Mr. Doodle

This week, completely by chance, BBC featured 25-year old Sam Cox on its app. Don saw it and forwarded it to me, so I thought it seemed like a good time to put it on the blog.

Here he is, standing in front of some of his art. So similar to Doodle Boy's art. 

I was wondering if this kind of activity might indicate a form of OCD when in my on-line searching I found out that yes, it is. Sam Cox, Mr Doodle has been doodling pretty well constantly since age 9 and does not seem to find it burdensome - to the contrary, he has fun with it and is able to make it pay, decorating walls and halls and other objects, including clothing.

He has a website: Mr Doodle, a YouTube Channel and is on Instagram.

With great dexterity - no mistakes/corrections -  he manages to make doodling look effortless. I think of the trouble I have with handwriting and appreciate even more his and Doodle Boy, Joe Whale's talent.

Joe Whale, Artist

Don't you love seeing what kids can do!

Joe's fans can follow along on his Instagram page, The Doodle Boy.

A Bridge to Nowhere

There are a few bridges to nowhere scattered around the world -  in California, and in New Zealand for example, and also in New Jersey and Alaska, but the Bridge to Nowhere I want to share today is in Dunbar, Scotland, on the southeast coast overlooking the Forth estuary. 

At high tide, the bridge appears to be useless but at low tide, it enables pedestrians to walk to the beach. 

Known as the Belhaven Bridge it spans the large stream/smallish river that runs through the town of Biel. It's a photographer's delight at high tide and especially at sundown.

Easily accessible from the John Muir Coastal Trail, but may involve some stepping into wet sand/surface water. As with any coastal beach, visitors should be mindful of tide times.

Bird Photographer Chen Chengguang

Chen Chengguang is a Taiwanese photographer devoted to taking photos of birds, especially birds in flight. He specializes in taking a series of photos then composing them into one image to give us a feeling of watching the bird in stop-action. 

He also takes more regular photos, but they are spectacular!

See more of Chen Chengguang's work here and here.

Dolly Parton, Carol Burnett and Lewis Phillips

Separately they are awesome and together even more so: Dolly Parton and Carol Burnett. This video is dated but I still love watching it.

The young boy who plays the banjo is Lewis Phillips and here he is again, May, 2006.

Most of my friends will find it surprising because I normally don't have much interest in stars and modern music but there's something about Dolly Parton that I find fascinating and I'm not referring to the way she looks. It has more to do with what she has to say and what a canny businesswoman she is. Also, she's about my age. 😎

So I recently enjoyed the podcast Dolly Parton's America, a 9-part series of approximately 30-minute episodes which include conversations with Dolly herself and interviews with a huge range of people who admire or relate to her in some way - students, immigrants, other musicians, even visitors to Dollywood. It's hosted by Jad Abumrad, whose father struck up an unlikely but wonderful friendship with Dolly after Dolly's unfortunate car accident in Nashville a few years ago when she ended up in the hospital.

Here's the link if you're interested: Dolly Parton's America. I have the Podcast App on my phone, so that's how I listen to it. It's also available on iTunes or wherever you get your podcasts. And it's all free. 👍