#Professional Cartoonists Organisation

[downthetubes]

Professional Cartoonists Organisation’s Cartoonists go to the Theatre exhibition opens in London today

Photo via Glenn Marshall Today, Monday 14th August, sees the opening of the Professional Cartoonists Organisation’s Cartoonists go to the Theatre exhibition at Charing Cross Library in London. In addition to the free exhibition, there will be workshops and the selling and signing of original works. PCO member James Mellor will give a free talk on Monday 21st August at 6.30pm. Booking essential…

[reimenaashelyee]

This is maybe not so important to announce but it's going to affect my online activity/webcomic updates, so here it is:

I am going back to school and pursuing a Masters in Arts Management until 2025

If you recall, I have spoken several times in my blog about my past life in academia, the quarter-life crisis that resulted from it (not the full story), and the occasional spasm of desiring institutional recognition.

I am willingly! voluntarily! going back through the gates of the ivory tower.

For the past few years now, I’ve been slowly crabwalking towards an administrative, organisational, educational/resource-providing, leadership-type role in my areas of work (comics, writing, illustration, commercial art).

I hinted about somewhat being sick of the physical and emotional investment of comics-making trapping me to the same four-walls. The 2-ish years of hard commitment that each graphic novel demands is something that I don’t mind doing, especially for a story I truly believe in. However, I cannot keep doing this consecutively. For two years, I keep having visions of myself in my late-fifties asking me, now, if this is all worth it: to devote all this time to make comics that people like, but to not have a life lived? I am thinking of those mangaka who spend all their time breathing eating knowing only comics, and then suddenly, dying with not much to show except their impressive body of work. Did they see enough of the world? Did they eat enough good food? Have they discovered all their non-comics passions? I certainly don’t want my ghost to ask the same questions when she sees my body.

In a way I’ve sort of outgrown that shine of comics as a full-time job: ironically, in my success at producing audience/market-friendly work in exchange for financial support, I do not have time at all to pursue experimental, personal play and art that truly speaks to me. I’m also facing the reality that, as much as I enjoy working in traditional publishing, I am running out of ideas. I only have 2 to 3 more stories left in me for young adult/middle grade graphic novels. After that? I don’t know…

(Unless the new graphic novel imprints are suddenly hungry for adult work. Because, boy, do I have ten billion ideas.)

Anyway, the situation is that the majority of the graphic novel space in traditional publishing is still cashing in on the boom for middle-grade/young adult stories, with no long-sighted consideration for catering to those readers who will eventually, definitely grow up into adults. Meanwhile, I am running out of kids stories and am desperate to make bloody, complicated work (the kind of stuff I was already making pre-success and am still making), and to disentangle the actual act of creating from income-making. Not in the sense that I don’t want money at all from my comics; just that I don’t want comics to be my primary source of income anymore. And personally… I just want more time to live and be offline.

So this is the emotional aspect that’s been motivating my crabwalking. Still, if that was not a factor, this was always going to be the natural progression of my career anyway.

Like, considering that I began my career as co-founder of a regional comics network and my life-long practice of creating resources, it’s not that surprising. Even when I formally officialised my career in 2018 as a Traditionally Published, Professional Comics Creator in the Mid-list, I was also engaging in the administrative with my dayjob at Hiveworks, in addition to the aforementioned regional comics network UNNAMED, and now, the Cartoonist Cooperative. I continually make resources and facilitate them. The dayjob is expanding to include even larger responsibilities (it’s not really company-related, just a consulting thing we’re doing with a giant entity).

Clearly, the horizontal pivoting has gotten to the point where that aspect is becoming the majority of my practice, into something that I actually want to form the bulk of my career and the foundation of my 30s era. It’s happening at the same time as my desire to withdraw from the cycle of commercial production to focus on what I call studio/residency work aka sketching and making my webcomics.

So yeah, I’ve decided to formalise the other half of what I am already doing, since in this universe one can’t get a job in corporate/NGO/NPO art administration without a degree – despite years of experience and evidence of extremely specialised skills that don’t exist in a university course but are valuable on the ground (do they teach comics crowdfunding and webcomics marketing/production in tertiary?). And I do intend to go somewhat corporate, even if it’s as someone who runs a literary festival or artist residency. Because I actually find pleasure in doing all that admin juggling. I like helping artists pursue their practice. It engages a side of my brain that is understimulated since I stopped academia.

I went to the Orientation session on Thursday. It had been exactly 8 years since I last did an Orientation for school; I am no longer a wide-eyed doe so the entire time I was barrelling through the throngs of baby undergraduates and sitting through the talks with laser-focused practicality (putting aside the nice-sounding speeches for the actual hard facts of where stuff is and who to contact; though the speeches were quite thoughtful).

Anyway,

anyway…

This is a long-winded post to break the Jinx and say I am officially pursuing my Masters in Arts Management. Two years of this. Who knows what may happen?

Hopefully I will come out with better experiences this round, since this would be the first time that I chose a course not out of anxiety for the unknown, but because I very much know what I want based on experience actually working in industry.

[aroundtheworldiej]

Riad Sattouf wins the Grand Prix at the Angoulême Festival

By Lucas Andrey

At 44, the creator of "The Arab of the Future" is the winner of the 50ᵉ edition of the International Comics Festival, which opens on Thursday. He succeeds Julie Doucet from Quebec.

Copyright: Wikimedia commons

Riad Sattouf The author of the successful series “L'Arabe du Futur”, “Les Cahiers d'Esther”, “Pascal Brutal” and “La vie secrète des jeunes”, was named Grand Prix d'Angoulême on Wednesday 25 January, on the occasion of the opening night of the 50th edition of the International Comics Festival. A vote organised online among professionals in the sector (cartoonists, scriptwriters, colourists, etc.) saw him beat Catherine Meurisse and the American Alison Bechdel, who came out on top alongside him at the end of the first round of voting. Riad Sattouf succeeds Quebec's Julie Doucet in winning this award, which is given to a comic book author for lifetime achievement.

A worldwide success

Although he is one of the youngest winners at 44, the director (Les Beaux Gosses, 2009) has built up a humorous body of work brimming with acuity, with thirty-five books. Until then, Riad Sattouf was one of the few authors to have won the Fauve d'or for the best album at Angoulême twice: in 2010 for volume III of his Pascal Brutal series (Fluide Glacial) and in 2015 for the first volume of L'Arabe du futur, an autobiographical saga of undeniable critical and public success, translated into more than twenty languages, of which the sixth and final chapter has just been published. Riad Sattouf recently added another string to his bow by creating his own publishing house, Les Livres du futur. His consecration is the crowning achievement of a work whose main characteristic is to address the largest number of people, in particular a readership that is far from comics at the beginning.

In 2016, Riad Sattouf was on a list of thirty or so authors, all male, shortlisted for the Grand Prix by the FIBD's artistic direction - a heated debate ensued. He then asked for his name to be removed from the list and replaced by those of adulated female authors, such as Japan's Rumiko Takahashi and Quebec's Julie Doucet. Both have since been elected to the Angoulême prize list, following a reform of the Grand Prix designation system.

[acaseforpencils]

Jonesy (aka Steve Jones).

Bio: So far I’ve been published in Private Eye, New Statesman, Prospect, Harvard Business Review, The Oldie, Reader’s Digest (UK), The American Bystander, The Phoenix, CAM (Cambridge University Alumni Magazine), Resurgence and Ecologist, London Evening Standard and The Spectator.

Tools of choice:

Traditional: Pentels, pencils (seldom anything harder than a B), Uni-balls, Sharpies, brush pens and dip pens. Allsorts, really. For instance, you’ll find various other weird and wonderful oddities in my arsenal like Pilot Parallel nib pens and folded brass dip-pens. The Pilots are intended for use by calligraphers but I enjoy drawing with them. As for the dip-pen, a HIRO Leonardt 41 Copperplate is my nib of choice, nib fans. 

I use Higgins Black Magic and Daler Rowney FW ink and White Knights (formerly St. Petersburg) watercolour paints plus various makes of brushes. I find a toothbrush comes in handy too. (Not for my teeth, obviously: I’m British.) Oh, and a diffuser.

My favourite paper for ink and watercolour work is Saunders Waterford High White HP 140lb, and Canson Bristol mostly for ink only.

I draft out rough ideas on Daler Rowney layout pads. I also use various sketch and note pads and have been known to scribble ideas on anything to hand including pets, plants and passers by. Anything alliterative, really.

Sometimes when I’m out and about I also recite cartoon ideas into my mobile so I can pick them up off my voicemail when I get home. Saying stuff out loud like “lighthouse with a bowling alley” and giggling can attract strange looks from passers by. Scribbling on them, however, invokes a much stronger reaction.

Digital: I use MacBook Pros (x2), a Wacom Intuos 4 pad and stylus. I started off with Photoshop and Painter Essentials but now use Clip Studio Art and Affinity software. Both are much cheaper and - for my purposes anyway - just as good.

