I actually went to see Interstellar some weeks back and thoroughly enjoyed. I've advised everyone who's asked me about it to go and see it... with a big box of tissues in hand.
So I had heard nothing of the critics explosion.
Apparently Scientist Dr Adam Rutherford said on twitter:
"It hates humans. That we have not enough faith in engineering or exploration. That NASA is a secret?"
Um, did you actually watch the rest of the film? The Earth in Interstellar is killing humans by starvation and NASA was disbanded when it refused the governments demands to cut the population by dropping missiles from orbit on the population centres. By the time that the Government realises at the answers to the problem does not reside on Earth everyone is that short on resources that if the public knew that NASA had reformed to try and find us a new planet, there would be mass riots over the 'waste of resources'. I'm an Autistic and even I know that in the face of starvation people take the short term solution over the long term 'possible' fix.
As for the whole 'thought-crime' episode at Murphy's school suggesting that "liberals have destroyed America's pioneering spirit", well as far as I can see that is a load of nonsense. Far from the teachers and by extension the state, being 'liberal', they and it, are instead are trying to force people to give up their dreams of a better future so that they will accept their 'duty' as the caretaker generation. Is that not the opposite of liberal?
I also take umbrage with Adam Rutherford's observation of:
"It shows no faith that humankind is capable of looking after itself without the help of fifth-dimensional charity workers. Plus the fact that in conclusion, seven billion people must die for the species to live."
Again, did he actually watch the film? The conclusion that the Earth bound population has to die for the species to survive is only the conclusion of Michael Caine's character, Professor Brand, a character who has given up hope in his own life work. It is not the conclusion of Brand's own daughter Amelia, Murphy and Murphy's father Cooper (Matthew McConaughey).
They do not give up, not even when Cooper has to sacrifice himself to the pull of a black hole to give Amelia the chance to go on. The bit of the film that had me crying the most was that moment when Cooper is in the middle of the Black Hole, in the constructed world the mysterious 'Them' have created and he despairs of finding away of sending the knowledge he now has back in time to Murphy so she can save the seven billion people. The second bit that really made me cry was when he realises that it was him that set his own feet to the path he had taken, using gravity to reach through the fourth dimension, time. That was one of the most uplifting moments in the whole film for me - "It was us, it was always us."
That quote "it was us" also for me made believe that the mysterious 'Them', the so called 'fifth-dimensional charity workers' of Dr Adam Rutherford's point of view, aren't so strange foreign alien species, they are us. 'Them' is what the human race evolves into, give it's second chance on it's new world, stripped of war and bathed in the light of a Black Hole.
In that way, Professor Brand does give a gift to the human race, despite nearly leaving behind seven billion people - "Every rivet that they strike could have been a bullet. We have done a marvellous thing for the human race."
Faced with its death, the human race finally manages to cast off its instinct for violent and start working together as a whole, as a unit. They pass through the Worm Hole a different people to those that were on Earth and step towards a future, where mankind can finally let itself evolve into the responsible adults we are meant to be.
Why do people hate this idea? That out of opposition can come beauty? Why do we forget the beauty of the poppy of Flanders Field? Why do we run from trying something new until forced to? Why can't we take climate change and the disappearance of coal and oil turn them into the rocket ship that takes us to our new world?
Why can't we just for once tell our governments to go shove their war and their greed and reach across the fences ourselves to put a stop to the fighting? I believe it happened once, on top of the Berlin Wall, so why not again?
Why not? Actually that's the wrong question. It's already happening. There are villages in sub-Sahara Africa who, though they are the poorest of the poor, have heard that the best way to stop the growth of the Sahara is to plant a band of trees all along the edge of it and instead of waiting for the governments to do it, are out there planting the trees.
There are people who are researching how to create electricity from the body heat of humans and there are people who are working on cladding the roofs and walls of buildings in our cities to suck up the carbon dioxide we are creating.
