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Caution : opinions can be hazardous.....(apparently?)..
I have actually created this page so i can just rant ,let of steam,share some thoughts, even answer some questions
i get asked, and of course give out info as to whats happening.Not in the "life, the meaning of the universe and what
was the question" kind of way, just the little bit of the universe i am dwelling upon at this momment.hopefully when i sober
up and realise i have created this space, i will understand..... why?.........
At last the future heir to the throne has rejoined the great GM debate,Describing the GM crops as a 'science experiment
that has gone terribly wrong'..Well done sir...lets hope the people who are cabable of stopping this frankenstein science
polluting our countryside...GM has the potential to destroy our eco systems natural balance more than any other
change in farming practices mankind has ever attempted...this is about huge profits and the USA desperatly needing to export
in return for other currencies such as the Euro...not feeding the world on the cheap!..Don't let it happen!
Somewhere between the light click and a dream....those magical moments where the sudden darkness evokes twisted and warped
replays of the departing days events,the realisation and efforts you make to clear the mind,erase the unpleasant and
consider the future and then.. sleep....do they become precious?..you bet they do...!
When you live a transient lifestyle you tend to meet alot of people, and keeping in touch with those that you meet can
become a little 'hit&miss'..I have been very fortunate to travel extensively and met hundreds and hundreds of people....my
phone book is full of names that i sometimes cant put a face to..and others that i remember and miss like crazy....but..there
are those who will always 'be there' ..ready to meet up, help out or join in with whatever is happening....true friends...look
after them !
Keeping sport out of politics sends our athletes to china to compete in most polluted enviroment ever chosen to host
the olympics under the shadow of the Tibetean situation and the doomed procession of the torch around the globe....Yet
the Zimbabwe situation is quite rightly stopping the Cricket team playing test and twenty20's......The G8 met at another james
Bond villans style luxury mountain hideout to plant a few trees and decide which titbits to throw to the waiting media
of each country to appease that particular country...but wait...a well done for setting the mugabe hunt in motion....why i
believe they are actually going to do something ?...i dont know.?..it may be that common titbit just for us...commonly known
as a gordon 'Brownie'.......now thats a 'situation'.....
With the British summer living up to expectations....cold,windy and lots of rain..i was busy trying to arrange some new
shoots and keep my mind off the fact it was festival season and due to other commitments was unable to get time out to attend
any of my usual haunts that i discovered lots of amazing photographers on 'my space'..I know, sitting at a computer screen
is not the most social pastime, but must admit have been so impressed with the diversity of talents i thought i would send
you in the right direction...therefore , i urge you to visit my 'my space' page (link from slideshow page) and check out my
friends list....highly reccomend chenerzig, a street/docu style photographer, robert babylon(of course!),,and rachel
black...plus many many more...I must admit to quite enjoying the 'my space' experience of networking..as opposed to any of
the others such as 'facebook'...or 'bebo'..personal choice...but there really is not enough time to be part of more than one
network....even though they decided to delete a few of my images...(bah humbug!)...but hey...come and say hi!.
What great music on that kronenborg advert.....! good quality and taste is eternal!...wonder where they found it?
lol....
Too much bad news....The problem with so much bad news is the effect it has on everyone...people are depressed
and concerned over things that have no direct effect on them personally,a rather unhealthy state..obviously we can all
sympathise with flood victims on the other side of the planet,those caught in war zones, those starving children and victims
of man made famines in africa...but depressing as it all is...what can be done?..these things have been happening for centuries
but because of 'information'technology we are all aware..so, we spent hours reading about it, feeling sorry for the victims,
feel guilt for our own fortunes and express opinions that we are fortunate to be able to express without the door being
kicked in as we are dragged away..That feeling is hard to overcome...some use thier own creativity,some turn to alcohol
or drugs,some simply use ignorance to hide behind..but the truth is we all struggle emotionally because we all care....surely
it is time to start really hassling those who we elect the world over to start behaving and doing the job they have been elected
to do...This is a very small planet, we all live on it, so lets start trying to make it a better place for everyone to live
...time to start thinking about ditching capitalism..and getting rid of these self serving power mongers forever.,the planet
will survive without mankind so can we please start making the way we live on the planet good for mankind too!....good luck
obama....do the right thing!
The credit crunch, the fuel price increases,the food shortages ..all one would think were totally predictable and again,
one would have thought pretty obviously able to be managed by the Government of the day...In England we have had
the same political party in power for ten years and one would have thought that in that time a bit of forward planning could
have kept alot of these issues in check...alas when the people start suffering the politicians profit....reducing the expenditure
has always been a good way of saving money....and taxing the exessive profits of banks, telecoms,oil and gas companies and
of course getting Tesco to put something back would help alot...It is not going to happen...so get used to your standard of
living shrinking as the politicians continue to line thier own pockets.....Those that actively seek power should never be
allowed to have it!
Congratulations to Sir Alex ferguson and the Amazing team of Manchester united lifting the European Cup 2008 to continue
the journey from the Busby babes ,the Munich disaster through to ten Premier leaugue titles and now the 'double'[.An
amazing achievement that i for one am eternally grateful...thank you lads, you have done us proud!
Cabinet of dark things by the amazing china hamilton has been one of the few must have photo books in a while as it seems
these days the computer screen is the majorities chosen medium..obviously the prints on a wall are the most desirable viewing
experience .but then again,when did you last go to a gallery?therefore..galleries like that set up at the Erotic Arts
Org. are an invaluable outlet for thousands of artists working in all mediums..with links to sister sites for everything from
wildlife artists to poets..This i trust will help encourage you to take time out..put a few tracks on and go look at some
beautiful art..the links on the homepage will take you there to my select galleries with over a hundred image(roughly?)and
links from there will take you to any type of art that you fancy...its good for the soul to do these things with purpose.....enjoy.....
It seems that if you havn't cleared your main cache for ages or you have reached this site from any search engines rather
than a direct link you ,through no fault of your own,have been stuck in a time warp..meaning it appears that the images have
not changed...Well, technology for you, therefore click here now..which should sort it...no, i have no idea why either..lol..sorry
for the inconvienence...
click and save to reset your link.
Now we have Gordon Brown in high office the return of the GM polution of the Earth has started to roll out at high speed,
the restart of stemcell research is back on the agenda..nothing personal is it Mr Brown?....the credit crunch has started
forcing people out of their homes or into negative equity....the Burmese hurricane is overshadowed by the earthquake in China...Zimbabwe's
starving oppressed people are still starving and oppressed, ..Tibets holy men are still bieng rounded up and persecuted...President
Putin is now the prime minister with his deputy now the puppet president.....and george Bush has been left with about as much
authority as the milk monitor in playgroup whilst Clinton(Mrs!) and Obama(Mr!) are fighting it out to beat the militarys man
into the white house.....Whats next?...plague of locust?
The biggest games release in 2008 is predicted to be Grand Theft Auto IV,an eighteen certificate computer game which,
as the title suggests is rather violent, criminal and only for adults....yeah right...how long will it be before broadcasters
like theBBC and SkY who have been advertising this game constantly on their news programmes will be reporting the real
life effects of this behaviour in their newscasts...too many people are bieng killed or seriously injured by random acts of
mindless violence already on the streets of the UK..my guess is promoting this game will see those figures rise steeply...will
there be anything resembling corporate responsibility....i doubt it....My thoughts go to the family of murdered gary newlove...who
tried to reason with thugs on the street to take responsibility for thier actions....before they kicked him to death....violence
breeds violence...
The Erotic Artist Org. website links on the homepage of this site is where i have been uploading lots &lots of images
due to the size limits on this site..So, i urge you to go visit...This site,Xlandphotoart exists to promote my work and display
images that represent the styles i work in, although i change the images regularly some images that i really like will remain.I
hope that makes things a little clearer..Its all down to time, space and money, and of course keeping large numbers of images
back for future publication.
The soaring costs of staple foods has worried alot of people in the last few weeks, they are the lucky ones, the costs
that may have risen by the odd few pence here in the west are causing starvation to hundreds of thousands in the developing
world.Why?..there is a train of thought that this crisis has been artifically created to 'assist' the producers of GM(genetically
modified) products to gain a foothold on the world markets.If, and i say 'if' there is any truth in this we should all be
very very careful. The GM lobby are desperately trying to offload thier frankenstien food and recoup the billions of dollars
invested in the research and development of thier products..which as we all know have been discredited in so many arenas as
'dangerous' and 'un ethical'. Dont believe the hype...Genetic modification is a very dangerous route and will do nothing to
help feed the starving..just help the multinationals like monsanta take a huge controlling step in the global food markets.Dont
buy it...!
The chances that two English football teams will end up playing in the Champions league Final this year creates the situation
that thousands of people will be leaving the northwest of England and flying to Moscow for a 90 minute game of football.All
in all not very green...and very expensive!.If it is Liverpool and Manchester united they would aqll be flying from one airport
on the same planes, searching for hotel rooms..never easy in Russia...attending the same venue, leaving (obviuosly with the
trophy in the hands of manchester united!)then flying back..this will am sure be a huge headache for the police and again,
very expensive..Surely with Wembley stadium now complete, it would be common sense, enviromentally friendly, and cheaper for
everyone if the Final was held there.Or is that far to sensible??
With political correctness (??) running rife in the UK i was wondering how far things will go before we realise that
changing our heritage in so many ways makes no sense at all, therefore incorrect?for an example i hear that in many schools
the old nursery rhyme Baa Baa Black Sheep is bieng re written as Baa Baa rainbow sheep.....hmm..who the hell is going to be
offended by a 'black' sheep?..they exist! whereas rainbow sheep?..the nursery rhyme then goes on to reveal the sheep talks..yes
sir yes sir three bags full....!rainbow wool..hmm!..i know there are more important things going on in the country, but the
more the media and politicians keep pussyfooting around with inane concepts of political correctness instead of just right
and wrong the muddier the waters get...bad enough for us grown ups...but how screwed up will the next generations be...ali
babar and the forty thieves is as derogatory as...well..big ears and noddy!
Well the world is still providing the information that just shows how hypocritical the society we are all supposed to
support actually is..lets just start with the rigged elections in the former commonwealth country of zimbabwe..the biggest
rigged election since the florida result..we did nothing then..so why are we even pretending that we care in zimbabwe?..really,
are we expected to believe that our elected governments are going to do anything to help the everyday suffering of the zimbabwe
people? its unlikely!The Chinese will hold the games...our elected leaders will attend...we shall all watch whilst feeling
guilt and shame..The pope....(ooh my personal fave!)..well the pontiff has landed in the U.S.A. to ..?..well..really just
to sign the two and a half billion dollar compensation cheque to all those poor people sexually abused as children by the
thousands of priests involved in child abuse scandals over the past thirty years...has any priest been sent to jail for any
of this?..probably not...why? well...write to your elected leaders and ask..George Bush whilst describing the Pope's speech
as 'awesome'.(!!!??) also admitted that since he became President he had 'prayed' everyday...news for you George..since you
became president we have all prayed everyday!..even the atheists!Gordon Brown...what can one say..ten years as chancellor
now the premier...just watch his mouth when he speaks....david icke and his lizards comes to mind!...Anyway..hes more than
happy the credit crunch has started..the pound will soon be the value of the dollar...and the euro....handy that eh??...the
Global food crisis...(what crisis??)..well there isn't one...its all a huge scam to introduce GM crops...wake up people!!..As
you can guess...if there was somewhere else to go...i would be there!....shine bright folks, immerse yourselves in art and
music and be nice to everyone...what goes around surely comes around...
The Olympic torch has started its voyage of 'harmony' across the world, highlighting the rich history of unity and fairplay
....well that is generally the idea...but as we know from the rolling news channels the 'torch' has,along with its blue suited'minders'
has run into nothing but controversy...London started the backlash with numerous attempts to extinguish the flame by pro Tibetan
protesters and human rights activists who transformed the ceromony into a complete farce...thankfully the French continued
the prrotests even though the torchbearer was surrounded by 'upgraded' security....well, if rollerblading coppers can be considered
an upgrade that is..Off to America and the golden gate bridge has been decorated in 'Free Tibet' slogans to welcome the torch....This
demonstration probably hidden from the Chinese people makes a mockery of the 'Harmony' that the torches journey from
greece to China is meant to represent.The organisers of the olympics should be very worried...the message has been loud and
clear....Stopping the human rights violations in china and Tibet are obviously a 'Politcal' issue and should not
interfere with 'sport'.well..what a load of B******ks!...Human rights are far more Important ..Doing the right thing is more
important....and supporting attrocities like the kind we have seen on news reports leaking out of Tibet does no one any favours....Lets
hope the political leaders show some backbone and pull the plug today!
The Erotics arts org. links on the site take you directly to my galleries within that site..there are no cookies,worms,viruses,pop
ups or pop downs or anything at all ...in other words its cool....the Erotic arts org is a wonderful gallery space and community
of artists who freely display thier Art works for all to enjoy...Obviously it is not possible to copy the images...but it
does give people like me a 'space'..it used to be 'time is money'...now its 'time,space and meaning' that costs the money..Anyway,
i digress...(i do that alot lately.....note to self...think before typing...you know what your like....!)....Anyway..click
on one to view my galleries and click the 'homepage' at the bottom to the menu for ....a very creative community..
Had the great pleasure of meeting a wonderfully creative writer the other day who has written some rather beautiful short
stories and has added some rather delicious words to some of my images.Hopefully this will become a workable format an i wish
her every success..if you fancy a quick preview you will have to go to the 'myspace'link from this site and view the comments
on the images displayed there..Thank you angel..your a gem!
Lots of people show interest in my work, which is very flattering and very much appreciated and i am often asked about
whats involved with taking part, well its simple, i charge no fees, i pay no fees , i work along with whoever wants to participate
in creating images that hopefully are rather beautiful and a collaboration between my ideas and the 'model's' own ideals.
I own full copyright on all images and the identity of the model is kept secret.The model gets copies of all images i create
and hopefully they get a huge confidence boost along with that knowing inner glow that seems to come from posing for me..I
believe that everyone is beautiful, the harshest of critics is oneself, and i work very hard to help everybody realise that
a negative self image is destructive.There are no age or size limits (except over twenty one years of age) and the idea is
to have some fun!So, hopefully this has answered a few questions, so get in touch and lets get creative!
Well 24 million quid for heather mills...Considering paul macartney had earned the majority of his money before
he was entrapped i for one think he has been very hard done by!..The culture of reward for hard work and talent seems to have
passed people like heather mills by, they seem like gold diggers because they are gold diggers...when the court case started
somone with more wit than i said she 'had not got a leg to stand on...' well, it seems she has...but prefers to
be seen on crutches and/or a wheelchair when it comes to looking for the sympathy vote of whichever misguided judge awarded
her this outrageous amount!..So,lets hope we never see or hear of this prize bitch ever again...!
