Running with the herd [276]

Greetings from my shed...

Right here, we stand on the cusp. Between frenzy and serenity.

At the fulcrum lies this email.

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#TheAction

The gaps between the rain are lasting longer. And in those gaps this week I strategically inserted barbecues and bike rides, dog walks and some leaning against the garden bar.

In the dank times a 1000 piece jigsaw appeared on the kitchen table.

A gift from family bought from the Dogs Trust. The image on the box is of an old couple sat with grandchildren and pets. I feel like I know these people intimately. The screen free sitting room is warmed by an open fire and has them all making or building.

The young girl doing her meta-jigsaw is having an easier time than us. For us the satisfaction in finding and fitting an odd shaped piece is short lived. It’s more like a relentless battle to reclaim the surface on which it has taken over.

Jigsaws invade your home as well as your psyche. The throwing down of a cardboard gauntlet that shatters into 1000 pieces and steals as many minutes of your week.

I looked forward to the zen like instance when it was complete. Then for a moment we all looked at it. Sighed in relief. Then destroyed it. Returning it to the box which will become its tomb. I’ve not done many jigsaws this fiddly. And none of them twice.

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#ThePictures

Nobody stands nowhere, where do you stand?

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I was going to rustle up a review of the Mikme pocket today but this guy has done a much better job mentioning many thoughts I would have.

Many but not all. Working fixed camera shots with even lighting in the app is fine, but if there is a lot of change in the lighting during a single take the app seems to struggle. This could easily be fixed or not an issue for those using this as a remote recorder only, but it has me preferring to tether a mic and trusting the iPhone’s inbuilt auto exposure.

That said, the recorded sound is top class and with #Audiomo just round the corner I can’t wait to share some great sounding audio from this device.

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More adverts like this please.

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#TheWords

Signal - a poem by Taylor Row

I found this poem on the online publication Branch a sustainable internet for all. There are some great resources (like Sustainable web design) check it out.

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#TheSound

A podcast about Hitler’s toilet and where it ended up.

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@MikiStrange has a new EP out.

Free to download here.

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The Wanderer is an interesting podcast. It’s a written and performed art piece by T.H. Ponders and I was very much intrigued by the trailers. But when episode one dropped it started with a massive scripted plug for the other parts of its podcast empire, the newsletter, Patreon, offers etc. I know they need to put the business model somewhere, and it might even be better to get it out of the way, but if it wasn’t for the skip button I would have switched off. In my opinion episode one is too soon for all that stuff.

You may love this podcast. It certainly has some great writing and sets a certain mood. But to me it feels a little like getting lost in the woods, amidst the sounds of the trees and the scent of their leaves, only to stumble on a massive spotlit billboard.

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#TheConsumed

It was February last year when I found Burger King trialing a veggie burger option. Back then it was called the ‘Rebel Whopper’. Looks like it is now just called a plant-based Whopper. Weirdly this one cost me over £6 which did not feel worth it and I have a funny feeling that I was charged for the meal deal by mistake.

There was certainly a hint of burger but it was more bread and salad. And with anything from Burger King it was certainly not healthy.

Just enough days later for this not to look habitual, I found myself in nipping into another Burger King. This one was in Milton Keynes and I saw potential for a fact finding mission in order to complete the set. This time I grabbed a Vegan Royale. This is a vegan clone of the Chicken Royale and where with the plant-based Whopper I may have saved you wasting money, if you do find yourself having to grab some fast food, this offering is virtually indistinguishable from the original.

At £4.79 it’s worth it just to marvel at how they managed to copy the mayonnaise and make it vegan. Obviously the hardcore vegan may not be craving anything pretending to be chicken, but if you are trying to cutdown on factory farmed animals then this might feel like an option. Especially if you have the occasional craving for junk food.

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This, believe it or not is a wine glass.

While a heathen like me is happy to slosh a goblet of wine at dinner while singing Bella Ciao, should I ever travel back in time to an Italian banquet, I might be expected to lift a full receptacle like this to my lips. It would have to look graceful and effortless, and most importantly I should not spill a drop. This is sprezzatura, elegance, sophistication, and nonchalance.

Anyway, Just incase I find myself in the company of Italian nobility I have found a cake dish and have begun my training. Not sure if it’s to scale but it’s worth a punt.

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#TheFound

I headed up into the attic to get the family (circus sized) tent out. Inside was a battery box that powers a string of waterproof LED lights. It wasn’t in good shape. The batteries had leaked corroding the wires and making a mess.

Yes I know that in the photo I’m holding a hand full of potassium carbonate covered leaky batteries, please don’t try this at home. I only held them to take the photo and washed my hands immediately afterwards. For a little while afterwards there was still a tingling in my hands.

In a past life I would have thrown this and the string of LED’s in the bin. But with my rejuvenated love for fixing electronics I have cleaned out the battery holder, soldered the corroded cables and now it’s all working again.

If you want to know a bit more as to why batteries leak there is more info here.

I’m now off to take all the batteries out of my dormant audio recorders and devices.

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#TheThings

All going to plan we will be camping next week.

The yellow and black bags (bottom left) contain my OEX sleep mat and sleeping bag. the two blue bags (top and bottom right) are my Wife’s Berghaus sleep mat and sleeping pod.

My gear needs to be lightweight as it normally lives in my motorbike panniers or backpack, the blue gear was purchased this week and only needs to be comfortable. Only one of us will be ‘roughing it’.

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When Neil Dixon shared the cycling clothing brand name @FatLadAtTheBack I had to smile. Great name :-)

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#TheWeb

• I have been playing with Skiff. An end to end encrypted collaboration platform. This link is a referral link but I don’t get anything out of it. It’s just so you can jump the queue a bit if you are interested in having a look at the beta. If you’re really looking for something like this then let me know as I also have 7 invites tied to my account.

• Anyone in the eascoast of England yet to add themselves on the Documentally community map? Seems devoid of all life over there.

• Tesla has made some interesting modifications to its autopilot.

• Ever wondered how long it took the ancients to get from A to B? Well now you can work it out.

• I’m not giving up hope. I think tardigrades are hardcore and may well have survived crash landing on the moon.

• If you like this email please tell others.

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#TheEnd

Thanks for reading. And of course subscribing.

As soon as I hit send I’m on holiday. Who knows what the next email will look like. Between now and then I’m hoping for 168 hours of novelty and exploration. And of course a chunk of sleep.

I hope you can get out into the world. It’s starting to look brighter than it has in a long time.

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“The only reason the world was a better place during your childhood is because you were a child.” ~ J.R. Rim

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Pack a bag…

See you out there.

Over…