Chucking in my job

Yesterday, I told my colleagues I’m chucking in my job to go to art school (at Massey no less). Yep, the start of the biggest financial crisis since the Great Depression is just the right time to give up your relatively safe public service job. The course starts at the end of Feb, and I’m really looking forward to it. I’ve had an amusing range of comments about it. The answer to ‘I hope you know what you’re doing’ is no, but that’s nothing new.

In other news, my brother got married the other day. This involved a cruise up the Whanganui River on the Wairua, which was built in 1904 and spent 30 years at the bottom of the river before being restored (which took another 18 years). Jo has put up some photos here.

Slacko

You may have noticed that I've been a bit slack on the old blog posting recently, and that what little I have done has been inconsequential. Well, the same could be said for painting. You need to do this every now and then (I do, anyway).

However, I've decided to stir things up next year. I will tell all once it's a done deal.

Vote NOBODY!

Nobody will represent your interests!

Nobody will keep their promises!

Nobody will rescue the economy!

Vote for NOBODY in this election.

(Nobody authorised this message.)

Life is what happens while you're busy making other plans

Rose and I have bought a house. It's a 100-year-old cottage in Mt Cook, and it's got a sleepout out the back that's going to be my studio.

Now I've got to find someone to take over the lease for my flat. If you know anyone who would like a one-bedroom flat near the Botanic Garden, please let me know. My email address is on my profile page. Just click on the silly photo to the right there.

When we told the olds, I joked: 'Now that we're concerned ratepayers, do we have to become right wing? Is that how it works?'

Dad answered (straight faced): 'You're already pretty right wing.'

Well, this is me:

Go here, Dad, and we'll compare.

A new chapter

I left the Mary Newton Gallery yesterday. Obviously, I'm not going to go into why I decided to do this here. You'll have to buy me a drink instead.

I'm going to concentrate on my show in Palmy in September. I've got the title, artist's statement, and a goodly number of paintings to select from. I'd also really like to get my comic published, publish the Common-sense nihilist manifesto, and do a Can't Play Won't Play CD-EP thing in time for it. The comic's the dodgy one. The way I'm doing the final version is very time consuming, but it should be worth it in the end.

Speaking of Can't Play Won't Play, here are our first attempts at 'Omnipotent spacechimp' and 'Dread the future':

Omnipotent spacechimp
Dread the future

Update: Rose pointed out that the first paragraph makes it sound like there's a salacious tale to be told. Unfortunately, that's not the case. I'm just angling for free drinks.

Attention! General alert!

Trust no-one! Do not trust the most obvious of appearances. There are hostile secret agents and artificially intelligent remote brain scanners from alternate worlds working among you. Do not even trust yourselves. Alien thought viruses are competing to control your mind. No-one is safe! Especially from themselves!

How to recognise a hostile artificially intelligent remote brain scanner operating in your area
Artificially intelligent remote brain scanners need to learn your individual brain pattern before they can read and control your mind. If you find your train of thought suddenly drifting off in random directions, it is probably an artificially intelligent remote brain scanner prompting your brain so it can learn your responses. Stop thinking immediately.

What to do when you detect hostile secret agents or artificially intelligent remote brain scanners from alternate worlds operating in your area
Contact your local intertemporal avant-garde revolutionary cell without delay. Inoculate yourself with the avant-garde thought virus today!

Glorious holiday

Rose, her daughter, the dog, and I are buggering off up to the Coromandel tomorrow. We'll get back next weekend. Oh happy day!

Auckland etc

I've just returned from a week in Auckland. I had a really good time, saw some good paintings, had lots of great conversations with people, and watched heaps of Doctor Who. If you're there and haven't yet seen Matt Hunt's show at Ivan Anthony, do it now. It features the largest paintings he's ever done.

I have been disconnected from the Internet for the duration, which was quite nice, but I do have the next instalment of my artist comic (formerly known as my graphic novel) to scan in and post. This will probably be on Monday.

Update on Monday: It turns out I've left the comic up in Auckland, buried in a pile of books. Plonker.

For posterity (in the unlikely event there is one)

I'm sorry. I'm really, really sorry, but what can we do? The world's run by idiots who believe in fairy tales.

Common-Sense Nihilist Party

The Common-Sense Nihilist Party has a blog that, among other things, details how to join.

Science fiction and art

At 4.30 pm on Saturday, 2 June 2007, I will be giving a talk at the Film Archive entitled 'Why science fiction is the only legitimate art form of the 20th century'.