Micheal eavis the owner of Glastonbury festival has always been a rather shrewd gentleman,on the many occasions we have
met over the years i have never walked away thinking that anyone in the room came out ahead of him.So i was rather put
aback when i read his comments about the slow take up of registration for tickets for this years festival as down to only
having jayzee and the verve rather than anyone more mainstream....Well, i think the increased security the corporate machine,
the financial hikes,the competition and the weather all have a bigger influence in the speed the tickets are sold...not the
headliners...As one lucky enough to see the Verve a few months ago i know the glastonbury revellers are going to be amazed
and delighted ..and i might even be lucky enough to get there for the night....unless i get to lost vagueness...and we
all know what that does to me.........
The pope has announced a new sheet of commandments to save us all from hell and damnation...yes i know,but hey, pollution
and genetic manipulation are now officially a sin....this will have no effect on the world we live in...though with the estimated
arrivals in hell set to soar in the near future im amazed tescos have not announced opening new stores there......america
beware....!
After hearing that the cost of the conflict in Iraq has doubled in the last twelve months, and the Afganistan debarcle
is costing even more, i started wondering how these huge sums can be justified?The current chancellor it seems just recites
the script that the previous chancellor,now Prime Minister left on a desk,its outdated and in need of a rewrite.Do we really
need to continue spending these sums of money trying to reform a culture to live & think like we are supposed to?
It is not rocket science...bring back the troops, re educate them, and use the money saved to support ethical trade in these
countries...simplistic yes, but nobody responds to fear and loathing in a positve way.....the more we create trouble, the
more trouble we shall find on our own doorsteps..Remember ,everything has a 'sell by' date, even bombs and bullets!
The joys of motoring....remember that? when you actually drove for pleasure..obviously this is an age thing or maybe
the huge amount of money it costs to be able to drive..okay i got stuck with a puncture for the first time and could not find
the locking nuts key..after lots of p****ing about the main dealership broke the wheelnut of so they could
put the spare on,this completed i took the flat tyre to a garage to be repaired....£36...to repair a puncture!..Horified
i moaned about it for three days before i was stuck again with another puncture in a different wheel...still no wheelnut key,i
proceeded with smashing another locked wheelnut off..before discovering the wheelnut key neatly stored in the head of the
wheelbrace...so thats £72 for puncture repairs, £45 for new locking wheel nuts and all in all pretty annoying....diesel
is now £1.13pence a litre...joys of motoring?well there is always free roam on 'need for speed'.....game on...
Because every computer screen is set at different levels ,colour balance, contrast,brightness etc. everybody sees colours
slightly differently.. i read that about twenty five per cent of people in britain have varing levels of colourblindness..whats
the problem?well i create colours using various photo and graphic artist techniques and use various computers to achieve the
colours that i 'see'...and want to reproduce...okay..im argueing with my printer.....i will win!..damn it , i will win....!
Image compression...what an tedious subject,but needs to be explained slightly because i recently(again!) ran into an
image of mine proudly displayed which basically was just ripped of this site, enlarged and printed..well, i am bored with
saying if you ask you will probably get,but the images on this site are compressed to save space,which as we know, space costs
money,even virtual space, and the quality of the image is seriously reduced if it is re enlarged and printed from that format..giving
a rather bitter taste that not only has the image been ripped off but the quality is awful...So, again, this site is a gallery
to show the styles i work in..if you wish any images in a suitable format for your requirements..ask!
Have been delighted with the hits that this site and the erotic artists site have recieved in the last twelve months,
and obviously delighted with the positive feedback i have been getting for the images i have created, thank you all, it is
appreciated so much..and its all down to word of mouth..various publications have used my work, images hang in bars and clubs,
bookcovers and cd covers are out there and hopefully many more to come.Alot of the interest in my work has been promoted by
fellow photographers, artists and musicians which just goes to show that supporting each other works..so please feel
free to check out any of the links on this site they are recommended or they wouldn't be here, and if you have any projects
that you would like me to read through and/or participate, drop me a line..
The recession that may or may not be happening,depending on who you listen to,got me thinking of the obscene profits
made by the likes of Shell, tesco,macdnalds etc...using advertising to sell us things we dont want,need or probably wouldn't
have even thought of..well, an example..trying to change the blades on my gillette razor,the new one i brought, not because
it had a turbo, or was sonic, or had god knows how many extra blades and wierd if not wonderful angles, but because i had
forgotten the name of my old razor..meaning i had purchased the wrong packet of blades and it was cheaper to buy a new razor
than new blades...silly i know, but the point is i now have three gillette razors, all emblazoned with the name gillette..i
also have five different unopened packets of blades sealed so its hard to match them up i the store with names like mach 3,
exell, turbo, sonic or fusion...all different fittings and obviously none fit any of my razors.....the cost of this has been
calculated at nearly forty quid!...gillette must make more money by selling the wrong products that will never be used than
by selling the right product....All very silly...unless you have shares in gillette of course!..
A wonderful weekend at the Brittania hotel in Manchester, a great shoot, a few too many vodkas in some very..erm..exotic
bars and all in all a great weekend was had..thank you to those who participated in any or all of the weekend and hope the
hangovers fade away soon...lol..Manchester is of course a great city though you have to wander a way out of the
centre before the spirit of the city emerges as sadly it seems every city in the country has the same corporate stores selling
the same stock...and a quick tip...never ask for directions in the city....we did three times and of course fell for the 'sense
of humour' and got sent on many a goose chase...think it was something to do with the blue half of the city losing at home.....!but
hey, as a supporter of the red side of the city i should have known better..!
Its far to early in theday to be anywhere near a computer but, here i am, sitting in a darkened room watching the 24hr
rolling news whilst the caffine makes its way into my bloodstream and awakens my senses..The news of Shell oil making fourteen
billion pounds profit brought to us by the BBC(a.k.a.British Bullshitting Corps!)latest reporter..julia ceaser..yes thas julia
ceaser...and news that eighties prankster jeremy Beadle has passed away..Arnie(i'll be back)swartzeneggers opinion about
who should stand for the whitehouse...this is surely not happening??Advertising standards (oo my fave subject!) damning the
RyanAir sexy schoolgirl type advert.?they should have used the words St Trinians and then they could have had her doing anything
in a school uniform and it would have been allowed!..its still far to early......stop and search will increase without any
paperwork for the police to do...that sounds like an Orwellian afterthought....I'm going back to bed...maybe this has all
been a dream..maybe bobby Ewing will be it the shower...maybe Beadle isn't dead...and arnie is still just a 'b'rate actor
with a bad accent .....if only......!
I have discovered that more of my images have been 'ripped off' and used for purposes they were never intended for by
unscrupulous pirates.This is of course unacceptable and prevents me from displaying larger format images on my galleries and
of course changing the images more frequently.All you have to do is ask!..i'll say that again,All you have to do is ASK!..I
don't do this for the money, i do this because its very enjoyable, gives huge amounts of confidence to those who participate
and it satisfies my desire to produce beautiful, interesting pieces of Art which i wish to share..So please, get in contact
and ask if you wish to use the images, and if its for suitable usage you will get the permission you need.
After the government in the UK decided that smokers were to be irradicated through high taxes, banishment from buildings
and public spaces to improve the health of the nation, they launched a massive campaign over the last two years to 'help'
them ween themselves of the 'dreaded weed'.Well, the results have just been published.over the past two years the amount of
people who have kicked the habit across the UK is approx.164,000 people...not that impressive is it? oh, did i mention that
the expenditure of this farce has cost £51.000,000 !Yes, thats fiftyone million pounds! All i can say is for a new leader
who has spent the previous ten years as the Chancellor of the exchequer, one would have thought the money could have been
better spent.....anyone got a light?
Hypocracy is of course something that leaves a nasty taste in the mouth,and maybe we are all guilty of it in small ways,
often the most outspoken is 'found out' in more obvious ways so is highlighted more frequently..its the risk one takes i suppose
when you pass opinions based on your own beliefs,but to read that one of the biggest critics on global poverty and a
spokesman for the 'end poverty now' campaign has transfered his own financial affairs from his country of origin,Ireland,
to another,Holland, in order to pay a tiny amount of tax is rather distasteful.A self proffessed 'friend' of George W Bush,
and frontman of the band U2, bono generates huge sums from his music and other buisnesses and often is outspoken on those
who avoid taxation and those who 'rip off' small nations...sorry Bono..not the smartest of moves!
How much TV do you watch? hundreds of channels showing instant repeats of mind erasing soap operas, so called reality
tv shows, and 'b'list celebrities dancing,singing, ice skating,cooking etc..is it just me noticing the blandness of
it all or is the complete lack of imagination and talent for devising these formats starting to wear incredibly
thin.Where are all the talents who create within this media ever going to get the chance to produce quality entertainment?TV
needs an overhaul....desperately...come back ms street porter you are forgiven...lol.!
The tragic case of the father who plunged from a hotel balcony whilst holding his children in which sadly his young son
died has been plastered all over the media in the uk has saddened everyone involved and those reading the tale.Thankfully
he and his daughter survived the plunge and thankfully the legal system has recognised the mental state of the man at the
time and has sent him to recieve the help he obviously desperately needs rather than imprison him.The saddest thing about
this case apart from the obvious loss of a childs life, is the way the mother has paraded herself on chatshows whilst taking
no responsibility for her part in the tradgedy.The man was obviously pushed so close to the edge by this woman in thier destructive
relationship that he wanted to 'end it all'..How she can parade herself on the media as an innocent victim is beyond belief!
Insipration can come from all directions, the trick is noticing it!, Recently i have been bombarded by mail from some
rather upset religious zealot, misguided?misunderstood?or more likely just a fruit case with nothing better to do than try
and associate my Art work with that of some mythical character that only exists in the realms of their delusional fantasy
about their godhead...Devillish...moi?lol...Anyway, i have read the delightful biblical quotes they send me....and although
obviously not the intention, i have decided to create a few new images based on this experience..so..thank you
and may your god be with you...
There are few things in life that can give you the thrill of "creation".The intensity of self discovery is one,and the
excitement of sexual experience another,......so, when i have finished researching these, i will look out for the others....!
If i see another advert for 'plug in' airfresheners!Whats the point of geting people all worked up about the 'standby'
mode on their computers,stereo or tv wasting energy and causing global warming when people use more energy trying to make
their homes smell slightly nicer?.....
Feedback? arrgghh.... i know its always good to get feedback when your doing anything, and obviously i like it about
the site, the images and general photo/art stuff, but....the ranting of a shaggyllama are really just rants, and were never
intended to be anything but rants,with the odd raving thrown in(ahem!). Really i do not write them with any seriousness and i
dont really expect them to be read with said seriousness. Therefore if you are so offended or pissed at what i write,please
dont read it...or.at the very least realise that" i will cross a thousand seas of putrid green humus, climb the harshest
of heights and suffer the sores of the swarm before i will use a spellchecker or even think that i can actually write...so
there.
January spawns the most annoying exhibition of personal growth and development,otherwise known as desperately clinging
hold of the new year resolutions,and as the month continues gradually watching them fall away.....lose weight,give up smoking,
get fit, new career,new town..divorce...the list is endless...the point is that it is just a list...we have spent the last
six weeks preparing for,if not dreading,christmas and new year, spending too much time with people we ..well, would prefer
not to spend time with...comparing the previous years effects on our lives and that of others and then...resolving to
change things....In the darkest january days with the credit card bills, fuel bills,tax asessments..the apres partyseason
comedown...we think its a good time to evaluate everything?..weird!..
A very large beautiful adult male fox wandered up the garden path for a mosey around the back door sending two freaked
out cats through the cat flap atbreakneck speed....after spending twenty minutes calming the feline i wandered up to the back
door to find the fox lying on the step looking through the catflap...totally serene...and as i opened up the door it just
looked up, and slowly walked away.....sometimes the most amazing feelings come from the most unexpected encounters......
Just going to take this opportunity to say a big thank you to all those of you that have sent good wishes recently....its
very much appreciated and normal service and shoots will continue very soon...thank you.
How strange do things have to become ? The Government has announced that parents of young boys should encourage
their children to play with toy guns and weapons........for f**k's sake..!....whats happened?...maybe they are finding it
difficult to recruit young men as soldiers? ..or maybe there isn't enough violent crime on our streets? Never before have
i heard of such a stupid announcement...and one that should obviously be ignored, makes you proud to be a subject doesn't
it?
Sadly with the asasination of the democracy candidate in pakistan recently, the chances of a peacfeul new dawn in the
country has all but evaporated....lets hope commonsense and free will prevail....
With the Annual assult on my sanity by the manufacturers of every concievible piece of plastic tat well under way...i
thought i'd pause for a day, not work, not shop, not even bother to get dressed or go out, just sit at the computer and surf...and
thankfully came up with some great sites.so jan and sara saudkova are my faves today...wonderful images...really inspiring
!.if you find any good art sites that you think i would like, drop me a line....and as for christmas?...well, a few festive
shoots are on the cards so come back and see soon.......happy solstice to you all!
Its been a strange time as lots of old faces have been appearing in the headlights..various bands have reformed to entertain
the next generation..to refresh the previous and replenish the bank accounts whilst hiding behing the 'nostalgia' theme...hmmm...recently
saw the verve, with their wonderful anthems interlaced with some incredible new material..if there was a way to reform..this
is it..Alas the return of the spice girls, boyzone, take that,led zepplin,sex pistols etc have caused nostalgia fatigue..good
grief, its even been considered safe to let phil collins be heard again......thank goodness there are some great new bands
out there touring....anyway, the medicine show(camden and beyond!) and dan le sac, evi vine and of course the fuses....will
gladly bring you back to reality!.
Identity fraud..The loss of your personal details, name,address.NI number, bank account details and even medical details
and numbers would be a nightmare in this increasingly insecure data age,though it has come as no suprise at all that the Government
of the UK has 'lost' this information belonging to over 25 million people..using unencrypted, unsecure system and then dropping
it in the private postal service without registering it in any way is totally mindblowing stupidity!..who has these discs,
fraudsters? a foriegn security service? terrorists? who knows...the one thing that is certain is that this information is
now unsafe..its been missing for a month before the public became aware of it...again outrageous!..change everything, passwords,
accounts details etc now..today...as it could be you that gets screwed over.The Government has destroyed the little confidence
the public had in them, your information is out there in the hands of who knows? and that means you are at risk....hmm....time
to say sorry darling....!
