When you encounter real beauty it’s almost as if it picks you up, and it brings you down in another space so that you see the world in a completely new way.
When we realise the common humanity that we share, and how this incredible connection that we can make can so enhance our lives and our experience of one another, that can drive us forward to a really unified society.
Contact Sharon: [email protected]
Lloyd kindly agreed to chat about Raggy Charters, his marine eco-tour company that receives consistently great reviews over at tripadvisor. We venture into various thematic territory: welcoming the whales, shark cage diving, difficulties in the war against plastic, a tree society, Lloyd’s time in the police, and more.
Contact Lloyd and Co. over at www.raggycharters.co.za
“If you enjoy something, and you’re passionate about it, you’re going to make something happen with it”.
“If you break the wall of ignorance, then interest kicks in. And when interest kicks in, conservation kicks in.”
Mark Marshall is known in Port Elizabeth as the local snake handler, and he kindly agreed to have a chat with me in which he reveals a bit about what makes him tick.
Topics include:
A little bit about Mark, the PE snake park, Bayworld and dolphins, on Mark’s fascination with snakes, Sandula Conservation, development, the relocation of sensitive fauna and flora due to the construction of the Bay West mall, conservation education, legislation and EIA, wind farms, Mark’s time as a River Control Officer and thereafter as an Environmental Consultant, Sandula Conservation’s Facebook page, the impact of fires on habitat, a glimpse at the Sandula Snake Handling course, a Rinkals story, other close shaves, what to do if bitten, on Mark not having a favourite snake, snake symbolism, Sandula donations, children’s conservation books coming in 2020 (illustrators needed).
Contact mark via Whatsapp: +27 82 261 9280
Sandula Conservation: https://www.facebook.com/groups/178406597459/
Support the podcast in one of four ways: 1) Share links to episodes on your social media. 2) Become a patron over at patreon.com. 3) Visit www.perspectiveproject.co.za/consulting/ and see if a philosophical consultation could benefit you, and send the link to someone you think the process could benefit. 4) Record a short cell-phone audio recordings (1 minute to 1 min 30 seconds) where you speak about a perspective-broadening experience or topic. What happened (or what is the topic about), and how did it have an impact on your thinking? Send these to [email protected] and they may be incorporated into the start of future episodes.
“Gimme whiskey, gimme jamming, gimme blues.”
“It’s very cliched, but it’s just so true: if you have a passion for what you’re doing, it changes everything.”
Kevin Abraham joined me on the podcast to chat about his approaches to his music and business, arenas in which he has had commendable success.
We talk about: Guiding principles derived from martial arts, Karate ‘then and now’, A martial art as a way of life versus its (mostly) presently popular competitive and sporting focus, Key ingredients in Kevin’s successful music career, the music scene ‘back then’, having a plan, the broad characteristics or features of a good plan, the virtue and origins of very structured approaches, uncertainty, yachting to and performing in Europe and ending up in Israel (where Kevin met his wife), the vibrancy of the music scene in Israel, barefooting it, managing uncertainty, marketing as a key consideration in performance strategy, lyrical content, Kevin’s relationship with Johnny Clegg, big data and autonomy, big data and consumerism, some of Kevin’s experiences elsewhere in Africa, and his move to Cypress.
Opening song by Kevin’s most recent music project, Folkify.
…it’s a very good idea to look at the idea of nihilism; and questioning values, I think, because that is at the core of what nihilism is about – re-evaluating our values and asking, what are the values that we want, are the values that we hold ideals that exist in some utopian realm or some transcendent realm that can never be realised, or are they things that we can realise. And then I think production will also work differently, because at the moment it’s definitely focused on comfort. Most of it is about comfort and volume…
Quantity! Quantity as opposed to quality. …I believe that if you do start questioning the values, and you start questioning this idea of comfort and how important [comfort] should be, you won’t necessarily be focused on [producing] as much red meat as you can. You will maybe start to think of the quality, and so on.
Another one:
[Play] is a vehicle to becoming. …If you pick up a new form of play, or if you engage in any kind of play, you generally change your life, and who you are, how you think. You gain certain capacities; you might lose others! But the idea is that you change.
Karen and Corné du Plessis kindly joined me on the podcast to chat about food and nihilism. Sub-topics include: What nihilism is, types of nihilism, Nietzsche, Deleuze, vegetarianism and veganism, food production, comfort and discomfort, the questioning of values, ART, art as an uncomfortable experience and the role this plays, art and the making of new connections, the phenomenon of picky eaters in a context of endless food choices, Play as a vehicle to Becoming,Heston Blumenthal, mock turtle soup, the philosophy of play, the riddle of the utopian society, the limitations of utility thinking, difference and individuality, the impossibility of knowing what the greatest good is, assemblages, soilents, the Tibetan practice of removing dead bodies to the outskirts of the city to be eaten by wolves, a reference to nutrition being today where surgery was 200 years ago, the Spinozean notion that nobody knows what a body can do, why experiment with diet, health as stasis, Nietzsche’s illness, and acting the reactive.
If you liked this episode, link a friend or foe to it!
