any drawing for months now. I used to draw all the time, making up characters and worlds to my heart's content. Usually complete rip-offs of existing ideas, but that's just the way it is.
But over time I got all self-concious and hung-up and neurotic about drawing.
A good friend gave me advice ages ago; be alone, put some music on and just draw. So tonight I followed it (at last).
I also set out with a simple purpose - to draw some rubbish. Some really awful drawings - a toddler could capture more accurate representations of objects, but accuracy wasn't the point - it worked to get me past that initial fear of ruining a perfectly good blank sheet of paper with a failed attempt at a portrait.
Wednesday, 13 April 2011
Saturday, 2 April 2011
Inspiration, Motivation &c.
"There are two types of genius. Ordinary geniuses do great things, but they leave you room to believe that you could do the same if only you worked hard enough. Then there are magicians, and you can have no idea how they do it. Feynman was a magician." - Hans Bethe
Saturday, 5 March 2011
Frank Turner, Live at Trof Cafe
I was lucky enough to catch the end of a solo set last night. It was free entry, with a collection for charity inside (£20 donation to make a request). The small crowd (of maybe 100-200) belted out every chorus, Frank going as far as to unplug his mic for a couple of songs during the encore. The PA turned out to be superfluous anyway, since he could out-sing us all.
Sunday, 12 December 2010
Salford Quays
I took a trip to Imperial War Museum North in the company of two of my housemates today. The museum is excellent, intense, and portrays the stark reality of war without being overly harrowing. This was the best shot I managed to get as I snapped and walked, of some building over the water from the museum itself.
Sun and blue skies have been far more frequent in Manchester this autumn than people give the place credit for. We were going to have a look round the Lowry Gallery but decided to save it for another time.
Sunday, 14 November 2010
A Gift From My Mother
She has this on a little card, I made a copy of it in my notebook. If you haven't read it before you may find it interesting, I don't know.
"Desiderata
Go placidly amid the noise and haste,
and remember what peace there may be in silence.
As far as possible without surrender
be on good terms with all persons.
Speak your truth quietly and clearly;
and listen to others,
even the dull and the ignorant;
they too have their story.
Avoid loud and aggressive persons,
they are vexatious to the spirit.
If you compare yourself with others,
you may become vain and bitter;
for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself.
Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans.
Keep interested in your own career, however humble;
it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time.
Exercise caution in your business affairs;
for the world is full of trickery.
But let this not blind you to what virtue there is;
many persons strive for high ideals;
and everywhere life is full of heroism.
Be yourself.
Especially, do not feign affection.
Neither be cynical about love;
for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment
it is as perennial as the grass.
Take kindly the counsel of the years,
gracefully surrendering the things of youth.
Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune.
But do not distress yourself with dark imaginings.
Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness.
Beyond a wholesome discipline,
be gentle with yourself.
You are a child of the universe,
no less than the trees and the stars;
you have a right to be here.
And whether or not it is clear to you,
no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.
Therefore be at peace with God,
whatever you conceive Him to be,
and whatever your labours and aspirations,
in the noisy confusion of life keep peace with your soul.
With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams,
it is still a beautiful world.
Be cheerful.
Strive to be happy."
and remember what peace there may be in silence.
As far as possible without surrender
be on good terms with all persons.
Speak your truth quietly and clearly;
and listen to others,
even the dull and the ignorant;
they too have their story.
Avoid loud and aggressive persons,
they are vexatious to the spirit.
If you compare yourself with others,
you may become vain and bitter;
for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself.
Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans.
Keep interested in your own career, however humble;
it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time.
Exercise caution in your business affairs;
for the world is full of trickery.
But let this not blind you to what virtue there is;
many persons strive for high ideals;
and everywhere life is full of heroism.
Be yourself.
Especially, do not feign affection.
Neither be cynical about love;
for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment
it is as perennial as the grass.
Take kindly the counsel of the years,
gracefully surrendering the things of youth.
Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune.
But do not distress yourself with dark imaginings.
Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness.
Beyond a wholesome discipline,
be gentle with yourself.
You are a child of the universe,
no less than the trees and the stars;
you have a right to be here.
And whether or not it is clear to you,
no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.
Therefore be at peace with God,
whatever you conceive Him to be,
and whatever your labours and aspirations,
in the noisy confusion of life keep peace with your soul.
With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams,
it is still a beautiful world.
Be cheerful.
Strive to be happy."
- Max Ehrmann
Monday, 13 September 2010
Muse at Wembley Stadium 11.09.10
Support: I Am Arrows, White Lies, Biffy Clyro.
I was eating an overpriced burger and drinking overpriced water while I Am Arrows were playing, and so am poorly qualified to comment on the quality of their performance.
White Lies showed a surprisingly high level of confidence for such a (relatively) small band on such a big stage. Almost half of the set was comprised of new material; presumably so that it is vaguely present in people's memories when it starts to show up on the radio.
Biffy Clyro were as tight as a miser's purse-strings, and thanks to autumn nights pulling in it was dark enough for their light show to have some real impact.
Muse were preceded by a mob, complete with placards and banners bearing lyric-slogans (viz. "They will not control us") and some general noise (klaxons, alerts &c.) over the PA. They opened with an exciting five-track combo of Uprising, Supermassive Black Hole, MK Ultra, Map of the Problematique, and an extended pogo-fest of much earlier hit, Bliss.
