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There! I said it. Photography is stupid. I hate it, I hate it, I hate it! WHAAAA!
Ok, not really. But, kind of… sort of… almost…. My problem, I suppose, is that I have an intense love/hate relationship with the art. It’s kind of like a very long term marriage that’s gone sour — deep down [...]

How very odd! I have a pack of Export ‘A’ king size cigarettes sitting right in front of me. The pack contains a very clear warning, spoken in absolute terms, from our friends at Health Canada. It states, in no uncertain terms:

“WARNING: 85% of lung cancer deaths are caused by smoking.”

A recent post on a discussion board in this Facebook group has given me a chuckle. Someone named Peter Thurgood has come up with what sounds to be a highly amusing game. He calls it “Chase the Antis.” Here’s what Peter wrote, see what you think:

“I think most smokers will know what I mean, when I say that since last July, smokers have been chased from pillow to post. We have been ostracised from society, we have been stopped from socialising with our friends, we have been told that we are un-clean, and that we stink, we are now being chased in the streets by council officials in case we drop the odd fag end, even though our streets are absolutely covered in chewing gum, which is almost impossible to clean off, and there are take-away wrappers thrown everywhere, none of that matters, because us filthy smokers have dropped a fag end.

Over a quarter of the world’s population smokes. Yet, mouth cancer is a very rare disease. That, by force of logic, makes crap like this nothing more than fallacious, sensationalistic, fear mongering. It’s disingenuous psychological warfare tactics — pure propaganda. This is yet more evidence to heap upon the ever-growing, now truly huge, pile of evidence that clearly shows the anti-smoking lobby to be a shameful blight on humanity.

Anonymous public art meets horticulture?

I love the idea of growing things. I don’t know why, I just do. I haven’t done very much of it though — it usually requires more time and discipline than I’m able or willing to give. But, I still love the idea of it. I always have. I especially love the idea of growing things that bear food of some kind — fruit or vegetables. I don’t know, there’s just something attractive about the idea of, through my own care and work, bringing something alive into being and seeing it produce fruit capable of providing sustenance and pleasure to the senses.