Sprismatic

WANTED Creative Banter

2011-11-28T21:34:00.001Z

While researching the work of artist Goro Fujita I came across an illustrative banter between himself and his friend, Stephan Stoelting.

Click and Scroll down for the Photoshop Battle

It made me laugh and I envied their ability to have a joke with each other using their talent.

Meanwhile I've taken time out from promoting, guiding and encouraging others to put my energy into producing something new myself.

Fujita cites Stoelting as his first and most inspiring mentor. If any of those I have mentored, helped, inspired or entertained would like to enter into a sparing of ironic words please get in touch. Meanwhile if any of my mentors read this, I'm inviting an email.

I would love to start the day dropping a figurative lump of concrete from above and anticipating someone else throwing back the final word. (And Vica Versa!)

And here's what started me off on the trail to find out more about Goro Fujita

Animation Demo Reel 2010 from Goro Fujita on Vimeo.

On The Road

2011-06-23T01:00:00.003+01:00

During the Summer months, while I'm mostly on the road:

Twitter is updated frequently, Facebook less frequently and this blog ... not so much.

Please Like on Facebook for small bites of Sprismatic people's work and Follow on Twitter for posts about (and for) creatives including film, music, festivals, design ... and Brighton.

Possible Golden Silence here for a while . . .

Digital v. Hardcopy: This weekend Go Hard

2011-04-12T00:15:00.006+01:00

Still from the video for Metronomy's The Look off their new album The English Riveria

The new appointment of Maria Martin-Prat as Head of Unit Services 1, Directorate General Internal Market, European Commission (copyright laws) is either going to be a Good Thing or a Bad Thing, depending on your area of involvement in the recording industry.

In the past she has wanted to make the burning of even back up copies illegal. If Ms Martin-Prat takes it to that level it would throw me onto the wrong side of the law for copying, for safety, a track I've downloaded from Beatport.

As we've lost an entire Sonic Stage library to the sudden death of a PC and 50%* of music which was only stored in iTunes after a Mac went blank, we now burn copies of every online purchase.

If Ms Martin-Prat's intention is to ban the burn-to-disc home PC ability and to make digital so precarious that we all go back to hard copies, then the repercussions are immense. I will leave it to the industry specialist reporters to work that one out for us.

Here's something she should approve of. If you are planning on downloading the Metronomy album, please don't if you can visit a local independent record store. Pop in and buy a copy. The CD is stunningly packaged, reminiscent of a souvenir Cornish Clotted Cream Fudge box. It's a joy to hold and our independents really do deserve to be supported. They aren't the bad guys in this Euro squabble.

Saturday, April 16 is Record Store Day throughout the country. Most shops will have special one off releases and vinyls on the day. If you find yourself about to three-click-purchase some music this week, stop and think whether you could pop into one or more of the 180 participating record stores on Saturday and give them your money instead. We have seven in Brighton alone. Locate your nearest Record Day Store.

* The other 50% was loaded from hardcopy purchases. We will continue to buy them whatever the EU bangs on our table - just because we love the artwork, insert stories and reading the notes and credits.

We play a lot of music from artists who haven't had record deals, who make music available to download or burn off their own copies. We love, promote and help push them towards their dreams. What of them Ms Martin-Prat?

Summing Sprismatic Up In Tweets

2011-04-04T00:08:00.001+01:00

There's nothing like a tweet cloud to find out where our tweet priorities are. Here is a scan of my last 200 tweets:

Sending Some Un Valentine's Day Love

2011-02-11T16:23:00.006Z

I've held back on posting this because I don't buy into the whole Valentine thing*.

There's enough out there to remind the single-not-by-choice they don't have a Valentine.
Also Valentine's Day can alienate religious people who don't recognise Christian Saints.
And my final bah humbug is in defence of the people who are in perfectly fine relationships who feel they're lacking something if they don't receive a Valentine card (let alone a weekend in Paris with a bed covered in rose petals). We all know romance comes in many forms and, for me, someone protecting me is the most romantic of acts.

I'm all for us being reminded that if we actually quite like someone then February is a good month to tell/show them. We're officially in Spring (but the layers of clothes we're wearing say 'Winter') so this is a good month to snuggle up and exchange tokens of our affection.

But it doesn't have to be on February 14th and it can be something which will last as a reminder for another twelve months (unlike flowers and chocolates).

So just to be sure you're too late for ordering for Monday, I'm posting this today. The artist sends hearts all round the world and throughout the year. Love, thank goodness, IS celebrated 365 days of the year ... somewhere! Surprise the one you love with this after the 14th.

There are two types of heart offered by Your Alchemy, I especially like the clay version and the artist is offering a limited edition in wood. Beautiful.

Meanwhile, if there is someone you really like (friend, potential lover, lover) you may like this song enough to send them the link to the video. Just don't feel you have to send it on Monday!

Happy Un-Valentine's Day to you on whatever the date is when you read this, including Monday.

Love.

* If you have sent me a card, ordered flowers or planned a romantic surprise for me for February 14th, thank you. How lovely. Please don't read this post!

Get Fit, Watch More Videos

2011-02-02T16:59:00.013Z

Instead of signing up for a gym (and staying home anyway), I spent a lot of January researching skateboarding videos from my sofa. And it seems to work. After watching boarders' satisfaction when they pull off a move, I feel great*.
So this is a tribute to the guys of Brighton, Madrid and Venice Beach. Three different worlds. Three very different moods. And all of them just having so much fun.

Brighton: Harvey Saunders Warning: You may want to stick your fingers in your ears, for the opening minute ...

Madrid: by Juan Rayos (introduced to me by one of my favourite blogs It's Nice That)

California : Beginner (yeh not) Devendra Banhart

* Health note: The author of this post understands the value of a good healthy lifestyle and respects everyone who attends a gym more than once. Watching extreme sports videos is no compensation for a healthy diet and exercise. While lightening her winter mood watching other people achieve feats she is incapable of, she also decreased her calorie intake, drank lots of green tea and water. She does, however, credit the armchair skateboarding for the adrenaline rush which inspired her to walk miles and dance for hours.

Publishing Isn't Dead

2011-01-27T18:57:00.002Z

Little White Lies (LWL) magazine announced today that they have sold out of their current "Black Swan" issue. This proves that publishing ain't dead, if what you print is quality.
Creative Review may have played their part in LWL's fortune, by showing the two month production process of the Black Swan issue in a two minute video.

But this isn't a one off. LWL's shelves are bare, their back issues have been snapped up too. This is good news for hard copy publishing. LWL offer a good readable web brouse but this announcement proves that hold-it-in-your-hand print touches parts the computer screen misses.

As with most good news, this won't be the end of the story for Little White Lies. Hopefully they will spend this evening celebrating in the pub and leave the "should we increase the print run" meeting for tomorrow.

Sprismatic Medal For Keeping A New Year's Resolution

2010-12-15T23:31:00.006Z

Project 365 encourages creatives to produce a piece of work every day of the year. They are two weeks away from completing their 2010 resolution and one of my favourites has been posted by Nathan James Paige on his Ideas Man blog.
Posting one each day is quite some feat, especially as these aren't just sketches but often topical cartoons. His references to festivals show he may not have been in the best situation to post every day of the year but he's done it. Big fat respect and The Sprismatic Medal For Keeping A New Year's Resolution goes to Mr Paige.
Here's a sample of the 350 posted so far:

http://nathanjamespage.blogspot.com/

Sloths Aren't Sinful - They Simply Don't Do Stress

2010-12-07T17:21:00.002Z

Sloths, these comically beautiful creatures have been given a bad name. The Bible hasn't helped the sloth's public image. Behaving like a sloth is, along with idleness, one of the deadly sins. They are quoted for being spiritually idle. And it's stuck. People who have never seen a Bible know sloths have a bad name.

Meet the sloths from Amphibian Avenger on Vimeo.

How do we know they aren't concentrating on filling themselves with light and pondering the meaning of life as they lie there? We don't. They may know the meaning of life, which is why they look so relaxed. We don't speak Sloth so who knows?

Sloths do enough to feed themselves when they need to eat; reproduce to maintain the species and care for their young.

My feeling is they are scapegoats. There's nothing wrong with being chilled. As long as we do all we can to look after ourselves, and any dependents, then that's a good start.

If we are able to do that without getting stressed, running round in circles until we are worn out and "fit for nothing else", all the better.

Relax when you can ... be MORE like a sloth.

Got A Ten Year Career Plan Mapped Out?

2010-11-04T00:53:00.002Z

As if the Autumn weather and long nights weren't enough, the media have launched into their bah humbug "We're doomed, we're all doomed" comfort zone.
As is traditional at this time of the year, just as the students have returned to uni all fresh and sparkling and raring to go (that's right isn't it?), we are getting reports of how few jobs there will be at the end of it. Well compared to a few years back, yes. But there are still a lot of people earning a living, some even love the work they're doing and many are earning a lot.
So hey, how about giving yourself a break and allowing yourself to think you too will be paid for your work too.
And ignore the "You've got to being doing brilliantly as soon as you leave university or you haven't a chance."
Yes, that would be good. But some people take a while to get established in whatever field. Many change their 'career path' altogether.
During one episode of Dragon's Den, after hearing an unsuccessful pitch from a young entrepreneur, Duncan Bannatyne said:
"I have to think back sometimes to what I was doing at that age.
I didn't have a business...I was pennyless. I didn't have a penny to my name. I lived on the beach did a bit of surfing. Worked in a bar in the night time. I didn't have a bank account till I was thirty."
If your dream is to be a millionaire by the time you are thirty, then I wish you well, but if you aren't you may just be a late starter.

