With his gothic descriptions of London in the grip of fog, locations dis-connected, a haze, a dreamlike sense of place, Robert Louis Stevenson may have been the first psychogeographer. A year after the publication of
The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Jack the ripper may have been the first 'psycho' geographer. I wonder whether my new reading position on the floor of my office might be a cause for concern for anyone that were to pass by and peer through the window to see…
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Added by Dr Tom Payne on June 29, 2010 at 12:16 —
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Trust the map in your mind. Trust it when it tells you to turn right even when the OS map said to turn left. Trust the map in your mind when it says that somewhere on the left you will find a parking place, and that after that it will only be a short walk to your destination. Trust the map in your mind... unless of course you didn't trust yourself on the first… Continue
Added by Dr Tom Payne on June 28, 2010 at 12:30 —
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Esgair Fraith, a ruined farm in west Wales, was the site for a series of deep mapping projects between Mike Pearson and Michael Shanks. This included the large scale site-specific work
Tri Bywyd. More info on the project and deep maps can be found at
http://documents.stanford.edu/michaelshanks/95.
This morning Sam and I are going to try and find the farm so that I can practice a few different mapping…
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Added by Dr Tom Payne on June 27, 2010 at 20:35 —
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Regardless of how much I was paid I am not sure that I would cope with the enormous pressure that was placed upon English players during this world cup. A 1-1 draw with the USA was apparently a disaster, the beginning of the end for Capello's men, and a 1-0 win over Slovenia was apparently a sign that we were now ready to go on and win the cup. Neither of these assumptions were correct. It seems that the English fear of taking penalties has now seeped into their football playing at a national…
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Added by Dr Tom Payne on June 27, 2010 at 10:30 —
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There is always something strangely compelling about road side shrines. Something deeply personal passes between the mourners and the departed when they leave floral tributes and cards at the scene of an accident, and yet there is something overtly public about the act. An open demonstration of grief and emotion that is rare in british society, or at least in my own experience. The flowers and gifts stand in for an action that cannot be witnessed by the uniformed passer by and can only…
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Added by Dr Tom Payne on June 10, 2010 at 6:30 —
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The Coal Exchange, in Cardiff, is the location for NTW's 10th Show. Tonight it was the home or Mappa Mundi's version of
Dangerous Liasons. I went with John, Catherine and Kully, NTW:10's Director. It's an amazing building and the company had done a great job of lighting the cavernous space. They had managed to develop a strangely intimate experience despite the majority of the several hundred seats being unoccupied behind us. The first half was a little slow, the second half was…
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Added by Dr Tom Payne on June 9, 2010 at 12:30 —
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I had the choice between the 5am train and the 7am train. I opted for the latter, 5am can be punishing if you find that the day doesn't end until some time around midnight. This was the case today.
I am in Cardiff spending a few days following John around and getting an idea of how things work at the Castle Arcade, home to NTW. Devinda gave me a few strategic documents to look at and I listened in on the plans for the Beach. The negotiations between the different…
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Added by Dr Tom Payne on June 8, 2010 at 12:30 —
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When we returned to the paddling pool we were well prepared. Swimming costume, books and sun lotion as well as a towel. I watched Poppy as she ran back and forth along the length of the pool and bravely threw herself face first into the shallow water. Holiday makers made their way to and fro, walking where the sun and breeze took them. No purpose, no attempt to understand the place just a desire to be.
We inhabit places in different ways and different levels of…
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Added by Dr Tom Payne on June 7, 2010 at 12:30 —
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6389 words this week... not blog words either. It's got to be a personal best. Need to get up early to catch the train. still need to pack a bag.…
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Added by Dr Tom Payne on June 6, 2010 at 11:48 —
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I collected Poppy late on in the day and agreed to take her to the paddling pool on the prom. Having not really thought it through I imagined that paddling in a paddling pool meant getting your feet wet. It took about 10 minutes for her clothes to become soaked through and the painful negotiations to commence. There could be two outcomes; one, she paddled wearing just a pair of pants and two, we squeezed the water out of her clothes as best we could and went home to get a swimming…
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Added by Dr Tom Payne on June 4, 2010 at 9:00 —
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I have an office space to work from! Only 96 days in... its brilliant! A little brown booth in the law library. Two walls for sticking pins into and one with more space for blu tack than a person could hope for. A huge window to the right of the built in desk looks out on thick foliage and beyond that the university drama department.
I have networked my computer and can now print from it. My walls are already covered in notes on genetic criticism. The first case…
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Added by Dr Tom Payne on June 3, 2010 at 3:00 —
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Added by Dr Tom Payne on June 2, 2010 at 11:30 —
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I caught them at the end of the day and we sat on the seafront by the bandstand discussing the locations that they had looked at over the last 48 hours and the different potentials for performance. Things will look very different when they return in January.
Audio Interview to follow shortly. (post to be updated)
Added by Dr Tom Payne on June 2, 2010 at 10:30 —
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Added by Dr Tom Payne on June 1, 2010 at 12:00 —
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Added by Dr Tom Payne on June 1, 2010 at 10:00 —
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