Roll'n your own

Continuing with the flywheel effect, this is how you make a "but it's not as good as the latest Windows/Adobe art machine" for free or almost free. I said almost free.

I have an older desktop PC, not the most powerful. I took it all apart to clean out the dust bunnies. Then I put in at least 1 gig of RAM. WinXP does not run it's best with less (512mb), Linux runs OK, but more is better. I put in a CD player, a burner is better and a DVD combo is better yet. Don't worry if you aren't a parts collector, the local PC shop can sale you a used PC at reasonable cost (probably with XP on it already).

Hard drive should be 20 GIG minimum, most operating systems take up 4 to 8 GIG, you'll need room for personal stuff. Bigger is better (more storage space). Make sure the motherboard has sound and video built-in or you will have to have PCI cards for both. I am not a gamer so I don't worry about high on the hog video cards, an average one will do, unless you got to have it. Ethernet built-in is good else another PCI card for that. If you can get USB keyboard and mouse, they are nice but standard PS/2 will do. Get rid of your mouse with a ball, the optical mouse is better for computer art.

When it is all together you have a basic, no frills machine. If you gots XP, OK, but support for XP is getting scarce. I did mention almost free. Use XP if you have it and can deal with it. I offer Linux that comes in various styles and configurations, Ubuntu Linux in particular. Now if your PC is skinny on resources try the Xubuntu version of Ubuntu, more beefy PCs can deal with Ubuntu Standard or Kubuntu if you must. Don't look at me to explain here, get your Google search on and inquire. Yes Linux is just like XP, only different. Like but different. Linux is not Windows and will 'NOT' run Windows software natively (out the box).

OK, you got your used, pre-owned, refurbished, rebuilt from parts PC. Most people can go to the PC shop to get XP installed if they can't manage it. Linux is easy enough to install yourself if you are tech savvy. But unfamiliar stuff is awkward for first timers. PC shops can be Windows centered so you might have to inquire for knowledgeable Linux help. Find a geek if all else fails. Ubuntu is downloaded as an ISO file, burnt onto a CD. It is a "live-CD" which means you can run the system off the CD without installing on your hard drive. This is great for trying it out before installing and seeing what is included on the disk. You can't use the Ubuntu software repositories without installing Ubuntu on your hard drive. Installation is a click of an icon if the hard drive is prepared. Yeah, time to call a geek.

Now, once your operating system in installed and you have internet, you can take advantage of the free open source software (especially art stuff) on the net. For XP systems check out www.webi.org for the free open source stuff. For Linux, each Linux version maintains a repository of compatible software that will run that is internet accessible via an included software management utility. Synaptic is one and another is Ubuntu Software Center. Hey click the icon and you are there. Install GIMP, Inkscape and other apps if you want them. They are easy to install and remove if you don't want them. Being in a repository means they are malware-free, not trialware, not feature or time limited, the real stuff, but they are in various stages of continued development. Don't kid yourself, even off the store shelf software is like this. Yes, things get better with time after all these years.

The end result is I have an artist oriented PC that I didn't pay much more than for used hardware options, a blank CD and time to download-n-burn and install. I can do Cad, paint, draw, illustrate, edit photos, do multimedia projects for free. Now if quality is an issue, no one is stopping you from moving on to more so called pro-ware. But with free open source software, no one is stopping you from starting either. Getting to work your ideas "now" is the point. Start now, perfect and go pro later. I shouldn't suggest going pro requires commercial software, but if you are doing commercial work, using what other commercial workers are using makes you cool in the job market. I am a free-range artist so I can use what I please. So in that vein, I recommend open source art software to cut your teeth, get skills, do art stuff with low money outlay. With the quality of open source today, you may not even want or need commercial software, use it then you decide.

The flywheel effect

The flywheel effect, I know you all know it but hate to admit it, you've done it. Let me paint the vivid picture. In the TV program/movie "the A Team" was the guy Templeton "Faceman" Peck. His forte was to get into character and play it till the mission was over. That's an exaggeration but the shoe fits. For me it goes like this, I get into the art mode with an idea or a research mode with a subject and ride it out till I'm done.

OK, it's called focus but I call it the flywheel effect. The thing is once the focus is in play you can't think of much else. You wrestle and turn the idea until you get a good grip on it and make some progress with it. Then you can let it go.

I also discovered something. You know when I wanted to be an artist, I struggled for context and meaning. My cousins would draw any and everything, but I didn't like to draw like that or that much. What I saw was already done, no need for me to draw it. Their eyes were open to what was around them, me, I was not impressed. One day while watching a new home show that came on before the Saturday cartoons, I found my muse. There was a flurry of drawing that erupted from my hands. I really liked drawing houses. Of course folks around me tried to get me interested architecture as a profession. But sometimes the pressure of the potential in the hands of others kills the enthusiasms of the present, so I ignored them. Also the stars of educational opportunity refused to align themselves to meet me half way. My point is that a muse did come, I enjoyed drawing houses.

Over the years that followed, I did investigate the many areas of architecture. I enjoyed the pure design aspect but not so much the grunt of planning for a real structure or the actual building work. I liked interior design and interior decoration a lot but was more mused by the art in the space and the art of the space. This is where my interest today are. I get the most spins out of the flywheel, just like the toy spinning top that is so balanced and smooth it seems to go on forever.

I was thinking perhaps a sweet-spot presents itself in our life that allows us to use all our skills, talents, history, interest at the same time. Yeah, I'm looking for the follow your bliss kind of thing. It's kind of true. More like you prepare for opportunity if and when it comes. Are you changing your focus by the minute? Like I said in a previous post, you can't take it with you or do it all. Choose a face (wisely) and play it till the mission is over. Do what you can do, that's what I do, what I can do. The absolute strange thing about art is that we can draw the same thing and it comes out different because we are each different. Now go brush up on your skills and don't bother me, I'm chasing my muse for a while.

Oh and by the way, GIMP 2.8 is out and it is as sweet as ever, it has a single screen mode. No big deal if you have a small screen but on my wide screen, sweetness and light. I'll have to explore to see if other new features are here. Bye again.

art weapon, I got a permit for that!

Two things in life I know, you can't take it with you and you can't do it all. Time is not on your side even if you can do it real fast. Art takes time for someone to do it. Think about it, we are not blessed with Bill Murry's Groundhog Day (go watch the movie).

This is the old guy talking. If you are a younger artist you can still apply this but it hurts more. Something to do with frontal lobes, lol! Older folks can look back and regurgitate experiences especially the things they did well at. This is quite an art arsenal. You young folk will have to open your eyes to where you are at, be adventurous and experimental. You will go through many changes to find your sweet-spot. You have tendencies, taste and preferences added to your affiliation with the times. That is the things your age group seems to think about. There are a lot of patterns that effect our makeup as an artist.

