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UNCLE: The Bid

Role Playing Game

Spycraft 1.0

#1 Friday 7pm-11pm

Game Description

12:00UTC: London, UK

It has taken months of hard investigations to lead to the warrant for the arrest of Bashkim Hoxha and his crew on charges of operating a DarkNet Portal in the bowels of London's underworld. In the west-end neighbourhood of Chelsea, your team is lined-up for entry. The Metropolitan Police Special Territorial Group has cordoned-off a three-block radius around the Cafe Appolonia. The assault team has scaled the roofs of the buildings west of the Appolonia, out of camera sight of the cafe. The objective is simple: cross three roofs onto the roof of the Appolonia and then abseil into the windows of the supposed server farm on the third-floor of the building.

The infiltration section is currently dining in the restaurant and has eyes on the proprietor, Bashkim Hoxha, and his son, Arben, both of whom are immersed in an intense game of chess. Another son, Afrim is in the kitchen. Upstairs, in the server room, there are two of the Hoxha clan: Erion and Edon. On the floor below that, the prostitution ring, led by Nadon Hoxha, are in the way of a direct assault from the ground floor.

It is a tactical nightmare. Time is not on your side. The mission is straight-forward: take the server farm intact and plumb it for the underworld secrets that are encrypted on its platters. Who will live and who will die... lunch-hour bids are being taken...

Players take on the role of an elite intelligence agent seconded to the United Network Command for Law Enforcement. Do you have what it takes to be an UNCLE agent?

From the underworld of London, the players will embark on a journey to rescue Europe from imminent disaster. This is the first of three installments in The UNCLE Gambit. Players are welcome to play in one, two, or three-rounds of the season. Characters will continue throughout the season, leveling-up as they progress in the story arc.

The UNCLE Gambit
1. UNCLE: The Bid plays Slot 1.
2. UNCLE: The Stratagem plays Slot 3.
3. UNCLE: The Gamble plays Slot 7.

Game Control

Chris Stocovaz

Sandra Sine

Paul Scapinello

John St.Germain

Meredith Heitner


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From Youtube

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Grand Theft Auto III Tips & Tricks Walkthrough Video in High Definition

Dodo's Flight School - In GTA3 you can fly using a Dodo which is found in three different places at Francis International Airport. It's not a complex procedure, but you have to stay calm and try a few times. This video explains how to takeoff and fly with a Dodo.

Music: Mandeville - Kevin MacLeod

For more info and videos, visit: ● http://www.gta-series.comhttp://www.gta-downloads.com ===================================

GTA Series Videos is a dedicated fan-channel keeping you up to date with all the latest news, video walkthroughs and official trailers of the most successful video games published by Rockstar Games, including Grand Theft Auto series, Red Dead Redemption, Max Payne, L.A. Noire, Bully and many others. This channel is in no way tied to Rockstar Games or Take-Two Interactive.

Follow GTA Series Videos on: || YouTube - || Google - GTASeriesVideos || Facebook - || Twitter -

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The Fingers In The Nose

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Bigo, Bernard
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Gutiar Pro Tab "The Fingers In The Nose" from Bigo, Bernard band is free to download. Tablature file Bigo, Bernard - The Fingers In The Nose opens by means of the Guitar PRO program. This program is available to downloading on our site.

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Guitar Pro 6

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October 19, 2015

Inspiration: Holiday Card Outfits

Davis Knit Hat + Booties: Misha + Puff | Romper: Zara Nicole Dress: Zara | Shoes: Rag & Bone Newbury Booties Matt Shirt: J.Crew | Tie: J.Crew | Pants: J.Crew Hudson Sweater: Zara Cashmere | Shirt: Crew Cuts | Shoes: Freshly Picked Hard Soles

We are gearing up to take pictures for our holiday card this weekend and I thought I'd share what we are wearing for them. We usually are in white for most of our family photos so I thought we'd switch it up a little this time with a mostly black, charcoal and tan color palette. Will share the final outcome soon ... can't wait to kick off the holiday season in just a few weeks! XOXO

October 15, 2015

Shop Now: My Shopbop Picks

Just a few hours left before Shopbop's Friends + Family 25% off ends [tonight at 11:59pm]. Don't miss out on saving big on some great basics or special pieces for the upcoming holidays. I bought a few everyday items pictured above that I know I'll get a lot of use out of this fall and winter [although I was eyeing this gorgeous dress!]. More of my picks in this post! XOXO

October 14, 2015

Sales & Steals: Saks 25% Off Friends + Family

Another Friends + Family sale is happening [checkout Shopbop's event here] at Saks now through October 18th! Use code THANKYOU at checkout to receive 25% off apparel, shoes and accessories and 20% off jewelry. Check out my favorite picks below [including these shoes, these jeans + this coat] or start your shopping here. XOXO

P.S. New, lowered prices on my Closet Clean Out Sale: September 2015 post here.

October 13, 2015

Sales & Steals: Shopbop's 25% Off Friends + Family Event

Shopbop is having their yearly Friend's + Family sale now through Thursday, November 15th at 11:59pm - simply enter discount code INTHEFAM25 at checkout for 25% off your entire purchase. Some of my favorite picks for fall are posted above and below [can you tell I'm loving black + white?]. Start your shopping here! XOXO

October 9, 2015

Baby: Davis Beau's Newborn Photos

Davis Beau
 August 22, 2015 at 9:40 am
 8 lb 14 oz + 20.5 in

A few of my favorite photos from our newborn shoot with Jack & Lola Photography ... Have a wonderful weekend! XOXO

October 5, 2015

Baby: Davis Beau's Nursery

Source List
Vintage Blue Embroidered Pillow: Amber Interiors
Curtains + Curtain Rods: RH Baby & Child
Sheepskin: Lulu & Georgia
Gray Baskets: Pottery Barn Kids
Natural Baskets: The Little Market
Weaving: Sun Woven
Bookshelves: Ikea
Stuffed Animals: BlaBla Kids + Lucky Boy Sunday
Moccasins: Freshly Picked
Blanket: Hermes

We welcomed our second baby boy, Davis Beau, on August 22nd, 2015 and are so in love! I wanted to finally share a few photos of his nursery ... definitely one of my favorite rooms in our house. I'll post a few pictures from his newborn photo shoot later this week but catch up with me in the meantime on Instagram under @nsguidetostyle. XOXO


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Monday, February 18, 2013

The Catapult GAF Member Feature: thegunny's Ballstrosity

What's green, have balls and shoots out loads of stuff?

The Hulk's what???

Bzzzz, wrong answer!

It is thegunny's...... hmmmm...

I present to you the Ballstrosity.

His project started out as a Jesta on a Jabber. An unforeseen fall of the Jabber from a slight height became the stepping stone for the birth of this Ballstrosity. Two balls, armed to the teeth, makes this quite a formidable support/flight unit.

The usual gunny camo paintjob don the whole build. Needless to say, a clean paintjob. The flat coat finish gives the paintjob a shine that made this more appealing.

Of course, the hero of the show, the Jesta was painted beautifully again with the camo and upgraded with vents, spikes and armaments. Weathered and decalled - thegunny style. A perfect finish to a well built kit.

Have a look at the original thread in the Gundam Australia Forum for more photos (it's worth it)!!

  1. hooray blog post and a funny one at that, also a build well worth a blog post

  2. Book Hotels in Australia online. We provide Hotels from budget to luxury with best deals and offers.


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Brodrick Miller, age 28

Lost to gun violence on February 26, 2018 in Sacramento, California.

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Friday, August 6, 2010

Elgood’s Secrets

George Elgood was one of the great Victorian watercolorists specializing in flower gardens.

His paintings show botanically accurate flowers in natural groupings, often with architectural or landscape elements. Flower gardens are a brain-busting challenge to paint in watercolor because you have to paint precisely around all the light shapes.

Let’s go back in a time machine 100 years to see how he does it.

Mr. Elgood draws the whole subject carefully in pencil, especially if there are architectural elements. But he prefers not to tie himself to a hard and fast outline, instead drawing as much with the brush as much as with the pencil.

According to A. L. Baldry, who watched him work, he often “lays the whole thing in at once, sometimes in colours which are not by any means those he sees in nature,” thinking ahead to the colors he wants to add later when finishing.

He then builds the rendering from a strong dark and light focus. He works fairly rapidly, often focusing on a group of flowers that is in peak bloom.

He then moves on to other groups on subsequent days of a multiple-day plein-air study. All of his works are done primarily on the spot, though he doesn’t copy what he sees, but rather uses nature as a reference for a composition that he assembles from the best elements.