There are people every where who are turning off the car and walking/biking to work.
So the real question isn't why not? It's why not more? Because we are afraid of the night, the dark, the unknown?
"Do not go gentle into that good night,
Old age should burn and rave at close of day;
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
Though wise men at their end know dark is right,
Because their words had forked no lightning they
Do not go gentle into that good night."
Maybe some young men and women, should rage at the dying of the light.
Wednesday 26 November 2014
Wednesday 19 November 2014
Citizen's Allowance
O.K. we're only just beginning the approach towards general elections and I'm already sick of the rhetoric. As far as I'm concerned, having lived through one over long Labour administration and the Conservative administrations either side of it, they are both as bad as each other, the Lib Dems aren't much better and they are all talking a load of self-serving, self-glorifying, selfish crap.
There I said it.
UKIP is not much better, these days. Their manifesto has done nothing to convince me that they are going to help this country out, if anything they are walking very close to becoming fascists, which kind of makes me uncomfortable as I'm a disabled and the last lot of fascists that got into power in Europe used disabled people as lab rats and fire wood (i.e. Hitler's lot).
The only ones that have garnered my interest and held it have been the Green Party, the only party that so far will not be having a spot at the leaders' debate, despite having a chair in the Houses of Parliament for four years.
One the fact that they are being excluded by the old boys network says to me that they may be something outside of it.
Two their idea of a Citizen's Allowance.
A Citizen's Allowance would replace all of the current benefits and be payable to everybody who has a UK birth certificate. That would automatically stop benefit tourism and simplify our benefit system, removing a load of paperwork (less trees being cut down) and possibly even speeding it up as it would be paid automatically.
That's right, the Citizen's Allowance would be automatically paid to everybody who has a UK birth certificate, paid to their parents first until they reach sixteen, after that reverting to their bank account. It would pay for the basics - rent, food and utility bills. If you want more than that - things such as pets, smoking, alcohol and clothes from the expensive shops - you'd have to go out and work for it.
That would immediately remove the fear of homelessness, enable people to make the basic ends meet, encourage self employment where local jobs are short (because you wouldn't have to worry about some means tested benefit taking away all of your money the moment you try to help yourself) and possibly even create a society were people can work with the talents they have to fulfil their true potential instead of being squeezed into a mould they don't fit because they 'have to get a job'.
I don't know about you but that last one sounds like an autistic heaven to me. To be able to work on my art and my stories without the worry of the state pulling the rug out from under my feet. To be free to work on my talents, my God given gifts, yes, that would be a bed of roses. You may think I'm being overly optimistic but I don't mean that it wouldn't involve a lot of hard graft, every rose has it's thorns.
Personally I think the idea has merit and seeing as the Big Three don't want the Green Party talking about it on the media, that rather says to me that the Big Three are worried that it could work over any of their ideas and see this country have a long administration by the Green Party.
Would that really be a bad thing?
There I said it.
UKIP is not much better, these days. Their manifesto has done nothing to convince me that they are going to help this country out, if anything they are walking very close to becoming fascists, which kind of makes me uncomfortable as I'm a disabled and the last lot of fascists that got into power in Europe used disabled people as lab rats and fire wood (i.e. Hitler's lot).
The only ones that have garnered my interest and held it have been the Green Party, the only party that so far will not be having a spot at the leaders' debate, despite having a chair in the Houses of Parliament for four years.
One the fact that they are being excluded by the old boys network says to me that they may be something outside of it.
Two their idea of a Citizen's Allowance.
A Citizen's Allowance would replace all of the current benefits and be payable to everybody who has a UK birth certificate. That would automatically stop benefit tourism and simplify our benefit system, removing a load of paperwork (less trees being cut down) and possibly even speeding it up as it would be paid automatically.
That's right, the Citizen's Allowance would be automatically paid to everybody who has a UK birth certificate, paid to their parents first until they reach sixteen, after that reverting to their bank account. It would pay for the basics - rent, food and utility bills. If you want more than that - things such as pets, smoking, alcohol and clothes from the expensive shops - you'd have to go out and work for it.
