Saturday, September 30, 2006
Qualifying from Bejing
And then it rained. It looked like disaster for the Renaults when they took to the track with the intermediate tires and both spun off within seconds. Was it too wet for even the Michelin tires, had the team miscalculated and sent the drivers out too early?
And then something amazing began to happen. On the next lap the Renaults started to lap consistantly, each lap faster than the last. Quicker and quicker they went, round and round, resetting P1 and fastest sector times every lap. And then it cut to Schumacher.
Schuey was fighting the car as the front washed wide on almost every turn. The Ferrari seemed like it was ready to snap on every entry, tear loose on every exit as its 2.4 litre V8 chugged under the traction control on the treacherous surface. But the inferior Bridgestones were no match for the French rubber and Michael struggled to stay in the top half of the final qualifying before slipping back to sixth place on the grid. With Massa starting from 23rd, after his ten place penalty and blown engine, Michael finds himself sandwiched between the two Maclarens with both Honda's occupying the row in front of him heading into an extremely tight first corner.
I don't know whats going to happen, but if this was a game of poker I'd say that Renault just took the Ferrari teams raise and re-raised back at them. The pressure is all back on the red team and Michael is left on his own to fight against a dominant qualifying performance by the Renault team in their title defence.
PS Go Alonso!
And then it rained. It looked like disaster for the Renaults when they took to the track with the intermediate tires and both spun off within seconds. Was it too wet for even the Michelin tires, had the team miscalculated and sent the drivers out too early?
And then something amazing began to happen. On the next lap the Renaults started to lap consistantly, each lap faster than the last. Quicker and quicker they went, round and round, resetting P1 and fastest sector times every lap. And then it cut to Schumacher.
Schuey was fighting the car as the front washed wide on almost every turn. The Ferrari seemed like it was ready to snap on every entry, tear loose on every exit as its 2.4 litre V8 chugged under the traction control on the treacherous surface. But the inferior Bridgestones were no match for the French rubber and Michael struggled to stay in the top half of the final qualifying before slipping back to sixth place on the grid. With Massa starting from 23rd, after his ten place penalty and blown engine, Michael finds himself sandwiched between the two Maclarens with both Honda's occupying the row in front of him heading into an extremely tight first corner.
I don't know whats going to happen, but if this was a game of poker I'd say that Renault just took the Ferrari teams raise and re-raised back at them. The pressure is all back on the red team and Michael is left on his own to fight against a dominant qualifying performance by the Renault team in their title defence.
PS Go Alonso!
Friday, September 29, 2006
Alfa Romeo pictures from Paris Motor Show.I'll take it, I'll take it over any modern ferrari you can name.
Thursday, September 28, 2006
This is the original sketch for the ape in the page spread below. I really like this drawing, it has a lot of character and its one of my favorite drawings of the ape I ever did.Now that I'm older I'm prepared to live with the work I've done previously which I could not do in the past. I used to draw something and within days decide that it was no good. I'm more inclined to the idea that a drawing is more like a moment in time, it is what it is and doesn't have to stand up to anything else that you do, now, later or before.
What I mean by that is that a drawing exists in two ways, as an expression of an idea in a given place in time and as a memory of an expression of an idea that occured independent of time.
Basically, a piece of art is just that, a piece. A finished image is only a snapshot of a thought that was followed through from an idea or concept, each stage is as valid as the original, or the final destination. Whether you're prepared to look back on your own work and decide that you like, or no longer like it is irrelevant to the position of the artwork in your previous existence. It may as well have been done by a different person, it was in fact done by a different person, namely you aged 30, or 25 or 20. As we age we grow and change and the art that we produce may not have a particular relevence to you now, at this point in time, but it has a relevence to a history of you and unto itself for no other reason than it exists. Get it? Its like the difference between a blade of grass and a lawn, both might achieve the same thing, but a lawn isn't measured by one blade of grass and a blade of grass isn't measured by a lawn. They each exist within their own framework and dimension, related though they are, and so each exists for its own sake and unto itself.
This is a page spread from the ape book. The idea was that the creationists and the evolutionists put the ape on trial each trying to prove the other wrong. The ape is an unwilling pawn in argument over evolution. The verses were on the left hand side.The creationists wanted to prove the ape is a debased human, the evolutionists that he is an evolved ape. In our modern political climate can you guess who might win if the Scopes Monkey trial were held today? I would bet a dollar both ways and break even. At least then I could say that I hadn't lost.
I did a sketch of the monkey dressed in a badly fitting suit with one of those hats like the one in 'Dirty Rotten Scoundrels.' The hitler moustach was a slip of the pencil but when I looked at it I roared with laughter. It seemed like the perfect metaphor for judicial bias to dress the ape like a confirmed idiot, not that such a thing might ever happen in an american courtroom...
