Duck looks good. Although I didn't get a pretty picture in my mind with the coyote attack. I've only ever had the Chinatown kind. Duck fat is ridiculous.
And while we're on the food topic (again. nice.) here is my menu for a dinner I'm planning. What do you guys think? I feel like I need some textural difference, like something crispy or refreshing like a salad.
Green curry with shrimp over Bahn Hoi
Braised short rib with baby carrots (not the pre packaged rounded ones)
Poached pear with white chocolate mousse
I feel like the green curry doesn't match with others.
When i was fourteen and fifteen I recall helping my grandfather thrash alfalfa. The trasher was one that had actually been built to be pulled by oxen. It was old yet did the job in a fantastic way. We kept it stationary and hooked it up by a large leather belt to the flywheel on a tractor. I was always amazed at the small amount of seed which was gathered, but when my grandfather told me how much he sold it for i was amazed. My granda Joe always said it was a Ranchers gold. It was always from the last cutting of the year and I remember walking thru the field with him time and time again as he studied the seed to know just when it was the best time to harvest.
I say to Hell with Monsanto....and Cargill...mother raping Agra-Business is trashing the world cause some Scientist can do it.
Along another note there is a place in Norway up in the Artic Circle where they store seed types from all sorts of plants. It is a big underground vault with a StarWars Enterance....Very slick Norske Architecture. I'm glad they are doing this cause at least we know we have a chance when Monsanto Fails...along with the other Agra-giants.
Slart, I don't know much about curries or any color, but one of my favorite "fancy" salads is arrugula mixed with finely minced shallots, salt, pepper, and champaign vinegar, molded into a round shape, and topped with goat cheese. Its amazing.
after recently reading stewart brand's book 'a whole earth discipline', i can no longer say that i have a problem with gmo - not with any confidence anyway. he's got some pretty compelling arguments for genetic modification and dispels a lot of the arguments against. and this is from one of the quintessential environmental guys, old school!: http://www.amazon.com/Whole-Earth-Discipline-Ecopragmatist-Manifesto/dp/0670021210#noop
it's worth a read. he's also nearly convinced me that we need more nuclear power, and soon.
-
re: the hat. i can't spill the beans on the hat until after it's derby debut, sillies. geez. it'll be worn with a green dress, though, and flower print pumps.
Steven, is Brand's argument that we need to create more food to feed the mass of people in the world? Because according to Michael Pollan we already produce enough food to feed 20% more than the earth's current population - but we feed it mostly to cows (and some cars).
I know it's a vastly more complex conversation than we maybe want to get into on the internet, but seeing Pollan speak was the first time I'd heard that argument.
I would be hard-pressed to find any argument that would compel me to think super-large-scale agriculture is better than is a revolution in how food is distributed.
Steven... I have known Monsanto...people...and they be bad! gmo...is not the way....it is like making all birds;\robbins....I say no because I will miss the Cardinal who comes to visit in the early spring just like the robbin.
Oh wow toaster. That reminds me of Kadaververwertungsanstalten (corpse processing facilities) from WWI and the Reichs-Juden-Fett (jewish fat soap) rumor from WWII.
Reminds me of Aldous Huxley's Brave New World where in the story facilities cremate the dead to suck every minute amount of phosphorous (among other elements) from the bones.
I'm curious if they removed preserved/shelfed food from that list what would the percentage really be like? And if it is so why is famine still a peak concern for the UN? But I do sympathize with how much food is created in the creation of food - seems ridiculous but true.
brand's argument doesn't much have to do with quantities of food but quality. agreed, in the u.s., what monsanto is selling might have to do with increasing yields.
what has been done for some traditional communities across the world, however, is where he finds it more compelling. traditional agricultural people doing what they've always done have been flooded, blighted, and seen decreasing nutritional value in their traditional crops - those they know how to produce. a modified rice that has been made available (golden rice, i think it was called) allows them to keep farming as they have, can withstand submersion if necessary, allows them to keep their familiar menus, and has much greater nutritional value. shipping a bunch of our corn to people for whom it would be unfamiliar would NOT be the answer, but providing them a way to keep their way of life but be healthy maybe can be.
just one example, and i'm not 100% convinced, but his argument is pretty comprehensive. it's an impt book, anyway, i think.
