Another two months down. I lost more than ten days to a retreat and a little illness in May. In June I was in Germany for a week and had a couple of offsite meetings. I passed the two year mark on the solstice. I’m way off two hundred days…
Photography
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An aesthetic consumerism to which everyone is now addicted
“Needing to have reality confirmed and experience enhanced by photographs is an aesthetic consumerism to which everyone is now addicted. Industrial societies turn their citizens into image-junkies; it is the most irresistible form of mental pollution.” Susan Sontag 1977 It is worth dwelling on the date of the Susan Sontag…
Mindfulness & Buddhism
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Marathon Monk: April 2019 – 301 days & 1,806 mindful miles
April was more like a ‘normal’ month. I’ve started to feel like I’m in the swing of it again and slowly sinking the well of my practice. May is going to be a busy month. I’m running my regular workshops at the botanics as well as helping out on Tuesday…
Misc
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Food Forever
It was nice to have my photos used in the Food Forever exhibition that has just opened at the botanics.
Mindfulness & Buddhism
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Marathon Monk: January to March 2019 – 281 days & 1,686 mindful miles
Three months to do one months worth of walking. What a start to the year! January walking didn’t start till 7th because of the way the New Year holiday fell. I walked normally for a week and a half but then came down with a horrible cold. I think it…
Misc
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Scots rejecting BBC up 49% since 2014
We don’t have a TV licence. We have Amazon Prime and Netflix and YouTube and hundreds of DVDs so just don’t watch BBC TV programming enough to justify £150 a year. To be clear you need a TV licence to watch live broadcast programmes in the UK from any channel…
Photography
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First Plate Euphoria
Oh great joy – I’ve spent ages researching this and at last I’ve made my first wet plate collodion image! I tried to do a course last year which was unfortunately cancelled but as I was fantasy shopping for wet plate kit I came across someone selling “everything” on eBay….
Misc
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Why did I make this?
I continuously wrestle with why the hell I want to make images. Sure a hell of a lot of it is a fascination with the process. I like the technology. Not the modern pixel peaking type so much as the physical side of traditional photography. But then I’m sitting at…
Mindfulness & Buddhism
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Marathon Monk: December 2018 – 258 days & 1,548 mindful miles
Another year over. Time of reflectance and long sleeps. Resolutions for New Year are “all of the above”: diet, exercise, practice, etc, etc. I passed the 1,500 mile mark almost at the solstice so that is sticking with the thousand miles a year average. There was a workshop at the…
Mindfulness & Buddhism
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Marathon Monk: November 2018 – 248 days & 1,488 mindful miles
What has happened this month? I’ve started to Bullet Journal. Bought new camera bag and Hasselblads. Spending too much on camera gear but enjoying the sensations of owning in my 50s what I wanted in my 20s. I’m calling my Sunday Anxieties FOMO now. That’s what it comes down to….
Misc
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Real Photography with a CAMRA
This is an image of Scotland that I created as part of my job. The green is Normalised Difference Vegetation Index which is basically the difference between red and near infra-red light as seen by a satellite. This image is a composite of around one hundred and fifty satellite passes over…
Photography
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Christening the dark box with a session of paper negs
I really must stop posting things on Facebook without posting them here first. I’ve reverted back to my “nothing on Facebook or Twitter that isn’t already somewhere else” policy. Feeling a bit post viral a couple of weekend back I stayed indoors and had some fun with paper negatives and…
Misc
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On Scottish Independence
Scotland is a country. Countries choose their own governments. No countries are truly independent but choose to pool some sovereignty for mutual benefit. or Scotland is a region. Regions choose local representatives to a central government. Regions are delegated powers by a central government which may choose to revoke them. Pick…
Mindfulness & Buddhism
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Marathon Monk: October 2018 – 233 days & 1,398 mindful miles
Another month already! Towards the end of the month I’ve been finding joy again in walking and in mundane things – the true test of happiness. The extra energy has allowed me to cut back on my media consumption so I’m not looking at Twitter, Facebook or news websites just…
Mindfulness & Buddhism
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Marathon Monk: September 2018 – 217 days & 1,302 mindful miles
A quiet month again. Lost a few days to my sinuses playing up. Had to get the bus back or work at home. There is a general feeling of embeddedness. I feel the period of being really low has past. Perhaps 2018 will just be a year I remember for…
Misc
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Bath Climate Mews
Twelve years ago we moved into our flat in Edinburgh with our two daughters who were six and a four years old. We aren’t fussy about decor but the fibreglass bath looked like it was about to crack and would have to be changed really soon. This week, just after…
Photography
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I’m an Artist
I had a interesting exchange on the way to work. I was taking this picture of a window – just interested in the symmetry and tone – and when I took my camera down a guy said “I wonder what you were finding interesting in that?” to which I spontaneously…
Mindfulness & Buddhism
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Marathon Monk: August 2018 – 199 days & 1,194 mindful miles
Not sure what to say this month. Not quite to 200 days – although I am on the 200th as I type. Here are two photos.
