http://search.deviantart.com/?q=by:throwntothewolves&section=today deviantART RSS for by:throwntothewolves en-us Copyright 2009, deviantART.com Wed, 25 Nov 2009 15:51:43 PST deviantART.com http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss http://s.deviantart.com/minish/widgets/apple-touch-icon-precomposed.png http://throwntothewolves.deviantart.com/journal/27357876/ http://throwntothewolves.deviantart.com/journal/27357876/ Tue, 22 Sep 2009 14:03:46 PDT numb-bitch when it comes to here.

i havent been inspired to take pretty pictures lately. i still have a fat wad of pics from bhutan i havent done anyting with because of work/drinking commitments. shocking.

i spent today at a symposium and i was first to present my research to the thang. i am gald i was first because in the grand scheme of peeeps research mine was rubbish. oh well.

i start a - i was gonna say new job but job full stop is more accurate - job on monday.

we shall see what that brings....cash i imagine.

]]> ~throwntothewolves http://throwntothewolves.deviantart.com/journal/25912161/ http://throwntothewolves.deviantart.com/journal/25912161/ Mon, 13 Jul 2009 02:55:52 PDT
Well I am back

So much has happened in the past three weeks. Bhutan is on the whole beautiful and unspoiled.

I can't do it justice so I wont try.

I loved that for the best part of the trip I saw no cars, pylons or any of the associated paraphernalia of modern living.

I'm currently in the post trip doldrums and do miss the bhutanese guys greatly.

I have to write a report for my funders and anyone who wants to read it please let me know

Suppose I had best get back to it....

]]> ~throwntothewolves http://throwntothewolves.deviantart.com/journal/25397570/ http://throwntothewolves.deviantart.com/journal/25397570/ Thu, 18 Jun 2009 15:04:15 PDT
I am excited and tired and stressed and happy and sad and well yes.

I purposefully didnt go out for a drink with people tonight because i'd get all miserable and then shitty with them and I didnt want that.

I'll bring you back some photos and some prayers

Buddha's compassion go with you

]]> ~throwntothewolves http://throwntothewolves.deviantart.com/journal/25175475/ http://throwntothewolves.deviantart.com/journal/25175475/ Sun, 07 Jun 2009 08:33:06 PDT
I have been staring at my diamox and antibiotic wondering if I'll need them. Acute Mountain Sickness yeah i can see myself getting that - great.

Went for a 10mile walk this morning around bits of Edinburgh.

Trying unsuccesffuly to re-write parts of my dissertation to be published in Sibbalia - too distracted with the stupid butterflies in my guts and putin pics on here.

Back to it...

]]> ~throwntothewolves http://throwntothewolves.deviantart.com/journal/24851454/ http://throwntothewolves.deviantart.com/journal/24851454/ Wed, 20 May 2009 05:52:52 PDT
]]> ~throwntothewolves http://throwntothewolves.deviantart.com/journal/24462847/ http://throwntothewolves.deviantart.com/journal/24462847/ Mon, 27 Apr 2009 13:03:34 PDT


Next and final thing to do is the digital appendage...




a wee dram shall be had before the night is out.

]]> ~throwntothewolves http://throwntothewolves.deviantart.com/journal/24323893/ http://throwntothewolves.deviantart.com/journal/24323893/ Sun, 19 Apr 2009 10:55:56 PDT
We stayed in the plushest bunkhouse known to man, had a pleasant 30min stroll to work over the hill and down to the arboretum taking in some amazing scenery.

Saw buzzards, a red kite, a merlin (i think) and a pair of golden eagles.

I love being back in my beloved glens I always leave feeling like everything is fine.

]]> ~throwntothewolves http://throwntothewolves.deviantart.com/journal/24185608/ http://throwntothewolves.deviantart.com/journal/24185608/ Sat, 11 Apr 2009 16:04:48 PDT
"'Bread and shoes politic'as he once described it to me, a responce to the families depression with neither shoes on their feet or bread to eat."

More From our Own Correspondent
BBC.

