The Unmade Podcast - Special: Picture in 1000 Words

Episode Date: September 1, 2020

Three listeners tell us about a picture in 1000 words - following up an idea from episode 54. Support the show on Patreon - it helps us make more episodes and you get access to extra bonus stuff - https://www.patreon.com/unmadeFM Join the discussion of this episode on our subreddit - https://redd.it/ikje8y USEFUL LINKS Episode 54 - in which the idea was first discussed - https://www.unmade.fm/episodes/episode54 Brady describes his Everest 8848 picture in 1000 words - YouTube video - https://youtu.be/Yfcja95NMYo All three pictures discussed in this episode - they are on one page, stacked in the order they are discussed - https://www.unmade.fm/picture-in-1000-words

Hey there everyone, unfortunately Tim is a little bit under the weather, so we're not recording as usual today. You're stuck with just me, but that's okay, because there's actually something I've been wanting to share with you all that doesn't actually require a whole lot of talking from me or Tim. You might remember back in episode 54, I had an idea that was called a picture in a thousand words, and that was when I was talking about the idea of people describing a photo or a picture of their choice and having to do it with a thousand words playing on that old cliche. In that episode I used an example a picture I had taken of Mount Everest and I spoke about it in exactly 1,000 words. Well anyway since then we've had a few listener submissions and I'm to play some of them now

Just thought you could have a listen Now obviously in each case the listener is talking about a picture So how are you going to look at that picture? You've got choices Some people might not want to see the picture They might want to have just the words and look at the picture afterwards They might not want to see the picture at all Or you might want to see the picture before the talking even starts

I don't really know how you want to play this one So I'm going to have links to all the pictures in the description, in the notes for the podcast. Also, as usual, the podcast is going to exist on YouTube. So if you're watching and listening on YouTube, what I'm going to do is I'm going to have the picture slowly fade into existence as the talking goes. So if you don't want to see the pictures, look away or minimize the window or something like that. The picture won't be there from the start. It will just sort of slowly appear like a sort of ghosty image, I think. I think that's how I'm going to do it. Anyway, that's enough from me. Let's hear from the listeners. And first, we're going to hear from Marie.

From Marie. When you see this photograph, you might think it was taken in a rainforest, a wildlife park, or possibly on a tropical island. You might not expect a photograph of wild fruit bats dangling from a large, shady tree to be connected with a library. But these fuzzy, flying foxes call the library in Cairns, Australia their home, and I almost miss seeing them completely, but we'll get to that. To really tell the story of this photograph, I must explain how I got there. It actually begins with my first solo trip from the United States to Australia. Australia is well known for its unique and vibrant wildlife and awe-inspiring landscapes. That's why, in the summer of 2019, I packed my bags for a two-week solo trip to Australia and New Zealand. My main goal? See as much wildlife

as I could. I had already spent a few days in Sydney and the surrounding areas. There I saw cockatoos, parrots, koalas, kangaroos, covering all the stereotypical bases. Then I headed north toward Cairns, where I would visit the Great Barrier Reef and the rainforest. During these explorations, I saw clownfish and barracudas, crocodiles and snakes, and countless other unique animals. But the day I wandered into the Cairns Library is the experience I remember the most. In the United States for my day job, I'm a school librarian, so I understand the amazing resources libraries offer. Whenever I travel, I make it a point to visit city libraries because they often display innovative architecture, have historical significance, and usually include different free historical exhibitions. They also make a great free place to sit and relax after a long day of traveling.

