The Great Mouse Hunt

This guy filling my plate with rice and a big hunk of turkey is the Kurdish muslim guy who is also the head cleaner. He has one assistant, a sweet little South American who looks exactly like a Capey chick. But on with the story.

Let's call him Rufus...

He cooked the turkeys on Xmas and they came out surprisingly flavourful and moist. After we were all seriously worried. But life goes on. Last night there was a new Italian guy, Alfredo, in the room and Jozef the Slovak (white Columbia jacket) was upset because he got fired on Xmas day. So the mice came out in force and raided the bin. They managed to get into the bin and make a lot of (mouse-level) noise. Of course I just usually take the bag and put it in the toilet.

No, this new guy Alfredo kicks up a racket and today insists that the mice be killed. Black plague and all that. Was the black plague particularly bad in Italy? Was it recent?

So Rufus sneaks in with a pot of poison early this morning and sees me watching him. Later he has to explain.

"What kind of men are these?" he says. I laugh because this mouse is 1 inch long although very plump and healthy looking. But you never know with these Black plague mice, they probably look the same as other mice.

In his country, Rufus says, the rats are as big as dogs and no-one is afraid. As a matter of fact, they are a great local delicacy, if killed in the proper way of course.

Now our room is covered with rat poison and soon with mouse bodies. Will this killing never end? And now I am being followed around London by this Russian KGB-looking car. It is a 1993 Moskva GT and rather beautiful. I have seen it five times in the last 2 weeks. But more about this car later, if I'm still around.

Two days after Xmas

Horo: Use your natural inclination for intensity to focus all your energy on cleaning up the past before moving into the future.

A negation of someone else's view

That's a little phrase that sets me thinking...







To get back to the core of thought, pure observation, unaffected reaction.

Back to meditation?

Glenn Gould

Playing Bach's music is as close to seeing God as you will ever get.

And this young man helps us, if we cannot play it ourselves (yet).

And this is what he sounds like.

Sorry, can't do music here.

eMail me louwrenswiese@gmail.com

London Xmas Day 2006

Well obviously it's cold and foggy as usual, but nothing serious. Today the dudes at the Palace were going to cook for us. The muslim dudes from turkey were going to cook us a turkey.

I decided not to get involved as usual and go for a long walk. When I left at 11 the place was still quiet but the turkeys were there.

On my walk I stumbled across a few things.

The first was the Institut Francais, a weird building of indeterminate age, where apparently, they show movies.

Desaccord Parfait is one of them.

When I got back the turkey was done. Well almost. And a good time was had by all.

Online University

Something for Online Art Students: http://www.academyart.edu/index_noflash.html

Hitler's toys

Went to Science Museum today and drooled over aeroplanes and things. Do you know it took Frank Whittle FOUR years to persuade the british government to help him build a jet aircraft. DURING world war two. While ole Hitler was sponsoring anything you can think of, including a rocket-powered fighter that could climb to 6 miles up in 3 minutes. But the rocket, there's one in the museum, was too fast to shoot down the Flying Fortresses, flying at double their speed, 500 miles per hour, and it usually broke the pilot's back when it landed.

So ole Hitler used up all his favourite pilots, and had to invent a little jet fighter, I forget its name, that you could build from old packing cases in the school woodwork class and the kids could fly it without lessons. Off the rugby field I suppose. Or whatever they play in Deutschland uber alles.

Anyway did you know 2700 'flying bombs', the V1 with 850 kg high explosive, fell on London? The rest fell on the countryside, or were shot down.
That's why I have a new hobby. Looking for new buildings between old ones. Usually there's shrapnel marks on the building across the street if it's old, and when you look around, there's a new house between the row of old houses. A 'doodle-bug' could take out a whole house.
On the London site they have a pic of an old geezer who's sitting in the rubble of his house, he took the dog for a walk and when he came back his house was gone, with his wife in it.
It happened by day, you see, these things did not have to wait for night time to sneak in, they flew openly. And needed no pilots. There's one in the museum, of course.

Anyway here's my future all mapped out:

1. Get a nice job and work.
2. Buy a laptop and a backpack thingy for it.
3. Do interesting things and visit interesting places.
3. Write books about these things and places, and articles and web sity things.
4. Kick myself every day that I ever did anything else.

My promise to Claire. My ten fave rave movies. Not necessarily in any order.