I dont believe the hype....!Apparently the exchequer made 4.6 billion quid profit when oil hit the 100dollar a barrel
point , does'nt that make you proud(?)....and they tell us that after the visit of the saudi arabian contingent to London
with full ceromonial aplomb,they purchased lots of airplanes from the european manufacturers...exec. jets, small medium
and large passenger carrying aeroplanes amounting to 9 billion pounds...all pretty normal...except the enquiry into bungs,backhanders
and corruption sidestepped by the previous Mr Blair is still bubbling up under the surface...none of it is real....slight
titbits of information to keep the big picture obscured....theres a bit of micheal Moore in us all....its not cynical...its
a very dangerous illusion...
Was fourtunate enough to be at The Verve gig in Blackpool last Tuesday eve, i say Tuesday as the band played two nights
in the incredible Empress Ballroom with the Tuesday being the second night.Why is this important? well, basically the city
of Blackpool has miles of illuminations alighting the seafront, and what an amazing sight it would have been....the night
before!...why do they turn them off so early in the winter season? Anyway, the reason i am mentioning it is because it created
a really strange vibe...the darkened seafront and tower was ...well, errie!the Irish bar around the corner was like a little
bit of Wigan with guiness on tap..then into the venue...incredible and magnificently presented building..and then the band.....Amazing
performance...and highly recommended if you get the chance to see and hear them...then off to the aftershow...as usual never
as exciting or interesting as they sound.but,good to see old friends and new..The Verve.....astounding !Thank you!
9987 hits on this site...yep, will the hit counter go back to zero?or will another little box appear?...well the paints
dry so ill think ill watch it....lol! Thanks for visiting...i'm opening the champers as i type.....multi tasking....Cheers!
'Intimate obsessions'(2007) is the new book by China Hamilton(pure genius!)..and is a must to include on your bookshelf...sod
that..your coffee table...bedside cabinet...well anywhere....! As those who know me would agree, my passion for superior
erotic imagery holds no bounds, and yet again China hamilton has produced a masterpiece...i urge you to get it..do i sound
really jealous of this mans talents?....too right...though i'll take that envy and turn it to excitement and inspiration....thank
you China!
I read in a magazine article recently about the positve effects that people get from...having a beautiful picture
taken of them!...Well, have been saying it for years....!..That 'portrait of dorrien gray' fear(the sin of vanitiy?)seemed
to fade away and people enjoyed the 'thats me!' feeling they got when they saw their images....So whats new? ..Well in my
world, it seems that they prefer these 'portraits' to be a little risque..the more risque, the higher the feeling of pleasure
appears to be.So thats good for me..how about you?..A huge thanks for those wonerful folks that have been passing this site
around, nearly ten thousand hits on this gallery alone...still want to take part?...get in touch at the link..you know it
will make you feel good....it official!
A large part of getting the right picture is the talents of the photographer and of course the right model,but never
forgotten by those two groups are the right make up artist...its a make or break role in the process.therefore finding a good
,reliable and professional stage and photo make up artist is essential. << http://www.makeup1.co.uk>> this is a good place to start !
I personally have always been quite open and straightforward on the subject of sex,so i was really pleased to get an
email thanking me for putting this site up from a guy in London.He told me that he appreciated the images as they were a great
'ice breaker', not porn or overly gratuitous and he was 'more than happy' to show the site to his female friends without feeling
he was bieng'pushy'!. Well. thats good then, glad i could help, i think.......?
Lots happening in the world,i especially liked the Iranian president giving a speech and even joined a student debate
in the United States..can you imagine george bush returning the gesture...?..The south Korean leader met with and signed
a peace treaty with its north Korean neighbours,triggering the Americans to free up a million dollars of aid(thats alot of
GM grain!...)..and the Monks of Burma led a last gasp plea for help by laying down their lives infront of the eyes of the
world...and yet nothing seems to be done by our leaders to assist?This latest event has been captured with the help of some
incredibly brave people with cameras,the first image i saw was the japanese photographers body lying at the feet of a soldier...so,if
we are so fucking important to claim to be the worlds peacekeepers, the ones in the white hats,the fucking cavalry that always
arrived riding over the hilltops to save the day,why is nothing happening?Maybe george bush believes no one is noticing?so,thats
lots happening in the world and the media is obsessed with diana and will there or will there not be an election...in
november!...yeah right!
Bact to the old privacy debate again, the purist will say "if you have nothing to hide, you have nothing to fear", regarding
the upsurge in information gathering on private individuals, cctv and tracking devices fitted to satnav systems and mobile
phones. Well talking with an elderly gentleman the other day he was adamant to point out that not long ago, the englishman
was prepared to die fighting in the trenches of europe to maintain our right to have a private life, and that the government
existed to govern for us, not to govern over us.He raised two very good points, i have to agree with him, crime has not come
down because of the survielence cameras, tracker devices embedded onto tins of tomatoes at tescos will not provide them with
any usable information that will enhance my life,or thiers, and the DNA collected by the police from me after a legitimate
demonstration many years ago, will not help solve or prevent any crime, as i havnt actually committed any, or any have plans
to do so!. If we have any rights left, that DNA sample taken from me should be returned, its mine, my very personal,private
property and i have the ultimate right of who has access to it.As i said somewhere amongst my rants, we are watched more than
anyone else on the planet, if this was successful and workable, we would have the lowest crime rates on the planet, we havnt,
they are rising faster than ever, treat people with suspicion, they will act suspiciously, treat them with respect, and guess
what happens?it aint rocket science....
Good ole boy george w bush has been meeting those anti evolutionists again, so should we expect an announcement anytime
soon?, i doubt it, after doing a small amount of surfing to try and understand the scenario, i am stil not convinced that
evolution is the accident of nature? or a designed intelligence?, and, i personally think george w should be spending his
time more effectively!, Never bieng a great Darwin fan or a great believer in the gods of organised religions, i dont believe
we will find the answer with either theory. The scientists can scream and shout, the religious freaks can sing and chant,
but,maybe, we could broaden the search just to make it more interesting?, I am sure one day we will be shocked and stunned
into realising that "this is it", no gods, no great master plan, just a great big mess, in the name of the father?, yeah right,
"go ask daddy then george...!"
"I am not a number...i am a free man.". v the game theory. all very deep, and really worth reading up about,
though my heads still spinning and feeling ancient and justified, therefore time to put howard devoto "shot from both sides"
on the cd player. and jump around the kitchen for a bit..now thats what i call "happiness in magazines.." ahem.
have been entering the world of msn a little recently, all good fun once i had picked up a few text speak expressions
to drop into conversations,lmao? eventually!Well, what delighted me was the number of sound minded , intelligent , and in
some cases, deeply profound people chatting away, as was led to believe i would be talking to middle aged balding men with
beer bellies, halitosis and zero social skills calling themselves angel or cindy!Anyway, the point is i keep seeing lots
of taglines , pieces of poetry, one liners etc. which really are quite good, my faves this week have been'love is like fire,love
is like war,easy to start hard to end and impossible to forget'which was thought provoking enough ,( probably to deep for
my state of mind when i read it though!)but outshone by the simple 'the best things in life are not always things...'(thank
you jules)ah, i feel spiritually intelectually and emotionally cleansed and ready for the night....one love....pass the vodka.!
Have been listening to some amazing music recently over the internet,an a couple i really should mention are evi vine
and reunion square, both have 'my space' pages and can easily be found on that networks search,so if you get a momment have
a look and listen..evi vine manages to mesmerise and beautifully disturb you...and really is special..and reunion square is
mr coxons mate,toby, making sullen attitude noises that are affecting the way i move my head in confined spaces.....try it....
Well the pastimes of a shaggyllama have been added to with the rise in popularity of the burlesque movement...(an what
movement!) that has reached the northern cities of the uk. what a great night out!...anyway, it seems gothic bellydancing
is going the same way, which, although hard to imagine, really is worth catching a show, or better still, learn how to do
it..had many a conversation recently with exponents of this particular art, and they must be the happiest bunch of people
ive met for ages...just remember....Dance like you mean it!..shine on rosie...!
Shooting on location as opposed to in the studio brings the obvious extra work of carting equipment around, driving miles
searching for addresses(if you have one!) or searching for a location after the place your had reccy'd a week earlier had
been demolished..(it did happen!)..still, i wouldn't have it any other way!.Every set design i could imagine has already been
created,each and every angle has been covered ...so whats left? rely on the beauty of the model, the costume, the hair design?well..there
is always the activity of the model/models?.(.sometimes its like living inside the lightbox...)Thats why i have nothing but
respect for the handful of photographers i keep mentioning, as they seem to keep the studio shot alive and fresh..me..? well,
i must admit..i prefer the open road to ...wherever i end up....with hundreds of ideas just awaiting the moment....
Tescos half year profits rise again...so obviously the Great British public have failed to understand that this organisation
is destroying them!...I'm amazed at the ignorance, amazed at the lack of foresight, and disgusted that we all moan and groan
about what a rip off our country has become and then...go shopping at tesco! use your common sense, boycott this evil
corporation!
Think i might have upset someone this week, was just chatting about the news and views of the day, when i mentioned that
"religion should be taken out of the education system", this is of course my own viewpoint, which i am entitled to put
across,and am always up for a good discussion, normally about anything from the big picture to the price of fish!But,
was taken aback when i recieved an email complaining at me for bieng a cynic, a utopian fantasist and even a satanist?,
ouch!, well, firstly, i am not saying anything cynical about religion,secondly, 'utopia' and 'fantasy' are the basis
of all religions, and finally i would have to believe in god to believe in the existance of satan.I do believe that promoting
goodwill, union and the well bieng of our physical existance is far superior to that of our so called spiritual destiny, be
that heaven or hell ..or even utopia!, apparently, we prefer to continue to teach our children about the myths and fables
of virgin births in stables, than goodwill and friendship amongst all of mankind?,Me thinks its time to look forward
rather than back, we have the knowledge of science to quite accurately predict what is going to happen in regard to the physical
aspect of our existance on the planet, and therefore adapt our societies to make the most of the future, global warming et
al, but no, lets just continue pretending it doesnt matter and keep bullshitting our children with the devisive nonsense regarding
the "my god is better than yours"theories that our parents and grandparents and great grandparents indoctrinated thier
children with, and continue to shape our existance to that of hatred and war.The media is reporting that the government are
bieng unfair in its policies regarding "minority religions", good grief, maybe the media should start reporting on how
empty our churches are, how much money the churches have generated, and more importantly the behaviour of the clergy, in regard
to promoting intolerance and downright evil behaviour towards our youngsters....Afterall, how many priests does it take to
spiritually and physically fuck up a choirboy????Me , a cynic? .....never!
Check your Broadband speed....i know you have silver or gold or 'up to' ...well, its bollocks!...check your speed,realise
just how slow it is and join the boycott of BT for ripping everyone in the UK off!...If people power can screw the banks
over bank charges then BT should be a piece of cake....then maybe, just maybe we can all use the internet how it was designed
to be used.
Ah its a delight when one of the 'old guard'slips a sly dig into the mix.....especially on a lazy sunday...lol!The 'old
guard' in question is Alan Greenspan, the man who had supreme control over the financial world from aside the pockets of the
Bush regime declared the reasoning behind the iraq war was....OIL..!Well it wasnt that much of a shocking statement,after
all...it wasnt rocket science to work that one out, but its the fact with bush loosing his grip of the situation,( his own
economy,the senate,his mind..etc,etc.!)it really is an 'et tu brutus' momment...!Gordon Brown and george bush in that golfcart...an
image to inspire confidence the world over...well bits of Texas and a village in Scotland maybe.....
The uk media are following the ongoing madeline story at full tilt since the parents returned to their home,the double
edged sword of desperately trying to keep all hopes of finding the poor child alive and well against the intrusion of a stricken
family trying to cope.Lets just hope and believe and if you pray...well......
Everybody has those parts of their lives that they wish they could change, their jobs, location, those bad habits that
they really could do without, in fact everybody has something they would change.The big quetsion is if they want to change
them , how do they go about it?, the first step is realisation, after all , thats normally the crunch momment, secondly is
replacement, finding something else you would rather be doing instead, and the third is restructure. There we go easy...?
Alas, it never is!, There are so many people out there who are unhappy with their lives that a massive industry has been created
to 'help' out, the 'self help' books and dvds, the personal development courses that are advertised in every town and city,
the regression therapists that will 'help' you find out what went wrong etc,etc,etc. Well, recently i was talking with one
of these 'personal achievement& development'life coaches in a hotel bar, he had just finished speaking to a group of 'clients'
in a seminar, after a few drinks and passing the time, he started explaining why he was laughing all the way to the bank.
Apparently he earns about five grand a day by persuading people that 'just by comming to the seminar today, they had started
their own recovery, they were improving thier lives by starting thier own personal change towards becoming a better,
happier person'.He went on to explain that in todays paranoid, stressed society he was 'helping people' come to terms with
how they should use the negative traits of others to feel better about themselves. Obviously i was appalled that this
deflection was actually fluffing the egoes of his 'clients' whilst empting their wallets and blaming everybody
else.So, back to the top,if you want to change, then change!, if you want to stop smoking/drinking/watching soaps/swearing
etc, than just do it.....you dont need these shiesters in suits, dodgy seminars or a personal development life coaches
to get you to do it!. though if you really feel that you need to give money to someone to kick you up the arse, then.....please
send cheques and ill bring my size nines.............
Things are all a bit hectic in best possible way, designing the new site,sorting out printers and shoots and keeping
the everyday internal sunshine fired up(eg.gigs&adventures!)along with the domesticity( that shall not.!).Anyway,this
said time( or is that need?)to rant here has been subdued somewhat...what i have learnt is that recently some of my pics displayed
here have turned up in places that ....well, for want of a better term, they were just nicked..not that i would have denied
them use of any of my pics, but would have been nice to have been asked rather than told.Anyway..as there is not alot i can
do about it i have reduced the number and sizes of images here and therefore if you wish to see them in a larger format you
will have to go to the erotic artists website(link at bottom of home page!).And if you wish to copy or use the images..drop
me an email and ask...was going to say "i dont bite"...but....we all know that sometimes...thats not true....
I have to say that the music im playing on this site is listed below and i strongly encourage you to purchase any of
the artists back catalogues,because with the way the industry is going they will all need the money,and the music is their
original artwork so as always...support the Arts!...(hopefully that will keep the lawyers off my back...lol!)).the tune on
this page is strawberrys 'fuck you im beautiful' and shes as good as they get...really!
Have been stupidly busy for the past weeks, but a big thank you to those at W illow in Dorset for a really great party!
It was the first sunny days ive seen since April!Well, had lots to do and lots to say over the past weeks and alas there has
been a few technical problems with computers, servers and such like so the site has been unable to cope with me changing images.Hopefully
this has now been sorted out and can continue shortly. So, apologies to those who have modelled recently, i will get around
to uploading images very soon.
The association of erotic Artists has deemed to accept yours truely as a member
and am respectfully honoured by their acceptance, the quaility of all the work by all the members is outstanding and i encourage
you to visit their website and check it out...you will be delighted by the imagery...theres a lot of very talented people
out here....inspiring!
