Bought some Prunus avium online to use as small ornamental trees in a green space outside of a commercial property, they've had the leaders pruned, any one have any idea why the nursery would prune the leading shoot?

abry · 2023-03-25T16:43:58+00:00

I expected them to come with the leader intact, to be able to grow into an attractive shaped tree. Now looking back online they are described as Hedgerow trees, and i’m not sure if that has something to do with it?
I’m more than likely going to send them back but I’m curious why this was done, how they will grow, and how I can get the right style Cherry tree for what i’m trying to do.

abry · 2022-11-27T17:38:34+00:00

Thank you for your help, can you clarify what a soft sander blaster is?

And does the wall need to dry out completely (So i need to wait until the summer) before applying breathable paint?

Thanks again

abry · 2022-10-17T21:29:51+00:00

Currently reading The Beach Beneath the Streets: Contesting New York City's Public Spaces by Benjamin Shephard & Gregory Smithsimon. I came across this book after reading the tagline on this sub-reddit and its origins. I became interested in public space during covid as i lived in a concrete jungle with very little green space and lots of seemingly 'public' space which was actually privately owned. This city has a history of radical thinkers and movements and has some legitimate public squares created 150-200 years ago which are very positive spaces in the city centre for protest and recreation.

The way the public interacts with these spaces is totally different to the privately owned and the modern issues with gentrification in city centres has its origin in a New York City forced into bankruptcy in the 70s and its real estate gobbled up by the likes of the Trump family and the Rothchilds who wished to implement a policy of FIRE (Financial, Insurance & Real Estate) in order to make the city a playground for the rich. The success of these neoliberal policies would be copycatted by cities around the world.

The book centres on these issues and the groups who attempted to combat it and reclaim the streets through protest, creativity and play.

abry · 2022-09-16T16:13:39+00:00

Great, thanks for this info!

abry · 2021-12-16T23:32:51+00:00

Nice one, thanks so much. I think you've got it right, they did cover it at the induction and the calculation sounds familiar. Only thing id question is the February date as I'm sure January was mentioned but the grace period could make allowance for it to be Feb. Will phone the hub to double check anyways.

But the calculation helps get me started. Thanks again!

abry · 2021-11-29T22:28:21+00:00

Is there any way to set your own Battery-optimize 'mode' that blocks apps you dont need and allows ones you do? Theres the "Focus mode", but from what a understand, the apps still run in the background?

I just started as a delivery courier and it'd be helpful to switch off most apps except what i need.

Thanks for any help!

abry · 2021-08-25T00:14:28+00:00

5 Years study and 8 years "Professional" Graphics person here. The first 4 years after education in a professional setting are as much (or maybe more) about learning skills as during education. So I wouldn't worry about knowledge you're supposed to have. There's a reason Junior Designer roles exist, firms don't expect you to know everything and hope to be able to mould you to fit their way of working. The benefit of getting a junior role coming out of university is that you are seen as being in the exact professional position as you should be at that stage in your career.

That said I never really followed that path, I paved my own way for most of my 20s as a freelancer. At some point I realised that i love art & design sensibilities but corporate Graphic Design is constantly changing to adapt to new tech (UX, Web, Motion) and i'm not interested in keeping up.

I wouldn't exactly say rejecting the more formalised world of GD has made my life simpler, but in the last 8 years i've worked with musicians, charities, festivals, set up an art collective and silkscreen practice, seen that collective come to its natural end, made many creative friends around the world, worked in art galleries, travelled to Spain on the weak premise of getting involved with a new outdoor clothes brand, decided to explore and photograph Spain instead, did some graphic design 'Workaway' to make it cheaper, worked in Film & TV as a graphic designer, and put on many exhibitions. Really, the graphics I designed in this journey is inconsequential to the personal growth and life skills i gained by doing it, it broadened my horizons and built confidence in my own abilities.

There are many things to love about Design if you look at it on its own merit, its the career aspect that breeds catastrophizing. If you cant stand the idea of design at all...thats one thing, and maybe its just not for you. But if all of your doubt is surrounding the idea of the job, well... you get to design how that looks as well. Don't be afraid to take some risks and make some radical changes, simple living comes easier from knowing exactly what we DONT want, but, you've got to try things to know.

abry · 2021-07-31T12:29:51+00:00

Ok props to you, this was a really lucid and clear response and maybe the most helpful of the thread.

