Dr Awsom - Corfu

A late christmas story

2010-12-29T14:30:00.000+02:00

The sun was already risen into the clear winter sky over Bethlehem. A young boy with long blond hair galloped down the stairs to greet his parents for breakfast.

Turning to the old folk, he said unto them, "Yo! sorry, Lo! its 12 AM and I'm hungry"

Mary glanced at the sundial through the kitchen window, and turning to the boy said, "Verily verily, thou art a trifle confused this morning - it's just turned nine"

And Jesus, smiling said "Ha! you fell for that one - it's 12 AM, Anno Me, for I am 12 years old today"

Whereupon Joseph turned from his cornflakes saying "Get outa here - haven't you got a miracle at 9.30?" Muttering into his beard, Joseph said "Jesus! Precocious brat! Thinks he knows when he was born already"

"Leave him alone whispered Mary, he is a smart lad and is going places - no thanks unto you may I add.

Be Happy Friends

2010-12-26T08:48:00.002+02:00

Never mind bad pennies - some old bloggers are liable to turn up when you least expect them too. You have been travelling - some to exotic bits of America, some to Greece. Some of you have been invaded by family, others not. Some of you have been wondering what the hell it's all about, some not (who's perfect?). Some of you have come out and started using your real name. Oh yes, I have been watching from the sunny shadows of the Corfu Hovel, but next year they promise me 4 times the bandwidth, or whatever it's called, and so I'm sure to be back interfering generally and being polite to the wealthy ones among you - just in case. Some of you have been throwing clutter out of your lives. My postal address is Bob, Agios Markos, Corfu, Greece. (I don't know why I mentioned that).

Bad Hair Day

In October 10 days in Brighton,England were generously spent immortalising my daughters and grand-daughter. I can see Biba getting herself No2 clipper jobs when she is old enough to take matters into her own hands. How we suffer for art. In my case it was having to develop film in nasty wet chemicals for exactly the right time at the exact temperature. And as for black&white printing - you (probably) have no idea of the anguish involved. I'm not kidding - very very few photographers could print properly, even for the inflated prices we charged. Ask me about it.

See how I wind my mum up

Yesterday a nice Greek lady from the village braved the elements, and the old floorboards of the Hovel, to bring me a serving of Turkey with prune sauce, and trad. Greek sweets. Wonderful, I forgot to buy anything to eat when I went to the supermarket on Christmas eve. If milk, Weetabix, instant coffee for cold shakes, bread (or flour), and Greek semi-hard cheese, are in stock I am content. Of course that's not all I eat, and last month was the first time for about 14 years when 40cm. (waist) trousers were required to accommodate my expansion.

Oops - dawn is breaking. I had better see if there are enough bps to stick some images in.

Coffee-bar Artist

The pay-out

Brighton Breakers.

NO! This is not a self-portrait - I don't wear sunglasses.

Benefits who?

2010-10-04T16:28:00.001+03:00

"While the poorest will be hardest hit by austerity, today's announcement on child benefit shows no-one is immune from the government's unwarranted rush to cut," said (U.K.)TUC general secretary Brendan Barber.

"This is a big blow to the principle that has served Britain well for decades that welfare should be available to all, not just the poorest."

From BBC news, this little quote shows you how well trained by the wealthy Mr Barber actually is. It has NOT served 'Britain' well Mr Barber, it has served the better off well, who have been pleased enough to take benefit they did not need from those who did, particularly the disabled, old, and otherwise unemployable.

As much as I personally hope the right-wing of the political spectrum are forced to turn left significantly, it is sickening to read the quote above from someone supposed to be leading the Trade Unions' Council. Silly me. Why should working people support those too sick, old, and inadequate to find employment? Answers below please.

The old idiot

2010-10-02T19:15:00.001+03:00

"If I want to do something stupid and break my leg or neck, that's up to me. I don't need a council to tell me not to be an idiot”

Thus spoke Lord Young of Graffham, and quoted in the excellent BBC blog
Lord Young is probably not an idiot., even though his comment is idiotic, and insensitive. Many good people without his advantages and education, can get carried away by exuberance, or otherwise find themselves in trouble that us wrinklies would avoid. They are not always so able to pick themselves up afterwards as Lord Young is either.
I watched several videos of this cheese-rolling madness and was upset to see young people apparently injured, whether they chose to take the risk or not. This event, however, is not a sport - it was not enlightening to watch - no athletes were being created, just a few young people crippled perhaps.
Well done Council in banning this nonsense. What does anyone think?

verse v prose

2010-09-22T10:46:00.004+03:00

This post appeared on hi it's only me in May 2010, but comments do not get mailed to me, so I pasted it here along with some excellent comments. The post aims to do two things - firstly to put over the very basic view of life and nature that has driven me along since leaving my mother's influence, and secondly to provoke thought about how verse and prose communicate so differently, whether we like it or not.

Life? No mystery

The mystery of life and nature lies

With shimmering pebbles in a moorland stream.

While deeper than it seems to our poor eyes

A simple slate like lapis lazuli can gleam.

And in this river find deceitful stones

That hide their sparkle from a duller glance,

But make the eyes of others shine with lust

Of riches for the one who hones

This glassy rock to its refractive best.

But I digressed.

The wonder of a diamond stems

From qualities discovered at the hand of man;

While nature had, so many eons past

Pressed humble carbon into service as a jewel-to-be,
it took a jeweler to add the essential polish

The question that I really want to ask

is do you feel the need to ascribe nature’s hardest creation to a supernatural power? Nobody has ever told you to believe that beautiful pebbles in a stream or on the beach prove intelligent design, have they?

And does the simple worm that moves only to eat and procreate speak of a ‘maker’ just because it is more complex than a stone?

Where is the design here? Molecules exist because atoms can combine according to strict rules – and do so whenever they meet because they must.

Even under conditions of heat and pressure where life cannot exist, complex molecules can replicate, and do so because they must. These replicating molecules can organize themselves into ‘simple’ forms that can move and take stuff from their environment – which they do, because they are able. But the mechanisms within continue to operate because they must.

Fishes skipped on the mud and gills slowly changed to lungs – a whole new world rose from the water’s edge to be explored and exploited. Wonderful changes took place because they could. Forms changed slowly as small errors crept into the processes of replication. Particles

from space bombard us still and can make changes to the elementary atoms involved in DNA – the instructions for replication.

To a very simple creature a simple change meant success or failure in the competition for resources, in the ability to recreate. The changed forms flourished because they were better, and nothing could stop them. For a while anyway.

As creatures became very complex tiny changes had tiny effects, but over millions of years the complexities grew, and not for one second in the time it took dumb animals to evolve into even dumber humans (humorous episode) was there a need for an outside ‘designer’ to make something from nothing.

My mother was a devout believer, and I respect the human need to fill in the gaps of understanding, and to praise something for the wonder of life (when it is wonderful) and beauty of nature (when it is beautiful).

It is my position that simple christians are among the kindest and most selfless people by nature, and fundamentalists of all flavors among the most neurotic and dangerous. There cannot be a single god that both groups believe in. How can there be?

4 comments:

Carol said...

I want to thank you for the compliment about being faithful to God. And there can be a God for all, maybe we call Him by different names but he is all and for us believers it means that we love and trust. Even sometimes when we do not agree, because God created us and all and gave us differnt thoughts. Some good and some bad, that's up to us. By the way love the poem.May 27, 2010 6:01 AM

corfubob said...

Thank you for responding Carol, there is, it seems to me, great humility in believing god gave us our thoughts, but then you say what we think is up to us! Can both be true?

I think what unites us both is the desire to know the answers. For me, nature created the terrible diseases that infect children (for example) because nature is not given choices. You could say physical laws are god - but this god has no choices either!

Your god seems to be different - it/he/she created diseases that blind and maim children from choice, and can even cure them if they pray correctly. Am I wrong Carol? His 'mysterious ways' are not an answer for me. If I believed in god I would hate him for doing this. Are not little babies innocent?

I believe many things Carol, but take pleasure in being proved wrong, if this is a step towards a better truth. My beliefs are in my head - nature and truth are outside my head, living independently (lucky things!) Go well, and be happy, BobMay 31, 2010 1:40 AM

Jen said...