Jonathan and I met in his art studio and spoke about a lot! Electric peanuts, India, Temples, Shifting focus from bodies to nature, What is art?, The making of art and the appreciation of art, Psychedelic aesthetic as induced by non-psychedelic experience, The places Jonathan lived and worked, Art and the blurry distinction between individual and social endeavours, Identity, Performance art, Art as a career, And that’s where I’ll stop!
Check out Jonathan’s work at www.jonathansilverman.info. His art needs to be seen in real-space-and-time too though, so contact him through his site to arrange a visit to his studio.
An exhibition show-casing Jonathan’s work, opening in Cape Town in January 2020: www.99loop.co.za/events/jonathan-silverman
Support this podcast by taking a click around at this site, taking me up on one of my offerings here, or sending appropriate links to friends or colleagues.
Quick request: I’m looking for short cell-phone audio recordings (1 minute to 1 min 30 seconds) where you speak about your perspective-broadening experiences. What happened, and how did it broaden your perspective? Send these to [email protected] and they may be incorporated into the start of the podcasts.
A few pics and a video of my latest rocket stove project:
(Better versions of these pics at the google photos album https://photos.app.goo.gl/JSyey4pJbw415hgw7)
Prof. Ian Buchanan is, among other things, a leading Deleuze scholar, and he kindly joined me to discuss various aspects of assemblage theory. Our conversation branches off towards various other (sub-)topics such as: political action versus individual action, cycling, mountain climbing, a housing project in Australia a few years ago, and more. The public lecture that Ian delivered at Nelson Mandela University on 5 November 2019 follows after our discussion – the lecture begins at approx. 1 hour 25 minutes.
Support the podcast by visiting www.perspectiveproject.co.za, having a click around, taking me up on one of my offerings there, or sending appropriate links to friends or colleagues.
Quick request: I’m looking for short cell-phone audio recordings (1 minute to 1 min 30 seconds) where you speak about your perspective-broadening stories. What happened, and how did it broaden your perspective? Send these to [email protected] and they may be incorporated into the start of the podcasts.
More about Ian from https://www.uow.edu.au/law-humanities-the-arts/schools-entities/hsi/our-people/Ian Buchanan joined the University of Wollongong in 2011. His previous position was Professor of Critical and Cultural Theory at the Centre for Critical and Cultural Theory at Cardiff University. Ian Buchanan has published on a wide variety of subjects across a range of disciplines, including literary studies, cultural studies, communications studies and philosophy. He has published on film, literature, music, space, the internet and war as well a number of other subjects. He is the author of the Oxford Dictionary of Critical Theory and the founding editor of the international journal Deleuze Studies. He is also the editor of four book series: Deleuze Connections (EUP), Critical Connections, Plateaus (EUP) and Deleuze Encounters (Continuum).
“It was very important to just create a space where you have a sense of what it is that you want to do, but you have to let every single participant configure that space in the way that they see it, and then contribute what they contribute. And in that way if you don’t manipulate and control and try to offer people a narrative of this thing, you end up with such a rich diversity of responses.”
Quick request: I’m looking for short cell-phone audio recordings (1 minute to 1 min 30 seconds) where you speak about your perspective-broadening stories. What happened, and how did it broaden your perspective? Send these to [email protected] and they may be incorporated into the start of the podcasts.
About this episode:
My friends and colleagues, Prof. Andrea Hurst and Dr. Belinda du Plooy, sat down with me to discuss the unique and ground-breaking university engagement event that we call a water pilgrimage. An eye-opening discussion in that it shows how dynamic things can be in the university context – we end up referring to the ‘the Sacred’, and contextualise it a manner that might seem unusual but also appropriate considering the need across contexts to re-connect with each other and our environment.
There will be an exhibition at the Nelson Mandela University’s Bird Street Campus in Port Elizabeth, from 18 – 22 November, where contributions from the 33 pilgrims will be displayed. Performances and presentations will occur on the opening evening.
Andrea is the South African Research Chair for Identities and Social Cohesion in Africa, hosted at Nelson Mandela University – see here.
Belinda manages the Engagement Office at Neslon Mandela University – see here.
At the time of posting this podcast, I am a Post-doctoral researcher working with the Chair – see here.
Support the podcast by clicking around at this site and taking me up on one of my services. If they are not for you, then please send the links to someone who may be interested.
“What we need to do more of is to look at your verge, your area of influence, and say how do I make that a pocket of excellence…”
“You have to find ways in the space that’s available to you to do the things that have meaning for you in such a way that sustains you.”
Gary K is an open-water long-distance swimmer, Chairperson of Algoa Bay’s WESSA branch, Herald newspaper column writer, patient activist, pragmatic idealist, PhD candidate studying questions about race, and more!
He was kind enough to have a recorded conversation with me in my studio on a day when the temps hit 37 degrees. We cover a wide range of topics, some of which are: how to work out the questions that will lead us to a better place, some of the opportunities that exist in the Nelson Mandela and Algoa Bay Port Elizabeth region, some historical background to the area, the proposed fish farm, bunkering, activism, pockets of excellence, and more.
See Gary’s column at the Port Elizabeth Herald: LINK
Gary on Twitter: LINK
Send your perspective broadening stories (under 1 minute 30 seconds) to [email protected]
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Books mentioned in, and relevant to, this episode: