Captain's Log (well it had to happen eventually)

Since I finished working on the radio I’ve cut right down on buying CDs. A good job too as I seem to be spending money I haven’t got on space related items now, particularly books. A couple of recent trips to the shops to buy essentials like bread and milk resulted in the acquisition of the following wonderful things.

Two top buys here, the first is “Manned Spaceflight Log” by Tim Furniss which lists all the US and Soviet spaceflights from Yuri Gagarin’s trip to space in 1961 up to the early shuttle launches in the early 1980s. Fantastic, what a great resource. The photos are all black and white but there are some really good ones and frankly, I couldn’t resist having all that information in one book right at my finger tips. Even with the world wide web, I think there’s still a place for a decent reference book, as even I don’t have the computer on all the time.

In the same Oxfam book shop was “Into That Silent Sea” by Francis French and Colin Burgess. Coincidentally, I mentioned this book quite recently when I wrote a blog about Valentina Tereshkova. It too documents the early spaceflights but goes into much more biographical detail on each of the early space pioneers, both cosmonauts and astronauts. I wish I could read two books at the same time, one in each hand. I have so many books that I can’t wait to read.

However, it not just books I’ve been getting. I also bought more old National Geographics and another Spaceflight magazine. These Nat Geo’s have articles on the US Mercury and Gemini programmes, so how could I not get them? I plan on doing some more space related paintings so you could say it was research. Or you could call it space porn. I mean, look at the thrusters on that!

I also bought this Mexican lottery game in a fantastic shop in Clifton called Otomi which sells loads of fair trade Mexican crafts, food and Dia de los Muertos related items too. What’s not to like?

You play it like bingo apparently, but I got it for inspiration for my art work. I love the pictures, there’s something about naive art which really appeals to me. I hope it appeals to other people too as my stuff is very naive!

Anyway, I may well have got myself a job, so that will help pay for all this stuff. I’m off for a chat about it tomorrow, so I’ll know more about it after that. It’s something to do with streaming boxing matches, gigs, pub quizzes and maybe a new radio show over the internet. Paid work, well there’s a novelty, but one I could get used to. I hope it works out.

Suggested listening: “Keys” by The Keys

The Folk Art Of Cactus County #11

Here’s the latest from the Cactus County art studio. I hope you like them. Four pieces, acrylic on canvas, all 18cm x 13cm. And yes, those are real chillis.

This one (below) is called “Calavera With 5 Chillis”. Calavera means skull but also refers to other Day of the Dead stuff too. It appears on a number of the pictures I do.

This next one is “All Things Must Pass”. I’ve translated this phrase into Spanish (correctly I hope) and used it in the picture. I’ll use this phrase on more paintings. I’m quite keen on the yellow background and have used it on a few pictures but only this one and the one above are finished.

Below is “Cheque Number #2” the second red, black and white painting I’ve done. It’s much smaller than the first one and the third one I’m working on is bigger than either of them but that one is a way off from being finished.“Todas las Cosas Deben Pasar” appears for the second time in a painting.

Finally this is “Cempasúchitl #1” which I’ve already featured on this blog but I was looking at it the other day and decided I could add something to it. I was going to say improve on it but to be honest I’m not sure if I’ve done that exactly or just messed about with it. Anyway, I’ve added some bronze paint to it and I think it kind of works better. More folk art from Cactus County to follow in a week or so.

Skylab And Other Succulents

Another weekend another flea market, and inevitably, more artefacts acquired to fill the house with. Mrs Kitsch came back with a number of books, some jewellery and several more bags of buttons (you can’t have too many buttons apparently) while my hoard consisted of this lot.

I don’t normally read Star Trek novels but this was only 50p, so I felt compelled to get it. Despite the evidence to the contrary I'm not obsessed with Star Trek. Keen, maybe but not obsessed. I also got another Observers Book of Cacti, I'm trying to get as many of these as I can to go with my Cactus County art works; a lovely small hard back anthology of war poetry; and best of all four Skylab commemorative coins in a display box. Oh yes! You can imagine how excited I was about that one.