Recently I was considering an iPad but I think my newer Macbook Pro is about to give up the ghost so bang goes that idea for the time being. My 2010 MBP has been hammered day and night without giving me a moment’s complaint: a wonderful workhorse. I wish I could say the same for my 2015 version. In their efforts to make the laptop thinner and lighter, Apple, sadly, seem to have sacrificed build quality and durability. How about u-turning on this skinny/lightweight malarkey and making the upcoming model a bit sturdier, eh, Apple? Go on, you know you want to…

Tools I wish I could use better: All of them.

Tools I wish existed: Scanvision - ie: Just looking at the drawing equals instant scan filed on your computer.

Command z on dip-pens. Failing that, an effective ink eraser.

Tricks: Not so much a trick of the trade as sound advice: join the Professional Cartoonists’ Organisation. Only if you’re a cartoonist, like. Or a caricaturist. If you’re a shepherd, say, you probably won’t get too much out of it. Anyway, it’s been an enormous help to me.

Don’t spill coffee on your freshly drawn artwork. All other beverages are fine.

Never throw away ideas. Sometimes I return to cartoons I initially rejected and get a fresh angle on them. Absence can make the thought grow stronger. (Sorry, that last sentence reads like one of those crap motivational posters…)

I find I get the best results by holding the pointy end of my pen to the paper.

Try to avoid cleaning your brushes in your tea/coffee/whatever cup/mug/glass/beaker/whatever. Or, indeed, drinking from your brush water container. (I’ve done both.)

Try to avoid typing sentences with lots of/too many/an excess of options/alternatives/choices/whatever.

Rejection comes with the cartooning territory, I’m afraid. Easier said than done, I know, but try not to let it get you down: use it as motivation to do better. Or try blackmail.

Miscellaneous: Be as helpful as you can to people starting out. I appreciated the kindness of, and learned a great deal from senior pros who took the time to help me with my first steps. (See “Tricks” section above as proof.)

Websites, etc:

My social media empire, such as it is, comprises the following...

Website (I should update this more often)

Instagram (I should update this more often)

Twitter (I should visit this less often)

---

If you enjoy this blog, and would like to contribute to labor and maintenance costs, there is a Patreon, and if you’d like to buy me a cup of coffee, there is a Ko-Fi account as well! I do this blog for free because accessible arts education is important to me, and your support helps a lot! You can also find more posts about art supplies on Case’s Instagram and Twitter! Thank you!

[hyunjoochung]

Raise Three Fingers for Democracy

Exhibition Information Board

Updated on May 4, 2021

Title: Raise Three Fingers for Democracy

An illegitimate takeover

On February 1st, democracy in Myanmar was taken hostage in a brutal coup. The proxy military party won a humiliating 33 of 476 seats in November elections that were declared free and fair by the election commission and international observers. After demands to seize the ballots to recount personally were rejected, they launched their coup in the early hours of the morning, arresting over 200 elected officials returning for parliament, including de-facto leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi.

Unprecedented nationwide protests broke out in a country still finding its democratic voice after a half-century of repression. A civil disobedience movement (CDM) formed. Doctors, teachers and government employees refused to work, joined by other essential sectors. Peaceful, creative protests filled the streets: families banging pots every night at 8pm, days of silence, highways blocked by 'broken down' cars.

Gradually, and then systematically, this was met with horrible brutality. The same military that perpetrated a genocide against the Rohingya now issued orders to shoot protestors in the head. They raid homes at night, and have arrested over 5,000. They have killed over 700 people, including over 50 children, like 6-year-old Khin Myo Chit, shot in the belly to teach her family a lesson. They have tortured over 20 people to death in custody. The internet has been shut down to all but 0.5% of the population. Media outlets that refuse to publish propaganda have been outlawed.

Freedom of the press (54 words)

This now-illegal newspaper can give you a picture of what is happening right now. It’s journalists continue to report while on the run.

[QR code & Screen set to: Mizzima reporting from a safe house]

To understand the nature of the military and their police stooges, you only need a few entries on the lists of this civil organisation tracking and verifying killings, arrests, indefinite detention and warrants:

[QR code & Screen set to: Link to PDF]

Freedom of expression

But there is still hope. The majority resists. People continue the fight every day. A symbol of hope is #threefingers. Used before in other Asian countries where democracy is under threat (the milk tea countries), it has gained major prominence in Myanmar. A group of Myanmar artists, illustrators and creatives used images of this symbol of resistance from the very first day. Since, you can see it in marches, at funerals, through the prison bars, in messages of defection, in the United Nations General Assembly, and where support can be found. It can be carried with you everywhere, and it can mean everything to those who show it.

These artists who first raised these totems of democracy in Myanmar are now putting out the call for support. Already artists, illustrators and cartoonists from around the world, from the UK to Korea, to Australia, Thailand, Hong Kong and farther have begun to return the call. Now, they need more people to join in. The fall of democracy is a worldwide phenomenon – this is just the latest front. They need YOU to stand for democracy, and help them delegitimise this brutal regime.

At night, after a day of beatings, shootings, horrors, frightened of gunshots and raids, losing hope, the young people continuing this fight can look at these artworks, songs, dances or messages, and see hope, solidarity and others that still believe in what they are risking everything for.

Every #threefingers raised builds awareness and support for human rights, freedom and democracy in Myanmar.

Message from our founder

(VIDEO: “We Will Win” by Latt Thone Chuang)

Quote

“At a very basic level, art plays a very practical role. It gets people energized, it makes people emotional, and it gets people to organise and get things done.

Art helps to frame the direction of the protest movement.

Art can also create hope and resilience. It takes people to another level and can help uplift the mood of the people.

I believe art – in all its forms – can give strength to people.

That’s what art can do.

It’s important to keep creating because you can’t handcuff ideas.

You can’t kill art with bullets.

– Maw Khun Thit, Latt Thone Chaung

Night arrests

At night, gunshots and flashbang explosives can be heard across the town. Security forces raid homes, trying to arrest and intimidate dissenting voices. Having suspended laws requiring warrants to search, they leave family members with no knowledge of the charges, location, or condition of their loved ones. Communities set up unarmed neighbourhood watch groups, local men and women who stayed up all night, banging pots to warn of approaching security forces.

Killing children (104 words)

On 23 March, security forces entered the home of 6-year-old Khin Myo Chit and her family in Mandalay. They asked her father if anyone was hiding in the house, and accused him of lying when he said no. When the girl ran to her father's arms, they shot her. She died before they could reach medics. Her last words were: "I can't father, it's too painful". Her brother was arrested and the family are yet to learn of his charge or whereabouts. Khin Myo Chit is one of over 50 child fatalities. All but one on record was shot.

Ethnic minorities

The coup instigator, Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, was found by UN Investigators as the perpetrator the Rohingya genocide and publicly stated he would 'clear up the Bengali problem'. The coup has led to the formation of a National Unity Government of protest leaders, a government that previously had to keep the military on side, and ethnic minorities targeted by the military including the Kachin, Karen and Chin. The Rohingya, the most known of these minorities internationally, are anti-military and are showing the three finger salute themselves.

Targeting poor communities

Since the start of the coup, many noticeable groups have been targeted: elected officials and election monitors, doctors for treating injured protestors, government employees and bank employees for refusing to work. But the violence has been worse in neighbourhoods where poor or factory workers live and work. With the least access to medical or legal help, and the least ability to escape or hide, they continue to risk the most for democracy.

Internet shutdown

Internet and mobile phones were inaccessible to all but the super rich until after 2014. A sim card cost over $3000. Then as democratisation opened up the country, it swelled to over 80% smartphone coverage. Over the last 2 years, Myanmar’s military has conducted the world’s longest internet shutdown over eight townships and a million people in Chin and Rakhine states, to suppress information about its actions there. Now this darkness is returning everywhere: just 0.5% of the population have access to the internet, only then to stop the banking system collapsing. And yet these short years of information have taken root – people know now that they deserve more.

Creative freedom in danger

For fifty years before 2012, art and expression was repressed in Myanmar. It left just one art school, teaching stuffy figurative pastiche. Censorship was visible every day, in newspapers with black bars, banned books, arrests of cartoonists or performers. Art lay dormant, but never died. In 8 short years, expression flourished fearlessly once more. Now over 35 artists, directors and performers have been arrested, and more than 200 are on the run from arrest warrants. Yet, they continue to speak out and use their expression to fight oppression.

Can you help them?

These artists need your words, pictures and actions to amplify their calls. They need you now to fight for democracy under threat in Myanmar and everywhere.

Message of hope

Quote 2 (with Nobel Aung artwork)

“The most inspiring thing has been the unity of people. We all have the same objective. This was apparent since the very first night of the coup. People continue to bang their pots and pans every night at 8 pm to make noise, every day even until now. We are not scared of guns anymore but the military is scared of the noise we make. We give courage and inspiration to each other.”

-Nobel Aung, illustrator and animator

Founder of Raise Three Fingers

Mandatories:

About:

Raise Three Fingers (formerly Art for Freedom MM) is a campaign founded by artists and creatives from Myanmar to bring the global art community together, stand up for democracy and highlight the humanitarian crisis unfolding since the military coup on February 1 2021.

Founders:

Art for Freedom MM

Using Art and Illustration to uphold human rights for Myanmar.

Latt Thone Chaung

We are here to celebrate all forms of creative protests against the military coup in Myanmar.

The Professional Cartoonists’ Organisation (UK)

Home to some of the UK’s finest cartoonists’ talent.

