Clancy Tucker's Blog, page 89

28 February 2020 - STUNNING OLD TREES

 STUNNING OLD TREES
G'day folks,

Beth Moon has a passion for photographing ancient trees. The San Francisco based resident has traveled the world to capture some of the most breathtaking trees you will ever see, a journey that took 14 years to complete. 
The magnificent images were put together and published in a book called, Ancient Trees: Portraits Of Time, which you can see more of here, or visit her personal website to check out her amazing portfolio.   Here is a glimpse at her incredible collection. 




























Clancy's comment: True survivors. One can only immagine what these have seen in their lifetime.
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27 February 2020 - Dr. ADAM MORRIS - GUEST AUTHOR

 Dr. ADAM MORRIS - GUEST AUTHOR -
G'day folks,
Today, I interview an author and musician who has had a very interesting life.
Welcome, Adam ....



1.   WHEN AND HOW DID YOU BECOME A WRITER?
My first novel My Dog Gave Me the Clap came out in 2011, that was when I officially became a writer. The book helped changed my life and opened up a world of opportunities. I went from working as a guitar and cooking teacher in prison to head writer of a men’s magazine, landed a history book commision and won a scholarship to do my PhD in writing at UWA (the University of Western Australia).

2.    WHAT TYPE OF PREPARATION DO YOU DO FOR A MANUSCRIPT? DO YOU PLAN EVERYTHING FIRST OR JUST SHOOT FROM THE HIP?
It’s a combination of both. For Bird, my latest novel, I wrote one very short sentence for each chapter which vaguely summarized what each chapter was to cover. Nothing too detailed, for example Chapter 1: He gets arrested. Chapter two: In the art class. Chapter three: New prisoner arrives. Then every time I sat down to write, I followed the instructions I had written for myself and it all came pouring out. Kind of a mix between having a plan and having complete freedom.

3.   WHAT DO YOU ENJOY MOST ABOUT BEING A WRITER?
I love the process. I love the feeling of hammering away at the keys and it feeling like your almost playing the piano, the thoughts turn into words and you chase your thoughts with the choices you make and write like you’re possessed and sometimes maybe you are. It’s a magical feeling.

4.   WHAT IS THE HARDEST THING ABOUT BEING A WRITER?
There’s a long waiting period between announcing to the world that you’re a writer or working on becoming a writer and actually becoming a writer. There is a very fine line between being a successful author and being the guy who works casual jobs and drinks too much who fancies himself as a writer but hasn’t published anything yet. The line between adulation and ridicule is razor thin and those intervening years can be very hard. It’s the same i suppose for anyone who’s struggling to do something that is difficult, be it an entrepreneur or a business owner, the struggle is a lonely road but when it all works out and you pull it off it’s like coming up for air out of deep deep water. fucking exhilarating.

5.   WHAT WERE YOU IN A PAST LIFE, BEFORE YOU BECAME A WRITER?
I was a professional musician and still am with my band Murder Mouse, we toured Canada, Malaysia, Singapore and of course Australia. I also worked a whole lotta jobs in my twenties from construction to factory worker to delivery driver and bar tender. Today I teach Creative Writing at UWA and work two days a week teaching primary school children with Special Needs.

6.   WHAT IS YOUR GREATEST WRITING ACHIEVEMENT?
Publishing my two novels My Dog Gave Me the Clap and now Bird.




7.   WHAT ARE YOU WORKING ON AT THE MOMENT?
I love changing genres or styles, my first book was a semi autobiographical novel of a struggling musician, Bird is about an Indigenous prisoner, my next book called Winter of One Fire is a quiet parable on father hood and responsibility and now I’m writing an erotic piece of filth based on my dating life called Tinder Box.

8.   WHAT INSPIRES YOU?
Alcohol and the absurdity of life (probably in that order) those two things and love and ego and ambition.

9.   WHAT GENRE DO YOU WRITE?
I write literary fiction or if you want to get pretentious I write existential comic fiction.

10.              DO YOU HAVE ANY TIPS FOR NEW WRITERS?
Do something else. This racket is nearly impossible. Thankfully though, it’s only nearly impossible.

11.              DO YOU SUFFER FROM WRITER’S BLOCK?
Not at all, never in my life, I don’t believe in it. I suffer from laziness and depression and an over inflated opinion of myself but never writer’s block.

