A Close Shave Part II: The Rolls Razor

September 19, 2006

...e blade after each use. A detailed description of the operation of this unique razor can be found on this web site. In effect the Rolls Razor is a compromise between a straight razor and a safety razor. We say it’s time to bring back the Rolls Razor so we all can stop handing Gillette and Schick, who have the same business models as crack gangs any more money, and stop filling all those landfills with more plastic....

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Water Conservation

Mr. Homegrown

December 30, 2006

Water Conservation

...nservation. So before delving into greywater and rainwater harvesting it’s time to assess where your household is in terms of water consumption and see if that level can be reduced. It’s generally far easier and less expensive to conserve resources than it is to resort to the latest techno-eco-gadgetry. So let’s count down the major sources of domestic water use (according to percentages calculated by the American Water Works Association Research...

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The Survivor

Mr. Homegrown

January 4, 2007

Thoughtstylings

1 Comment

...e development of the SurviveLA signature cocktail–the Survivor. For a long time we’ve cursed the previous owners of our compound for their useless, inedible landscaping. One of the plants they left us that we’ve lived with for all these years is an ornamental pomegranate tree (Punica granatum) that, while attractive, we had previously assumed was useless due to the very small fruit. We’ve tried to eat them, and found the flavor a little too tart,...

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Getting Out

Mr. Homegrown

October 24, 2006

Thoughtstylings

...etting Out, Your Guide to Leaving America. We completely understand the sentiment of wanting to get the hell out of this proto-fascist banana republic we live in and we endorse this book for those who don’t want to hunker down and do the homestead thing. SurviveLA even has a former colleague in Chanai India who got out of the US several years ago and now has an interesting job and his own ultra low-cost homestead. Despite the allure of more exotic...

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Build Your Own Furniture

Mr. Homegrown

October 27, 2006

Design

5 Comments

...innovative architectural ideas may have great potential, but when it comes time to buy supplies at the lumber yard, the overly creative builder will soon realize the difficulty of utopian designs in a world of 4 by 8 sheets of plywood and drywall. That geodesic shape is hip, but what do you do with the rest of the plywood sheet once you cut it out? The same limitation applies to making furniture. Thankfully a generation of designers back in the 60...

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