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Basho rewrites: Rime of the Frostmaiden – Sunblight
**Caution this post contains spoilers for Sunblight!** When I was a child, I had no one to play Dungeons & Dragons with. Now, I am 46 and play with my own children. Yes - I built my own [...]
Things Will Change – a Basho travel film
Things Will Change A travel film exploring humanity's journey through history, touching on themes of faith, nature, technological advancement, and the essence of human connection. The film is divided into four chapters, each reflecting on [...]
Varanasi – City of the Hindus
Many Indian cities are a jumble, a mix of the ancient and modern, but nowhere I have ever been compares in this regard to Varanasi. I come from a country, and from a city, which [...]
The Iron Church – Why Do People Quit Fitness Training?
And what the science — and AI — say about how to stop them. I would leave work after a long, hard day in the city and simply have no energy to attend my GoJu Ryu Karate training. I’d [...]
Jawbreaker – Ultimate AI Upscaled 4k edition
I was at the gym and, as usual, I was watching downloaded films on the gym's TV while cycling or rowing. I decided to watch the documentary "Samsara" by Ron Fricke and was amazed to see that I had [...]
The Iron Church: Why Most ‘AI’ Fitness Apps Are Just Marketing (And How I Built One That Actually Works)
7 AI Pipelines ? 5 AI Prompts, 2 Deterministic Engines. Discover the technical strategy behind building The Iron Church—an AI fitness trainer defined by periodisation science, multi-prompt architecture, and serious consideration of your real equipment. This article is the [...]
“Countryside walk” – Digital Watercolour
"Countryside walk" by Basho Painted in Rebelle 3.
Kyoto, Nara, Himeji, green tea and finding inner peace
I have written before about travellers wanting a point to it all, to travelling. In part this is perhaps seen as them wanting to justify the vast cost of travel; to have a point for spending all that money, [...]
“Morgan” – Digital Watercolour
"Morgan" by Basho Painted in Rebelle 3.
OMEGA Speedmaster Professional “Moonwatch” review
THE SPEEDMASTER PROFESSIONAL MOONWATCH. For well over half a century, the OMEGA Speedmaster has witnessed events that have tested the limits of physical endurance and human courage, including the first manned lunar landing in July of 1969 and every one of NASA’s piloted missions since March of 1965.
The day I met the Buddha, and killed him
Delhi. Many people say they have “done” Delhi, but in all honesty they haven’t. They have perhaps done the tourist parts of New Delhi, or maybe spent some time in an Ashram there – which amounts [...]
Harvest Bales, Late Summer Mist
Painted from an evening walk through Suffolk. The almost-pink mist and long shadows, combined with the sweep of the field to the epic sky above, created a true and warm sense of space and clarity. Prints and full [...]
On the nature of art, a definition
"Art is that human endeavour which illuminates the contiguous nature of reality. Momentarily breaking us free from our illusion that the Universe has a dual nature." Writes Basho. Find out why...
The Alam Clock Lesson
Early in my leadership career, I had a junior member of staff who was late to work. Nothing unusual about that, you may think, for are we not all occasionally late into the office? Most of us commute and moreover [...]
Children of the Red Rose
**Caution this post contains spoilers for Children of the Red Rose!** When I was a child, I had no one to play Dungeons and Dragons with, it being the 80’s and the game not being popular here in the [...]
The Storm King’s Thunder and the Dragon’s Bane
There follows the campaign we have played all through the 2020 lockdown. It has helped us all resist the mental anguish of the COVID virus, recover from the infection itself and be a beacon of bright enjoyment for all. Truly the great value of this magical game cannot be overstated when played with attentive and imaginative children. So, I present the chronicle of my son, my daughter and my wife playing their first campaign after the starter set, Storm King's Thunder!
The Hidden Context in some Great Movies
I love the cinema and movies. I also make films myself. What stared as a simple passion for the action and adventure in films has become a life long urge to understand what the filmmaker, [...]
