On the 15th of February, 2022 I submitted my PhD thesis. A 357 page monster that I started seriously trying to write over 15 months ago.
Finally. I made it.
Almost three and a half years since I embarked on this journey, fresh faced, wide eyed and eager to learn about something being referred to as self-sovereign identity. I love to look back on some of my writing from this early period. Here I am talking about our labs launch event back in 2018 and this is me anticipating the final 6 months of my thesis (over a year ago now).
It's a great reminder of just how far I have come.
Hell, I didn't know much back then, but I was convinced that blockchain technologies were going to be transformative and their application in relation to identity and digital identification systems was a notty problem I wanted to dive deep into.
I am glad I did. Glad I took the decision to step into the unknown and become a PhD student at Edinburgh Napier university. I committed myself fully to exploring and advancing this fascinating domain.
I definitely took a long and winding path through many fields of human knowledge.
Whether my thesis really advances the state of the art is debatable. At least from my perspective. But it vastly advanced my state of the art.
What my thesis does do is situate identification technologies within the human social systems that envision, design, sythesise, apply, adopt, justify, challenge, adapt and interface with these technologies.
I am proud and pleased with the result. It is surprisingly readable and I believe others can get a lot of value out of reading it. If your interested, let me know and I would be happy to send you a copy.
Anyway, enough work talk.
This is about my celebration of the experience and (almost) successful completion of this stage on my life. Soon you might have to call me Dr Wip.
Getting my thesis out of the door was a huge relief, but it was also rather anti-climatic.
Life went on as it tends to do. Kathy and I celebrated, but I didn't feel the joy and celebration I had anticipated and hoped for.
It felt like a strange, intermediary stage. Purgatory.
Well 19 days skiing and chilling in Revelstoke, BC changed all that. Callum, you picked a beautiful part of the world to spend your winter, I'm glad I got to experience it. Thank you! It was just what I needed.
My holiday in Revelstoke was relaxing, regenerating, decadent, and joyful in all the right ways. Revelstoke truly is a special little place that has helped me decompress, celebrate and refresh. I don't think I have felt this calm and stress-free since before the pandemic, maybe since I began my thesis.
My only regret is that Kathy was not able join me, she would have loved this place and I would have loved to experience it with her.
We did go for a lovely meal out at Bubala just before I left. Which was delicious, I cannot recommend highly enough.
I snapped this eery, futuristic shot of Kathy in Shoreditch.
In October, I moved in with Kathy in North London. It has been amazing. Our time together in Edinburgh during the Pandemic was a nice taster. Now we live together for real, finally after 9 years. And London is a city that I am enjoying more and more. I miss Edinburgh, how could I not, but you can feel the depth, breadth and diversity of experiences London has to offer. An overwhelming quantity of quality, spread across a vast metropolis that is rich in history and culture with one of the best transport networks in the world. I can't wait for summer.
Acknowledging the State of the World
I recognise that I am writing this at a time of strife, uncertainty and destruction in the world, and I want to acknowledge that without dwelling on it. My heart goes out to all those caught up in these disturbing events. They leave me fearful for our future on this planet. However, for the duration of my time in Revelstoke, I managed to avoid tuning in to these mentally straining and distressing events taking place in the world right now.
On a personal level, based on the events in the world that I can meaningfully influence and experience, I am celebrating.
These words are intended as an expression and memory of this celebration.
The Holiday Begins
On the 3rd of March, after an intense and fascinating two day workshop on how to programatically interface with Bitcoin, thanks Legendary & Jimmy Song, I flew to Kelowna in British Columbia, Canada and began my holiday.
Kathy, thanks for The Trojan Horse Affair podcast recommendation, I devoured all 8 episodes throughout the duration of the flight. It makes a compelling and shocking listen, definitely check it out.
One of my best buds, Callum, has been spending the season out in Revelstoke where he works as Mr Sutton at The Sutton Place Hotel. A 4 star luxury ski-in ski-out resort.
Between him, the lovely Becky and all the rest of the Sutton crew I got the VIP treatment and made myself right at home.
My trip was made even better by serendipitously coinciding with 3 of Becky's pals from medical school who arrived on the same day as me. It meant we all got chauffeured from the airport to Revelstoke after spending a night in Kelowna.
