Quote for the Day

- Dead Poets Society
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The Art of Rich McCor - Part 1

Remember the scene in that marvellous movie Dead Poets Society where John Keating stands on his desk and tells the class that he does so to remind himself that we must constantly look at things in a different way?

I was reminded of that by seeing the simple, yet imaginative, photographic approach of Rich McCor to well known scenes. 

The following explanation by Rich McCor is taken from a website called Bored Panda:

I decided I would become a tourist in my own city- I wanted to see the London that I ignored, to explore the landmarks and the quirky history. I started researching for interesting facts and began thinking about how I could photograph the sites in an original way. 

My first idea was using a cut-out to transform Big Ben into a wristwatch. Whilst I was there, a girl and her father took an interest in what I was doing and I showed them the photo on my camera screen. They were full of enthusiasm for the idea, and it spurred me on to do more. I then took photos of St Pauls, the London Eye and Trafalgar Square and whilst I was doing this, I would post them on my Instagram alongside a quirky fact I’d picked up about the landmark. 

Then one day Lonely Planet contacted me on Instagram, they liked what I did and wondered if I wanted to create some photos for them. Of course I said yes, and it led me to Stockholm, Amsterdam, Copenhagen and Paris- I crammed in so much in the few days I was in each city, running around with a camera, handful of cut-outs and a head full of random facts to accompany each photo. 

http://www.boredpanda.com/transforming-landmarks-paper-cut-outs-paperboyo/

Those who would like to visit Rich’s website and have a look at his cutouts on scenes, as well as interesting photos generally, can do so by clicking on:

https://instagram.com/paperboyo/

Here are some of his images, more to come in future Bytes:

McCor’s first work: turning Big Ben into a wrist watch.

Fountains outside Somerset House, London

Fountains near London’s Tower Bridge

St Paul’s Cathedral (McCor called this work “Sundae Service”)

Trafalgar Square

St George’s Wharf, London - 

Eye of Sauron”

London Eye

Trafalgar Square fountains

Postage stamp to commemorate Queen Elizabeth’s lengthy reign

Windmill in Amsterdam

Balloons in Covent Garden

Southbank fountains

Stockholm

National indoor arena, Ericsson Globe, Sweden

Another view of the Ericsson Globe

Maritime Museum, London

Metro station, Stockholm

Copenhagen

Does anyone find this image sexy?  No?  I didn't either.

More McCor to come.

O Captain, my Captain

Quote for the Day

Funny Friday

Good morning readers.

The theme for today's Funny Friday is Halloween (with a couple of items being repeats). 

Enjoy.

(Caution: risque language follows)

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I got so sick of the trick or treaters at Halloween that I turned the lights out and pretended I wasn't in.

Fuck the ships. My lighthouse, my rules.

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Just thought I'd nip over to my Nan's, and fair play to her, at 96, she had all the Halloween decorations up, cobwebs and insects in the windows and a skeleton on the couch.

She always makes a big effort, but there was no answer...I'll pop back next year.

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Went trick-or-treating last night. Every house I called at slammed the door back in my face.

Maybe going as a Jehovah's Witness wasn't the best idea.

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On Halloween I shouted through to the wife.

"Honey there's a witch at the door what shall I do?"

She replied, "Just give her some sweets and tell her to fuck off."

My mother-in-law hasn't spoken to me since.

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How's everyone holding up? It's crazy out there! I've killed 15 zombies so far! 

And why the hell are they all carrying candy?

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Corn Corner:

A photographer goes to a haunted castle determined to get a picture of a ghost on Halloween. The ghost he encounters turns out to be friendly and poses for a snapshot. The happy photographer later downloads his photos and finds that the photos are underexposed and completely blank.

Moral to the story: The spirit was willing, but the flash was weak.

Quote for the Day

More Bullshit

Following my posts on Bullshit, son Thomas sent me a link to Betteridge’s Law of Headlines, named after Ian Betteridge, a British technology journalist:

"It’s an old truism among journalists that if a headline ends in a question mark (”Is this the answer to the Bermuda Triangle?” “Did aliens build the Pyramids?” etc etc) there’s no need to read further. The answer is always “No”."

In one review in 2009 he wrote:

This story is a great demonstration of my maxim that any headline which ends in a question mark can be answered by the word “no”. The reason why journalists use that style of headline is that they know the story is probably bullshit, and don’t actually have the sources and facts to back it up, but still want to run it. Which, of course, is why it’s so common in the Daily Mail.

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BTW, ever wondered by something that is misleading should be referred to as bovine excrement?

The origin of the term has nothing to do with male cows.

Instead, the word "Bull", meaning nonsense, dates from the 17th century, while the term "bullshit" dates to the early years of the 20th century. 

