Under orchestral skies [456]

Greetings from the shed...

I’m back from an assignment in Wales. Hope you are all good.

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#TheAction

I love Wales. Even when it’s raining. And boy did it rain. And then it didn’t. And it was glorious.

It’s half term so I took the kids while I shot photos and video and captured audio. I was there to learn about blade shearing from Gareth Owen on his family farm near Beddgelert. And there was a lot I didn’t know. Gareth has been blade shearing for 30 years and has sheared commercially around the world.

Humans have probably been shearing sheep for 10,000 years. Or at lease removing the wool with sharp objects. It might be that we have only been using metal shears since 1000BC. Today in the UK blade shearing is considered more of an art form or hobby. It’s not practised much by most farms despite being less stressful for the sheep, quieter and more precise.

It’s this precision that is needed in colder climates as a blade shearer can leave a little wool on, to protect the sheep from harsher environments. There is a big difference between the finish from the blades compared to a machine. Especially on fine wool where blades cut a clean edge while a machine will shred the wool.

Blade shearing is not just easier on the shearers body, Gareth told me that the sheep are much calmer and happier.

The reason why so few do it though is that a top blade shearer might get to shear 200 sheep in a day whereas a machine shearer might get through 500 in a day. And at about £1.50 to £2 per sheep shorn by hand vs £1.40 each for machine shearing; that’s a £300 disparity in the pay packet.

But blade shearing is popular with small holders, especially those with smaller flocks. And although there is a lot to learn in regards to the safe handling of the sheep, according to Gareth someone coming into the hobby today can learn the art of blade shearing in a couple of hours. Mainly because there is less that can go wrong compared with machine shearing.

Shearers in the UK mostly use blades made in Sheffield by Burgon & Ball who have been making sheep shears since 1730. Gareth’s favourite shears were made by B&B but his were found in a box of old stock in the Falkland Islands.

Later this year my Dad’s company Baavet will be sponsoring a shearing competition which will be raising money for breast cancer awareness. I’m looking forward to meeting the worlds best.

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We also got to do some climbing but with the weather being what it was we did it indoors.

That’s my Dad breaking in his two new knees, while leading a route finishing in a small overhang. He doesn’t like talking about his age. Like really doesn’t. He’s not doing too bad for someone who’ll soon be…

\(e^{\sin(x)} + \log_{10}(100) + \cos^2(x)\)

When we got back home to England it was still raining. It’s still raining now.

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#ThePictures

I’m enjoying the work of André Kertész.

In 1985 Henri Cartier-Bresson said…

“When Kertész’s camera clicks, I feel his heart beat; when he blinks, it’s a spark of Euclid,and all in an admirable span of curiosity.”

HCB also said “We all owe something to Kertesz.” and “Whatever we have done, Kertesz did first.”

This is because he was a true great. A pioneer with an insatiable curiosity. I really enjoyed the Thames & Hudson photo file on him.

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The documentary ‘Tomorrow is Saturday’ is well worth your time. You can find it on Netflix. It covers so much and features an epic clear out I have also been planning for a long time.

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#TheWords

Valentine Weather by Edwin Morgan

Kiss me with rain on your eyelashes,
come on, let us sway together,
under the trees, and to hell with thunder.

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The English have quite a lot of ways of saying they are drunk, blotto, stocious, rat-arsed etc.

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I was reminded that TinyLetter (which was small, cute and cool), bought by Mailchimp (which is useful but massive and ruthless) will be disappearing at the end of this month. So I’m madly attempting to back up all my original posts over to here (which is like wandering a bustling farmer's market on a sunny day. The kind of place you can sample delicious fruits and veggies, sold by the friendliest of folk. And we laugh, sharing this feast for the senses, basking in the warmth of communal joy. Unfazed that the market manager takes a cut of our takings. However, venture too far, past the handcrafted sourdough, and you’ll stumble upon a hidden alley behind the compost bins. Down there, if you dare follow the stench of whispered plots, you’ll find a woeful gathering of cloak-draped hate-mongers, trading in conspiracy theories as if rare spices. The market manager also takes a cut from them. Cuz business is business right?)

Anyway. As I’d hate to lose these early posts, I’ve also backed some up to my daily journal. I’ll make most of these original posts on here for supporting subscribers only. Because checking out the raw unadulterated origin story of the Documentally Dispatch is definitely a perk reserved for the more curious of you. ;-)

But if you wanted to get an idea of how things used to be, here is an open post from 8 years ago.

