On Data - Nathan Oostendorp / Mac Slocum / O'Reilly Radar (Thu 16 Oct 2014)

It is not the End It is the Beginning - Gozo / Malta (Tue 23 Sep 2014)
Nathan Oostendorp (*) writes on Data (*):

the next Industrial Revolution is about automating the collection of that data, it’s about being able to get insights out of that data that you wouldn’t be able to without a computer, and it’s about being able to do predictive and prescriptive adjustments to a [..] process

via Signals from Strata + Hadoop World New York 2014 (*) by Mac Slocum (o*).

I'm spending more and more time every day on this very thing. It is challenging and very interesting. Starting to make some breakthroughs with the software and with those who ask the questions. Often I am finding answers to questions that have not even been thought of, or asked. So in some ways it feels like a new beginning for an old dog like me.

The Great Gift of the Free Web - The Technium (27 Apr 2011)

It has made some goods so cheap to acquire -- like answers, encyclopedia facts, directions, weather reports, recommendations -- that we generate entirely new realms of activity by doing far more of them.

More is different. We ask so many more questions than before that this ask-and-answer is something new. Have you ever wondered where all our questions were before search engines? We didn't even bother to ask them.

From Would You Pay For Search? by The Technium (27 Apr 2011).

Learning ..

Hidden in one of Drew Ginn's recent Blog Posts is this little piece on pushing yourself, motivation, challenges and learning - something I have done a lot of over the last 8-9 months. Thought I would pull it out here so that I can remember this great little piece of writing. Here it is:

[..] I learned to ride my rhythm, to find my own groove and to sit on the knife edge with fatigue, discomfort and sweat surrounding, penetrating and leaving me. At no stage was it intense like a rowing race or a super burst of effort. It was an experience in sustaining a level of force which body and mind was saying, 'BACK OFF'.

Like some sinister and shadowy creator holding an emotional gun to my head. Tempting as it might have been I had committed to the 7 days and on the last to having a great ride with heaps of challenge.

You could say I learned what I have learned before and now I have been reminded of it again.

Stretching and challenging is healthy. It requires us to keep pushing and to keep seeking motivation for why we would continue on. Why I asked my self on more than one occasion during the 7 days. Even as I spent the day at back home yesterday I was still asking why.

Placing your self in a challenging situation forces the questions to be asked.

I did this by going to Tassie to train with a good friend.

To train in a way which would force the questions to come thick and fast and they did and with each and every moment which one appeared I toiled and churned it around to cultivate and see what I would learn about self, others and the World I am in.

Again I say why? To learn is the only answer which I could find. To Learn, but why? It gives life.

Maybe. It brings clarity. Not always. It energises, YES, but it can also be draining.

Why then would I do any of this? Why would you? To be challenged is something which for sometime now I have said is a reason for my motivation. Maybe challenge is not enough.

Challenge without the acknowledgment of the learning required and needed is only one side of the coin. What happens if every time we toss it and it only ever landed on the challenge side.

We might assume that is all there is. Every stage, moment, event, session, day, hour and minute if challenged we might eventually find little else but a sense of seeking something which never ends.

Flipping the coin, the moment, experience and our perception can bring light to the other side or even sides. Maybe less a coin and more a cube it is with multiple sides and perspectives. A cube like RUBIX which starts out perfect with all colours separated on each side.

Then with everyday the play, the games, and events acting to jumble the cube until we finally realise it is rearranged.

How we feel about that becomes essential and what we do with it becomes simple a challenge. From this rearranged state we might begin to work to find the form or the essence of this box or cube. Learning to work with it in what ever state jumble or un-jumbled becomes important I think. Living with and learning from it. The challenge of it, the frustration and the joy.

So there it is I have gone away for 7 days of challenge which was more about learning than anything else.