Brand does make some good arguments, therein. Personally, I am inclined to support the nuclear power thing more quickly than GMO and industrial agriculture. Food just seems so much more personal and "original" (in nature) to me.
Atechno - from what I understand about the famine issue isn't that there is not enough food it is getting the food to the masses. A lot of it gets stopped and distributed elsewhere.
Morning! Abe slept again - woke up once, but I stayed in bed, and he went back to sleep! Yay!
Steven, that does sound like a good argument. Maybe I'll check out that book....wonder if I can get it through my library... My problem with the GMO isn't so much the GMO, its the patent laws surrounding and protecting the GMOs. That may be different from what the others on here think, but I don't know that GMOs can actually hurt us. I don't like that they use viruses in their bioengineering. I do worry that the viruses could lead to some sort of outbreak in the future. But my biggest concern about GMOs now is that if the crops contaminate a traditional, that the traditional farmer is forced to pay the GMO company or face patent infringement fines. That seems unfair to me. Seems that living things shouldn't be able to be patented. I think they should have to make all patented living things sterile for this reason. They can make sterile cantaloupes and grapes, so why not sterile GMOs. They've already genetically modified them anyway.
tumbles - very impressed with taking the duck full-circle. That's the part of raising animals that keeps me from doing it so far. Butchering would be really hard for me and my husband. I grew up near the ranch and I understand animal harvest - it's just that my uncles/parents always did it, not me. I struggle with a whole chicken from the market! Barbara Kingsolver's book Animal, Vegetable, Miracle has a great chapter about their fall turkey harvest - and doing it with respect for the animal.
Perhaps I need to adopt an old goat that can live out its retirement in the pasture. No harvesting of said goat necessary.
Also specifically, with regards to famine one of the major issues with food aid in many developing countries is that it actually contributes to keeping prices so low that the farmers in those countries can't get into the market. Which thus reinforces the aid cycle versus developing their own internal economies.
Thanks for the suggestions, folks. I'll keep it in mind.
Sometimes I wonder if I come to Archinect for serious conversations or to get away from the seriousness. Things that don't directly affect me are somehow causing me stress and anger, like the Arizona immigration thing, and the gulf oil spill thing, and the salary thing. Add to that some major changes in my personal life, and its a very unsettling feeling.
All this wonderful fashion talk I missed out on and I'm the dappernapper!
Anyways, I stand firmly beside Donna and adhere to my highschool businees teacher's motto of no pits, no mids, no toes in the work place. Feet gross me out...even my own which are always meticulously pedicured...and people barefoot in the office makes me want to scream and throw staplers. I've even recently gone back to pantyhose especially for skirts at or above the knee. And slips are a must mainly because they counter the chance of embarrassing wardrobe malfunctions on windy days (like yesterday).
Steven, that looks like a good book that I need to read. One of the first paragraphs says it is not the earth or life that is in trouble, it is humans. Earth will go on. I like this, I think about how the earth gives and forgives.
Dapper, are you in Dallas, cause it was ca-razy windy yesterday. And even with a slip, I pulled a total Marylin Monroe at the farmers market last Saturday. Thankfully, I was in the parking lot, and I don't think anyone saw. But I hate that "skirt between the legs" look. Yuck.
And while I haven't read the book Steven linked to, I've always felt that the earth itself is in no danger of being destroyed just humans and their wanton abuse of it. I watched no impact man in honor if earth day last week and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Favorite part: his wife having a breakdown over a new baby and his reaction. I clearly irritated my movie neighbors with my uncontrolled chuckling.
i'm on an environment reading kick. just picked up green metropolis at the library over lunch.
speaking of which, just read that bill maher said, "every asshole who ever chanted 'drill baby drill' should have to report to the gulf coast today for cleanup duty."
Basicaly this guy decides to live life for a year making little/no impact on the environment. He enlists his family including his consumption addicted wife into making it a family project. It was highly entertaining. His wife is nearing 40 and wants another baby so she decides to press the issue while they are in the midst of "living off the land". His reaction was quite reasonable as he didn't want another kid and told her so, but his facial expression was very WTF, why are you doing this now...don't you see this experiment is not going very well?
very interesting. I don't know that I could ever go that far. I'm pretty sure Husband wound never be on board, and marriage is about compromise. Looks like something I'd love to catch on hulu or something, except our TV computer is in the shop. Wish they'd hurry up with that, I'm missing Gossip Girl.
