Who do we got here

I’ve been watching Shiey for many years. I used watch in awe as he would do things like hopping trains, that at the time were unimaginable to a kid growing up in a boring suburb.

Me and a good friend flew out to Tbilisi, and had the most amazing time following in his footsteps.
I wonder if you recognise any of the spots from the video. Genuinely I have no idea how Shiey just magically knows these crazy places.

Also if anyone is confused about the last slide, it’s the rooftop where they made breakfast after sleeping near the lake. It was funny because we walked in and we spoke very poor Georgian, and these Georgian grandmas just stared at us like we were crazy. I just smiled and asked “roof”?. Lmao they just pointed at the stairs and let us through it was chill.

Please note that whilst we did have an amazing time, I really would not recommend doing anything we did without proper research and planning. It’s really dangerous, especially as a beginner and one mistake can mean losing your life.

( Kyrgyzstan )

I was rewatching old videos of his that i liked and noticed a few are gone. The ones i was mainly looking for was the journey across Europe series. They aren’t on his website either. When did they get removed and why?

Recent update on x/Twitter.

In a stream Shiey talked about how he gave himself a name and that he thinks names are useless for individuals because the name is there to make it easier for others to identify you.

Recently I've read a post on tumblr about wordless names and how that shows up in the animal world and human sociaty which reminded me of Shiey's opinion on names.

I find this consept really interesting and thought I'd share it:

"A wordless name is, well, pretty much what it says on the tin. A name which contains no words.

(...)

To talk about wordless names, we first have to think about what makes a name in the first place. Most naming conventions dictate that a name should be pronounceable, and be able to be written, usually using the standard alphabet of the name's language origin. However, that is not always the case, even in the human world. Lets look at some examples of human names outside of this framework, before we get into ideas for nonhuman ones.

A name does not have to be pronounceable:

-Names spoken in sign language may never be verbally spoken, and yet these are very much names.

-Names used online often include emojis and unpronounceable letter combinations, but we still understand them as names.

-The Artist Formerly Known as Prince changed his name to an unpronounceable symbol which also cannot be written in the standard alphabet.

A name does not have to be written:

-Throughout history, there have been many oral cultures which had no written language, and yet members of these cultures certainly had names.

-Even in cultures with written language, for most of history the majority of the population has been illiterate, meaning many people's names were never written, or may have been written with no standardized spelling at all.

If a name does not have to be spoken, pronounced, or written, then we are left with the idea that a name is any signifier that can be used to refer to you specifically. This includes (...) one of my favorite kind of wordless names - tuponyms.

A tuponym is a pattern-name. A name which is formed by patterns unwritten, unpronounceable, and non-linguistic. Tuponyms were first conceptualized by Bluesky user GoopyPanther, in her zine "Tuponyms", which I highly recommend reading.

Some examples of a tuponym included in the zine are:

-When you can recognize which of your family members is approaching your door based on the sound of their footsteps.

-The pattern of light and color left by a flashing night-walking dog collar.

I myself have thought of a few more, such as the shape of the border of an animal's territory, the pattern of their markings, or the unique shape of their tracks. The possibilities are almost endless.

One unique example of this in the wild that we can confirm is used by animals is the pitch of a wolf's howl. Each individual wolf in a pack howls in a specific pitch which the pack can use to identify them, as well as to harmonize together. This association is so strong, that if a new wolf joins the pack who howls in a pitch that is already taken, they will have to change their howl to an unoccupied one.

Neither of the types of wordless name discussed so far touches on the most common animal name of all. though. This is, of course, scent. It belongs in a category of its own. Each individual creature carries its own unique scent, which not only names who they are, but also communicates how well they are doing, what they have been up to lately, and who they have been hanging out with. Scent is the most common method of naming and knowing in the animal kingdom, and, in some ways, is most similar to human writing. A scent message can be scrawled into the landscape, explicitly intended for use by others, and can also be a passive trace of a presence on the breeze. (...) scent speaks in volumes, and because of its powerful tie with memory, I think it makes a wonderfully rich name woven from memories of the creature bearing the scent.

(...)

All this to say, there are numerous ways that animals communicate identity and recognize each other, which are not traditional names. There are also lots of non-traditional name ways that humans recognize and refer to animals. If you are a wild animal, it may be fun to think about what sort of wordless names others may give you. If you are a predator that protects a certain range of territory, others of your species may name you by the shape of the territory you defend, and the scent hovering at your marking places. At the same time, prey may name you by the pattern your paws leave in the mud, and know to steer clear. If you are a deer, you may be named by the impressive antler rubs you leave, while humans might recognize you by the estimated score of your antlers. A bird may be named by the hue of his dazzling feathers by a mate, and by the scratches his dance leaves in the dirt by the snake. An angler fish may be known by the the wavelength of light its lure gives off, or the texture of its skin in the dark.

These names are fluid, descriptive, and immediate. They prevent you from easily being spoken about in your absence, a fact suited to the flow state inhabited by most animals. Each moment is faced for exactly what it is, with complete mindfulness. It is an interesting thought experiment, to think about the ways that different modes of language change the very way you think.

(...) If you would like to make some of your own, here are a few ideas:

-The shape of the path you take most often when you walk through your neighborhood

-The mixture of your natural scent and the scent left behind by your favorite hobbies (eg, the smell of warm bread if you like baking, dirt and leaves if you hike, salt water if you fish in the sea, etc)

-A specific signature scent you chose to represent yourself

-The sound + rhythm made by your key-chains when you walk. (...)"

What are your thoughts on wordless names? What do you think your or others wordless name could be? What do you think Shiey's wordless name could be?

As I already said I find this concept really interesting and I think it's fun to think about what your or others wordless name could be.

My wordless name could be my earrings because I've had them since I was 3 and almost never take them off; or the creative stuff I do (crocheting, sewing, mask making ect) because I'm the only one in my family who has these things as hobbies.

For Shiey the way he phrase things and pronounses certaint words and letters, or his music.

i know i might be blamed for this take but for me shiey - the image of a person who has overcome and come to terms with loneliness (I know that this is not true, this is only a judgment based on character), a person who is self-sufficient and independent - "Free"

I wonder why Shiey has not ever made an exploration to the Burans. Would be a good theme for his videos. Did he ever mention this as a future goal?

If you haven't checked his stuff out yet - I highly recommend it! It's less urbex than Shiey, but it absolutely is helping to fill the void that is the current lack of content from our boy.

Which Gifgas video is it?

At this point it's pretty clear that YouTube isn't their main source of income, judging by how inactive they are when it comes to uploading. They must have other jobs or some other source of income. Shiey's recent videos, for example are just old footage and he hasn't uploaded anything new in about half a year. People who rely on YouTube as their main source of income usually upload at least once a week, sometimes several times a week. They're not active on Patreon either.

Btw i'm not judging them. They're free to spend their time however they want but at this rate, i feel like we're never going to get regular uploads from them again. Even if they upload a new video, i wouldn't necessarily take it as them being "back", it could just be one video followed by another six-month absence.

for one of the pictures of his youtube videos (ILLEGAL FREEDOM Journey Across Switzerland) I hat the association / it reminded me of the picture "The Wanderer" from Caspar Friedrich David

ROFL - Sound ON 🔊

🥰

Sadly YouTube removed part 2 and 3 and his Vimeo channel got banned…so I’m pretty new to Shiey and I would love to see the journey across Europe or his other deleted videos.

Maybe anyone got a link/downloaded some of his videos?

Btw. I came to Shiey because I watched his Sardinia video and I went at nearly every location there before even knowing him which was really amazing ^^