2.Stretch your left arm out as far as you can. What do you reach?
My glass of Royal Lochnagar 12yr old single malt

3. What is the last thing you watched on TV?
NCIS

4. Without looking, guess what time it is:
23:30

5. Now look at the clock. What is the actual time?
23:51

6. With the exception of the computer, what can you hear?
The dull beat of dance music from a not so distant party

7. When did you last step outside? What were you doing?
Today at home to water my children

8. Before you started this survey, what did you look at?
my feet

9. What are you wearing?
nothing worthy of note

10. Did you dream last night?
Yes.

11. When did you last laugh?
during Ncis

12. What are on the walls of the room you are in?
Mirrors and African art from Tanzania.

13. Seen anything weird lately?
My reflection

14. What do you think of this quiz?
I wish I had gone to bed

15. What is the last film you saw?
Idlehands

16. If you became a multi-millionaire overnight, what would you buy?
An island on the west coast of Scotland then retire to a become a recluse

17. Tell me something about you that I don't know about.
I discovered four more grey hairs atop my head

18. If you could change one thing about the world, regardless of guilt or politics, what would you do?
I would stop the process that created oil and instead have it form jellybeans

19. Do you like to dance?
no

20. George Bush:
Evolution in action: the missing link. God Bless America

21. Imagine your first child is a girl, what do you call her?
#1

22. Imagine your first child is a boy, what do you call him?
#1

23. Would you ever consider living abroad?
Hell yes!! Turkey, New Zealand, Bhutan, Nepal, Japan

24. What do you want God to say to you when you reach the pearly gates?
I'm dreadfully sorry old bean but you appear to have to taken a wrong turn.

25.Tag six people who must also do this in THEIR journal:
Decide amongst yourselves

]]> ~throwntothewolves http://throwntothewolves.deviantart.com/journal/24094111/ http://throwntothewolves.deviantart.com/journal/24094111/ Mon, 06 Apr 2009 13:27:32 PDT
I have a backlog of a few ahemahem hundred (maybe more) deviations to look at. countless journals to read. piss poor alan piss poor.

All I have to report is my new obsession with my grey hairs....no wait its not new its a resurgence in my obsession with them.

Been finishing coursework, working on my dissertation, doing GIS work generally no being on here.

Off to Branklyn tomorrow to 'do some research' so that'll be a jolly to Perth then drinkin cups of tea with Steve and Eddie not doing anything resembling productive.

Still i get to ride the train - choo choo

]]> ~throwntothewolves http://throwntothewolves.deviantart.com/journal/23749095/ http://throwntothewolves.deviantart.com/journal/23749095/ Tue, 17 Mar 2009 15:23:49 PDT
"Your itchy feet aren't going to be soothed by the day-to-day routines; you're craving excitement and travel. If you can't drop everything and head to the Himalaya, at least try to sweep the...."

Nows is as good a time as any.

I'm off to Bhutan in June.
Rockin

]]> ~throwntothewolves http://throwntothewolves.deviantart.com/journal/23040443/ http://throwntothewolves.deviantart.com/journal/23040443/ Fri, 06 Feb 2009 13:03:44 PST
“On this pass he discovered a new poppy which Ludlow thought was a gem of the whole 1936 collection - ‘rose-pink like the first flush of dawn on the snows’. Sherriff was rather more restrained: ‘Came across a nice Meconopsis, 2309, which I do not know and cannot make out from Taylor’s book.’”

Now the 2309 relates to their unique collection number. Further down the page it came out that it was an entirely new species and ended up being named Meconopsis sherriffii in honour of one of the men who found it. The 2309 surfaces again soon.

So later yesterday I was in the Herbarium working on a collaborative seed project and we were going through specimens of Meconopsis and what comes out but a Meconopsis sherriffii. I’m looking over the label and its collector ID is that of Ludlow and Sherriff from 1936 and collector number 2309.

Amazing the plant they collected and pressed to preserve ended up in the herbarium at the RBGE and I had it in my hands. It is a weird sensation knowing the exact history of the specimen that I was working from.

Another reason added to the list of why I love what I do!

]]> ~throwntothewolves http://throwntothewolves.deviantart.com/journal/22688870/ http://throwntothewolves.deviantart.com/journal/22688870/ Tue, 20 Jan 2009 08:10:32 PST
When was the last mass extinction event?? 65million years ago. Oh oh oh no we living one at the momement and we are responsible.

The back ground extinction rate for mammals was about 1 every 200 years the current level is closer to 43 in the last 200 years - that we know about.

One in four mammal species, one in eight bird species and one in three amphibian species are on the IUCN Critically Endangered Red List and that means they are effectively the living dead.

I've not even mentioned plants. You know the green things that form the basis of the food chain as the primary producer in our habitat and main source of oxygen for us to breath and a key factor in water regulation systems.

Why does it matter? It matters because everything is linked. It all one bit system and we are fucking it over. The air we breath, the food we eat, the lochs and reservoirs we depend on for drinking water, the stability of the land we live and depend on is all linked and its all going to hell.

