Contrasts in Sync [462]
Greetings from the shed...
I’m Christian Payne, autotelic, professional over-sharer, photographer and writer. In this weekly dispatch I seek out novelty, explore how we share, what we share and consume, plus where we might be going.
The people above I spotted in London. Thanks for joining in.
#TheAction
I should be in Wales right now but rain stopped play. I shall not get my fix of the mountains this month, but there has been plenty to keep me occupied.
My lad (@Minimentally) turned 15 this week. Some of you who’ve known him as long as I have will be just as surprised at how quickly this has come about. I’m so proud of who he’s become. And yes he is now taller than me.
In lesser news, we finally have a greenhouse. Felt like a major construction project, what with the wooden kit being a bit haphazard at best. But expect the ‘consumed’ section of this dispatch to start featuring fruit and veg.
#ThePictures
Finally watched Society of the Snow. A breathtaking film, documenting a seemingly impossible triumph. Hope, friendship and survival. But above all, courage.
Also after rewatching Dune (2021) me and the family watched Dune: Part Two at the cinema. Loads more action. I’d watch it again. Here is my review.
Dispatch reader Paul Henni has a photo site with images tagged at locations around Scotland.
The photo book I’m perusing this week is from Martin Parr.
First published in 1986 “The Last Resort” is probably the book British photographer Martin Parr is most known for. It’s a collection of vibrant, candid photos taken in the early 1980s in a seaside resort in The Wirral, England, called New Brighton. Although Parr denies it was not his intention to produce a social commentary showcasing the stark realities of economic decline during the Thatcher years. That’s what I saw in it.
It’s an incredibly influential book for many photographers with some unflinching imagery. But upon seeing his documentary shots of naked kids playing on the beach, I could not shake thoughts of the dark shadow hanging over the Magnum photo agency of which Parr is a member. If you’d like to know more about that, the Duck Rabbit blog has catalogued some very distressing behaviour.
The story behind Virtual Insanity.
#TheWords
There are whispers that Substack are possibly going to implement advertisement into the platform. I would hope this would be optional, as it’s something I’d very much like to avoid. I’m still hoping more of you will take out a supporting subscription. ;-)
For me this place is a glorified continuation of P2P communication. Without anything nasty hitching a ride into your inboxes. Ads and more trackers will most certainly change that dynamic. Just as excessive adverts have recently broken YouTube for me.
In fact the YouTube logo now makes me angry. (And yes I know I can pay to have ads go away.) But after contributing hundreds of my videos into the ecosystem and never taking a penny in ad revenue, you’d think there’d be a little leeway for content creators.
But like many places, Youtube is striving for unobtainable/unlimited growth. And of course the only endpoint can be enshitification.
I think some podcasters manage a slightly more human form of advertising and sponsorship when they deliver a pitch from their own perspective. The fact it is their voice and not some random text, makes all the difference.
If an author here wishes to have advertisements in their newsletter, it should be off their own back, on their own terms, and not a part of an already complex and bloated interface.
I advertise in some of these posts. It’s not AI, driven legalised lying in order to manipulate your desires. It’s a simple sentence asking for people to support my work. Although today I’ll have ago at asking nicely in some audio.
If we are being told that advertising in Substack posts is a possibility, there’s sadly a chance it’s already on the roadmap.
Fingers crossed it’s behind a switch that can remain firmly off for those of us who value our subscribers/community and wish to create a more wholesome corner of the web.
#TheSound
At a time when I’m sticking boxes of old cassettes I no longer listen to in the attic, I really don’t need to be buying more tapes.
But it’s B.B King. And cost £1.70 from ‘Off the Record’ in MK. Sounds great for a 41 year old bit of plastic.
I’m seeing far more mediocre AI generated music hitting the feeds. Soon we won’t be able to assume a piece of music was human made. Will that matter?
Despite being a huge fan of electronica and algorithm-driven art projects like Longplayer; I’m finding prompt based music annoys me far more than prompt based images.
At this moment in time, I feel a deep connection to human made music. Some more than others. If I begin to question its origins, I’ll loose that connection and the magic within.
"Music is a moral law. It gives soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination, and charm and gaiety to life and to everything." ~ Plato
I’m still a fan of Unaugmented Humanity (not-a-band). Perhaps I just have to learn to write off huge swathes of AI generated songs like I already do with hyper-commercial formulaic pop.
