Summer Reading.

I've just purchased these books on natural history and physical geography. I'll be reading them over the Summer in preparation for my course and to personally further what I already understand about these subjects.

TH.

Sparsholt Level 3 Diploma (21st May)

I've visited Sparsholt yesterday for the presentation and interview day. Sparsholt seems like a nice college and the lecturers are very knowledgeable. My individual interview went very well and I was offered an unconditional place on the Level 3 Diploma for Conservation and Wildlife Management. In the coming months I may try to contact a few local countryside volunteer groups to add to my experience. Now that I've been accepted into the course, I feel somewhat validated because everything I now learn goes toward my success in the course and it's not just for personal satisfaction.

Thanks for reading.

Here's to the World of Warcraft.

I first started playing World of Warcraft in late 2006. When you experience something like the World of Warcraft for so long you develop a connection to it. Although I officially quit the game in the Mists of Pandaria expansion last year my connection to the world itself is such that I can't bring myself to throw away the game, as it were. I'm not done with it and I'm not sure I'll ever be. Indeed, I don't think of World of Warcraft as a game any more, more a sort of virtual experience that allows me to explore regions of a uniquely beautiful fantasy world. I no longer play the game, I experience the world, I say. And no matter how many times I venture into a zone I find it doesn't get stale. Everything about the World of Warcraft is timeless. From the musical to the aesthetic aspects, Azeroth and Outland's regions are endlessly fascinating and, for me, deeply nostalgic and emotive.

I can imagine it's quite hard to comprehend just how large this virtual world is if you've never experienced it. In February I made a video series titled “The Beauty of Azeroth and Outland”, which showcased most of the regions in the game world. However I feel I should talk more about these virtual places from a personal perspective.

Although I don't have the greatest amount of knowledge when it comes to Warcraft's lore, I find myself constantly enamoured and fascinated by the natural worlds of Azeroth and Outland, its flora and fauna. I have a stronger connection to the lore, the history behind a fantasy world such as Tolkien's Arda, but it's this interaction and advantage of being able to experience the World of Warcraft first-hand that's appealing. You can walk through the land, hearing the birds call and seeing its inhabitants thrive in their natural environment. For such an archaic game engine, World of Warcraft delivers an incredibly immersive virtual experience that really hasn't been rivaled by any other game of its kind. I think that's indicative of the amount of care and attention to detail that has been put into the world.

Each region is so unique and has its own atmosphere. The world itself is so well constructed that everything flows seamlessly together. A lot has changed over the years, indeed the lands themselves have been shaped and reshaped, but with each new iteration I find I'm always eager to see what Blizzard, the developers of the game, have to offer in terms of natural sights and sounds. Whenever they add a new land, or even a new continent, it feels like they're building upon the foundations of a world that I've been lucky enough to explore. I may have been very young when I first stepped into the World of Warcraft, but I don't regret spending as much time as I did exploring every facet of it. 

Although the World of Warcraft can never replace the real world's beauty and scale due to its limitations as a simple computer game, I find myself constantly drawn back to it as a source of inspiration and comfort. World of Warcraft is essentially a heightened version of the real world, and it's World of Warcraft that changed my outlook on life. I wanted to experience the World of Warcraft in real life, as it were. I wanted to walk through the forests of Teldrassil and climb the snowy peaks of Dun Morogh. The game world motivated me to go out and experience nature and for that I'm genuinely grateful.

It's World of Warcraft that has made me who I am today. Despite the fact that I've “outgrown” computer games, I'll always appreciate and value the creative elements that go into making the world feel alive. So here's to the creative team at Blizzard. Here's to every ambient footstep, bird call and NPC dialogue line. Here's to World of Warcraft. 

Beltain 2014

My brother and I had a great time at the festival of Beltain yesterday. We especially enjoyed the Living History training sessions and the ancient music demonstrations. Here are some photos of the event. Apologies for the poor quality of some of them. They're actually screenshots of videos. We seem to have taken more videos of the demonstrations than photos.

And here is our video of the burning of the Wickerman, with music added for greater effect.

Thanks for watching. 

Working for the Land

Due to demand for more blog activity, here's an article of my thoughts on past and future skills and possible career aspirations.

Even if I can't become a conservationist or park ranger, for whatever reason, I know that what I want to do, even if not in a professional setting, will in some way be related to the land. It's hard to describe how much I'm interested in geography, conservation, ecology and history now. “Natural history”, essentially. It's a shame I didn't take any related subjects in school. The only chance of my being accepted into college for a course in conservation is to utilise my previous and current voluntary work in Scotland and England. Even if I can't climb that ladder I know that I'll spend my life trying to better the land in some way, no matter how minute those changes might be.

I've heard so many times that a certain field is “so competitive,” or that I “need qualifications and lots of experience.” Well, yes, I know this. The same applies to the plethora of technological fields about which I spent most of my teenage years learning. 3D modelling, for example, which was essentially architecture mixed with artistry on a computer screen. From memory I can recall how to “bake normals and apply specular and diffuse texture maps to a 3D base mesh” and explain what “sub-surface and ambient occlusion rendering” is. I was also interested in game, level and web design, stop motion and 3D animation, video editing, and general computer tech support. I've thought about maybe applying that technical background to a more natural area of work and perhaps finding out about “geophys” or some sort of computer mapping, although I doubt I have the requisite technical knowledge or skill for this.

It's hard to describe how much one's mindset can change over time. I genuinely didn't think three years ago that I'd be working at an ancient farm in England and have a decent amount of countryside experience under my belt. For the vast majority of my life I was obsessed with technology. I think there was a time when I didn't know a single species of tree. Well, I probably did, but what reason would I have for knowing or caring about trees then? And even worse, there was a time I must admit that I was almost completely oblivious to the stunning scenery in my old back garden, in Scotland. You wake up every day and get on with living in a small town and have no interest or need to know about other parts of the world, even your own country. It's an alien mindset to me now, thankfully.

In many ways I find just the layout of the land, nature's aesthetic qualities and the history behind how it all came to be formed over millions of years far more interesting than human history. I've spoken a bit about this in one of my vlogs a while ago. From looking at nature from an aesthetic and artistic point of view to reading in an effort to build upon my small foundations with more and more scientific knowledge, everything I do now is in some way related to understanding and experiencing nature. So whatever happens, I'll probably end up doing something to help better the land itself. I'm fine with volunteering for the rest of my life, as long as it helps in some way.It's all experience I never thought I'd have. You have to be humble about these things.