A Lucky Find
Reading John Connell’s “The Running Book” with its evocative portrayal of the Irish landscape prompted me to dig out this catalogue of black & white phot...
Posts by Year
2021
Tree Poems 1
KINSHIP by Ursula K. Le Guin
2015
Inhabit Movie
Back in 2013 a couple of filmmakers bravely took on the risk of making a high quality movie about the Permaculture movement in North America. Once they had s...
2014
Ceramic Destinations in Tokyo
The most popular post on Slowlane has been Ceramics Destinations in Kyoto, this post seeks to provide the same information for a Tokyo visitor.
Making and Work
I describe myself as a Maker, for me the term is a indicator of where my inspiration and satisfaction are found. This has generally been realised in the work...
Daily Rituals
Great infographic post at infowetrust via the Huffington Post and macademic that shows the daily ritual of interesting historical figures. Smoking, coffee an...
A Vision of the Future
Wolfram at SXSW
2013
Making a Flamenco Guitar
I have linked to this video showing the making of a beautiful guitar before, but its so good its worth another run. The Art of Making, Alma Flamenca from D...
Permaculture Online Course Update
In a previous post I wrote about the positive experience we were having taking part in Geoff Lawton’s Online Permaculture course. Having completed all the on...
We should build mandolins
Here is another beautiful video celebrating craftsmanship.
Permaculture and online learning
After years of exposure to Permaculture and having spent several years a decade ago implementing a disparate set of its common patterns at our previous prope...
Jean Nicholas Gerard, a potters potter
Goldmark have produced another fascinating “day in the life” video, this time featuring French potter Jean-Nicholas Gerard who makes beautiful slipware pots....
Why have Enterprise Architecture
Mastering Archimate has worked with T36 in the creation of an excellent video that shows why Enterprise Architecture is important. [. He writes some excellent posts on his blog that I often find m...
Solvay Conference 1911
Mark Bernstein: Going To Conferences
Makers at work
There is an extensive collection of videos of showcasing makers and their work, at Those Who Make.
A look behind the increasing prevalence of supermarket-organic-products
Is Organic Supermarket Food a Lie? Revealing look behind the supermarket green wash. The example is from Europe however it is surely just as relevant here in...
Visualisation techniques
This is interesting, an interactive compilation of data visualisation techniques.
Craftsmanship, one mans inspiration
Moving essay from David Sparks meditating about the influence of his father on his own pursuit of craftsmanship. I am sure that many modern craftsman were in...
Chinas rising soybean consumption-reshaping-western-agriculture
Disturbing article by Lester Brown on the PRI website
Ode to invention, Maira Kalman
Steve Zeoli posted a link to the work of Maira Kalman in the NY Times today, in this case an enlightening graphic celebration of the inventiveness of Benjami...
2012
Made by hand in brooklyn
Made by Hand is a project creating beautiful videos that celebrate the resurgent maker scene in Brooklyn
Swedish spoon-maker 1923
Great video link from The Village Carpenter
John Dermer
In November we travelled down to Kirby’s Flat for John Dermer’s annual major exhibition.
Living with introverts
Insightful guide to living with an introvert, rings true and definitely worth a look.
Depression and getting help
This article was linked by Macdrifter overnight and, as is often the case, Gabe has come up with gem. It’s by Rob Delaney a US comedian, reflecting on his de...
Getting to the root of the problem
Excellent writing as usual from Monbiot, pointing to the underlying causes of the unfolding Eco crisis http://www.monbiot.com/2012/12/03/forbidden-planet
Dividing camels
The traditional teaching stories of the Sufi’s are often intriguing. One of my favourites is known as Dividing Camels. I originally came across it in Idries ...
Challenges of creating for the web
Hilarious comic at The Oatmeal, thanks to Better Mess for the link.
The Anarchists Tool Chest
Just finished reading the Anarchists Tool Chest by Christopher Schwartz.
New Listening
Album by Chris Smither
Leaving Octopress
After some months of not posting due in part to the limitations of Octopress, I have changed buses again. The site is now being built with Rapidweaver and us...
Ceramics Destinations in Kyoto
The following are worth considering if you are in Kyoto and interested in Ceramics.
Mike dodd video
Mike Dodd makes beautiful ceramics.
The failure of international politics
Stirring writing “After Rio, we know. Governments have given up on the planet” by George Monbiot in reaction to the collapse of the Rio Summit. He still find...
A cabinet makers notebook
In interviews with contemporary woodworkers James Krenov’s first book ‘A Cabinetmaker Notebook’ is often cited as the book that changed the course of that pe...
Guitar zero
I am reading a new book by Gary Marcus a scientist who in his professional life studies languages and cognitive science. In this book he explores the researc...
Remote posting
This is my first post from my iPad using Diet Coda to edit the Octopress post.
Elegant deep or beautiful explanations-at-edge-2012
Some fascinating ideas explored at the Annual Edge contributions for the most deep, elegant or beautiful explanation. Responses | 2012 Annual Question | Edg...
