Finally I’ve reserved a little space for my digital arts in Internet Jungles. I have already online portfolio, but the concept of this upcoming site is slightly different- that will be the collection of my works that mean more than a lot to me. That’s Virtual Gallery. And hopefully I’ll manage to find some free time to decorate the gallery charmingly, to hang my paintings on the virtual walls and finally to open the exhibition.
The dreadful voices of wolves reach the full moon and potential victims. But these two men are hard to frighten. In deep contemplation they observe the lying object that is partly hidden by the night. The silver haired man reaches for the whisky. Both drink it painfully slowly and with obvious pleasure. With no rush they enjoy their power over the helpless one. After a while the silver haired sighs and finds the large hunting knife. He looks carefully at it, after at his companion and finally gives it to him. Time for the killing has come. It was the first time for the young man so his thrill was more than obvious. The air was almost sparkling from thoughts and emotions of the men. The ritual began…
Yes yes! That was my first ‘kill of haggis’ at Burn Night! This traditional Scottish supper involves lots of splendid things- the exotic haggis (traditional Scottish dish made from ship’s internal organs), finest Scotch whisky and very romantic atmosphere. All that and even more was creatively organised by Mr. Cadman which I bless for such an unforgettable experience!
more about Burns Supper (wikipedia.com)
in depth about Burns Supper (bbc.co.uk)
everything about Roberts Burns and Burns supper (bbc.co.uk)
download MP3 with R.Burns’ poem for free (bbc.co.uk)
Scottish Recipes: Haggis (glasgowguide.co.uk)
Finally! It was quite a work and took 3 times more time than planned. The site is not overloaded with fancy features, but still visually pleasing, convenient for overview and, of course, build with flash. Giant list of works made me to split the content into few sites: Games and Graphics, Portfolio 2006+ and Portfolio 2000-2005 (the previous portfolio ver.1). Online CV is available as well.
I’m very glad to present the very first beta of home page for Close Distant Art Group. It lacks fancy graphics, but it already contains attractive content- summary of blog posts from the members. Lots of sleepless nights are still waiting in the near future. But TV is boring anyway, so the work will not be too painful 
Oh, and the most important- members of Close Distant Art Group are not distant but very close and enjoy each other very much! Well, but still we are remaining distant in meaning of locations… C’est la vie- everything is always “close and distant” at once
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“My sculptures are all ladies! You think I would create male sculptures? Huh!”- David Smith (1906-65) chuckles on the exhibited video interview. Celebrating the 100th anniversary of the artist’s birth, Tate Modern presents terrific and huge exhibition “David Smith: Sculptures” that reveals not only his pioneering works but his complicated career as well. With influence of the European icons such as Picasso, Gonzalez and Giacometti this American creates the whole new path for sculptures and outruns his generation for many decades. And his dedication is also not less impressive. The most of his life David was doing the art in free time from his non-art related daytime work and buying materials from his salary. Yes, that’s nothing to compare to the contemporary folks that are able only watch TV, eat crisps and complain about “hard work” in their free time…
Info at Tate Modern site
Flash slideshow at Tate Modern site
Actually the word “sandwich” had to be spelled with capital “S”, because it was named after John Montagu, Earl of Sandwich (1718-1792). And he was very fond of “his” (huh!) invention because it allowed him keep playing cards without getting his fingers dirty. And now this “sandy thing” (from the Old English “Sandwic” meaning “sandy place“) is consumed by every English at least once per day in hope to become an Earl as well I have another brilliant idea! I should invent a wheel and name it after me, so I could become Earl of Marlow
The funny thing is that the first record of this common to all civilizations type of food was made not in 18th century in England but in Babylon more than thousand years ago Hillel the Elder (the founder of famous Beit Hillel School) is considered to be inventor of “sandwiches”. Well, even then he didn’t name this food by his name (for instance, it could sound like “hillel“) but instead they were called “matzo”.
Credits
The fact was kindly revealed by Roy who did really delicious sandwiches with his home baked bread in order to rehabilitate the meal of gamblers
Read the opposite opinion of Roy about sandwiches
The British Sandwich Association
Nowadays the life of Elfs is not fun at all- pollution, taxes, nude-shooters and sparse forests that are going to become baseball bats and copier paper in the near future. But Roy showed me one of Elfs’ secret hideouts. That’s Stowe, the Park, the Estate and… the School! (Well, looks like the Elfs had no luck again).
Stowe’s parkland is big enough for the whole armies of elfs, orcs, dragons and tourists. It contains over 40 explicit monuments, temples and secret corners. Many times the artificial hills and lakes were remodeled by famous designers in order to achieve actual atmosphere full of beauty and mystery. But any description will not do the job- take your big cam, charge its batteries fully and go to this terrifically photogenic place by yourself.