Sprismatic Blog has been on Summer Break

2010-07-23T10:34:00.004+01:00

A little bit of summer

This garland is from a collection by Lisa Piercy and as it made me feel instantly as though I was on holiday with my feet in cooling sand, I thought it was a perfect image to look at after the summer.

This and other mood enhancing garlands can be seen on Lisa's news page and are titled land of serendipity.

Sometimes the Shit leads to Awesome

2010-07-16T16:05:00.004+01:00

This morning, artist Philip Dennis introduced me to Blu's latest film Big Bang Big Boom. The animation has stayed in my head ever since and when that happens I want to share but the subject matter didn't appear to fit the recent "All things bright and wonderful" tone of the Sprismatic Blog.
However it's concept blew me away. I've blown back now, still muttering "How many hours must that have taken?" and decided it fits more criteria for this blog than I'd realised.
Spoiler Alert: Watch the film before you read on.

BIG BANG BIG BOOM - the new wall-painted animation by BLU from blu on Vimeo.

The current tag for Sprismatic is Sometimes the Shit Leads to Awesome. People destroying each other and blowing up the planet is shit but inspired an awesome interpretation.
Sprismatic aims to inspire, entertain, encourage and simplify. The only box Big Bang Big Boom didn't tick for me was obvious optimism but given an hour or two I could probably turn that one round too. It's all about the way we see things.

Profile of a Twitter User

2010-07-11T18:12:00.001+01:00

Ciaran Duffy at NGO News explains this whole Twitter thing so well. I can't do the infographic justice in the space available on here so please click this link and click the image on the NGO page to read it. It's a special world for sure.

But where's the one for a lot of the people I follow? Lets create a Schnort. We follow them because ... they make us laugh.

From Running in Mud to Synchronicity

2010-07-06T01:12:00.007+01:00

Don't you just love coincidences?
I suspect I get more excited than some because they make me quite buzzy and full of wow! but I've noticed people shrug and move on. It's these little-things-made-big that send me off to sleep at night with a contented sigh.
The down side (and here's the sods law rub) is I start to miss the buzz if I haven't noticed a coincidence recently. It's that old "to have light, there must be dark" thing and people who don't get too excited about such things, don't miss them so much.
I decided long ago to make the most of the highs and put up with the lows inbetween. But then a high for me can be bumping into someone I had been thinking about recently. It doesn't have to be an adrenaline fuelled event.
There was no synchronicity in my efforts to get to Glastonbury Festival* this year. Trying to arrange a ticket was like running in mud. But I've since had a coincidence which made me smile so this is a high:

Act I. Scene One: You may have picked up somewhere along the way that I am currently operating on the Deadmau5 frequency. A recent Deadmau5 gig in Brixton jumped straight into one of my best top 5 gigs ever. Right now, he's the man and I'm not tired of playing his albums on continuous loop yet.

Act 1. Scene Two: I started following @phstephenson on Twitter, at the recommendation of comedian @shappikhorsandi, because she makes me laugh and she said he makes her laugh. And he makes me laugh too. A lot.
Among all the informative tweets, a little daft something flashes up from @phstephenson and makes me snort too loudly. Here's two examples so you can see if you share my idea of a GSOH
Last night:
"Another great nights sleep ahead, with a woman whose hobbies include semaphore, break dancing, and conducting an invisible orchestra ... " (bit of background you may have missed - he adores his multi-hobbied wife)
and then a few minutes later, just as he's preparing to turn off the laptop, he shares a last thought:
"I want to make a TV programme, for all the poor bastards who are the 101st best ever in the world at something..."
He makes me smile while I'm supposed to be trying to make sense of research notes with too many thought provoking facts per para.

Act 1. Scene Three: I checked @phstephenson's website link and he isn't playing at a comedy club near you tonight, but you may be wearing something his company, October Textiles, helped produce.
The Coincidence: First thing I noticed on October's Home page?

Deadmau5. Well, the bamboo fabric t-shirt I bought at "one of my top five gigs ever!".
I'm not a tour t-shirt kind of a girl normally but for me Hannah Morrison's design is different.
It's also soft and obviously I have no problem advertising Deadmau5.
So there's a connection between one of my current favourite tweeters and my current musical obsession.
Fun coincidence (otherwise referred to as Isn't it a Small World?)

Meanwhile there's a synchronisation sub-plot building up for Act II which involves Ibiza and Deadmau5 and is starting to ripple.
*If you read my Glastonbury posting you will know I just couldn't get there this year, not for the want of trying, and eventually decided it wasn't meant to be.
My creed: "If it feels like you are running in mud look for another route. If all routes are muddy consider that you weren't meant to head in that direction and try another goal".
Plans to visit Ibiza seem to be working very differently. So I've decided to be excited by the possibility this is leading to a "meant to be".

Share a Secret

2010-07-03T20:57:00.002+01:00

Seducing emotional intimacy through film. Designing Lives' blog introduced me to two videos I've gone back to a few times this week. The first, Raoul Paulet's Crashing into Love, I linked to from Sprismatic's Facebook page and the second I'd like to share here.

Your Secret from Jean-Sebastien Monzani on Vimeo.
Jean-Sebastien Monzani's idea for Your Secret is so simple it made me want to rush off and learn how to make something similar. As this reaction is the essence of inspiration, I hope it has the same effect on at least one of you.
Or maybe you have a special someone you would like to share this video with. Simply beautiful.

Art in a Coffee Cup

2010-07-01T16:06:00.004+01:00

Pretty dustings of cocoa powder aren't new. The chains have been using templates to brand their cappuccinos for a while now but a barista at an independant coffee shop has the opportunity to be creative.
This work of art is by a Brighton artist who works in a town centre venue inbetween gigs.

While her boss does a good line in hemp-leaf sprinkles, this awesome lady creates seascapes. I hope my photograph manages to give you enough detail to see the dark scattering as the beach; the waves crashing above and the water spraying into drops at the top?
Sometimes I think they're too good to drink, but I'm an addict so of course I do.
Oh and it tasted delicious too.

How I shall survive not being at Glastonbury Festival

2010-06-23T22:56:00.008+01:00

This is especially for all the sleepy souls who crawled out of bed early one cold winter's morning to apply for tickets to Glastonbury Festival this year and couldn't get through to ticket sales before the dreaded Sold Out message.
That'll be me then.
Well we did actually get through but for some reason the system only recognised one out of three registration numbers, even though they're the same as last years.
Then there was the possibility of working there which didn't happen. We entered competitions but I'm very pleased for all the people who won the numerous competitions for tickets (Gnash ... no really, I am, because most of them had only been to V and Reading or Leeds festivals before).
I finally got the message. I'm not meant to be there this year!
With hindsight I will know why not. There comes a stage when sayings like "Stop trying to flog a dead horse" remind me that if something is not happening, it isn't meant to be.
It was harsh on Monday watching my van, full of happy campers, heading off on an adventure without me. And I'm undecided about whether I will be able to watch any online* or TV coverage without a deep sense of loss bubbling in my stomach.
It's the united-in-happiness atmosphere isn't it? That's what I'm already missing. That's what people who have never been don't understand. And yes I've met some people who have been to the festival in the past and didn't like it but thousands of people do. Even the muddy years created fond memories of coping and laughing together in adversity.
It's an intense experience.

The festival and the site feeds the highest of highs and the lowest of lows that can not be shrugged off as booze and drugs induced. Ask any child whether they enjoyed themselves and they will have a very definite answer.
Not many people answer "It was alright". (OK that's enough of how bloomin wonderful it is! ed)
How to survive the next few days? Well I've tried looking at people's pics of the queues to get in (which look awful) but that didn't help, because it's worth the journey.

I've told myself I'm pleased for them all, and I am. I'm glad they have a sunshine forecast for a change. I've done the: "You're lucky you've been at all" bit and remembering that it's a small dot in the year. A spec in the grand scheme of the world. But if you too have experienced Pilton during festival week you will understand - right now it aches.
So while all the magazines have been publishing guides to surviving festivals, I would like to share my plans for surviving not getting a ticket to a festival:
Between Thursday and Monday:
I've filled my diary with work, a good cause and friends who, coincidentally, were also there last year.
I shall savour a shower everyday.
Wear a fresh outfit or two each day.
Drink loads of cold tap water.
Appreciate every visit to a clean, plumbed toilet with toilet paper (and make the most of the running water to wash my hands afterwards).
Eat only fresh food that would go off without refridgeration. (No canned food or fast food).
Watch the England match on Sunday, where I know I will have a good view of the screen.
Text and call frequently - taking advantage of the chance to recharge my phone and appreciate the unjammed network.
Watch the new Gorillaz video for "On Melancholy Hill".

Enjoy every night's sleep I have in a bed.
And I'm visualising I'm there next year with everyone, either as a punter or working. But I'm there! See you there.