I always think of art as something for the house related to the interior design or the architecture. You might have a different perspective. That perspective becomes the realm from which your art flows. Say a comic-book artist, we all know the story is way bigger than could fit in one book because they are serial adventures. The characters come to life partly in your head and mostly when ink hits the page. Or greeting cards or sci-fi spaceships and scenes. The realm extends with your efforts and becomes the source of self inspiration, you know, the what's next thing.

As you all know I advocate Open Source art tools. GIMP, Inkscape, My Paint and others. I also recommend video tutorials because other artist have this show-n-tell thing going on. There is nothing like downloading them off YouTube, watching them a few times to "get it down". Another tool is Google or Yahoo picture search. Type in a search word and peruse but don't steal. Don't look too hard, just glance and go. The mind is funny and remarkable in how it takes in and handles information. It also slices, dices and makes Julian fries. That's what happened to my pet potato Julian. Anyway, put the pictures of ideas you like in a folder and use a picture viewer to review them. Just do the slide show thing or click through them, even better with your favorite music playing in the background. That distracts part of your mind and allows stuff to slip past your attention. Or it enhances the "ambiance", makes the ideas stronger. Don't forget to get away to do nothing, rest and be disinterested. Go play golf, baseball, kick sand at the beach, be tech free. Get ready, the urges are coming, so get a notebook to record ideas, a sketchpad. I life with several wire bound notebooks. I scan them into my PC and do the peruse thing. ooh, what a rush.

This all goes into the process of an artist, the part outsiders don't see or understand. The secret life of artist would make a good book, lol.

artist in residence

It doesn't matter the art, the process is the same. I played the conga drum, an autoharp, the saxophone (sort of), handmade flutes and whistles. I had a thumbpiano and bought and sold a vibraharp. Don't know why I had to make noise and jazz at that. I still am a jazzy player but not so much with noise anymore. There was opportunity but never the right timing. It is good to explore while you are young and impressionable, able to take instruction. Instruction means you allow a skilled someone to implant the subject matter into your mind while you submit to agonizing muscle memory and sensory training. This requires time, patience and practice. Self discovery on the other hand requires time, practice, practice and more practice. The diff is confidence derived from instructor training is more certain.

If you have a desire, it's not so bad because you season the experience with discovery and if you like it there are all kinds of self satisfaction and challenge and accomplishment. When people around you understand and support your creative drives, you develop at a good pace. If they try to realize their dreams through you, they will probably kill you and your art desire. If they have little regard, the strength of your own efforts are fraught with interruptions and redirections. I was king of the back shelf. I wondered if I would ever get to doing art. My secret has been to figure out how to do art in everything and at any time. I carried notebooks for years, jotting and sketching while caring for the preoccupations of loved ones.  If I did not do art I might have regrets to the point of radical behavior. They think I am radical anyway. Use what you have of both yourself, your skills, the materials at your disposal, the time you have.

What is the aim of your art? It comes from you, what you see, feel, think and what you are able to do. I did very little life drawing, I wish I could be better but I have more desire for decorative stuff and architecture. I have a cousin who does animals very well. He is good at that. I am sculptural and space driven. Some are focused on painting on a flat plane. What is weird is when you can't express an idea till the materials make their appearance in your sight. Or when you draw in pencil only to discover the ink pen makes the idea pop. This happened to me with printing. I was using photo paper, then I tried card stock. It was very startling and exciting.

Take the path in front of you. Traditional art is OK if you go that way. I have had a haphazard, twisted, often misdirected art path. I have learned to appropriate, to glean, to save for later and to reassign the context. Think I am goofy, try telling the sweet Mary had a little lamb story with a raspy crooked voice. Change one element in the tone of delivery, the meter of speaking or the motive of why or to whom it is spoken too. This is how ideas come, I make a note and let it set. Later I see the note in a different light. I try the same idea in a different context. Of course I'm not making spooky movies, I ask if folks can live with my art, will it have a good effect in their living space, add something. We are not wired the same way. Many can't do art or never developed their ability. I appreciate those who don't and who didn't but who appreciate art. I do art for them and for me.

artist, try being a drummer

Turned 60, been on a find myself mission since my first breath. Now I am tired of all the trying as prescribed by others. We've all been duped by the American dream. I open the garage and stare, big hole in the roof, pile of leaves beneath it, junk from previous owner and my busted car. I bought another one, have to park it in the driveway. From the gaping auto cavern I view the house, needs repair in many places. I'm not a lazy person just financially challenged, that puts a damper on things. I resigned inside from keeping up most appearances, don't wash my car or feed my lawn so I don't have to cut it every other day.

I tried to discover my African culture in college. I had no understanding, neither did my cohorts. We acquired conga drums, played and danced. Our minds were oblivious to our real condition but ponder we did, like little children. I look for my drums today, they're gone. In my mind I would pat it's skin a little each day sitting before the gaping auto cavern filled with junk and leaves. Caring not for the neighbors who make their own intrusive noises, yet mindful of the grade school on the other side. No one watching, everyone's listening, something new in the ambient noise. Pit patter pop, pit patter bop.

I just play to myself, play to the trees, to the air around me. There is a space that widens, soon the beats merge with the neighborhood sounds. I start to visualize. I meet my ego in dreams of greatness, my fear and wonder if some will complain about the noise. I think about the curious who are drawn to listen for an entertaining thrill and wonder if I am putting out enough for them, glory days. I wonder if my arms will tire or I will become bored with this whole thing. It all fades away, the beats go on for every reason and for no reason. The few on lookers walk away, he's not band quality, not showing off his skills, not speaking to us. They are right, I am trying to remember. My hands sore and warm start to remember. I can feel all the parts of rhythm, the heart, the breath, the meter, see the dancers glide and pound, the dust kicked up, the smell of stirred energy, even though it's just a squirrel and some blackbirds. I remembered my first extended play, so long we played. I peed blood afterward, thought I was hospital bound.

Drumming shakes the earth, rattles the wind and vibes the fiber in a man. It is about the wholeness, not just the flesh, that is just what you see. Dance is not a vehicle for flesh lusting, it is about a soul expressing itself the only way it can, through the body it is apart of. Drums vibe and the soul extends and animates the flesh, gives space to share a story where words are not adequate. Drumming is a great responsibility, takes training. We had to sit under a leader who assigned our parts. He was strict but compassionate with us. We had to face our egos before we could bridle them. No explaining just doing. We showed off our skill like young lions ready to lead. Skill but no endurance, no wisdom. We made the noise but had no voice.

We would have to play our part without elaboration, embellishment or passion. Play the form then listen to the playback. What is that little strange sound in the background? That's me! Once the pattern is engraved into my muscle memory then a small space is given to embellish a little then come back. If your part is to keep the time, you keep the time, if to wail away and roll, you wail and roll. You are a part, in your place, of the whole. Without you nothing is said, with you the whole is said. You play the part given until called to speak. You emerge and then submerge, in context, not straying away.