I don't think I could go that far either, Sarah, especially if I had a toddler. I was with him up until no toilet paper. No electricity...ok, but tp is a must even if I hve to make my own out of other types of paper.
hi all. What a day I've had. But it's been a good one nonetheless. I had forgot what it was like to practice in the traditional way and boy was I reminded this week. And a happy reminder at that. Needless to say I enjoy a site visit/measured survey in the blistering midday sun. But it was just an inspiring site that it didn't matter much. Will let you know more when I can. Here's a little architectural candy... this is the residence above our office for the principal and his young family
Hi friends. Ditto what Slart said re: Arizona and the gulf oil spill. I am sick with worry / sadness. But then I read about that duck getting his head chopped off and I had to take a leave of absence from my brain for a few minutes. Sometimes I want to take a vacation from Earth or my life in general. I really admire those Native Americans who could do astral projection... what a talent.
In other news, I gave two presentations today and I jokingly told a client to "hold his horses" when he got ahead of me. He didn't mind but I got some ribbing from my coworkers later. At least I was wearing hot shoes when I gave it!
the wine may help with the astral projecting, nam.
it would be cool to do the dr, strange thing, that's for sure.
sarah i agree about the gmo and patent laws. there was a famous battle about that in canada. i think still unresolved. crazy shit.
but the idea of it doesn't bother me at all, for just the reasons steven gives. i also agree with stewart brand on nuclear power. there is a need to prioritize and think about what the environmental movement is for. reducing impact for certain, but also to preserve human life, and for that sometimes the 2nd-best choice is alright. In the usa, europe, and similarly developed parts of the world we have this idea it is all about saving dolphins and keeping the air clean, but in much of the rest of the world it is nothing less than fighting for a reasonably safe and long life for those alive today and for those not yet born. I suppose that is why i find much of the moralizing on the subject so self-righteous and obnoxious.
spill baby spill. what a sad thing to be witnessing 20 years after the valdiz.
Funny, I've never, ever considered environmentalism to be about preserving human life. I guess that *is* what drives it. But in my mind it's about respect, intelligent action, and because it's the right thing to do.
I also feel safe nuclear could be a good option. Nothing is ever completely safe, of course, but the technology has improved so drastically since 3 Mile Island that it seems close to an acceptable risk. Though if I'm angry about an oil spill, I better be wary of supporting a potential nuclear spill!
What I've heard about Golden Rice is that its higher nutrition is offset by how much of it you have to eat to get that benefit. So you're giving people an even MORE homogenous diet, when what they need is to eat the variety of foods that their culture traditionally ate but that has been lost due to loss of cropland, species depletion, etc.
Again, Pollan makes a pretty convincing argument that traditional diets gave people everything they needed to be healthy. Geographic areas of the world that couldn't support human life didn't. Which is OK.
Maybe the answer is really to just cull the human population. Eventually, there will be a war based on food and survival, and less on national pride. I hope I'm on the winning side.
While continuing to sleep off a hangover this morning - after bowling and consuming a little too much bowling alley beer last night - I dreamt I was astral projecting! Or at least my brain was giving me a taste of it. I dreamt that I suddenly appeared at a train station and was trying to get on this Magic Mountain-looking train, and I finally did, and I was seated in a compartment with these man-children (fully grown men who live their lives like teenagers). Anyway the train took off and it looked like it was going on the street car tracks but instead it took a middle path that felt more like a roller coaster. It was all very vivid and I even felt a little woozy in my stomach from the up and down of the roller coaster.