We are a collective failure and we are paying lip service to conservation and protecting biodiversity. Might as well ride the wave and watch the world die

]]> ~throwntothewolves http://throwntothewolves.deviantart.com/journal/22524345/ http://throwntothewolves.deviantart.com/journal/22524345/ Sun, 11 Jan 2009 12:06:11 PST
I was sitting by Loch Faskcally in Birch Woodland, eating some good fresh bread, and it felt like I’d been here before. The familiarity of having been here before in another life: like the familiarity of my grandad’s old weathered face, the familiarity of memories that come and go. All of it, the smell of decaying wood, the cold damp air on my face, the ethereal mist drifting silently across the water, the soft thud of water droplets falling off branches and hitting the ground, all of it makes me feel so much better. I love it.

Back to auld clothes and porridge tomorrow.

]]> ~throwntothewolves http://throwntothewolves.deviantart.com/journal/22103803/ http://throwntothewolves.deviantart.com/journal/22103803/ Sun, 21 Dec 2008 13:47:46 PST
So I’m home cold wet and freakin out.

]]> ~throwntothewolves http://throwntothewolves.deviantart.com/journal/22078930/ http://throwntothewolves.deviantart.com/journal/22078930/ Sat, 20 Dec 2008 04:20:36 PST
Going back to the folks house in forfar. Taking my Turkish mate Mahir too who is here studying.

I've been doing mundane stuff like washing dishes, and laundry. Awesome.

I have been so unproductive in the photo front. I'll see what can be done on over the festive period.

I've drank about a gallon of coffee this morning.

My tv is on the fritz.

At least the sun is shining

Al

]]> ~throwntothewolves http://throwntothewolves.deviantart.com/journal/21909955/ http://throwntothewolves.deviantart.com/journal/21909955/ Wed, 10 Dec 2008 06:03:25 PST I used to be a criminal, top car dealer,
Bare competition but my cars were realer
But quite frank my cars were professional,
Reloads exceptional.

Serial change, log book, keys
All you need to worry about was the fees
Well lets see you can start from the back
Depending what car you can pay 20 G's

if you need, Brand new X5 with keys,
If ya' need Mercedes Benz with TV's
Look at these Golf, Astras, TT's
anything you want, yeah we can get these.

Best sellers were the Puntos
don't be laughing when I say Puntos
Supplied the whole of Walthamstow with puntos
An' they were cheap and cute an' everyone could afford it.

Like, I had to pack that all in obviously 'coz of the music but like, One time i got chased by helicopters, police, police dogs.
I got away but listen to what happened though look, look

So i'm in my Punto yer, an I see the boy them in the rear view
And i'm thinking S**t what am I gonna' do?
This car's slow it's only 1.2
So I jumped out while still moving, somewhere random in Chingford
Back then i was a little Linford, But not ugly as Linford.

So anyway an' im running heart is pumping fast
(Budum) (Budum) (Budum) (Buddum)
It's gettin' tight they're gunna' catch my arse
(Budum) (Budum) (Budum)
Then i saw that garden wall, swear,no lies,about 20 foot tall.
So i jumped over, thought all was cool, that's when I heard the helicopter.

So I remember sitting in this garden right, an' the helicopter is at the other side of the road. So I'm thinking like right, if i don't make a move now I'm gunna' get caught.So I thought nar you know what I gotta' make a move so I remember making a move like.

Trying to be quiet, Jumping over the fences, make sure I turn off my phone.Then I saw this shed, so I start runnin' towards this shed praying the doors are open.I got into this shed and i remember thinking to myself ah shit. What have I done?

So like four hours later, it's like seven AM in the morning, daylight, people going to work. I Just... walked home.

Oh yeah, I missed a bit out
One of my mates were in the car.
You know what happened to him, Innit."

.....
Ah Mr Bizzle you make me laugh.

]]> ~throwntothewolves http://throwntothewolves.deviantart.com/journal/21867174/ http://throwntothewolves.deviantart.com/journal/21867174/ Sun, 07 Dec 2008 14:44:57 PST
]]> ~throwntothewolves http://throwntothewolves.deviantart.com/journal/21575939/ http://throwntothewolves.deviantart.com/journal/21575939/ Thu, 20 Nov 2008 03:14:22 PST
This poem makes me even more home sick which makes me read it and so the cycle goes on and on.....

Oh tell me fit was on yer road, ye roarin Norland wind?
As ye come blawin frae the land that's never frae ma mind.
Ma feet they traivel England but I'm deein for the North.
Ma man, I saw the siller tides rin up the Firth o Forth.

