At last

Madness

I've just had a go at writing an art review.

Happy

Just been out to a gig for the first time in yonks. Went to Happy to see a few bands. It was really good to catch up with lots of people I haven't seen for a while. I even got to hear what some old friends from Dunedin are up to now. The music was excellent, especially the Hi-Aces. Stephen did a sterling job at the mixing desk. It was all good.

Oh yeah, we also got to watch the edifying spectacle of Guyon Espiner and Duncan Garner - political journos from TV1 and TV3 respectively - being drunken assholes.

Slacker

I've not just been slack about updating my blog and checking my email, etc. I've also been slack about doing work. Tsk, tsk. I think a bit more auto-anthropophagy may be the way to get back into it.

I did write some notes for a statement for a catalogue, which I was quite pleased with at the time. But when I read over them the next day I was dismayed to find that where they weren't factually wrong they were trite.

Quote of the week

Apparently, George W Bush read Camus' The Stranger over his holiday.

White House spokesman Tony Snow said Bush "found it an interesting book and a quick read" and talked about it with aides. "I don't want to go too deep into it, but we discussed the origins of existentialism," said Snow.

Can you just see it? 'Well, George, there were these French intellectuals who didn't believe in god...'

Over Grover

The film fest is over for another year. We went out in style, with three films today: Raging of the elements: programme II (which was great, especially the arctic one, and went with Black sun very well), Los olvidados (which was gruelling), and The science of sleep (which was a litlle bit too cutesy, but a good one to finish on).

A nightmarish proposition

Went to Black sun this arvo, which is about an artist who goes blind after having paint rermover thrown in his face. Rather than committing suicide or becoming a junkie, as some of his friends expect, he goes travelling the word by himself. It was a gorgeous film.

And there's still more

The obligatory self-portrait:

A psychocosmological map:

The one that was giving me gyp:

Went to 13 last night and It's only talk tonight. Just got the weekend to go and it's all over for another year. Then I need to get stuck in and do some bloody work.

This and that

Andrew McLeod's Artistic conscience opened at Peter McLeavey's last night and is well worth a visit.

Been to a couple more flicks: You're gonna miss me on Sunday and Mutual appreciation on Tuesday. You're gonna miss me is the depressingly tragic tale of Roky Erickson.