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“In Wales, they love with abandon.
When a Welsh person loves you,
you'll finally know your potential.
They are different from the Americans,
who are precarious with their love.
They are different from the English,
who are reserved even when you stand
in front of them, naked,
handing them your heart.
The English give you their love in cups:
here, you’ve been good. drink another glass.
But the Welsh, they drown you
in an ocean of love.
You have their attention, their
consideration. You have all of them.
They aren’t even careful to keep any
for themselves. It seems to me
that only the Welsh know how to love,
how to make someone feel loved.
Because when a Welsh person loves you,
you’ll finally know how it feels
to belong to poetry.”
~ Kamand Kojouri

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The dictionary of lost words is currently 99p for Kindle.

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#TheSound

Reveil 11 will be happening on the 4th-5th of May. That is the 11th edition of the Reveil broadcast. A collaborative sound and radio project that circles the Earth on live audio streams at daybreak. Last time it featured 145 streams containing various environments and situations. They are on the look out for new participants for this year’s 24+1 hour loop. Check SoundTent.org for more info.

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#TheConsumed

You won’t catch Turkish people saying the word ‘Cin’ out loud. It’s bad luck to summon a Genie. That’s what Sin means and they believe that saying it calls bad souls to come forth. Instead they say “Three letter entity.” But in Turkish.

I’ve no idea how this might affect the advertising of this little biscuit snack but after tasting it I think it will do ok. It feels like another survival ration type food stuff that will never go off. Not bad on its own. A little soft but tasty with it. Not sickly sweet either. But when you dunk it, it comes into its own. Quite nice indeed. 4/5

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#TheThings

Having not long got back from Wales and still dreaming of a return to Aaran, perhaps this is the answer. A two story Hut House.

You just need to make friends with people who have a bit of land and ask if you can park up for a year or two in each place. A portable home from home. Better than a camper, caravan or a boat. I think this is a work of art. I found this on Behind The Shed but if you would like one of these built for yourself you’d need to speak to Plank Bridge and ask for their Sixpenny Hut House. The wheels are mostly for manoeuvring on site, unless you have a vehicle that can tow 4200kg (like a tractor or a Ford F-150). All you need is £95,000 and the Sixpenny Hut House is yours.

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I’m really excited about a thing called Meshtastic. Now before you switch off because i’m talking about something radio related, don’t. I must have written a five hundred words here before I realised how much I had to say and did drop it over onto my Ham Radio dispatch. But it’s not just for licensed radio operators. Anyone can use it. And if you do, you’ll be assisting in building a decentralised communication system, that is low power, off grid and does not require the internet or GSM to operate. Ready for the end of the world? You could be.

There is much more info here…

Loads of Nodes [051]

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#TheThanks

Thanks to those that support this dispatch with a small subscription. I appreciate it. If you’re able, please upgrade to become a paid supporter.

Or perhaps you’d like to buy me a coffee i’d certainly buy you one.

Either way… Thank you for reading.

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#TheWeb

• Germany legalises cannabis.

• There are a few German readers on the Documentally community map. Enjoy!

• Serco Leisure has been unlawfully processing the biometric data (face scans) of more than 2,000 employees at 38 UK leisure facilities and told to stop.

• Fists commercial spacecraft lands on the Moon. I give it six months before there’s a Maccy D’s. Bloody humans.

• There is talk of OpenAI building its own search engine. But it’s mostly Bing.

• Some of my other places include Letterboxd, GoodReads, Flickr, Strava, Untappd, LinkedIn, YouTube, Mastodon, a ham radio newsletter or search ‘Documentally’ on Wire, Birdsite or Bluesky.

• So many online places that I occasionally scroll and dip into. Perhaps I should ‘Slow down do less’.

• This last article, only a few of you will click, finishes with a powerful question.

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#TheEnd

I have a discount link for TEDX Manchester next week if you fancy a day out. I plan to be in Manchester Saturday night for the event on Sunday. But we should get to chat before then. I’m off to see the Rock Orchestra tomorrow and then Monday is what Monday does. I bet you it rains between now and then.

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“It was a rainy night. It was the myth of a rainy night.” ~ Jack Kerouac

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Get wet,

See you out there.

Over…

A ❤️ is a high-five, a comment is a hug. A supporting subscription earns my undying love.