I’m Christian Payne, photographer, writer and this week, woodworker. 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 joining in.
#TheAction
The image at the top was a low light phone snap taken at a gig in Scotland’s largest venue the Ovo in Glasgow. We took the kids to see Cavetown. There was an opening band called Creepers which were pretty good, another called Hot Mulligan which were a bit meh and the headliners Pierce The Veil who were mostly just LOUD and sounded like other bands.
When I say loud, they didn’t compare to Motorhead in the Hummingbird in Birmingham on Sunday the 17th of December 1989. I’m not sure my young ears ever heard sounds the same way again. Although rather than breaking my eardrums, I feel Motorhead taught me how valuable those spongey ear buds were. Even before I became a press photographer covering festivals and gigs, i’d always pocket them just in case.
Although I’d forgot to pack them for this recent gig. After my watch told me I was in a dangerously noisy environment, (something my ears already knew) the new AirPod Pro’s did a brilliant job. After popping them in, they generated anti-noise waves to cancel out the super loud moments and I could listen to the band at a level I was comfortable with. I.e. low, as IMO they were not that good.
For the rest of the week I worked on fitting out the new shed and building a wood store out of old pallets.
I set down five pallets along a south facing wall. Three along the bottom and one on each side. I then built around them with some scrap wood. The whole project would have cost nothing if I didn’t feel I needed some ‘proper’ roofing materials. So I had to buy four sheets of corrugated roofing. It was worth it. We had a torrential downpour last night and the wood I cut yesterday kept dry.
The wood on the right is blackthorn. A hard, dense wood that’s notoriously difficult to season. It can take over two years, but do it right and it burns hot, long, producing good coals and a pleasant aroma.
My very rough calculations tell me that to keep two 5kwh wood burning stoves going throughout the winter evenings in The Borders, we’ll need 4 cubic meters of wood per year. But I could be way off.
For the rest of the week, reading, walking, and listening to audiobooks has had me pondering bigger thoughts than normal.
And one book, mentioned in more detail below, had me considering how we are a species compelled to flirt with its own annihilation.
From the moment we split the atom, we’ve had the means to erase ourselves. Right now, we appear close to creating some kind of super intelligence and again, I can’t help but wonder why we keep toying with technologies that could do us all in.
Is it the same curiosity that had us map the world or reach the moon? Or is this less a hunger to understand and more a greed for power and control?
Apart from me sharing my thinking, I feel very uninvolved in it all. This place where I am sitting is not a lab or a boardroom, so it feels far away from these concerns, despite these questions feeling both urgent and remote.
It feels healthier in some ways to reflect rather than involve myself in protests and a desperate attempt to change policy.
Can we really have any influence?
I’ll share more on this below, with a link to the book that influenced these thoughts.
#ThePictures
Finished all of The Detectorists (including special editions) and now watching the animated series Strange Planet. A celebration or the absurd world we live in… reflected in another.
“The bad moments will pass,
the good moments will pass,
that’s what our existence is all about”.
Covering hatful tattoos…
#TheWords
We have made a kind of Faustian bargain with technology. It brings us unprecedented power, but also carries the constant possibility of self-destruction.
So this is required reading…
This book is for anyone still on the fence about the dangers of a superintelligent AI... or really anyone with even a passing interest in our increasingly limited future as a species.
An environmentalist friend of mine recommended this book to me after stating their environmental concerns have now taken second place to what they believe is a far more imminent impending doom.
It’s an easy read, with clear and simple explanations of why building a system far smarter than humanity is likely to end badly. Yudkowsky and Soares don’t pull any punches, laying out the many possible and more than likely ways it could lead to our extinction.
The parables and speculative sci-fi-esque thought experiments bring the arguments to life. Too much of it feels possible, and honestly, almost too scary to contemplate. It left me even more at peace with my massive reduction in screen time and increased attempts to live more consciously and work the land in a present, albeit amateur way.
What else can we do? There’s no befriending our cyber-cerebral overlords, only living each moment until the inevitable. Sure, you could campaign for stricter regulation and extreme caution from the tech broligarchs... But ideally you’d read the book first.
That feels like as much as I can do for now. So please read the book. And if, like me, you hope it’s all horribly wrong but plan to ride out our remaining months or years with those fine wines and whiskeys you’ve been saving… don’t be a stranger.
And if you can’t afford the book, let me know, and you can have mine. I won’t need it where we’re heading.
There’s an unhealthy fascination with power, risk and ruin while the oblivion seekers remind us it’s not far away. Let us hold onto each other as we peer over the edge.