With us going through the process with no real commitment, that is we were practicing for entertainment and learning, we did poorly. Our egos were never really tamed. Our cohesive energy did merge a little, it was entertaining but far far short of being real drumming, a most serious thing. Drumming in Africa was/is an integral part of many social constructs. Tonal languages could be uttered by the drums and distant signaling for warnings and events of every sort. Drums brought people together for worship and praise and to heal and celebrate. 

The encroaching world of New World enslavement, education, religion and finance has no need of drumming except for entertainment. Their re-civilization effort to remake us in their own image in order to include us according to their understanding required us to forget our drums. They failed, it's in our soul, I remember as a young person hearing older white persons saying “black folks got natural rhythm”, many many times. This is why our keeping the beat is used against us, the infectious rhythms permeate everything in popular culture but has no substance for sustaining healthy black culture. The beats are there, the words twisted and distorted. Our serious stuff marginalized to be aired when everybody is asleep, or in night spots where people go to self-indulge. Such it has been with jazz. Rock drumming kings portrayed as wild men who still manage to keep time. In my drum troop that wild-man ego would perish, still the beat would go on. Only one complex drummer is the modern way, a multiplicity of simple drummers are African. Each playing the pattern with the potential of speaking out when needed. If all of Africa's drummers would drum on one day, the world would shake.

I don't own a dashiki or wear beads, more often than not am pressed to wear the Euro culture clothes from the local store with a sigh. Doesn't really matter, the African within is being realized. History can't lie forever about my story that was a myth-story er a mystery to me. The outer has no need to change, the inner must change. It can't be the well reading of many books or watching videos and documentaries. It can't be degrees in education though I do appreciate ones who appropriate the tools to research and tell all of us. I need to pick up my drum and play to remember. Who ponders anymore? Most fill their brain bandwidth with media voices, drugs and sleep. Using waking moments to meditate and ponder and I will add, to pat the drum, pip patter bip, pit patter bop, and remember.

the computer art delimma

Was talking to a lady about art, I take it she is a traditionalist as far as media is concerned also she worked in a music store, probably behind a computer and a stack of paper work. When I mentioned I do computer art she had that dread of work look on her face. Art and the computer did not relate in her book. I had to chuckle because as a CAD drafter I probably used the computer as much as her. What is the diff? To her the computer is a typing tool, I learned the computer as a drawing tool. Oh the stuff you can draw!! Can't type very well though.

Let's see, engineering drawing yes, web pages and desktop publishing yes, advertising art yes, video editing and office work yes, fine art, well, er, there's got to be something wrong with that. Fine art usually involves printing. Oh man, no one has problems with printing a photograph. You can do it on a desktop printer from a wallet size to a 13 x 19 inch. You can blow them up to poster size though you might loose a little quality. No one questions photographs as to whither it is an original or not. Now using the exact same concept and process on artwork scanned in, digitally altered or drawn entirely on the computer, then printed and all the stuff oozes out of peoples brain. "Does a print cost as much as the original?, Where is the original? How many did you print? (obviously to keep the value up) Can I have the original? Can I get it to match my curtains in the den? Can you believe this? What am I a decorator?

So, I'm up in my studio/computer lab and I am drawing away. What you doing honey? I come down with no evidence as to my working. I mean no smell and no mess. Can you help me fix this.........  Then I pick up a brush or an ink pen, get paint/ink on my hands and my face. Oh you're busy honey, I'll ask you later. Whether on the computer or using a brush I spritz some paint on myself to get the artist look effect. Don't tell anybody. Computer art is just not messy enough.

Now, I want you all to say it with me, "a computer is a tool." With different software you can compute, type and or draw. Some have become skilled at computing, some at typing and some at drawing, all on the same machine. The proper response to the computer artist is, "Oh I didn't know you could do that on a computer." Not "people shouldn't sit in front of a PC all day" as if they are playing video games or something. Some even think we do something else for a living, lol. I'm just doing what I am good at. And I got the nerve to show you what I've done. OOh! Would you like to purchase it, it's an original?

art, music the universal language, like mumbling!

I've listened to jazz since my teens, all the intellectual reviews about style, and texture, tone, artistry. Deep textural descriptions as if they are trying to give us the play by play from the artist's head. Then I watched brilliant ones like John Coltrane and Sun Ra and visual artist, in interviews, they are as bad as basketball players. Stumbling for words, trying to sound like normal communicating human beings. I guess if you spend so much time and energy in one form of communication you loose something in the others. I'm not knocking their brilliance or intelligence, I'm saying they struggle to put it all into words so you can comprehend what they see. Art and Jazz as universal expressions are still not like scribbling and humming. Now if you look a lot and listen a lot you can and do appreciate more than those who don't. If you play an instrument or draw, you know more. If you read music and play or learned to draw in school, you know even more. OK, I have to admit that visual artist are used to spieling to art on lookers.

My problem is and has always been getting away from the people who are expert in the daily activity language to get into the space where I can work in the art or the music. There are a lot of folk who don't see the worth in terms of time spent or the monetary rewards that are usually not immediately realized. This is a hard nut to crack, I understand why some artist use outrageous behavior to distance themselves from regular people, just to be isolated enough.

You need a space that is can-do-sive. That's where you "can do" what ever your "sive" is. I have a space at home only I can't play my disturbing music. Yeah, African music and jazz are an acquired taste but headphones have me listening for calls outside the phones or up from down stairs. TV is another neural-lier. I look at YouTube to find appropriate content without commercials and fewer Euro faces. No offense but I need the rest of a sea of positive Afri faces once in a while. Seems the broadcast of genuine African flavored broadcast media is non-existent. And African-American entertainment is very Euro flavored in the US, go figure. Not a problem if I weren't looking for my historic origins.

Anyway art and music are universal in the sense that everybody does them. It is rude to be overly particular in this world of diversity but to insist on universal embrace is criminal. Eventually all this nodding to other cultures and becoming expert in playing each other's music makes the original cultures go away. The new thing that takes its place might be a flattering imitation but the reason, motives and supporting lives that generated the original culture that produced the original music in the first place is disconnected. This is troublesome, as the wicked witch in the OZ would say, "I'm blending, I'm blending, what a world!" It might seem good, it's probably bad and it's definitely ugly. This is why artist and musicians strike out to do something crazy, cutting edge, socially uncomfortable, aesthetically disturbing. I guess I leave it at that and let you deal with it as you choose. Shock becomes fad becomes trend becomes fashion becomes the norm. Me, my culture is on the  endangered list.

Art!, what you talk'n bout Willis?