Mindfulness & Buddhism
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Marathon Monk: July 2018 – 182 days & 1,092 mindful miles
Much more upbeat in July. Walks have been really regular and been feeling good again. First time back at yoga on 31st. I weigh 1lb more than last month @ 14st 4lb (90.7kg). I’ve noticed that I have nearly exactly the same attitude to a tub of ice-cream or packet…
Mindfulness & Buddhism
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Marathon Monk: June 2018 – 166 days & 996 mindful miles
A year on the road. Not the road in the picture. That is the A383 in the Highlands. It has been a time of reflection. The summer solstice on the 21st June marked the first year of this Marathon Monk project and I was hoping to have completed 200 days…
Misc
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Afghan Box Camera a.k.a. Cuban Polaroid a.k.a Camera Minutera
I don’t feel I really understand something until I have had a go at it so, having watched some YouTube videos on Afghan Box Cameras, I had the urge to “waste” a couple of weekends building one. Now it is more or less working and I’ve learnt my lessons I…
Mindfulness & Buddhism
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Marathon Monk: May 2018 – 152 days & 912 mindful miles
May is the month that I lead the Two Feet, One Mind walking workshops in the Botanics so, strangely, I do a few less marathon monk days. The workshops are for two hours, 6-8pm, and it is just too much to walk there and back as well as a days…
Mindfulness & Buddhism
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Marathon Monk: April 2018 – 137 days & 822 mindful miles
Five years ago I made a commitment to do a 20 minute mindfulness walk ever day during my lunch hour at the Botanics. I put a blog post on the Wild Geese website inviting people to join me and occasionally they have. I’ve managed to stick with it through all…
Photography
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Pre-flashing Multigrade Paper Negs
I don’t have access to a darkroom at home so pre-flashing paper negatives to reduce contrast is difficult. I wondered whether using a piece of opal perspex and flashing in camera would help. These are notes on the tests I’ve done. I’m using The Anticipation Camera. I have an Intrepid 4×5…
Misc
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Sometimes you should bark yourself
Why bark if you have a dog? We need to be reminded to let someone else take over and do a job rather than doing everything ourselves. But sometimes it isn’t the right thing to do and we should get our hands dirty. I like making images and it has…
Mindfulness & Buddhism
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Marathon Monk: March 2018 – 125 days & 750 mindful miles
Finally coming to the end of taking excess holiday allowance. Married Gustaf and Ainsley on Saturday 31st at St Marks Marathon Monk Posts by Date
Misc
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Does the BBC broadcast propaganda?
I’m teaching myself to make podcasts. Like many things this is harder than I thought but I like learning stuff and the way I force myself to get on with it is to share what I’m doing. This morning I put together a podcast that chops up a BBC news…
Mindfulness & Buddhism
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Marathon Monk: February 2018 – 112 days & 672 mindful miles
On Tuesday 6th February I passed the 100 walks mark when, if I was a real Japanese Marathon Monk, I would have asked formal permission to continue. I thought about marking the day in some special day but in the end it was just a normal walk. Perhaps I’ll do…
Dharma Footnotes
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Four Nutriments Sharing
This is a quick recording of my thoughts on the Four Nutriments discourse of the Buddha. I had written some notes and couldn’t face typing the whole thing up so thought I’d try a recording. Thich Nhat Hanh Audio has a whole section on talks where Thay has mentioned the…
Project Marathon Monk
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Marathon Monk: January 2018 – 97 days & 582 mindful miles
Another short month as far as marathon monking is concerned. After the Christmas and New Year break took a chunk off the start of the month I got the call to go into the Edinburgh Royal Infirmary and have my inguinal hernias fixed. This had been looming for nine months….