The End of the World II

Some more character portraits for the boardgame I’m working on.  Just got the zombie horde and angry mob to go now… they’ll be a lot harder.

Blackout

Here’s another song from the brilliant Shiina Ringo, this time from the band she formed in 2004, Tokyo Jihen (東京事変 also known as Tokyo Incidents).  Again, tanslations for this one are a bit hard to come by on the internets, so I thought I’d try my hand.  It’s called Blackout.

ブラックアウト
Burakkuauto
Blackout

山ノ手線 最終で何処へ行こうと云うの?
Yamanotesen saishu de doko e ikou to iu no?
On the last train of Yamanote line where do you say we go?

都市の芳香いが変わり桜はもう散っている
Machi no nioi ga kawari sakura wa mou chitteiru
The smell of the city changes, the cherry blossom is already shedding its petals

急いで帰る気温は疾(とう)に北へと逃げ去った様
Isoide kaeru kion wa touni kita e to nigesatta
The cold flees quickly north

抜け駆けで何処へでも遊びに行きましょう
Nukegake de doko e demo asobi ni ikimashou
Let’s go somewhere while no-one knows

もっと酔って居たい
Motto yotte itai
I want to drink more

哀しく満たされ寒さより明るさが疎ましいのさ
Kanashiku mitasare samusa yori akarusa ga utomashii no sa
Filled with sadness, I hate the light more than the cold, you know

都市のネオンはきっと星達を奪ったのだ
Machi no neon wa kitto hoshi tachi wo ubatta no da
Perhaps the neon of the city has stolen the stars

希望の通り黒い時間が二人を匿っている
Kibou no toori kuroi jikan ga futari o kakumatteiru
On the path of hope, we two are surrounded by blackness

抜け駆けで何処へでも私を連れて行って
Nukegake de doko e demo watashi wo tsurete itte
Come away with me somewhere while no-one knows

今日は帰らない
Kyou wa kaeranai
I won’t go home today

素面になってしまいそう
Shirafu ni natte shimai sou
I’ll probably sober up

遠くまで揺らせて運んで行って
Touku made yurasete hakonde itte
Lead me, shaking, far away

もっと酔って居たい
Motto yotte itai
I want to drink more

哀しく汚され何時もより撓やかに忘れたいのさ
Kanashiku yogosare itsu mo yori shinayaka ni wasuretai no sa
Stained by sadness, more than usual, I want to easily forget, you know

白く照らされる日々に置いて行かれそうで
Shiroku terasareru hibi ni oite ikaresou de
I’ll be left behind by the days that brightly light me

ちょっと隠れたいだけ
Chotto kakuretai dake
I just want to hide for a bit

分かっている
Wakatteiru
But I understand

是以上は無い
Kore ijou wa nai
I can’t do that

だから連れて行って
Dakara tsurete itte
So come away with me

帰りたくない
Kaeritakunai
I don’t want to go home

誰も知らないけど
Dare mo shiranai kedo
Noone knows

何より嗚呼!
Nani yori aa!
But more than anything

あなたが疎ましいのさ
Anata ga utomashii no sa
I hate you, you know

The End of the World

One of my favourite books ever is A Night In the Lonesome October by Roger Zelazny; it’s this awesome pastiche about classic horror characters – Rasputin, Frankenstein, Dracula, the Wolfman – indulging in tangled Lovecraftian intrigues, and narrated by Jack the Ripper’s dog.  After I read it for the first time as a teenager I had a dream that it was a boardgame, and the idea floated around my head for over a decade, until recently I reread it and decided to have a go making a game based on it.

I’ve worked most of the rules, but before I test out whether they actually work with the help of some indulgent friends, I need to make the board and the various pieces and cards; here are some rough sketches I’ve done in photoshop over the last few days of some of the characters; I’m not sure how exactly, but printed out suitably small and made to stand up they’ll probably serve as playing pieces.