Ihave always been interested in...'hands',they have always been a clue to the identity of someone, what they do, the
lifestyle they have led etc, and probably the most expressive part of the human body.This is why so many appear in my images.its
not uncommon to hear or read about alsorts of fetishisms involving other part of the body, but never the hands?when we use
them for everything in our lifestyles of work and play,i think they are the unsung heroes....so how about a big hand
for....!
Not that im averse to Tescos being shut down, curtailed by goverments of elected representitives, stopped from destroying
green field sites, prevented from syphoning off monies into off sea tax havens instead of paying taxes,and destroying the
fabric of our high streets and the communities of small shop keepers, but really, if you want to do what you can....then
shop somewhere else..!Wasting police,ambulance ,fire services and all those increasingly jittery anti terrorist forces time
is just stupidity....use the money in your pocket to support your common senses...boycott tesco!
Well a big thank you to writer lesley ann sharrock from desire magazine for her review of this site in the
july issue of the magazine which is on sale now from good vendors or direct from moondance media.The magazine, a firm fave
for thousands of adults is full of great articles, photos, images and humour and really,really should be on your bedside cabinet.s
for being described as an 'old eccentric'? less of the old,but ill drink to that!lol!
click here to obtain 'desire' magazine.
I was sent an email yesterday with an attachment asking me to support a charity that takes in stray dogs , "just £1 a
week will feed and help a poor dog, who has probably been mistreated in some horrible way. The e mail said i would recieve
a certificate, photos and my "new friend" would write to me regularly?, write to me? Its a dog!!, if it could write to me
its obviously a very talented creature that should be earning a fortune, not asking me for fifty quid a year!Please dont do
this anymore,crap politics, crap legislation, global wars and famines,now dogs that write to you begging for ..money!..not
food , money, what a wierd little world we live in...
The definition of a Rant in my book, is a constant flow, uninterupted, covering and linking many topics. so, therefore
thats exactly what i try to do here on this page, nothing to do with influenceing people, or spouting propaganda for
anyone or anything, just Rant!, So, apologies if its sometimes hard to read, due to the subject matter, or more importantly,
the really awful spelling and grammar, sorry, spellchecker is just one of those things i avoid using.... the luddite in me
will not tolerate bieng corrected by a machine! if you want to, then fine, but a machine....no thanks!
Again the terrorists were foiled not by intelligence or secret service sources,but by the chance arrival of an ambulance
crew,then it turns out the terrorists were all doctors and hospital staff......?It does beg the question that they were probably
more dangerous and could feasibly cause more suffering working in our hospitals by just not washing their hands?....Well,
thankfully their bombs failed and the police rounded them up, as many members of the public are bieng hailed as heroes, save
a thought for those ambulance men who were alert enough to realise what was happening in the first place and those who had
to drive the terrorist to hospital for treatment....
Pinch me..! okay im full of high summertime spirits despite the 'soft' weather...The Verve are back...iggy pop gigging
this side of the pond..and uncle lou playing the amazing 'Berlin' set in Manchester....Cathy Davey has great new stuff about
to be unleashed and creativity is high.....sometimes things are just right...and then the spice girls wake up.......
Brown is the new political name, the new head honcho, numero uno,the main man,and to be truthful,there was a little part
of me that wanted....no expected a superhero of james bond proportions to come flashing across the tv screens to unmask him
as a architypal bond villan ,unleashing a huge sigh of relief across the land and saving us all..............So, that didnt
happen then......!ah well, there is a small chance he might be reasonable enough to stop the new obscenity and indecency laws
from become law...maybe....just maybe.he s the kind of 'bloke' that has better things to be spending money on....
Some days you get flashbacks....or is that just me?...okay then, i'll take it as you all had a shiver down the spine
momment and just continue...I had a string of emails this week with lots of links to some incredible galleries,a.....flashback....one
of these links was to a site and well instant deja vu!, the site is that of Robert Babylon...and the second it popped up i
was zipped back to a tequilla fuelled night in a trailer at the back of the 'lost Vagueness'area of glastonbury festival,a beautifully
corsetted young lady and an old laptop...(Mmmm)oh, and my determination at the time to remember the artists
name.It was a great festival( ithink?) so i was rather over optimistic,anyway, I could sit here and rant on how
good it is or you can go look for yourselves(still here ....?)Yes i know i could insert hyperlinks to make your lives easier,and
i will.when i get time a whole page of links so you never have to leave(sorry,Hammer horror film on in the background!?)..but
the random searchings you have to make without the links can take you to some seriously strange and magical places....well,
probably not..but!Anyway, thank you Robert...masterfully excecuted.
link to Robert Babylon click here.
Its Sunday night as i am sitting wonderfully dry and warm with the wine company and we are heartfelt with all those
who at this momment are prancing around a muddy festival field in sequinned frocks and purple wellies and seriously inefficient
footwear as Dame shirley Bassey(A.K.A. Burly Chassis.) belts out 'hey big spender'....oh the irony.....how much was a ticket
to glasters this year?...Well done folks, and Iggy....say no more....blew them all away....!..and yes lilly was wonderful..bless....
My new favourite photographer producing images that 'rock my boat' is China Hamilton and would highly recommend you surfing
the web and viewing the stuff.Slightly dark and submissive erotica taken with perspective and an'involvment in the subject'scenario in
mind and it shows in the sensitivity and quaility of the images. If i am this impressed, its impressive!enough said!
click here to go to china hamilton.
If ....dont you just love it when i start a sentence with'If..'...well you know i obviously have no idea what im talking
about..so..here goes..the uk is underwater in the middle of the'dry' season...Therefore as water is now traded as a commodity,a
product that turns over millions each year...will UK water bills be cut?obviously this is unlikely,but why not?If they discovered
an new massive oil or gas field under the vast areas that are currently flooded we would expect fuel and gas prices to fall,and
due to market forces they would...anyway...im not really interested enough to find out and im sad for those poor folks flooded
out...but..at least it isnt new orleans.try sueing the original town planners that gave permission to build on flood plains..!
How much is the 'quality' of life actually worth?, vague question i know, but is it possible to put a price on such a
thing?Some may say its priceless in monetary terms,others,well...its hard to fathom. the goverment using an organisation
called NICE...(hmm the irony is choke inducing!)have decided that hundreds of thousands of people suffering from altzhiemiers
and dementure will not be recieving the drugs they need due to the 'exessive' cost of £2.50 aday. £2.50 ! after a lifetime
of paying taxes, national insurance,and supporting the system, the goverment is snatching away the right of life itself from
its 'subjects' for £2.50!nice....def. not! How on earth they can justify this is beyond the likes of me and thousands of others
who are dealing with people everyday with dementure and altzhiemers.We know these drugs work and help our relatives and those
of us who care for them, we know whats happening and object to free nicotine patches and anti smoking treatments for
those who choose to give up smoking, thats a choice they make, it is not to be financed by removing the right to 'life saving'
medication!We object to the postal lottery for the right to get these drugs, and more importantly, we object to a faceless
goverment body deciding the value of its subjects life at less than £2.50 a day...how do they sleep at night?NICE...lest we
forget....!
ahhh, just had to type.....!no really, i have just sat through English comedian and famous father of lilly(oh im enjoying
your anguish mate!)present a documentry entitled'Keith Allen will burn in hell!'Brilliant! am sure he had previously seen
Louis therouxs 'meet the...' documentry series in which this particularly nasty american familly were picketting the funeral
services of the dead american soldiers returned from Iraq and Afghanistan,and , like myself, wanted to see and hear sombody,
anybody put this nasty family in its place!Well Keith Allen.....if anyone had asked who i would like to see confront this
nasty group, louis theroux or maybe jeremy paxman?Dare say i'd would had a go..., its Mr Allen.....absolutely superb!A huge
thank you.....
Having spent a rather traumatic friday night in Casualty with an injured relative i just have to say how amazed
i am by those folks running the frontline services.The level of abuse and violence directed towards these people really had
to be seen to be believed, but,hats off to them as they managed to prevent a suicide in the waiting room, repel a street fight
that had followed on into the waiting room and manage to keep everyone uninvolved relatively calm.thankfully all ended well
for my relative, but the courage and bravery of the hospital staff should be shouted from the highest building, and
the fact it happens 'daily' in most hospitals should ,as a society, shame us all.
How much water are you drinking?Or should that be how much is the water your drinking costing you?Well over the past
ten years the annual cost of the water you drink has increased beyond belief,gone are the days when you would lean over the
water fountain in the park to quench your thirst virtually free of charge, now your more likely to be carrying a small plastic
bottle around, that contains a small amount of liquid probably transported thousands of miles,costing you up to £2 a time
with some fashionable name on a fashionable label splashed across it. have you noticed that if you reverse the name of
Evian you get a better description of the drinker than the product?
This is the twilight zone...............No, i dont mean that shady momment in time where the imagination warps and distorts
everything to induce panic and fear, i am talking about the final weeks of mr Blair, a time when no one seems to be 'in
charge', no real discussions are taking place in government, endless fear mongering headlines are being plastered across the
tabloids to 'keep us on our toes' and not ask those questions that are regarded un pc.Firstly, if this is democracy, why is
the top job just being handed to Gordon brown, without everybody voting?Has anybody asked why after centuries of oppressing
the scots, destroyting their culture,stealing their natural resources( oil,gas, real estate,etc) are we so comfortable giving up
the power base of England to ...er ...a scot? Not just one, after all its quite discomforting how many of the top jobs
in UK plc are occupied by....Please dont get me wrong, i have no probs with scots, welsh, Irish or anybody really, but, it
sits rather uncomfortably that through the chaos of anglo-scotish relations over the past few hundred years
that we are drifting into ....the twilight zone......be afraid...lol!
Sorbet sex, well it is an interesting little soundbite that has taken the English media by storm, it is used to describe
no strings sexual encounters after the break up of relationships and described as "the best way to regain your confidence
after a relationship breakdown".My opinion?, well, building ones confidence is always a good thing, tho i think you have to
be very careful that this kind of liasion is what both people want, emotions can run very high, insecurities can be amplified,and
a disaster could be high on the agenda.On the other hand, it could just be really great, no inhibitions, experimentation,and
even an awakening.Therefore, apart from the new trendy name, sorbet sex, its nothing new, so enjoy, leave your crap in your
past, and look forward, enjoy and be happy..
Its eighteen years since those horrific images of hundreds of massacred students were beamed around the world from Tianamen
square, along with the iconic images of that brave young man standing infront of a chinese tank.Eighteen years later we still
have no idea how many hundreds were massacred,how many young people have been living in fear in and exiled out of china, away
from thier famillies and always looking over their shoulders.We are very fourtunate to be able to protest within our western
societies, although the effectivness of such protests has been curtailed by the public order act and various laws regarding
unlawful assembly,but we can still protest.Lets hope recognising the anniversaries of events like tianamen square remind us
of the rights we are losing and remember those unfortunate students who gave their lives in the name of freedom, not for themselves,
but for all of us.
The simplest things can start you off in a direction that you wouldnt normally take,for example Patti Smith performed
a few tracks on a late night tv show(seriously good!) and since that momment i have been trying to dash into town
and buy a copy. My determination to squeeze this twenty minute walk into my day has sent me off on so many tangents that i
have not achieved half of what i would normally do without the 'Patti desire'.I tried to substitute ms smith by putting The
Clash on the car stereo,which alas had me 'spaced out in the supermarket' an feeling like a urban warrior driving around listening
to Guns of Brixton.Obviously im feeling charged and phunky again just in time for summer....hehe...outdoor shoots...with gimme
shelter....thank you patti..just perfect....
I have just been 'educated' on the subject of carbon credits,the system that sells the pollution rights around the world?Basically
if a company,say in China,produces too much pollution it buys the right using some form of credit to increase their emissions, from
a broker who previously purchased the right from a company, say in Norway, that had not produced enough pollution over a set
time period.Simple..?Well obviously it is far more complex,and i am not pretending for one second that i totally understand
it,but its said that this new trade is a positive step for the enviroment(hmm, as if!),all i know is that alot of people are
trading and earning billions of dollars for selling.....fresh air!This, although sounding a little...'out there' turns decidedly
dodgy when realising they are actually selling fresh air in order to poison it.Hmm, whos owns it anyway? This incredible
moneymaking scheme is fuelling western economies at present and Russia declaring itself as 'the saudi arabia of
the carbon credit trade' has not even started trading yet, will this global influence come into play in negotiations
regarding certain extradition requests...cough cough.
Yes i do private commissions,and yes i do charge for them.There you go, a little statement entitled'explaining' .
A big thank you for the copy of vee speers 'bordello' that i recieved recently, and am so impressed, im telling you about
it...I know, this rants page(especially created for me to rant deep and meaningless bollocks) is bieng used to promote great
books, films and the like,which was never the intention. what can i say, damn commercials are everywhere...even in here....gulp,
have i been corrupted by the cash machine?? Well no, as any of my famously red bank statements will prove, i have not!, what
has happened though is that there are thousands of people like myself who are creating in all sorts of medias, and supporting
each others work is essential. So, if i like it, and your reading this, well two + two is..........?
It is true that i probably view alot of adult art and although taste is personal there are some images that are repeated
so often they have become cliches,I love using rope and rubber and other props to enhance an image but am very aware that
the 'bondage' shot so typically aligned to the 'fetish' and 'kink' genre has started to dominate all aspects of populus
art. Dont get me wrong , the images so successfully produced by people like china hamilton and robert babylon actually work
as original images that convey the true feeling of the subject, the problem to me is when you get pop culture images of the
sugarbabes or girls aloud with wrists tied with flimsy ribbons and imaculate make up in an attempt to shock its teenage audience.
this is not erotic imagery its sugar coated pulp!
Sad to hear of the death of kurt vonnegut, i grew up reading his novels, trying to 'understand' his rantings through
kilgore trout, and of course 'slaughterhouse five' obviously one of the greatest authors of the twentith century and will
be sadly missed.kurt vonnegut jr.1922.2007. a true genius of prophetic vision.if you havnt discovered this mans work, do yourself
a favour....
The truth is stranger than fiction, as president george bush stumbles through a speech and winking at the queen
after saying she "had been here(on american soil) 200 years earlier"she glared as he then announced to the thousands
gathered,"she gave me a look then like only a mother could give to her child' D'oh..!
Just wanted to mention Dorset based author philip moore has a new book coming out very shortly entitled'Yella'
,which although bieng a complete change in subject matter to his other books looks like being a great read and i wish
him every sucess with it...not a bad cover pic too....apparently...check it out.
