David L. Atkinson's Blog, page 32

Writing - Notes to Strangers

Came across the artist Andy Leek who is making a name for himself putting posters up in London with philosophical commentary.

[image error]Andy Leek
Biography
So far in my advertising career I have worked in Amsterdam, Shanghai, Brussels and London for agencies such as DDB, Ogivly, M & C Saatchi, Havas, Lowe, Work Club, Huge and several more smaller ones.

My personal art work has been featured by Buzzfeed (x2), VICE(x2), The Huffington Post(x2), The Mail Online (x2), The Independent, London Live, The Metro (x2), Vice (x2), Cosmo, Marie Claire, Yahoo News, Bustle MSN News, Ebay.com, Design Taxi (x2), Creativity Online, Today and Tomorrow, Youtube's Homepage, HUH Magazine, Communication Arts, Walker Arts magazine and many more news and art organisations.
Recently Andy has been fly posting in London on various surfaces. He has also posted his Instagram link which is the title of this post.
Finish yourNovel/Painting/Album/Film
Above is the text of one of his posters which I can identify with. I check my Twitter followers daily and there are a significant number who use the words 'aspiring' and 'budding' when referring to their artistic ambitions. I agree with Andy and would say do it.
Dogs makeexcellenttherapists.
The above poster just made me smile as did the next,
Home isnot a placeit's a feeling.
Keep up the great work Andy.
Gallery visit


Yesterday I visited the Hepworth Modern Art Gallery in Wakefield. It is a distinctive building which my mother thought was awful and I must admit I'm not keen. Inside the place is Japanese in its simplicity and I must admit very comfortable to walk round.The first exhibit you come across is absolutely beautiful and is by Henry Moore with the title Reclining Figure. It is carved from elm, highly polished and is the oldest wooden sculpture in the country.
Reclining Figure
The photograph doesn't do justice to the piece as it doesn't show the markings in the wood. The point is that as the first exhibit it is a stunner but I'm afraid my feelings towards modern art weren't significantly altered by what I came across.I have been astounded over the years by what the Art Council gives grants for and The Hepworth has examples of objects purported to be art - 17 pebbles (17 pebbles); and,  tree stump (a tree stump!There are artefacts that have been produced with great skill, I can appreciate that, and I can also appreciate the functionality of some of the artefacts like the desk below.
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It is without doubt that an office adorned with desks, as above, would be a happier place to work. 
BUT please don't try and tell me that half a pickled cow or someone's filthy, messy bedroom is art!.
God Bless

Poetry Thursday 234 - Autumn introspections

A bit of a mixed bag this week. Taking all three offerings as a unit then a fairly reasonable reflection of the introspective nature of the season with the occasional flash of Christmas.

Northern Autumn
And what of this misty season?The shortening, damp days,the flash of pre-fall colour,and the shutting down of life’s ways.


A cooling of the night,and equally accruing mornings,all signals of a colder time,the heralding of winter’s testings.
Bright jewels stabbing through the greyness,early hints of the coming religious season,signifying new birth,dazzling punctuation to temperatures freezing.
Nothing lasts and change will come again,in life’s time a mere blip.Cold follows, damp and grey, warm and hot,and once again the year’s done its flip.
© David L Atkinson October 2016

Then there is the nature of our choices. School's these days give children the opportunity to decide for themselves the type of path they will follow in the future. In my day we had little choice.

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Art or Science
In which to fit?Is it scientist, geographer, artist, writer.School didn’t really get it right.Science – which was most likely.Arts discarded early.Now the reversing of the trendnow nearing life’s latter end.To write,to draw,to paint,I’m not pretending to be something I ain’t.It isn’t a case of how good.Each new piece is an experiment,a step back in time.Making marks on paper is the variable,continued effort the constant.Not Science but Art.© David L Atkinson October 2016



Finally, the last moments before launching something into the public eye.
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How good is it?
There was a poem or a sketch,written and drawn afreshfor an audience of only one.Shared rather readily,not at all foolishly,but unsure as to the quality of what’s done. © David L Atkinson October 2016


God Bless

Tuesday Food Blog - Roast brisket

I decided on traditional lunches for the weekend and so there isn't a recipe as such this week.