12.              DO YOU HAVE A PREFERRED WRITING SCHEDULE?
When I’m on a project i hit a word count number every day six days a week. Depending on the pace of the novel that might be 1500 words a day or as little as 500 words a day. Writing a novel is a long game but if you hit your number every da, 5 or 6 days a week, it only takes a few months and you turn around and realise you’ve nearly finished your first draft. It’s a thrilling experience and when you’re up late at night staring at the ceiling from insomnia or dehydration it’s nice to think about what you’re going to write about the following day.

13.              DO YOU HAVE A FAVOURITE WRITING PLACE?
Anywhere and everywhere. The spot is meaningless. I wrote half of my first novel in the prison yard where I was teaching while the prisoners were on lockdown. I’d write on a notepad and type it out when i went home in the evening. I’ve written in my car, in coffee shops and bars in Asia, your writing space is ultimately your head, so anywhere that you fit that is awesome.


14.              WHO IS YOUR FAVOURITE AUTHOR AND WHY?
Cormac McCarthy for his intensity, William Shakespeare for his poetic beauty and wisdom and the Marquis De Sade for his complete insanity.

15.              WHAT’S THE GREATEST COMPLIMENT YOU EVER RECEIVED FROM A READER?
Anytime someone says that they laughed out loud from reading one of my books, that’s the best. One man’s wife actually wrote to me and said her husband kept waking her up late at night to read passages from My Dog gave Me the Clap, that was pretty cool.





16.              WRITERS ARE SOMETIMES INFLUENCED BY THINGS THAT HAPPEN IN THEIR OWN LIVES. ARE YOU?
Absolutely. I pretty much write exclusively about my own life in some form or another.

17.              OTHER THAN WRITING, WHAT ELSE DO YOU LOVE?
I love the company of women, my children, nice wine, good strong beer, travelling, conversations with intelligent people that border on a sporting contest, lying down with any of the aforementioned.


18.              DESCRIBE YOUR PERFECT DAY.
I have discovered after many years on earth that you go to bed feeling the most satisfied after having spent the entire day being of service to other people.

19.              WHAT ARE YOUR PLANS FOR THE FUTURE?
Writing, listening, travelling and in the immortal words of Kris Kristofferson, there’s still so many drinks that I ain’t drunk and lots of pretty thoughts that I ain’t thunk, and still so many wine and lonely girls, in this best of all possible worlds.

20.               WHAT ARE YOUR VIEWS ON BOOK TRAILERS? DO THEY SELL BOOKS?
I have no idea but if i had a whole lot of books that i hadn’t sold I suppose it would be handy to have a trailer to store them all in.

21.              DO YOU SEE YOURSELF IN ANY OF YOUR CHARACTERS?

I am all my characters. Each one is either a disgusting or beautiful part of myself magnified and simplified and dressed up in another person’s clothes and characteristics.

22.              DOES THE PUBLISHING INDUSTRY FRUSTRATE YOU?
It is what it is.
Jane Austen took fifteen years to get Sense and Sensibility published. If it was easy, everyone would be doing it. So thank God it ain’t easy.

23.              DID YOU EVER THINK OF QUITTING?
Almost every day and almost never. Both of these things are somehow simultaneously true.

24.               HOW WOULD YOU DEFINE ‘SUCCESS’ AS A WRITER.
Getting a publishing deal. Seeing your book in print, on a library shelves. Being able to look a person in the eye and tell them yes you have published something and they can buy it on Amazon for 19.95.
25.              WHAT SHOULD READERS WALK AWAY FROM YOUR BOOKS KNOWING? HOW SHOULD THEY FEEL?
They should feel like they’ve spent some time in the presence of a literary giant or at the very least past the time waiting for their departure flight. Anything along the spectrum of these two realities would be lovely.
26.              WOULD YOU LIKE TO HAVE YOUR BOOKS MADE INTO MOVIES?
Is this question some sort of joke, some sort of moral test?
I have already cast the novel in my mind and picked the director. And yes the director is Martin Scorcese or Roman Polanski.


27.              HOW MUCH THOUGHT GOES INTO DESIGNING A BOOK COVER?
I didn’t design my first book cover and I hated my first book cover, I’d say the people responsible for that book cover probably took the least amount of time imaginable to come up with that design.
The cover is vitally important and if done correctly should sum up the tone of the work. It is incredibly important and should be given as much time as it needs.