He uses no opaque white and limited scratching out. His preference is for lifting lights out of wet washes and in general working simply and directly. He works on smooth, stretched Whatman paper with a relatively small palette of colors.
A. L. Baldry “The Practice of Water-Colour Painting,” London, 1911

The Surfin' Squid said...

Wow, that is some insanely complicated watercolor work. Hats off to this guy.

Part of the reason I like this blog is because it introduces me to illustrators I had no idea even existed.

Steve said...

Ditto Surfin' Squid on both counts.

The variegated texture Elgood got into the taller topiary shrubs in this painting is phenomenal in any medium, but especially watercolor.

DavidStill said...

Wow.. That's insanely good. You really have to be aware of negative shapes to do that...

Anonymous said...


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Thursday, May 5, 2011

Book Trailer Results

We received fantastic entries for the Color and Light Book Trailer Contest. I couldn’t resist sharing them with you now so that you can help decide the grand prize winner.

Please watch them all and vote for your favorite in the poll at left.

Eric (SuperVillain)

Christian Schlierkamp, completed with the help of Kilian, Karim, Maite, Luis, Leon, and Dominik, ages 9-12. Animation workshop organized by JKN Berlin.

Ana Hesselbart

Jared Updike

Note on prizes: In addition to the signed poster, I’ve decided to give every entry a free signed book of their choice. The poll winner will receive a book of their choice plus the actual book that appears in the “Painting Rainbows video.”

Be sure to follow the links on the names to learn more about each of the contestants. Thanks to everyone who entered, and thanks for voting.
Order Color and Light from the Dinotopia Store
Order C&L from Amazon
See the book trailer contest winners for Imaginative Realism

eric said...

wow, the quality of the videos were all great.

it was a tough choice for me but in the end i voted for Christian Schlierkamp, but Roger Bansemer was close, that video was hilarious!

also in checking everyones links, there are some really talanted artists in this contest as well, awsome

JonInFrance said...

Yeah, they must have worked so hard. Difficult to choose, but Roger is just so loveable!

SVSART said...

I must say James Gurney depicted as a fanny pack wearing leprechaun artist that sings songs from the "Sound of Music" was a surprise...Very creative?!?!?


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Saturday, May 21, 2011

A color photo from 1911

Here is the Emir of Bukhara, Alim Khan (1880-1944), in a photo taken in 1911.

This is just one of a rich collection of images from the Russian empire, called the Prokudin-Gorskii Photographic Record, now housed in the Library of Congress and available for viewing online.

The photograph was made by shooting three plates in quick succession using red, green, and blue filters. Originally they were intended to be projected by lantern slides using the same color filters. Technicians were able to digitally scan and recombine the plates into the image you see here. Color photography was thus possible long before it appeared elsewhere.

Empire that was Russia: Process
Pictures of Ethnic Diversity
Previously on GJ: Early Color Photos

Thanks, Kay!

~ Rebecca said...

I'm fond of this technique, since I'm a planetary astronomer. Most the pretty space pictures we get from telescopes and space probes are taken using this technique -- taking digital photos in several filters then combining them. Of course, we don't always use wide-band blue, green and red filters. We might pick out a narrow wavelength of light because it means something (a H-alpha filter picks out the specific red color of hot hydrogen gas) or even go outside of visible light.

Ernest Friedman-Hill said...

That is amazingly cool; it looks as if it could have been taken today. Gives a whole new outlook on history.

Tom said...

Hi James
Catching up on your posts. On that charcoal drawing you did of yourself as a pirate, was it done with vine charcoal or charcoal pencil?
Sorry nice drawing by the way.

asd said...

Hi james!

This is totally of-topic, but I'll post it anyway. I've been wanting to learn how to draw for years now but don't know where to start. I've decided to start drawing simple geometric forms in space and tillt them around in perspective untill i can grasp this very well before i do anything harder, i'm thinking of complementing that exercise with some life drawing to learn how to find edges and relationships, my question is: is this a sane idea or should i do something else?

sorry for beeing oftopic, you can go ahead and delete this post at any time

cegebe said...

It's funny, my first gut reaction to the photo is that it can't be from 1911, because things didn't look like that back then - all the photos from that period show the world in black and white, so it couldn't possibly be so colourful!

Reminds me of a Calvin & Hobbes strip, where Calvin's father claims that the world was actually black and white in the old days.

Moish said...

Yah right, it's just you in one of your costumes making a reference photo.

Terry Karney said...

I've loved these photos for quite some time. I'm a photographer, and have been for 25 years. I've probably chased down all sorts of historic images and processes.

This, actually, is sort of how Technicolor works, and why it doesn't fade over time.

I say sort of because there are several points to the history of technicolor, but all of it is on the basic principal of different B&W sensitive films, and recombination. Technicolor I used two filters, and two film stocks. Technicolor II used three filters, and two film stocks, in a completely different system, with much better color fidelity, and much sharper images.

Steve LeCouilliard said...

Wow. That's almost kind of unsettling. Some of those pictures really do look like they could have been taken today. I'm used to a black and white filter of antiquity when I look at images of the past. Being confronted with these is like stepping out of a time machine.


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Thursday, March 5, 2009

The Rest of My Submissions

If you want to see some more of my submissions, the Guy Garner pages are two posts down. They were all presented in a nice package that I made up. I should take a pic of the one leftover, just so you guys can see my presentation.

1 comment:

brandon said...

Great boards man! That force perspective of the ship flying between the buildings is tight. I keep meaning to call you up to find out how New York but you know how it is. Awesome work man, keep it up. This stuff gonna pay off soon. I can tell.


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Script: Lync Replication Report

Based on a similar script Yoav Barziliay and I made for monitoring the Lync Services status, we decided to create a new script which allow the Lync Administrator to monitor the Lync Management Replication Status.

The script is based upon the result of the Get-CsManagementStoreReplicationStatus and it can be viewed in 5 different ways:

  1. Via an Email
  2. Export to Grid View
  3. Export to CSV
  4. Export to HTML
  5. Export to Screen

The script can also be used as a scheduled task and it accepting the following parameters for sending an email:

Download: Here

Export Options:

Export Examples:

– This option will also color the FALSE status replication members in RED

We’d love to hear comments and suggestions if you have any

  1. Pingback: NeWay Technologies – Weekly Newsletter #94 – May 8, 2014 | NeWay

  2. Pingback: Weekly Newsletter #94 – May 9, 2014 | Just a Lync Guy

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Sunday, March 30, 2014

Envelope Punch Board Card

Isn't this a pretty card?
I just love the Eastern Elegance DSP, it looks so rich.....decadent almost. To show off this gorgeous DSP I decided to make a card using the Envelope Punch Board. I seem to grab tools that will do more than just one job, and have we got it with the Envelope Punch Board! It not only as its name suggests makes envelopes in all shapes and sizes, to fit your creations but it also will make boxes, greeting cards, gift card holders and so much more. It even has its own bone scorer AND corner punch as well. No wonder I reach for it all the time!
This card was made so it opens at the flap which is tucked under the Curly Label punched piece of Silver Glimmer Paper. I stamped out a butterfly from the Papillion Pot Pouri Set and attaced that to the top of the glimmer paper and added a couple of Basic Rhinestones to the back of the butterfly. I also punched out a small butterfly and a larger one using the Elegant Butterfly Punch. I ran a piece of Pool Party Ribbon across the front of the card just to add a bit more colour. The inside I stamped the word Celebrate from the Outlined Expressions Stamp set in Summer Star Fruit. Such a simple card but with so much class.  If you would like the instructions, I have placed a simple Tutorial on my blog. Till next time, happy Stampin'

Saturday, March 29, 2014

Check my Tutorial Page!

I have finally worked out how to put my tutorials on my blog!!
Check out the One Sheet Wonder Tutorial, and also the tutorial for the Envelope Punch Board Card! Hopefully each time I post I shall be able to share a tutorial with you at the same time! Till next time,  happy Stampin'

6 x 6" One Sheet Wonder set of cards and gift box

Hi there Stampers! Yes I know its been a long time between posts. Family illness put a whole lot of things on the back burner until the end of last month. a I havent been idle all the time, although all of December and most of January most of my time was spent at a hospital but now hopefully we are again on the upward scale and back to whatever normal is. The project I am showing here, was initially scheduled for December, but held it last month finally and is for a One Sheet Wonder using just a 6 x 6" piece of DSP. The cutting of the DSP is not my template, and I found it on Pinterest . There are lots to be found and this one come from Verves Stamps and what a wonderful way to use up some of those smaller squares of DSP!
 Firstly, we made the box to hold the cards and the envelopes in, and for the box we used the Envelope Punch Board, I love that tool makes it so very easy to whip up a box or indeed any size envelope you might need! The flap at the back was kept in place by punching out a Modern Label Punch and securing it on either side with a mini silver brad. The cards them selves were so easy and quick to do, and the ladies were amazed at how lovely they were, and all by using small pieces of DSP. We used Perfect Polka Dots and also the Modern Mosaic Embossing Folders, to add a bit of interest. We used The Reason to Smile Clear Stamp Set for all the flowers. I was so happy to be able to get back into sharing what I love and also to show my lovely ladies how to make this delightful set.
 I will hopefully pop in and out more regularly now and show you what I have been doing in my 'spare' time. If you would like the instructions on how to make this beautiful box and the cards, just send me an email and I will email the instructions  to you.
Thank you for taking the time to read my post and I look  forward to posting more regularly from now. Till next time, happy Stampin'

Saturday, November 23, 2013

Summer Silohuettes

This is another of the cards from the November class. The ladies had a choice of which orientation they would use. This one here I sponged the strip of card stock with Crushed Curry, then Stamped the stems and the stamens in Early Espresso, and the flower buds in Cajun Craze. I then randomly stamped some smaller flowers from the Summer Silhouettes in Cajun Craze as well, This card literally took three minutes to make! What the ladies did then was to make a gift card using the same method and stamp set, and to finish it all off they made an envelope from the New Envelope Punch Board, I love this new little tool from Stampin Up!

Wednesday, November 20, 2013

Sunny Challenges Washi Tape Challenge

Recently Sunny Challenges and Creations held a challenge that was to use Washi Tape.I decided to make a card that the washi tape was used in the embellishments. I also used the new Envelope Liner Framelit to make a matching envelope Liner. The card base was Whisper White, as was the oval in the centre of the card. Using the Ovals Collection Framelits I cut firstly the white oval then on my piece of Gingham Garden DSP I place two of the ovals onto the Magnetic Platform and cut out my frame. The card base is also covered with a piece of Gingham Garden DSP. I stamped the flower stems using a retired stamp set Pocket Silohuettes, which I inked up using Gumball Green Stamp n Write Marker. On a strip of Whisper White cardstock I ran strips of  Gingham Garden washi tape diagonally across it then punched out the butterflies and then using the Itty Bitty Punches I also punched out some flowers (to attach to the flower stems) and a couple of hearts and smaller butterflies for the envelope. I attached the two larger butterflies to the card front using mini glue dots and then place three small rhinestones on each. I used the largest Envelope Liner framelit adhered it to the envelope, just under the adhesive strip and then attached the two smaller butterflies and two hearts. This is such a lovely card and it really does look so much nicer IRL. Till next time, happy stamping

Saturday, November 16, 2013

Flower Shop

This pretty card is one the ladies made in class last month. Very simple but very effective. The card base is Whisper White, and the next layer is also Whisper White which was run through the Big Shot using the Mosaic Embossing Folder. The oval frame is from Designer Frames and this was cutout using scissors after it was run through the Big Shot then an extra large oval was punched out of the new Silver Foil Paper and adhered to the centre to give the look of a mirror. The flower  from the Flower Shop stamp set and the sentiment from Express yourself were both stamped in Calypso Coral. The flower was then punched out using the Pansy Punch which co-ordinates with the Flower Shop stamp set. The leaves were made using the Little Leaves Sizzle t and Silver Glitter Paper. Both the flower, the leaves and the sentiment were all placed on dimensionals. The finishing touch was a pearl in the centre of the flower.

Wednesday, November 13, 2013

Challenge 92/13 Sunny Challenges and Creations

Hello stampers, I have been away from my blog for ages. Pressing issues concerning family have tied me down and not allowed me the time to be in here as often as I want. This week on Sunny Challenges and Creations Vicky set the challenge and the only stipulation was that we had to use Pool Party. Make sure you head over to Kris and Vicky's blogs to see what they have created for the challenge, and remember it runs for two weeks so you still have plenty of time to enter! I needed to make a get well card for my sister who is currently in hospital so that is what I have created for the challenge. I used a Whisper White base then inked up the C clear block  with Pool Party and stamped it twice diagonally across the card front. I then inked up the A clear block and stamped it in the centre. I love the Summer Silhouettes stamp set, and stamped the stems and stamens in Night Of Navy, the flower heads in Crushed Curry and the sentiment was also stamped in Night Of Navy. I punched out 3 small butterflies in both Night of Navy and Pool Party and placed them diagonally on the top right hand side of the card. Small basic Rhinestones were placed on the Pool Party butterflies and they were attached to the Night of Navy butterflies using mini Glue Dots. The sentiment I stamped in Night of Navy on Whisper White, and punched it out using the Modern Label Punch and this was then layered onto a piece of Pool Party that was also punched out using the same punch and put on dimensionals on the bottom left hand side of the card. I think it is a quite pretty little card and very very quick to do. Thank you for stopping by, until next time happy stamping!
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Category: Results

KochGelegenheiten — concept

KochGelegenheiten both provides an opportunity to gain access to existing cooking facilities and allows for new culinary experiences. So far it consists of several mobile cooking sites and a multilingual map, which presents these sites, along with existing communal kitchens and cooking facilities in the Berlin district of Neukölln, as part of a novel integrated network.

The idea is based on the observation that many people in Berlin have no access or limited access to cooking facilities. This is for example the case for refugees living in shelters, where food is often provided either by catering services or in canteens. Such services rarely manage to accommodate all the diverse eating traditions of the multicultural residents. Making and sharing food is an essential part of every culture and plays a significant role in creating a space of comfort and wellbeing.

KochGelegenheiten is an experiment to enable people to cook for themselves and others. It encourages interactive food culture in Berlin’s social life.

The Shit Show – Exhibition Design

This is a first visualization of how the ShitShow might look in a possible location, in this case the foyer of the Studentenwerk Cafeteria in Berlin. The graphic and exhibition design is an entire project in itself, the concept below is a basic first approach for the task.

Elements of the setup would include stands with the various emotion simulators on display. On the plinths there would be little instructive diagrams on how to wear the objects and perhaps quotes from the survey responses that inspired them. The survey could be extended by creating boards with the questions. Visitors can interact and physically add their own responses. Lastly, there would be a place to display the giveaways and the logo.

The Shit Show – Concept

The Shit Show is a new approach to a mental health awareness campaign for young people. It is designed to make the sensitive, ‘taboo’ issue of mental health more present and approachable to the public. Psychological struggles are still stigmatized, making it hard to reach out for help. We want to offer an alternative way for people to engage with the topic.

Visualization IMG-20160723-WA0012Veil1

The Shit Show itself is similar to an information booth, except it’s not. It’s more of an interactive pop-up exhibition. Just like standard info stalls, it can be set up at events like conferences, university open days or welcome fairs. The difference is that it isn’t intimidating or embarrassing to approach like a stand for mental health issues might be. It’s design is meant to be more light-hearted, humorous, appealing to a younger generation.

IMG_2022 IMG_2027 IMG_2032

The central element of the exhibition are emotion simulators. Passerbys are encouraged to try on the strangely beautiful contraptions and perhaps even to take pictures with them on. The goal of these objects is to give the wearer a sense of how emotional pain can feel physically. This is meant to create empathy towards those suffering from mental health issues. This can enable people to offer better support when someone reaches out to them. Furthermore, it may make people understand that it does not have to feel this way, that bad emotions do exist, but that they do not have to be as debilitating as these objects.

A possible addition could be interactive infographics, perhaps even created by the visitors. For example, the survey that the simulators are based on could be extended. Existing answers would be exhibited and people would be encouraged to add their own: write down how it felt to wear the simulators, or what their own simulator would look like, or put stickers on a shitty mood scale. These boards are intended to make it visible that bad feelings are something we all experience in some way and that it is nothing to be ashamed of.

IMG-20160723-WA0019 Sticker

As an incentive cool little giveaways will be there. These will include shit-shaped chocolates, shit pile stickers, ( maybe piece of shit badges) and empathic postcards. These items could also be distributed as part of the welcome kits that are often given out at the beginning of the new semester or sold as “moody merch” in the university shop. These little gifts are not just meant to draw people to the stall, but also to spread the word.

The last part of the Shit Show is an online community, either a website or a facebook page. On the giveaways, there will be a link to the page. This way, people have easy access to a first stop when they are in need of help without the awkwardness of taking a regular brochure. Online, people they should find a concise collection of info material, contacts to institutions like the studentenwerk guidance center and links to interesting projects, articles or funny relatable pictures.

Cloudi – The Swing

At the beginning of the project we asked ourselves :

“Where does disability start? Is it the impairment that disables people? Or is it the attitude of society or the environmental barriers, that actually disable people?”