Gamble

I first discovered the singer Shiina Ringo when I was living in Japan in 2003, and she’s been one of my favourite artists ever since.  If you’re not familiar with her eclectic stylings you might want to imagine the lyricism of Tori Amos, the endless reinvention of David Bowie and the theatricality of Bjork, combined into one chameleonic Tokyoite.

Since my Japanese has stuck resolutely around intermediate level for the past 6 years, I still need help getting the gist of most of her songs (which are especially difficult to understand given her fondness for obscure references and archaic spellings).  Translations of most of her songs are available online in various places, but there are some songs which I haven’t been able to find translations of, among them the beautiful Gamble (ギャンブル).  So with the help of my language exchange partner I thought I’d give it a go myself. There are a couple of versions of this song, the one most easily found on youtube is from a collaboration with the violinist Saito Neko, and used in the movie SAKURAN.

(If you notice any mistakes in my translation, or can improve on it in any way, let me know.)

ギャンブル
Gyanburu
Gamble

あなたはそっと微笑ってくれるから
Anata wa sotto waratte kureru kara
You softly smile at me

明くる朝とうに泣き止んで居るのさ
Akuru asa tou ni naki yandeiru no sa
You know I stop crying as the morning breaks

此の小さな轍に「アナタ呼吸ヲシテ居ル」
Kono chisa na wadachi ni “anata iki wo shiteiru”
I ask the little furrow “are you breathing?”

蝉が喚いて夏の到来を知る
Semi ga naite natsu no torai wo shiru
The cicadas cry and we know of summer’s coming

其の都度何故か羨んで居るのさ
Sono tsudou naze ka urayandeiru no sa
Why do I feel envious every time?

此の戦地で尽きたら「何カシラヘノ服従」
Kono senchi de tsukitara “nani ka shirahen fukuju
If I’d ended on this battlefield,  “Obedience without knowing”

帰る場所など何処に在りましょう
Kaeru bashou nado ni doko ni arimshou
Where can I return to?

動じ過ぎた
douji sugita
I‘m too agitated

もう疲れた
Mou tsukareta
I’m already tired

愛すべき人は何処に居ましょう
Ai subeki hito wa doko ni imashou
Where is the person I’m meant to love?

都合の良い答えは知っているけど
Tsugo no ii kotae wa shitteiru kedo
I know the easy answer

中目黒駅のホームに立って居たら
Nakameguro eki no homu ni tatteitara
Standing at the platform of Nakameguro Station

誰かが急に背を押したんだ 本当さ
Dare ka ga kyu ni se wo oshitanda honto sa
Someone suddenly pushed me from behind, it’s true

此の勝負に負けたら「生キテユク資格モ無イ」
kono shobu ni maketara, “ikite yuku shikaku mo nai”
If I lose this contest, “Unqualified to live”

飼い馴らされた猫の眼で
Kai nasareta neko no manako
The eyes of a tamed cat

鳴いてみようか
Naite miyou ka
Should I try mewing?

やってみようか
Yatte miyou ka
Should I try it?

愛すべき人は何処に居ましょう
Ai subeki hito wa doko ni imashou
Where is the person I was supposed to love?

予定の調和なんて容易だけど
Yotei no chowa nante youi da kedo
But it’s so easy to harmonise plans

声を出せばどなたかみえましょう
Koe wo daseba donata ka miemashou
Should I see what would happen if I spoke?

