The Age of Reason

Just finished reading 'The Age of Reason,' Thomas Paine's systematic annihilation of the Bible.

"What is it the Bible teaches us? - rapine, cruelty, and murder. What is it the Testament teaches us? - to believe that the Almighty committed debauchery with a woman, engaged to be married! and the belief of this debauchery is called faith."

Brilliant.

Streetlight Interference (SLI)

Just read an article in Fortean Times (April 2011) about SLIders - people who have the ability to turn off street lamps as they walk past them. I mention this because the same thing used to happen to me. When I was in my late teens/early twenties it was quite a frequent occurrence. Sometimes streetlights would turn off as I walked under them, sometimes as I was walking towards them. I even remember the one outside our house turning off as I looked out the window. At first I assumed it was just coincidental, but as it happened more frequently I began to find it a bit spooky. At the time I’d never heard of this happening to anyone else, so I was quite surprised to find that others had experienced it. Anyway, it hasn’t happened to me since then and I can only assume it was either coincidence or some as yet unexplained scientific anomaly.

In the article it did associate the phenomenon with a persons emotional and/or mental state. And looking back I guess I was a lot more nervous and intense at that time in my life than I am now, so maybe that has something to do with it. Also, with the number of cameras aimed at England’s streets these days maybe there’s some CCTV footage of it out there. Hopefully there’ll be more discussion of this topic in the pages of Fortean Times in the coming years and months.

God Is A Chemical

I've just read an article about Otto Rahn in this months Fortean Times (April 2011). This quote about him caught my eye.

"He never used the word God. For him, Lucifer was something like a god. God could be anything to anyone. God is a chemical in which we swim..."

Lizzy Bennet

This piece is a combination of collage and computer jiggery. I was going through a bit of a 'British' phase at the time so I used a lot of British imagery. I think it was inspired by all the media coverage at the time about Scottish and Welsh devolution. I started wondering if people would begin to romanticise Britain after its demise the same way they now romanticise Scottish, English and Welsh history. When the British flag ceases to represent a political entity will it come to represent something more mythical, more cultural? I wonder.

Rock Star UFOs

I made this collage a few years back. At the time I was quite interested in the relationship between ufology and rock music. In fact, I’m still amazed that so many famous musicians have had UFO experiences. I'll list a few of my favourites here.

John Lennon saw a UFO outside his New York apartment. He referenced this in his song 'Nobody Told Me' - "there's UFOs over New York and I ain't too surprised."

Happy Monday’s front man Shaun Ryder claimed he was abducted by aliens at the age of 15. Commenting on it in an interview with the Guardian newspaper he said "once they see you, they do keep a check on you."

Elvis Presley believed he’d seen UFOs and met otherworldly beings. He also apparently believed that he himself was from another planet, somewhere in the Orion constellation.

In 1968 Mick Jagger saw a cigar-shaped "mothership" whilst camping in Glastonbury with Marianne Faithful. He also had a UFO detector installed in his home - whatever one of them is. Stones guitarist Keith Richards also claimed to have spotted "a few."

And finally, Smiths lead singer Morrissey claimed to have witnessed a fleet of flying saucers travelling across the sky in a hexagonal formation whilst with a friend. He later said, "The whole thing had an astonishing effect on me."

If anyone else knows of any other rock star UFO stories (or UFO stories concerning any celebrity for that matter) please feel free to add to the list.

Poppyfields

I must have been going through a Stone Roses/Jackson Pollock phase when I painted this. I painted it a good while back so I can’t really remember what my intentions were with it. Although I do have a vague memory of wanting to paint poppy fields. Anyway, I have a fondness for it and I haven’t thrown it out after all this time, so I‘ll include it here.

Early Roseberries Collage

I made this collage round about the same time I started the Roseberries. It’s basically the artwork for the first record. I think I stole most of the images I used for it from books and copies of Fortean Times that I had lying about my bedroom. I guess it’s more the work of a magpie, than the work of an artist. Still, I was quite pleased with how it turned out. I think it looks quite peculiar.

Mothership/UFO Painting

Sea Serpents of Arcadia

This is a detail from a collage that I made to accompany ‘Sea Serpents of Arcadia,’ the Roseberries second album. I recorded the album in 2009 and I think I made this round about the same time.

Art Archive

I’ve decided to put some of my artwork on this site. Partly as a way of archiving my art online, and partly just to brighten my blog up a bit. This is the first.

Princess of the Illuminati

I’ve just noticed that the words, ‘Princess of the Illuminati,’ are scrawled, tongue in cheek, on a piece of paper in Rihanna’s video for the song ‘S&M.’ I'm sure I’m not the first to notice this. Anyway, I’ve got to say I really like the way esoteric symbolism is being used in pop videos these days. If this is what music looks like in the 21st century, I’m a fan.

Kanye West’s epic video, ‘Runaway,’ is particularly good. In fact, it’s amazing what’s happened in rap music recently. It used to be just dollar signs, guns and marijuana, now it’s the Eye of Horus and the death and rebirth of the Phoenix. Interesting times.

Jay-Z’s a Freemason, supposedly. Lady Gaga a puppet of the New World Order - the fact that the WikiLeaks diplomatic cables were leaked via an erased Lady Gaga CD seems particularly apt actually.

Personally, I’d be surprised if members of the Illuminati are sitting round watching pop and rap videos - assuming such people even exist. But still, it’s all quite interesting, and the music of our times seems a lot richer for the association. Long may it continue.

A Revolution in the Banking Industry?

Question: Will the rise of the Internet and modern technology revolutionise the banking industry the same way it has the music, newsprint and publishing industries?

I was thinking, when money becomes completely digital and all financial transactions are electronic, it will, firstly, be easier and cheaper to set up new banks, without the need for high street branches, etc, resulting in more competition. And secondly, much harder to keep up this fractional reserve charade - once every financial transaction is recorded electronically, we’ll, theoretically, be able to track the history of every individual pound and penny, from inception to its current location. Any new money created, be it by bank or government, will be readily apparent, assuming the information is freely available, of course.

Is this just wishful thinking, or is it a realistic possibility?

The Two Pence Piece Value

The current scrap value of the copper in a British 2p coin (minted pre-1992) is now 4.12p.

The scrap metal value of a 2p coin (pre-1992) is now 4.12p, 29.3% more than this time last year.
And the value of the (cupro-nickel) 5p coin is now 2.84p, 28.4% more.