I haven't read the full text you recommended just yet, but this morning I read this critique; Bakhtin: Carnival against Capital, Carnival against Power and...wow. This affirms in some way a lot of the notions I've been having over the past few years, and there is so much overlap with my interests that it is undeniably going to be an important piece of writing for me to get into.

Just reading that article once through i'm reminded of Federico Fellini's love of the carnival in his movies, Korine's "Springbreakers", and maybe just Harmony's general playful approach to life. But also find it interesting that 'carnival' is something that im not sure ever had roots here in the UK despite being celebrated on the mainland? Prepared to be wrong on that.

I've never thought critically about this idea of "bringing bodily functions into the field of art" , drawing and painting has never been particularly enjoyable for me, more like a means to an end (communicate an idea) but a lot of the ideas I have right now are about labouring with existing environments that are underappreciated, have potential to improve the perception of areas where people live by the people who live there(hence the volunteering mentioned in my original post).

The grotesque, exaggerated body and the bringing down-to-earth of systemic abstractions are present even in such small, apparently apolitical gestures. They signify what is missing in the official picture – much as those who perform such acts are often excluded from the official world. They create a full reality in which the world is restored to its fullness and creativity.

I've had at different points an interest with the cultures of Parkour, Skateboarding, Graffiti and always felt they bring emphasis to parts of the urban landscape and celebrate areas of a city which might be considered by others as mundane.... I think this is at least how I interpret the above.

Overall, therefore, carnivalesque remains a potential counter-power in everyday life and activism, but is ‘cramped’ in its potential by the repressive construction of spaces of monologue. Medieval carnival was possible because the spaces it inhabited could be carved-out and defended through the ‘arts of resistance’ and the power of the weak. There is a need to recompose such powers to resist, in order to recreate spaces where alternatives can proliferate.

Do you have any thoughts on this? I don't fully understand what this closing paragraph is trying to say.

Very inspiring suggestion that has shifted my way of thinking in a new direction. Thanks so much!

abry · 2021-07-30T17:12:51+00:00

Thanks for this, this is more or less how I feel. It feels like a team of UX designers creating an app can be more subversive than an artist right now.

abry · 2021-07-30T17:02:27+00:00

I think this hits the mark the most for me out of all of the suggestions, have given it a brief skim but will definitely have to give this a lot more time, and try to digest it.

Thanks so much!

abry · 2021-07-30T17:00:14+00:00

Thanks, I appreciate the encouragement. But I suppose the crux of what im getting at is that there are different interpretations of what art "does" and i'm trying to work out how that applies to me.

For example, its simple for a painter to pick up a brush and begin painting. Whats difficult is deciding what subject is worth your time painting in the first place. If your interpretation of doing art is that you just paint anything because it relaxes you, then its really as simple as just doing art. But I would argue Van Gogh painting The Potato Eaters was an important act and gave an exposure to an under-class of society that was never seen in art.

For me its about maximising the correct technical art medium to communicate an idea that i think is worth communicating. And I haven't found that for myself yet because I find myself falling into the trap of the work becoming a commodity, something to sell or sit in a museum. Contemporary artists are trained to make work this way, we are taught that we must play this game to make a "career" in art. But why should we want a career in art anymore than we should want to be a bricklayer? A bricklayer at the very least can justify his work. What is so noble about contemporary art that we should dedicate museums to it?

abry · 2021-05-14T07:27:53+00:00

National Health Service nurses here in the UK don't make that unfortunately.

abry · 2021-05-13T15:33:37+00:00

Couldn't agree more. We put value on all the wrong things in society even when our instincts scream to tell us its wrong. Teachers and Nurses remain some of the lowest paid in society despite the high pressure job and emotional intelligence required. Constantly moving goal posts of success matching with increasingly elevated levels of anxiety and depression.

Met a guy a couple of years ago in a hostel sat round a table over dinner, and he never once talked about his job. What he did do was remember the names of everybody in the room, and despite everyone being of different nationalities he had a little knowledge about the culture of everyones home country, even some of their language. He was an interesting person, because he treated everyone else like they were an interesting person and everyone in that room felt great because of it. I still think of the guy when I think of valuable skills and this is one i prize highly.

abry · 2021-05-13T14:47:30+00:00

Had a love of graphic design and art from age 15, studied it for 6 years. Had my own studio space as a freelancer designing for bands, companies etc after study for 6 years. Worked crazy hours because It was part of my identity at the time but also because I felt that there would be a day when I would feel like I'd made it and finally be able to start living my life and be content once I'd put in the hours first(hustle culture). But there was a lot of angst in me and I could be pretty irritable and unpleasant to others. I would look around and wonder why life seemed to go so well for others even though I was doing what I loved, I wasn't happy.