Wow Bob, I am so tempted to argue with you (respectfully) but will refrain (mostly) because I do not have the time to do so in a quality way, so I would lose. :-)
Will just content myself with saying a few things ...
-You have only described HOW molecules exist, not WHY. The fact that atoms have these attractions and repulsions is a quality of theirs, not what caused them. It is an important detail of how the physical universe operates, not the reason for the physical universe. It seems to me that in the sciences, we are often told we will receive an explanation, when all we really get is a description.
-The Christian explanation for the universe is a complex one. The Bible teaches that we live in a world that was created completely good, but is now fallen, ruined, and so contains much pain. It's tempting to say, "But if God exists, that means He created either evil beings, or beings capable of becoming evil, so isn't that exactly the same as if He'd created sickness and pain Himself?" The answer is, No. It's complex. It all goes back to the mystery of free will. God is somehow able to create beings outside of Himself, who can take real actions that have real consequences, which left to Himself He would not have chosen, DESPITE that He knew what they were going to do beforehand. No, I don't understand that. It's reality. It's too complex to understand.
-About the form. I like the parts that scan and rhyme. The transition from poetry to prose was smooth (I thought). It's also appropriate that the poem leads you to contemplate beauty, but the prose sticks to the argument. However, it seems to me you have a lot more prose than poetry. If you want the form to be perfect, shouldn't it move back and forth more?July 14, 2010 8:03 PM

Jinksy said...

Wish I'd come in at the start of this arguement... LOL :)August 28, 2010 11:13 AM

Porgy and Bessie's page.

2010-09-21T01:37:00.002+03:00

A few pictures for Caren at Cat Chat, some may have appeared before,

but to save scrolling -

Bess in a box

Porgy (Piggy) and Bess were sisters, and Socrates is Piggy's daughter. Socs is a survivor. She fell from her mother's jaws about 12 feet onto a wooden floor when a mere handful, and suffered possible brain-damage. She was rejected by her tiny sister and Mum for a while and was given to walking in circles. She got better, started to feed again, but from then she never wanted to be touched or picked up, almost never purrs or makes eye contact, but follows me up and down the stairs whenever she is around. A year later she lost her tail under the wheels of a car - well, it was damaged, it went black, got maggoty despite all the creams, and one day it disappeared except for the little black tuft at the end, which I found on the door step. The tail didn't fall off.

I should have been a pro. masseuse.

And I can tell you those hands went into Bessie's ample padding right up to the elbows.

Gotcher!

Head-bangers

I'm so very tired

Technical note. Taken on an Olympus, at least 5 years old, these shots were actually in need of very little editing, and by chance little cropping. Every digital image from cameras of this vintage need sharpening, but more importantly, the ISO setting should be 400 or 800, standard, if the camera will allow, and the shutter speed should be 1000th sec. minimum if you like sharp pictures. (especially using maximum zoom).

Older and simpler cameras cannot deal with high lighting contrasts, especially in close-ups. In the shot 'Gotcher' all detail is lost in the background, but it did not matter because lighting on the subjects was soft. A camera on auto exposure would have been dazzled by the background, and Porgy&Bess would have come out as silhouettes - editing 'levels' (brightness) later would not have worked very well.

The moral is: Learn Manual Settings if you want to take nice pictures in other than very average conditions. So-called 'programs' do nothing except sell cameras. All poets learn the alphabet, and some even learn grammar.

One to one instruction? $7 a week? Some of you need it. Only joking! Probably.

The Last Post

2010-09-19T21:11:00.001+03:00

This is the electricity post outside the bar next door to the Hovel. And a very serious post for many of this old village. Each four of the staples you can see held a little poster giving the name of a villager who had passed away. It doesn't happen very often these days, and quite a few villagers are foreignors like me - we don't seem to get one of these.

THAT cultural centre

2010-09-01T10:31:00.003+03:00

Twin Towers Tribute (link)

I heard the legal reasons given by an honest man why THAT new centre of the Muslim faith could be allowed to occupy a plot so near Ground Zero. The Law is worse than an ass, but it has some powerful friends.

In fact my feelings go much deeper. If Law can grind the insult of religion, disguised as Culture, in the face of thinking people, it does the work of the bombers for them.

The rich man's puppet is thankfully gone, but when will poor Americans get the strong leader it needs to throw all religious 'leaders' out of office and back into church where they belong? And when they set up 'office' in their churches and mosques; use their 'charisma' and money to manipulate their followers to a political agenda, why cannot the elected government just shut them up!

Controlling these perverted sociopaths, these priests and imams, is not suppressing religious belief, it is controlling dictatorship by 'faith'. It is not suppressing freedom of speech; they have no freedom to break the law, and speech which can incite 'believers' to violence is against the law.

Some people need their faith and their gods, and can have special houses to worship them in. Why not, they do no harm and most of them want peace for their families and give respect to their leaders. It is the big leaders of warring religions who want to fight each other to the death (not THEIR death of course), and have learnt over centuries how to co-operate with dictators looking to acquire land and power' Don't believe me, just read history.

Rhyming matters

2010-08-28T18:01:00.003+03:00

Upon Westminster Bridge

EARTH has not anything to show more fair:

Dull would he be of soul who could pass by

A sight so touching in its majesty:

This City now doth, like a garment, wear

The beauty of the morning; silent, bare,

Ships, towers, domes, theatres, and temples lie

Open unto the fields, and to the sky;

All bright and glittering in the smokeless air,
For taxies have a century to appear.

Never did sun more beautifully steep

In his first splendour, valley, rock, or hill;

Ne'er saw I, never felt, a calm so deep!

The river glideth at his own sweet will:

Dear God! the very houses seem asleep;

And all that mighty heart is lying still!

Bill Wordsworth Composed September 3, 1802 Borrowed from Poets Corner

Over the years I have read couplets with the regularity of clockwork in their rhymes, but with all rhythm lost in the effort to ‘fit in’ the rhyme. Perhaps this is the saddest of all amateur errors, and so often too, the chosen word sticks out like a sore thumb – it’s there because it rhymes.

I came across the Wordsworth above at ‘Poets Corner’, and found I could not find the rhyme-scheme (although it may have one). However, the metre is near perfect ‘iambic pentametre’, 10 10 10 10. (Blank verse?) Look Willow, I can’t find my ‘how to do poetry’ book OK?

The point I am making is that the best poets in the world deliberately let their rhymes misfire to avoid boring predictability, and also let the metre go adrift a (very) little in the cause of meaning and avoiding cliché.

Natural rhyming – where the second word could hardly have been different, makes pleasant reading still, and will survive in poetry like Bach in music – i.e. for ever.

Do you agree?

Picture show - retro.

2010-08-27T15:48:00.000+03:00

Hello friends - just a little retrospective of images, many too deep in the mire of Dr.A to have been seen by recent explorers. My thinking is that when an image can be cropped and shopped to a reasonable composition it becomes a picture instead of a picture of. Then I use filters to simulate brushwork which must also serve to unify the image, that is, suggest a deliberate approach (like paintings and poetry)

As much as it would be nice to be an artist - to bury layers of meaning in images, and have a gallery or publisher hoping to make money out of them, the craft is demanding enough by itself, but ultimately boring without a little something to spark the imagination. Composition smooths the path of your eyes around the image, your belief allows my little thoughts to come through. Believe, and enjoy.

Like it on my wall do you Bunny? That's alright then...

Molly.

Sky painting. Towards old Kerkyra.

I wish my skills extended to painting. The composition here was very largely natural, but even if a cloud is not in quite the right place it soon gets to know about it. I did not fix the white 'mountains' on the right as it 'appens, but a little sharpening would have occurred if thought beneficial.

Geranium and bud

Smokey on the Wall. Very little work needed here - cropping, sharpening, a few flaws removed, but Smokey's eyes have it, do they not? Normally with both whiskers and eyes I remove all or most of the effect of any filter.

Passion flower and buds. Juliana know what passion flowers are. Drop in on this super lady Later! dammit, finish your first course to get the sweet. OK OK thats enough for now, all this high-powered stiff is tiring I know. See you back here?

