Went to see REM at the Budokan yesterday evening and very good they were as well. I'm not quite sure what I was expecting, I hadn't really thought about the concert until we entered the hall. But they were great. Stipe stalking around the stage, a mask painted across his eyes, his voice strong and clear. This morning I downloaded the new CD, Around The Sun. I guess I should buy it but these days actually paying for a CD seems such an alien idea to me.
Wednesday, March 16, 2005
Monday, March 14, 2005
Look in The Mirror
The world of work is changing and the idea of job security is disappearing. I might be just as well off seriously studying art and writing and trying to make a living as I would be in any other field. In some ways I could be more secure, because I would have an independence that a company employee doesn't have. Their company could downsize them, sack them, go bankrupt, be bought up, sliced up and downsized. It's not like it was in my father's day.
But the Internet offers so many opportunities to those with the will, the sense and the ability to find them. There are people making a living through eBay auctions. I could be doing that! There must be things here in Japan that I have access to that people in Europe and the US would buy.
The Internet is full of opportunities, and I think we will see in the future looking back at these years just how many there were.
I mean already we can see how smart the amazons, the Googles, the eBays, the Bloggers, and more were and are. There are other, smaller scale opportunities out there; it's all a matter of keeping your eyes open, keeping up with it all and acting when you see an opportunity; don't waste time, get on with it, things move fast on the Net. Not that I want to be some dot com entrepreneur as such, but I want to take advantage of the opportunities it offers in the areas I am interested in.
Web sites like Wild West Yorkshire and Everyday Matters attract quite a lot of regular visitors, and rightly so. I think they can sell quite a lot of books because people know what they do and how well they do it. Also I think people trust them because they have been there for several years doing the same thing; they have put in the work. But you know that they don't regard it as work, I'm sure they don't.
So, anyway, what I'm trying to say is that we live in a different world than we did 20 years ago; less secure perhaps but with more opportunities to those with the perception to see them and exploit them. I want to be one of those exploiters! But to take advantage of the opportunities you have to put in the work!
But the Internet offers so many opportunities to those with the will, the sense and the ability to find them. There are people making a living through eBay auctions. I could be doing that! There must be things here in Japan that I have access to that people in Europe and the US would buy.
The Internet is full of opportunities, and I think we will see in the future looking back at these years just how many there were.
I mean already we can see how smart the amazons, the Googles, the eBays, the Bloggers, and more were and are. There are other, smaller scale opportunities out there; it's all a matter of keeping your eyes open, keeping up with it all and acting when you see an opportunity; don't waste time, get on with it, things move fast on the Net. Not that I want to be some dot com entrepreneur as such, but I want to take advantage of the opportunities it offers in the areas I am interested in.
Web sites like Wild West Yorkshire and Everyday Matters attract quite a lot of regular visitors, and rightly so. I think they can sell quite a lot of books because people know what they do and how well they do it. Also I think people trust them because they have been there for several years doing the same thing; they have put in the work. But you know that they don't regard it as work, I'm sure they don't.
So, anyway, what I'm trying to say is that we live in a different world than we did 20 years ago; less secure perhaps but with more opportunities to those with the perception to see them and exploit them. I want to be one of those exploiters! But to take advantage of the opportunities you have to put in the work!
Saturday, March 12, 2005
How to Make a Linocut Print
Someone asked me about how these prints were made. In fact someone asked me what "lino" is. I wonder if that's a British word? It's short for linoleum, the stuff that people put on their kitchen and bathroom floors... or at least they used to.
The lino used in art for printing is a little different. The traditional lino is a kind of corky, woody brown material, about 3-4mm thick. I remember using it in school. But what I use now (In fact it's the only type I've found here in Japan) is a plastic lino. It cuts very smoothly and of course you can use it many times and wash it without it deteriorating, unlike the tradtional lino. The only disadvantage is that I can only find it in two sizes: postcard and double postcard size. Traditional lino come in a variety of sizes, so you can do large pieces - Picasso did posters using linocut prints.
The cutting part can become very engrossing - a kind of right brian, zen activity - I lose alll track of time and become focussed on cutting.
Some people might regard linocut prints as the poor cousin of the more serious wood cut print , but hey if it was good enough for Picasso it's good enough for me.
Try it yourself.
The lino used in art for printing is a little different. The traditional lino is a kind of corky, woody brown material, about 3-4mm thick. I remember using it in school. But what I use now (In fact it's the only type I've found here in Japan) is a plastic lino. It cuts very smoothly and of course you can use it many times and wash it without it deteriorating, unlike the tradtional lino. The only disadvantage is that I can only find it in two sizes: postcard and double postcard size. Traditional lino come in a variety of sizes, so you can do large pieces - Picasso did posters using linocut prints.
The cutting part can become very engrossing - a kind of right brian, zen activity - I lose alll track of time and become focussed on cutting.
Some people might regard linocut prints as the poor cousin of the more serious wood cut print , but hey if it was good enough for Picasso it's good enough for me.
Try it yourself.
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