Collaborators:

Fine Acts - A global nonprofit creative studio for social impact

Human Rights Foundation - We partner with world-changing activists in creating innovative solutions to unite the world against tyranny.

Arts Help - Founded on the principle of art making the world a better place, Arts Help is the #1 art publisher, with a community of 2.5 million members.

[alltimebestbooks]

Best Investing and Finance Books

Best Investing Books

1. The Intelligent Investor by benjamin graham

The greatest investment advisor of the twentieth century, Benjamin Graham taught and inspired people worldwide. Graham's philosophy of “value investing”—which shields investors from substantial error and teaches them to develop long-term strategies—has made The Intelligent Investor the stock market bible ever since its original publication in 1949.

Over the years, market developments have proven the wisdom of Graham’s strategies. While preserving the integrity of Graham’s original text, this revised edition includes updated commentary by noted financial journalist Jason Zweig, whose perspective incorporates the realities of today’s market, draws parallels between Graham’s examples and today’s financial headlines, and gives readers a more thorough understanding of how to apply Graham’s principles.

Vital and indispensable, The Intelligent Investor is the most important book you will ever read on how to reach your financial goals.

2. How to Avoid Loss and Earn Consistently in the Stock Market: An Easy-To-Understand and Practical Guide for Every Investor

Hundreds of books are there about ""How to make money from stocks?"" Still 80% small investors suffer loss in the stock market. Why?

Plenty of free trading tips are available across Television and Internet; still maximum small investors are unable to earn significant return consistently from trading. Why?

Why maximum individuals still consider the stock market as a place for gambling?

Investing in high-quality business (stock) at the right price and holding them for a reasonable period is the only way for wealth creation.Written in an easy-to-understand and simple language, this book will guide you on how to select fundamentally strong business, when to buy and sell stocks and above all how to minimize or avoid loss in the stock market. Chapters- 1. How to avoid loss in the stock market? 2. Stock Market is NOT risky at all 3. First step of picking winning stocks 4. How to evaluate management? 5. Valuation - It matters much 6. When to buy and when to sell 7. Do's and don'ts to avoid loss in the stock market 8. How to construct your portfolio? 9. Is it required to follow an equity advisor? 10. Quick formula for picking winning stocks 11. Little bit of myself - Important Lessons to be learnt

The book ends with a small note on "Life is not all about the stock market and money"

3. One Up On Wall Street: How to Use What You Already Know to Make Money in the Market

Penned by the famous mutual-fund manager, Peter Lynch, this book elaborates the many advantages that an average investor has over professionals and how they can help them reach financial triumph.

How To Use What You Already Know To Make Money in The Market explains how your knowledge alone can assist you beat the pros of investing. From the viewpoint of America's most triumphant money manager, investment chances are extensively accessible. Whether supermarket or work place, you can find goods and services everywhere. You have to select these organizations in which to invest, before they are found by skilled analysts. You will find more interesting knowledge on investment. Thus the book has become one of the best seller and treasure among readers. Moreover, this book provides time less recommendation on money business. This book has discussed the tips, ebb and flows on building it big in the investment market.

4. How to Make Money in Stocks: A Winning System in Good Times and Bad

Written by the acclaimed entrepreneur, William J O'Neil, How to Make Money in Stocks: A Winning System in Good Times and Bad, Fourth Edition is a handy guide that that deals with the stock market and its intricacies. The author of this book has written down the hard-earned knowledge he gained from his own experiences as an investor.

The price charts of winning stocks from the past century have been listed out in the beginning of this book. These charts are supplemented with notes throughout in order to make them more comprehensible to readers. In this book, the author discusses his trademark CAN SLIM method of investing.

The CAN SLIM method put together by the author consists of 7 steps which are aimed at maximising profits. This book imparts valuable information about the times when one needs to cut a loss and the times when one needs to invest and make a profit.

Mutual funds and exchange-traded funds are discussed as well by the author and he provides important tips on the ways to properly approach them while investing. The CAN SLIM method highlighted in this book was formulated by the author after analysing stock market patterns over the last 100 years.

How to Make Money in Stocks: A Winning System in Good Times and Bad, Fourth Edition runs its readers through important investment-related aspects such as an organisation's growth rate, demand and supply, mutual funds, etc

5. Irrational Exuberance by Robert J.Shiller

As Robert Shiller’s new 2009 preface to his prescient classic on behavioral economics and market volatility asserts, the irrational exuberance of the stock and housing markets “has been ended by an economic crisis of a magnitude not seen since the Great Depression of the 1930s.” As we all, ordinary Americans and professional investors alike, crawl from the wreckage of our heedless bubble economy, the shrewd insights and sober warnings, and hard facts that Shiller marshals in this book are more invaluable than ever.

The original and bestselling 2000 edition of Irrational Exuberance evoked Alan Greenspan’s infamous 1996 use of that phrase to explain the alternately soaring and declining stock market. It predicted the collapse of the tech stock bubble through an analysis of the structural, cultural, and psychological factors behind levels of price growth not reflected in any other sector of the economy. In the second edition (2005), Shiller folded real estate into his analysis of market volatility, marshalling evidence that housing prices were dangerously inflated as well, a bubble that could soon burst, leading to a “string of bankruptcies” and a “worldwide recession.” That indeed came to pass, with consequences that the 2009 preface to this edition deals with.

Irrational Exuberance is more than ever a cogent, chilling, and astonishingly far-seeing analytical work that no one with any money in any market anywhere can afford not to read–and heed.

Best Finance Books

1. The Millionaire Next Door: The Surprising Secrets of America's Wealthy

The bestselling The Millionaire Next Door identifies seven common traits that show up again and again among those who have accumulated wealth. Most of the truly wealthy in this country don't live in Beverly Hills or on Park Avenue-they live next door. This new edition, the first since 1998, includes a new foreword for the twenty-first century by Dr. Thomas J. Stanley.

2. Technical Analysis of the Financial Markets: A Comprehensive Guide to Trading Methods and Applications

John J. Murphy has now updated his landmark bestseller Technical Analysis of the Futures Markets, to include all of the financial markets.

This outstanding reference has already taught thousands of traders the concepts of technical analysis and their application in the futures and stock markets. Covering the latest developments in computer technology, technical tools, and indicators, the second edition features new material on candlestick charting, intermarket relationships, stocks and stock rotation, plus state-of-the-art examples and figures. From how to read charts to understanding indicators and the crucial role technical analysis plays in investing, readers gain a thorough and accessible overview of the field of technical analysis, with a special emphasis on futures markets. Revised and expanded for the demands of today's financial world, this book is essential reading for anyone interested in tracking and analyzing market behavior.

3. The Simple Path to Wealth: Your Road Map to Financial Independence and a Rich, Free Life

“In the dark, bewildering, trap-infested jungle of misinformation and opaque riddles that is the world of investment, JL Collins is the fatherly wizard on the side of the path, offering a simple map, warm words of encouragement and the tools to forge your way through with confidence. You'll never find a wiser advisor with a bigger heart.” -- Malachi Rempen: Filmmaker, cartoonist, author and self-described ruffian

This book grew out of a series of letters to my daughter concerning various things—mostly about money and investing—she was not yet quite ready to hear.

Since money is the single most powerful tool we have for navigating this complex world we’ve created, understanding it is critical.

“But Dad,” she once said, “I know money is important. I just don’t want to spend my life thinking about it.” This was eye-opening. I love this stuff. But most people have better things to do with their precious time. Bridges to build, diseases to cure, treaties to negotiate, mountains to climb, technologies to create, children to teach, businesses to run.

Unfortunately, benign neglect of things financial leaves you open to the charlatans of the financial world. The people who make investing endlessly complex, because if it can be made complex it becomes more profitable for them, more expensive for us, and we are forced into their waiting arms.

Here’s an important truth: Complex investments exist only to profit those who create and sell them. Not only are they more costly to the investor, they are less effective.

The simple approach I created for her and present now to you, is not only easy to understand and implement, it is more powerful than any other.

Together we’ll explore:

Debt: Why you must avoid it and what to do if you have it.

The importance of having F-you Money.

How to think about money, and the unique way understanding this is key to building your wealth.

Where traditional investing advice goes wrong and what actually works.

What the stock market really is and how it really works.

Why the stock market always goes up and why most people still lose money investing in it.

How to invest in a raging bull, or bear, market.

Specific investments to implement these strategies.

The Wealth Building and Wealth Preservation phases of your investing life and why they are not always tied to your age.

How your asset allocation is tied to those phases and how to choose it.

How to simplify the sometimes confusing world of 401(k), 403(b), TSP, IRA and Roth accounts.

TRFs (Target Retirement Funds), HSAs (Health Savings Accounts) and RMDs (Required Minimum Distributions).

What investment firm to use and why the one I recommend is so far superior to the competition.

Why you should be very cautious when engaging an investment advisor and whether you need to at all.

Why and how you can be conned, and how to avoid becoming prey.

Why I don’t recommend dollar cost averaging.

What financial independence looks like and how to have your money support you.

What the 4% rule is and how to use it to safely spend your wealth.

The truth behind Social Security.

A Case Study on how this all can be implemented in real life.