No great secrets but perhaps some of the things I did will tempt you. 
The meat is brisket and was very tasty. To ensure a moist joint I roasted the meat on a bed of onions and carrots after first rubbing olive oil into the meat and then seasoning with salt and ground black pepper.
Roast potatoes were par boiled for 10 to 15 minutes then placed around the meat to finish at a high temperature.
The greenish mash in the photograph is actually cauliflower and broccoli. No great surprise here but a useful way to use up veg which are getting a little old. Seasoned with salt and pepper and a knob of butter. Boil the veg till soft, drain add the seasoning and butter then use a stick blender to mash.
The meal is quite tasty and reheats very well.
God Bless

Writing - The Shed C Scrolls

To appreciate this post one should do what it is we all do when reading a piece of fiction. We should allow our imagination free rein to wander where it will.

Shed C!
Scholars claim to have discovered a neglected parchment in one of the temporary buildings presently housing relics in Judea. 
Adam said: "Lord, when I was in the garden, you walked with me every day. Now I do not see you any more. When Eve's in one of her moods I get lonely, and it's hard to remember how much you love me."
God said: "I will create a companion that will be with you for ever and who will be a reflection of my love for you. This new companion will accept you as you are and will love you as I do - even when thou art a pain."
And God created a new animal. And God was pleased. And the new animal was pleased, and it wagged its tail.

Adam said: "Lord, I have already named all the animals and I don't know hat to call this one. And God said: "He is a reflection of my love for you, so his name will reflect mine. Call him Dog."
And Dog lived with Adam and loved him. And Adam was much comforted. And God was pleased. And Dog was pleased, and Dog wagged his tail, a lot.

But after a while, the Lord saw that Adam was filled with pride. He strutted and preened like a peacock and believed that he was worthy of constant adoration. It was Dog that had taught him this.
And God said: "I will create for him another companion who sees him as he truly is and reminds him of his many limitations so that he will know that he is not worthy of constant adoration."
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And God created Cat. And Cat would not obey Adam. And when Adam gazed into Cat's eyes, he saw nothing but indifference. So Adam learned humility. God was pleased and Adam was somewhat improved. And Dog was still relatively content because Cat sometimes wandered off and then Dog had Adam all to himself. And Dog wagged his tail.
And Cat? He couldn't care less because after all he was a cat.
And for those who are pondering a Dog or a Cat in their homes, remember,
Dogs have owners,Cats have staff.
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God Bless

Writing - 10 things

The no news news post.


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1. Close-protection security consultants work on the principle that a client should never be more than eight seconds from rescue.


That's why ordinary folk can never get an ambulance.
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2. One 19-year-old Donald Trump supporter is single-handedly distorting US polling averages.

He is a dangerous man and should be ignored.


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3. The world's top institution for undergraduates, measured by Nobel prize winners per 10,000 students, is the Ecole Normale Superieure in Paris.


Tres bon n'est pas


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4. You can be served a lawsuit via Twitter.


So you can delete it then!


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5. When fleeing a perceived threat, deer run either north or south.


Unless they're dyslexic.


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6. The ancient Greeks may have reached China 1,500 years before Marco Polo.


Weren't travelling by British Rail.


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7. Saddam Hussein had a secret "detention room" on New York's Upper East Side.


Home from home then


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8. Your doctor's political preferences can influence the treatment they recommend.


Oh dear!


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9. You can use the new plastic £5 note to play vinyl records.


I've grave doubts as to whether plastic fivers really exist. I've never had one.


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10. Snowboarding may have originated in Turkey.


Well done the Turks


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God Bless

Writing - Get over yourselves and celebrate #bobdylan

Hardly is the ink dry on the Literature prize awarded to Bob Dylan than the naysayers are leaping out of the woodwork.

