Trou

R.I.P

The Great Melee is now dead.

THE DAILY ADVENTURES OF NOVILLERO

two page comic i did for novillero which is going into
some sort of fancy mint records zine thingy. enjoy!

go

Winter Landscape, Sesshu

Here's another Japanese work by the artist Sesshu (1420-1506). This is one of my favorite images from the textbook for the East Asian Civilizations course I took while doing my B.A. Here, too, there is a real separation between the foreground and the background, though here it is the background that is highly abstracted.

Revision: I updated my original scan to a version I found on the internet (what would we do without google??), which is not only in colour and of better quality than my version, but also includes a very nice border.

Not to hog the blog, but I just saw the following comment on the New York Times, and really liked it (as well, it alludes to a previous discussion we had here):

James Brown’s been dead six weeks, and he’s still the hardest working man in show business.

— Posted by Leo Marvin

Sea of Clouds...

Got this image from Art Knowledge News. It's a website with pretty much global coverage of the arts-- short articles about what's happening in every major gallery from Winnipeg to Mumbai.

I love Japanese print-making in general-- this one's newer than the big names of Japanese printmaking, though-- guys like Hiroshige and Hokusai, artists who van Gogh and Monet and others were hugely inspired by.

This one's from 1928 but is darn nice. "Sea of Clouds", it's called.

Click on the image to enlarge it.

Ozymandias

I met a traveller from an antique land

Who said:—Two vast and trunkless legs of stone

Stand in the desert. Near them on the sand,

Half sunk, a shatter'd visage lies, whose frown

And wrinkled lip and sneer of cold command

Tell that its sculptor well those passions read

Which yet survive, stamp'd on these lifeless things,

The hand that mock'd them and the heart that fed.

And on the pedestal these words appear:

"My name is Ozymandias, king of kings:

Look on my works, ye mighty, and despair!"

Nothing beside remains: round the decay

Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare,

The lone and level sands stretch far away.


- Percy Bysshe Shelley

Chimpanzees 'hunt using spears'

From the BBC. Note the last paragraph...


Chimpanzees in Senegal have been observed making and using wooden spears to hunt other primates.

"There were hints that this behavior might occur, but it was one time at a different site," said Jill Pruetz, assistant professor of anthropology at Iowa State University, US.

"While in Senegal for the spring semester, I saw about 13 different hunting bouts. So it really is habitual."

Researchers documented 22 cases of chimps fashioning tools to jab at smaller primates sheltering in cavities of hollow branches or tree trunks.

The report's authors, Jill Pruetz and Paco Bertolani, said the finding could have implications for human evolution.

Chimps had not been previously observed hunting other animals with tools.

Pruetz and Bertolani made the discovery at their research site in Fongoli, Senegal, between March 2005 and July 2006.

"There were hints that this behavior might occur, but it was one time at a different site," said Jill Pruetz, assistant professor of anthropology at Iowa State University, US.

"While in Senegal for the spring semester, I saw about 13 different hunting bouts. So it really is habitual."

Chimpanzees were observed jabbing the spears into hollow trunks or branches, over and over again. After the chimp removed the tool, it would frequently smell or lick it.

In the vast majority of cases, the chimps used the tools in the manner of a spear, not as probes. The researchers say they were using enough force to injure an animal that may have been hiding inside.

In one case, Pruetz and Bertolani witnessed a chimpanzee extract a bushbaby with a spear.

In most cases, the Fongoli chimpanzees carried out four or more steps to manufacture spears for hunting.

In all but one of the cases, chimps broke off a living branch to make their tool. They would then trim the side branches and leaves.

Adult males have long been regarded as the hunters in chimp groups.

But the authors of the paper in Current Biology said females, particularly adolescent females, and young chimps in general were seen exhibiting this behaviour more frequently than adult males.

"It's classic in primates that when there is a new innovation, particularly in terms of tool use, the younger generations pick it up very quickly. The last ones to pick up are adults, mainly the males", said Dr Pruetz.

Winter in Winnipeg

from: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/6383833.stm

Sex attacks blamed on bat demon

Some believe a bat turns into a man at night

Men in parts of Tanzania's main city, Dar es Salaam, are living in fear of a night-time sex attacker.