Orange Bike - Toulouse - Fri 25 Sep 2009

On Introspection - William Deresiewicz (Oct 2009)

Untitlted - Zurich (Thu 25 Sep 2014)

William Deresiewicz on Introspection:

Introspection means talking to yourself, and one of the best ways of talking to yourself is by talking to another person. One other person you can trust, one other person to whom you can unfold your soul. One other person you feel safe enough with to allow you to acknowledge things—to acknowledge things to yourself — that you otherwise can’t. Doubts you aren’t supposed to have, questions you aren’t supposed to ask. Feelings or opinions that would get you laughed at by the group or reprimanded by the authorities.

This is what we call thinking out loud, discovering what you believe in the course of articulating it.

via Solitude and Leadership by William Deresiewicz.

On Art - Thomas Barnett (Fri 08 Aug 2014)

Scaffolding (* - Just off Oxford Street / London (Sun 18 Aug 2013)
Thomas Barnett (*) writes On Art (*):

the most fundamental of questions about art – if it has no audience, does it exist?

via The beautiful desecration of Vivian Maier (*) by Thomas Barnett (*). More on Vivian Maier (*).

The Beauty in Small Things - Francisco Cubillo (Sun 12 Jun 2016)

stairs - White Rabbit Gallery / Chippendale (Sat 11 Jun 2016)

Francisco Cubillo on Small Things:

[With photography] beauty is found within simplicity, which is portrayed in small things that most people take for granted

via 5 questions for a Costa Rican photographer by Elizabeth Lang.

The little things I appreciated here are the lines of the handrail and the light on the steps in contrast to the staircase darkness.

More on Photography and Story Telling - Colin Pantall (Wed 15 Oct 2014)

Just Because I Really Love You (c) - Bologna (Fri 29 Aug 2014)
Colin Pantall (*) writes on Story Telling (*) and Photography (*) through the 2014 Booker Prize (*) awarded to Richard Flanagan (*) who:

worked for 12 years to tell this story. He told it as a love story because he says that while war stories dark about death, war also illuminates love (*) which is the greatest expression of hope (*). It's what we live (*) for.

And because it's what we live for, it's what we want to read about. Flanagan has every reason to be self-indulgent and wallow in his father's misery, but it seems like he's translating the story for readership. He's reaching out, he's editing (*), he's adapting (*), he's simplifying (*), he's making it a story that has been written for the reader. It's written on the reader's terms.

Colin questions and challenges Photographers (*)

I think an interesting question here is how often do photographers do this?; go out to the reader and sacrifice their self-indulgence to tell the story well? How often do they do this, how often don't they do this?

via Whatever Evil is, it wasn't in that Room (*) by Colin Pantall (*).

On Belief - The Other Half - Jeremy Rolleston / Dare to Dream (Tue 16 Oct 2012)

2012 Pacific Dragons 200m Mixed 10's Crew - 2012 World Club Crew Dragon Boat Championships - Hong Kong (Thu 03 Jul 2012)
(f/l-r) Rachel Giang, Tony Pound, Peter McAlister, Cliff Tonga
(b/l-r) Charlotte Richards, Geoff Eldridge (that would be me), Emma Walsh, Steph Kerr, Liz Cowen, Lisa Mills, Kelly Turner, John Hamilton, Craig Stewart, Tim Vose
"What a great event (*) and a great day - a privilege to paddle with you all and a personal highlight.
Thanks .. Geoff"
Jeremy Rolleston (*) writes:

Belief (*) is just one part of the journey (*).

The other half is:

• determination (*),
• hard-work,
• stubborness,
• perseverence,
• desire,
• discipline,
• training,
• willingness to critique and learn
• and so on.

So count the cost before you start and know that when you face obstacles on your path to success, you will no doubt face the cold hard questions.

What will be your answer?

Via To dare – the quest of Mt Midoriyama (*)

2012 Pacific Dragons 200m Mixed 10's Crew Final - 2012 World Club Crew Dragon Boat Championships - Hong Kong (Thu 03 Jul 2012)

Creme Brulee with LottieP - Sydney Mint Cafe (Fri 25 Mar 2011)

creme brulee #1 - Sydney Mint Cafe (Fri 25 Mar 2011)
creme brulee #2 - Sydney Mint Cafe (Fri 25 Mar 2011)
creme brulee #3 - Sydney Mint Cafe (Fri 25 Mar 2011)
Had the pleasure of sharing lunch with Charlotte, a paddling buddy and fellow Blogger known as LotttieP.


Charlotte - Sydney Mint Cafe (Fri 25 Mar 2011)
Charlotte has three active blogs:

• These Fragments
• A Place a Day
• Sydney Spy

A brief skim through her blogs and you will quickly see that she is an amazingly talented writer and photographer.

Charlotte has inspired and encouraged me with my own humble efforts here on eljeiffel.

Charlotte has a great knowledge of the Arts and Fashion, shoes being an admitted obsession. I will always remember the beautiful red shoes she wore on the sandy shores of the Hawkesbury River at Windsor as we rigged our OC6 for the 2010 Hawkesbury Canoe Classic.

I have often sought advice from Charlotte and she has always responded with much generosity to my naive questions and has knowingly and unknowingly contributed to many of my posts here.

Thank you Charlotte.

On Giving - Jim Mortram / Colin Pantall's blog (Wed 23 Oct 2013)

Cafe Bar - Lisbon (Wed 14 Aug 2013)
From the wonderful series, Dos and Don'ts (*), Jim Mortram (*) writes On Giving (*):

Don't keep that which you have learned for yourself. If you teach 100 people to use a chisel, you'll find a hundred different sculptures will be made as a result of learing to use that tool

from which he expands:

let all you know flow through like a river, those waters will irrigate future minds, their ideas will blossom, you'll have played a vital, sustaining part in that growth.

via Reach Out/Ask Questions: Jim Mortram's Dos and Don'ts (*) at Colin Pantall's blog (*).

On Vision - Sebastian Coe / The Winning Mind (Book)

Speakers Corner - Hyde Park / London (Sun 18 Aug 2013)
Sebastian Coe (*) writes on the importance of Vision (*):

It goes without saying that negative thoughts are not helpful.

Questions and feedback are constructive, but negativity needs to be batted away.

That is when the vision (*) that drives the daily effort is so important in crowding out those moments of doubt.

via The Winning Mind (*) by Sebastian Coe (*).

On the Verge of Success and Failure - Garry Winogrand / Mason Resnick / Trent Parke / Spencer Lum

Eros - Shaftesbury Memorial Fountain / Piccadilly Circus / London (Fri 12 Sep 2014)

Garry Winogrand on Art, Success and Failure:

the most successful art is almost on the verge of failure

via Coffee and Workprints: A Workshop With Garry Winogrand by Mason Resnick.

A favourite quote, from the many I've collected here over the years. I like it because it is so true in Art and Photography, but also Paddling and Life.

I am reminded of it every now and then in my own life, through my photography and paddling experiences. And today was one of those days ...

The Sun rose over the City skyline as we did our Thursday morning high intensity session in two, six person outrigger canoes. We do short interval efforts (level 4, level 4+) over repeat efforts of 8, 4, 2 and 1 minute. It's at a pace and intensity that can be maintained for these short time periods which is a bit higher than our race pace intensity (level 3) which we maintain for much longer periods.

We are pushing ourselves at Level 4 and the rhythm in the canoe is often not quite as nice as it would be at level 3 or 2. Our effort and technique is on the edge, on "the verge of failure or breaking down".

As I reflect over a 10 year paddling career, I have found that the best Training Sessions and Races have been the ones where everything is just a little out of control and uncomfortable. It's like a being on a knife edge or the edge of a precipices. It's that boundary between the known and unknown, good and bad, success and failure, and courage and fear (thanks Kayleene). And ultimately, the fault line between our past and future (thanks for that one Chantel).

It can be stressful and can feel like a feisty prickly relationship. A disonnance. And often questions and self-doubts rise to the surface.

When you are on the edge, you are pushing yourself to the limit of your abilities and beyond. And, with that comes the risk that you push too far and fail, or you just find that easy comfort zone and also fail through a lost effort and opportunity.

Disappointment may come with the failure, but if you reflect and abstract a learning, then you are more experienced and capable for the next effort. And often, as Trent Parke succinctly notes:

mistakes and accidents usually lead to the best discoveries.

You are learning, broadening your experiences and creating the future opportunity for "successful art", if you keep caring and trying.

I love that feeling of "being on the edge of failure". Instead of fighting it, try to find it and some comfort in the uncomfort, and in the knowledge that this is, as Spencer Lum astutely notes:

where all the good stuff happens

As Jenny said, Give it a try, step outside of your comfort zone. You might be surprised where it can take you ...

Don't wonder 'What if?' - Jenny P

Shake it Out - Florence + The Machine / Saturday Night Live (Sat 19 Nov 2011)

Florence + The Machine - Shake It Out (Live on SNL)

I have always loved live performance. The display of skill and passion, along with the rawness being the appeal. And this is the best from the last 7 years here at eljeiffel.

"Oh The Drama" in the Lyrics. And an amazing Performance . Wow!! You can see it in her. That she is loving what she is doing and thst she is sharing her gift to move us.

To the lyrics, I would add my own Optimistic and Naive view of Life and the World ..

you can't keep a good dog down [..]

a candle burns brightest before it goes out [..]

Such a nice song and performance to finish on here at eiffel. As they say:

a star burns brightest before it dies

And this is how it has felt this last year, particularly the last few months.

And so it is onto the last few posts, where my work will be done here.

Shake it Out - Florence + The Machine (Lyrics)

Regrets collect like old friends
Here to relive your darkest moments
I can see no way, I can see no way
And all of the ghouls come out to play

And every demon wants his pound of flesh
But I like to keep some things to myself
I like to keep my issues drawn
It's always darkest before the dawn

And I've been a fool and I've been blind
I can never leave the past behind
I can see no way, I can see no way
I'm always dragging that horse around

All of his questions, such a mournful sound
Tonight I'm gonna bury that horse in the ground
So I like to keep my issues drawn
But it's always darkest before the dawn

Shake it out, shake it out, shake it out, shake it out, ooh whoa
Shake it out, shake it out, shake it out, shake it out, ooh whoa
And it's hard to dance with a devil on your back
So shake him off, oh whoa

And I am done with my graceless heart
So tonight I'm gonna cut it out and then restart
'Cause I like to keep my issues drawn
It's always darkest before the dawn

Shake it out, shake it out, shake it out, shake it out, ooh whoa
Shake it out, shake it out, shake it out, shake it out, ooh whoa
And it's hard to dance with a devil on your back
So shake him off, oh whoa

And it's hard to dance with a devil on your back
And given half the chance would I take any of it back
It's a fine romance but it's left me so undone
It's always darkest before the dawn

Oh whoa, oh whoa...

And I'm damned if I do and I'm damned if I don't
So here's to drinks in the dark at the end of my road
And I'm ready to suffering and I'm ready to hope
It's a shot in the dark aimed right at my throat
'Cause looking for heaven, found the devil in me
Looking for heaven, found the devil in me
Well what the hell I'm gonna let it happen to me, yeah

Shake it out, shake it out, shake it out, shake it out, ooh whoa
Shake it out, shake it out, shake it out, shake it out, ooh whoa
And it's hard to dance with a devil on your back
So shake him off, oh whoa

Shake it out, shake it out, shake it out, shake it out, ooh whoa
Shake it out, shake it out, shake it out, shake it out, ooh whoa
And it's hard to dance with a devil on your back
So shake him off, oh whoa

And out of the the darkeness a new bright light will glow ..

Shake it Out - Florence + The Machine - Saturday Night Live (Sat 19 Nov 2011)

On Connections - Jo Rowling - Harvard Commencement Speech (Thu 05 Jun 2008)

Jo and Tokyo Students [1] - Gold Palace / Kyoto (Sat 15 Sep 2012)
In her 2008 Harvard Commencement Speech (*), Jo Rowling (*) quotes an Anceint Greek Historian and Writer by the of Plutarch (*):

What we achieve inwardly will change outer reality.

where she expands:

That is an astonishing statement and yet proven a thousand times every day of our lives.