On this particular day, I had a lull in my itinerary, a free day to explore the city and rest in between all-day expeditions. This was the perfect day to visit the Kansas City Library, a small library in the middle of the bustling city that is surrounded by luscious green trees on two sides. I wandered past the white columns and through the front doors of the quaint, cozy library. Surrounded by books and locals taking advantage of the library's resources, I explored the books and amenities, eventually settling in a comfortable chair near a large glass window in the back of the building. I spent a couple of hours reading, listening to music, and people watching. Once I felt refreshed and recharged, I gathered my belongings and started making my way back to my hotel. But as I ventured around the building, a sign caught my eye. The sign read, Aerobatic Display, and included artists' renderings of friendly-looking

fruit bats. My heart jumped. Bats are one of my favorite animals that I've never seen in the wild. I knew there wouldn't be a sign about bats if they didn't live nearby, but I also didn't want to get my hopes up. After all, bats live in the forest, right? What would they be doing in the middle of the city? Even if the bats were living in the city, there were probably only a few, and the chances of me seeing them were likely low. I had been burned on other trips by the promise of bats, only to find I was there in the wrong season

and didn't get to see any of them. Nevertheless, I stayed optimistic and began looking around the library grounds, but I didn't see any bats. I started walking toward the back of the building, and as I got closer, I started hearing these high-pitched screeches. The bats must have been chattering with each other. I quickly followed the sounds, not wanting to miss the action. When I arrived at the back of the library, I found a large tree enclosed by an iron fence just tall enough to keep people out. My eyes traveled from the ground up toward the top of the tree, and the sight made me realize there was no rush.

I wasn't going to miss any action, and the promise of bats was not a dream. It was reality. Because high in the tree, dangling by their feet, wrapped in leathery wings with tufts of yellow fur vibrant against their dark bodies, were hundreds of sleeping fruit bats, each one nearly 30 centimeters tall. I was so enthralled by the bats that I just stood watching them for a long time. Some were asleep, others would stretch their wings, a few would hop to a different branch or fly from tree to tree, some would scratch an itch or clean their fur, but they all kept to themselves, living harmoniously with the Cairns citizens, protected by conservation efforts and the Cairns Library. Of course, I immediately grabbed

my camera and snapped as many photographs as I could, including this one, to try and capture the multitude of bats and their adorable little faces. But I also did some research on them and found out that the spectacled flying fox is a threatened species, and this is one of the few places to see these amazing megabats. During the day, they roost in this tree behind the library as they have been doing for years. Then, when the sun goes down, they take flight, disappearing into the rainforest to munch on juicy fruits that grow in the trees of the Australian coast. I knew I had to see these majestic creatures take flight, so I waited outside the library till dusk, ready to photograph the flying foxes doing what they do best. As promised, when the sun

hid itself behind the horizon and the moon came out to play, one by one the bats soared through the sky. It was almost like something out of a horror movie. The sky was covered with giant bats in flight. But within moments, it was as if they were never there. And the next day, as I walked past the library again, it was as if they had never left. How good was that? I really liked that. Thanks, Marie. Next, here's Harry. I get very sentimental about pictures. This one in particular was taken on the 15th of May 2020, during one of the weekly walks I would take to escape the lockdown madness

that would sometimes creep in during the height of the coronavirus pandemic in 2020. As a nerd who really likes to sit inside editing, drawing, playing video games and browsing the internet, I'd never really ventured out into my immediate neighbourhood just for the sake of it. So with regard to this particular nature trail I found myself on, I knew it was here, but it was an untapped goldmine of scenic views and nature and a breath of fresh air from beyond my messy bedroom. I'd walked a similar route to this one or two times before, just a few weeks earlier. I was particularly excited about this adventure though, as before it had just been through fields and open spaces. On this occasion I would be like a Victorian explorer hacking through trees and overgrowth on a half-maintained path through the woods. I'm in Nottingham, so at some point in time this was

probably part of the esteemed Sherwood Forest. The thing that struck me the most about the woodland walk in this area was just how arbitrary the path seemed. The thing that struck me the most about the woodland walk in this area was just how arbitrary the path seemed. The area immediately around me was flat, and so whilst there were some hills and elevation about 10 metres away, there was no real obligation for me to stick to the path. I could branch off, pardon the pun, into the trees and bushes and wander around there should I desire. So that's exactly what I did. Deciding that I wanted to savour this walk, I stepped off the somewhat beaten path and into the muddy ground of the forest surrounding me.

Here, dear listener, we hit our first wonderfully contrived point of sentiment. On my standard government-appointed one hour of time allowed out of the house for walking, down a pre-laid path on a trail fraught with dog walkers and the steps of those who had come before me, I was stepping off the path. Matters were being taken to my own hands. It's a small moment and not something I put much thought into at the time, but like with most things in life, you can find meaning if you look hard enough.

After that laughably small detail, I began my hunt. Not for anything in particular, I was just excited to be roaming freely amongst the trees. Quickly I had encountered the aforementioned hills, and a childish, long-dormant part of my body activated. That feeling of physicality. The same feeling of when you're in the garden as a kid, and all you can do is run around and jump and climb and put your body to good use. It was a nice feeling, and one you don't quite get playing Minecraft or watching primitive technology on YouTube. At this point I had begun to notice things. I encountered to my disgust a small pile of beer bottles and debris pushed up against a birch tree.

No doubt the site of some party or get-together. An interesting find, but also clean up your flippin' bottles. I did decide at this point that maybe some pictures might be apt. Why the hell not? I'm out here having fun, and it beats being locked behind closed doors by the pandemic. This was a simple snap that I'm not particularly fond of, just the side of some tree in focus and the magic of the wilderness in the blurred background. Hiking on further, I came across another interesting sight, which I also decided to snap a picture of. This picture I am happy with, although it's a little difficult to distinguish what it is due

to the overabundance of colour. It's a discarded water bottle that has given a home to moss and plant life inside of it. It's impossible to say how long it's been there, but clearly long enough to develop an ecosystem of its own. And at last, we come to the picture itself. Lying atop some mud and moss is what seems to be a chair from an old car. It's been battered and beaten up by the weather, possibly for a number of years, and the fabric has been torn and degraded because of it. years, and the fabric has been torn and degraded because of it. Surrounding the chairs are the hands of nature, twigs, dirt, leaves, lichen, trees and plants. The reach of Mother Earth has even taken over the chair itself, bits of moss using the back support of the chair for a home. I really like this image because to me it represents a balance between man and nature. Man has done nothing but conquer nature for hundreds of years,

but here we can see the reverse, or at least a tiny pocket of it. To me, this image looks like a piece of meat thrown to a hungry dog. The chair has been chewed up, attacked and swallowed by nature, and what we're looking at is just the bit that's left over. Just instead of food, it's rubbish. From a technical point of view, I chose this image over the bottle one because it's easier to look at. You can make out clearly what everything is, an important part of photography to remember. Exposure, depth, motion, these things are no good if you can't tell what's being photographed. I don't know if this chair is still out there. Perhaps some council worker came and hauled it off to the tip

a few days later. Maybe it'll be here for another 10, 15 years to come. But in some ways it doesn't matter. For I know that what I saw was just a single fragment of a bigger picture. I hate litter, I know, crazy. But I enjoy the questions it asks. How did this chair get here? Who did it belong to? And how the hell did the seat from a car end up lodged in the ground in a Nottinghamshire wood? Great stuff, our thanks to Harry. Now, here we have Desi. Quickly saw my chug that leftover crackling brew. It's chilled, I've got a popsack here and my overalls will be sorted.

Wise words spoken by many a drunk Rhodes University student, or rodent, as they're affectionately called, on the verge of yet another epic mare of a trivarsity. Rhodes University is located in Grahamstown, or Makanda as it's been renamed, which in all fairness is totally called for because Colonel Graham was quite the twit. It's located in the Eastern Cape of South Africa, and once a year, the three dominant Eastern Cape universities of Fort Hare, Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, or NMMU for short, and Rhodes University meet up for a full weekend sports tournament, otherwise known as Trivarsity, or Trivar if you're local. to snooker, the various university teams put the best of their best sportsmen against each other to see who's superior, and it all culminates in a final rugby game of epic proportions,

which always features at least two streakers. However, as is tradition, no one really cares about the sport. The spectating is where it's at. A fog of near-constant drunkenness envelops all the students for practically the entirety of the weekend, as completely pissed young adults cheer on chess players and blow vuvuzelas at hockey games, outcharting the opposition as a league of its own. Rhodes' colours are purple and white, so the local pharmacies all sell out of gentine violet, a cheapest chips antiseptic used to treat fungal infections, but which rodents have discovered also works incredibly well as purple dye.

Hair, skin, overalls, everything gets the patriotic purple treatment. In case that wasn't enough, each university has its own distinct overalls to distinguish students from the masses. An MMU wears navy blue, Rhodes we know is white and purple, Fort Hare is black and white. Permanent markers come out to play and messages are written in shaky handwriting on the overalls, adding to last year's drunken inscriptions of pure rubbish. Send your kids to Rhodes, don't make them here. Get this, woman of bells. Viv loves you, and for some reason, you owe me chips,

are some of the more legible messages I'll find on my particular set. In the grand tradition of broke students across the world, the alcohol consumed is always cheap enough not to break the bank, and strong enough to melt the shrubbery you invariably vomit into a couple of hours later. This year in particular I remember we tried mixing cane with pineapple juice. Cane is a particular horror not commonly found across the globe and it's distilled from the leftovers from sugar cane production. But don't worry guys it's gluten free and also potent enough to strip the paint from an oil rigger. For some reason we decided mixing it with very sweet and very acidic pineapple juice was genius. Not sure why, it was probably on

bulk special. Now nearly 10 years later I still heave a bit at even the sight of a Hawaiian pizza. On this particular evening of tropical trivarsity tipsiness, I decided to head out into the night's festivities fully kitted with my beloved DSLR camera to grab some shots for the local newspaper, Grokot's Mail, South Africa's old and independent paper, an institution of integrity and class. Being a journalism student, of course, I had to try get some drunken debauchery on its front cover. Think of what a beautiful addition to the portfolio that would make. After the usual pre-drinking, the time-honoured student tradition where you get as drunk as possible at home before heading out so as to save money, we staggered onto the great field to watch Jack Parrow perform to the rowdy mob.

If you've never heard of Jack Parrow, he's the Zeph artist South Africans actually listens to. No one here cares about Die Antwort. They're weird. Guys, please stop encouraging them. We traipsed around the staggering crowds and I snapped photos of dancing drunks, happy drunks, crying drunks, a passed out girl and her friend whose hair was leaking gentine violet into a gutter, and one arbitrary security guard who'd given up on

keeping order and was reading a book behind some bicycle sheds instead. When we were just about to head out into town to see what havoc was being released onto the streets, we heard a momentous cheer rise from the direction of the Great Hall. We headed straight for the commotion, and rounding the corner, we came across a magical sight, and I quickly snapped said photo. An MMU student had impressively managed to climb the plinth of our Joan of Arc statue, much to the crowd's amusement, and cell phones were abound as everyone captured the once-in-a-lifetime scene. We all called the statue Joan of Arc, but we actually don't know who it is. The dates on the plinth are for the two great wars so perhaps it's just a soldier? No one knows.

But that night I'd seen someone get more intimate with that statue than ever before in my many years at Rhodes. Security very quickly descended onto the scene and the mystery climber managed to slip away into the cheering crowd. I'm a little bleak it wasn't a Rhodes student who managed the epic feat. Many tried replicating the scene afterwards, but to no avail. Sadly, said photo didn't make the Grokot's front cover. Another one of mine did.

A touching portrait of a rodent and an NMMU student smiling beautifully together with arms locked around shoulders in a touching display of cross-varsity brotherhood. The NMMU dude also happened to have two full cans of beer strapped to his head with tubes leading out for easy drinking access, which I'm sure severely disgruntled the local elderly readership. But everyone knows that's what Trivarsity is really all about. Sharing a beer with new mates. And streaking. And statue climbing. And Gentine violet lots of jane teen violet

that's all for now we are open to maybe doing this again sometime if you want to put in some 1000 word submissions the email is unmadefm at gmail.com and get well soon tim we'll be back with a normal episode very soon