A Vat of Burning

Been quite busy lately! But not manic busy, just pleasantly busy.

I finally feel like I have something blog-worthy. Despite being hyphenated, I still like that word, probably because it sounds like someone's surname. Phineas J. Blogworthy. Actually it sounds like a surname of some girl my mother tried to set me up with when I was 16.

Burn 'o Vat is an interesting place within the Cairngorms National Park. It is a sort-of deep 100 ft diameter hole in the ground that has a stream running through it. It has been used over the years as a hide-out for the criminal element.

Very worth while trip.

Burn o Vat

There is a place back home in Nova Scotia that reminds me a lot of this spot. Its call, of all things, The Falls, just past Tatamagouche, near Balforn. I found a video that someone shot there on the internet. It shows pretty much what goes on there:



I realise that this sort of thing was one of the big things I was missing in my life when I lived in Winnipeg and Saskatoon. Whilst those are both nice places, they just don't have the cool stuff out in nature close by to go see. Granted, yes, they do have lots of cool stuff, but a lot of it is a ways to drive.

This is what one should be doing every Saturday they can, get out in the country and enjoy life.

A Bit o' Research

So, everyone asks me about my research. I've learned that a wiley acedemic does not give away his golden truths... at least until they've been published in a peer reviewed journal (that has an ISBN number). But at this point I think it is safe to say its okay.

As many of you know my current working title is "The Design of Salutogenic Food Systems". As this is quite broad I have decided to narrow it down. My supervisor has been most helpful with inspiration as usual.

What I would like as a finished product is not so much a paper which discusses the topics, but a distilled design methodology for salutogenic food systems. I am shying away from a method, although it is liable for one to emerge from my work regardless. I like the idea of methodology as it digs one step deeper than most have gone thus far.

I have always been a fan of Mollison's work, and have no intention of redoing any of it, but I feel that I want approach the 'problem', if you will, from a professional designer's standpoint. As a holistic thinker I hate to use words like 'professional designer', but the case is that such professions do exist and rightly so. It is professional designers that are positioned to take the lead.

Anyways, its way late and I'm not thinking properly, horrible time to talk about this... Will have to continue later. I just felt like it's been a long time since I updated...