28.              WHAT’S YOUR ULTIMATE DREAM?
I’m living it baby.


29.                WRITING IS ONE THING. WHAT ABOUT MARKETING YOU, YOUR BOOKS AND YOUR BRAND? ANY THOUGHTS?
It is what it is. If Hemingway were alive today, he’d be writing a three part series for Netflix centred around the life of a Bullfighter set in San Sebastian in the 1900’s, he’d also have a Twitter account and would do a YouTube Q and A exclusively available for his Patreon subscribers.

30.               ARE YOUR BOOKS SELF-PUBLISHED?

Absolutely not.


31.              WHAT PISSES YOU OFF MOST?
Death and its sneaky nature.

32.              WHAT IS THE TITLE OF THE LAST BOOK YOU READ?
Blood Meridian.
GOOD ONE? It’s a Goddamn masterpiece.




33.               WHAT WOULD MAKE YOU HAPPIER THAN YOU ARE NOW? CARE TO SHARE?
A beautiful woman with a chemical lust for me who suffered from narcolepsy and akinetic mutism.
And if everyone listened to my new podcast Talking Wild Madness out now on Spotify


BOOKS OF ADAM MORRIS



Clancy's comment: Thank you, Adam. Well done. Keep going. 
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26 February 2020 - CHINA'S CHERRY BLOSSOM BLOOMS

CHINA'S CHERRY 
BLOSSOM BLOOMS 


G'day folks,
People all over the world usually associate cherry blossoms with spring in Japan, but China’s blooms are so majestic that they might soon become their national symbol as well. 
The country has just been flooded by an ocean of colourful blossoms, which will stay vibrant all the way up until the end of April.

Residents and tourists alike are flocking to the many different sites to get a glimpse of these beautiful flowers. For example, at Kunming Zoo in Yunnan Province, the 19th century Cherry Blossom Festival began on March 7th and will last until April 7th. It features well over 5,000 flowering cherry and crab-apple trees. 
Furthermore, the 2018 Shanghai Cherry Blossom Festival will run from March 16thto April 15th in Gucan Park, showcasing more than 12,000 cherry blossom trees of 82 varieties.

Below you’ll find some jaw-dropping pictures of this cherry blossom bloom.








 







Clancy's comment: Wow. Amazing, eh?
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25 February 2020 - THE CAVES OF NOTTINGHAM

THE CAVES OF NOTTINGHAM
G'day folks,A labyrinthine underworld of tunnels and caverns hides beneath this city.  Underneath the modern city of Nottingham is a large and ancient labyrinthine underworld. Over 550 caves, tunnels, and passages cut into the sandstone rock lurk beneath the city, and more are discovered every year. The oldest recorded name for Nottingham is “Tigguo Cobauc,” which, in the pre-Roman ancient British language is thought to mean “Place of Caves.” The name is still appropriate today, as there are more caves underneath the city than any other in Britain. Nottingham sits on a ridge of soft sandstone hills, which in places have been cut into low cliff faces by the action of the River Leen and River Trent. The exposed soft crumbly rock is incredibly easy to cut and burrow into. 

 The caves were dug for many reasons: as workplaces, such as the medieval tannery that exists underneath a shopping mall; as homes, such as those at Sneinton hermitage; as secret passages and tunnels, such as those at Castle Rock; as storerooms, brewhouses, and public houses; as prisons and dungeons; and in more recent history, as air raid shelters during the Nottingham Blitz. Scattered across the city are small doors and gates, complete with rusty padlocks that cover access points into the greatly interconnected labyrinth. 
The Nottingham Caves Survey, a project by researchers at Nottingham University to digitally map the caves, has seen many local homeowners come forward to reveal that they too have caves leading off into the subterranean maze from their basements or tucked away in the corner of their garden. Some have been surprised to learn that their particular cave was previously unknown. As recently as January 2017, a group of students living on one of the main roads into the city, Mansfield Road, discovered a series of steps leading down from their cellar into a previously unknown void under the city streets.





One of the most well-known and well-connected cave systems is the Broadmarsh Caves, which is open to visitors under the name “City of Caves.” This visitor attraction can be accessed from a dilapidated shopping mall, the Broadmarsh Centre, which is scheduled for demolition and redevelopment. In it, underneath the 1970s brutalist edifice, visitors can take a guided tour around the medieval tannery cut out of the sandstone, the remains of a medieval slum, and one of the city’s sandstone air-raid shelters.

