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The Cartoonist
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Saturday, September 6, 2003 |
 Weekend. Time for some housekeeping. First of all, this weblog is now exactly one year old. Get out the champagne.Second, I've added a few more spreads to the Corgi and Dinky Toys gallery. The Snorkel Fire Engine is fantastic. Enjoy.
3:40:47 PM  |
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 Arno Schmidt. The Arno Schmidt Stiftung is getting better and better. Latest offer is the complete and extended inventory of Arno Schmidt's library (PDF), which is quite interesting. As a matter of fact it's very interesting indeed. And it's a free download. Free as in Free Beer.Guten Morgen!
Ab heute gibt es auf unserer Site "Die Bibliothek Arno Schmidts" von Dieter Gätjens, überarbeitet und ergänzt von Günter Jürgensmeier (Menü Archiv, Untermenü Bibliotheksverzeichnis). Ergänzt wurden u.a. die Inhaltsverzeichnisse von Werkausgaben und ein Verzeichnis der Bücher nach Standorten geordnet.
Das Verzeichnis kann als PDF heruntergeladen oder online genutzt werden (aber auch online braucht man einen Augenblick Geduld).
Mit freundlichen Grüßen
Susanne Fischer May I point my English/American readers to the translated Arno Schmidt? In a style often compared to that of Joyce's Finnegans Wake , Schmidt creates a kind of dreamlike narration that relies heavily on wordplay (especially neologisms) and floats in and out of the characters' subconsciouses. . . . Schmidt captures a colloquial German speech that Woods deftly translates. - Publishers Weekly Picture by The Cartoonist. That thing's hanging on my wall. Sad, isn't it?
12:19:06 AM |
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Friday, September 5, 2003 |
 London again. An A-Z of London. Very funny.I recently moved to London from the world of the living dead outside the M25. Now, as an 'onorary cockney geezer, 'ere's an A to Z of what I've learnt about life in the capital so far [...]
5:06:12 PM |
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 Oblique Strategies. As devised by Brian Eno and Peter Schmidt. I must say, this is not bad. It seems to sort out your brain when in trouble. Great for brainstormings. But you can always try it at home.Brian Eno:The deck [of cards] itself had its origins in the discovery by Brian Eno that both he and his friend Peter Schmidt (a British painter whose works grace the cover of "Evening Star" and whose watercolours decorated the back LP cover of Eno's "Before and After Science" and also appeared as full-size prints in a small number of the original releases) tended to keep a set of basic working principles which guided them through the kinds of moments of pressure - either working through a heavy painting session or watching the clock tick while you're running up a big buck studio bill. Both Schmidt and Eno realized that the pressures of time tended to steer them away from the ways of thinking they found most productive when the pressure was off. The Strategies were, then, a way to remind themselves of those habits of thinking - to jog the mind. To be honest, I actually do find them helpful from time to time. Some of those cards come in handy sometimes. Anyway: trying to find my way through the jungle of internet links, I believe I came across the original site: The Oblique Strategies Website. Then, there's an HTML version of the card deck; an absolutely fabulous Flash version is here (or is it just another example that Flash doesn't work?); and here are lots of links. Try them out. It's fun. Really. "These cards evolved from our separate observations of the principles underlying what we are doing. Sometimes they were recognized in retrospect (intellect catching up with intuition), sometimes they were identified as they were happening, sometimes they were formulated. They can be used as a pack (a set of posibilities being continuously reviewed in the mind) or by drawing a single card from a shuffled pack when a dilemma occurs in a working situation. In this case the card is trusted even if it appropriateness is quite unclear. They are not final, as new ideas will present themselves, and others will become self-evident." And I am using the Mac OSX version of Oblique Strategies by Curved Space... Update: Already running into trouble here. Have a look at TELEDYN's entry.
3:17:51 PM |
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 The LIFE and OPINIONS of TRISTRAM SHANDY, Gentleman. This is how online literature can be presented with just a little bit of effort. The tristramshandyweb is beautiful. Just beautiful.The Tristram Shandy Web is a critical edition of the text in a digital version. Starting from Sterne's original print edition - whose layout we intentionally preserved unaltered - we aim at showing its complexity in accordance with the advantages of hypertext format. Thanks to a new medium - the computer - we are finally able to bring out all the potentialities of the text, as opposed to the static layout of the printed page. And most of the old illustrations are here.
9:20:39 AM |
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Thursday, September 4, 2003 |
 We are the robots. Amorphic Robot Works.Amorphic Robot Works was formed in 1992. ARW is a New York based group of artists, engineers and technicians working together to create robotic performances and installations. ARW's Artistic Director Chico MacMurtrie , describes his vision, "The work is an ongoing endeavor to uncover the primacy of movement and sound. Each machine is inspired or influenced, both, by modern society, and what I physically experience and sense. The whole of this input informs my ideas and work."
12:05:27 PM |
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Wednesday, September 3, 2003 |
 Bellrock. This is a typical British understatement: A Reference Site for Stevenson's Bell Rock Lighthouse. Man, this site rocks! 60 pages of chronology, old paintings, old technical and architectural drawings - it's fab! And nicely designed too.This site commemorates probably Scotland's greatest single engineering feat of the early 19th century; its creator and builder, ROBERT STEVENSON; the workmen and seamen who were engaged on its construction; and to JOHN RENNIE, who was appointed Chief Engineer to the project. More about English, Irish and Scottish lighthouses can be found at the homepage of a lighthouse keeper.
