For Fuck's Sake - WHY!?!?!? (annoyed)

[Greg Nog]

The one I got is from Ikea; it was thirteen bucks, and is holding up great!  You might consider that as a replacement.

[Bernard]

I have the ague all up in my sinuses NOT COOL.

[Andrew_TSKS]

On the front page of the earbuds forum right now, there are threads about the deaths of Rowland S. Howard, Vic Chesnutt, Lhasa, Jay Reatard, and Jack Rose, and I just found out that Teddy Pendergrass also died today. Last summer was unofficially nicknamed the "Summer Of Death," but now winter is seeming just as bad. I'm not happy about this, people. Cool people need to stop dying.

People are always going to be dying, and the explosion of celebrity since the rise of mass media is going to make notable deaths more and more common.

I envision a world in which our entire culture is engulfed by tributes to the dead.

So maybe I shouldn't be adding more to it, right? But I don't like to let this shit go by unreported. So: Bassist Dewey Tucker of the Coup killed in random freeway shooting. What the fuck, man.

[Andrew_TSKS]

so i've been having this farm-girl fantasy but property around here can go for around half a million for land alone and there's only really potato farms, although they are very good potato farms (apparently every potato in the world comes from ancestors of pemberton valley), where i am more interested in a homestead. of course the first place that comes to mind when i think 'affordable property' is detroit. and why not start farming out of detroit? if somebody registered as a non-profit and let the neighbours take what they want the proprietor could even accept donations and write off expenses. have discovered others thinking along the same lines:

http://www.urbanfarming.org/
http://www.hantzfarmsdetroit.com/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UaXGMRCSUR0&feature=related

Yes! As someone who follows all things Detroit-related in the media, I've seen some stuff about this. I think it's fucking great. I hope they can get some localized efforts going that really work. This could be a really great way to improve city life and make good use of land that is falling into disrepair and blight.

Not annoying at all, by the way, so I don't know why it's in this thread, but it cheered me up after my last post, so that's good I suppose.

[diesel_powered]

The one I got is from Ikea; it was thirteen bucks, and is holding up great!  You might consider that as a replacement.

Already sold, going to pick one up prob. on Sunday. Previous French Press was a pretty cheap one and didn't really have any cushion between the carafe and the bottom, so eventually the bottom punched a hole in the bottom of the carafe. Probably in the dishwasher. The glass was thinner than a christmas tree ornament at the bottom, so it was only a matter of time.

[YojimboMonkey]

late, but my current french press is also from ikea and seems sturdy as fuck so well done dp.  also, the closest ikea to you is close enough to me that you probably ought to visit.  I'm thinking come up saturday evening, party with me, get the french press on sunday and then head back down.  I'm just spitballing here, feel free to improve on this plan

[jebreject]

So maybe I shouldn't be adding more to it, right? But I don't like to let this shit go by unreported. So: Bassist Dewey Tucker of the Coup killed in random freeway shooting. What the fuck, man.

Oh man. Fucking bummer.

[elpollodiablo]

Man, I feel fuckin awful. It's like I've been on the very precipice of being sick since Wednesday.

[elpollodiablo]

So maybe I shouldn't be adding more to it, right? But I don't like to let this shit go by unreported. So: Bassist Dewey Tucker of the Coup killed in random freeway shooting. What the fuck, man.

Oh man. Fucking bummer.

Also this is terrible

[cold before sunrise]

so i've been having this farm-girl fantasy but property around here can go for around half a million for land alone and there's only really potato farms, although they are very good potato farms (apparently every potato in the world comes from ancestors of pemberton valley), where i am more interested in a homestead. of course the first place that comes to mind when i think 'affordable property' is detroit. and why not start farming out of detroit? if somebody registered as a non-profit and let the neighbours take what they want the proprietor could even accept donations and write off expenses. have discovered others thinking along the same lines:

http://www.urbanfarming.org/
http://www.hantzfarmsdetroit.com/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UaXGMRCSUR0&feature=related

Yes! As someone who follows all things Detroit-related in the media, I've seen some stuff about this. I think it's fucking great. I hope they can get some localized efforts going that really work. This could be a really great way to improve city life and make good use of land that is falling into disrepair and blight.

Not annoying at all, by the way, so I don't know why it's in this thread, but it cheered me up after my last post, so that's good I suppose.

it was people talking about not having money for food that made it pop into my head and i didn't think about how this might not be the appropriate thread for the topic until after posting. note i left the delete button alone.

sure, there's an abundance of empty lots in detroit and it's great to see them being used for the common good. what about empty rooftops in every other city? that sunny space could be utilized, converted into carbon-eating garden sanctuaries for the public to share responsibility for. there are also window boxes and small space hanging gardens... with a little ingenuity we wouldn't have any need to pay for cheap contaminated lettuce to be shipped from china or chemically treated apples to fly all the way from new zealand, burning 5 gallons of fuel each mile (up to 36 000 gallons for one 10-hour flight). plus micro agriculture leaves more room for potential diversity, making rare varietals accessible. why not let detroit lead by example?

a darling of city dwelling fruitarians, this miniature apple tree (3-4') is designed for balconies and grows two varieties of fruit:

[Andrew_TSKS]

sure, there's an abundance of empty lots in detroit and it's great to see them being used for the common good. what about empty rooftops in every other city? that sunny space could be utilized, converted into carbon-eating garden sanctuaries for the public to share responsibility for. there are also window boxes and small space hanging gardens... with a little ingenuity we wouldn't have any need to pay for cheap contaminated lettuce to be shipped from china or chemically treated apples to fly all the way from new zealand, burning 5 gallons of fuel each mile (up to 36 000 gallons for one 10-hour flight). plus micro agriculture leaves more room for potential diversity, making rare varietals accessible. why not let detroit lead by example?

Sure, in an ideal world, it'd be great to use rooftop space, but with the way things work where building ownership is concerned, it'd be much harder to do. In Detroit, a lot of that land is, as far as I understand, not owned by anyone private anymore--it's been seized by the city and is probably available for the price of back taxes. That really changes the feasibility of what we're talking about. I think, in general, it's something that'd be much easier to do in decaying cities--assuming soil/groundwater isn't contaminated by whatever past buildings may have been in that location.

If it catches on in Detroit, and I hope it will, it can maybe expand, but I think that's a long way off.

[cold before sunrise]

the video on their website says that in 2008 urban farming had the equivalent of 600 farms across the country providing food to an estimated 50,000 people... most of them in detroit. apparently there are now full-on farms appearing in overgrown lots complete with horses and pheasants. you're right, it's true there aren't many places with so much abandoned space but it could really put the decaying city in a position of leadership to show the validity of growing sustenance gardens in urban environments, making cities green with guerilla gardening. had no idea this was already such a thing but freedom gardens are big right now.

[C of heartbreak]

If you guys all want to move to Detroit and start an urban farming commune I am so so fucking down I'd be underground if I went any downer.

[andronicus]

Actually my main plan in life is to default on all my student loans (which aren't even very burdensome, but you know, fuck those guys) and start an alternative society/commune.  I figure if you're going to have kids, even if you're independently wealthy or some such, there's nothing more valuable you could give them than a sense of place and skills that would be useful in the face of a generations-long national decline in living standards.

[Bernard]

Can we relocate this commune to someplace where it's rarely below 50F at midday? Am already going through the Territorial Seed Co. catalog and circling items for my fantasy garden.

[cold before sunrise]

everybody here will be invited into the pending underground garden community, except bernard. thinking about squatting and cottage industry soap production is so fight clubesque it's hard for the train of thought to not immediately continue into bomb making and secret fights.

[C of heartbreak]

Actually my main plan in life is to default on all my student loans (which aren't even very burdensome, but you know, fuck those guys) and start an alternative society/commune.  I figure if you're going to have kids, even if you're independently wealthy or some such, there's nothing more valuable you could give them than a sense of place and skills that would be useful in the face of a generations-long national decline in living standards.

!!!! I was thinking about this exact thing the other day, particularly how good it'd feel to call up my creditors and tell them sorry, I've sworn off material possessions and thus will be unable to pay back my loans. I knew there was a reason I liked you.

[diesel_powered]

I ain't never goin' back to Dee-troit.

[Maaik]

I ain't never goin' back to Dee-troit.

[mixed cats]

This guy wants to buy my domain from me. I don't want to sell it and I want him to stop emailing me.

[coldforge]

So just blacklist him.

[mixed cats]

TRUE
actually it's good that the contact email listed in my whois is one I read maayyybe once a month.

[slow west vultures]

my mom's youngest sister has down syndrome and lives in a group home.  last week she had to have eye surgery and stay with us for the day becuase nobody is at the group home during the day.  over the weekend the stitches on one of her eyes came out, and the group home didn't contact anybody right away.  my aunt had to take her back to the doctor who said she's goign to have to have more invasive surgery on the eye to repair it - and that this could have been prevented.  so now my mom had to take her to the doctor, and take her back to our house again.  this is like the third time in as many weeks that my aunt has stayed with us for the whole day.  i don't mind her being here, but my mom gets worked up trying to distract her and entertain her, and its just an ordeal - one i'm not particularly up for right now now that my energy level is at zero.  freaking stressful. 

[bethany_m]

you know what sucks? Immigration applications.

[Thermofusion]

Jeep wouldn't start this morning; for God knows what reason, the battery was dead. Had to get my neighbor to run me to Napa so I could buy a new one, then while forcing the old off with a pair of channel locks (didn't have the right size socket for my ratchet), one of the terminal nuts went cartwheeling and I spent a good ten minutes on the ground looking for it. And I hit my head a bunch of times and missed my ferry. Good stuff!