2006-06-18 iMomus (Nick Currie)

2006-06-18 iMomus (Nick Currie)
Originally uploaded by royblumenthal.

This is the full-colour version of iMomus (Nick Currie), the dude who writes Click opera, an art-fiend's must-read.

According to his blog, he wears ear-muffs to give himself quiet-time.

I recently ran a performance-poetry workshop for schoolkids at St John's College (I'm also a performance poet, amongst other things), and asked Nick for permission to play a video of one of his songs to the group. He said, 'Yeah.' The song makes use of nonsense words to convey emotion. Went down well with the kids.

This drawing was made using Alias Sketchbook Pro 2.0 on a Toshiba Tecra M4 tablet pc with me listening to U2's ALL THAT YOU CAN'T LEAVE BEHIND loud, on a Sunday morning, disregarding my neighbours just a tad

2006-06-17 Drawing by Roy based on Lindy Hop by Sauerkraut

2006-06-17 Drawing by Roy based on Lindy Hop by Sauerkraut
Originally uploaded by royblumenthal.

This week's Illustration Friday topic is 'Dance'.

So I headed over to stock.xchng, my favourite free-photo site, and did a search for pics to do with dancing. Funnily enough, the keyword I used in the search was, 'dance'. Strange, that, hmmm? (Thanks to Seth Godin for alerting me to the photo site.)

The pic I based this drawing on is called 'Lindy Hop', by Sauerkraut.

This drawing was made in the first sixteen minutes of the match between Ghana and The Czech Republic in the soccer world cup, with the score sitting at 1--0 to Ghana, using Alias Sketchbook Pro 2.0 on my Toshiba Tecra M4 tablet pc on a nifty portable easel attached to a camera tripod. Say that ten times fast.

2006-06-16 Robert Scoble Exits Microsoft

2006-06-16 Robert Scoble Exits Microsoft
Originally uploaded by royblumenthal.

Just six days ago the blogging world went mad when Robert Scoble confirmed the rumours that he was no longer 'The Microsoft Blogger'.

He's one of the bloggers I read every day. I simply like the guy's ethics, openness, humility, and thought-hygiene.

He published a photo of himself on his blog revealing how he was feeling. This drawing is based on that photo, and, of course, I exaggerated things a little.

This drawing was made using Alias Sketchbook Pro 2.0, on a Toshiba Tecra M4 tablet pc (which I bought cos Robert Scoble has blogged quite a bit about tablet pcs), mounted on an easel attached to a tripod, in front of a digital projector screen on which I see that The Netherlands have just scored their second goal against The Ivory Coast in the World Cup Soccer.

2006-06-16 Based on 'A Day In The Life' by maryanne_b

2006-06-16 Based on 'A Day In The Life' by maryanne_b
Originally uploaded by royblumenthal.

Hmmmmmm. A very satisfying experiment for me. When I first caught a glimpse of maryanne_b's pic, 'A Day in the Life', I KNEW I had to see if I could tackle smoke successfully.

I asked for her permission to do a drawing based on the pic, and she said yes. Thanks, maryanne_b!

I had real fun doing this.

As I type this description, it's half-time during the ARGENTINA vs MONTENEGRO SERBIA match in the Soccer World Cup. Argentina's leading 3--0. That's quite a score.

I've been drawing a bit, watching soccer a bit.

Quite a neat bit of multitasking.

This drawing was made using Alias Sketchbook Pro 2.0 on my Toshiba Tecra M4 tablet pc, on a specially modified portable easel mounted on a camera tripod base.

2006-06-11 Bathroom

2006-06-11 Bathroom
Originally uploaded by royblumenthal.

I've been having a restful day today, lying in bed with my tablet pc, surfing the web and drawing. S is performing in two shows today... the matinee and an evening show.

I've booked us a one-night getaway in a bed & breakfast spot in Pretoria. (That's quite close to Joburg, which means we only have about an hour's drive tonight, and we can get back tomorrow at a reasonable time.)

I'm taking a minute amount of downtime right now cos I'm about to go into some intense activity. I've written a piece of industrial theatre for a pharmaceutical giant on behalf of Hecate. I'm also directing the piece, and rehearsals start in about a week. I'm also designing all of the backdrops for the show, which I'll start doing in the second half of this week.

I came across an amazingly evocative photo of a bathroom by hvhurricane on Flickr, and just had to draw it, with some of my own stuff added in for good measure.

I've pumped it into a weird, surreal, murder/suicide/debauchery scene, just cos I'm in a strange mood right now.

This drawing was made using Alias Sketchbook Pro 2.0 on my Toshiba Tecra M4 tablet pc.

Illustration Friday: Jungle

The topic for this week's Illustration Friday is 'Jungle'. I did five pics some time ago featuring wild animals. So...

Here's my buffalo:



And here's a chimp:



This is a hippopotamus:



Followed by an elephant:



Crowned by a lion:



All of these drawings were made on my iPAQ 2210 palmtop computer, using a piece of shareware called Mobile Atelier.