The Oxford English Dictionary cites bull with the meaning "trivial, insincere, untruthful talk or writing, nonsense". It describes this usage as being of unknown origin, but notes that in Old French, the word could mean fraud, deceit, trickery, and that in Middle English it referred to falsehood, and as a verb, to befool, mock, cheat.

The earliest attestation mentioned by the Concise Oxford English Dictionary is T. S. Eliot, who between 1910 and 1916 wrote an early poem to which he gave the title "The Triumph of Bullshit". The word bullshit does not appear in the text of the poem, and Eliot himself never published the poem. 

The term came into popular use during WW2.

Quote for the Day

Risque language:

Bible Bans (or things that piss God off):

Obey all my laws and commands. I am the Lord. (Leviticus 19.37)

(Quotations from the Good News Translation)

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Burning yeast or honey in offerings to God:

"None of the grain offerings which you present to the Lord may be made with yeast; you must never use yeast or honey in food offered to the Lord." (Leviticus 2.11)

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Failing to include salt in offerings to God:

"Put salt on every grain offering, because salt represents the covenant between you and God. (You must put salt on all your offerings.)"

(Leviticus 2.13)

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Eating fat:

"No Israelite may eat any fat or any blood; this is a rule to be kept forever by all Israelites wherever they live."

 (Leviticus 3.17)

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Letting your hair become unkempt:

"Then Moses said to Aaron and to his sons Eleazar and Ithamar, "Do not leave your hair uncombed or tear your clothes to show that you are in mourning. If you do, you will die, and the Lord will be angry with the whole community. But all other Israelites are allowed to mourn this death caused by the fire which the Lord sent."

(Leviticus 10.6)

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Tearing your clothes:

(Leviticus 3.17) (see above)

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Going to church within sixty-six days after giving birth to a girl:

"For fourteen days after a woman gives birth to a daughter, she is ritually unclean, as she is during her monthly period. Then it will be sixty-six more days until she is ritually clean from her loss of blood."

(Leviticus 12.5)

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Note that a woman who gives birth to a daughter is unclean for twice the length of a woman who gives birth to a son:

"For seven days after a woman gives birth to a son, she is ritually unclean, as she is during her monthly period."

"For fourteen days after a woman gives birth to a daughter, she is ritually unclean, as she is during her monthly period."

(Leviticus 12.2,5)

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Eating or touching the carcass of certain animals:

"Moles, rats, mice, and lizards must be considered unclean. Whoever touches them or their dead bodies will be unclean."

(Leviticus 11.29, 31)

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Sex with a woman during her period:

"Do not have intercourse with a woman during her monthly period, because she is ritually unclean."

(Leviticus 18.19)

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Reaping to the very edges of a field:

"When you harvest your fields, do not cut the grain at the edges of the fields, and do not go back to cut the heads of grain that were left."

(Leviticus 19.9)

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Picking up grapes that have fallen in your vineyard:

"Do not go back through your vineyard to gather the grapes that were missed or to pick up the grapes that have fallen; leave them for poor people and foreigners. I am the Lord your God."

(Leviticus 19.10)

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Eating or touching the carcass of still more animals:

"You must not eat any of the following birds: eagles, owls, hawks, falcons; buzzards, vultures, crows; ostriches; seagulls, storks, herons, pelicans, cormorants; hoopoes; or bats."

(Leviticus 11.13)

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Trimming your beard or sideburns:

"Do not cut the hair on the sides of your head or trim your beard"

 (Leviticus 11.13)

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Eating or touching certain insects:

"All winged insects are unclean, except those that hop. You may eat locusts, crickets, or grasshoppers. But all other small things that have wings and also crawl must be considered unclean. 

(Leviticus 11.20-23)

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For some animals you get detention to evening:

"If you touch the dead bodies of the following animals, you will be unclean until evening: all animals with hoofs, unless their hoofs are divided and they chew the cud, and all four-footed animals with paws. If you carry their dead bodies, you must wash your clothes, but you will still be unclean until evening." (Leviticus 11.24)

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Getting a tattoo:

"Do not cut the hair on the sides of your head or trim your beard or tattoo yourselves or cut gashes in your body to mourn for the dead. I am the Lord."

(Leviticus 19.27-28)

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Not respecting the elderly:

"Show respect for old people and honor them. Reverently obey me; I am the Lord." 

(Leviticus 19.32)

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Cursing Mum or Dad is even worse:

"Any of you that curse your father or mother shall be put to death; you are responsible for your own death."

(Leviticus 20.9)

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Not being nice to refugees:

"Do not mistreat foreigners who are living in your land. Treat them as you would an Israelite, and love them as you love yourselves." 

(Leviticus 19.33-34)