Sunday 31 January 2016

Foggy Inspiration


Foggy Inspiration (Vienna) 

Sunday in winter 
The swell striding proud 

No beggar or child  
Dare hinder his way.

Smoke rises at the ends

Of the days. The fog 

Is no barrier. The cross 

Could be though. He'd

Better kneel down 
If upward he'd go! 


Click text below image to see more 
photos at Sunday Inspirations. 




Friday 29 January 2016

Vote for Me! Incompetent. Dishonest. Untrustworthy. The Ideal Candidate.

Boy's Ready-Knot Tie & Handkerchief Ensemble














Slick and smarmy. 
All the answers.
More than usual bullshit.

Send your donation cheque today! No money back guarantee!


Tuesday 26 January 2016

Monday 25 January 2016

Submission




'In the vast majority of cases, people stick with whatever metaphysical system they grow up in. That's why atheist humanism - the basis of any "pluralist society" - is doomed.' 
Submission by Michel Houellebecq - p. 56. 


Thursday 21 January 2016

Natural High




Stand tall and straight 
Silence and calm within
Life is a natural high



Wednesday 20 January 2016

Oh cruel news tell me your good news



Oh cruel news 
Tell me your good news.

Man with MS can walk again
Can ride his bicycle.

God's failed experiment
Fixed by man.

No sales. 
No money in that. 


- My thanks to Rachel for the inspiration for this one. 


Tuesday 19 January 2016

Flower Power





My flowers bloom once more. I'm very happy. 

Thank you Google Chrome. 




Sunday 17 January 2016

Lovely Lady in your Glasshouse


Lovely Lady
In your Glasshouse

Are you smiling? 
Are you crying? 

Are you happy? 
Are you sad?

Do you like 
the painting on the wall?

Would you like 
to talk with me?

Would you like 
to walk with me?

Would you like 
to share some tea?

Would you like 
to read to me?

Would you like 
to learn my tongue

Or care to teach 
me yours?      

:

How can I know?

How can you know?

I don't know  

And you don't know

Lovely Lady  

In your house 

Of glass. 








  


Street Art circa. 2014 - Artist Unknown 


Saturday 16 January 2016

The Big Eat



the rumble of traffic

the exhaust fumes,  

just keep on chewing!




Friday 15 January 2016

Wot, no comments?


Dealing with a technical issue in my hit and miss fashion.
Hopefully only a temporary closure of comments section.

Thursday 14 January 2016

Blockhead


Today. 
 This was me. 
Googled into despair. 
 Hours wasted. 
Sorting It out. 

 It behaves
Like an Old Testament God.  
 It shows no mercy. 
It sulks.   
 It betrays me. 
It pretends 
 It doesn't know my codes. 

Google I am sorry. 

God I am sorry. 
Steve Jobbs I am sorry. 
Everyone I am sorry. 

Truly I am a blockhead.

 I beg all your forgivenesses. 
A poor sinner am I.
 A poor ignoramus am I.    

Somebody 

please
forgive me.  

Perhaps Apple forgives me. 

Perhaps not. 

 Let It be 

As it was 
 in the garden 
in the beginning. 

 Let me eat of the tree of knowledge. 

Let me not be a blockhead. 
 Thy will be done.   
For ever and ever. 

      A-men. 



 - phew! that was close



Wednesday 13 January 2016

haiku




away from the flock 
a solitary seagull 
and a place to reflect 




Tuesday 12 January 2016

David Bowie - Lazarus



Bowie's final act, his Lazarus video is restricted. No problem.  Click 'play' and then click the link on the You Tube message. And don't forget to leave an appreciative "thumbs up" for this amazing farewell performance!


That Fruit May Grow Upon Your Trees (a prayer for peace)




I


Blessings 
on the orange sun. 

II

As we rise  
to greet the  morn

you touch the flowers 

and the leaves  

that fruit

may grow 

upon 

your trees 

your trees 

that grow 

the perfumed air  
adorn themselves 

with blossom 

fair 

for the insect 

and the dreamer's eye. 