That would immediately remove the fear of homelessness, enable people to make the basic ends meet, encourage self employment where local jobs are short (because you wouldn't have to worry about some means tested benefit taking away all of your money the moment you try to help yourself) and possibly even create a society were people can work with the talents they have to fulfil their true potential instead of being squeezed into a mould they don't fit because they 'have to get a job'.
I don't know about you but that last one sounds like an autistic heaven to me. To be able to work on my art and my stories without the worry of the state pulling the rug out from under my feet. To be free to work on my talents, my God given gifts, yes, that would be a bed of roses. You may think I'm being overly optimistic but I don't mean that it wouldn't involve a lot of hard graft, every rose has it's thorns.
Personally I think the idea has merit and seeing as the Big Three don't want the Green Party talking about it on the media, that rather says to me that the Big Three are worried that it could work over any of their ideas and see this country have a long administration by the Green Party.
Would that really be a bad thing?
Friday 14 November 2014
deviantART now Streaming
Or to be exact, deviantArt is now streaming my artwork for sale!
Believe you me that is a lovely feeling. The fact that my artwork is now out there ready to be sold gives me a warm fuzzy glow under my heart.
Grant, it is only the dragon trilogy at the moment which is up for sale, thanks to some glitching with the upload process and the fact that I had to do some other work before I could load them, which means that by now my butt is becoming increasing sore sitting on this chair and if I don't turn off the Internet sooner and MOVE it is going to start telling me that it hates me in very loud tones.
Still, with the feed back I had from busking on Tuesday, I'm hoping that I've loaded the painting that the public loves the most first, which will hopefully raise the interest for my gallery.
So saying, I'm going to have to make some business cards to hand out when I'm busking so that people who like my work and want to buy have the links there and then. I'll also have to hurry up and load up all the other paintings that I have done so far. An artist's work is never done.
That's a thought. If there is no peace for the wicked, then how come I didn't have more fun?
I also need to carry on with painting the last two A4 paintings that I'm doing so that hopefully for 2016 I'll be able to do a calendar of my artwork.
Is that wanted do you think, dear readers, and if so when should I start selling it next year? Because I know that 2015 calendars are already on the go.
To have a deck-o, here's the link:
http://v-j-bartlett.deviantart.com/gallery/
Hope you like,
V. J. Bartlett (Now a professional artist)
Believe you me that is a lovely feeling. The fact that my artwork is now out there ready to be sold gives me a warm fuzzy glow under my heart.
Grant, it is only the dragon trilogy at the moment which is up for sale, thanks to some glitching with the upload process and the fact that I had to do some other work before I could load them, which means that by now my butt is becoming increasing sore sitting on this chair and if I don't turn off the Internet sooner and MOVE it is going to start telling me that it hates me in very loud tones.
Still, with the feed back I had from busking on Tuesday, I'm hoping that I've loaded the painting that the public loves the most first, which will hopefully raise the interest for my gallery.
So saying, I'm going to have to make some business cards to hand out when I'm busking so that people who like my work and want to buy have the links there and then. I'll also have to hurry up and load up all the other paintings that I have done so far. An artist's work is never done.
That's a thought. If there is no peace for the wicked, then how come I didn't have more fun?
I also need to carry on with painting the last two A4 paintings that I'm doing so that hopefully for 2016 I'll be able to do a calendar of my artwork.
Is that wanted do you think, dear readers, and if so when should I start selling it next year? Because I know that 2015 calendars are already on the go.
To have a deck-o, here's the link:
http://v-j-bartlett.deviantart.com/gallery/
Hope you like,
V. J. Bartlett (Now a professional artist)
Wednesday 12 November 2014
Busking
All right I've started busking.
