My Calendar Says

I was sitting at my desk one day, bored, when my eyes settled on the calendar on my desk. Usually, the advice or saying seems to mean something but mostly it’s rubbish.

Then I wondered about all the other calendars out there today? Calendars in other countries, other cultures? And that’s why this blog exists. Hopefully it’ll also be a bit of fun.

So please take a moment - your calendar is right there beside you on your desk - and enter what advice you got today.

http://twotitsandavote.com/ (from http://sabrinadent.com/)

Two Tits and a Vote is a political action campaign, designed to get women to use their muscle as voters to take action around a single issue at a time. Men are very welcome to take part; the platform is merely aimed at mobilising women.

It’s built around the concept of “armchair activism.” Armchair activism enjoys reasonable take-up online, but is often decried as ultimately being rather useless because it rarely translates into the real world. I started to think a lot about how to merge all of the good stuff about armchair activism – it’s fast, it’s accessible, it’s not a big ask, and it delivers a feel-good factor to the participant – with actions that could actually take form in the real world.

Description: Taoiseach of Ireland, Bertie Ahern enters the Dragons’ Den and faces the music. Chanting Fianna Fail policies for the upcoming election, the Dragons let him know what they really think of him.

via Mulley.net.

Original video link here and original website here.

It’s not a complete list of what I read daily but it’s the cream of the crop.

Enjoy!

as seen on flickr…

Recently I bought two compilation CDs called ‘Holding Up Half The Sky: Voices of African Women‘ and it’s companion, ‘Voices of Asian Women’. The African cd is very good and I’ll look into getting more music by some of the artists.

I’d only heard of Angelique Kidjo before but some of the other singers include Stella Chiswese, Ami Koita and, my current favourite on this cd, Netsanet Mellesse.

It was released on the Shanachie label in 1999 and the ASIN(?) is B000000E3U.

Incidently, Sinnotts shop is on Michael Street in Waterford. It’s basically the main shopping street in Waterford. It’s just up from ‘The Square’ plaza (which is actually triangular in shape!).

You can also see what other music I like on my lastfm page.

From IMMA’s website… I’ve added paragraphs ;-|

Japan’s leading electronic composer/artist, Ryoji Ikeda*, focuses on the minutiae of ultrasonics, frequencies and the essential characteristics of sound itself. Since 1995, Ikeda has been intensely active through concerts, installations, and recordings, integrating sound, acoustics and sublime imagery.

In the artist’s works, music, time and space are shaped by mathematical methods as Ikeda explores sound as sensation, pulling apart its physical properties to reveal its relationship with human perception. This performance at IMMA includes two of his most influential and acclaimed performances C4I and Datamatics.

Using computer and digital technologies to the utmost limit, his audiovisual concerts suggest a unique orientation for our future multimedia environment and culture.

Ryoji Ikeda* –> cool website

Anyhow, her current contract is up and she’s looking for work. She’s considering offers over at gissajob.

Ciao, my darlings
isadub

Three small negatives to get out of the way first:

– The graduands should be encouraged to work out of their comfort zone. Too much of it was self-centred or introspective, and there was little or no representation of people, say, over 30.
– The assistants were students – they’d probably be offended if I called them s’curity guards. Perhaps some of them were even the artists themselves. It is perhaps disrespectful to visitors, and their own work, to stand around gossiping and sniggering and generally being a distraction.
– The signposting was non-existant. I’m pretty sure I missed about 20% of the exhibitors. The exhibition was staged across 3 buildings (?) and I found the buildings. But once inside, it was a different story.

Now that I’ve got that off my chest, I’d definitely go again next year because:

Roisin Morris was the star of the show for me. I think I even saw her in the corridor!! Her photographs were just stunning. Her theme, albeit introspective, was relevant and insightful. There were only 6 photographs but I think they transcended the limitations of ‘ink on paper‘ and she really got her message across. There was a real depth and a tactile feel to them and her ‘What Waited Inside Herself 4“* was rightly the centrepiece of her display. Oddly enough, the catalogue just called it No. 4 or something like that. This is her college website and her personal website (although it’s not working yet).

* This pic is a scan of one of many postcards given away on the day advertising the work of the Graduands. Please contact the college or the artist if you want to reproduce, buy, etc their work.

I also liked Valerie Curran’s Vanishing Points. It was a fresh approach that I haven’t seen before and, as a former scientist, the concept appealed to me. She majored in Fine Art and her piece was displayed in a 3m cubed space and it consisted of styrofoam balls and thread. Have a look here at a small pic.

I, and I’m sure all the other children, blew as hard as they could into the space to see the balls vibrate on their strings. Sadly, the college website doesn’t list a personal website (or a better pic). I hope some gallery takes it in and displays it but, strangely, the pricelist says it Not For Sale.

Final mention goes to Manus Goan in, I think, the Animation class. The catalogue lists him but I can’t find him on the IADT website. His name is unusual and a google search returns up bebo page. His animated video was called something like Dusk to Dawn. The animation, ‘flashing lights’, and music all tied in together smoothly although it was a tiny bit repetitive. Bebo’s Manus Goan is a ‘Hardcore Raver 4 Life‘ so that might explain it! Still, the rendering was realistic and it was a good ‘take’ on Dublin. I’m not being dismissive when I say it would make a good screensaver, or if adapted, a good music video.

I might also take this opportunity to remind everyone about the Irish Election Posters group on flickr.