Tag: UK
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Some Hikes in the Mud
Mum & no. 1 son hiking near the house No holiday back to the UK would be complete without some nice walks through some mud, on the way to some well-earned pints and packets of crisps. It’s one thing I really do miss in the USA; the hiking here is amazing, obviously, but it lacks the wander-off-on-you-own freedom of just sauntering across the fields in search of a destination. Here, it’s strap the backpack on and prepare for a couple of days in stunning, un-touched wilderness.
Anyway, we had some great little hikes off on the south coast, and around Cambridge – just what the doctor ordered.
Mum catches up on our annual Boxing Day hike … to the pub! 
Now to the South Coast: Various stiles and other gate mechanisms a continious source of geeky amusement for me and the family. 
Looking out down the coast 
Very windy! 
Mum makes the climb 
Dad and I in conversation 
Corfe Castle off in the distance, where we were staying for a couple of days. 
Obligatory walls 
To Anglesey Abbey – one of the local stately homes 
… and I was fascinated with this: it seems to fade in colour. 
Interesting textures on some of the Winter Garden trees 
Fading to yellow 
Reflections of winter -
London Graf
A quick 48 hours in London to catch up with some old friends and reacquaint ourselves with the old city.
Walking from the V&A Post-Modernism exhibition to central London. 
View down the Thames – the city scape evolving. Would be good to hire someone without Foster or Rogers for once, eh? 
Reflecting, as usual. Tacita Dean @ Tate Modern
Man I wish I had made it to see Fiona Banner at Tate Britain though.
Tacita Dean filling the Turbine Hall at Tate Modern … not quite as arresting or immediately accessible as previous years, but I was happy to see motion media being employed. 
Twisting and distorting film by hand 
This is what I call a real art space – one that kids can run through and enjoy 
View from behind 
Stairs 
Ai Weiwei … would have loved to have seen the original piece, but they had a few million on display for the visitors. 
Too cool for art Brick Lane Graffiti
Enjoying the street art along Brick Lane. 
Space Invader! 
Locals also enjoying it. 
Characters 
Old geezers – hey was that the same guy? 
HUH? 
I wonder how much the local authorities tolerate / encourage the work? 
Bright colours 
Seems that portraits are pretty edgy right now. -
The Mighty, Mighty Glasgow
I had four of the best years of my life in Glasgow. Which is why I left and never went back!
I feel immense affection for this city that I called home during my university years. It was (at the time) a long way away from home, pretty close to being a foreign city (depending on who you ask), and the trips up there were likely formative in encouraging me to continue my wanderings.
I made some great friends there, now distributed nicely around the world. I was most looking forward to seeing Craig again though; flatmate and course compatriot. Too many stories, for sure.
It also gave me a chance to catch up with the old girl, the Glasgow School of Art. A deeply fabulous building that will soon be host to a new Steven Holl design department, replacing the venerable Foulis building. They are even keeping the facade to the old Vic bar; scene to countless good nights out and home to some of the best techno and house music in the UK.
I also took the opportunity to head over to the temporary teaching spaces and spend some time with the students. This was the first time I had done this, and it was as rewarding as it was exhausting.
Even on the most overcast of days (i.e.: most days) the enormous north-facing windows gulp up the pure northern light. 
A Charles Rennie Mackintosh artwork … that is still a real, functioning building. It's a miracle that it is still possible. 
God is in the details. 
My favourite aspect of the building are the huge slabs of rock facing the street, like some scene from Gotham at night time. 
The new will make-way for the newer. 
Goodbye to the Foulis building – my seat used to be in the very top left – right in the corner window. 
The old Vic 
…. and down to the West End we go, which is ever more packed with organic haggis shops and little eateries. It was nice to see the place doing well, but it was clear the impact of the economic downturn on the centre of town were not so good – many shops boarded up, or replaced with the ubiquitous 'Pound Stretcher' crap. 
One of my favourite old pubs – The Ubiquitous Chip. Good food had at home with Craig, and again at Stravagin .. the memories came flooding back almost as quickly as the Deuchers. 
A change of pace, and the new Riverside Museum by Zaha Hadid. I was quite taken with the renderings that I had seen on the web, but the proof is in the pudding. 