It expresses, in part, our inescapable connection with the outside world, the fact that we touch other people's lives simply by existing.

[1] The students had just finished asking Joanne a number of questions for a school assignment testing their English. They were very nice to us and put smiles on our faces.

The Warrior and the beginning of his struggle

At the beginning of his struggle, the warrior of light stated: 'I have dreams.'

After some years, he realises that it is actually possible to reach his goal; he knows that he will be rewarded.

At that moment, he feels sad. He knows about other people's unhappiness, about the loneliness and frustration experienced by a large section of humanity, and he does not believe that he deserves what he is about to receive.

His angel whispers: 'Give it all up.' The warrior kneels down and offers God his conquests.

That act of surrender forces the warrior to stop asking foolish questions and helps him to overcome his feelings of guilt.

From the Manual of Warrior of Light by Paulo Coelho - (more here)

'I have a Dream' - King Street / Newtown - Fri 26 Feb 2010 (picasa)

Identity by Mark Dobson

Identity is the way you see yourself and what you feel your role on the planet is.

When our identity is clear it results in our destiny.

Mark Dobson

Stumbled across this last week. Really interesting to me and quite relevant. Definitely made me think a lot about what has happened (an inkling here and here) and what could be (just as vague an inkling here). In some ways I have lived this and know it to be true, how else can it all be explained? Anyway, hope you find it just as interesting.

In some ways the Indentity/Destiny quote above is similar to a recent quote from Seth Godin:

The experiences you create are the moments that define you.


Identity (page 1 of 20) by Mark Dobson
This is a chapter out of a presently unreleased book on the Thought Behind Elite Level Performance, by Mark Dobson. The chapter explores how the way you see yourself impacts your performance. It offers strategies and insights on how to adjust your identity with a series of workshop questions at the end. It uses all sporting examples but is easy to relate any life.

On What is Seen - Michael David Murphy (Mon 12 May 2014)

Untitled - Oxford Street (Sat 17 Aug 2013)
Michael David Murphy (*) writes On What is Seen (*):

how we see is less important than what is seen. The former are questions for a machine: which lens? Which film? Which speed? The latter includes the most severe and gut-wrenching choices for a dedicated, free-thinking artist.

via Michael David Murphy on The Americans (*) by Michael David Murphy (*).

You can recognize a Warrior of the Light by the look in his eye.

You can recognize a Warrior of the Light by the look in his eye. Warriors of the Light are in the world, they form part of the world and they were sent into the world without saddlebags or sandals. They are often cowardly. They do not always act correctly.

Warriors of the Light are wounded by the most foolish things, they worry about trivialities, they believe themselves incapable of growing. Warriors of the Light sometimes believe themselves unworthy of any blessing or miracle.

Warriors of the Light often ask themselves what they are doing here. Often they find their lives meaningless.

That is why they are Warriors of Light. Because they fail. Because they ask questions. Because they keep looking for a meaning. And, in the end, they will find it.

Another passage from Paulo Coelho's - 'The Manual of the Warrior Light'. Just seems appropriate at the moment.


Geoff and Lynn - maybe 1963 ? - "Lynn has this: one of my earliest memories - sitting on top the lounge having our photo taken." - Tamworth (picasa)

Geoff - New York City Marathon - Nov 1990 - Brooklyn (picasa)

Geoff and Jenny - The Summit - Feb 1999 (picasa)

Jenny and Geoff - "In Love and Together - the most amazing day of my life." - Wedding Day - Sun 30 April 2000 (picasa)

Jenny and Geoff - "love and exhilaration" - Cape Leveque - 9 May 2001 (picasa)

Geoff - "I just called to say I love you Jenny" - Tomeree / Port Stephens - 10 Nov 2001 (picasa)

"Despair" - Canberra - Sat 14 Mar 2005 (picasa)

