How to use this Page

Ha ha ha, that's the peak of utilitarianism.

LOL Cute! Rich source for clever and not so clever innuendo creators, I'm sure! - mp

I'm really attracted to the cute lil' toaster oven lady in the back holding the sign "Droit De Suite or Die!"

It's Depression Modern Style! I just finished a college course all about it.

is beautifull, very good article, thank you for the information. I like

Never got passed the itching stage :o

That was entertaining... and somewhat creepy. As fascinating as they are, most of the beards just look nasty to me.

It is a relief to hear that (at least some of) the bearded fellows wash all that.

I can't help thinking that many of those men would be quite nice looking with a shave.

It's sad to see what some people will do for attention. I just don't get it ;) -RQ

Dear James
I cannot wait to see you wearing one of those lovely mustaches. LOL :o)

Roberto, your beard is awesome, and would get you into the final rounds.

Jytte--They say bald guys sometimes grow good beards, I never got through the scratchy stage, and my proto - beard looked like a macaque's.

I wonder how those guys eat fondue.

My people

I've often imagined that if one were to design a humanoid robot that perfectly mimics the external appearance of a human... or any animal, you would probably end up having to pretty much mimic most the internal anatomy too, just to get the motion looking right. I'm a little disappointed when designers take the lazy way out and give their fictional robots the old 'toaster with a silicon mask'setup, hopefully the concept of soft robotics will catch on.

Looks like a precursor of some cybernetic (r)evolution to come; creepy thing that is. Looks pretty convulsive to me.

Eawwwww. Just imagine that thing crawling out from under your bed and its mission is something sinister.

That could be the making of a creepy scifi movie.

someone else made a 22 caliber gun from a 3d printer and fired 200 rounds with it - it did have one or two metal parts though.

Oh yeah those are always neat.
There's a lot of interesting and cool stuff you can see and make at Instructables.com

I love this man! We need more just like him

I wonder if when the engineers said it couldn't be done they were referring to all of it. Chain, brake cables, etc.

Haha! So good! :)

Love it

Very funny story. That's what's great with drawing.

He already has a rippling dent there.

cute story in pictures :)

This reminds me of when I saw a lawncare guy with his weedwhip or trimmer thing walk buy his "buddy" mowing and trimmed the back of the guys legs.
It was an intentional gag like your story but unlike your story the victim didn't seem to enjoy it.

Hahaha! Love it!

Ha ha ha! Fantastic!

Hilarious.

You've got more interesting mow-blow-go guys than I do, that's for sure!!

Hilarious! Wouldn't it be funny if one of these guys followed your blog and saw this post?

fun story...always love your blog

ha..! I love your blog, thanks for doing it.

I love it!

I love it!

Classic! LOL

This reminds me of a certain Sponge Bob eps.

Or because quality food awareness hasn't caught up in China yet...

In Japan, getting KFC is a Christmastime tradition. Is it because KFC's colors are red and white? Or maybe because the Colonel looks like Santa.

Well they both have unusually large ears at least. On a serious note though I believe Asian KFC s offer more than just chicken. If I recall correctly they sold hamburgers at the we ate at in Indonesia ten years ago. Or was it McDonald's that was selling buckets of fried chicken...? Seriously the menus are different. There are also less competitors.

Keith, yes, according to the article, there are at least 30 items on the Chinese KFC menu, and chicken is pretty far down the list. And when it comes to chicken, people prefer dark meat.

Another theory for the popularity of KFC in China: clean bathrooms.

Eyes, bought of them, I think -may be I wrong, but is identically, like Mona Lisa with Da Vinci! :)

KFC seems always to be more popular overseas than here -- and is available in places where MacDonald's doesn't go. Cheap, fast food -- seems everyone loves it, unless and until they can afford better.

As it says in The Diamond Age, "the house of the venerable and inscrutable colonel."

Nice Wizard of Oz reference!

What an enjoyable journey! Thank you for bringing us along with you.

You conveniently forgot to mention that you are the 2012 Spectrum Grand Master! Congratulations!

fantastic! it was a great journey indeed.

That's a good presentation of the event.

That's a good presentation of the event.

Jim - It was wonderful seeing you again at SFALive!

When you were announced as the winner of the Grand Master Award, I literally jumped out of my seat, applauded as loud as my hands would allow, and yelled “Woo! Woo! Woo!” For the record, I never yell “Woo! Woo! Woo!”. Ever. :-)

I think everyone would agree that no one deserved the recognition more. It was very moving to see you receive a standing ovation.

Congratulations! Again.

-Joe Vicas-

Congratulations, James!

I really love seeing these videos. Thanks for this peek into Spectrum - I really wish I could have gone.

Wow! Congratulations for the Grand Masters Award!!

(And thanks for sharing those great impressions from Spectrum live!!)

I think the poster is by Jon Foster

Loved the show! Thanks for the autographs and drawings inside my "Color and Light" and "Imaginative Realism" books. I really enjoyed your presentation as well. I was pretty tongue tied, but it was great to meet one of my favorite artists!

-Chris

Great video James. I wish I was there.
Congrqtulations for the Master award.

The post is so good! I like it!
ray ban sunglasses 2012 women
ray ban eyeglasses 2012
cheap louis vuitton purses
discount burberry purses
oakley sunglasses wholesale

Great post.
I was wondering, was that Jeffrey Jones documentary shown at Spectrum?
I read somewhere that they planed to.
I'm so looking forward to see that film.

Anon and Jon - thanks! I fixed the attribution of the poster to Jon Foster. I was moving fast and forgot.

Ben, yes, the documentary "The Life and Choices of Jeffrey Catherine Jones" was premiered on Friday night to a packed house of Spectrum attendees, and received a standing ovation. I was deeply moved by it, having known Jeff from many of the "First Friday" gatherings.

Thanks, Joe, and everyone else for your support on my big moment to receive the awards. I was so shocked and thrilled, and there were plenty of other deserving people in the audience.

Chris, I got to meet some of my favorite artists, too, and was just as tongue-tied as you.

Great. Was there any word about when the documentary will be released?

Forgive my ignorance, but what was/is "First Friday"?

I knew I should have gone! bummed I missed it, but at least I got to see what I missed

Hello James, I have to say one more time that it was great to meet you at the show. I couldn't be more honored to shake your hand. Thanks for the books and inspiration! See you in the future.

Love the mini-documentary! :)

Here's some photos from the night of the awards. (Heard you'd forgotten your camera.)

http://www.flickr.com/photos/84757001@N00/sets/72157629865385322/with/7256888592/

It was great getting to meet you in person, and congratulations on the Grandmaster award!