Jacdaw, sorry Magpie No 29

2010-08-26T15:35:00.005+03:00

The journey through long decades and grim doubts

has brought the love-torn poet to this door.

And at the bell a trembling finger waits

and wonders. Will obedience to her call

reap the reward of welcome to this house

of symmetry and light?

Αγιοσ(Head in a bag) Σπυριδον, Corfu 2010

2010-08-26T01:20:00.002+03:00

Every August the Orthodox church organises a parade, the centrepiece of which is the head of Saint Spiridon - discretely shielded from the hot sun and admiring gaze of the faithful inside a bag. I know I should research this properly, but meanwhile a few pictures will have to do.

OK OK, Marik and Aimel, have to get a tyropita or something, the head is coming honest.

Just a little local colour here, Marik knows where we are going, we are early - time for me to knock off a quick watercolour.

We are there. A Greek lady is introducing herself to Marik and Aimel, and going on about the time-wasters - the bands and their music which has nothing to do with heads in bags. "Bring on the priests" she is shouting (in the next picture)

The Euphonium player was resting. I want to say that the standard of playing was really good, I was enjoying this, but having to be a bit strict with people who come at the last minute and stand right in front of you. Well, they try - I did not go to photographic college just to learn about f stops and hyperfocal distances and such......

See the people behind? The priests are coming with the thing we have all been waiting for - Saint Spiridon's head in a bag! Will I be up to the challenge of depicting this holy relic with appropriate reverence and so on?

Second flute.

Second Clarinet

Hear no Evil..............

ALT! oo goes there then? Well, we left the square, and we are on the way to find a cafe for a nice iced coffee. Did you like that? I am coming again next year - I don't ged out much you know. On the mainland we tended to get a bit spoiled when it came to traditional parades and 'festivals' (Panayeria) which are not tarted up for tourists. Even if the country towns and villages don't get the best relics, they have the best atmosphere. If I live long enough I shall revisit, and then you'll see some pictures. Oh! did I forget? Don't seem to have got a picture of the head in a bag, now how did that happen? I know you are disappointed and I have asked Marik to send me one if she can. Come again soon.

Our Minds are Many

2010-08-06T18:56:00.003+03:00

Our minds are many

and they live and die

like clouds that chase

their shadows in the sky.

Or like a hive

of loyal bees that weave

their pathways

through a cold grey dawn;

return and dance

a royal turn to sign

their findings at the throne

with sure but innocent design.

Our minds are many

not a single vault

of vintage wines

maturing by default.

More like a cave

with one eye to the light

and creatures happy

to be out of sight.

Our minds are many,

like a driven storm

of swallows,

free within their given form.

Our minds are many,

and we are not wise

to heed alone
the one behind our eyes.

The Brighton Belles

2010-08-03T20:25:00.001+03:00

Now, shall I file this in 'Calloutcats' or 'portraits' Not that I took the picture of course.

And not that I am in the mood to post, having lost one of the senior cats - probably to poison. Porgy and Bess were inseperable, and now Bess is no more. She had all the injections and a glucose drip, and it was a peaceful passing, but the hole will be felt for years to come by me. When she was ill but still sitting up, Piggy saw her from across the room, stared for half a minute and ran away. Socs, also family, came across her outside - spat and also ran away. She was no longer Aunt Bess.

They feel, but they do not know. Our relationship with these loving creatures is distorted by 'knowing' things. I trust my emotions, and let them be what they are,even if they are criticized for being 'too strong'. Perhaps love expands to fill a vacuum. I have been fussing around the remaining six of the cat family, and will have to confine them to house and small garden, building perches and hideaways as required. To be continued

The.......................................

2010-07-20T15:02:00.001+03:00

One evening a month or so ago, just as twilight was greeting the Corfu night,

and my spitit was suskeptical to magic and mystery,

I ventured out to count the kitties.

It had rained a little in the morning, but the day had been dry.

Can you imagine my excitement on noticing marks in the dirt

that formed an almost perfect circle.

This was not the creation of a human agency

not even a tourist agency, because my yard is not mentioned

in any guides to the island.

I hurried in for my camera - 800 iso I said to myself, quick.

A professional photographer must be gifted with nerves of steel -

the light was fading, the marks were drying out, within minutes

I had selected 800iso, composed the image, being careful to position the

histogram to ensure an appropriately exposed image

that would speak of dusk and mystery, without having to fake the effect

in Photoshop later.

I did not notice the little witness to my nervous fumblings at that moment -

well, would you have done?

I was going to make a competition for the title of this story - that's why I put 'The........ at the top. But a. I am fresh out of decent prizes, b. I didn't want the losers to feel like...you know, and c. some of you would say I claimed the best entry for myself. So I am going to give you a clue. The title is "The Cr...p Circle" What you have to do is insert a vowel. Good luck.

It's beyond belief

2010-07-20T13:34:00.002+03:00

Just a link to a great post from timethief My comment lacks the erudition and research of the wonderful TED lecture, but it's sincere at least.

Any questions?

2010-07-17T12:55:00.001+03:00

This post is the answer. The picture has nothing to do with anything. Unless you think so.

Space

as in deep and shallow,

can be thought of

as what exists between matter,

and the two together

comprise all that there is.

Except of course for energy,

and this moves matter through space.

That's all. It's just too easy of course

even for scientists. And they are clever

Oh! how I hear the questions

scrambling around in your brains

like rats in a barrel.

Ideas, love, art, me? above all me.

Why am I here? who made me?

What happens when I die?

Scamper,scamper,scratch,scratch.

Ideas then, what about ideas?

they're not bits moving about!

Sorry - that's exactly what they are;

when they start you know something,

you feel something, you believe something.

When they stop you forgot something,

you stop feeling something.

If you hear the Cavatina from

Beethoven's Op.130 quartet

for the first time, bits called electrons

will either start moving and never ever stop,

or they will not. Try it.

Let nature provide the answers

and then ask the questions, if you must.

My family,friends,music,cats

are the answers.

Do they need questions?

Badly gilded rose

2010-07-15T17:09:00.008+03:00

Do you still seek

a bright repose

that your young heart missed,

Sweet English Rose

And did they paint

your petals false

to guild your nature

from their own designs?

2010-07-14T12:19:00.003+03:00

I found these beautiful images from Bebi, and want you to go see the originals. Something happened to the rose in the water, but I liked the effect so much here it is. It is green/blue challenged but rivets my eye to the monitor anyway. Happy days to all my loyal friends from a Corfu almost devoid of visitors. It must try harder.

2010-07-13T11:20:00.000+03:00

July evening outside Jossy's Fish'n chip bar. You may notice a tourist or two if you look hard. Numbers down, business for Jossy almost non-existant - time for new menus and promotions, poorer visitors are shopping at the supermarket, eating on the beach or at the hotel. The Hovel is perched on the side of the hill about 6 inches to the left - the silence makes my ears ring. Anybody coming? Dr Awsom can get you a good deal for sure.

Corfu sweetness

2010-07-07T06:20:00.000+03:00

I knew bess was going to jump up on the sink, and the clout was no surprise either. Started a new file called 'calloutcats'. Hey, I could go really soft in the head and get the flowers talking to each other as well! So tell me what Mama Rose is saying and I'll fix it - posting with a link to your blog. So you'll get famous - that's all right, I know you'ld do the same for me

calloutcats

2010-06-24T03:21:00.001+03:00

All my friends post regularly, I am sure they don't have more spare time than me - I must be just a baaad person. Mind you my cats have been acting silly, particularly Molly above. She was sleeping most days in the Castor tree but it has lost most of its leaves with rust and now gives no shelter. I am going to get a proper tree.

Porgy and Bess continue to be an example to us all - friends (sisters) for life, totally adoring, that's why I put horrid words in their mouths whenever possible.

Several weeks off line, me - but I guess America is still America, and the English tories are set to give the poorest and laziest of their supporters a good kicking. Dohh.....

Silly Molly

2010-05-28T13:54:00.001+03:00

Not as well-balanced as Dr.A Eh? LOL.

Molly was about to be abandoned by neighbours returning home 5 years ago, so I asked where I could find the red kitten. Up the tree probably they said. New tree, new servant, new life, Molly is content.