Don’t let any of this intimidate you. Those that have gone before you say:

“….in his patented no-frills and often humorous style, JL makes it both approachable and simple. And powerful.” “…effective message told in a visual, funny style.” “…a refreshingly unique and approachable take on investing.” “JL Collins has the gift of making boring financial concepts funny and interesting.” “Instead of esoteric equations about measuring a stock's alpha and comparing it to its beta, he lights up the campfire and starts telling stories.”

Enjoy the read, and the journey!

4. The Essays of Warren Buffett: Lessons for Corporate America

The fifth edition of The Essays of Warren Buffett: Lessons for Corporate Americacontinues a 25-year tradition of collating Warren Buffett's philosophy in a historic collaboration between Mr. Buffett and Prof. Lawrence Cunningham. As the book Buffett autographs most, its popularity and longevity attest to the widespread appetite for this unique compilation of Mr. Buffett’s thoughts that is at once comprehensive, non-repetitive, and digestible. New and experienced readers alike will gain an invaluable informal education by perusing this classic arrangement of Mr. Buffett's best writings.

“Larry Cunningham has done a great job at collating our philosophy.”—Warren Buffett

"Larry Cunningham takes Buffett's brilliant letters to a still-higher level by organizing them into single-subject chapters. The book begins, moreover, with an excellent introduction by Larry.”—Carol Loomis

“The book on Buffett—a superb job.”—Forbes

“Extraordinary—full of wisdom, humor, and common sense.”—Money

“A classic on value investing and the definitive source on Buffett.”—Financial Times

5. Too Big to Fail: Inside the Battle to Save Wall Street

They were masters of the financial universe, flying in private jets and raking in billions. They thought they were too big to fail. Yet they would bring the world to its knees.

Andrew Ross Sorkin, the news-breaking New York Times journalist, delivers the first true in-the-room account of the most powerful men and women at the eye of the financial storm - from reviled Lehman Brothers CEO Dick 'the gorilla' Fuld, to banking whiz Jamie Dimon, from bullish Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson to AIG's Joseph Cassano, dubbed 'The Man Who Crashed the World'.

Through unprecedented access to the key players, Sorkin meticulously re-creates frantic phone calls, foul-mouthed rows and white-knuckle panic, as Wall Street fought to save itself.

[maxworthrealtyreviews00]

Maxworth Realty Reviews -  Affordable places for living in Bangalore:

The Silicon valley of India- “Bangalore!” is a city you would love to live. The megacity of India. If you are getting relocated to Bangalore, then cheer up, you are going to love this place for sure! As it is one of the most historical and happening cities in India.

Bangalore is the most demanding city for job-seekers in India. And that is also the one of the reasons behind its name- The Silicon valley of India. Because of its high demand the population of Bangalore is over 12 million. Oh! Don’t worry this is not to scare but just to tell you that this city has much more to offer than you can think of. The two most favourite reasons for which most of the people are relocating to Bangalore are its lovely whether and cosmopolitan culture. Bangalore is located at an elevation of 900m on the Deccan Plateau, making its altitude higher. No place can be better than Bangalore for relocation. But before you start imagining your dream house and get busy with the cumbersome and tedious task of finding a perfect home for yourself, let’s dug into some interesting facts about Bangalore:

·         Bangalore is a city bustling with traffic by day, and IT we employees by night.

·         It is the third most populous city among the essential towns and cities in India.

·         It has more than 1000 temples, 100 churches, 400 mosques, 3 Gurudwaras and two Buddhist viharas, it is a city with culture and diversity.

·         It earned the title of Silicon Valley of India because of the growing start-ups and IT sector.

·         Bangalore is also considered as the hub of headquarters as headquarters of various India’s largest companies are in this city only such as Wipro, Infosys, ISRO, etc.

·         It is India’s second fastest growing city.

·         Most exciting and superb fact is it is the hub of education, with 100s of University and big colleges various students from all over the country come to Bangalore for Their education.

·         Bangalore is the centre for many aerospace organisations like National Aeronautics Laboratories, and Hindustan Aeronautics limited.

·         Bangalore is called the pub capital of India with over 800 pubs.

·         Bangalore houses India’s only cartoon gallery. It exhibits the work of cartoonist across the country.

So, by now these facts must have amazed you about Bangalore and you would have been imagining your life there. But hang on, if you are worrying about the high cost of living there. Oh, well I am not saying it’s not like that. But you can really have a wonderful and worthy home for yourself in this lovely city that too at affordable prices. Don’t be so much pensive about it. Maxworth Reality Company is there to help you with that. Since, 2008 they are offering their excellent and professional services to the people. They try to deliver maximum value to their customers without compromising on their comfort and prices.  They are Karnataka’s one of the largest developers with more than 18 live projects. If you want to have a soothing and comfortable space for yourself as your home, then Maxworth Reality Company is the place for you. They provide housing facilities with all the basic facilities near to you and at the most desirable locations from where you can enjoy the most beautiful views of the city with your family or friends. Doesn’t matter if you are single or have family with you Maxworth Reality offers residential places where you can live comfortably without putting extra burden on your pocket.Maxworth reality reviews are so true and genuine.  Few of the pocket friendly Residential areas in Bangalore:

·         Maxworth Madhura : With 24 hours water supply, round the clock security, club house, this apartment adds the sweetness to your life with the enticing view and admirable weather of the city. This project has only 120 homes. Run, before it’s too late!

·         Max Seri Malur: If you are someone who doesn’t likes apartments that much and wants to have a house of their own, then this project will be the right choice for you. The plots are located near Chokkondhalli, Malur. This place is perfect for people who want to have a relaxed, extravagant lifestyle.

With so many other exciting project options Maxwell worth Company will solve all your queries related to housing and infrastructure facilities. Bangalore is the city for work as well as enjoyment because if no one works like people of Bangalore then, no one parties like them too.

[downthetubes]

Summer Lovin' cartoon exhibition opens at the Duke of Greenwich

Don’t miss “Summer Lovin’” at the Duke of Greenwich pub, London, an exhibition of cartoons by a huge range of creators

If you’re heading to Greenwich, London, this summer, then don’t miss “Summer Lovin’” at the Duke of Greenwich pub, an exhibition of cartoons by a huge range of creators, curated by Daily Mirror cartoonist Pete Songi, who’s also a member of the Professional Cartoonists’ Organisation. The exhibition opened just last week and this time the theme is around ‘Summer Lovin’’. It includes work by some…

[reimenaashelyee]

do you have any tips for young artists struggling to make it in the professional world? I'm about to graduate and I feel so lost and unprepared!

It's a bit difficult to tailor advice for situations like this because it really comes down to the specifics. Did you study animation? Comics? Illustration? Breaking into the industries of each specific field has their own specific outlets/contexts/resources - so me, a cartoonist/illustrator mainly in traditional publishing, can't give you pragmatic tips for a field I have no experience in. The other thing is I don't know how you are struggling and what level of struggling you are at. Have you already had a portfolio? Been sending postcards to art directors? Queried an agent? Or you have no idea how to start a business?

And another thing is; I didn't go to school for art. I went to school for an entirely different career path in the academic sciences and jumped ship to commit full-time to a semi-official arts practice - a thing I had nurtured since I was a teen, had done work in, and I already knew the shape of. Things really came together at the right time to allow me the career I have now and totally avoid the situation where my family would be disappointed at the risk I took. So while I do know what it's like to be lost and be in a quarter-life crisis before graduation, our pre-graduation situations are different.

So the advice you get from me is going to be generic - whether that's helpful or not, YMMV.

If you're still unsure about breaking in to your industry, you'll have to start securing some kind of dayjob right away. It could be retail, or it could be a trade job. If you're able to afford the time/money, start learning skills that aren't art: trade skills, or spreadsheets, or whatever that could help weasel you in to an office job. The point of this is to give yourself the cushion (for money and to avoid questions from family) while you're figuring out/building your arts practice. It also doesn't matter how long it takes for you to reach the point where you feel secure to pivot to art; things take their own time, and what matters is survival and consistent effort. Then you've to commit to being involved in your industry in whatever way you are able. So that could be visiting a festival or convention and engaging with your colleagues. You could go with your friends. You could also start making work digitally and share. Even if that piece doesn't go viral, it is a piece that contributes to momentum, and it'll build up to a presence. It's not easy to break into an industry unless you're at least somewhat recognisable as a familiar presence (I mean, you should build some relationships anyway even if you weren't going to join the industry, because if it's a medium you love, you'll want to know the people who are making the work you enjoy). Arts is really small, and we know who's currently working. There are also resources from arts organisations and artists that collate opportunities and resources. Again, since I don't know what field you are in, I cannot give you adequate advice. Would be unhelpful if you're in animation and I accidentally give you information for a writer's residency, you know? You'll have to ask for these resources through Google or through anyone who's older and in your industry.

[musicheritageuk]

Closing Music Heritage UK

It’s with a heavy heart that we announce the end of Music Heritage UK.   

Following a long period of consideration we, the Trustees, have decided that now is the right time to call it a day. Owing to personal and professional reasons, founder and chief executive James Ketchell can no longer devote as much time as he’d like to promoting, protecting and preserving music heritage. 

