Scarlet Woman

The simpler the better. Graffiti on the wall of St Marys R C Primary School in Edinburgh. To my mind, this is brilliant in it's simplicity, balance and impact. No doubt it was done by some toerag trying to piss adults off but hey! It's art, right?

I thought I'd better photograph it before some idiot has it cleaned off.

It rained in Edinburgh today, a very great deal. As you can see, this original artwork got rained on too. All part of the experience.

I spent the day swearing for a living, and drawing the simplest diagram I have ever done professionally - surpassing by some margin the previous "simplest" award winner. Some boxes were drawn, as well as some arrows (the arrows are free with the boxes, I'm generous like that). Best of all was the square with the circle in it. Because then I drew another square with another circle in it - illustrating a whole new way of thinking about the problem. Everybody sat up. "Oh, that's a whole new way of thinking about the problem!" When God invented squares and circles, he had no idea.

But although my simplest of simple drawings were useful, they don't approach the expressiveness of this here graffiti lady. Picasso, move over!

More tales of corporate madness will now follow. We have a Very Big and Very Very Expensive Conference Centre which is Quite Far Away. OK? It has dedicated staff and everything. Today's workshop was booked in there, but it's A Bit Far Away. So, we (us "boxes and arrows" guys) wurny goin'. Naw. Onyhoo, the guys who were going (project managers) let us know that the phones were broken and they'd come to us. Ha!

So, we enquired by walking round our building and asking folks. Eventually it transpired that a simple mis-type a couple of weeks ago had taken all the phones out in the Very Expensive Conference Centre - and hadn't been fixed. Why not fixed? Because a request to fix it, and the permission to do so, hadn't reached the guy who knew it was a problem and could fix it in 30 seconds. "Well, we've not been notified." "But you know about it?" "Oh, yes. Obviously."

So hundreds of people (at least) have booked rooms, gone there, been told the phones don't work, and gone away again. At great expense.

Perhaps they fancied a coffee to ease them into the remainder of the day. Well, tough tits, your pass is for the other building over there. So they didn't even get a coffee.

I imagine that spending the rest of the day being sworn at by me and having to watch me draw squares and circles seemed positively normal by comparison.

Now, a parting shot. When I was looking up the school that today's blip is drawn upon, I found this brilliant picture of Big Eck celebrating Porridge Day. You COULD NOT make this up. Really - he's in charge. And we are PROUD. Me included. Go Eck, go!

Music: old guys being brilliant. Sparks: Rock, Rock, Rock