I fell in love with this picture when I drew it years ago - if memory serves it was from an old issue of National Geographic. Dogs can be difficult to capture in line drawings - but I'm happy with how this came out using a mixture of solid blacks with some hashing.
Here's an older one I drew when I had the time to take my drawing pad into the MFA. This is Dante from Henri de Triqueti's Dante and Virgil statue.
I've been reading much more than i've been writing. Here's some of those things for ya:
Looking at QAnon in the light of a long line of conspiracy magical thinking linked to divine and religious thinking.
A dramatic, but not untrue, plea to see how Facebook fosters cognitive bubbles for people, and what it means for American democracy
"America, the idea of America, is on the brink. And at the cold, dead heart of the suicide mission it has set itself on, is Facebook. Facebook and America are now indivisible. Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram, these are now the bloodstream of American life and politics."
An examination of two types of Chinese military leadership: between that of Sun Tzu (cynicism and deception) and Zhonghang Wu (civic engagement).
The Art of limiting yourself to the Essential.
I used the lockdown to do some weight work. This minimalist's strength workout has helped.
Ambient music is often seen as boring. But in fact it can pay an important role in our society. It might even save your life.
To that end, i've been enjoying Brian Eno's "Neroli" - part of his "Thinking Music" series.
Pilots of Purple Twilight, Tangerine Dream's new box set covering their output from 1980 - 1983, has been on heavy rotation. I find most of TD hit or miss, but "White Eagle", "Dominion", and "Logos" are all solid song journies.
Fascinating Rich Roll podcast with Matthew Walker: "Sleep is your Superpower." Such an interesting exploration of what sleep is, why it's important, and how we can optimize it.
As a parent, I do what I can to avoid "punishing through rewards"
Maslow may have misinterpreted his hierarchy of needs when he adapted it from native tribes - the Blackfoot tribe in particular.
"On 10 September 2001, Midnight Oil were in a Sydney studio mixing 'Poets and Slaves', from our latest album, Capricornia, and preparing for a handful of local shows before a seven-week tour of North America. The following morning we woke up to find that nineteen terrorists had attacked the United States, killing an unknown number of innocent people."
- Rob Hirst, Willie's Bar and Grill
It's Midnight Oil's turn. My current obsession - I go through phases where I listen to nothing but one artist for months at a time - is revisiting the powerful albums of Australia's best rock n' roll band: 10-1, Red Sails in the Sunset, Blue Sky Mining. The music's "Power and Passion" has always transported me, and their 1990 show is one of the best i've ever seen. I've just never been sure what some of their songs were about, and so I picked up this fun book by Rob Hirst, Midnight Oil's drummer, major songwriter, and key backup vocalist to fill in some of the gaps.
The book is not a typical "rock memoir". While he does tell some good stories about the band's history - recording the amazing drums to "Best of Both Worlds" in a Tokyo bathroom is a good one - Willie's Bar and Grill is about his observations about the towns, clubs, and the country through which the band traveled in Oct/Nov 2001. He's a natural storyteller, and the book reads extremely easily - leaving you with the effect of a great conversation. Hirst is an astute observer, and pays close attention to what's going on in the world around him, commenting on current events, band dynamics, and the state of the music business. A fun narrative that's more than just a numbing list of gigs, recordings, and relationships, I recommend it to anyone who's a fan of Midnight Oil or music in general.