A BBC correspondent says the attacks are being blamed by some on a demon called "Popo Bawa" meaning winged bat.

Some men are staying awake or sleeping in groups outside their homes. Others are smearing themselves with pig's oil, believing this repels attacks.

Reports of the demon's existence have been common for many years in Zanzibar, where locals claim it originated.

The BBC's John Ngahyoma in Dar es Salaam says not many people actually believe that the demon exists and there have been no sightings.

But Mbaruku Ibrahim, who hails from Zanzibar, says the story of the demon is common there and people in his village on Pemba island sleep beside a huge fire outside their houses whenever it is said to appear.

The story goes that the bat is able to transform itself into a man at night and it has also been blamed for rapes of women.

Sheikh Yahya Hussein, a prominent astrologer in Tanzania, claims that the demon is a spirit that is unleashed by witches to torment their opponents.

Belief in witchcraft and superstitions is widespread in Tanzania, especially in rural areas.

For your viewing pleasure...

...if you want to see some of the worst French ever spoken (w/ the possible exception of Jean Cretien), tune in to the CBC french news at 6 tonight. i may be on there stuttering out something about how the youth shelter i work at is imporant b/c it keeps kids safe. Or at least I think that's what I said. Perhaps I was actually saying something about how the pen of my aunt is on the desk of my sister.


image from www.hickerphoto.com

What is love?

Back in the day

The New 7 Wonders

There is a campaign underway at new7wonders.com to create a modern list of the seven wonders of the world (only Egypt's pyramids still remain from the original list of seven). And, you can vote for them yourself! Pictured above is a temple in Petra, Jordan, one of the contenders.

sketch for a music flyer...

pen on paper. 2005.
LOVE PENS!!!

Yukdugu

PICT0103, originally uploaded by babajiwotan.

Flickr

This is a test post from , a fancy photo sharing thing.

Just testing the new blogger

Everyone please switch over to the new blogger. According to blogger, everyone must switch before the blog can switch.

This will help ALL OF US resolve recent posting issues.

Shakira Shakira!

And now, to follow up my last post, here's this gem. Begging the question: Is it art??

P.S. (Dave) If you're unable to view the video here, click here to go to YouTube.

Black Sabbath

Salutations Ladies and Gentlemen,

You are invited to the Godkings Pizza feast and Rock Show tommorrow night Sunday 18 of February,

pizza feast-6:00
Rock show-8:00

We will be celebrating the Chinese New Year of the Pig, the discovery of Pluto and the day that Lord Krisjna left the planet in 3102 BC. (with a possible surprise appearance by Knick Knackerson and the Mingler(s))

Come one come all,
bring your closest friends for laughter and fun.
Bring musical instruments and cameras and sketchbooks etc byob

Drawing 3

Drawing 2

Drawing 1

Testing....

ok, I`m back :)

iTunes and the Killers

So, C-doggie has gotten me into iTunes. It's a way of buying music cheaply and ethically. I figure that if I like a song, it's worth .99, no?

The Killers is one of my latest purchases. They're an interesting mix of retro and neo. Unabashedly romantic and hopeful.

read these lyrics, from "When You Were Young"



You sit there in your heartache
waiting on some beautiful boy, to,
to save you from your old ways
you play forgiveness, watch it now
here he comes
he doesn't look a thing like Jesus but he
talks a gentleman

like you imagined

when you were young.

Amid The Woe...

Taken from the New York Times article "Amid the Woe, a Haitian Paradise Beckons" by Marc Lacey (photo by Ruth Fremson):

LABADIE, Haiti — There is Haiti, the poorest nation in the hemisphere.

"Haiti is a place that is in the news, and it’s always bad news."

On a recent morning, Labadie was filled with several thousand people just off a Royal Caribbean cruise ship frolicking in the waves, bartering in the craft market and taking in the voodoo show.

None of them would experience Haiti’s rail-thin children, the mounds of garbage and open sewage dumps or the heavily armed peacekeeping troops struggling to keep a lid on the sprawling urban slums.

“But you could sleep on the beach in Jacmel and you’d be safe.”

Although Royal Caribbean hires hundreds of local residents, many feel left out.