III


One tree
grows fruit 

grows love

grows air

protects 

with shade 

a place 

of peace 

one tree 
grows here   

for all 

to see.

IV

Blessings 

on your orange trees.  





Wednesday 6 January 2016

I'm riding your bike Stefan Sagmeister

You have to be at least 10 years old to ride this bike

"Actually doing the things I set out to do increases my overall level of satisfaction." Stefan Sagmeister

Guidelines for riding Stefan's bicycle:

Do not stand while pedaling.
Pedal long and hard.
Do not fall off.
Pedal slow and steady.
Do not go crazy.
Go through life slowly, otherwise you'll arrive at death fast.

    The Happy Show from Stefan Sagmeister is at Vienna's MAK, until 28th March. It's proving very popular. It looks like being a great success.

I'd be happy to visit The Happy Show again. At least one more time. Maybe twice.

Stefan on Happiness around the World:
    In worldwide surveys the Scandinavian countries always seem to do best. But when I travel within Scandinavia and have a coffee in the pedestrian zone of, say, Helsinki, I don't get the feeling I'm surrounded by a particularly happy bunch. The Brazilians seem so much more joyful. 


To see The Happy Show you have to get past these guys

At The Happy Show I watched one of Stefan's TED TALKS videos and also viewed a 12 minute outtake from The Happy Film project. Despite his claim that this exhibition will not make you happier I finally left the MAK smiling and feeling distinctly upbeat.

You can view Stefan Sagmeister's TED TALKS by simply clicking on the TED TALKS link in the alphabetical list at the foot of this blog and entering Stefan's name in the TED TALKS search box.




What do you see?



It is my heart 
held to the flame 
now dancing

    A popular New Year's tradition in Austria is to melt a metallic object. I was offered the choice of various objects. In size and colour they resemble traditional Monopoly pieces. There was even a top hat and I debated if I should select it, but in the end I chose the heart. After a few minutes the amalgam placed in the spoon and held to the candle became liquified. I tipped the liquid into a bowl of cold water. In an instant it solidified, creating a new and unique object. It is an oracle, and predicts my fortune for the year ahead.

What do you see?

My own interpretation can be found below:











Flamenco Dancer. 



Tuesday 5 January 2016

Massive 'Unstoppable' Methane Leak




They say it's worse than the BP Gulf disaster

They say methane has been spewing out since October


They say they've tried to plug the hole 7 times


They say the leak can't be stopped before March


They say the leak is in an earthquake zone


They say the zone is now a 'no fly zone'


They say families have been evacuated


They say it's a ghost town


They say there's nothing on the fracking news . . . 

      
      I say no, not yet




Monday 4 January 2016


the finger 
p o i n t i n g at the moon is not the moon 





the 
moon 



which
every
child
knows
is
made
of 
green 
cheese






Secret Longing





last blush of summer
& in their dream garden 
her little pink house




Friday 1 January 2016

Cleaning Up


A white disc crossing the night sky 

A red ball in the night sky 

Somebody is cleaning up. I mean financially not environmentally.

We make fine talk of the benefits of clean and pure air and then almost before the political ink is dry on the famous paper for a cleaner future we pollute the air and consequently our lungs with dirt and smoke, the resultant debris from a worldwide extravaganza of pyrotechnic explosions. 

I went outdoors and saw the usual fireworks exploding above me, their noise and glare reminiscent of the bombs and missiles seen on the TV news whenever a new war gets underway, and I wondered what this New Year's firework racket was really all about. I decided it was all about money.

One type of firework, if I may use that bland term when referring to battery powered multi shot boxed tubes with names like Hell's Teeth, filled the sky with silvery whistling and dancing space aliens. 

Midnight bells valiantly trying to "ring out the old and ring in the new" in the nearby belfry were overwhelmed by the 21st century's newest Chinese thunderbolts.

This morning my throat rasped like that of a full strength cigarette addict and my tender ears ached for a day of silence.

May it go well with you all in 2016.