Curious Victorian Fantasies of the Year 2000

In 1986, when famed science fiction author Isaac Asimov chanced upon a delightful series of postcards dating from 1899, 1900, 1901 and 1910 France, he couldn’t believe his luck! The postcards depicted scenes from a barely imagined future, then a distant figment of imagination. Of the 21st Century, imagined by French artists in the midstContinue reading “Curious Victorian Fantasies of the Year 2000”

Life on an Edwardian Farm

In this series by the BBC, a group of historians and archaeologists recreate the running of a farm during the Edwardian era. This is a fascinating series that was originally aired in 2011 and now resides on countless Youtube channels – for better or worse with regards to copyright. Still, these issues aside this isContinue reading “Life on an Edwardian Farm”

Travel: Yarchen Gar, Tibet

Yarchen Gar also known as the Yaqên Orgyän Temple is located in the Garze Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture in Sichuan Province, China Geographically remote and nestled in a valley some 4,000 metres above sea level, the temple rarely sees tourists or visitors. The monastery is associated with the Nyingma tradition of Tibetan Buddhism . At Yarchen Gar there is a concentration ofContinue reading “Travel: Yarchen Gar, Tibet”

Travel: A winter afternoon of contemplation in Queenstown

Overlooking the majestic and pure beauty of Lake Wakatipu in Queenstown, the peace and serenity of the place lends itself well to comtemplating life plans, love, the meaning of it all. The dramatic cathedral of the big sky and jutting snow-capped mountains is ever-changing and there’s a reverent silence here like inside of a medievalContinue reading “Travel: A winter afternoon of contemplation in Queenstown”

Every Picture Tells A Story: King George Military Hospital Chapel, 1915.

A still, melancholy and hushed photo of a vacant military hospital chapel in 1915, prior to the outbreak of the Great War. The King George Military Hospital opened in October 1915 in London. At the height of the Great War, in October 1917, it was said to be the largest military hospital in Britain with 1900Continue reading “Every Picture Tells A Story: King George Military Hospital Chapel, 1915.”

Creativity: Keep the Channel Open by Martha Graham

There is a vitality, a life force, an energy, a quickening that is translated through you into action, and because there is only one of you in all of time, this expression is unique. And if you block it, it will never exist through any other medium and it will be lost. The world will notContinue reading “Creativity: Keep the Channel Open by Martha Graham”

Creativity: How David Lynch finds his creative ideas

“Ideas are like fish: you don’t make the fish; you catch the fish.” The enigmatic film-maker David Lynch has no problem with capturing and exposing his weirdest and darkest ideas to film. In this short animation by The Atlantic, Lynch offers up nuggets of wisdom on creativity for film-makers, artists, writers and creators of allContinue reading “Creativity: How David Lynch finds his creative ideas”

Travel:Exploring early mediaeval churches in Eirann

I visited this crumbling relic, the largest and oldest remaining church in the Irish village of Glendalough in 2009. It was one of the largest known early Christian churches in Ireland. The church was originally dedicated to Saint Peter and Saint Paul but ceased to be a cathedral in 1214. The large rectangular stones atContinue reading “Travel:Exploring early mediaeval churches in Eirann”

Travel: A scooter swarm and the dance of life and death in Taiwan

Among the chaos and the streaming lights there are tiny rockets moving between buildings and jostling people out of the way as they walk into the street. In South Korea, Japan, Thailand and China these pocket rockets roam through the night, comandeered by a mixture of salarymen, young punks and mums with kids strapped toContinue reading “Travel: A scooter swarm and the dance of life and death in Taiwan”