Intimacy at a distance [261]
Greetings from my shed...
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I never wear a suit. So this morning I put on a suit.
The family laughed. But the dog respects me.
And the day felt blissfully different.
#TheAction
A long walk with a friend this week delivered a healthy dose of normality. Even optimism. We trod footpaths older than ourselves. Climbed fences to traverse frozen floods. And the thin veneer of weird that covers the world seemed as transient as ice on puddles.
But of course the rest of the week is a blur. Apart from strobed moments. The opening of a fridge, a glass on the lips, the stroke of a dog, a head on a pillow.
There was another momentary meet-up midweek.
Thanks for the handful of subscribers that made it into the High Fidelity platform on Wednesday night.
It felt much more natural than other online meeting places. The spacial audio enabled you to feel the ‘presence’ of those around you. And to paraphrase Will (sitting on the sofa on the left) he said “...it felt like a very organic chat, as if you’d wandered into the pub.” Also after signing up for his own space space he confirmed that you’re able to choose your own background images and use some basic JSON code to add interactive hotspots.
Afterwards I got a load of emails from people who had missed the initial reminder in the previous issue, as well as the tweet and the email on the night. So how about we try again? 7pm on the 19th Feb? I’ll send the same link out again in the next supporting subscribers email. Remember the freemium version allows only 20 people access to the space at one time. But knowing how few supporting subscribers there are, plus how many will actually read or remember… 7PM ON THE 19TH OF FEBRUARY - LINK IN THE EMAIL ON THAT DAY …I’m sure there will be space. If not, try again as people come and go. Put a reminder in the diary.
If enough people are interested then perhaps it can be a regular thing. Maybe then more of you will join the club. ;-)
Last weekend my Wife and I had an online chat with friends. These friends all live within walking distance and yet we’ve been strangely disconnected over the last year. More so for me as I’m the only one not using Facebook. But as this casual chat took many rich twists and turns, I felt more of a connection with these people than ever before.
Perhaps it was the intimacy of a select few sharing honest hopes and fears. Something rare in larger groups. Something often missing in a physical get together. Nights out when our original masks are firmly in place and we forget how to listen.
It took a little while, but our masks did sip away, and we all benefited from a genuine connection, mutual respect, and some rich human communication.
#ThePictures
Rich human communication has been possible over a high speed link for quite a while.
Many thanks to Teymur Madjderey who sent me issue 001 of his new zine packaged up with a limited print of the Transfăgărășan.
You can check out his other work and buy his prints and publications at TeymurVisuals.com.
This amazing short was made with Unreal Engine.
If you are looking to edit video on your mobile device then Luma Fusion is still hard to beat. Check out their instructional videos if you’d like to hone your mobile video production.
#TheWords
Great story. The lion, the polygamist and the biofuel scam.
I received the book ‘The Big I Am’ by Ralph Steadman for my Birthday. A gift from a friend in the US.
With dark art and darker words this book is about belief and control. Steadman channels God as he comments on his creation of the universe.
#TheSound
Christian @FreelanceGeek shared this experimental folk track into one of the backchannels.
Starts off pretty normal. God I miss live music.
And Dave @Buddhamagnet followed it up with this Mongolian rock track.
I spotted this brilliant little video on Twitter thanks to Don McAllister.
#TheConsumed
Every day with a melodic horn blazing a copyright free tune, a small fragrant van pulls into my street. It parks up, places a table on the road and put a card machine on the table.
Then, as I watch from an upstairs window a stretched out queue forms behind the van. Today though, I headed out to see what the fuss was.
I waited for the queue to shrink to the last customer and strolled over.
These drinks in the photo are not mine.
These two caramel-mega-creamed-lattes belonged to an already wired teacher who is just off camera grabbing a handful of cakes from the side of the van.
I waited for him to pay (£26 for four coffee and four cakes) and I timidly ordered a cortado. It was after lunch and I don’t tend to have caffeine in the afternoon. But I wanted to see what I was missing.
The coffee was ok. But the conversation from the Turkish couple that had bought the franchise was so upbeat and pleasant, even after serving most of the street, that I think I’ll be back.
They are serving more than coffee.
Come the Spring, if we are still in lockdown and the pubs are closed I’ll need a back up plan. I have some rural pub crawls planned and if there are no pubs to crawl between I an not going to rely on finding beers in village stores. They tend to sell the same old ‘three bottles for a fiver’ options and I’ve had all them.
So I’m currently researching breweries within cycling distance. What’s cycling distance you ask? Well it’s further than usual if the incentive is a decent ale bought from the back door of a micro brewery. Or if they don’t have a licence to sell on the premises I’ll pop across the road and get them to deliver there. It’s worked before.
#TheThings
The search for a new bike is over. Mostly thanks to Tomo and his very patient guidance.
Here is a clue to what one bit of it will look like. But more on that next week.
Finally took delivery of my Crypto.com card.
Now with every large or small purchase I make i’ll get a percentage back in cryptocurrency. This video explains the perks and if this is something you might like to try here is my referral code. But don’t blame me if you loose all your money. But do thank me by subscribing to this email if you are able to retire rich after taking a punt.
This. Is. Mad. US Navy has patents on tech it says will engineer the fabric of reality. Nothing to worry about there then.
#TheWeb
This 13th century numbering system is amazing.
Why I’ve tracked every single piece of clothing I’ve worn for three years.
Despite scanning millions of faces at airports, feds caught zero imposters. Perhaps it was just a data mining exercise.
This is how we lost control of our faces.
Julie Fredrickson’s thoughts on Clubhouse.
Facebook is the worst brand of the year.
The story behind the Hoppean Snake.
The battle inside Signal.
It’s World Radio Day tomorrow.
#TheEnd
Thank you for reading.
Remember, this is more than a parasocial relationship. Email is interactive.
And thanks also to the paying subscribers who pay a small amount each month to get all the content I share into this feed. Don’t forget you also have places where we can connect outside of here. If you want to join any of the community groups on Wire sign up for a free account on your phone, add me ‘Documentally’ and let me know what groups you’re interested in being added to… The Backchannel / Body & Mind / Weird Beers / Traders / Audio365 / UK Bikers / Whisky on the Wire / Seesmic the day.
I’m excited that next week is half term. No idea what we might do. Perhaps that’s why I’m excited.
Right now I have cracked an ale and very soon a curry will be delivered.
Have a wonderful weekend.
"I'm sick of following my dreams. I'm just going to ask them where they're going and hook up with them later." ~ Mitch Hedberg
Dress up.
See you out there.
Over…
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When I click on the crypto.com referral link, it asks for a referral code to be entered. Did you want to post your referral code?