Temporal Belonging [430]

Greetings from the shed...

Documentally

Sep 22, 2023

A montage of six selfies taken in the mirrors of train toilets over the past 27 years. Top left I was using the Ricoh GR1 film camera. All the other photographs have been taken with an iPhone. One of them on the orient express, another one on a train in Europe and another one in an old English steam train. There must be more in the archives, but probably on negatives. — A few train toilet selfies taken over the last 27 years

I’m not always in the shed. Sometimes I’m in the loo.

I think I have enough loo selfies to compile a book that no one would buy.

FYI All spelling mistakes are on purpose and sometimes Amzn links earn me a few pennies at no cost to you.

#TheAction

The BBC Radio 2 Leicester gig was a real treat. And the family and I very much enjoyed the likes of Simply Red, Sam Ryder, Jessie Ware and (I can’t believe how excited my son was to see the living meme that is) Rick Astley. He was my favourite as well.

This week has been filled with lots of enjoyable moments. Where the illusion that is time has stood still and I’ve got to enjoy little slices of now. For instance when fixing things. Or in the case of a heavy handed battery change, breaking things. Like a watch I quite like. I have a few watches that I enjoy looking at but never wear. Instead I opt for a smartwatch that is really just a window to things that need my attention in the present.

It was Einstein that said that “Time is an Illusion”. And while trawling images, audio and journals this week, it certainly felt like a framework I could circumvent. In many ways I was back there. Visiting places and people. I’m feel lucky to find solace in these whispers of the past.

#ThePictures

AI it seems is using weather predictions to then send me a message telling me when I can charge the electric car for free. Or at least that’s what I think Octopus Energy are doing when they inform us of a two hour ‘Power Up’. That’s a window of time when we can use as much green electricity as we want at no cost to us.

I remember eleven years ago watching a video explainer from Fully charged about how the National Grid balances the grid and have just watched an update made a few years ago.

I find this highly unlikely, but I’m told that if I share an affiliate link to the Amazon Prime streaming pages (and you have prime but you’ve never streamed anything from there before) then I’ll get £1 for each person that streams for the first time.

A great little video showing the work of Mariah Robertson.

#TheWords

This article exploring the concept of trance states and entitled Aldous Huxleys Deep Reflection is an excerpt from “The Dream Drugstore: Chemically Altered States of Consciousness.”

#TheSound

There is some great audio in this post featuring a Ukrainian radio operator that went out earlier in the week. You don’t have to be into amateur radio to enjoy it.

73 from G5DOC

War Diaries [045]

I took this photo for a post that never got written. In the image are two radios. My oldest and my newest. There are 65 years between the dates of manufacture. 1956 and 2021. The big one, the Nora Mazurka 56 W940 is the first radio I ever got to play with. It lived at my Grandparents house. My grandad loved it. He was born in Ukraine 1912. At the same ti…

a year ago · 1 like · Documentally

This episode of Darknet Diaries contains such an interesting chunk of backstory covering all the sensational goings on around Pirate Bay. It’s there most listened to episode.

The Heavyweight podcast has always been about simple stories well told. And this 20min podcast is a great example. Jesse and Tori.

Best bit of radio this week. Ade Edmondson on Desert Island Disks.

#TheConsumed

Tis the season for foraging and I’ve added two books to my Wishlist by Roger Phillips as a reminder to buy. One on mushrooms that was recommended to me this week, and one on wild food.

Smiling Grape in St Neots has a box of miniatures (and not so miniatures) bought at auction. Some seem quite old. Like this hip flask bottle of Cusinier Prunellia that I picked up for a couple of quid. It’s an extinct drink as far as I can tell and this particular bottle might be between 50 and 70 years old.

#TheBody

I’m on a 34 day meditation streak and I have now been very much reminded of the benefits. After only 10 hours practise I’ve moved from ‘foundation’ level into ‘advanced’. I might be advancing but I certainly don’t feel advanced. Once upon a time in the 90’s I spent an entire day meditating and just got advanced cramp. I’ve not yet found anything in the app about yogic flying.

#TheThings

This dutch web shop makes/sources some interesting Brompton accessories.

I thought that now the social platform T2 has changed its name to Pebble the sticker I made might be worth a fortune as a collectors item. Sadly not. At time of writing it’s at £1. I’ll stick in an invite or two to Pebble should you not have one

This week I have been using Minidisc Wiki to learn more about the mini disc players I still hold onto after all these years. Like this one.

This the recorder, (the last one I bought early 2000’s) was used to record band practices. Right now I’m using to go through a stack of Minidiscs I recorded from the mid 90’s into the early 2000’s. In a recent journal post I was typing up, I wrote about recording some drunken ad-libbed jamming sessions on the banks of the Mekong in the Golden Triangle. I must have been using an Aiwa AM-F5 that I also still have and on digging out the discs recorded at that time I’m pleasantly surprised. Yes some of the music tracks are long and meandering, but the weird Thai blues-English folk fusion is interesting to hear back after all these years. Especially some of the ya-dong infused noodling as I try to play a right handed guitar upside down. To think these discs have been sitting in a box for over a quarter of a century has me really enjoying the rediscovery.

As the recordings have never been on the internet I feel I’ll have to make a special audiocaching tape featuring some of my favourites. Ultimately I’d like to source a Minidisc player that has optical out. Please let me know if you have one you don’t need.

#TheThanks

Thank you to those that support my writing and curation for as little as the price of one flat white a month. (Cheers Stephan;-) If you are the kind of person who might offer to buy me a coffee should we bump into one another, DON’T!

Please upgrade to become a paid supporter instead :-)

#TheWeb

Mastodon keeps getting better.
Urban mining and turning circuitboards into gold.
Hey Julian. Thanks for adding yourself to the Documentally community map. Good to know you are there.
One day I’d like to go see Marble Bath.
I’m glad Jonathan Pie is getting angry on my behalf.
Some of my other places include GoodReads, FarceBook, Flickr, Strava, Untappd, Diaspora, Vivino, LinkedIn, YouTube, Mastodon, a ham radio newsletter or search ‘Documentally’ on Wire, Birdsite, T2 or Bluesky.
If you like Lee Event his autobiography is 99p at the moment.
Youtube launches some AI tools.
India, A story of human progress.

#TheEnd

Thanks for reading. Have you even read this far? When I look back at all the stuff I absorb or get up to in the week I wonder where I get the time and energy. Next week I have some audio production work and volunteering happening so the email might be a little thinner. Have a great weekend!

“Time is a created thing. To say 'I don't have time,' is like saying, 'I don't want to.”
~ Lao Tzu

Cherish the fleeting.

See you out there.

Over…