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- Written by: Rod Boyle
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I have an unhealthy interest in current events, all of them, from Epstein to Iran and everyone, everything in between. I check the news - 5 or 6 different sites, at least a couple of times a day.
As a result of all this doom scrolling my Facebook feed is filling up with short-to-long clips of Pundits giving their take. From the educated Senator Warren, others, the eminent Professor Jiang, and Meidas Touch (I'm getting over them, this guy spends all day, every day for the past year and some promising the end is nigh and yet here we are), then another one that promises to show some Senator flustering Bondi in "32 Seconds" only the whole twenty minute clip is this guy going on about it and yet never do I see said Senator flustering Bondi. And then there's a peculiar one, that covers all sorts of things from the Iran War to what a great leader Carny is (and he is, his speech in Australia just recently made me want to give him a hug) and all sorts of things in between. The narrator, appears to be Asian, the background is always random, paintings, watercolours, and while he gives "insightful" analysis and updates regarding current events he's a bit off, he looks sideways, random eye glitches, the voice is flat and without accent, and he's got too many channels, too much going on, and I realize this is just a AI generated video with an AI generated person using a AI generated script culled from the previous days events...
But this robot sure loves Carny.
Crazy days we're living through.
***
And since I've been working on my painting, consulting YouTube for trips and techniques (and one - buy good watercolour paper, the Dollorama stuff isn't worth anything, try and paint wet on wet and the paper lifts off with your brush) I'm also getting a lot of those artist "reveals" where they turn around and show you their painting.
Of course this interests me, but only for a bit - some are very competent, but their subject matter - still-lifes, landscapes, generally the kind of decorative stuff you find in people's houses that have more money than taste. And so even that has wound it's course, a hundred or so of those and I have yet to see anything inspired - talent, yes, buckets of it, inspiration? Well, not on Facebook.
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- Written by: Rod Boyle
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And, trying again to paint, get started, only for some reason I can't find my tubes of Titanium & Zinc white. Which is like the watercolour pencils, I know I have them, only where, and never where I think they should be (naturally in the tub with all of the other Acrylic Paints).
This is getting ridiculous, but it highlights the state of my flat. I've got to start cleaning...
Meanwhile, been practicing my watercolour techniques, small exercises to get me back into the habit of painting, an hour in the morning, just to get started, get something done, show some improvement...
Which next I have to go grab a few vegetables, make some lunch, and get back to work.
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- Written by: Rod Boyle
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Friday night, long, unending streams of walk-ins, parties of 5, 6, the phone, take away, that's become a full time station.
It's not smooth and by the end of it all I'm done. Just done.
Get home, text message from - who of all people, RJr, the owners son from Balfour, and so - not bearing a grudge, head out for a drink with him. He's in a fine humour, has his dream job, the restaurant is just a bad memory lost in the past.
It is after a perverse fashion good to see him.
Then home, to the mess that has become my living room. Yesterday, a bunch of books to the bookstore, today I'll go through the apartment and drop some more stuff off at the antique shop. For now, a beautiful day outside, time to go home, put my hands on my hips and try and figure out where to start on this mess of a studio.
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And this, somehow or another I came across an article about it, plenty of industrial uses, and named after "Tantalus", so of course it would be interesting to me.
Anyways - my hot-stock take - substantially rarer than gold, potentially in the future much more in demand, and at the current price of $300-320 per troy ounce probably a much better buy than gold.
Link: Wikipedia on Tantalum
If I had some spare cash I'd be stocking up myself.
Compare the price of this vs the price of the Platinum Group Metals - and see how far they can go. And wasn't Rhodium a wild ride?
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These are things I know I have. Watercolour pencils, yes, and I need them now for the members show at the Museum. I need them to vaguely outline my painting.
Only I search through the 5-6-7 bins of art supplies I have and I can't find a single one. And I know that I have many.
I'm not as organized as I think I am.
I check the dollar store, but they're all out. I didn't want or need them - or more of them - anyways.
Never-mind, in my search for the watercolour pencils I turned up a white charcoal pencil and some conte crayons and they will suffice.
But, as luck would have it I'm in need of a pencil sharpener.
I have many of these, I know, the fancy aluminum-block ones that you buy at the art store for 3 or 4 $$. I have good taste in pencil sharpeners.
Again, I search my 6-7-8 bins of art supplies, charcoal, oil pastels, watercolour tubes and palettes, acrylic, oil paints, my box of fountain pens and hundreds of loose nibs, calligraphy pens, supplies out my ----- and I can't find a single pencil sharpener. Checking my drawers, my bags - the ones I take to the cafe with my books that I'm reading, my laptop, my whatever, and again I can't find a single one.
I'm loathe to buy another, but I have no choice, and so it goes, the dark matter of the universe, 100 inexplicably invisible pencil sharpeners and the one that I've set very conspicuously on my easel.
Now to get started...