1. 'The Gospel according to St Matthew', made by Pier Paolo Pasolini. He was an Italian gay atheist who was murdered later. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0058715/
2. 'Oh Brother Where Art Thou', made by those wise jewboy geniuses the Coen Brothers. I love 'em. The CD won an Emmy without being hyped much. http://imdb.com/title/tt0190590/usercomments-787
3. 'Breaking the Waves', a very simple and ultra-moving love story. Lars von Trier. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0115751/
4. 'Dancer in the Dark'. The incomparable Bjork in an industrial opera. Ahem, Lars von Trier. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0168629/
5. 'Lawrence of Arabia', by David Lean with that lovely man, Peter O'Toole. A huge and perfect piece of art. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0056172/
6. 'American Beauty'. Yes, a little piece of fun about turning 40-something. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0169547/

7. 'The Little Dictator'. Where I learnt that it's good to make fun of badness. Charlie Chaplin. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0032553/

9. 'Kill Bill'. Volume One, a perfectly choreographed Tarantino. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0266697/

10. 'Shrek'. I have seen Shrek, perhaps sixteen times, and it is still perfect. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0126029/

Meet the real Loki

Is this the real Loki:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loki

Or is this (Claire took this pic in Morrison's):

Rebuilding confidence...

Google Horo:

You may be redefining who you are and what is important to you now, as attractive Venus aligns with your key planet, Pluto. Even if you are a caterpillar on the leaf, imagine yourself as a magnificent butterfly. Once you begin to stretch your wings, you will be well on your way to flying. Anything is possible once you rebuild your confidence.

Saturday at the Tate Modern

Google Horo for Saturday: You can be a champion when it comes to navigating the shadowy realms of consciousness. Today a simple response from a friend or partner can quickly remind you of what you need to remember. Sometimes you can get lost in your own complexity; however, it's critical that you pay attention now to the most obvious things. Getting back to basics is how you can most positively impact your future.

Yes, today it was that French chick at the hostel. She set me off, talking about art and Braque and stuff. Si I set off for the Tate Modern, well actually I made the promise to myself that I could ride back, but I must see how far I got. I got as far as the Tate.

After that the British Museum, then back here. I was questioned by another chick at the BM, in that tiny little room by the entrance, filled in two pages of questions, but she was too cute to resist. And the questions were like, why do you come here, and what was satisfied by your visit? And one of the multiple answers was, because it's full of things of awe and wonderment, and another, because it enhances my own sence of creativity? That was easy...

Google Horo for Sunday: The tides are swirling around you, so it's crucial to keep your feet planted firmly on the ground to maintain your emotional balance. There is a real danger of being swept up in the moment if you cannot find a stable place to stand. Someone close to you may now step up to the plate, acting like the solid rock you seek. Let go of your fears and accept support when it is offered. Even temporary security can be the catalyst that allows you to relax.

Don't forget to check out my street...

http://culinaryhags.blogspot.com/2005/05/bayswater-restaurants.html

Visit to the Two Temples

The First Temple: To Science


The Science Museum



'The Engine that Saved Britain':

The Rolls Royce Merlin V12
38 litres, 1500 hp



Going Fast but not Far: 100 miles per hour, 12 mile per gallon (Gas turbine Rover)*




More news for conspiracy theorists here: http://www.turbinecar.com/mags/ms1964-02.htm

And here: http://www.turbinecar.com/mags/mtrcd6508.htm










The Second Temple: To Art

Mac Graphic Artist

We have an opening in our Antibes office for a full-time graphic designer / layout person, to work within our Marketing department.

Skills required:

- English as a first language (ESSENTIAL)

- Spoken French would be an added bonus

- All graphics / layout skills, including Quark, Adobe Creative Suite, Photoshop, Powerpoint, etc. - Must be capable of producing print-ready artwork and liaising with printers across entire production process

- Basic web design skills or an understanding of HTML and web/email-based marketing tools, Flash a bonus

- Prefer Mac user

Don't have a Mac? Then go here:

http://www.windowsdevcenter.com/pub/a/windows/2005/01/18/PearPC.html

Or here:

http://www.tech-recipes.com/rx/964/install_osx_tiger_on_intel_usb_drives_windows

Or just search yourself on Google: "run OS x on windows"

Next, get Quark 7.0 somewhere:

http://euro.quark.com/en/service/desktop/downloads/details.jsp?idx=653