* For online read facebook, twitter, news reports, emails (from excited bands with set times over the weekend) and that's without the temptation to visit the festivals live stream.

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Good night Spring, Good morning Summer

2010-06-20T15:45:00.008+01:00

As the sun rises on Monday morning, Spring becomes Summer. If you aren't taking advantage of the opportunity to walk among the Stonehenge stones tonight, and you haven't got a 24-hours-of-day-light celebration booked in Alaska, what have you got planned for the hours before sunrise tomorrow? For some of us it will be work or feed the baby, but for most of us it will be "Sleep!"

I have a feeling that would be a bit of a waste of a special time. The end of Spring brings with it a time to do an audit of where/who we are and where/what we would like to be by the end of the Summer. It's a good time to give ourselves a bit of a talking to.
If you really can't face setting your alarm to be awake at sunrise (about 4.40am in the UK) then have a moment of peaceful reflection before you go to sleep tonight.
Spend some time patting yourself on the back for your good bits, thank your god, the universe, or your lucky stars for all the parts of your life for which you are grateful and spoil yourself with a moment of excitement about the possibilites for what the Summer may hold. Fantasise, day dream and be open to some sunshine moments.
Happy Summer Solstice.

Toy Story and The Wire Mash-Up

2010-06-19T05:59:00.008+01:00

"From the makers of Finding Nemo and Generation Kill" for fans of The Wire . . . sheeeeeeeeiit

via Jason Kottke

The second person on the dancefloor is the hero

2010-06-18T16:46:00.013+01:00

Are you a leader, a first-follower or happiest when part of the crowd?
You walk into a club and the music is banging but no one is dancing. You are really feeling it and desperate to leap onto the floor and throw your body round in uninhibited abandon.
Do you think "Ah sod it" and make the most of having so much space to jump round? Or do you stand watching - wishing someone else was dancing and then, when one lone soul arrives on the floor, do you join them or do you wait until many more have followed his lead before you dance?

You arrive at the opening of a new shop, keen to be one of the first 100 to receive a free gift. There's no one else queueing yet. Do you start the queue or do you walk around the block until someone else has started the queue or do wait until there is a small queue and you are able to blend in behind it?
There's a new fashion for collarless shirts. You like the trend but no one you know is wearing it yet. Will you be the first or will you wait until a couple of your mates take the lead? Or will you wait until its a common choice?
In a community, 90% want to be mainstream. Their security comes when they feel they are part of the human pack and they know how they are expected to behave.
They know the rules and even the rule breakers are happy because they consider themselves to be the retrogrades of the group but still identify themselves as being within that group.
The other 10% pursue security while being sincere to their instinct. They don't seek to be different from the group and are content to follow the group's rules if it matches their own but they can not function if it is against their sense of right and wrong. This is based on a gut feeling more than logic.
They may start the dancing because they just have to move with the beat or they will spontaneously combust.

They may start the queue, because they are really keen to get the free gift and they may be the first to wear the collarless shirt, just because they like it. They are prepared to stand out and set themself up for ridicule if that's what it takes for them to be able to follow their instinct. The second person to join them on the dancefloor, join the queue and wear the shirt is the brave one. This person is often from the crowd and prepared to step out of the crowd to join the first person. The second person is saying to the crowd, come on - it's fine. We can do this.
In this video, Derek Sivers illustrates how human's respond and highlights how it isn't necessarily the
first person in the queue, on the dancefloor or wearing the new style that is a leader of something new. It's the next few people who join in and encourage others to do the same who make the difference. One person on their own can just be a weirdo. A few people make it a collective of value.

Notice Derek's theory that after a good proportion of the crowd have joined the activity, others join in because they want to be part of the larger group, which is no longer the seated group but the dancing group.

This insight has been used by marketeers, religious leaders and politicians for years but it's fun to stand back and get an idea of just how we react and which part we role in a community be it at work, play or within our family.

Big up for the second person on the dancefloor. You are the unsung hero.

By creative licence: Humphrey hearts John

2010-06-15T17:48:00.002+01:00

This is turning into National Lernert and Sander Day on Sprismatic, but here's something completely different from the previous post. They have created these posters for this year's Amsterdam Gay and Lesbian Film Festival, Pink Film Days, 2010. The website dedicated to these directors and artists is www.weloveourwork.com. It shows.

Feed good coffin association

2010-06-15T12:36:00.003+01:00

Now here's an idea ... we should use coffins more in every day life so that they don't always have such a sad association ... one of my favourite wake-me-up websites It's Nice That introduced me to this video:
Coffin Poser from Lernert and Sander on Vimeo.
I'm going to quote It's Nice That's piece word for word, with big fat honours to them, because I can't improve on this:
"Coffins, stark operating rooms, heavy trance music and conveyor belts aren't the classic ingredients for a feel-good Monday morning music video. Unless Dutch duo Lernert and Sander get hold of them. The piece was released towards the end of last year for band Aux Raus and charts the unusual culinary skills of two pretty intimidating looking chaps with an urge to bake. Tip for the rushed - there's some nice camera work at 2.10".
Thank you It's Nice That. It is.

A week of optimism, the gruesome and the awesome

2010-06-11T18:51:00.006+01:00

This week has been Sunrise Celebration festival: lots of smiley, friendly people and good brain food. Optimism.
Big Brother 11: lots of smiley, (possibly faux) friendly people and skincare adverts. Enticingly gruesome.

And the World Cup Opening Ceremony: lots of smiley, friendly people and a real tear-jerker moment when children performed the logo finale. Awesome.

Sunrise was such good brain food that I am still writing up my notes*, let alone turning those thoughts into something useful. Freelancers can spend so much time kicking themselves up the backside and backburning projects that don't have an immediate form, that I forget sometimes how useful working with others is for unlocking thoughts and making sense of information. I met some incredible people who jogged my brain cells into life with renewed focus and a laugh. So I suppose I've just come back from the equivalent of an informal summer school with my students, my colleagues, my teachers and my mentors.

Big Brother's return is welcome. I don't hold with the idea it's mindless pap designed to keep us too busy to notice the horrors of life we should be addressing instead. Most people have enough challenges in their lives to be fully in the moment most of the time, but what BB does is to offer something everyone can have an opinion on for the sake of bonding or bantering without causing the sort of heated argument that sex, politics and religion can. We don't have to watch it everyday.

And, although my experience of the football World Cup is likely to be limited to listening to a load of angry bumble bees** in the background. I'm pleased it's here. I wish England's team well and it would be lovely if they could repeat 1966 but meanwhile let's just be happy for the excitement so many are feeling, right now, today. And as someone who was round when apartheid prevented South Africa from competing - it's brilliant that they are hosting. I looked at the closeups of the smiling Black South Africans in the opening ceremony and wondered if any of them were the kids we always saw playing football in a "Blacks Only" park in Johannesburg, twenty years ago. That's the result.

* These notes will take form within a newsletter from the website, if you would like to subscribe to the newsletters click this link and send a contact message.

** It's the hooters. The football is being watched on a screen behind me and all I can hear is ... close your eyes when watching your next match ... Angry bumble bees?!

Creatives can embrace a business day

2010-06-11T17:04:00.003+01:00

Creativity and Business, two words which don't always sit happily together. In our minds, things-to-do like admin, bookkeeping and documents with lots of small print can build into something resembling Dad-O-Graphic's latest graphic. Read Parenthood as Practical Stuff.

image: Gabriel Solomons
A little tip for freelance creatives who are just starting out, (i.e. haven't reached the stage where they employ the help of business advisors) diary a practical day into your week. Some weeks appointments and deadlines demand immediate attention but, as a normal routine for planning the week, I can recommend this:

In your mind tell yourself, say, Tuesday is Practical Day.
Throughout the rest of the week every time you think of something "dullsville/brain stretching", add it to a list and forget about it until Tuesday. Same with important but non-urgent post: Make one pile of all mail and and another for filing to be done.
Set up a Practical Day folder in your emails and drop relevant unurgent emails into it.
Anything that you find difficult to switch into while working (e.g. domestic and work administration) is saved for Tuesday.
This works in the highly creative mind because it really is difficult to switch between one side of the brain and the other and tasks take longer.
However, by waking up in non-creative mode and getting down to what needs to be done, the super efficient side of you will work faster. You could always try giving it a more exciting name than Practical Day to make the day seem more worth getting up for, but it works both ways.
Just sometimes it's nice to wake up and know that we don't have to try and produce something of beauty, relevance, importance or value for one day.

Sight Unseen's blog gets it oh so right

2010-06-10T23:21:00.003+01:00

Love these guys. Sight Unseen pay such respectful homage to their subject that it makes me wish I were an inspiring designer just to see how they described my work. Their introduction to fashion and textile designers Patternity shows they get them:

image: Patternity's Shift Table
"For Anna Murray and Grace Winteringham, pattern is everywhere — in the flaking paint of street bollards and the crisscrossing beams of scaffolding, in the fashion photography of Mel Bles and the banded stiletto heels of Parisian shoemaker Walter Steiger".
Packed with illustrations and facts, Sight Unseen, you are a favourite for sure.

