Sitting Chicken

2011-09-13T14:22:00.001-05:00

Finished painting!

2008-06-06T13:34:00.000-05:00

Unfinished painting

2008-06-06T13:32:00.000-05:00

What are these? Grapes, limes, melons, apples?? falling..

COLLAGE COLLAGES COLLAGES

2008-06-06T13:29:00.002-05:00

If I got 1 euro for every collage that I did, I would be very poor!!!!!!

And as for every painting, lets not even think about that!

I wonder if these would look good on T-shirts or bags?
hmmm...

e-collage

2008-06-06T13:26:00.001-05:00

2007-12-26T17:07:00.000-05:00

¡DEJA DE DEJAR PUBLICIDAD EN LOS COMMENTARIOS!

2007-02-20T08:42:00.000-05:00

NO LO LEO, NO LO LEE NADIE. DEJA DE PERDER VUESTRO TIEMPO Y EL MIO

2007-01-22T08:58:00.000-05:00

2007-01-22T08:54:00.000-05:00

Time to display my art

2007-01-22T08:47:00.000-05:00

Collages:

I started making collages from magazine cuttings years ago but I have never done it consistently. Over the last couple of years I have made only 3, but I want to start up again, doing it regularly, so watch this space!

Foolish banks and April fools

2006-04-01T14:14:00.000-05:00

Its April yipeee. All banks in Spain don't open on Saturdays until October. Great. So today, I couldn't cash my pay check (been working for a month), get money out or open a new bank account which gives me 150 euros just for "domiciliar mi nomina". So they only open Mondays to Fridays from 8:30 till 2. When is someone who works 8 hours a day supposed to be able to go to the bank then?! I think I'll stop there cos otherwise I will start ranting on about government institutions as well.... (not to mention "functionarios") aaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhh

Nearly March already!!?

2006-02-21T13:18:00.000-05:00

This always happens. You do Xmas, then New Year and before you know it, its March, or nearly March. And you are unemployed. Sometimes you like it that way, but other times you know you would be happier if you were occupied with something that pays you money. I think it happens because I wish the winter away. I just don´t like it, I can´t find anything positive about it except snowboarding, which I have again not done, which leaves nothing positive about it. Anyway, thats all really.

In danger of becoming the Dullest Blog..

2005-10-19T05:27:00.000-05:00

I have just read my last post. Sorry about that. Hopefully my posts will be better when I get back from Peru and I actually have something vaguely interesting to say and some nice photos to show. Until then, I could talk about finding travel books, getting yellow fever jabs, packing for all possible weather conditions, planning internaries and such like, but i wouldn't want to threaten the Dullest Blog in the World's position at the top, so I won't, as that would just be nasty, not to mention selfish. Mmmmm, maybe I'll go and read up on the possible dangers of venturing into the Amazon rainforest...

PERU, here we come!

2005-10-10T07:47:00.000-05:00

I know, I am rubbish, I havent posted anything for ages. I blame it on the weather.. The summer has finally ended here in Madrid and I'm finding it hard to adjust.. I'm gonna get SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder). Thats why I'm not motivated to update my blog. Terrible really. I should get one of those UV lamps.. Anyway, back to the purpose of this post.. Peru! Yeah! As I'm getting made redundant at the end of October, and I'll get a little bit of extra money, I'm going to Peru for a month! Originally the plan was to go to Chile with a friend who is going late October but after a turn of events I'm now going to Peru with my other half. We will have free accomodation in Lima so we will be OK if we run out of money! (which I'm sure wont happen, we'll be roughing it in the cheapest places!).

So, I need a guide book. Went to the bookshop the other day but there were so many, I didnt know which one to buy! Guide Routard? Lonely Planet? Anybody have any recommendations?
And if anyone has general tips that can help us they would be much appreciated... I have lots of planning to do - so far only know that I want to see Lima, Cuzco, Machu Picchu and Lake Titicaca...

Excerpts from the Edinburgh fringe 2005

2005-09-14T06:40:00.000-05:00

Cats have nine lives. Which makes them ideal for experimentation. - Jimmy Carr
The right to bear arms is slightly less ludicrous than the right to arm bears. - Chris Addison at the Pleasance
My dad is Irish and my mum is Iranian, which meant that we spent most of our family holidays in Customs. - Patrick Monahan at the Gilded Balloon
The dodo died. Then Dodi died, Di died and Dando died... Dido must be sh*tting herself. - Colin & Fergus at the Pleasance
My parents are from Glasgow which means they're incredibly hard, but I was never smacked as a child ... well maybe one or two grams to get meto sleep at night. - Susan Murray at the Underbelly
You have to remember all the trivia that your girlfriend tells you, because eventually you get tested. She'll go: "What's my favourite flower?" And you murmur to yourself: "Sh*t, I wasn't listening.. Self-raising?" - Addy Van-Der-Borgh at the Assembly Rooms
The world is a dangerous place; only yesterday I went into Boots and punched someone in the face. - Jeremy Limb, at the Trap
I saw that show, 50 Things To Do Before You Die. I would have thought the obvious one was "Shout For Help". - Mark Watson, Rhod Gilbert at the Tron
Got a phone call today to do a gig at a fire station. Went along.Turned out it was a bloody hoax. - Adrian Poynton at the Pleasance
Employee of the month is a good example of how somebody can be both a winner and a loser at the same time. - Demetri Martin at the Assembly Rooms
Hey - you want to feel really handsome? Go shopping at Asda. - Brendon Burns at the Pleasance
It's easy to distract fat people. It's a piece of cake. - Chris Addison at the Pleasance
I enjoy using the comedy technique of self-deprecation - but I'm not very good at it. - Arnold Brown at The Stand

Magic eye

2005-09-07T07:08:00.000-05:00

Haven't written for weeks. Uninspired.. Other things on my mind.. So here's a little photo I took of some rocks in Galicia.. It's a bit like one of those 'magic eye' pictures, where you have to stare at it and unfocus your eyes for a while to see a 3D image. What do you see?

Islas Cies, just before it started raining..

2005-08-05T12:15:00.000-05:00

Very beautiful the Cies Islands, just off the coast of Galicia. But why did it have to rain?! It rained all night on our tent although we did have a nice stroll around one of the islands in the morning just before it started pouring it down. We got absolutely soaked while queuing to board the boat back to Vigo.. This place on a really hot sunny day must be a bit like paradise though, so next time, I'm checking the weather forecast before lugging a tent and rucksack over there!

Busy doing nothing (thanks to MICROSOFT)

2005-07-14T08:57:00.000-05:00

mmm, what shall I do today? My CV is what I should do. But I have no drive to do it. I am forced to go to work until the end of August with no actual work to do. And then forced to leave because I am unfortunate enough to work for a company bought by a bigger company. I am coming to the point where I'm running out of things to look up on the internet..

2005-07-12T01:31:00.000-05:00

I soon will have used to work for Sybari. Was good while it lasted...

First NY, then Madrid, now London.. who is next?

2005-07-07T08:30:00.000-05:00

Just when you have started feeling safe on your way to work again, they do it again. Is this what it is going to be like every year from now on? One city a year, a few 100 casualties a year, a few deaths a year, a few families devasted a year. Things like this are part of everyday life for many people in the world and its a times like this when we get reminded of it. Yes, its a wonderful world, but it is also a horrible crappy world too... : (

Emily may be odd, but she always gets even

2005-07-05T10:30:00.000-05:00

Why do I love Emily? Is it because she is strange (like how I feel sometimes)? Or because she doesn't care what anyone thinks? Perhaps she makes me feel good because I have friends and she doesn't... Ok, she does have some cats who are her friends - Sabbath ('lives by his own rules and says "dude" a lot') and NeeChee ('a nilhist, he rarely looks you in the eye') are two of them.

http://emily.unprettyful.org/

http://www.emilystrange.com/

Still no signal

2005-06-16T10:25:00.000-05:00

mmm.. realized that in the metro it doesn't say "Emergency calls only", it just doesnt have any coverage... But next time I notice that its does say it I promise I'll call.. er... what's the equivalent of 999 in Spain? damn, I don't know it!! God, I've been living here 2 years and I don't know the emergency number!

A deep thought from Jack Handy

2005-06-15T10:24:00.000-05:00

If I was being executed by injection, I'd clean up my cell real neat. Then, when they came to get me, I'd say, "Injection? I thought you said inspection'." They'd probably feel real bad, and maybe I could get out of it.

No signal

2005-06-15T10:02:00.000-05:00

Sometimes mobile phones declare they have no signal. Yet they also say "Emergency calls only". How is this possible? Surely if there is no signal, there is no signal and you can't phone anybody. Would I be able to phone the emergency services from my mobile phone if I was stuck underground somewhere? I don't know because I have never tried it. I think I will try on the metro on the way home. Will report back later...

2005-05-31T04:46:00.000-05:00

El Realejo, Granada, May 2005
El Niño de las Pinturas
A bit of free publicity. See above pic and this link http://www.elninodelaspinturas.com
Next time you are in Granada, look around you at the graffiti - if it's pleasing to the eye, it's probably El Niño.

Cariocas or Pois or Kiwido

2005-05-30T10:37:00.000-05:00

Am finally going to buy me some "cariocas" (that's what they are called here in Spain, not sure what the Anglophiles call 'em). The first time I tried them I got a bit over excited and ended up with a bruised eye and a massive blister on my finger. Its the hippy within me. And the artist of course.. But after another hour of practice I think I'm getting the hang of it. Anyway, they are bloody expensive - 20 euros for 2 balls with ribbon attached! Blimin eck!, I hear you cry. OK, maybe not, perhaps you are saying "yawn yawn, time to move on to a more interesting blog"

Metro de Madrid

2005-05-26T04:00:00.000-05:00

After over a year of travelling to work on the Metro de Madrid, line 10, I have discovered some important rules of conduct which I thought only fair to share with any newcomers to Madrid and anybody who hasn’t quite got the hang of it yet.

As the train comes into the platform be sure to stand right in front of the doors, forming a human wall with your fellow travellers and don’t budge when someone tries to get off the train.
Do not wait until everybody has got off the train before boarding, if they are not quick enough that’s their problem.
Remember – if ten people get off a packed train only five will be able to get on (something to do with magnetic forces underground.)
Once on the train don’t move into the empty space in the middle. Keep as close to the doors as possible, so that you are all squashed in like sardines between the two sets of doors. And put up resistance if someone attempts to push past to get to that space at the back (it’s reserved for something, I’m not sure what.)
Even when the train is packed full and there are four people per square metre, insist on reading your book or newspaper while it’s sticking in someone’s back/face/chest. Exert your right to read!
Always stand on the left hand side of a busy escalator.

These simple rules help to make the metro journeys in the morning that little bit more pleasant and I hope we can all make the effort to follow them.

2005-05-24T06:01:00.000-05:00

Be Free

Singing in public

2005-05-23T19:40:00.000-05:00

Why is it OK for children to sing in public but not adults? If someone heard me singing in the shower they would think I was in a good mood, but if I started to sing on the train or at the bus stop people would think I was mentally unstable. Its not fair. Why does society force us to hide our feelings of joy? Sometimes you just feel like singing and you can't. This must be bad for your health.

And skipping. Do you never feel like skipping along the road when you are feeling happy? But you dont do it in case someone sees you. You can just about get away with it if there is someone with you but if you're on your own you'll get really funny looks.

We have to stop letting ourselves be repressed by stupid unwritten rules or we will all end up with depression.