Checking in on Kelly’s projects

...his very ambitious project has gone on hold until the crisis arises again. Making a mattress is intimidating, just because of the sheer cost and scale of the materials needed, and as far as I can tell, there’s no one out there to help you do it. If I ever do make a mattress, it will be like summiting the Everest of homesteading. On the other hand, if I ever learn how, I think I could make a mint teaching other desperate people how to do it themsel...

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Lila Downs Video Showing Tortilla Making in Oaxaca

...ngeles Bread Bakers sent me a link to this music video that shows tortilla making in Oaxaca. The song is “Palomo Del Comalito” (Dove of the Comalito) by Lila Downs. Note the huge corn tortillas, proof of the regional diversity of Mexican cuisine (and one of the many details I got wrong in my tortilla press post–thanks for the corrections Gloria). Lyrics in English after the jump. The beautiful people of this land Grind corn A miracle of their hand...

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Weekend Linkages: Spiders and Fast Food Ghosts

...Michael Grave’s original plans for Portland City Hall had a little town on top via @jmfowl. Two Men Had To Be Extinguished After Catching Fire At Goop Store A beautiful art book about spiders LA Restaurants Are Breathing Life Into the Architectural Ghosts of Fast-Food Past China Miéville: “If you don’t feel despair, you’re not opening your eyes” Energy use from US cryptomining firms is contributing to rising utility bills...

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An ancient food forest

...tgWcD-1Nw An intriguing short video by permaculturist Geoff Lawton about a food forest in Morocco. It does leave me with questions, though, such as: what sort of labor does it take to keep this system going? And also, what other kinds of inputs does it require? Is it irrigated, and if so, how? Still, it’s inspiring to see so much abundance in a dry space. Come to think of it, LA has lots of palm trees already. If we’d just give up our cars, we cou...

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Saturday Tweets: Bees, Fireflies and Food Waste

...ttps://t.co/vxw4HwbP6d — Alissa Walker (@awalkerinLA) June 13, 2018 Reduce food waste to combat world hunger & slow global #climatechange. @UCANR teaches the compost solution. https://t.co/k1S3tUTgmw pic.twitter.com/keYBmIGzUB — Jeannette Warnert (@jwarnert) June 13, 2018 Love is always at the service of others. Because love is seen in actions, not words. — Pope Francis (@Pontifex) June 15, 2018 When you can’t sleep [Louis Wain, c. 1890] pic.twitt...

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