Ragged Clown

A long time ago, I had a girlfriend and I used to sing to her. Continue reading →

Finger Painting

Did people in the old days experience new paintings the way we experience new technology? Continue reading →
This one’s for Stan.
I have a routine now. I google for an image on my iPhone and prop it on my knee while I sketch it on my iPad. I think that’s enough copying for now though. Time to come up with my … Continue reading →
In one of the universe’s subtle attempts to mess with me, my grandmother died yesterday on the same day that I finished this painting – Girl Seated in a Cemetery by Delacroix. In another week or so, I’ll be standing … Continue reading →
When I first started fingerpainting, I would slap out a picture in an hour or two. As I got better at it, I would pay more and more attention to the detail and it took longer and longer and became … Continue reading →
I might have to take a break from sketching. This one took me forever. More sketches on Flickr.

Pencil Sketches

I’m planning to draw one of Renoir’s dances every decade. Continue reading →

More Posts by Ragged Clown

Did your teachers leave those kids alone? Mine didn’t. Continue reading →
Inside every old person is a young person who doesn’t really understand that he’s old now. Continue reading →
My story pops back into my memory sometimes in those twilight moments between waking and sleeping. Continue reading →
I opened the book and, on the very first page, was the program that changed my life. Continue reading →
The Ragged Clown finds his home at last. Continue reading →
What would life have been like if Ken and Bill had headed down to those desolate islands? Continue reading →
Sitting in those pews transports me back through my memories and even further back into the memories of so many centuries past. Continue reading →
One thousand years later, beer is still excellent and the song is still fantastic. Continue reading →
The sweet spot for Alan Kay’s glorious Squeak seems to be kids who find joy in creating and exploring. Continue reading →
I love buying books for people who will get pleasure from them Continue reading →
Crossing the line is an important milestone in a young sailor’s life. Continue reading →
I’ve been meaning to play with Garage Band since we got the Mac. Today was the day. Continue reading →
In 2004, more preschoolers were killed by firearms than law enforcement officers Continue reading →
It cost me an E string and the skin off the top of my ring finger but I am done. Making music is hard. Continue reading →
I’ve had an idea that answers the question “What are dreams for?” floating around in my head Continue reading →
Everything I know I have learned from a book or figured out for myself. I wish I had someone to learn with. Continue reading →
Because it’s ALL THE TIME, I’ve come to think of it as the taste of cancer. Continue reading →
I discovered a world that I only saw dimly before Continue reading →
A little while ago, Jeff and I attended a funeral because Julio reminded us that you should always go to the funeral and on the way back we talked about how the one thing religions really do well is funerals … Continue reading →
Our party was on the front page of every national newspaper. Continue reading →
I read about America’s worst mom when she became famous last year. Continue reading →
But the one subject that they really need to teach more of is rhetoric. Continue reading →
Oyasuminasai! First customer visit. After three train rides, four tickets (costing an average of 8 million yen) and about a thousand miles, Australian Jeff, Polish Mirek, Japanese Yukio and English I arrived at our destination (late) and rushed in to … Continue reading →
This week, I started a new job with a brand-new startup. Continue reading →
You can make something out of nothing but the thoughts in your head. Continue reading →
The Golden Treasury of English Verse and a harmonica were my only mementos of civilization when I set off to go backpacking around the world. Continue reading →
Said Judas to Mary, “O what will you do with your ointment so rich and so rare?” Continue reading →
For about a year, I drew like a maniac and then one day I just stopped.