Creating South Africa's first open source industrial theatre company

I'm in the process of co-creating South Africa's first open source industrial theatre company.

Every Saturday, my compatriots meet at the Hillbrow Commuinity Theatre to workshop two things... the creation of our company, and the stuff we're offering to corporates. (I've previously written up an intervention we did for a group of ex-prostitutes in Berea, near Hillbrow. We're doing another intervention this Wednesday, focussing on improving communication between the ladies and the management of the New Life Centre, the not-for-profit that provides training for them.)

I've drafted a very rough outline of how we want to structure our company. I've posted it to a site devoted to the open-sourcing of business. The site is called Open Business. And my draft is at http://www.openbusiness.cc/2006/05/28/exploring-a-structure-for-an-open-source-business/.

I'd really love it if you could visit the article, grapple with it, and offer suggestions.

The idea here is that we want our business model to work for other industrial theatre companies that want to do something similar. And we want to get input from companies and people who've gone the open source route, so that we don't have to make the same mistakes they've made.

Please visit the draft I've written and add your comments. Thanks!

2006-06-08 Hazel Feldman

2006-06-08 Hazel Feldman
Originally uploaded by royblumenthal.

Hazel is the brains behind WE WILL ROCK YOU. An inspiring producer and impressario. And when S went on as Scaramouche, Hazel gave me and S's mom the best seats in the house. What a generous thing to do.

2006-06-04 Jessie by RickPawl

2006-06-04 Jessie by RickPawl
Originally uploaded by royblumenthal.

I asked rickpawl on Flickr for permission to draw Jessie from his awesome photo of her. He said yes.

Which put me in a very difficult position. After all... 'naked woman with cello' HAS TO rank as one of my all time favourite fantasies. (Maybe I'll have to encourage S to take up this fine instrument?)

When the Illustration Friday topic of 'Portrait' came up, I thought I need to do something different to my usual subject matter. Portraiture is what I do normally. So Jessie immediately leapt into my consciousness, and I thought I'd try tackling something I've not tried before.

I'm hoping I succeeded somewhat.

This drawing was made using Alias Sketchbook Pro 2.0 on my Toshiba Tecra M4 in the privacy of my study, with the curtains closed.

It uses rickpawl's original pic of Jessie as reference:

'25 Words or Less' -- Damon Berry and I are on the shortlist for the horror movie we're co-writing

Damon Berry and I meet in the parking lot of the National Film and Video Foundation. He's carrying a bunch of papers. I open my car boot.

He says, 'Did you print out the synopsis?'

I pull it out of my bag.

The synopsis is a one-page treatment of the horror screenplay we're co-writing. We've entered it into the NFVF and UK Film Council pitching contest, '25 Words or Less'. And I got a phone call last week to say, 'Please attend a meeting with Ryan Haidarian on Thursday the first of June.'

It turns out we're on the shortlist. Our film idea has made it past the gatekeepers, and has a chance of getting made!

When I got the phone call, Damon was in New York. So I sent him a text message on his phone. And got one back from him a few hours later. Over the moon.

'Let's read this thing before we go in,' I say. And we go over our outline.

We get inside. And Ryan is waiting for us. 'We're going to be doing a conference call to London,' he says. 'We wanted to do a video conference, but the tech in London isn't working. So it'll have to be by phone, I'm afraid.'

Oh-oh. We weren't expecting this. I say, 'So who are we conferencing with in London?'

He says, 'Head of UIP in London, and someone from the UK Film Council. You know what UIP is, yeah?'

Holy cow. UIP. United International Pictures.

Ryan says, 'The world's biggest film distribution company.'

The conference call begins with the UIP representative in London saying, 'Hi! Of all the synopses we've received, yours is our favourite.'

Damon says, 'I bet you say that to all the guys.'

A slight time-lag through the phone lines, and we get two international laughs. A good start to a fifty-minute grilling.

When we leave Ryan's office, it's with the knowledge that the shortlist consists of 13 story ideas across three genres, culled from 340 submissions, and that they'll be choosing one idea from each genre. Each of those projects will be funded to the tune of £10k, and will be produced, with the aim of releasing the film internationally.

Damon and I head for La Concorde, a bakery/deli in Norwood. We're both trembling. Adrenaline is gushing through us. And he's just back from New York, so he's severely jet-lagged.

We get to our seat upstairs, and Damon orders an espresso. I stick with decaff cappuccino. And some spaghetti bolognaise, which turns out to be quite good, if a bit soggy.

We high five each other. 'Who would have thought,' says Damon, 'that when we started writing this sucker we'd stand a chance of getting it made?'

We started it in 2003. And now we've got a crack at turning it into a produced film.

We'll know on Monday or Tuesday, according to the London people. Wow.

Damon says, 'It's as if we've crossed all geographical boundaries and had a meeting in a Hollywood office. We just pitched to the head of UIP!'