Unproductive things I have been thinking about today.

• Why do we wear shoes?
• Who is Gordon Bennett?
• Isn't it strange that " hi " and " 'lo " mean exactly the same thing?
• Since Americans don't say bye to each other on the phone, do they not on facebook chat either?

LOCATION is the current DESTINATION for urban art lovers

East Ham, London, England. A red door in an otherwise ordinary street, in a familiar suburban surrounding. 

Red door studios are currently holding an exhibition of four London artists- Gaye Black, Ian Bailey, Lynne Blackburn and David Apps. I went along to the opening night, where as well as mingling with the artists and old friends, I was lucky enough to see TV Smith perform live for the second time. 

After a walk, a train and two tube changes, we (Me and my Mum) found ourselves at East Ham tube station. After getting lost on straight line directions, and my GPS navigation on my phone failed us, a zealous and friendly pub door-man pointed us in the right direction. Which was, after all, to keep going on the simple straight road.

Fashionably late and slightly frustrated we arrived at last at our destination. Location.

Passing through the open red door, I was immersed into the happily busy ambiance of the exhibition. Squeezing and excusing my way into the main room, I acknowledge some familliar faces and join the audience of TV Smith's already begun performance. He sings and plays to his attentive audience with eager passion, his lyrics fueling the energy that fills the room. 

He finishes his set and I give away my barely-sipped flinchingly strong cup of punch. Time to look at some art I reckon.

My own picture

Gaye Black's art works were the most appealing to me, as many of them addressed issues of animal cruelty and exploitation in well-composed collages. As a vegetarian and animal lover they caught my attention immediately.

Picture taken from the facebook event page, posted by Gaye Black

Photo taken by Rhiannon Ifans

Photo taken by Rhiannon Ifans

These are just some of the pieces that are available for view and for purchase at the event. I was pleased with Gaye's work, and relieved that I enjoyed it after being a fan of The Adverts, the late 70s punk band she was a part of along with TV Smith.

She was kind enough to let me have a picture with her. Behind us you can see another of her collages, below a screen-print by Lynne Blackburn.

Photo by Rhiannon Ifans

David App's work is familiar to me, and his carefully created photographic art never fails to draw the eye. There seemed to be many lost gazes finding themselves focused on his pictures. They're thought provoking but never ugly- the right balance of 'art' with always enough aesthetic. His passion for his city is unmistakable in many of his images, such as "Pearly" shown below. He also has a book of London Photography,  'East End: East London Photography'.

Photo by Rhiannon Ifans

Mum's favourite art was the bowl of cheesy balls.

After looking at everything a few times, and not being able to afford any of the pieces (though reasonably priced!) I settled on buying an Adverts Cd, and took the opportunity to have it signed by Gaye and Tim (TV Smith). 

My own picture of me and TV Smith :)



Some more pictures from the night: 

Photo by Rhiannon Ifans. David Apps work in the center, with handmade frame. To the left and right, Gaye's work.

'The future is unwritten' by Lynne Blackburn

Photo by Rhiannon Ifans. Mind Control lampshade by Ian Bailey.

The Exhibition is open until 24th May, where some prints are available as well as the originals. Worth a gander! More pictures can be seen at http://reddoorstudioseastham.wordpress.com/gallery/

Yahoo, you CAN'T sit with us!

Yahoo is buying tumblr. Potentially. Yahoo wants to drag itself out of the 90's and be flung into the sea of a young demographic. By buying tumblr, the assumption from their part is that this crowd of creative, cool teenagers will come like a free gift in a cereal box.
I don't know Yahoo's intentions with tumblr- but a quick glance at the Yahoo homepage gives me some predictions. Tumblr will lose it's simplicity; the dull, non-interfering shade of blue, the one-column layout. http://uk.yahoo.com/ is one of the most unattractive web pages I have seen. It is busy with annoying unnecessary little buttons. The top corner whimpers at me "please make an account with us, we know you already have an account for everything for under the sun and there would be no purpose in you making another one, but please, we are so nice and purple." 

Yahoo I can assure you, that if you try to enforce YahooID login on tumblr, you will lose the trendy crowd you're so desperate for. Because after all that is why you want tumbr isn't it? For the bloggers, the followers, the hipsters. Tumblr has the most sought after online demographic- young, social-networking, bored, horny, teenagers that are online more than they are asleep. Grab that group the way David Karp did, and you've got yourself one cool website.

But where do theses trendy cool-crowners get a say? Bloggers across the site are already expressing their displease. A small minority think that the outrage is an over-reaction. The primary concern is that advertisements will be introduced. Tumblr is popular because of it's simplicity, it's easiness, and it's honesty. One person talking to their followers. Another person sharing the conversation, another adding to it. No interference from advertising campaigns or professionals directing the flow of posts. Banning nude or provoking material is also a worry, with a substantial percentage of tumblr's pages being pornographic or showing selfharm.

If yahoo are smart, they WILL listen to the say of the tumblr bloggers. For there are plenty of potential improvements. For example, private messaging and removing the post-limit.

 Tumblrers say no. But when $1.1 Billion is on the table, it's easy to see who wins.

It remains now only to wait, to hope, and to blog.

The Young Ones go to the pub

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T3pSRimkiF4

A good clip of the young ones. Can never decide who's my favourite!

