So it appears as if two of the East Coast Brothers of the Lodge are making our way to Ink N Iron to do some work…..Brother Nick Schonberger and I will be there to represent and get after some truths…..

“Nobody tells this to people who are beginners, I wish someone told me. All of us who do creative work, we get into it because we have good taste. But there is this gap. For the first couple years you make stuff, it’s just not that good. It’s trying to be good, it has potential, but it’s not. But your taste, the thing that got you into the game, is still killer. And your taste is why your work disappoints you. A lot of people never get past this phase, they quit. Most people I know who do interesting, creative work went through years of this. We know our work doesn’t have this special thing that we want it to have. We all go through this. And if you are just starting out or you are still in this phase, you gotta know its normal and the most important thing you can do is do a lot of work. Put yourself on a deadline so that every week you will finish one story. It is only by going through a volume of work that you will close that gap, and your work will be as good as your ambitions. And I took longer to figure out how to do this than anyone I’ve ever met. It’s gonna take awhile. It’s normal to take awhile. You’ve just gotta fight your way through.”
— Ira Glass

visiting loved ones all holiday weekend, stay sharp…

…between the UK & our cousins in the USA, is that they are more open to ideas.

It never ceases to amaze me how we tend to talk something down & almost kill it off before it starts, while across the pond the attitude is more about how we can try & make it work.

Even as the Global Economy takes a downturn, ideas still find a platform in the USA. No wonder o much of our homegrown talent runs off to the states & makes it happen, & most do rather well.

I am reminded of my trip to LA last November…while sitting outside in a bar sipping on an ice cold beer in Santa Monica, a van comes up to the lights in front of me, & low and behold it has ‘The Cobra Snake’ written on the side. At first I was a little jealous that i did not have a van with FATSARAZZI written on the side of it, & then I went into the thoughts of the UK & USA. It seems in the USA they embrace the kind of work that myself, Cobra Snake & many others do, while here they like you but it never really gets to that level.

Why is that ? What is it about us ?

Also in my case I am known so much more outside of the UK, which always is a big surprise & quite humbling.

I have put in the time & have a crazy body of work from all over the globe…I am not saying that each one is a winner, but there is, in my opinion a 65% hit rate of goodies over baddies…spilled milk you say, perhaps…but what does it really take.

Perhaps if I really want to make it happen, I must, like many others quit this country & take the risk & head overseas…NYC or LA…shit maybe even Berlin. Means giving up a lot ere at home, but hey if you want to make it, it costs…& we all have to pay the piper sometime.

Monday Rant Over.

Be Well.

When I was about 15 years old I had to do a project for History on the 2nd World War, & I chose to write about the ‘Mighty Eighth Airforce’. Reason being is that my mother had this amazing book that always fascinated me called, ‘The Mighty Eighth’. 1stly I could never work out why she had this book, but then she later explained it was for all the Pin Up artwork that decorated the bombers. Ok.

But in fact she was very true, this book had all the markings & decals of each squadron & had amazing detailed drawings of all the planes that made up ‘The Mighty Eighth’. I don’t remember much of what I wrote, maybe that is because being a feisty teenager, I did copy a bit of the text out of the book & claimed it as my own. But of course my teacher saw through all that & I do remember my D grade for my work.

The thing that has stuck with me all this time is 3 of the planes. 1stly my all time favourite plane the B-17 Flying Fortress. I love this plane, there is something about it. All those glass bubbles & their paint jobs. 2ndly the P-51 Mustang, I guess you could say that this was the Spitfire of the USAAF at the time, a great looking plane. 3rdly P-47 Thundercat, this was a burly fighter plane, but I really liked the shape.

It is a shame that I do not have the book as it would have been nice to show you some of the images I am talking about, perhaps I need to check in with Mum & see if she still has it in her book collection…I am hoping that she has, or is it lost & now I have to go hunt it out…I will do that as I would like to have that book.

In the meantime, here are some stolen images on my favourite planes…enjoy.

B-17 Flying Fortress

P-51 Mustang

P-47 Thundercat

Be Well.

Happy Monday!!!!!