It's what Thatcher and Regan tried to do - but with cakes

2010-06-10T17:38:00.003+01:00

I'm more a blue girl myself but you don't have to love pink to appreciate this Blog. It is creating a special relationship across the pond. Not in a creepy "get-a-room" way Thatcher and Regan did it ... but with cakes.

Made with Pink "comparing the differences between baking and crafts in North America and the UK, while doing it with PINK"
On this site we can even compare the equipement available in the UK and USA by visiting the two online shops. Maybe if we can celebrate our differences by understanding them, cakes are as good a place to start as any. Cupcakes have a whole ontrend revival thing going for them at the moment and there's some scrummy imagery but this really caught my eye ...

I know the hair bow leans more towards a Minnie than a Deadmau5

but with just a little variation on the icing ... they could be perfect for the hardcore electro muso in your life. And here's a tenuous link for you - Deadmau5 is based in Toronto. Not the USA, but it's still on the otherside of the pond.

DIY idea to get rid of heavy-load-gorilla-arms

2010-06-10T17:36:00.001+01:00

If you live a pretty straight-line cycling existence, this could be the bike for you. Apparently it's not too good at turning corners but maybe, with a little practice and forward route planning, it could be really useful. No more unbalanced loads back from the market or on the way to the recycle bays. It's made from two items that often get dumped at tips, so could be very cheap to make.

This comes from a the Instructables website. The site is filled with ideas for those who have DIY dexterity (that'll be people not like me then). Members share their ideas for recycling projects and this cart-bike was built by Ryan McFarland. So first map your straight route and hooray, no more gorilla shopping arms.

Donkeys, a working watermill & electric hookup

2010-06-01T21:03:00.003+01:00

Testing testing. Can you read me? I'm deep in the north Somerset countryside, challenging my iPhone to stick with me through my efforts to post this week.I haven't quite got it right so my apologies to you and to my former editor who taught me better. Style issues.

After a few days off-grid, we've settled for a few days calm down on a farm surrounded by nature. Trees, mating ducks, flowering bushes -that sort of thing. So how to take advantage of some time out, with the luxury of the van being hooked up to 24 hour electricity? As soon as we arrived, instead of exploring the beautiful surroundings, we were digging chargers out to breathe life back into our gadgets. Shameful! It is good to know we are recharged and contactable in an emergency but with that luxury comes the temptation to 'just check' everything from the results of the Eurovision Song Contest to facebook.
I chatted to the four resident donkeys earlier, and yes they were soaking wet so they had some reason to look soulful and hard done by but I thought of the TV appeals to send money for overworked and under watered asses in baking hot conditions and these are lucky donkeys. Then I thought of how many hours we stare at screens and this week we don't have to. Time to be grateful for the technology but only use it a little. I can recommend tuning into BBC Radio Wales too. Good music but don't understand the bits in between. We're off grid again on Thursday at Sunrise Celebration festival. Many of the people whose work I follow on-line will be giving talks. It'll be strange not to be able to pause them while I get a cup of tea.

Please Like me, Follow me and by the way ... can we be Friends?

2010-06-01T20:02:00.001+01:00

You know how it's considered bad to be needy? Needy as in "Pleeeeeeese be my friend". Not attractive is it?! That was before the dawning of the age of facetwitblog.com. In the good old days (four years ago), you set up your website and hoped it hit the mark.
Excitement built up when people would send messages via the contact form. Hooray! Someone's finding the website and communicating via it. Then one day it made Google Search page one and all was good in the virtual world.

Then bang. Google Analytics started to tell me actually how many people visited my site, which pages they arrived from, how long they stayed and where they went next. (Actually even Google Analytics isn't that clever - how does it know whether the page was read and refered back to or left open on a computer while the viewer had a shower, cooked supper and met friends for drinks? Or at the very least went to the toilet and made themselves a coffee?) But it's all good fun and keeps us on our toes. And we do get a very useful insite (sic) into what is of interest to our readers.
But now? Now we have to have Followers and be Liked. The goal posts keep changing faster than a drug dealers phone number (Yes, I learnt so much from The Wire). Within one year I've had three different Facebook pages for Sprismatic and have caused utter confusion among many of the members of the Group. The Group wall postings were liked instead of the Fan Page. I don't like causing angst and it broke my heart to see the chaos I'd caused. Apologies to you all.

Eventually I gave into pressure and threw myself into Twitterland. Quite like it actually. I'm following all sorts of people who share their work, thoughts and laughs. Educating, entertaining and inspiring. Ah but then I realised it wasn't all about who we followed, it's all about how many thousands follow us. Tricky one that. If I follow certain people, retweet that many times and do the whole follow friday thing then I can bump up my followers. Lovely. For now I'll stick to posting what I think may be of interest and hope even that isn't too much information for my followers. As it is each tweet flashes up here, there and cyberwhere from the Facebook Fan Page, through to this blog and up again on the home page of my website.

And breathe. To be honest, I love it all. I love being allowed a window into the thoughts and work of these incredible people. We build up our own media resource, chosen to reflect our interests and concerns and hear from them directly instead of an interpreted, abridged and often altered version in one newspaper or one tv channel. I just don't like having to need followers like some self obsessed guru seeking affirmation.
So to you all, thank you for liking, loving, friending, following and not blocking me. And if you aren't doing all of these yet, please do. I really DO need you. Peace, love and (I'll try to keep it) light.

The story of the golden parasol

2010-05-26T16:22:00.002+01:00

OK the last post was all about the British countryside and the possibility of rain - and then I saw this. This is the image I would like to share with you to celebrate summer:

image: clickclickjim

It's from a new posting from Creative Director, Lisa Piercy's website, showcasing some of her recent creations.
I love this parasol. Instantly I had a picture in my mind of the parasol sitting in the corner of a room in a hot, hot country. I could hear the crickets outside the window, feel the humid heat and see the girl coming forward to pick up the parasol and join the celebratory parade coming past her house. That parasol smacks of a very special party. Is it her wedding? Or is she joining lots of other people carrying the same parasol? What story do you think the beautiful, golden parasol has?

We may need telepathy until the first week of June

2010-05-26T15:57:00.001+01:00

After spending the autumn, winter and spring embracing everything Apple I'm about to see what it is like to go pretty well cold turkey. I'm going back to seeking out internet cafes while on the road, but please do keep messaging and I'll catch up with you within a few days, hopefully.
I'm off in the van to Cornwall via three possible stopovers, for Run To The Sun this weekend in Newquay. They still have tickets available if you fancy a little drive and some dub step and if you don't drive there's a lift share tie in.

On Friday there will be a Cruise to the site, starting from Reading and collecting cars, classic cars and VW buses en route but I don't think I'll be joining them. We have a speed all of our own depending on hills and warm up.

If not in Newquay, hopefully we will see some of you at Sunrise Celebration Festival in Somerset the following weekend, 3rd - 6th June? There were still tickets available for this too, last time I checked.

Sunrise is one of my favourite festivals for being relaxed, informative and fun. And yet small enough to nip back to the van to change if the weather breaks.
So the one thing these coming two weeks have in common is it's all about the sun. Here's hoping ... wellies, check. Rainproofs, check. Sunhat, check. Circus themed outfit for Saturday at Sunrise, check. See you there? Yay Roadtrip.

Bristol's Urban Paint Festival

2010-05-25T12:47:00.005+01:00

And while we're on the subject of spray cans, Bristol has a brilliant family weekend coming up on June 5th and 6th. The Urban Paint Festival have chosen a poignant choice of image for their poster - the weekend is aiming to raise aweness of the National Association for Children of Alcoholics.
If you are Avon way, go and have some fun at Upfest Tobacco Factory. Facebook fan page

Be a lean mean spraying machine

2010-05-24T19:45:00.005+01:00

If, like me, you wonder how graffiti artists manage to achieve such control of a spray can, there's a weekend of opportunity in Brighton this bank holiday weekend. Grafik Warfare Street Art Collective and Geisha Arts are offering workshops in the art of the spray can. Limited spaces, see this poster for booking details:

And here's something some of the artists did earlier:

This wall was the work of a few artists but I'm a bit in love with Bot the Robot by Sinna One. This wall was created over the recent Street Art weekend. Two days, chilly winds and a fair bit of drizzle later:

Hardcore Handmades

2010-05-20T17:44:00.005+01:00

Now I'm all for cutesy. Give me a pic of a puppy who's been adopted by a cat and I may pin it on my notice board, but I'm not too good on sweeeeet art and crafts. I like my handmades a bit more hardcore. A little dark or distressed. Rough round the ages. For some reason (and maybe you can tell me why?) my blog seems to be sandwiched between very pink, perfect and fluffy American craft blogs on Blogger. And that was before I posted the sewing machine story.

I do not have the fingers for needlework. Imagine trying to thread a needle in gardening gloves and you will understand. So I'm in awe of every one of my Blogger neighbours' abilities, talent and creations but I don't normally get drawn in to stay, by their images. However, I've gone one stage further with the Cut Out + Keep site and have even subscribed to access the articles. (It got me with the cover of this London Issue Snippets cover).

Snippets is their online magazine, featuring music, art, craft, fashion, Indie and DIY.
If you don't know them and you aren't all toes for fingers, give them a view. If only for more stunning images like this one of chiffon flowers.

