Roger de la Fresnaye (1885-1925)

Artillery (1911). More information here.

Amour de Pierrot (1905)

A present from my brother Ben.

Things I Would Buy If I Had The Money

Ralph Steadman, The Little Tin Bull Ring. A set of panels-Silk Screen Prints on Somerset Satin White Mould Made Paper. Weight: 300lbs (140lbs). Edition: 15. Artists Proofs: 1. Printers Proofs. 1. Size: 22.5"x 48". Price on Request.
More about the great, great Ralph Steadman here.

Louis Marcoussis (1878-1941)

His real names was Ludwik Kazimieirz Markous. More information here.

BardaGyn

We were in the pharmacy yesterday and I was struck once again by how little I know about branding, or marketing. I mean, if you were trying to sell a range of 'intimate hygiene products', no matter whether or not they actually were derived from thistles, would you use a picture of a large, spiny thistle to attract clients? "Oh no, I have an itch in an embarrassing place! I shall buy the gel that looks like it will soothe me most quickly! The one in the box with the big picture of the thistle? Why on earth not?" At least, my mind doesn't work like that. More information here.

Bring us in good ale

Bring us in good ale, and bring us in good ale,
Fore our blessed Lady sak, bring us in good ale.

Bring us in no browne bred, fore that is made of brane;
Nor bring us in no whit bred, fore therin is no game:
But bring us in good ale.

Bring us in no befe, for ther is many bones;
But bring us in good ale, for that goth downe at ones,
And bring us in good ale.

Bring us in no bacon, for that is passing fat;
But bring us in good ale, and give us inought of that,
And bring us in good ale.

Bring us in no mutton, for that is often lene;
Nor bring us in no tripes, for they be seldom clene:
But bring us in good ale.

Bring us in no egges, for ther ar many shelles;
But bring us in good ale, and give us nothing elles,
And bring us in good ale.

Bring us in no butter, for therin ar many heres;
Nor bring us in no pigges flesh, for that will mak us bors:
But bring us in good ale.

Bring us in no podinges, for therin is all gotes blod;
Nor bring us in no venison, for that is not for our good:
But bring us in good ale.

Bring us in no capon's flesh, for that is ofte der;
Nor bring us in no dokes flesh for they slobber in the mer:
But bring us in good ale.

Anonymous (later 15c.)

Soviet Robots!

An illustration from Hello! I'm a Robot! (1989) by Stanislav Zigunenko. More pictures here. I can't find out much more about him, but this is enough to cheer us up for now.

Current Favourite Sentence

I'm a Protestant kettle!

Blood Sucking Freaks!

For some reason this passage has been playing in my head recently, each time I see Oliver asleep after a feed:

'There lay the Count, but looking as if his youth had been half restored. For the white hair and moustache were changed to dark iron-grey. The cheeks were fuller, and the white skin seemed ruby-red underneath. The mouth was redder than ever, for on the lips were gouts of fresh blood, which trickled from the corners of the mouth and ran down over the chin and neck. Even the deep, burning eyes seemed set amongst swollen flesh, for the lids and pouches underneath were bloated. It seemed as if the whole awful creature were simply gorged with blood. He lay like a filthy leech, exhausted with his repletion.'

But, you know, cuter and less crimson.

Zoologías

Yesterday we bagged Oliver up into his front-slung carrier bag and walked to the new exhibition centre at my university, c arte c (it stands for 'Centro de Arte Complutense', as you might have guessed, but don't you just love the sans-serif abbreviations that art galleries all like to use? My favourite is MAO for 'Modern Art Oxford', which adds a pleasantly Red tinge to the exhibits). The inaugural exhibition, Zoologías: La imagen del animal en los fondos históricos de la UCM y su reinterpretación artística por el grupo de investigación Arte, Ciencia y Naturaleza is a collection of artworks inspired by, and using, materials from the various natural history parts of the University museums.

So, you have e.g. old books about monsters with plaster representations of monsters next to them. Cassowary skeletons, birds' nests, insects decorated to look like celebrants in the Día de los Muertos. Pickled cats, butterfly wings, chicken foetuses.

Skeletons wearing braces, plastic coelacanths, a plaster model of a giant Japanese salamander. As is normal (although it is difficult to use the word 'normal' with a straight face here), Nature ended up beating Art on points.