A Meander towards a Fourth Dimension

Posted by hil

I like the old stonework and bluest of blues in Oxford Blue, a photo by Robert Silverwood. And it reminds me of my Cyber Hall drawing which was to be a virtual Union building site map for the Indiana Uninversity Alumnii Association. It was my friend Amy’s initiative, and we worked closely together on it, as we did at Pemberley.

Cyberhall

A while ago, Amy was musing about Kosso’s question, are you a createc?

‘I’m not as programmery but can find my way around under the hood. I
have less graphics savvy, and lean a little more to the verbal side.
Maybe there should be a scale with those three dimensions or aspects to
measure one’s createc quotient (C.Q.).’

I think there is maybe a fourth dimension as well, which Amy has in spades. Its an openess to the fluidity and feedback loops in the non-linear creative process: the ability to share and trigger creativity in others, and be open to and build on ideas coming back.

Preparing boby

Posted by hil

Take a look at ‘preparing boby’, netamir’s cool photo set at Flickr, which records the making of her first puppet from wire, paper mache, foam and fabric. I love his expressions, how involved and helpful he is with making himself, and his shape!

Boby

As I’ve commented before, I really find the look of this unfinished stage of making very attractive. Thank you for letting me use one of your images, neta :-).

Muppet stamps

Posted by hil

Muppetblock

Jimhensonstamp

The US Postal Service is commemorating Jim Henson and the Muppets with these cool stamps.

Here’s Kermit and Miss Piggy checking them out. I might have to see if I can get hold of a set somehow. Seems a long time since my brother and I used to race home from uni to be in time to catch Sesame Street when it was a new program here!

Margaret Olley & Maxine McKew

Posted by hil

Maxine McKew (7.30 Report) did a lovely interview the other night with artist Margaret Olley. Part of the charm was non-verbal, the smiling eyes, expressions, gestures, the unsaid knowingness, on each side. But this was my favourite part of the verbal :

MAXINE McKEW: You’ve said you paint for yourself. Is that right?

MARGARET OLLEY: I do. Who would you paint for?

MAXINE McKEW: So you don’t have a particular market in mind or?

MARGARET
OLLEY: Oh, perish the thought! No, the only reason you have an
exhibition…is really, that moment when they say “it’s up”.

MAXINE McKEW: The book also documents…some dark moments and one of them of course is your battle with alcoholism.

MARGARET OLLEY: Oh, yes. Whatever I do, I do it to excess. (Laughs). Whatever I do, I do it to excess.

(via Articulate)

I’m fond of Maxine McKew. She is an astute political interviewer, a feminist, and an excellent presenter, and then occasionally you also get to see her conduct a more relaxed personal interview like this. Another I particularly remember was a conversation with Yasmine Gooneratne, an English literature academic, about the rash of Jane Austen adaptations. It was obvious from twinkling eyes that McKew appreciated Andrew Davies’ 1995 adaptation of Pride and Prejudice.

Incidentally, the Gooneratne family run Pemberley House, an International Study Centre in Sri Lanka, which I think is essentially a retreat. I’ve always thought it would be fun to visit there. Thinking about the attraction now, I’m wondering if there is something about the look of it – perhaps a similarity with Natal? – that triggers some memory from my South African childhood. I only lived there until I was 7, and don’t think of myself as rememering much about it, but I was listening to J. M. Coetzee reading his South African book Boyhood on First Person recently, and was astounded at how evocative it was for me. I instinctively understood words that I had not heard since I was little, and could see again scenes that I had forgotten I knew.

Updated links 2015

King Kong

Posted by hil

The trailer for Peter Jackson’s King Kong is out. They are also running a post-production diary in blog and video format. This could well have happened before, but its the first time I have come across it, as opposed to releases of a few stills and clips. Jackson has always embraced new avenues in the media, and I think this is another example.

Letting it rip!

