I’m Christian Payne, autotelic. This is shorter than usual. Some of you will thank me.
#TheAction
I’m stood in an empty room at The Bell in Ticehurst which has been the epicentre of intense cerebral, emotional and epicurean activity for the last couple of days. Physically I’m feeling a little broken. I’m yet to assess the state of my mind.
This has been an off the radar low-key gathering of a small number of passionate, curious individuals. With no preconceptions it was what it was, and for me it was an incubator for inspiration, innovation, and collective growth.
A delightful exchange of ideas where opinions, thoughts, dreams and proposals were exchanged in a safe, yet exciting space. Beyond immense intellectual stimulation and reflection, there was fantastic food and drink.
It was a lot of things for me but might this also be the seed for positive societal progress? Quite possibly.
This marriage of minds was a test, a work in progress. If and when I can talk about it more, I will.
#ThePictures
I got to chat photography with Jon Nicholson this week. If you are not familiar with his incredible body of work Please check out his website.
I’m not ashamed to say we cried together. You would too if you heard some of the stories behind his work.
Internet cafe’s are where I wrote my regular first mass emails. Well, ‘mass’ as in around 20 people. I'd planned to do a project where I document some of the last remaining Internet cafés, but it looks like somebody's already done it.
#TheWords
Five of this year’s Pulitzer finalists are AI-powered
Just went round the world seeing if i’m in the top ten in any country. Nope. Some of the more obscure countries don’t even have a chart. Surly an opening no? Anyone know a bunch of people in Suriname or Mauritania?
#TheSound
I’ve always been a fan of the Zoom H1 despite accidentally buying a second hand one 13 years ago. The preamps were amazing for a recorder that size and it gave me many hours of recording joy before giving it away at one of my workshops.
Then about six years ago I picked up the Zoom H1n. A fantastic upgrade and a recorder I still enjoy using. It’s still susceptible to handling noise but much less, (unless pressing the buttons) on the front but even more portable.
Two fantastic audio recorders that would still be a smart purchase all these years later.
I must admit though, having 32bit float recording in a couple of other recorders I own, i’ve been picking up the H1n less and less. I felt it was only a matter of time before the Zoom H1 would also have a 32bit update.
One of the other audio companies at the Photo and Video Show told me they were the only audio company onsite so I can't tell you how excited I was to stumble on the Zoom stand, run by the European distributers Sound Service.
Especially when I approach the stand and in amongst their audio recorders, I spotted an update to the Zoom H1. The new and very much improved Zoom H1e with the much anticipated 32bit float recording. I’m really keen to try one of these and wish i’d had it these last two days. As it happened I recorded using the F6 and F2 but I’d love to put the H1e thorough it’s paces on a mini Joby tripod.
#TheThings
Books are the best gifts. And I was gifted this book today. The Idle Traveller.
A kind gift from the author @Dan_Kieran. We share similar ideas as what makes for great travel and he told me that as I’m currently writing something myself, I may want to wait to read it.
I’m not sure I’ll be able to do that. The person on the front cover of his book has the same hat, shirt, trousers and pack as me. It’s a sign that I need to take a peak inside.
Don’t shoot the messenger but… ‘Are you a teacher or parent that wants to teach a student about advanced neurotechnologies? You are in luck! We are excited to announce the world's first commercially available cyborg’
Saw this at the Photography show this week. Wow.
A MicroDrone. Want one and might be getting one.
Apart from a certain member of the family always dropping things, I always wonder when stacking the cups why we have so many with handles. It seems an unnecessary addition to what would otherwise be a beautifully simple design. If cup is too hot to hold, it’s too hot to drink. So more often than not, unless walking to my shed, I find handles surplus to requirement. I don’t need to delicately slurp my beverage. I need to ceremoniously lift and cradle, my drink.
#TheThanks
Firstly, thank you to the supporting subscribers. You are the best. If you’ve still not got access to the discord let me know. And also thank you to those who read all the words and click at least a few of the links. If this dispatch is of any use to you, please consider supporting my writing with a full subscription.
#TheWeb
Remove a paywall anyone?
If you are news feel free to add yourself to the Documentally community map.
How can we expect people to care for the countryside if they are denied access to it?
Some of the oldest websites still working.
There are a number of online places I occasionally hang out in. Letterboxd, Flickr, Strava, Untappd, LinkedIn, YouTube, Mastodon, or search ‘Documentally’ on Wire, Birdsite and Bluesky. But i’m really enjoying the ridiculousness of Daft Social. It feels silly but it’s really just stripped right back to email and RSS. Which feels pretty pure.
#TheEnd
I told you this was short. I hope you got something out of it. if you are reading this shortly after it hitting your inbox I’ll be on the way home. Via the M25. Wish me luck.
Thanks for reading.
“Honesty is reached by the doorway of grief and loss. Where we cannot go in our mind, our memory, or our body is where we cannot be straight with another, our world, or our self. The fear of loss, in one form or another, is the motivator behind all conscious and unconscious dishonesties: all of us are born to be afraid of loss, in all its forms, all of us, at times, are haunted or overwhelmed even by the possibility of a disappearance, and all of us therefore, are but one short step away from dishonesty. Every human being dwells intimately close to a door of revelation they are afraid to pass through. Honesty lies in understanding our close and necessary relationship with not wanting to hear the truth.
The ability to speak the truth is as much the ability to describe what it is like to stand in trepidation at this door, as it is to actually go through it and become that beautifully honest spiritual warrior, equal to all circumstances, we want to become. Honesty is not the revealing of some foundational truth that gives us power over life or another or even the self, but a robust incarnation into the unknown unfolding vulnerability of existence, where we acknowledge how powerless we feel, how little we actually know, how afraid we are of not knowing and how astonished we are by the generous measure of loss that is conferred upon even the most average life.
Honesty is grounded in humility and indeed in humiliation, and in admitting exactly where we are powerless. Honesty is not found in revealing the truth, but in understanding how deeply afraid of it we are. To become honest is in effect to become fully and robustly incarnated into powerlessness. Honesty allows us to live with not knowing. We do not know the full story, we do not know where we are in the story; we do not know who ultimately, is at fault or who will carry the blame in the end. Honesty is not protection; honesty is not a weapon to keep loss and heartbreak at bay, honesty is the outer diagnostic of our ability to come to ground in reality, the hardest attainable ground of all, the place where we actually dwell, the living, breathing frontier where we are given no choice between gain or loss.”
~ David Whyte
See you out there.
Grow.
Over…
Loved the article about Internet Cafes, although they seemed to have missed that it is not really mobile phones that have done them in, but the social acceptability of carrying a laptop with you when travelling. Going through security at every airport is a dance of 'shoes off, belt off, jacket in tray, oh ... and get my laptop out..' There is no longer a need for shared computers... and then the availability of WiFi / Mobile Data everywhere did them in... and replaced them with all cafes having what you need when you have your laptop with you...