I binge listened to the BBC podcast Helen Lewis has left the chat this week. It’s got something for everyone… group chat nightmares, the spread of propaganda and the use of WhatsApp in politics.
#TheConsumed
Someone is trying to control the ‘chili crunch’ market. I’ve only ever called it chilli crisp so I should be safe from litigation ;-) And yes. I still love the stuff.
The left of this image shows Zanmang Loopy from Kwangdong. From what I can gather Zanmang Loopy is a TV character and the contents of the bottle is a large dose of vitamin C and collagen. I’m guessing that’s for skin, joint, bone and hair health etc. It was ok to drink. Didn’t feel natural but didn’t feel toxic like Mountain Dew. 2/5
And on the right is a fruit-like abomination from my never ending box of Turkish snacks. It’s a single slice of fig that has been freeze dried and packaged in way too much single use plastic. This could never replace real fresh figs and has no reason too exist. Even if I did find this faux-food-stuff stuck down the back of an empty broken shelf in a post apocalyptic ruin of an international food store, it would still make me angry. 0/5
#TheThings
To find some photos for this email I dragged a few files off the SD card in my X100VI. 18GB worth. Once again fortifying the need for more storage. I stumped for a Synology NAS in the end.
It’s still in the box waiting to be set up and a few moments ago I was delivered a couple of hard drives to start me off. Above is a photo of it I borrowed from Amazon. And here is the affiliate link. Just in case you too would like to spend £565 on some network-attached storage.
It was by far the most recommended brand and I was after something networked and expandable, mostly just for file backup and storage. Although I’m aware it will do much more. Web/virtual/media server and collaboration space etc.
I’m told the power consumption of this model is around 11.52W. So over a day around 276.48 watt-hours. Around 100.92 kWh per year. With an electricity rate of 13.15 pence per kWh plus daily standing charge of 21p, the NAS's annual electricity usage comes to approximately £89.92. Probably less as I’ll only be running two drives for now. And no doubt way less as I tend not to need remote access and so don’t normally leave it switched on. But it’s good to know that should I need it running 24/7 it will cost about 25p/day.
I’ll be loading it with two of these WD 8TB drives. And two more at a later date.
This is the badge for the upcoming EMFCamp. Pretty cool huh? Might I see you there?
The best MacBook dock I have seen in a while. [AMZ Link]
I have a new 35mm film to play with.
Ferrania P30 (ISO 80) is not cheap. It’s also not all that easy to use as there's not much latitude. It is famous for being contrasty and sharp. With an ‘Italian cinema look’. It’s black and white repackaged cinema film and will render reds and greens quite dark, but blues lighter. I’m told for best results shoot low contrast situations and expose to favour shadows. This Flickr group will give you an idea of the kind of tones it can produce.
#TheThanks
Documentally is reader-supported and I wholeheartedly thank the paying subscribers that support this publication. (Hi Sheona!)
Either way… Thank you for reading, sharing and liking.
#TheWeb
I think the April Fool’s Day Quiz from The Guardian should be a regular feature where they fact check news around the world.
The worlds first Jet Suit Race
There are a few Australians on the Documentally community map and I’m guessing no matter how quick they may open this email, it’s already the following day. If ever I post one on a Thursday, it’s to get you in the Friday window.
Tech can’t cure the loneliness it causes.
Do Not Reply cards.
Today marks the end of the tax year in the UK and astonishingly it’s 30 years since Kurt Cobain died. [Put’s on a cassette in remembrance]
Some of my other places include Letterboxd, Discogs, Flickr, LinkedIn, YouTube, Mastodon, or search ‘Documentally’ on Wire, Birdsite, Bluesky or Daft Social. If you are also using Daft.Social let me know.
This guy who retired when I was born makes me want fish and chips for tea.
#TheEnd
Thanks for reading. It’s the last week of the easter hols and it might be time to open the garden bar. I plan to be making the most of the lighter nights and perhaps even getting the motor+pushbike out. Have a great weekend!
“Share your knowledge. It is a way to achieve immortality.” ~ Dalai Lama XIV
Share.
See you out there.
Over…
You’re opening the garden bar. That calls for a drink then. Name the date. 😄😜
Synology does have a low power mode that spins the disks down to minimise power usage... although I really should see just how much that saves. I have it run for Performance...