Time for a blog post here I think!
This week I gave a really awful presentation on my theory work. I mean, sure I can bullshit if what I’m presenting is any good, but I can’t bullshit shit. I’ll probably just write the rest of my essay on Sunday, then rewrite it during the week. I’ve already shared my views on theory at Newport before, using the word holocaust, so I won’t dwell on it any more.
My second point, if there is ever one, is public transport. Today I allowed 1 hour and 10 minutes to get to Cardiff. That is a 4 minute bus journey and a 17 minute train journey. Still wasn’t enough. How utterly useless. Bring on my car, ASAFP. The ‘F’ standing perhaps for feasibly, more likely fucking.
Third up is crap sellers on eBay. I sold my Bronica equipment and bought an A4 Inutos4 tablet. Still hasn’t arrived. I paid for it a week ago. I want it now, I want to open it and I want to be happy for an hour, thanks.
Now I’ve remembered my Bronica experience. What a useless piece of crap! 2 of them broke in a row! That’s obscene! Everything about it was rubbish. Film is rubbish. To quote that amazing fashion photographer totally out of context, “who gives a flying fuck?” I’m not dicking about with something that breaks all the time, I’ll be awesome with my 6 year old digital camera. I’d say my 8 mega pickels are better than an ISO 50 6×6 negative, since I’m not stupid enough to buy a new gimmicky camera and instead invested in 3 good lenses. So there’s the only argument for film, that it has more detail, trumped already. It was obsolete 6 years ago, at least, get over it. And if you want to say film just has something extra, that’s completely unquantifiable, that’s like saying vinyl is warmer or whatever. It’s just silly.
Today something defining happened. Looking back, there’s been a few defining moments in my life which have made me what I am. In school it was being sellotaped to railings/walking around in my shoes after some bastard stole them and pissed in them/not recoiling fast enough to dodge a ruler soaked in fish guts/having a javelin thrown at my head, so on and so forth. Out of school it’s probably witnessing Group C sports cars at Brands Hatch, burning myself on the exhaust of a McLaren M8D, being drunk and sliding down the stairs on my arse. Today? Discovering some live Rush material I’ve not heard before. I’ve been listening to Rush for about 6 years now, quite how this passed under my radar I’m not sure. It is so exhilarating. I’ve actually closed my bedroom window so I don’t upset Malpas by enjoying it at such a volume and/or having taste. I noticed that next door have put their house up for sale too, so I looked at it online. Holy fucking shit. They must’ve worked their whole lives or wasted so many benefits on a hideous place. You know that grotesque varnished pine furniture which should carry capital punishment? They’re got more than 1 piece of it. My reaction was a bit like when I’m not in my beautiful room and being a big fish in the sea of shit that is Newport, it was so unfathomably awful that I was just still, contemplating my disgust. Now I’m just sat in my room attentively listening to Rush. Geddy Lee’s voice is perfect. The whole band is. I honestly could listen only to Rush, for the rest of my life, which, I pretty much have done so far. If it were not for today, I could be writing about Porcupine Tree, a sort of prog rock band that are bordering on being sociably acceptable. They’re alright. But, Rush, live, that’s something else. If they don’t die just yet, I have to go on a pilgrimage to see them.
Finally, I’ll ramble for a bit about my project. The tutors like it. Lots. So that’s good. Today I was on the tour bus for about the 20th time. I know it all off by heart now, it’s bored me. It’s not even like the Canadian American challenge cup of 66-74, which I can almost pretend to have an ironic yet meticulous knowledge of, it’s gone past that. It’s just not fun any more. Paul suggested I don’t need to photograph anything else, but, since I’m working at perfekt (sic) I wanted to go on it again. Now I’ve realised that actually, I’ve seen all possibilities and taken every photo there is to take. Which means it’s time to work out the book. The only thing the tour bus is good for now is having an excuse to go to Cardiff. Then I can go to Habitat, with my 20% off voucher and buy overpriced items I don’t need, just so that I can pretend I’m in touch with design. Man, I wish I had somewhere to put an occasional table.
Here’s some photos from a bus. My concept is basically look at people in crap places, buildings in good places. To me, well, I’m just honing my panning skills so I can take even better photos of cars.
Bus-ted! I can’t think of a decent title for the book, evidently.
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