Our initial idea was borne out of a belief that as a country we weren’t doing enough to celebrate our proud popular music history. We thought we could use our iconic history to encourage music tourism, support live music venues, and ensure that our memorabilia and archival history was preserved for future generations to come. In hindsight this was a huge and broad ask and although we’ve had a small impact in all of those respective areas we were unable to make it work financially and take it beyond a volunteer-led hobby. Since our inception we’ve seen the launch of a number of other organisations with deeper pockets, more time to devote and different business models who are all doing great work in their respective fields. Our work helped to set the scene for all of those, so we can leave knowing that live music, music tourism and music history are in a much healthier position than when we started. Over the seven years we’ve been operating we’ve achieved some great things. This includes writing the country’s first, and to date only, exploration of the potential for music tourism, launched a successful podcast series on music history, helped the George Tavern in East London campaign to stay open, and produced great interactive maps and timelines on some of the country’s iconic acts and blogged with sometimes furious purpose. And we’re rightly proud of all of it all. Thanks There are numerous people who have helped Music Heritage UK over the years, none more so than you the supporters. Thanks to everyone who liked, tweeted and followed us. This, of course, extends to the individual donors who financially supported us. Thank you. Firstly, we’d like to thank the various Trustees of Music Heritage UK.  Chairmen Chris Basiurski and Panikos Efthimiou, members Andy Grazebrook, Jamie Credland and Martin Bowman. Thanks for your support and guidance over the years. A special mention to our ambassadors, Pete Cafferkey, Lee Sargent and Sheryl Davis who provided much needed advice, support and contacts. A special thank you to Sheryl who is doing so much great work in the States to preserve music history. Thanks to our website developer Digitalime who provided us with two affordable websites, Sutori who helped us with our interactive music timelines and recreating the Stones in the Park gig in realtime on Twitter, designer and photographer Gareth Logue for his work on a number of projects and cartoonist George Leigh who drew a great picture for us to use. Also a special shout out to those who volunteered their time for us over the years including Steve Heath who worked with us with our map on Bob Dylan in the UK. We’d also like to thank Charlie from Where is my Mind? quiz and Ronan from Ringo: Music Bingo who ran music events/quizzes for us (see both of them at End of the Road this year). A special thank you to Danny Pockets who is sadly no longer with us. I’m truly sorry we were never able to get our exhibition idea off the ground. We’d like to thank all the people and places that inspired our podcasts and made them great. This includes Hawkwind, The Zombies, founder of the Isle of Wight Festivals Ray Foulk, artist and David Bowie’s mate George Underwood, the Royal Albert Hall, The Roundhouse and the yank with an in-depth knowledge of Britpop, Alison. We’d like to thank UK Music for working with us to publish Imagine, to date the only report into the potential for music tourism. Thanks to Jo Dipple, Tom Keil and Jon Todd for believing in us and making it happen. To the inspirational people we worked with over the years notably Pauline Forster at the George Tavern whose  never-ending energy, passion and love for her venue should be an inspiration for all. Henry Scott-Irvine and Phil Ryan from the Save Denmark Street campaign who fought for what they believed was right in the face of a multi-million pound central London development and the associated politics, spin and untruths that come with it. And Bruce Cherry who passionately believes in the potential for music tourism. Our money We have decided to distribute our remaining funds to two projects which we’ve supported online over the years. We have split what remains between the recently reopened Eel Pie Island Museum and Coventry’s Music Museum. These are two awesome DIY music projects led by two truly inspirational curators, Michele Whitby and Pete Chambers who will make great use of our money. We’re delighted that our donations will continue to support music history and hopefully help these two initiatives to survive and prosper. We’ve sent them £744 each, which although not life changing, will go some way to helping them keep on keepin’ on. Please do pay them a visit if you can. The future We’ll keep the website up and running for a few more months. Our podcasts will still be on iTunes for the time being but will eventually have to be pulled. They will be archived on Mixcloud, however. For those with a particular interest in music tourism, the Music Tourism Association has launched - with Bruce Cherry at the helm - and will continue to work within and outside the industry to generate more support in this area. James will continue to explore his interest in music history but in a different and a more flexible way. Stay tuned for more from him in the near future! 

The music Finally. The Music. Because that’s always been what this has supposed to be about. Our heartfelt thanks to the great bands and artists who inspired us over the years. Without you Music Heritage UK was nothing. Love, Peace and Rock and Roll. X

[dailynewswebsite]

Lincoln Project’s anti-Trump ads show power of biting satire

If he's laughing, it's most likely not on the Lincoln Challenge's satire. AP Picture/Ross D. Franklin

The narrator in a current Lincoln Challenge advert tells listeners, “In six months, COVID-19 has killed extra Individuals than any illness in 100 years. Donald Trump lied about it, rejected science, and nonetheless has no plan to avoid wasting Individuals.”

The narrator tells listeners that, in contrast to Trump, Democratic challenger Joe Biden has a plan for the virus, whereas a second voice, within the background, reads the names of a few of those that have died of the coronavirus.

The advert ends with the narrator saying, “On November 3, vote like your life is dependent upon it.”

The Lincoln Challenge’s ‘Names’ advert makes use of components of satire to extend its impact on viewers.

The adverts, which air on tv and on-line, have been created by the Lincoln Challenge, a political motion committee based by longtime Republican strategists and staffers, together with Steve Schmidt, who ran John McCain’s 2008 presidential marketing campaign; Rick Wilson, advert maker for politicians Rudy Giuliani and John Kasich; and George Conway, legal professional and husband of Trump loyalist Kellyanne Conway.

The PAC has spent US$28 million – most of that cash on adverts – to defeat Trump, who, it says, has destroyed GOP rules and, within the course of, is destroying America. The adverts painting Trump as unfit for the presidency – a draft dodger who calls troopers who died in wars “losers.”

I’ve written a e book on editorial cartooning and served as a Pulitzer Prize decide within the class of editorial cartooning. As a scholar of satire, I’m not inquisitive about whether or not the Lincoln Challenge movies are good politics or unhealthy politics; I’m inquisitive about whether or not they’re good satire.

They’re.

This Lincoln Challenge advert makes use of sarcasm and mock.

Satire is a harmful artwork

Satire is the usage of ridicule, sarcasm and irony to assault or expose the vices and follies of society. Satirists see themselves on the surface of society, trying in at an unjust or immoral world with mean-spirited, corrupt or inept leaders.

Efficient satire should resonate with readers in a approach that’s intimate, private and sometimes uncomfortable. A satirist desires the reader to grimace or howl at his or her description of a politician’s deadly flaws, and never chuckle comfortably as when watching a “Saturday Night time Dwell” character parodying a politician.

An instance of fine satire that’s an exception to the common “Saturday Night time Dwell” sample of ridicule can be Tina Fey’s spoof of Sarah Palin, which was meant to mock John McCain’s 2008 working mate as wholly insufficient for the job of being vp.

The satiric custom contains historic writers like Aristophanes and Horace; distinguished writers of previous centuries like Jonathan Swift, Mark Twain and “Doonesbury” cartoonist Garry Trudeau; in addition to Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert’s televised depictions of right-wing excesses.

Tina Fey’s portrayal of Sarah Palin on ‘Saturday Night time Dwell’ was glorious satire.

A satirist takes his or her sense of indignation and tries to shake the viewers out of its sense of futility or indifference to confront the injustice.

Hitting the mark

For satire to be efficient, it should assault somebody or one thing that’s readily identifiable. This usually contains utilizing somebody’s personal phrases to make a idiot out of them – because the Lincoln Challenge adverts usually do with Trump. One solution to measure satire’s effectiveness is within the response of the particular person being satirized.

The adverts actually struck a nerve with Trump, who referred to as the Lincoln Challenge “the Losers Challenge.”

If Trump meant to break the venture, it backfired. The group acquired $2 million in donations within the two days after his remark, which additionally impressed the creation of extra adverts that have been designed to poke enjoyable particularly at him.

Enjoying off his bragging of getting the “most loyal folks” working for him, one advert quotes John Kelly, Trump’s former chief of workers, calling Trump “an fool”; Rex Tillerson, the previous secretary of state, calling Trump “a f—ing moron”; and John Bolton, the previous nationwide safety adviser, saying, “I don’t suppose he’s match for workplace.”

One other advert focused navy households and veterans, exhibiting American troopers carrying the flag-draped coffin of one in every of their fallen comrades whereas the narrator reads out the phrases Trump has used to explain troopers: “losers,” “suckers,” “dopes” and “infants.”

The Lincoln Challenge adverts have occupied the eye of the information media. The New Yorker and “60 Minutes” have printed current tales on the PAC, selling its goal to defeat Trump.

Promoting Age reported that the adverts have turn out to be a sensation in the course of the 2020 marketing campaign. One advert, referred to as “Hospital,” opens with a picture of a affected person in a hospital mattress that then shortly fades to black as we hear the beep of a coronary heart monitor. There isn’t a narrator. The phrases on the display say, “A demise from COVID is the loneliest demise possible.”

The advert finishes by linking the accountability for these deaths to Trump with the next phrases: “Over 200,000 Individuals have misplaced their lives to COVID. We might have stopped it. His mendacity is killing us. We’ve got to cease it. Vote him out.”

