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(no subject) [Jun. 9th, 2009|12:11 am]
[mood | evil]

This is Laura updating for jon, cuz he liked the idea of it, but couldn't be arsed himself.
& now he has no idea what I'm writing Mwa ha ha ha!!!
& I have access to his journal.
But I will say nothing, as I am a good girlfriend, except Moomins!!! points, laughs, & then realises jon' spent half the evening lookign up/ reminiscing about 'the herb garden' so maybe its to be expected....

Oh, & he snores!!!.... :->




Your result for Which fantasy writer are you?...

Tove Jansson (1914-2001)

9 High-Brow, -5 Violent, 35 Experimental and -3 Cynical!

Congratulations! You are High-Brow, Peaceful, Experimental and Romantic! These concepts are defined below.


Tove Jansson was a Finnish painter, sculptor and writer. She was part of the Swedish-speaking minority in Finland and so wrote her books, including her most famous works, the Moomin books, in Swedish. The Moomin books (1945-70), though perhaps not considered fantasy by some, are nevertheless fine examples of world-building for children, centred around the inhabitants of the Moomin Valley, where a family of white trolls known as moomin trolls live, and always return to, though they occasionally leave for adventures in the outside world. Though many of the Moomin books are pure childrens' books, Jansson conducted the experiment of letting the series turn more adult as she went along, the last three books (one collection of short stories and two novels) being psychologically complex stories that are just as fit, or sometimes perhaps more fit, for adults. Still, Jansson's somewhat romantic vision of the Valley as a peaceful haven of family life in the midst of a sometimes frightening and dark world is retained through-out the books. Though she considered herself a painter rather than a writer, Tove Jansson will always be remembered as one of the greatest, perhaps the greatest writer of children's books of all times.


You are also a lot like Philip Pullman.


If you want some action, try Gene Wolfe.


If you'd like a challenge, try your exact opposite, David Eddings.


Your score


This is how to interpret your score: Your attitudes have been measured on four different scales, called 1) High-Brow vs. Low-Brow, 2) Violent vs. Peaceful, 3) Experimental vs. Traditional and 4) Cynical vs. Romantic. Imagine that when you were born, you were in a state of innocence, a tabula rasa who would have scored zero on each scale. Since then, a number of circumstances (including genetical, cultural and environmental factors) have pushed you towards either end of these scales. If you're at 45 or -45 you would be almost entirely cynical, low-brow or whatever. The closer to zero you are, the less extreme your attitude. However, you should always be more of either (eg more romantic than cynical). Please note that even though High-Brow, Violent, Experimental and Cynical have positive numbers (1 through 45) and their opposites negative numbers (-1 through -45), this doesn't mean that either quality is better. All attitudes have their positive and negative sides, as explained below.


High-Brow vs. Low-Brow


You received 9 points, making you more High-Brow than Low-Brow. Being high-browed in this context refers to being more fascinated with the sort of art that critics and scholars tend to favour, rather than the best-selling kind. At their best, high-brows are cultured, able to appreciate the finer nuances of literature and not content with simplifications. At their worst they are, well, snobs.





Violent vs. Peaceful



You received -5 points, making you more Peaceful than Violent. This scale is a measurement of a) if you are tolerant to violence in fiction and b) whether you see violence as a means that can be used to achieve a good end. If you aren't, and you don't, then you are peaceful as defined here. At their best, peaceful people are the ones who encourage dialogue and understanding as a means of solving conflicts. At their worst, they are standing passively by as they or third parties are hurt by less scrupulous individuals.



Experimental vs. Traditional


You received 35 points, making you more Experimental than Traditional. Your position on this scale indicates if you're more likely to seek out the new and unexpected or if you are more comfortable with the familiar, especially in regards to culture. Note that traditional as defined here does not equal conservative, in the political sense. At their best, experimental people are the ones who show humanity the way forward. At their worst, they provoke for the sake of provocation only.


Cynical vs. Romantic



You received -3 points, making you more Romantic than Cynical. Your position on this scale indicates if you are more likely to be wary, suspicious and skeptical to people around you and the world at large, or if you are more likely to believe in grand schemes, happy endings and the basic goodness of humankind. It is by far the most vaguely defined scale, which is why you'll find the sentence "you are also a lot like x" above. If you feel that your position on this scale is wrong, then you are probably more like author x. At their best, romantic people are optimistic, willing to work for a good cause and an inspiration to their peers. At their worst, they are easily fooled and too easily lead.


