30.1.06

Uncle Bert


Mum's brother Bert used to shoot for Trinidad and Tobago and won some medals.
As the TT Express said recently:
"The name Bert Manhin however, is synonymous with the sport of rifle shooting.
For many years he represented Trinidad and Tobago in rifle shooting at the CAC Games, Pan American Games, Commonwealth Games and Olympics.
He excelled in that discipline and his prizes include one gold, a silver and several bronze medals. "

29.1.06

Outside Transition, the panoramic view


This is the outside panoramic view to go with the interior panoramic view previously. You probably need the larger view to see anything.

Machismo at Transition, Hackney, East London


24.1.06

Transition to The Tate: protypical King Kong


Transition to The Tate
Originally uploaded by Catfunt.

This is from the Rousseau (Henri, not Jean-Jacques) show at Tate Modern. It's pretty rubbish with a few exceptions, the monkey and the naked lady here being one. It's not actually by Rousseau but it's in the opening room to give you an idea what Paris was like in Henri's day (naked monkeys carrying off naked women I suppose).

Anyway, it reminded me of the King Kong sculpture we had in Birmingham about 30 years ago that people complained about (it was in the Bull Ring I think) and it was removed. It was outside a car dealer on Bristol Road (I think) for a while. Apparently it's now in Edinburgh but there's talk of taking it back to Birmingham. You can see it here or read about it here.

23.1.06

Allotment: Jan 2006


allotment: Jan 2006
Originally uploaded by Catfunt.

Spent a few hours yesterday digging dirt at the allotment and it was fantastic. If I was old before I am officially even older as I can't think of anything I'd rather be doing at the moment. Certainly not compiling 12 months worth of web stats and attempting to put a bit of a shine on them. The green stuff is broad beans.

21.1.06

Shit lying around the house...


Business Cards found in the house
Originally uploaded by Catfunt.

... that should have been chucked years ago (part one).

We stayed in Portugal in 1991(?) and this is one of the cards that we were handed when we got to the train station. I don't think we stayed there but looking at the card I wish we had.

18.1.06

A joke from Maud Hand

This guy was lonely and so he decided life would be more fun if he
had a pet. So he went to the pet store and told the owner that
he wanted to buy an unusual pet. After some discussion, he finally
bought a centipede, which came in a little white box to use for
his house.
He took the box back home, found a good location for the box, and
decided he would start off by taking his new pet to the bar to
have a drink. So he asked the centipede in the box,
"Would you like to go to Frank's with me and have a beer?"
But there was no answer from his new pet. This bothered him a
bit but he waited a few minutes and then asked him again,
"How about going to the bar and having a drink with me?"
But again, there was no answer from his new friend and pet. So he
waited a few minutes more, thinking about the situation. He
decided to ask him one more time; this time putting his face up
against the centipede's house and shouting,
"Hey in there! Would you like to go to Frank's place and have a drink
with me?










A little voice came out of the box...........
"I heard you the first time! I'm putting my fu**ing shoes on."

16.1.06

Machismo: a show at Transition


Machismo: a show at Transition
Originally uploaded by Catfunt.

Garageland launches, Machismo opens.
These pics are part of my work: playing cards that have been modified and photos of drawings in small black frames (that have a tendency to fall from the walls).
These are Steve's pictures of the evening, and these are mine of bits of the show before the crowds arrived. Anyway, the show is on until February.

14.1.06

WE BUY GOLD: part one


WE BUY GOLD: part one
Originally uploaded by Catfunt.

On the way home last night from the opening of Machismo, walking through the estate I came across my favourite sign of all time, "WE BUY GOLD".

12.1.06

The Renoir: Brunswick Square


The Renoir: Brunswick Square
Originally uploaded by Catfunt.

We went to see The Beat That My Heart Skipped at the Renoir on Tuesday. It's a pretty good film and even if it weren't it would be worth seeing for the heart-warming array of rotten teeth and chain-smoking on display. I think it's obligatory in modern French cinema for the hero at a point of particular tension in teh story to tear the filter off his cigarette before lighting it. It telegraphs to the dumber members of the audience that things are 'getting serious' and that Jean-Paul or Phillipe needs an extra nicotine hit to get through them. A much better film than either Matchpoint or The Constant Gardener (in case you were thinking of going to see either of them).

7.1.06

Diane Arbus at the V&A


Finally after months of talking about it we made it to the Diane Arbus show at the V&A. It's a really well thought out show with all the famous pieces as well as much of the early magazine work from magazines like Harper's that I much prefer. Like Sylvia Plath, as a result of Arbus's suicide, there's a real temptation to see an overwhelming darkness in the pictures that I don't think is actually there. She wouldn't have been very pleased with this blurry one I can tell you. There's a nice bit in one of her diaries where she talks about the group of students that she's teaching and how almost all the work they produce bores her and she's worried if she spends too much time around them she'll catch their crapiness.

6.1.06

The house where I want to live...


The white one with the flat room. If it's yours write to me.

3.1.06

Camber Beach: a thing of beauty

Camber Beach
And here's a thing that isn't. I recently set up sitemeter on this blog (because I don't have enough to do already) and I was looking through the referers (ie how people got to your site) and what search terms they put into Google to find your site. This one's my favourite Google search. You'll notice that my site comes second.