Seeing as I'm in Dereham any way on a Tuesday for my cleaning job in the morning I decided to kill two creepers with one bolt and make Tuesday afternoon my busking time.
Yesterday was my first time and I'd say that it went very well. Managed to find a bench end that wasn't covered up by a bin, propped up three of the copies of my work laid one down on the floor as my coin collector and set to work on continuing work on 'Forest City'.
By four o'clock I had very nearly recouped the bus fair, had received several complements for my skills and nobody had sent a police man to move me on. So all in all a success.
Though the money wasn't much, it was more than I could have received as first the first time busker and it has given me hope that as I become a regular fixture that I'll be able to at least cover my bus fair each week. More would be nice but I'm willing to start small.
It has also made it obvious that I really need to hurry up, load my art on to deviant ART and make some business cards as I had several enquires as to whether I was selling. Unfortunately not; as I mentioned in an earlier post, a street traders license is over four hundred pounds (£400.00) for the year and as of yet I don't think that I'll be recouping that sort of price, although I'm hoping to make it to the UK Games Expo next year in Birmingham.
That was something else. One lady asked, as I can't sell at the moment, what would the price be if I was to which I replied, going on the price I set for a commission, seventeen pounds fifty (£17.50). Her reply to that was "worth every penny".
So fellow artist, stop shutting yourself away in your studios, pick up that paper and paint brush and go out into street. Paint at the park bench and outside the closed down shop. In doing so you advertise your work for free, gain confidence as the compliments come in and you even get paid just for doing the process of making the finished article.
People enjoy watching an artist work so let them watch, let them see how you do it and you might even get paid for the pleasure of doing what you love. It also gives you a couple of hours each week in which the family can't stick their heads around the door and go "could you just..."
Yes, I'll agree that it is blooming cold doing it this time of year and there is no point trying if it is piddling down with rain but it is so good to hear people admiring your work. It's an antidote to looking at all the big name artists, comparing yourself to them and feeling that you'll never match up to them.
So go on, have a go and you might be surprised how much you enjoy it.
Oh and if you fancy having a look at my stuff then you'll find my in Nelson's Place, Dereham, between 2 and 4 o'clock on a Tuesday. Good luck and I hope to see you about.
Seeing as I'm in Dereham any way on a Tuesday for my cleaning job in the morning I decided to kill two creepers with one bolt and make Tuesday afternoon my busking time.
Yesterday was my first time and I'd say that it went very well. Managed to find a bench end that wasn't covered up by a bin, propped up three of the copies of my work laid one down on the floor as my coin collector and set to work on continuing work on 'Forest City'.
By four o'clock I had very nearly recouped the bus fair, had received several complements for my skills and nobody had sent a police man to move me on. So all in all a success.
Though the money wasn't much, it was more than I could have received as first the first time busker and it has given me hope that as I become a regular fixture that I'll be able to at least cover my bus fair each week. More would be nice but I'm willing to start small.
It has also made it obvious that I really need to hurry up, load my art on to deviant ART and make some business cards as I had several enquires as to whether I was selling. Unfortunately not; as I mentioned in an earlier post, a street traders license is over four hundred pounds (£400.00) for the year and as of yet I don't think that I'll be recouping that sort of price, although I'm hoping to make it to the UK Games Expo next year in Birmingham.
That was something else. One lady asked, as I can't sell at the moment, what would the price be if I was to which I replied, going on the price I set for a commission, seventeen pounds fifty (£17.50). Her reply to that was "worth every penny".
So fellow artist, stop shutting yourself away in your studios, pick up that paper and paint brush and go out into street. Paint at the park bench and outside the closed down shop. In doing so you advertise your work for free, gain confidence as the compliments come in and you even get paid just for doing the process of making the finished article.
People enjoy watching an artist work so let them watch, let them see how you do it and you might even get paid for the pleasure of doing what you love. It also gives you a couple of hours each week in which the family can't stick their heads around the door and go "could you just..."