I am looking for a larger lady.....to model for a few images i want to create, annonimity is assured, and am sure you
will have fun modelling,so, if your size 14,16or 18 , between 18&55 years with a sense of humour and an openmind and
fancy being imortalised a la moi, then drop me an email.....and i will get right back to you....What are the images i want
to create?...now that would be telling.....lol!
I was recently at friends one evening when the subject of 'friends reunited' came up, which, although i have not tried,
i have always wondered how it worked,not the technical side so much as the emotional side, how the hell does it
feel to recieve communications from people you knew twenty, thirty years ago? Well, we tried it, i typed in a name i dragged
through the dusty cobwebbed memories of growing up in a council style foster home in sussex, and after a few short minutes
was amazed that my friend from the short trousers and chopper bike days flashed up on the screen, now a finance director
for a charity, happily divorced, with three kids and a dog, and still living in the same road he was thirty years ago.so how
did it feel to open up those distant memories?......bloody strange!, will i be doing it again?.... def. not!, would i recommend
it? well , try it.....if only once!
For those who are fortunate not to live in Europe the annual song contest will have past again without you even noticing....
unless that part of Europe is in the middle east of course?Well, obviously the state of Israel counts as part of Europe(?)and
therefore can enter the contest, in fact a transexual performer from Israel actually won it a few years back, sadly it didnt
cause an outbreak of peace and respect in the region, but, every little helps!Anyway, the theme of this years Israeli entry
was "we're going to push the button.."Hmm, maybe some countries are taking it all a little bit too seriously?The British entry?
Well, very patriotic,moronic and insulting to anyone in the airline industry, The overall winners? I have no idea....nor do
i care.....so why am i writing this?
Cameras are evreywhere, apparently there are more cameras looking at the subjects of the "septic isle" than
anywhere else on the planet, and we have more in England than there are in the entire United States!, ok, so add that to the
numbers of commercially owned cameras, such as T.V and Movie companies, then of course add all the privately owned digicams
and dvd/video cameras, there has to be a fair few of them,and finally all the camera phones, basically you have millions of
the things pointing at YOU! How does that make you feel? safer?more secure?or like some character from the Orwell or
Huxley novels?well, its reality tv, or should that be tv reality?very very disturbing!I liked the idea that if everyone went
out and did something ridiculous infront of thier local cameras, they would have enough footage for the tv networks to abandon
soap operas forever!Im sure you can do it....pleeease...
So whats with the music?, malcolm mclaren, well,he imported the punk ideals and sounds into the uk,and at some point
i heard the madame butterfly piece, and always liked it, wreckless eric?, well, just the perfect angst song,and a really nice
guy.Faithless, well, maxi and sis bliss, again, genius, and finally, cathy rich, (daughter of buddy) performed it live when
she was twelve, and again, just a beutiful performance... sorry, a little self indulgent, but hey, great to hear! enjoy!
I have recieved an email asking if i would take some pictures "privately",meaning that they would not be used on this
site or any where else, well, of course!, i have always accepted private commissions, and would be delighted to, so , if you,
or anyone else wants to commission me for such a task, i am more than happy to oblige.One thing tho, please discuss it with
whoever else is involved first, last thing i need is to turn up and straight into a domestic!,P.S., confidentiality is
assured, and im quite unshockable, so send me an email outlining your wants!
Was asked last week about "Photo Therapy", and my views on it, well,firstly, i think that it works, have participated
in helping many people through the process, though not through this site or project intentionally, but, the feedback i get
demonstrates the "feel good" factor to such a degree, that it has to be good for you!The concept is about confidence,those
who suffer from low self esteem, often brought about by a traumatic event,or a series of situations are invited to re examine
thier physical image from a different perspective,simply by seeing how they look in a series of photographs. New york photographer
Jessica ellen Turk, is probably the best known practitioner of "Photo therapy" and has helped hundreds of people overcome
thier negative sense of being,the process is a very simple and effective method that can be much more helpful than years of
anti deppressants and phycologists, so therefore, what more can i say, i am sure its worthwhile trying, as a certain
mantra says, "if it feels good, do it". but, if you are in a situation where you are seeing health care proffessionals, phychiatric
or other, discuss it with them, and the whole point is to see how good you really look, so best not rely on the instamatic
in the bedroom, could do more harm than good!,
"free speech". what?At a time where politicians of the "septic isle" are calling for Muslim parents to examine and report
thier own children for harbouring "extremist views"i was busy thinking about what this actually means.History should show
us that this avenue only leads to mistrust, fear and divisions, remember the Hitler Youth?This attitude of suspicion, where
parents are made to think that they are policing on behalf of the state, not for crimes against the state, but for an alternative
point of view,is outrageous.Who is believing and buying into this method of controlling our so called "free society"?I have
mentioned before that if you have something to say, why make it difficult for people to understand you?, ok, i have meant
that in the context of accents, but it also means plain concise speech, if the politicians speech then has to be dissected
and discussed by the media to the extent that people can do nothing but get the wrong message, then obviously the message
is not getting across!Plain speak!No, what is happening is the use of fear and suspicion to control an increasingly uncomfortable
population .No one wants to live in fear, but again, history shows us that as a method of social control,it works, the
Churches and governments have been using it for centuries,and now as the western societies all worship the new
gods of capitalism and the cashpoint, anything, any alternative viewpoint is considered a threat.Hopefully we will
all come to the point where the global situation ofpoverty over population, enviromental meltdown and religious
wars will become so intolerable that hopefully common sense will prevail and we will all work together to solve the problems
our planet and population faces. Alas, the present day politicians have no interest in such things, they worship the
gods of capitalism and any other viewpoint is , well, very nearly a crime or if not a crime,an extremist viewpoint!...go on
report me!
Its wednesday18th of April 2007 and its been a really nice day!, im not saying exactly how it started but it was really
really good!It then continued in the manner that whatever i did or said came out well, everyone seems to be smiling,the pics
i was working on came out great, i actually managed to grab a bargain off ebay and went out for a glorious 'free'lunch.My
inbox was visited by the right people,heard lots of good news from various members of the 'tribe' and my mobile didnt ring
by playing that annoying version of eminesence 'wake me up inside' once!So, why today?I have no idea!..but if your day was
any where near as good, im delighted for you....if it wasnt? well.....tomorrows another day..do something nice for someone....
Wow!, 5000 hits on this site, Thank you all!, well,all i can say is a big thank you to all who take part or just visit,
you do realise that all your doing is encouraging me to keep at it.......lol!, thank you all again, it is very much appreciated.
I know i am often ranting about the state of the nation, the problems that befall us all at times mainly due to lack
of foresight from those who govern over us(rather than for us!) etc, but please dont make the mistake of thinking i dont care
about this little island,in fact the opposite is true, dont take the rants so seriously,off course they are not out to get
you....unless the new DVLC commercials simply stating that "You cant hide from the computer!" are meant to be ironic?, funny
eh? Well, there is a God apparently, although he hasnt created world peace and understanding...yet..(note to self,better send
a memo!),.but as far as punishing those naughty people who shop at tescos , well contaminated petrol from your local
store should have sorted a few of them out...Lol!wake up and stop supporting the things that are killing you...and me...before
its to late....no excuses ....every little hurts!
"Fox hunting is natures way of showing us what utter bastards are capable of..." A quick exclaimation entitled 'Do
I really have to state that?'. Well okay , yes i do, and have been known to 'state my case,of which im certain'many times
,GM crops?sure,'pollution?' yep, that too!, 'freedom to roam?' yep, 'Anti nazi league?'(the clash were great!)certainly! Why
am i writing this? well basically i use these pages to rant, which, means i dont havre to carry all this stuff in my head,
apparently creating more space aiding creative thinking...I was young, rebelious, enthusiastic and rather committed to
the cause...Regrets? i had a few, but then again to few to mention...... the only thing that changed was ....i got older!
Take that are bigger than Robbie Williams, british troops captured and held for trespassing in the waters of the country
we didnt invade,a scotsman ready to take over the country as another does at the home office(ministry of justice?whoa
there cowboy, very orwellian!),a budget announced that screws everyone, not just the poor & 4x4 owners, and who would
gamble on any casino bieng built, anywhere,? Smoking banned in scotland and wales at the time prescription charges are scrapped
there, but increase here in England? A shortage of midwives will now be galavanting all over the place trying to deliver
babies in peoples homes, as hospitals are generally so filthy that it would be safer?? Well, nothing like a bit of consistancy
in government is there?oh, and the Take That thing? well, get well soon robbie...dont take it seriously...x
the big question right now seems to be global warming, the big guns of the oil and energy companies have sponsored lots
of media bites denying that CO2 is causing global warming,therefore basically cherrypicking scientific research to prove thier
case. Well, one could argue that the enviromentalists have been using the same technique for years to convince us all that
unless we cut down our CO2 emissions we will all perish at the hands of the climate. So who do you believe? The americans
refused to sign international agreements to reduce the emisions while Tony Blair has taxed everyone heavily depending
on thier output of CO2. So, reading between the lines it seems that confusion is the new order, using history regarding the
temperature changes over thousands of years(taken from ice core samples retrieved from glaciers across the globe)it is plain
to see that volcanic ash has been constantly floating around in the atmosphere shielding us from the sun, hence, colder, this
is bieng replaced in volume by co2 from cars trucks industry and strangely the largest polluters are the cattle and sheep
farting? ....therefore it is impossible to predict one way or another if our emissions are driving the climatic changes.Its
easy to support either theory...but surely its got to be better to cut pollution anyway...ask anyone with asthma, and who
knows when the next huge volcano will blow?common sense should kick in...ok, i know the whole green fuels policy was brought
to a head by Thatcher in a bid to get popular support to build nuclear power stations and destroy the mining industry, but...twenty
years on the confusion still remains, the capitalist state still thrives tho apparently under a different colour flag, and
nobody seems to know what to do....ah progress....and just when we had dismissed organised religion on the word of the scientists
eh.!
Unrequitted love.....I sat and listened to a theory the other eve proffessing that happiness is based on the acceptance
of unrequitted love, and once this technique had been mastered, eternal happiness would prevail.Okay,so you fall in love with
the (obviously)unattainable, accept that its 'never' going to happen, and voila!......(.Sorry, im just not 'getting'it..)then
you devote your life to making other people happy.....(really, im not getting it....)therefore your immediate enviroment is
a 'happy' place....(ok, its a giving thing?).It sounds like a good line to talk someone into bed when you dont really fancy
them if you ask me....?wonder how successful it would be..?
I had a shoot the other day with a young boy called jac, although the old addage says never work with children or animals,
we all know that it cant be avoided, after all, fluffy animals and cute kids are used to sell everything these days,anyway,after
the shoot, i had a spare half hour to get some shots for my self,and was amazed how this young boy behaved, never before has
a boy asked for 'direction', and responded so well to the enviroment of a photoshoot. So, am sure jac will be scooped up by
some agency and hopefully will make a tidy sum in modelling fees. Was it natural talent? well, id like to think so, there
was no signs of over pushy parents( met too many of those in this life!)and at the tender age of four, was unlikely to have
been taught. ive put a couple of the images in the random images section so you can see for yourself.
Was good to get meet a few people at melanies birthday 'do' in wales the other night, a good bunch of folk with a great
outlook, all travelling from across the uk to a little town across the border to celebrate mels birthday, we had fun, and
im sure everyone else did too!, but just wanted to say 10/10 to the cake designer....and whoever it was that modelled for
it!.Inspired.
After a rainy afternoon browsing through tony wards wastelands book, {for those who dont know, tony ward is the high
flyer of erotic photography at this time)the similarity of so many images to charlie gatewoods badlands book made me think
on originality.Obviously in all mediums a good idea can be expanded upon, take the various remixes blaring out of the radio
as an example, some are improvments on the original some just annoy the listener as rip offs, but, with images, its
a completely different effect.The viewer picks up on the image infront of them, they either love , hate or indifferent, they
very rarely compare.therefore the originality of the image is intact, what comes across is the similarity of the idea, which
cannot be ignored.If asked which book prefered, well it would be charlie gatewood, if only that it was less voyeuristic
and felt more like an involvement in the subject, where tony wards wastelands was technically amazing but a little too removed.....
both Books are worth having a good look through though...and anyway, its raining, now wheres that eric kroll book gone.....?
An old friend phoned me this morning with news of his latest exploits,and so with access to the www i discovered his
pics, recordings and videos of the band and lots of info about future and past gigs.....This all in a few minutes....this
my space reveloution is amazing!Anyway, the band is called The medicine show,local to camden in london,recently supported
the babyshambles and i wish them all the best, they sound really good.....not sure about thier photographer tho., he sure
plays a mean harmonica.lol!
A friend of mine for many years has just celebrated her 104th birthday, yep, thats 104 years old, now that is one hell
of an achievement for anybody, but this lady, who is in full charge of her faculties, has ,and continues to have a glass of
whiskey a day, followed by a cigar and chocolate, she speaks of her youth often, and her nude image at the tender age of seventeen
was painted and hangs to this day in the national gallery. This is a very plucky lady, just imagine what society was like
back then?, and for her to pose nude at that time was nothing more than scandalous, though, she describes herself as "frighteningly
honest and open minded", she took laudinum with the 'in crowd' of her day, fought for womens rights(though she now believes
that women were sold out and prostituted into the workforce as a cheaper labour force than men!)lived through the wars(though
again believes they never actually ended!)and still, to this day smiles and belly laughs at the state of this so called society.
The reason im ranting on about this wonderful human bieng is that with age comes experience, and i believe that the elderly
in this society are bieng mistreated and ignored by the younger generations. Obviously this is a disaster , not only for the
elderly, but for all of us, the elders have always been respected within civilised societies from of cultures.....so what
does that say about us, right here, right now ?
What is it about nudes?,well where to start?Firstly i just love taking pictures of naked bodies, there is nothing in
the way, no hair or makeup stylists,no fashion to date a finished image,and no egoes in the way of creating the images
i want,and every body is totally unique.The professional model often comes up with some great ideas, but the novice always
seems to enjoy the whole experience of the shoot much more, which i feel comes across in the images.My own experiences
of naturism at a young age taught me to appreciate the honesty of the nude form, and the way that nudism is presented in our
modern society as either 'freakish' or 'pornographic'has built barriers that i find challenging to work around. Recently i
have been taking pics outside the intent42 project for a private client,not an inch of flesh and very very boring, so am feeling
rather uninspired. therefore, new models are required, body shape, age and looks are unimportant, your are all beutiful,
get in touch and let me show you....
