I have decided to continue blogging on my new site, of the same name
The site is still not finished, but the blog is working, I have transfered all my previous posts there (averaged 4 a month, since 2008).
The site will also have a few galleries to showcase some of my work.
So long wordpress.com
Josh
Exciting times, I have purchased my own domain and hosting, so I am creating my own little WordPress site!
You can see it here: http://www.disgruntalism.com
Obviously it isnt finished yet…well I havent even started, but I think it is going to look pretty cool. I will have my portfolio on there as well as my blog.
Time to get inspiration! *searches Google*
Today I went to Whitstable with my lovely camera. So not much to talk about really so here are the few photos that I took.
Tomorrow I am going to walk to the sea again and take more photos, some in the style of David Hockney, so before I get called a copycat, all credit to him for such great work he has made.
Pretty cool eh?
Mine will probably turn out amateur, but its worth a shot!
To me, to be an artist is to do something you love doing. Whether that be spreading a message, stirring emotions or just a hobby. Anyone can be an artist, and most people are, without even realising it.
Recently I watched a compelling documentary with stunning imagery and photography. The documentary is called Lives of the Artists and was created by Relentless (yes the energy drink). The documentary hit a nerve with me and made me realise what is important in life. And that is happiness. Do what you enjoy doing and you will be happy. Being stuck in a monotonous job working 9 till 5 is not my idea of happiness unless you are doing something you enjoy doing. The problem with today’s society is that people have to do something they do not enjoy in order to make money to support their family. Are people who do what they enjoy and not worry about money selfish? Only a few get the chance to actually enjoy their career AND support their family.
The people in this documentary are those few. Featuring a couple of surfers named Tom Lowe and Fergal Smith, a snowboarder named Xavier De Le Rue, and the UK Hardcore punk band Gallows. The documentary really opens your eyes to the world and to beauty, and makes you feel bad for not experiencing some of the worlds wonder.
Xavier De Le Rue: He throws himself off mountainsThe surfers and the snowboarder are very similar as artists, because they are both doing what they love and that is it. Whereas the band Gallows are too doing what they love, except they also have a message.
And most people who listen to Gallows do not understand what they are about. I believe that Gallows message is that it doesnt matter how good you are at singing or playing an instrument, as long as you have ambition and aspirations you will make it in the field that you love. And Gallows are there to prove it. I don’t particularly like their music, it doesnt sound nice. Nice music is music like REM and Coldplay, which I do like, but it hasn’t got the same energy as Gallows. Gallows is aggressive, energetic and full of passion, as well as stirring emotions with the public, that is all that matters. I like to equate Gallows to the early punk band The Sex Pistols, because they were very similar with their message.
Here are some cool shots from the documentary, and the link for the documentary at the bottom of this post.
On a last note, I do think Gallows are reaching their end. As the frontman Frank Carter says in the documentary, he has said and done everything he set out to do, and doesnt get anything out of his music anymore. And when Frank leaves Gallows which I feel is inevitable, Gallows will die.
And here is that link, which I urge you to watch.
The end of the noughties approaches. And was it as naughty as everyone describes it as? I do not think so. It was lame. It’s all about the 90’s, when things were cool, there was no recession, grunge was kicking off, and technology was improving every minute. To me the noughties were lame because there was nothing really new, only improvements on old things. Like faster computers, or new Xbox’s. Plus the whole reality TV thing got even worse! There was no new music, and fashion has started to repeat itself. The only way I can explain it is calling it ‘pre war fashion’, in nearly all trendy shops they are selling old clothes, that looks like they are from a war film. Is it because they have run out of ideas they are just going back to the beginning? or as far back as is socially acceptable. Loin clothes would be too far.
Latest Topshop modelsJust replace the suit trousers with skinny jeans and you have the trendy guys of today.
So history does repeat itself? Which means we have two wars to look forward to pretty soon, and the invention of the motor car…perhaps I shouldnt take the statement that serious, but to a certain extent history does repeat itself.
The only good thing of the noughties I can think of is Jade Goody’s demise. That was an advantage to mankind.
So now I am thinking do we really have to wait till 2060 for things to start getting interesting?
I hope not, because I will be past my prime! Let 2020’s be the amazing decade of this century!