Geoff and Jenny - "Great Ocean Road Road Trip - post Nationals at Nagambie - a burnt throat from an intensive bout of radiation treatment, made it almost impossible for Jenny to eat for 3 weeks, but it would not stop her from smiling .. Jo and I now wear the chain Jenny is wearing - Jo as a bracelet and me as a chain - Jo's 2009 Xmas Present to me." - Point Londsdale - 20 Apr 2006 (picasa)

Jenny, Geoff and Joanne - "thank you" - Thu 26 Mar 2009 - Fitzroy Island

Jenny, Geoff, Joanne - "State vs State - National Champs" - Kawana - Thu 23 Apr 2009 (picasa)

Eugene and Geoff - Premier Open 200m Presentation - "PD's - nine from nine !! - I did not really want this weekend to end as I kind of knew the end was beginning to start (Editors: An End has a Start)." - Kawana - Sun 26 Apr 2009 (picasa)

Jenny, Joanne, David and Geoff - "Jenny takes a photo of us all just before she heads out to have a 4cm brain tumor removed. She had no fear and looked forward to quickly recovering to resume the treatment of the tumors in her liver." - 6:30am Wed 17 Jun 2009 (picasa)

Geoff by Jenny - "The last photo Jenny ever took - about 1 hour before her heart failed as she ate her lunch (beef stroganoff) - she was revived twice and survived another week in intensive care where her lungs ultimately failed from a massive pulmonary hemorrhage - as Jodie, Jenny's Oncologist, said 'it started with the lungs and ended with the lungs'" - Tue 23 Jun 2009 (picasa)

Geoff - "an early start for the first day of the rest of my life - 'where do you start?'" - Alexandria - 7am Wed 01 Jul 2009 (picasa)

Geoff - post 200m Senior Open Final "letting go" - Racice/Prague 2009 - 28 Aug 2009 (picasa)

Geoff and Joanne - "World Champs - dreams can come true even when you would least expect it!" - Racice/Prague - Sat 29 Aug 2009 (picasa)

Geoff, Mike and Joanne - "Jenny's Paddle and Gold Medal" - Prague/Racice - Day 5 - Sun 30 Aug 2009 (picasa)

Me and Teal - "Always be nice to a dog - always say hello to a dog" - Victor Hugo Market Restaurants - Toulouse - Sun 19 Sep 2009 (picasa)

Geoff and Joanne at Fabio Casartelli's Memorial - "we stumbled upon it by complete accident" - "It's not about the Paddle" - Col de Portet d'Aspet - Wed 23 Sep 2009 (picasa)

Geoff, Jo, Family and Friends - "Remembering and Honouring - Jenny's Flowers on the Water" - Sun 07 Dec 2009 (picasa)

Geoff, Jo, Family and Friends - "Remembering and Honouring - Jenny's Flowers on the Water" - Sun 07 Dec 2009 (picasa)

Grant, Grace, Betty, Thomas, Lynn, David, Joanne, Geoff - Coffs Harbour - 25 Dec 2009 (picasa)

Geoff - Mount Kosciuszko (2,228m) - "I had a lightness of step that day - the best I had felt since Jenny's passing 6 months earlier - you can see it in my face - life goes on .." - 7pm Fri 1 Jan 2010 (picasa)

On Photographs - Thinking and Feeling - Jorg Colberg (Mon 13 Jul 2015)

Untitled - DMZ / South Korea (Wed 12 Sep 2012)

Jorg Colberg on Photographs, and Thinking and Feelings:

Good photographs are those that raise questions, that open up new ways of thinking or feeling – not those that confirm something.

via Photography and Criticism by Jorg Colberg.

How do we ..? - Liz Jobey on Diane Arbus (Fri 01 Jul 2016)

silhouette - Sydney Life - Hyde Park / Sydney (Fri 18 Sep 2015)

Liz Jobey on Diane Arbus:

How do we become the people we want to be? How do we overcome our genetics and our gender, how do we transform ourselves? How do children become adolescents and adolescents become adults? How do adults become parents, how do children distinguish themselves? These are essential questions throughout her work.

via Diane Arbus: the magic mirror by Liz Jobey.