Growth, connection, reflection [494]

Greetings from the shed...

I’m Christian Payne, generalist, photographer and writer. In this weekly dispatch I seek out novelty, explore the relations between things, how we share, what we share and consume, plus where we might be going. Thanks for being here.

---

#TheAction

Earlier this week I caught up with a friend over from Shanghai called Fraser in Leighton Buzzard. A town famous for the Rothschild family, one of the oldest Friends Meeting houses, dissenters and the Great Train Robbery. But we were only there for coffee and a walk around with our cameras. Some of my photos are above.

Then yesterday I headed into London to watch the film 2073.

Prior to heading to a screening room in Somerset House I met up with (left to right) Mark Kieran, Scott Williams, Graham Hughes, Tan Smith aka SuperTanskiii, (me) and Josh. A motley crew dripping with stories, skills and a passion for change.

This is the trailer for 2073.

I think what we saw was now the final edit and I felt it went some way toward reflecting the polycrises we face. But things are moving so fast, especially in Gaza, that some of the commentary felt thin and perhaps should be updated before mainstream release next year.

The harrowing dystopian scenes were interspersed with a sci-fi narrative designed to give you headspace to process the hard truths.

However, it felt more voyeuristic than a potential catalyst for change, especially as the film industry might not be the best vehicle for spreading urgent messages like this. Prioritising profit is one of the things that got us here.

Should people still be oblivious to political corruption, impending environmental catastrophe, AI-powered surveillance, disinformation, and power-crazed billionaires, this may serve as a wake-up call.

For those already clued in, it's more of a rallying whisper than a cry, as it ends with a huge "What now?"

I was able to ask the director, Asif Kapadia, to please drop a URL on the end of the movie. A link to somewhere people could go and coordinate or gather. I also asked how much it would cost to make the film free for all. "Too much" was his answer. And so, with many palms to grease, I'm not sure this film will be seen in the right places.

It needs to do more than preach to the choir; it needs to be seen in community screenings and conferences focused on facilitating change. I’m glad it’s going to be out there but it's not enough to momentarily move people; films like this need to motivate some kind of action.

---

#ThePictures

My Youtube channel lies neglected, so instead of dropping a photo of my new favourite gadget in here, I dialled up the cheese and made a video over there.

If you burn firewood you need this.

As well as all the things in the video, the device came with a three year warranty. There are lots of different types out there, but after a bit of research I bought the one on this amazon link.

---

Just finished watching the first series of Gangs of London on Netflix. Well acted and a great drama. But brutal with some intense violence/torture/heads getting vaporised. So if you get squeamish at that kind of stuff it’s best to avoid. I’m contemplating whether to move on to the next series.

---

I first met Baratunde as I got off the stage at Fray 11 at Red Eyed Fly in Austin Texas. At the time he was a comedian, TV presenter, and director of digital at the Onion. He said some lovely things about my efforts to entertain and inspire a room full of incredible storytellers, and getting praise from him, a master of the craft, blew me away. I still follow his work and Baratunde’s new project ‘Life with Machines’ has launched.

Life With Machines has launched!

In the link above you’ll find this video which discusses the story behind King Willonius’s viral AI Song BBL Drizzy.

---

#TheSound

Hidden patterns in folk songs reveal how music evolved. Link via Numlock

---

Last night I had a beer with the group mentioned at the top of this post and one of them was Graham Hughes. The last time we had a drink together was 11 years ago at the Thinking Digital conference. Here in audio is a) evidence of what an amazing adventurer he is and b) evidence that we had in fact been drinking.

---

#TheWords

Still on the topic of Graham, he kindly gave me a copy of his book last night. Man of the World: Book 1 of The Odyssey Expedition.

I opened it up at breakfast for a quick look and an hour later I remembered I had a newsletter to write. It’s very readable. I’ve added some evil amazon links should you want to join him on his adventures.

---

“We do not learn from experience... we learn from reflecting on experience." - (Possibly) John Dewey

I capture more content than I have time to edit and archive. One of my ‘work in progress’ folders is 80 gigabytes of multimedia and I’ll worry about the other folders and drives when I come to them. Along with the 22 kilos of prints, negatives and video footage that I plan to digitise at some point. Thankfully typing up old paper journals, some long forgotten, only takes time and little space.