ANYWAY. Good luck with that bobcat tumbles. I actually bought Stewart Brand's book, but hadn't started it yet. Guess I will now :o)
japan has lots of nuclear power. it is not entirely safe i suspect. i have rather complicated feelings on that point.
donna, humanity is at the heart of environmentalism. or i guess it is more proper to say that we are the heart of sustainability. architects in particular miss that point somehow i guess because we tend to think our role is only to reduce energy use and possibly to source materials locally. which is fine, but hardly enough.
that is why some bright folks thought up the three pillars of sustainability - social, economic, environment - all interacting and each essential. so that we make buildings that are not horrible resource eaters, but that we also give access to everyone to the same opportunities we enjoy. sounds vaguely socialist, but i think is more just an acknowledgement that we don't need to run the world as though social darwinism is a reasonable thing.
about pollan, well i bet even where you live would not support your current population if it weren't for all the chemicals and energy put into the soil and without the distribution system in place. you are living in a bubble of technology that is both positive and negative. If the choice is to get rid of it, who is allowed to survive? should all of america go for the solution tried out in new orleans not so long ago? i guess that is what sarah is looking forward to?
well that is about as serious as i ever get about anything. it is important stuff though. hopefully we are smart enough to come up with a better solution than the half-assed efforts we have tried out to date ;-)
Oh, gorgeous. So gorgeous, Steven - she wears it well.
jump, I'm talking more about the middle of deserts being where people can't live. Like the city I come from, Phoenix, or even less habitable places in much poorer parts of the world. And yes you can't draw a line, but when we here in the West struggle to NOT eat too much while most of the world struggles to find enough food to survive...something is wrong with the distribution. Some of the benefits we have need to be used to enable us to solve problems in other places. In those terms Golden Rice sounds like an answer, but to me it feels like using poor people as lab rats and foisting a lot of unknown consequences on them.
Donna, we should consider various other foodsources that may or may not be in our current food palette.
Many pre-modern societies, like the Aztecs in what is currently Mexico City, had industrial level densities and populations without industrial technologies.
For instance, a majority of these societies depends on Amaranth grain-- which is a high protein, high fat and high fiber grain. More info here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amaranth_grain
Amaranth grain is notable because the plant is evergreen, grows in very marginal soil, requires almost no pesticide, chokes out weeds and produces a pound of grain per plant per growing season (some areas have anywhere between 1-4 growing seasons.)
It has a grain output comparable to corn or rice. The only difference is Amaranth contains significant amounts of micro and macro nutrients.
You may know this wonder plant as "pigweed."
It hasn't been significantly grown in the last 500 years though. A lot of that has to do with European conquests and interventions-- moving people away from Amaranth grain while suggesting European standards such as wheat or newly discovered corn.
It, however, hasn't mutated to a point of being completely inedible though! It is considered as being one of the most potential valuable food crops of the 21st century due to both simplicity and ease of growth.
i can't make brand's argument, donna, and i didn't get the sense that the golden rice had become a monoculture crop, only that it could remain a staple. in general, most of my 'yes,but...' thinking was covered in his explanations.
i'll have to read pollan's book to see if it balances my thinking. as i said, i'm on a roll right now.
How are you trying to catch the cat? Using a trap or cage/trap? Or just sitting out with a rifle? hehe Hope you get it.
Dj can't believe it. Sounds great. Vivid that is the goal.
As for environmentalism and the earth. The goal is for me less anthropocentric than respecting. Humans are only one part of the equation for me. I have always been interested by my sci-fi influenced friends who in a somewhat Brandian notion suggest that we should just hurry finish this planet and get to another. Techno-apologists or something, i almost feel.
Anywho. I do thing it is complex and i certainly am for modern science's miracles.
Got to get finished packing, heading down to Orlando for training tonight.
Thread Central
Theres a Mr. Tumbleweed? When did that happen? Sorry. I'm just nosey.
I just cut up a whole chicken this week. I'm going to blog about it next week.
Duck looks good. Although I didn't get a pretty picture in my mind with the coyote attack. I've only ever had the Chinatown kind. Duck fat is ridiculous.
And while we're on the food topic (again. nice.) here is my menu for a dinner I'm planning. What do you guys think? I feel like I need some textural difference, like something crispy or refreshing like a salad.
Green curry with shrimp over Bahn Hoi
Braised short rib with baby carrots (not the pre packaged rounded ones)
Poached pear with white chocolate mousse
I feel like the green curry doesn't match with others.
I am having liquor and cigarettes for dinner.