Bethan, Charlotte and Maddie you ladies were great crack. It was ace to spend part of my holiday with you. Having you all on a holiday vibe with me totally helped me immerse myself into a state of carefree relaxation.
Bethan, that roast was class.
Thank you all for letting me use your room as a base while I was staying in town with Callum. And thanks for being my hot tub buddies - Callum was too scared to come with me, even on my final night. Plus he was always working. Boring.
Anyway, I hope I didn't intrude too much ;).
I'm sure I didn't, we were good friends by the end. I was sad to see them go, although it did make a nice transition from full holiday mode into working holiday mode for the last week.
Here is our full holiday compliment.
Revelstoke Town
I feel super fortunate that I got to spend time down in town and up on the ski hill. Best of both worlds. All in all I got 7 nights in at the Sutton, 11 at Oshi's and 1 in Kelowna.
Oshi is this gem of a mountain gal and Revelstoke local of 10 years who rents her beautiful home out to seasonairres. You would regularly see her with different mountain toys - I saw a snowboard, skidoo and dirt bike but I am sure there are more. I guess you have got to appreciate what's in your backyard, it seemed like she certainly did that.
Oshi also has a gorgeous, friendly young dog called Wendel. He was a real character, more on him later.
Callum and Becky and through them me, were all incredibly lucky to get to stay at Oshi's place. The Sutton was good, but you can't beat a real home!
Though my room quickly deteriorated into a bit of a crack den. Skiing will do that.
Revelstoke is a place oozes charm and character. A beautiful town nestled at the bottom of a valley surrounded by mountains.
It reminded me a little of my hometown, Ilkley, but with so much more to offer. The snow, the mountains and the skiing also help to elevate this place to one of my favourite destinations. Up there with Porto, Lisbon, Barcelona and Edinburgh. Within it's population class, it is hands down the best place I have ever been.
The cuisine was on point. One of pretty much every culture you could imagine and all of it pretty high quality. Kawakubo and Taco Club were favourites. They even had a German-Indian-Thai fusion place, which I am willing to bet is in a very small minority worldwide. It wouldn't surprise me if it was the only one.
I haven't always been very vegetarian, but daym I have eaten well.
Here we all are at Kawakubo, where we devoured a literal boat full of sushi. This was the girls last supper and we were joined by Sutton legends Darcie and Jeromey. As well as Darcie's dad, also a legend, who was visiting on holiday. Basically a bunch of Brits abroad plus our token Canadian, Jezza.
The booze in Revelstoke was also spot on.
Really good West coast style craft from BC based breweries. Especially the hazy stuff - try a Steam Head beer if you see one (the pink cans are the best). The local Mt Begbie IPA, Nasty Habits, was a great default beer that was available pretty much anywhere, including up the mountain.
Then there is Monashees. A micro distillery with a vast array of whisky and 25% off them every Wednesday. I had a lot of time for this place. Especially after I discovered a new favourite whisky - Cigarettes of a Leather Jacket. A Rye whisky from Sons of Vancouver. Not sure how many bottles of this stuff they made, but if you get a chance to try it you definitely should. Banging.
I eventually managed to persuade Callum to join me for a tour. Well sort of. The tour basically involved sitting at the bar sampling their available locally distilled spirits. We tried their gin and vodka. Both were high quality and absolutely sumptuous. I wish I could have brought a bottle back. Unfortunately, from the sounds of it they barely make enough to support the demand in town let alone the international market.
Monashees became one of my main watering(whisky) holes during my holiday. I think I went there more times than most seasonaires. Although not more times than I went to the 7/11. But the 7/11 is pretty great, especially for the late night food.
The Grizzly Nightlife
The nightlife was decent. Especially for the size of the place. Although, I only ever fully experienced it after a Revelstoke Grizzlies hockey match. Also class. Who knew shouting at a bunch of high schoolers hitting a piece of plastic around an ice rink could be so fun. To be fair, their skills on skates and with a stick were really impressive. The casual and constant aggression also helped.
We watched them twice. Both times with the full holiday crew. Me, Cal, Becky, Bethan, Charlotte, Maddie.