Skylab was part of the Apollo Applications Programme, NASA’s post moon landing manned space programme. The money wasn’t there to do everything they had originally planned for AAP and Skylab was a very much pared down version of what NASA hoped to have following the lunar landings.

Skylab was a 100-ton space station which orbited the earth between 1973 and 1979. It had been hoped that the then new Space Shuttle would dock with it and boost it to a higher orbit so it could be re-used but the shuttle wasn’t ready in time and with no other spacecraft available to NASA, Skylab’s orbit decayde till it eventually re-entered the atmosphere and broke up over Australia.

Only three crews, nine astronauts in all, visited for prolonged stays in 1973 and 1974. Two of these were moon walkers, Pete Conrad and Alan Bean.

Some good science was done aboard Skylab including studying the Sun and seeing how months spent in space affected the human body. Records for time in space were broken aboard Skylab.

It’s a great shame that it wasn’t put to better use but then as now money and a perceived lack of public enthusiasm put pay to that. The guy I bought this from asked if I'd ever been to Kennedy Space Centre as he went there in the 1980's, and presumably bought these coins there. Unfortunately, I haven't but one of these days I will go. I will make it so.

There are a couple of books relating to Skylab and the astronauts connected with it but I’ve recently seen there's a new one out called “Homesteading Space: The Skylab Story” by David Hitt, Owen K. Garriott and Joe Kerwin. I will definitely be getting this at some point (Father Christmas, are you taking note?) and you might want to check it out yourself if space is your thing.

It’s Not Rocket Science

When an item’s only purpose is purely functional, you would think that its function would be uppermost in the mind of its designer. You would think. However, thinking obviously had no part in this particular objects design or manufacture.

So, is this the worst designed object of the last decade? No, not Mr Monkey, the blue coin. Let’s consider this objects function. It is a parking token for the Clifton Down Shopping Centre car park, brought in to replace paper tickets and thus save on paper and be more considerate to the environment, a very laudable and reasonable initiative.

Now let us consider the token’s design. The token is a very light weight plastic, about the same size as a two pence piece, round and blue in colour, as you can see here with the assistance of Mr Monkey.

Thank you Mr Monkey, nicely done. Small and light weight, therefore easy to drop or let slip from the hand and not easy to hold and drive at the same time but difficult to put down in the car without losing it; round so that it will roll away if you do put it down or drop it; dark in colour so it would be hard to see under a car seat or anywhere else for that matter; and it has no time of arrival printed on it. In the interests of the environment I will forgo the printed time of arrival and accept that a plastic token will in time save on paper. However, would it have been so difficult for the token to be the size and shape of a credit card, slightly heavier and much brighter in colour? Even the token pictured on the pay machine is a bright gold.

Now when you consider the fact that if you lose the token, highly likely given its design, you have to pay £5 to replace it to enable you to leave the car park, the thought crosses your mind, well it crosses mine, that rather than it being badly designed, the token has been very cleverly designed but not for the convenience of the individual who has to use it. Instead it has been deliberately made to be lost and so generate extra revenue for the owners of the car park, who may or may not be willing participants in this scheme. A passing thought you understand, I wouldn't dream of casting such aspersions.

It’s a small thing I know and I really shouldn’t let things like this get to me but I use this car park quite frequently and therefore have to use this stupid token a lot. It’s a really badly designed car park too, for instance, the lifts don’t go to all the floors. What’s that’s about?

As a child I used to believe that mankind was always pushing forward and progressing, with each problem that life throws up being tackled and eliminated for the betterment of all. I’m sure I got that from watching Tomorrows World, one of my favourite programmes right up until my 30’s. Then they brought Peter Snow in to present it and it went downhill, fast, followed closely by my illusion that life was being made better for us all. It seems that the little things that could improve all our lives are being sacrificed by the grasping and greedy for their own ends. A not for profit lottery where all the money goes to charity? No, the man has to have his cut. A cheap and user friendly public transport system? No, we’ll just make using your car more difficult. A radio station that plays real music presented by DJs who know what they’re talking about and who don’t witter on endlessly about celebrity non-entities and reality TV? No, you can’t have that, listen to Chris Moyles instead.

