Art to My Writing - Steven Austin

Over the last few years I have been blessed to have some incredibly talented artists take my writing and transform it into something beyond my expectations. Over the next few posts I'm going to upload some of these artworks with links back to their respective artists.
FOR A LARGER VIEW OPEN  EACH IMAGE IN A NEW WINDOW.

Steven Austin  

Steve Austin also was a major contributor in the second phase of the Game of  Kings.Steve like Peter added other elements not used in the poster roll out but helped enhance the project back story , thus expanding the book.

Steven is a freelance artist from England who draws story boards for film and TV but also draws comics for various publications.

Art to my writing - Peter Fairfax

Over the last few years I have been blessed to have some incredibly talented artists take my writing and transform it into something beyond my expectations. Over the next few posts I'm going to upload some of these artworks with links back to their respective artists.
FOR A LARGER VIEW OPEN  EACH IMAGE IN A NEW WINDOW.

Peter Fairfax
Peter was a contributor on the Game of Kings Project. The six panels below were an unexpected and pleasant  addition  late in the series. Though contributed late in the second phase they helped fill out the earlier T Shirt inspired First phase mainly dominated by designers. Peter with Steve Austin combined to tell a short section of the back story explaining the lead up to the Battle.Peter is also known under the pseudonym Sturstein which he released the comic Valentine's Dei with his wife Sammi Emery.

This image below is Peter's contribution in the Battle i which the Titan is destroyed by the Black Army Centaur Knights.

Under London

I’ve been reading a bit lately (and because of the way I think) I have come to a conclusion that there is a conspiracy to hide that fact that London is a portal to another dimension (as opposed to Cardiff as per Torchwood) There seems to be a long history and tradition of books regarding this subject by the great English fantasy writers and novelists.

There is a history that leads me to this conclusion.

After reading China Mieville’s Un Lun Dun I was struck by the influence from Neil Gaiman’s Neverwhere which reminded me of one of my favourite Clive Barker books WeaveWorld and this in turn – thanks to my son – can be linked back to the marvelous CS  Lewis  and his classic the Magician’s Nephew.

Another bit of information linking these tales is the inclusion of art to tell the tales. Melville and Barker are both accomplished artists who illustrate their own work, Gaiman has been associated with comic and noted illustrators all his career and Lewis’ work has always been accompanied by the beautiful line drawings of 

Pauline Baynes.

Invisibles S01E02

Even Grant Morrison hints at it on the comic "Invisibles" All very Secret Squirrel.

Is this some sort of literary road map or prophecy?

Does anyone else have any other books to add to my theory?

Review-HOME BREW VAMPIRE BULLETS Number Two

Review HOME BREW VAMPIRE BULLETS Number Two
Contributors: Various, Edited by Garth Jones

Then
 In the tradition of Alan Moore's Dodgem Logic, Tales from the Crypt, 2000AD, Oz Magazine and Metal Hurlant, Home Brew Vampire Bullets is an anthology of 75% R-rated (but not necessarily adult), uniquely Aussie myth spinning, prose, politics and pulp soundtracked by Rose Tatts, soaked in Melbourne Bitter and dyed defiantly navy blue.

Now
Home Brew Vampire Bullets is an Australian pulp narrative anthology showcasing comics, gonzo journalism, scathing political polemics and MORE.

Available as Digital download and Print On Demand Details Here

 HOME BREW VAMPIRE BULLETS Number Two was delivered on time as promised and with it a few surprises. As an anthology it is still finding its feet,, experimenting with content and styles.
 A direction I’m quite pleased with,
This issue is more reminiscent of Dodgem Logic and Oz than the first which was heavy with sequential and satire pieces. Slightly larger than issue One it features Aussie comedian heavyweights Tony Martin and Justin Hamilton and top of their game comic contributors such as Sacha Bryning, Dean Rankine, Scott Fraser, Matthew Huynh and Matthew Dunn amongst others. This issue sees the first issue sequentials tucked away (with the exception of Scott Fraser’s Melbourne based supernatural turf war piece, SHADOW RUMBLE) the vacant pages have been jammed packed with essays, prose and pictorials which take nothing way from the original anthology concept but totally enhance it. Respected scribes Emma Beddows, Emmet O’Cuana, John Harrison and Laura Crawford provide informative and entertaining pieces as interesting as they are insightful and Kellie Gollings’ ABANDO photography is gorgeously reproduced and is a great argument for the procurement of the printed version. With the he addition of Turd Circus’ Tony Lewis we are also privy to some of the funniest satire you’ll see in Australia at the moment. The thing HBVB has going for it that I admire is that it has real “I’m a bastard, so what? “ attitude,   (just check out the provocative cover for proof) and wants to push the boundaries of safe traditional magazines. Who knows? Maybe the time is right to bundle everybody’s differing ideas into one package and fuck the niche markets. HBVB has a massive potential as a new outlet for established and new talent and its bold graphic design and content is loud enough to be noticed within the mainstream and hopefully scare it enough to take notice.
Issue Three promises the return of the sequential pieces BOLT, MARALINGA, HEAVY ANGEL, BABALON SHOKK and HOLT which were a large part of the promotion of Issue One,
BRING ON ISSUE THREE.