We had several interviews that led to many insights, such as:

There are more special solutions for people with disabilities and less inclusive ones. Therefore there aren’t many encounters for people with and without disabilities. This results in prejudice and fear of contact.

So for creating more encounters we wanted to make something inclusive, which both people with and without disabilities can use.

Accordingly to this we asked ourselves what the most effective target group would be.

We decided to focus on children, because we want to encourage the interaction in an early age by playing.

We had the idea of an inclusive playground and had several ideas for inclusive playground equipment. We chose to design a swing.

There are many types of disabilities, it is not very possible to include every single condition. We decided to focus on one type of disability and start small. Because of one of our interviewees, we decided to focus on children who doesn’t have much muscle strength. This means a, their body would require some support in order to sit up, and b, they are very sensitive to how hard the material is. These define the objectivities of our materials, which are soft enough to feel comfortable, and has the ability to adapt to the body shape.

First thing that came out to our mind is a bean bag structure. In our first experience we put the bean bag filling into an elastic fabric and came out with this interesting structure.

DSC_5257-2 DSC_5267-10

It is fun to play with, but as you can see this structure probably won’t last one week in a public playground. We later tried out a more tough and water proof fabric—neoprene, it still didn’t really solve the problem since once there is a little hole in the structure, the entire thing become not functional.

After this, we moved on to foam. The foam we purchased give us a lot of freedom to build a more interesting structure.

Yet we were still seeking a more comfortable material, and ended with memory foam.

Memory Foam

Memory foam was first developed by NASA to improve the safety of aircraft cushions. When it was first commercialized, memory foam was mainly used in medical and sports area. Today, it is widely seen in pillow and mattress business as people found it is very good to release next pain or back pain.

It was in the middle of our structure brainstorming that we realized some of the sketches look like a cloud, that is why we name the swing CLOUDI.

We also made some 3D prints based on visual aesthetics. On tope of these, we began to study if the forms make sense, and if the bumps actually adapt to the body.

The project is still on going. We are still in the middle of experimenting the under structure of the swing as well as the proaction on the surface: a tough fabric or some type of rubber coating.

CLOUDI is a start to our vision of an inclusive playground and society, as its educational concept is timeless. It appeals to all kinds of people to enrich their lives through diversity.

We want to approach universal design as close as possible. Redesigning an object which is a regular feature of certain public spaces comes with a lot of responsibility as it is very challenging to find a shape and material that suits everybody’s needs. On the basis of our interviews and design research we tried to develop an object which appeals to the basic human needs like comfort and security.

CLOUDI is not barrier-free in a sense that you can roll with a wheelchair on it. But it is inclusive as it is designed in such a way that people with physical impairments can engage in active play.

Thus, universal design is very demanding.

The goal is to install the swing on a public playground and so it left us with more questions: How are people reacting to it? And the material has to be tested: How robust is it in daily use?

We found that human centered design of a play object for public spaces is too ambitious for a semester project, so this project is not over yet. So if you have any thoughts or feedback, feel free to contact us!

SAVA / Furniture for Refugee Camps

The Refugee Camps in Berlin only supply the bare necessities. Besides eight bunkbeds there is often no more furniture. Its very hard for the people to organize themselves  and their stuff in the rooms. Besides that people have a lot of time and -as we found out through research- a lot of creative potential and motivation to do something with their hands.

We wanted to make furniture that is easy to assemble and can be combined in different ways. Two different formats of Chipwood Plate can be combined to either a stool, a box or a shelf-element by using only cable binders as a connector.

Deckblatt _MG_6952 _MG_6961 _MG_6947 5IMG_2053

First furniture workshop at ICC Berlin

We tried our prototypes last week at the ICC Berlin.  It was very productive and fun. Explaining the principle of the cable ties with the language barrier was a challenge but it turned out that material says more than words 🙂 After the first two tries the participants of the workshop could teach each other how to build the furniture.

_MG_0166 _MG_0168 _MG_0172 _MG_0174 _MG_0178 _MG_0191 1b3c72a8


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Environment Committee

The Environment Committee works on a broad-range of city-wide and community-related initiatives with an eye towards long-term sustainability of the neighborhood. In addition to making recommendations to the City on municipal policies like trash collection and recycling, the Environment Committee will also focus on high-level neighborhood sustainability initiatives like community solar, watershed stewardship, reducing our collective waste and many other areas of environmental interest the committee chooses to pursue.

The Environment Committee meets on the 4th Monday of each month in the Hamline Midway Library at 6:30pm. If you’re interested in joining the Environment Committee or would like to learn more, contact melissa@hamlinemidway.org

Dee Lukas

Victoria Downey

Lucy Hunt

Erin Pavlica

Valentine Cadieux

Sarah Wolbert, Co-Chair

Ande Quercus


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22 June 2015

London notes

London notes: St. Paul's Cathedral and the Millennium Bridge from the Tate Modern balcony

- Just put your phone on battery saver to begin with. Buy a prepaid sim at the vending machines at Heathrow. This is mostly important for data, because maps. London requires maps.

- Take the tube. Get an Oyster card from the machines at Heathrow. They actually have people on staff to help newcomers understand what to buy and how. (Imagine if they had people on staff at the BART machines at SFO.) Treat the tube like any major urban subway system, with the required fast walking, swift card-scanning on entry and exit, and standing to the right/walking to the left on the escalator, and you'll be fine.

- There are more than enough free museums to fill up an entire week without paying to enter anything. I went to the British Museum, the Tate Modern, the Museum of London, and Sir John Soanes' Museum. Other good candidates include the National Gallery, the National Portrait Gallery, Tate Britain, and a variety of smaller and more esoteric things like the Wellcome Collection.

- Don't buy coffee from the carts at the British Museum. Go around back to the Senate House shop for much cheaper coffee, plus reasonably student-priced sandwiches and etc.

- "Coffee" means "basic espresso drinks." If you want an actual drip coffee you can go to Starbucks, which remains everywhere. Otherwise, Costa or Nero are the main chains.

- London is under construction.

- Expect large flocks of schoolchildren near any tourist attraction.

- For long flights, noise-canceling headphones are more or less miraculous.

- If you hate crowds, do not go to Covent Garden or Soho after 5:30 pm. Consider what NYC's Soho is like and plan accordingly. If you want to eat dinner in a busy area, make reservations.

- It was harder than I expected to keep track of exactly how much I was spending, even with a reasonable grasp of the exchange rates and mental math skills.

London notes: Russell Square

- Searching out cheap food isn't necessarily easy, but it's doable. London obviously supports a huge community of commuters who need lunch every day. There are boxed sandwiches at grocery stores and Pret a Mangers on nearly every corner. Tsuru Sushi behind the Tate Modern has $5-ish prepacked small sushi boxes. St. Giles in the Field church has food trucks in the yard.

- There are public gardens everywhere and you should go to them, especially after buying one of the aforementioned sandwiches. Find a bench or a spot on the lawn and relax.

- If it's sunny and warm outside, the entire population of London will also be in the nearest public garden.

- You thought California allergies were bad, but London spring allergies are even worse. There are piles of fluffy flowerheads falling off the trees constantly and lying in drifts in the gutters. Bring your meds.

- On the other hand, I managed to sit directly on various garden lawns (flowerheads notwithstanding) for longish stretches of time without getting any bug bites. This seems nothing short of miraculous.

- English roses have a far stronger scent than the American varieties.

London notes: hanging out with nice dogs and pints of beer in Russell Square

- Some gardens have cafes with seating. This is an excellent plan for a lazy afternoon. Bring your book and have a pint of Peroni or an americano.

- UK open container laws are far more permissive than those in the US. You can drink in the park and no one will bat an eye. This also explains the massive amount of people standing OUTSIDE pubs with their pints.

- Somehow we managed to do this whole trip without even entering a pub. On the other hand, drinking a refreshing beer in the park while people-watching (and dog-watching) was definitely worth it.

London notes: The Assyrian foot troops never skip leg day. British Museum.

- The British Museum, while definitely worth a visit, is just as problematic as expected. They know they have a lot of imperial plunder, and they're never going to let it go. Even the text accompanying some things (especially the Elgin marbles, aka the looting of the Parthenon) is super defensive. It's especially fun when you go up to the neoclassical section and see pieces of early 19th century British art directly copying the real thing you saw downstairs. There was one piece in Greek style, with neoclassical figures in the middle, two Egyptian painted sarcophagi on the sides, and a giant rampant gold eagle on the top -- SO bizarre.

The gift shops are a trove of cultural appropriation. Do people really still think that a scarf or tote bag printed with a pattern of another culture's coffins is a good plan in this day and age? Really?