Take Which fantasy writer are you?
at HelloQuizzy

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stuff part 1 [Jun. 7th, 2009|05:46 pm]
peter greenaway
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lY02c0VtKHs&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j72jnYTePU8&feature=related

Solaris http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=3370449932379913979

Anselm Kiefer
http://www.philosophyblog.com.au/images/women-of-antiquity-2002-by-anselm-kiefer1.JPG
http://www.philosophyblog.com.au/images/women-of-antiquity-2002-by-anselm-kiefer1.JPG
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(no subject) [May. 8th, 2009|07:39 pm]
So this week was rather good.

I don't remember Tuesday - sorry Tuesday it's nothing personal

Wednesday was the day I saw China Mieville putting me in the kind of state of extreme fanboyishness.

Anyway China Mieville must be one of the best SF authors in the history of SF - he is also very articulate and extremely interesting. So the talk involved discussions on such subjects as;

- discussions on Marxism and how to portray revolution in literature
- the use of the fantastic and absurd in fantasy, why does it alienate some people? why not others
- Kafka, Bronte, all sorts of stuff
- how authors deal with the known and the unkown and decide what to tell and what not to tell
- discussions on how to avoid allagory and reductionist literature while still making a political point
- the role of the city in literature
- alienation

I love Mieville's descriptive powers, use of language and metre, political and social thought, humour, absurdism, satire, gothic splender, grimey sensuality, flawed characters, rationalist surrealism, magic, extreme violence and general wrongness.

Best of all he inspires me to go off on one.

A horrible phrase but close to being for me the point of all existence. To look for creatures in the shadows. To escape from reality and realise the truth of it. To come to terms with our capitalist alienation, to over-throw capitalism and to laugh at it.


Thursday was the day that I worked on some more backing tracks with Gemma and Ittai. I am not holding my breath but I think that the band is starting to get somewhere in the slowly but consistantly type way of managing things that tends to actually get results.

Friday is today and my wonderful girlfriend became a roving reporter. yay for her. I was at work and now I am not. Once she waked up from ME attack we may watch a video and east sticky toffee pudding.

After all this talking about doing something - I think I might do something.


But probably not.

Harry
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abney park and stuff [Apr. 25th, 2009|11:55 pm]
I have jut got back from Abney Park. I am going to LJ while Laura sleeps. She is seriously MEd up but we have had a very long day.Spent all day on housey stuff.

Then we saw Abney Park. Unfortunatly the sounds system was appauling but thankfully they had the confidence to complain until it was fixed. I think that some of the support bands had similar problems but did not complain and hence sounded awful. Eventually the sound was sorted and the band got better and better. The auidence were very keen to start with and got more positive with time. However there was a lack of bouncing and head banging - perhaps because everybody didn't want to ruin their steam punk outfits ;-) I did enjoy seeing them but feel that the pure theatricality of the band would make them even better on a large stage with full room to pose and dance etc. Their new songs suggest that they are moving slightly away from their core industrial/ Eastern sound to a more varied set of sounds which can only be a good thing. As an aside I could not believe how short many of their songs are...I think it is good keeping them short but I did feel they could have milked them a little more.

Had to leave a little early because Laura got ill... but she has done really well.
--------------------------------

I am probably going to work tomorrow to do a few hours, I seem to work around half of all weekends - but on the positive side it is rarely more than 3 - 5 hours work so less than a day. I have worked mega hard recently but things are calming down soon and I am going to let myself have a few days of not enough work on before havign too much on again. It is almost impossible to have the right amount on.
----------------------------------

I am getting tired now so perhaps can sleep... I just need to stop Airship Pirates going through my head.


Jon ;-)
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Thoughts... [Apr. 20th, 2009|10:03 pm]
[Current Location |camberwell]
[current reading |I remembered this is books so Neal Stephenson]

1. Finding people to stalk

I was reading the friends entries on LJ and enjoyed it greatly... however I have realised now I have more time I can now pay attention to my friends lives (or maybe virtual lives) which is still very interesting.

So basically I need more people to stalk.