I am grateful that I live in relative comfort and always have something to eat, in a land where if I have a numb toe I can be treated for it, where there aren’t armies with machetes running around killing everyone, where I can vote for a government every few years without being shot at or intimidated or have the result questioned and generally be safe and secure most of the time. I know all that and yet, and yet...that bloody stupid token drives me mad!

Suggested listening: “Nevermind” by Nirvana

Eggs, Bunnies, Squirrels And Ben Folds Five

Well that was a pleasant Easter. I spent most of it painting, I can’t seem to stop at the moment but I made time to cook a rather nice roast dinner as well, even if I say so myself, exchanged lovely Easter goodies with Mrs Kitsch and we went to an art exhibition. All rather nice.

Here’s what I received from Mrs Kitsch.

The final season of Seinfeld on DVD wrapped in paper which she made extra Eastery with some fine Easter doodles, a chocolate bunny & walnut whips, a hand crocheted “science egg”, and then in cahoots with Mr Nuts the garden squirrel I got a squirrel badge on a handmade card and a splendid miniature statuette of Mr Nuts himself. I’m spoiled, I know it.

Knowing how to show a girl a good time, I took Mrs Kitsch to a great little exhibition at Room 212 on Gloucester Road on Saturday. It was a “Calm Air All Ice” presentation curated by our friend Camilla and her friend Claire and in the style of Sesame Street was brought to us by the number “52”, having work by 52 different artists. It was very good with some very nice pieces in there but I really liked how everything was displayed. Here’s some examples.

Mrs Kitsch and I are hoping to have an exhibition at Room 212 ourselves later this year. Watch this space.

Oh yes, it rained a fair bit, well it was Easter so it wasn’t unexpected but what was unexpected was hailstones the size of school dinner peas.

I’ve never seen them as big as that before, ooh er misses obviously, and they made a heck of a noise as they came down. I certainly wouldn’t have wanted to be out in that, it would have hurt a lot.

I’ve been continuing to cull the CD collection and went through a day this weekend where I heard mostly stuff I decided to get rid of. I’ve done a lot of that lately and frankly I really needed to listen to some music I loved, as all the “get rid of” stuff was starting to get a bit much. So I listened to the first Saint Low album and “Whenever You’re Ready” by Swell, both of which I’ve recommended on this blog before, but also “The Unauthorized Biography of Reinhold Messner” by Ben Folds Five which has to be one of the best albums ever made. If you don’t own a copy I strongly recommend you get yourself one, put it on and let it enrich your life. It’s quite dark, like a lot of the music I like, and maybe not to everyone’s liking but try it for yourself and see. Every track on this album is quite brilliant but if I had to pick one favourite track it would be track #3 “Mess”. Every time I play this album that’s the track I play again at the end, over and over. One of my top ten tracks of all time.

The Folk Art Of Cactus County #10

As some of my art work has been inspired by the shrines that people assemble in their homes to their departed loved ones for the Day of the Dead Festival, I thought I would put some of it together in the form of a shrine and see what it all looked like. This is the result, I hope you like it.

The Results Are In, Almost

I’ve just rung my mum and dad up to say I’ve got the all clear from the neurologist. Obviously this is good news. However, I didn’t read the letter he sent me as well as I thought I had and Jonesey pointed out to me that he’s still waiting for the results of the MRI scan. Some partial good news then anyway. I’m not as concerned as I was about the whole thing and don’t expect to hear any bad news connected with the MRI but before I count those particular Easter chickens, I’ll wait before celebrating.

I also got a call from the local doctor a couple of weeks back to say the results from my blood test were also clear except for a very high cholesterol level. He did want me to go and have a talk with him about it but frankly after the last time I saw him, and he scared the living daylights out of me with his spurious talk of tumours, I don’t think I’ll bother. I’ve been drinking Benecol every day since he called and as I have no intention of changing my diet to any drastic level I’ll leave it at that. I think this whole obsession with things like cholesterol and practically every food being bad for you is just nonsense. You only have one life and I don’t intend to spend mine eating like a bloody rabbit.

