Rock Stars' Art

It's not often that you hear of musicians wanting to become artists - actors maybe; but it appears that in reality, Rock stars actually love showing off their artistic skills. London Scream Gallery is currently showcasing artwork from Rock and Pop singers, past and present, from now until the end of October. It's not surprising that some of them show extreme lack of artistic flare (although are obviously worth a fortune!) However, others make me think that perhaps they took the wrong route when deciding to be a musician. Some of them are pretty dark and obscure though - maybe that's the effect the Rock star lifestyle has on you.

'The Enabler' by Marilyn Manson shows depth and emotion and reflects the image he portrays as a Rock Star.

'Red Charlie' by Ron Wood of the Rolling Stones paints very lifelike portraits - who knew you could be so skilled at two things?!

I can't say that Bob Dylan has quite the same skill, as shown in this supposed self-portrait. Not only does it not resemble him, it makes me wonder if he painted this before he became a musician - potentially when he was a child.

Chris Mars of The Replacements paints creepy, yet really detailed and realistic pieces, as displayed here in 'Haggerty'. I really like this piece, but can't say I'd want it in my house - luckily I can't afford it!

John Lennon's 'sketches' - although not the most skillful - have become utterly iconic, and recognized worldwide. 'Real love' is clearly of him and Yoko, despite its simplicity.

Saw IV

Dare you see... SAW IV???

The first was well thought out, dark, twisty and like nothing I've seen before. Great!

The second was predictable, gory, hectic and yet somehow still pretty good.

The third was sickening, far-fetched and a step too far.

So six films later, I'm not quite sure what the producers are thinking, or where they are going. It's not original anymore - hopefully they're not going for a horror version of James Bond, because I'm not sure I can cope with 21 Saw films. Not that it directly affects me, but they're taking up precious cinema slots.

Defintely less a case of 'Do you dare?' and more 'Do you care...?'

EnviroFurniture

I was recently watching Dragon's Den, and was less than impressed with 'Reestore's' pitch to the Dragons, which included seating which was made from old shopping trollies. These designs might not look out of place in a hospital ward, however I can't imagine them enhancing the aesthetics of a modern style apartment. Unsurprisingly, I was shocked when two of the Dragon's decided to invest £50,000 in the project.

As I was obviously missing something, I decided to check out Reestore's website, and it turns out, some of their designs aren't half bad. I can totally imagine some of these designs being a modern interior designer's idea of luxury...

A gear box table?




A plane wing table?




Can't say I'd ever want a bath in my living room though!

Don't drink and drive

Really effective, simple advert to show what your car could end up like.

Logo illusion

I've always been perplexed by the simple FedEx logo's strong and hidden message - the arrow between the 'e' and the 'x'.
Recently, the cleverness of Amazon's logo was brought to my attention, where the 'a' and the 'z' are connected with an arrow, implying that they sell everything from A to Z.These really are the most effective, memorable logos. Just take a look at the logo for The Guild of Food Writers. Clever illusions within logos are definitely the way forward.

500 days of Summer

Boy meets Girl.
Boy falls in love.
Girl doesn't.

I've got to admit, 500 Days of Summer is quite an emotional journey not only for the characters but for the audience too. The film follow aspiring architect Tom's growing obsession with work collegue Summer, however as stated in the opening, this is by no means a love story - more of a break up story. As a retrospective film, the audience's emotions are unsettled from the start when the end of the relationship is shown first.

I enjoyed so many aspects of the film, paticularly its quirky nature. Normally I'd cringe if one of the main characters broke into song and dance (unless of course I was watching Grease), but the Director really pulled it off. The seasons, wardrobe and production design matched the emotions of the main charater - noticeably duller when he was feeling down, and the killer soundtrack assisted in making the audience feel truly zealous and emotional.

Bunny Suicides

"Little fluffy rabbits who just don't want to live anymore"

I can't say I'd find it all that funny if I stumbled across my rabbit impaled on a light saber, but Andy Riley succeeds in creating one of the funniest non-textual books I've ever seen. His comical illustrations and endless ideas make this book highly entertaining, everytime.