I hope everyone’s had a very special day, commemorating Captain James Cook being stabbed to death by Hawai’ians in retaliation for his attempts to force them to work on repairing his ship’s storm damage by kidnapping their king.

They didn’t just stab him, they hauled him onto the beach and tore him apart limb from limb. Crew member William Bligh (yes, that William Bligh) wrote of the unrestrained violence in his journal, which said the attack was so vicious and so overwhelming that the armed English crew remained at their stations rather than involve themselves in the onslaught.

Cook was a boorish racist even by the standards of his time. He spent most of his adult life sailing and exploring because he wasn’t compatible with polite company in London. He died the way he lived.

All the same people boosting LLMs today were boosting NFTs five years ago. It's not a coincidence that

AI POWERED

is an anagram of

APE WEIRDO

Inversion Sunrise, Scottish Highlands (2024).

The recent cold snaps in the UK have made me think back to some excellent mornings a couple years ago in the Highlands where I explored a rewilding glen in inversion conditions. The glowing light and sub zero temperatures in the birch lined valley made for stunning photographic opportunities.

#LandscapePhotography #nature #uk #scotland #photography #naturePhotography