Steel, Files, and Tools

I have a medium-serious case of font nerdiness, I'll admit it. This has gotten worse lately, since I have been doing extra letterpress stuff at Emspace. Having access to all of those lovely metal type fonts has renewed my enthusiasm for learning about this stuff, and of course developing very strong and impassioned opinions about which fonts are my favourite and which ones are rubbish. My sketchbooks are also full of fonts right now. Nerrrd...

Anyway, my Dad sent me these pictures of posters from the old homeland: fonts galore! He found them when he was "going through some old 19th century trade directories" for a talk he's planning called "Co-op Checks and Pub Tokens: Numismatics and Local History". Like you do.

Mountaineeress

Another vintage postcard from Daddy-O.


She's pretty hardy-looking, ha? Even though those are fake mountains. All dressed up, and nowhere to go but some 2D mountains. Dad has been clued into the fact that he is Susie's-blog-famous, as you can see.



It sez:

K...a models the latest Gor-tex hiking range in preparation for her next ascent of Mt. Shasta. (Thinks: 'Will this get me into Susie's blog?')

Yes Dad, it will.

The cat was dressed like a samurai.

We have been playing an awesome drawing game lately which is a combination of Pictionary, Chines Whispers and Consequences. We like to call it "Picsequences". In any case, you start out with a statement, someone else draws it, covers up the sentence, passes it on, next person writes what they see in the picture, passes it on, next person draws that sentence, and so on. So you end up with an entirely different sentence than the one you started with. The following may only be funny if you were there, but never mind. You all can suck it. (JK!)


The drunk students scared the old woman while trampolining naked on a windy day.
BECOMES
Edward Scissorhands threatened to cut up the naked people while God blackened the penis man.

Nick cried when Jen flashed him.
BECOMES
The scary ugly girl with big boobs laughed when she flashed the boy who burst out crying.

The squirrel drank from the growler.
BECOMES
The woman lost her tampon and then it was stolen by a squirrel but it was not what the squirrel wanted.

A smelly cow mooed at its cow wife because it wanted to munch the grass that she was eating.
BECOMES
Two cows slept standing up. One had no control and pooped in his sleep.

The Queen liked to secretly look at Playgirl during the official opening of Parliament.
BECOMES
The king dinosaur/moomin had good time laughing about sex while the two men were unhappy next to the Connect 4 boards that were yelling at them.

Aliens came and took away the State of Liberty.
BECOMES
Happy aliens attacked a city but luckily black Jesus is there to save us.

The woman was mightily surprised to wake up to see she'd grown a rather magnificent penis.
BECOMES
The woman woke up, very surprised to see she was a foot shorter than when she went to bed.

The cat tried really hard to use the typewriter.
BECOMES
The cat was mildly struck with writer's block when penning its great novel. It was dressed like a samurai.

The girl was blown away by the awesome that was the 5ive reunion concert.
BECOMES
The dog peered out from the woman's cloak as she sang along to the X-factor on tv.

The lonely zookeeper felt that the animals were his only friends.
BECOMES
The cool lesbian and her girlfriend watched the sad man who was in a cage with other sad animals.

A couple went to the cinema but had to change seats because there was a worrying stain on the seat!
BECOMES
Two lesbians were blown away by a storm. Afterwards, one was still happy, but one was dead.

We partied in the Freeze. Tim tried to make out with everyone. It was awesome.
BECOMES
The lesbians were happy in love. The boys had a fight.

The woman made a cake which was bigger than her house.
BECOMES
A magician sold a cake from his garage.

The nursery worker had his photo taken whilst covered in jelly. (Ed. Nick tells me this is a true story.)
BECOMES
The photographer took photos of the man who seemed quite happy to be covered in wee. The babies looked on - "job done!"

She decided to celebrate after graduation with a party on a boat.
BECOMES
The inappropriate teacher led the dance party on a boat and gave all the children alcohol. The teacher had big boobs.


P.S. It is amazing how often a happy lesbian couple turns up in these out of nowhere.

Tate Weirdness

I was in London last weekend and stopped by Tate Modern while I was there. Something was afoot in the Turbine Hall. (For those new to Tate Modern that's this huge entrance space where they show very large pieces and installations. ) I always seem to arrive while they are in the middle of removing one artist's work and installing another. Don't quite know what I happened upon here. I think these people are developing some sort of dance piece to follow the patterns on the floor? Who knows.






Hey, that guy stole my dance move! Everyone knows the trouser leg thing is copyright yours truly.