I remember wanting to draw so bad my parents bought me art stuff and when I got them not knowing what to draw. I got the stuff, now I got to draw. You sit on it figuring it out. In the mean time parents and sibling are asking at every chance, "draw anything yet?" It's even worse if they put you in art class to find out. Self discovery at your own pace goes out the window, enter working it out under a deadline. You know artist can make good money, money.....money.........money....... mone.... I'm just not that interested in art any more.

The cause and reason and motivation for art is a subjective thing. Talent springs from the mind-hand-eye coordination, plus an OOH man!, I just gotta make a mark, copy that, make note of that idea, work this out in a sketch. As the talent flows, the skill grows. The most stupid thing a spoiled actor can say is "what's my motivation here?" Read the script and get into the story you jerk. It is not about you until you become and are the character in the story. You are telling the story, be the story.

What about me the visual artist? What story do I tell, I am just drawing a tea cup on a saucer? Ahh! Media tells us your exploration, your preference, your choice. The lines, the form tells your skill to shape the image. The composition tells the emotional conveyance, the ambiance, the setting. Is it a casual cup at a cafe, breakfast at the kitchen table, a hurried spot in the lunchroom at break? Is it a soothing sip or a quick caffeine rush? Is it steaming hot or tepid or empty before the pour, empty after. Was it a good cup or chipped, new or well used. Did you leave behind oiled finger prints or lipstick on the rim or half empty or half full? A spooned teabag, a fingered teabag on the side, a wedge of lemon, torn sweetener pouches and the damn fly that lightens on the rim when your attention is elsewhere. Was it a good cup, I mean satisfying, a complement to good conversation, contemplation or a nerve damage repair and rescue mission cup? A cup of gossip or a no I don't drink coffee  cup? Was it Pekoe Cut Black or Ceylon Mystic Mint or Purple Lavender Rush or tea just tea? LOL, I drink coffee, what do I know?

"What you talk'n bout Willis?" After you put all that effort, energy and emotion into that tea cup drawing, someone walks up and says "what's that?" That's the rub, they don't realize the extent and endurance of your labors, the show is over and they are looking at the press release. You've done the math, they are looking at the aftermath. You've saw the tea cup, drew the tea cup and if the picture doesn't evoke the tea cup in your viewers, maybe they drink coffee and need to have some education. This is why gallery showings are cool, you get to spin your yarn about a great cup of tea. My point is some can and will interpret a drawing, others must be told what it means. The best complement is "thanks for sharing your cup of tea" along with "hey, can I buy that cup of tea?"

multimedia happens a lot lately

How multimedia is multimedia and what's that got to do with me? Don't knock it till you've rocked it! So to be able to brain-wash myself, that is view and review my own  sketches, I scanned them all onto my hard drive. Then I can flick open a picture viewer and look away. I have several viewers the best one is Google's Picasa. Picasa is cool, has many features including a slide show. Oh what good is that? Sometimes while reviewing I see new ideas or how to use an old idea in a new context. Don't study them closely, sort of glance at them in passing, the brain is funny in how it operates, periphery vision (out the corner of the eye) really gets in the brain.

I also have a program that will put your slide show onto a video CD or DVD. You can construct quite a production with transitions styles and a sound track (narration anyone?) This good for a video portfolio or a gallery video art display.

Multimedia is also when I combine my inkjet printing with some hand painted or drawn stuff. Now when you do off computer work you can photograph it too and enhance it on your computer. This will also entice you to use a real pen/pencil or pick up a brush once in a while. By criss-crossing medias new surprises are sure to be noticed.

Play is the thing, serious play because each media has its quirks and character. I can do an ink smear digitally but also on say a paper plate or canvas by hand, they each have their character. As for quirks, pen ink may make a bold line then as it soaks into the surface it might bleed. So here a surface treatment is in order, like a sealant or acrylic gesso. This seals the surface and allows the ink to dry on the surface. In my play I discovered that acrylic paint on the paper plate surface does not bleed like ink does. I can thin the paint with water or gesso to get it to move the way I want.

I do the same play with my printer because photo paper, matte or glossy handles print differently. I also can load various kinds of paper or card stock into the printer. Since the printer ink remains constant, the kind of paper I use really effects the outcome. There is usually a combination that strikes your fancy. To tell you a secret, a lot of simple repetitive operations goes a long way. But, I can't say what works for you.

The main thing is the thought process to get the job done. Don't forget some folks are more inspirational than mechanical. There is a part of art that can't be taught. Even if the technique is good, if the heart or soul is not infused into the effort, it's just a well done mechanical effort. This is why many well trained artist have to get away, lose the training, bury the training, forget the training, exhaust the training, to get back to the core motivations of their artistic energies. Like when you first started, only now you got all this muscle memory and materials knowledge and an exercised vision at your disposal. BUT you all know how it is, you work at it until it flows and it gets better in time. Every stroke is a milestone. And if I'm talking a load of crap, it's because you've discovered a different insight, bravo, work wid it.

Computer art is............

There are the kind of persons in any endeavor who does one thing well. Hats off to them. BUT, the old saying, "a jack of all trades and a master of none", sort of sums up the handyman spirit that has colored our country. Every team sport has second strings, pinch hitters, relief pitchers and substitutes, companies engage in cross training employees as backups. In the arts we wear the blurry title of multimedia artist. Because we've discovered we are not annoyed by other media and methods encroaching into our unique specialty, we have realized that the expanded pallet of ways and means fits our handyman mentality.

Example, my concept of a computer artist was drawing with a digital pen tablet the same as I would draw on paper and an ink pen. I am a trained instrument draftsman not a freehand drawer, so that concept means anxiety and envy constantly. I can do sketches comfortably, yet finished drawings elude me because spin-offs and variations abound, also color and detail is a challenge. The computer allows for obvious advantages, the best one is to change my mind, record it and keep on working along the original thought. When you see my finished work it is an inkjet print, but the process is multimedia. I can sketch a sketch on paper, scan it into my computer, then alter, adjust, manipulate it, then print it.

Oooh man, that's cheating! No, every media has its own set of rules, to draw with charcoal is to draw with charcoal. Charcoal drawing has its feel and look. A computer can emulate that look but not that feel. Even if you put a chunk of coal in the plotter, it can not intuitively turn it to get the "good" edge or adjust the pressure to get the moment by moment nuances of human drawing interaction. The act of drawing is the art for the artist.

Computer art is different yet the same. You have to pick a path to get to the end result. You must be careful how you alter and edit so as to not mess up the continuity of your work. If you sketch on paper, scan in, then edit, does your computer fixes mesh with your hand drawn scanned work, or stick out like a patch on a tire? On the computer many paths have been outlined by their overall usefulness. Like photo editing or desktop publishing or CAD (computer aided design). The tools in the software haven't changed, but the application of them is glorified in certain processes. In reality you use whatever tools gets the job done.