If it wasn’t for my niggling subconscious, none of this would bother me. It occasionally surfaces concerns of whether i’ll actually process and catalog all this stuff. As well as if there is any point in doing it.

Is the time and effort worth preserving and enabling easier access to all these memories and stories? Might someone enjoy, utilise and build upon it after I’m gone?

I still get satisfaction from editing, archiving and sharing, but recently I’m finding more satisfaction in stepping back and looking at a pile of chopped firewood. Or something less cliche like building a wooden shed with scrap timber.

I might spend 30 minutes shaving an old plank so that it fits perfectly into the weird hole that needs filling.

I’m no carpenter. I don’t even really like DIY that much. It depends on the job. I think it’s the problem solving and the instant gratification when that solving happens.

Is this what getting old looks like? I’m not convinced my priorities are changing. They have always flit from one thing to another. And my appreciation for life and the little things has been a constant.

I still need to earn and with no pension to speak of I am waiting patiently for UBI.

But my main needs day to day, are growth from learning, connection to like minds and reflection.

---

#TheConsumed

Asda is selling food six months out of date while half of London’s working families have had to use food banks.

---

#TheThings

Some of you will know that on my travels I’ve been logging ionising isotopes with my Radiacode 102. I have mapped my findings using the app and collected data in a number of interesting countries and places including the mountains of Switzerland and the home of Leonardo Da Vinci in Italy.

This week the app had a glitch and needed an update. After the update, new firmware brought my Radiacode up to date but I also lost all my data. I was gutted. I wasn’t collecting this data for any particular reason other than curiosity. But it still pained me to lose it. I have messaged the company just in case the data was saved elsewhere. But I’ve a feeling it’s gone for good. It was not clear how to back it up on IOS. Or even if there was a way. I’ll see what they say.

---

The business decisions that saved Royal Enfield.

I might have already written about my test drive of the Royal Enfield Himalayan. How it’s the only bike I have crashed and when I returned it no one noticed. (It was on grass). It was one of those bikes you felt had to be taken on an adventure. And many have. But at the time I needed more than 25 horsepower. The new 450 model will do a respectable 40hp and is getting great reviews. My Triumph Tiger Sport is 80hp. Way more than I really need. How much HP is ideal?

---

#TheThanks

The wonderful people that support this dispatch keep the bulk of it free for everyone. It’s a small amount of money to get all the content every month and cheaper to go yearly. Please consider upgrading to become a paid supporter. Or if you prefer PayAsYouGo you can do that via Ko-Fi, PayPal. I also have Monzo.

If you do tip i’ll give the same value in full membership. Either way… Thank you for reading, sharing and liking.

---

#TheWeb

• Tesla’s robot demo. Brought to you with the assistance of remote control.

• Just when you thought the internet had enough bots and fake users The Pentagon want’s in.

• Welcome Fraser. Thank you for adding yourself to the Documentally community map and especially for becoming a supporting subscriber.

• I think we are too far into Gmail to ever claw our data back. Interested to know who you trust with your online correspondence.

• 151,630 children are now homeless and living in temporary accommodation in England

• “The European Union, which in 2016 enacted the General Data Protection Regulation, seems poised to crack down on emotionally intelligent conversational agents, or eicas, citing deception by design.” This is a fascinating article pondering if a chat with AI in a conversation.

• Some of my other places include Swarm, Letterboxd, Flickr, Strava, Untappd, my audio RSS feed, Insta, LinkedIn, YouTube, Mastodon, or search ‘Documentally’ on Wire, Birdsite, Bluesky or Foto

• Rabbit hole of the week for me was reading, watching and listening to speculation about the identity of the Count of St. Germain a man thought by many to be immortal, but was most likely just a highly educated con man.

---

#TheEnd

Thanks for reading.

Next week I’ll be in Amsterdam. If i’m up to my neck documenting, I'll endeavour to at least share something for supporting subscribers. Have a great week!

---

“Only those who do not seek power are qualified to hold it.” – Plato

---

Explore,

See you out there.

Over…

A ❤️ is a high-five, a comment is a hug. A supporting subscription earns my undying love.