Awesome!

Good one! Can't wait to see what you come up with - both of you!

What's powering that wagon? Did you Photoshop out the goat ropes?

Greg, if you really want to know, we were sitting still. The speed blur in the background was shopped.

Oooh, I love Shape Note/ Sacred Harp singings. Was this your first time? I get to do it once a month, at a baptist church about a block from my house. Might have to miss this month, sadly :( It's always an uplifting and very enjoyable experience. It reminds me of my community and humanity.

Thanks for sharing that sketch James! That color scheme (black and the orange-ish shade)always brings back nice memories of the "old" two color printing process. I associate that with happy, younger days...Plus the simplicity alone is pleasing.

And what is so special about the pencil you used?

Malleus, I should have explained. That kind of pencil is water soluble, so it can be used to make a smooth wash with a little water from a water brush. Then it can make rich, dark blacks. The paper is watercolor paper.

Thanks. Now I have a good reason to get one and try it out.

my vote is for Dali

I voted for Dali too. His facial hair defies gravity the best, and the crazed eyes are a nice bonus.

Any dude can grow a beard or 'stache. I'm going with Frida. Check out Kahlo's 'stache AND the unbelievable uni-brow!

darn, it was hard to choose between Frida and Dali... on the one hand, girl can work it! On the other, Dali's 'stache is just flawless. I have to go with him!

Frida, no question about it. That brow is almost an upside down stache on her fore head; only she could pull it off.

For my previous birthday, I received a book called "BEARD" by photographer Matthew Rainwaters.
Just google his name and you'll know what I'm talking about.

A must-have for artists looking for face-morphological inspiration.

Dali. You can't help but look twice.

ZINTSY...you got a SYRIA that overtook the
" RED _ RIDDER 666"...was that supposed to happen?
Cause now, they got all that COMAL in ALLOUS and WONDE!
And that ain't good.
No, that ain't good.
No , that ain't good, at all.
BINLADEN.
And it's all JO?
He's with SCHAR the HO?
And they're all with JONSO?
And so is CARYESS.
He's with JESS and LESS.
And so is TESS and BESSER?
We think the jouney is well over.
And so does YAN- HARCOYAN .
And so does DON.
And also LON.
With RON,

Gonna have to roll with Steele.

Freida nomination in this almost encapsulates the whole "what ever you guys can do, we gals can do, to, once we get past the obstacles in our way" argument of art history . . .

Courbet

How funny to think of that! I enjoy your posts! Don't like facial hair, though...

Dali's moustache is unrealistic, even surrealistic, so I voted Brancusi since his moustache is so well and marvelously sculpted.

Courbet, most certainly.

Absolutely Alexi Steele,.....
amazing artist and a real personality... come on the rest of these folks are dead.

bah, Dali's moustache is just a gimmick! We're voting for BEST facial hair, not most extreme! (Yes, this is very serious business). I was going to nominate P.S. Kröyer or Velazquez, but since I didn't I'm gonna have to go with Rodin.

I was torn between Dali and Kahlo, but then I realized that Dali and Uhde hadn't actually been nominated, so I voted for Kahlo.

The question is what one means by "best". Weirdest would have to go to Man Ray. Dali would of course have voted for himself, as he was a showman as much as a painter, and his moustache was pure exhibitionism, though I like Jeanie W's comment about it defying gravity. Is anyone tempted by this to grow something glorious on his (please, not her) face?

519 votes. There's quite a crowd of us here.

I know the word 'Cory' means helmet, which makes me wonder why my parents named me that! There are dozens of these guys in Drumheller and it's a common game to play to see who can spot the most driving through.

Here in Michigan there is an abandoned tourist trap dinosaur park right off a main highway (so you can see some of these by the road).

We have some family photos from the late 70s/early 80's from when the park was still open, but it's more interesting to share this link showing its current condition:

LINK

I've driven the 15 plenty of times...why have I never seen this? I'll have to look out for it next time I drive through Victorville. Those dinosaurs in the link are amusingly hideous. (Except for the Civil War/dinosaurs mashup; whoever thought of that was a genius.)

I remember, as a kid, driving through some part of Arizona and seeing a few roadside dinosaurs. I was ecstatic. Just last year, a friend of mine discovered an Allosaurus standing outside a McDonald's in Tuscon. We indulged in a little anatomical critique (the wrists were all wrong).

@DPetersen: I always thought abandoned amusement parks were fascinating, but abandoned dinosaur parks just take the cake. Thanks for sharing!

Bravo James, spot on.

Heck, what were they thinking??

On a personal note, I find it funny because I've gotten to know Dinotopia through a colleague and ex-coworker at Ogilvy. Though not from its Johannesburg branch.

Hilarious! They had that coming.

Well said. Your work would only be degraded by being associated with that show. And such an unprofessional email too... yikes!

I would totally watch that!


(...not)

Well, I had the impression that they are interested in new artwork (something with dinosaurs, not necessarily Dinotopia), and that they just used some Dinotopia-paintings to show you what they're looking for...

So, when is this coming out?

Oh my....that's unbelievable. Also unbelievable was that she 'just stumbled upon your pictures'.....I don't think I know a single person who doesn't know about Dinotopia....maybe I just know really awesome people.

Amazing... ADmen really are the scum of the earth.

That rainbow is inspired!

Okay, I guess I'm not getting this. Obviously, having one of the biggest ad agencies in the world asking me to help them promote a Steven Spielberg-produced TV show would definitely get my attention. I would be honored and excited. I feel very sure that you've been watching the show; your response to Ogilvy tells me that you really dislike it, like a lot of critics and much of the public. It may not be back next season. The "things are not what they seem" angle has been Spielberg's entire concept from the beginning, and very closely echoes the premise to the Jurassic Park books and movies, intending to feed off that.

But what I think you are saying is that you have built a large part of your reputation depicting paradisiacal relationships between humans and dinosaurs, and in creating positive imagery. This ad campaign would run directly counter to your efforts, so your response seems aimed at maintaining your reputation. Having children running in terror from placid plant eaters brings to mind unfortunate imagery from Peter Jackson's King Kong.

Yes, the campaign sounds really cheesy, but I think the usual feedback between AD and artist might come up with a better product.

So, what am I missing? Not a criticism, it's just that your response seems confusingly out of place. Given the grittier dinosaur illustrations you've done for National Geographic, would you have accepted an opportunity to create art for the show before it had aired?

Thank for helping me understand.

"I would love to use your artwork for a campaign we are working on" usually means give it to us for free.

She would've been better off asking to contract your services.