May blooms, Corfu.

2010-05-26T15:23:00.001+03:00

Yesterday's stroll for flowers to capture and interfere with produced some easy results 'Prickly Pear in flower' and 'Passion Flower 5'. The latter one needs a little work, but the colours are not tampered with. These are dedicated to friend Abraham. Do drop in.

Molly the cool cat.

2010-05-26T14:49:00.003+03:00

This one's for Rachel who deserves reward for her hard work. Who likes being labelled? But its a fact of life and you can either ignore the labellers or make a hobby of editing the labels as much as possible. If, that is, you can afford the luxury of doing anything about yourself or your circumstances.

2010-05-16T23:26:00.003+03:00

My name is Bess, my sister is Porgy - we send you greetings from Corfu, Greece

Lovely pictures from Arizona, pop over there, it's not so far, be sure to look Brattcat up

The Only Ones

2010-05-16T07:15:00.003+03:00

Shy Periwinkle

'Whatever' said Biba, and she was only young.

My favourite flower, my favourite grand-daughter, and my only Mr Magoo

who disappeared and is greatly missed.

Look closely into his eyes and you will see my fear.

My fear is is also yours who are bound to others by love,

both natural and inappropriate,

and to whom I offer my thanks for being here.

Poetry is funny stuff is it not? Can the above lines be dismissed as a badly constructed poem - with a rhyme to attempt confirm its status? Probably. But it was written as prose and a sincere message to my friends. Inappropriate love has been hinted at recently (below), but what about this feeling many of us have for the creatures that we share space with - or allow us to share their space?

This sentiment was made for poetry, because prose does not allow us so readily to 'feel' the meaning of words written to be 'understood'. It is sad - pathetic - inappropriate, is it not, to be so attached to animals? I bet we (you) don't think so. Let me know anyway. As in a comment below - even the stressed, stretched, and serious among you!

Gamila's Moon

2010-05-14T00:12:00.003+03:00

Thank you all for dropping by. It is becoming imperative to post or retire. People are bothering to comment; people I would be happy to count as friends. Of course I have been too busy to insult many people in discussions just recently, but have just twigged that responding honestly to followers of the quality blogs is not a waste of time. Also posting slushy poetry and romantic pictures could be the way forward.

I just want you to realize how difficult this is for an angry young atheist and complete leftie. Of course the cat- and tree-loving side of me wants to communicate with natural simple people, but I really want to argue with the ‘believing’ types among you as well. Please believe that the more scathing and ‘ironic’ my comments, the more I like you. Corfubob and Dr Awsom are barely friends of course, and even I get annoyed sometimes at the variety of ‘roles’ it amuses me to play.

Like a diamond – if it has too many sides it can’t sparkle. (Get yer paws off that one Nothing Profound) No really, After music my two favourite hobbies are humour and crushing debate aimed at shriveling the confidence of anyone with odd beliefs and/or limited intellect. Look friends, you can see the humility behind this last point. Anyone who can’t beat me in any debate (I agree to partake in) must be pretty dim.

Now I’ve forgotten what the post is supposed to be about. I know, I’ll stick a poem in. Its from Konitsa, August 1997.

Gamila’s Moon

I will gladly sit these sunny Autumns;

Sit and watch the colours changing,

Watch the trees resign to Winter

And the dry leaves falling.

Then I’ll put a kettle boiling

And a small brown loaf to bake

Turn my back towards the log fire

Watch my shadow dancing while I wait.

But with bread a-steaming on the plate

From the table I’ll not move.

Window open to the pines,

Eyes upon the peaks above.

Waiting, waiting for the moonrise,

Waiting in the fire’s light.

First a glow above the skyline

But entrancing still the magic sight

Of her launch into the Epirus night;

Slicing through Gamila’s misty shroud,

Cooling in the diamond sky,

Free of rock and cloud.

Epirus

is a province of mainland

Greece

, and Gamila is a peak of the Pindus range towering above the Aoos river gorge near the town of Konitsa. Gamila means camel. This is the real

Greece

, no ancient ruins and therefore almost no tourists but a wild region of mountains, monasteries, and stone-built traditional villages.

Well, the log fire was actually a converted sawdust burner, but just capable of casting a shadow. Something is wrong here however, the poem is dated August. Hot nights – no stove. But I did used to wait for the full moon to rise over the foothills of Gamila. Moonlight pictures later.

Cat chat

2010-05-13T07:38:00.003+03:00

This massage racket is cool - i should charge.

Like it on my wall do you Bunny? Thats alright then....

Have you heard where Polly is spending the nights?

I don't wish to know that thanks... I'm off.

Corfu Spring

2010-05-11T17:50:00.004+03:00

Today's picture from out back. A simple quick 'dry brush' filter with some shadowy leaves added to fill the empty shadow bottom centre. Add a few old olives and this is what homer would have seen if I had invited him to stay while researching the Odesy. The trees must be trembling now 'though, what with bankruptcy around the corner. Eh Rich?

Hourglass Meeting

2010-05-11T12:29:00.001+03:00

OK, the picture of Molly is not really appropriate unless she represents the look I probably got from the mother in this little poem from 1987. In fact when Molly was a young mother she used to watch the kittens playing, and if one got a bit rough she used to clout one of them (it didn't matter which). One day our puppy was man-handling a little cat (who was lapping it up) and Molly went over and clouted - you guessed - the cat!

Hourglass Meeting.

They took a table
Sat there in the slanting sun.
I tried in vain
To find the downward eyes of one.

But after toast
She risked a fluttered smile at me,
Just when her mothers eyes
Were closed in tea.

But like two grains of sand
That met once in the hourglass waist,
We were two lines
In separate memories chased.

An actual 'bed & breakfast' encounter somewhere in the south of England, but I don't remember much about the girl except that she didn't smile at me. This 'romantic' phase of writing didn't last long either.

Unreal Image - a sort of poem.

2010-05-10T21:58:00.003+03:00

Written after a visit with Penny, my second daughter, to a Tandoori restaurant at Croxley Green, near London. My home was a 50ft. narrowboat ( a steel canal-boat with the standard 6ft. beam for England's narrow waterways.) moored nearby at the time. She was about 19, and starting to listen as an adult while I was starting to hear what I was saying to her. This post is to thank Juliana for her kind words.

We were speaking
In our low Tandoori voices,
And we glowed with waxen glamour
In the rosy tungsten sun-set.
And the words were spiced with wit.
But I felt her eyes too closely
Following my lips.

And the rest were shining
With their Friday evening wise-talk,
Gossip, soapy wisdom.
But I felt my words were nothing,
That her eyes would crack the shell
And destroy an unreal image.
And perhaps it's just as well.

'Nuff to make a willow weep

2010-04-15T01:56:00.002+03:00

Two luvyduvy poems from my tender middle-age. These are for Willow, Call in, you will be well rewarded.

Singular Symbol.

Were there a bindweed with thorns
And the innocent face of a rose:
With the scent of sweet lilac
And the powers of nightshade,

and no less a tendency to carnivourizm
than the guiltless venus fly-trap, the lovelost
poet in me would, I suppose deem it a
singular symbol of that pointless passion
I am still naive enough to refer to
as 'love' Know what I mean?

Only one generation out of phase.

Insuly to injury
Pathos on perfidy,
Twenty nine reasons for tears
And all of them years.

But there's a brighter side.
Who would not say I tried
To love without deceipt?
If with enough conceit

Oh! Heartless destiny
Why do you toy with me?
Weeds in my heart you have sown.
Just leave me alone.

Unsynchronized

2010-04-15T01:19:00.002+03:00

Oi Jerry, did you hear about Ruthie being stood up at the restaurant - 23 years she waited, so I'm told, then he brought her some primroses he found by the road and that was supposed to make it all OK . Stoppit Piggy, you eggerate everything.........

2010-04-14T06:18:00.001+03:00

Jump up Polly - don't wait

April fool! Ha! No cats were harmed in this April Fool. (tell Polly that!) Only joking, she went on crunching for ages. That rod has to be pulled to deliver biscuits to the bottom of the silo. See that hole? Come back in a few months time and that builder's hole (probably left for scaffolding, who knows) is going to be a cat door, and they will have their own balcony overlooking the garden, the deserted village, the olive groves, and the blue blue sea. My temporary door will be gone and one with GLASS in it will be there.