Although passengers who sign a waiver and present a passport can leave the Labadie compound, most seem perfectly content to remain on their isolated cove.

“I don’t want to see poverty.”

“I’m on vacation. I don’t want to think that these people don’t have enough to eat.”

New House

No this ain't art, this
is a house Shawna and I bought with a possession date of March 1st. I'm looking(begging) for volunteers experienced(or inexperienced) in patching, painting, and pulling carpets. Who's with me? First couple of weeks of March, mostly nights and week-ends. 148 Horace in good old ST.Boniface. You will be compensated (food, fun, etc.)

Spider Cat Contemplates Eating a Paper Bird

A Valentine's Cheerio to you!

5 Star News Items of Note

1. Vikings may have used a special crystal called a sunstone to help navigate the seas even when the sun was obscured by fog or cloud, a study has suggested. Researchers from Hungary ran a test with sunstones in the Arctic ocean, and found that the crystals can reveal the sun's position even in bad weather. This would have allowed the Vikings to navigate successfully, they say.

2. Iran's scientists have produced a herbal medicine that boosts the human's body immunity system against the HIV/ AIDS virus. "The herbal-based medication, called IMOD, serves to control the AIDS virus and increases the body's immunity," Baqeri Lankarani was quoted as saying by the official news agency IRNA.

3. New Delhi - A suspected meteorite killed two nomads and injured five others on Thursday in the northern Indian desert state of Rajasthan, a report said. Police told the Press Trust of India news agency that the group of nomads were sitting in a field in Rajasthan's Bundi district when an "unknown flying object", thought to be a meteorite, hit the ground and exploded, leaving behind a crater.

4. Village residents from the Rostov region of Russia caught a weird creature two weeks ago after a strong storm in the Sea of Azov. The shark-looking creature was producing strange squeaky sounds. The fishermen originally believed that they had caught an alien and decided to film the monster with the help of a cell phone camera. The footage clearly shows the creatures’ head, body and long tail. The bizarre catch weighed almost 100 kilograms. Scientists were greatly disappointed when they found out that the fishermen had eaten the monster. They said that they were not scared of the creature so they decided to use it as food. One of the men said that it was the most delicious dish he had ever eaten.

5. The GODKINGS are performing at the Label gallery next Sunday evening.

The Story of Little Suck-a-Thumb

This is the panel that inspired my "Snip Snap Snip!" This was a German children`s story from the book "Shock Headed Peter" of the danger of thumb sucking. It worked on me. the book is full of terrifying but effective tales of bad eating, and hygene habits.

from Oiseau (glum) by Denis Prieur

These are some pics I took recently at a show by a local artist. He's very talented and creative. I suspect he won't mind me posting these pics.

He makes his work out of plywood, and uses felt markers, paint, and other stuff.

Very fun. Very fresh.

The owl is Oiseau (froid). The other is Oiseau (change). I'm not sure what kind of bird he is.

Saving the world: Norway

Who would have thought that Norway hold sthe key to the future of the human race?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/6335899.stm

Changing Gears...That's What You Get

Romeo and Juliet in Sarajevo

Admira Ismić (b. 1968) and Boško Brkić (b. 1968), killed May 19, 1993 by snipers during the war in the former Yugoslavia.

They were lovers who were forced apart by the war b/c they were on different sides of the ethnic divide. They tried to meet up secretly on a bridge, were both shot, and then crawled towards each other to die in each other's arms.

Have a nice day.

Love... No Words are Necessary

... but if you want, you can read the journalist's take on this here.

Winnie The Sad Cyclops

this is just an odd observation i had one day that i'd like to share with you. i hope you get a chuckle out of it? so i was staring at the city of winnipeg logo back in 2003, trying to incorporate it into a gig poster i was working on. because my brain is wired for imagining strange things all i could see was a sad lookin' cyclops monster, specifically 'mike wazowski' from the disney/pixar film 'monsters inc.' lol... i can't help but laugh every time i see it now, on tv or around town. by the way, does anyone know who the designer was? i may even know them to tell you the truth. i'm in no way looking for trouble, i was simpy having fun! so anyhow, this is a hint of what i was yappin'bout. enjoy! :p ~go~

Autumn Cabin

Living1

Homes are not
put-offing:

The best things
in life
are
you

(and the things in between)

The best things
in life
are

(and the things in between)

you

The Great Ocean

You cant belive what lives at the bottom of the Ocean. I watched this documentry called 'The Deep Ocean'. I showed it to Kim and her head imploded

Even Astronauts.......