The Lincoln Challenge makes use of lots of the similar methods of satire, however provides them a totally fashionable chew by utilizing slick videography. The adverts go viral on social media to audiences that won’t watch tv adverts.

The Lincoln Challenge attacked Trump’s dealing with of the coronavirus pandemic.

One Lincoln Challenge advert was posted after Trump was identified with the coronavirus. The advert criticizes Trump for reportedly infecting staffers as a result of he refused to put on a surgical masks and he mocked those that did. The advert, referred to as “Covita,” reveals a montage of a maskless Trump at White Home features as a singer delivers a parody of the phrases from “Evita”:

“Don’t cry for me, White Home staffers. The reality is, I’ll infect you. All by my tweeting, my mad existence. I broke my promise. Received’t hold my distance.”

The Lincoln Challenge could or not accomplish its goal to defeat Trump on Nov. 3. Nevertheless it already has made a contribution to the custom of political satire.

[Insight, in your inbox each day. You can get it with The Conversation’s email newsletter.]

Chris Lamb doesn’t work for, seek the advice of, personal shares in or obtain funding from any firm or organisation that might profit from this text, and has disclosed no related affiliations past their tutorial appointment.

from Growth News https://growthnews.in/lincoln-projects-anti-trump-ads-show-power-of-biting-satire/ via https://growthnews.in

[hyunjoochung]

“Raise Three Fingers” 미얀마 민주주의를 위한 예술적 연대

전시 정보 게시판

5월4일, 2021년

번역: 정현주, 독립큐레이터

전시 타이틀: “Raise Three Fingers” 미얀마 민주주의를 위한 예술적 연대

군부의 불법적 권력탈취

2021년  2월1일, 미얀마의 민주주의는 잔인한 쿠데타의 인질이 되었다. 군 대리정당은 2020년 11월 선거에서 476석 중 33석을 얻었고 이는 선거위원회 및 세계의 관찰자들이  자유롭고 공정하게 선언한 득표였다. 재검표하기 위해 투표 용지를 압류하라는 개인적 요구가 거부된 후, 군 대리정당은 아침 일찍 쿠데타를 시작하여 사실상의 지도자, 아웅 산 수 치(Daw Aung San Suu Kyi)를 포함한 의회에  귀환한 200명 이상의 선출직 공무원을 체포했다.

미얀마에서는 전례없는 전국적인 시위가 일어났다. 시민들은 반 세기가 넘는 군부의 탄압을 겪었음에도 강하게 민주화를 요구하는 목소리를 냈다. 시민불복종운동(CDM)이 형성되었고 의사와  교사, 공무원은 일하기를 거부하고 다른 필수 부문에 합류했다. 평화롭고 창의적인 시위가 거리를 가득 채웠다. 가족들은  매일 밤 8시에 냄비를 두드렸고, 침묵의 날에는 '고장난(broken down)' 자동차가 고속도로를 가로막았다.

점차적으로, 그리고 체계적으로 이러한 일은 잔인무도함과 만났다. 로힝야족에 대한 대량학살을 자행한 군대는 이제 시위대의 머리를 쏘라는 명령을 내렸다. 진압군은 밤에 집을 급습하고 5,000명 이상을 체포했다. 그들은 700명이 넘는 사람들을 죽이고, 아이들의 가족에게 교훈을 준답시고 6살의 킨 묘 칫(Khin Myo Chit)와 같은 50여명의 어린이 배에 총을 쐈다. 진압군은 20명 이상의 시민을 고문하고 구금해 사망에 이르게 했다. 인터넷은 현재 인구의 0.5 %만이 접속가능하며 이들을 제외하고는 모든 지역에서 차단되었다. 군부의 선전물을 거부하는 언론 매체는 불법화되었다.

언론의 자유

이러한 불법화된 신문은 지금 일어나는 일을 보도하는 사진을 제공할 수 있다. 언론인들은 계속 도망다니면서 보도한다.

안전가옥에서 미지마(Mizzima) 뉴스

군대와 그들의 경찰 앞잡이의 성격을 이해하려면, 여러분은 살인, 체포, 무기한 구금 및 영장을 추적하고 확인하는 이 시민단체 목록에 실린 몇 가지 기재사항만 있으면 된다.

[PDF 링크]

표현의 자유

여전히 희망은 있다. 대다수가 저항한다. 사람들은 매일 싸움을 계속한다. 희망의 상징은 #세손가락이다. 이 제스처는 민주주의가 위협받는 다른 아시아 국가(밀크티 국가)에서 이전에도 사용되었고 미얀마에서는 저항을 상징하는 이미지로 널리 알려져있다. 미얀마 예술가, 일러스트레이터, 크리에이티브들로 구성된 그룹은 쿠테타 첫날부터 잘 알려진 저항의 상징을 사용했다. 그 이후로 행진이나 장례식에에서, 교도소  창살 사이로, 망명의 메시지로, 유엔 총회와 지지를  받을 수 있는 어느  곳에서나 볼 수 있다. 이 제스처는 어디에나 할 수 있고, 제스처를 보여주는 사람들에게 모든 것을 의미할 수 있다.

미얀마에서 민주주의 상징을 처음 들어올린 이들 예술가들은 이제 지지를 호소하고 있다. 이미 영국, 한국, 호주, 태국, 홍콩 등에 이르기까지 전 세계의 예술가, 일러스트레이터, 만화가들이 이 호출에 답하기 시작했다. 이제, 그들은 더 많은 사람들이 참여하기를 부탁한다. 민주주의의 몰락은 세계적 현상이다. 이것은 단지 최전선에 불과하다. 그들이 민주주의를 옹호하고 잔혹한 정권을 물러나게 하도록 여러분의 도움을 필요로 한다.

밤에는 구타와 총격, 공포, 총부리와 습격에 겁에 질리고 희망을 잃은 후에도 젊은이들은 싸움을 계속한다. 그들은 이러한 예술작업이나, 노래, 춤, 메시지에서 희망, 연대 등을 보고 자신의 모든 것을 걸고 위험에 뛰어드는 일을 계속해서 신뢰할 수 있다.

#세손가락(#threefingers)을 들어올리는 연대 하나하나가 미얀마의 인권, 자유, 민주주의에 대한 인식과 지지를 구축한다.

설립자의 메시지

[비디오: 라트 톤 차웅(Latt Thone Chaung)의 "우리가 이길 것이다"(We Will Win)]

인용

“아주 기본단계에서 예술은 실용적 역할을 한다. 이것은 사람들에게 활력을 불어넣고, 사람들을 감정적으로 만들고, 사람들이 일을 정리하고 처리하도록한다.

예술은 시위 운동의 방향을 정하는 데 도움이  된다.

예술은 또한 희망과 회복하는 힘을 창출할 수 있다. 이것은 사람들을 다른 단계로 이끌어 기분을 고양시키는 데 도움이 될 수 있다.

나는 모든 형태의 예술이 사람들에게 힘을 줄 수 있다고 믿는다.

그것이 예술이 할 수  있는 일이다.

생각을 담을 수 없기 때문에 계속해서 만드는 것이 중요하다.

총알로 예술을 죽일 수는 없다.”

– 마우 쿤 띳(Maw Khun Thit), 라트 톤 차웅

(EPS file available for download)

<총탄으로 예술을 살해할 수 없다!>

야간 체포

밤에는 총성과 섬광탄이 마을 곳곳에서 들린다. 진압군은 수색영장을 발부받을 필요가 없도록 해당 법을 정지시키고 집을 급습하여 반대하는 사람을 체포하고 목소리를 내지 못하도록 협박한다. 그리고 가족 구성원이 사랑하는 사람의 혐의나 위치, 현재 상태에 대해 알지 못하도록 만든다. 지역사회는 지역사람들이 밤새워 지키도록 비무장 감시단체를 조직하고, 접근하는 진압군에게 경고하기 위해 솥을 두드린다.

어린이 살해

3월 23일, 진압군은 만달레이에  있는 6살 킨 묘  칫과 그녀 가족의 집에 들이닥쳤다. 진압군은 아이의 아버지에게 집에 숨어있는 사람이 있는지 물었고 그가 없다고 말했을 때 거짓말을 한다고 비난했다. 소녀가 아버지의 품으로 달려 갔을 때 그들은 아이를 쐈다. 그녀는 의료진에게 연락이  닿기 전에 죽었다. 마지막으로 남긴 말은 "아버지 못하겠어, 너무 고통스러워"였다. 아이의 오빠는 체포되었고 가족은 아직 아들의 혐의나 소재를 알지못한다. 킨 묘 칫은 50명이 넘는 어린이 사망자 가운데 한 사람이다. 기록에  따르면 한 명을 제외하고는 모두 총에 맞았다.

소수민족들

쿠데타 주동자인 민 아웅 흘라잉(မင်းအောင်လှိုင်/Min Aung Hlaing) 미얀마 군사정부의 최고지도자는 UN 조사관에 따르면 로힝야 집단 학살의 실질적 주모자로 공개적으로 '벵골 문제를 해결하겠다'고 말한 사람이다. 이번 쿠데타로 저항 지도자들의 국민통합정부(NUG), 과거 군부와 공존해야 했던 정부, 카친족, 카렌족, 친족 등을 포함한 군이 표적으로 삼은 소수민족들로 이루어진 대형이 결성됐다. 국제적으로 가장 잘 알려진 로힝야족은 반 군부를 표명하며 스스로 세손가락 경의를 표하고있다.

