When the Robot Loses His Broadband Connection He Starts to SCREAM!

Bwahahahaha, nearly a month with a dodgy computer, things now seem back to how they were. It started when I got an 'illegal DLL' file warning, after trying to 'Anti Virus' and 'System Restore' it thought "I Know, reset to 'factory settings' looks easy enough". How wrong, wrong, wrong of me, It got rid of my DLL problem but it also got rid of everything else, like my Broadband Router settings and website access codes. I was left with a machine thirsty to update, with no way to connect to the Internet. (I guess I am writing this as an apology to everyone I have not been in contact with over the past month). Anyway, it's been a long month and it made me realise just how much I rely on making drawings with a computer, something I aim to change.

I am reading 'The Book of Lost Things' by John Connolly. I am recommending it to people. It's not a perfect read, and there are bits that make me cringe, but as a concept and a reading experience it wins and transports you to another world. Scary stories for kids/adults/oaps/ghosts are making a come back.

Storytelling

The last day of the Leeds International Storytelling Festival. Jorg Baesecke and Hedwig Rost are on in the afternoon, with their beautiful up close storytelling. They use small, everyday things in their theatre, which transform into huge objects in the imagination. The stories are in English and German and it all makes perfect sense.

In the evening Helen and I go to see Robert Greygrass and Gayle Ross talk about their tribes and traditions, it makes me feel strong and weak at the same time. Strong in that they make me believe in the spiritual world just beyond, weak, in that I will never get there.

I have enjoyed doing these storytelling drawings, I have said before, they help me to remember the event and details of the stories being told and are different to an illustrated story.

Northern Voices

After having such a great night at the storytelling festival last night, Helen and I thought we would go back this evening for an evening of 'Northern Voices', a mixture of folktales and music. It was great to finally see Ian McMillan (the self proclaimed 'Bard of Barnsley') with his stories and poetry is a very funny man. My sketch of him doesn't do him justice. Christine McMahon told some great tales too.

The reality of the situation is what I like about 'folk'. 'Normal' people communicating with 'normal' people, the lack of celebrity pretence is something that the folk scene is keen to cultivate, from what I've seen so far. And that truth can only be a good thing in these corporate days of dwindling responsibilities.

Jim Eldon has a twinkling madman's eye as he tells stories and plays his fiddle, traveller style. He can be smiling and lighthearted one moment, then as he places his fiddle down, clasps his hands together, leans forward and draws you into a murderers lying and skinning nightmare. What a gent.

Leeds International Storytelling Festival

Evening at the West Yorkshire Playhouse and we are in the crowd listening to EDDIE LENIHAN tell his macabre Irish folk tales. I like the way that Eddie links his stories to the present 'urban legend' style by telling us that he heard these strange and gruesome tales first hand from the old people involved in them.

He's a hard man to stop when he's in full storytelling mode, eventually the 'management' draw his attention to the time. "Just two minutes more" he replies. As the audience shuffle out Eddie is giving valuable information to protect yourself from 'The Lads' (which include metal, the colour red, running water and salt). Spending time with Eddie makes you believe that taking precautions against the fairy folk is very wise, especially when humans build and invade more and more of their wilderness lands.

Computer Problems

I messed up big time with my PC. I got the 'illegal DLL' warning from Microsoft last Wednesday and after trying a few sensible things decided on trying something not so sensible. This ended with me 'uninstalling' windows xp from my computer. I have got 'bits' back, but my new machine of six months, feels tired and 'broken' and a little bit flaky. The internet settings have been lost and the adaptor/modem hardware doesn't want to play with me anymore. I am trying to sort it out but I think it will take some time. So, please excuse erratic entries to my nice new shiny blog! Saying that, I went to the cinema today, to watch a film in the afternoon, an escape from typing seemingly random numbers into a network adaptor. 'Sunshine' is a great movie, it starts out as a NASA simulation and ends in a manga metaphysical 'mind make love'. It was all filmed in a London studio apparently.

Jousting at the Royal Armouries

Easter weekend and friends Justin and Maria are visiting for a few days. The weather is stunningly sunny considering it's a public holiday in England, apparently it's raining and overcast in Spain.

We have tickets to go and see a jousting tournament at the Royal Armouries in Leeds. And very exciting it is too. The crowd is whipped into shape by a jester on stilts who is both very funny and very disturbing in equal measures.

The Jousting is excellent. Don't underestimate the thrill of grown men on horse back charging at each other with wooden lances. Yes they were wearing armour, but a pole to the face can still make you wince in your seat.

'We Need Trolls'

I spent the evening in the kitchen, working on a few more drawings for my friend (and author) Steve Way, these are the original pen and watercolour sketches I did, see the 'enhanced' photoshop versions at www.johnwelding.comix.org.uk if you want to. The story is about a girls vivid imagination running wild with a pair of scissors, when she sees scrawled on the family notice board the ominous request 'We need more t'rolls'. I am starting to like my original sketches more than the Photoshop versions, is my confidence in drawing finally coming back to me? We shall see....

Art Appreciation

Yesterday, I spent the evening upstairs, drawing at a low table. I was aware that Jack had entered the room, even more aware when he stood up on his back legs and rested his paws, 'old man in bar' style, on the table in front of me. He got into rubbing his chin on the top of my pen, which was quite cute, until he started to dribble over my drawing pad....

I was using fibre tip pens and watercolours at the time, so I coloured the saliva with a drop of ultramarine. 'Appreciation' done, he was content to go over by the radiator and settle down for the evening. Bless him.

It has been a lovely day, friends came over with their new daughter Alice and we went for a walk by a lake and some woods, in sunshine. Staring up through the budding branches of the trees I have realistically thought about drawing outside again.