Pyschopomps

My current art project revolves around the afterlife and as usual you end up finding out about stuff you could probably have done without - one is the idea of psychopomps which are guides of souls to the afterlife - psychopomps have been associated at different times and in different cultures with whip-poor-wills, ravens, dogs, crows, owls, sparrows, cuckoos, and yamatoots.

So before you know it, you are googling whip-poor-wills - a medium-sized (22–27 cm) nightjar from North and Central America ...

It's called a whip-poor-will after its birdcall.

There's an excellent exhibition at the moment in London by the artist and taxidermist, Polly Morgan, based on the idea of psychopomps - http://pollymorgan.co.uk/

I also really like her wackier pieces ...

Robin: "Holy tartars!"

Batman: "Unholy tartars, Robin. Stealing scimitars and golden eggs from a museum is one thing. But when the average citizen on the street is in peril, something must be done, and quickly.

Dreaming of Iggy

On a morning cycle into the centre of Lucca, I was sure I saw Iggy Pop disappearing into the apartment below ...

Now, I'm sure Iggy has better things to do - see later - but I could even imagine him speeding around in the Fiat 500 parked outside ...

Things got worse when, for two nights running, I dreamt that Iggy was here in Lucca and was only too happy to invite us all in for an expresso, alcohol and a lively band practice ...

Then I receive news of a new Iggy advertising campaign which has recenly won awards - Orcon, a New Zealand broadband provider, commissioned Iggy to record a version of The Passenger via broadband with a group of musicians scattered around the world who all auditioned online.

The story behind the advert

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rMYVynoLjQQ&feature=related

The advert itself

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CtL51VME4Qo

By the time I started to think this was him without his wig, I was really starting to worry ...

Italian images

Beach huts ...

Green door ...

Rusted lock...

Peg of the week...

Behind bars ...

Straw bale ...

Leaning Tower of Boxes.

On the road

Have been travelling around Italy for the last week - saw a great open air night time showing of 'The General' starring Buster Keaton in Bologna,

Wondered at the statues under balconies in Mantova

Sampled excellent Venetian doughnuts for breakfast,

Were tempted by this unusual barber shop frontage in Bologna -a massive Tarzan poster,

And found the best coffee shop in Italy - using the ultimate Faema E61

machine and served by Amanda Holden's twin sister ...

Now settled in a Villa in Lucca for the next two weeks - aqueduct in the garden.

And views of the City from one of Lucca's towers.

Water off a duck's back

Now on holiday in Italy - far too hot to run so have been swimming alot. Swam today in Lake Garda and was a bit concerned about my lack of pace when overtaken by a mallard duck.

We are currently staying for a few days in Villa Feltrinelli and learning much about Mussolini - he was "imprisoned" here between 1943 to 1945. It doesn't seem to have been much of a discomfort as he had his wife with him and his mistress down the road.

I have also been having great fun playing with the panoramic setting on my digital camera .

Picked up by a stylish Italian speedboat to get to lunch on the other side of the lake - my youngest looks as if he could get used to this.

Lunch was delicious and ended with tiny fruits stuffed with similarly flavoured ice cream - my favourite was the apricot , or perhaps the chestnut, or was it the banana ...

Cold War trawlers

This old Scottish trawler has been moored at Chiswick Pier for the past two months - today the owner had moved it to the side of the river to check some damage sustained when a dutch tug crashed into it. Whilst the trawler was designed to catch fish in the North Sea, this one never has - instead it sailed the North Sea during the Cold War spying on the Russians and collecting and analysing submarine signals.

Its called St Ebbes of Blyth - apparently St Ebbes had supernatural powers and used them to control the tides to repel the Vikings who were invading Northumbria. The word ebb, as in the tide ebbs and flows, is derived from this.

As its holiday season and just in case you are short of things to do here is a project for you when visiting old cites - repairing with Lego.



http://www.janvormann.com/dispatchwork.php

Walkjogroglog

Walked our running route today with Roger who was up visiting this weekend . Lots of building activity around Tate Modern at the moment - one crane seemed to be attracting an unusual cloud formation.

Passed a busy sand castle competition on the Thames - this one looked the favourite to win.

Not sure about the new trend at London tourist sites to have strange people in random costumes standing on small plinths but this Japanese gentlemen seemed to be enjoying himself.