Wanna see some more of the Hovel. I will try to post a recent panorama of the 'Studio', untouched as yet - maybe windows this year and a floor not perforated by worm. Iron hard these planks, but beyond my renovation.

Do I see a glimmer at the window? Yes, it's 6.45am, time for a tea and back to bed to see if I can sleep. Four hours straight last night - I could get the cement mixer out and shift a load, but nowhere is ready, need shuttering and sand for mortar. Does all this high-tech talk make your eyes glaze over. Drop down for the studio pix.

2010-04-10T14:23:00.001+03:00

The lower picture looks underexposed, and the camera said so too. However, because of the low lighting contrast the image responded well to increasing 'levels' in editing, and with rich highlights. Highlights are often burned out in digital images. This picture was a little 'snatched' at the end of a session, but the composition gave me more pleasure than usual - with a little added to the top. Of course, improving on nature's attempt to produce art was required, as the top result shows. Don't you agree.

Composition? The main subjects are placed - by cropping and extension - so that the frame is filled without anything important being central. The distances between the flowers and the border are deliberate to avoid any strong sense of placement. often 'bleeding' (off the edge) of important elements is used for the same reason, providing this is also deliberate.

The Villagers

2010-04-10T13:14:00.002+03:00

1. Look at me - I'm the biggest. 2. Intimate moment 3. Meeting of the Village Elders. 4. Hey, wake up you lot -it's Spring

When it Comes to Laziness the British Take the Cake - theundergroundbootcamp.com/blog

2010-04-07T12:09:00.004+03:00

This is the image i carefully copied from the original news story. You will find the link in Paulin's post. Anyway don't miss the link below. Of course Dr-A's witty comment makes this post of Paulin's, Go to my comments below. (Don't forget it's the British who are lazy - so leave a comment of your own)

When it Comes to Laziness the British Take the Cake - theundergroundbootcamp.com/blog

Night-Eating Syndrome….A New Eating Disorder? - theundergroundbootcamp.com/blog

2010-04-07T11:24:00.003+03:00

Have I done bad? I pasted someones blog without permission, and left my original comment as a comment below. Is that bad manners? Please let me know - Dr.Awsom would hate to upset anyone, even some of his 'friends'.... (Cher, please tell RE I am sorry - Bad Girls Radio is fantastic, but a bit complicated for an old git like me to follow.) We find some wonderful people surfing around, and want to share stuff. The silly line of invisible text below is a link - please pop over.

Night-Eating Syndrome….A New Eating Disorder? - theundergroundbootcamp.com/blog

Flowers and Bunny the cat

2010-03-10T23:36:00.000+02:00

A few shots mostly from around here, plenty of things I want to say about turning snaps into pictures, but a little later. Rather upset about the sudden illness and death of Bunny, the little white cat here. It seems the case that emotions expand to fill whatever space is available to them, but are only judged by their size or importance relative to those of others. How can it be otherwise. I know people who can feel the minor pains of other people without comparing them to major tragedy . Needless to say they are seldom of the male persuasion, and those sensitive males who can emphasize- and talk about it - get called names. Ah well....

A few pix around the house

2010-03-10T23:10:00.000+02:00

Corfu Cat Gallery

2010-02-06T15:42:00.002+02:00

A couple of 'paintings', very little retouching except for the 'brushwork'. Mr Magoo, above, was a little fond of this wall. Polly and Smokey are still friends. Got any pet pics you would like me to paint? Free of course (for posting here).

Sad times, and have not felt much like posting; bad tempered on the discussions as well, occasionally. Say hello why dont you, I like to look in on my visitors. Take a look at Askcherlock and Rich - they write so well and with authority. Ausetkmt and Solamar7 looked in recently - they do quality stuff as well. Go look.Take care all.

Tips for Better Pics.

2010-01-07T19:05:00.003+02:00

Hello, me Smokey, calendar model, bit unemployed at the moment. See the wound on my throat? Buggsie did that and I was nervous for months after. Here's a word from my sponsor.

Thanks Smokey. Not a lot of work to improve the top shot. Why did I have almost nothing to do?

Because I always set the camera on the highest 'Sensitivity' (ISO) level possible.

And because I always use 'Manual' exposure.

Low ISO, or 'sensitivity' settings may give better colour quality, but the cost in cloudy conditions, or indoors, will usually be images spoiled by camera movement during exposure. If you have a camera that will allow it, set the sensitivity 200 or 400 for sunlight, and 800 at other times. Higher ISO = shorter exposures = sharper pictures.

If you cannot or do not want to control the exposure manually, try to avoid large areas in the picture that are much lighter or darker than your subject matter. The camera simply does NOT know what the central subject is. The camera looks at most of the picture and measures the average amount of light seen. This average is usually wrong because the subject is either lighter or darker than the unimportant areas in the background or foreground that it measures as well.

Believe me, Higher ISO settings, and higher shutter speeds set manually, are the two most important factors in improving your pictures. Almost as important as pointing the camera in the right direction, and from the right place.

Please send me pictures to work on for this blog, either to publish or to return.

The Romantisization of Roxana's Horses

2010-01-06T09:56:00.003+02:00

Roxana Balint kindly mailed me this beautiful picture for me to play around with. Horses are well known for not standing exactly where photographers want them to, and posts sometimes need deleting (I know what you're thinking) The black horse was too near the tree and also the fence above , and too level with the white horse.

The little forground tree swings the eye into the composition nicely, but the posts interfered with this movement. The sky was easily selected with the wand to be romantisized a little, and saturation generally was increased very slightly.

Angled Strokes were applied with minimum stoke length in order to unify the picture and disguise any flaws from repainting (when the horse was moved, for instance, and when the sky was selected).

Details were cleaned up with Clone Stamp at either 50% or 100% opacity. So easy, but rubbish does not improve a picture just because it's there, does it? Thank you Roxana and Romania for being beautiful.

Biba Playing the Straw

2010-01-05T21:35:00.003+02:00

One raw, two edits. The middle picture was desaturated a little and the colour balance altered very slightly to create a tinted sepia look. The bottom picture has fuller, more natural saturation. I wonder which her mum likes best. Now we are going to find out if she ever visits her dad's blog! Look for a comment below. I am taking bets at 5:4on. Well, I'm broke, you wouldn't ask for decent odds........

Jerry - the portrait

2010-01-05T20:22:00.003+02:00

This lovely kitten was as laid back as he looks. Notice the flexing of his claws, this is a sign of recognition with many cats. Another cat Smokey, who has commissioned a portrait for this blog, has the habit of stretching and leaning against a wall or post as a means of saying hello, Porgy 'speaks' .

This picture was cropped to emphasize the eyes (and that little foot) a small amount of sharpening and saturation increase was all that was needed before a Photoshop filter was applied (Angled Strokes) to simulate the brushwork of a painting. Oh!, i forgot, the eyes were brightened and the saturation increased vbery slightly. The claw did not need sharpening......... However most digital images can do with a small amount of sharpening as a matter of course Filter >sharpen. done. 'Smart Sharpen' and 'Unsharp Mask' can be tried with images that seem to lack crispness. It takes seconds to see what they do.

November Panorama, Corfu.

2010-01-05T19:53:00.003+02:00

The top picture was how Photoshop combined two upright landscapes of the valley and bay looking towards Corfu Town. In 'Image Size' dimensions and the resolution were chosen. For future printing resolution should be 300 dpi, but for screen viewing where no magnification is expected 72 dpi is OK. Instead of cropping the mis-match I filled in the blank bits using the 'clone-stamp'

The foreground was selected with the 'wand' and places where the selection was not good were mended, also with the clone-stamp. The selected foreground was lightened with the 'levels' tool which enables you to lighten, darken, and modify contrasts. then the foreground was 'deselected' and the colours were brightened with 'saturation'. (ctrl +U) . With practice, and using keyboard shortcuts, this amount of work takes a few minutes only.