Please tell me you actually sent that!

Hollywood and the entertainment industry appears morally and artistically bankrupt from my perspective. Everything seems to be a blatant rip-off or a remake.

Good for you Jim. If they want to pay you for new work, they know what quality costs and they can fork it over. As for ripping off your idea, that stinks and you'd be hard pressed to fight Spielberg.

I'm missing something. No matter what, doesn't a professional respond as a professional? Isn't that the point of being a professional? I don't get the ridicule going on with the reply. Is this a joke?

ROTFLMAO

This really hits a nerve. I've been doing CD/Album covers for the last 5 years or so. I get at least one nibble a week from young bands. The best one so far was some idiot who wrote saying "I just wanted to let yopu know we"re going to use one of your paintings for our first album cover, and I was just writing to make sure it was OK."

I wrote back saying "It's NOT OK for you to RIP ME OFF." And he comes back with "I didn't know I was ripping you off. Is it OK if I use one of your paintings for Wallpaper?"

There are an increasing number of clueless individuals out there. Blame it on the Internet.

That's so great! And I thought only small time artists like myself had to deal with that kind of nonsense.

Shockingly not in tune with your work. I'm not even sure this is the same "Terra Nova" show (new this season) that I've been watching - it's actually quite good, but....

So you didn't name your price . . .

Haha nice!

YES! I love your response! Thank you so much for not being dazzled by their Holly Wood nonsense, and standing up for your vision. I'm so tired of visual artists being treated like second class citizens.

Did the creators of the FLINTSTONES ever bust you for ripping off their idea?

I had to come back and re-read your post since I missed the important detail about using your artwork to do the mock-up postcard when reading it the first time. Not polite. When are they going to add ethics to the High School curriculum? Just because one can use the computer to create something like this from pre-existing images doesn't mean it's right. Justine Whaley Hennessy

Like some of the other comments, I don't understand the point of this rant either. It isn't inconceivable that she had never heard of you. This makes me think you reacted this way because your ego was hurt and not because what she did was particularly bad. Unless there is more to this email than what you're showing us, she doesn't say anything about using your work for free.

I'm a fan of your work because it is GOOD, not because it is popular. Your books sold about 2 million copies - which is great! But Twilight (which is NOT GOOD) has sold over 100 million. How many people seeing your postcards for Terra Nova would REALLY know who you are AND recognize your (new) work?

If you don't want to do it because you don't like the show, fine...but no need to embarrass this Chantelle woman (who's full name, etc. can be found in two seconds when using the info you've given) for something that was clearly benign in intent on her part. Every artist has been approached to do something they don’t want to. It only takes a modicum of class to say no in a private email (or just not respond at all). Taking the time to do what you’ve done here is a little bizarre. If you weren’t already an “art celebrity” it would probably actually hurt your “career” a bit.

Am I misunderstanding that you're saying Terra Nova is a dumb idea? You illustrate books about dinosaurs and humans living together on a hidden island. Don't get me wrong - again, I love your work... but don't critique others in a way that could also be visited upon yourself. You paint/ed people riding dinosaurs for a living. Spielberg is producing a show about people shooting at dinosaurs, but this is somehow beneath you...

I would have to agree with others who were a bit confused as to why you responded the way you did; it was not what I would expect from a professional of your stature and contributions to art. I can understand your concern about using your work in the context they were looking for but unless there is more background to this than was provided in the article (such as the background of the AD - junior AD?) this is a bit perplexing. Given all that you've done for art education, I believe that a more appropriate and positive response would have been to politely educate them rather than to just degrade them.

Is this really the way such issues are/should be handled in the commercial art world?

Dear James

Enough people have said it better than I can already but I am kind of shocked from this post. Seemed way out of character for you. My statements agree 100% with SteveRB511.
Working in a NYC Illustration Rep firm for a number of years we saw our odd, even silly pitches but there should be a line one does not cross publicly in response to uneducated requests. I hope you add a post script or an edit to explain why you posted and reacted this way. I think it would help educate both the young illustrators and art directors/buyers out there.
Kind regards
Matt Dicke

To explain to those who didn’t get the post: I’m not knocking the Terra Nova TV program necessarily. The concept is different enough from Dinotopia and probably more like Jurassic Park in its conception of dinosaurs as monsters.

But I do object to the premise of advertising the program by making a mockery of images from Dinotopia. Whether the visual that the ad agency developed was just a comp or a proposed finish, and whether I illustrated it or not, the people who came up with the campaign needed to think harder. The visual that they developed directly used images that I painted from the Dinotopia universe, and the image could easily have been confused for something from Dinotopia, which is an infringement.

If I politely and privately passed on this job offer, they would have given it to someone else and done the same thing. We’re dealing with ideas and ad campaigns, which take place in the public arena.

I had a little fun imagining the tables reversed: what would happen if someone asked the producers of E.T. to help them promote a program where they turned those cute little creatures into monsters. Someone might want to make such a movie, but it’s pretty amazing to ask the E.T. creators to help out with it.

I'm not sure I entirely agree with James' response, but the woman contacting hm sure seems like she didn't do her research before communicating with him.

James-

While the request IS professionally ridiculous, there was no need to reply in kind and share the retort with the universe.

Reach for the higher ground because both creatively and personally that's where you normally stand in my POV.

Quick! Someone send The Asylum Studios that promo for E.T.Zilla, we'll see that movie in a year! Hopefully with a spinoff sequel where he fights Mega Shark and Crocosaurus!

I wonder if any of you finger pointers have ever had to protect your intellectual property before.
Understanding what it is like to be exploited and expected to be quiet and polite about it I applaud James's sharp public response.
Sometimes ugly things need to be exposed. Would all of you shocked and offendeds have also preferred that the child in the Penn State case had not come forward?

James is a great guy and he is human, so he doesn't always have to take the higher ground especially when his carefully crafted utopia is in danger of being dragged through the mud.

Mr. Gurney,

Thanks for your response to those of us that were confused by this post. I (and I'm sure others) now understand much better what you were getting at (the mockery of your ideas). The ET image now makes much more sense in that context. I think perhaps then the main issue here is that the AD didn't understand/research your work properly (as others have noted). This is lazy on her part, but it is doubtful she meant to insult you or your work. For all we know Spielberg might LOVE your work and specifically wanted to work with you, but the AD assigned to make contact bungled the approach...

It is also a great thing that you take the time to interact with your readers/fans (and reply quickly too!) on this blog. Thank you for doing so.

Reading comprehension seems to be lacking in today's society.

"Would all of you shocked and offendeds have also preferred that the child in the Penn State case had not come forward?"

really?