Sixth on the setlist, Guiding Light is a fairly average track; think Queen, or just "Invincible 2" (sequels rarely being better than the original). Clever deployment of huge ribbons of paper and shreds of ticker tape over the front of the crowd really brought it to life on this occasion though.
To make up for that dip, the band crescendoed into Hysteria and a little bit of AC/DC riffage, then Citizen Erased with a great guitar break in the middle. Nishe (an obscure and quiet b-side featuring slow bass riff and gentle drumming) cooled things off pleasantly, but while we were down there we got United States of Eurasia; a poor parody of the band's former bombastic heights.
The set maintained momentum through a combination of classics and using flashy bits of stage-craft during weaker new material. While frontman (Matt Bellamy) was at the piano they played Ruled By Secrecy and Feeling Good, then he dissappeared for a bit allowing drummer (Dominic Howard) and bassist (Chris Wolstenholme) to lay down MK Jam on a spinning podium that travelled out into the audience. Dom used four electric drums that light up on impact for this. Matt rejoined them on the same podium with his keytar for a rendition of Undisclosed Desires. The miniature stage rose up as it headed out into the audience (again) and one look over the side from the iconic frontman drew screams from thousands of throats.
Resistance, Starlight (one of Bellamy's finest vocal performances), and Unnatural Selection rounded off the main set.
The first encore was a potent pairing of Exogenesis (Part 1) - during which a UFO circled the crowd complete with dangling acrobat; unfortunately not as stylish as the heliospheres used in their first Wembley dates a few years ago, but impressive nonetheless - and the fan favourite hostage-situation-love-story Stockholm Syndrome.
Their final encore was about as epic as you'd have every right to expect, and we saw Matt return to the stage in a suit with a coating of red synchronized LEDs, which complemented the arpeggiated synth intro of Take A Bow. With an unusally small amount of fuzz factory generated white noise the trio launched into Plug in Baby (cue giant balloon eyeballs for the crowd to bounce back and forth before eventually popping in explosions of yet more ticker tape). Over two hours after it started, the spectacle rounded off with Knights of Cydonia, a finale made yet more grand (and Western) by the inclusion of their cover of Ennio Morricone's Man with a Harmonica.
I sat on the underground train back to my apartment, mind and body a complete wreck, and reflected on what a great show it was. I'd had my money's worth by the end of Biffy Clyro's set; Muse was a generous amount of icing on an already ample cake.
I was eating an overpriced burger and drinking overpriced water while I Am Arrows were playing, and so am poorly qualified to comment on the quality of their performance.
White Lies showed a surprisingly high level of confidence for such a (relatively) small band on such a big stage. Almost half of the set was comprised of new material; presumably so that it is vaguely present in people's memories when it starts to show up on the radio.
Biffy Clyro were as tight as a miser's purse-strings, and thanks to autumn nights pulling in it was dark enough for their light show to have some real impact.
Muse were preceded by a mob, complete with placards and banners bearing lyric-slogans (viz. "They will not control us") and some general noise (klaxons, alerts &c.) over the PA. They opened with an exciting five-track combo of Uprising, Supermassive Black Hole, MK Ultra, Map of the Problematique, and an extended pogo-fest of much earlier hit, Bliss.
Sixth on the setlist, Guiding Light is a fairly average track; think Queen, or just "Invincible 2" (sequels rarely being better than the original). Clever deployment of huge ribbons of paper and shreds of ticker tape over the front of the crowd really brought it to life on this occasion though.
To make up for that dip, the band crescendoed into Hysteria and a little bit of AC/DC riffage, then Citizen Erased with a great guitar break in the middle. Nishe (an obscure and quiet b-side featuring slow bass riff and gentle drumming) cooled things off pleasantly, but while we were down there we got United States of Eurasia; a poor parody of the band's former bombastic heights.
The set maintained momentum through a combination of classics and using flashy bits of stage-craft during weaker new material. While frontman (Matt Bellamy) was at the piano they played Ruled By Secrecy and Feeling Good, then he dissappeared for a bit allowing drummer (Dominic Howard) and bassist (Chris Wolstenholme) to lay down MK Jam on a spinning podium that travelled out into the audience. Dom used four electric drums that light up on impact for this. Matt rejoined them on the same podium with his keytar for a rendition of Undisclosed Desires. The miniature stage rose up as it headed out into the audience (again) and one look over the side from the iconic frontman drew screams from thousands of throats.
Resistance, Starlight (one of Bellamy's finest vocal performances), and Unnatural Selection rounded off the main set.
The first encore was a potent pairing of Exogenesis (Part 1) - during which a UFO circled the crowd complete with dangling acrobat; unfortunately not as stylish as the heliospheres used in their first Wembley dates a few years ago, but impressive nonetheless - and the fan favourite hostage-situation-love-story Stockholm Syndrome.
Their final encore was about as epic as you'd have every right to expect, and we saw Matt return to the stage in a suit with a coating of red synchronized LEDs, which complemented the arpeggiated synth intro of Take A Bow. With an unusally small amount of fuzz factory generated white noise the trio launched into Plug in Baby (cue giant balloon eyeballs for the crowd to bounce back and forth before eventually popping in explosions of yet more ticker tape). Over two hours after it started, the spectacle rounded off with Knights of Cydonia, a finale made yet more grand (and Western) by the inclusion of their cover of Ennio Morricone's Man with a Harmonica.
I sat on the underground train back to my apartment, mind and body a complete wreck, and reflected on what a great show it was. I'd had my money's worth by the end of Biffy Clyro's set; Muse was a generous amount of icing on an already ample cake.
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