Before I praise 2012 (the movie) on its amazing graphics, I will first add that there is also two other films released around the same time called 2012: Doomsday and its sequel 2012: Supernova. Which are both amazingly bad, and not the kind of bad that you can say, ‘It’s so bad its good!’. If you are going to watch one of them, say for example if you have a momentary lapse of insanity of the brain tank, watch Supernova, simply because it scored a couple of 0 point somethings higher than Doomsday. I have not seen any of Supernova, and only a couple of minutes of Doomsday, which was just enough for me to close the media player, and delete the film whilst spitting on my monitor ( I considered formatting my hard drive to remove all remnants and history of this piece of corpse stench)
Stay clear ofMy theory is that the film makers knew this film was a FailFilm and just named it similar to the new (and better) 2012 film so that the Grandma’s that still visit Blockbuster will accidently buy it.
Anyway, let the review commence!
I did enjoy 2012, but I think because I am very much interested in computer animation and CGI, I found the film more interesting than most people. Or maybe it was just because I saw the majority of America sink/explode/burst into flames and other such catastrophic events (namely Woody Harrelson playing an unimportant character)
The film is very formulaic and Hollywoodised unfortunately, and dramatic, but I suppose the end of the world would be quite dramatic. Like when people say that there is only seven original stories. Every film ever made follows one of these stories, or several of these stories/plots intertwined.
A summary of this film is very easy:
Divorced Dad wins back his wife and kids by saving them from several catastrophes, escaping to China where they have made several large ‘arcs’ to withstand the catastrophes and secure the future of the human race.
Oh yes and along the way the father in law of the children conveniently dies, and the mother gets over his death surprisingly fast and becomes happy family again with Kevin Spacey, strange.
I do think soOverall I enjoyed 2012. I can’t really explain why because 2012 is a mediocre film apart from the amazing CGI. Perhaps we are all hypnotized by shiny computer generated disasters, and scaring our Grandparents.
I wont moan about how I can’t sleep, I said this just so that you know why I am blogging at such a ridiculous hour.
Anyway, I have added a couple new things to my blog. Ive got a new Twitter widget to the side so you can see what goes on inside my crazy little mind.
(I do plan on using Twitter from now on)
Also have a pointless rating system on posts so you can remind me how good / extremely bad some of my posts are.
I have been a busy little student watching a couple of the new films that are out in the cinema. The kind of films everyone raves about before they are even released, and once they are released they just say, ‘oh..’.
Notably
Paranormal Activity
Which is the most unscary piece of zombie brain food I have ever seen.
Things that are scarier than Paranormal Activity:
Although this film was marketing extremely well, which means they were able to disguise how much of a bad film this is by not telling us that this film is filmed on one location, in the same way, for an hour and a bit. Which tends to get extremely boring. Much like the Blair Witch Project, although I cannot say much about that because I havent seen it.
The film starts with a happy couple deciding to venture into the paranormal world by filming, and recording sound, or ‘EVP‘ as ghost hunters call it.
Translated: ‘Who you gonna call?’Obviously this ghost, or demon as they later find out, gets rather annoyed with all this exposure to the media world. Perhaps this is a shy demon, or perhaps he is just Russel Crowe and likes to inflict pain unto anyone with a camera.
So many footsteps, bangs, possessions, and one rude awakening, where the girl is pulled out of bed, dragged down the hall, and bitten. Which is the best way I suggest to get a younger brother out of bed.
I was slightly enjoying the film until about halfway through, when the guy (who is very annoying) puts powder on the floor to try and capture footprints. The footprints in the morning are of a demonic nature, three toes, like a bird kind of. When this happened I lost faith in the film and just thought to myself…’This is a bit silly’.
The ending, which I thought was an anti climax, was quick, abrupt, and not very clear. Because the film is made to look sort of like a home movie, the camera is left in the bedroom, and as the possessed girlfriend walks out of the room, all you hear is a scream, presumably the dude as he gets jooked by a large sharp knife. Which I dont blame the girl for doing, she probably just blamed it on possession.
Possession my arse.She hated his guts so much she thought they would look better with several puncture wounds.
After watching Paranormal Activity I was left feeling disappointed and had a full and happy nights sleep dreaming about rabbits.