2. Open minded Jon

I was thinking about politics today. I am a very good open minded Jon in that I have been reading the Telegraph (not paying for it) to find out how the other side think. I see some sense in many of the arguments if it wasn't for the fact that they pay no attention to poor/ vulnerable/ ordinary people or the environment. But the thing that really annoys me in the constant belief that because middle class people agree with an argumnent that makes it valid. I can't work out why middle class people are supposed to be more important than anybody else whatsoever.

3. BSFA

I am not sure if I will be able to go this week as I have a lot of work on at the moment. I have two reports to write this week.

4. Yeah for White Mischief

That was fun. Uke's are definitly the way forward. Also so is clubbing.

Thats all folks

Jon ;-)
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Mansun and Magazine [Apr. 13th, 2009|01:38 pm]
[Current Location |on my bed in a bedsit]
[current reading |my music collection is all in storage]

Magazine and Mansun are two of my very favourite bands. As well as personally loving them and rating them extremely highly - both bands have been vital in the development of my own self image and understanding of myself. Mansun certainly stands above all other bands for me - in the sense of being a band in which I can proudly say (to quote Velvet Goldmine "That's me that is"). Magazine are a band I have got into more in recent years - and absolutly love now.

The two bands have a lot in common, apart from the obvious fact that Devoto has worked with Paul Draper. Both bands have had a very hard time with the music press - and it was perhaps the NME's attacks on Mansun which first began by cynicism towards that publication - until I realised that anything the NME hates - there is a good chance that I will like it. Both bands produced four albums and arguably the albums followed a similar pattern with the first being popular, the second difficault, the third attempting to be more commercial and the fourth not being quite finished (in Mansun's case literarally). Chad and John McGeoch are/ were two of the most fantastic guitarists of the Mick Ronson School. Paul Draper and Howard Devoto are both eccentric geniuses of the Syd Barret, Julian Cope type. However, Magazine probably pip Mansun in terms of having a rythm section with excellent chops.

I have constantly been confused by the fact that both bands are not heralded as classic bands the way that many other of my favourite bands are; Radiohead, Pink Floyd, Bowie, Velvet Underground etc. I mean they are by Mansun/ Magazine fans but not by anybody else. The point is that my taste in music is extremely mainstream (in a kind of Mojo/ High Fidelity Way). When bands I love are not praised to the rooftops by Broadsheet newspapers and grown up music magazines then I often feel more suprised than vindicated in a I am a really superior indie fan type of way.

(By the way I have nothing against the kind of people who seek the most obscure bands they can get their hands on - in fact I am blimin glad they exist or else small bands would never have a fan base. The problem is I am too lazy to do the same).

Back to the point - normally I can quickly work out a reason for bands I like being pillored by the press - they have no recognisable tunes, they have an obsession with dragons, their songs last far too long (all common (and probably justified) reasons for bands I like to be looked down upon). I find it difficualt to work this out with Mansun and Magazine - they are both catchy and immediate. They sing about every day life. They are pop.

I think the real things that links both bands (in many reviewers eyes as a bad thing and in my mind as a great thing) is their continual ability to "not quite fit in". The "not quite" bit is important - and in my mind has caused them the most difficaulties.

---------------------------
Mansun - oh I get Mansun ... they are the new Manics/ Suede... make-up, boas, happy days, but wait ... they are now in army uniform ... and now they are pretending to be the Stone Roses... the council estate been replaced by a vicourage ... and the way those songs flow into each other - I don't think you are allowed to do that on a first album ... ahhh thats better now they are going prog ... pretensious bastards ... I can hate them now... theys seem very clever and well read ... yet they say everything they know comes from the TV ... oh now they are just being camp again.

Magazine - oh goody good a new punk band - thats easy I know what those things are ...but hang on is that a synthasizer I hear ... no that can't be right ... and make-up ... oh thats alright then - I was being a bit stupid there - they are the new Roxy music ... make-up silly synth noises ... glam throw-away lyrics ... and songs about liking boys ... um wait a bit isn't there some substance to some of these lyrics ... some of them certainly don't seem to be about sprouting universal but meaningless cliches ... maybe they are one of those progressive bands that everybody likes to hate so much... they must be really pretensions ... but listen more carefully ... aren't they taken the piss a little bit ... perhaps everything they ever do is silly and throw away... but that doesn't seem right...
----------------------------