빈곤한 지역사회 공략

쿠데타가 시작된 이래로 선출직 공무원과 선거 감시자, 부상당한 시위대를 치료하는 의사, 일을 거부한 공무원 및 은행 직원 등 많은 주목할만한 그룹이 표적이 되었다. 하지만 가난하거나 공장 노동자들이 살거나 일하는 지역에서는 군부폭력이 더욱 심했다. 노동자들은 의료나 법적 도움에 대한 접근도 어렵고 노출되기 가장 쉬운 그룹이기 때문에 민주주의를 위해 계속해서 가장 큰 위험을 감수한다.

인터넷 차단

인터넷과 휴대전화는 매우 부유한 소수를 제외하고는 2014년 이후에도 대다수가 접근할 수 없었다. 휴대전화의 유심카드 가격은 하나가  3000불 이상을 호가했다. 민주화가  국가를 개방하면서 스마트폰 보급률이 80% 이상으로 확대되었다. 지난 2년 동안 미얀마 군은 대략 백만명이 사는 친(Chin)과 라카인(Rakhine) 주의 8개 마을에서 세계에서 가장 긴 인터넷 차단을 실시하여 그곳 활동이  알려지지  않도록 정보를 억압했다. 지금  이 어둠은 미얀마 도처에 되돌아오고 있다. 다만  은행시스템이 붕괴되는 것을 막기 위해서 인터넷이 열리며 이때 인구의 0.5%만이 인터넷에 접속할 수 있다. 짧은 기간 동안 정보는 뿌리를 내렸다. 이제 사람들은 더 많은 정보를 얻을 자격이 있음을 알게 되었다.

위험에 처한 창작의 자유

2012년 이전의 50년동안 미얀마에서는 예술과 표현이 억압되었다. 단 하나의 예술학교만이 남아서 고루한 구상적 모방만을 가르쳤다. 신문의 검은막대로  지워진 기사, 금지된 책, 만화가나 연기자 체포에서 검열은 매일 같이 이루어졌다. 이때 예술은 휴면 상태였지만 결코 죽지는 않았다. 2012년 이후로 8년이라는 짧은 기간동안 다시 한 번 두려움  없는  자유로운 표현이 번성할  수  있었다. 하지만 현재 35명이 넘는 예술가, 감독, 공연기획자들이 체포되었고 200명 이상의 예술가들이 군부의  지명수배를 피해 도망치고  있다. 그럼에도 그들은 억압과 싸우기 위해 지속적으로 말하고 표현하고 있다.

우리는 그들을 어떻게 도울 수 있나?

이들 아티스트들은 자신의 소명을 확장하기 위해 여러분의 말과 그림, 행동을 필요로  한다. 그들은 지금 미얀마와 모든 곳에서 민주주의를 위협하는 세력과 싸워야한다.

희망의 메시지

인용 2 (노벨 아웅 작품 포함)

“가장 고무적인 것은 사람들의 단결이었다. 우리 모두는 같은 목표를 가지고 있다. 이는 쿠데타가 일어난 2월1일 첫날 밤부터 분명했다. 사람들은 지금까지도 매일 밤 8시에 계속해서 냄비와 프라이팬을 두들겨 소리를  낸다. 우리는 더 이상 총을 두려워하지 않지만 군대는 우리가 만드는 소음을 두려워한다. 우리는 서로에게 용기와 영감을  준다.”

-노벨 아웅(Nobel Aung), 일러스트레이터 겸 애니메이터

Raise Three Fingers 설립자

위임

개략:

Raise Three Fingers(구 Art for Freedom MM)는 2021년 2월1일 군사쿠데타 이후 전개된 인도주의적 위기를 부각시키기 위해 미얀마 출신 예술가와 창작가들이 모여 만든 캠페인이다.

발기인:

Art for Freedom MM

예술과 일러스트로 미얀마의 인권을 옹호합니다.

Latt Thone Chaung

우리는 미얀마의 군사 쿠데타에 반대하는 모든 형태의 창의적인 시위를 축하하기 위해 여기에 있습니다.

The Professional Cartoonists’ Organisation (UK)

영국의 훌륭한  만화가들 재능의 고향.

협력:

Fine Acts - 사회적 충격을 주기 위한 비영리 글로벌 창작 스튜디오 사회적 변화를 위한 놀이터: https://fineacts.co/art

인권재단(Human Rights Foundation) - 우리는 세상을 변화시키는 활동가들과 협력하여 폭정에 맞서 세계를 단결시키기 위한 혁신적 해결책을 만든다.

Arts Help - 세상을 더 나은 곳으로 만드는 예술이라는 원칙을 바탕으로 설립된 Arts Help는 250만명 회원의 커뮤니티를 보유한 최고의 예술 출판사다.

https://www.artshelp.net/

[acaseforpencils]

I wrote a piece for Pro Cartoonists’ Organisation about interviewing Ralph! 

“Initially, some of his answers might seem like they don’t directly answer my questions, but what he actually is doing is leaping forward via associations, a thinking talent which contributes to his being one of the most creative and successful visual artists. Such as he avoids rough drafts in his art, he often goes straight to his final point (or association).”

Click the above link to read more! I hope you all are having a wonderful week!

[womblegrinch]

Hubert Sydney ‘Jum’ Turtill (1880-1918) - A New Zealand rugby union shirt worn by Turtill for NZ against Australia 2 Sept 1905 together with caps and related ephemera.

Estimate: £30,000-40,000.

Sold Roger Jones & Co, Cardiff, 1 March 2019 for £39,000.

   Jum Turtill was one of the most gifted fullbacks of the Edwardian era, his number of All Blacks caps curtailed to a single test as he became the infamous ‘dual-code player’ - switching to the All Gold rugby league professionals. Jum was killed in action during the Great War, in Givenchy, France in April 1918. The shirt with embroidered fern badge and iconic stitched canvas quilt overlaid to the upper section, complete with original drawstring. There are a few holes but structurally fine without extensive damage. Included in the parcel; an All Blacks cap bearing fern with NZ cypher, complete with tassel. Also, a two-tone felt cap with tassel, bearing Canterbury crest and bearing internal label for J Ballantyne & Co, Christchurch. Also an original black and white official photo of Jum in the shirt, a British War Graves Photographic Association black and white photograph of Jum’s grave in France and a black and white photograph of a soldier in uniform (not clear whether this is Jum). Also, in the parcel, two original caricature sketches of Jum in playing action, by the famous Beano cartoonist Reg Carter, both signed and dated 1908.

   Hubert Sydney Turtill was the youngest of four children of Arthur and Alice. He was born on February 1st 1880 in Mile End, London a few days after his father died, aged only 32. At the age of four, once strong enough for the long sea-voyage, Alice took Sydney and her young family to New Zealand for a new life, a country where she had relatives. During the voyage, he was bestowed the nickname ‘Jumbo’ because of his puppy-fat, later became simply ‘Jum’ and this name stuck despite Jum developing a fine athletic frame as he grew into a young man. The Turtills settled in Christchurch where Jum attended West Christchurch School between 1885-1892.

   Jum stated that he started playing rugby as a wing forward in 1893. In 1898 he was fullback for the Christchurch Albion club B team and was promoted to the A team the next year at the age of 19. Jum was also a competitive swimmer in his formative years and trained as a volunteer with the Christchurch Engineers Corps, he was a keen competitor at rifle shooting competitions against other regiments. At 22 years old, Jum made his Canterbury debut as full-back, playing nine games that season. He was noted as a player with a lot of promise who ‘fields a ball in splendid style, and knows how to tackle’. In 1905, unlucky to miss out on touring with the New Zealanders to Britain and France, he was selected for a Canterbury-South Canterbury combined XV against Australia which they won 8-3 at Lancaster Park. On the same day it was announced that he had been selected for New Zealand v Australia. This was to be the first test to be hosted in New Zealand between the two sides and the first international to be played in the South Island.

The match venue was transferred from Dunedin’s Caledonian ground to Tahuna Park because heavy rain had made the former unplayable and so it was watched by only 3,000 spectators who braved the horrendous elements. New Zealand was victor 14-3 and it was said that Jum excelled with a perfect display of kicking and defending despite the conditions. However, it was to be his only All Blacks cap. Jum played his last club game on July 6th 1907, the same day as the Professional All Blacks team was selected for a tour to England. He had signed up for the privately-organised tour where they would play ‘Northern Union’ rules. It is said that Jum had been attracted to the prospect of visiting his country of birth.