真実がない
Shinjitsu ga nai
There’s no truth

もう歩けない
Mou arukenai
I can’t walk any more

灰になれば皆喜びましょう
Hai ni nareba mina yorokobimashou
Everyone would be happy if I turned to dust

愛していたよ
Aishiteita yo
I loved you

軽率だね
Keisotsu da ne
Thoughtless, wasn’t it

animal love @ gallery 285

Here are two new paintings created for “Meet THE DEALER”, an exhibition currently running at the beautiful  Gallery285 in Sydney.  It’s open for another week, so if you’d like to see these works in the flesh, as well as pieces from 5 other young artists, get down to 285 Liverpool Street, Darlinghurst before the 5th March.

mini animal love

My mum likes to tell people that I was the only child she knew who could look at lambs playing in the field and think of lamb chops.  When I announced age 21 that I was becoming a vegetarian she was incredulous.  I’ve always been fascinated by animals, and as a result fairly good at drawing them.  On the internet I’ve discovered thousands of people who share my fascination, and endless email forwards about tigers adopting piglets, and youtube videos of unlikely animals engaging in mortal combat.  These drawings are my response to the strange symbiosis of cruelty and kindness, beauty and horror that exist in this thing we call nature.  All of my animals are drawn life size, and I research those which are extinct as carefully as possible so that the anatomy (if not the colours) are reasonably accurate.

These are a few mini animal lovers, each one is about 10cm x 15cm, pen and ink and acrylic on canvas.

 

real perspective

This is just a shout out, and an update to those of you in Sydney who might like to see some of my work in the flesh.. The fantastic Tony Curran is curating an Exhibition called REAL PERSPECTIVE, opening next week (Wednesday 10th December) at the Tap Gallery in Darlinghurst, and going til the 21st.  The address is 278 Palmer Street, and from what I’ve seen of the other artists’ work it should be a really good show.  Tony is running a blog at http://www.real-perspective.blogspot.com/ , and I hope all 15 of my readers will check it out

animal love

I finally finished my paintings for this semester.  I’ll just post them here with minimal commentary, since I’m now exhausted from 36 hours of continuous drawing.

 

 

 

 

 

And some bonus images… One of my early paintings from the series, and a picture of me in action.

 

 

An Infinite Regression of Cool

Me and my friend Mansha were in a cafe listening to the Strokes and discussing the pros and cons of their various albums.  The third member of our coffee troup, Manoj, hadn’t even heard of The Strokes, and thought we were a pair of little trendsters for being able to discuss them so thoroughly.  

Alas, unless you’re like Manoj you’ll know that the Strokes might have been pretty edgy five years ago, but nowadays everyone and their mother has Last Nite sitting on their Itunes.  Along with my Pokemon T-Shirt, this set us to thinking about all the differently nuanced posings of cool that the modern world and detached irony together permit us to assume:

Level 1 Is basic coolness, which is basically lame.  This is Beyonce, Australian (or whichever is your local version of) Idol, Top 40 music, heels, make-up and pink T-Shirts on guys.

Level 2 Is edgier, deliberately going for things that are a little bit more obscure, where Juno from the film of the same name might fit in.  Skinny jeans, big sunglasses, messy hair, 70s Punk, all the post-Strokes new York hipster bands, maybe some electro.

Level 3 is where the fun comes in, because at this level you’re so cool that you realise that all the things in Level 1 are lame, but love them anyway, with some degree of detachment.  For those wishing to reach this level, you might want to begin by listening to some mainstream hip hop (perhaps Jay-Z for beginners, Eminem for those looking for a challenge) while drawing your friends’ attentions to the amusingly misogynistic lyrics.  

Level 4 Is even more specialised, but I have met some souls capable of pulling it off.  You realise that all the “alternative” choices involved in Level 2 are just as mainstream as chart-topping R’n'B but assume an ironic hipster pose, secretly aware of how cliched even your friends are.

Level 5 and Up Are only hypothetical, but extrapolating from the earlier levels, we can assume that Level 5 involves ironically listening to pop music in an ironic way.  

All of which is just an excuse for me to link to the genuinely (Level 6+) cool website of Ari Versluis.  Called Exactitudes it’s a photographic series showing subcultures in action; In major cities all across the world he finds people all, unconsciously, dressed in variations on a theme, and juxtasoses them in a way that’s humorous and revealing.  See if you can find your own subculture!

More Animal Love

Well, after getting that rant out of my system, I’d like to share with you some more cute animal drawings.