The latest Snippets issue is Glitz and Glam: How to make your GaGa accessories and the definitely not cutesy

Audrey Kitching shares some ideas. Both of which may prove particularly useful if you are planning your costumes for the festivals. The theme for Bestival is Fantasy and Fact or Fiction has been chosen by Secret Garden Party. Maybe you will find some ideas within this issue but I can recommend having a look through the online magazine's archives. And there's a fine piece on celebration cakes gone wrong - something gardening-glove-hands here can empathise with ...

Awesome lady of the week

2010-05-16T16:00:00.006+01:00

Awesome amazing person of my week ... the lady who took a year to track me down (through change of surname, three cities and numerous addresses) to keep a promise.
Seven years ago I sold her a sewing machine for £20 at a car boot sale, with the understanding if her mum didn't like it, I'd like it back.

Last year her mum died and she remembered her promise to return it to me.

It's a classic car among sewing machines and these old workhorses are revered so I hope she sells it for a big profit*. Would I have gone to that much trouble to keep a promise? Honestly no. I would have returned it if it wasn't immediately right for my mum but six years later?
I'd have found it a more convenient new home six years down the line. I'm humbled.
*And if proof were needed of the love for this machine.

image: Rudolf Couture

When I grow up - I don't want to be a princess

2010-05-13T13:58:00.002+01:00

My birthday outing was to Kensington Palace to experience the Wild Work's Enchanted Palace production. There's a melancholy smell to the Palace rooms, even before the story of the sad princesses is related.

The intention is to send little creepy chills down our spines. If the dim lighting, a crown floating above a dress and a Vivienne Westwood gown running down stairs doesn't do it, then the whispers and chatter coming from hidden speakers may help.

The exhibition is beautifully executed and I was mesmerised by Stephen Jones' headresses floating from the ceiling. And yes, I was enchanted by the ethereal room sets but I vowed never to go there after dark.

Enchanted Palace is an anti-dote to all the sickly sweet, marshmallow, princess paraphernalia favoured by toy manufactures.

Children like Fairy Tales, and they are often dark and pretty scary. I think they'll love the exhibition and will be way less affected than I was. I just felt so sad for the princesses. Another reminder that money and priviledge ain't all it's cracked up to be. Was that the intention in this "time of economic crisis"?

Enchanted Palace is expected to run until February 2011. Photography isn't allowed, but there's a good photo story of the exhibit's creation on Wild Work's website.

Maybe this IS what it's all about

2010-05-13T12:58:00.003+01:00

So far this week, inbetween working and celebrating my birthday, I've had two mind stretching hours of serious conversation with financiers; discussed an extrastentialist therapist's need to put people in a box and danced to a Beyonce video while hearing out a guy's reasons for returning to England, after four years in Spain. They all have very different concerns and priorities but they had one thing in common. They were looking for THE answer.
The work that I do has always been hard for me to "put in a box". It's a bit like trying to squeeze a ball of silly putty into a too-small tub. Just when people think they've got me into the tub, another bit pops out. How I work changes depending on other people's needs.
Happily others are better at recommending me than I am at defining myself. But one thing I do is help people sort out their thoughts and feel hopeful.
And then I opened this card this morning and laughed so loud:

Brilliant. Ah ... what if? Drop the worries - it's all about the Hokey Cokey/Pokey.
Here's an example of how it could well be . . . Filmed last week, during the current confusion in Greece.

Brighton : The Beautiful and the Canned : 8 May - 9 May

2010-05-07T03:04:00.001+01:00

This weekend, more than fifty artists will be creating amazing murals (some over 10 metres high) round the streets of Brighton, using spray cans.

How do they do it? I am in awe of these men and women. I can't create such detail with a dainty paintbrush and yet they have given our streets some of the city's most photographed images. I'm not in awe of people who just spray their initials all over the place. I think even I could manage that and the only thing they have in common with these artists is, they can all hold an aerosol.

I had a similar sense of stunned respect for Rolf Harris as he dib dabbed paint on an enormous canvas with a 8" paint brush and stood back to reveal . . . a kangeroo bouncing towards Ayres Rock.

The Beautiful and the Canned is being organised by Wet Paint Productions as part of Brighton Festival Fringe. Here's a map showing where to watch the artists working and see their finished work afterwards.
Wet Paint's website gives more information.

Festivals - they're not all laughing cause they're mashed, OK?

2010-05-07T00:12:00.002+01:00

This is what happy looks like. Yay! Festival time is here.
Festie season starts early where I live. It began a few weeks ago, as soon as the first of the festival workers returned from their winter travels.
The buzz and excitement this creates depends on your attitude to festivals. For some it marks the beginning of months of bumping round the country in lumpy-field-battered vans; hard 18 hour days of setting up, sparkling for the public and taking everything down again.
For others it means anticipation, excitement, "party party!" followed by come down and depression followed by anticipation, excitement, "party party!" come down and depression.
The Other Side Magazine have a brilliant Festival Edition online which helps newbies to understand the basics of festivals. Tips like "Don't bother taking an ex-army tent. Yes, they're sturdy and roomy, but they're heavy. Far better to take a flimsy supermarket affair in your pocket, and crash out in other people's tents anyway." Useful stuff like that. The articles are for festival veterans too, to help get in the mood and work out which of the Festival People we are. Well none of them of course, but we recognise each type. Funny that.

So spread the word. Not everyone understands. Festivals are not all about getting rinsed by too much cider and tripping on the latest chemical compound. People don't have to travel far from home to do that.
That's not the reason thousands explode with impatience, as they tick off the days on their calendars. It's because they are waiting for those few days at their favourite festival, where they know they can be themselves; have a laugh with their mates and just go with the flow.
Clocks don't exist, because even catching the bands they really wanted to see becomes less important than just enjoying whatever diversion they stumble across. (Like appreciating a busking badger, which was one of many created by artist B-FACED for last year's Secret Garden Party).

image: copyright B-FACED
At many of the festivals the mobile phone networks crash at the peak, so everyone learns to either stick together or hope they will meet up back at the tent at some stage. It's very liberating.
Some media have great fun promoting the idea of all festival goers as being drunk/drugged/fluffy air heads. They normally use a photo of a few exuberant, decorated, party monsters to illustrate their theory.
But the reality is they are not all off their heads. Many of them will have consumed no more alcohol than their grandpas would while watching a cricket match with their cool boxes. Many have worked hard for most of the year to pay for their ticket and they're having fun, festie style. Some press shots show the tired and emotional, but my bet's on those pics being taken after the subjects have had three days of walking miles; jumping up and down infront of the main stage; taking part in the fancy dress parade; making an art collage; winning the tug-of-war contest and entering the Mr and Mrs competition on the small stage. There's too much going on to sleep much.

Festivals. Sometimes muddy, sometimes overwhelming, but so worth it for the break from daily responsibilites and concerns.
We'll have more of that please.

The fabulous five

2010-04-30T21:44:00.002+01:00

This week has been more of a studying week than writing. It's been way more enjoyable than the days of reading a page in a text book five times, trying to recognise some relevance to my original interest.

Now it's so much more multi-sensory. In addition to the reading, I've 'attended' online lectures in Oxford and London and listened to podcasts of talks given oversees.

I'm researching a piece on communities and this has led me to the theories of anthropologists, some of which are available on the net, including the RSA website.

There's a whole feast of information gathering gently into place in my mind but the first figure that appears consistently relevant in the research is five.

We have all heard that we only need to able to count all our best friends with one hand. The theory being that we are only capable of maintaining and feeding five close friendships.

Each relationship requires a certain amount of shared experience and/or nurturing and we don't have enough within us to have that depth of empathy for more than five.

They then become close friends up to fifteen friends, and so it goes on with lessening degrees of connection to 150, which really has to be our cut off point. After that they should be considered acquaintances. Since I started this research a couple of months ago, it has begun to make more and more sense.

If we are counting best friends as the ones we would tell our most private secrets to; someone who we would call at four in the morning if the going got tough, then I'm with the five. Between five and fifteen is the pool of people we feel really close to and would do anything for but only involve in our lives to a point.

Facebook has made Friends a very wide term and has now gone one step further and opened up the whole fan/like/follow/friend choices.

My Friend Requests list includes companies now and looks more like a list from Yellow Pages. A bit confusing, but I may just accept the plumbers. I never know when I may need to ring them at 4am.

The Elephants are in London

2010-04-30T21:00:00.002+01:00

After months of painting, sticking, glueing, chissleing and moulding, these elephants have arrived in the capital. Over 250 elephants are gathering, ready to be in place for the exhibition's start on Monday, 3rd May. Each of the elephants has been decorated by designers and artists, many of whom have been sponsored.
This is Big Heart, Open Mind by Julia Rodgers.

Resin being added to some of the finished exhibits.

The photographic exhibition, recording the creation of the Elephant Parade London 2010 is running now until May 14, at the Hempel Hotel in London.
A map will be published this weekend, showing the location of the 250 or so decorated elephants.
The Parade has been organised in support of the endangered Asian elephant.
For those of you in, (and awake) in London at 7.30 on Sunday morning - the organisers are calling for volunteers to meet them at Green Park or Waterloo Tube Stations to help move the elephants into place.
Visit their Facebook Page for further details.
Beautiful!