Dwellings What I Have Dwelled In

This post is a little self-obsessed, but I hope you will indulge me based on the universal human desire to poke around in other people's stuff. Goodness knows I request a nosy in my friend's rooms when I go to their houses, and enjoy it very much.

Here is the room I live in right now, in our cosy little house in Portland. I have what I consider to be a reasonable amount of things stuck up on the wall by this point, although I expect to add more. I like a lot of stuff up on the wall, especially prints and the like.



This is one of the very best rooms that I have lived in. My last house in Norwich, also known as The Deep Freeze (a bad-ass nickname rooted in the fact that our heating didn't work very well) was also one of the very best houses that I have ever lived in. Truly, I continue to be blessed by very wonderful friends who consent to cohabit with me! I lived here for two years so I had plenty of time to accumulate stuff on the walls, and it was a cute attic room with gabled ceilings. A perfect nest.



I loved my room at Reed, too! That was also a top floor room with a view out into the branches of an oak. Plus all this dark wood furniture and exposed floorboards. And in one of the nicest dorms on campus.

So where do you guys live right now? Do you like it? Do you LOVE it?

Reliving My Teen Years (Not)

God, I am so flipping excited about the new series of Skins!

Anyone know a good way I can watch it in the States?

Here are some things I miss from England:

Friends/family, obvs.

The NHS

Lucy Mangan in The Guardian

The money (I HATE dollar bills, what a pain in the arse.)

Jaffa Cakes

SKINS.

Oop North

So this isn't going to be remotely interesting for anyone but those who have been to my home town and who, er, aren't there now. It's a pretty small group of readers.

But: They have been redoing the square outside the railway station for maybe a year now, at vast expense and inconvenience, and it is finally finished!

As far as I can tell, all they have done is repaved everything in pretty much the same stone as it was before, moved the statue of (former Prime Minister) Harold Wilson, and put in some fountains. They are the kind of fountains where it's just a random jet of water coming out of the ground, at an unexpected time.





This is fun for the kids, but it really helps to have hot weather, and when is it ever hot in this rainy Northern town? About two days a year, that's when. So I am skeptical. (My Mum tells me people have been writing into the paper to complain about the fountains making the pavement wet and slippy. Which, see aforementioned rain - sometimes that gets on the pavement too.)

So, I am skeptical about the square redevelopment project. And that's my twopennorth for the day.

Lahndon Taaaahn

A little view of London and the Thames, with the Gherkin in the background. Not far from Tate Modern. Drawn with brush pens. This was on my recent summer trip to London to visit the American Embassy and get a visa - the embassy was a pain in the arse but the trip as a whole was fun.

Making Friends With Art

This weekend I had a nice day out with four of my best buddies in the world. We had a wander around the Yorkshire Sculpture Park, which is a lovely place to go on a day of clement weather. Free of charge, acres of green land, an excellent sculpture collection and changing exhibitions both in the grounds and in the handful of indoor galleries. I flippin' love it.



Four intrepid friends striding boldly through the sculpture park, ready to experience whatever artistic stimulus crosses their path. I am hiding from the camera as usual.


Peter Randall-Page's stone sculptures.


Three perfectly round spheres, lovely and smooth on the outside, rough in the maze-grooves. So wonderfully touchable and pokeable.


I forget who the fighting men are by.


Sophie Ryder, who does big mythical animals, here in bronze or fibreglass. I've blogged about her here and here.




There are three hands in this picture.


Standing masked men by Elizabeth Frink. Who's yr Daddy?


James Turrell's deer shelter, also called the Skyspace.


Also on this day at the YSP I bumped into a 6th form friend of mine - who writes the blog Jessie and the Giant Plate (great title) about yummy food - which was quite a surprise to me because I thought she was in China. Small world, eh?

Summer is Ready When You Are

Y'all want to experience my secret summer anthem?

Saints - The Breeders

It's only a secret because I have only just realised that these lyrics have been rolling around my head the entire summer, and I think during previous summers too... It is my newly realised summer anthem.

I like all the different people
I like sticky everywhere
Look around, you bet I'll be there

Hot metal in the sun...

A lot of face
A lot of crank air...

Summer's ready
Summer is ready when you are

I like all the different people
I like every kind of fair
In the crowd, you bet I'll be there
Walkin' around
Going nowhere

Summer's ready
Summer is ready when you are

These lines expresses all the things I think encapsulate summer, and what I totally hate about summer too! I hate stale air, air conditioning, people all over the places, stickiness! Gross!

At the same time I tend to romanticise these things, I don't know why. Probably because I totally love The Breeders.

Luckily I live in England, when it rains most of the summer, and luckily it is almost autumn.

...