Yes, there's the argument that the Parthenon panels would have been destroyed (or at least in much worse shape) if they weren't shipped over to England when they were. Well, while that is likely true, here's a counter-observation. I've never heard anyone make a similar argument about the Saxons and Danes and Normans who used the Roman ruins in Britain to make the foundations of their buildings. And it's not as if modern London hasn't been seriously damaged in war anytime recently.

The museum also clearly relies on the vast array of artifacts they own, and spends comparably little time and effort on education and sensical presentation. It was not easy to figure out the proper order to go through rooms, and the significance of different items frequently wasn't clear. Now, it's obvious that the museum wants to make money off selling guidebooks and maps, but still. This is a problem when you're trying to learn.

London notes: Assyrian panels at the British Museum

So, yes. There was certainly a lot of really interesting stuff to see, but that doesn't make it any less problematic. I liked the Assyrian section very much. For instance, the king above is claiming that he, being blessed by the gods, personally has conquered the entire world and made it great, including things like personally raising all the food in existence. It certainly raises some interesting questions about the concept of kingship, ownership, and agency at the time. Plus you have to love the idea that text can just go anywhere. Why not put it right on top of a fantastic stone panel that your best masons have been carving for the past year?

- While we're talking about collections of other cultures' things, let's talk about Sir John Soanes' museum. This is the home of the architect who designed the houses of parliament and his own house as well. He was a collector and essentially made his house into a museum while he was still alive. Phones aren't allowed on inside, so no pictures here.

The basement is called "the crypt," and is designed around the stone sarcophagus of Seti I. Evidently Soanes had an argument with the British Museum over keeping this. Above the sarcophagus there are a few stories of overlooking balconies, culminating in a elaborate glass cupola that lets light all the way down to the ground. And the entire place is filled with figurines and fragments of statuary. FILLED. Rooms and rooms full of every last piece of Greek, Roman or Egyptian artifact he could get his hands on.

And that's not all! There's a room filled entirely with paintings. One side of the room is a very shallow cabinet, which opens out to reveal ANOTHER layer of paintings. Hogarth's whole Rake's Progress is here, locked securely into the cabinet until a guide opens it out and explains the entire story from painting to painting. There's also an architectural drawings room and several other rooms being restored.

The front of the house has two stories of intact 18th century drawing rooms and salons, which I actually thought were the most interesting part of the museum, and certainly a lot less problematic than the hoard of statuary. Next time we are in London I want to search out more sites that specifically preserve or focus on that kind of everyday history.

- On that note, the Museum of London. This was the best museum of the trip, hands down. It was arranged in a reasonable progression, with lots of actually useful educational information, and it certainly helped a lot that they were tackling the history of the city of London itself. No cultural appropriation involved.

So, did you know that before London was founded, the people at the time constructed rush bridges from the south bank of the Thames (such as it was; it was really a big marsh) out into the river, and that from there they would, presumably for religious or ritualistic reasons, throw not only valuable weaponry but human heads into the river? And also clay pots that we now suppose were symbolic of heads? YEP.

I got to learn all about which buildings there were in Roman Londinium, and how they were laid out, and why they prioritized which ones. The museum is presumably built where it is because you can look out a window at a strategic point and see the actual Roman wall of an administrative building which is just still there. (There's another Roman wall near the Tower, which I didn't go see.)

And then there was the rest of the history of the city, all laid out in order. By the time I got to the late 17th century stuff, I had to cut short my visit and go meet John while simultaneously avoiding rush hour as much as possible, so I didn't get to see as much as I would have liked. Future visits: yes.

- Finally, on a totally different note, the Tate Modern. This was a great choice, even though I found all the historical museums more interesting overall. The collections are certainly impressive. For instance, there was a whole roomful of Rothkos, presented in low light so you could stare at them and get the optical-illusion effect of the center squares growing outward.

It was really difficult to take any pictures that remotely approached being decent, but here are a couple.

London notes: Brodsky Utkin drawings at the Tate Modern

London notes: Subodh Gupta at the Tate Modern

London notes: Ibrahim El-Salahi at the Tate Modern

London notes: tiers of boxes at the Globe Theatre

- I don't know why I'm presenting this as an entire section, because we only saw one thing, and that was King John at the Globe Theatre. This was on because this summer is the 800th anniversary of the Magna Carta. (The British Library actually had the document itself on display, but I didn't end up getting there.) Of course, the subject of the play is not actually the signing of the Magna Carta, but still.

Needless to say, for two dorks with graduate degrees in writing, this was a non-negotiable.

The Globe still sells groundling tickets for standing room on the main floor for cheap publicly accessible theatre. We considered this, but my ankle was still sprained (on a side note, let me just mention how exciting it was to stomp around London in a boot all week), so we decided it was a better idea to actually get seats. So we bought two tickets to the highest tier and tromped up the stairs to watch the performance from there.

This was our view of the stage:

London notes: stage view from the third tier at the Globe Theatre border=

Overall, an excellent vantage point for the entire performance.

The play itself was well acted, but it isn't performed very often, because it is just not one of the best Shakespeare plays out there. In some ways it combined the slapsticky humor of some of the comedies with the actual historical events that you'd get in most history plays. That's not a combination you get a lot nowadays, but it shed some light on what the typical plays might have been like at the time. You have a performance with a narrative that pleases your rich and powerful benefactors and sends a clear message to the crowd, but also entertains that crowd and makes them remember your story or characters in a particular way. In this case, you get King John as a temporizing figure who really, really wanted the crown, to the point that he basically immediately jumped into war with the French, but you also get a clear picture of the succession being passed down to his heir etc at the end. Super interesting.

That said, OH MAN could some scenes have used some editing.

London notes: Gorgeous fish dinner at Pierre Victoire in Soho

- I know you guys were waiting for this part. The thing is, I definitely didn't feel the need to eat a big fancy lunch by myself every day while John was off working. Instead, I ate a good selection of sandwiches in Russell Square and various other parks, and that was great. That said, we did go out to dinner quite a bit.

- First, we went to Veeraswamy, the oldest Indian restaurant in London. I don't know that I've ever taken an elevator to enter a restaurant before, but I certainly have now. The food here was good -- especially John's drink, which was a delightful and intensely colored green apple juice -- but it was disproportionately expensive for what we got. I guess that's what happens when you're in a historic restaurant in a very expensive city.

Indian food in London is a bit sweeter than you might expect. This was surprising (even though we were warned about it), mostly because a lot of American food is also already pretty sweet. John prefers the Indian food we get in our very Indian-heavy part of California; I like the London Indian food just about as well, which is saying a lot, because I LOVE Indian food of all kinds.

- Tas. This Middle Eastern restaurant has several locations around London, and they are worth going to. We actually went to two of them, because one was next to the Globe, and the other was very near our hotel. The other reason is that it was just easier to make sure we could get good, serious, protein-oriented vegetarian food if we ate Middle Eastern. Lentil soup and hummus and grape leaves and lots of delicious puffy bread! And it was fairly reasonably priced as well.

- The Salt and Pepper Cafe. This little nook was around the corner from the British Museum. I had some very nice, very fast, and relatively inexpensive breakfasts here. You have to love a spinach omelet served with salad for breakfast. If you want a bowl of oatmeal with fruit and plenty of cream, this is where to go get it. Also: all the coffee!

- Pierre Victoire. This French bistro is smack in the middle of Soho, right around the corner from Soho Square. We ate outside, which is not a normal thing John and I ever do, and watched people walk past with their dogs on an expedition to an evening nose around the square.

I had the massive slab of fish with clams in the picture, and it was just about exactly as fantastic as it appears. The food was really, really good, the people were friendly and good at their jobs, and I would go here again with zero hesitation.

- I like London quite a bit, and would absolutely go back. In the future, I think it would be great to get out into the more normal neighborhoods -- we were certainly in a very expensive part of a very expensive town -- and experience everything more like an actual Londoner would.

- Finally, I found £1.60 over the course of the trip. Finding money is always super satisfying.

11 June 2015

First CSA box of the year!

First CSA box of the year!

It's the first CSA box of the year! Here's what we got:

2 pints strawberries
3 huge leeks
bunch tokyo turnips w greens
bunch carrots w greens
bunch fresh dill
7 medium zucchini
2 little gem lettuce
1 bag mesclun mix
1/2 dozen eggs

This year we have an egg share, which is super exciting. Just look at all those colors! And who couldn't be excited about stuffing their faces with the first farm-fresh strawberries of the year?

There was only one problem: we got the box immediately before leaving the country for a week. How could we eat as much of this as possible in as little time as possible?