Bloggers are Strange

I cannot think of a way to introduce the subject of The Doors into this post. If I were a lazy chat show host I might say they need no introduction. As a lazy writer I will show you these images regarding the subject and allow you to create your own drum-roll introduction. If you are unfamiliar with them, then I confess you should be directed to a much more eloquently skilled musical blogger than myself, as they deserve nothing less than the best explanation. A little pill and a vinyl might however do a better job than any mere mortal in this grey reality side of the doors of perception.  Without further ado, I present to you, The Doors...

All pictures nicked from the doors.com

And now that we are all sufficiently weak at the knees, I shall continue to the point.

TheDoors.com are creating a big mosaic recreation of this famous portrait of Jim Morrison. It'll be made of lots of small pictures of doting dreamy-eyed fans from across the globe. i.e from their facebook page. I too am submitting my picture. Feel free to compare the two of us. Wouldn't we look just great together? I will spare you the self-made couples pictures crudely constructed on Microsoft Paint of the two of us and let it to your own imagination.

And so there is my tribute to Jim Morrison. But is there too much myth around the guy? Why is THIS the famous Doors image, when it features but one fourth of the band, with the others not even present at the shoot. Of course the frontman always gets the most attention, and it is a universally acknowledged (thank you Austen) unwritten rule that other band members must stand back and allow the singer to attract media attention and adoring fans- in the name of the music's success. But how many mildly dedicated fans know the names of the other members? In a band such as The Doors, the lyrics and vocals are mesmerizing, but is it not Ray Manzarek's intoxicating keyboard playing that really 'makes' the Doors sound? Or how about the three-week number one hit "Light my fire", written by Robby Krieger. Jim was incredible at what he did but he didn't 'do' the Doors on his own. I wonder if he had lived to inevitably record a solo album, would it have been half as good as the explosive quartet the Doors.

Jim Morrison, Ray Manzarek, Robby Krieger and John Densmore.

A picture I took of T.V. Smith

Vivienne Westwood: 'Punk was just an excuse for people to run around'

Saw this pic on tumblr.

Common people do not shop in M&S Jarvis!

Punk? A shoddily written article about young punks

"Punk is Dead!" the infamous cry of I don't quite know who. Is it true? I see and know plenty of mohicaned lads and lasses in 2013, but are they quite 'punk'? 

Searching for pictures to collect as inspiration, I stumble across a set of pictures like this: 

I do not own these pictures

A comment underneath catches my eye. "This is what punk became ridiculous. Mohicans leather jackets and tattoos. And shit American bands like green day. How can this be rebellion when you're all wearing the same uniform?". This got my mind going so I questioned the commenter, Pete, an original 70s punk. "So would you not agree that the punk movement was gang-like? That fitting in to 'punk' gave you greater opportunity to voice an opinion behind the group?" I asked. His reply was: "Punk like any youth movement was gang-like but was about the individual. What punk became was a cliche of Mohican, tattoos, etc, you don’t need them to be a punk, punk is an attitude,not a tattoo!"

So does this mean 'Punk' has gone stale? Is it impossible now to be a real punk, for any deliberate effort to look punk would be to conform to a stereotype, leading only to accusations of being poser-punk with the wrong attitude, that you're just not punk enough.

Saying this, I see many young punkers dressing the way they do in an echo of the past, aspiring to look a certain way so that they may re-live an era they never saw. But what are they fighting? If punk was a movement against conformity, do these young punks share those views? Or simply admire them enough to follow. Ironically.

I think this speaks alot for what punk is, and how it looks. "James White and the Blacks were the personification of the punk ethic. They were not a punk band and did not look punky at all, and that is the point. The attitude was there in abundance." Chris Sullivan, punk writer.

Sophie Dougan, 18 year old Philosophy Student has her own opinion. "I don't think it is possible to be a true punk today because I do think it was very much a subculture that was very much of it's place in time. People venting their frustrations through music, clothing, activism, they couldn't in any other way. I think the world has changed since the 70s a whole lot and it is easier for people to voice their opinions especially given the internet and social networking. I think people can be inspired by punk, it's music, style, ideology but I do think it's living in the past claiming to be punk exactly in the same way that people were punk during the 70s."

Me (left) and Sophie (right)

I have no conclusion to my writings. I welcome your opinions, as an impartial by-stander no opinion will offend me, as I hope none expressed in this article have offended you. I certainly mean no disrespect to anyone, whether you are a 00s or 70s punk. If you have anything to add, please comment below or email me at lina0milns@aol.com as I would be interested to hear your thoughts. And now to finish, some pretty pictures. None of which belong to me. 

P.S, I have found this website. I did find it rather funny. This cannot surely be what punk has come to. http://www.howtobepunk.com/punks/real-punk The website claims that to become punk means you will be more attractive to women, and find friends "that aren't imaginary". 

Blog Anachronism

Here is a music video. It's rather a good one and I enjoy it.

I'm going to go and put on a black mini dress and stripey tights now. Let's hope I don't get carried away and shave off my eyebrows too...

Well now.

I plan to write about nice things. Nice things like blood pumpingly thrilling concerts, new indie bands, and artwork that catches my eye. I fear (if I have the dedication to continue the page for long) that this will become a blog of my own selfish interests. A beacon for my envious desires of nice shoes or post-punk boyfriends to harvest. If this is to interest no one other than me, I suppose that will have to do and I am completely sure I can manage to entertain myself. If, by any peculiar chance, a visitor stumbles across this rabbit hole (not quite a wonderland but certainly getting there) then I hope you enjoy what you find here and return to view more musings of the mind of an 18 year old stranger.