Los Albertos - 'Fall From Grace'.

My very favourite 'local band' are Brighton's own Los Albertos. Named after the pub' where they used to drink, and eventually formed the band (The Albert), they are a bunch of wayward, very talented, Brightonians who play great ska, klezmer, and other up-beat music. When I was living in Brighton I would often see them at the infamous Komedia Club; there was never a dull moment.

This should get the blood flowing on a cool autumn morning. Looks like it was recorded at the Komedia too.

Aunty on the Slippery Slope?

                       
                                 

I hear that the BBC will no longer be asking for details of 'qualifications' on a job-applicant's CV. The Socialist-heavy corporation has decided that it has too many well qualified, ex-Oxbridge intellectuals, and it needs to dumb-down and diversify.

There is, of course, good argument for employing those who are simply good at their job, but to purposefully exclude those who are also 'well educated' seems to me like cutting off one's own feet.

I have no personal knowledge of the interior workings of the BBC, but I do know that I actively prefer meritocracy to purposeful dumbing-down. Could you imagine the words 'Ivy League alumni need not apply' attached to a top-job advert in the US? Of course not!

The only person I know who worked for 'Aunty' was my old school friend AY. At school he was mostly interested in drama and the plastic arts, then went on to receive a poor degree (a Desmond) in Law from a non-Oxbridge university. He later became the Creative Director of the BBC and presented their 'Arena' arts programme. I am trying to imagine a less knowledgeable (or even a better qualified) person than A doing the job; I can't. He fitted-in into his role perfectly, and his non-Oxbridge education played little part in his obvious success.

However, finding the very best person for any job should always be the aim. Ideally people aspiring to fill the country's top positions will be well educated (at Oxbridge if needs be), have a bucket-full of common sense, and will know his/her subject inside-out.

I hope that never changes. If it does; we're lost.

The old Yorkshire ruse of shouting down a mine shaft, saying that the first eleven men up will be playing cricket for The County on Saturday, may have worked in theory; but best not try it.

Is nothing sacred?

As usual on a Saturday morning, yesterday I went to our tiny local market to buy wine, eggs, and bread (I showed the above picture a while back).

On delivery of my half dozen eggs, the nice man explained to me that as from today (yesterday) a new law says that each egg has to be stamped.

As far as I can see it says 1FRdou01. What this means is that they are free range (1), they come from France (FR), they come from this location (dou), and this is the number of the hen house they live in (01, I imagine my man only has one hen house).

It rather saddens me to see these red ink letters all over my free range, locally produced, eggs. Why can't these meddling bloody bureaucrats just leave things alone. 

It may be just another minor liberty taken away from the small producer and his client; but the meddling EU 'politicians' (I use the word cautiously) will soon make sure that no-one, and no activity, escapes their bloody clutches.

I much preferred my eggs un-inked.

All change.

Lady Magnon has been moving pictures around. She has decided that a couple of my old self portraits should come out from the depths. You may have seen both of these before.

Student portrait circa 1970.

                                            

Grumpy old git (unfinished) portrait circa 2004 (complete with cobwebs).

I wonder how long it'll take for her to get fed up with these two; no doubt they'll be back amongst the Spiders before too long.

Harvest 2017.

Oy; you missed one!

More scribbling.

Unusually for me, I've been asked to show some of my own work after yesterday's posting, to illustrate what I meant by 'understanding the calligraphic nature of Ms Mehretu's work'.

I don't like to use this platform as a gallery, although I have sold one job having shown a photo (which was nice).

No, I'm just putting these two up as an illustration of that calligraphic quality I spoke of yesterday. That's all.

Think Chinese calligraphy. Think zen. Think minimalism. Think time. Think energy. Think direct manhandled frenzy.

Sorry about the quality of the pix. The lower has now been sold, the upper one still awaits a considerable donation from a discerning connoisseur.

Julie Mehretu

I love this work, I love the scale, and I love the process.

I feel as if I have a tiny something in common with Ms Mehretu; the calligraphic quality of her work is something I understand, although in my own case I work on a very different scale. It's a tad like speaking the same language. Her painting above measures 27 by 32 feet.

Ms Mehretu is an American of Ethiopian origin. This painting, that she is seen working on above, is one of two that are apparently the worlds largest. I think they're entitled HOWL, eon (1 and 2).

If you happen to be in San Francisco, you can now see both works at the Museum of Modern Art. Otherwise you could consult Google Images; an example below.