The 30 Harshest Musician-on-Musician Insults in History

The 30 Harshest Musician Insults in History

Or so they say, I reckon there have been more toxic quotes uttered when no jurnos was present.

This article from Flavorwire goes deep into the angry souls of musicians.

30. Wayne Coyne on Arcade Fire “I get really tired of their pompousness [sic]… We’ve played some shows with them and they really treat people like shit. People treat Arcade Fire like they’re the greatest thing ever and they get away with it… They have good tunes, but they’re pricks, so fuck ‘em.”
29. Christina Aguilera on Lady Gaga “I’m not quite sure who this person is, to be honest. I don’t know if it is a man or a woman.”
28. David Lee Roth on Elvis Costello “Music journalists like Elvis Costello because music journalists look like Elvis Costello.”
27. Lily Allen on Cheryl Cole “Taking your clothes off, doing sexy dancing and marrying a rich footballer must be very gratifying. Your mother must be so proud. Stupid bitch.”
26. Trent Reznor on Marilyn Manson “A malicious guy [who] will step on anybody’s face to succeed, and cross any line of decency.”
25. Mark E Smith on Mumford & Sons “There was this other group warming up … and they were terrible. I said, ‘Shut them cunts up!’ And they were still warming up, so I threw a bottle at them … I just thought they were a load of retarded Irish folk singers.”
24. Courtney Love on Dave Grohl “As for that drummer, well, he’s hit on me so many times. He’s just a very very conflicted guy about me, which is why he continually writes songs about me to hear he ‘hates’ me more than ‘anyone else.’ Kurt loathed HIM more than anyone else (except a journalist) … He’s just sub-mediocre kind of [guy] who does this ‘nice guy’ nonsense.”
23. Dave Grohl on Courtney Love “She’s an ugly fucking bitch.”
22. Kathleen Hanna on Courtney Love “Where’s the baby? In the closet with an IV?”
21. Paul Weller on Freddie Mercury “He said he wanted to bring ballet to the working classes. What a cunt.”
20. Richey Edwards on The Levellers “You could go to any Levellers concert and stand in the middle and shout, ‘Jeremy!’, and 75% of the audience would turn round.”
19. Kurt Cobain on Guns N’ Roses “They’re really talentless people, and they write crap music, and they’re the most popular rock band on the earth right now. I can’t believe it.”
18. Nick Cave on Red Hot Chili Peppers “I’m forever near a stereo saying, ‘What the fuck is this garbage?’ And the answer is always the Red Hot Chili Peppers.”
 17. Noel Gallagher on Kaiser Chiefs “They play dress-up and sit on top of an apex of meaninglessness. They don’t mean anything to anybody apart from their fucking ugly girlfriends.”
 16. Alan McGee on Coldplay “Coldplay are the dictionary definition of corporate rock. The singer is about as weird as Phil Collins. They are career rock personified. EMI should’ve signed Otis The Aadvark instead. At least he only sucks his thumb rather than corporate cock.”
15. Elvis Costello on Morrissey “Morrissey writes wonderful song titles, but sadly he often forgets to write the song.”
14. Noel Gallagher on Jack White “He looks like Zorro on doughnuts.”
13. Rick James on Prince “A little short ego-ed fucker who I had a feeling didn’t like people of his own race and wanted to be white and taller.”
12. Mark “E” Everett on The Beatles “John Lennon sings about peace because he’s a woman-beater. Hippies are so full of shit.”
11. Richey Edwards on Slowdive “We hate Slowdive more than we hate Hitler.”
10. Ian Brown on Bono “He’s such a fake, isn’t he? When he did Live Aid, which made them a worldwide group … he looked out and [saw] that black girl in the middle of all them people, and she’s from Hackney or something, and he was like, ‘Here’s a great shot for me around the world to show I’m Mr Africa.’ It’s like colonialist times with a big white hat.”
9. Robert Smith on Morrissey “If Morrissey says not to eat meat, then I’ll eat meat — that’s how much I hate Morrissey.”
8. Morrissey on Bob Geldof “Bob Geldof is a nauseating character. Band Aid was the most self-righteous platform ever in the history of popular music.”
7. Elton John on Madonna “Anyone who lip-synchs in public on stage when you pay £75 to see them should be shot.”
6. Boy George on Madonna “A vile, hideous human being with no redeeming qualities.”
5. Boy George on Elton John “All that money, and he’s still got hair like a fucking dinner lady.”
4. Elton John on Keith Richards “It’s like a monkey with arthritis, trying to go onstage and look young.”
3. Morrissey on Brett Anderson “He’ll never forgive God for not making him Angie Bowie.”
2. Anton Newcombe on Eric Clapton “People talk about Eric Clapton. What has he ever done except throw his baby off a fuckin’ ledge and write a song about it?”
1. Tupac on The Notorious BIG All of “Hit ‘Em Up,” really, but particularly this: “I fucked your bitch, you fat motherfucker.”