Did you know? Dirty Rotten Scoundrels was directed by the great Frank Oz, yes that Frank Oz.
Wednesday, September 27, 2006
1968 Lotus Type 49BBeautiful car from the start of the Ford DFV 'downforce' era of Formula 1 period.
Lotus's next car would be the Lotus 72 for 1969 which for all intensive purposes is the format on which all modern F1 cars are built.
In 1968 wings were added to F1 cars to supply downward lift, or downforce, to hold the cars to the road. If you look at the photos you can see that the wings are actually mounted to the suspension to transmit the downforce generated to the wheels and tyres of the car. They would be banned early in 69 following two near identical failures at the Spanish Grand Prix held at the Montjuich Park track in Barcelona. Both Lotus's would crash out when the rear wings failed. Driving for Lotus in 69 were Graham Hill and Jochan Rindt following the death of Jim Clark the previous year in an F2 race at Hockenheim.
From 1968 through 1971 Lotus raced in the red and gold livery before switching to the famous gold and black of the JPS cars in 1972.
Four Kings
I was playing Full Tilt Limit Hold'em last night. I had a K4 unsuited. This is a hand I wouldn't usually play because the kicker was so low.
Now I was on the big blind so I already had some chips in the pot. I think that I'm going to see the flop. The pot gets raised before the flop and I think to myself 'Hey, I'm already half way there, why not?' Right?
So I call on the raise and the flop comes up KKK. Three Kings laying out as neat as you please and at least two of them are smiling at me, one looks kind of glum and the one in my sweaty paw is laughing his ass off.
How the hell do you play four kings?
If I bet does everyone fold?
Does anyone really believe that four kings are going to show up in a short handed game?
Should I bet and try to make the other players think that I'm trying to pretend I flopped four kings? Is that too much to believe?
Would you bet at a 3 king flop hoping that no ones going to believe you even though you had the nuts?
So I check and determine to bet on the turn no matter what. A 10 comes up on the turn and I bet out. I'm raised and I raise again. People are mucking hands all around the table until its me and one other guy. I'm called and the turn comes up. Its a 4, a pretty junky card and I reckon that anyone left is going to fold, unless they made a pair and have a full house.
I won, but the kings spooked everyone except the guy who raised (he had a pocket 10.) Great hand, less than average pot. Bugger.
Anyway, thats the best hand I ever had at Hold'em. Its probably the best hand I've ever seen in poker. The only thing that was ever going to beat me was four aces or a royal flush and theres no chance of a royal or quad aces, I know I've won. The problem wasn't winning, the problem was getting the others to pay me off.
This was the hardest, most frustrating hand I've ever played. I think if I was sitting there without a king and a three king flop had showed I'd be thinking two things.
1 I don't really believe that anyones got a pocket king, I just don't expect to see one, so I need a card to make a full house.
2 I'm going to fold unless I get a card on the turn or unless I already have a pocket pair which means I've already got a full house.
How would you play this monster hand? If anyone has an idea, do me a favor and let me know.
Tuesday, September 26, 2006
Some quick marker sketches of the first page spread. The lion, leopard and she-wolf would need to be on the right hand side, probably as a fairly abstract design motif. The first half of Canto I will be on the right hand side too.If anyone just tuned in I want to dampen expectations here. This is a project I've been thinking about for years and I expect it might take years more to complete. I may, as work presents itself, be forced to abandon it for weeks if not longer. This is a personal project that I think I can safely say has no hope of any financial return. Therefore it has to be considered a low priority.
Sometimes the things we want to do and the things we have to do are the same thing. Most of the time this is not the case, the things that we want to do are usually exactly not the things we have to do. THIS IS A FOLLY!!!
First few sketches from the margins of my reference copy of the Divine Comedy with the first rough sketches for Dante and the first two page spreads on the left hand side. The lion, leopard and wolf are major elements for the first page spread along with the wood. I'll use visual imagery refered to in the poem even though I will have cut it out of the abridged rewritten poem. Thats just my way of making it a little richer, pictures being worth many words after all.Its time to move onto Canto II and rewrite that next. It won't be long as most of it will be left out. Canto II is a conversation between Dante and Virgil about how the shade came to Dante's aid and references artistic muses and other things that won't make the final cut. I hope to do Canto II in one page spread with not more than 8-12 lines of the poem remaining.