When i was fourteen and fifteen I recall helping my grandfather thrash alfalfa. The trasher was one that had actually been built to be pulled by oxen. It was old yet did the job in a fantastic way. We kept it stationary and hooked it up by a large leather belt to the flywheel on a tractor. I was always amazed at the small amount of seed which was gathered, but when my grandfather told me how much he sold it for i was amazed. My granda Joe always said it was a Ranchers gold. It was always from the last cutting of the year and I remember walking thru the field with him time and time again as he studied the seed to know just when it was the best time to harvest.
I say to Hell with Monsanto....and Cargill...mother raping Agra-Business is trashing the world cause some Scientist can do it.
Along another note there is a place in Norway up in the Artic Circle where they store seed types from all sorts of plants. It is a big underground vault with a StarWars Enterance....Very slick Norske Architecture. I'm glad they are doing this cause at least we know we have a chance when Monsanto Fails...along with the other Agra-giants.
Slart, I don't know much about curries or any color, but one of my favorite "fancy" salads is arrugula mixed with finely minced shallots, salt, pepper, and champaign vinegar, molded into a round shape, and topped with goat cheese. Its amazing.
slart, yeah curry seems odd man out, but that might be good. sounds delish
and the ladies idea alos sounds good.
Sarah i will have to make that salad.
oh and tumbles thanks for the info, didn't realize to be honest. Also i figured those weren't your legs...
after recently reading stewart brand's book 'a whole earth discipline', i can no longer say that i have a problem with gmo - not with any confidence anyway. he's got some pretty compelling arguments for genetic modification and dispels a lot of the arguments against. and this is from one of the quintessential environmental guys, old school!:
http://www.amazon.com/Whole-Earth-Discipline-Ecopragmatist-Manifesto/dp/0670021210#noop
it's worth a read. he's also nearly convinced me that we need more nuclear power, and soon.
-
re: the hat. i can't spill the beans on the hat until after it's derby debut, sillies. geez. it'll be worn with a green dress, though, and flower print pumps.
tumbles you got it right. But it's almost simpler than that flat fronts = chino pants popularly latino/hispanics = Viva La Revolución
I love duck... I love me some duck. It's been a while since I've had some even better that it's home raised.
Steven, is Brand's argument that we need to create more food to feed the mass of people in the world? Because according to Michael Pollan we already produce enough food to feed 20% more than the earth's current population - but we feed it mostly to cows (and some cars).
I know it's a vastly more complex conversation than we maybe want to get into on the internet, but seeing Pollan speak was the first time I'd heard that argument.
I would be hard-pressed to find any argument that would compel me to think super-large-scale agriculture is better than is a revolution in how food is distributed.
Steven... I have known Monsanto...people...and they be bad! gmo...is not the way....it is like making all birds;\robbins....I say no because I will miss the Cardinal who comes to visit in the early spring just like the robbin.
and then we feed the cows to trains.
Oh wow toaster. That reminds me of Kadaververwertungsanstalten (corpse processing facilities) from WWI and the Reichs-Juden-Fett (jewish fat soap) rumor from WWII.
Reminds me of Aldous Huxley's Brave New World where in the story facilities cremate the dead to suck every minute amount of phosphorous (among other elements) from the bones.
I'm curious if they removed preserved/shelfed food from that list what would the percentage really be like? And if it is so why is famine still a peak concern for the UN? But I do sympathize with how much food is created in the creation of food - seems ridiculous but true.
Sarah - Regarding the dress, I say buy nude stiletto sandals or pumps!! :)
brand's argument doesn't much have to do with quantities of food but quality. agreed, in the u.s., what monsanto is selling might have to do with increasing yields.
what has been done for some traditional communities across the world, however, is where he finds it more compelling. traditional agricultural people doing what they've always done have been flooded, blighted, and seen decreasing nutritional value in their traditional crops - those they know how to produce. a modified rice that has been made available (golden rice, i think it was called) allows them to keep farming as they have, can withstand submersion if necessary, allows them to keep their familiar menus, and has much greater nutritional value. shipping a bunch of our corn to people for whom it would be unfamiliar would NOT be the answer, but providing them a way to keep their way of life but be healthy maybe can be.
just one example, and i'm not 100% convinced, but his argument is pretty comprehensive. it's an impt book, anyway, i think.
Good morning Steven.
Brand does make some good arguments, therein. Personally, I am inclined to support the nuclear power thing more quickly than GMO and industrial agriculture. Food just seems so much more personal and "original" (in nature) to me.