Aye wind, I ken them weel eneuch an fine they fa and rise,
And fain I'd feel the creepin mist on yonder shore that lies.
But tell me as ye pass them by, fit saw ye on the way?
Ma man, I rocked the rovin gulls that sail abin the Tay.

Bit saw ye naethin leein wind afore ye come tae Fife?
For there's muckle lyin 'yont the Tay that's mair tae me nor life.
Ma man, I swept the Angus braes that ye hivna trod for years.
Oh wind, forgie a hameless loon that canna see for tears."

And far abin the Angus straths I saw the wild geese flee,
A lang, lang skein o beatin wings wi their heids toward the sea,
And aye their cryin voices trailed ahint them on the air.
Oh wind, hae mercy, haud your wheesht for I daurna listen mair.
~Violet Jacob (1915)

She was an amazing woman in her time. From Angus not far from where I was born and brought up. She was an artist/writer/poet and had some balls! She married a british army officer and went where he did. At one point he was posted to India and so she went. She wanted to go to Afghanistan to do some botanising and ended disguising herself as a man so she could go where she liked and to do botanical illustrations of the Flora.

Anyway suppose i had better go call my supervisior who I've been avoiding....

]]> ~throwntothewolves http://throwntothewolves.deviantart.com/journal/21533380/ http://throwntothewolves.deviantart.com/journal/21533380/ Mon, 17 Nov 2008 11:58:50 PST
Do you every feel like you’re on a slow roll to darkness and despair? No? just me then...

]]> ~throwntothewolves http://throwntothewolves.deviantart.com/journal/20873454/ http://throwntothewolves.deviantart.com/journal/20873454/ Tue, 07 Oct 2008 12:28:31 PDT One of RBGE's finest. Go have a wee look if you like plants.

]]> ~throwntothewolves http://throwntothewolves.deviantart.com/journal/20562202/ http://throwntothewolves.deviantart.com/journal/20562202/ Fri, 19 Sep 2008 01:31:57 PDT
Black shirt and tie combo, decent jeans, clean black and white converse sneaks and my 'funeral' suit jacket.

I even had a shave

I am sharing because i am bored off my face.
I cant wait to get to the pub and its only 9.30

Al

]]> ~throwntothewolves http://throwntothewolves.deviantart.com/journal/20466841/ http://throwntothewolves.deviantart.com/journal/20466841/ Sat, 13 Sep 2008 06:40:14 PDT BLISS

Its was an interesting wee jaunt. The weather of classic Scotland.

On Wednesday we headed up Morrone after a quick lunch when we got to the bunkhouse in Braemar. It was a straight walk out of Braemar to the hill. We headed up through the Morrone Birkwood which is Juniper Birch scrub and woodland. The powers that be have put up fences to exclude deer and so a good bit of natural regeneration has taken place which is hearterning to see.

On the top it was insanely windy. gust up to 70 mph. There is a television mast on to of the hill and the roar of the wind through the mast was like a jet engine. Its was that insane wind the no matter how hard you try you still end up walking in 60 degrees.

Thursday we were gonna do the Ben Macdui loop but the weather was too bad so we decided to do the end of Jock's Road as far as Loch Callater.

Started off fine but by the time we stared along the track up to the Loch the wind was coming straight down the glen and it took us 1 hour to walk 2km. The visibility dropped to about 3m and the rain/sleet/snow started and so we headed back.

ON the plus side being back to Braemar earlier that expected we head off down to the Royal Lochnagar Distillery for a tour and a wee Dram.

Ace

]]> ~throwntothewolves http://throwntothewolves.deviantart.com/journal/20416649/ http://throwntothewolves.deviantart.com/journal/20416649/ Wed, 10 Sep 2008 02:02:23 PDT
Its good to be a bum.

Anyway I'm off to the Cairngorms for a bit walking botonising and general fresh air.

Rock
Al

]]> ~throwntothewolves http://throwntothewolves.deviantart.com/journal/20185933/ http://throwntothewolves.deviantart.com/journal/20185933/ Wed, 27 Aug 2008 14:31:31 PDT
Work still keeps me occupied to the point where I am fed up with taking pictures. I have become a point and click. thousands of plants portaits and databasing each one...It destroyed my soul.

I plan on spending much more time here once studying resumes and i am back to the grind...ha ha

Epic
Al

]]> ~throwntothewolves http://throwntothewolves.deviantart.com/journal/19642457/ http://throwntothewolves.deviantart.com/journal/19642457/ Mon, 28 Jul 2008 13:12:46 PDT But....i blame work.