PROJECT DANTE
Canto I
When I was near two score years old 1
I found myself in forest cold
For I was lost, from path I'd strayed
In forest dark with shadows frayed
Then from the foot of hill I reached 2
A path that rose through mountain breached
And almost where the hill did rise
I saw a le0pard thin and lithe 3
And then a lion I beheld 4
Full ravenous with fearsome head
And then a she-wold showed herself 5
Her leaness seemed to bring despair
This very sight so frightened me
I lost all sense or so it seemed
And having there abandoned hope
Of climbing up that mountain slope
That restless beast she stalked me down
Retreated I to lower ground
Before my eyes there then appeared
A vision faint of silence speared
A man I saw in vastness wild 6
'Oh pity me,' were words I cried
'Whatever you may be.' I said
He answered me with ghostly breath
'Not man but once before was man
From Lombardy my parent came
Sub Julio I sang the praise 7
Of Anchises and Troy in flames 8
A poet I was born before
The son of one true God was born.' 9
'And you are Virgil,' I replied
'The stream of all fair speach,' I cried
'It is another path you'll take,' 10
He answered as he watched me shake
'I think and judge it best for you
To follow me, I'll lead you through.'
And so the poet moved away
And followed him to my dark fate
On journey deep he guided me
So soul of mine could be complete 11
Just a few notes on where and why I abridged the first Canto.
The Divine Comedy and the Inferno that I'm concentrating on are extremely complex. They contain many images and metaphors of life in Italy in the late 13th and early 14th century. They do not rhyme as they are translated into english and this make them difficult to undertand. Most of the lines and references that I have left out relate to the more difficult images and connections as they appear in the translation.
1 Dante was 35 years old when he started to write the comedy (Fun fact: I'm 35 too, it was my birthday in mid September.)
2 The hill, or mountain refered to is a higher path to salvation from the dark wood where Dante has strayed.
3 Usually interpreted as a symbol of lust.
4 The lion is generally understood to represent pride.
5 The she wolf is thought to represent avarice. In the Canto there are many lines that refer to her appetite and evil will. The wolf is countered by a greyhound, another animal symbol, which was prophetic of a change to come to save the land and church from the she-wolf.
"Wherefore a lion out of the wood hath slain them, a wolf in the evening hath spoiled them, a leopard watcheth for their cities: every one that shall go out thence shall be taken, because their transgressions are multiplied, their rebellions strengthened" (Jeremiah 5:6)
6 The shade or ghost that Dante sees is Virgil, a Roman poet.
7 'Sub Julio I sang the praise,' Beneath the Ceasar lived Virgil.
8 Anchises (Aeneas) from Virgil's Aeneid tells the story of the burning of the city of Troy after its capture by the Greeks. Aeneas was a Trojan prince who escaped the destruction of Troy and escaped to Latium in central Italy where he established a colony whose descendants founded Rome.
9 Virgil was born and lived before the birth of Christianity and so he is condemned to the afterlife beyond the light of God.
10 The other path that Dante must take is the lower road through hell since the path upwards is blocked to him by the she-wolf.
11 The journey that Dante undertakes is for his soul, which relates back to his straying from the path etc.
I'm going to link to the entire first Canto here so that you can compare if you like where I began and where I ended up. I personally think that most of the hardest and most obscure references have been removed to make it more easily understood as a story, and since I intend to illustrate the poem once complete I think that it should work. Stay with me, this could take a lot of time.
Heres the Wikipedia entry on the Divine Comedy, its worth a look and covers most of the major themes of the poem.
Heres another link, to a project called Danteworlds which explores all the major regions of hell as it appears in the Inferno. Lots of usefull reference. Thanks to the fine people at the University of Texas at Austin for this one.
Canto I
When I was near two score years old 1
I found myself in forest cold
For I was lost, from path I'd strayed
In forest dark with shadows frayed
Then from the foot of hill I reached 2
A path that rose through mountain breached
And almost where the hill did rise
I saw a le0pard thin and lithe 3
And then a lion I beheld 4
Full ravenous with fearsome head
And then a she-wold showed herself 5
Her leaness seemed to bring despair
This very sight so frightened me
I lost all sense or so it seemed
And having there abandoned hope
Of climbing up that mountain slope
That restless beast she stalked me down
Retreated I to lower ground
Before my eyes there then appeared
A vision faint of silence speared
A man I saw in vastness wild 6
'Oh pity me,' were words I cried
'Whatever you may be.' I said
He answered me with ghostly breath
'Not man but once before was man
From Lombardy my parent came
Sub Julio I sang the praise 7
Of Anchises and Troy in flames 8
A poet I was born before
The son of one true God was born.' 9
'And you are Virgil,' I replied
'The stream of all fair speach,' I cried
'It is another path you'll take,' 10
He answered as he watched me shake
'I think and judge it best for you
To follow me, I'll lead you through.'
And so the poet moved away
And followed him to my dark fate
On journey deep he guided me
So soul of mine could be complete 11
Just a few notes on where and why I abridged the first Canto.