I made it into the local press again this week. Venue Magazine reprinted my open letter to BBC DG Mark Thompson about 6 Music which I did as a blog here last month. Nothing to do with the guy in the photo, that's another letter from someone else, mine's the other one.

The things I’ve read about this insane decision (to axe 6 Music not to print my letter in Venue) make it clear it is purely a political decision. Thompson is once again caving into pressure from the commercial sector and the Tories and offering up 6 Music as a sacrifice in the hope that they’ll back off and leave the BBC alone afterwards. This makes Thompson’s decision an even worse move than I first thought. That man should never have been allowed through the doors of the BBC in the first place. I hope the BBC Trust sack him and quick, he’s a bloody menace. Bring back Greg Dyke.

That’s twice I used the “B” word. Is that allowed in blogging? Obviously you can’t use language like that at the BBC in case a Daily Mail reader has a heart attack, assuming that Daily Mail readers have hearts to begin with. Ho ho, did you see what I did there? Satire isn’t dead.

Suggested reading: Venue Magazine for all your Bristol and Bath what's on info and other great bits and pieces

The Folk Art Of Cactus County #9

I’ve recently finished another four of the small 10cm x10cm canvas paintings. I’ve got individual close ups on my Flickr site of each of them if you want to take a look; otherwise, here’s a picture of all four together.

I’ve taken a little bit of a blow on the painting front today as I’ve just been turned down for another exhibition. Oh well. That’s only two I’ve ever applied for but I really thought I would get into this one. There’s another one coming up I’m going to try for. Also, Jonesey has been on at me about setting my own small show up at a little gallery on Gloucester Road. I’ve resisted up to now as I didn’t have enough work to show but I’ve got quite a bit ready now so I think I might give that a go. I’ll let all you fans of the Folk Art of Cactus County (anyone?) know how that works out.

Suggested listening: “Dead Letter Chorus” by Llama Farmers. I can’t believe this album is over ten years old now. It still sounds great though.

Tog Love Frome

Long story short, Jonesey made me a toy dog one time and on the back she stitched “To G, love from E” or as I read it “Tog Love Frome”. So the dog’s called Tog and he loves Frome. We went to Frome yesterday and of course Tog had to come with us. He got very excited about a trip to his favourite place and insisted on having his photo taken by the sign as you enter the town.

Check out Jonesey's blog to find out more about Tog. We went to Frome largely because there was a vintage fair taking place and Jonesey wanted to check it out in case it was worth her doing it next time. I think it just might be. Here’s a splendid fellow in the entrance to the fair.

We both ended up buying a few rather marvellous items (not the fine fellow above unfortunately) and added to these when we scoured the town’s charity shops afterwards. A damn fine days thrift shopping! Here are some of the things I purchased.

Did you spot it? I couldn’t believe my luck when I saw it and it was only £2 as well. I’m pretty sure it’s an original 1969 commemorative mug but even if it’s not it’s still brilliant.

“The Eagle has landed”

Interesting that the mug refers to Aldrin as “Edwin Aldrin”, that makes me think this is a contemporary item. He got the nickname "Buzz" when one of his sisters mispronounced "brother" as "buzzer" which got shortened to Buzz. In 1988 he legally made Buzz his first name. And no, I am not watching that dancing with the stars thing even though he’s on it. Anyway, the name “Buzz” doesn’t appear on the mug.

“We came in peace for all mankind”

You have no idea just how excited I was when I saw this, I could not believe my luck. It’s so rare to find any space items at vintage fairs. Result!

It wasn't just space stuff though, I  also lived up to the name Jonesey calls me on her blog, Mr Kitsch when I came across these two fabulous items.

Happiness is a plastic pineapple and an old Mexican themed tin. I’ll be using these as part of the display when I finally get round to showing my artwork.

I also picked up a number of old black and white photos. I plan on sticking them in a book and making up stories to go with them. “Tales of Cactus County” maybe, we’ll see.

So a jolly good day out in Frome, wonderful things acquired and I dressed in vintage gear to get into the fair free. Some people will do anything to save a couple of quid. Tog Love Frome. Gary Love Frome. Everyone Love Frome. What’s not to like?

Suggested listening: “Project Infinity” by Man Or Astroman?