ah.. kinds words

Steve Augarde - who if I had a site address for, I would link to - made my day after looking at my paintings:

Hi Mark - What a neat site - and I love your paintings! The flying man I especially like - and I'm glad I didn't see it before trying to produce an image of a winged creature for the cover of The Various. I would gave nicked it. I have another painter friend, Nell Nile, who also produces these very joyous dream-like things and I'm always envious of those who seem to be able to let go in this way. I'm far too uptight and hung up on technique to be like that. Great stuff.

Hopefully he won't mind me using his words and blowing my own trumpet - praise a professional and highly-skilled artist doesn’t happen every day.
Thanks Steve :)

Train Blog

Blogging from the train – the 11.19 Wakefield to Kings Cross London…
Mobile blogging would be really cool if only hills, valleys, tunnels and agricultural hinterlands didn’t exist. ;) Signal deserts , areas of low radiation – good for the walker or farmer, bad for the mobile blogger.

Ahh – just arriving at Grantham station – that explains it.
I’m at a interactive Agencies meeting this afternoon, nr Covent garden where I used to work years an years ago.. will be nice to see it all again (though have been back there in the meantime of course).. wonder if there will anti-war demos going on today. Then seeing Garry, Rachel & Dorian tonight – looking forward to that.
Enough nu media blog nonsense – see if I have a good enough signal to upload this .. bit of work to do and then onto to testing my play lines .. not long until the 4th April. Eek.

Tuesday_night_ramble

I feel like blogging tonight - it's not that late but I'm usually in bed by now on a week night.
Maybe it's the imminent start of a war, the full moon (which looked an amazing bloated orange against a Grey-blue sky over the moors tonight) or maybe it's the nervousness caused by the looming play.

The play is on Friday, April 4th - so a few days yet to go. But I still don't know all my lines and I'm not sure I have found the voice - the true character - of Gabriel yet. He is ultimately a psychopath, a control-freak,, a bad man .. I can be accused of being sometimes short fused and a bit frowny when not peddling lame banter, but psycho I'm not. Dark minded sometimes, yes, who isn't. And whilst he is charming and smooth tongued, I'm mostly shy (not always but it's often there). So...

So how do I conjure up this character? Hit the hills this weekend and snare a rabbit? Lure a hiker up the moors , molest them and then whack them with a spade - yep - all in the play ;) - to see what it's like? Hmmm - don't think so. I need a hook , a role model and I'm not there yet. But hey, if you don't see the play ever, what does it matter… and if you do see it, let me know if I did it - convinced you this was a real person.

Goals after doing the play - learn to circular breathe as I want to get into the Didgaridoo Anita got me. Start thinking about the exhibition in May 2004 - eek. That's the creative side, feeds into the spiritual side, which I think I have neglected for a while.. even tho Anita bought me a crystal for the window - LOL - I also want to plan our/the kids future a bit better (okay - we don't plan anything! ) - turning 39 on Monday got me thinking about the level of debt we (and most like us) are in, the lack of dosh for the future etc… ugh., how did I get from Plays, to Art to Pensions in one blog? Laters

can't stop the spirits when they need you ...

as I sang along with a thousand others last night to the chili peppers at manchester arena.
A blinding set from the tattood ones, as the gentleman next to me shouted 'i'm f***ing 'aving soom of that'.
The youth arm of the kelly clan really enjoyed it, nice to see daughter has picked up the need to bop and headbang like a loon, as per me in my heavy metal days ;)
Speaking of which, my ears haven't rung as much since (I think) Motorhead (and Saxon come to think of it) at the Oxford Apollo, long time back.

blog blast

It is Sunday night, 9.00pm and I'm at work (YES) waiting for a load of prints to come out the printer (big pitch coming up) and I'm very hungry.
And 45 minutes from home -ugh. Brogie is also here, also fed up.
On a more positive note, the play rehearsal this morning went well - 4th April, at the Marsden Mechanics - I just need to learn my lines better ;)
I have also booked the next Art exhibition - also in April, but April 2004.
no idea what I am doing for it as yet but there is nothing like a deadline, though I could do without ones so early on in the week - I hate working weekends.
Chuckle.
I want to go home.