Monday, August 20. 2018
The Bushcraft Bothier - Wild Woodland Hammock Camp
A two-nighter involving a wild woodland hammock camp followed by a bothy and a spot of unsuccessful fishing.
Wednesday, July 11. 2018
The Bushcraft Bothier - Wild Camp & 100th Bothy
A three day solo adventure involving me burning my fingers, wild camping and bagging my 100th bothy.
Monday, July 9. 2018
Jonestown @ The Bongo Club 2003
Many moons ago I played bass guitar in a band called Jonestown. Recently I acquired a rare recording of our first ever gig at The Bongo Club in Edinburgh (circa 2003), where we supported The Starry Wisdom Cult.
All music and lyrics written and performed by Jonestown.
Thursday, June 7. 2018
The Bushcraft Bothier - Bothy Bagging & Hammock Camping
A three day solo adventure into the Scottish wilderness to scope out a couple of bothies and spend an evening wild hammock camping.
Sunday, May 13. 2018
The Bushcraft Bothier - I'm Scared Of It All
'I'm Scared of It All' is a poem written by Robert William Service.
This poem is spoken through someone that feels trapped in "the haste and the waste of it all", meaning civilisation. The first stanza voices the speaker's distaste of the "terrible town" and all of the big flashy aspects of society. Then, in the second stanza, he talks of the solitude and rawness of different aspects of the wild and states, "I know that I'm safer up there". Throughout the third stanza, the reader gets a description of the unfriendly faces of society and how lonely the speaker feels despite the crowds surrounding him. This is followed by another stanza illustrating the highlights of nature and then two criticising society's materialism. In the final stanzas, the speaker concludes that, "nature is best after all" and decides to abandon civilisation for the wild.
Monday, April 30. 2018
The Bushcraft Bothier - Mountain Bothies Of The Cairngorms
A circular five day hiking trip through Scotland's Cairngorms exploring the mountain bothies in the region.
Cairngorms National Park is located in northeast Scotland. Officially established as a park in 2003, it is Britain’s largest National Park and located within the heart of the Scottish Highlands. The park has a large upland plateau, and is categorised as a “protected landscape” which allows for limited development within its borders.
Wednesday, April 18. 2018
The Bushcraft Bothier - Cape Wrath Trail
Video documenting my April 2018 attempt of the Cape Wrath Trail.
The trail chewed me up and spat me out of course, but my unfinished business with this hike may be tackled again sooner than expected.
The Cape Wrath Trail (CWT) is a hiking route that runs through the Scottish Highlands and along the west coast of Scotland.
Depending on the route taken it can be well over 200 miles in length and is considered to be one of the most challenging long distance walks in the UK. Despite not being an officially recognised National Trail it has grown to be one of the most highly regarded backpacking routes, attracting hikers from around the world.
Officially the trail is not endorsed by the Scottish Natural Heritage and it is not waymarked or signposted. Facilities along the trail are also minimal and it covers some of the remotest parts of mainland Britain.
The CWT is also part of the International Appalachian Trail (IAT) and with many remote mountain bothies en route, it is a bothy bagging extravaganza.
Friday, August 25. 2017
The Bushcraft Bothier - Cabin Fever
A midweek trip to one of my favourite off-grid locations, where I attempt friction fire by bow drill for the very first time...
Tuesday, June 27. 2017
The Bushcraft Bothier - Four Day Solo Mountain Bike Adventure
A four day solo mountain bike adventure into wild and rural parts of Scotland, exploring bothies and places I'd never been to before...
Saturday, June 3. 2017
The Bushcraft Bothier - The Best Laid Plans
With all intentions to spend a solo overnighter at a little lean-to shelter I recently built in the woods, disappointment quickly set in upon discovering that someone had torn it down...
Thursday, May 11. 2017
The Bushcraft Bothier - Shelter Building
The first stages of me building a little lean-to shelter at my bug out location...
Wednesday, April 5. 2017
The Bushcraft Bothier - Wild Hammock Camp
An overnight wild hammock camp in the woods, followed by an afternoon in search of a future bug out location...