Both bands have consistantly broken a number of cardinal rules - the kind of rules that are liable to turn you into a cult band forever

1. You should always stick to the genre that you were signed up on and you cannot be in and outside a movement at the same time
2. You can't be camp and butch at the same time
3. You can't be white and soulful
4. you can't be progressive and catchy
5. don't ever tackle capitalist alienation with kafka-esque humour
6. you should never combine cynicism and joy
7. pin-ups don't celebrate their uglyness, and pop starts don't sing in praise of their compromises. They just make them instead.
8. cutting edge progressive bands should never ever be supported by ladyboys

they are all extremely naughty and should be locked in a cuboard until they learn how to behave.

'arry xxx

PS As per usual I have made no attempt to spell check - hey I am doing this for fun!
PPS I don't claim that Mansun and Magazine are completly unique in being underrated. But they are the bands I am writing about today.
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(no subject) [Jun. 17th, 2006|10:17 am]
For all SF fans
http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/

listen to the Kurt Vonnegut interview ... that man is a genius

Jon
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(no subject) [Feb. 5th, 2006|07:26 pm]
Hello,

Have been busy partying and playing in open mics and sorting out my house,
I am very busy. Perhaps that's why I am not writing much biography.

Hello to everybody who went to Stay Bootiful !!

Jon xxx

PS I am slowly getting the hang of dressing up and having fun! See I wasn't past it - I was just in the wrong place at the wrong time.
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(no subject) [Jan. 1st, 2006|01:06 am]
Happy New Year all,

Jon
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(no subject) [Dec. 21st, 2005|12:56 pm]
[mood | exhausted]
[current reading |Hawkwind]

I finished work on Monday, and am just starting to feel normal again - though I am very tired.

I have been having trippy nightmares about work recently - which I think come down to the whole process of travelling and working being bloody awful - even if I do love my job - even if they pay me very little and do there best to spoil the rest of my life by leaving me broke and tired.

Anyway I must now be too old to have dreams about being at school. Maybe three years ago I could look odd but not freakish sitting in lessons and in exams in school uniform in all my dreams. Last nights lesson was a strange one called Sonic Art in which some strange hippy guy explained in great detail how Dave Gilmore got his guitar sound (fairly obvious) and said his name was Dave Anderson. So that was the bassist from Hawkind - I am not sure? Anyway he got out a very cool instrument which he played like a banjo but looked like nothing ever before invented and sounded a little like a piano going through a delay pedal. Am a that much of boring space rock geek nowadays?

Hopefully this Christmas I will get a chance to photograph the Deben from Woodbridge as there are some interesting trees that form a little of one of the short stories I am writing. We have no money and so will spend the time with parents largely because we cannot afford huge parties in London, but I am starting to actually not hate all parents and maybe that is me growing less stressed from work and Rugby.

I can't wait to move house. It will probably happen late Janurary. It may be spring by the time the stories get anywhere near finished and the band becomes properly regular. I know that to manage everything I want to manage in my life I need to get healthy and that will help me sleep better and waste less time getting depressed. I hope to be doing that after Christmas - and I am hoping that Christmas gets me fat enough to motivate me to exercise but not so fat that I am fat (if you know what I mean).

Anyway I have stories to write a house to finish tidying, Christmas presents to buy, money to be organised. hmm other stuff to do as well.
Better get on then I suppose,

Jon
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Harry Potter general news [Nov. 20th, 2005|04:43 pm]
[mood | happy but cold]
[current reading |Book on Spanish Civil War]

So far very good weekend. We went to see Harry Potter with Gemma and Jeremy (honestly even the names sound very cute and couplely together) which was really good and was not too frightening - honest.

Everybody should really go - it is probably the best so far - the band were brilliant - it was a bit of a special effects feast but to be honest the book asked for that kind of thing when translated to cinema - it is full of action sequences and locations he said drifting in to film trailor speak a little. It works and I am not cross about the bits missed out - though I would still have rather a huge big budget TV series with maybe 8 1 hour episodes. Me Geek.

Until Christmas I start working very hard at work but I am managing to write regulaly. Sometimes I think my quality control is too high for me to get anything done - but when I lower it - the standard drops big time.

Just now Laura and I had a little recorder guitar medieval folk style jam which was very cool. She rocks.


