Artículo

Trends

As a location scout, prob 50% of the places I scout are houses, and it’s always interesting when you see The Hip New Thing suddenly start to show up everywhere. Like the stove with the red knobs — You know this sort of thing when you see it, because your reaction is always the same: […] The post Trends appeared first on Nick Carr / Location Scout .

Nick Carr / Location Scout · EN

Red Wings

My trusty Red Wings after five years (and three resoles!) of movie location scouting… I think it’s finally time for a new pair…but it’s hard to say goodbye! The post Red Wings appeared first on Nick Carr / Location Scout .

Nick Carr / Location Scout · EN

The New York City Filming Locations of The Warriors – Part 1

The Warriors never set foot in the Bronx. This might come as a surprise, seeing as how the movie revolves around a New York City gang trying to make their way from the Bronx’s Van Cortlandt Park to Brooklyn’s Coney Island, but filming only took place in Manhattan, Brooklyn, and Queens. However, authenticity aside, The […] The post The New York City Filming Locations of The Warriors – Part 1 appeared first on Nick Carr / Location Scout .

Nick Carr / Location Scout · EN

The New York City Filming Locations of The Warriors – Part 2

This is Part 2 of a then-and-now look at the New York City filming locations of The Warriors. Click here for Part 1! Resuming where we left off, the Warriors are on a train heading toward Union Square when a nearby fire forces them out into the the Tremont section of the Bronx on foot. […] The post The New York City Filming Locations of The Warriors – Part 2 appeared first on Nick Carr / Location Scout .

Nick Carr / Location Scout · EN

NoName Road

I was scouting for something the other day going street by street…and I guess at some point, they just called it quits and went home? The post NoName Road appeared first on Nick Carr / Location Scout .

Nick Carr / Location Scout · EN

On Movie Location Scouting and Socks

This is ridiculously hyperspecific to my particular profession, but one of my favorite work occurrences as a movie location scout is when we take the director and VIPs to visit The House Where You Have To Take Off Your Shoes. Some background on what the heck I’m talking about – Location scouting works like this: […] The post On Movie Location Scouting and Socks appeared first on Nick Carr / Location Scout .

Nick Carr / Location Scout · EN

Companion

Last week, I was scouting desert backroads and thinking how lonely location scouting can sometimes be, when I looked up and saw I had a companion! About a hundred yards so off the road, I saw a bobcat. He didn’t seem to notice (or care about) me, so I quietly drove alongside and watched as […] The post Companion appeared first on Nick Carr / Location Scout .

Nick Carr / Location Scout · EN

I feel like retreating into art

A greyness has fallen. The line between what passed for normality and what now passes for global insanity blurred sometime in the last few years. It's hard to remember. But the crises have been building for at least a few decades - the expansion of the security state post-911, the global financial crisis, Covid 19, the rise of authoritarian movements and grievance politicians cashing in hard on people who are listless and confused, ai grifting, manosphere grifting, and the climate crisis and the continued inability of corporate owned governments to do anything meaningful to address it. Maybe I

The Moody Warlock's Ember Keep · EN

Lumpy ghoul - scribbling again

This guy is a lumpy undead ghoul. It’s touch can cause scores of weeping sores to break out, unless save versus poison is successful: Email me about this post . Subscribe to my blog via RSS feed . /

The Moody Warlock's Ember Keep · EN

Every Moment Disappears - the quiet struggle to create in a world that seems mad

Thirty years ago I decided to start making music. It’s a hobby. A joy. I admit no great skill and demand no audience. The learning curve, as in all such creative pursuits, is large and long, but this forms the journey. It's integral - the successes, the failures, almosts, connections, and decisions. Starting on this road taught me to be patient about developing skill and taste. It caused me to realise that I could also take time to develop other joys - photography, painting, drawing. The results, in all cases, are less important than the road to get there. When I started, I judged my music har

The Moody Warlock's Ember Keep · EN

I hate this work...

Just imagine that your whole life, you were pretty ordinary at something, like mathematics. You spent years being frustrated, tutored, and being told you could do it if you tried hard enough. Eventually, you accepted you were just never going to understand it beyond a below average level of competence. Now imagine you started a job that included some of those skills you're not good at, but mostly you can get through it because the job demands more from other skills you are good at. Suddenly, they switch jobs on you because this other work has dried up and they need to keep you busy. Now, you f

The Moody Warlock's Ember Keep · EN

Why painting is great

I haven't painted in almost three years but now, more than ever, it feels so vital and important. Being a great painter has never been my goal. Whatever great means, very few people carry the label. Engaging with the canvas through paint and brush is so distant from the sycophantic grift of ai that it feels like freedom. From ai shills, I often hear this line: get onboard or be left behind. Artists have always used the latest tech. So, if an art practice involves ancient Japanese calligraphy, do they feel left behind for not using the latest tools? This is why we mustn't frame artistry as prod

The Moody Warlock's Ember Keep · EN

Demon portraits after work

After work today, I decided to scribble this green guy. I feel like I'm getting better at locating facial features so the result looks ok. I started with a loose graphite sketch, then acrylic pen, some pencil, and oil pastel. I think my long gone 12 year old self would have been pretty happy with this effort. I used Mont Marte oil pastels - cheap and cheerful colours, but quite firm, a bit dull, and not very lightfast. I just ordered some Mungyo branded oil pastels for more colour and better blending. I'm not a professional and this is just for fun, so I'm not even looking at the pricey brands

The Moody Warlock's Ember Keep · EN

Writing for unfeeling machines - should ai automate our life away?

I can't go a day without unwillingly engaging with ai in some form. Yesterday, I left a meeting at work because we were being presented with ai generated pictures and being asked to come up with witty work-related captions for each one. Most tellingly, the guy who'd put it together had included the prompts he'd used on each slide. What a waste of time and resources! I had to leave. I read a thread about the use of ai in novel writing and that it could be a great tool if used correctly. I hear the same argument applied to ai music and art. But what does that mean? How is it to be used correctly

The Moody Warlock's Ember Keep · EN

A drawing: Yolgurgis of Thesh - The Vile Eater of Stars

Yolgurgis of Thesh - The Vile Eater of Stars . Graphite and oil pastel on Canson paper. I just free-wheeled this one and it turned into something - an abstraction of a dark God. Email me about this post . Subscribe to my blog via RSS feed . /

The Moody Warlock's Ember Keep · EN

Birding in the UK: British Birds of Village and Countryside, Field and Stream

While we began our trip across the UK last June in London, we certainly didn't stay there! Though the city offered a surprising amount of birds and other wildlife , and was a convenient base for a trip out to wetlands in the Thames estuary for even more encounters with nature, we were eager to travel north, where we would spend time rambling through the quiet countryside and impossibly picturesque villages of the Cotswolds and Yorkshire Dales. Mute Swan, an iconic British bird, in front of Bibury's idyllic Arlington Row. We stayed in a few different small villages as we made our way north to S

Natural History Journal · EN

A Bit of the Boreal Forest in Northern California

Earlier this January, we spent several days exploring the lush, ferny redwood groves and mossy Sitka spruce forests of northwestern California, and while hiking through this enchanting habitat, observing the plants, birds and other wildlife, it occurred to me that in a sense, winter in California's Humboldt and Del Norte counties is a little bit like summer in North America's vast boreal forests. Varied Thrush Also called taiga, the world's boreal forests form a lush, green ring around the top of our planet, covering much of Alaska, Canada, Scandinavia and Russia. These dense forests are compr