I liked the references to the old ship yards, and I thought the dynamic shapes were fun – at least when viewed from above, allowing them to sweep across the quay. The dark glass was extremely dramatic from a distance. 
… sadly the overcast weather here will likely rarely allow light to puncture through to the toys inside. 
Typical Zaha contours must have been fun to build. 
The grey walls matched the grey sky well. 
Reflecting the Science Centre and BBC buildings opposite. 
Other views captured a past history (where apparently 30% of the world's ships used to be made!) 
The glorious architecture on the other side of the Clyde. 
The off-green of the interior again was cool, but gave the place an odd laboratory feel – not quite right when looking at classic transport. 
These old beauties just could not compete with the building, sadly. 
Some awesome bikes on display from Graem Obree 
Overall, a great architectural statement, but one that does not meet the brief. 
And to round it off, more great food and coffees at Cafe Gandolfi with Craig. -
UK Return
Sadly, last month we received that Granny, Catherine John, had passed away. A central figure in our family, her influence permeates through her children, her grand children and now their own families. Her creativity, humour, voracious appetite for news and love for her family, will be greatly missed.
In contrast to previous trips back home, visiting friends, spending time with family or attending weddings, this was a more sombre affair. Still, it was a fabulous opportunity to meet with family members that I have not seen in years, and marvel at the rate of growth of the youngsters, many now with their own dreams and aspirations.
One week is not a huge amount of time, but it was enough to complete a solid round of decompression and tea drinking in Cambridge, run up to the Derbyshire hills to get some hiking in, and across to Wales for the service.
Cambridge
I wanted to spend as much time as possible with the folks, Ele and Dave, and of course Benjamin as possible. So, predictably perhaps, most of my photos feature the star of the show!
Benjamin is king of the world 
Obviously a candidate for a modelling competition 
He is still in the early stages of learning to talk, so his powerful pointing finger is key in his ability to communicate. I was deeply impressed with how much information he could convey through the sign language he as been taught, though. 
Taking Benjamin on the guided bus out to St. Ives for the first time. What fun! (the bus even had wifi!) 
Butter would not melt in his mouth … 
Clotted cream, on the other hand, very much would. 
Marvelling at the physics-defying helium balloon that we had found for him. 
He was emphatic in wanting me to sit down next to him. The step somewhat suited his leg length more than mine, however. 
A view of The Fens; windmill, cyclist, and a flat landscape. The guided bus really shifts though – 60mph along those concrete tracks 
Taking Benjamin out for the day at the park 
Working out how to use the slide feet first 
Slightly less sure about spinning around and around 
Even less sure about the height of the slide … but getting more confident every day! 
On Skype back to Taiwan – do they have to try to be this cute? 
Benjamin gives me a snuggle for good measure. Wales
The ceremony was very moving, tied together with a thoughtful speech from my cousin Hannah, who managed to speak for all of us on the day.
Taking it all in – we all had our own stories 
… and evidence was everywhere that she was not too far away 
Despite the sad day, it was still fantastic to see family 
Messing around on the grass 
Family members catch up 
The local rugby club did a great job of hosting drinks after the event. 
Making a run for it! 
Picture updates of the next addition! 
Mums look proud Derbyshire
With construction on the house on-going, we managed to grab a couple of days up north, staying at The Cavendish Hotel in Baslow. Retracing some of my early mountain biking steps, we hiked along the ridges overlooking the valleys, and spent the next day sauntering over to Chatsworth before being stunned by an impromptu Red Arrows display while packing the car up. Derbyshire always delivers the goods.
Our hotel in Derbyshire, near Chatsworth was great, although it was all we could do not to continually quote Rob Brydon and Steve Coogan's 'The Trip' 
DEAD SLOW. HOOT 
Exit sign 
A walk through the hills I think was what we needed 
Views across the peaks were not spectacular, but a good reward for the climb (and even better preparation for a pint at the pub). 
Bouquet 
As we were just getting back to the house, we were amazed to see The Red Arrows fly by overhead. We were treated to a fifteen-minute display – their first day since they sadly lost a pilot – for the crowds down at the country fair at Chatsworth house. Granny would have loved it. -
Transitions – PDE Degree Show 2011
Transitions
Craig Whittet at the Glasgow School of Art asked me to write some words for the Product Design Engineering degree show – what an honour! The theme this year is ‘transitions’.
