Peter's Books, Photography and Miscellaneous Musings
Daphne Cooper is a long-time friend, dating back to our days at the University of Cape Town Mountain and Ski Club. She is also an accomplished fellow writer. Seven or eight years ago she challenged me to a private writing contest. It’s been going on ever since.
This is how the challenge works:
Continue reading “The Great Writing Challenge: Daphne vs. Peter”“A man who is not afraid of the sea will soon be drowned,” he said, “for he will be going out on a day he shouldn’t. But we do be afraid of the sea, and we do only be drowned now and again.”—John Millington Synge, The Aran Islands.
Credit: Pixabay contributor 51581
If you’ve watched any movies since the late 1980s, you will have listened to a musical genius named Hans Zimmer. His movie soundtrack credits and multiple awards include:
Continue reading “Johnny Depp, Theseus and Mrs. S’s Kayak”(as at July 2023. Since then I’ve become more impressed, at least with Dall.E-3)
AI – artificial intelligence – may have a bright and/or scary future when it grows up. With apologies to the proud parents, though, the particular AI that I’ve played with over the last few weeks (June-July 2023) shows no signs of being gifted. And unlike many other toddlers, it appears to be getting dumber as it ages.
Continue reading “AI – the Toddler that’s Getting Dumber Every the Day.”You might think this is a post about one of my books. Yes and no. It’s also about an argument with Mrs. S. concerning tombstone inscriptions; who Canada’s best authors are; and whether that should include Canadian poets and songwriters.
Let’s start with my book, Naarlen. It’s my fifth novel and the black sheep of them all. Most readers hate the book. It’s only redeeming feature is that a small number of determined readers love it. Fanatically. I would say “cult” but I think you need more than nine for a cult.
I ran a series of social media posts about Grisou the Cat. In each post I inserted him into some well known work of art – usually a painting – to show the artist how it should be done right. Then I challenged viewers for the best caption, to win international bragging rights. While there were great captions, the judges ignored MY captions. Quelle frustration! So by popular demand from the adoring millions (rounded up to the nearest millions) this post is dedicated to MY captions. At last! Take that, stupid judges!
God: More bloodied angel wing feathers in the garden? This has to stop.
[Hi-res version and more artist info at https://www.photo.net/photo/18654743]
Continue reading “Improving Great Art. One Cat at a Time.”