You can get through a fair few bevs if you want to at these places.
The grizzlies won the first and lost the second game we saw. Regardless, both times we got well on our way to shit faced. As well as sampling one of the only Canadian cuisines according to Callum - Poutine. Basically chips, gravy and cheese. Accept the cheese is cheese curds, a cross between halloumi and mozzarella was Callum's fairly accurate description. Great drunk food.
The games we watched we part of the end of season playoffs. Each round is a best of 7 match, with the games spread across two weeks. So that could end up being a game every other day, with half of those being a 2 hour plus away game. Relentless.
As I write these words the grizzles are currently playing their first game of the finals for the playoffs of their league. Here is a great video Cal sent me of them scoring off the first shot.
In fact I have taken so long to write this they ended up winning the whole thing. Go on you Grizzlies!
Anyway, after the games we fully immersed ourselves in the Revy nightlife. The first time in Traverse, second in the Last Drop. Both times in 7/11. Those taquitos, daym.
The actual venues were both pretty average, but you can't beat getting pissed up with your pals on holiday.
The girls just need to work on their hangover game.
Callum and I sunbathed, literally tops off in full Brits abroad mode on Oshi's ice patch, while the girls festered in their fancy Sutton place room. When you are hungover the worst thing you can do is feel sorry for yourself, the best thing is definitely getting a beer down you. Ideally two.
We even managed to fit in stroll in the woods before Cal had to go in to work.
The only other nightlife I experienced while in Revelstoke was when me, Cal, Oshi and her mate Clarissa - who also has a cute, energetic little dog called Shelia - went to try go Bowling. 5-pin bowling, I think it's a Canadian thing. It looked solid. Tiny bowls, tiny pins. Unfortunately, all the lanes were full and even though Oshi tried to work some locals magic we ended up just playing pool. Fun, but I would have loved to have a go at this crazy looking game.
The Sutton Place
This place was a dream.
Mostly at least, the T.V. and movie rentals were a joke. But apart from that.
The rooms are more like apartments, complete with fully equipped kitchens and an en-suite bathrooms per bedroom. I mean Bethan managed to whip up a full roast in the place. Although, cooking requires cleaning so I decided to abstain. Especially after experiencing the pig stye that was the girls place turned into. Disgrace lol.
The mountain views from the balcony were gorgeous. The girls were gondola facing and my room later was valley facing. Both hand picked by Becky and pretty sweet. I got better views, but I was also right above the pool which tended to get full of noisy fuckers towards the evening.
Next time, penthouse suite for me please Becky?
At the Sutton the time from rolling out of bed to being on top of the mountain could easily be done in less than 30 minutes.
The food in the little mountain village was decent, La Baguette especially.
The hot tubs were blissful. Especially the one off the beaten track. Especially with a beer. Or after a J. Or both. I spent many an hour lazing in here.
Just gutted that Cal chickened out of coming with me on my last night. He completely failed to get into the mindset of a guest. Instead he went to sleep on the sofa.
I on the other hand, had no issues with playing the guest role. Whether I was staying there, or just visiting.
Although, on my first visit I felt a bit out of place. Callum dropped me off at the pool en-route to his shift and all I had with me was a pair of swimming shorts in my hands. I had to get changed and put all my stuff in a locker while folks just strolled in wearing their complementary robes. Made me hella jealous. I soon sorted this though by concierging a robe to the girls room. Next time I also brought my bag with a few more supplies - I don't know what I was thinking the first time. I blame Callum.
The baths in the rooms were also luxurious. Especially with the bath salts provided. I think I had one 6 out of the 7 evenings I stayed at the Sutton.
Soaking in that tub was the perfect way to soothe my stiff, sore and ski battered body.
Then of course, how could I forget the staff, a hodge podge bunch of seasonairres from all over the world that managed to keep this 4* hotel with over 300 rooms tick. Just don't look backstage ;).
They were a great bunch. Darcie running the show from the front desk with her girls. Jezza trying (and failing) to present himself as the pinnacle of professionalism whilst directing his minions (Callum) in concierge. Although, lets not forget Callum won employee of the month. Has he not told you?