Fortunately, a good chunk of our share keeps pretty well. Leeks, turnips, and carrots are all reasonable storage vegetables. Eggs keep forever, which is good, because we had ten of our last dozen left too. The rest needed to get eaten or cooked and frozen pretty quickly. So what did we make?

First CSA box of the year!

Strawberries: Of course, we had to eat an entire pint raw as soon as possible. That's a given. Extras got washed, sliced, and frozen for future smoothies. Otherwise, we could have cut them up and strewed them over some of the mesclun mix for salad.

Zucchini: I am the main eater of zucchini in our house, but even I couldn't eat all seven in two days. I shredded a couple along with a carrot or two, mixed them with tuna, scallion, mustard, and sriracha, and had a lovely spicy tuna salad. I cubed up a couple more and threw them into some brothy soup. That took care of about half of them. The rest sat in the crisper and miraculously stayed intact for the duration of our trip. Other ideas: a zucchini pancake would be a good plan. Zucchini noodles and some relatively hearty lentil and tomato sauce would work well too. And cubed zucchini is great scrambled with a couple eggs or thrown into fried rice.

Dill: Since we had all the eggs, we could have made an excellent egg salad, but we didn't get to it in time. (This is actually on the list for this week.) Instead, I put the whole bunch of dill in a jar of water and put it in the fridge to see how well it would keep. This worked astonishingly well. I've since been snipping it into soup and strewing it over crispbread spread with cream cheese and topped with black pepper.

Lettuces: The little gems keep reasonably well, so we ate the softer mesclun first, along with the bit of romaine we already had. I don't know about you, but when I get a lot of pre-washed, perfectly fresh mesclun, I tend to just eat it in big handfuls out of the bag, or throw a handful of undressed leaves on my plate, along with whatever random quesadilla may be on the menu otherwise. That's exactly what happened here.

Verdict: success! We managed to eat all the tender vegetables in record time, and the rest kept in good shape for the week that we were away.

And now we have another box coming this afternoon. Yay!

Do you have a CSA share? What are you making with all your bounty?

02 June 2015

Samosa soup

Samosa soup

We've been eating a lot of pinto beans lately. This is a thing that happens when you buy a 5-lb bag of said pinto beans and cook huge batches of them in your pressure cooker on a regular basis, both of which I absolutely do.

Refried beans are already on the table two or three times a week at our house, whether they're made from pintos or black beans. I also recently made a double batch of Good Good Things' bbq pinto bean burgers (along with a vegetarianized batch of Joy of Cooking bbq sauce to put in them). We now have a lovely stock of 11 burgers stashed away in the freezer for future consumption. But I still had quite a few beans in their broth hanging around waiting to be eaten afterward.

We'd more or less exhausted the classics, so I wanted to make something different. Soup is always good. Why not mix up a basic bean soup with the spices usually used in making samosas?

I looked up a couple of samosa recipes and went to town.

This soup is lovely and warming, with a hint of heat that can be increased as much as you like. The garam masala makes it a bit sweet, especially when eaten plain. Add a handful of crackers (or naan, if you're feeling semi-industrious) and a few salad greens, and you have a complete and very satisfying meal. The leftovers freeze very well.

Serves 4.

Samosa soup

Samosa soup

oil of choice
1 large yellow onion
2 carrots
1-2 stalks celery
1-2 boiling potatoes
1 jalapeno or serrano
2 cups cooked pinto beans (in 2 cups of their broth if homemade, drained if not)
2 cups veg broth (+2 more cups if using canned beans)
1 tsp salt
1 tsp ground coriander seed
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp amchoor powder (or sub lemon juice)
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper or to taste
1 tsp garam masala
immersion blender or other pureeing device
plain yogurt/sub of your choice and cilantro to garnish

Warm a couple slugs of oil over medium heat in a large soup pot while you chop up your onion, carrots, and celery. When the oil is hot, add the chopped vegetables to the pan along with a shake of salt. Cook, stirring occasionally, for about five minutes, or until the onion is beginning to turn translucent.

While you're waiting, chop up your potatoes and chile. Then add them to the pot, stir, and continue to cook for another five minutes.

Next, add your pinto beans and broth to the pot. Add all the spices except garam masala (and lemon juice, if you're using it). Bring the pot to a boil, cover, reduce heat, and simmer for about ten to fifteen minutes, or until your potatoes are entirely cooked through. This may take a bit longer if your potato pieces are on the large side.

Take your pot off the heat and puree your soup using an immersion blender. Taste and correct the seasonings. Then return the soup to the heat and cook it down until it reaches your desired texture.

When you're happy with your soup, turn off the heat and stir in your garam masala (and lemon juice). Serve plain, with chopped cilantro, or top with plain yogurt. Voila!

If you want more vegetables, you can saute some peas in olive oil with a little salt and put a big scoop of them over the top of your bowl of finished soup. Or put a handful of spinach or mesclun leaves in the bottom of each bowl before serving. Or have an actual salad on the side! It's all good.

What's your favorite thing to cook with pinto beans?


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Monday, 10 March 2008

Mercado del Infernio -- Fotos por Rafa Rodriguez

so check it, loaded with my telephone making calls. On the bus headed past the centre. Past the sweetened side. Past the part that got niced up. Along the peripheries before the shantyvilles. Right in the thick of dodge.

The shanties are even safer cos its full of families.

It didnt click where I was going. I was following Rafael, the anarko dreaded long-bearded Spaniard. Him and his gimpy American-Peruvian sidekick, a walking neon light lollypop . I was carrying my walet with 20 dollars, and 70 seventy soles. And my natwest card. Eeeejiot. The whole idea of the day was to take pictures of some backward market the Spaniard had taken pictures of before. He had described it as ’el mercado del infierno’.

We get off the bus. Gimpy’s looking gimpy. Anarko takes his top off. Some guy shouts out a Combi (them squashed buses). ’Oye Gringo Huevón....!’ It was as if he was calling one of us dickhead. I turn round and say ’Y que fue cholo de mierda’. A good comeback I thought. Nothing the bus moves on.

We turn onto the street. Headless dolls being sold. Transvestites trying to sell batteries. Bits and Bobs. Clanky metal with soot covered telephones. Smirking Drunks trying to sell any retarded shit they just made up. And then the meat arrive. Thats us. Gimpy and me, and anarko. We flapping little gold fish in the mouth of the lobo wolf.

Now I thought being here now almost six months might make a difference. You know one of the boys. But even the whities, pitucos, dont venture to these places. And I can see the reason. So obvious. No Sooner than in three minutes I had different hands on me, one with a machete, another with an empty beer bottle, others with clenched fists. The hands did all the work. The phone plopped. The wallet came out. They gave me back my keys and my journo pad. Piranhas wearing caps. Strangely it was all done in good nature. All great role playing. One of them even gave me the thumbs up! like as if he was saying ’safe’.

’At least give me back my chip innit’. They told me to fuck off. But as we were walking around the corner a transvestite shouts ’ ohh chico lindo, de quien es esto’ running with my chip, giving it me back.

Gimp had his money and little confidence knicked. Anarko avoided shit somehow, something do to with his camo, all the while with a camera his pocket. We then walked around like dumb idiots provoking more stares and random shouting. Felt like I was on a catwalk and Me and the fuckin gimp were looking nice. By now you might have realised that Gimp, Marco is his name, is my scapegoat in all of this, because Im sure in hell not accepting that I might also be a lollypop. See in the end, as cheap ass you are or plan to be, you still a gringo, so you best give away the soup, the merk, yours shoes, the works or something.


text:
Monday, 1 February 2010

Glitches. So tired are the structures, technology itself rebels and offers guidance.
Here to alterior dimensia. Here to strokes of accidents. Meaning is nothing, we supply that later.
Random is the passage to escapedom. With slash imagery feeding from one channel to the next.
Images of monotony. Images of poverty; of so called truth layered with grotesque parallels of nothingness.
Youtube fed us to the dogs. Television programs lost in self-doubt. What now is the inner we?
Slash imagery, keys to clues to happy cinders. Digi-data, where colours are altered, surmised and doctored by chance.
Where machinery warp from idle men to cutlery switching to the taliban to klein blue to cartoon teradactyls of death.

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Sunday, April 30, 2006

An Appeal To Reason From Great Minds

Recent developments have made me start thinking about the wisdom and sanity of the various approaches to managing relations among nations. In my mind, the unspoken reality is that technology has advanced to the point that even talking about a nuclear oligopoly keeping the nuclear peace simply will not work in the 21st century. I believe we are at a crossroads, where the futility of attempting to control nuclear weapons in a world full of bellicose nations becomes self evident. The Soviet Union’s rather speedy development of a nuclear arsenal in the late 1940s and early 1950’s raised similar questions.