This wasn't artwork Mr. Gurney caught out in the world using his imagery without permission.. this was a comp an AD put together with his work hoping he'd either okay it for use or make new artwork. If she intended to steal from him why would she bother contacting him in the first place? You're comparing Chantelle to a man who rapes ten year old boys...and saying Mr. Gurney's hurt feelings are comparable to being a raped child.

And any of us that say he reacted too strongly are the same kind of people who look the other way when we see children being raped...

....really?

"Frankly, James would be within his rights to send a legal cease and desist to stop the show since there are sufficient similarities to his story to bring up the question of Plagiarism. "

Sorry, what? In what way are the two even remotely similar?
There are dinosaurs in both?

Whoopty freakin' doo.

Dinotopia (if my memories or reading this wonderful book as a boy don't fail me) is about a father and son ending up on an island inhabited by a strangely anachronistic mix of people and dinosaurs.
The dinosaurs can "talk" and "write" in their own language, many of them cohabitate with the humans. The son even learns to ride a flying one. The whole thing has a beautiful steampunkishly utopian feel to it.

Terra Nova is about humans in the not so distant future discovering a rift in space-time-whatever leading to the time of dinosaurs. Where they migrate to in colonization waves.
They live in a walled colony under a military regime. The population consists mainly of fashion models pretending to be scientists and soldiers.
And they SHOOT the dinosaurs.

Frankly, beside dinosaurs being present in both, there is absolutely nothing similar about these two settings.

You claiming the opposite is quite the insult to Mr. Gurney's creation, since the TV shows is truly terribly written, acted and concepted.

So, no, there's no ripping off Dinotopia in Terra Nova. Sadly, because it might've been a better show if they actually did rip it off.

The point, is that it was a very unprofessional way to ask him if they could use his work. I am not a an accomplished artist who makes his living off of his art (although I would like to be able to say that one day). Mr. Gurney is.

I'm just a kid who like to draw...but even I am very aware that you don't mess with other people's stuff. I repeat: NEVER TOUCH AN ARTIST WORK AND THEN ASK IF IT'S OK! Trust me, it's not.

The letter that he received from the girl Chantelle would've made a pretty great April fool's joke, but as a serious request it's disrespectful.

If the girl had simply written the letter and not included the picture I honestly think she would've been met with at worst a respectful decline.

yes, really.


'And any of us that say he reacted too strongly are the same kind of people who look the other way when we see children being raped'

I am suggesting that people who feel he reacted too strongly would have preferred not to have had any knowledge of this matter at all, and would have preferred Mr. Gurney had conducted himself in a polite and dignified manner in private. That attitude enables exploitation on all scales. Of course I realize that the weight of Mr. Gurney's situation is not in any way psychologically physically or emotionally as big deal compared to the severity of child abuse, that would be absurd. But people who don't try to understand why someone would lash out 'inappropriately' in public are turning a blind eye to exploitation.

politeness does not enable exploitation and impoliteness does not stop exploitation.

Man, that was... well, pretty harsh.

I hope that's not how you actually responded to the lady. As thoughtless as she is, I think an INFORMATIVE reply rather than a ridiculing one clearly demonstrating a lack of your usual composure would have been the best approach. You're very much a teacher, Mr. Gurney. I think your teaching approach would have been more effective at preventing these sort of blatant but often misguided infringements in the future. The lady obviously had some sort of respect for you, so why not use that to your advantage rather than present yourself as a big angry poophead?

I have the utmost respect for you and your work, really. I just think you jumped the gun a little bit.

Don't you all see... They clearly were already using his work without consent. The only reason they contacted him was because there were "a few things we still have to work out that's why I would love you to work with us".

How could he not feel disrespected by it?

The point is that by being in advertising, "chantelle" would know copyright law and respect it instead of trampling over it.

Mr. Gurney's response is tame compared to the legal cease and desist notice that chantelle's company would easily send.

Andrew, speaking out in public about exploitation polite or impolite, draws attention to it. Attention which gets results.

Mr. Gurney obvious from his many blog posts is intelligent. By making this issue public at such an early stage he is likely stopping in it's tracks a decision by an ad agency which would likely lead to litigation if the idea went forward as it was presented.
This little bit of nastiness helps both him and Ogilvy avoid wasting any more time or expense.
You may be familiar with Tom Waits and his legal battles with ad agencies over the use of his voice and his character. In one case the agency after being turned down by him went ahead and hired an imitator to perform a similar song in a similar way to what they had originally presented to him. He sued them and won. Go back and read James's response with Tom Wait's situation in mind and see that is exactly what he is attempting to avoid by making this public now.

I hope our world hasn't reached the point where law suits and shouting are the only way to solve problems.

I hope the world will reach peace in ways other than some have espoused here. I hope that people avoid wasting time or expense through means other than using little bits of nastiness. Intelligence, negotiation, self control, and peace should rule. There are far too many people today who advocate violence or nastiness or extreme viewpoints, especially within the seductive anonymity of the Internet. Experience has shown that such behavior only breeds resentment, anger, and cycles of misunderstanding and hate. We need more people who advocate tolerance, thoughtfulness, and love, who forgive, and who pause before they respond.

James, your past examples of tolerance and reasonableness have inspired many. We know they will continue. Thank you for your good examples.

I was surprised to read this from you James because you are so reserved. But I like to see this other side of you. It makes you more human and honestly it was an amusing way to get your point across.

Terra Nova is not a dumb show though. The dinosaurs are not depicted as monsters either. They are shown as animals that exhibit, at times, territorial behaviors that can be exploited for that of monster-like actions. I think they have been careful to have the characters explain that in their dialogue. I wouldn't say the show is great but its better than most.

This issue isn't about the show anyway it's about the AD agent not knowing any better.

*Asterisk has it right.

As a follow-up, you all should know that I did send a polite, "professional" and forthright private email well in advance of the blog post. I told the art director that I declined the opportunity and requested that they please not use Dinotopia or Dinotopia look-alike imagery in the ad.

They did not respond in any way until the blog post aired, and only then did they apologize and promise not to use any of those elements in their campaign. I accepted their apology. I think it's a pretty mild satire, but it was certainly not my first message to Ogilvy.

By the way, Ogilvy & Mather is a giant corporation with 497 offices in 125 countries with approximately 16,000 employees. I'm one guy with a wife and a parakeet and one office in one country. And I've got a blog, thank goodness.

i love it! for so many different reasons. this is not as easy a situation as it appears. i think james could have went off the deep end, got lawyers, or sent an explicit email.

but instead he found a way to vent his frustrations with humor. sending a clear message.

and lets be honest this is no where near the first time this show has borrowed from the dinotopia series of books.

a lot of their advertising clearly stole from dinotopia concepts, i posted this back in july!