As part of my current job, over the past 8 weeks, I have taken over 2000 plant portaits of trees shrubs and fungus. I am not feeling very inspired and at all in the mood for doing anything with my own shots.

The shots are all for the garden database and for the digital map of the garden I am working on. Nice.

I will submit some shots this weeks of Istanbul me thinks. Perhaps tommorrow.

Al

]]> ~throwntothewolves http://throwntothewolves.deviantart.com/journal/19311677/ http://throwntothewolves.deviantart.com/journal/19311677/ Thu, 10 Jul 2008 13:42:19 PDT

Frankie Boyle you slay me.

]]> ~throwntothewolves http://throwntothewolves.deviantart.com/journal/19176271/ http://throwntothewolves.deviantart.com/journal/19176271/ Thu, 03 Jul 2008 01:24:32 PDT
Exactly what i needed to feel better.

No work, no responsibility, no one to tell me what needs doing, no coursework, no exams and no booze.

I even managed a quick stop in my beloved Istanbul and visited the Botanic garden to see the people i worked with last summer and in April of this year.

Also managed to take a fell whack of pictures that I most chuffed with.

Ace

~Al (ignore the mood icon he wont go away)

]]> ~throwntothewolves http://throwntothewolves.deviantart.com/journal/18603845/ http://throwntothewolves.deviantart.com/journal/18603845/ Sun, 01 Jun 2008 03:53:03 PDT
but now i'm sick. my body aches, my eyes burn and i hate myself because i have no self control.

]]> ~throwntothewolves http://throwntothewolves.deviantart.com/journal/18459916/ http://throwntothewolves.deviantart.com/journal/18459916/ Fri, 23 May 2008 08:25:28 PDT
Last exam today...sweet. I predict a bender of epic proportions.
Got a job despite the interviewer saying "that was a shit interview" Hoorah for a decent CV.

I am going for some mountain madness this weekend to the glorious Glen Doll nd the Majestic Corrie Fee.

I'm sure there was something else....oh well

Knock Kock Neo...

]]> ~throwntothewolves http://throwntothewolves.deviantart.com/journal/18117893/ http://throwntothewolves.deviantart.com/journal/18117893/ Thu, 01 May 2008 13:33:51 PDT
Water came through the ceiling of my apartment from the people above.
Lost coursework
Council Tax demands
Stolen Bike

but some good stuff too

Went to the Beltane Fire Festival lastnight up on Carlton Hill
and was in Pitlochry today at the Explorers Garden and botanising on the banks as the wee loch at the Hydro Electric Dam.

Bed time
Wedding this weekend

]]> ~throwntothewolves http://throwntothewolves.deviantart.com/journal/17912777/ http://throwntothewolves.deviantart.com/journal/17912777/ Fri, 18 Apr 2008 14:04:50 PDT I hear your voice sometimes
Sometimes it gets so much
I feel like letting go
Sometimes it gets so goddamn hard I feel like letting it all go

]]> ~throwntothewolves http://throwntothewolves.deviantart.com/journal/17831950/ http://throwntothewolves.deviantart.com/journal/17831950/ Sun, 13 Apr 2008 12:36:18 PDT To which I replied “But I’ll miss too much.” She didnt get it, we chatted for a while longer but she thought I was obviously mad, with my ginger beard, wild curly hair and my strange ideas. She decided not to speak to me anymore.

So I’ll describe in part my journey home to you…

I walked into Forfar from my parent’s house, down the same streets I grew up on. I walked past the Stag, where I spent many an evening, underage and legally, drinking myself silly with my friends from school. I walked on through the Greens and past the swings where I used to go with my Grandparents when I was little. I also remembered getting stoned there and playing guitar with a bunch of people.

I bumped into a woman I used to work with when I lived in Forfar and we had brief chat. She told me about how she’s now a grandmother and how her son, my old boss has a new job.

The bus to Dundee was uneventful apart from the view of across the Vale of Strathmore to the snow dusted hills and glens of the Cairngorms and the Polish lassie who’s question caused me do this.

On reaching Dundee I walked through the centre of the City to reach the train station. Remembering the drunken nights out, the gigs I’ve been and wondering what my friends that live there are doing.….

I went down into the station to catch my train which was about 30min away, but I needed a coffee. I got my coffee and headed out onto the platform to wait in the sun. What happened next I did not expect. A steam train, Union of South Africa, pulled in to the station blowing its whistle, like a ghost from another time. As it stopped excited middle-aged men laden with camera came pouring out snapping madly.