Atechno - from what I understand about the famine issue isn't that there is not enough food it is getting the food to the masses. A lot of it gets stopped and distributed elsewhere.
Morning! Abe slept again - woke up once, but I stayed in bed, and he went back to sleep! Yay!
Steven, that does sound like a good argument. Maybe I'll check out that book....wonder if I can get it through my library... My problem with the GMO isn't so much the GMO, its the patent laws surrounding and protecting the GMOs. That may be different from what the others on here think, but I don't know that GMOs can actually hurt us. I don't like that they use viruses in their bioengineering. I do worry that the viruses could lead to some sort of outbreak in the future. But my biggest concern about GMOs now is that if the crops contaminate a traditional, that the traditional farmer is forced to pay the GMO company or face patent infringement fines. That seems unfair to me. Seems that living things shouldn't be able to be patented. I think they should have to make all patented living things sterile for this reason. They can make sterile cantaloupes and grapes, so why not sterile GMOs. They've already genetically modified them anyway.
tumbles - very impressed with taking the duck full-circle. That's the part of raising animals that keeps me from doing it so far. Butchering would be really hard for me and my husband. I grew up near the ranch and I understand animal harvest - it's just that my uncles/parents always did it, not me. I struggle with a whole chicken from the market! Barbara Kingsolver's book Animal, Vegetable, Miracle has a great chapter about their fall turkey harvest - and doing it with respect for the animal.
Perhaps I need to adopt an old goat that can live out its retirement in the pasture. No harvesting of said goat necessary.
what melt and sarah said.
Also specifically, with regards to famine one of the major issues with food aid in many developing countries is that it actually contributes to keeping prices so low that the farmers in those countries can't get into the market. Which thus reinforces the aid cycle versus developing their own internal economies.
Thanks for the suggestions, folks. I'll keep it in mind.
Sometimes I wonder if I come to Archinect for serious conversations or to get away from the seriousness. Things that don't directly affect me are somehow causing me stress and anger, like the Arizona immigration thing, and the gulf oil spill thing, and the salary thing. Add to that some major changes in my personal life, and its a very unsettling feeling.
All this wonderful fashion talk I missed out on and I'm the dappernapper!
Anyways, I stand firmly beside Donna and adhere to my highschool businees teacher's motto of no pits, no mids, no toes in the work place. Feet gross me out...even my own which are always meticulously pedicured...and people barefoot in the office makes me want to scream and throw staplers. I've even recently gone back to pantyhose especially for skirts at or above the knee. And slips are a must mainly because they counter the chance of embarrassing wardrobe malfunctions on windy days (like yesterday).
Yes, I am southern.
Steven, that looks like a good book that I need to read. One of the first paragraphs says it is not the earth or life that is in trouble, it is humans. Earth will go on. I like this, I think about how the earth gives and forgives.
Dapper, are you in Dallas, cause it was ca-razy windy yesterday. And even with a slip, I pulled a total Marylin Monroe at the farmers market last Saturday. Thankfully, I was in the parking lot, and I don't think anyone saw. But I hate that "skirt between the legs" look. Yuck.
Close, I'm in Houston.
And while I haven't read the book Steven linked to, I've always felt that the earth itself is in no danger of being destroyed just humans and their wanton abuse of it. I watched no impact man in honor if earth day last week and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Favorite part: his wife having a breakdown over a new baby and his reaction. I clearly irritated my movie neighbors with my uncontrolled chuckling.
i'm on an environment reading kick. just picked up green metropolis at the library over lunch.
speaking of which, just read that bill maher said, "every asshole who ever chanted 'drill baby drill' should have to report to the gulf coast today for cleanup duty."
i don't always like bill maher, but today i do.
Dapper, I have never heard of this movie. What was the reaction to the baby thing? Can you clarify?
Oh, and that wedding I bought the dress for, is in Spring in two weeks. And its outdoors. And I have curly hair. Oh the humanity!