“We have the choice to use the gift of our life to make the world a better place—or not to bother” ― Jane Goodall
#TheSound
Supporting subscribers might have spotted this recorded stream of consciousness in their feeds…
Humans better than machine? [2158]
![Humans better than machine? [2158]](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!UlHM!,w_1300,h_650,c_fill,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep,g_auto/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-video.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fvideo_upload%2Fpost%2F175179748%2Fbbc7ae66-69a9-4b9b-b843-1b3f2980f080%2Ftranscoded-1759498788.png)
In this recorded stream of consciousness and ambient sound, you find me as I approach a local beck or burn. Although in the audio I think I call it a stream or brook.
My friend Laura AKA Penfriend is celebrating Bandcamp Day today by offering a free download of her album House of Stories. If you are not already a fan, this could be the first step on a wonderful musical journey. But act quick as the link expires soon.
Just booked a ticket to go see The Cure with Mogwai, Slowdive, and Just Mustard at the Edinburgh summer Sessions at the Royal Highland Showgrounds on Sun 23 Aug next year. That’s be being confident the world isn’t ending just yet. Might I see you there?
#TheConsumed
Added this podcast here as my consumed section was looking thin (RE: empty ) plus i’m still consuming Creatine daily.
It’s the Sliced Bread podcast which takes a closer look at Creatine in an attempt to debunk the myths. It discusses the extensive research in regards to the physical benefits but the jury is still out on any cognitive benefits as there is stillnot much research out there. (link via Manny Coulon)
#TheFound
As I get to know my detector better i’m getting better at retrieving coins and buttons I can’t identify.
#TheThings
This week I said farewell old friend to my 12” MacBook. The best Apple laptop i’ve ever owned.
Not in power. My current MacPro is far more capable than anything I’ve had prior, but the form factor, keyboard and portability of this little gem is far superior to any and all the laptops I’ve owned.
But as I’m travelling far less it’s not getting used and I had the chance to swap it for a lens. Which I did.
This little caddy contains my favourite tool kit and the tools that get the most use around the house.
The spanners, screwdrivers, wrench and multiple bits are made by Wera. Not cheap but with a lifetime guarantee. I’ll add some Amazon links here as sadly they sell them far cheaper than my local stockists (due to tax evasion?) and I’ve sometimes managed to get them at almost half price in the sales. Even then they are not cheap but the best tools I’ve used. My favourite screwdriver. Assortment of bits, small driver and wrench. Tool Quiver. The Wera 2 Piece 6006 Joker Self-Setting Double Spanner Set looks like two spanners but it is actually 24 spanners as they will auto adjust to fit 24 different metric and imperial sizes. Shop around though as these can cost silly money.
Finally, for pliers and a quick access multitool I tend to have my SwissTool on my belt, but the multitool in the image above sits in the quiver and only cost £33 with a voucher at checkout. It’s a Bibury multitool and a serious Leatherman contender for a fraction of the price. In the tool and pouch you have pliers, wire cutter, wire stripper, screwdrivers and extra bits, awl, replaceable hacksaw and woodsaw, scalpel, scissors, ruler, can opener, bottle opener, diamond files, etc etc. It’s heavy but well made and will earn its keep for sure.
#TheThanks
Massive thanks to the paying subscribers who continue to support this dispatch and the adventures/experiments that make it. You know who you are. ♥️
If you value these words, ideas and curation, please consider an upgrade to paid…
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or Monzo …Either way… Thank you for reading, sharing, liking and supporting a human doing manual work with their brain.
#TheWeb
RIP Jane Goodall.
Rethinking the Autism spectrum
On the Documentally community map? I’m hoping to get to Edinburgh tomorrow. Let me know if you’ll be in town.
In the hope I can go some way to alleviate your concerns about AI’s imminent take over, this post might indicate we have a little more time.
If you like a good heist movie, check out Mike Sizemore’s new project ‘The Steal’… So far in Episode One, Episode Two and Episode Three you’ll discover the best, weirdest, most under-appreciated and completely forgotten heist movies out there. Some real gems.
Some of my other places include these…
I have noticed that the Brave browser can bypass some paywalls. Daydream your way to life changing insights.
Remembering England’s first king and the diversity of the nation at that time.
#TheEnd
Thanks for reading.
Edinburgh tomorrow and who knows where next week. No doubt more foraging for firewood and pressing apples.
Have a great week/end!
“Please, no matter how we advance technologically, please don’t abandon the book. There is nothing in our material world more beautiful than the book.” — Patti Smith
Live.
See you out there.
Over…