I have picked a sub-set of all the things a computer can do. By focusing on what I know, I don't get overwhelmed by complexity and it leaves room to learn more stuff as I go along. Don't forget if you know too much the only thing you can do tell others what you know. That can take you right out of the doing. I know this because old guys are expected to pass on their experiences to the younger generation. But at art I am still a new guy!

As you all know I promote Free Open Source Software especially for artist. It may not be what you need for commercial professions where commercial software dominates and is the norm, but for you who are exploring, learning, free lancing, have no qualms, want to try it out, and do art with your economics in check, there you go. 

Back to the art of art

Well folks, the designated black history month is over but ever continues in the background. Too much info and not enough mind to comprehend all you'll never learn in school. So back to the regular stuff.

Your Linuxville guide has done it. I have my new but used laptop with Ubuntu and open source apps on it. Then I took one of the PCs at the art center and loaded open source apps on it to match what I have on my laptop. The art center desktop runs Win XP. So I now have GIMP, Inkscape, MyPaint, Scribus, TuxPaint, Wings 3D, Libre Office, and Google's Sketchup on both machines.

Here's my plan. Introduce folks to Open Source Graphics Applications to learn what they can do with free software using the same tools and techniques as used in commercial software. This is basic stuff. The caveat comes when you want to step up to the next level. Do you buy the commercial software or learn the deeper skills on Open Source? Most Photoshop folk don't like GIMP and vice-versa. Familiarity and habit are the culprits. You do what you need to do but if you must learn both, I hope you've got a wide bandwidth. I think the key is knowing you don't have to know everything, just what you need to know, huh?

I haven't used the digital pen and tablet to draw, still haven't got into that. I have drawn on paper, scanned it into GIMP to tweak it, then imported it into Inkscape. In Inkscape there is a bitmap tracer that works great. I am also using GIMP/Inkscape to make textures for a Sketchup project. A few simple techniques can give you lots of mileage. Then when you learn something new, your repertoire is enlarged. I am so tempted to revisit older projects to capitalize on new skills. Don't make a habit out of that though, you never get any new stuff done. Man, if I only knew then what I know now!

I love the idea of the print. If you've done silk screen or lithographs or block prints, you know what I mean. The print can be a blast or the source of anguish. In the digital print world you have to learn to accept what it is, a print. Inkjet has it's character. It is not appreciated in the fine art sense the way inkjet print photography is. So a lot is riding on color and composition if the print device can spit it out. Yeah, you've got to work the software and the printer. I had a guy see my stuff imagining them as big paintings. When he saw they were small prints, what a let down. I am disappointed too, I told him. While I can do the artwork for free, the big prints are costly. My printer can print 13" x 42", I use a service like OfficeMax for larger prints. So printing big has no advantage over doing an acrylic painting the same size, where you have to buy paints and canvas and stretchers and frames, etc. Digital is cool though when it comes to reproductions, they all are originals.

I'm getting too busy doing things other than making art. Making artistic persons is time consuming. Still gathering hardware to have classes. We are looking for PC monitors now. Still having fun.

last day of the feast

Today is the last day of the scheduled Black History Month. I didn't celebrate with others like other descendants of immigrants in this country celebrate their points of origin. We have big celebrations for being American and then slightly smaller celebrations for various ethnic groups. When Black people's time comes around there are isolated public displays, perhaps a rally and a picnic, but it's not like a national public display. We have a history of being shamed, even lynched in public, we are leery of open displays of pride. Safety in numbers huh, whats to stop the squashing of even a million man march, if it suits an end game.

I was in college in the 70's, we tried to have a celebrate Black heritage week. We sported our dashikis and fros (real hair not wigs), we had drum troops, stepp'n troops, dance and singing. We did rap before it became cursing and dissing. We talked Malcom and MLK and Douglas. The first year it was glorious, the second a ho-hum, the third a what the hell was that. To "celebrate" Black History never catches on really, there is too much effort to rekindle it every year, sparks but no fire. There is something wrong, something missing, hidden, unexplained, covered up.

Leviticus 26 and Deuteronomy 28 in the Bible says a certain people will forget and be forgotten, forget their God, heritage, and ways. Psalms 83 speaks of a collusion of crafty council to make you forget and wipe you out of remembrance (the Willy Lynch letter). We are a people who as a whole can't say who we are or where we are from. We can't point to our origin, don't speak our original language and can't figure if the things we do are whispers of our forgotten culture or not. Black scholars and truth seeking individuals have posted so many identifying clues but as a group we don't identify enough with this information to link, bond and have a cultural remembering as a group. Oh it can't be that!!

Remembering, remembering, remembering. When I get out of my car at the grocers, walking to the door, I look at every face. I look for remembrance in every Black face. Almost all have forgotten, perhaps one or two might give a sign of knowing. Some are still waiting, some have given up, some given over. It doesn't matter, so what, who cares. The ones who have it can't pass it on because younger ones can't receive it. We can't even say if what we have discovered is real. Can't trust the establishment who lied. It's hidden in plain sight, we still don't believe what we are seeing. It's so hard to remember when you've been cut off...............reparations won't restore knowledge of self.

working preference

OK, we can maneuver in the various camps via common hardware and cross-over Open Source Software and user activities. And we know that if you can do what you do on any platform, there must be a reason why Linux is your personal choice. Yes besides the economics, I like what I have become familiar with. I know what to expect in this Linux environment. I kind of know how to fix somethings beyond average user knowledge, yet I am not a Linux engineer or a system administrator (able to run a server room). I can manage my Linux PC. This is an essential part of owning a Linux PC because there are few desktop technicians trained in Linux PC support of consumer desktops, corporate networked systems yes, personal Linux PC support no.

Linux does have it's hassles like unfamiliar application names and too many variables within some applications.  It's not necessarily more complex, mostly not throughly enough explained (in a simple manner!). This is further strained when most documentation is down-loadable or on line only. Oh, the comfort of a printed book in your hands! Now Linux does have a fair share of point-n-click applications, but for the most part Linux users expect to tweak things to make them work closer to their needs.

OK, repeat after me, "the tools are the same, the names have been changed to keep the copy-right protests (of the other camps) at bay." Campbells has a trademark patent on their name. If they were to copy-right the word "Soup", then anyone who makes a similar concoction would have to call it "********'s broth with various stuff in it." We don't like copying because it robs somebody of potential sales. Now, "soup" is a publicly accepted, widely used description of "broth with various stuff in it". That's public domain, in common use! Campbells can patent "Campbell's Soup" but not "Soup" by its self. I think Microsoft has been accused of trying to patent "soup" for years. Linux has from the get has offered "broth with various stuff in it", we all recognize it's soup, it's implied. MS still doesn't like it. To add insult to injury Linux and MS run on the same hardware. Good thing there is Open Source Software.

