Glittering Prize

Posted on December 11, 2016 by Guthlac

dark-knight-joker-and-harly-q-small

I think this may, but possibly not, be the final visit to the DC world in a while – I think I may well have taken it as far as I want to.

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401

Posted on December 10, 2016 by Guthlac

401

Well according to the counter I now have 401 follows to this blog.  This may not mean much when compared to many of the blog out there and it is statistically insignificant when discussing the number of people who follow the latest star on twitter but for me it is very very surprising.   This blog in one form or another has now been running since 2008 and as the tag line says it is just… the unedited ramblings of a middle aged man…so 401 follows is impressive.

I haven’t the first clue as to why people follow this blog but I am very pleased that they have and so welcome the recent follows, I hope you find something of interest here and that one day we might reach the dizzying heights of 500 follows…someday.

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Take me I’m Yours

Posted on December 8, 2016 by Guthlac

dark-knight-joker

Just can’t leave this DC theme alone….

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Mr Blue

Posted on December 7, 2016 by Guthlac

mr-blue-sky

Believe it or not this sketch was inspired by the Sky Art Landscape Artist of the Year…strange that?

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Borstal Boys and Girls…

Posted on December 7, 2016 by Guthlac

harley-q-and-the-joker

I don’t seem to be able to shake off the DC theme at the moment!

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Suicide Squad … no no no

Posted on December 6, 2016 by Guthlac

harley-q-day-dreaming harley-q smoke-gets-in-my-eyes Harly Q Harly Q No 2 harly-qu

Over the last year I have been sucked into by the promotion of Suicide Squad and it Harley Quinn has inspired much of the art I have created over the period – somethings with better results than others.  Anyway, last night I watched the film as it was available for rent from iTunes and I have to say it was a total mess.   It didn’t know whether it was an extended pop video, action movie or well I’m not sure what else it might have been.   Even the love interest, such as it was, between the incredibly wooden special forces soldier and supernatural witch had no passion and in the end I couldn’t careless whether she lived or died or was worried by a slightly angry halibut.   This comes hot on the heels on that other dog Batman v Superman and you have to wonder what is wrong with DC Comics?   Marvel somehow seems to be able to turn essentially the same characters in to watchable nonsense – so why not DC?   Well of course the answer is starring you straight in the face – they can – the Dark Knight trilogy.  So it wouldn’t seem to be material but rather the people they seem to allow to make these continuing stream of turkeys.

One final thought.   Christopher Nolan’s brother Jonathan took $100 million and created a masterpiece of the small screen Westworld whilst Steven Mnuchin, one of the exec producers, took $175million and made this turkey.  Why is this relevant?   Steven Mnuchin is Donald Trump’s nominee for Treasury Secretary so what does that say about what he would do with the role, should he be approved? Probably nothing at all but Suicide Squad really annoyed me.

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Satisfaction is hardly guaranteed

Posted on December 6, 2016 by Guthlac

richards-jagger

And now for something completely different.  With the temperature is rising, perhaps up to 12c by Thursday, you have to hand it to the weather – it is never predictable.   What it does mean that my chances of getting frostbite in the near future is severely limited so I don’t think I’ll be wandering around at dawn.  Instead I think it is time to get back to a bit of pen and ink.   I recently bought the latest Rolling Stones album which is very very blues which after a while can get a bit tedious however it is clear that Keith Richards, Mick Jagger and Charlie Watts enjoyed going back to their roots (I’m old enough to refuse to accept that Ronnie Woods as a real Rolling Stone).

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One almighty political Fcuk Up – another day in Brexit Britain.

