It happened, as per usual!

As with the multitude of Blogs started across the universe by many people, This one took an unplanned, but very predictable hiatus. I could claim some improbably reasonable reason for having taken a break but that would be lieing!

In all honesty when summer finished and work began A whole host of other activities in my life began to take precedent - going to work being one of them. Others including playing music in my church and spending reasonable amounts of time with the girlfriend.

Most galling of all is the fact that my consumption, of internet and TV in particular, has only risen since starting work. Clearly indicating the difficulty of remaining resourceful and pro-active when work finishes. My commute is two hours all in all (an hour there and back), I should aim to make this time more productive but currently I mostly sit in a daze.

I have resolved to detox from television come january - not so much a new years resolution but a necessary requirement to tackle the pile of un-read books still amassing in my house. I discovered recently that my grand-dad would annotate his books with his thoughts, opinions and relevant news clippings. This is something I hope to emulate, and in so doing make reading a more conversational and thought-provoking activity. Wish me luck!

I have a number of planned blogs to which I simply need to flesh out points, but who knows how long that will take.

Apologies to the nobody who reads this, Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Movie - The Way, Emilio Estevez

Life has been hectic; camping, visiting friends and family and preparing for a wedding have all set to keep me busy and away from a creative opportunity. Going at 100 mph is certainly enjoyable but the quiet moments set in tiredness and seem to leave little room for productivity. That doesn't bode well for how this pet project will work once I settle into working life.

Not what I am aiming for in life...

However, here I am, endeavouring to keep it going after a 3 week hiatus. Yesterday afternoon I sat down to watch 'The Way', a movie by Emilio Estevez (the son of Michael Sheen, who takes the lead role). At its essence it is a film about the 'Camino de Santiago de Compostela' or The Way of Saint James, a popular and ancient pilgrimage undertaken by people from around the world for a multitude of different reasons.

The film, released in 2010, has plagued me ever since as one recommended by friends and family as one to watch. Yet I never got around to it. Finally I succumbed after spending time with friends recently returned from The Camino. They talked so well of it that I felt a hunger to know more of what they had experienced. A quiet afternoon lent itself to settling down.

A tragic start to the movie sets an introspective tone as you follow Michael Sheen's character. The additional characters to fill the troupe seemed a little cliche, but perhaps only as a result of my short personal exposure to travelling. The relationship between the four builds and develops along The Way, the pilgrims journey seemingly more important than the destination.

The Way can start anywhere; walk more than
100km and you receive a certificate at the end!

The movie is definitely worth watching; all but the main characters are actors accompanied by real pilgrims and locals of The Way. This adds a touch of 'forced dialogue' but lends to its authenticity also. I feel a certain inspiration to walk the pilgrims way as a result. Before taking my gap year I considered the idea of doing a long trek along the silk road or similar route - the Camino de Santiago offers much to be savoured in the Spanish Basque region.

Drawing - The Roller-coaster Scotland Deserves

In a recent spate of consumption I have been indulging in a simple android game called 'Nutty Fluffies'. I have no idea where the name comes from but essentially it's a quick and easy roller-coaster ride game.

I'll say nothing about the support structure I promise.

True to my personal requirements I used this dirty-little-not-so-secret consumption as inspiration for a child-like biro-based opportunity to draw. I want to present to you what should be Scotlands best rollercoaster:

Pun's play a serious part in this venture...

It should really be called the 'Loop' Ness Monster!

A little more risque is the 'Sgian-Dubh Stab' - up one way and down another!

The Saltire Cross, yes that is the Scottish Flag folks!

Putting pen to paper, not to mention showing off to friends and family, made me feel 12 years old again! I'll be showing myself the door for the awful puns though...

Drawing - An Unusual Telephone

"Dial '0' for operator..."

Having been away from home for the past week, I've done plenty of consuming. I've kept this limited to books of both fiction and non-fiction. Expect some blog posts on those in the future. But it highlighted the difficulty in motivating myself to do something creative.

Plenty of excuses abound, I finally sat myself down this morning, embracing the philosophy of this blog that nothing need be of any quality - I just have to do it! And so I started drawing. This was quite the cathartic experience, I haven't done any drawing for years!

This telephone is one belonging to my Dad. He worked in the Royal Air Force and at one point was working a joint operation with a group of Russians. The Russians were to be limited in what they could or couldn't have access to and this included certain phone - numbers.... The solution? Phone's with all the buttons removed! Absolutely fascinating.

Signature and date - I'm a pro!

I bought a 99p set of colouring pencils from a hardware store and this had a limiting effect on my choice of shades. I'm happy anyway!

Book - Misquoting Jesus, Bart D. Ehrman

"He without sin cast the first stone"
... that's an addition!