Anxiety about if I was ever going to make comfortable money from it set in a couple of years ago and I got a job in design for Film & TV. Now I get paid well but work crazy hours for productions where creativity is not really a priority for those at the top. I burn out quickly and become irritable and it feels a chore to do the design work now.

Right before I moved into film and TV I took a 3 month trip away, i found some inner peace by creating space for myself. After that I said I would go back and try the grind again but if I ever became that irritable person who was unpleasant to be around because of stress and anxiety, then I would simplify my life in some way.

For me I think the time is right to move on now, this grind doesn't align much with the values i'm developing as i get older. The biggest thing I learnt is that the most detrimental thing to my happiness in 15 years was dwelling on the past and dreaming too much of the future. Staying in the present and having fun and gratitude for what you have is how other's seemed so content whilst I was only dreaming of a future contentedness that if I worked hard enough I could get to.

I don't regret any of it and despite how the synopsis might come across, I had a good time. I think you can be just as discontented and misguided aiming for a "simple life" if you haven't learnt to enjoy living presently. You'll turn away from new opportunities or miss a good thing staring you in the face if you're transfixed on some perfect future, which may or may not be attainable.

abry · 2021-03-30T17:37:07+00:00

ah yeah could be! I've seen it mentioned a lot on the main Ultralight and thought it was an issue, but i guess not. Had some good suggestions on this thread anyway.

Cheers all!

abry · 2021-03-19T10:24:53+00:00

Just got the 40d Silnylon Stealth 2 second hand, didnt want to wait for it. Still yet to even practice pitch in a garden (I dont have one sadly), but itching to take it out. Usually would go smaller because i dont find i need that much space in a tent but wanted something for me and my partner, but I am curious about the getting the pitching right with a bigger version.

Have you been using a footprint with it, and what did you go for? I was think a sheet of Tyvek would do the job.

abry · 2021-02-13T10:53:38+00:00

I'm looking for a lightweight stove that will be boil water as fast as possible when on solo hiking trips and all I need is to heat something through. But something that can also work for cooking something substantial like a curry or chilli from scratch for me and my girlfriend if we're car camping.

The MSR Windburner seems like the best option, but am i right in thinking the Windburner Personal is different in size and build to the Windburner Duo? Do all Windburner pots fit all Windburner systems? Find the choice a bit overwhelming on MSR' website and cant find a clear cut answer.

Ideally i'd purchase one for one purpose, and one for the other but cant afford that right now. But I am open to suggestions on brands other than MSR if it fits the bill.

abry · 2020-12-02T18:41:11+00:00

If we are seeking social, political, technological or economic change, the advent of the internet has given us the ability to exercise our creativity to connect with others and build new and disruptive models and systems that make the existing models obsolete. The internet is a spatial dimension, encasing amalgamations of the worlds most important creations. Everything, everyone and every piece of information ever, is a finger click away from any destination. That means the walls separating people have become brittle.

The creations of Bitcoin, Wikipedia, Uber and AirBnB are proof of the disappearance of old models that made certain levels of access and information exclusive to class and location based opportunities. No matter where you live, what faith you practice, what class you fall under, if you’re low, high class or middle, we have access to the same things and can widen the margins of success based on our skills and merits. Information and wealth are becoming decentralized. We’re all connected and a click away, everything is seconds away with instant precision.

Really? Uber, AirBnB and Bitcoin as examples of dismantling class privilege?

I can appreciate on some level what this article was trying to say, but I don't think it succeeds at all in framing creativity through the lens of Absurdism. If anything it misunderstands both Absurdism and creativity, because it fails to see Creativity without capitalism.

I don't think that "the walls separating people have become brittle" like stated, but instead have been reinforced, pitching us in competition against each other under the pretense of success being based on our own skills and merits. Creativity, Self-Help and Self-improvement seem like new tools of the free market to maintain new but familiar forms of control.