Another system called Mortimer’s Hole is also open to the public, accessed from Brewhouse Yard. This cave is named after Sir Roger Mortimer, the lover of Queen Isabella of England in 1330. The enraged king is said to have entered the grounds of Nottingham Castle by stealth through this secret tunnel, from the base of the Castle Rock cliff, and seized poor Mortimer as he lay in bed with the queen. He was taken from Nottingham to London to be hung, drawn, and quartered. (Tales of his ghost still haunting the hole, which bears his name, remain unverified.)






Other great places to visit the caves include the Trip to Jerusalem public house, reputed to be Englands oldest pub, the Lost Caves cocktail bar, and the Hand and Heart, all of which have cave rooms for drinking and eating in, and the Bell Inn. If you inquire in advance, the Bell can arrange tours of its caves underneath the Old Market Square, including one that contains a well once used by local monks for brewing ale. Live action puzzle fans are accommodated in one of the city’s latest labyrinths to be made publicly accessible; the “Cave Escape” escape rooms can be found in gloomy subterranean chambers and tunnels beneath Mansfield Road.



Clancy's comment: Wow. More are found each year?

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24 February 2020 - MYSTERIOUS FORESTS OF THE WORLD

MYSTERIOUS FORESTS OF THE WORLD
G'day folks,
I've always been enchanted by forests, and many I have ventured into have made me feel spooky.
Forests have an ancient and mysterious charm. They showcase the beauty of nature seen in various parts of the world and are perfectly depicted in the stunning photos that you are about to see below. Enjoy!






















Clancy's comment: Amazing places, eh? No wonder they are often used in movies.
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23 February 2020 - INSPIRING QUOTES

INSPIRING QUOTES
G'day folks,
Not sure about you, but I am always checking out wise words and quotes. Here are some that may inspire you.





















Clancy's comment: I hope they fired you up. I like the wise comment from Will Rogers.
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22 February 2020 - AMAZING SCULPTURES MADE OUT OF GINGERBREAD

AMAZING SCULPTURES MADE OUT OF GINGERBREAD
G'day folks,
Christmas means sipping hot choccy in front of the fireplace with your loved ones around you. But most of all, Christmas means gingerbread cookies! Now, there are some people who build gingerbread houses, which is all well and good. But have you ever tried making something… bigger?
Well, Swedish food artist and motion designer Caroline Eriksson has! And her designs are much, much bigger than you’d expect when you hear the word ‘gingerbread.’



Every Christmas, she designs and bakes incredibly detailed (and delicious) gingerbread sculptures. This year, she made Groot from “Guardians of the Galaxy.” Which might even be more impressive than last year’s creation—the Xenomorph from “Alien.” 





 Caroline has baked gingerbread statues since 2013 when she won a Norwegian baking contest, and every year she surprises her fans with new and impressive gingerbread art. It took the artist around 5 weeks to make Groot, and she had to add lots of syrup and flour to make the dough thick enough to support the sculpture. She even built the gingerbread sculpture around a metal frame to make sure that it wouldn’t collapse.
“I have been making gingerbread houses every year with my family since I was little,” the artist said. “After a few years, I got tired of houses and wanted to build other things, like boats, castles, and towers. My family didn’t have that patience but looked forward to seeing new creations every year.”









“Then in 2013, I had moved to Norway and I entered a gingerbread contest where you could win 40,000 Norwegian krone [4,505 dollars]. I had been thinking about building a robot for a while, taking houses and boats one step further! I thought it must be possible to do – if I started with very simple square inner forms and added details on top.”









“I had been thinking about building a robot for a while, taking houses and boats one step further! I thought it must be possible to do. If I started with very simple square inner forms and added details on top. Around this time a Transformers movie came out in theatres, and I decided to build Optimus Prime. It took 3 weeks but I got it done and was very happy with the result.”





“I won the contest, and for the money, I took a trip to Bali. The transformer got viral and after that, I have continued to make new creations every Christmas. I try to challenge myself with every creation, do something more advanced that I haven’t seen been done before, push the boundaries for what can be done with this medium. That’s what I find most fun: to solve how to get the textures and shapes I want. But that is also what is most challenging and it takes a lot of time and testing to get right,” said Caroline, who is from Stockholm but now lives in Norway.



Clancy's comment: Wow. Go, Caroline. So clever, eh?