[image error]Bob Dylan
Why is it that some people fail to derive any pleasure from the success achieved by another?
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Natalie Kon-Yu, is vitriolic in the Guardian this morning. She is taking the feminist position on Dylan;s success. I quote,
 Giving the award to any white male writer, no matter what form he writes in, is in no way innovative or inspired. It is simply a return to the status quo – albeit in a different genre.
Another author stated that if Dylan had won the award he would take up basketball all I can say is watch the double dribble!
The problem for Ms Natalie Kon-Yu and others is that they are so focused on their own position that to be vaulted over by someone they don't perceive to have the right is too be pushed backwards in their quest for success as they measure it.
I am of the babyboomer generation, just a little younger than Dylan, but I do not consider myself sexist unlike many of my contemporaries. However, in the realm of awards, and I include the Oscars, surely it depends upon the talent that is out there at the time. Isn't cornering awards for the ethnic minorities or women to even up the perceived 'imbalance' tantamount to adding an unfair parameter in their being judged? 
It is true that some organisations have been slow to catch up in the equality stakes. In the film industry it isn't just the people who give out the awards but the film makers themselves who need to change. Similarly the very conservative narrow minded panel at Nobel, that has judged Dylan worthy, have thought outside the box, but the pathetic criticisms of their decision is likely to drive them to take a backward step next year.
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To those who have rather pathetically threatened to take up the guitar as a result of Dylan's success are in danger of losing to the man on two counts instead of just the one!
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I leave this news with a quote from the Wall Street Journal,
The Nobel Prize in Literature confirms his status as something more than a songwriter of a kind with those who preceded him. For those who follow him closely, savouring his witticisms, poignant observations and the unexpected word at precisely the right time, the acknowledgement is long overdue, with all respect to Messrs. Murakami, Roth, Sondheim and others. Sentence by sentence and verse by verse, Mr. Dylan’s body of work is worthy of maximum celebration.—Mr. Fusilli is the Journal’s rock and pop music critic.
Returning to my own limited literary efforts my latest novel is with the online publisher and I am waiting for the proof copies to be combed through by my friendly proof readers. They are friends and so do the work simply for a copy of the finished article. You could say that they fight shy of wanting double pay!I have never won an award but have been nominated! It isn't something that I desire but recognition is important to a writer. However, there is only one Literary award or Man/Booker prize and we who write spend time producing copious amounts of work - too much to be scrutinised. I know that I'm repeating a mantra I have trotted out many times before but surely we write because that is our art. If we are successful great! However, we don't stop writing.God Bless

Writing - Birds are chained to the sky #bobdylan

Just considering the subject of today's post and along came the news that Bob Dylan was announced as having won the Nobel Prize for Literature.

[image error]Bob Dylan
I'm sure that there will be some of the establishment, literature snobs looking down their great noses at the award with disdain but I believe that the award to Dylan is a superb.
Born in 1941 in Duluth, Minnesota Robert Allen Zimmerman has been singing and writing for five decades. He is 75 years old and has made a massive contribution in words to our western culture. At times he has been a conscience as well as an entertainer. I remember as a teenager his protest songs of the sixties and being impressed. His talent has never waned.
Blowin' in the WindBob DylanHow many roads must a man walk downBefore you call him a man?How many seas must a white dove sailBefore she sleeps in the sand?Yes, and how many times must the cannon balls flyBefore they're forever banned?The answer, my friend, is blowin' in the windThe answer is blowin' in the windYes, and how many years can a mountain existBefore it's washed to the sea?Yes, and how many years can some people existBefore they're allowed to be free?Yes, and how many times can a man turn his headAnd pretend that he just doesn't see?The answer, my friend, is blowin' in the windThe answer is blowin' in the wind


Only two verses of the song that was written in 1962 and so much relevance to today. If you want to listen to the whole piece click on the link below.
https://youtu.be/3l4nVByCL44
Publishing progress
Today was supposed to be the day that my tenth Steele novel was sent to the online publisher BUT!!!!!! The site seems to have a problem. That is really frustrating. Here I am ready to go and I'm stymied.Hold on!
Would you believe it, as I was typing it all went through.