The Sutton crew all looked after me so well and by the end of my stay I considered many of them my friends. I even went to a birthday party and a leaving do. It was great, I got to be both a guest and a seasonairre at the same time.
Would love to be back next year.
The Mountain
Snow Shoeing
My first time up the mountain I didn't even go skiing. Me, Bethan, Charlotte and Maddie got into the holiday spirit by being full tourists and taking a snow shoeing tour while Callum and Becky put a shift in at the Sutton. It was a great way to get to know them all a little better.
Despite some doubters and haters in the Sutton staff it was actually class, if a little pricey. You basically strap on these plastic rectangles to your feet with inner crampons on a hinge that let you walk on snow without sinking in.
The weather was gorgeous, so it was basically a fine winter ramble through trees covered in 2-3 meter deep powder a couple of gondola rides up a mountain.
Being a ramble, naturally I brought supplies.
Also, the fact that we were wandering through deep powder snow had the added benefit that it could essentially be treated like water. As long as you avoided the tree-wells, loosely packed snow around the trees which if you stood too close to could mean a drop of a few meters under the snow.
Whilst playing in the snow, I got in a front flip and a pretty epic swan dive.
I just wish I had brought some gloves.
It was also satisfying to find out that I was the first person to ask our tour guide, Steve, to hold my beer while I played in the snow in 8 years of him running these tours. Clearly people have been doing it wrong.
Skiing
What we all came here to do. It did not disappoint.
The mountain is awesome.
The snow powdery and regularly topped up with a fresh dump.
The lifts quiet as I have ever seen a ski lift.
The views just incredible.
At least when you were lucky enough to get a clear day. You were also regularly shrouded in mist. Although this still looked pretty cool when you got above, below or inbetween it.
My skiing => shit hot.
Well. Sometimes. I was better than I thought I would be after something like 5 years away. I still fell over plenty. But if your not falling over your not trying hard enough.
I also definitely peaked. 10 days of skiing in 13 was gruelling on my body and those single rest days rest just weren't nearly enough.
My ankle is still a bit sore from the trip over a week later.
Days 7 and 8 were my best and also most intense days.
Playing in the Powder
Day 7 was a full day playing in the powder around the ripper chair with fresh snow being continuously dumped throughout the day.
We were joined by a few of Cal's pals from a different ski resort who were all pretty experienced skiers and boarders.
There was a lot of fun to be had off the side and in the trees.
I did almost have a rough fall when the ski track I was on suddenly fell away into a stream. Fortunately I threw myself across it rather inelegantly, my skis came off but at least I didn't get soaked.
We ended the day on Kill the Banker a gnarly double black diamond run that goes straight under the gondola. The first two thirds were a lot of fun. Fluffy snow. Nothing too steep. And a few natural rest points. But after that the snow turned wet, heavy and a bit icy with a few trunks and branches poking through.
It was around here were I fell and tumbled ~100m down a steep slope. From all the way up by that pylon to where I took the photo below from.
Skis and poles all over the shop - thanks Callum for battling the slope to collect these for me. I lived to tell the tail with only a slightly bruised ankle. All good.
Into the Bowls
The day after was arguably more hench. It was my favourite day on the hill and neither Callum or Becky were even with me. Maybe that was why hehe.
Instead, while Cal and Becks were grafting, I took to the hill with Darcie and we did not hold back.
Three loops of the bowls - Sweet Spot and Lemming Line into the North Bowl, then a traverse across to the Greely Bowl. Each time we dropped in to virtually untracked powder. It was epic, I have never skied anything like it before in my life. The hike though was tough. You literally have to take off your skis and walk up a hill to drop in. Tough, but definitely worth it. If I ever come back I need to get up Sub Peak, the highest point you can hike too.
This is the terrain map of the bowls.
To get into the North bowl you start traversing round the line shown in the pic below.
Then you drop in wherever takes your fancy. Ideally somewhere untouched if you can find it.
Or you can continue traversing all the way round to the Greely Bowl behind it. This is definitely worth it. The bowl less tracked.
Darcie and I were joined by Chill Will and Renee for our Greely Bowl loop.
It was amazing. I mean check out Darcie making fresh tracks through the powder as we entered the bowl.
Ridiculous.
