Sunday, June 10, 2007

here we go again.

Yet another fantastic place we could easily see ourselves spending a stretch of time. It seems that beauty and friendship are around every corner. Reports on the garden, earthships, ice cream and --New Buffalo tomorrow.

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

Oh my god ! Beam me up to the Earthship! I am ready to go to a world that life-positive, loves planet and people and believes human intelligence is not antithetical to harmony with nature. Take me. In other nominally positive news, there are a million bikes rolling around Seattle, and a friend just told me she's selling her car and 'going bike'. The latest issue of Time magazine had a letter in their Inbox section that sums it up: "Cars have been made into objects of desire, and most of us are no longer thoughtful buyers but simply consumers. The self-inflicted pain goes way beyond the price of gas" -Sheldon James Baer of Woodland Hills, California (a curiously extreme car-centric culture that has done much for the elevation of the image and symbolic status of cars via Hollywood) We could build a homemade ice cream maker using a stationary bike.

owlhouse said...

Bad news. I don't think the earthships are the answer. At least from my view, for my needs for a better world. We can do so much better...

Since when do you read, let alone quote, Time? Have I been gone that long?
xox

Anonymous said...

Well that started with a rather bland cover article "Does God Want You To Be Rich?" Just nailing my weakness for glossy pop news, it even went so far as to have car grille for the cover picture(the contrast being: Does God want us to be poor with bicycles?)Anyway, the article relied on a lot of contemporary testimony in tandem with the rise of mega-churches, and not very much in rigorous scriptural or historical analysis. Then there was the Haditha massacre issue, and before I knew what happened, Time magazine had become a news source. Ugh! It's not my subscription ok? When you all come back, I know your going to have NPR on 24/7 and use this against me. Ruthless.

owlhouse said...

"not my subscription"- likely story... I'm now into quoting (paraphrasing, complete with my oun editorial comment) the reportings of crooks and liars. link to the site from the side bar... you'll be on line for hours. But with out a job, you can do that, right?!
xox

Anonymous said...

Kailin complains that she is never able to get through on the phone line now because I spend so much time perusing EXACTLY the sidebar of your fine blog! So you're right I could fill my time and brain with more quality news, but Time is a print magazine. I can sit on the couch, set it beside the bed, put it in my backpack, loan it to a friend, cut words and pictures out of it. It doesn't have to be Time magazine per se, I'm illustrating the ubiquity of its presence and ease of portability. Laptops do this too, but I wouldn't feel as comfortable treating a laptop like a piece of print. Accessing news online is a more complicated affair, one that though I feel has really leveled the media playing field; has potential to create isolating, discrete news 'realities'. These could become innumerable tiny margins of news audience tuning into less accountable outlets. Critical news analysis would collapse because it would have to replace the monolith in scope and perspective in order to even present substantive, meaningful criticism. I'm hesitant about the gamble of 'truth'.

owlhouse said...

Is that your hot air rolling though the early afternoons here- making it near impossible to distribute straw evenly? And I bet you're responsible for the thunder and lightening every night too...

Does SCCC know what they're in for, enrolling you?!?

xox

Anonymous said...

Yes, my hyperbloviating is impressive. May even release as much carbon dioxide as a small north american city. All the plants in the house can barely keep up.

owlhouse said...

Are you planning to use your powers for good- say at the neighborhood meeting re: development at 23rd/Union? I nominate you to represent the interests of the Owlhouse. Or at least gather information. Wear sunglasses and use an alias if you must.

Anonymous said...

I know I could have done this for you, but lets be honest about what's up for debate. Here, I'll lay it out like a script:
Neighbor: "Instead of a mixed use condo/retail, I would like a small windmill park and rotating garden plots for 98122, the neighborhood doesn't have any of those."

Developer: "No."

Neighbor: "Will any of the space be set aside for independent businesses that can't meet current market retail rent levels?"

Developer: "Only if it's necessary to comply with a law or ordinance, otherwise-no."

Neighbor: "Will the design be passive solar, with unit wind turbines and rooftop gardens and be rented to people who really need the energy saving features, like the poor?"

Developer: "No"

Neighbor: "Will any of the units be set aside for low income?"

Developer: "Again, only if necessary to blah blah blah, otherwise-no."

Neighbor: "Will it be ugly?"

Developer: "Our design team is top rate blah blah, we have some unique blah blah, according to plans blah blah blah, some brick facade blah, window boxes blah, landscape blah, so I assure you it won't be ugly."

Neighbor: "Will there be a Starbucks?"

Developer: "Yes."

Neighbor: "Is there any point to which anyone here can advocate for themselves or what they would like to see in the neighborhood?"

Developer: "Yes, would you like to vote on some color schemes?"

Neighbor: "No, I'd rather be gored by a knitting pin."

Developer: "Well thanks for coming."