Natural History Journal · EN

Birding in the UK: British Moorland Birds on Grassington Moor

Last June, Eric and I had the opportunity to spend the month in the UK, taking in its incredible natural beauty and rich history. A few of our favorite days were spent in the Yorkshire Dales, where we enjoyed a cool, drizzly hike up onto bleak but beautiful Grassington Moor. Here, high above the verdant pastures, the rocky, heather-covered hills were wild and rugged, and the birds were both abundant and interesting! European Golden-Plover One of the most abundant species we saw on the moors (as well as in other habitats throughout the UK) was the Meadow Pipit, a close relative of our familiar

Natural History Journal · EN

North American Porcupine

Instantly recognizable by its prickly appearance and known for its [mistaken] reputation of throwing dangerous barbed quills toward would-be attackers, porcupines are perhaps simultaneously one of North America's most and least well-known mammals. How well do you actually know this large rodent of the forest? Read on to find out, and to learn the official term for baby porcupines (which is probably my favorite fun fact about this amazing creature)! Members of the order Rodentia, North American Porcupines ( Erethizon dorsatum ) are North America's second-largest rodent, after the American Beave

Natural History Journal · EN

American Beavers: Ecosystem Engineers Extraordinaire

While it's always fun to come across any indication of a beaver's presence in the landscape , without a doubt seeing one of these amazing creatures in the wild is much more exciting! Here in California's Central Valley, I've found those sightings to be rather rare - and therefore all the more special when they do occur. While I regularly come across signs of beaver activity , such as felled trees, gnawed branches, dams, lodges and tracks, it's less frequent that I get to spend time watching these critters go about their daily business. So, when I came across this beaver on a small reservoir in

Natural History Journal · EN

Birding in the UK: Scottish Birds in Edinburgh and Dunbar

Last year, Eric and I spent the month of June traveling through England and Scotland, visiting amazing historic sites, touring places connected with our favorite classic literature, rambling across the stunningly beautiful British countryside, and of course, birding. The last week of our trip was spent in Scotland, and I had the opportunity to see quite a few birds right in the heart of Edinburgh, in and around Holyrood Park. Eurasian Bullfinch I was incredibly excited to see this male Eurasian Bullfinch, sitting atop a fence one fine, mizzly morning on our way into Edinburgh. Though he looked

Natural History Journal · EN

The Gospel Through Nature: The Offer of New Life!

With Easter, perhaps my favorite holiday, on the way and new life bursting out in bud and bloom all around us, I wanted to share a piece written last year, in celebration of spring and the offer of New Life made available to us all! When first composing this piece, I considered titling it "The Gospel of Nature." But I want to be clear from the beginning: If the Gospel is defined as the Good News about the offer of salvation from sin and death, by grace through faith in the sacrificial death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, there is no gospel apart from that which is revealed in God's Word, th

Natural History Journal · EN

Birding in the UK: Scottish Seabirds in the Firth of Forth and North Sea

Before we ended our time in Scotland last summer, I just had to spend a little time with some of the many amazing seabirds that call the icy North Sea home. While visiting family in Dunbar, Scotland, we were conveniently close to the town of North Berwick, home of the Scottish Seabird Centre. From this delightful seaside village, visitors may embark on boat trips from the harbor at North Berwick out to several of the rocky islands that rise from the waves where the Firth of Forth meets the North Sea. While these wave-battered rocks look inhospitable to humans, they are critical breeding habita

Natural History Journal · EN

Using PKCS#11 on GNU/Linux

PKCS#11 is a standard API to interface with HSMs, Smart Cards, or other types of random hardware backed crypto. On my travel laptop, I use a few Yubikeys in PKCS#11 mode using OpenSC to handle system login. libpam-pkcs11 is a pretty easy to use module that will let you log into your system locally using a PKCS#11 token locally. One of the least documented things, though, was how to use an OpenSC PKCS#11 token in Chrome. First, close all web browsers you have open. sudo apt-get install libnss3-tools certutil -U -d sql:$HOME/.pki/nssdb modutil -add "OpenSC" -libfile /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/ope

Paul's Notes · EN