It has been brought to my attention by some people that know me reasonably well that these rants give a very warped impression
of me, and that i sound a bit, aggressive, cynical, disspirited blah blah blah...well, obviously im not any of these things.....
and maybe the title...ranting of a shaggyllama should let you know that this is ranting....better than keeping all this c**p
in my head all the time so its ranted here.....try it , its good for you!...ah.well we allknow im as pure as the driven snow,
and about as scary as a lit match to a frozen fishfinger.... ahem!
recently i had a fight....yes i know, it was completely silly but....!it started when i sat atraffic lights when i heard
a loud bang, looking round i saw a cyclist thumping my car and yelling that 4x4s are killing the planet!Well, apart from the
damage i suspected was happening i thought i would try and intervene peacefully, i got out of the car and the man just started
shouting before throwing a punch,ok it missed, but unknown to me my reaction threw to this was to throw a punch back. the
cyclist jumped wobbling on his bike and took off!After realising there was no damage to my car i got in the car and drove
off.The point of this was that cyclists(yes im generalising!) do not pay for the right to use the roads, do not have compulsory
insurance for any accidents that they cause, do not have to prove their profficiancy through mandatory testing, the cycles
they use are not tested for roadworthyness and they have special cycle lanes built for them at the cost of other road users.
Therefore they can afford to get some education with the money they save and learn to except that all that carbon monoxide
spouting out of my car has damaged thier brains!...dont get me started on the stupidity of silly little girls on horses on
country lanes!
Recently the medias attention has been focused on the 'super casino' story,not shall we have them, but where shall we
put them?, well, as a nation that seems to now be supporting gambling as opposed to tolerating it, the location would be of
great interest to many.The hot favorites(yep you can see where this is going...!)was always Blackpool, the 'new ' Vegas of
the north, where the seaside,holiday feel would have helped regenerate the local economy. The other choice was of course the
Millenium dome(remember that pre wembley fiasco?)which obviously has overtones of corruption after the deputy(dawg?)prime
minister, was seen enjoying the kickbacks of selling it to an american gambling tycoon. So, what happened? Well. the punters
placed thier bets, blackpool? London?, well , am sure to the delight of bookmakers across the land, they chose ..Manchester!,
well thats the fun of gambling folks!its really begining to go to the dogs aint it?
I do spend alot of time driving,and yes, the lifestyle means i have a 4x4,and yes, i am really annoyed at the way motorists
are bieng scapegoated to help pay for the loss of tobbacco tax revenue by the extortionate rates of taxes on fuel, and duty,and
now mileage?, so i fully support the petition against mr ladyman(yes, that's really the name of the faceless, previously unknown
politician who is behind this scam!)and his government proposals, so this petion will work, go to epetitions on google or
whatever and sign up. it is a better way than blockading roads and causing disruption at this point...A government is elected
by the people, for the people and to represent the people.If they did the job properly, people would leave them to it
and we could get back to ...er.....enjoying and living our lifes to the full ...maybe.
No i do not encourage people to cheat and lie, i take and create images that i like, the point is that to encourage people
to enjoy, experience, and boost thier confidence, and hopefully feel very proud of themselves....The majority of people i
have photographed for the Intent project have really enjoyed the experience, the secrecy is about them...their choice....their
desicions...and the results, well, hopefully they speak for themselves,
It will be interesting to see how far the polonium radio acive poison trail actually leads, after the death of the former
soviet spy, the radio active trail has been followed right across europe and even back to Moscow.If the reason for this murder
does turn out to be that the current italian prime minister is in the pay of the KGB , then the murderers will probably never
be found,this story will run and run, without ever coming up with the truth.Sometimes, such a story is a smokescreen to keep
the masses from discussing other issues, all very james Bond and therefore interesting to your average redtop reader, though,
i think that the british media have been at the forefront in making sure that this incident will not be swept under the carpet,
and hats off to them, its in everyones interest that those who have suffered, get the answers they deserve.
The report on the debt that the british have been paying to the Americans to rebuild the country after the 2nd world
war has finallly been paid off, the huge interest rates that were charged on the loan we obviously outrageous, but at the
time, (actually it was VJ day)the loan was essential to avoid mass starvation after years of rationing.The 'loan', which,
considering we were fighting fascism on behalf of freedom, and the benifit of the Americans, should have been a 'grant', or
at least interest free,was not the main issue that the history files are showing us,what really is disturbing is that this
'deal' defines what the British have called a 'special relationship'ever since!, The missle bases, the intelligence services,
and even down to bieng dragged into wars alongside the americans, are all because there was no choice, we were literally 'obligated
by contract'to do as the americans wanted. Well, thankfully that deal has now expired, paid in full., Now its time to get
back to doing the right thing, concentrating on our problems, fighting our battles, and hopefully, stop bieng a lapdog to
the american regime, and trying to re earn the respect that we lost in the eyes of the world.
"You wont fool the children of the revolution...."the classic slogan of the seventies,with Marc Bolans screeching guitar
riff, now bieng used to sell ....sofas!So, there you go, thats what i call 'going off on a tangent...then turning left'...and
anyway.how many sofas do people need? Marc Bolan would be horrified.
Well the war on cigarettes has started with a bang here in the uk, it is now, according to the media(government controlled!)the
scourge of the earth, disgusting, anti social, and must be stamped out. Well, firstly, its not a great thing for ones health,
unless of course you have altzhiemers in your family, then, its considered a preventative medicine by many researchers,
and of course, it is addictive, just like alcohol and heroin, tho as an addiction it is never blamed for burgalry or crime?,
i mean no one has ever tried to use it as an excuse for commiting crimes, as they do daily with alcohol and heroin. it
is also spouted often that its effects cost the health service millions every year?, well, not true, the facts are that every
smoker actually pays for not only thier health costs but one other non smoker throughout thier lives in taxes.The final irony
is that although its true that smokers die younger, the amount of money the government saves by not paying out the pensions
, is enormous. Therefore, whats going on?, Well, the losses incurred by the state for trying to stop smoking will be huge,
so, they have decided to recoup those billions in lost revenue by introducing gambling, super casinos,on line etc, because
those forward thinking yet outgoing polititians think the risk to society of bieng addicted to gambling will be better than
to smoking!...yep,its crazy, a quick look at the history of the anti smoking lobby, reveals all sorts of dubious political
and high society scandals involving the corprate heads and press barons, that have nothing to do with health, and a hell of
alot to do with...money!....its a gamble aint it!
Well the purple goo look has gone, and although sad to see it go, am sure the new space look is easier on the eye,
as said. this is a learning curve, computer and website design was never something i ever wanted to understand, but, as a
gallery for displaying images, it works well.Am amazed the previous site reached four thousand hits, so to celebrate, this
is the new look, and if you listen carefully you might hear the partypopper go off,lol. Anyway, enjoy the images and the rants,
and each page now has whatever music im listening to,so,shine bright, S.x
Have been asked why i havnt changed the images on the site more frequently? Well, firstly, the images on the site are
ones that i think express what i am doing, they are obviously some of my personal favorites, but due to the nature of some
of the images, they cant be displayed on the website as not to "upset" my site hosting companys rules and regulations, yes
, i know, it could be described as censorship, but no, i prefer that i am showing respect to thier policies. Also, the best
images are bieng kept back until the event. Apologies to those who have not yet appeared,but you have seen your images, you
know what they are like, and hope you can keep patient until then. As some of you know, i have some difficult family health
issues to deal with, which has slowed up the creative process, but rest assured, the work will be published as soon as it
can be.Thank you for your emails and interests, and i will keep changing the odd image, on various pages, so have a look,
and pass on the site to anyone you want to...the more the merrier. shine on and be positive and creative in your own worlds..
The start of a new year always brings that "where am i?" momment , where, in the physical world, (after christmas/new
years eve, well that could be anywhere!), and in the context of achievments and ambitions, what is it i want to do?.Though
i must admit planning is well under way for this particular shaggy llama to find an oasis of creativity in the sunshine before
i need winter fuel payments!Therefore, if you are in turmoil , just remember, the best laid plans of mice and men......!(
p.s, bieng an inquisitive sort, if you know the next line to that saying....well your a smart arse, if you dont, well ask
people, they will know the meaning of the saying , but very few will get the next line!)or , more importantly, dont dream
it , be it !
I appreciate the man on the street corner, the man who despite his anguish of a tormented past, smiles and says "good
morning" ,I appreciate the lady who overcame her fears to model for a recent picture,even the princess who lived on the hill,i
appreciate all the people i have met that kept me wanting to learn,and most of all, those who inspired me to want to create,
those wierd, wonderful whacky folks a.k.a. my friends..cheers. ....yep , a bit pissed too.......
Its rather good to see the llamas gracing the tube on the Oxfam/mastercard advertisments, such a delight that they are
finally out there, into everyones homes.i just hope you all get it....live llama and prosper....!
I have never been that good at bieng able to "put things in boxes"or "labelling" things, as for some reason i always
thought that sticking a confining label on something stops that particular thing from developing, expanding or reaching its
full potential, after all everything i do or create i want it to develop and grow. Sometimes it does and sometimes it doesnt,
but to box it , or catorgorise it defines it, forever as just "that".People generally like the "boxed" approach, read the
label and it does what it says on the tin!, i suppose thats fine if your buying a tin of varnish to paint a door or shutters,
but with people or art this approach is limiting,after all, imagine meeting someone and realising that everything
you knew about them was exactly who they were, there wasnt anything else, nothing, thier personality,lifestyle, sense of humour
etc, it was all as you expected, well, how long would it be until you wanted to add things, until you needed them to change,
develop and grow?not long im guessing!i purchased a large canvas, from an artist friend of mine, i loved the colours,the shape
, the texture ,and had the ideal position to hang it, after a few months, i had got so used to it, that i took it for granted,
anyway, i decided to move it to a different place,where the natural light through a large window completly changed it, the
colours were more vibrant, the texture of the paint became more vivid, the whole image had changed, but it was still the same
canvas. Everything evolves, and change is not neccessarily a bad thing,but to me, limiting things, preventing that evolution,
is the best way of limiting yourself!yep, i am that shallow and meaningless, unless you move me nearer the window!
With bush losing control over the house of representatives and the senate, and of course dum rumsfelt bieng put out to
pasture, hopefully that means the beginning of the end of the madness aka,the American forign policy.Though, somehow i get
the feeling that the puppetmasters will still be pulling the strings.Micheal moore informed us well of many facts, especialy
the saudi arabian influence on the American economy.At the momment it is said that the saudi's own nine per cent of the united
states? , not really sure what that actually means, but, the oil adoring bush familly and the house of soud are surely going
to make a smash and grab within the next couple of years before they get kicked out of the white house, be warned, watch your
wallets and boycott the unethical!
I really dont want to Rant about Tesco's, no really i dont, but, please see what they are doing, we, or you , have
already managed to curtail the global power ofMcD's to a certain extent,and postponed the racket of monsanto and other GM
companies, now please, look at the big picture of Tesco's, the whole situation of bungs and bullying to get the government
to change the meaning of the word "convienience"to enable them to open as many stores as they can, overriding all the rules
of competition and monopolies that existed to protect against such villanary, has to be studied to be believed, please take
the time to be an enlightend consumer, use the only power that you have left, shop effectively, dont make it easy for them,
now, as i said before its too late.....
Its about time people started to realise that we are all different,and celebrating the differences is a hell of a lot
easier than trying to enforce compliance to one set way.....have a peaceful and happy 2007.
Christmas day,2006, what can one say, R.I.P to the godfather of soul, the godfather has left the auditorium, tho his
music and influence will continue evermore,.."take it to the Bridge............" with lurve...!
The current news fashion to talk deep and meanifully about tried and tested debate raisers in an attempt to stop people
talking about the real issues,is really begining to piss me off!, what have we got? Ok, so a group of people lost thier christmas
hamper money, familly breakdown is the cause of all problems,and, oh yes ,displaying a christian cross is un PC if you work
for British Airways..Funny thing really,one would have thought that the younger men and women fighting a losing battle in
a far off land for no particular reason,be the only talking/debating subject for the nation over thier elevensies ?like
most, am sorry for the hamper club folk, but people are ripped off everyday, and its always unjust, and someone elses fault.British
Airways paint the tailfins of all thier aircraft with the combined flags of the United Kingdom, the flags are the Christian
symbols of the cross of st george,st david..etc, and they do actually fly the to ..er dare i say it... muslim countries?Finally,
lone parenting is the cause of all our ills in society?, well, if thats worth talking about, why dont we solve alot of it
by bringing home all the troops so they can parent thier children? simplistic and cynical? you bet, just an example of how
we seem to be manipulated into avoiding certain conversations.......The thing is,if its tried and tested, it must have been
designed!
The artist known as banksy,well, actually i should say "the graffitti artist known as banksy" has broken a new record
by selling a series of images at sotherbys for 50 grand.The images of kate moss produced in the style of warhols marilyn
monroes screen prints raises the profile of one of the momments great artists. cant see it bieng long now till someone makes
the movie!Well done Banksy, result!!can you get micheal moore to direct it?
What do people expect from the celebrities they create?they are to become public property,behave in a socially acceptable
manner, to act as role models for the younger generation etc?. Well that works doesn't it??Well, after living through the
endless crash and burn stories of these so called cultural icons, jimmy hendrix,sid vicious, kurt cobain,all who tried to
fullfill the expectation, and payed for it through personal tragedies, it was really great to see a recent south bank documentry
by george michel, very honest and respectful,the "this is me, deal with it " attitude might, i hope, get listened
to by the current crop of "on the edge"shambled celebs....it might even keep them alive long enough to become worthy cultural
icons.
There lots of small cards advertising the site floating around,all very nice, but postcards are bieng printed and will
be availiable in packs of ten very shortly, so ill let you know.Oh yeah, the little cards?....yes . well, please dont use
them for filters, roaches or anything inhaleable as they are a little toxic for such purposes ....and hey..... they are art....
Recently i was emailed by one of my models who advised me to catch a tv programme on uk tv, entitled, "how to look good
naked", well, last night i did, what can i say, the whole concept of making people look and feel good about themselves is
great,its always a thrill to see peoples faces when you show them what they really look like naked, compared to how they have
believed they have looked for years.The model who emailled me , was saying that the feeling of confidence and pride she has
carried forward in all aspects of her life since posing for me, was something that she never thought could exist. Well, thanks
hun, am glad you posed for me, and you know how beutiful the images are, and to coin a phrase from a pre millenium comedy..."see
that? thats you that is!....".Enjoy!.
People are increasing in size rather dramatically in the western world, apparently obesity is to be the biggest killer
within fifty years, well, if this is the case, designers should be planning for this today. Whether its train or carseats., rides
at amusement parks,or more importantly aircraft seating or turnstiles on subways.This was the basis of a documentry screened
recently called "P*ss off, Im Fat!". Well, what can i say, surely its better to solve the problem of obesity from school children
to adults now, rather than redesign everything to accomodate it, start educating the adults now to prevent the situation occuring.