If you have an image or two you would like improved simply, just mail me a file I can import into photoshop. If there is anything interesting I can do, and with your permission I will post the effort here. Otherwise the new file will be posted back.

Oh dear!

2010-01-04T21:31:00.000+02:00

The series below are all out of order. I tried re-posting them in reverse order so the first post was at the top. Nothing worked. Anyway, there are three new posts below. The walk was a lot less tiring than getting the pictures up. Anyone know how to get text down the side of pictures that are ranged left?

Oops, dogz!

2010-01-04T20:13:00.001+02:00

Socs has gone home, she knows how far to go. Bunny will amble along to the end while Polly finds herself in the garden of the big house. Who's that barking? My favorite flower of all - the Periwinkle we call it. Ok, that's it, Polly is back up the tree sharpish, Molly is off, Bunny turns round and begins the amble back.

Home again

2010-01-04T20:08:00.000+02:00

Well timed Polly. Set the delayed shutter release to 12 seconds, sat on the olive-press stone, Polly jumps. A split second earlier we would have had a decent action shot.

Off we go.

2010-01-04T19:45:00.035+02:00

Round the corner, cat heaven here, hedges, trees, ruins - yes, well that's what Greece is about. Polly likes this spot in the ancient olive tree. Olive oil was the life blood of Corfu, as with the Mainland. I believe the government used to spray the trees against a fly which otherwise ruins the fruit. The old trees produce tons of small olives, used for oil and soap... hey, its a long story, I'll look it up.

The walk to the shops

2010-01-03T22:58:00.012+02:00

1. Molly notices that the boss seems to be going for a walk. and he's got his camera. Bunny, Polly and Socrates are around somewhere, and they don;t miss much either.

2. This is the path below the Panorama bar that connects my house to the village below with its many derelict houses (shades of the pot calling the kettle black) As it happens the old farmhouse where I was reared had a big open fire in the kitchen and hanging in the chimney were two huge containers for water, a pot, and a kettle which you could tilt with a handle to pour water out of the spout. You guessed...they were both soot black from a hundred years of hanging about over log fires. In the harsh winters of the middle forties, regularly every Saturday evening water would be scooped from the pot into a galvanized bath placed in front of the fire. The water made a strange sound as it was being poured, a flatter more rustling sound - as boiled water is wont to do. I probably made strange sounds too at the indignity of being bathed, and knowing my bedroom would be little above freezing all night. Before rubber was invented my hot-water-bottle was made of salt-glazed stoneware with a black bakalite stopper. Not very cuddly I assure you. We had 14 cats at that time but none was allowed to sleep on my bed.

Back to work. 3. Below the wall a path which used to be cobbled, it still is, but many many decades have passed since villagers walked this way down to the shops a mile below, and the path is picturesquely overgrown for most of the year now. You can see Socs and her Aunty Bess watching Polly play with something - throwing it up in the air and catching it. I can tell you its not a ball.

At the end past another empty old house the path turns down left. 4. You can see the cobbled steps glistening with water that seeps up from the ground all winter. Anyway, Blogger won't download more than 4 pictures from this amazing and riveting sequence, so I'll post the other 9 below.

Hot off the press(frying pan)

2010-01-03T13:22:00.004+02:00

Another Sunday without bread. Another inspiration from the driven Dr.Awsom. The Peanut Paratha. A quick picture while it is still hot - a piece missing? Just testing. Try this at home - peanuts in the blender - salt pepper, whatever - about the same amount of flour - enough water to make a dough - fry in olive oil (of course) The result? Nutricious ! (geddit?)

Some things don't change

2009-12-31T19:15:00.044+02:00

Kind follower Berko observed that the life portrayed herein could be thought of as idyllic. A pensioner's existence in secure penury needs adjusting to, but if this can be achieved there are rewards. Not to turn to inactivity or booze just because it's expected of you is very important, and so is being handy with simple tools, If you are not retired and have been competing in the rat-race for years, and would like to slow down without inviting the sneers of you peers, Corfu and Greece in general must be one of the better places to tone down ambition; a government with the wisdom of the ancients succeeds in preventing unfair advantage to be gained through education, talent, skills etc. OK it's sickening to see people prosper just because they know someone, but to us modest types its sickening to see people prosper just because they know everything.

I will get out soon with the camera, you will see what a picturesque season Winter is here,and if I can overcome my shyness will record some scenes of everyday life as well

The picture below was a quick shot out the window with Molly having a snack. The tree is a Castor plant that arrived a couple of years before this picture was taken. When young the leaves are enormous, they can grow to half a metre across allowing the plant to grow quickly. As the leaves increase in number they decrease in size - I mean they don't grow to be so big. It is rumored that castors are now harvested to make fuel oil. They produce millions of seeds twelve months in the year. I am going to collect mine for kindling.

The next fine day I am going to walk down the lane to the lower village with my camera, and about time too.

The Hovel - Corfu

2009-12-31T17:39:00.003+02:00

An early picture from the 'studio' window. There were some bonfires! A wood stove was not in sight at the time. The blue boards in the next-door garden were covering a 'vothro' or 'soak-away' or cess pit, if you want to be horrid about it. It has been decades since it was in use, and the little creatures did their job and not a whiff remained. I have one as well but exactly where it is I can't tell, but the space out the back is only 3 x 5 metres. The wonder is it works, and the old soil pipe which led from an outside toilet, now extended to my shower-room, has the correct fall.

I mentioned that because the Greek tradition remains "No Papers in the Toilet". Instead, an often open bin is universally provided for your 'papers' (and you won't have been reading them .) The reason for this tradition is apparently that plumbers often didn't bother to ensure a decent slope (or wide pipes) for drainage. Some of my sophisticated friends may not realize that in Greece the comfort of sitting down toilets is not universally offered to patrons of restaurants or old-style 'cafeneons' (bars). A small tray with two raised foot-shaped plinths has a 3 to 4 inch hole placed between them.... OK OK, I will try to get a picture of one. Of course the modern ones have a cistern for flushing purposes (and one day you might be glad of Dr-Awsom's experience) but be advised to step off the plinth, readjust your dress, and stand well back before pulling the chain. Unless you particularly want to have your shoes washed at that time.

The picture below was taken about 3 years ago. Sadly the ancient olive tree to the right of that minute shed, (the Penthouse actually) is no longer. The space was needed by my wealthy neighbour with the very impressive name, Pericles (perrycleese, please) to build a lean-to 'apotheeki' (αποθηκι) or storeroom against my house! (Well, you know it isn't mine, don't you) The interesting point is, it was built without anyone's permission least of all the Hovel's owner's..... That's enough excitement for one post - you will have to re-visit for the continuation.

The little panorama is also from this time long, long ago, but the two-year old picture of the studio interior still represents the current state of my discomfort, whimper,whimper... Don't worry my friends, a 'DONATE' widget is going to be installed, by popular* request I might add, so that those of you who live in houses or flats with windows, level floors, etc. can follow this modest epic with a feeling of involvement.

The Sky's the Limit

2009-12-28T22:04:00.003+02:00

It's DISMAL, I know - boring colours, flat composition. Not much to be done with it, but scroll down anyway to see the effect of cropping, increasing the colour saturation, and clicking on two Photoshop filters called Rough Pastel and Angled Strokes, You can choose settings for these filters but they show up right away and you can play with different ones.

These notes are not intended as tutorials but to show what can be done easily, and with other editing programs as well.

Simple improvements are really quick once you are familiar with a few tools. and for the creatively inclined, the sky really is the limit.

2009-12-28T20:59:00.001+02:00

The 'saturation' was increased just enough not to cause noise (white specks around the place), and the colour balance was tweaked a bi for a brighter red. The 'text' tool provided the letters and the shadowy forground was 'selected' with the Wand tool. a 'path' was created with an easy click and then the text was typed out to follow the path. Its fun to play with text, and later versions of Photoshop are a pleasure to use.

Role(up) Model

2009-12-22T20:46:00.002+02:00

A nice moment from Senka, my daughter's visit to Corfu with Biba, but who needs all the rubbish in the background? It was there, right? Yes, but so what - it wrecks the picture. Out comes the clone stamp and in about twenty minutes we have a picture. Photoshop is of course the senior editor, but others can do this sort of thing. All digital images can do with a little 'sharpen', and usually a little 'crop'

Please scroll down for the improved picture. I might just mention that Google's Picasa system of organizing pictures is very good, and free.

