Finally finished my first draft of my not-for-children childrens book "The Sad Robot". still a long ways to go till i get to the final version but i thought i'd put the draft up here in any case. -> view here <-.
Having no work on at the moment has proven to be quite fruitful for fixing up a few projects.
I've revised and added a few more of the men with mo's series, a dedication to those brave men in politics, sport and entertainment who are known for wearing a moustache. See the series here
I've also started a new and hopefully soon-to-be series of illustrations based on songs.
The first one being Fish and Bird by Tom Waits
A screenprint of the above work will be in an exhibition coming up this Thursday night on Brick Lane in London...
The work's available to buy for a nice round 20 pounds and will be in a lovely orange if the photos --> here <-- are anything to go by.
The show's co-organised by the ever-lovely mr James Hurst
here's the details:
The openingThursday 7th of May from 7pm till late at Bodhi Art Gallery on Brick Lane (opposite the bagel shops). The soundtrack will be provided by the sound doctor Rob-Tronica. All of the prints are being sold for £20 - we can only accept cash so bring a few notes with you! The show runs until the 27th of May 2009 - there are lots of events along the way - go to www.curestudio.com or www.twitter.com/curestudio to keep up to date with what is happening.This show is organised by Fred of Print Club London (www.printclublondon.com) and James of Cure Studio (www.curestudio.com).
Sometimes I think, I'm so cynical and wise to the ways of the world but I still find I can impress myself with my own innocent naivity. Late last night I was walking to the corner store and I walked past a bunch of guys who were hanging tough around their car with their bangla hip hop up loud and one of them calls over "Nice hat!" and I wave and say "thanks" and a part of me, even if it's a really, really small part of me thinks - "hey maybe he really *did* like my hat".
Right, and so, it's been a while since this site has had any sort of attention, which is a shame really. So i've given the site a bit of a spring clean and overhaul...
Off the top of my head these are the changes:
Postcards from Vietnam has moved away from the blog section of the site and now has it's very own home here
Also in the comics area, Love Detective and Boo Bear are on holidays somewhere nice warm and sunny...
There's also a couple of new bits in the "Pictures" section of the site, namely some illustrations from when i arrived in London last year and was looking (mostly unsuccesfully) for a room, they can be seen here...
There's a few other changes around but they barely warrant a mention. Hope you enjoy and feel free to drop me a line.
Three things not to do if you want your marriage to last more than 13 days:
1. Do not use plastic rings for the ceremony ( no matte rhow cute and twee you think the idea might be).
1a. do not drop said plastic ring during the ceremony
2. Do not have Love Will Tear Us Apart by Joy Division play durng the
ceremony, no matter how romantic you think the song may be.
3. Do not let your newly married partner move overseas 3 days after the ceremony.
Songs I have heard pretty much constantly in Vietnam:
1. Hotel California. Mostly the (seemingly extended) live version. It just goes on and on and on.
2. Dancing Queen by Abba. It always seemed so incongruous, no matter where it was being played.
3. The theme to the Godfather.
3. Muzak versions of the above and more. I remember receiving one of
the best massages in the Blind Association School in Nah Trang, and
during this almost spirital experience having Muzak version of Abba
songs being piped through the soundsystem. Very relaxing.
It's a funny process, moving out of a city that you've called home for
the last 2 and a half years and not knowing if you'll ever return to
live in that city again or not. It's compounded yet again by also
leaving the country, especially for another country that you haven't
been to before and one where you can't speak a word of the language.
Little things like being able to talk to people behind the counter at
the local hardware store suddenly seem to have a lot of relevance. Even
loud-speaker anouncements in the local shopping centre take on a
greater sense of significance - I imagine that I'll be standing in a
shopping centre or public area and a loudspeaker announcement takes
place and I continue my shopping happily but everyone else falls eerily
silent and then starts running, and there I am, left wondering what
the hell was just said.
Having had plenty of time to pack up and leave, I began to get
overly nostalgic about the little things, like the people you see when
walking down the street, the anorexia girls on the bikepath, the smell
of the figs that always accompanied my ride on the last down-hill slope
before home. It starts with little things, like the last time I'll buy
this sweet chilli sauce, or that jar of marinated artichoke hearts, and
then I realise, this could be the last time I ever walk down this
street or the last time I'm served by my favourite waitress, the last
time I cook a meal in my kitchen, the last time i'll see explosion man
or any of my other favorite hobos and crazy people roaming the streets,
the last time I hear the optus lady telling me I have 3 new messages..
And then it grows to more difficult situations like the last time you
spent working with your friends at work, perhaps even the last time you
see this person or that person, who up until now has been so familiar
in your current setting. What I never even realised or anticipated was
that it may just be the last time spent living with the one I love.