Posted by hil

BookRebound Designs takes old books and turns them into bags. I’m not a handbag user, so in a practical sense they are lost on me, but they are really cool. I took a spin past a couple of the op shops the other day, and came home with a few books to experiment with. Maybe I can make a few Christmas presents this year?

Strange how it feels naughty to rip the pages out, even for books I don’t feel any relationship with. I found four Reader’s Digest condensed book volumes with pretty covers that I don’t feel too bad about remixing. I think they must be in the same series as this one.

I doubt I could have done it to this one. I did get a Dean & Son abridged Pride and Prejudice, with an amusing gaudy cover, but I escape any dilemma because its spine is too thin.

Did you ever do that thing of cutting a secret compartment in the pages of a book? I remember it taking a lot of grunt to cut through all the pages!

Coo!

Posted by hil

The neo-natal manager at a hospital special care baby unit says “Cooing should be a thing of the past because these are little people with the same rights as you or me.”

I can see the thinking but it just makes me laugh because babies are designed to be cooed over! It’s a cunning part of the process of interaction which allows babies to survive, engage, learn, talk and become social beings. When I was involved with public radio in the early 80’s, the sound engineer at the station remarked that the soundproof studio doors would hold out all sounds except a baby’s cry, because their cries are designed to get our attention no matter what. It’s the same deal. Go to Goodhappyfun and mouse over the main links. I bet you can’t help smiling. I even get those spine tingles at the back of my neck that I was speaking of before.

I don’t particularly buy the infection argument either. In normal circumstances I would go with the ‘boosts natural immunity’ outlook.

Updated links 2015

Spine Tingles

Posted by hil

You know when you hear something that sends tingles up the back of your neck? This is one of those – Ray Lamontagne‘s song Trouble. I also found it as a video.

I’ve had two other such experiences recently. One was Antony and the Johnsons‘ song Fistful of Love. The snippet you hear there is mostly the schmaltz talk at the beginning (I am a bit dubious about that aspect of the mp3s there), whereas most of the song isn’t like that. As someone said, his voice nails you to the wall.

The other was an Australian group called Aajinta. They are a trio who make atmospheric or ambient music with cello, clarinet, didgeridoo and harmonic voices. On 6th October they are launching a CD called Harmonic Spheres which will be featured on Lucky Ocean’s ‘The Planet’ on the same night. Their address for ordering is aajinta.

Did you ever see Janis Joplin’s wonderful Maybe on the Ed Sullivan Show? I only saw it recently. It is so absolutely intense that every time I see it I get tingles and goosebumps and feel like a wrung out rag after watching it.

Updated links 2015

The Scott Parkin Case

Posted by hil

Last week an American non-violent activist, Scott Parkin, was arrested and removed from Australia, after having his visa revoked. The Federal Attorney-General, Ruddock, said that the Minister for Immigration, Vanstone, revoked Parkin’s
visa based on an ASIO Security assessment. “I understand the decision was based upon a security assessment, and security assessments are notsomething about which I can comment in any detail.” SourceWatch has a detailed account.

According to a radio piece on the ABC’s The Deep End on Thursday 15th (which you can listen to) Parkin uses street theatre and puppetry. For instance, his groupdoes an act called Hallibacon, which features a large inflatable pig, and protesters wearing snouts and pig masks being fed cash from a trough of public money by Cheney.

Feeding

Such protests have for a long time been regarded as freedom of speech here. In the absence of other reasons, we have to be worried that is being curtailed. On the other hand, there is speculation that our government was doing someone else’s bidding. Crikey outlines the scenario. On the ABC’s The National Interest on Sept 18th, Terry Lane claims that Kellogg Brown Root, subsidiary of Halliburton, donated $50,000 to both major political parties here, suggesting both a question mark over the opposition’s acquiescence, and an alternative avenue for foreign corporations to exercise power. The Law Report, broadcast Tuesday 19th, will talk to Parkin’s lawyer about the case.

Update: Scott Parkin’s own account of his experience

Updated 2015 – most links outdated.