I also really enjoyed navigating the tree runs at the end of the bowls to get back to civilization. For our last loop, Chill Will was sending it off cliffs and shit. No surrender. That boy can board.
We ended the day with another run down a double black, Critical Path Glades. Basically parallel to Kill the Banker but down through the trees. My experience of it was pretty much the same as Kill the Banker. Great at the top. Sketchy at the bottom. Fell down the equivalent treacherous steep bit towards the end. Great fun though.
Later in the week Callum got a funny video of me shredding the powder towards the bottom of the North Bowl. Until the end at least.
Not sure what happened to be honest, one of my skis just came off.
Revelstoke mountain resort is a tough mountain. Not much easy easy stuff. Not even that many groomers. But if your confident enough its great fun. There is a lot of the "make your own tracks" kinda skiing. Pretty much anything, unless there is an explicit boundary sign, is fair game for skiing into. I like to think I completed the mountain (apart from Subpeak), but in reality I probably experienced less than 25 percent of what it has to offer. Especially with the variations in conditions.
My biggest regret is not smashing out the terrain park. Well apart from getting insurance that I didn't need - thanks Becky :P. Na just kidding, insurance was a good piece of mind thing. Meant I could go down the hill with reckless abandon. My stupid fault for not getting it before I came.
Terrain park though. Feck. I had that in my sights all of my days. I talked the talk. And definitely wanted to do it. Saturday was the day I should have. After that I was either busy exploring other fun parts of the mountain, or my body was feeling too ruined for me to feel confident.
Next time.
Still, we smashed the kids park a few times, and there was plenty of fun terrain to freestlye off.
Its an incredible mountain. I really really really enjoyed myself.
Wendel
Wendel is a character. A German Shepard crossed with a Rottweiler. I couldn't tell if he was super smart and intentionally just doing his thing, or a bit dopey and just chilling. Either way, he was definitely a chiller. A big weed head according to Callum.
Wendel took me on my first solo dog walk. Well I was supposed to be taking him, but I hadn't got a clue where I was really going and Wendel seemed to know.
He took me on a beautiful walk down by the river and even told me when it was time to take his lead off.
He did also tried to hump me when we are away from civilisation, the horny fucker.
On my second dog walk, I stupidly thought it would be sensible to bring Wendel with me to the shops. To be fair, Oshi said it would be sound, and I thought Wendel was a top chiller so I was all game. On this fateful day, I actually came back after leaving without him because I felt bad.
Anyway, Wendel and I went for a stroll to the shops. Wendel ended up selecting his own garment from this ski wear store. He pissed on it. Funny bastard. On reflection, it was almost certainly my fault. I almost left him outside, but Wendel gave me these big sad eyes and Oshi did say it would be fine. Then while in the shop I stupidly decided to let Wendel off the lead, he was blagging me whilst I was trying to get a serious shop in. In my defence I thought Wendel would just mong about like he does at Oshi's. I also assumed he knew the difference between inside and outside. In Wendel's defence, he probably thought we were going on a walk and he did piss on a flowery dress. Anyway, I took the blame and bought the piece. Maybe Kathy will thank me(Wendel) for such a lovely, thoughtful gift. I wonder if she will read this far ...
He is a chiller though. Just look at him soaking up the sunset with his childhood buddy Shelia.
How could I be mad at him.
Shopping
Turns out my ski kit was not up to par. In fact it pretty much disintergrated on me throughout the course of my trip.
First to go was my ski jacket. The zip completely broke. Kathy, I am sorry for all the effort you put in to patching it up as requested before this trip. It was much appreciated, if ultimately wasted, effort.
After marching Wendel home I returned to the shops and bought a new ski jacket, a bad boy Marmot Goretex shell that weights feck all, and a set of bibs mostly because I was jealous of Callums. Bibs are basically ski pant dungarees. They are great, soooo many pockets. All the cool Revy kids wear them.
Later in the trip I bought an airhole. A buff with a hole in it for air.
I also bought a new fleece jumper. In fact I bought two, but one was in a thrift store and cost less that 20 Canadian so it barely registered. It was a awesome though, my only complaint with it is it was too warm. Cal please bring that back with you.
