This afternoon i am concentrating on making a powerpoint presentation [for uni] of sites that interest me [focusing on photography] - the brief said i could include blogs so one of the sites i'm using is a blog titled "Facehunter" or rather "Yvan Rodic" - there's two for the same person! Yvan Rodic Blogspot I am not usually into works n fashion and image but I do enjoy following this one. It doesnt just focus on the aesthetics of the people "Facehunter" sees, it also focuses on the surroundings and everything else - there are some gems.

The second site is quite different, Night In The Metropole is an online magazine that appears to be in its infancy in terms of running time - but I have been quite impressed with the work inluded on the site so far. I have never heard of any of the practitioners, and it seems anyone can submit work (wink, wink) so i must have a stab at that in the future... and although the website doesn't have any text, it is still quite appealing as a tool to present work. It is quite minimal too, I like minimal.

Yeah, now i'm being distracted by "House Gift" - woo ;)

I don't understand how people can get so annoyed over this: McDonalds article

..also, I went to set up the direct debit for my contact lenses today and they issued me with a 3 month supply of lenses - JUST for my right eye, they didn't have any in my perscription for my left eye, so why did they give them me?!? what's the use of having just one eye covered for the next week until the order comes in? I don't get it, I might as well have just collected both sets when they come in.

That's Vision Express for ya...

Also, I might just have bought myself a guitar... i'm still winning the auction with 5 minutes to go :)

I shall be going to Silverprint in London tomorrow cause I desperately need to sort myself out and not fail my uni project.... wish me luck :P

So I would say I am officially addicted to ebay, because i'm too cheap to buy things new when I know I can get them cheaper - I actually don't see anything wrong with that and although people might scoff when I reply "I bought it off ebay" at least I haven't been ripped off... I hope.

I am currently in the market (no innuendo, please) for an electric guitar, yes.. gasp, a guitar. I have spent x amount of years wanting to learn but after numerous conversations with my parents I only ever managed to be given an acoustic, and however nice it was of them to give me said acoustic guitar I guess it just wasn't what I wanted. Yes, you may call me ungrateful but come on.. acoustic vs. electric? I wanted to be a rockstar damnit and at 21 I think i'm still allowed to dream! .....*sigh*

So yes, i am as of this month gona be teaching myself how to play guitar.. I am also after a pair of ex army issue boots that will be more comfortable to wear than all the other boots I own. I am no longer bothered with the fact I am vertically challenged, I just want to be comfortable! traipsing around London is not comfortable in HEELS - I found that out the hard way and my feet still haven't recovered. I just want a nice pair of boots that don't look like a cowboys' throwback - cause that's all the shops seem to have these days! if they haven't got a heel they are just BUTT UGLY, so i'm not impressed... - but ebay might save the say (as always!) - although it does seem that every pair of decent boots are only ankle height.. argh!!!

Oh and just to moan some more, i'm definately failing my first project at uni... damn.

You know, I do hate inevitability - and the inevitability I am talking about now is me getting a really shite grade in my first Uni project. After months of planning and decision making I am going to fail because I can't seem to find a shop in Kent that sells colour darkroom paper.. and I don't think i'll actually have time to produce the prints I need to do.

I used the bits and bobs I salvaged from the television, along with other electrical goods and whatever else i'd accumulated since I decided on what I was going - and created what i'd like to describe as "globes" - in reference to the planet, and also some circular designs in reference to the oroborus and "continuity". My plan was to, at the last minute since I needed to find a television, create photograms using what i've made and hopefully be left with beautiful, abstract, random prints that would be a great end to a disasterous project. I don't think it's gona work that way.

I will have to pop into Uni early on monday and see if there is any colour paper knocking around, or ask where I could purchase some so I can do the prints... I mean, the nearest Jessops (in Maidstone) doesn't stock it and the guy I asked looked at me as if i'm a martian... the independant place in Maidstone resulted in much the same response, the girl in Snapp Snaps blamed her being from Canterbury as to why they didn't sell paper (wtf?) and well, there's nowhere near me where I can possibly think to get paper.. since well, yeah. I shall go for a galavant around London and see what I can get.

So, apart from all the stress of producing something the tutors will like (since anything I want to do but couldn't explain properly was not good enough) today has been good, I bought a larger memory card for the trip to Berlin... some phrase books and such, some chocolate (yes!) and other crap I probably shouldn't have wasted my money on.. i'm also bidding on a Ibanez RG7420 7 String guitar on Ebay, cause I want to be a rockstar in my spare time - wish me luck! haha

My most recent work, basically anything I have produced for uni [Unit 1 & Unit 2] so far is inspired by the ethos of "waste not, want not" and recycling. As a nation we seem to be very wasteful, and although I am against being so wasteful in most aspects of living - the one focus I seem to be drawn to is the continual tossing out of electrical goods that seem to be fully functioning - but just not "cool" enough, or in fashion.

Today [22/01/10] I was driving around, having a bit of a "think" and I came across a television tossed outside on the pavement - nowhere near any houses, I guess it was what you can call a "fly tip" or whatever - and so I "salvaged" the TV set, brought it home and proceeded in dismantling it and salvaging the inner circuitry and cables in order to produce some photograms. In doing so I nearly had a heart attack when I broke the glass component which resulted in gas being leaked and so I ran as fas as my short stumpy legs could carry me away from the potential hazard. it was a false alarm, and I managed to take a few shots of what I was going and what I was interested in.

Once I had taken the back off the set I found that unfortunately it was not an old enough set to have the "cylinders" and "valves" that I had expected, and instead it was amass with circuitry and everything else you'd expect.. I guess..


I had a lot of fun choosing which parts of this discarded set I would use for making something, I like the idea of re using something that is regarded as trash and giving it a new lease of life, either on film, by use of 3d sculpture or whatever.

It does seem that the most grotesque of things could look interesting if captured correctly, i know it's hardly worth tearing apart your old TV set for but there is something interesting about old electrical bits and bobs and all the information hidden inside - such as where the set was imported from and made, and the years worth of dust collected on the part behind the screen.

So yeah, today I had fun dismantling a TV set - getting lost and proudly repeating the story of how I nearly shat myself in my own garage cause I thought it was gona blow up... good times, I wonder how the photograms will turn out [if i can get colour darkroom time on Monday!] otherwise I am screwed. Oh well, at least i've had fun.

death of tumblr

For the past couple of months I have been using tumblr as a "blog", but since most of the creative people I know use blogger I have decided to switch back over... and since tumblr is full of immature people who apparently seem to have no life whatsoever I guess it was a good decision to make.

I haven't posted a blog since before I started University.. so i guess now would be a good time to let people know how i'm doing so I think from now on i'm gona try and concentrate my efforts into this [blogger], my one and only blog - and see where that takes me.