This is a book I have been reading since early June on and off. I knew I would find it interesting and though the author was quick to repeat himself multiple times throughout the book (presumably to provide emphasis on his points and indicate the overall structure of his discussion) I found it to be an easy introduction to textual criticism and the art/science of deconstructing the historical lineage of the modern Bible.

The book is perhaps revolutionary to some, but to scholars in its field it is a mere introduction to a simple concept; no original copies of the first written account of the Gospels exist, at all, anywhere. The earliest scraps of parchment and papyrus date to ~200AD, and already these will have been copies of copies of copies.

Most interesting is that textual criticism, the process of discovering the 'original' written form of a text is applied to the likes of plato and other classics. There are far fewer witnesses to classical texts than to the Bible. However, unlike the New Testament where the earliest witnesses are within 200 years of the original, the earliest existing manuscripts of most classical texts were written about a millennium after their composition.

And, just like the game chinese whispers, variations in the text are abound. Often these are small, of no consequence to the message and thus we needn't worry about them greatly. However some alterations perhaps have doctrinal or theological implications.

Scumbag Scribe needed more Red Bull...

The scribes responsible for such changes throughout the centuries had differing reasons for this. In the early days, they were often unskilled, amateur men or servants copying (without understanding) text from one parchment to the next - you didn't even need to be able to read to be a scribe! One such example, related to the divinity of Christ is found in the greek construction of the word God, ΘΣ, in 1 Timothy 3:16.

Take note of the line in the middle of the first symbol theta. It was noticed in examination of an ancient manuscript that this line was actually ink bleeding through from another page; the symbol was actually an omicron and the word was written ΟΣ, which means who! See the difference in the verse:

Christ as "God made manifest in the flesh, and justified in the Spirit" but rather Christ "Who was made manifest in the flesh"

You can see where mistakes might arise. But not all changes were simple mistakes. Anti-Orthodox challenges and theological disputes resulted in scripture being 'clarified' by scribes of particular factions to strengthen their arguments. Incredible stuff!

This is an area well worth reading into; I enjoyed this book and would recommend it, not for it's written prose but simply for the content within it. I didn't find it challenging to my faith because I certainly don't subscribe to a sola scriptura literal and inerrant understanding of the bible. I think I was quite ready to acknowledge that such issues would exist.

3D modelling - A highland holiday home

I am fortunate enough to be associated with a private trust in Scotland which owns and manages an 'auld kirk' as a holiday home and place of retreat. Dalvrecht, as it is known, is a place I am very familiar having spent many family holidays there.

The former occupation of the building is fairly evident

I had returned from a few days respite at 'Dalv' and decided to construct a 3D model of the property. I had prepared by walking around the building, taking rough measurements in 'feet' and 'hands'; my shoes were close enough to being exactly 30cm in length!

I used Google Sketchup to provide the facilities to model the building. It has a quick learning curve, is reasonably simple and thus easy and best of all is free! In addition, it has the ability to import other peoples models, to scale, into your own. I was able to quickly furnish Dalv with furniture as a result.

Details were done from memory - I say it is close enough!

 A great feature of Sketchup, as a result of being owned by Google, is it's integration with Google Earth. I was able to place my mock-up on location and recreate some of the views one could encounter looking down at Dalv from the surrounding countryside!

Dalv sits along the river Avon, in Speyside

Google Earth's terrain isn't quite right - misinterpreting
a 20 ft drop to the river as a gentle slope across the site.

The internals with some of the basic furniture; beds show scale well.

I hope to be getting more involved with Dalvrecht and lending my professional experience as a civil/structural engineer to help with maintenance, up-keep and renovation. Having a model to play with could help persuade other trustees to my visionary ideas!

Spontaneous Creative Writing

Here's the opportunity - ~200 words, no limits, spontaneous unedited prose. Let's see what happens!

Another train. Red alternating flashing lights, barriers down. A young teen dashes under, no train in sight. Jack waits. The British Rail Class 180 was late and the rain continued to drip off his cap and over his Cagoule. Sheltering his notepad from the incessant drizzle proved Jacks second most important task.

The whine of the warning siren as the barriers come down. It's just like the tinnitus in Jacks left ear. Warning. Train approaching. Warning. It won't stop for you. Warning. Jack knows the importance of this Class 153 due from Aberdeen. His notebook. Perfectly documented, obsessive precision. Date, time, schedule.

Vibrations. The track begins to shudder, movement whipping through. A steady rumble. It builds, louder, harder, screaming. Screaming. Just like that bitch at home. The accusations, true, but what did that matter? How dare she look. The notebook - obsessive, perfectly documented. Despair latched to every bone in Jacks body, his muscles twitched. Screaming. The lights of the 180 bore down along the track. Twitching. He stepped out.

The notepad. open. drizzle fell, the words thickened and blurred, unreadible. The barrier lifts.

That took about 20 minutes.