The political compass
How I have moved thanks to my world travels
Mount Fuji, Tokyo and the 200 mph Bullet Train
I wallowed comfortably in the exceedingly warm waters, the balmy mountain air was cool and smelled of the rich wood [...]
Bangkok, city of a thousand names
Thailand, again we arrived in Thailand, but this time by air. The siege of Bangkok airport, which had messed us [...]
Tier 1 Military Simulation – Operation SNAKEBITE
http://www.youtube.com/embed/olUjdKqBL0I I have often remarked that the challenge of making an airsoft film - when you are also playing [...]
Life Stories 2 : Strange Happenings
This one is legendary. When I was fresh out of University I moved down to live with my then girlfriend (now wife) Francesca in Southampton,England...
Basho and Cesca visit Bangalore, and kind of wish they hadn’t
Bangalore is a strange place because it is just like cities at home. Almost slap bang in the middle of [...]
Sunset in Mumbai
The November terrorist attacks on Mumbai was something we had worried about before landing in the city, but to look [...]
ATC 2K video camera review
There are times in film making when you want to be able to capture environments that destroy normal equipment. There are times when you need to be able to get a strange view point of the action. There are times when you need to be able to leave the camera running and concentrate on something else. These are also times when a full size camera would interfere with what you are shooting.
Transition Book Review
Basho reviews the latest from Iain M Banks, or is it Iain Banks?
Ground Zero National Airsoft Game 2007
The state of the badd'ass art! On the september bank holiday weekend, the DA's went to the National Airsoft Event hosted at Ground Zero. I made a movie of the event that shows how much great fun we all had!
James and Cesca’s Xmas message!
Happy Christmas everyone! Here is a short film of Cesca and I giving all our Christmas greetings from sunny Cambodia! [...]
OMEGA Speedmaster Professional “Moonwatch” review
THE SPEEDMASTER PROFESSIONAL MOONWATCH. For well over half a century, the OMEGA Speedmaster has witnessed events that have tested the limits of physical endurance and human courage, including the first manned lunar landing in July of 1969 and every one of NASA’s piloted missions since March of 1965.
Agra and the Taj Mahal
Ask a hundred people where in the world they would like to visit most of all and a significant percentage [...]
China’s National Treasures – Pandas and the Terracotta Warriors
Everyone loves Pandas and at the Panda Conservation Centre near Chengdu, China is probably the best place to see [...]
Mysore
In India, catching a tuk tuk and negotiating the fare – or even the simple existence of the destination – is a national pastime. Not one driver, in three months, took us where we wanted to go without comment, argument or an all out fight. At first, this grates on the nerves and then you cant help but be brought down by it. Then you feel victimised for being western and (relatively) rich. You start to think that they are all out to get you personally. However, it is none of these; it is an official sport. Take it as a sport, a sparring match, and you suddenly find it fun.
A Basho Film : Australia
A short fun film highlighting our trip to Australia, showing some of the fantastic things we saw in this wonderful [...]
Tier 1 Military Simulation – Operation JAWBREAKER writeup
I have played many and been to many events where the organisers said they had reached the perfect balance point between real military exercises and a simple skirmish. I realise now that they either made the game too boring or little more than a skirmish with complex medic rules; milsim for the Xbox generation. In Operation Jawbreaker, Tier 1 also strived for that perfect balance themselves and in the most important respects I think that they came damn close to achieving it.
The Hunter Valley
All praise the god of wine!
Tier 1 Military Simulation – Urban Airsoft Training Day
Criticism isn't as easy as people like to think. This is because that, while everyone knows when things have not gone optimally, as the old adage goes, “opinions are like assholes; everyone has got one”. However opinions are not often the result of well thought-out analysis, but rather the result of frustration and the need to vent anger. In airsoft, where bad command decisions can lead directly to the unquestionably real pain of being laced or embarrassed, most teams have a very simple method of dealing with the potential for such situations: They don’t have commanders at all.
The Harsh Judge
For most martial artists, being mugged in broad daylight is an unlikely occurrence. Fit, aware and confident looking people do [...]