More Random Pictures

Time for some more pictures to fill in the time before leaving for Europe. A few people have complimented me on the last lot (being polite, no doubt). I think this set will convince you all that I have now surpassed the likes of Cartier-Bresson and Ansel Adams, amateurs that they were.

Exit. Korepun, Hunter Valley, 14/07/07. (18-55mm@55mm, ISO100, f9.0, shutter 1/320s)


Songlines. Palmer & Foley Streets, Darlinghurst, 19/07/07. (28-105mm@50mm, ISO100, f22, shutter 30s)


Tides of Eve. Korepun, Hunter Valley, 14/07/07. (18-55mm@53mm, ISO100, f9.0, shutter 1.6s)


And just for Jetti:
Stop. Yellow Kangaroo Paw (Anigozanthos flavidus), Korepun, Hunter Valley, 14/07/07. (18-55mm@55mm, ISO100, f5.6, shutter 1/320s)

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Royston George Booker

I am very, very happy to announce that I have been awarded the 2007 Royston George Booker Scholarship to assist with my field research for my PhD. As a bit of background, the scholarship was established by R.G. Booker, a retired Army Officer, in 1991 and is awarded to postgraduate (FT) students to undertake research overseas for their degree. While there are no specific outcomes required by the scholarship, I feel like I should honour the it and its benefactor for their generosity. Not only is it a great privilege to be doing a project like this, but to be recognised for my achievements and given assistance for it is truly humbling. For me, travelling the world to speak with people about their journeys is a dream come true. Many were the times during my last trip, to India, when I sat back and marvelled that what I was doing was at the same time 'work' and 'personal interest'. In fact, the project I am doing is exactly what I want to be doing, what I would want to do if I was doing something else, and what I would do if otherwise unoccupied. It is a great honour.

So, to R.G. Booker and family, and the University of Sydney, thank you. I shall do my best.
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Conferences and Conversations

The weekend before last saw me present my research findings from India at the Australian Association for the Study of Religions annual conference in Melbourne. Academic conferences are always fun, and a wintry Melbourne was an ideal setting for hearing about such diverse topics as teenage witches, media bias against UFO groups, the ordination of Buddhist nuns in Thailand, and the use of secular fiction as religious text (plus many more cool papers). If you're into all things religious a conference is a pretty cool way to get a taste for what's going on. It's much nicer than having to plough through everyone's journal publications (which you wouldn't read anyway because you don't have the time to read anything much outside your little niche).

I'm pretty happy with how my chapter is coming, even though I stumbled upon a massive structural shift while in Melbourne (that will require a re-write). The main thing I want to get across is the diversity of reasons with which people approach spiritual activities in India. I think it reflects the diversity we find in people's spirituality at home, which is essentially a 'moral' or metaphor I want to flesh out in the thesis. I tihnk the new structure will show this much more effectively.

Seeing as I was to be in Melbourne I decided to spend some time with my brother, Pip. Many long chats about life, the universe, and German monks drinking lots of Bock were had, and it helped remind me of the joy of family and the intimacy of siblings. You can't choose them, but love 'em or hate 'em your family know your story, and have a pretty good idea about what makes you tick. They know your history because they were there. They have seen the blood, the tears, and the warts and (if your are lucky, as I am) they don't care, they just love you. It is a devastatingly comforting knowledge. We can become so locked in our consumer hedonism, so lost in our cycles of dissatisfaction with life and self-absorbed whining that we can forget there are people out there who actually care enough to sit down and listen, no matter what is said. Those moments - by river banks, on mountain tops, at cafes, in cars - when simple, raw words are spoken and heard are magical. When it's family doing the listening you feel like your roots are getting a massage; all the gooey worms, moist soil, and gnarled fibres are being shaken and oxygenated. Those moments give you new life.

Finally, for any TZU fans out there here are a couple of exciting pictures:

Pip and Corey laying down a demo track for the next TZU album. Joel's studio, 11/07/07. (18-55mm@25mm, 0.3sec, f4.0, ISO800)



Lyrics aborning, from Pip to paper, through lips they're laid down. Joel's studio during a writing session, 11/07/07. (18-55mm@33mm, 1/13sec, f4.5, ISO1600)
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For the Returning

For the Returning

You will return. This will frighten you.
Don't be afraid of getting bored. Don't be afraid of tasting vanilla when for so long you've bathed in magical spices. Even vanilla has a smokey sweetness that can mystify the tongue.
Don't be afraid of feeling alone amongst your friends, a stranger at home. You will know them by their qualities. You have always known them.
It's true though, you can never go home. Not to the home that was before. Now there is a new home, and it will take you time to feel comfortable after moving in.
Yes, the same rooms will be there, but their meaning has changed. That's all.
Sometimes you will dance in far away fields, only to find yourself returned with a jolt to the cafe, the bus seat, the party, and you will feel lost.
This will frighten you. But do not let it. Others will always dance with you.

Inspired by AM, EB, LG, JL, and AV.
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Two Months

So it's probably a touch early, but I thought that an update on the next fieldwork trip was in order. Two months from today, on August 20th, I fly to London (via NYC!) then later to France to begin walking the Camino de Santiago de Compostela, interviewing people as I amble. It's a pretty exciting prospect, firstly because walking the Camino is something I have wanted to do for years, and secondly because my fieldwork in India was so successful and I can't wait to get to do more.

Speaking of which, I'm now in the final stages of writing up the India chapter of my thesis. It's a tricky assignment, and I think the final product will reflect the personal nature of the trip. It looks like it will be a heady mix of first person accounts and rich description with smatterings of academic theory thrown in as spice. There are echoes of de Botton and Dalrymple, and some playfully irreverent stuff in the style of Tim Moore, all done in a form inspired by Bruce Scates (his book on Gallipoli pilgrims was the final inspiration for me to go back to Uni to do this). In the end, I hope it says something meaningful and useful to some other people, but mostly I'm just happy to be writing it at last.

This makes me extra excited at the prospect of getting onto the Camino. It won't be like India at all, but in a strange way it will be. The people I meet (and have already started to meet at pilgrim meetings here ) will make it another enlightening and enriching experience. Best of all, it's another chance for me to do what I love and to be able to say something about it. I can't wait.
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Some Random Pictures

In the absence of something meaningful to say (some would argue I am in this state perpetually) here are some photos from around here. They were all taken on my shiny new DSLR (yay!).

Here we start with an nice photo of a cup.
Still life anyone? (18-55mm@38mm, 1/50, f5.0, ISO400. Saturation)

Shafts of Light (18-55mm@55mm, 1/13, f5.6, ISO100. Tones, saturation. Centennial Park, 06/06/07.)

The Change (18-55mm@24mm, 1/50, f7.1, ISO800. Tones, saturation. Centennial Park, 06/06/07. I was trying to capture two things with this. Firstly, the sense of slow but constant change inherent in seasonal movements, and secondly, the introspective beauty of autumn. When I saw the bench sitting under this tree I felt it was the link that expressed both of those things - To sit and watch the wind and trees play, to sit and contemplate the beauty of the change, these are childhood dreams)

Buses 3 (18-55mm@54mm, 1/25, f18, ISO100. Saturation)

Foley Street (18-55mm@18mm, 1/160, f3.5, ISO100. Sepia)

Drops (18-55mm@38mm, 1/100, f5, ISO1600. We've had some pretty spectacular and devastating storms here for about a week. The Hunter Valley (just north of Sydney) in particular has been subjected to some wild weather. Sitting on my balcony, these are the only drops of it that I caught).

Wet-footed Abandon (18-55mm@18mm, 1/8, f4, ISO400. Curves. 7am, 10/06/07, Palmer St., Darlinghurst. The rain finally stopped on Saturday, and Sunday morning I went to meet Pip for a coffee and a chorizo roll. On the way I met this couple - leather shoes and fluffy slippers. Somehow they had found each other amid the deluge, their masters perhaps leaving them for more free-footed fields).

Reading Corner. (18-55mm@25mm, 0.5, f7.1, ISO200. Saturation)























That's it for now.
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