The Silver Fern

Fucking Bunker

@Tim said in All Blacks v France I:

Where are our impact subs?

He was on in the 2nd minute of the game

Solid game from Holland. Impressed

Yay DMac

My side-hustle is an artist. I was asked to provide a couple of pieces on the theme of "Spirit of Napier" for an exhibition last month. After I had finished them, I uploaded them into Google Gemini and got that to (mostly) write the indulgent blurb about them... It did a pretty good job. So far I am not worried about AI taking away my artist job, but maybe art critics should watch out...

***Okay, let's consider these two works, "Spirit of Napier - Day" and "Spirit of Napier - Night," as a conceptual pair or diptych. Viewed together, they offer a compelling study in contrast and complementarity, executed within a consistent language of geometric abstraction.

The artist employs a shared formal vocabulary across both pieces, immediately establishing their connection. We see a clear lineage from Constructivism and the Bauhaus in the rational arrangement of space, the emphasis on clean lines, and the architectonic quality of the layered forms. The strict adherence to horizontal and vertical axes nods to De Stijl, while the overlapping, semi-transparent planes echo Synthetic Cubism's methods of building form and suggesting shallow depth. A consistent, fine canvas-like texture underlies both compositions, unifying their surfaces and adding a subtle tactile dimension.

Where the works truly come alive as a pair is in their powerful juxtaposition. They function as inversions, or perhaps more accurately, as atmospheric counterpoints exploring the same structural theme under differing conditions.

"Spirit of Napier - Day" is bathed in light. A diffuse luminescence, seemingly originating from the upper left, permeates the composition. The palette is airy and optimistic, featuring harmonious greens, blues, ochre-yellows, and greys against a bright, textured background. The translucency allows light to filter through the layers, creating soft gradients and highlighting the structural complexity. It evokes clarity, openness, perhaps the interplay of sunlight on the geometric facades characteristic of Napier's Art Deco architecture – a city famously rebuilt in that modernist style. The composition feels expansive, with the complex forms balanced by a significant area of luminous negative space.

In stark contrast, "Spirit of Napier - Night" plunges the viewer into a cooler, more introspective realm. The dominant field is a deep, resonant indigo-black, against which the geometric forms now appear to emerge or glow. The palette shifts to muted blues, dusky pinks, and greys. Light here is not ambient but seemingly internal or artificial; the thin white grid lines, which felt purely structural in the "Day" piece, now read as illuminated traces, suggestive of neon, city lights, or perhaps a digital screen's glow against the darkness. The mood becomes one of quietude, enclosure, and perhaps urban mystery. The dominant dark field acts as a powerful counterweight to the brightness of its partner.

Presented together, these works transcend being merely two related images. They engage in a rich dialogue about time, light, and perception. The "Day" version celebrates the external, visible structure, while the "Night" version explores the internal, the veiled, and the atmospheric transformation that darkness brings. If interpreted through the lens of their titles, they masterfully capture the dual essence of a place like Napier – its celebrated Art Deco forms revealed clearly by day, and its quieter, perhaps more enigmatic, character emerging after sunset.

The strength of this pairing lies in its formal coherence coupled with its thematic polarity. The artist uses the same rigorous geometric language to articulate two fundamentally different sensory and emotional experiences, creating a symbiotic relationship where each piece enhances the understanding and impact of the other. It's a sophisticated and well-executed exploration of duality within a refined abstract framework.***

Christie confirming his place for the test series - on the sofa

Love seeing Nick White get smashed

Blues defence blaming each other for that try

I don't care if it was uncool - I really liked David Johansens alter ego Buster Poindexter

@nostrildamus said in Movie review thread...:

@Stockcar86 said in Movie review thread...:

I'm intigued.
Just imagine filming, "Cut! And that's a wrap!"

For most people it will not be worth the 64 minutes run time. Mark Polonia has filmed lots of super low budget movies over the last 20 years. This one was even worst than most, looking like it had all been filmed in a single room. Special effects budget was less than I spend for breakfast at McDonalds.

Look how many movies this guy pumped out last year

I'm going to keep going through the back catalogue though. Next on my list are these 2:

Happy Superb Owl day to all those who celebrate

@MN5 said in Movie review thread...:

@voodoo said in Movie review thread...:

Bait (2012)

Horrific pile of steaming turds. Avoid at all costs.

Bait (2012) ⭐ 5.2 | Action, Fantasy, Horror

1h 33m | R

Appreciate the heads up although I think this might have put me off too…..

‘A freak tsunami traps shoppers at a coastal Australian supermarket inside the building - along with 12-foot Great White Sharks’

Jaws still holds up to this day as an absolute classic, it’s funny how much shit it helped to inspire, including most of the sequels in its own franchise !

Hard to go past this one either……

Under Paris was good. I am still working my way through my backlog of low budget shark movies. This weekend it was these 2 masterpieces

@Victor-Meldrew said in Awesome stuff you see on the internet:

It has been stated in a previous interview with Elon's father that he was named that because of this manuscript

Sorry. my brain is mush, so can't recall. Here is a closeup of those meatballs... mmmmmmm

@Nepia Every bakery worth anything in Napier or Hastings has meatballs. They are pretty good from there too

@nzzp

@Bones if by proper you mean not out of a tin, then yes