And the estate (built in 1683) is not less impressive than the park. The palace would be huge even for the whole family of elephants. The previous owners took their time to enrich interiors and art collections. Actually during guided tour I received impression that the main life’s concern of the owners was the estate and how to get a visit from member of the Royal Family. So it’s even more disappointing to learn that the estate is used as secondary school (from 1923) and everything was modified to meet the new requirements…
The main hall is worth to mention separately (see photo above: 2nd row, 2nd thumb from the left). It was built for concerts and it’s so huge that even a village’s church could fit inside. The hall is oval and it ends with impressive glass cupola. The acoustics there are sublime. One of tourists tried out his professional eunuch voice and it sounded there like angel’s singing would sound in paradise. Well, I had an idea to do that as well, but I decided that is too early for Mr. Cadman to experience sounds of the Hell… 
Official site of Stowe
Site of Stowe School
National Trust about Stowe
Wikipedia.com about Elfs
Life is like a puzzle from little pieces of everything: fun, career, friends, love and dreams. Victories glue these parts together and losses correct your path to the vision. Therefore even little things can excite very much if they prove that you move in the right direction. During this Monday Morning Briefing at Phones International I received reward “Above And Beyond” for my hard work and dedication. Well, maybe it’s mere a local recognition and the “flight” is not too high, but this still provides me with lots of encouragement for my future visions and lots of excitement for now. But yes, I know, all this is only the introduction to the really hard part…
Who would dare to opose these words of Dr.Johnson? And Roy successfuly proved this truth by making our Saturday as lively as mountain’s river is.
The Lord Mayor of London’s Procession
Maybe this show is not as hot as Love Parade in Berlin, but definitively it has much deeper roots dating from 1215 (nearly 800 years). Since then every year new Lord Mayor of London is elected and every year he expresses gratefulness to the electors by organizing the show. But this year even two events were merged into one: the show itself and commemoration of 2nd World War victims. One and half hour procession involved almost everything- exotic dancers and marines, jazz bands and canons, fighter-planes and collection of Rolls-Royces, cavalry on horses and antiquarian sport cars. For culmination of process Lord Mayor arrived himself- in terrifically exclusive coach that was borrowed from Museum of London. Well, the coach is worth to mention separately. It’s as big as summer house, all gorgeously painted by Italian masters and it’s dating from 1757.
Official site of the show- lordmayorsshow.org
The Lord Mayor’s Coach, 1757
Lunch at Haberdasher’s Hall
Salmon, good wine and classy conversations nicely warmed our chilled noses after the procession. Haberdasher’s company is a unique phenomenon even for England. In 1371 its presence was recorded for the first time. Since then its path went from trade and trade control to highly respectful charitable activity. Now Haberdasher’s Company is more powerful and influential than ever with its enormous foundations for education, welfare and Christianity. By the way, our Roy is a Liveryman of this ancient City Company. Oh, and I forgot to tell that number of members is very limited!
Official site of Haberdasher’s Company
The Priory Church of Saint Bartholomew the Great
It’s one of the most fascinating churches in the Europe and one of the oldest in London. Its adventurous story begins in 1123. From then it survived the Great Fire of 1666 (huh, note the evil date), 1st World War, 2nd World War, lots of changes and only half of it has survived. Its the most significant Norman interior appears in number of award wining movies- Four Weddings and a Funeral, Shakespeare in Love and The End of the Affair, Madame Bovary and it has a little chance to be shot in my mystical horror movie if I ever make one
Official site greatstbarts.com
Additional info at wikipedia.org
Info and map at findachurch.co.uk
Museum of London
Not largely advertised but very precious place for fans of London. Large exhibitions with rare and fascinating objects, video movies and models cover history from “before London” and Roman period till contemporary times. Black Death (The Great Plague, 1348-1350) and The Great Fire (1666) are revealed with pleasing attention
One of very special objects that has impressed me is Nelson’s sword (view picture above).The legendary owner and the craftsmanship allow the sword to drive imagination of every boy to the far boundaries of imagination. This jewelry from gold, enamel and diamonds was presented to Lord Nelson in 1800. On other hand, it’s not the most efficient weapon even for those days
Official site of Museum of London
Firework display on Thames
After sunset London’s new Lord Mayor decided to light the City with fireworks. That was a terrific event that has attracted ocean of tourists and locals. Giant fireworks were launched from the boat on the Thames and they took quite a while. Well, maybe Lord Mayor did not become a new Emperor Nero who fired the Rome, but it was quite a nice try anyway
Official site of the Lord Mayor’s Fireworks
You could meet them in Chastleton House (1612) which is very hard to find itself. It’s located in the middle of Beautiful Nowhere and only a narrow, quiet and very bended road is leading to it through dense bushes and trees (be aware of werewolves at full moon!). Moreover the number of visitors is limited (up to 175 per day), tickets are timed and the house is closed for winter.
And there is a good reason for National Trust and English Werewolves to guard it. It’s the one of England’s finest and most complete Jacobean houses. Chastleton House is filled with original everyday objects, arts and its famous textiles collected since its completion in 1612. The house is surrounded by Elizabethan and Jacobean style gardens. And National Trust is not making any restoration works- only preserves it. Therefore the kitchen downstairs is still a perfect hiding place for Grim Reaper and other lovely English maniacs
Official site of National Trust
Chastleton House at National Trust
Britainexpress.com about Chastleton House
Photo gallery at Britainexpress.com