Wildilocks Can Has Journal?

Quote of the Week: Year 1802

‘I believe that banking institutions are more dangerous to our liberties
than standing armies. If the American people ever allow private banks to
control the issue of their currency, first by inflation, then by deflation,
the banks and corporations that will grow up around the banks will deprive
the people of all property until their children wake-up homeless on the
continent their fathers conquered.’

Thomas Jefferson 1802

Hells yes. *shakes fist* interestingly I was told by the lady @ Charlie Weaver today about a great industry association that can save like, 90% of my eftpos etc fees - this would totally apply to you too, if you are interested let me know and I can pass on info! less the banks get the better, they’ve been growing too fat for too long, now is their time to diiiiiie.

In other news, I made the most yummy dinner tonight, gluten free brown rice penne, organic steak mince, organic basil & garlic pasta sauce, organic cherry tomatoes, organic spinach, organic cheese and a couple of glasses of organic rose from a really cute little bottle shop up on Lygon St in East Brunswick. Doing ticket & flyer runs has been tiring but good and I’ve got to *properly* exercise my eBike - I’ve been tuckered out easily though after being horribly sick [suspect food poisoning from dodgy Vietnamese restaurant] on Monday and for half of Tuesday was very weak too. My lips are also now horridly chapped from the wind. But I got to ride around Albert Park lake! It was pretty.

Also, Please sign this petition about the Murray Darling basin:

Buy Me a River

That is all.

I has a new blender! Lookie:

[clicken to embiggen]

If you look carefully, you’ll notice there is no cord. That’s not because it’s not visible: it’s because there isn’t one! This is a Vortex Hand-Crank blender, which requires no electrickery to function. I’d really like a pedal-powered blender, but they’re not so easy to buy off-the-shelf. I was slightly concerned it may be a bit of a toy blender, but when it arrived, I was pleasantly impressed with its sturdiness. I’ve read that the one weak point is the clamp where it is attached to your bench, and am hoping they’ve improved the material of that since the reviews I read, but even so, I’m impressed with the heft and feel of indestructibleness. It’s also made of shiny and stainless steel.

So, I took it for a test drive earlier. I don’t have any prep pics, but this is the result:

Nom! I was impressed at how well it blended, and how fast, definitely comparable to an electric blender. It apparently crushes ice fine too, though I haven’t tested that yet. It’s pretty noisy [Jeremy was wailing "doooooom!"] but then so are most electric blenders, and The Aerie is pretty small so everything sounds loud.

I got the blender from here but they were a bit slow to ship, even with the requested Courier delivery, so if I were buying again I’d probably try elsewhere.

Anyone have any good smoothie recipes to share? I am a big mango smoothie fan so those will be on the menu soon, though I think I will continue to enjoy my standard breakfast of fruit salad for the time being - I likes me fruit salad. Found a reasonably good site full of smoothie recipes here: http://www.flowercarole.com/ [bit too full of advertising though].

Actually, that makes me wonder something - has anyone else noticed top Google results increasingly including a lot of sites listed which have Google Adwords? Is it possible/likely/a conspiracy that Google has an algorithm in there which is ranking sites with Adwords higher than sites without o_O? Cos when I tried Yahoo to compare, I got very different results - and no Adwords sites….

I also recently bought me a new secondhand IBM X40 laptop, which is from the secondhand laptop shop down on the corner of Elizabeth and Lonsdale. $400 for something that actually works better than my stupid Acer whose power cord is now dying and I really don’t want to keep plonking down $150 a pop to fix every 6 months, thankyewverymuch, is smaller and lighter and has a 3 hour battery. It just doesn’t have a touchpad, which is a bit of a step backwards, but I’m coping with the buttony thing fairly well and can get a mouse if I really want. *edit* oh lookie, I found this. I hope it works well!

Hey peeps, Kat is performing at the Omeda [Organisation of Middle Eastern Dance in Australia] Festival next weekend, and the opening night Gala thang is on next Friday, and was wondering if anyone would like to join me & Jeremy in heading down? It’s at the Aegean Greek Restaurant, 19 Brunswick St Fitzroy, and costs $45 for a 3 course meal + tea & coffee, plus show of many exotic dance styles! I have never seen Kat perform before and it seems like a good opportunity. Doors open 7, meals served from 7.30, and show starts at 8pm. If anyone would like to join us we need to book our table tomorrow morning, so let me know asap!

The info for the whole festival is here: http://www.omeda.org.au/files/2008medfestival.pdf

Okey dokey,

after asking a few different people, it is looking like dinner at Hede Arashi Kushiyaki Bar is a good choice for Sunday-night-before-Monday-public-holiday socialising. Still open to other options but have been recommended Hede by a couple of people and they are open Sunday evening.

Arashi Kushiyaki Bar is located at:

41 Courtenay Place
Wellington
04-801 9818

We are looking at 7pm to be gathering there. Any other options are welcomed for after-goings if there is anything to go to, and would love to see anyone there who would like to come down! Hands up for likely attendees would be good in case we look like a reasonable size group and may want to book a table.

Wonderful to meet so many people last night, by the way! ^_^

Worried about the food crisis yet?

