INFLATION 1980

 yo!.. look back in wonder..innit!

                         

here in palookaville..

we think the mortgage rate @6% is high..

but when this photo was taken..

the rate was 15.5%..

NOT JUST THE JOB WALTER

sitting here with my boss standing next to me..

I was 28..

It was a good job..

graphics and photography..

we all had a 16% raise in 1979..

and 21% raise in 1980..

then the job was made redundant..

me out first..

then the boss..

then the whole drawing office..

I moved house..

into the centre of the city..

sold the car..

we brewed all our own beer..

switched off the hot water and the heating..

I had to sell all my marvel comics..

for £500  that's £2,743.18 pounds today..

that's $3453.

to pay the mortgage arrears..

SOCIAL SECURITY

there was help with mortgage interest payments back then..

and grants for students as well..

I went back to college..

qualified as a teacher..

mortgage rates went down..

eventually..

but 10.5% was still normal..

our actual mortgage amount was for £14,000..

the new house had cost us £23,000 in 1980..

our previous house we bought for £11,500..

in 1978..

we sold it for £21,000+..

in 1980..

THE VALUE OF PAPER MONEY

people here in palookaville..

talk of getting on the housing ladder..

they think houses only go up in value..

but the truth is..

it's the money that goes down in value..

it's all just inflation really..

MIGHTY MARVEL MELT UP

I wonder what my marvel comics are worth now..

the first 36 spideys..

(all the Steve ditkos)

first 20 x-men..

first 24 Conan the barbarian..

many more..

ROBOTS READ MY BLOG

 yo!.. come all ye bots.. innit!

here in palookaville..

viewing traffic has gone apeshit..

google stats show viewing spikes..

all over town..

I SMELL A BOT

when you get 82 visits from Japan in one day..

or 199 from singapore all in a day..

you know the bots are back..

TEACH YOUR CHILDREN

instead of teaching our children..

we are training machines how to say and write and draw..

dumb stuff..

they think that  now that we are all dumbed down..

by the clever politics and media..

we will need machines to entertain and inform us all..

with ever dumber stuff..

ANSWER THE F*CKING PHONE

the robots not answering the phones of the business and government..

are so crap that they are to be promoted..

just like in real life..

when the bots come to palookaville..

they at least get a laugh..

MY FINE ART

the bots are also..

all over my stuff on faa..

it started with beverley hills..

but is mostly new york..

with some from riyadh..

some 2500 - 5000 a day or more..

it makes it difficult..

to see the real visits..

FOR WHAT IT'S WORTH

If you think that what you are reading, watching or listening to..

is created by a machine..

just turn it off..

shut it down..

do not buy it..

it's..

your future..

your choice..

MISTER PITIFUL

yo!.. los angeles 3.. innit!

this image above is from psycho..

it's not marilyn..

it's Janet leigh..

apart from the appalling attack in the shower..

I have given her the warhol treatment..

to make her look like marilyn..

a soup can marilyn..

like pop art..

innit!

ICONOCLASM

the destruction of icons..

that famous and beautiful face..

has had some art worked on it..

I am sorry for my part in this now..

at the time I was only thinking of myself..

and my little screen print..

so here you can see..

my cunning plan..

one print with  the image on both sides and with cut out and folded flaps..

with the second print beneath it..

clever innit!

I SAW THIS AND THOUGHT OF YOU

andy had given her the soup can treatment..

pile em high and sell em cheap..

mass reproduction..

just like elvis or the mona lisa..

15 minutes of lame..

on reflection..

I feel now that this was..

a poor show..

in 'marilyn reframed'

we are introduced to a great person..

the greatest photographer's model of all time..

she ran the whole show..

she had all the guts they ever made..

possibly the most famous face in the world..

and a great actress..

I was ten when she died..

she was the most beautiful woman in the world..

you can spend a long time in Hollywood..

and never see the part they put in movies..

farewell my lovely..

LOS ANGELES TWO

yo!.. closer than that walter.. innit! 

So..

angelinos..

here is the missing image..

the painting with the angels..

EVERYBODY KNOWS THEY AIN'T NO SANITY CLAUSE

nobody believes in angels..

yet here they are..

not observed from life..

obviously..

but here in art..

they appear..

and reappear..

sometimes in the great paintings..

of the old masters..

(how long before that name is cancelled)

THE OLD MISTRESSES

are always the best..

and there were often angels..

with messages..

or immaculate..

concepts..

LATER THAT SAME DAY

get to the f*cking point..

I am dawdling here..

because I am awaiting..

divine inspiration..

ah that's better..

here at last..

better late than never..

evidence..

yes there are angels..

but only in art..

and only before modernism..

when you are painting..

things happen..

figures reveal themselves..

sometimes immediately..

sometimes they emerge gradually..

sometimes they appear darker..

sometimes they appear so cool..

no two angels appear the same..

sometimes they look just like ordinary joes..

like waiting for the walk sign..

walk..

 don't walk..

believe don't believe..

free will an all..

your choice..

figuresinasouk.com

city of angels

MONA LISA NOT

 

yo!.. diffrent strokes.. innit!

in the movies..

it's all about faces..

it's what created the big stars..

really big faces..

up there..

on the silver screen.

huge and..

in your face..

imagine the power..

of two huge beautiful faces..

kissing and canoodling..

and..

looking back at you..

and later..

talking to each other..

and again to you..

POWER'S IN THE FACE MICK

always was..

so

wtf is going on in this little epic..

three figures..

without a face between them..

Leonardo would not approve..

BEAUTY IN THE EYE OF THE BEHOLDER

could be..

that these figures..

have beautiful faces..

but they have to keep them covered..

so as not to create desire..

incite lust..

THE OPPOSITE OF PORN

hide beauty and avoid lust..

like covering up..

the legs of a piano..

SOMETIME LATER

thing is..

the human face..

is the most erotic..

part of the body..

THE EYES HAVE IT

they attract..

they stare into yours as you climax..

you know how to climax don't you.

you just put your lips together..

and blow..

the eyes again..

the lips..

the tongue..

this is where the action starts..

when you are teen aged..

you want to see the hidden parts..

the opposite sex..

(not sure you're allowed say that anymore)

but you miss the obvious..

the really great sex..

is right in front of you..

face to face..

innit 

so  maybe mona..

is the racy image..

and all those..

faces in art..

and photography..

all portraits..

of profane love..

VANITY OF VANITIES

meanwhile

back at the souk..

it looks like three figures in burkas..

but really..

it's just a gesture..

or three strokes of the brush..

the big square at the back..

well that all started as a carpet..

a simplification of the souk..

into a single shape..

a magic carpet maybe..

a sacred symbol perhaps..

SO WE PAINT ON

backs against the current..

bourn back ceaselessly..

into the mystic..