Continue reading →
Our hero awakes. Startled by the noise and the stranger in his room, he sits bolt upright in his bed. Continue reading →
The opening chords – Dun dun daaaaa – still give me chills 30 years later. Continue reading →
I didn’t know the solo part in the middle so I made shit up. I fired the drummer. Continue reading →
I was 15 when all the kids in my neighbourhood snuck into Marten’s Grove to go skinny dipping. It was the first time I had ever seen so many girls my own age in the nude. Continue reading →
Better to go down in glory, adventurers to the very end, than to wait for the end to come to us. Continue reading →
Who made it big? Was it George? Or Andrew? Continue reading →
I read The Quiet American when I was still entirely in love with the romance of South East Asia. Continue reading →
We arrived early enough for a beer and the biggest pizza ever shared by two and, once we had our nasty little tickets in our sweaty hands, we ambled up to the stage and picked out a comfortable spot about … Continue reading →
You either got faith or you got unbelief and there ain’t no neutral ground. Continue reading →
Roger Ebert has written a powerful, meandering essay about shame. Continue reading →
Three atheists tell their stories. Continue reading →
I had just turned 21 when I joined the nuclear submarine HMS Revenge. Continue reading →
What was it like to have so much hatred for someone she does not even know? Continue reading →
If you never take a chance, you’ll never win. Continue reading →
He hovered, and stayed still, striding on the crumbling columns of air, curved wings jerking and flexing. Continue reading →
I used to sing this song every day to my first baby clown. Continue reading →
I’m not sure why they call him Slowhand. Continue reading →
Have fun little clowns! Continue reading →
I did this one on Monday while waiting for Jazz. I used to have a print of this picture when I lived in London until, one day… I was taking a shower before work in the morning when the water … Continue reading →
Timoth Garton-Ash describes in The Guardian what he sees as the root cause in the difference between the US outlook on the War on terror and the European outlook. He compares the pro-war conservatives in the US with the militaristic … Continue reading →
A long time ago, there was a King of England called King James I. Continue reading →
Footscray. Council estate. Fancy grammar school. Parents divorce. First in class. Run away to sea. Engineering apprenticeship. Girlfriend. Falklands patrol. Girlfriend. Sonar engineer. Polaris submarine in Scotland. Patrol North Atlantic. Midshipman. BRNC Dartmouth. Quit. Backpack (California, Tahiti, Moorea, Bora Bora, Huahine, … Continue reading →
It’s over a hundred years since World War One. Everyone involved is dead. Continue reading →
Diversity is good for software companies. It helps us make better products. Continue reading →
Lots of people don’t know how to talk to someone with cancer. A few tips might help. Continue reading →
Fuller’s Extra Special Bitter is the second best beer in the world. Continue reading →
We went to see a new oncologist yesterday. Continue reading →
Making choices was never this hard before. Continue reading →
Nothing prepares you for your first encounter with a ballistic missile submarine. Continue reading →
XP Explained ruined software engineering for me. Continue reading →
Most people think of politics in terms of left and right. Continue reading →
Francis Crick will be up on my Wall of Heroes with Bob, George, Winston and the others. Continue reading →
A couple of years of ago, Beckham left ManU for Real Madrid and, a few days later someone new showed up wearing the No7 shirt. “Who is that?”, I wondered. Within about 3 minutes, I said “I think we got … Continue reading →
Python. It’s not quite Ruby. Continue reading →
Since I have access to all the songs in the world I told Rhapsody to just play me some songs that you think I might like. Rhapsody thought I might like to listen to some Kate Bush which was nice … Continue reading →
I read Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance three times Continue reading →
Because you’re my best girl and the best you’ll always be.
It started with a random comment on a blog. A few months back, I blogged about a rather famous party at my school and, last week, Helen left a comment. It’s always exciting to get comments on my blog- especially … Continue reading →
A Buccaneer scholar is someone who takes responsibility for their own education. Continue reading →
I still love my tattoos. Will you still love yours in 60 years? Continue reading →
I finally made it back to my room, giftless and tired, with two hours remaining before our next installment of eating and drinking. I was looking forward to just relaxing in the bath but, when I checked my email… bling-o! … Continue reading →
Why is that these two statement evoke such different reactions? I hear they are making a movie of The Lord of the Rings. I hear they are making a movie of The Lorax. Those of us who are fans of … Continue reading →
Like I wasn’t gonna get the new GarageBand for iPad?? It’s pretty good but VERY frustrating. There are tons of bugs and it’s a little too slow to keep up with any kind of complex strumming. I lost my whole … Continue reading →
The third post in which I blog my reactions as I plough through Rolling Stone’s 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. This was the first section where I was listening to most of the albums for the first time and … Continue reading →
Little Red Rooster Too lazy to crow the day.
Who knew that this : Would become this: ? Can anyone in the first picture pick me out from the second? Vice versa?
Quick! Name a heroic action in World War I. I bet you can’t. Modern European attitudes to war and nationalism were largely shaped by that most patriotic of wars. Passchendaele, The Somme, Verdun, Galipolli. The names of the battles are … Continue reading →
I have a sense that Facebook is about to score its first victory in the battle for civil liberties. Facebook has been ablaze with outrage over the new Porno Scanners at airports and their creepy human cousins, the Groping Agents. … Continue reading →
Three stars does not mean average. Three stars means it was really good. Continue reading →
One day, the tyranny of the motor car over our towns and cities will come to an end. Continue reading →