OK, it doesnt help that sports fields and school grounds were mercifully sold off to supermarkets and developers, and it didnt
help that the governments decided to scare the parents about the dangers of leting the kids go to the park to play with friends,
or the school dinners fiasco that has haunted us since "love me please" oliver tried to use celebrity to force government
changes, but something has to be done...!if you dont want to accept the nanny of the state telling you what to do, then take
responsibility of the situation yourself, in your world, in your time, now then....that didnt hurt did it..!
It was wonderful to see so many people at Ejs party ,a rather bizzare but wonderful evening,and great to see so many
faces from all over the country all making the effort to get to a village hall in the middle of nowhere! dedication to the
cause i suppose, but hey, lots of bad heads for days to come, and im sure, lots of stranger than fiction pics on all your
cameras...lol!
A year or so ago i went off on tour with one of the most talented guitarists in the country and his new band,travelling
every city in the uk and then off to europe and scandinavia, all great fun and very exciting.Getting the opportunity to meet
lots of people across Europe, anyway, i have just recieved an email from a friend in christiana in Copenhagen,Denmark,saying
she was off to Iraq to take photos, well,best of luck hun, think you are very brave and hope to keep in touch.The contrast
of Christiana and Baghdad is so extreme that i hope you get the pics you want, and cant wait to see them.Would i go? er...not
a chance,sorry, as a younger man i considered heading to Angola during the civil war, common sense prevailed!, i did train
with the Cheshire Regiment for a few weeks to prepare myself for working in that kind of enviroment, but after two wet and
miserable weeks living with the soldiers on sailsbury plain on exercises, came to the conclusion that i really wasnt going
to be the next john pilger! Horses for courses,and im more of a canter round the meadows than a charger of the light brigade
kind of llama....!
"The future's so bright you gotta wear shades"!!always a song title that screamed optimism and irony, and such agreat
slogan!. Anyway,great song, great band, and from the emails, photos and texts i have recieved from really good people, it
seems that the "Alabama 3" have been given some kind of reprieve from the pen.and out touring in the uk, oh
the poetry of Larry love, well, im waxing lyrically,incredibly badly, but, i will be getting to manchester to see them no
matter what, its been far to many years to miss a great night out, if they play near you.....GO!
Talking with a couple in a club recently and after hearing a woeful tale of another scam, rip off , injustice, blah blah
blah!, the lady said "well thats the problem, who do you trust these days?"well, apart from when im out and about , especialy
in a club, i would rather the general conversation to be...well, a bit more "upbeat", anyway, i digress, "who do you trust?",
well , firstly, i think its another one of those negative mantras,which if you repeat enough, you will start to believe
it, in that you will think everyone you meet is untrustworthy,therefore subconsciously sending out signals of mistrust,
which will be picked up by those you meet, full circle...not nice!In reality,initially you have to trust everyone until you
have reason not to do so,thefore eliminating the need to say "well who do you trust?" ever again! The problem with this particular
negative mantra, is that it is normally recieted in the form of a question, which no one ever wants to answer.....After all,you
have got to be careful about telling people that kind of stuff! i mean can you trust them...??teehee.
The one activity that still facinates everyone in this modern world it seems is searching for a truth, cracking a code
or solving a mystery, from the historical mysteries such as the "da vinci code" or trying to find an answer hidden deep in
the archives or in novels such as those by Douglas adams,the Quest is the thrill. So what aree we looking for,its not the"answer
to the ultimate question of life the universe and everything"is it?, well its "42", for those who didnt know, but seriously,
the desire to search is the answer, that is what drives us, its not the finding, its the searching, that journey of discovery
with a purpose. Anyway, its going to start again with the publishing of a new "Quest", a new book designed to satisfy that
need for questing with a substantial reward for those who are successful, Author micheal stadher has buired two million
pounds of diamonds around the world fof you to find, tempted, well , buy the book, solve the riddles, satisfy your questing
urges, and good luck! but, please , thats a big please, dont go digging everywhere and anywhere destroying the most beutiful
landscapes , study the riddles well, and only dig if you are really sure you have solved it..... can you imagine all the nightmares
something like this will cause for archeologists around the globe....oh i forgot, they are professional questers, surely they
will understand the urge.....not!
I spent a day driving recently, which meant listening to Radio one as i cruised down the motorway as had failed to put
any music it the car. well i say music, obviously radio 1 and its djs tried hard to entertain, i was left thinking "where
are the nirvanas, oasis, or even the anthem type performers like "U2"or "faithless" of this generation?",there are the
few, such as razorlights,and the dirty pretty things that are banging out enough energy to entertain, but had realised that,
really this was just revamped versions of "gang of four and "the buzzcocks".Maybe, as someone once told me, that the music
industry , had become so short sighted that regurgatation was its only way forward.Anyway, thankfully as the long drive
continued, and daytime turned into evening,it was time to park up and go into a club to meet friends and see a band...
so, a big that you to Sarah miller, a young singer songstress from the potteries, who for just one evening, cleansed me from
the scourge of crap tunes in my head, by performing some incredible material! faith in human nature, and good music restored!
thank you!, so if shes performing in a town near you, then check her out... shes a bit special!
Thank you for the emails about the 'intent42' project,and i promise i will get round to answering them all at some point,
but just to say that although i spend as much time as possible creating the project, it is not a financial project, therefore
i have to spend alot of time working on other projects to finance it.Recently i had to photograph some interiors for a design
company, very boring, mind numbing and with zero interest for me, but bread and butter, how suprised was i to find that one
of the people involved had only contacted me because they had seen this site and fancied modelling for the 'intent 42' project.and
thought it was a good way to meet me and get in touch. So, if you have any desire to model, it costs nothing, but if you do
have a need for a good photographer, am available for other work, but if it is just bread and butter, would be nice to have
some jam too!
Am sitting in a field , its dark and a bit drizzly, and about 1AM, thiking about it, its not that unusual!Anyway, its
a really still night, and i have just walked out after spending the last two days trying to sort my wireless connection to
the internet.therefore precisely at that momment where i wanted to see how far from the home transmitter i could go before
losing the connection.....well, its about here!, Its the little things in life.....!Anyway,i am quickly realising that i am
at that exact point where i realise staggering across country in the dark is probably a little overrated, maybe the lying
in bed......?
After taking my car into the garage for a service, just to prepare it for a northern winter, the nice man at the garage
phoned to say it was ready for collection.I had taken it to a main dealership after problems with other cars and backstreet
garages for the piece of mind, a bit more expensive, but.....!Anyway you guessed it , that was a few weeks ago now, and i
still havnt got it back!So, huge apologies if i am meant to be near you soon, but..am a bit stranded at the momment.And of
course in need of bread and butter jobs to pay the mechanics....ahem, what have we got on folks?....
Reality check, ok, so the prisons are full and after privatisation even more expensive that ever,so whats the alternative,wel,
the tagging system seems they preferred choice,but i have this seriously nagging thought that we are not bieng told the full
extent of where that system is going. Basically, if everyone gets tagged for any offence from no road tax through to shoplifting,
this has to be monitored, by who? obviously it will not be long before every police officer will have a gps type system that
will beep when someone with a tag walks past, a bit like those satnav systems that let you know about speedcameras or points
of interest.Can you imagine how easy this will be to set up?, believe me, this is where our society is heading.So, whats the
problem?. well, obviously as long as it is used to keep tabs of criminals, there isnt a problem, but it will seep into the
lives of all of us, we are bieng weaned onto a 'pay as you go' system with our phones, cars and therefore with our everyday
lives.This blurring of technologies, induced paranoia and everyday activities really is quite disturbing....!, ok, i admit
it, spent the last evening watching terry gilliams 'Brazil',...hmm.
Perspective or point of view can make or break an image, a rather obvious statement,but one that can be transfered to
all aspects, for example, many years ago whilst living in the south of France, a rather opinionated collegue used to write
to me with various news items and comments about English life, the most interesting came when the Labour party took government
in a landslide victory away from the conservatives.The text arrived on my phone saying"its safe to come back now"!My friend
had never left the uk and was a very patriotic Englishman, who was always under the opinion that i was some kind of traitor
to the country for living abroad. I replied to his text saying "from where im standing,nothing seems to have changed, except
the name of the prime minister".Well,many years have passed and i am now temporarily back in the uk, and contacted my collegue
again. I recieved a great photo of him and his familly sitting on thier terrace in the portugese sunshine with a note saying"well,
nothing did change, exept the name of the prime minister, but, from where im sitting, the world is a beutiful place"!.It went
on to describe how after thirty years he had 'changed'his perspective,his viewpoint and more importantly, the man he pays
his taxes to!strangely i feel very jealous!
"is it any wonder people are trying to push out at every boundary,as they feel the society they live in is
closing in on them......sheep follow,whilst llamas are independant, cute and spit at everything..!who created
punk?"...hehe..!
A girl came across to my table in a busy bar in a hotel recently, her opening line was" do you mind if i join you
for a few minutes?"Obviously i said "no worries , take a seat", then, with a glazed,puzzled look,as if she hadnt understood me,she
announced "Im sorry, but i lost the use of my ears in an accident"as she sat down opposite me i said,"no im the
one whose sorry,i didnt realise you were deaf?"i spoke directly and slowly hoping she was lipreading,whilst
feeling distinctly un PC and very uncomfortable, "oh no " she said, with her head tilted slightly and a naughty
smile" Im not deaf,its just that i used to be able to wiggle my ears, and i cant now"! That was the best opening line
ive heard for a few years, and really made me laugh, therefore, i conclude, that humour does it for me every time.....thank
you sarah, was lovely to meet you,very good hun!.anyway, the new Nikon d200, very nice, Iwant one,blah blah blah, any
offers for funding..no , really?i do want one!.hehe
Have been asked quite a bit about the flickbeany links on the site, what can i say, well, here goes, the flickbeany is
a character who apart from bieng very well known, is a bit of a mystery, an original bushfire boy,? well,if i knew what that
was , i would let you know. does he appear on this site? well,the rules of engagement of the intent 42 project was annonimity,
so , if i knew, i couldnt tell you!Is there anything sexual involved in flickbeany? Well thats probably the title....i dont
think its hienz!, is flickbeany a psuedonom for you? Def.not! i have met the beany, and there were no mirrors in the room,
or garlic? How much of the conspiracy theories on the flickbeany site do you subscribe to? well, im considered reasonably
sane and level headed, and some of the theories are frighteningly factual, others, well, make your own mind up, personally
,i think that if i trusted anyone as much as i trust flickbeany, then they would be high up on my christmas card list!.there
you go, hope you get time to peruse his site, and try and identify him...if you do ...let me know!be warned, its deeper than
you can imagine!
I have been accused by persons not involved in any of my projects of "picking on vulnerable people" for inclusion
in my works and plays?, well, what can i say? apart from, i dont know anyone who would consider themselves vulnerable!, and
really, if someone, wants to accuse me of such things, i can only ask, why?, maybe the concept of what i do is so far above the
heads of those who would cast such accusations?,no idea, though that would be a wierd reality hit? no , i suggest
that the accuser might like to try a different perspective, self examination of his or her character, and when they become
enlightenend enough to realise that they have suffered a serious personality and humour bypass, they could seek help for themselves,
maybe a class in performing arts? always need more clowns!p.s, All the people i work ,and have worked with would agree, and
would probably resent the accusation as much as i would if i gave it more than a momment of credibility.I really
appreciate all the people i have worked with, thier images speak for themselves, they are ALL stars& should feel proud
of thier achievments,life is not to short,its exactly the right length,pace yourselves and enjoy...
I find it quite frightening that manipulated images are bieng used as propaganda during the reporting of the current
middle east crisis, all photographers working in this field would and should be rightly disgusted..!ok, admission time.I
personally manipulated a series of photographs in my younger,more innocent days of photo journalism, but,in my
defence,it was a totally innoculous story, and far to much alcohol had been provided by my Editor at the time,so i guess
it wasnt too serious!. It started in a small town called Ellesmere port, on merseyside, many moons ago.A tall smoke stack,
standing alongside the Manchester ship canal, was being demolished to make way for a new development.The date? well,
sometime near Christmas in the late seventies as coincidentally,the newspaper was holding its Xmas office party in a
pub alongside the canal. I had stood perched on top of a bus shelter for three hours in the freezing cold
december weather, the odd journo would come out and pass me a small drink,just to fend off the drizzle to keep out the
chill,and of course take the piss out of my situation,as if to amuse themselves or me as i waited! After another few
shorts had been consumed, the Editor came out to relieve me of my assignment,after all i was a young snapper,and it had been
over three hours, frozen to a corrugated bus sheter. i think sheer pity was the reason for him coming to help me down from
my frozen perch.At that momment,it blew!I imanaged to snapp a couple of shots in the general direction of the explosion,and
as it was an era pre motordrives, that was pretty good,anyway,i was drunk and strangely confident! obviously the cold,
the alcohol..and the fact that i had been relieved of my assignment by my Editor ten seconds earlier,it wasnt going to
be a problem if i had missed the picture!.as if! i was driven back to the office and went straight to the darkroom.After
realising i had nothing, i rang down to the editor and informed him.There was a slightly drunken chuckle about my confidence
on climbing down from the bus shelter that id got the shot!He asked if i could do anything in the "dark "about it,"cos
yer did get a pic of it before it blew?..didnt yer??"anyway,after many hours in the darkroom, i produced a series of,what
i thought,were very convincing prints showing the stack falling, and the smoke rising.,a sense of achievement.They were
published on the front page of the local paper, the Ellesmere port Pioneer.What i didnt realise was the Liverpool echo
and the manchester evening news had also published the shots. I thought it was very lucky that no one noticed in the
local paper, but with the two larger regional papers,with thier readerships,well i thought someone might have noticed
the "fakes", i? or should i say we?, as the editor and news staff were all aware i had done this manipulation.Weeks went
by and,well, it was,yesterdays fish and chip wrappers already,well forgotten.Early in the following year i recieved a
letter informing me of a book,to be published by The Manchester ship canal authority where,apparently was a whole
page, photos and mystery editorial,all about the ghostly reflection of a smoke stack still in the foreground of all the
shots in the sequence, even after the thing had vanished and the smoke was drifting away!strangely i, nor my picture
editor, or any of the staff at the paper, had ever noticed the reflection ! Ah well, just an anicdote ,They used
to say the picture never lies... but there is a time and a place for photomanipulation, and another for purity and honesty!....but
never a time for the massacre of civilians,this is real life! it should therefore be reported on factually.Obviously
its not the thing any right minded person wants to see,let alone photograph,and it should never happen, but. it does.Total
respect to anyone and everyone there with a camera to witness these horrors for evidence,but not those making
propaganda images to benifit one side or the other or even the bank balance!.as they say,"the truth is out there.."