Role(up) Model - mark 2

2009-12-22T20:44:00.001+02:00

Now the 'lines' that connect Senka and Biba are clean and the only addition to the composition is....... the clue is in the title, not all of you know what a synical sense of humour Dr.Awsom has. This picture needed no cropping to speak of, but this is always the first thing I look at when opening an image for editing. It is by far the easiest, and easily the most important action you can take to improve a picture. More later when a crop has been required.

Richness of detail and texture is (or can be) GOOD

Distractions that compete strongly with the subject are BAD.

Clone Stamping? This is a Photoshop tool whereby you paint over areas you don't want to see with something copied from somewhere else in the picture (or even another picture open at the same time)

Biba's ciggy was copied, rotated and pasted between her innocent and dainty little fingures from her mothers niccotine-stained mitt. Now you know why I live in Greece and she lives in England!

Porgy, Bess, and little Socrates

2009-12-14T18:54:00.001+02:00

I wish all my patient and gifted friends on Blogger, and BlogCatalog the kind of holiday they want and a great New Year. Dr.Awsom has a card for you as well below this one, and an important message. Well, it would be wouldn't it. The picture above taken a few months ago was one of those lucky times when very slow focussing did not ruin the picture. The composition was improved greatly (I say) by shifting Socrates a little to the left so that 1. the little black ears 'read' better and the framing could be a bit squarer. A Photoshop filter called 'angled strokes' gives a subtle painted look, which is often all I do to make a picture from a photograph. Slight unsharpness is also improved by this filter which creates tiny 'cells' of colour with sharp edges. The high-res image shows this better of course. This picture will bring me joy for ever not only because these cats are special, but because the composition is almost perfect. Can I say that? I think so because there are rules, and they are the same for everyone. But not important for everyone. Like wrong notes in music - if they're wrong they're wrong.

November Dawn, from the Hovel

2009-12-14T18:25:00.000+02:00

This is almost straight from the camera, there are always problems when the blue of haze and the yellow of dawn are squabbling for attention. Yellow is the absence of blue - they don't make green together like when painting. On a clear day you can see individual houses on the horizon to the centre and right, and a slight breeze turning the leaves of the olives to their silver sides.

Dr-awsom's back

2009-12-14T16:39:00.005+02:00

Dr. Awsom extends his very best wishes to everyone, and promises to turn over a new leaf as soon as possible. He is NEVER going to be rude to people who do not deserve it, and is going to insert links to all the wonderful pages that he comes across, and a few naff ones of course, which will serve to encourage the deserving. We must all, he humbly suggests, leave more comments that actually do comment, and don't just say 'visited your blog and clicked on your ads', because sometimes we don't have ads do we....

It is my plan to improve the style of the blog somewhat, and also focus on two themes. The first is going to be How to live on CORFU, Greece, for $15 a day or less. The improvements to the Hovel will form a background to the 'how to live here' theme, but best of all, the tiny top room known as the 'Penthouse' is going to be developed as a (quite basic) guest room. Watch this space.

The second theme is going to be 'How to get the most out of a simple digital camera' This will include very basic editing. How and what to edit is not hard. WHY to edit is the trick. It is hoped that blogging friends will mail images they would like improved. The pictures I post will suggest ideas. Hope you like cat pictures......

However few of my friends know as little as me about setting up an attractive blog, and this is an appeal for help. I would like clear comment threads becoming integral with the blog, and a second column for navigation, visitors, followers, stats, whatever. Advice to set up the new blog, perhaps with WordPress, will be welcome. Can anyone help?

2009-05-09T16:14:00.000+03:00

This one is dedicated to Julie, a writer from a great part of old England. Dr A has got connected again and on the look-out for talent among Ordinary People. Come back my friends I have neglected you horribly and have lots of stuff to share and make your life just that little bit more rewarding in these troubled times.

Corfu - Winter sky

2009-03-29T22:20:00.000+03:00

Photoshop filters for painted effect, but colours are quite realistic. The late morning sun finds some clouds over the mainland. One of the little black bumps on the horizon, left is the castle ruin of Corfu town, about 12 miles over the water.

CORFU Cats. Bugs and Bunny.

2009-03-29T17:43:00.001+03:00

See how my saw bench is getting overgrown. Sand, cement and timber next month for sure. That wall drops about 12 feet to a cobbled footpath, already weeds are almost knee-high. No traffic except me, but walks down to the narrow road that finds the few new houses up here are pleasant with the seven cats who come if they see me leave.

CORFU Cats. Molly's right ear

2009-03-29T17:26:00.001+03:00

This silly little picture needs a 'LOL Cats caption. Another cold Sunday - had to nick a timber from a recently collapsed old house from below the Hovel, all my nice olive logs gone. Old pine makes great kindling, but this piece is so round and straight - how can I burn it?

Earth Hour. Really?

2009-03-26T16:02:00.003+02:00

Have you heard that millions of people are going to switch off some lights and maybe more on Saturday the 28th? I wish I hadn't.

Yes! Millions of people who don't know why they are switching off are going to become aware of how their uncontroled consumption is draining the world of it's electricity, filling the atmosphere with CO2, which in turn will melt the ice-caps, submerge coastal cities the world over and disrupt the climate.

The Carniegie Institute is very wonderful - I have no doubt about that. That consumption in the West is contributing to CO2 production in the world is true. That CO2 in the atmosphere traps heat from the sun - like a greenhouse - may well be true. That human activity produces a significant percentage of CO2 compared with natural processes has yet to be proved, in the opinion of some scientists.

So a few people are going to switch things off for a while, sit around by candle-light, and maybe talk to each other instead of watching TV, surfing the web or otherwise improving their minds. (irony) Poor people - the majority on this planet - are going to be really impressed; they are going to question their actual need for a supply of safe water to their shack, for power to illuminate the dark hours, for books to help educate their children.

For one evening in the year? For one hour?

What is it that makes me angry? First, the complete emptiness of the gesture. Awareness of the need to cut back is lacking, but the real reasons for cutting back are never discussed. I will try to list a few of the reasons I have in mind, don't expect originality; this is not a cleverly researched post.

1. The chasm between the haves and have-nots in the West is widening, and the divisions are destructive.

2. The 'third world' is slowly being promoted to the 'second' and its awareness of the 'first' (with all its excesses) is increasing. Think terrorizm.

3. A life less devoted to earning for consumption could be a life with more time for human interaction with less stress.

4. A simpler life may be more healthy.

How can the affluent few share resources with the needy majority without taking a cut in consumtion? The developinng nations cannot go through a process of industrialisation like we did - they have no Empires to steal resources from. If the wealthy nations help significantly with technology, skills, training, materials and so on, how can this happen without a levelling of living standards?

The free market says "if you make something people want, they will buy it" It does not say "villagers in African want clean water, let's get it to them" But you and I want them to have it, Do we not?

2009-03-23T22:25:00.000+02:00

I am just puffing a little for the Huffington Post, which is helping me to see that understanding the problem of the US recession as it exists now is beyond my capability. However, since it is obviously beyond everyone else's capability as well, from Obama, Geitner et al downwards I don't feel so bad.

Every one of the big players has millions salted away, they will survive comfortably if they are forced to retire or use their talents to operate a simpler system - a system without the potential for organisations to grow beyond the control of government.

Small companies create at least 70% of the wealth in the West, why should millions of small owners be denied the right to continue in business because speculators higher up the cash chain have the power to switch them off?

Small investors lost their life savings because they allowed remote players to re-invest where and how they chose. Money well lost.

A real crazy.

2009-03-17T18:09:00.001+02:00

Got a minute? Here is a link to a Barking Crazy. Now, I may be a horrible fellow sometimes, and this geezer may be entirely harmless, and deserve to live his life without molestation (except by blog of course). But, he seems to me to be preying on the western world's vulnerable and sceptically challenged minority - religious believers. (skeptomai Gr. I think) No No, I know it's Greek - it means 'I think.'