Sprismatic the Movies - loving Google Search Stories

2010-04-22T01:21:00.008+01:00

Ah such fun. Making our own search stories. First we had the Parisian Love Story and now
The Cookie Monster.

Then I saw the invitation to create our own ...
Sprismatic - the Movie
I may have enjoyed it a little too much. Sesame Street did it better but hey, they've been making movies longer than I have. When you have time to play, make your own Google Search Stories on Youtube
Sprismatic - Best Case Scenario

and maybe don't do as I did and "just have a look" on your way to bed ...

Earth Day turns 40 - the movie

2010-04-22T01:13:00.002+01:00

So many fours ... Happy Birthday Earth Day - 40 today. So what's it all been four for? Here's forty years in four minutes forty seconds ...

Our solar system as a music box

2010-04-20T01:39:00.004+01:00

White Vinyl Design have created a beauty. Our solar system as a music box ... solarbeat

Warning click fest temptation

2010-04-16T19:35:00.001+01:00

There's something about Christian Robert-Tissot's work that keeps making click back onto his website. I try to tell myself I'm not playing and that it is research. So I allowed myself to stay awhile longer until I found an example of Yellow!

Have a click yourself and enjoy
Christian Robert-Tissot

Yellow aint mellow it's energersing

2010-04-16T18:58:00.014+01:00

Ah Spring. Ah daffodils.

Creatives get out there and walk among the daffodils. This is the colour for creativity and walking among them can help. Happily, some incredibly patient souls have planted them alongside motorways, in the middle of roundabouts and up municipal landscaping throughout the UK, but I'm not suggesting we park up on the hard shoulder and skip gayly along the embankment to recharge our creative juices. An appreciation from afar will do for them, but if you are in the city there's a few in the parks.

Despite Donovan singing Mellow Yellow, it's a lively colour. Yellow is the colour of the third chakra, the solar plexus, and there's precious little of it in our daily urban lives. Strangely what there is isn't very optimistic and cheerful. For example, I give you:

You get the idea. And yellow has yet to be the new black in fashion. It enjoys a little flutter on the catwalks and a couple of years ago it was considered on trend, but be honest, how many yellow clothing items do you have in your wardrobe?

OK. Yes that counts!
So when we do see a flash of yellow. Lets make the most of it.

Expect lots of beautiful ideas to come out of Washingston State soon. They are currently celebrating their 77th annual week long Daffodil Festival.

They understand the power of the yellow.

And talking of energising, creative and inspiring ...

Stylish shrugs of fatherhood

2010-04-10T22:42:00.000+01:00

West Country father, Dad-O-Graphic, is posting beautiful graphics of his experience of fatherhood.

They are stylish, accepting shrugs, more than screams, of what being a caring Dad is really like.
They illustrate life with a young child, but can be interpreted for any age group. This one says it all about how long it takes to get little ones to settle at night, but can also apply to the older years when they have so much to do (Facebook, homework, bebo, homework, text, homework, msn, homework, blog, homework, download music ...) that their bedtime gets later and later.
These illustrations must surely end up on a six-pack, near you, soon.
Share with any fathers you know.

Virtual love for our perfect opposite

2010-04-09T16:53:00.001+01:00

Talking of Match.com, (well I referred to it briefly in my Penguin Dating post), here's something so completely different it could be called PerfectNonmatch.com (maybe not, that sounds like a relationship breakup service).
Having promoted the happiness we can enjoy once we have found people like us, I'm now going to enthuse about taking a step towards meeting our complete opposites.
Confused? Fair enough. Bare with me ...
Couscous Global believe we learn the most about ourselves by talking to people who are different to us and who disagree with us. In their latest project, they have created "The technological translation of ... I disagree with what you say, but I will defend to death your right of saying that".
Love Your Perfect Opposite, is an application which can be linked into many social networking sites. Register, answer a few questions and meet your closest to perfect opposites. Have a chat, have a debate and enjoy finding out why your opposites think the way they do. Feeling sociable?
Pop over to LYPO.

Couscous Global sent out an international invitation for video journals of peoples interests, nationality, cultural background etc. When the project ended, in 2009, around 300 videos had been uploaded onto its Youtube channel.

Astrology is a load of rubbish - that's one opinion

2010-04-07T16:51:00.004+01:00

Ah the internet has been alight with the sound of argueing over Professor Brian Cox's comment on the BBC programme Wonders of the Universe. Nothing is more guaranteed to get headlines; a reaction and a top rank in Google, than a straight out statement dissing something that many follow.
No he didn't say the X Factor is fixed. He simply said that astrology is rubbish, apparently. A little bit of "In my opinion, but I may be wrong" may have been useful. But hey maybe he did add that? But he isn't the first to say it. Just one of many.

Image: NASA/JPL

As I work on the basis of don't knock it until you've tried it and everyone is entitled to their own opinion, I skimmed over the debate on Twitter. (Anyway, although I wouldn't have knocked him, I didn't see it!) But very quietly, I shall say here, I have done my own research. If you are interested click through to a piece I wrote on the subject. Just my opinion.

Sadly consumerism isn't dead but it's got more entertaining

2010-04-05T19:08:00.004+01:00

Proving you can take the girl out of Stepford but you can't take Stepford out of the girl (see a previous blog) ...
Ever been to a Tupperware Party? Maybe your mum hosted one? If so you'll know the format and will have heard how "FANTASTIC" the product is. "You just give it a little burp and it's TOTALLY air-tight".
Well, I may mock - but I've got a cupboard full of this non-bio degradable* kitchen "its guaranteed for life!" phenomenon. (Well more than one cupboard full ... if you count the fridge and freezer containers. But they are all constantly in use).
Did you see the Forever Ware episode (pictured below) of early 90's TV series, Eerie, Indiana? It made me laugh (and cringe) because, although extreme, it's kind of spot on. Unfortunately (or fortunately) the special beds are fantasy.

Tupperware's Number One Top Sales Consultant in America 2009 is Aunt Barbara (above). See this Newsweek news report video.
She has her own channel on Youtube.
I'm not promoting these plastic boxes, because there's enough temptations out there to part with our cash, but I am promoting laughter. So watch these videos for a smile and block out the sales pitch.

* ... but the company does recycle damaged parts which are returned for replacement.

Browsing at Borders is Dead, Long Live Issuu

2010-04-05T16:26:00.006+01:00

So now we've lost Borders (R.I.P.), where do we go to find magazines not offered by Mr. Smith?
I loved the peace of the magazine section at Borders. We were allowed to be a browser. We may have gone in looking for our favourite film mag, but chances were we'd flick through a Spanish yachting magazine and a French home decoration publication, before grabbing an A3 matt-gloss-lovely filled with mouthwatering graphics. Or maybe that was just me ...
Well now Borders have gone we can transfer our look-before-buy habits online, without worrying about getting sticky finger marks on the page (or more yukkily ... wondering what the already sticky mark was on the page).
Issuu's easy upload site has given us access to a whole load more publications, in an easy flip-through-to read format. I loved this find today. Coco Eco have a Brit Special. Flick through and read Mel Enright's piece on Page 32 "No Water Sucks".

Love Issuu. And it's stopped me gazing over other people's shoulders to see what they're reading. Which can only be a good thing. If you have uploaded your work on Issuu, please let me know.

And now we Twitter

2010-04-01T19:12:00.001+01:00

There's a chalk board, with it's own bah-humbug personality, outside the Earth and Stars pub in Brighton.
Having just taken the leap into the land of Twitter (see Twitter scroll board on right of this post!), I felt a little guilty.
Sorry blackboard, I've joined the tweeters. But @EASTbrighton is your complimentary sister and couldn't replace you. (I hope).

Now be nice, and make friends with the pretty bird ...

What IS that song called?

2010-04-01T17:26:00.001+01:00

I have a friend who knows so much about music that I only have to hum a few bars and she can give me the song title, artist and a few lines of lyrics.
Very handy.
But I'm not good at holding the tune until I see her again.
Mashable have listed five handy sites which fill in for the times when our font-of-all-musical-knowledge mates aren't by our side.
Shazam has been on my speed dial for a while, but I didn't know about Midomi.

I'm looking forward to challenging Midomi's claim that it will cope with (my) out of tune humming.
And there's three more to play with. Fun.

Finding where we belong

2010-04-01T16:45:00.005+01:00

"It doesn't matter where you come from, as long as you find where you belong" Martian Child
What makes those butterflies flutter in your stomach? What makes your heart skip a beat and causes you to gasp for air? You know the feeling. The one you had in senior school, when the hot sixth former walked past you in the corridor? Lava bubbling, sick making excitement.
Well apparentely, I get it when I'm coming home to Brighton. I got it on Monday. I was returning from 12 days in my birthtown and throughout the journey home, the butterflies were having a gala party in my tum.
My birthtown, which I shan't name because it is home to many lovely people who, I'm sure, have as much affection for it as I have for my home, is a little like Stepford.

Image from the film The Stepford Wives

If you follow this link, and read an article I wrote about individuality in Brighton, you will understand how lucky I feel to have lived in London and Brighton.

