Harry Partch: Woodworker and Composer

May 12, 2016

...ngularis Reversum. Gourd Tree and Gongs Partch was a master of up-cycling, making use of military and industrial surplus. Below, his “cloud chamber bowls” made from the tops and bottoms of 12-gallon Pyrex carboys found in a UC Berkeley radiation lab. Cloud chamber bowls. Here’s Partch talking about the cloud chamber bowls and playing them: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OfZrNaLxH-0 You can see all of Partch’s instruments here. Partch’s music can...

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084 How to Make Your Own Cheese with David Asher

Mr. Homegrown

May 4, 2016

Fermentation, Food, Podcasts

1 Comment

...rennet. Using cardoon flowers instead of rennet. Tools you need for cheesemaking. Hacking a fridge to make your own cheese cave. Using leftover whey for fertilizer and cooking. Making chèvre. How to store cheese. The cheese scene in Canada and the legality of raw milk. Raw milk cheeses in Quebec. To find out about David’s classes visit his website The Black Sheep School of Cheesemaking. If you want to leave a question for the Root Simple Podcast...

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Islamic Geometric Patterns

Mr. Homegrown

May 2, 2016

Design

5 Comments

I’m making an effort (not always successful) to avoid falling down the Google/Facebook/Youtube hole vortex in the evening. The siren song of internet distraction rarely leads anywhere useful and I’ve never regretted turning the damn thing off and taking up pencil and paper. Through some library serendipity, I discovered Islamic Geometric Patterns by Eric Broug. It’s a book of step by step drawing instructions. All you need is a ruler, compass, pe...

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How to Mix and Shape Dough Explained Without Words in Two Minutes

Mr. Homegrown

April 14, 2016

Bread, Food

6 Comments

...bout this video: Bakers use scales and so should you. Mixing dough entails making an incredible mess. Learning to shape dough requires practice. As regards point #3, my plan is to mix up some practice dough (I use the dead dough recipe in the Bouchon Bakery Cookbook but any bread dough will do) and practice over and over. As a professional once told me when I complimented her on her pizza shaping prowess, “It’s because I’ve done it 10,000 times.”...

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Deep Work

Mr. Homegrown

April 11, 2016

Reviews, Thoughtstylings

3 Comments

...s not to say that there aren’t other benefits to putting aside one day and making it different than all the others. But let’s not kid ourselves that an Internet sabbath is going to cure the crack-like addictiveness of social media and click-bait websites. Newport suggests, “embracing boredom” and not surfing the web even when you’re waiting in line at the post office. Rather than schedule time away from distraction Newport suggests scheduling time...

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