Wildilocks Can Has Journal?

We went a visiting to CERES today! It was the first outing for my eZee Torq having only just got heem back yesterday, and even with the long hiatus, battery charged fine and I didn’t even come close to running out, even going back via Merri creek and stopping in at FOE on the way home.

At Ceres, had a bit of a look around the bike shed area, then we went and had a lovely lunch - there wasn’t a huge rmenu but the salad and the gluten free orange & poppy seed cake + bush chai were all great. My salad looking delicious:

But looked a little alarmed by his muffin:

Well it’s been a fun and sociable weekend though not for great long periods of time, with and ’s bday drinks at Polly we only managed to catch 1/2 hour of *shakes tiny fist* however the music at Blitz was great and got his dance on for about a solid hour and a half.

is also over from Perth til Tuesday and as I’ve just got my working electric bike back [after about 6 months of asking for it...!] I have proposed a cycling, eating & exploring Adventure for tomorrow!

This Adventure is to somewhere I’ve wanted to visit for some time, CERES - The Centre for Education and Research in Environmental Strategies - http://www.ceres.org.au - up in East Brunswick, where there is much organic food goodness and it’s only 8 or so km from the Melbourne CBD. As has brought a nice folder bike with him, and has already ridden to places as far away as Coburg, I felt this would be a nice outing.

I am proposing we should leave the CBD around 11.30amish, give or take a bit, allowing us to reach CERES hopefully around 12 - 12.30, barring any hold-ups. We plan to have luncheon at the Ceres Cafe [>pdf of menu] which looks scrummy, and I’d also like to visit the Nursery and at least one of the farm areas. Unfortunately the Bikeshed is only open on Fridays and Saturdays. There seems to be a variety of things to check out that are open 7 days, so I’m sure we won’t be bored!

As far as route goes, I propose going up via Nicholson St, and returning via the Merri Creek trail. If anyone wants to join us cycling up, please let me know asap, as that may make our lunch time a little later start if we’re socialising more along the way or changing our route. Otherwise you can get a tram easily and Ceres has how-to-get-there information here, and here is the Google map.

If you can read this, you’re invited to join us! So please do if you’re free and would like to catch up for a yummy organic lunch.

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.