Be happy with your MS powered PC, peaceful even. But do give Open Source Software a try especially if your budget is strained. As for me, I've found the quality, utility and fun of Open Source Software enhanced on the Linux PC and it serves me well. So, Linux is my preference. I recommend Open Source because it is available for Linux and MS PCs. Many folk don't have a choice of PC (like at work), some use what they bought or outright choose MS.  I say this so when the Linux fanboy flag is hoisted over the Linuxville guide chateau, it says I am mainly for Linux, though I keep my passports to the other camps in order.

visiting other camps

It is a problem I face everyday, visiting other camps. I am a Linux guy and I have friends who are of the Mac camp and mostly in the MS camp. It is hard to describe to them what it is like in the Linux camp. They don't spend any time there, they really don't know. I try to say I am doing the same as they are in their respective camps, the push-back is always one of unfamiliarity. Many say "I thought, I heard........?" and "yeah but....." They expect others they meet are using MS PCs, Mac users often evoke interested surprise, but Linux users bring out the "Oh, what's that?" and the "I never messed with that!" remark. There is a geek envy but suspicious concern, "does he really think he knows more than me?" I've had MS based techs try to fix me (I should comply, conform or buy a Mac).

So to put all rumors to rest, it is all the same. There are shallow mouse clickers and deep code heads in every camp. All you know that is exclusive to your camp is similar to the same in the other camps, why? Because computers are the same. Macs design their own hardware, yes, but if the little difference was removed there'd be no difference. MS and Linux run on the same hardware, though MS is always trying to get PC hardware vendors to lock out other platforms (like Linux). How dare you buy a machine with MS on it, wipe the hard drive or repartition the drive or add a drive to install Linux along-side MS or to replace MS altogether! Then users don't want to pay for a MS they are not going to use. "Remove MS and you void your warranty!!" The typical consumer doesn't face this but this is normal for Linux users. Linux is still mostly a not on-the-shelf, after-market alternative. But, there are a few vendors that do offer Linux pre-installed on PCs (yeah man!).

Being a tech means fixing basic PCs from the MS camp. I don't mind hardware repairs, software repairs however requires me to be familiar with MS OS and software. I don't have time to live in both MS and Linux camps. My knowledge of MS stuff is limited. Usually knowing what tools finds the problem, the steps to fix it, the steps to keep it from happening again, helps big time. From my experience its fix the PC then the PC user habit (stop that!, please).

What is cool is Free Open Source Software that runs on the various platforms. Of course you can't take GIMP that runs in Linux and put it on your MS or Mac. GIMP is recompiled or re-coded to run on other platforms. The code is made platform compliant but the functions and interface or desktop you see and use are the same. So you get the version of GIMP that is made for your computer, it will run, you can use it. Mileage may vary is also the word of caution used in this cross camp pollination. The quirks of particular camps can cause camp specific glitches. It's not a perfect world. If it were there'd be nothing to fix. Hey, are you still grumbling my doing art on a Linux PC? You been in your camp too long, got to get out more.

we're fine, we are all fine, aren't we?

I want to say we are all fine here at the Linuxville chateau, not. I am getting overwhelmed. Focus, focus, dang! Just burnt a hole in the curtains. LOL, you know using Open Source Software programs can't be as complex and serious as using the commercial pro-ware. It's even worse! I now know just enough to get by in GIMP, Inkscape and non-OSS but free Sketchup. The things I want to do requires deeper experience, deeper study and major play time. I also know if I had to buy GIMP and Inkscape and the other Open Source stuff I might could afford a couple but not all of them. I got them all and each one is a profound world on there own. Time, I need time!

I am thinking of teaching some classes at the art center when we get some PC's. I probably don't know as much as some students but I am willing to bet most haven't even considered Free Open Source Software. After a long introduction to Open Source Software and uncovering a flood of free resources to boot, what to teach? I am thinking of a tea/coffee party where each student draws the cup, saucer and libation in the various artist programs. Drawing forms, solids and liquid, light and shadows and making it appealing so you can almost smell the aroma.

Actually, in Inkscape how to use bezier curves is most useful. Most don't go beyond simple shapes and text. You guess right I am a simple shape kind of guy. In GIMP to be able to sketch like drawing on paper or paint same as using oils or watercolor would be cool. I will have to tell my students I am a student like they are, exploring and discovering myself. The biggest help is all the on-line videos. So I am thinking about using a studio lab scenario rather than a classroom all follow the teacher program. Layers and masks are essential knowledge. Art can be abstract, sort of realistic to photo-realistic. Also art can be decorative or illustrative and can be the vehicle for other arts like book art and movie art. Sketchup is a 3D program, that for sure is another world and rendering is alien science.

The basic stuff, hmmmmmmmm! Simple lines, circles, shapes with a mouse and digital pen. Also all those drop down menus and keyboard shortcuts. Tools man, it's all about the tools, then moves. Moving the mouse, the pen, getting that muscle memory and that feel and that eye. Know what to expect out of your software, also your discovered biases, strengths and weaknesses. Being familiar is half of being comfortable, being accomplished or experienced is the other half. The strangest thing is realizing you don't need to know everything about a software. Some things you might not ever use. And there are usually hidden functions or combinations of functions discovered by other users, very helpful at times. Yup, if you fall this way, and are in for the long haul, you'll learn way too much.

about that bandwagon

Think about it, the latest Hamster rock commercial for Kia's Soul is not only catchy but many people who winced at the Soul now think it is sort of kind of cool, maybe wink!! Ever since I got my first computer and browsed the net to see what the digital artist were doing I was sucked in. There was fantastic art, the equipment used and the software. OH, I had to have it to be able to do it. I've never been able to get that level of equipment or afford the software. So my skills were never nurtured from the beginning the way I had hoped. I became a electrical drafter of the pen and ink era, then a CAD (computer assisted/aided draftsperson/designer). I even designed printed circuit boards for a little while. That was a practical end as opportunities for my passions did not present themselves. Livelihood occupation yes, passion no. You can't put stuff on the back burner forever. 

It is a weird state of affairs when you do your job with conviction and your hobby with zeal, passion and great satisfaction. Sometimes if the hobby becomes the job you lose the heat. The gotta get a buck to payoff something is an awkward thing to manage at times. Back to the bandwagon. I got a reasonable PC and desire to draw. Finding reasonable software is hard. There is free-ware of questionable quality, trial-ware both feature limited, output crippled and full-featured time limited software, and the pro-ware. Talk about exasperation, I hate the idea that the usefulness of what I downloaded and installed will run out before I even get to learn it. Oh yeah, I forgot beta-ware. I had Rhino 3D when it was a trial beta version, man was that cool. Free and easy to use, all I had to do was supply the key code. When the beta period was over, so was free and somehow I lost one of the original six floppy's it was stored on. I went to the Rhino 3D site and it was $$$$ to get the real thing. There was a time-limited trial version however.