Those were some random thoughts to blog about at this time of night. I apologise.

Lounge

Look, it's the living room of my old house in Norwich! This was the view from my habitual chair, which I spent many an hour sitting in whilst watching Veronica Mars and yes, occasionally sketching.





Details to notice: sitting on the mantelpiece is a letter to Kate Bush (unfortunately returned to sender). The remote control is stuck down the back of the sofa, as usual. Tim's guitar is propped up nonchalantly making us seem like a rock n' roll household. On top of the sideboard in front of the flowers is Jen's blacklight - why did we never have another blacklight party? I have left out the millions of DVDs which were stacked in the fireplace, and also our extensive and impressive collection of Kinder Surprise toys.

Gosh, I do miss that house.

I've gotten a bit scanner-happy lately, so I have scans of many more of my sketchbook pages. Maybe I will post some more soon.

We Have a Winnar

Just a little post to point out the fact that:

80% of people think that Eurovision is more entertaining than the Oscars.*

I feel so vindicated in my love for Eurovision! Obviously it helps if you get smashed. But certainly a night of quality entertainment for all! I have only watched the Oscars live once, obvs because of the time difference between here and the States, and it was entertaining enough. But nothing compares to the camp thrills, the confusing novelty and the sustained unintentional hilarity of Eurovision. I for one cannot wait til next year.

*Figures may not reflect all of humanity, merely the tiny handful of people who read my blog but it's still true so there.

Thin Cities

Eugene, Oregon 24-08-07

Well hey there. I can't think of much to talk about at the moment, so I thought I'd just post these sketches from a couple of years ago. These are, what, three moleskines back? I think I am out of my moleskine sketchbook phase for now, but back in the day I was crazy for those little black volumes. So soft and durable and handsized. Where was I? Yes, these are some sketches of houses and things, mostly from the States, California and Oregon, but a few from home in the UK too. They were nearly all done with dip-pen for the thicker lines, and a tiny wee fineliner for the details; this is probably not noticeable, but it's the sort of finicky distinction I am all about.

You will also notice these are nearly all face-on, no background, isolated on the page, which is a way that I like to do buildings. I like them pinned down in my sketchbook like they are specimens, like my own personal architectural dead butterfly collection. I also tend to elongate the houses upwards; I especially like this effect for the San Francisco row houses. Some are from photos, some are from life. I don't draw this kind of thing quite as much these days, but I still really like to draw architecture. It can be very soothing.

San Francisco, California 09-08-07

San Francisco, California 08-08-07

Norwich, England 29-07-07

Cork, Ireland 25-08-07

San Francisco California 07-08-07

Monterey, California 17-08-07

Huddersfield, England 28-08-07

Humboldt, California 17-08-07

Haight Ashbury, San Francisco, California 06-08-07

Portland, Oregon 22-08-07

Nom Nom

So this is one of the best books I have read this year. Sharp Teeth by Toby Barlow - you should read it immediately! However I don't have the energy right this minute to tell you why it's so good, instead I want to look at the cover. You'll just have to trust me on the top-notch quality of the contents. (Lyrical, moving, thrilling, emotional, intelligent, evocative, powerful, many more dramatic adjectives, flippin' cool! etc.)

Sharp Teeth, the American cover.

Sharp Teeth, the English cover, Vintage.

Which do we like best, English or American?

Personally I am inclined to prefer the American cover by a long shot, although the basic image works well for both. The US cover is bolder, brighter, no clutter whatsoever. (My in-person UK edition has reviews on the front too, which would be much better stuck on the back.) The design, I guess for both, is by Suzanne Dean, and the illustrations are Natasha Michaels - there are some more fantastic stark black dog illustrations throughout the novel.

Man, I always end up preferring the American edition of books to the UK editions. It's a few details like the matt covers and the floppier binding, but I would also go ahead and make the generalisation that the design just tends to turn out better. Bolder, less generic. But hey, maybe it's just my America obsession making me biased.

P.S. Read Sharp Teeth.

Lady-Hare

Went to the wonderful Yorkshire Sculpture Park over the weekend, which is one of the best things to do on a summer's day if you happen to be in the right neck of the woods. I took some photos of a range of sculptures they have there at the moment by Sophie Ryder. She does these cool animal-human hybrids which I personally find very pleasing. The one below is a new gigantic fibreglass Lady-Hare. You can see from the picture below that she's actually split in half and partially hollow.

Pink Lady-Hare Dancing with Big Brown Dog, 2000, Bronze

Conversation, 2002, Bronze

What do you reckon? I think they've got a nice Angela Carter/Paula Rego sexy fairytale vibe about them...