Yes, I'll agree that it is blooming cold doing it this time of year and there is no point trying if it is piddling down with rain but it is so good to hear people admiring your work. It's an antidote to looking at all the big name artists, comparing yourself to them and feeling that you'll never match up to them.
So go on, have a go and you might be surprised how much you enjoy it.
Oh and if you fancy having a look at my stuff then you'll find my in Nelson's Place, Dereham, between 2 and 4 o'clock on a Tuesday. Good luck and I hope to see you about.
Friday 7 November 2014
Frankenstein
Sorry it's been a while since I posted but life has this habit at the moment of getting in the way.
Went on Thursday 30th of October to see the rebroadcasting of the 2011 theatre production of 'Frankenstein', directed by Danny Boyle. Having had to study the book for my English Literature AS Level I had pretty high expectations for it to meet and I have to say that it surpassed them all.
To start with it went straight to the point of view of the creature, acted by Jonny Lee Miller, starting with his birth and it really portrayed the fact that the creature was born an innocent. His first words are even 'piss off, bugger off' because that is what everybody has been yelling at him.
In concentrating more on the creature's experiences, the play adds a whole level to the story, really bringing forward Victor Frankenstein's, acted by Benedict Cumberbatch, irresponsibility for his actions (i.e. creating the creature) and the fact that the creature, born a baby in an adults body, is only taught fear and hatred and aggression because that is all it is ever shown. The only person who tries to teach it anything else is De Lacey and that is only because he is blind. As the creature himself points out "you have no eyes".
It also rather revealed the very shaky logic Victor used in justifying the destruction of the creature's mate. He justifies it, saying that he feared what would happen it the creatures breed, but being the 'brillant' scientist, surely he could make sure that the female creature couldn't get pregnant? After that, one can almost see the creature's logic 'you took my wife so I'll take yours'.
For a being who has watched others having love and acceptance but always been rejected because of his appearance, it is to be expected that eventually he is going to start lashing out at those who refuse to share.
I'd say that the production highlighted more than anything the shallowness of human nature - the tendency of people to take a look and go 'oh it's ugly therefore it's a monster'. I wonder if that's why there had to be charities to help people disfigured by war and disease? So called normal people took one look and went 'oh ugly, I'm not accepting that'.
Went on Thursday 30th of October to see the rebroadcasting of the 2011 theatre production of 'Frankenstein', directed by Danny Boyle. Having had to study the book for my English Literature AS Level I had pretty high expectations for it to meet and I have to say that it surpassed them all.
To start with it went straight to the point of view of the creature, acted by Jonny Lee Miller, starting with his birth and it really portrayed the fact that the creature was born an innocent. His first words are even 'piss off, bugger off' because that is what everybody has been yelling at him.
In concentrating more on the creature's experiences, the play adds a whole level to the story, really bringing forward Victor Frankenstein's, acted by Benedict Cumberbatch, irresponsibility for his actions (i.e. creating the creature) and the fact that the creature, born a baby in an adults body, is only taught fear and hatred and aggression because that is all it is ever shown. The only person who tries to teach it anything else is De Lacey and that is only because he is blind. As the creature himself points out "you have no eyes".
It also rather revealed the very shaky logic Victor used in justifying the destruction of the creature's mate. He justifies it, saying that he feared what would happen it the creatures breed, but being the 'brillant' scientist, surely he could make sure that the female creature couldn't get pregnant? After that, one can almost see the creature's logic 'you took my wife so I'll take yours'.
For a being who has watched others having love and acceptance but always been rejected because of his appearance, it is to be expected that eventually he is going to start lashing out at those who refuse to share.
I'd say that the production highlighted more than anything the shallowness of human nature - the tendency of people to take a look and go 'oh it's ugly therefore it's a monster'. I wonder if that's why there had to be charities to help people disfigured by war and disease? So called normal people took one look and went 'oh ugly, I'm not accepting that'.
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