In walks Linux and Open Source Software. Now I'd been using Linux for a while and playing with the artist applications. I occurred to me, I was using Open Source art apps but still looking and comparing them to commercial apps on the MS and Mac platforms. This was stupid because I didn't have any intention on buying a Mac and MS software was also an economic strain. Let me look and see what I have already.

GIMP is sort of like Photoshop, emphasis on sort of like. Replacement is not accurate and alternative is not with exact duplication in mind. It has lots of the same tools, abilities and techniques, more and less.

Inkscape is sort of like Adobe Illustrator in the fact it handles vector drawing. Again replacement and alternative is a mileage may vary kind of thing.

My Paint is a natural paint app, it is what it is.

LibreCad is a drafting app, I think better than Qcad because it is closer to AutoCad in function and file formats.

There are many other Open Source Softwares that run in Linux and the Microsoft platform and some on the Mac. My point is the tools, same tools. Techniques may be different, better, worse, probably similar. Usually the main points of concern are file formats and support from users and vendor/developers. And above all Open Source Software is free to download, to install and use. Also free to change the code if you have that ability, you might even improve it for others. Any caveats? Well if you are born and bred in the Mac and Microsoft worlds, thinking what else is there, as if there is nothing else...............sorry you are wrong, incorrect and misinformed. I fact I'd say you were rock'in to MS and Apple's hamster commercials. I didn't know either, but now I do and so I tell you. Open Source Software, especially the artist apps can get you drawing today, no waiting to buy, no trial time-ou...........................

fresh off the bandwagon update

OK OK I heard you, you want an update cause my last rendering was lame. Come on, you know it takes time to learn something and get good at it. This is the big problem with art, it is manual labor, especially if you want 2 things, originality and quality. So it is with Sketchup, you just can't get up to speed by looking at it or watching someone else do it. All those those options to choose from and concepts to learn (by doing!).

I watched a few video tutorials and tweaked a few settings and rendered again. Here's a screenshot just for you.

I re-imported my painting, this time as a texture, added some clarity and reflection to the glass. I don't understand this glass thing yet. The rendering took a couple of minutes. I'd say it's not bad to start. I utilized both cores of my Centrino CPU. This is not a complex picture, there are not a lot of geometry here. I have done ray-tracing on a 486 CPU computer, it took f-o-r-e-v-e-r for a drawing as simple as this. So a reasonably fast multi-core processor, plus as much RAM as the PC can handle and a descent videocard and "I see you have constructed a new light saber, your skills are complete." Still you must face Vader. So take the red pill to know the truth, dance on the yellow brick road shouting "Party Rock!", ''we gonna fly like a penguin in the sea.....fly fly fly like a penguin.....it's a Linux thing. The cool thing is when you can model odd intricate shapes and develop scenes. We are progressing albeit slowly.

That's it for now gotta get some work done and don't forget Free Open Source Software (FOSS) can be your strong ally in your computer life. As for Google's Sketchup, the free version makes me want to progress and get the pro version. And a big shoutout to Kerkythea for being whizz-bang cool and simple for this fool to use.

open to open source

The Black history mystery continues to unfold (so brace yourself), but we must also be about the things you visit here for, Open Source and Linux. I have been busy busy helping friends do practical things. That's rebuilding a bathroom and all. But another friend was locked out of her trial version of Microsoft Office (timed out). She couldn't even get to her schoolwork on her laptop. I whipped out my "Open Disc" DVD and installed LibreOffice onto her MS Vista system. It didn't work. This was because it required a JRE (Java Runtime Environment). I downloaded and installed a JRE from the net, fired up LibreOffice and did the penguin dance. LibreOffice is a fork of OpenOffice, same but different, as they say. Gotta love Open Source!

Also I have had the limitations from my old laptop put to rest. I am now running Ubuntu 11.10 with Gnome Shell desktop in 4gig of RAM. And have installed Wine because MS XP as a virtual machine was too easily mangled. To my surprise Wine is working fine. I have installed Google's Sketchup the free version. Sketchup is by far the easiest to use 3D program anywhere. Easy to navigate, easy to construct stuff and fun, especially after the bandwagon music stops playing. Want to see?

 This is the Sketchup desktop and my second construction. I drew each board, arranged them together, drew, pushed and pulled boxes to make the room. Then imported some furniture from the Google 3D Warehouse. The painting is one of my own imported in. I set in some shadows and installed a program called Kertythea which does photo realistic rendering as shown below.

Now this shot was done without tweaking any values just to see if I could get something out of it. Hey, what happened to my painting? Yeah I am still learning. Now there are feature-trimmed free versions of Sketchup and Kertythea, but they have enough power to bring out drooling in you. I am not knocking any Linux graphics app but Sketchup is the better BOMB! Though it doesn't run natively on Linux systems, with Wine and enough RAM it works very nicely, Kertythea also. Oh yeah, Wine is a Linux program, a Microsoft Windows compatibility layer that allows (some) Windows compatible applications to run within a Linux environment. It is not flawless for all Windows apps.

As for my kind of art, the decor/architectural thing is kind of my taste. Art that people can live with. Computer graphics from CAD and photo-realistic to digital painting is a big world. Tools man, it's all the tools. If you are doing the work, it's all about the tools. Then it's about the file formats. The tools are the same on the free Open Source applications as the commercial professional applications. The package the tools come in is the diff, plus tax, title, license, support, stigma, fanbase and purchase receipt, LOL. Anyway, my suggestion is learn all you can on the free Open Source stuff, save the dough and if you have to go pro, spend the dough!

black history month commercials

Actually February's first two weeks are all about Valentine's day, of course there are little segments about this black person and that. Put what we already know on the TV and that will keep the not natives happy. After the love fest is over the last two weeks try to make up giving us lots of MLK and Rosa Parks spots. You have to accept the fact that the ones who run the networks only know and acknowledge so much. The breath and depth of Black History would be controversial even for educational TV. Poor Tavis Smiley after all these years still is not aired in a real prime time spot. That man is as brilliant as they come and his guest and the way he ferrets the dialog is far and away better quality than any popular news talk show I've seen. We are still waiting on Oprah, but I don't and won't have cable. So, of the airwave broadcast channels on my free TV owned by non-blacks, nothing new, every year.

I will remember this when St. Patrick's day comes and say sorry, green or no green I am not Irish. And don't you dare wear brown/black or red/black/green on MLK day, blackface or claim you got "soul" too or call me brother. There are parts of my history that still are a festering blister eating at my soul. Why is the pain passed on from generation to generation but the cause of the pain ignored. Please feel guilty on my behalf but don't muster up solutions to try to make me educationally or economically equal. The life we all live in this country is built upon lies, if we flinch the wrong way it all crumbles. The main problem is identity ie the Willy Lynch Letter. History, Black History was cut off by reason of the enslavement and perpetuated by gov policy and public sentiment. Generations following the slave era were taught the waning reasonings till this day. They enjoy the aftermaths and shrug the shoulders at the notion of involvement. Strange American thinking, we take societal action but deny personal involvement. We are guilty but I myself am innocent. This is normal thinking in America, we did this as kids. Yeah, we did this but I am not guilty.