Here's a link to the trailer: ( hope this works)
link
Basicaly this guy decides to live life for a year making little/no impact on the environment. He enlists his family including his consumption addicted wife into making it a family project. It was highly entertaining. His wife is nearing 40 and wants another baby so she decides to press the issue while they are in the midst of "living off the land". His reaction was quite reasonable as he didn't want another kid and told her so, but his facial expression was very WTF, why are you doing this now...don't you see this experiment is not going very well?
link
btw, the second link is to his blog
very interesting. I don't know that I could ever go that far. I'm pretty sure Husband wound never be on board, and marriage is about compromise. Looks like something I'd love to catch on hulu or something, except our TV computer is in the shop. Wish they'd hurry up with that, I'm missing Gossip Girl.
shhhh. don't tell anyone. its my secret vice.
I don't think I could go that far either, Sarah, especially if I had a toddler. I was with him up until no toilet paper. No electricity...ok, but tp is a must even if I hve to make my own out of other types of paper.
hi all. What a day I've had. But it's been a good one nonetheless. I had forgot what it was like to practice in the traditional way and boy was I reminded this week. And a happy reminder at that. Needless to say I enjoy a site visit/measured survey in the blistering midday sun. But it was just an inspiring site that it didn't matter much. Will let you know more when I can. Here's a little architectural candy... this is the residence above our office for the principal and his young family
Hi friends. Ditto what Slart said re: Arizona and the gulf oil spill. I am sick with worry / sadness. But then I read about that duck getting his head chopped off and I had to take a leave of absence from my brain for a few minutes. Sometimes I want to take a vacation from Earth or my life in general. I really admire those Native Americans who could do astral projection... what a talent.
In other news, I gave two presentations today and I jokingly told a client to "hold his horses" when he got ahead of me. He didn't mind but I got some ribbing from my coworkers later. At least I was wearing hot shoes when I gave it!
hey dj, i always wanted to astral project. some friends claim to have.
archi, that looks so cool, what a great small project and retreat/office.
i just had an amazing dinner and some california sparkling white. nite all
the wine may help with the astral projecting, nam.
it would be cool to do the dr, strange thing, that's for sure.
sarah i agree about the gmo and patent laws. there was a famous battle about that in canada. i think still unresolved. crazy shit.
but the idea of it doesn't bother me at all, for just the reasons steven gives. i also agree with stewart brand on nuclear power. there is a need to prioritize and think about what the environmental movement is for. reducing impact for certain, but also to preserve human life, and for that sometimes the 2nd-best choice is alright. In the usa, europe, and similarly developed parts of the world we have this idea it is all about saving dolphins and keeping the air clean, but in much of the rest of the world it is nothing less than fighting for a reasonably safe and long life for those alive today and for those not yet born. I suppose that is why i find much of the moralizing on the subject so self-righteous and obnoxious.
spill baby spill. what a sad thing to be witnessing 20 years after the valdiz.
interesting times
Funny, I've never, ever considered environmentalism to be about preserving human life. I guess that *is* what drives it. But in my mind it's about respect, intelligent action, and because it's the right thing to do.
I also feel safe nuclear could be a good option. Nothing is ever completely safe, of course, but the technology has improved so drastically since 3 Mile Island that it seems close to an acceptable risk. Though if I'm angry about an oil spill, I better be wary of supporting a potential nuclear spill!
What I've heard about Golden Rice is that its higher nutrition is offset by how much of it you have to eat to get that benefit. So you're giving people an even MORE homogenous diet, when what they need is to eat the variety of foods that their culture traditionally ate but that has been lost due to loss of cropland, species depletion, etc.
Again, Pollan makes a pretty convincing argument that traditional diets gave people everything they needed to be healthy. Geographic areas of the world that couldn't support human life didn't. Which is OK.
Maybe the answer is really to just cull the human population. Eventually, there will be a war based on food and survival, and less on national pride. I hope I'm on the winning side.
While continuing to sleep off a hangover this morning - after bowling and consuming a little too much bowling alley beer last night - I dreamt I was astral projecting! Or at least my brain was giving me a taste of it. I dreamt that I suddenly appeared at a train station and was trying to get on this Magic Mountain-looking train, and I finally did, and I was seated in a compartment with these man-children (fully grown men who live their lives like teenagers). Anyway the train took off and it looked like it was going on the street car tracks but instead it took a middle path that felt more like a roller coaster. It was all very vivid and I even felt a little woozy in my stomach from the up and down of the roller coaster.