Posted on December 5, 2016 by Guthlac

David Cameron No 001

I really do understand why the people who voted to leave the EU are getting so heated about the case that is currently being heard in the Supreme Court at the moment.  They were sold a pup and now they are starting to realise that.   The EU referendum wasn’t meant to be a trigger for Britain to leave the EU but rather a cunning political ruse by the then Prime Minister David Cameron to stuff his Eurosceptic wing back into their box and leave the adults to govern.  This can only explain why the act was so wishy washy, it wasn’t even binding, another fact that seems to have been missed during the campaign.   So, and I can hear the Brexiteer’s heads exploding as I write this, Parliament doesn’t have to abide by the decision if they don’t want to.   If the then political masters of the universe had thought there was a chance they would lose then there wouldn’t have been a referendum in the first place.   This can be the only explanation for the mess that Cameron and Osborne have left us with.  Unwittingly they are  rewriting the British Constitution before our eyes due to their stupidity.

So whether you think Brexit is a good thing or bad thing I think the one good thing that has come about as a result of this is that David Cameron can now spend all the time he likes in IKEA.   The one thing I don’t understand is this – why would anyone want to pay him £120k for a lecture?   Talk about rewarding failure.  Cameron has joined that other worthy alumni of Eton Anthony Eden in the hall of shame.   As for Osborne he is still their but each passing day I think his stock is sinking fast.   Forget the pasty tax Brexit should be the only thing that people should remember Osborne for and not allow him anywhere near to power again.   I don’t that this is going to happen … they do like to look after one another.

If it wasn’t so serious you would cry.   A Very British Fuck Up.

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Ride ’em

Posted on December 5, 2016 by Guthlac

dawn-over-duck-pond jubilee-park-at-sunrise pollarded-tree-and-duckpond pollarded-tree river-soar-at-sunrise river-soar-towards-duckpond river-soar-towards-leicester two-trees-at-sunrise

For those of you who do not know the east midlands of England is made up of five counties, Northants, Leicestershire, Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire and Lincolnshire – well that is the case as far as central government is concerned.   Its most recent claim to fame is that it is the home of the three times Formula One World Champion constructors Mercedes Benz.    Just as to why Daimler Benz, the most German of German car companies, choose to situate themselves in rural Northamptonshire is unclear other than their proximity to Silverstone.  But there they are.

In truth, however, I have never really seen south Northants to be part of the east midlands instead for me the east midlands is defined by two rivers – the Soar and the Trent and centred on the the three cities of Leicester, Derby and, the undisputed capital of the east midlands, Nottingham.  An argument can be made for the River Welland being the southern edge of my east midlands but that would be as far south as I would want go.

So what is the purpose of this meandering through my own categorisation of what constitutes an arbitrary area?   Well I was thinking about this whilst slowly being consumed by the laws of thermodynamics as I stood on the banks of the River Soar at sunrise this morning  whilst trying to capture some images across the Soar Valley.   It is a strange place where the whistles of the Wigeon merge with the roar of the traffic on the nearby M1 which probably summarises the east midlands better than anything else.   Even in the wilds of Derbyshire you are never that far away from the hustle and bustle of modern life  – the 4G coverage on the top of Stanage Edge is really quite good!

I once flew back from Glasgow at night and the country below was mostly dark until you reached Greater Manchester where the darkness disappeared.  In its place was a ribbon of artificial light – even over the Derbyshire Hills, until we landed at East Midlands Airport.  What that has to really do with the images I am not at all clear but it was a train of thought that entered my head this morning in freezing cold.  Perhaps the cold had addled my brain just a little – it doesn’t take much these days.

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Walking through the past

Posted on December 4, 2016 by Guthlac

cafe-in-the-park chimney-stack wolsey-water-tower-and-chimneys

There was a time when I used to visit the canal around Abbey Park in Leicester on a regular basis.  I know this will be hard to believe but more than once I have run around this area.  Those were the day!   Today, much like me, the area has seen better times but at least some regeneration is taking place but there is a huge area of undeveloped land that is crying out for houses to be built on it.   The perfect brown field site next to the city centre so why hasn’t it been covered with new housing?   I have no answer to this but you do have to wonder when there is such a huge demand for housing such areas are left neglected.

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