The above is the probable final cover.
God Bless

Poetry Thursday 233 - Typically topical

The UK news has been overblown with the USA election. I can't believe the US would spend equivalent amounts of time on our political shenanigans. This time there is a threat to the world depending upon the outcome.
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Oh no he didn’t
What of the world under Drumpf?A bouffant, rich, reactionary,who may press the button in an harrumph,and consign the Earth to purgatory.
What of the role of democracyin a country that presses it on others,that puts all faith in the pecuniary,to the exclusion of poorer brothers?
If Drumpf fails in presidential questand distaff Clinton wins the day,it may only be temporary rest,for who in the future will want to play?
There it is a matter of financial ability,rather than proven political worth.Here thank goodness for continuing royaltya family buffer of noble worth.
© David L Atkinson October 2016

[image error]Brexit opens doors,
Peoples' choice unexpected
Government dances


This haiku was written for a competition on the Completely Novel website which closes at the end of the month.
God Bless

Writing - A turbulent year

This political year could be massive when we look back in a few years time. If we take the year from June 1st 2016 to a similar time next year the backwash could hit the whole world. Perhaps we don't know how significant this time could be.

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In the UK it all began with the referendum on June 23rd resulting in the UK leaving the EU, then three months later and the two main political parties are tearing themselves apart. Not to mention the laughing stock that is UKIP.
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In November the USA pantomime will reach a conclusion and that could have huge consequences depending on the outcome.Similarly, there are elections next year in both France and Germany, where vociferous extreme parties will be contesting power.
By the time October 2017 arrives we could live in a very different world and even writers couldn't come up with some of the stuff that may happen. It is not the first time there have been tumultuous years in history.
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5th January 
Edward the Confessor died aged 62 leaving no heirs.
6th January
Earl Harold crowned the day of Edward's funeral in what was effectively a coup d'etat.
10th September
As well as William and Harold contesting the English throne there was the Norwegian, Harald Hardrada. On the 10th his huge fleet arrived at the River Tyne to begin their vast assault on England.
20th September
The Vikings won the Battle of Fulford, defeating the armies of Mercia and Northumbria.
25th September
At the Battle of Stamford Bridge the Vikings were defeated by King Harold of England but it was a Pyrrhic victory. Harold's English force was seriously depleted.
14th October
William of Normandy lands at Pevensey and lured Harold into battle during which Harold took an arrow in the eye as legend has it.
Late 1066
The boy who should have inherited the throne from Edward the Confessor was Edgar Aetheling (Royal Prince). Certain Dukes and religious leaders tried to establish the 14 year old boy on the throne but he was forced to cede to William in December.
25th December
William the Conqueror was crowned on Christmas Day in Westminster Abbey.
So real turmoil in a very short time almost 1000 years ago and here we are again but on a worldwide scale. If you are a writer there is a wealth of information in this post to start writing several books or at least to generate those germs of ideas.
God Bless

Tuesday Food Blog - David's lamb pie!

I was in a bit of a rush this weekend at the supermarket and I found myself throwing things in the trolley last minute, when I'm normally anally retentive about planning.

David's lamb pie
This is definitely a pie of my own creation and although it began as a shepherd's pie the outcome was somewhat different. In some ways it was my comfort food. A pie with a hint of the Italian, lamb and new potatoes.
Ingredients
Potatoes, parboiled for 10 minutes500g lamb mince1 onion, chopped2 tbsp tomato puree14oz tin of chopped tomatoesoreganogarlic100ml milk2oz butter100g cheddar cheese1tbsp flour750ml vegetable stock
Method
While parboiling the halved new potatoes fry off the onion until clarified in either butter or oil. Add the lamb mince to the frying pan and brown then add the garlic, oregano and tomato puree. Stir thoroughly and season. Pour in the vegetable stock, bring to the boil and simmer for ten to fifteen minutes. Pre-heat the oven to 200 degrees celsius.Drain the potatoes after ten minutes and add the butter and season. sprinkle over the flour and stir until the potatoes are covered then pour over the milk and return to the hob over a low heat stirring gently, add the cheese. Pour the meat sauce into an ovenproof casserole and add the potato topping. Place in the oven for 25 to 30 minutes.
Enjoy.
So what you have is an Italianate lamb meat sauce with a cheesy potato topping. Purists would have you make a separate cheese sauce but this method is less time consuming, less wasteful and quite slimming in that you use less of the minimum sauce ingredients and still the potatoes are covered without being too gloopy. Ingredients like the garlic and oregano are my preferences and you add or leave them out according to personal taste.
God Bless