Tuesday 22 May 2012

The Headless Cultural Olympian and the first photographs


It has been one of the hottest days of the year so far if not the hottest. One of the interesting things about having solar panels on your roof generating electricity is that they give a unbiased reading of just now much sun has been shining on the roof during the day. Today we have generated 27 kilowatts so far with another hour and a half or so of evening sun to go, although that is not much in power terms due to the position of the sun in relation to the solar panels. But 27 kilowatts is fairly good I think.

The Ghost Writer however was complaining he was in a meeting all day in a big conference room with no windows so as far as he was concerned it could just as easily been snowing, we have all told him no it was a lovely hot sunny day and he now says he feels so much better to know that.

I am off again shortly to continue my task “The Cultural Olympian” he is finally starting to look vaguely Olympian now as he has two legs and two arms and a neck, although no head and no ribcage or internal organs. I might not bother with internal organs after all a cardboard spleen is no help to the best of us even a cardboard man. The next thing I need to make is his plinth, for some silly reason I said I would make him a plinth to stand on, carved in the finest Grecian marble. Sadly I have been unable to get a delivery of marble from Greece due to problems in the Greek economy with the Euro, so I have substituted the marble for cardboard, as I still have loads of that.


The Cultural Olympian and Heavy Harry the Cat 


The cultural Olympian ..right side

I was going to mention the  menace of the man eating pterodactyl this morning at school, but it is too hot and still and have loads to do. I’m sure it will be back particularly as Freddie was feeding it breadcrumbs. He is a bit short sighted and thought it was a blackbird, admittedly a large blackbird and he said it did eat a hell of a lot of breadcrumbs which he found suspicious and he didn#y think blackbirds growled.   

16 comments:

  1. Oh how marvelous! It's lot bigger that I expected but I love it.

    I'd love on to put in my garden.

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    1. Sadly it would turn to mush. Someone ran off with the Easter bunny to make him in stainless steel well over a year ago now but it has still not been made and I have not seen the Easter bunny since.

      Someone else has talked about making the Cultural Olympian in Stainless steel but I think after the Easter bunny I am reluctant to let people just run away with him. For some strange reason most people do not associate old cardboard boxes with art, which to me is a good reason to battle on with the quest. A bit like my blog really which also seems to have a similar problem with the masses.

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    2. It would look fantastic in stainless steel but I understand your reluctance, after what happened to the Easter Bunny.

      As for your blog, it's a 'cult classic'.
      These things always start off small, before gathering a huge following.

      That's done it! Every blog I praise, goes on to eclipse my own.

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    3. I do agree about the stainless steel but I think it would be harder than some of the people think because the advantage of cardboard is it can be tweaked a bit to ensure things like, he can stand without falling over etc.

      I very much appreciate being called a cult classic, but I think you may be very wrong about that. As I sort of said, I think the blog is just slightly outside the logic of the masses so only enjoyed (hopefully) by a few like the members of RATs, so rather limited appeal.

      As for you own blog Miss Lily it is very very good, there are few better so just carry on doing what you do.....

      It is damn hot today here

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  2. Wow I had not a clue how great this guy can look. He is ready to run..as soon as he has a head and a few other items you said. Super.

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    1. He will look much better once he is finished and probably sprayed grey. He will if all goes to plan be holding an Olympic torch with poetry flickering out of the top instead of flames.

      But it is all down to time, maybe I should not have done the A to Z and spent a bit of free time starting the sculpture...... To much to do and no time to do it

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  3. I wood think that using cardboard instead of Greek marble for a plinth wood be okay as long as the cardboard or it contents or its workers were from Greece. I substituted wood for would in that sentence since it was a sentence about substituting and I think cardboard comes from woody plants. You might try to find a can of marble colored spray paint.

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    1. Yes the marble paint effect has crossed my mind but it will be down to time in the end.

      Crossed my mind, I can see how that came about but I have an image similar to crossing ones fingers so maybe it means I have a twisted mind. I am not sure a twisted mind is good, it does not sound good, I know when I twisted my ankle that was not good.

      I took note of the substituted Wood... If I had loads of time I could make a substitute Olympian, a bit like football.

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    3. I researched this for you, googled "marble spray paint"

      http://www.krylon.com/projects/paint-techniques/marble-elegance/

      Materials

      Krylon Indoor/Outdoor Paint - Black (#51602)
      Krylon Indoor/Outdoor Paint - Blue Ocean Breeze (#51512)
      Krylon Indoor/Outdoor Paint - Hunter Green (#52001)
      Krylon Metallic Paints - Bright Gold (#1701)
      Table Top or Project of your choice

      General Supplies

      Mineral spirits
      Spray bottle
      Disposable rubber gloves
      Disposable plastic tub
      Feather
      Newspaper

      Surface Preparation

      When working with unfinished wood, prepare your surface by sanding smooth and wiping clean with a tack cloth. Apply a primer to seal the surface.
      When working with bare metal, be sure surface is free of rust and oil. Apply a primer to seal the surface.
      When working with plastic, glass or ceramic, lightly sand surface with fine grain sandpaper and wipe clean with a tack cloth. This will help the paint to adhere better to these smooth surfaces. Apply a primer to further improve adhesion.