I walked in the sunshine through the stream and the madness to the platform where I sat down and carried on watching the excited children and grown men.

When the train leaves Dundee it heads almost immediately over the sweeping curve of the Tay Bridge. From the bridge you can see the incoming tide and the outgoing river struggling against one another causing foaming white waves up the estuary.

……anyway you get the picture.

If I had driven would I have seen any of this or just the tramac infront of the car? Would I have talked to anyone, except myself in the car? The answer is no.

]]> ~throwntothewolves http://throwntothewolves.deviantart.com/journal/17715333/ http://throwntothewolves.deviantart.com/journal/17715333/ Sun, 06 Apr 2008 12:32:29 PDT
It was a busy and knackering 14 days, but rewarding all the same.

Had some amazing experiences including meeting and having dinner with some Turkish families.

Spending a week living with a Turkish botanical artist, who's art is amazing.

Went out listening Turkish Folk music a couple of times.

And back to the Terminal 5 clusterfunk and the snow and quiet of Edinburgh

]]> ~throwntothewolves http://throwntothewolves.deviantart.com/journal/17435592/ http://throwntothewolves.deviantart.com/journal/17435592/ Fri, 21 Mar 2008 00:32:28 PDT
I'll try to keep in touch.

Al

]]> ~throwntothewolves http://throwntothewolves.deviantart.com/journal/17088550/ http://throwntothewolves.deviantart.com/journal/17088550/ Wed, 27 Feb 2008 12:40:16 PST oh yes

]]> ~throwntothewolves http://throwntothewolves.deviantart.com/journal/16750986/ http://throwntothewolves.deviantart.com/journal/16750986/ Wed, 06 Feb 2008 08:25:13 PST
I am well and truely sucked into a reintroduction program for montane salix as a researcher. ace

I am surrounded by box files.

hmmmm old paper smell.

]]> ~throwntothewolves http://throwntothewolves.deviantart.com/journal/16548316/ http://throwntothewolves.deviantart.com/journal/16548316/ Thu, 24 Jan 2008 08:48:08 PST
Have a lecture in 30min on what plants can tell us about the evolution of the x and y chromosome. nice.

Still not broadband access at home. I think i may have even kicked the internet habit.

Yesterday I was asked to have a wee chat with a bunch of current student from my old college who are thinking about studying at RBGE. I felt like such a grown-up.

Right gonna have a packet of crisps before the lecture

adios

]]> ~throwntothewolves http://throwntothewolves.deviantart.com/journal/16428760/ http://throwntothewolves.deviantart.com/journal/16428760/ Wed, 16 Jan 2008 08:28:05 PST
plant physiology exam today one question on plant growth regulators roles, functions and the like and the other on blosson end rot. the mechanisms that cause the disorder the symtoms and 'cure'. its was ace.

ecology cramming up until 5 min ago. off for a snooze i was up at 3am today. awesome.

flip-flop dudes

]]> ~throwntothewolves http://throwntothewolves.deviantart.com/journal/15996326/ http://throwntothewolves.deviantart.com/journal/15996326/ Wed, 19 Dec 2007 06:05:06 PST
Saw the sights.
Drank the local produce.
Took shots here there and everywhere.
Hung out with the locals. talked crap german.


Was back in Dundee on Monday to see Funeral for a Friend. They rocked out and made it snow inside...magical.

Santa was there in leather trousers AND he's a Saxon fan. Rock!

In the Botanics today dissections to do and half flower technial diagrams to draw. Joy

]]> ~throwntothewolves http://throwntothewolves.deviantart.com/journal/15787726/ http://throwntothewolves.deviantart.com/journal/15787726/ Tue, 04 Dec 2007 01:37:59 PST
I now reside in Edinburgh.

Epic
No tinternet though or phone.

]]> ~throwntothewolves http://throwntothewolves.deviantart.com/journal/15575812/ http://throwntothewolves.deviantart.com/journal/15575812/ Mon, 19 Nov 2007 11:48:30 PST picking up a thread of pride and self-esteem that has been
almost but not quite, oh no not quite, not ever broken or
forgotten.
When you convene you will be reconvening, with a sense of not
wholly the power, not yet wholly the power, but a good
sense of what was once in the honour of your grasp.
-edwin morgan

]]> ~throwntothewolves http://throwntothewolves.deviantart.com/journal/15461664/ http://throwntothewolves.deviantart.com/journal/15461664/ Sun, 11 Nov 2007 09:51:48 PST
The move is on for the 30th of Novemeber. Leaving dundee for edinburgh. Wont really be in the flat much before so a decent bit of packing has been done. It looks so sad and not very homely.

