Spitefully Alive [406]

Greetings from the shed...

Still here.

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#TheAction

Some people thought I’d died this week. As a result, I got a couple of confused, concerned messages.

Lots of things give me a weird sense of gratitude for being alive and well. Spending time in nature Engaging in random acts of kindness. Journaling, and a run of meditation.

I feel a flicker of sorrow or empathy on hearing about the death of a stranger. But it’s nothing like hearing about the death of someone with the same name as me. A Christian Payne died this week. On a road I use regularly. The story was reported in a newspaper I used to work at.

I was saddened to read the loss his family felt in the kind words they wrote about him. But selfishly relieved at the opportunity to continue living my own life. For being able to cherish family and friends.

Eleven years ago the same thing happened to my Dad when his namesake and fellow mountaineer Roger Payne died in an accident.

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A few of days ago I got to meet Junksy Banksy as he was passing through the village.

A fascinating guy living a nomadic life with everything he owns in his pockets or on his bike. He’s not long back from Africa and was telling me about the app WelcomeToMyGarden.org where people offer up their gardens to slow travellers.

Wouldn’t it be great if every village had the facility to offer enough space for a tent or two for slow travellers passing through.

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#ThePictures

If you are not tied into the Adobe suite of apps for your workflow then it might be worth looking into Photomator. I’ve been using Pixelmator for basic photo editing plus layered art and design work, but Photomator has more of a focus on the photographers workflow. Here is a comparison between Pixelmator vs Photomator.

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Jason Silva is out there at the best of times, but this morphing, warping AI-infused video has him in his element.

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Been working my way through The Terminal List on Prime. I usually like Chris Pratt’s work but this is not only a bit meh, it’ makes me feel icky for watching it. It should have been a movie. Even then it’d be a bad Punished Movie. Grim and nonsensical gun glorification and tiresome product placement. Even down to the the gut ripping axe. I hate to quit a series. But my hope for a glorious pay off seems unlikely.

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Cowboys from a council estate in Melksham, 1975.

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#TheWords

The work of the audiobook.

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An interesting long read with Dave Matthews.

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#TheSound

I took a step back into the RadioLab podcast for the first time in a while. The War on Our Shore. Is a story about Japanese transatlantic balloon bombs that hit the US during the Second World War.

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When this demo by John Lennon was mixed and released posthumously, the remaining Beatles dropped a sample of John on the end of the track. As is their style they reversed the sample. Played forward, it was a clip of John quoting George Formby while playing a banjo saying “Turned out nice again”.

On more than one occasion during the recording of the track, Paul McCartney would look around saying that it felt like John was in the room with them. Then while listening to the final mix they all got goose bumps as the reversed quote sounded just like John saying “A hit, made by John Lennon.” [ at 4m:15s]

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Audio Pareidolia aka musical ear syndrome.

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#TheConsumed

“..people who consume a lot of non-sugar sweeteners aren’t thinner or healthier than those who don’t. In fact, some studies find the opposite..” An interesting study on non-sugar sweeteners from the World Health Organisation.

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While munching through some of the left over food from our well attended Eurovision party, I found something crunchy in a spoon of fake caviar. I spat it in the bin. I’d already had a few scoops on crackers and was just cleaning the spoon.

On closer inspection the jar had an impact crack in the side. On the top of the black glistening spheres, I could now see a large shard of glass. Then all of a sudden, in the left side of my neck, I felt a pain. Not a sharp pain. Something like a scratch. But on the inside.

If I had in fact consumed a small shard of glass it would be my first time. As a result I was not sure what to do. I also didn’t want to Google anything, as who knows where that would lead. For someone normally caring and considerate my wife smiled and said I was imagining it. If that was the case, I was doing some impressive and sustained imagining of a sensation I’d never felt before. Nevertheless she googled it and told me I’d need to wait for it to come out the other side.

I have had two uninteresting poos since it happened and the pain in my neck has all but gone. I must be getting tired of imagining it.

All I can do is channel Michel Lotito who survived after eating 15 supermarket trolleys, seven TVs, 18 bicycles, 6 chandeliers, 2 beds, a pair of skis, a Cessna light aircraft, a computer and a coffin. He first became aware of his ability when a glass from which he was drinking, broke and for some reason he began chewing the fragments.

He no longer has a coffin inside him, but is himself inside one. He died age 57. Apparently of natural causes. But I’ve not seen the autopsy.

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#TheBody

Tomorrow I plan to ride a Medio Fondo (about 100km) to a friends house. But as I’ll have to get home again the following day it will end up being a Gran Fondo (at least 120km). Of course official events are timed but i’ll be pootling along at my own pace. Possibly weaving between cake and coffee.

I’ve not ridden any distance for ages so I expect it to hurt. Preparation involves me eating pasta tonight, donning some lycra when I wake up, packing some flapjacks and pumping up the tyres. If you want to see if I make it, friend me on Strava. If I remember to turn it on.

“Why?” I hear you ask?

Outside of weight management, improving joint mobility, balance and coordination, bone and cardiovascular health thus improving muscular strength and endurance, plus circulation while lowering blood pressure with improved mental well-being… there is the promise of wine at the other end.

Red wine. Which we all know in moderation has anti blood clotting and antioxidant properties good for heart health, neuroprotective effects preventing brain cells from damage. Combined with other social factors wine can increase longevity.

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#TheThings

The mysterious dodecahedrons of the Roman Empire.

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My new favourite iPhone charging accessory…

In fact it’s in my pocket now.

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No idea why you might want a laptop this retro but no doubt someone will.

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#TheThanks

I must thank those that pay $5/month to keep things going and get all the content I share into this feed. If you are able, please upgrade to become a paid supporter.

Or if you prefer send a tip via PayPal and i’ll give you the equivalent in full access.

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#TheWeb

• Feel free to add yourself to the Documentally community map so we can see where in the world you are.

• If I have this right, it looks like there has been a 12% drop in the number of criminal offences being committed in the UK. Unless it’s just a drop in reports of offences. I never know how these things really work. I like to imagine it’s good news though.

• As they talk about deleting accounts unused for more than 2 years, we realise not even Google is forever. Sounds like YouTube videos are safe. I hope the same goes for Blogger accounts.

• Typescale, a tool for easy CSS typography.

• If you are still unsure about supporting with a subscription then you could always buy me a coffee ;-)

• If you would like to connect elsewhere you can find me on Flickr, Strava, Untappd, Diaspora, Vivino, LinkedIn, YouTube, Mastodon, a ham radio newsletter called 73 from G5DOC or search ‘Documentally’ on Wire, Twitter or Bluesky.

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#TheEnd

Next week, outside of purging the central heating of 20 years of filth, servicing the car and playing more Tears Of The Kingdom, I’m hoping to head into London for the Podcast Show. Can I crash at yours on Tuesday night?

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“The world is so exquisite with so much love and moral depth, that there is no reason to deceive ourselves with pretty stories for which there's little good evidence. Far better it seems to me, in our vulnerability, is to look death in the eye and to be grateful every day for the brief but magnificent opportunity that life provides.” ~ Carl Sagan

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Survive,

See you out there.

Over…