QUOTE FOR THE DAY

An essential characteristic of the superhero mythology is, there's the superhero, and there's the alter ego. Batman is actually Bruce Wayne, Spider-Man is actually Peter Parker. When he wakes up in the morning, he's Peter Parker. He has to put on a costume to become Spider-Man. 

And it is in that characteristic that Superman stands alone. 

Superman did not become Superman, Superman was born Superman. When Superman wakes up in the morning, he's Superman. His alter ego is Clark Kent. His outfit with the big red "S", that's the blanket he was wrapped in as a baby when the Kents found him. Those are his clothes. 

What Kent wears, the glasses, the business suit, that's the costume. That's the costume Superman wears to blend in with us. Clark Kent is how Superman views us. And what are the characteristics of Clark Kent? He's weak, he's unsure of himself... he's a coward. 

Clark Kent is Superman's critique on the whole human race. Sort of like Beatrix Kiddo and Mrs. Tommy Plympton.

Bill, Kill Bill

FROM THE VAULT: THREE BATS AND A BIRD

FROM THE VAULT: March 19, 2014

"I’d give all wealth that years have piled,

The slow result of Life’s decay,

To be once more a little child

For one bright summer day."

- Lewis Carroll

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My friend Tony Z sent me an email yesterday headed “We've been painted on a wall somewhere!?!?!”.

His email was an onsend from his son Christian, now an adult, of an email with the same caption and two photographs:

Tony's email was accompanied by the following message:

Otto

This is a photo of my son and 3 of his friends when they were about 5 years old. My son is in the Robin outfit. Somehow this is now a painting on a wall in Melbourne, called I think “3 bats and a bird”. I don't know how the artist got the photo . Apparently he is world renowned. I'm not aware where exactly it is other than on a wall somewhere in Melbourne.

TZ

Here is another pic of the art work:

The work is by Brisbane street artist Fintan Magee who has done some fascinating and quality street art, as the Batman artwork, which is correctly identified as having been done in Melbourne, shows. I am unaware as to its location in Melbourne.

In a chat after receiving the email Tony informed me that the four boys were friends. The occasion was not dressup fior school or for any function, simply that the four were enthralled by Batman and Robin. The lad to the right of Christian/Robin would not answer to any name but Batman when he was wearing the outfit. The Batman to the left of Robin was Christian’s best friend, the Dark Knight to his left, in black, was the first Batman’s older brother. The photo was taken by one of the parents and it is believed that it was spotted by Fintan Magee on a Facebook page.

Here is another version:

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“. . . although these days may seem commonplace, in years to come they will crystallise in our minds as our best! . . . we shall all look back to the friendships, the adventures, the fun . . . to the best days of our lives.”

- Cottee’s Cordial ad

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ITsQ6rNvNKk

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Coincidentally, not long after I received Tony's email, I received the following in a mobile phone text message from son Thomas:

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Update:

The following  is from website Art Collectorz.com at:

https://www.artcollectorz.com/artworks/artwork-detail?artwork_id=7785&edition_id=9868 

Fintan Magee is an Australian street artist known for his murals throughout Queensland and later in New South Wales. Magee was born in the NSW Town of Lismore. Magee grew up in Ipswich, Queensland and gained a reputation as a graffiti artist before obtaining a Fine Arts degree and moving to Sydney. He now works out of "The Tate Gallery" above the Toxteth Hotel in Glebe. He received national acclaim for his mural depicting Felix Baumgartner in Brisbane. Described as "Australia's Banksy", Magee's work is recognised for its lack of a political message, compared to other street artists, and its humour.

The following item is another of Magee's depictions of the 3 Bats and a Robin work and is avilable for purchase atvthe above link:

QUOTE FOR THE DAY

 

PHOTOS FROM THE PAST

A look back at the distant and not so distant past . . .

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Moving a 7,600 ton apartment building to create a boulevard in Alba Iulia, Romania, 1987.

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A black officer protecting KKK member from protesters, 1983.

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Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev as a young gentleman, 1986.

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Transporting ‘The Apple’, the first Indian satellite, 1981.

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The glasses John Lennon wore when he was assassinated, 1980.

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Spielberg doing the first Indiana Jones movie in 1980.

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Due to strong cross winds, a landing plane crashes with a truck standing near the runway, 1976.

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Highway picnic during the Oil Crisis, 1973.

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Interior of a London Pub, 1898.

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A stripper visits the trading floor of the Toronto Stock Exchange, late 1970.

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Man working at analog computer, 1968.

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Early morning train, Japan, 1964.