A holiday has been booked for the week after the move because i'm sure i'll be fuc't off with the whole process so i'm going to berlin for a week.

]]> ~throwntothewolves http://throwntothewolves.deviantart.com/journal/15387811/ http://throwntothewolves.deviantart.com/journal/15387811/ Tue, 06 Nov 2007 07:13:34 PST
lastnight though she finally let go.

funeral on friday

]]> ~throwntothewolves http://throwntothewolves.deviantart.com/journal/14455495/ http://throwntothewolves.deviantart.com/journal/14455495/ Sun, 02 Sep 2007 12:07:15 PDT I'm at my parents house.
I'm cold.
and tired.

I cant deal with how quiet it is.

I got given a commission to take shots of a local nature reserve.

I'll update soon with shots of Istanbul when I get home.

Al

]]> ~throwntothewolves http://throwntothewolves.deviantart.com/journal/14328801/ http://throwntothewolves.deviantart.com/journal/14328801/ Sat, 25 Aug 2007 03:52:04 PDT
So far İ have a couple of hundred shots. Some good ones - or so İ thınk - but mostly they are work related.

Ah it'll soon be over but not in my head.

]]> ~throwntothewolves http://throwntothewolves.deviantart.com/journal/14162078/ http://throwntothewolves.deviantart.com/journal/14162078/ Tue, 14 Aug 2007 08:52:03 PDT
The skyline is filled with massive domed mosques with minarets piercing the sky from where the call to prayers fills the air five times a day. Modern Skyscrapers are beginning to take their place as the city is becoming more prosperous. The locals are proud of the fact and call the section of skyline ‘Istanbul’s Manhattan’. The endless urbanization of the Istanbul is swallowing up every town and village that once was.

People commute like a vast tide of humanity through the city. ‘O-to-bans’ are filled 24hours a day with everything from huge thundering Lorries to electric scooters and cars all dodging everything else in their path using the horn for good measure. Thousands of buses take people to ever corner of the city and pile up three deep wherever there are people waiting by a stop. Trams snake through the twisting city streets of old Istanbul and over the Golden Horn to Taksim. Ferries come and go as people run/walk/pile on until there is no more room - jumping on at the last minute as the ties cast for good measure.

Around the Ports and Bus Stations the city erupts in the early evening as traders start selling everything under the fading sun. The air at the port at Eminönü is filled with frying fish from crazy small boats with flames from the on deck kitchen licking into the night sky.

The garden is perfect example of the insane nature of everyone who lives and works in Istanbul. It is in the middle of an intersection between two motorways – one heading east Ankara the other heading north south to different parts of Istanbul. The roar of the traffic shatters what would otherwise be a tranquil green oasis, in the middle endless tower blocks, and a peaceful night’s sleep.

I love the Anatolian side of Istanbul where I spend my weekdays working. When I leave the garden some evenings I can just fade into the endless diversity of people who live in the city. Istanbul’s history of immigration means the locals have a thousand different faces from all over the world and I can just be. Speaking what Turkish I’ve learned in the past 4 weeks helps and usually get some chat out of whoever we end up speaking to. The fact of where we are means there are no tourists and as a result don’t get the kind of hassle that there is on the European side.

At the weekends some of the people I work with have taken us to various different places. The various museums, to the usual tourist places, to the Princes Islands where there are no cars only horse drawn carts to move people and goods, to back street cafés for some Kahve and Baklava or to a hill top café above massive the massive necropolis in Eyup for a glass of Çay.

There are still three weeks to go and already I have the pangs of regret that I’ll have to leave the Garden the People and the Amazing City.

]]> ~throwntothewolves http://throwntothewolves.deviantart.com/journal/14104022/ http://throwntothewolves.deviantart.com/journal/14104022/ Fri, 10 Aug 2007 10:45:56 PDT
Its damn hot, i'm damn brown, and tıred.

Ä°ts exausting and exciting all at the same time.

i'll write something more profound soon.
Al

]]> ~throwntothewolves http://throwntothewolves.deviantart.com/journal/13731099/ http://throwntothewolves.deviantart.com/journal/13731099/ Sat, 14 Jul 2007 09:54:22 PDT I'm packed and chillin.
Anxious to set off.

I'll try to keepin touch over the next 7 weeks

COME ON!!