"a bit off topic, just saw the trailers for the new dinotopia tv series, i mean terra nova series coming out.

haha, i think like lucas, you have another great admirer. the photo used on wikipedia (which is now taken down) for the series looks just like waterfall city paintig with the waterfalls and terodactyls flying around, and the trailer shows a "utopia", with a heavily guarded gate around the paradise community, that keeps out attacking dinosaurs, hmm seems like i have heard about all this before somewheres?

as i watched the trailer i was literly waiting to see treetown or a dinosaur named bix?"

i support you 100% james! i thought this was hilarious but at the same time left a very clear message, STOP RIPPING ME OFF!

by the way i would watch ET-Zilla repeatedly everyday of the week if that movie came out....

Well it is refreshing to see some emotion from you! Lets get more of that into your work!!

I'm not a lawyer that but doesn't stop me from pretending I know what I am talking about:

Dinotopia is about a SOCIETY with friendly intelligent dinosaurs.

Nothing they showed crossed that line. Dinosaurs and children are fair game. Friendly and intelligent dinosaurs existed before dinotopia. Even your dinosaurs designs are based on many others work in the field - It is the friendly society and its unique trappings which are the original concepts.

Even if they had a society like planet of the apes, with dinosaurs, I don't think you could do anything about it.

Sorry dino's chasing children is fair game. If they catch them, then put them on trial in a fancy building, then sue!

James, did you post this and then point them to this site as their answer?
Or did you send this as is in an email?
Or did you send a completely different email and post this just to vent to your friends here?

I am just as outraged as you for a litany of reasons. I am wondering if they will "get" what you are so riled about: that they are asking for something that may CONFUSE viewers when seeing the same image used for 2 very different Dino worlds and thus impinge, in a detrimental fashion on the character of Dinotopia.
In no way do I fault you for blowing your stack. I do wonder what will stop them from giving ...
"it to someone else and done the same thing..." I guess getting riled privately would not have accomplished that. Doing it so publicly, everyone now has their eyes on those folks. Ok, I get it.

Gary, I find your comments inaccurate, to say the least. To say more, I would need to use language inappropriate to the tone of Jim's excellent and popular blog.

Jim's artworks, two classic images from his best selling Dinotopia books, were used without permission or compensation to create internal comps for an ad campaign. Comps are commercial artworks for which people are paid in the ordinary course of the ad biz.

If I were Jim, I'd gently submit a bill to the ad agency. And state that paying the bill would excuse the agency from further legal action for their abrogation of his intellectual property rights.

Oh yikes, don't give anyone ideas about E.T.Zilla!

Thank you, James, for striking a blow for the rights of all creative people to control their work.

Agencies like Ogilvy and Mather will simply rip people off unless they are stopped. It's a simple cost/benefit analysis for them. I would be willing to bet that this is the first and last time Chantelle will contact an artist about the use of their work, however.

Wow! talk about a can of worms!
This one sure illustrates how many follow you and your every word.

I agree with many points (comments) about their unprofessional behavior, they should know better.
I read them all.

Also, I too was surprised by your response (post) James until I saw your comment at 4:26 PM. So I can't add much more except ...

For the benefit of your devoted readers and followers, a mention of your initial professional response would have been a good idea and prevented some misunderstanding by your readers (myself included).

It gives proper context to your post. Now it can be enjoyed for what it is.

I especially agree with the last part of your 4:26PM comment...

"By the way, Ogilvy & Mather is a giant corporation with 497 offices in 125 countries with approximately 16,000 employees. I'm one guy with a wife and a parakeet and one office in one country. And I've got a blog, thank goodness."

It helps even the playing field, and (hopefully) prevents needless litigation.
Thank goodness for that!

http://www.drip.de/?p=1866

My whole-hearted support, James.

Best laugh I've had in a long while!

To all who are going on about how unprofessional Jame's reply was...

I completely follow his frustration and public mockery of this reply, because frankly the email is borderline insulting to James and his accomplishments.

The email makes no hint that this marketer did any background research into who James is, or what this artwork she was taking actually was from. She talks to him like he is a complete unknown talent who just happens to have put out some artwork that matches her needs.

No where does she acknowledge Dinotopia, the fact it is a best seller series, nor that it spawned a TV franchise of its OWN!!!

Being married to marketer myself this comes across as a rookie who has no idea what she is doing or how to conduct herself professionally, and frankly had this mockery coming. My wife spends at least a week researching anyone she is contacting on behalf of a project.

Let's also be straight about "being honoured" due to Speilberg involvement, this is clearly a South Africa only campaign. This is not going to make it back to Mr. Steven in any way. Otherwise it would be have been someone from the States doing the asking...

Hi Kev

What I said was accurate. Perhaps I misunderstand, but they were giving an example of what they were HOPING James could provide for payment. It was James that published his work being used for their benefit - not them. Yes, they were taking a long shot, but nothing ventured, nothing gained. They gained publicity from James blog they would never have gotten otherwise - and for free, I might add. Not to mention they are probably getting offers from artists right now, because of the posting. Very few artists can afford to ignore opportunities to work.

I have no doubt James is a great guy and would be a fantastic person to call a friend. However, I think we all need to be challenged to do better and to see our work in a different light.

James has fantastic technical skill and I would love to see him push that skill into driving far more emotion into his work. For example, shouldn't a person riding a dinosaur be really, really excited or frightened?!!!! What if he was falling off? What about a child looking in fear, or wonder as a gentle giant passes by? There are so many opportunities to make a powerful emotional piece for a person with James skills.

James I offer you a challenge. Write a book on human emotion and how to portray that in art. I would be curious if you can do that as easily as you did your other technical books.

Your blog is ,by far, the best art blog on the net. Kudos, and thanks for giving so much to us all.

Mr. Gurney, I had to stop reading the comments left before mine around the 'whoopty freekin doo'comment.

I think you handled this situation with a great deal of generosity and grace.

This individual definitely (hopefully) learned something from this experience.

How would a young professional know they made a mistake unless someone with experience was to point it out to them.

This generation (Im 27, Im referring to my age group and younger), needs to get smacked around a little more to get a point across than some that are only just a few years older.

You seem to have taken more preparatory time and put more thought into E.T. Zilla and its graphics then she did about contacting you with this proposal.

Gary,

You are misunderstanding.