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21 February 2020 - BEES - THE MOST IMPORTANT BEINGS ON EARTH

  THE MOST IMPORTANT BEINGS ON EARTH
G'day folks,
Listen up and take notice. Mother Nature has given us some adorable insects like butterflies, ladybugs, and, of course, bees. Yes, you do get the occasional bee sting every once in a while, but they outweigh your discomfort of its self-defense by being a vital component in the planet’s ecosystem.



Scientists say that bees have become the single most important animal on the planet. So important, in fact, that humanity is at stake if bee populations go south… which is, unfortunately, becoming a reality. Dr. McGavin is an entomologist, academic, and explorer, who has dedicated over 25 years to teaching students at Oxford, many of whom are now in the forefront of conservation and insect biology.




The Earthwatch Institute, an international environmental charity aiming to work for the good of the planet, stated in the Royal Geographical Society that bees are now the most important living thing on the planet. Unfortunately, multiple species of bees have been placed on the list of endangered animals with studies showing a rapid global decline in the bee population.

Dr. McGavin stresses the importance of bees in the global ecosystem: “The critical symbiosis between insects, especially bees, and flowering plants has created a rich diversity of life on Earth. The origin of bees coincides with the main radiation of the angiosperms approximately 100 million years ago.”




  “There are around 20,000 species of bee (not just honey bees!) and many are solitary species,” elaborates Dr. McGavin. “Bees are essential to our survival—without the world’s bees, we would have to change our eating habits dramatically. No flowers, no fruits, no vegetables.”




According to a Greenpeace report,roughly 60 to 90 percent of the food we eat needs help from pollinators such as bees to reproduce. This percentage includes a variety of fruits, vegetables, seeds, and nuts, much of which we consume daily. This also means that as bee populations dwindle, Earth’s biodiversity also diminishes, potentially affecting further species and causing a domino effect in that regard.




Clancy's comment: Yep, vital to our survival, so don't bitch if you get the occasional sting.
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20 February 2020 - COPE Visitor Centre in Vientiane, Laos

COPE Visitor Centre in Vientiane, Laos
G'day folks,In the world's most bombed country relative to its size, this incredible organization helps pick up the pieces.  The Vietnam War is still heavily present in Laos, the country that experienced the most bombings by the American military. Between 1964 and 1973, the U.S. dropped two million tons of explosives on Laos, and the effect can still be felt today. Unexploded ordnance (UXO) riddle the landscape, and cluster bombs in particular continue to injure and kill many people in rural areas.  The problem is so prevalent, an organization called COPE—short for the Cooperative Orthotic & Prosthetic Enterprise—was created to help with the recovery of the victims of bombs, by providing custom prosthetics, rehabilitative services, and education to rural communities affected by the bombs to attempt to prevent future accidents.

To foreign visitors, particularly Americans, the COPE Visitor Centre is jarring and incredibly informative. The shadow war in Laos is clearly presented, complete with a sculpture of a dangling UXO right at the entrance. The “COPE” sign on the side of the building is created from used prosthetic feet. Dangling inside are dozens of worn-out prosthetic limbs, returned by bomb victims in exchange for new prosthetics.










Outside the building is a statue of a mother and child created from discarded bomb materials. Inside, there’s a full-scale replica of a rural Laotian stilt house, with daily household items created out of military equipment (and occasionally bomb materials) discarded by American and European militaries. It highlights how families are utilizing bomb materials while not understanding the danger they can cause. Pictures and stories accompany the displays, putting names and faces to the many thousands of victims of the military campaign in Laos. If there is one place for foreigners to visit in Vientiane, this may be it. 



Clancy's comment: Certainly worth a visit.

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19 February 2020 - FROM SHIPPING CONTAINER TO HOUSE

FROM SHIPPING CONTAINER TO HOUSE 
G'day folks,

When it comes to building their dream home, people have a lot of different ideas. Some choose comfortable and small bungalows, others opt for luxurious mansions. 
However, there a handful of those to decide to ditch the traditional architecture and build something completely different, for instance, a container house. That’s exactly what designer Will Breaux did and now he’s a proud owner of a house built solely out of shipping containers.
His new home is located on McGowen street in Houston. According to the owner, his 11 container house is the most extensive structure of its kind.
Breaux wanted to build his own house since the early 2000s, however, for a long time he struggled to find someone who would design the kind of house he wanted, so Breaux decided to do it himself.
Now, let’s check out the inside.















Clancy's comment: Mm ... Looks pretty rugged on the outside, but he's done  a top job inside. Well done.
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