The greatest minds of the day rose to the challenge. Their response and vision is summarized in the Russell-Einstein Manifesto, first issued July 1955 in London. You can read it for yourself here.

The manifesto brought to bear the realization that with two nuclear powers competing, the idea of reliance on military means to address international conflict is not acceptable. It seems to me that with numerous nuclear powers, the agenda becomes far more immediate than in the 1950’s.

That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.

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Friday, 3 April 2015

Overheard on the Heath

One of the many joys of my year of maternity leave – now drawing to a close – has been trundling my daughter around Hampstead Heath. And with that has come an unlikely pleasure: overhearing snatched conversations as people pass by.

Most are unremarkable. But some are so funny, eye-rolling or intriguing, I wish I could be privy to the rest of the conversation. Your imagination runs wild. These are short films in the making, all.

In my experience, the Heath's vast open spaces – such a contrast to the city, where you're never far from another person – and the fact of walking side by side with someone, allow your conversations to be that much more intimate.

So I took to carrying a pen and paper with me to jot down the good ones. This simple task somehow kept my creative side alive during those early, foggy weeks and months. And it reminded me of an exercise we did on our journalism post-grad: perching at a bar and writing down overheard conversations, to practice our reported speech.

Here are a few favourites.

A 60-something man and woman
She: "...a selfish, ill old man."
He: "A selfish, ill old man. And the reason I'm selfish..."

Attractive 20-something pair
She: "Do you have an idea how that makes me feel?"
He: "Yes, I do have an idea."
She: "Well, it doesn't seem like you do..."

Late-40s woman with an East End accent, in a leopard skin coat
"I just have this fear that if it's gonna go wrong, it's gonna go really wrong..."

Two girls in school uniform, one quite upset
"So he like texted me yesterday and I texted him back and he never texted back. I'm like, what the fuck? So I'm gonna fuckin..."

Two posh 40-something women
One: "It's quinoa... and mixed grains."

Well-spoken young girl with her mum (overheard today, after the leaders' debate last night. A future UKIP supporter?)
"Yah, but they have to be from Britain."

Thursday, 15 January 2015

Wild thing

When I was asked to interview Cheryl Strayed over a year ago and her book, Wild, landed on my desk, I rolled my eyes. Here, I presumed, was another Oprah-endorsed, Elizabeth Gilbert-esque redemptive, emotional travel memoir. Sigh.

I couldn't have been more wrong. The book was an intelligent, entertaining and honest page-turner. If Eat, Pray, Love was an indulgent story written (well) by a privileged writer, Wild was an unglamorous account of a tough, life-changing few months in a working-class woman's life. Strayed was modest and warm, and I liked her enormously.

The interview never ran, for PR-related reasons too dull to recount here. So, as a film of her book opens in the UK, I thought I'd briefly tell her story.

When she was 22, setting out in the world after a difficult childhood with a violent father, her loving mother Bobbie died, rapidly, of cancer. The family, pinned together by Bobbie, disintegrated. For Strayed, going through that rocky transition into adulthood, it was too much to bear. For the next four years she drank, her young marriage collapsed, and she discovered the numbing pleasure of heroin. By the time she picked up a book called "The Pacific Crest Trail, Volume 1: California" she was at rock bottom.

"I knew I had to save myself," she told me. "The greatest dishonour to my mother would have been to ruin myself." The book gave her an idea. "The wilderness always made me feel gathered, and walking and physical exertion made me feel good. I knew [if I walked this trail] I would emerge altered in some way, and I was right."

A few months later she sold her belongings, packed an unwieldy backpack and headed for the starting point of her hike: Mojave, CA.

The following three months are documented in vivid, thrilling, terrifying and often very funny detail: searing heat and treacherous snowdrifts; freezing nights in her tent; run-ins with animals and snakes; happy encounters with fellow trekkers; and above all, hunger and thirst. She was impressively under-prepared. She dreamed deliriously of Snapple lemonade and pizza. When she finds food, you salivate with her.

But she developed a reputation among the smattering of (mostly male) hikers on the trail as a toughie, accruing awe and admiration (and they probably fancied her, too). "Day after day I was in this wild landscape, moving forward," she says. "Even on my miserable days I was growing stronger, step by step. I had to tone down the metaphors it was so literal."

Her story ends well. She finally put pen to paper aged 40 – she is now 46 – and the book benefits from that hindsight. The New York Times described it as "loose and sexy and dark" and named it one of its ten best books of 2012.

Why has it been so successful? Kathryn Schulz, writing in New York magazine – a long piece but worth a read – puts it well. "It is the basic bootstrapping from poverty to self-sufficiency that we observe in Wild, and that makes its story so automatically appealing."

"So many people dismiss memoirs as narcissistic – and they are, [Strayed] says if they stop at the surface truth," writes Schulz. "But if you go into that deep truth, you aren't talking about yourself. You are talking about what it is to be human."

Friday, 23 May 2014

Cranking back to life

It's been, shamefully, nearly a year since I wrote on here – a magical encounter with Salem in Jordan – and since then a new life has arrived. The birth of a baby is the most ordinary, everyday thing in the world, except when it's yours. And then... well, extraordinary barely covers it. Here she is now, six weeks, and just starting to smile.

As for the birth... I was reminded of one of my earliest encounters on Lives Less Ordinary, with mountaineer Bill Goodland. Pregnancy and childbirth are, I'm sure, not dissimilar to climbing Everest, which he did almost five years ago this month. Lots of preparation, mental and physical, and one big push. When I asked him how it felt to stand on top of the world, he replied: "You get to stop walking. It's that simple."

That's how I felt when she was born: I got to stop pushing. The euphoria, joy and tears came later.

I won't be writing much about my daughter on here – it's still a blog about all the amazing people I meet. But I will be writing it regularly again, so do drop by.

Saturday, 8 June 2013

Heat and dust

This is Salem. He drove us across the desert in southern Jordan in his jeep. Like a laid-back, twinkly-eyed Arab light entertainer, he was something of a character.

He is Bedouin, and has lived in this sun-baked part of Jordan, Wadi Rum, all his life. Immense granite and sandstone mountains, like islands in a bone dry sea, rise up from the desert floor. They take many different forms, from sheer vertical flanks to curved, bulging rocks filled with craggy ravines, weathered by sea water and wind over the millenia.

Lawrence of Arabia was filmed in Wadi Rum – indeed it was one of TE Lawrence's favourite places. The midday heat is so intense it's hard to describe: it melts your scalp and sears your soles.

You stumble across rock carvings, many by nomadic Thamudic tribes, who predate the Romans. Like most graffiti, it is not deeply meaningful – just simple, stylised images of humans, animals, symbols and footprints (see below).

In the early 1990s Salem and his fellow desert dwellers formed co-operatives to organise tourism in the area, and with the proceeds built a small town of squat, humous-coloured houses where they now live, instead of tents, so their children can go to school (he never did). Are they better off? "He laughs. "Not happier! But I'm glad my children will have an education." His eldest daughter teaches him English.

He was a first-rate storyteller. He once accompanied a group of Japanese into the desert for a two-day camp. They spoke no English. They drew him a picture of a camel with a man on top, and the following morning Salem fixed them up with a ride each, tapped his watch, held up three fingers and waved them off.

Three hours later, there was no sign of them. After five he began to panic. By nightfall, he was starting to wonder if they had accidently wandered across the Saudi Arabian border. At dawn he set off with a local policeman and finally found them, relaxing at a Bedouin camp, wondering what all the fuss was about.

Then there was the time a pair of Italian honeymooners setting up camp for the night had a bust-up after the man confessed to having recently slept with his new wife's best friend. His timing couldn't have been worse. "She was so angry I had to find her a separate tent to sleep in." Understandably. "These people..." he tails off, shaking his head in bafflement.

Thursday, 2 May 2013

Luke Treadaway: almost famous

I had the same tingling feeling - no, not that one - watching 28-year-old Luke Treadaway play the lead in The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time this afternoon as I did watching an unknown James McAvoy in Privates on Parade in 2001. The play was a little silly, but McAvoy exuded charisma and talent from every pore. When I later saw him in Shameless, I remember thinking: Oh. It's him

Watching Treadaway was the same: it's an extraordinary role – his character, Christopher, has Asperger Syndrome. And he was remarkable: spirited, funny and moving.

Against the odds – and against McAvoy, among others – Treadaway won best actor at the Oliver Awards on Sunday for his role (presented by Kim Cattrall, above). "I feel like someone's going to call and tell me it's all a big mistake," he says, which is what all actors say. But he seemed genuine.

I interviewed him yesterday, not about his win – which was just good timing – but about a new scheme that aims to get autistic kids and their parents into theatres, something they usually find intimidating and nerve-wracking. Playing someone with autism, he is particularly passionate about the project.