   The pioneering professional team visited Sydney, where they defeated New South Wales three times in eight days but playing rugby union rules. The Australian press nicknamed the New Zealanders the ‘All Golds’  - a reference to the slice of the gate-money to be received in England. The tourists also defeated Ceylon (Sri Lanka) playing union rules. It wasn’t until they arrived in England in October 1907 that the players actually learned the league code! Over the next five months, through to February 1908, the All Golds played 35 league matches, mainly against club teams, winning 19 times. Jum excelled at fullback playing in all but two of the matches. International tests were played against Wales (lost 9-8), England (lost 18-16) and Great Britain (lost 14-6, won 18-6 and won 8-5). The British press referred to the team as the ‘All Blacks’ while the Southern Hemisphere press tended to use ‘All Golds’. On their return the tourists played a further 10 games in Australia including three tests with Jum captaining the first league test between the two countries, leading New Zealand to an 11-10 victory. The All Golds won the series 2-1. In all, the team toured for 10 months, playing 49 games and beating both Great Britain and Australia to a test series. When the All Golds finally arrived back in New Zealand, they played an exhibition match at Wellington which was the first ever match of Rugby League in the country and captained by Turtill. After the tour he returned to normal life working as a sheet metal worker and married Mabel Edith Hancock in 1908. In 1909 he lost his job, a twist of fate that changed his life and ultimately may have cost it. As a way out Jum accepted an offer from St Helens club in Lancashire with a signing-on fee of £200 and £2.2/- per game. He played his first match for St Helens on September 9th and set himself up as a tobacconist. The couple had three sons born in England.

   Jum was considered by the English sporting press as an artist at fullback, one of the great pioneers in the position, bringing attacking instinct when it was traditionally considered exclusively a position of defence and conservatism. Jum’s career continued until he retired at the end of the 1913/14 season. During his five years at St Helens he played 137 games, scoring three tries and kicking 198 goals amassing 403 points. He ran the Nelson Hotel in Bridge St, St Helens and looked forward to a settled life as a well-known and respected publican of the town. But at the outset of war, Jum joined the Royal Engineers and was part of the Territorial Force the 422nd Field Company, which was under command of the 55th (West Lancashire) Division. Jum saw action at Hellencourt and Bretencourt, before the first battle of the Somme. Later, fields in Guillemont, Ginchy, Ribemont, Flers-Courcelette and Morval and the Ypres became Jum’s home, he existed in muddy hellish trenches which were bombarded constantly by artillery fire and gas. He survived massacres at Pilkem Ridge and Menin Road Ridge, but on April 9th, 1918, Jum was killed at Givenchy from a shell burst. He was 38 years old. Jum and is buried at Brown’s Road Military Cemetery, Festubert, Pas de Calais.

   The Defence of Givenchy was to become one of the single most famous actions of the war. It was afterwards publicly stated by an officer of the German General Staff that the stand made there by the British on April 9th, and the days which followed, marked the final ruination of the supreme German effort of 1918. Thirteen All Blacks lost their lives in WWI including the captain of the Original All Blacks, Dave Gallaher.

   If you think the estimate was high, bear in mind that Dave Gallaher’s shirt from the Wales vs New Zealand game 16 Dec 1905 sold in the same rooms in 2015 for £180,000 plus premium.

[gdcmolly]

CASE STUDY 1: THE SUFFRAGETTES

My first case study is the suffragettes who chose to dress immaculately in order to become respectable during their protest. 

DISSERTATION CASE STUDY:

This movement began as a result of the frustration at the fact that women were not allowed to vote in the United Kingdom. In the United States, Wyoming and Utah had allowed white women over the age of 21 to vote starting in 1869 and 1870. As of 1881, property owning women were able to vote in parliament elections in the Isle of Man. In 1893, all women in New Zealand were given the right to vote and in 1895, all women in South Australia were now able to vote. The world was slowly moving toward a more equal voting system for women but when the 20th century started, women in Britain were becoming increasingly frustrated at the fact that they were being denied the right to vote.

The Suffragettes were a women’s organisation fighting for the right to vote in the United Kingdom’s public elections at the beginning of the 20th century. The Suffragettes were exceptional when it came to protest tactics, they used a variety of methods such as sandwich boards, speaking on street corners and selling newspapers to garner attention from civilians. Though these tactics were cleverly planned and well researched beforehand, they were struggling to gain supporters and were more often being seen as an object of ridicule in the media. They became frustrated with constantly falling into the stereotype of the strong-willed feminist character that cartoonists were depicting as seemingly un-feminine by wearing men’s clothing and thick rimmed glasses. The Suffragettes felt as if they weren’t being taken seriously so they decided to devise a new strategy that would assist them in obtaining respectable attention.

In 1908 Suffragette member Emmeline Pethick Lawrence curated the colour scheme of violet, white and green to represent freedom, loyalty and hope. The colours and their meanings were all directly related to what the Suffragettes identified with in their campaigns. They were encouraged to wear this colour scheme as a “duty and privilege” (Blackman, 2015). The colour scheme was put into flags, banners and badges. As well as reinforcing a colour palette, the Suffragettes began to dress impeccably in the latest fashion and put further effort into seeming fashionable and undoubtedly feminine, especially when parading or creating a demonstration in front of the media. Central Saint Martins lecturer Cally Blackman said of the Suffragettes choice to reinforce fashion etiquette “Instead of deploying a strategy of resistance by refusal, they chose resistance through reversal. They sought to effect change not by challenging contemporary fashion and ideals of femininity, but by conforming to them.” (Blackman C: 2015) The Suffragettes decided that it would be beneficial for them to be visually appealing to the public in order to seem more respectable. This was definitely an early success for fashion commercialisation. The trio of colours became increasingly popular and were soon being sold in a huge variety of clothing and accessories such as underwear, handbags and shoes to name a few. Products reproduced in the colour palette were now being stocked in large upscale department stores such as Selfridges and Liberty. Emmeline Pethick Lawrence stated “The colours have now become to those who belong in this movement a new language of which the words are so simple that their meaning can be understood by the most uninstructed and most idle of passers-by in the street.” The Suffragettes were known to spend more money on clothes than they could afford, this shows a major amount of commitment to their cause. By adorning themselves with exquisite dresses, skirts, hats and vesta cases they were knowingly creating an identity for themselves.

The public began to associate their dress sense and style with their cause, and by having major retailers stock the colour scheme designed by Emmeline Pethick Lawrence, it became increasingly difficult to avoid becoming curious about the Suffragettes and their political stance. Suffragette Rose Lamartine Yates wrote an entertaining pamphlet titled “Infection: A warning to Suffragists and Anti-Militants” that outlined how the current fashion for and rapid increase of the Suffragette colours spread the “infection’ of militancy”. In the pamphlet she tells the stories of how anti-suffragists were able to reflect on their opinion and convert their thoughts on their own political stance after seeing the increase of colours and spectacle in stores and at social gatherings. Yates goes on to explain that by becoming curious about the colours, fashion, and the movement itself people were able to look further into the political cause of the Suffragettes and later realise that they also agree with their beliefs. This was able to occur because of the the influence that the Suffragettes were making as fashion muses. By creating a fashionable identity for themselves, they were also knowingly commercialising their own protest ideas which was extremely successful for them when it came to gaining supporters. With the support of the Suffragettes growing, merchants began to stock badges, scarves and many other mementos of the movement. As mentioned previously, the Suffragettes were spending a great deal of money on their garments and accessories in order to be well represented in the public. With luxury items being such an integral part of the Suffragettes fashion statement, jewellers were finding themselves bending over backwards to keep up with the high demand of jewellery in the Suffragette’s colour scheme and were constantly running out of stock.

By using the latest fashion and a colour palette as a way to commercialise their protest ideas, the Suffragettes were able to create a public identity for themselves in the city’s public spaces and introduce themselves and their cause into the world of politics. All of the Suffragettes protest tactics mentioned previously were now much more successful. Previously they were viewed as loud troublemakers but now their identity had shifted into them being seen as highly respectable and educated women. The Suffragettes are a perfect example of how reinforcing fashion etiquette can create a powerful political identity. They were able to show the world a sense of unity and that they belonged to an organisation brought together by the need and desire for change. It was a sense of uniform in a protest culture. By imposing fashion guidelines, the Suffragettes were able to change the way society viewed them in order to be taken seriously. At this iconic moment in time, the clothes and style that they had chosen was used as a means to fight against stereotypes that women similar to them may have encountered and create a new stereotype that was serious, intellectual and professional when in the eyes of the media and the public. Their fashion etiquette and later the extremely successful commercialisation of their ideas was a vital part of their political fight against sexism and it in no doubt was a huge advantage to their organisation and cause. By finding a way to commercialise their own ideas through fashion and style, the Suffragettes were finally able to receive the respect that they had fought towards for so long. Finally, in 1919 after years of political battle, women were granted the right to vote in the United Kingdom’s public elections.

 ---------------------

My favourite image from my whole dissertation is above

Figure 10

Suffragette mementos

A selection of Suffragette badges and a medal made during the Suffragist movement.

[downthetubes]

Professional Cartoonists' Organisation rallies to create children's colouring book after asylum centre mural whitewash

A special Children's Colouring Book is in the works, in response to a government decision to whitewash Mickey Mouse murals from an asylum centre that prompted a storm of protest

Members of Britain’s Professional Cartoonists’ Organisation are creating art for a very special Children’s Colouring Book, in response to a government decision to whitewash Mickey Mouse murals from an asylum centre prompted a storm of protest. We’re told that contributions are also welcome from non-members, too. Mickey Mouse – Painting by Numbers by © PCO member Glenn Marshall As widely…