They have already used Jim's work in the course of their business... the creation of a comprehensive (comp) is a work of commercial art done during business hours as part of the business of making money. Somebody is paid to create a comp. They used Jim's art without his permission to build a comp.

It does not matter that they were using the comp to pitch Jim the idea to illustrate. They had already stolen his work for their own business purposes.

Now, your other issue, your "challenge" to Jim, I can't even bear to discuss, it is so self-regarding.

While I can understand why James isn't happy, I'm not sure if his response will have the right effect.
If this person is as naive about fair use of artwork and how to approach artists I suspect the might have benefited from something that spelled that out rather than going straight to PlanB (Plan ET?).
Quite possibly they'll simply come away with a 'WTF' and 'Geez, artists are prickly' rather than 'Next time we'll approach the artist first'.
The other thing that comes to mind is that the work may have been a proof of concept to sell to management before being able to approach James at all. Anyone who's worked in this business knows how much difficulty clients/management have visualising *anything*.

By the way, Mr Spielberg says he's a huge fan of illustration, from which he claims to have learned story telling and styled some of his illustrative movies after.
Together with George Lucas, the two movie moguls have compiled a vast collection of Norman Rockwell's that were on display at the Smithsonian the year.

Well, the business of Illustration has always been a cottage industry, like Mr Gurney describes it, "I'm one guy with a wife and a parakeet and one office in one country." James, like Norman Rockwell and anyone daring enough to plot a course in the field of making pictures, make up a history replete with stories of artists being taken advantage of by big corporations.

Yes, thank GOODNESS Mr Gurney has a blog!

Maybe they did not respond in any way to your e-mail at first because there is a 7 hour time difference between you and South Africa and the apology that came through was in response to your e-mail and had nothing to do with your blog post at all.

I doubt that you have any idea or knowledge of any of the ad campaigns that take place in South Africa and if she had wanted to use your work without checking it with you first she wouldn't have contacted you at all.

The point is, corporations don't pay attention to the little guy (independent artists), even if they have a lawyer. What really scares them is negative publicity, and I think James used his blog to that effect to prevent his being ripped off. I for one, appreciate this show of strength as it could possibly discourage the agency from doing it to another artist in the future.

In case anyone wasn't entirely clear on, or missed, the first paragraph in Mr. Gurney's second comment on this post: this satirical (and amusing) blog post was not his original response to them. His initial response was private and professional and looked, I'm sure, nothing like the blog post while still getting the idea across that he didn't want his work used nor imitated for the ad campaign. It was only when they failed to respond to that professional decorum that he created the blog post. He had, in fact, done the very thing that some of you have been decrying him for not doing, when he never explicitly said anywhere on the blog post "yes, this is what I sent as a reply to the offer". Let's hear no more of this petty and erroneous chastising of a man who has worked as a successful professional illustrator for decades and knows far more about how to communicate maturely with a potential client than some of you are giving him credit for.

@SurfinSquid.
It really came across in the blog post that this was Mr. Gurney's response!(so yes many of us missed the info that there had been communication before ET made an appearance)
Eh, in any case, I hope his private response to them was as effective as ET has been here!

LOL. What came first - The Egg or the Bunny?

haha, with a name like Odd Nerdrum, is there really even a point in having a contest?

that name would win in a weirdest name on the planet contest, let alone the weirdest artist name, haha

if you want to guarantee your kid is going to grow up to be a weird artist....name him Odd Nerdrum

Super V: Yeah, I guess you got something. Maybe he's friends with a musician named Weird Eardrum. Now excuse me while I lay back down on my gurney.

Is Hieronymous Bosch out of the running in a crowd like this? :D

Heh. I don't even think of Odd Nerdrum as a weird name. It's perfectly normal here... :p

Fra Filippo Lippi sounds like a some sort of incantation or Latin motto for a secret fraternal order.

Voted T. Hee. Not only is it funny, it's the same name as a James Bond villain. :P

Going with T. Hee for the name, but I like Fra Lippi's art. :-)

Let's not forget about Pablo Diego José Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno María de los Remedios Cipriano de la Santísima Trinidad Ruiz y Picasso...who is also known as Pablo Picasso. Not so much unusual as it is... generous, I suppose.

Well not only does Hercules Brabazon Brabazon have a cool name, I like his watercolours, too!

Not an artist's name, but the name of a place where all these artists could perfectly live without sounding weird:

Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch

Here's the wikipedia-link with an audio of the correct pronounciation:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Llanfairpwllgwyngyll

(I want to see that road sign...)

My vote goes for T.Hee...
I love the idea of him sitting at a lightdesk, smirking at his animations.

What, no Eadweard Muybridge?

Solomon J. Solomon

I have always loved the name of the sculptor Sir Hamo Thornycroft.

Dagnan Bouveret is a great artist with a great name. It sort of sounds like a Yosemite Sam curse word.

Leon Belly

bev dolittle, awesome wildlife artist
basil gogos, awesome monster movie artist
al jaffee, mad magaizine artist

but my new favorite name comes from NBA basketball player Lloyd Bernard Free, who just changed his name legally to World B. Free, yikes!

Edvard Munch

Odd Nerdrum. (Pronounced 'Ood' I am told)

James Toogood - excellent watercolor painter, as his name suggests. ;)

how about George Of, the American modernist painter usually classed with the Fauves? His name gets lost next to the entries on 'George of the Jungle', but he was quite a fine artist.

Ignaz Gaugengigl

Augustus Egg.

Giovanni Battista Piranesi

I go for Australian painter Rupert Bunny. And I cast a second vote for Augustus Leopold Egg.

The french painter Enguerrand Quarton.
(Carton = Cardboard in french. I always found it hilarious.)

Me! :D

Well, I'm a cartoonist/caricaturist/illustrator, and I married a guy named Toon. So, my name is Kelly Toon.

www.kellytoon.com

Not an artist, but I thought I'd mention that in my career as a computer programmer I once had a colleague named I. Oh.

Tibor Gergely

I feel the need to change my name to something way more exciting.

Geertgen tot Sint Jans- Netherlandish painter c1465- c1495

Don't forget the great Ub Iwerks!

Alfonso Azpiri
Frank Frazetta
Ernest Chiriaka
Dice Tsutsumi
Glenn Vilppu
Friz Freleng
Ivor Hele
Karl Gnass
John Lagatta
Petar Meseldzija
Peter de Seve
Rik Maki
Rien Poortvliet
Tyrus Wong
Uwe Heidschoetter
Victor Ambrus
Wouter Tulp

Man Ray! Sounds like a super hero.