Finding significance in a world of distraction
Really good material here from Becoming Minimalist.
Doing one thing at a time
The Magic of Doing One Thing at a Time:
How to clean your apps permissions
I found quite a few applications that had permission to my gmail and linkedIn accounts that I couldn’t remember why I granted. Definitely worth the small eff...
Diversify your dreams
Great post from HBR that calls out the danger of simplifying your dreams down to a narrow outcome that can setup a black and white success or failure scenari...
Attack of the wolf mountain chickens
This chook post has it all - video, pictures, domes and self feeders. Also some great insight into the chicken management practises at Milkwood Permaculture....
Sleep apnea and sonomed
This article from the BBC describes a sleeping pattern involving two sleeps of about 4 hours with a period of wakefulness in between, known as segmented slee...
Uncloud local wireless networking
This looks interesting - another useful step towards Internet independence. unCloud — It’s not that kind. (Via creativeapplications) Check out Douglas Rushk...
The ongoing challenge of how to spend your time
There has been a continuous stream of media about finding your passion and reviewing your working life against higher goals. This post from workawesome is a ...
Off the map
I noticed this post recommending the movie “Off The Map” recently. We watched it last night and really enjoyed it. We have been talking about it on and of...
Sopa what can make a difference
Macdrifter is a straight shooter, in this post “Man Up” he calls for direct action against SOPA. I like the style and support the cause
Read one book per week
I will have to adopt an approach like Joshua Beck at Becoming Minimalist) if I am to reduce my reading backlog. Not to mention keeping up to date with exciti...
Crisis of faith in the financial system
Thought provoking post by Adam Richardson at Harvard Business Review on the levels of abstraction implicit in the financial system and the trust that is requ...
Fairfield Horseshoe
We had a long and rewarding day walking the Fairfield Horseshoe in the hills around Ambleside. It was mid September 2011 and the weather blessed us with clea...
Looking for meaning by paying attention
This stimulating post from Art Markman at HBR.org has a focus on Innovation. It turns out that if you practice finding the meanings of proverbs, you can get...
Solar sinter
I am amazed by this, its an incredible project that uses sunlight, 3D printing components and sand to produce glass sculptures. Watch the video right through...
Exporting entries from day one to-scrivener-verbum-breviatum
Brilliant - I was just working out how to do this using Tinderbox which is where I plan to archive the entries. Exporting Entries from Day One to Scrivener V...
2011
Facebook and ads
This is right on the money - so to speak. Facebook and Ads ReadWriteWeb
Inspiring blogger - Matt Gemmell
Matt Gemmell is such a good writer, his post Dear TextMate is a beauty and must reflect the thoughts of many former Textmate fans. His recent Simplicity pos...
How to accomplish more by doing less
Rings true to my own experience How to Accomplish More by Doing Less
Dark Sky - how it works
This post is a fascinating description of the design of Dark Sky. I enjoyed the way the development team used a combination of open source tools, publicly av...
A book apart
Just bought a bundle from A Book Apart, excellent value - especially as eBooks.
US police under the spotlight
A video of a US policeman calmly capsicum spraying unarmed sitting protestors has created an international storm. James Fallows has exhaustive coverage and M...
Understanding the global money markets
There is a visually striking and information rich diagram from the BBC showing how the Euro countries are indebted to each
VW and the darkside
Sophisticated campaign orchestrated by Greenpeace using the same Star Wars theme that feature in the latest VW adds. The aim is to raise pressure on Volkswag...
Rushkoff speaks to occupy movement
Douglass Rushkoff is always worth reading, here is a rousing speech he gave to Occupy Wallstreet Occupy Reality - Transcript
The innovators secret weapon
Great post over at MyMicroISV from Jarie Bolander. Very timely for me as I in the process to creating a day off a week to allow time to grow a new venture.
Maintaining physical social and mental fitness
Since I subscribed to the Harvard Business Review blog posts I have seen a steady stream of sharply observed and well thought out pieces. Many are aimed at c...
Occupying wallstreet
Tim Bray on Occupying Wall Street:
CNN occupy wall street
I had missed the interesting social experiments Ruskofff describes, the local media is adopting its usual superficial view. CNN: Occupy Wall Street is not a...
The Apple of zen
Steve Jobs practised Zen! - the dharma talk below from teacher Peg Syverson (Appamada.org) considers Steve’s legacy and how to apply his approach to our live...
This precious life
“Because we don’t know when we will die, we get to think of life as an inexhaustible well. Yet everything happens only a certain number of times, and a ve...
Save our inboxes
Chris Andersons’ email charter is well worth checking out and following. I especially like rule 2 - Short and Slow is not Rude. emailcharter
The future of aviation
Some fascinating images in the Atlantic article linked below - the long distance air travel proposal may well turn out to be the low carbon future of air tra...