]]> ~throwntothewolves http://throwntothewolves.deviantart.com/journal/13607222/ http://throwntothewolves.deviantart.com/journal/13607222/ Wed, 04 Jul 2007 12:45:35 PDT
We were ment to be heading to Turkey on Friday but alas no we've been bumped from the accommodation at the Botanic Garden in istanbul.

So three hours on the phone later after a mission to get flights changed we're goin on the 15th now. Boo

Also...

I got interviewed lastweek for a Botanics Magazine and I got the first draft of the article to read through. Got to get my pic taken with me head first in the Seed Bank.

I've been nominated for an award for my thesis and I've been given one already for, for i'm not really sure for what.

TOO MUCH ]]> ~throwntothewolves http://throwntothewolves.deviantart.com/journal/13546878/ http://throwntothewolves.deviantart.com/journal/13546878/ Sat, 30 Jun 2007 02:13:22 PDT who was having a wee holiday in Edinburgh and I gave her a tour of the Botanics.

It was great meeting her and really enjoyed the couple of hours we hung out.

Check you her Pics...ah go on!
[link]

]]> ~throwntothewolves http://throwntothewolves.deviantart.com/journal/13250111/ http://throwntothewolves.deviantart.com/journal/13250111/ Thu, 07 Jun 2007 09:08:38 PDT
Found out today I'm goin with another student from the Botanics in Edinburgh to work in Istanbul over summer in the Nezahat Gökyigit memorial Botanic Garden.

Sweet

]]> ~throwntothewolves http://throwntothewolves.deviantart.com/journal/13174627/ http://throwntothewolves.deviantart.com/journal/13174627/ Fri, 01 Jun 2007 09:32:31 PDT anyone

I'm so bored of studying
its got be done but come on

save me
anyone

I'm so bored of studying
i've just repeated myself

]]> ~throwntothewolves http://throwntothewolves.deviantart.com/journal/13113109/ http://throwntothewolves.deviantart.com/journal/13113109/ Sun, 27 May 2007 13:43:41 PDT Mad mad wind, rain, sleet and driving snow.

We made it to loch brandy so honour was satisified. It only took about an hours and had to give up.

Drookit rat that what I was like. I took 4 shots they all sucked.

Mission Failed.......

]]> ~throwntothewolves http://throwntothewolves.deviantart.com/journal/13108315/ http://throwntothewolves.deviantart.com/journal/13108315/ Sun, 27 May 2007 02:21:05 PDT
]]> ~throwntothewolves http://throwntothewolves.deviantart.com/journal/13078593/ http://throwntothewolves.deviantart.com/journal/13078593/ Thu, 24 May 2007 16:28:56 PDT
]]> ~throwntothewolves http://throwntothewolves.deviantart.com/journal/13026823/ http://throwntothewolves.deviantart.com/journal/13026823/ Sun, 20 May 2007 14:21:33 PDT
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]]> ~throwntothewolves http://throwntothewolves.deviantart.com/journal/12911422/ http://throwntothewolves.deviantart.com/journal/12911422/ Thu, 10 May 2007 13:55:01 PDT
So I wrote a song.

Freight train came off the rails
delays delays oh oh oh
Writing songs when all else fails

Laughing at people huffing at the time
delays delays oh oh oh
dont they realise it all work out just fine

delays delays oh oh oh
why dont they just get a freakin grip - the fannys!
------------------------------------------------------------------------------

On a happy note.

I was sitting in the library when I realised a squirrel was sitting watching me through the window, back straight, with a pine cone in his paws, chomp-chomp. Then he turned and scurried off the nutty Lord of all he surveys.

]]> ~throwntothewolves http://throwntothewolves.deviantart.com/journal/12838243/ http://throwntothewolves.deviantart.com/journal/12838243/ Fri, 04 May 2007 09:46:38 PDT
Less than 50% of voters got off their backsides to vote. Its not like anything major was at stake - like INDEPENDENCE.

100,000 ballot papers were junked because people couldnt understand the instructions, cross one box in each column on one paper and rank 1 to 10 on the other - difficult.

The new state-of-the-badass-art counting machines would make it quick and easy to work out who won - they didnt.

When exactly did we become a third world country?!?!?!?

]]> ~throwntothewolves http://throwntothewolves.deviantart.com/journal/12701469/ http://throwntothewolves.deviantart.com/journal/12701469/ Mon, 23 Apr 2007 07:27:15 PDT &
Post-modern Polos - only the holes for the pill-popping drugs generation.

]]> ~throwntothewolves