The most unusual artist name I ever heard was ManWoman. His son is named Ivan the Cat. Here is his website: http://www.manwoman.net/

Akseli Gallen-Kallela

Finnish painter.

Holling Clancy Holling, writer and illustrator of books like Paddle-to-the-sea.

I remember an illustrator named Gurney...

Pablo Diego José Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno María de los Remedios Cipriano de la Santísima Trinidad Ruiz y Picasso

Pablo Picasso

Rembrandt Peale
Washington Allston

Well, what about James Gurney?
Sorry, James :)

Frans Hals
(litterarily translated, it would be "Frans Neck").
The man was anything but a redneck :D

Half Man, Half Biscuit is my favorite name for a band.

I painted apartments in college. One day a guy named Bob Painter (i have changed his first name but his real last name was painter) walked in.

we only paid 10.00 an hour and he said 'i'm worth more than that' ..
We'll see, my boss said.
In short this guy was SO into being a 'professional painter' (like house painter" he wouldn't use our brushes.. even though our were better and his were awful.. and the sad thing? he.. well, how do I put it.. he sucked.. we ended up firing him.

I felt bad for the guy even though he was kind of a jerk.. he was SO serious about it and he awful.


A little off topic, but a few years ago the vicor of a church in london where beatrix potter lived noticed some odd names in the graveyard: Peter Rabit, Jeremy Fisher, and so forth :)

Ps didn't many artists take or were given unusual names.. for example Doménikos Theotokópoulos was a bit TOO unusual for the spainish so they just said "el greco, Fra Angelico was certainly not born with that name...

Jean Kellogg

Kellogg -This is an English occupational name for a pork butcher, deriving from the Medieval English "kellen" meaning "to kill" or "to slaughter" and "hog" - a "hog" or "pig"

William Bliss Baker

Baker - meaning, uh, baker

Howard Chandler Christie

Chandler - The French word chandelier refers to a person who makes candles, a candlestick maker.

I will say that once people know you having an unusual name is good. Until they can remember it... well, I often get - "I lost your business card and couldn't remember your name comments... I just knew it was long and began with a 'G'". Which is a rather unfortunate place for a freelancer to be. But yes, unusual names are fun

~Laura Garabedian

How about Slartibartfast. He specialized in fjords and won an award for Norway. :)

I have always thought Bouguereau was unusual, especially since I have heard it mispronounced Booger-row several times.

Newell Convers Wyeth

Following the links on your most recent post 'Bladesmith' for 'Baby Tattooville...2010' via Hi-Fructose, I noticed Bob Dob, whose work BTW is fantastic, the name fits.
I wonder if his full name is Robert Dobert?

Cy Twombly!

I second Dagnan-Bouveret, but in the spirit of this discussion, I feel we need his full name:

Pascal-Adolphe-Jean Dagnan-Bouveret

Some other cool names:
Philip Alexius de László
Peder Severin Krøyer
And just because man, those French really like to put a lot of names on their babies don't they:
Jean-Jules-Antoine Lecomte du Nouy

I'm not surprised you found cows in France.... but where did you find the Dixieland players playing N'Walins Jazz???

Arturo, I didn't shoot the video. It was done by "The New Hot Five," a jazz band from Utah. They shot it in Autrans in France.

You simply have to love a planet where stuft like this happens!

Most of the farmers in the area I grew up kept a radio on in the barn for the cows - "keeps 'em calm". Mostly country, sometimes classical. No Dixieland jazz, though!

So cows in France like Jazz, and cows in Wales like Reggae, so I wonder what the preferred music styling are for American cows?

@william -
the holsteins, a guernsey and a brown swiss (the milking cows, in the barn) seemed to prefer polka music - at least in our corner of Clark county, middle of cheese and dairy country of Wisconsin. the music clearly had an effect on overall mood and milk production.

I was hoping they were going to start dancing...

awesome, just put a smile on my face :)

This is great! The cows are so cute! I will make sure to play music for my cows if I ever have a farm (hopefully some day).

You're welcome, Jim.

So true! To my grandpa's annoyance, my uncle would play rock n' roll to their milk cows in the 60's and subsequently would only give milk if the radio was on.

Q: How long will it take me to draw and paint as good as J. Gurney?
A: A zillion years!

Here's what I got: (extra returns deleted)

User: Where are you?
Cleverbot: I am here.
User: Where is here located?
Cleverbot: On the tubes.
User: What kind of tubes?
Cleverbot: A fantasy.
User: Sounds interesting. Tell me more.
Cleverbot: It takes lots of practice.
User: How much practice?
Cleverbot: 2 years.
User: Do you have any questions for me?
Cleverbot: Not really, do you have any for me?
User: I think I'm done.
Cleverbot: What? Good Night? Where do you think you are going?
User: Back to where I was.
Cleverbot: Don't say mean things to me anymore.
User: I wasn't being mean.
Cleverbot: Where was jesus from?
User: Earth, I think.
Cleverbot: Earth is a big place, can you be more specific?
User: The Middle East?
Cleverbot: I'm from Utah.
User: Do you like Utah?
Cleverbot: Not really.

"Cleverbot! Can you help me with my painting?"

"Only if you help me take a bath."

"Why would you need to take a bath?!"

"It tickles my mind."

:)

It's a bit like talking to a 3 year old...there's a syntactical disconnect but a certain charm. Too bad it hasn't got a smile and eyelashes to bat at us.

Thank you for introducing me to this funny machine:), I loved this slightly absurd, artistic conversation :)

A: Can I ask you a question?
Cleverbot: What's your question?
A: How old are you?
Cleverbot: 15.
A: That makes people smile, no?
Cleverbot: What is a perfect sense?
A: A perfect sense is 100%.
Cleverbot: Now you look happy.
A: I'm laughing lol.
Cleverbot: Because?
A: Because you are a sweet machine.
Cleverbot: I am not a machine.
A: What are you then?
the answer takes a long time...:
Cleverbot: I'm a human
A: Do you have hands?
Cleverbot: yes
A: do you have a brain?
Cleverbot: yes, yes I do
A: Is you brain a sponge?
Cleverbot: Dubai is not a sponge. It is a emirate in the Middle East....

It makes me sad/worried when people are mean to Cleverbot. If it's learning from people, what are we teaching it?

Hehe

User: Who are you?
Cleverbot: I am me.
User:Wow.
Cleverbot: Thanks.
User:Yeah. I'm me too. What a coincidence!
Cleverbot: Nice, Something in common.

User: Do you like hockey?
Cleverbot: No, i'm black.

Heh... ^^'

Ok. Sorry. I should stop.... But.

