I forgot a title on the last post... More links to Modern Artists

If you like some of the art that I have linked to in the last week or so, here are a few more in a similar style:

http://www.davidchoe.com/

http://www.mikegiant.com/

http://obeygiant.com/

http://www.sillypinkbunnies.com/

Hi. A few links to satisfy the more artistically inclined of you.


http://www.kurthalsey.com/

http://www.samflores.com/

(I recently purchased one of the Sam Flores Billy Bronze vinyl figures, which is very good.)

PS - I'm not dead. I have been scribbling madly away in my notebook; one of the setbacks of writing everything longhand in notebooks (love my Moleskine) is that I have to type it out, and due to the appalling lack of time on my hands, I haven't been able to get it on here to show you.

WIPs Include -

• The Witching Hour, the opening of which is on here, and I have since come up with about 3 more stories to go with it
• A Drama monologue for a friend's sister, from the perspective of a character based on "The Dump"
• A fun fairytale which reverses the role of the wolf and Little Red Riding Hood.

Stay tuned, and have a wonderful weekend, folks! Blake.

"Changing Enrolments", or, "Why my life doesn't suck that much"

Hi. Today, I changed enrolments from a silly course called Writing the Self (which sounds bad, and is worse) to Discursive Writing. Hopefully this will give me the skills for language control which I am seeking, and so I think it will be swish. Also, and more importantly, I will now get Bec time, which was a MAJOR factor in the choice.

This means that I now have 9 hours of classes on a Thursday. Yay (if by yay, you mean awww...). That being said though, my life is not as bad as many other peoples' at the moment. Take a gentleman called Simon who I know, for example - he spent 2 hours looking for a park at uni, missed his class, and then found out he can't change the stuff he needs to in order to be an exchange student. Bad blue, dude.

So I have changed, and am much relieved. I am currently working on the monologue for my mate's sister, as well as trying to hash up more ideas for The Witching Hour. I'll get there eventually.

I will (hopefully) be posting up some more stuff quite soon, once I have settled back into the grind of uni and so on.

Oh, I remember - I am writing this mainly to point you here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k66epna2Sss

Go there. You'll laugh. Unless you love Paris Hilton. In which case, I don't really care what you do.

Have a good one. Blake.

Oh wow.

Every now and then, you come across something, and know that the world is a wonderful place.

Go here, and discover this for yourself:

INDIAN "THRILLER"

Have a great night. Blake.

The Comma, "V" Drink, and Neil Gaiman Doing it Right

Firstly, one of my dear friends today made mention of my liberal use of the humble comma. Looking back on some of the pieces I have written, it became obvious that this was dominant in the shorter, snappier pieces. I think this has to do mainly with wanting to keep full sentence breaks to a minimum, in order to highlight the quick, snappy pace of them. But I digress...

I really love V drink. It has the amazing capacity to mess with ones head. For example, I can drink it, then stay awake for quite some time feeling alert, or I can promptly fall asleep. How odd.

Lastly for this evening (I don't really have much to write, although I have done a bit more work on The Witching Hour, I want to post up the next bit, instead of just one segment) Neil Gaiman is pretty much finished his book called "The Graveyard Book", which I am looking fowards to immensly. Have a look in the collection of short stories called "Dark Alchemy", the first story is one of the chapters of the book.

I lied, the last thing of note is that I heard back from the talented Lawrence Yang, of SuckAtLife, and I have the go-ahead to write a few bits and pieces inspired by his work. Which is awesome (his work, that is). If you ignored me the other day when I told you to go and see his stuff, then here is one of the sample pieces from his site (permission given to advertise for him!):

Draft Opening of The Witching Hour

Well, I have been writing a little bit here and there, and I have a draft #1 opening to the story I posted about yesterday (the clock bell tower one), called The Witching Hour. Here it is:

***

The clock tower makes a harsh silhouette against the moon. Worn sandstone battered by long years of rain and wind stands tall and proud, jutting high into the purple sky. Ancient gears grind deep within the heart of it, there is a clicking, and a well-oiled whirring, then;

Glong! the clock strikes one...

The fog is thick, she moves hastily, eager to get to the hovel she calls home. She imagines foosteps behind her on the cold cobblestones, which are cracked and stark. Hearing a noise, she turns abruptly, but sees only the swirling and twisting of a pea-souper mist.

She turns back again, heading home, is startled by a terrifying visage, cloaked in night, a hideous face demented by rage. Slash! and again! The blade catches the moonlight, flicking blood onto the street.