      Instructions

      Place project on newspaper to protect work area.
      Spray several light coats of Ultra-Flat Black to cover top, bottom and sides of project. Let dry.
      Shake all paint cans to prepare to paint wet on wet.
      Spray one very heavy coat of Gold to cover entire top of project. Do not let dry.
      Spray overlapping spots of Blue Ocean Breeze, Hunter Green and Black over wet gold paint. Do not let dry.
      Spray mineral spirits over all the wet paint to cause reaction to paint.
      Use damp sea sponge to dab at paint to create mottled, marbled effect. Do not let dry.
      Wearing rubber gloves, spray Blue Ocean Breeze into disposable plastic tub to form a puddle of paint. Dip sponge into paint and dab lightly on project to enhance the marbled effect.
      Drag tip of feather through wet paint in very fine lines to create veins.
      For added protection of your finished project, spray several light coats of Krylon® Crystal Clear as a final step. For projects that will be used outdoors or near a window, use Krylon® UV-Resistant Clear.

      Ideas to Inspire

      Use this same technique to paint:

      lamps
      accent tables
      ceiling fans
      dressers
      vases
      desk accessories
      planters
      frames
      bookends
      candleholders
      Olympic Plinths

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    4. Thank you Mr ESB that was work beyond the call, I must make a gold star for you in recognition of this effort. Mind you I did not see Olympic Plinths on the site. Fancy them forgetting to add that, how foolish......

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    5. It is a shame they didn't have Olympic Plinths on their site, and that was why I added it to the teXt I copied into the comment - did you see that? Thanks for the aurum stellarum, I am tickled pinkly! Well, I must return to the candle portion of our business, those things don't put themselves on the shelves, perhaps I need elves. I did fool The Cook at the diner today for lunch, I ordered a shrimp and baked potato meal instead of my (almost) usual, and she had started my standard meal of Grilled Chicken Sandwich with Bacon just as soon as she saw me walk in the door. So I have reached the grand illustrious position in life where I am fooling people without even trying OR knowing about the event as it unfolds around me.

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    6. It is the nature of human beings, we like routine but if you just sometimes break from routine it then confuses others whose own routine is synchronised to your routine. The result is a domino effect, each person in the chain trying to return to their routine.

      Sometimes it will take maybe just one or two people to return to the status quo, sometimes it never will. In the case of the Grilled Chicken Sandwich with Bacon, it may have been a quick return unless say a seagull ate the sandwich and in a loss of concentration lands on the laptop of a famous writer who in miss-spelling a word has a new and brilliant idea leading to a film that changes the life of the new and as yet undiscovered actress who plays the lead roll (not a sandwich).

      So by not having your sandwich today it is possible that the life of a struggling actress will change for ever and when she wins the Oscar will she thank you for not having your sandwich and choosing a shrimp and baked potato meal instead.......NO

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    7. Your comment made me think mirroredly: if there was a movie star mouse named Fay, she would be Famous Mouse Fay.

      I am unfamously doing laundry at the moment hoping for some momentum. I need to go work again downtown today because my sister-in-law is gone for a little while. So my dog sadly misses me. He didn't want to eat yesterday, I think it was a sadness issue (Ernie Gone), but he made up for it at supper time and this morning. Perhaps he doesn't think I wiLL be gone again(?). This reminds me that I woke up hungry in the middle of the night and realized that I basicaLLy had just 3 cookies for supper because I feLL asleep reading Physics. So I made three hard boiled eggs. That was about the quietest thing I could think of to make, as my wife was asleep just a few feet away in the living room. But I seem to have succeeded because she didn't wake up. WeLL, I am trying to figure out how to finish writing today's blog post about a donut store going out of business, so I should go ....

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  4. Oh wow, that looks great! It looks very Olympian to me, almost as if it's going to spring up and participate in a race right now! Great job :)
    Although maybe you should hide it, in case the man eating pterodactyl mistakes it for a human and tries to eat it...

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    1. I am glad you like him because in a couple of weeks there will be loads of people looking at him. I have had a problem in the past with the public thinking these things are just kits that you buy in a shop. An excellent merchandising opportunity I'm sure but realistically not worth the agro.

      The man eating pterodactyl would be rather disappointed if he did take a bite out of him, a bit like having a takeaway and eating the box

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