Top 5 death bed regrets
Profound - timely.
Groups with more women are more intelligent
Tom Malone on collective intelligence and the “genetic” structure of groups
Trading as video game
An interesting article from the Atlantic which compares the modern derivates trading environment with playing a sophisticated computer game. Trading as a hi...
Rushkoff, a change agent
I have been reading two books by Douglas Rushkoff. “Program or Be Programmed” and “Life Inc”. These books have well reasoned arguments that encourage a subve...
Great bookshops of the world
Fascinating photos of bookshops from around in the world in the this article in Salon via Twitter from Mark Bertstein who has been to 3 of them. I’m pretty s...
2009
Things that matter
Seth Godin has published a free ebook, “Things that matter”. It contains over 70 short essays from todays leading thinkers. Definitely worth a read. I found ...
Seasonal Eating
The way to keep the food miles down is to eat in sync with whats in season for your region. Its a simple idea that would once have been the only option for m...
Balehaus - an experimental building
The Ecologist is one of the great journals of the green movement and has recently gone through the transformation from print to online. This makes access to ...
New book - cubicle nation
Nice to see Pamela Slim’s book in the shops, I am looking forward to giving it a read after enjoying her blog for some time.
Traditional chicken ark
Here is a design for a traditional chicken ark. This is from Charles Hayward’s 1940 book “Carpentry for Beginners” which has still a useful reference as it s...
In season zen cooking
Nice post here at Mother Earth News Stop Putting Off Chickens
So long Fourth World Review
I am a great fan of subversive media that seeks to tell truths that do not sit easily in the tomes of the major outlets, being dictated as they are by large ...
2008
BEN - bicycle empowerment network
Its Blog Action Day - my plug is for BEN the Bicycle Empowerment Network of Namibia. Established by Australian Michael Linke who had previously edited Austra...
Urban chickens
Eating Locally: Backyard Chickens at Treehugger.com. Keeping chickens in the urban backyards was commonplace in Australia during the depression and war years...
More on chicken tractors
Since my post about chickens which mentioned the Linda Woodrow inspired chook dome. I have noticed that people are searching in google for information about ...
Simplicity amongst the weapons
This week we went to the opening night of a new movie - Son Of A Lion. This is a moving and engaging story set in the tribal region of northern Pakistan, hom...
Putting things off
Putting Things Off has a nice post about changing the way we work.
Notebooks and Manifestos
I have love notebooks, especially interesting quirky ones that help me feel creative. My latest notebook is the Makers Notebook from Make magazine. Its model...
Whats lurking under the lid
Many of us have been aware of many of the dangers associated with processed foods and the artificial chemicals introduced by the food industry for some time....
The franklin river campaign - 25 years on
This post was inspired by a rendition Shane Howard gave of his song Let the Franklin Flow at the Blue Mountains Blues Festival a few months ago.
Resurgence slow sundays
The latest issue of Resurgence has arrived and it looks a beauty. At quick skim reveals the usual combination of thoughtful articles and fabulous images. In...
Shakuhachi festival world masters concert
Just returned from a concert that was the major public event of the 5th World Shakuhachi Festival. This gathering was a rare opportunity to see and hear some...
Biodynamic wine in the news
Michelle Gadd of organicwine.com.au has a good summary of recent coverage of biodynamic wine in the Australia media.
Pursuing a simpler life
Zen Habits a frequent and popular contributor of articles that cover many aspects of moving towards a simpler life have published a summary of their articles...
Guerrilla bagging
Horrified to discover the damage that plastic bags were causing to our marine environment, Claire Morsman devised a plan for action - ‘sociable guerrilla bag...
Healing power of chooks
This post has been in my mind since I saw a wonderful program ABC TV. The program “Rare Chicken Rescue” has two themes, one is depression and the other is ab...
Frightened by voluntary simplicity
An article in the New York Times here tells of a couple who are shedding their possessions prior to starting a new life as organic farmers. What I found inte...
Organic vs local
These days we have a reasonable range of organic food available to us locally whether through the supermarket, our local shops and/or box deliveries. However...
Krinklewood biodynamic wine
The Krinklewood vineyard was recently given a positive review in the local media so I thought I would give it a try. We would have gotten around to it anyway...
Slow food university
When Slowlane joined Slow Food recently they sent a booklet outlining their various initiatives, The Slow Food Companion. Two ventures that sounded particula...
New perspectives on money
The May/June issue of Resurgence has arrived and it looks very interesting.
Managing information overload
Saw this great cartoon over at Devon-Technologies which I have been visiting lately as I start to tackle my own information overload.
Organic wine
Here in Australia we have a vibrant wine industry including an increasing number of vineyards producing organic and/or biodynamic wine. We are especially kee...
Clear thinking - well informed outspoken
No its not this author, although we can aspire…I’m referring to George Monbiot, who’s new book Bring on the Apocalypse - Six Arguments for Global Justice has...