11:28:42 AM |
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 Hans Ruedi. He's now even dealing in custom made surfboards. Unbelievable. Anyway, here's Giger's homepage. An interesting page about his record covers is here - thanks to neurastenia for the link.When I was about 20 years old and had just acquired my first airbrush, I sent a letter to HR Giger, basically asking him: "How do you do it?" Guess what - he replied. A very kind and nice letter from Switzerland, telling me everything I wanted to know: the colours he's using, the materials, the templates. Brilliant. So after 23 years: Thank you! It did help!
10:41:34 AM |
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 Vintage Views is an enormous collection of old postcards. Enjoy.Welcome to VintageViews! This page is a gateway to a suite of four websites with over 3000 pages. There are three sites based on my postcard collection, and an Illustrated History of my hometown, Rochester, NY.
The sites are laid out for easy navigation, and fast downloads. There's a lot to see here, so sit back, relax, and look around.
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Tuesday, September 2, 2003 |
 The Saint. In French. Brilliant website about the French editions of Leslie Charteris' The Saint novels. Articles and a huge big cover gallery.Any article about the Fayard Saint series would be incomplete without a mention here of its cover artists: The first, pre-war covers were drawn (or painted) in a photo-like realistic style, often featuring a George Sanders-like likeness for Simon.
Then came a series of covers signed by Ch. (Charles?) Boirau .Boirau is very likely the one who came up with the idea of incorporating the Saint stick figure created by Leslie Charteris in creative scenes and situations from the book. Boirau used gouache, and made the figure more three-dimensional, as if it had come out of a tube of toothpaste. He was overall more realistic, using shadows, perspective, etc. Further information about good old Simon Templar can be found at saint.org.
5:29:06 PM |
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 The Shadoks. Brilliant. Just brilliant. Fantastic.The Shadoks are a kind of outerspace creatures designed and created by Jacques Rouxel in 1966, in the spirit of newspapers' comic-strips like "Peanuts". They first appeared on TV in 1968 and quickly became heroes ; their main mission was educative : criticism of the french society with absurd humour. Theyre here, here and here.
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Monday, September 1, 2003 |
 Oh, dear. I'm afraid the Bishop Information Minister is going to take over tomorrow...watch and see. Oh.mcdzsrwz@vskkiojqsujxy.de, tuouuqmk@fdmpuyjdtuvyflokgba.us, hsdyfofhk@dxcxijsrzqrnb.com, zfvtjmjzes@sqhwpdrppmzmdtip.de, xkfbwllwd@dvgaxmlyfh.com, uosbi@zgozui.br, hrxcjnax@onaef.mil, ltbzzqt@cuug.biz, kksx@drphwvorg.st, uouszapuz@vpibigkz.com, augvmmu@xqqxwcwklizdiesooxj.ru, oqxaggly@beacwcuclpxlnatpot.com, vjfaenx@xpkovheauwvrev.ar, htts@nkneublknp.eu, csrvzo@zghnrjpecawqwhz.edu, dwnwzz@hxzafevdhodhruyagq.ca, gdlwxo@yaguapnrv.jp, jiqqf@klasnyjja.tv, hvayqj@ckny.de, mix@wbgxopebymechmbhn.fr
10:38:36 PM |
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 Lights. Goethe's last words were apparently: "More light." Well, he should have gone to Norway before finally leaving this planet. There are plenty of lights - most of them of a rather strange and peculiar nature - swirling around in Hessdalen. Hessdalen is a small valley in the central part of Norway. At the end of 1981 through 1984, residents of the Valley became concerned and alarmed about strange, unexplained lights that appeared at many locations throughout the Valley. Hundreds of lights were observed. At the peak of activity there were about 20 reports a week...
11:38:18 AM |
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Sunday, August 31, 2003 |
 Modes and Motors. Wow. More art. A 1938 General Motors brochure about car design. Wonderful illustrations.What follows in the brochure's next 30 pages is a short history of global art ("Wherever artistic geniuses lived and dreamed, they left behind them evidence of their hopes and ambitions and desires[sigma]") and then a lengthy examination of the industrial design process. What makes this booklet notable is not just its breathless prose, but the degree to which GM lavished artistic integrity on what was just publicity material. With its lovely (and uncredited) art deco illustrations, Modes and Motors is a work of art in itself.
10:06:39 AM |
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Pixel Stuff. Funny little gif animations, blinkies and more are at 
Superheroes. Brilliant. 
Another one. I can't keep up with this. Here's
Loriot. I know, I've blogged him 
Entertainment. Not great men - the 
YeahYeahYeah. Here are the 
Great night out. Great - I met up with 
The Awakening Conscience. William Holman Hunt (1827-1910). I don't know why, but I find his paintings fascinating. A nice gallery 
Blogs. I came across some interesting blogs in my referers: check out 
Painted Illusions. Here's the 
Joyce. I've set up a webpage dedicated to my 
OhMyGod... 
JohnandJohn. Bizarre and very funny cartoons are at 
YesYesYes, I know, I have blogged 
This is your Bishop Information Minister speaking. The person known as The Cartoonist is busy doing silly things in 
RaahRaahRah!. Trackback is still not working. The only weblog trackbacking me is 
It's the Time Traveller again. 
Due to popular demand. Good grief! And I thought it was all nerd stuff! But now that 
Old weirdos. More strange cars at the 
Old Woodies. Great - this is a fabulous website about 
Funny. Check out the 
New at the 
A man must cross the river, and so it shall be. Go for a walk - here's the