We met in a windowless corner of the Apollo Theatre on the sunniest afternoon of the year. So Treadaway – slim, barefoot, clutching coconut water and a packet of tobacco – suggested we sit outside the stage door in the sun, perched on the kerb.

He was all of the following: friendly, intelligent, sparky, confident. And, of course, a thespian, kissing co-stars, calling them darling. He didn't kiss me, I'm glad to say: just two good handshakes.

He is nice-looking but not drop dead gorgeous. The photograph, top, best resembles him in real life: a young Damian Lewis with a nicely imperfect face. Below he's all pout and hairspray, the perfect casting shot. Either way, he's one to watch: almost famous, and you read about him here almost first.

Monday, 29 April 2013

Björn at the right time

Small, neat and a little orange, Abba's Björn Ulvaeus (right) – he married the blonde one – slips into our group, unannounced. We are visiting the soon-to-open Abba Museum in Stockholm and he is here to say hello. Serious but warm, and not at all starry (impressive, given that he is the second most famous Björn to come out of Sweden), he answers our questions happily but succinctly.

How does it feel to be opening a museum about yourself? "Like looking at another person's life. And extremely narcissistic! Ha, ha!"

I downloaded Abba's Greatest Hits last week in the name of journalistic research, and was reminded of the sublime craftsmanship of their songs: joyful, innocent, glossy, addictive and universally appealing. A friend told me last week that mountain rescue workers in Wales listen to Abba in the rescue vehicle to cheer themselves up. I'm not surprised: their tunes are musical anti-depressants.

Benny Andersson actually wrote more of the songs – Ulvaeus the lyrics – but perhaps they were like Lennon and McCartney: better as two than one. "We never took ourselves too seriously," he says. "Everything was tongue in cheek. Except the music: we took that dead seriously."

Photographs: top, Bengt H Malmqvist; bottom, err, me. Apologies for quality.

Wednesday, 24 April 2013

"Once it gets you, you're besotted"

Peter Layton’s glassblowing studio operates something of an open door policy. On a warm spring afternoon its glass doors, cathedral-like in their proportions, are indeed propped open and passersby breeze in, drawn by the psychedelic glassware on display and, beyond, the workshop with the “blowers” themselves.

Soon a crowd is gathered. Layton, 75, urges them to sit: the more people who see this extraordinary work, he reasons, the better it is for business. Some remain for an hour, hypnotised by its theatre. More than any other craft, glassblowing has an air of alchemy about it: in the space of a few hours, an unpromising nugget of brown glass, dipped in powder, will be transformed into a shimmering, painterly vessel. If – and it’s a big if – it turns out okay, it could fetch £4,000.

At 35, this is the oldest glassblowing studio in the UK. Located near London Bridge, it is a collective of freelance artists headed by Layton. Chatty, avuncular and twinkly-eyed – and youthfully dressed for a septuagenarian – he offers hands-on design advice to the other artists. His mug says "The Boss".

Without warning he will leap up and consult with a blower on how his piece is taking shape. There’s no room for dithering: molton glass doesn’t stay molton for long. Across the workshop is a minor emergency: a crease has appeared in a piece that’s destined for an exhibition. The blower is experienced and Layton stays seated, but pulls a worried face. “As if he didn’t have enough to contend with.”

It’s this collaborative approach that has kept them going so long, he says. “Glass is labour and cost intensive. So sharing overheads really helps. Gas prices and raw materials have gone up astronomically. China is sitting on all the selenium stocks and prices have risen 700%.” Selenium provides the red in glass – can’t he just make fewer red pieces? “No! I can’t tie my inspiration to the selenium market.” He points to his most recent pieces as proof: exquisite scarlet poppy heads half a metre in diameter.

Layton is self-taught, and started out as a potter. But he fell in love with glass. “Once it gets you, you’re besotted. Even the heat on your face from the furnaces is addictive.”

And it is hot, sweaty work. Layne Rowe, one of the studio’s most experienced artists, is making the final piece in a series of large-scale vessels started by Layton called The Arrival of Spring – inspired by David Hockney’s giant canvas of the same name (Layton and Hockney were childhood friends in Bradford).

The process has a simple rhythm to it. Rowe, above in white, alternately fires the glass, which is on the end of a rod, in a small furnace, and coats it in powder or shards of thin coloured glass, which will add a striped effect. Occasionally, he dips the rod into another oven, which coats it in a gloopy layer of transluscent glass. He rolls the glass on a metal surface or massages it with a thick wedge of newspaper to change its shape.

Two hours on, the glass is as large as a bowling ball and Rowe staggers under its weight, sweat pouring off his forehead. A pair of assistants are now helping him, opening secondary oven doors to accomodate the larger piece. “I’m worried about his shoulder,” says Layton. “He did it in recently, and it put him out for months. I don’t want him to overdo it.”

He is constantly nurturing young talent. Today, the workshop is buzzing with bright young things who manage the shop, design the website, package up parcels. “I had a call today from a young chap wanting a job. I know him, he’s brilliant. We’re going to try to fit him in.” He adds, brightly: “I think glass is on the up. It’s sheer good luck for us.” I expect luck only plays a small part.

Photographs: Anna Huix


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Saturday, 10 October 2015

Secrets Organic Box - September Unboxing

As previously mentioned i'm trying to use more organic products so i've swapped around a lot of my subscription boxes. I was undecided on getting this box but the first impressions are good so I will probably continue to receive this one. The Secrets Organic Box will set you back $25 per month if you choose the monthly ongoing subscription plan and you should receive a minimum six products per month. I couldn't find an item card just recipe cards so i'm not sure if there was one and I missed it or if you just don't get one. There was also a $25 gift card for a 14 day cleanse but when I saw the price of the cleanse I just gave the card away. Here is what I received this month:

Teza Real Life Organic Tea in Peach and Passionfruit: This is a decent sized bottle at 325ml. I also liked the little story on the back advising that their tea leaves are up-cycled as garden mulch. I do enjoy a good iced tea so I can't wait to give this a try.

Granola Girls Granola: Alright so this is probably going to sound a little odd but I don't usually eat granola at all, like ever. I had to google uses for granola so now that I've done that I'm probably just going to add it to my yogurt that I usually have for breakfast.

QI Organic Green Tea Detox and Wellness Tea: I like getting tea samples because I do drink a hell of a lot of tea during the week. I actually have a box of the Qi Organic Green Tea Detox so this isn't a new product to me but I do enjoy it so it always helps to have extra. I haven't tried their Wellness tea yet so i'm excited to give that a go.

Crio Bru Brewed Cocoa: I admit this product confused the crap out of me when I first saw it but it does come with a recipe card and a product brochure. I'm trying to kick my morning coffee habit so I'm hoping by giving this a go I will be able to do that. I haven't opened it yet as I need to find my french press but I'm really interested in the Mojito part of it. I can't wait to give this a go. I think it will be one of those things that you either love or hate.

Organyc Panty Liner and Pad Sample: So totally immature thought but I had a little giggle wondering if any male subscribers to this box happened to get this sample as well or if they get something different? For those of you who don't know I don't get my period every month due to medical reasons. I do keep these in the house/in my bag for just in case purposes so I will hold on to it and I do think they are a great idea provided that they work well. If I did get my period monthly and these worked well it would be something that I would consider swapping to.

Thomas Chipman Kale and Spirulina Corn Chips: This was the product that I was most excited for because I love my vege chips and I have heard so much about Kale chips. I was hesitant when I opened the bag and saw how green they were but my god they tasted amazing. Me and the girl that I work with got stuck into this bag right away and it is something that I would definitely re-purchase.

Overall I was quite impressed with this box. The standout was definitely the Kale and Spirulina Corn Chips. I'm not to sure about the value of this box yet and I won't know for certain until I try all of the products. I'm trying to broaden my tasting habits though and I think a box like this is definitely good for experimenting purposes. It's definitely a box that I will continue to get and I can't wait to see what else comes over the next few months.

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Caroline McCallum

Caroline is excited to return to Harold Night for her fifth season! She previously performed on Harold Night teams Great Lakes, 54Forty and The Mantle. She also performs as part of IB's Face Off and the indie team Spider House. If you are ever feeling down, she recommends listening to the Gossip's "Move in the Right Direction" and Barbra Streisand's "Don't Rain on My Parade" on repeat.

Upcoming Shows

March 21st, 2018 at 7:30 PM

Top Shelf, Featuring:
BabylonThe WildNeighbors

Caroline McCallum

Performing With Neighbors

Formerly performing with

GGreat Lakes
554 Forty
MThe Mantle