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Test pilot George Aird – flying an English Electric Lightning F1.

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The Beatles play for 18 people in the Aldershot club, December 1961. They were to become superstars in one and a half years time.

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The East Bay Dragons, the first black bikers’ club, Oakland, California, 1960s.

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Che Guevara and Fidel Castro fishing, 1960.

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A swim-mobile in New York City, 1960.

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Audrey Hepburn shopping with her pet deer “Ip” in Beverly Hills, CA, 1958.

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Uploading the first 5 MByte hard disk to a PanAm plane, 1956.

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In the aftermath of the D-Day invasion, two boys watch from a tree as American soldiers drive through the town of St. Lo. France.

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A flight simulator in 1942.

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An opium den in Singapore, 1941.

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The real Winnie the Pooh and Christopher Robin, 1928.

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Factory workers race on the roof (test track) of the Fiat Factory in Turin, Italy, 1923.

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A beggar running alongside King George V’s coach, 1920.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

 Sent by son Thomas . . . 

ART SPOT: THE PAVEMENT SURGEON

Caution: risque content ahead

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Back on June 22, 2020 I posted a piece about Jim Bachor, who fills in Chicago’s potholes with colourful mosaics. That posted can be found by clicking on:

http://bytesdaily.blogspot.com/2020/06/art-jim-bachor.html

Some of Jim Bachor’s works:

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I recently became aware of Jim Bachor’s French equivalent, an artist who goes by the tag Ememem in his city of Lyons and who is more commonly known as “the pavement surgeon.”

According to Emenem, his footpath, road and façade repairs are “a poem that everybody can read.”

He has been at it since 2016 and his works are lovely to look at, often times suggesting a piece from a bygone day, age and structure. These days he fills holes everywhere in France, not just Lyon. “It’s a succession of a lot of places and reflections, experiments I did before. I had done similar things, with other techniques, other supports, and finally, when this one emerged, I knew I found something that I was going to keep doing for the rest of my life,” he says.

Gallery:

Before and after

Before and after

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Bonus Item #1:

German street artist Jan Vormann carries out repairs all over the world using not tiles but Lego bricks.

Vormann’s creative, colorful repairs are called Dispatchwork by him and he psosts images on his website.

Some samples:

I must be honest, I am not a fan of the Lego repairs and I find it intrusive in the older walls and buildings, much as I don’t like to see yarn bombing on trees.

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Bonus item #2:

Back in 2012, complaints to the authorities the pockmarked streets of Yekaterinburg in Russia, fell on deaf ears. Local blog URA.RU turned to ad agency Voskhod to create a campaign whereby under the cover of night they painted the faces of local politicians around the most unsightly potholes and shamed them into action.

According to Ads of the World:

Quality of roads is the eternal problem of Yekaterinburg – the fourth largest city of Russia. The local site URA.RU, which writes about life in the city, decided to remind politicians that it is their duty to repair the roads. The problem is – our politicians don’t care about potholes. Their only worry is their own public image. We associated road holes with the images of certain politicians. In the night, on three potholes in city center, we drew faces of the governor, the mayor and the vice-mayor. The news about caricatures became a sensation. With this intense PR the politicians were no longer able to sit idle. The holes were fixed. The news about the action was released in more than 300 media venues, the website traffic on URA.ru doubled. The officials at last started to do their jobs.

Gallery:

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Bonus Item #3:

In 2015, an anonymous UK person who goes by the name Wanksy started spray painting giant penises around potholes as a means of prodding Manchester Council to repair them. This was based on the rationale that potholes take ages to get fixed whereas rude graffiti gets attended to quite quickly.

According to Wanksy, "The roads of Manchester are in an appalling state... I have cyclist friends who have been hospitalized. They damage vehicles. Sometimes it's hard to know which pothole caused the damage because there are so many."

Within 48 hours, potholes began to be repaired, sometimes with the original artworkd still showing.

Gallery:

"Been there 8 months at least. A bit of art and they are filled in 48 hours,' wrote Wanksy.

However, the attention may now no longer be working. According to Wanksy “They don't always get filled, in fact, I think the council maybe deliberately not filling them in now."

A Manchester Council spokesman told the BBC that this type of art will not impact scheduled road work. "We understand and accept that residents are unhappy with the number of potholes in the borough, and we have a programme of scheduled works to fix them," he said. "Painting obscenities around potholes will not get them repaired any quicker."

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The same tactic was adopted in Kansas City in the US in 2019:

I have no information on whether it worked.

Source:

https://www.tonyskansascity.com/2019/03/tkc-must-see-kansas-city-artists.html

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