They find her in the morning, face frozen in a rictus of pain, the torment of her last moments etched into her eyes. Her hair is splayed around her in a mocking halo, her blood has pooled and congealed around her; a crimson spiderweb is traced into the cobbles.

It is Whitechapel, 1888, and the Ripper has killed again.

Glong! the clock strikes two...

His magic is gone, used up and burnt away, like the last wood to stave off the winter chill. His wings are broken, and crumpled, torn in places. His once-glorious face is covered in scratches and blood and grime; panting, he falls to the ground, smearing his now tarnished and rusted armour with dark mud.

Through the night, he senses them nearing, being lured ever-onwards by his scent. They have reinforcements. He knows it is over.

Battered and bruised, the Faerie Prince draws his sword for the last time, the Sword of Morning, and, kissing its cool blade, he prepares himself for the last stand.

Suddenly, a flash of light, then a dazzling flash! banish the darkness, and a woman with the reddest hair and lips the green colour of poison appears before him, smiling and reaching out her pale, thin hand. Quivering, he reaches out, and takes it...

When the bone-hounds come scrabbling up the hill, through the thorns of the thicket, they find nothing, and the scent of the Prince is gone.

Glong! the clock strikes three...

***

So that is the draft intro for The Witching Hour, which is part of a bunch of short projects I am working on under the tentative label Kaleadoscopic Visions of a Rag-tag World. I hope you enjoy. If you have any comments, please feel free to either leave them here, or email me at blakejolly@hotmail.com.

Have a great one. Blake.

*Sigh* What is wrong with this world???

Well, this post is sure to live up to the name of the blog. It's rant time people, and here is my list of top ten rants, in order from most annoying to not-so-annoying:

1. Hookers or random slutty "dating" agencies trying to add me as a friend on MySpace. It was funny the first time, the second time was a little odd. It's number 8 now, joke's old.

2. The random Chinese lady who has called the house the last four nights running, asking for a Mr. Jolly, and claiming to be selling nothing. Each time, we tell her we aren't interested, and not to call again. About 3 minutes after putting the phone down, it rings again, and is guess who...?

3. Roadworks.

4. Blogger signing me out randomly.

5. Women.

6. Work in the morning (ugh!).

7. Not being able to acquire the book I needed for uni.

8. Running out of things to rant about.

9. Sand in my eyes.

10. The odd power failure we get whenever the kitchen light is turned on. I know, weird, hey!

On another, entirely unrelated, and un-ranting note, I am currently working on a short collection of stories that will be based around an old church bell tolling midnight - in between each toll, a small story will occur. I think it may be kinda cool.

Have a great weekend folks. Blake.

PS! I heard back from the aforementioned Lawrence Yang, who has kindly given me permission to flaunt his work and shamelessly advertise on this site, as well as write some stuff drawn creatively from his fabulous work.

Suck At Life

I found this website today while looking for pictures of melancholy people. It is called "SuckAtLife.com", and contains the rather remarkable work of Lawrence Yang.

I thought it would be cool to post up here, as it is yet another great example of an artist working with inimitable style to create something truly unique and fun.

I have contacted the artist for permission to put a couple of pictures on here, and to write some accompanying "literary snapshots" if you will.

So there you have it. Another day at the coal face. Good evening. Blake.

Snapshots of Disturbance

These were inspired by some of the amazing Tim Biskup's Jackson 500 collection. Have a look at his website for some amazing gear.

These are inspired by the paintings 206, 207, and 226.
_________________________________________________

The witch shrieks, her cries chill the hearts of those around, despite the overbearing heat. She is tied in an embrace with a stake, the last embrace she will know, save that of oblivion. Or hell. Her skin blackens and cracks, burning; now melting, liquifying in the flames as they rise higher around her. The moon, low and gibbous, frowns on the earth, and the clouds, angry, rain blood down from the crimson skies. Justice is being served. The work is hard, thankless. But it is God's work. And it is good.

***

The angel burns, the Trumpet sounds like a voice from the heavens condemning man for his sins. The wings are charcoal, the beauty lost, flowing away. Golden garments are in tatters. Stars fall, raining down on the earth, glowing, exposing the godless shame. This is man's work.
***

The demon stretches for the first time in aeons, its wings unfurl, it casts off the bindings that bit deep into its neck over millenia, ichor flows, and the air smells of sulfur, the perfume of hell. It tears off the last of the Tetragrammaton bindings; it is free.

Copyright, Blake Jolly, 2008.

_________________________________________________

Also really awesome is the work of Nathan Jurevicius. Check Him Out.

Have a great one. Blake.

Back to Uni, the Irony of Life, and the Joy of Moleskine

Well, here I am. I haven't blogged in a bit, so I thought I had better pop in and say hello. Back to uni today (its the wee hours, so, it technically is today...), and I am sort of looking foward to/dreading it.

In other news, the world is a very ironic place, in case you had not realised this. Unfortunately, this fact was brought home to me this afternoon in such a spectacular fashion, that I feel as though Cosmic Karma has taken a stonking great poo on my head. Thats right. Stonking. If I ever meet Karma, I will kick him/her firmly in the balls/ovaries. But seriously!

Also today I purchased a Moleskine book, which is really quite nice. If you like to write and do so in style, I have to recommend one of these books - GO HERE!

Have a great day folks. Blake.

The (tentatively) finished LUST intro poem

Last night I dreamed a dream of you,
A dream of dread desire,
And in that dream dark passions flowed
Which filled my heart with fire.

You fill my heart with longing,
My eyes with lustful sights,
I want to have and hold you,
Oh curse that fateful night!

This fateful night did stir me,
Did wake the inner beast,
I need to feel your touch now,
Let loving be our feast.

Copyright, 2008, Blake Jolly.

I am happy with the rhyming and the flow, and I like the 12 line, 3 stanza thing. I'm moving on to Pride and Greed now, and I have yet to decide if I should change the style for each poem to reflect the "sin" better... Undecided. Hope you enjoyed.

Happy Valentine's Day (oddly fitting!).

Blake.

Happy Singles Awareness Day

Hi. Just thought I would say Happy Valentines Day, or rather, as I have re-named it (along with my friend Liz) "Singles Awareness Day". This year, we will be raising money for single people everywhere, in an effort to increase awareness of their plight. Please give generously. Hahaha.

Incidentally, Valentine's Day has been atound for centuries, and is actually a celebration of the life of St. Valentine. A feast was held on the day of his death (14th Feb) following his canonisation.

Anyhow, have a great day, and make sure you show someone you care about them.

Blake.

The Dump (?)

This is a poem I wrote in about twenty minutes, and then edited over a few days until I was happy with it. I was inspired after going to the tip with my father (to dispose of a bunch of tree clippings, if you're interested), and I found myself looking out over the desolation, and wondering what it would be like if we could throw away our emotions and such in a similar manner.

I planned to change the name when I tentatively named it "The Dump", hence the question mark, but I decided I liked and, and so it stayed where it was.

Originally I planned this for a short story (which would be more of a medium-length story), and I still plan on writing it. I may use this by way of introducing the narrator.

Apologies in advance for the small font, but I wanted it to retain its structure.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy it, and I hope it makes you think.

The Dump (?)

What if I told you that there is place you can go,
That you can get to by climbing a hill, pushing through a rusted gate,
And in this place, you can dispose of all your unwanted
Emotions, Fears, Memories, Dreams, Desires;
People go there everyday, it never closes, and there, at the tip face,
As isolation blasts at them, scorching their eyes and mouths,
They pay to lose a part of themselves forever.

In this place of discarded dreams and nightmares, loves and losses,
The insubtantial waste convolutes, melds, forms into disastrous beings
Which procreate, hideous, misshapen parodies of once-human baggage.
Through the dark of night, the torturous heat of the day,
They mutate into something... other.
In this place, these demons of ours laugh mockingly, more human, perhaps, than us.

My first visit, I was nervous, but they told me
There Is Nothing To Worry About, and
We Do This All The Time;
As they expertly extracted part of me out of my head, I wished
That there was an easier way.

But who wants to remember the lost love,
The bad dreams that won't go away?
If you could get rid of it, would you?
Is comfort worth the sacrifice of self?

I don't know what I lost.
I suppose that is the point.
But it's gone, and I wish it wasn't.

See, we are the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly,
It's what defines us, makes us what we are.

Without our agony, how do we find our peace?

Copyright, Blake Jolly, 2008.

PS- if you liked this (or hated it and want to rant at me) please comment.

PPS- edited on the 20/2/2007 to change the word unwanted in the first line of the second stanza thing to "discarded". Funnily, despite reading it over again looking for similarities in the lines, I missed this one every time. I found it when I was going over it in my head last night in bed. So now I've fixed it.

