Martin Livings

We went and saw The Dark Knight again [1] on Saturday night with Izz's parents. And once again, coming out, Izz complained about ( plot spoiler ). Which led to a discuss of whether people, in a crisis, do the right thing.

I think it's fair to say that, most of the time, they don't. Most of the time, people are stupid, selfish and cruel. They'll walk or drive right past someone being beaten up [2]. Men will dress up as women in order to escape a sinking ship. But occasionally, just occasionally, people will do the right thing. In the chaos of 9/11, the people of New York rallied against the terror that had flown into their city and destroyed two buildings. On that same day, a plane full of passengers sacrificed themselves to prevent another attack happening. At an airport in Glasgow some years later, a ordinary man walked up to a terrorist on fire and punched him out [3].

Sometimes, people do the right thing.

I'm so fucking proud of everyone!

[1] Don't ask... I wanted to see Hellboy 2, but it was on too late for the rest of the family... sigh...
[2] For example, on William Street in Northbridge, where I was mugged and beaten in broad daylight, with traffic whizzing past and people walking less than three meters from where I was being pounded... hmph!
[3] Of course, that could just be because it was Glasgow!

So, I just had a scan through the auctions for Art That Scares You, and thus far, about $2500 has been pledged [1].

That's pretty awesome, but there's still a week to go, a heap of items that no-one's bid on at all yet, and many others going for a song. By my estimation, going by girliejones's running total, plus the auction pledges, we're still around a grand short of the twenty we want to raise. So get in there and get bidding!

Except on the ones I've bid on. Stay away from those. ;)

[1] A good chunk of that total, mind you, is tied up in Shaun Tan's artwork and Keith Stevenson's professional manuscript assessment, both of which I'd love, but there's no way our budget will stretch to those dizzying heights!

Below is the official press release for artscaresyou, which will be starting in a few days. I'm going to put up two copies of Carnies, signed personally to the winning bidders. It's not much, but I want to do my part.

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The Australian speculative fiction and art community are holding an online art auction to raise funds for Paul Haines, a talented writer currently fighting bowel and liver cancer. The theme 'Art that Scares You' was chosen to reflect the kind of creepy, disturbing and macabre fiction that Paul is known for, as well as the fear and horror surrounding cancer itself.

The ART THAT SCARES YOU auction will be going live from artscaresyou from 14-28 August 2008. Items include "The Survivors" by Shaun Tan, "Heaven and Earth" by Cat Sparks and "Chairman Sanders" by Andrew Macrae (pictured below). Other items in the auction will include original art commissions, manuscript assessment services, fabric art, sock puppets, cards, jewellery, sculpture, china and various rare and unusual books. If you would like to donate an item, contact Tansy at artscaresyou@gmail.com.

You can visit artscaresyou from 14-28 August 2008 to bid in the auctions. Please feel free to redistribute this information.

In the meantime, if you'd like to make a donation via paypal click here: