History

Recently whist playing with Galaxus TV which is just free to air television, made available via Galaxus rather than a satellite dish I have been able to revert to the habit of watching niche documentaries, as I used to years ago, when I lived in a house with a satellite dish.

The beauty of broadcast television, in contrast to streaming services, is that you have high quality content that was good enough for broadcast. The other advantage is that content is available two to three episodes per day, rather than all at once as is the case with Netflix, among other platforms.

Yesterday I went out in track suit trousers, a t-shirt and minimal other stuff. The plan was to run just three to four kilometres. I planned not to cross any busy roads. I had this plan because I felt that I needed a day of rest after yesterday’s bike ride.

Garmin wanted me to run for an hour, and Suunto wanted me to have a half hour run. I don’t remember what Apple apps wanted. I chose to follow the Garmin recommendation because I felt fine. I ran into Nyon, and then through the town, and then instead of going through the railway tunnel I turned right. This took me up a little climb, before taking me up another little climb, before taking me down to the lake.

This weekend I didn’t blog because I went on two hikes. The first hike was with the History hiking meetup group, and the second was with a GoSocial group. Both hikes were around 10km in different landscapes. The first one went from Bière to Allaman and the second one went from Haut-De-Caux to the Dent De Jaman and back.

From Bière to the Arboretum

The first hike was with a larger group than usual for this meetup group. Usually we are 3-10 people. This time we were 23 I think, maybe even 25 after a moment. That’s a huge group to hike with. As an introvert I prefer smaller groups.

One of the reasons for which I keep using Facebook has to do with peoples’ sharing of old photos, paintings, sketches and more. I love to see photos of Nyon, Morges, Neuchatel Lausanne and other places through time.

Recently I saw a photo of La Dole with a group of children skiing before the Doppler radar “boule” was installed as well as old photos of the Little Red Train as locals call it. I saw a photo of the steam train that connected Divonne to Nyon before it was removed to make way for the motorway. Part of that line is still used by Landi for farm produce. The rest of it is used as a voie verte for cyclists and walkers to enjoy a path away from cars and other traffic.

Yesterday I went for a hike from Neuchâtel to Valangin. This is a 14 kilometre loop that begins with a relatively steep climb out of the city before heading into the woods. You hear the sounds of the road every so often as you crisscross paths with it. The castle was used from the 12th to the 16th centuries by the Valangin lords.

The Way Up

As I mentioned in the intro the start of the climb is quite steep, through the woods. This requires a certain level of fitness to do comfortable. I could hear quite a few rifle shots because i believe a rifle range is nearby. For some reason I thought I could also hear fireworks being tested.

Recently someone said “I wonder why they would build the Abbey d’Oujon in the middle of nowhere and someone asked the same about Romainmôtier and the idea is an interesting one.

It’s interesting because until motorways and before an extra four to six billion peoples wewre born and survived infancy the world, as a whole was much quieter. Look at photos of villages that are now towns. Look at villages where they have old buildings, and how old villas are now turned into apartment blocks instead.

Recently I have spent more time on Facebook and I have joined a few photo groups. One of them is for the Canton De Vaud, where people are sharing photos they have taken of the region. These photographs are well framed, well lit, and pleasant to look at. It feels like a community of photographers.

Part of my reason for wanting to return to Facebook is this group. If there is a group of local people sharing photographs then there is a good chance that there are other local groups for sharing other images, events and more.

Last night I was reading from a book, rather than from a kindle or audible book. As a result I had to keep the bedside light on. I also had to ensure that the light light the pages of the book. I was reading from the book “Beneath My Feet, Writers on Walking” introduced and edited by Duncan Minshull and I came across an exert written by Karl Philips Moritz. He wrote Journeys of a German in England in 1782.

Two days ago I watched Nanook of the North, a documentary about an Inuit man and his family. This isn’t a documentary in the conventional sense. This documentary dates back to 1922 when the Documentary film was a brand new genre. This is one of the first documentaries, if not the first. I read about it for years, until, when I was watching Northern Exposure I did a search and came across the documentary on Filmin.

Recently I watched a 1930s film about how photographs were transmitted by phone. What makes this feature so interesting is that it is explained in a simple to understand manner, using, string that has an image, of all things. This is a clear explanation of how image sending works, but also how television and other technologies would work in year to come. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cLUD_NGE370

This is about the analogue sending of an analogue image. The image is scanned, “line by line” and sent via an electric current from the sender to the receiver of the image. On one side the scanner detects whether the image fragment is dark or light and the voltage changes accordingly. This is reflected on the other side to expose the film to reflect the image. Over the space of a few minutes the image gets sent from A to B, to be used in newspapers.