Don’t - we have more than enough wine to go round…

It’s pretty clear what needs to happen now. Of course this really highlights what a dumb idea it was to grow rice in much of Australia in the first place…

We need very strong, very committed, and unequivocal government leadership. I don’t envy Kevin having come in to the middle of this - many of the risks of the choice of crops in Australia was well known several years ago, but was anything done by little Johnny? Nooooo. So what to do? More taxes for crops which are not basic storable food crops which are drought resistant, more subsidies for organic farming in general to cushion against peak oil, *no* GM food subsidies or encouragement as that is already proving more trouble and less gain than it ever promised, tax cuts and incentives for growing your own food at home in the form of water and materials subsidies for domestic use. More taxes on animal farming and meat products grown unsustainably. Any more ideas?

Well, we can do a little ourselves right now. I’ve begun slowly and less than impressively with a tiny garden in a single large pot, plans for a water tank, worm farm, etcetera still haven’t materialised but that’s partly my fault but partly others! I will get some EarthBoxes when they are available next month though, I was hoping I’d find something better in the meantime, alas, no luck, so waiting it is

If you have any kind of space around you, I strongly urge you to consider beginning to plant a little garden with food, herbs, anything. I’d like to have chickens [or DUCKS!], but well… that might be a little impractical up here :/

Wondering if it’s even worth bothering, as Warren Ellis and some others would have you believe we are so very doooomed?

Well kiddies, Michael Pollan wrote a new article for the New York Times a few days ago, entitled “Why Bother? - here’s an excerpt to give you some impetus:

“If you do bother, you will set an example for other people. If enough other people bother, each one influencing yet another in a chain reaction of behavioral change, markets for all manner of green products and alternative technologies will prosper and expand. (Just look at the market for hybrid cars.) Consciousness will be raised, perhaps even changed: new moral imperatives and new taboos might take root in the culture. Driving an S.U.V. or eating a 24-ounce steak or illuminating your McMansion like an airport runway at night might come to be regarded as outrages to human conscience. Not having things might become cooler than having them. And those who did change the way they live would acquire the moral standing to demand changes in behavior from others — from other people, other corporations, even other countries.”

Already in my heart beats a certain amount of glee at the prospect of being able to yell at yuppies in their 4WDs in the middle of the city “HEY ASSHOLE, PEOPLE ARE STARVING IN 36 DIFFERENT COUNTRIES NOW - DO YOU THINK YOU MIGHT CONSIDER DRIVING A SMALLER FUCKING CAR AT LEAST?”

Also, I was rather interested to read that the phrase that is widely attributed to Marie Antionette was actually misinterpeted, at least, the context was. Check it out.

Stolen with permission, some excellent advice from qamar that I think a few of you might like…

Here’s my mantra for living which came from me realizing that I was giving my cats a better life than I was giving myself. Why is it that we can care for others and ignore what we really need? From this realization I got off pills, started meditating every day and began treating life like the joyous, peaceful experience it really is.

9 Life Lessons

1/ Get off pills. You don’t give your cats drugs, even when they are insane, so why do it to yourself?

2/ Eat what you need. I stopped free-feeding my cats and they lost weight, yet I kept stuffing my own face and stayed overweight! Eat protein, eat vitamin and mineral rich foods and the right sort of fats. Check out the complexity of your pedigree cat food and compare to your own diet. Eat grass. I provide cat grass for my cats and they chew on it every day before each meal. Fibre and fresh leafy greens are essential for us every day.

3/ Bathe. The cats know it. The Japanese know it. The muslims know to do it before prayer. We have running hot water in our homes!–That’s just crazy, nuts luxury! Enjoy.

4/ Drink nothing but water. Okay, well maybe we’ll deviate from this a little, but you get my point right? We don’t add sugar, alcohol or caffeine to the drinking bowl, why add it to our own fluid?

5/ Take time to meditate. Every day your cat sits in a comfy position with a calm view with their eyes at half-mast, not asleep, not awake, not focussing on anything. Try it. Every day. It works.

6/ Sleep. As much as you can or want to.

7/ Stretch. Immediately when you get up from being sedentary, do a couple of stretches. Raise your hands above your head, touch your toes, do a push-up and arch your back. A sun salutation or five will really move the blood around and give you all the zing you need to move to the next bit of sunshine.

8/ Run around like a mad thing once a day. If jumping on objects isn’t your style, go for a jog, a cycle or a robust walk. Even better, run about chasing a ball or a frisbee. If you’re really cat-practised you’ll dance around your house nekkid at least once a day to a really rockin’ tune.

9/ Snuggle. Touch another body. Bump heads. Cuddle-up every day. And don’t just wait for it to happen. Demand it! Loudly and with conviction. nods

Do these nine things every day and you’re on your way to being a cat. You’ll spend less money (cats are hopeless shoppers unless it’s a shiny-thing), you’ll desire fewer holidays (cats hate holidays), you’ll look and feel fabulous and you’ll be grinning like the Dalai Lama all day.

I have to say, I particularly like the title. Awwwww. I feel like a kitty now Purr purr purr! Mrrrrow!