Sunday, March 19. 2017
The Bushcraft Bothier - Unfamiliar Territory
Here's my latest video upload: an overnight recce at a new location. Topics up for discussion include Death, Scottish Independence, Misanthropy, the 'Alone' series, and the imagined joy of seeing Piers Morgan and Katie Hopkins being hit by a double-decker bus.
Tuesday, February 28. 2017
Introducing The Bushcraft Bothier
I've decided to start video documenting my off-grid trips. Still much to learn with the filming and editing process - plus there's a few schoolboy errors in this episode - but the quality should improve with time and experience.
Here's a recent trip I took into the Scottish wilderness to spend a night at one of my favourite bothies...
Monday, January 9. 2017
Xmas Avoidance Strategy 2016
As someone who utterly despises everything and anything to do with the dreaded Retailmas, I once again took to the wilderness for the safe and sane option of blissful isolation...
Tuesday, March 1. 2016
Coming Soon: 'Magick Without Fear - The Gerald Suster Letters'
A sneak peak at a cover concept I have for Magick Without Fear - The Gerald Suster Letters which I hope to release before the summer 2016:
Sunday, February 28. 2016
Decentralisation: An Evolutionary Biologist's Standpoint
One thing that rarely gets expressed by the Corporate Controlled Media is that Scottish Nationalism is in essence Civic Nationalism, meaning that it is inclusive of different cultural backgrounds and that the only nationalistic element of it is the acceptance that Scotland is made up of people from all corners of the globe but needs its independence in order to survive and flourish. In order for a country to function as a successful decentralised organism it is imperative that it is able to generate its own wealth, use its own resources, and trade the excesses of these resources successfully with other decentralised organisms for the resources in which it lacks but requires for a healthy and fruitful society. It’s how biology has evolved over the millennia and decentralisation will happen to humans if we are to evolve. I found this video interview a year or so ago with an evolutionary biologist whilst researching something that was completely unrelated to politics. I was stunned by the common sense expressed regarding the importance of decentralisation within evolutionary biology, and the parallels between how the human body operates and the clear way in which the world as a global society needs to operate if we are to survive as a species...
Saturday, October 24. 2015
'Geriatric X' - A Work In Progress
Here's a sneak preview of a cover concept that I have for my current work in progress:
Friday, October 23. 2015
'Bothy Culture' Now Available On Kindle
My book, Bothy Culture, is now available to buy on Amazon Kindle. (Amazon book listing).
Sunday, May 11. 2014
Rooftop Revolutionaries
I've always been a sucker for a good doomy Black Sabbath-esque riff, especially when it's accompanied with powerful female vocals (the greatly underrated Sumo album by The Superjesus springs instantly to mind), but what makes Rooftop Revolutionaries unique is the air of political activism that is present at the forefront of all of the band's lyrics.
Amongst all the tasteless, wishy-washy, celebrity obsessed posturing of much of today's musicians, it is so refreshing to stumble upon a young rock band with a purpose other than to become famous and make a shitload of cash.
The following track 'Folk Devils' sealed the deal for me and I instantly bought their album Resolute from huge corrupt corporate retailer Amazon after hearing it (I haven't 'bought' an album in ages - unfortunately sometimes you gotta use The Man to get the message out I guess)...
Saturday, March 22. 2014
Time For An Off-Grid Excursion
Myself and good friend Dazbo (one of the true-life characters in my book Bothy Culture), are heading off-grid for a week-long bothy bagging cycle tour around the Scottish Central Highlands. As a result there will be no updates to media underground during that period.
Adios bitches! May the madness commence!
Saturday, March 8. 2014
Get 20% Off My Book
This offer ends March 10th, so just use the coupon code 'SUPER20' when placing your order with the publisher (click image below).
Sunday, February 9. 2014
'Bothy Culture' Receives 5 Star Reviews
My book Bothy Culture has been getting some great reviews on Amazon. I guess people like brutal honesty and scathing social commentary. Here's some excerpts from a number of recent reviews...
