Thanks for visiting and Merry Christmas, Hanukkah, Yule, Festival of Light............

Where I come from, Christmas is a cold affair.

We ski, we skate, we make snowmen, snow angels

and drink a lot of hot drinks.

Here, in Australia, Christmas is a very, very, stinking hot

affair.

We eat outside. Preferably by the ocean dressed in

swimming gear and with an Esky full of ice cold

drinks nearby.

For some of us Christmas is a very merry time with

family and friends.

For some of us its more of a solemn, reflective and

''spiritual'' time.

And for many of us its PARTY! time.

Regardless of what we call it: Hanukkah, Yule, 

Festival of Lights etc. etc.

 It is a time for a break from work (whatever that may be),

from everyday routine

and to spend some time doing something different.

As I am writing this I am waiting to hear from 

The Hospital to which my mother has been taken

quite unexpectedly.

Speaking with one of the paramedics I was

told that she has developed a lump on one of her legs

and fearing a blood clot she has been taken

to a hospital near me.

As I may have to dash any moment, I am taking

this waiting time to just wish you a very great Christmas.

Wherever in the world you may be, the reason I

write the stuff that I write and paint/photo the stuff that

I do, is to try and connect/communicate with you.

I appreciate and feel very humbled by the thought

 that you spend time

reading my scribbles and looking at my art.

Thank you for doing so.

You are appreciated.

MERRY CHRISTMAS and

a HAPPY NEW YEAR.

Citizen Z

 

                            about the images: A little village I made out of wood. Painted it white,

                           Above image: acrylic on medium canvas.

Telling the truth is not a revolutionary act.......................

Once upon a time a photograph used to be deemed as irrefutable proof

in depicting the objective truth/evidence of something. 

A photograph didn't lie, a photograph merely objectively recorded something

the way it happened and the time it happened.

Photographs/forensic photography is commonly used as a tool 

in the law courts by both defense and prosecution because

photos, whether digital or analogue, has the ability

to ''cement'' a situation, a moment in time close to

''true'', or rather, as in what we consider ''true'' to be.

Let me ask you this: In your view, how does one

decide whether something is true or not?

How do we decide whether something is true or not(false)?

Is it even possible for a human being to ever be able

to judge something without any kind of bias(unconscious opinion)

affecting our judgement?

Outside of mathematical facts and scientific truths,

are we actually able as humans to disconnect ourselves

from our consciousness, emotions and experiences?

Do you know that AI's can lie?

Whaaat?????

Are we so disconnected from any kind of 

truth that it no longer matter nor exists?

 Are we so royally screwed and disillusioned

about the importance of truth

that we even make machines lie???!!!!!!

-Don't tell me what's true!!! I live according to

MY truth, she said angrily.

-Truth?! You can't handle the truth, said Jack Nicholson

in ''A Few Good Men"".

-Don't tell me that you know the truth. My gut tells me what

 the truth is, you don't, he said and walked away.

If I keep claiming, 

insisting something to be objectively true,

 is that sufficient in itself to show or confirm something

to be so?

I don't believe so.

Objective truth as far as I can understand the concept, 

can only be confirmed independently and by a non-human

mind because human minds (so say those in the know)

are biased. (Automatic, prejudiced view-point.)

For a kid in Germany, a pig says: grunz, grunz.

For a kid in Sweden a pig says: nuff, nuff.

For an English speaking kid a pig says: oink, oink.

Who is telling the truth? They all are.

The language used to vocally illustrate the sound a pig makes

can be viewed as a subjective truth. How?

Because, the pig makes the same sound regardless of

the country it is in. The sound is what it is but due to

language differences the sound a pig and other animals make

is subjected to the language/dialect spoken by the person

hearing the pig.

These days it can be very hard to know anything really.

My understanding of ''knowing something'' is to have:

 an understanding supported by facts and information

on a subject/something.

In some cases added to this may be personal experience 

and an emotional understanding.

There is stuff that I know. There is stuff that I know that

I don't know. There is stuff that I don't know that I don't know.

For me there is no such thing as alternate facts for instance.

(In my view, facts are either verifiable or not and if

they are not verifiable, they are not facts.)

Some people favour the term: alternate facts.

As far as I am concerned however,

the term alternate fact is used to obfuscate and contradict

verifiable evidence/facts and personally I view the term

 as an oxymoron.

Sometimes we may prefer not to know some truths.

We may prefer to stay away from information that is

hard to digest and instead try to find

''alternate facts'' that offer a more digestible truth.

One of my favorite people who was able to

serve us some very heavy truths yet have us

laughing while he was doing so, is Charlie Chaplin.

He* and other artists and comedians in my view

can be viewed as the truth-tellers

of ''society'' as they use their ''art'' to expose hypocrisy

 and provide an unflinching and personal reflection

of what they see, hear and experience

in order to challenge us all.

 (*His movies are still available for viewing.)

More often than not, I believe that every now

 and then we can all do with a dose of truth telling

wrapped up in some ''straight-up'' comedic or

other kind of artistic expression.

 

"Each person does see the world in a different way.

There is not a single, unifying, objective truth.

We are all limited by our perspective."

(Siri Husvedt)

about the images: top: photo of a glass with Ribena cordial in it

standing on the bench with a single beam of

light shining through it.

 Charlie: acrylic on large canvas

It's often easier to judge then being judged......

The Judge

Every day he sees them in court.

They are the youth, the children of a disenfranchised society.

They are torn, worn, ignored.

They are not listened to, given loving attention

or assured of their worth.

They are invisible yet also too visible.

They are too loud yet also not loud enough.

They are hard to understand, they have their own

language and their own way of interacting accordingly.

''They'' belong to their own kind of people,

people with their own rules and ''laws''.

And five days a week, his job is to

somehow........ judge them.

''Down goes the gavel,

up stands the child,

Down goes the future

Up goes the crime

Down goes the hopeful

Up those who doubt.''

For thirty-three years he's sat on the bench.

Once a young man of great expectations.

Now a man of grey hair and hyper-tension.

He knows the rules and amendments well.

He knows for some, life is but a never-ending hell.

''Down goes the gavel,

up stands the youth,

Down goes the future

Up goes the crime

Down goes the hopeful

Up those who doubt.''

His wife no longer by his side

His children grown, 

they have their own lives.

Just him and all his thoughts:

''I could have done better, 

I could have done more.''

 A judge must be impartial,

must not get too involved, 

must stick to provable truth and logic

and always follow the evidential path.

''Down goes the gavel,

up stands the adult child,

Down goes the future

Up goes the crime

Down goes the hopeful

Up those who doubt.''

 Would not his life and living easier be

if he could just care less and just not see

the possibilities and endless potentials,

that day after day stand there in the dock

mere children taken away to a life ruled by a lock.

''Down goes the gavel,

up stands mankind,

Down goes the future

Up goes the crime

Down goes the hopeful

Up those who doubt.''

He's been told by cynics and scoffers alike:

''Stop your forgiving you know how they lie!

All of them are lazy, they don't even try.

They break all the rules without trying

 to comply.''

 There are days when his heart grows weary.

Days when hope seems gone and left is but the dreary.

And yet.....

He can't stop but believe that even if told a lie

one should at least be willing to listen to all sides

whether the words be spoken by an adult or a child.

Down goes the bias

up goes the understanding.

Down goes the prejudice

up goes the understanding and acceptance.

Down goes the exclusivity

up goes the understanding, acceptance

and inclusivity.

about the image: first a sketch then played with in Elements

The original is a water colour on large paper and looks totally

different