ANYWAY. Good luck with that bobcat tumbles. I actually bought Stewart Brand's book, but hadn't started it yet. Guess I will now :o)
oh by the by,,, lb and i did a crit at ball state yesterday then we had a drink! quite fun!
tumbleweed. if i had money and you did catch the bobcat... i would pay handsome money for the skin.
I have grey wool 60 year old blazer that I think would look handsome with a stole.
japan has lots of nuclear power. it is not entirely safe i suspect. i have rather complicated feelings on that point.
donna, humanity is at the heart of environmentalism. or i guess it is more proper to say that we are the heart of sustainability. architects in particular miss that point somehow i guess because we tend to think our role is only to reduce energy use and possibly to source materials locally. which is fine, but hardly enough.
that is why some bright folks thought up the three pillars of sustainability - social, economic, environment - all interacting and each essential. so that we make buildings that are not horrible resource eaters, but that we also give access to everyone to the same opportunities we enjoy. sounds vaguely socialist, but i think is more just an acknowledgement that we don't need to run the world as though social darwinism is a reasonable thing.
about pollan, well i bet even where you live would not support your current population if it weren't for all the chemicals and energy put into the soil and without the distribution system in place. you are living in a bubble of technology that is both positive and negative. If the choice is to get rid of it, who is allowed to survive? should all of america go for the solution tried out in new orleans not so long ago? i guess that is what sarah is looking forward to?
well that is about as serious as i ever get about anything. it is important stuff though. hopefully we are smart enough to come up with a better solution than the half-assed efforts we have tried out to date ;-)
don't most fully grown men live their lives like teenagers?
happy may day!
let's see if this works: derby hat, as promised
if not, here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/archintentlouisville/4569156215/
will report more later. must sleep.
Oh, gorgeous. So gorgeous, Steven - she wears it well.
jump, I'm talking more about the middle of deserts being where people can't live. Like the city I come from, Phoenix, or even less habitable places in much poorer parts of the world. And yes you can't draw a line, but when we here in the West struggle to NOT eat too much while most of the world struggles to find enough food to survive...something is wrong with the distribution. Some of the benefits we have need to be used to enable us to solve problems in other places. In those terms Golden Rice sounds like an answer, but to me it feels like using poor people as lab rats and foisting a lot of unknown consequences on them.
Donna, we should consider various other foodsources that may or may not be in our current food palette.
Many pre-modern societies, like the Aztecs in what is currently Mexico City, had industrial level densities and populations without industrial technologies.
For instance, a majority of these societies depends on Amaranth grain-- which is a high protein, high fat and high fiber grain. More info here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amaranth_grain
Amaranth grain is notable because the plant is evergreen, grows in very marginal soil, requires almost no pesticide, chokes out weeds and produces a pound of grain per plant per growing season (some areas have anywhere between 1-4 growing seasons.)
It has a grain output comparable to corn or rice. The only difference is Amaranth contains significant amounts of micro and macro nutrients.
You may know this wonder plant as "pigweed."
It hasn't been significantly grown in the last 500 years though. A lot of that has to do with European conquests and interventions-- moving people away from Amaranth grain while suggesting European standards such as wheat or newly discovered corn.
It, however, hasn't mutated to a point of being completely inedible though! It is considered as being one of the most potential valuable food crops of the 21st century due to both simplicity and ease of growth.
i can't make brand's argument, donna, and i didn't get the sense that the golden rice had become a monoculture crop, only that it could remain a staple. in general, most of my 'yes,but...' thinking was covered in his explanations.
i'll have to read pollan's book to see if it balances my thinking. as i said, i'm on a roll right now.
what a lovely hat.
How are you trying to catch the cat? Using a trap or cage/trap? Or just sitting out with a rifle? hehe Hope you get it.
Dj can't believe it. Sounds great. Vivid that is the goal.
As for environmentalism and the earth. The goal is for me less anthropocentric than respecting. Humans are only one part of the equation for me. I have always been interested by my sci-fi influenced friends who in a somewhat Brandian notion suggest that we should just hurry finish this planet and get to another. Techno-apologists or something, i almost feel.
Anywho. I do thing it is complex and i certainly am for modern science's miracles.
Got to get finished packing, heading down to Orlando for training tonight.
TT
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