Blacks here are not all African people, though many of us were taken from the continent by that name. We had specific nations as our source and evidence points of migrations and dispersions because of famines, persecutions, political captivities resulting in colonies and settlements, and enslavements. The who's who of nations of origins is hidden in plain sight. Lie upon lie has augmented history and this augmented history is taught to each generation. When history is researched, it is with the lies in view. It is so hard to disprove what you've been taught. One lie dispelled calls to question the other things surrounding that lie. Most would not even bother, but eventually when confronted, the same rage as others. It is like grieving, you have to work through the process, no one escapes the process.

We have one book that won't go away easy, the Bible, the Holy Bible. Much has been done to explain it away, even whole nations stealing the ID of the people who are the subject of it. It is a good thing the thieves and the real subjects of the the Bible are identified in the Bible. People don't read the Bible. They get their understanding from learned men who were taught lies and are trapped by their own sincerity. They are placed in authority and trusted for their speaking. The hearing public never questions them, never reads the book for themselves. I was taught by learned men,  commentaries, got sick of all the explanations and expoundings, am reading the bible myself. There are no Christians in the bible, Christian as a way of worship and religion didn't happen till after 325 AD at the non-Hebrew and non-Christian Roman Emperor Constantine's meddling. This was not a good thing. All the Bible people of the faith of Abraham/Issac/Jacob (Israel) were/are Hebrews. Some gentiles were added in the New Testament time via the gospel of Christ. Rome squashed Jerusalem in 70AD, killed, enslaved and scattered the Hebrews. From 70AD till 325AD Rome orchestrated a takeover of the Hebrew faith and invented Christianity. The belief was changed to merge the faith in Christ with the pagan beliefs and prolong the Roman Empire (till this day!).

The truth is in there, but every year the Bible is re-translated and re-interpreted and re-printed. It is so called made easy to understand, made palatable to English speakers and Western thinking. Every year words, verses, entire passages are changed or removed. I have friends who insist that God can preserve his word and has done so throughout the ages, as if God's adversaries aren't able to operate a word processor and printer without God's say so and change what is printed then handed to you. The Jewish scribes have done this very thing during/after the Babylonian captivity when hand written docs were done.  Plus words themselves mean one thing to the originating Hebrew audience and another to todays varied readers. Even biblical dictionaries which are not "God's Word" are subject to change and have changed. If definitions change, then your understanding changes also. Christians are far too superstitious concerning physical reality by trusting in faith and "God" where due diligence in study is the more appropriate tool.

We are talking Black History, am I saying that Black History and Biblical History coincide? It is the same history, especially if you link the whole story and prophecies together and not pick out a few incidents that might relate to glory seeking national pride. The present state of the descendants of the Biblical children of Israel is not one to boast in at all. There is no power or glory, you can not disobey God and yet bare God's glory by reason of a name or an assumed history, or occupy a Biblically promised land area, this is not Indiana Jones. We have all been taught to be Christians of some sort. There are no Christians in the Bible. Who are the people of the Bible? Who are their descendants? What are the covenants written to them and for them? How are the gentiles related to them, added to them? When gentiles are added to the believers are they Christians (as Rome has called us since Biblical times) or Israel as God has called his people since Jacob?

Out from Christianity has come confusion and uncertainty. If Christianity identifies the true Hebrews for whom the promises and covenants are written for according to the Bible, things will start to straighten out at Christianity's demise. But the gentile believers in Christ will have to realize they are grafted into Israel, not spiritual Israel, but a real actual people of God whom God called Israel.
You must ID the real Israel, they are scattered throughout the world today. They have forgotten their history and heritage, language, it's been bred out of them. This also is in the Bible. Also in the Bible is the restoration of the people Israel and then the restoration of the nation in the land by the same name. If all the elements of this story are overladed onto the present reality, you can see why the world is in chaos.

Open Sourced Black History Month

We take a break in the normal push to acknowledge and comment on the thing known as Black History Month. My bone to pick is when other cultures in this conglomerate of immigrants called the US display their heritage, there is a recall of ancient times and the unbroken trail to get here. When US Black folks do the same we only talk of the boat that brought us and what we did since we got here. There are no ancient times, but then again we weren't immigrants either. Much has happened to wipe the memory of our past from our knowledge banks, common conversation and replace them with disconnected snippets of truth, half-truths and out right lies. At first the idea was to make us slaves, then subservient citizens, then reluctantly allow us to blend in till we don't care anymore. I know, I have a blended family, it is a good deterrent from seeking the truth.

Truth seeking is a hard game, names and times change so often it is easy to get confused.  Academic ego poisoning has turned fact researchers into racist dogs. Imagine discarding truth because it doesn't support what you arrogantly and erroneously believe. They find it more glorious to say we invented it rather than we learned from others and developed it further.

Fact finding takes a thousand eyes from many sources. Common threads abound and what was recorded in one country is also recorded in a different way in other involved countries. Sometimes it a cultural link, a language, a practice, or an event, a series of events. For me it is backward questions. How did we get to the boat, the field from where I was captured? What was I doing there? Where was I before that? Was I indigenous or migrant? Were we fleeing war, persecution, drought, on trade routes? Were we carrying products or were we the products? Who were we in every exchange and name change? What did we encounter along the way and what did we leave behind when we moved on? What is the span of time these things took place? Can a people still be considered a people after such a long span of time? We are talking 2000 years and multiple generations, blending with other peoples, us and others forgetting who we were/are.

It started with the very thing I was supposed to be ashamed of, my skin, and a picture from the Bible. Moses put his hand into his bosom, pulled it out and it was leprously chocolate brown. No, it was already brown and turned leprous, as white as snow. I also found the famous De Vinci and Michaelangelo competed for a commission to paint Roman (white) faces on religious artwork (the Renaissance). No animosity toward anyone today, we've all been lied to. Many believe the lies, live out the lies, regard the lies as truth. No need to check it out, right!? And when the truth is revealed, there is rage, the change is monumental and how dare you challenge what we all have accepted as true, you are lying and cursed and deserve to be killed, blasphemy, blasphemy!! The white guys in the Bible were really brown guys!? I could be a Hebrew, the pieces seem to fit. The world history and biblical prophecies concerning the descendants of the Children of Israel seem to fit. It is a prophecy that we would be enslaved, forget and be forgotten and our ID would be assumed by others.

Yeah, we invented the oil jiggy, the hair curler upper and the electric traffic cop.