Just when you thought that the only people to trust were Astronauts and Politicians.....
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/6333975.stm

Poet translation of Manu Chao's 'Para tod@s todo,' who attributes words to Subcomandante Marcos, EZLN

The liberating troop
Manifest

no water

To the villages and governments
of the world:

Brothers/Sisters:

We are born of the night
and that is where we live
and that is where we die

in her

But the light is for tomorrow,
for mass

For all of those
that cry the night
for those that are
denied the day

For everyone
the light

For everyone
everything

Struggle
and be heard

And the bad governments
scream

survive

They will close their
ears with canons

Struggle to work
juste and dignified

survive

And the bad governments
buy from sell
the bodies and the shame

stuggle this
life

And the bad governments
offer us death
as future

Struggle
judiciously
for peace

Technique, earth,
work, bread,
health, education,
independence,
government,
liberty

These are our demands
in this large night

These are our
exigencies

.. I don't know about this one.

Cup Craft

Patiently awaiting, moving around
Forgetn' where as much unseen
quietly forceful quick, sounds
losing where I am being

sideways walking scorpions sting
Endurance as spell virtue unsettling
Upside down the prism sees
Caught me down on bended knee

Not so much in measuring
the differance within between
everything and of magnificence
still know nothing of everything

Faded in a wisp of smoke
circling my coffee cup.

Stage 3

Stage 2

Stage 1

Growazoa

Something from the days of summer to lighten our hearts through the savage winter cold.

Anonymous Winter Photo

Second Stage

Joe KRAHN! My BOY!

This review appeared in today's (Saturday) Winnipeg Free Press- it was done by FP music writer Rob Williams-- Pay special att'n to the last paragraph


CD REVIEW: DEBRA LYNN NEUFELD, BOOTLEG

WHEN Neufeld sings she's full of sugar and likes to stop traffic you have no choice but to believe her.

The sophomore effort from Winnipeg's reigning Queen of the Blues builds upon the foundation of her debut Lock Up Your Sons with stronger songwriting, a bigger sound and honest-to-a-fault lyrics.

Neufeld teams up with some of the city's finest players (The Perpetrators, Chris Carmichael, Ken (Spider) Sinnaeve and Ken McMahon) on 10 original tracks and a Big Dave McLean cover to grind out some gritty old-school Chicago blues that can be tough or tender depending on her mood. Sugar in Me is filled with a rumbling avalanche of drums, Love Junkie shuffles along like a drunk at a juke joint and Bone Appetite is steeped in garage rock.

Neufeld also proves herself one hell of a guitarist easily trading off lead licks with Jay Nowicki, Carmichael and Josey Krahn. Winnipeggers can join her every Tuesday when her band Ragdoll hosts a jam night at the Windsor Hotel.

-- RW

My Folk's Place (drawn completely from memory)

Carly Painting in the Basement at the Label Gallery.

Weekend Report

Items:

1. Eureka! Perusing medical journals on the internet I discovered valuable information regarding the effects of nutmeg. I posted my findings on the smoky tiger blog.

2. Kudos to Dangerman. Ive payed my dues to the Label this month and will be having some sort of extravaganza show on weekend of the 17-18 of February. Dan showed me some designs for the New Label Gallery and holy dina that lad has a remarkable vision. Cheers to the realization and manifestation of that vision.

3. Yoga! Lets do Yoga, it's supergood for you. Im attending the Bikram Yoga every weekday morning at 9:30 and Im starting a club. Join us!

4. Four american helicopters down this month in Iraq. The rebels are getting new unity and strategy. I predict a continual escalation until all out armegeddon 2012. America in Iran by the end of March.

5. Le festival du Voyager?

6. also shout out to the heavy D in Montreal who's beat the fever and is successfully receiving the funkified rays of healing.

Books