Non-meaningless social activities

[David_Ravel]

They have a very interesting philosophic view on sports such as climbing, hiking, martial arts, etc., and mostly the training itself !

They have some video on youtube showing either the 300 trainings or some other very cool but difficult training.

Just to quote them :

« In Dune, Frank Herbert called it "the attitude of the knife,” cut off what's incomplete and say “now it has finished, for it has ended there.” So finish it, and walk away, forward. Only acts undertaken with commitment have meaning. Only your best effort matters. Life is a Meritocracy, with death as the auditor. Inconsistency, incompetence and lies are all cut short by that final word. Death will change you if you can't change yourself. »

[.........]

To be honest, goign out at the weekend and drinking to you puke is more a result of modern society rather than a cause. People are trapped in deadend meaningless jobs and need some release at the weekend, so they go out, get pissed, fight and fuck. If everyday life was more fulfilling for these people then they wouldn't resort to booze.

The social activities that people have suggested are all great ideas, but they take far too much effort for someone who has been wokring hard all week and is feeling unfulfilled. They need a simple release, and alcohol can provide that.

People need to deal with the real problems instead of looking for quick fixes. It seems most people would rather fix the symptoms, than the (modern) disease.

[shadowmystic]

Does simply engaging in conversation with people count as social activity.  I find I generally enjoy the company of one person alot more than a group, it gives me a chance to get to know them more intimately.  My closest friend and I have no problem spending hours on end talking and the conversation rarely cycles or loses meaning, it's rare to find people like this though.

[Linnaeus]

Play inline hockey, grow numerous ethnobotanicals, and sit around and smoke a large amount of weed a few times a week with some idiots. It makes for a decent existence amongst the rat-like infestation of television and alcohol addicted people.

Cannabis culture isn't bad unless the personality becomes dependent on it for standard action.

Hey that other guy, I'm in Fairfield county CT and yes it's pretty much a wasteland filled with yuppie's and clueless youth who cant put down their little plastic communication boxes. Come play inline in Milford.

From this perspective, as long as you do something interesting and time-worthy, along with pursuing active thinking, being will be satisfying.

[blood]

what activity, social or not is meaningful?
dont answer, just think. ; P

knocking back a couple of (mckewans sottish ale) beers with good friends is what life is all about IMO.

oh, and dont try to convert people to your musical tastes, i mean goddamn we've all heard that asshole before.

[Agni]

fun with knives and skin
http://anus.com/etc/slice

[JJ]

Years ago, I saw a brief special on 20/20 or some show along that line discussing an Arabic spiritual movement in which practitioners inflict physical pain on themselves. I didn't find out why, but I'm assuming it's much like Buddhism. Rather than focusing on nothing, they channel their mental energy on pain to achieve a higher mental state ans wisdom beyond conscious bounds.

Sounds interesting, but where I live, such a movement would be difficult to convince others  to attempt.

[Thamuz]

If you check some of the sites on the UrbEx ring: http://e.webring.com/hub?ring=draining you might be able to find some info about local sites.
I'm in the UK and we have a wealth of industrial sites along with the closed asylums and some hospitals. Plus we've been to a few military underground sites, etc.
Overall I'd advise not to go on your own (there are people who do, but a lot of them are experienced climbers, etc), let someone know where you're off too and have a basic kit with you, torch, first aid, mobile phone, etc (theres a lot of info on the majority of sites) and a decent camera. Oh and find out about your local trespass laws!

It is a fascinating 'hobby', though unfortunately it is getting a little bit too much publicity now, and the overall view of UrbEx'ers is still that of criminals by the majority of the public. Also with some UrbEx'ers there is a lot of competition and ego involved..which is a shame as its bringing too much attention to sites, spoiling it for other urban explorers.

My site is slooowly being added too (I'm a horrendous perfectionist with layout), so theres little on there at the moment: http://www.nyctophobia.net I have a few pics here too of our recent trip to Belgium: http://valan.deviantart.com/
One of the first websites I ever visited still remains my favourite: http://www.abandoned-places.com/ and a more recent favourite is: http://www.opacity.us/

I'm sure you'll find plenty to explore, post a link to some pics when you do

Thanks for the links - I think they've been really helpful. I have a few interested friends, we've began a bit of "recon" activity around town. Found some potential sites too!

Your site is fantastic, the effort and perfectionism that you have put into it really shows. The layout is very fitting and has a subtle atmosphere about it. Well done - I hope to see you make more additions in the near future!

What sort of camera equipment do you use for urban exploring? I'd like to get a camera at some stage, for this and other purposes, do you have any recommendations? Or some sort of guide as to what to look for? I'm hopeless with cameras, so treat me like a beginner.

If someone else can answer about cameras in general, please do. I don't want to spend thousands of dollars or anything, though.

[Valan]

Thanks for the links - I think they've been really helpful. I have a few interested friends, we've began a bit of "recon" activity around town. Found some potential sites too!

Your site is fantastic, the effort and perfectionism that you have put into it really shows. The layout is very fitting and has a subtle atmosphere about it. Well done - I hope to see you make more additions in the near future!

What sort of camera equipment do you use for urban exploring? I'd like to get a camera at some stage, for this and other purposes, do you have any recommendations? Or some sort of guide as to what to look for? I'm hopeless with cameras, so treat me like a beginner.

If someone else can answer about cameras in general, please do. I don't want to spend thousands of dollars or anything, though.

Sorry, yes I have only just caught up!
Camera equipment, well I'm upgrading soon and moving on to a digital SLR, but I'm still unsure which to go for. I'd love a Nikon, but there a bit pricey, I've also been checking out the new Olympus with live view...I'm afraid I'm not that helpful myself, as I'd still say I'm an amateur and still have trouble with some of the basics.
The digital camera I have at the moment is an Olympus c-750, which has great image quality, but shit autofocus and slow to take.

If you want a good starter digital camera have a good read of some of the camera forums online (http://www.amateurphotographer.co.uk or http://www.dcmag.co.uk/ are a couple of good UK sites) read lots of reviews and decide what features you want most. Personally I like night photography, but my current camera only has 16 second exposure, I also want to take fast in daylight and have good autofocus. Overall the best makes are Nikon, Canon and Olympus. Most of the people I know have Canon DSLR's, but I'm not much for the feel of them.

The other main bit of kit is a tripod, for running around buildings, climbing, etc, get something that is quite compact when closed, I use these: http://www.jessops.com/Store/s1182/0/Tripods/Jessops/Tripod-315/details.aspx?&IsSearch=y&pageindex=1&CatId=342&comp=n they're fairly cheap, which is good as I've dropped and lost 2 so far! When you get more serious you can upgrade, but I think these are fine for starters. Also a good torch to paint in the light when you are taking long exposures in tunnels, darker areas (you take the photo without flash with a long exposure, and move the torchlight constantly over the area you're photographing to light it up some more). Finally you can always improve photos in photoshop (or photoshop lightroom), and its not cheating, a few subtle adjustments can make a dramatic improvement!

Anyways I hope thats of some use, if you need to know anymore, just pm me and I'll see if I can help. Thanks for the comments on the site, the content will be slowly building in the next few months, with some extras like videos, etc too (theres a documentary a friend filmed too).

[Thamuz]

Thanks for all the tips thus far!

I think I might go straight to D-SLR as it seems to best suit what I want to do (seems similar to you, I'd say). I have narrowed it down to the entry level models:

Olympus E-510
Canon EOS 400D
Nikon D40X
Pentax K100D

I might go make some enquiries at the local camera shops today and see if I can do some bargaining as well.

[Valan]

I've decided on the Pentax K10D, I've been in some local camera shops, and had a mess with a few, this was a nice sturdy camera and the menus seemed easy to use, focus was quick and the shake reduction sounds a must. Read LOADS of reviews now for all the cameras I'm interested in, and this one sounds perfect for me. All the old Pentax lenses fit too(dirt cheap on ebay), and as the shake reduction is internal (its in the lenses for Nixon and Canon), means I can use older cheaper lenses without losing the SR feature.

Good luck with your camera hunting, I think a hands on test of the camera is the best way to judge if the camera suits you or not.

[meganerd]

In my free time, I climb mountains, wander through wilderness areas, and take pictures of what I see.  If anyone lives in Western Washington and has any interest in these activities, I'm always looking for like minded companions (if for no other reason than to help pay for gas...).

[Valan]

Stunning pictures there! Well worth the climb!
Have you got a site with some more on?

[meganerd]

Actually, I cheated; the top one you can nearly drive to  

No I don't have a site full of pics, and I've meant to for a long, long time.  Maybe I'll just get on that tomorrow.

Meanwhile:

Literally taken from a parking lot... I had a lazy summer.

Oops, my bad, totally killed the mystique...

[Vajra]

I'm sure I saw that same 'alignment' of stars for the first time last week (despite London pollution and street lights) and couldn't help but react like . I thought it was Orion's belt but maybe not. I also thought the black and white photo on the last page was by Ansel Adams so I'm very susceptible to mistakes.