This is just hilarious.

18 classic rock album covers… minus dead band members

A short history of the Human Powered Vehicle

A short history of the Human Powered Vehicle 

Picture via visual.ly

When I was a teenager and growing up in the 1970s the skateboard craze burst onto the scene, we embraced it, living in a hilly area meant we had heaps of places to practice and go fast downhill. Then come off even faster when we realized we couldn’t stop or got “speed wobbles”.
 I see the shapes and skills of the boards and riders these days as well as the sub culture it has created and never in a hundred years would have thought the sport would have evolved to such a massive social and business model. If I did, I would be now very rich. In my day it was about getting from A to B quicker and unlike a bike, I didn’t have to worry about it being pinched from the railway station. These days you can watch a young person ride a half pipe for hours it almost seems like they are practicing Zen, attaining enlightenment by slowly turning repeating each move going higher and with each repetition achieving something more. That is until the make a mistake and come crashing down from height much like I did in my day.

It is assumed that skateboarding was invented and developed between the late 1940s and early 1950s, no one seems to know who invented the first board but common consensus believes it was a simultaneous event in several beach side areas in the U.S and accredited to the growing popularity of surfing at the time. Skateboarding is the result of keen surfers wanting to still get their fix on flat wave days. The use of old roller skate wheels onto a plank of wood was used to replicate the boards in surf, thus it being referred to “sidewalk surfing” in its infancy. Though the wheels were made of clay and there was no real method of turning, not to mention unless you skated on a smooth surface without and dirt, rocks, sticks whatever you were in fear of coming to an abrupt halt and flying off the board let alone smashing the wheels. Roller skaters could lift their feet, skateboarders couldn’t. This somewhat primitive practice obviously had some merit because skateboards did go into commercial production as early as 1960 an L.A surf shop bought Roller skate wheels and place them on formed wooden boards.
 Though skateboards were still basic in design and basically still roller skate wheels bolted to a surf board shaped bit of plywood by 1965 Skateboarding was so popular it had generated sales in the millions spawned a national competition and national magazines. This popularity was short lived and dismissed as a fad and interest dropped off rapidly, with no competition or national magazines existing by the end of the decade. Development of skateboards never stalled even during this lull period and with the development of polyurethane wheels and the advent of the “Trucks” rubber balls under the T shaped axles to help steer the wheels by shifting weight made the earlier skateboards easier to maneuver and experiments with fiberglass and aluminum. Couple these innovations with cheaper production costs resulted in a spike in the popularity again around 1972.
This time it went global.
One of things that helped this was a combination of social and environmental factors. In California in the early part of the 1970s a prolonged drought had made it necessary for officials to ban the filling of domestic pools, this and the event of the new board technologies worked in the favour of an enterprising Surf board maker Skip Engblom saw the potential in a group of young surfers/skateboarders and created the Z Boys.
The Z Boys went on to set benchmarks in tricks and completions that had never been reached before and created a whole new popularity in skateboarding that traveled the world. All of this is captured brilliantly in the documentary Dog Town & Z Boys.
Thanks to the Engblom’s opportunism and the camera of his partner Craig Stecyk, most of the beginning of this period is faithfully recorded. The creator of the film Stacey Peralta along with Jay Adams and Tony Alva went onto become legends in the field of skateboard history. With this new fame came more completions expanding outside the USA and bringing in competitors from Europe, South America and Australia.
Big money started pouring in and with it more manufactures, specialist and bulk, magazines and movies. The sport evolved as did the boards and the shape changed drastically over a short period of time to cater for new tricks and abilities now being attempted by the elite.
This kind of attitude and sponsorship can be directly linked to the creation of the X games and the popularity of extreme sports, not only BMX and Moto-Cross but paragliding and surf skiing amongst others. People like Tony Hawks have become so wealthy and well known off skateboarding that after more than a decade from retirement from competition he can still draw crowds and be part of the Big Day Out concerts as a major draw card he that well respected.
And it seems that age is no longer a barrier for skateboarders,
I have worked on a project recently with two keen riders who having been bit by the bug in their pre teens are both in their mid thirties. Nick Ford is married with children and does graphic design in Sydney, whilst Scott Robinson a respected commercial artist in Brisbane works with Government sponsored galleries and art programs and recently was given a commission to do a portrait of one of his boyhood heroes Jay Adams. Both are seen on weekends trying to skate down hand railings in city parks. So be careful next time you scowl at some older gent zipping through the park, he may be your accountant. One thing can be sure, Just like our Grandparents screamed at kids whizzing past them on boards our kids are going to be doing the same when they get older.

Originally published in the Boronia and Basin Community news 2010