Then, finally, about halfway in, I bought some new gloves. I had to. My ones were coming apart at the seams. It's funny because these were the only item I had identified for replacement before I embarked on the trip and they lasted the longest.
In fairness, all of the stuff I replaced has been with me since the dawn of my skiing. That is since 2016 ish, when I went with my pals Ashurst and Jams to the Canyons ski resort in Utah with our school. A mind bogglingly huge resort, that, as a learner, I barely scratched the surface of. Replacing all this ski kit on holiday felt more like an investment in the future than a frivolous expense of the trip. I got some good kit at a decent rate, especially between Callum and Becky's discounts and the spring sales.
Just look at this ridiculous before and after picture. I transform from Where's Wally into a hip ski dude.
Or at least I transform from Where's Wally into something else.
A grizzly.
If the truth be told I'm a sucker for the high grade
Another perk of Canada is the cannabis. The result of legalising it. My god. I was like a kid in the candy shop.
So many types, strains, effects, dispensations methods. It was awesome.
I sampled my fair share. Basically I got blazed most days. But when in Rome.
I certainly didn't become a lazy stoner. Far too much to see and do.
It makes me HATE the way the U.K. handles this. I can't see us respecting cannabis in its legal form in my lifetime even. Maybe. But its not a given. I mean Boris wants to take my passport away for it the nutter. Whereas in the attitude in Canada and the US is completely relaxed. And the experience, quality, quantity and price are all so so kind to the stoner.
I get to go into a store, manned by knowlegdeable pot heads, comsuming some of the finest chron in the land in all kinds of shapes and flavours. And talk to them about their latest recommendations. You get treated like a customer of a high grade, artisanal product rather than being criminalised and forced to engage in dogdy dealings with shady dealers selling crappy ass weed for extortionate prices.
No wonder I couldn't help myself while I was out there.
A Working Holiday
Mixing work and pleasure isn't always recommended, but when your work comes to meet you at the slopes it's not half bad.
Apart from Joe, it was my first time meeting the team I have been working with for the past year in the flesh. I first met Joe here and properly got to know him here where we started building Satyrn and began a casual working relationship and friendship that ultimately let to me joining Legendary, Joe's consulting firm, a year later.
I feel so grateful and lucky to have had such a smooth transition out of being a PhD student. Just goes to show the power of building strong relationships.
They all decided to come to Revelstoke because I was coming. Which, as the main instigator, made me a little nervous. However, after a couple of nights in Revelstoke my nerves slipped away. In my mind, there was no way we were not going to have an amazing time. Plus with Callum and Becky sorting out the friends and family discount at the Sutton, even the price wasn't too outrageous.
It was an epic first company wide meeting. There is only four of us in our merry band. Me, Joe, Eric and Erica. But we make a mean team, anyone who uses our services is lucky to have us. We know what we are talking about. Big time.
Post Script
The Extension to San Francisco
This is a little hard for me to comprehend at times.
As I write this up I am still in SFO airport five days after I was supposed to be back in the U.K.
Why am I here? Some work thing.
Legendary picked up a new client in San Francisco and it made sense for me to stick around for an initial workshop we just completed with them.
It was great. Meeting and getting to know real human people in the flesh. Virtual spaces will never be able to substitute for this. It was a wonderful way to kick off our working relationship.
Plus, I got to stay at the Sutton for a couple of extra nights and saw a tiny portion of San Francisco. Mainly the Japanese Tea Garden - thanks for the recommendation Eric.
Gentleman's Dub Club
Then, after a redeye back to Heathrow, I met my buddy Ben. Pretty much 15 minutes after I got in the door.
We managed to fit in a quick beer in the sun on my roof, before heading to see Gentleman's Dub Club who were playing their last gig of their first tour back after the pandemic just down the road in Kentish Town.
They were every bit as incredible as I remember them. If not more. Pulling out all the old classics like Fire, High Grade and Emergency as well as some of there new stuff with special guests Kiko Bun, Hollie Cook and MC Gardna.
It was the perfect end to a ridiculously good trip. Thanks to everyone who helped make it so great.
Sticker Game
Oh and of course I picked up some bad boy new stickers. Becky, I love the one you got me! One of my favs.