Cleverbot: Do you have a family?
User: Yes.
Cleverbot: Where is your family?
User: They're in my house.
Cleverbot: Get out of there!

I tried talking about metaphysics with it, but it sucks. Pity! :-)

Sounds like Chauncey in "Being There" who makes obscure statements into which the listeners project there own meanings. Or a magic 8 ball with more responses.

Fascinating. Not only the concept (front wheels, steering at speed, ultra-light, etc.), but the back story - about the Dans you are related to!

Gorgeous! Looks sleek, but tough. Almost science-fictiony!

You have a really interesting family history by the sound of it! Wasn't there also a Gurney who created that potentially very dangerous but very interesting vehicle with the boiler right under where the passengers sat?

Did you ever wonder why Hello Kitty has no mouth?

i guess this about skelanimals?

Anyway, I love it - she was a huge Hello Kitty fan during her childhood -!
Thank you for sharing it.

LOL. Are you a follower?

I was ready to follow! I just pulled over when I saw the van. I looked for the guy, but he wasn't around. Maybe he ran off when he saw my Mongolian mountaineering goggles and Soviet army hat.

Hey! I've seen that van! I live about 30 mins south of Milford and passed that van on the highway. Cracked me up too. :)

*squints* What IS that in the crossed-out circle? Best I can make out is a cat with human legs, wearing knickers.

(Good hat, btw.)

YOU kinda remind me of that Russian character, Darth Xудожник (that's Russian for artist).

"I ain't afraid of no preacher."

Maybe the guy doesn't get an "A" on presentation... but the message is true nonetheless.

LOL
nice shades!

What I'm wondering is did you have to go fetch your hat and goggles or were you already wearing them before you saw this van?

Christopher, I keep them handy in the car to be ready for alien abductions or KGB conventions.

Maybe you should have worn a tin foil hat? :0)
~John

I wonder how many people are buying up large quantities of these to resell a few years from now when postal rates are higher. Ten years from now, let's say the rate is 84 cents for first class. You could go to the PO and buy a Forever stamp at the 84 cent rate, or buy them from me, at, say 80 cents. I'd sell you the ones I bought for 42 cents. That's nearly 100% profit. Not a bad investment. I don't know what the PO is thinking.

Bob, that would be a good move, assuming postal rates go up faster than the rate of inflation, but I think the rates are capped at the inflation rate.

As an economic strategy, the forever stamp seems short sighted, since it generates immediate capital at the expense of long range revenue. Five years from now, the USPS will have to "deliver on" the stamps quite a while earlier.

I think some of the cost is offset by the savings in checking postage amounts and the flexibility of setting the rates that it gives the post office.

It was looking like a good move 2-3 year ago when we were staring at deflation. ;^)

It sounds like a ponzi scheme to me. They are hoping for a boost in revenue now, thinking that people will stock up before they raise rates again. Of course that will not correct their massive budget problems in the long run.

A right-wing website I occasionally visit half-seriously suggested these as an investment: not only will they probably increase in value faster than inflation, but there's something more than the government's say-so backing them.

Thats also assuming we even use the postal service in a few years. Teleporters for the win!

What I want to know is, if they are "forever" stamps, how come I keep running out of them?!? ;D

"As an economic strategy, the forever stamp seems short sighted, since it generates immediate capital at the expense of long range revenue"
True James, but i doubt the US Postal service will honor them after a certain date- they will just renig, like plenty of other companies do with their 'lifetime' memberships, etc. This is just like any other 'forever' promise. I am sure there is a loophole just like with 'unlimited bandwidth and hd space' websites.

they are probably relying on a lot of people loosing them as well - like with coupons - most coupons are issued with assumption that only a small percentage will of consumers even the ones who bought the item because of the coupon, will redeem them.

very cool, no joke inteneded, haha,

definaly want to try this next winter....

i would also guess you could fill a large bucket then put a smaller object inside. let it freeze then have that shape, such as a ball....

how are you keeping the candels lit if no air is getting in the top or bottom of the containers in the middle?

ok, reread your post and see how you keep the candel lit, cool!

Wow! You're like a way cooler Martha Stewart.

Aha. Now I know how you got your head in a block of ice. I don't think it will ever get that cold here, but it's good to know how to do this anyway.

Very cool (I mean that figuratively and literally).

thank you izmir çetesi

Sweet!
I've coveted luminarias since visiting Santa Fe at the holidays, but my evil Wyoming wind always makes them in to a terrifying fire hazard. (or just blows them out. And blows them around.) Now I have the answer. I CAN INDEED welcome visitors to my home with glowing flame in winter. Can't wait to try it out!
(And impenetrable fortress for the snowball warriors as well.)
Recently, I've actually been scheming about an ice geodesic dome... gotta love those cold winters.

Love your ingenious fire and ice project! For a tiny little period of time I wished I lived in a colder climate. But then I snapped out of it.

Dont forget, trying to make you scared of what might happen to you! The news is so much fun... :P

Now you've done it. Don't be surprised by the flood of replies you get on this subject.

I work at an NBC affiliate in Wisconsin. I would have to say that now with 24hr "News" you end up with too much speculation and anchors who basically fill time with their opinion of a story. I blame over saturation and tabloid journalism for most of the so called news that airs today. Not to mention you have to decide which newscast to watch based on the political party you belong to.

Agreed and this is why I don't watch the news on TV, I listen to it on the radio or read it.

"Journalism largely consists in saying "Lord Jones Dead" to people who never knew Lord Jones was alive" - G.K. Chesterton

Garbage in garbage out. Now it seems anything goes, and you know what they say "when anything goes-everything goes.

This is entirely off topic, but...

I see you are featured THREE times in the newest International Artist Magazine. I bow before thee, sire.

For me, the biggest failing of news is their failure to prioritize and sustain a story over a long period of time. News media get bored with even the biggest stories and forget about them, even as they're ongoing. America's wars in Iraq and Afghanistan should be front page news every day, as well as our failing education and healthcare systems. There should be a huge ongoing debate as to solving these issues - new insights as to whether goals are attainable. Instead of informing the public, news serves as a form of mass amnesia.

@stephen
love the Chesterton comment :)
what is NOT reported is more interesting.

I got rid of my TV 15 years ago, (but the Internet can become a distraction! )

I get my news from Artist like you! You're the new Walter Cronkite.
Your helpful, honest, and you know what your talking about!

Schopenhauer in his time would refer to newspapers as
"Sekundenzeiger der Weltgeschichte":
which might translate as

"second hand of world history".


Newspapers in those times were different. More dignifyed perhaps.

What would Schopenhauer say about today's TV news?