Jon
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mansun news [Nov. 19th, 2005|01:39 pm]
http://mansun.net/news/20051102055214.html

- this news might be of interest. I am sadly excited.
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(no subject) [Nov. 6th, 2005|08:10 pm]
hello all,

my future Live Journal plans are to...

1. find all my wonderful friends who I know - in real life and actually friend them - and hope the friend me back ... probably won't recognise its me and think I am some freaky person who goes to parties and sits at the back.

nevermind.

2. keep in contact via livejournal rather than ignore it and then occassionally rant. I have ignored it recently as living no where near London I didn't want to find out too much about things I couldn't actually get to attend.

3. Get a public blog/ website going for the strange band art project that I am now in.

that will do as my aims methinks,

Jon
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unoriginal me [Mar. 4th, 2005|07:01 pm]
stolen off everybody

1. Taken Gerry Adams to the loo
2. Sung in a concert in front of my Grandparents where I had had no sleep for over 24 hours and drunk 13 pints of beer and 1/4 vodka, broke into a strangers bedroom and scrawled never again all over my friends door. I am not sure why I am proud of that.
3. Been tricked by vampires (fucking vampires)
4. Performed with the English National Opera and the Royal Shakespear Company (but that was as a kid)
5. Sang on Children In Need !! again I should be ashamed.
6. Caught breaking in to Sizewell Nuclear Power Station
7. Been threatened with a gun by Suffolk Farmers
8. Woke up with two gay men having sex on top of me - them mistaking me for a pile of clothes.
9. Slept on a trampaline with two lesbian hippies. The problem/ advantage of trampalines is that everybody ends up in a big pile in the middle.
10. Recorded in Abbey Road studio twice.
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(no subject) [Feb. 4th, 2005|03:03 pm]
[mood | freaked out]
[current reading |The Silmarillion still]

I have a job. Starting Monday.

I am now scared by the prospect of work so will not write more on the subject until the time comes.

Jon ;-)
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(no subject) [Feb. 2nd, 2005|01:46 pm]
[mood | happy]
[current reading |Silmarillion]

I have decided to finally set dates for jogging routes.

My first suggestion is a fairly simple one around Hampstead Heath

http://www.serpentine.org.uk/routes/06/

My idea is to run it next Sunday ... if anybody would like to join me we could jog it at the rate of the slowest jooger who would probably be me as I have no actual ability.

After that I will consider trying the Dollis Valley Greenwalk which has the advantage of being a little longer but the disadvantage of a longer distant to the start point.


Any volunteers ??

Jon ;-)
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(no subject) [Jan. 10th, 2005|09:08 am]
[current reading |Kurt Vonnegut - Cat's Cradle]

LJ is being tempremental to the extent that some posts are not coming through. It will except this one I know as I have stopped having anything interesting left to say.

Saturday was good fun when Laura and I were rescued by Chez Pineapple for Jerry Springer and Chinese food. Sunday was spent being useless due to hangover - caused probably by getting pissed a little too early when not fully recoverd. Sunday evening though we turned things around - and organised those big piles of rubbish that stand on both wardrobes into smaller piles of rubbish.

Now I have a busy day ahead which is always a good thing when unemployed.

Jon ;-)
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(no subject) [Dec. 24th, 2004|10:47 pm]
Happy Christmas !!

Jon ;-)
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(no subject) [Dec. 5th, 2004|01:48 pm]
[mood | bouncy]
[current reading |in my head]

Today is going to be a fantastic day. So far I have written a few houndred words of the epilogious symphony and have drunk a fantastic (heavy on the chocolate and vodka) mocha type thing - bounced to the whole of Disintigrations and sung Jerusalam too loudly. William Blake was the greatest fucking alchamist odd genius bastard ever (until Michael Moorcock came along) *thinks Jon*

This makes up for yesterday where I briefly forget that the point of my life is to use my imagination and create bizarre and stupid music, art and writings that nobody will ever read and equally important to love people and try and prove to myself and others that humanity is not quite as shit as fundamentalist Monotheist's and Capitalist's would have you believe.

Everything else is a means to that end. As long as I remember that eveything will make some sense.

Jon ;-)
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(no subject) [Dec. 2nd, 2004|10:31 pm]
mr sneeze is god

that is official

Jon ;-)
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