The religious battles of the 2000s in the USA backfired spectacularly and any victories were pyrrhic and temporary. Continue reading →
Ethical? Not Ethical. Makes no difference really. I’ll do what’s most convenient for me. Continue reading →
My oncologist thinks I might be the kind of person who just likes to know stuff. Continue reading →
I need to know enough about my tumour to ask good questions. Continue reading →
I joined the Navy as an artificer at HMS Fisgard in 1982. Continue reading →
ChatGPT raises questions about what it means to be intelligent. Continue reading →
The priest held both of my hands in his and spoke the wisdom of the ages Continue reading →
I’m a huge fan of Radiolab. The episode that got me hooked was the one where they decoded the languages of prairie dogs and Diana monkeys. Everyone knows by now, about the Diana monkeys who have different alarms calls for … Continue reading →
“How about you think about it overnight and let me know tomorrow?” Continue reading →
John Rawls got it wrong. I deserve the rewards of my hard work. Continue reading →
We enjoyed our 24 years in America but it’s good to be home. Continue reading →
Serving in the military changes you in ways you might not expect. Continue reading →
I just got through reading Charles Murray Real Education so I was perfectly primed to be alarmed by this passage Teachers can’t prepare for the content of the tests and so they substitute practice exams and countless hours of instruction … Continue reading →
A new day, a new trap… Hello! Son of Simon!
I’m reading the biography of Winston Churchill by Max Hastings and I’m also following along with The Orwell Diaries on RSS. I’m at a similar point in both stories and what strikes me most forcefully is how bleak those times … Continue reading →
HMS Invincible just sailed off to the scrap yards. Invincible came into service right before I joined up. It was a big deal at the time because Thatcher’s Axe inflicted a series of massive cuts on the armed forces right … Continue reading →
The Church of England was like the kindly old man who lived down the road. Continue reading →
I started this picture ages ago but I got frustrated trying to draw her face. So she has been stuck on my iPad for about a year waiting for me to finish. Then, when I came to finally finish her, … Continue reading →
[story is a little out of sequence due to international dateline] Woke up this morning feeling only slightly fragile and, with my three dinners of the night before fully digested, I was ready to make an attempt on the World … Continue reading →
Here’s a quick way to test whether you understand what’s going on or whether you are still clueless like me. Scenario There are three people on a bus going to the beach. One person says “Does anyone want a newspaper?” … Continue reading →
Sin is just a manifestation of our Human Propensity to Fuck Things Up. Continue reading →
Every English schoolboy knows that history began in 1066. Continue reading →
Spoilers Ahead! Before I read the book, I had always understood Lolita to be a sexually precocious teenage girl who seduces an older man. In this scenario, Humbert is technically guilty but it’s still possible to have a little sympathy … Continue reading →
I hear the song as a wistful reminiscence of beautiful ways and a mournful expectation of the winter to come. Continue reading →
Wonderwall (performed by The Ragged Clown) http://www.raggedclown.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/Wonderwall.mp3 A late entry in Gizmodo’s rip off an album cover contest. Winning entry by Mrs Clown
Haven’t recorded one for a while. I’m stuck on a plateau and can’t seem to make progress. I have three or four songs where I can play everything but the solo. This one doesn’t have a solo so it’s good … Continue reading →
The next ten albums in my quest to listen to 500 Greatest – according to Rolling Stone – Albums of All Time. It’s handy, on a quest like this, to have access to all the music in the world. Imagine … Continue reading →
Atlas Shrugged is a classic tale of good versus evil. The heroes are easily recognized by their strong profiles, high cheekbones and tendency to speech rather than speak. Heroes always know the precise angle to present their bodies so that … Continue reading →
When Netflix first started their DVD service, we did what everyone else did. We loaded up our queue with classic movies from the old days and started watching stuff we’d always wanted to see but never gotten around to. Then … Continue reading →
A charming meditation on the wonders of old age. Continue reading →
The core idea is sound. According to the author of The Three Languages of Politics, there are three separate buckets of political thinking in the USA: a libertarian bucket, a progressive bucket and a conservative bucket. For each bucket, there … Continue reading →
In which I discover that I am a dualist after all. Continue reading →
An ethical approach to sustainable farming is the way forward. Continue reading →
If two ships pass, the senior captain may Request the Pleasure of the Company of the other captain with signal flags. Continue reading →
My ideal model for immigration is a potluck dinner. Continue reading →
All of the characters are very moral according to their own particular version of morality. Continue reading →
I promise to serve my God, the Queen, the Commonwealth and the Sea Cadet Corp Continue reading →
Why am I waiting 11 weeks for the results of a biopsy? Continue reading →
Mind? What’s that? What happens in the brain is information processing. Continue reading →
90% of science fiction is crap. 90% of everything is crap. Continue reading →
My list won’t surprise you if you know me well. Continue reading →
I used to keep one note and one coin from every country I visited. Continue reading →
3 dinners and one bar in Tokyo Continue reading →
In the end his popularity just leached away. What a waste! Continue reading →
I am on a quest to listen to the 500 Greatest – according to Rolling Stone – Albums of All Time. I am 30 albums in and have an interim report to file. I’ll cover the highlights. OK, Sergeant Pepper … Continue reading →

Ragged Clown

It's just a shadow you're seeing that he's chasing…

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Finger Painting

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Pencil Sketches

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