Image: Brighton People in Words and Pictures

As John Cusack's character, David, said in the film Martian Child, "It doesn't matter where you've come from, as long as you find where you belong".
If we are lucky, we set up home where we belong.
If that isn't possible, we ensure we spend some time there. A friend of mine says he only feels truly at home when he is sitting in the Sacred Space at Glastonbury, during the festival. He works in advertising in London, has a loyalty card at Balans and wears delicious Ozwald Boateng* suits.

Image: Ozwald Boateng Suits from the V and A exhibit

But he is happiest for those six festival days.

Sacred Space at Glastonbury by Jam Frog on flickr

It is then that he feels he belongs, as he sits and watches everyone around him relax and enjoy the freedom of just being themselves.
And he gets butterflies in his stomach for months before the festival.

* Wearing Ozwold's suits would make having to wear a suit very bearable.

This week is Quiet Week on Sprismatic ... Info-Dieting

2010-03-25T00:16:00.003Z

In last week's Going Up section in The Sunday Times Style Magazine: Info-Dieting "When you limit what you take on board, for a happier mentally healthier life".

keep.quiet by ~firemisha on deviant ART

As the Sunday papers are so heavy, it takes a shopping trolley to get them home, I thought that was a bit rich. But the thought was there.

Writing this is giving you more words, so I'm as guilty as they are.

Please turn off my blog and enjoy a week of observing not absorbing.

Sssshhhhhhhh ....

Animation of the Planets doing their Equinox Thing

2010-03-21T17:21:00.001Z

The bulbs are coming through. We're wearing less layers than three weeks ago and in many parts of the Northern Hemisphere ... the sun's out. I hope you've managed to get out in the sunshine and, even if you live in a city, you've seen some evidence of nature waking up. Here's an extraordinary animation of what has actually been going on up there this month.

Robert von Heeren
Robert Von Heeren, a German astrologer and "astronomy specialist" created this animation. Clever man. Happy First Day of Spring people.

Penguin Dating - not how I read the tin

2010-03-17T17:58:00.005Z

While researching the previous post, I discovered Penguin Dating. Thinking it meant that the Group were sponsoring the courtship of shy penguins, I clicked the link ready for an Aw! moment. After all, penguin colonies are shrinking and they are represented in most of our zoos conservation reports. Those of you who are more up to speed than me will already know that Penguin have a tie-in with Match.com.

Rockhopper Penguins

The idea being to introduce people with similar reading interests. Well good luck to them, whatever it takes to help people say hello to each other. But I hope readers don't miss the love of their lives just because he has a Nigella Lawson cook book fetish and she's more of a Jamie Oliver fan.
Now there's a thought ... if you don't like cooking, get searching for someone who reads cook books. Maybe it's not such a daft idea.

It's clever and it may make you smile

2010-03-17T17:22:00.003Z

Clever!

The following video was made for staff within the Penguin Group and happily it has been released for public viewing. Stick with it until at least half way.

Imagine what fun we could all have with our words if we could give them the same treatment. Now there's an idea ... get creating, clever bods. It worked on a few albums in the seventies but maybe it's time to really work with the idea? Greetings cards, posters, duvet covers ... whole pages on blogs (yes I've gone off on one).

Rainbow Delicious

2010-03-17T01:45:00.003Z

Last week my eye was drawn to black and white, so I just went with it as a final monochrome moment before Spring.

And here, to bring some colour back into Sprismatic, some amazing flashes of rainbow and sparkle. The first two photographs were taken by Marilyn Minter for an assignment with M.A.C. Delicious?

"Her photographs and works often include sexuality and erotic imagery. Her method of painting involves many coatings of translucent enamel paint on metal to produce a luminous, almost hallucinatory finish. Her photographs are all taken in order to create a painting, yet sometimes she uses the photograph as is, without converting it". wikipedia
More about her work and the M.A.C. project.

Flare by Infinite705 on deviantART

Sunday is ... a new dawn, a new day, a new life ... Happy Equinox

2010-03-17T01:11:00.002Z

Well hooray. Hooray for those of us in the Northern Hemisphere anyway ...

At last ... Spring is nearly here. The Vernal Equinox is on Sunday, March 20. Day and Night will be equal and gradually the days become longer and longer than night.

Time to crawl out from our hibernation. Those of us you have already rushed out of hibernation a little prematurely are suffering a bit with the cold patches, but people really do smile more when the sun's out.

Image: Almond tree blossom - TAMAS KOONING LANSBERGEN

I was having a little trouble believing Spring was nearly here, until I saw Tamas' photograph. Tamas lives in Ibiza so is further ahead than the UK but we're nearly there!

Just the sight of a new shoot on a twig gives us reason for optimism that the bush has survived the winter. So please, sometime on Sunday, spend some time thinking about what you would love to happen over the summer. (Even if it's just for a few minutes before you go to sleep). This is a time for optimism and growth so tap into nature and give yourself a treat.

Most of the time we balance our wishes with sensible logic. Well, on Sunday I'm going to spoil myself and focus on what I would like to achieve over the next few months. I'll really go for it, because I know from previous experience that there's nothing like assuming everything will be alright unless proven otherwise.

Have fun with it. It's just between you and whoever you pray to. If you don't pray then maybe consider throwing your wishes out there into the planets while they are in position for the Equinox. Tap into a special 24 hours and have fun with it. Best case Scenario.

Happy First Day of Spring

The best how-to-give-good-cunnilingus guide I've ever seen

2010-03-11T18:30:00.005Z

And I've seen a lot. It also made a laugh too. Warning: The piece was written by Gavin McInnes (a co-founder of Vice Magazine). If you read the mag you won't be put off by the language. If you don't read Vice, please be warned its down to earth graphic and "eating pussy" sets the tone. McInnes talks like a bad ass guy but one who likes to please, his woman.

Prepared? Right here's the Link

Guys share it with your mates and I promise I'll restore the balance with the ultimate guide to blow jobs, when I see it.

Image: Blanco Y Negro

A ray of sunshine among all the media royalty confusion

2010-03-10T17:33:00.005Z

Embedding this video is special. It is possible because the American band OK Go stepped outside the corporate record company box and said "No this isn't right'. In this case, the removal of embedding code on their videos on YouTube. If you would like a background to this story, The New York Times published an Opinion Editorial piece by OK Go member, Damian Kulash Jr.

Kulash explained the bands frustration with EMI's restrictions imposed on the sharing of their YouTube posted videos. He gives some interesting figures proving the publicity value of social network sharing. It's a balanced insight into the advantages and disadvantages of being a signed act.
OK Go and EMI have now parted company; the band has formed its own record company and an insurance company has sponsored the above video for "This Too Shall Pass".
I'm posting this as a celebration, because we can. And because I wish I'd been one of the guys in the band for this shoot!

Having a Black & White Appreciation Moment - 2

2010-03-09T19:08:00.011Z

Hugh MacLeod. Do you know him? He's a cartoonist. He found his niche while doodling on the back of business cards, during down-time in New York bars. That was in the late 90s. Now he's happy to have moved out of the city and continues to draw cartoons of the business card size.

And larger prints too. His humour is ... cynical, dry and yet positive. He posts a daily cartoon on his website Gaping Void which you can sign up for.
(There's also a widget to include in our own websites).

I like that he isn't sugary soppy and stamps his feet when surrounded by bulls**t, and yet hidden within his cartoons is this description:
"A story without love is not worth telling ... Love matters. People matter. Everything else is secondary". Hugh MacLeod.
I'm reading his book Ignore Everybody And 39 Other Keys to Creativity.

A lot of what the man says is resounding with me, not just with creativity, but with all our choices - more on that when I've had a ponder. Meanwhile, you can read a sample of the book on his website.
To give you an idea, here's a few chapter headings ...
Chapter 5:
If your business plan depends on suddenly being "discovered" by some big shot, your plan will probably fail. (He was "discovered" by a hot shot publisher but turned it down because it was a sting deal).
Chapter 20:
Sing in your own voice
Chapter 28:
The best way to get approval is not to need it.
It's an illustrated biography, as much as a book of encouragement.
It's more letters of advice from a fond uncle (who has learnt through experience) than a smug, drum banging self-help manual.

Having a Black & White Appreciation Moment - 1

2010-03-09T17:03:00.004Z

Why is Black and White so cool?! Having extolled the virtue of orange in these cold, dark, winter days I think I must be all oranged up because this week I'm really drawn to B and W. I'm embracing black and white before spring starts on March 21st. In the name of research I found myself diverted (as we so easily do on the internet, but that's how we make discoveries ... right? ) I've spent way too long gazing at this image of the Rolling Stones, by David Bailey. I've a couple of Bailey's exhibition posters from his Barbican Birth of the Cool exhibition about 10 years ago. And they still make me stop and stare.

If you like Bailey and have a few pounds to treat yourself, get over to Bonhams website fast. They are hosting a selling exhibition of Bailey's photographs of 60's icons.

All images have been chosen for exhibition by the photographer and include the Rolling Stones (above), Jean Shrimpton (pictured on the exhibition poster left), Michael Caine, Andy Warhol and John Lennon. Pure Sixties, Pure Bailey, runs at Bonhams, New Bond Street, London runs until April 7th.

Talking of Painted Elephants II

2010-03-03T23:57:00.002Z

Today started off with writing about irresponsible news reporting and has become Sprismatic's Elephant Day! Well I can't end Elephant Day without sharing a final image with you. I've chosen this one because it is by one of my favourite inspirational artists, Philip Shadbolt.

