If I Was A Drug Dealer #1

If I was a drug dealer I'd stand in the ginnel near the Time Piece in Dewsbury and whisper, "Pssst! Psst! Yeah, you! Do you wanna buy some drugs?"

Funny Ha Ha

This is supposed to be a joke.

In school, we had an assembly on bullying. The teacher spoke to a young gay boy, being bullied because of his sexuality.
She spoke at length about his life, and the verbal abuse he suffers. She then asked a question, "How do you think he takes it?"
Apparently, "Up the arse!" wasn't a suitable answer.

Now, I'm not averse to jokes in the slightest but this is not funny; hence not a joke. What I don't find funny is that at the start the child has being bullied because he is gay, which for a start is unacceptable as homophobia is wrong as it shows a lack of understanding and is a blatent display of ignorance.
The teacher then discusses the issue with the class, but the 'punchline' - "Apparently, "Up the arse!" wasn't a suitable answer."" - implies that the bullying is fine, because it is 'funny' and a 'joke'.
I'm no prude and I love comedy, especially if it is smart and witty; I take issue with the fact that this is viewed as humorous. Homophobia and bullying are anything but funny, they are major problems and lead people to take their own lives. I would love to know how that is funny.
The way that people can see the quoted 'joke' as a bit of fun does worry me, words and how they are read and understood are crutial and paramount to how we communicate and engage with the world.
People should really look at what they read more carefully, just because somebody says something is a joke does not mean that it is.

To The Sea

Tales for an Accelerated Culture

Generation X

People ask me "What have you left behind? You have all this and maybe more, but what have you left behind?" I pause and think, "I haven't left anything behind, it is you who has left life behind."

Burning Man

There was a man on fire in the crowd last night,
he screamed as he burned;
what a magnificent sight.

Harrogate Spa was thrown over him
He went on to smoulder, but it showed no end
You only get a mouthful in those bottles, my friend.

He danced the Waltz in the flames,
or maybe it was the Charleston?
I can't remember names.

Eyes, tongue and arms began to dangle,
How would you describe him?
How about a fluorescent mangle?

Come and visit Burning Man
And basque in the heat
He's the guy, the one you've to meet.

What happened the day my housemate disappeared.

I once got into a dispute with a chimp about a woman, a pack of cards and a stolen suitcase. It took place in the Departures lounge, there was a lot of shouting and swearing. The chimp stormed off with the suitcase before Customs and Exiles could check it. The woman was my housemate, the suitcase was me.

The Time Traveller

In the corner of my room there is an empty time machine,
It lies abandoned, lurking there like the parasite that time forgot.
The Time Traveller left it on the promise that he’d be back
It’s been years since he left, no return address.
The battery has become flat and useless
My mind on the brink of pointless
I sit and guard his craft
Oh, how together we once laughed.

Hard Travelin'

I've only recently discovered Woody Guthrie, but his songs are amazing and it confounds me as to how contemporary they sound. It's mind-blowing to think that his songs were written in the 30's, 40's, and 50's. I love this quote, it shows life today isn't much different to how it was in the 40's. Mainstream music is still banal, society continues to be dumbed down by it. Even with all of the technological advances we have, society is still the same. His music offers hope and tells you of things that are important rather than irrelevant, capitalist bullshit. I'm folk mad, me.

"I hate a song that makes you think that you are not any good. I hate a song that makes you think that you are just born to lose. Bound to lose. No good to nobody. No good for nothing. Because you are too old or too young or too fat or too slim or too ugly or too this or too that. Songs that run you down or poke fun at you on account of your bad luck or hard travelling. I am out to fight those songs to my very last breath of air and my last drop of blood. I am out to sing songs that will prove to you that this is your world and that if it has hit you pretty hard and knocked you for a dozen loops, no matter what color, what size you are, how you are built, I am out to sing the songs that make you take pride in yourself and in your work. And the songs that I sing are made up for the most part by all sorts of folks just about like you. I could hire out to the other side, the big money side, and get several dollars every week just to quit singing my own kind of songs and to sing the kind that knock you down still farther and the ones that poke fun at you even more and the ones that make you think that you've not got any sense at all. But I decided a long time ago that I'd starve to death before I'd sing any such songs as that. The radio waves and your movies and your jukeboxes and your songbooks are already loaded down and running over with such no good songs as that anyhow."
— Woody Guthrie

Recently I went to an art exhibition and saw very much the same work, just in different rooms and done by different people. I'll give you an example, Rob Ryan style papercuts - I think people have come to consider these as 'nice' and safe things to do, they know that people will like them and that's why they do them. The point I'm getting at is why should I look at their work when I can just as easily look at Rob Ryan's?
I've done papercuts, but rather than doing precise cuts and decorative scenes I chose to do things that were crude and not as inviting or pleasant as Rob Ryan's style of work. I did something I wanted to do. I didn't do it to play safe or because I knew that people would instantly accept it, I want to make art that challenges both myself and the people who view it.
Maybe the inclusion of this quote is not even a connection, I'm just stating that music, art, TV, film, society et al is in a state of sedation and nothing seems to want to change this.

Younger Generation

These are the paintings I have done so far for Raise The Roof Festival. I hope to do a painting a day or at least get them started, I like how they have turned out and it has also encouraged me to do something I wouldn't normally consider. I've missed being able to paint and I'm glad I volunteered for this project. Anyway, here they are.

All Along The Watchtower

Girl Afraid

Yesterday

All Tomorrow's Parties

Paint It Black (7 Shades Of Black)