Frisky Stixx: 'There are many laugh out loud moments especially as he describes the eclectic mix of people that choose to make the mammoth trek up to these remote spots.'
Poetry Maz: 'This has been the most refreshing piece of writing I've had the pleasure to devour in a long time.'
Graeme Henderson: 'His values are not for the faint of soul but I doubt there is anyone on this planet who would not agree with at least one of his points.'
C. G. Findlater: 'Very few people know what really motivates them and even fewer have the insight or the bravery to write about it.'
Stephen T. Lewis: 'Even if you never set forth into the wilds of Scotland this well-written book is worth a read for its counter-culture quirkiness alone.'
A big thank you to everyone who has reviewed the book to date. So far no mainstream media outlet (or local press for that matter) will touch it with a barge pole. Good! Clearly the burning bible on the back cover has created the exact reaction I was hoping for. (Amazon.co.uk book reviews).
Wednesday, December 11. 2013
'Bothy Culture' Now Available
A good friend of mine died today. He was a right cantankerous old bastard who never played by anyone's rules other than his own and didn't give a shit about what people thought of him. Needless to say we clicked as friends the first time that we met and I will sorely miss him.
So what better way to mark 11/12/13 than to make it the official release date of my book Bothy Culture. Given that I've been a little concerned about how this book might be received for its scathing social commentary, I figured it was time to take a leaf out of my late friend's own book and not give a flying fuck.
You can preview the book's foreword here, and if you choose to buy it then I hope it entertains, creates a few laughs but, most of all, inspires you to think.
RIP (ZAK) KIL.
Friday, November 29. 2013
We're Back... And There's A New Book In The Pipeline
First of all, my sincere apologies for the long hiatus here at media underground. All my free time recently has been spent putting the finishing touches to my new book, Bothy Culture, which is now complete and will be released soon.
It's been a long haul and a shit-load of work (in fact I'm now convinced I have OCD), but it's finally complete and I'm currently awaiting a proof copy as I write. It's not a huge book, coming in at 132 pages, but I'm extremely happy with the end result and hope it provokes, entertains and inspires - as well as creating a few laughs along the way.
Do not be put off by first impressions that this is a book about 'the outdoors'. It has been designed deliberately to look like that - to be a trojan horse, if you like - in order to dupe the average 'Outdoor Knobber' into buying it. If one takes the time to examine the back cover, you will see from the image and blurb that there's much more to it.
Basically the book comprises of fact, fiction, history and scathing social commentary about the current state of our society. In fact I foresee there appearing a significant amount of negative reviews on Amazon over the forthcoming months (concerning the book's content and occasional bad language), which is okay, as this would be a good indication that I've done my job properly.
So, regular updates to media underground will now resume and be sure to stay tuned for the book's official release date. In the meantime here's the front and back cover art as well as some other promotional material (click on the images to expand)...
Continue reading "We're Back... And There's A New Book In The Pipeline"
Thursday, June 13. 2013
Why I May Have Been Wrong About Twitter
I say "may have been wrong" as the jury is still out on this for me, but ever since Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield started using Twitter to promote the activities onboard the International Space Station, I now realise that certain social media services don't just have to be about idiots informing their friends about when they are watching TV, eating a kebab, or taking a dump. If the time invested in it outweights the intellectual return, then the account will be shut down without notice. I am hoping to be proven wrong on this however, and will happily admit so if I am.
Now sure, "noise" such as this does occur; in abundance - and unfortunately it is inevitable - but I'm beginning to think that if used intelligently (and with discrimination) social media such as this might have some value. Especially since a limit of 140 characters doesn't provide enough space to post anything other than a brief comment and a weblink to something outside the site that might be worth investing some time exploring.
I will, however, continue to steer well clear of Facebook. The fact that it is an egocentric closed loop system created for the purpose of aiding governments/corporations to data mine, predict trends, and influence the things we buy and the way we vote, is reason enough for me to leave it well alone.
In the meantime, for anyone interested, you can follow media underground on Twitter by clicking on the image below (I almost feel ashamed of myself for having succumbed to this after bitching about it for years):