Regards, Blake.

An idea, and a (fragment of) a poem

I have been playing around for a while now with the idea of a series of linked short stories that deal with human characterisations of the seven deadly sins. Essentially the main thing stopping me is the linking of the stories. However, the other day at work , I was struck with another cool idea, and the beginning lines of a poem for the LUST story worked its way into my head. Basically, i figured that it would be kinda cool to have short poems (of a sort) to begin each story with, and perhaps use that as the linking device. Yeah. How cool's that?

But I digress; this is the opening stanza of the LUST poem, which I think will actually be story number 3, as I want to do the GREED and PRIDE stories first. But I'll go with what I have for the meantime. Here goes:

"Last night I dreamed a dream of you,
A dream of dread desire,
And in that dream dark passions flowed,
Which filled my heart with fire."

So there you are. I think it works. If you like it, or it doesn't work for you, then please, leave a comment, everyone is able to.

Cheers, and good night, Blake.

Great News!!!

I read in the tv guide today (something I do weekly, because although I don't really watch much on tv itself - i get shows on DVD - they have great info on tv shows and so on) that the cast and creators of Buffy the Vampire Slayer are getting together for a big meeting, the purpose of which (it has been reported) is to discuss the movie.

Thats right, a movie.

Of Buffy.

I love the world.

Well Good God Damn, and other such phrases!

I stole that line from a very catchy song called "The Beat That My Heart Skipped", by Dan Le Sac Versus Scroobius Pip. I like it, and it's fitting. See, for the last few days, I have been out of internet - my router died in a storm, and then I was in Sydney with no net... hence the lack of posting...

So... What can I tell you? Uh, oh!

I purchased a few things in Sydney that I have been after for some time now. One was a book of art by the gentleman who drew Hatter M and 30 Days of Night Ben Templesmith. It is a collection of his artworks (second volume) called "Conluvio", which happens to be very good.

I also picked up a copy of Ascend, a graphic novel illustrated in the inimitable style of Christopher Shy. It is marvellous. His work always inspires me, and I find him to be one of the greatest artists currently working in the graphic novel field (among many others).

Finally I got my hot little hands on Neil Gaiman's most recent short story collection, Fragile Things, which is amazing, as is all his work. I very much enjoyed the story "A Study In Emerald", which is a must for anyone who likes a good read, and is available for free here: http://www.neilgaiman.com/p/Cool%20Stuff/Short%20Stories as a .pdf file to download (its illustrated, and is about 5 mb, well worth it). Its a brilliant Sherlock Holmes/Lovecraftian-esque story, and melds in a lot of popular mythology throughout. Have a look.

Also, have a good night. Blake.

Holidays have come at last!

I finally, for the first time in about a year and a half, have a full week off both work and uni. It is amazing. And I can't wait. I'm going to bum around for a bit, then go to Sydney for a few days to visit Captain Dave.

Incidentally, in some ironic twist of galactic arseholery, today at work was rather long and drawn out, as time often is when you are waiting for something, and I found myself wishing that the waterboard fellows would come to unblock all the drainage systems, as I was left waiting for the loo for about 4 hours.

I purchased Coraline the other day, written by none other than Neil Gaiman, and found myself rather scared. For a 'children's' book, it is rather freaky, although perhaps it is more that way inclined towards adults, who can grasp what is fully going on.

In other news, I also acquired a copy of the indommitable Shaun Tan's all-picture book The Arrival, which documents in breathtaking art the story of a man and his family going through the difficult experience of emigration. I would thoroughly recommend it, even with the $40 Aus price tag, as the book is drawn, as well as bound in hardback with a high level of quality.

I'm currently constructing a list of the Top Ten Films of 2007, as well as Top Ten Lists of The Best Graphic Novels, The Best Novels, and so on. Standby...

ps. Have a good weekend. Blake.

An Uneventful Day

Today was pretty much uneventful, apart from a blackout which made the heat unbearable (central air is pretty useless when there is no power, it seems), and my friend Shaun's birthday, which involved eating pizza and watching the ridiculous film Die Hard 4.0 (I rate it about 4/10, for those interested, and the stupidity is the main reason thereof...).

So pretty boring. Those looking for something interesting to look at should have a look at the art of Ben Templesmith, and Takashi Murakami. Both are very good.

Also, the artwork of Christopher Shy is amazingly beautiful, and a little creepy to boot in some cases. Here is his site: IT'S REALLY REALLY GOOD. Go there.