Ganesh by Philip Shadbolt

For me, Philip's work oozes fun and down to earth spirituality (my favourite sort). His work is far wider than beautiful representations of Hindu gods, but as I began to sign off from the blog I felt the need to pay a quieter respect for the elephant and remembered this photograph on his site.

African elephant by Arno & Louise Creative Commons

And finally, to end Elephant Day at Sprismatic, an African elephant living it large in the wild. Life isn't easy for the horny males there either. Once they realise it's coming up to their week for mating, they have to find a female heard. They then have to follow the females for days and prove they're fitter than any other male elephant in the area. The elephant: powerful, intelligent and persistent.

More (250) Painted Elephants

2010-03-03T21:25:00.002Z

Talking of painted elephants ... over 250 life-size elephants will be creating the largest outdoor art event in London, this summer.
The Elephant Parade London 2010 is being organised by Elephant Family, a charity working to save the Asian elephant from extinction and abuse. Artists and celebrities are decorating the fibre-glass elephants which will be placed in parks, streets and buildings throughout the centre of the capital.

At the end of June, the elephants will be auctioned to benefit the Asian elephant and 20 conservation charities round the world.
I'm going to plot my trail to include the ones created by Lulu Guinness, Quentin Blake and Alice Cooper (yes him, that one).
Also, artists Carrie Reichardt and Nick Reynolds are decorating their London Parade elephant (pictured) with mosaic tiles. That, I have to see. Carrie is blogging the progress of this, literally mammoth, undertaking on her site. (Love the truck too).
The locations are still being arranged, but Berkeley Square has been confirmed to be the setting for six of the elephants. We can keep up with the preparations on the Parade's Facebook fan site.

Elephant goes on rampage and demolishes 20 limousines!

2010-03-03T14:54:00.006Z

Headlines huh, don't you love them?! What image did that conjure up for you? For me, I went off on one imagining our largest landliving neighbour had escaped captivity somewhere in Los Angeles and had trumpeted through the traffic jam that is the red carpet drop off for the Oscars.

Of course it was nothing of the sort but it took me some effort to get the full story. So many of the news reports differed.
Inspite of, or maybe because of, having newspaper sub-editor within my CV, I am ever hopeful that reporting will be responsible and unsensational. Well that isn't going to happen, so we get better at reading between the lines.
The story of the rampaging elephant can be better explained when you devote an hour of your life to really researching the various reports. Not something we can do with every headline screamed at us.
Long story short: male elephants are on heat just one week out of 52. This poor bull should have been making whoopee in the countryside with a gorgeous cow that week. Instead he was painted, decorated and paraded as part of a wedding ceremony in a town near New Delhi, India.
The reports vary to what caused him to run for it. Was it the ceremonial gun fire? The noise of the drums or the smell of an equally on-heat lady in a nearby field? The articles also differ regarding the ensuing drama. There was a lot of damage, no human casualties thankfully and he was eventually knocked out by a tranquilliser gun. So what would have been a responsible headline? Maybe "Elephant's keeper indirectly causes £200,000 of damage"? Doesn't have quite the attention grabbing tone to it does it?
At least they didn't use the factually correct and even more universally attention grabbing : "Horny male causes £200,000 damage and demolishes 20 limousines".

If the UK is so small, how come I haven't seen it ALL?

2010-02-25T23:54:00.006Z

These postcards are brilliant illustrations of how small the UK landmass is in relation to Australia. No world map has explained to me quite so well, why it is that many Australians and North Americans think nothing of 'doing' the whole of Europe in a few weeks. Thank you Anna Chlebinska and Strange Maps: "Sometimes a picture is more eloquent than a thousand words ... That's two thousand words right here."

Mesmerising Graphics

2010-02-25T22:56:00.004Z

Wow ... you know when you get drawn in by graphics? You find yourself staring at the image ... you turn your head to the left, lean to the right ... stand on your head ... and then realise that there are words going on ... well that's how the latest offering from Information is Beautiful got me.

And, to me, these are words worth reading. They have created an interactive infrographic which will be updated as the findings change - especially handy when studies change information - in this case the values of dietry supplements.

Hooray for these people - information isn't restricted to a row of tower blocks and a pie chart any more.

A good read ... and isn't it beautiful? More Green Tea please.

Have you seen?

2010-02-25T17:00:00.002Z

This award winning short was also nominated for an Oscar in the Best Animated Short Film category at the 2009 Academy Awards. If you haven't seen it - spend a few moments with Oktapodi

Sexy Orange

2010-02-25T16:45:00.002Z

The sun. A glorious ball of vibrant orange. Warms the cockles of our hearts. Take a moment to enjoy. Orange is sexy.

Ah its such a mood lifting sight. Everyone seams to smile more with the suns out. But today it isn't out. It's hidden behind prolific rain clouds and the predominate colours are black and grey. Grey skies, black and grey fashions and a lot of black umbrellas.
Short of starting a craze for big orange umbrellas ... now there's a thought ...

Don't you love the internet?! There's always someone with a similar thought. Different voices, same thoughts ... Well until everyone decides they do want to carry round an orange umbrella we can benefit from seeking out some orange to concentrate on.

Designers' colour theory mood wheels and chakra charts both illustrate similar strengths for each colour.

So why is orange sexy? Well it feeds the sexual organs area for a start, but it's more than that. Sexy = vibrancy, energy, joy de vivre, mojo, creativity and vitality. A sexy creative is an unblocked creative.

Feed on orange and the rest follows. We would all benefit from more orange. Smell it, eat it, breathe it but most of all be aware of it and absorb it.

Today I Learnt

2010-02-17T09:37:00.001Z

Today I learnt:

Why a ripened banana skin can be used to polish stuff - it's all about the ethene (used in the production of detergents) apparently. THAT'S why we shouldn't store bananas with other fruit. Fuck Yeah Chemistry you rock.

Image: Retrofuturs (Hulk4598) / Stéphane Massa-Bidal

Safety in Numbers with Creative Block

2010-02-17T08:33:00.005Z

Image: Scott Hansen

Back in the day, a creative woke the left side of their brain with a flick through a favourite mag and maybe the arts pages of a newspaper. Now, we have the internet and instant access to blogs. Hooray for blogs and the trouble so many go to to share their inspirations.

However, sometimes the ideas still refuse to come and we realise we have spent two hours rearranging paint brushes / building a paper clip snake / cleaning the keyboard with cotton buds or reading the gossip sites "to check the fashions".

Scott Hansen gives us a reassuringly laid back piece in the tone of: Yeh it happens, so this is what a few of us do about it. If your work place isn't your home, the pasta cooking may not be helpful but how the writer ends that piece would work in most places of work! Thank you Scott.

So do we think this guy may have creative block?

This pic is on the Unhappy Hipsters site, who credits this photo to Dwell, with the caption:

"With the shelves finally ordered by size, function, and smell, he got to work separating the pine needles from the sawdust on the terrace."

And there are many more like that one . . .

Part 1 of Apes I Would Like To Meet

2010-02-17T00:16:00.002Z

Courtesy of the National Geographic Channel

Do not give your mind over to a teacher

2010-02-16T23:52:00.009Z

This is one of those photos that could have so many captions. What springs to your mind?

In London there is an area in Hyde Park called Speakers Corner. You may of heard of it, it's the hotspot for exercising our right to free speech (to a point ... there are a few who are quietly asked to move on).

It's is where I would go if I wanted a jolly good rant. I'm not a practicing ranter. Years of spiritual practice, breathing exercises and meditation have sorted me out pretty well. Also I've reached the age where I've seen or experienced some real horrors, so the little annoyances really aren't worth worrying about.

The other thing the meditation has done, it's taught me how to stand back from a situation and see the other's point of view, which is scarily effective. I may not agree with them but I can understand where they're coming from, in most things.

So why would I would I want to rant if I'm so chilled? Surely I float serenely through life, humming to myself? Well sometimes, yes, but sometimes I march from A to B with a furrowed brow, with the best of them. The one hundred thoughts, currently deemed important that day, churn through my head constantly - but I do know how to put them into perspective now.

Which is why I know when I have a bugbear. Such a bugbear that I fantasise about ranting about it at Speakers Corner.

"Ladies and Gentleman - Do not give your mind over to a teacher"

We've all seen it, the impressionable student at school who is so enthralled by a tutor, that their eyes glaze over in adoration as they absorb every word their teacher gives them, as their own.

And so it goes on. Charismatic bosses, politicians, spiritual and religious leaders (and that's without the crushes on actors and musicians).

As some seem programmed to inspire, some must be programmed to adore.

But my mission, as I stand on that soap-box, would be to ask everyone to adore themselves and learn to trust their own gut feeling.

"Learn all you want from each wonderful teacher but the moment you loose your own opinion, is the moment to step aside. Find another mentor, read another book, listen to another's view. Become your own guru." Which will probably be when the audience will tire and move on to the next soap-box.

It was the guru word that did it, wasn't it?

Club Nirvana Sketch

Love this video. This sketch, from Goodness Gracious Me, made me smile. The extreme of the, not so spiritually, driven elements many of us have witnessed at some stage! Bless em.