An abstract start.
#TheAction
If you are reading this I will have downed tools for the weekend and took a long deep breath. Ok, apart from ripping through a bunch of emails I have neglected, answered some interview questions for a proposed hill walking article and started an edit on a podcast series. Right now though I am relieved to have finally got my feet on the ground.
The climax to a manic week was delivering a 45 minute talk on my radio journey. Much of which longterm subscribers will know as I’ve shared many of those tales in this dispatch. I then gave that particular hobby its own place to grow. So if you would like to hear more about the talk head over there. Thanks though to MKGeek night for asking me back for a third time. If there is any interest it might be I summarise the talk I gave in audio for supporting subscribers.
#ThePictures
Once upon a time I was visiting David Hurn at home and he told me he considered himself as just a recorder of things that interest him. Nothing more. That deeply resonated with me as the more I got wrapped up in the tools, the further away I felt from the documenting.
It also fascinated me that just as he’d never thrown away any negatives, he also never deleted any images. He told me that there were no bad images. Then proceeded to show me a poster advertising an exhibition. It was a strangely composed image with a thumb over the scene. But the words made it the perfect poster. Since that meeting I have a folder on my desktop called ‘Duff Pics’. And in it, I put some of the images I find in my camera that are not what I intended. I still delete images. But some, like the image at the top of this post, go into the folder. Just in case. This top images happened today.
A bunch of my phone footage was used in this S4C program called Ffermio. The Baavet feature starts 3 mins 50 secs in. Subtitles on unless you are lucky enough to speak Welsh.
I watched the film Locke this week. Deeply compelling, intense and brilliantly shot.
It takes a lot for me to give any film the full 5/5 so I rated it 4.5/5 on Letterboxd.
How deep down the AI rabbit hole are we today compared to March when this video came out?
If you have not seen it it’s worth a watch as so much of the concerns mentioned have already played out.
#TheWords
Looking for something to read or gift? This short list might inspire.
Please don’t settle for a messaging app that is owned by a company hell bent on gathering as much data on you as possible. There are more ethical messaging tools out there. Yes many of my friends and family use the easy options. But I’m just hoping that’s because they are too lazy to fix things. I really hope they don’t think that these main stream apps have their best interests at heart. If you can. Download and try Signal. Read this to learn more. I have recently donated again. Like I do with the EFF and the Open Rights Group. It’s up to us to use and champion the tools that care about people, our data and whatever privacy we have left.
#TheSound
Wundabar by Tempole Tudor was my first vinyl single. Star Fleet with Brian May and friends was my first 12 inch, The Best of the Monkeys was my first tape, Van Halen 5150 was the first cassette I bought with my own pocket money, and MSG was my first Album. Still have them. Comment below with yours.
You only have a few days to listen to this wonderful online gig from Laura (Penfriend). Or you can do what I did and pay what you want for the Flac files. They now sit in my Apple Music archive. The stripped down production really works for me. Especially in the shed but also so I can really enjoy the songwriting in tracks like Black Car.
#TheConsumed
I saw a can of Gungo peas in the supermarket. I had no idea what they were for, but at 15p a tin I decided to buy three. I now wish I’d bought more.
They are also known as pigeon peas which I had heard of. In fact I have eaten them in Africa. I’d never cooked with them though. So I dig out a traditional rice and beans recipe and played with it.
I used one can of gungo peas / 2 cups long grain rice / 2 tablespoons vegetable oil / 1 medium onion, finely chopped / A small green pepper / A handful of peas / 2 cloves garlic, minced / Some thyme (a big pinch as I didn’t have a sprig / 1 tin of coconut milk / 3 cups water / Salt and pepper as you need it / A slither or Caroline reaper chilli (other chillies are available and all are optional)
Fry the things that need frying and then add the rest. Bring to the boil and simmer.
I thought it turned out great and the kids loved it in soft tacos with salad on the side.
I snaffled a bunch of Modern Standard (amazing) hot chocolate sachets from the last hotel I stayed in. Now if I ask my daughter if she’d like to join me on a dog walk she asks “Will there be a flask of hot chocolate?”
She took the photo on the left. I took the photo on the right of the banana bread beer I bought for not much money from Smiling Grape who run LowCostBeer.com. The beer is even cheaper in the shop. It’s getting close to hip flask weather. As soon as I wrap up for the year I’ll be cracking open some of the bottles I’ve been collection. Especially the Glenwyvis as there is a slim chance i’ll be working with them in the new year.
We are being paid to use less electricity for some peak hours. That way Octopus maximises its green energy use. When the time slot fell over tea time I cooked potatoes in the wood burner and the beans on the top. All that was then needed was a tuna salad and some leaves. Far more fun than standard cooking and the stove was on for heat anyway.
#TheThings
Lego Minifigs are now in boxes not packets.
I’m pleased they are using less plastic but how can I tell what’s in the box? Minifigures are not as cheap as they used to be and what kid is going to want to risk having three of the same character when they’re going for the set? When I asked the always-friendly-but-defiantly-not-on-drugs staff how it’s been going, they told me “Not so good”. There has been a lot of disappointment from the public who loved to feel their way through the packets. Staff were even trained to tell what was in the plastic packets. Some customers are ripping open the packets to find what they want, Some even bring sensitive scales to ensure a new purchase does not weigh the same as old ones. One staff member told me they think Lego will introduce another ‘secret’ printed code on the packaging as was once done in the past. They might even go back to some kind of plastic.
I got a few lovely little gifts from the the MK Geek night organisers as a thank you for speaking and one was this Huskee Cup
It’s made of waste coffee husk held in a polymer (recycled plastic). If you ever find your cup to be wearing out, you can just exchange it at supporting coffee shop for a new one and it will then go to be recycled. So never ending up in landfill or the sea.
#TheThanks
Thank you for those of you who support this email with a small payment every month. It’s humbling and I really do appreciate it. If you are able to join those that do, please upgrade to become a paid supporter.
Spreading the word is also appreciated. As are likes comments and reshares. It does help. If only psychologically. I’ve long given up caring about unforeseen algorithms.
Either way… Thank you for reading.
#TheWeb
Here is a pretty in-depth review of the Nikon Zf
Greetings new people on the Documentally community map
The people who ruined the internet.
23 and Me are messing around again.
If you’re feeling generous buy me a coffee or send a tip via PayPal, I can always exchange your donation into full subscription time.
Light can be reflected not only in space, but also in time.
A worm butt that can grow its own eyes, antennae, and brain.
One of the first coffee table photo books I saved up for was by Elliot Erwitt. He lived till 95. Amazing. RIP a master photographer.
Some of my other places include Letterboxd, Flickr, Untappd, Signal, LinkedIn, YouTube, Mastodon, a ham radio newsletter or search ‘Documentally’ on Wire or Bluesky.
Chat GPT is a blurry jpg of the web.
#TheEnd
Well we got there in the end. Or at least some of you did. ;-) All spelling and grammatical errors are here for artistic reasons.
No idea what’s happening next week. It keeps changing. I hope to be at the Neotists get together. And of course writing. Look after yourself. Thanks for reading.
“Back in Ancient Greece, when Xenophon first came up with the term economics, he described the practice of household management as an art. Following his lead, Aristotle distinguished economics from chrematistics, the art of acquiring wealth—in a distinction that seems to have been all but lost today.”~ Kate Raworth
Rest.
See you out there.
Over…