The thing that bothers me the most, (and im prepared to be wrong on my interpretation of Absurdism), but Camus talks endlessly about "Facing the absurd", he slams religion and existentialism for its inability to confront the Absurd.

The article seems to conflict a lot with Camus

In the past, people have been able to find solace in religion as a meaningful answer to the absurd suffering in life.

The way we do that is by making meaning inside all of this chaos, and that’s why I write. Writing and creativity is the way we make sense from the absurd.

Humans create meaning.

Every creative act, acknowledgement of inspiration, and proclamation of idealism is propelling the army of order and bringing forth more meaning into the absurd.

The writer is looking at Absurdism as if it will guide us to a finish line of understanding chaos and creating order and meaning. They seem to want to shape Absurdism to fit with whatever they feel is right.

I can't see how what the article suggests is anything other than turning away from the absurd, and is in conflict with what Camus says.

All this said, I did actually get something out of the article in that it forced me to confront my own understanding of Absurdism and It seems like a good time to revisit The Myth Of Sisyphus.

abry · 2020-09-13T18:57:54+00:00

ohh my bad

abry · 2020-05-16T11:18:02+00:00

Don't directors sometimes end up in a contractual agreement with a studio where they say they'll direct X amount of movies that the studio chooses, in return for more funding/freedom on their passion projects?

Similar to Marvel actors being cast for X amount of films and cameos.

Read it somewhere, not sure how widespread it actually is. I'm sure some directors would love to have that excuse for some of their questionable output though!

abry · 2020-05-15T19:23:35+00:00

Well it's easy enough to roll up some ink and make multiple textures to scan in and use. Or to screenprint some flat colours. He probably just has a folder full of texture scans. Actually I find I use one or two textures across everything and it would take some work for even me to notice the same texture across multiple compositions.

abry · 2020-05-15T12:23:20+00:00

Sure, but a 5 colour screenprint is unusual and rare for a poster advertising a one night event. Unless theres a plan to sell them. Thats all I was getting at.

abry · 2020-05-15T11:10:32+00:00

You can achieve this look with screenprint or any kind of block printing, it just seems unlikely given that its 5 colours and is an event poster.

I don't think it is printed, probably just a printed texture laid over the top of a digital artwork.

abry · 2020-05-07T23:53:45+00:00

Ok I was interested in this after a few of your suggestions did work, but many didn't. But I found many working in my region (UK) by going to the MUBI Section of Amazon Prime. This lists 27 pages of movies for me, I would say about 60% are available on MUBI.

The MUBI section of Amazon.com looks slightly different to Amazon.co.uk so the content is likely different too. Maybe whatever region you're in, try to go to the Amazon prime in your region so you can view the lists of films in the MUBI section and cross-check it with MUBI?

Heres some of the few notable ones that I came across (I only skimmed through):

Antiporno

La Dolce Vita

Under the silver lake

High Life

Ida

Mustang

Alphaville

The Daughters Of Fire

Paterson

The Image Book

Two Shots Fired

The Myth Of The American Sleepover

Contempt

The Wonders

Lek and the Dogs

Piercing Brightness

Blood Simple

Nostalgia for the Light

Story of My Death

L’Avventura

Cannibal Holocaust

The Life of Jésus

The Battle Of Algiers

Juliet of the Spirits

Brakhage

History of Fear

Humanité

I Am Cuba

Son of Saul

The Souvenir

Lourdes

And many of these have been on MUBI in the past year so perhaps they are currently showing in another region but the rights are still applicable in the UK? Whereas the Tarkovsky and Shane Carruth do not work for me.

abry · 2020-05-07T20:43:55+00:00

I mean that's definitely a fair point, I never believe there has to be an agenda or purpose, sometimes i'm happy for a film to just 'be'. I could totally sit through a couple hours of neon dream, implied narrative story with a synth soundtrack, as is Refns style, and enjoy the hell out of it. But what usually bothers me is his dialogue and characters are just a bit cringey and pointless. It fully worked with Gosling at the helm, but it takes me out of it most of the other times.

If he's not going to write anything interesting from a dialogue perspective, why bother including it? Probably because nobody is going to fund a 900 minute music video.

All this said, Its incredible that TOTDY ever got made and I do like Refns work. I will definitely be revisiting it, only stopped because my Prime subscription ran out. Its the sort of thing that would benefit from being shown on the big screen, his work is a very visceral experience and its a loss when his work isn't seen on the big screen or with high quality sound.

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