sam's blog

Photo taken this afternoon. On the final countdown of a...

Wed, 15 Feb 2012 15:25:00 +0000

Photo taken this afternoon. On the final countdown of a fundraising campaign on IndieGoGo! Almost at $25,000. Join the crowd of supporters to help make energy access happen for communities across Kenya.

An interesting book storage solution. The library staircase,...

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 06:46:56 +0000

An interesting book storage solution. The library staircase, designed by London-based Levitate Architects. Found on the lovely Book Shelf Porn website, and blogged about here. I’m starting to gather pictures of inspiring housing designs, with the idea of renovating or building a house someday.

This is pretty cool. Dolphins have been observed hitching rides...

Tue, 07 Feb 2012 20:38:31 +0000

This is pretty cool. Dolphins have been observed hitching rides on the back of humpback whales in Hawaii, and sliding down their backs, for what seems to be, fun! Playful activity between species like this is something of rarity, which makes this story pretty special.

The video is from the American Museum of Natural History, and this behaviour was documented in the journal Aquatic Mammals by Deakos et al. (2010). Animal Wise has a review of the paper here.

The moon has been so bright over the last few days from the...

Sun, 05 Feb 2012 19:55:00 +0000

The moon has been so bright over the last few days from the hills of Kiboswa. And with that, I’m enjoying this poem called Moon, written and performed by Rich Watkins, with backing moonfull music from The Mountaineering Club. Find more of Rich’s creative adventures here.

An afternoon spent under the canope of the beautiful Kakamega...

Sat, 04 Feb 2012 00:00:00 +0000

An afternoon spent under the canope of the beautiful Kakamega Forest, where we walked down to the Yala River from the Rondo Retreat and back. This is one of my favourite places to go nearby. The variety of butterflies is extraordinary, and it’s fun to watch the red-tailed monkeys playfully jump through the trees overhead.

Today I was learning to ride a motorbike with Leonard, a local...

Sun, 29 Jan 2012 15:32:46 +0000

Today I was learning to ride a motorbike with Leonard, a local Piki-Piki driver.

One of my favourite Hugh and Laurie clips.

Fri, 27 Jan 2012 12:00:05 +0000

One of my favourite Hugh and Laurie clips.

We’ve been planting trees in the field around our...

Fri, 27 Jan 2012 05:39:11 +0000

We’ve been planting trees in the field around our workshop. Four moringa (moringa arborea) and a mango tree. Moringa is a special tree and deserves it’s own separate blog post (when I get round to it). To save us having to water the plants each day, my colleague Caleb suggested we use glass bottles to do it for us.

After digging a small hole next to the plant, you fill it with water. Ensure the glass bottle, is fully filled with water, then tip it upside down and press it into the hole, pointing towards the plant. Water will be absorbed from the bottle as the soil and roots need it, so you only have to visit your plants every few days. It’s basically a low-tech drip irrigation. We are hoping the moringa trees will shoot up fast now. Apparently they can reach a height of 3 meters in a year.

On Tuesday, we put up this wind turbine. It’s attached to...

Thu, 26 Jan 2012 07:03:02 +0000

On Tuesday, we put up this wind turbine. It’s attached to our workshop where we make them. It’s not an ideal spot for a wind turbine, but here, we can monitor the functioning of the different components. This morning, I took at battery reading and was pleased to see it was fully charged over night.

A less hunky selection of Kisumu Jua Kali shots from the making...

Thu, 26 Jan 2012 06:50:17 +0000

A less hunky selection of Kisumu Jua Kali shots from the making of the hot Kenyan mechanics calendar.

I can’t say I was overwhelmed with excitement about this...

Thu, 26 Jan 2012 06:37:00 +0000

I can’t say I was overwhelmed with excitement about this photo session. Jua Kali translates as ‘hot sun’, and the afternoon lived up to that name.

I’m helping put together a tasteful calendar of Jua Kali artisans to help raise money for a training programme which will help train artisans to build small-scale renewable energy technologies. We think it’s an exciting idea. If you would like to buy a calendar, head over to indiegogo.com/accessenergy - hit contribute and choose the calendar.

After a delicious Saturday lunch at Caleb’s house, with...

Sat, 21 Jan 2012 16:37:00 +0000

After a delicious Saturday lunch at Caleb’s house, with his daughters.

The Africa Cup of Nations kicks off today. I entered a...

Sat, 21 Jan 2012 05:24:51 +0000

The Africa Cup of Nations kicks off today. I entered a sweepstake at work. These are my predictions.

A blackout by shakethesky

Thu, 19 Jan 2012 19:51:19 +0000

A blackout by shakethesky

EFF: One-page guide to SOPAreddit: A technical overview of the...

Wed, 18 Jan 2012 18:52:00 +0000

EFF: One-page guide to SOPA
reddit: A technical overview of the SOPA and PIPA bills
DYN: How these bills would break DNS
EFF: Free speech on the web

Just before heading back to Kenya, I picked up a mandolin to...

Tue, 17 Jan 2012 06:29:59 +0000

Just before heading back to Kenya, I picked up a mandolin to take with me. Chris Thile from Nickel Creek will be my teacher. He doesn’t know it yet. This is him with the Punch Brothers performing Radiohead’s Kid A.

Sun beams poking through the clouds on Hampstead Heath, London.

Sat, 07 Jan 2012 05:40:00 +0000

Sun beams poking through the clouds on Hampstead Heath, London.

A field recording taken just before Christmas. A moonlight song,...

Fri, 06 Jan 2012 01:35:13 +0000

A field recording taken just before Christmas. A moonlight song, sung by Warren Brush around the camp fire in Nyumbani Village, Kitui. Just a few nights before, we saw a full lunar eclipse.

I’m listening to Desert Island Discs a lot at the moment...

Wed, 04 Jan 2012 01:11:00 +0000

I’m listening to Desert Island Discs a lot at the moment after a friend told me that you can download episodes dating back to the 1940s.

In Jools Holland’s selection, he mentioned that in London in the 1930s there were more pianos than cars. Today, that’s easily the other way round, but there’s something about this idea of there being more pianos than cars which I like. I suppose it was the same in America too, when Nat King Cole (pictured) was doing his thing.

Dory Previn - Lady With the Braid

Tue, 03 Jan 2012 01:34:00 +0000

Dory Previn - Lady With the Braid