The Fight.

Finished! 18″ x 24″, pencil & marker on Bristol. Click for full size. I am so curious, so this is for everyone, not just fellow artists. For the artists, how would you depict cancer and chemotherapy? For all the non-artists, how do you picture things like cancer and chemotherapy? What shape do they take in your head? Prior to getting cancer, I can’t say I ever gave it any thought at all, and I’m not overly sure where the images in The Fight came from, they were just there. After trying to think about it for a bit, seems the main concepts in my head had to do with fluidity and a crackling electricity, mass power out of control.

© C. Ford, all rights reserved.

On the wings of time…

© C. Ford, all rights reserved.

We don’t make a deal out of our anniversary, for a couple of reasons. We did try, at first, and the first three years we tried to go out and celebrate? Each time, the engine in our current car blew. That happened the evening we married, too. So we decided maybe ignoring our anniversary would be best. We also tend to forget about it. Oddly enough, even with the chemo brain, this time I remembered. Today is our 39th year legal; it’s 41 years we’ve been together. Rick will be home late this evening, and we’ll do what we normally do, and ignore the anniversary business.

All these years, they’ve gone so fast. Decades ago, we sat and talked, and you pondered whether or not we’d be together when you were 64. (Yeah, that song was playing.) Well, now you know. I love you with all my heart, more than ever. And here’s hoping the car doesn’t die on the way home.

Skypixel Winners!

Equipment: Phantom 4 Pro Location: Aperture: 3.2 Shutter Speed: 1/320s Focal Length: 8.8 Comet Into Darkness 2017-12-27SkyPixel Use Only2017 SKYPIXEL PHOTO CONTEST-Professional-Landscape One of my favourite shots. An early morning in Newfoundland, I was hiking on the East Coast Trail when I heard a bunch of seagulls. I quickly launched my drone to find-out what was causing the mayhem. It was a small cod fishing boat steaming towards the harbour, a truly magical moment.

Equipment: Phantom 4 Pro. Aperture: 3.2. Shutter Speed: 1/320s. Focal Length: 8.8
Comet Into Darkness by Drone Hikers. 2017-12-27 SKYPIXEL PHOTO CONTEST-Professional-Landscape.
One of my favourite shots. An early morning in Newfoundland, I was hiking on the East Coast Trail when I heard a bunch of seagulls. I quickly launched my drone to find-out what was causing the mayhem. It was a small cod fishing boat steaming towards the harbour, a truly magical moment.

Equipment: Mavic Pro. Aperture: 2.2. Shutter Speed: 1/200s. Focal Length: 4.7. Waterfall Hero by 夜雾深沉. 他是一位年过六旬的长者，他是吉尼斯瀑布跳水世界纪录保持者，在中国著名的黄河壶口、黑龙江吊水楼大瀑布他惊鸿一跃，令世人为之赞叹。在空中，他舒展矫健的身姿与神奇壮美的大自然融为了一体，“御”见英雄，定格那震撼人心的一瞬，将这飞跃化为了永恒…… He is over sixty, he is the world record holder for the Guinness waterfall diving. In China's famous spout of the Yellow River and the great falls of the water tower in Heilongjiang province, he surprised the world with his leap. In the air, his action stretches the beautiful. Freeze the moment of the shock, take this leap into eternity.

Equipment: Mavic Pro. Aperture: 2.2. Shutter Speed: 1/200s. Focal Length: 4.7. Waterfall Hero by 夜雾深沉. 他是一位年过六旬的长者，他是吉尼斯瀑布跳水世界纪录保持者，在中国著名的黄河壶口、黑龙江吊水楼大瀑布他惊鸿一跃，令世人为之赞叹。在空中，他舒展矫健的身姿与神奇壮美的大自然融为了一体，“御”见英雄，定格那震撼人心的一瞬，将这飞跃化为了永恒…… He is over sixty, he is the world record holder for the Guinness waterfall diving. In China’s famous spout of the Yellow River and the great falls of the water tower in Heilongjiang province, he surprised the world with his leap. In the air, his action stretches the beautiful. Freeze the moment of the shock, take this leap into eternity.

Just a couple here, all the photos are utterly stunning, take some time out to look at all the Skypixel winners, you won’t be disappointed! Lots of inspiration, too.

The Daily Bird #643.

Bullfinches from Charly: Just an illustration of how smart these birdies are. This is in my neighbour’s garden, where they were waiting for my father to go out and fill the feeder. Right after he did so and went home, they descended on it to tuck in. They learned the time when he goes to refill and come in time not to miss it. One day father only went out to check post and did not fill the feeder and the birds still went and looked if it is full. So they evidently recognize him as their personal waiter. Click for full size!

© Charly, all rights reserved.

Oh, The Morality!

A member of President Trump’s evangelical advisory board defended Trump over the controversy surrounding his alleged relationship with adult-film actress Stormy Daniels, saying the allegations were “totally irrelevant” to evangelicals who support Trump.

“Evangelicals know they’re not compromising their beliefs in order to support this great president,” Pastor Robert Jeffress said on Fox News Thursday. “And let’s be clear, evangelicals still believe in the commandment ‘thou shalt not have sex with a porn star.’”

“However, whether this president violated that commandment or not is totally irrelevant to our support of him,” he continued.

None of this bullshit is surprising, Jeffress slithers about like a snake in an oil slick when it comes to the Tiny Tyrant. What is amusing is a look back to 2008, when Jeffress had some very definite views about how christians should vote:

This argument struck us as rather remarkable and reminded us of a debate the Jeffress had with Jay Sekulow back in 2008 over the propriety of evangelical Christians voting for a Mormon like Mitt Romney, during which he insisted that it was unacceptable for Christians to overlook questions about a candidate’s faith, worldview and behavior simply for the sake of “some temporary change in the law.”

Back then, Jeffress blasted “the hypocrisy of some evangelical leaders … who, for the last eight years of the Bush administration, have been telling us how important it is to have an evangelical Christian in office who reads his Bible every day. And now, suddenly, the same leaders are telling us that a candidate’s faith really isn’t that important. In fact, one of those leaders—a good friend of mine—said on national television, when it came to supporting Mitt Romney, he said, ‘Well, after all, we are not electing a theologian in chief, we are electing a commander in chief.’ My fear is such a sudden U-turn is going to give people a case of voter whiplash. I think people have to decide, and Christian leaders have to decide once and for all, whether a candidate’s faith is really important.”

Evangelical christians certainly put the squirm in how the worm turns. There is not one thing they can honestly say they stay staunchly “moral” on – no matter what happens, no matter what someone does, if that person has the power to give them what they want, oh, everything is just dandy! Sexual assault? Eh, no biggie. Compulsive liar? Who cares?! Adulterer? Oh, everyone needs forgiveness. And on and on the list goes. Mormon? Oh, hell no!

“Christians need to remember that the kingdom of God is not going to come riding in on Air Force One,” Jeffress said. “The danger in all of this discussion is that Christians sometimes are willing to sacrifice the temporal for the eternal, that in order to get their candidate elected, to enact those laws that they feel are crucial, somehow we fool ourselves into thinking we are going to bring about the kingdom of God here on earth. We are not going to do that. I’m not willing to trade people’s eternal destiny for some temporary change in the law.”

My, my, look at that, stated a mere 10 years ago. It would seem that Jeffress now believes that Jehovah got himself a first class seat on Air Force One. Oh the corruption a small taste of power brings. Tsk.

Via RWW.

A Love Letter To Bolivia.

© Kevin Faingnaert.

© Kevin Faingnaert.

© Kevin Faingnaert.

© Kevin Faingnaert.

Belgian photographer Kevin Faingnaert spent a month capturing what he calls a love letter to Bolivia, penned to, “the land and to the generations of people and animals who have shaped it.”

Bolivia is a country of extremes: from the Andes to the Amazon, its landscape offers seemingly infinite horizons, each more spectacular than the next. Enchanted by both the topographic extremes and the cultural tradition of the country, Faingnaert photographed what he saw as he traveled from the famed Lake Titicaca, across the Salt Flats and to the wild-west of the country. In the interview below, we spoke to him about his month in Bolivia, the majesty of its landscape, and the traditions that still thrive there.

You can read and see so much more at iGNANT. Amazing photographs!

Seductive Sins: 100 Years of Ads.

In this catalog of twentieth-century advertisements, Taschen has drawn together examples of advertorial seduction that were employed by liquor and tobacco companies over the past 100 years.

This colorful tome showcases an undeniably vibrant chapter of advertising history: highlighting trends — from the kitsch to the cliché and the classy — in drinking and smoking in America. 20th Century Alcohol and Tobacco Ads is as much a lesson in popular culture and pseudo-science as it is in advertising: see the pages dedicated to doctors testifying that smoking soothes the throat and liquor bring social success! With contemporary legislation in many countries moving cigarettes to plain packaging and alcohol advertisements to after hours on TV, the images in this publication seem almost closer to caricature than they do to real life.

You can see several more ads at iGNANT, and buy the book here.

The Medieval Method of Cooking Octopus.

Grilled octopus – photo by Alpha / Flickr.

Grilled octopus – photo by Alpha / Flickr.

“This is a vile fish of no value; therefore cook it the way you want.” ~ Liber de Coquina, a 14th century cookbook.

I’ll admit upfront that I’m a fan of octopuses, when they are alive. I don’t care for them in the least when dead, regardless of the cooking method.

Platina’s Right Pleasure and Good Health, a 15th-century work from Italy, offers these thoughts:

On octopus – The polypus has been named because it has many feet. It uses its gills as feet and hands, and its tail, which is two-pronged and is pointed, while mating. They are very pleased with smell, and they eat the flesh of shellfish. They carry everything into their house and then separate the shells from the red meat. It hunts the small fish which are swimming near the shells. You season a cooked octopus with pepper and asafetida.

Platina also has this to add: Whatever way you cook it, you will say it is bad. Doesn’t seem to much point with such a conclusion.

Meanwhile, The Book of Sent Sovi, a 14th-century Catalan text, gives this recipe:

To Stuff Octopus – If you want to stuff octopus or squid, take the octopus and wash it well, boil it, cut off the arms, and take out what is inside. Chop the arms all together with parsley, mint, marjoram and other good herbs. You can chop another kind of fish if the tentacles are not enough. Put in the best spices that you can find. Make sure that the octopus is cleaned well. Put in the stuffing, and put in raisins and scalded garlic and fried onion. Then make almond milk with the broth that has boiled the fish, and put it in a bowl or a casserole together with the octopus; in the milk you can put a little verjuice and good spices, the best you might have, and oil. You can cook it in the oven or on iron trivet with live coals beneath.

If you’re just dying for medieval cooked octopus, that sounds like an interesting recipe to work out.

Via Medievalists.

In exciting news, the Newberry has opened up access to 1.7 million historical images!

The Newberry has announced a major revision to its policy regarding the re-use of collection images: images derived from collection items are now available to anyone for any lawful purpose, whether commercial or non-commercial, without licensing or permission fees to the library.

You can read much more here.

Medieval Courses Online.

There is now a unique range of medieval and Tudor courses which can be downloaded or followed online, complete with the full text from www.medievalcourses.com – once registered students have unlimited access to study at their own pace, and can complete online quizzes at the end of each module. The courses are professionally produced in thirty minute lessons and include up to 11 hours of teaching, plus bonus materials, reading lists and links to other resources. The tutors are all established experts in their field.

The courses are all very reasonably priced. You can read much more, including a summary of the offered courses here.