The Divine Comedy and the Inferno that I'm concentrating on are extremely complex. They contain many images and metaphors of life in Italy in the late 13th and early 14th century. They do not rhyme as they are translated into english and this make them difficult to undertand. Most of the lines and references that I have left out relate to the more difficult images and connections as they appear in the translation.
1 Dante was 35 years old when he started to write the comedy (Fun fact: I'm 35 too, it was my birthday in mid September.)
2 The hill, or mountain refered to is a higher path to salvation from the dark wood where Dante has strayed.
3 Usually interpreted as a symbol of lust.
4 The lion is generally understood to represent pride.
5 The she wolf is thought to represent avarice. In the Canto there are many lines that refer to her appetite and evil will. The wolf is countered by a greyhound, another animal symbol, which was prophetic of a change to come to save the land and church from the she-wolf.
"Wherefore a lion out of the wood hath slain them, a wolf in the evening hath spoiled them, a leopard watcheth for their cities: every one that shall go out thence shall be taken, because their transgressions are multiplied, their rebellions strengthened" (Jeremiah 5:6)
6 The shade or ghost that Dante sees is Virgil, a Roman poet.
7 'Sub Julio I sang the praise,' Beneath the Ceasar lived Virgil.
8 Anchises (Aeneas) from Virgil's Aeneid tells the story of the burning of the city of Troy after its capture by the Greeks. Aeneas was a Trojan prince who escaped the destruction of Troy and escaped to Latium in central Italy where he established a colony whose descendants founded Rome.
9 Virgil was born and lived before the birth of Christianity and so he is condemned to the afterlife beyond the light of God.
10 The other path that Dante must take is the lower road through hell since the path upwards is blocked to him by the she-wolf.
11 The journey that Dante undertakes is for his soul, which relates back to his straying from the path etc.
I'm going to link to the entire first Canto here so that you can compare if you like where I began and where I ended up. I personally think that most of the hardest and most obscure references have been removed to make it more easily understood as a story, and since I intend to illustrate the poem once complete I think that it should work. Stay with me, this could take a lot of time.
Heres the Wikipedia entry on the Divine Comedy, its worth a look and covers most of the major themes of the poem.
Heres another link, to a project called Danteworlds which explores all the major regions of hell as it appears in the Inferno. Lots of usefull reference. Thanks to the fine people at the University of Texas at Austin for this one.
Monday, September 25, 2006
I'm off to the premiere of 'Open Season' tonight with my brother, he worked as an animator on the film. It should be interesting, a little bit of a smooze fest.This is a spread from the ape book that took a long time to put together. After the initial concept was worked out I ended up drawing it layer by layer. I'd work out a theme or detail, make a sketch and scan it, trace it in Illustrator and then drop it into place in the document. It took an awful long time to get it all together, but I liked the results. Its easier to work hard on a piece thats working, hanging together as is were, than to continue bashing away on a troublesome image thats falling apart.
I actually had a lot more elements in this one, I ended up dropping quite a few animals because it had got too busy. If I can find a sketch for this one I'll post it later. Because it was inspired by childrens book illustrations from the 50's and 60's I wanted to give it hugely bright colors which I really dug.
PROJECT DANTE
I finished rewriting and condensing Canto I of the Inferno yesterday, in between a long afternoon snooze and the amazing race. I have the authors 136 lines down to mine 40.
Canto II is going to be a bit of a problem as it deals with the issue of why Virgil is there to help the poet, but nothing actually happens. I think it may work if its reduced to to 8-10 lines, just a note to pave Virgil's way to Dante's path. One single page spread should do it, though I have no ideas about what that might me yet.
I finished rewriting and condensing Canto I of the Inferno yesterday, in between a long afternoon snooze and the amazing race. I have the authors 136 lines down to mine 40.
Canto II is going to be a bit of a problem as it deals with the issue of why Virgil is there to help the poet, but nothing actually happens. I think it may work if its reduced to to 8-10 lines, just a note to pave Virgil's way to Dante's path. One single page spread should do it, though I have no ideas about what that might me yet.
Sunday, September 24, 2006
Hipster Doofus Monkey on a Sunday morning...
So I'm hunting around for some stuff to do. The Dante project is on hold while I have a rethink, more on that soon. I want to start doing some t-shirt designs using F1 cars from the early sixties, that needs a lot of work but I'm looking forward to it. I have another book project that I want to start, the story is layed out but I have to start writing it yet. Feels like a kind of limbo, lots to do, but I have to choose a direction. These things take time to clarify and set right after all.
This is one a number of sketches for a page from my ape book, it was a bitch. I'm messaging my sister in Ireland as I post this, by god that girl does the typepad thingy fast, you'd swear she was dictating.
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