What I mean is, people who find the mainstream Jesus religions lacking in some way, and are actually in the market for a new interpretation of biblical 'truth' should be offered a more humane vision than millions of good charitable Christians not being selected for heaven on the day of reckoning.

I wish I had time to start a church for Christian atheists. Look there's a lot of good stuff in the bible - loving thy neighbours, and so on........Well, I can't be expected to find all the suitable quotes without more research, but they are there. We know what Jesus thought of currency speculators and hedge-fund managers to start with. But being Christian is a lot more than insuring your long-term future, and short-term preferential treatment in difficult times. Being humble, patient, and honest is challenge enough for most people in my opinion, and if we strive for these virtues for their own sake and not from fear of punishment from above, are we not even more deserving of reward?

I'm sorry to be so sombre and serious to-day. Come again tomorrow, and let me know how you are getting on below.

2009-03-15T20:17:00.001+02:00

The editing for the photo below was simple Photoshop stuff: 'Crop' was the essential first step, followed by 'image size' 300dpi for the main file, (but 72dpi for the blog). 'Sharpen' is required for even the sharpest of digital images from a cheap camera. 'Cut Out' filter was applied, then a little 'Grain' and a fair amount of 'Clone Stamp' to cover the defects and extend the image a bit, especially to the right. The axe was repositioned with 'lassoo + move, and the hole left in the background was clone-stamped. My favourite filters are 'Cut Out' and 'Angled Strokes' to give the look of being painted.

There is a grey area between pictures and graphics. The 'graphic-design' features of this picture are the clear separation of the units; rocks, block, axe, bench, cat, background. The 'art' is up to the viewer in a way. For a simple picture to be pleasant to the eye, the lines that draw the eye around the image need to be smooth, and should tend to lead the eye to important parts of the picture. Jumping from distraction to distraction, although you may not notice this happening, is not helpful.

This post has been a bit disjointed because pictures would not load with their text. Connection is awful once the sun was up here on sunny Corfu. Thanks for dropping by.

Out the Back - before.

2009-03-15T16:53:00.000+02:00

The 'raw' image.

Out the back. A photo-composition.

2009-03-15T10:21:00.001+02:00

Started to-day's posts at the crack of dawn - too late now to load images. The original camera image and an intermediate picture are helpful to show the process of composing, please come back for them if you have to. Until a scanner is installed recent digital pictures are all I have to work with, but will get out more now that spring is on its way.

Composition is a wide subject, and only partly a matter of geometry. Personal habits of framing the picture develop slowly but one of the most basic habits to acquire is to avoid centralizing the main subject every time. This requires a little effort with auto-focus because the area that focuses is always central on simple cameras. If you focus on the subject (or main subject), keep the release half pressed, and then frame your picture, you will have taken a step towards creating a picture - rather than being an automatic extension of an automatic camera!

A second very important habit to acquire is being prepared to move around a bit (if possible) to avoid distracting details near your main subject. Posts or trees 'growing' out of a person's head is the great cliche for this. A good editing program is a modern miracle for the photographer, and 'clone stamp' or 'healing brush' are fabulous tools.

Don't forget to send me any picture you like, maybe to play with at this end. Go well.

2009-03-15T09:43:00.000+02:00

Final Edit. Is it Better?

Another Sunday, Another Dawn.

2009-03-15T07:36:00.000+02:00

This is the dawn that's coming your way from Corfu. Is anyone in yesterday's Wild West still awake?

The Cheese Paratha

2009-03-12T23:58:00.000+02:00

making do on Corfu. Parathas, lesson 2.

2009-03-12T11:46:00.001+02:00

Paratha Time. Cheese paratha actually. 'Making do' is on the back-burner for the moment. My supermarket's own brand flour is fine for this use. Parathas do not fry so hard as with more expensive flour. The cheapest cheese available here is German gouda at about 5.50 euros a kilo.

Parathas: lesson 2.

The flour makes a difference. hardly surprising eh? Hard flour can produce a tough cookie, but if you prefer the thin and slightly crispy variety, this is ok. A 17cm. pan does not provide much of a meal if the paratha is thin. To make a softer, thicker one with hard flour add a dessert spoon of oil to the water for the dough. Also you can fold the dough in two a couple of times in the early stages of cooking. Now you are getting professional.

The Cheese Paratha.

Flatten the dough to a long shape in the pan, put pieces of cheese on one half and fold the dough back to make an envelope. Continue pressing it out to cover the pan while thinking of eulogies to post in praise of Dr A. Cheese may seep through holes in the paratha, and depending on the variety will add excitement to this simple dish.

There was a time in Konitsa when I could afford cheese but very infrequently. The choice between milk or yoghurt was a daily reality, and your actual bread, as in loaf of, was a treat.
To see my tomatoes ripen and the onions spring, was a pleasure no amount of shopping could have competed with.

Well, that's not true obviously, but there is a serious truth in the assertion that the Western middle classes will be healthier and perhaps happier if, one day, they are forced to cut back on their comsumption, on their competition for and ambition for MORE MORE MORE.

The great majority will have to be forced back to a simpler life, you who have read this far will find the adjustment lass harrowing than people defined by their material possessions. The kind of possession I mean is the kind that does not add to a person's knowledge, understanding, and reverence for nature or human creativity.

This post was brought to you on the back of a simple pancake. Think what Dr A could do with a kilo of sell-by souvlakia.

Oh yes, could you leave a comment please, Dr A has been tinkering with the source code and he wants to see if it works. Thank you all very much.

Stand up and be counted

2009-03-11T15:53:00.001+02:00

Just a quicky. here are a couple of links on the subject of non (religious ) belief. The Huffington Post is a very very good site for thinking people who want an insight into American life, a subject of importance after all. In a large poll 15% professed non-belief, a group larger than any single denomination such as Catholics or Mormons. The group describing itself as evangelist or funamentalist seems to be a terrifying 35%. But we are looking at two groups that are not easy to compare - one group shouts louder than the other.

A very interesting figure to know would be the proportion of the religious who came to their beliefs when they were old enough to reason for themselves.

How to compose and edit photographs. Part 1

2009-03-11T08:59:00.001+02:00

After a lifetime's fascination with the photographic image Dr A wants to share some stuff with you. He knows 3 things for sure:

1. Picture composition has rules (like musical composition).

2. There are lots of them, but they are all logical, fun to learn, and make a difference to the appeal of ordinary photographs.

3. Only experience teaches you to compose pictures in the camera automatically, but a few seconds thinking is worth a thousand pictures - or something like that. AND most can be improved with simple editing.

This is going to be a regular column, and Dr A wants to see your pictures here for possible fixing. (providing they are not better than his. CB)

Just as good music is not random noise, good pictures are not random images. They share certain things - rhythm, form, balance, harmony, and line (melody).

Music is a pain when the rhythm is wrong. Music can be just rhythm - Indian music can take this to the ultimate. Pictures can have rhythm too.

Musical form is always there, it is hidden away most of the time, but your brain knows if it is badly wrong. Balance is part of form; it works quietly to make a musical piece feel better. I use 'form' in pictures to mean the overall design, made up of details.

Harmony can be totally overridden in modern music - Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, Prokofiev, Stravinsky, etc. introduced discord bit by bit until now some discord is the new harmony. . By 'harmony' in pictures I mean how the main shapes seem to 'live together'.

Melodic line is not fashionable at the moment in music, but lines are important in pictures. Note, lines include edges.

The Brain. I use this word to mean the grey matter that receives the input of sight and sound. This brain likes to tell you what to think as well. Call it ‘instinct’ if you like, but it makes you feel uneasy, or satisfied with an image without your knowing the reason. An artist can manipulate this process – a great artist can do this greatly.

We are just going to post modest pictures and try to explain the thinking (and the instincts) behind them in terms of COMPOSITION only. Dr A is a beginner at photo-editing, but the simple tools can really do wonders for any photograph that you might want to improve.

Molly on the wall

2009-03-11T08:12:00.001+02:00

Sorry, I could not get the picture and text (below) to post together. This post is the first of a series which deals with composition in photography, and simple editing in Photoshop. The picture below is the cropped but un-edited image. It's all upside down. It will be sorted, or my name's not Dr Awsom.