Life at University is a waste of my creativity. I am unable to ‘create’ as I once was able to whilst living at home. Perhaps its the limited technology I have, or maybe the mass amount of work I have been given (probably not that one). But no, it is neither, it is simply the fact that University has a massive social aspect to it which cannot be ignored, especially for someone in my position. After leaving Kent to attend Liverpool John Moore’s University, like most human beings, fear of rejection and fear of having no friends is very apparent, and making friends becomes number one priority.
But fear not! It is not all doom and gloom, I have created some creative aids.
Like this green screen (second attempt) which I am quite proud of!
Pretty nifty eh?Made out of an ex-printer box and a large piece of green card, pretty simple really. Now comes the hard part of getting the lighting correct, I currently have natural light from the tiny, cell like window in my flat, the flats ceiling light, and two little lamps. A bit more tweaking with the set up and I think I will start animating hopefully by January. My parents have been kind enough to let me borrow the video camera too!
I am finding it hard to remain ambitious on my University course. Because it is a Foundation course in Computing, it is completely what I am not interested in. I have to keep telling myself to keep it up and when next year comes, I can actually do some interesting, and to me, meaningful studies. For those of you who do not know, next year I will be moving onto the degree course of Computer Animation & Visualization, which I can’t wait for!
My modules I am studying at the moment are:
This module is the only module that is slightly worth while, because I really enjoy learning, and this module is quite a complex one. Involving binary addition/subtraction, truth tables, adders and half adders, and other interesting, yet unimportant computing methods.
This module confuses me, not because it is hard, but because I do not think it fits in with the other modules. For example, our first in class test was on Microsoft Word. We had to follow about 30 steps, telling us to use various functions that Word possesses, instructions like: Print this document, Create a table, Insert a picture. Now I understand that if some people have never used a computer before (my Nan) this would be hard for them, but for students who have probably been studying ICT since year 7, this is..well this is year 7 stuff. And God help the students who are struggling in this module, I wonder if they even know what is going on in Computer Fundamentals.
This is a hard module for me to stay focused in, being a hippy at heart, I hate bureaucracy, and our first assignment was to portray System Analyst’s and help an imaginary business with some IT problems. A presentation was also involved, where, as soon as I started talking, I instantly turned into Alan Statham from Green Wing.
Apparently this other annoying module is meant to be beneficial to us, so we’ve been told, so I will give it a chance. Yet there is also a presentation involved, bad times. Basically this module tells us how to win at life.
I havent written a blog for a while, it is 3:56am and I can’t sleep, or maybe this is a dream and when I wake up it will all…no thats stupid. Anyway I suffer from a messed up sleeping pattern, like many students. I feel more like an owl than a human. Humans are designed to have a nap around 2-3 in the afternoon, which is why, if you have ever noticed, you start to feel tired around then whilst at work, time for a 30 minute power nap! But because my sleeping pattern is way out of sync, my 30 minute power nap is around 8-9 pm, which I then wake up at around 12-1 am, then not being able to sleep for 4 hours, bad times.
Things I miss from home:
Of course everyone misses their family, no matter how much of a hard case they think they are. Families are awesome!
Living of Iceland ready meals cannot be healthy (Iceland the shop, not the country, I do not get my food specially imported from Iceland), but they are too easy and quick to prepare. Plus they kick Tesco’s ready meals up the arse!
I have few friends, but I am not complaining, I prefer my company to anyone elses, no offence intended. But I still miss them.
I think there is such thing as ‘Countryside’ up north but I think they just call it Scotland.
Going to visit an old English pub, in the middle of nowhere, the sort of pub that has a sign that says: ‘No kids, dogs, French’? What more can you ask for.
*Sad face* I love taking photos, and being in a vibrant city such as Liverpool offers countless photo opportunities. I will have to put up with the camera on my phone until I can afford my own awesome camera… Photos are on their way!
Quite a long blog post this morning, I am hoping making this blog post will spark my creativity again. I plan to review a couple of films in my own special way very soon.
In an obscure, and slightly hazed view of the headlines, this is basically what has happened. It is a lot like Iraq. America invaded Iraq because they thought that there was weapons of mass destruction there. Now America is invading the Moon because they think water is there. Are they going to be so wrong again?
Or perhaps America has ran out of interesting countries to throw bombs at, so they decided to take it out on the poor old Moon.
Also Obama has won a peace prize? Maybe he has won it because this is the longest amount of time a president has endured after being made president and not invaded another country.
Why would you bomb his cute little creamy face?
Call me Joshynet