Change is Scary
In the time between your first day at art school, global finances have collapsed, century-old car companies and even entire countries have defaulted on their debt, and with the rise of China and India political power has shifted eastwards. Indeed, the very status of hardware design is shrinking in the face of interfaces and software. You might be feeling a little uneasy about your prospects, and I don’t blame you.
Responding to these changes will require flexibility, and people that can identify problems, form synergies with other disciplines, creatively generate solutions, and communicate with enthusiasm and energy. Strip away the sketching, software, model-making and engineering exams, and PDE gives you a nucleus of skills that will arm you for a career of uncertainty and change. The learning process has not ended; it’s only just beginning.
Change is Thrilling
Nine years ago, I graduated from a Glasgow also in the midst of a recession. My instinct told me to pick an industry area where things were changing, so I began looking for jobs in sustainable design, the medical industry (since people were unlikely to stop getting ill) and in Asia. Based on little more than gut-feel, and the desire to have a fully-paid backpacking trip to the other side of the world, I accepted a job offer working on Asus’ design team in Taipei.
The night before I left, nerves gave me a knot in my stomach so tight I was in physical pain, but before I knew it I was on the ground, right on the cutting edge of the globe’s manufacturing industry. Fast forward to today, and while I am working with some of the best designers, most capable suppliers, in one the largest industries in the world, I am still anxious about change, what it means for our customers, to Dell, and my career.
My lessons; anxiety and excitement are two sides of the same coin, be prepared to jump in feet-first, don’t be afraid to follow your gut, and whatever you do, do something that you love. What do you want your story to be?
Change is Opportunity
For me, PDE instilled a can-do-attitude and appetite for tackling sticky problems with zeal. Global problems and their potential solutions will only get broader, and call on people capable of bridging between disparate skills and previously unrelated disciplines.
Companies need people like you to make products like the iPhone, combining industrial design, software, services and manufacturing expertise, and dozens more skills. The growing elderly population needs people like you to propose sensitive solutions that allow them to continue living fulfilling lives. And the world needs people like you to stand a hope of motivating people to use fewer products, consume less energy, and dispose of less waste.
There has never been a better time to be designer.
The Glasgow School of Art – fond, fond memories. -
My Life Summed-Up in a Single Photo
London Pride beer with a bowl of Hong Kong noodles (with one of the chopsticks the wrong way round).
🙂
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Mountain Biking in the Snow
Yes, it’s that time of the year that you get the obligatory ‘going mountain biking then head to the pub’ post. But we know you love it, Michael!
Dad and I headed over to Thetford Forest, which is usually a quick blast and great for blowing out the cobwebs after eating and drinking too much during the festive period. However, this time, the melt water from the snow and ice settling nicely in the sand, and not an awful lot of human activity, meant the ground was muddy and waterlogged like I have never seen before. Two hours of hard slog for me … not sure how my Dad was feeling at the end of it!
This is how mountain bikes used to look.
Some people better prepared than us.
Naturally, Dad had a puncture in the middle of the most severe mud. Here he is trying to find the hole. Using CO2 in these conditions is always a risk, and again we ended up pulling the valve out of the tube as it froze. Great. At least we didn’t need to urinate on our own hand to release it (like one story I have heard!).
Truly waterlogged
Grinding paste.
Playing with another camera app; 360 Panorama
And an image taken with my ‘app du jour’, Instagram. Mud, mud as far as the eye can see!
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Winter in the Fens
The Fens, while almost utterly flat, carry a certain beauty that gets under your skin. It’s something in the expanses stretching to infinity that at once create calm and mild despair.
There is surely no better time to feel this than when the landscape is covered under a layer of snow, robbing it of any vestiges of life and colour. So naturally, we strapped boots, wrapped scarves and set off across the fields to the village of Toft, taking in Madingley on the way.
The Fens are … flat.
Tracks in the snow.
Christmas trees
The XX
Apexes
Tin buildings
Shivering in the cold
Snowy grove
Signs of civilisation
Some rather nice graffiti
Barbed wire delicately supports the snow.
And, almost at the pub!