"what books do i have on my coffee table"?Well, apart from the fact i dont actually have a coffee table, the books i
have scattered about the place are by people such as Trevor Watson, charlie gatewood, helmut newton,all three are excellent
photographers, helmut newton obviously class and groundbreaking imagery that isimprinted on my brain from a young age , but
what can i say about trevor watson? incredible imagery, highly recommended, and of course, charlie gatewood,a little more
direct in his compositions , but with a humour and style that could only be charlie!As far as non photo books go, well,basically
its catch 22, fareheight,goddess,micheal moore ,huxley,all of douglas adams novels,kurt vonneguer and the most recently re
read, is "skinny legs and all"!, a great take on the middle east situation and the best descriptive "dance of the seven viels"
ever put down on paper!Have to say tho, that im more of a movie geek than a reader, so anything from terry gilliam to Hitchcock
will keep me content!Musically there is such a broadband of stuff, lou reed, urban species,coxon of course thru to Faithless
and talking heads, oh, and still in my cd player is "something ilk" by cathy davey, highly recommended!!there you go, hope
that helps with the phycological profile!scary eh!
After spending the last week sitting infront of computers, trying to transfer files and programs from my older pc to
a spanky new one, i have been considering how much all these "logos" and designer labels are defining my life.Please dont
misunderstand me, i am not a designer freak,far from it, am as anti capitalist as always, but wow, they are infiltrating my
life, with some thought, i have decided that they are actually starting to define part of my character, from my trainers,sunglasses
,to my cameras and even my car! this is quite disturbing.We all feel good when we look goodand visa versa,but, this wierd
vanity seems to come from where?consumerism has continued to seep into all our lives without us even noticing.So, what
am i going to do about it? I love the idea of a large bonfire, "a bonfire of the vanities", throw everything with a
logo on, and see whats left!After all, these companies seem to spent more and more time and money promoting and selling thier
logos than they do the functionality of the product.Well obviuosly this "bonfire" is not going to happen, after all,
could our enviroment cope with all the toxins released amongst the fumes of numerous smouldering pairs of reeboks?
nah, i dont think so.Therefore, as a naturist friend of mine said"you cant tell the difference between a "chav" and a "bank
manager" on a naturist beach, and everyone there when asked, will say they feel really good!". Its time to re learn
some of the basic rules of happiness, you dont need a new logo on your shirt to feel happy, or good about
yourself,but you do need to realise that these companies are getting you to advertise thier products/logos and pay them
for doing it!..hmm, so, if you want to buy an "Xland" T-shirt, let me know.hehe.
OK, the llama bit, how long have you got?, or the shaggy bit? well, people are strange, when your a stranger....!, i
will at some point explain all, but, not right now. sorry!. Well, this rather paranoid and twisted government has decided
to create a new law, in the guise of "protecting" us poor simple subjects of this septic isle.The new bill stating that watching
"violent pornography" will become a criminal offence?After all, i think soaps like "eastenders" probably cause more damage
to society, after all, have you ever tried to have an intelligent conversation about anything with people who watch such
crap? Well,sounds like censorship to me, and who decides? after all, i thought the tv execs and the british film
boards would have something to say about it?no? well , lets hope those wonderful people at Backlash get cracking that whip,
whoops!, and get some good old fashioned cash in to hire some free thinking barrister to fight the bill, give them
your support,or more importantly, your cash before the nanny kills you off...!
I recently had to deal with the great british dental care system, obviously when you have a raging toothache,and it feels
like half of your face is trying to kill you slowly, trying to find a dentist i a strange town would not be the choice pastime.Anyway,
after discovering that the national health service has removed teeth and eyes from its responsibilities of care for the
"septic isles" subjects,it was time to get the wallet out! after a while i managed to find an iranian gent who not only was
brave enough to enter the dreaded zone, but, was polite, well spoken, considerate and most importantly, relieved my pain!Thank
all that is good for whatever it is that made these people go into the health care industry, it cant just be money, it
has to be something else, but whatever it is, i thank you, doctors, nurses, dentists, healers, you make the world go round,and
should be appreciated more frequently......cheers folks!
I have just taken a series of pics for the intent 42 project that am delighted with,another wonderful subject that loved
the images, but during the shoot, an unexpected visitor arrived at the location.The following rush to hide lights,
cameras and tripods, and of course my self in a cupboard under the stairs to protect the annonimity of my model was.bordering
on a scene from a steve martin film! Whilst my model made tea for thier guest,i stood silently in the dark, pondering
what i was doing in such a bizzare situation?, after a good half an hour, the guest dissappeared, i was freed by my model
and we finished the shoot.Just an example to highlight the fact that i am not hiding in anymore cupboards.....ever!Therefore,
if i am doing a shoot with you,and you had not already made sure no one will come calling, please dont answer the bloody
door!
How did you get here?..Well i have been doing lots of reserch since upgrading my computer about how people get to the
sites that interest them, and more importantly how you get your site recognised by the creeperbots that the giant serch engines
like google and yahoo etc.use to update thier services. Well, firstly you can actually just register them, normaly costing
an up front fee, or a pay to click system, which , if you are actually selling stuff is actually the best way to go, but if
like this site, its just a gallery of ideas etc, well its down to links!, i recently discovered that by putting "xlandphoto"
into yahoo search you get quite a few links here, along with links to some more dubious sites that viewers have linked me
to, all very cool. Apparently if you add keywords to your site that the spiderbots recognise , then they will list you higher
up in thier systems, bit complicated? well, just typing things like "sex"," drugs ","rock&roll"," george bush", "kate
moss", or even "horse and hounds" will probably get noticed and therefore increasing your chances of recognition. obviously
i would never do such things tho! I did hear a funny story about george bush and kate moss having lots of sex at a rock concert
whilst off thier faces on drugs tho...and i didnt read it in "horse and hounds".........!yep, i am that shallow!hehe...
OK, time to come clean, yes i am totally intolerant of anyone who cannot speak the language of thier land, recently i
had to change the locks on a set of doors, obviously it was a security issue, and therefore wanted to be reassured as i telephoned
various companies from the phone book the first three calls resulted in me bieng unable to understand the thick scouse accent
that accepted my calls. What is the point of employing someone to speak to customers unless they can be understood? i recalled
this story to the very polite and efficient man who eventually did the job, i thought he understood my grievance until he
said" well who would want a scouser to change thier locks anyway?it would be like getting the gypsies to babysit!", hmm, i
dont think he understood that i have nothing against people from liverpool, or to that matter any gypsies, what i do have
is an intolerance of lazy people who cannot be bothered learning to speak clearly, after all if you have something to say,
why would you want to make it so difficult for people to listen?the "septic isle" we live upon is very very small, surely
we can teach our children the basics in communication skills? "kno wat i meeeeen?".. . .uugh!
Recently i was walking through the city of Chester in England,a very beutiful place and the history and architecture
is facinating.Planned and built by the Romans,the whole city is set aside the river Dee, surrounded by huge enclosing
defensive walls, after all Wales is just on the other riverbank,and those Celts and Druids have never been big fans of
Empire building by anyone.Shops and allyways set on three levels known as the rows, sensible pedestrianisation areas
that are still utilised to this day,it all just shouts out" efficiency", it worked then and it works now. During
my walk i looked to the sky to see a very large aircraft flying low over the city to land at a nearby aircraft factory.The
aircraft,a rather beutiful looking creation, was the Airbus Beluga,which to my eye, had the look of a dolphin?, a very
striking beutiful areoplane.Ok, this is the basis., the plane was designed to transport wings of a new superjumbo from one
factory in Cheshire to another in France,where they actually build the aircraft, that is apart from the other bits
of the plane that are flown in from Spain,Germany and Italy.The plane they are building is the biggest in the world, so big that
there are only a handful of airports on the planet where it can land!So, we have a european superjumbo, that has cost
billions so far, will cost everyone millions to have thier airports extended not only to land them, but to service these
giant monsters,and the cost to the enviroment? , well, guess? I am , and its not good!Basically, its crazy, if your going
to build the biggest aeroplane in the world, then wouldnt it be sensible to build it in one place!
P.S,if you have to build such a big aeroplane just to transport the wings why not just use that? just put seats
in the beluga!Anyway, sorry, its just madness, and totally inefficient.Everything that has been created by us humans has been
designed, planned, assessed and created, therefore, either we have really lost the plot with the direction our society
is going in,or we are bieng seriously conned!the jury is out........
After seeing and reading about the coup that has taken place in Siam, or is that thailand, it did make me wonder is Liz
and Phil, our very own german royals were lookng at the situation and thinking hmm?i bet for sure alot of other people were.Not
that i know alot about that part of the world, but any coup that is bloodless has to be studied,after all why has a so called
democracy been overturned in this manner without the threat of the Americans bombing the hell out of them?also, hate to get
back to that "if it aint broke, dont fix it "thing, but, when the Russians invaded Afghanistan with hundreds of thousands
of troops travelling..well from next door, they failed, when we have a fraction of the troops there and we are supposed to
be winning? winning what?, and yes, i have heard the arguements that the Russians only lost because the Americans provided
arms, training, and a huge sum of money to the afghanistan fighters to assit them in keeping the Soviets at bay,apparently
through the saudia arabian connection, the whole afghan resistance to the soviets was arranged through a certain Osama Bin
Laden, whos biting the hand?and whos doing the feeding?lets hope our new un elected scottish leader will bring our soildiers
back,and take a very large step closer to Europe and away from America!
Insurance, the greatest rip off ever created , the whole concept of insuring oneself against taking responsibility for
anything is just one big excuse, such a kop out, for something terrible to happen, someone has to be responsible, either yourselves,
or someone else, therefore, that should be taken as it is, not passed on to ...well, everyone else to pay for, ok, you can
say without insurance the famillies devastated by hurricane Katrina would have suffered even more than they did, well, apart
from the fact they suffered mainly due to the inability to act by Bush and his chums both before and after the dykes or levys
failed, but Insurance companies counted it as "an act of god", therefore o pay out to those insured and desperately in need,
also, most of the victims were trapped in a social bracket of poor , black and , well, of no interest to the government.ok,
so what about the tsunami, well thousands of people died due to another act of god, we, the ordinary caring people who gladly
gave money to help, find out that the sums of cash involved were so large, that our governments didnt even bother donating
or helping at all, they just sent thier respective "salesmen" in to make sure the poor Indonesians would end up using our
donated money to purchase new JCB's,telecoms systems, building materials etc.. from our countries, , and basically
signing everlasting contracts to westernise thier devastated society.Hate to say it, but it was almost like that particular
"act of god" has helped our western econoimies to the extent that we can afford to keep bombing other countries,the usual
way we boost our economies! P.S, dont forget, everything has a "use by" or "sell by" date, even bombs and bullets....!, the
true meaning of the correct term "expiry date"!....
I read about the momment in time in which we, as humans, came out of the jungles and caves,moving from a hunter savagery
mode to a civilised social mode,and how over time , this transition has been interpreted.The evolution of societies. At the
momment am reading through the chapter on 'the definition of time', the momment we created a method of calculating time, and
how we now define everything we do in a 'battle against time'.creating this enviroment where'time'becomes an enemy and everything
is judged by it?.Anyway, my head hurt and i found myself searching through the medicine cabinet looking for 'fast acting 'painkillers!The
point of this rant is purely to remind me not to read such stuff before doing a half hour in a floatation tank!all of
a sudden , that beutiful trance like relaxed state you normally find yourself in,turns into a mind twisting surreal and very
disturbing period that appears to last for .......mars bars..??
Well Tesco have just announced profits for the past year as £2.4 billion, thats billion!, so , you want to thank them
for 'bieng there', or congratulate them for doing so well?, i think not!, the way things stand at the momment you can elect
the next government, choose the next parliment to take you through the next term, they all at least pretend to tell you thier
manifesto, well, just think about it, what happens when organisations like tesco start manipulating your future?what are you
going to do?it will be to late to 'shop around'!If you, think this kind of profit is obscene now, wait till next year, and
the year after...its easy, just alternate where you shop, there are plenty of other supermarkets, shops and local markets,
every time you go shopping, make a choice, and stop this huge monpoly before you really have no choice anymore..its not just
a case of your groceries, its everything, just one look at the tesco hompepage will show you how much of thier buisiness
is about groceries, and how much is involved in services, from cradle to grave.... you are responsible for your own actions,
just think a bit more and make these industries work for you...2.4billion in profit, every little helps my arse!
You have a product, say for example, a moisturising cream, you have twenty seconds of airtime to sell it in between "fear
reports" and "soaps", and you want to tell as much as possible about why the potential millions of viewers would want
to buy it.Ok, its face cream, what the hell is the point of using that twenty seconds trying to educate the masses about
"co erasium technology"?, yes, thats 'co erasium technology'.OK, got that off my chest, sat , chilled, awaiting the start
of the evening movie'death of a president'the scene is set. wow, a new commercial, this is....a face cream,no co erasium technology
to tempt while educate us, no this is "protects your DNA against harmful cells"!, wow, what can one say?,well i suppose "im
worth it". ....Oh the film?...nah, pretty obvious...well made and acted. but...
600,000 dead civillians in iraq, ten times higher than government estimates. Tesco employing hundreds of children illegally
in sweat shop conditions. Tax paying elderly subjects refused the medicine they need to live a normal life here in the uk.and
the super powers argueing about the effects of the north Korean nuclear test.well in such a news filled world one would
expect the media to focus on the gossip that madonna may, or may not have "adopted" a child from Malawi?..can someone please
turn the light on...?
The division of human society into two distinct sides,as predicted by HG Wells amongst others, seems very prevelant at
the momment, with the media stoking the fires of hatred with misinformation. This time ith headlines like "the vieled
threat" etc. well, i personally think that facial interaction is essential to direct communication, the frown, the smile,
the blush, all create the information required to interact.I also have problems with the freedom of speech issue surrounding
any discussions about the subject. I dont think anyone is fooled by the fearmongering that this issue is creating...
we are at war!, maybe, we can stick with the issues that really matter, like how to stop the carnage,? Accept peoples differences,
the chav in the hoodie or the muslim in a viel?All seems a bit distracting doesnt it?it feels like the latest empire builders
of this planet are running out of steam, and ideas,lets hope they do it with a whimper and not a bang.Alas the new laws introduced
by GW today, seem to stop international suspects bieng tortured and raped, but prevent them from any kind of appeal process?we
are along way from live and let live these days, so its art for arts sake yet again.......create.....create ....create!
Am always interested in your sites and sites you would recommend, so feel free to send me a hyperlink if you find anything
interesting,and ill paste them up here and there if i like them..preferably visual arts rather than text, but thank you for
the Mistress Lubreanka site......very ..er..refreshing..!
"Tattoo u" project is up and running, and if you would like to participate, drop me a line at the email address on this
sites homepage.The project will be displayed as an add on to this site in the near future and will be based around the cheshire
and manchester area.shine on and enjoy.
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