Weirdism [454]
Greetings from the shed...
Welcome. I’ve been waiting for you.
#TheAction
Another birthday has come and gone. And with this most recent one came an immense feeling of gratitude. I have carried that feeling through the week.
Till this morning when after a pretty relaxed few days I realised I was behind on lots of things. Things that feel really important in the moment. But when I take a step back, I can easily argue that it’s really only my state of mind while doing these things that’s important.
Will anyone ever trawl through the backlog of photos and audio i’m currently editing? Or read the reams of words typed up from old journals?
I’m very lucky to be able to busy myself in what are mostly vanity projects. To be able to follow personal artistic goals in the hope they will in some way contribute something worthwhile to the cultural landscape. But in the grand scheme of things, whatever it is i’m doing, it’s being lost in the moment, disconnected from place and time that brings a deep sense of satisfaction and joy.
I think the key thing is to make time and space to do the things you enjoy. Not all at once. One at a time. Disconnected from all distractions. Be thankful, mindful, embrace small pleasures and breathe.
It took a notification to pull me from this place and remind me I need to write this dispatch. So here I am.
[Turns off notifications]
#ThePictures
I’m enjoying the photographic work of Julia Coddington.
And how wonderful to have William Klein talk you through his work.
Uchujin shot footage with an old Russian lens and combined it with his musician friend’s illustrations plus a dose of A.I rendering to create this music video for him. ML tools do a great job of building on peoples existing skills. You can see Adrian’s process in the link above.
Tom Baumgaetel aka @bewaremyfuji incorporates a white balance shift, with slow and multi exposures to get this incredible look straight from the camera.
#TheWords
Interesting that the post I did back in December entitled Apophenia should be the catalyst for me to perceive meaningful connections where there may be none.
On the 13th of December I’d spotted things on the web that reminded me of Wilf Lunn and added it to the draft of that post. Then in the shed I’d uncovered a pile of books gifted by him when I visited his home. I’d not heard anything from Wilf for a while but Wikipedia wasn’t showing me a death date, so I wrote both Wilf and his wife Liz a Christmas email.
Today I was chasing to some ‘must follow up’ emails and one was my unanswered Christmas wishes to Wilf. Fearing the worst I checked Wikipedia again. Wilf had died. In fact his death had occurred on December the 13th. Seven years after our our first meeting and the day I had searched him up and tried to reconnect.
I’m guessing Wikipedia had been edited later to show his death. It’s all probably just a weird coincidence. Or perhaps an email algorithm knew he’d passed, and was boosting his artwork online. Either way. RIP Wilf Lunn, Knickknackatarian to the clutterati.
#TheSound
Two and a half years ago I mentioned my cousin Gian Battaglia had a debut album out on his Bandcamp. He now has another one. This is collaboration Alone @ Dusk was featured on BBC6 Music. Love it. Listening to it now.
In an attempt to thwart mass election spam misleading voters, the FCC just made AI-generated voices in robocalls illegal.
I found this cool little reading from Bill Thompson tagged at the end of the Gareth and Bill Podcast.
#TheConsumed
A friend gave me a small parcel of nattō for my birthday.
It’s fermented soybeans, and is normally had for breakfast with rice. You mix the nattō with mustard and soy sauce. It certainly an acquired taste with its stickiness mixed with the smell of over ripe soft cheese. But I imagine that is because of the bacteria present due to the fermentation. I’m pretty sure that it’s beneficial to the gut biome and I enjoyed it mixed in with a bowl of buttery rice. But is it for everybody? Not everybody in Japan, likes it so This is only really for the adventurous palettes out there.
One of my birthday gifts was a box of international snacks. [AMZ Link]
So far I have sampled the weird dry vegetarian and kosha fish crackers that didn’t taste of much 2/5. And the Biscolata caramel macchiato things which were better but i’m not a huge fan of coffee sweets 3/5. Both are from Turkey. Expect to see more experimentation in the weeks to come.
#TheThings
I’ve been pining to get out into the woods with my camping hammock. But the continuous rain has not made it that appealing. So I’ve been googling wet weather gear. Which lead me to other gear. And then lightweight gear. Check out PackWizard. Great resource. There is a lot of US gear on there but I’ve found quite a few brands available in the uk.
This magic cloth thing is like a huge piece of soft velcro and works well at protecting gear in a bag. Shot around and you will find cheaper than Amazon. I plan to get some smaller ones for lenses.
I just took delivery of the new QuadLock Suction Base with GoPro camera adapter.
So far I have only had time to stick it on the shed window. When I tried to pull it off the door nearly came with it. So I’d be confident sticking it on a car windscreen or motorbike fairing at speed. It would still be smart to use a tether. I will have a dig around for adapters to see how I might be able to attach my phone and other cameras to it.
#TheThanks
I must thank those that pay a little each month to keep things going and get all the content I share into this feed. I sent an email to those that pay to support my work a couple of weeks ago containing a link to a discord. If you missed it it will be in your spam and expired. Reply to this email if you’d like another.
For everyone else… if you are able, please upgrade to become a paid supporter.
Other ways to support are buying me a coffee or sending a tip via PayPal or Monzo.
#TheWeb
Before the necktie came the codpiece.
Love this old school multitool.
I chatted on the radio with someone in Angola last week and forgot to ask them to subscribe. Would be great to get them on the Documentally community map. Please share this email onto gaps on the map.
A case for the preservation of abandoned places.
Surveillance on the underground just got dialled up to 11.
Some of my other places include Letterboxd, Flickr, Strava, LinkedIn, YouTube, Mastodon, a ham radio newsletter or search ‘Documentally’ on Wire, Birdsite or Bluesky.
More background to Bluesky’s plans.
#TheEnd
Yesterday I found a lovely conversation I recorded with Wilf Lunn. I’ll post it to the subscribers podcast feed. You are in for a treat. I think it might be the last recorded interview he did.
Next week is valentines plus pancake day. So much to look forward to. Thanks for reading.
“You’re mad, bonkers, completely off your head. But I’ll tell you a secret. All the best people are.” ~ Lewis Carroll
Stay weird.
See you out there.
Over…
I eat Natto but my Japanese wife doesn’t like it! Try maguro natto it’s excellent 👍