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Blog spot
In this section, I hope to share some stories, write about creating art, share ideas and of course, be opinionated! We are all entitled to our point of view, and that is how the world should be; sharing without fear, love without shame and expressing our own views with integrity and dignity. I am sorry that I cannot find a way to be able to allow people to enter comments, other than by email, or be able to moderate this part of the site, so bear with me until I find out, or just read the articles below. Link to blog: (almost up and running! Negotiating 6 extra hours in the day with the big fella upstairs!) June: - still cannot get this bit to work,but writing anyway... Email and I will post your comments.
| | 26th June Hello friends
Today, I witnessed an horrific attack by a young man upon another, in the middle of a public road.
A car had swerved across the head of a junction onto a main road and four men started arguing. Suddenly, the smaller guy who had been dragged out of the car rushed around to the boot and grabbed a crow bar. He ran after the man and beat him until they both ended up on the floor. I have no idea what happened to the man who was beaten, because I did not see him get back up. There were four of them all fighting in a lump, even if two had thought to try and stop it.
Not one of the people that were around, except silly old me, shouted at them to stop or raised any alarm. They just stood and perhaps watched in fear of the road rage being turned in their direction.
I was terrified because I was the one who was shouting at them to 'stop-it!' and they might thump me with that big black crowbar. I became very frightened, and I also thought that if people were so enraged as to try and kill each other, would they really take any notice of someone shouting stop?
A crowd drew from the shops along the road, but still, no-one was stopping anything, and I had foolishly left my mobile phone at home. I was shouting at all the people for someone to call the police, but people seemed more interested in watching a nasty fight that involved a heavy bar.
The road became blocked with people and cars, and I was unable to stop anything, or help anyone and no-one wanted to hear me shouting my head off.
The blunt instrument seems to be the intellect of mankind.
I guess that I have not finished shouting, but it still feels as if I am silenced by fear, and not just my own. What on earth are we (mankind) doing? | 23rd May I don't think that it is naive of me to believe that we all have the capacity to be loving human beings. It is very sad that such a loving and trusting animal can be treated so badly by human beings. The elephant in the video below was rescued from abuse in Burma. It poses all kinds of questions... I wonder how long it took the trainers to teach or force the elephant to do this, and wonder what methods they used to achieve this 'trick'? I must admit that I cried thinking about all of the abuse that the poor elephant went through before it was rescued and also when I watched how carefully the elephant was holding the tiny brush, and how it wavered before pressing it against the paper, almost as if short sight was also something that the poor elephant had to come to terms with in painting the picture. Whilst I was in awe of the elephant and how it managed to recreate a picture of another elephant, I found it hard to understand that people like being entertained by things like this. I would have preferred to see the rescued animal returned to its natural environment if possible, and if not, just go about normal ellie business in a safe environment. Surely we can do better? Well, what was a few grey blobs, and now a blurry photograph, are progressing nicely. I still have quite a bit of work to do. The work is called "Ellie's bluff". When humans get too close to elephants, they often throw up dust and leaves as a warning that you are too close. I have lots of work to do before I get to powder her nose. There is also a huge amount of work to do with the rhino, but I love the idea of a big old boy like this being free on my canvas, and am enjoying the challenge of it all. I met some rhino recently, and they were very obliging with the photographic opportunity, so thank you boys. Here's hoping that the painting turns out well. Please check back for futher updates... 15th May I love elephants. I was lucky enough to visit Sri Lanka and the elephant sanctuary that they have there a while ago, and I have also helped out bathing them at one of the places on the island where people are starting to realise that these wonderful animals need our help to survive the difficulties that we are subjecting them to in their own environment. They are against poaching and the butchery that goes on when the land that elephants are usually used to grazing falls into the hands of developers etc. I am all too often staggered by examples of man's inhumanity, stupidity and greed. I would have thought by now that we have the intelligence as a whole, to live successfully side by side and in friendship with each other and with all of nature, but some people just cannot do it. | First Entry and happy birthday to me! 28th April 2008! There will be information about art after I have indulged myself for my birthday. Sometimes I waffle a bit, but my waffle is in the interest of learning and sharing experiences. Honestly! Photograph - The Battle of the Little Big Horn - re-enactment. I took this photograph, with kind permission, when I was travelling around the US, at a re-enactment of the battle. This particular re-enactment was not at the actual site of the battle either, but I think that many Native Americans wish that the truth were told about actual events, so it is played out each year for tourists by different nations. Sometimes, the story is right and sometimes other historical events are tagged into the play on horseback, for the entertainment of tourists. Thankfully, my Native American friends know that I don't do tourist tours comfortably at all. I have all kinds of experience of travelling uncomfortably with bunches of tourists, and that is 'a whole other can of worms' (read with a strong southern statesish accent for fun)! For a long time, I have been interested in North American history, so naturally, I spent some time looking into and visiting some of the battle sites. The Battle of the Little Bighorn—also known as Custer's Last Stand, was called the Battle of the Greasy Grass by the Lakota people. It was an armed engagement between a Lakota-Northern Cheyenne combined force and the 7th Cavalry of the United States Army on the 25th and 26th of June 1876, near the Little Bighorn River in the eastern Montana Territory.
The battle was the most famous action of the Indian Wars, and was a victory for the Lakota and Northern Cheyenne, led by Sitting Bull. A sizeable force of U.S. cavalry commanded by Lieutenant Colonel George Armstrong Custer was defeated and Custer himself was killed in the engagement along with two of his brothers. It was, however, not the highest infliction of casualties by Native Americans against U.S. forces, which occurred in the 1791 Battle of the Wabash.
When I visited the battlefield, the place felt as if it was silent, despite there being visitors around me. It was a strange day. I met a man who gave me the photograph that he had taken of some of the survivors of the battle many years earlier. We spoke about photography, history and the day, and I clutched the precious little photograph in my hand after I had shaken his hand and thanked him. I watched the people milling around, and I still wonder if any of the 'tourists' ever really felt the hole that there seemed to be. It was a very difficult trip for me to make that year for all kinds of personal reasons, but I am glad that I travelled to see for myself, and glad that my heart felt better for the journey. Today, I had the most amazing day, filled with love and laughter. Thanks to all of my friends for your lovely gifts, kind thoughts, help and appreciation.
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