What Comes After Postmodern

... In New Orleans

• Website: La Source Ancienne Ounfo islandofsalvationbotanica.com/source-ancienne/ islandofsalvationbotanica.com/source-ancienne/ EXCERPT: La Source Ancienne Ounfo is a private Vodou society that exists within (Sallie Ann Glassman's) home (in New Orleans). Its main purpose is to serve the Lwa and the community. To that end, ceremonies have been held every week for 25 years for the Lwa. Vodou is a living tradition. Our ceremonies are based on traditional Haitian Vodou, but incorporate ongoing inspiration and innovation. You will absolutely encounter some aspects of ritual in my home that are not traditional to Haitian Vodou and yet are absolutely legitimate to the ongoing development of Vodou as a syncretic religion. Posted October 31, 2010 at 4:46 PM

• YouTube Video: Mardi Gras Indians www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=7blnRNDUXNU&vq=medium#t=13 www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=7blnRNDUXNU&;vq=medium#t=13 The history and cultural legacy of New Orleans' Mardi Gras Indians are explored in this documentary short by Dino Palazzi. An interview with Jeffrey D. Ehrenreich, University of New Orleans professor of anthropology, is enhanced with historical photographs, artwork, and documentary stills and video of present-day Mardi Gras Indians. Posted November 2, 2010 at 9:29 PM

• Website: Tootie's Last Suit (Documentary) www.tootieslastsuit.com/index.html www.tootieslastsuit.com/index.html EXCERPT: As early as the 1700s, African Americans in New Orleans masqueraded as Native Americans in honor of the refuge local tribes offered runaway slaves in the bayous of New Orleans, and of bonds of friendship and marriage forged between these peoples. By the Civil War, the identity of New Orleans had been cast in the crucible of the city's singular Mardi Gras celebration--one that consolidated the power of white ruling elites, a tradition that continued long after Emancipation. But by the 1880s, New Orleans' African Americans had organized themselves into Mardi Gras Indian tribes or gangs that "masked Indian," and often fought pitched battles on Mardi Gras day. In the atmosphere of post-Reconstructions injustices and hypocrisies, "masking Indian" was an implicit civil rights protest aimed at white elites and at segregation, in keeping with New Orleans' carnivalesque spirit. The feature-length documentary, TOOTIE'S LAST SUIT explores the complex relationships, rituals, history, and music of New Orleans' vibrant Mardi Gras Indian culture while telling the story of Allison Tootie Montana, former Chief of Yellow Pocahontas Hunters. Celebrated throughout the New Orleans as the prettiest, for the beauty and inventiveness of his elaborately beaded Mardi Gras costumes, Tootie Montana masked for 52 years, longer than any other Mardi Gras Indian. Posted November 2, 2010 at 9:16 PM

• YouTube Video: Tootie's Last Suit (Trailer) www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=r8xCDW8YJXU&vq=medium www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=r8xCDW8YJXU&;vq=medium EXCERPT from website: When Tootie retired in 1997 from the painstaking labor of creating a new Mardi Gras suit each year, he conferred the title of Chief on his son Darryl Montana. Pressured by his fans, and possessed of an unflagging imagination and artistic will to create, Tootie committed himself to making a Mardi Gras comeback in 2004. As he completes his last Mardi Gras Indian suit, and decides to parade alone, lifelong conflicts erupt between Tootie and Darryl. Though deeply personal, this father-son rivalry speaks to the issue of how traditional cultures are preserved, and how they are continuously re-interpreted. TOOTIE'S LAST SUIT is not just about Tootie's passing on the baton, but also about the difficulty of letting it go, as well as the distinct possibility that the baton will be dropped. While it is Tootie Montana's voice that predominates, much of his story is told and seen from the points-of-view of his son Darryl, the various chiefs who are both his rivals and admirers, and others connected to the culture, including Wynton Marsalis and Dr. John. Posted November 2, 2010 at 9:41 PM

• Article and Interview: Kirsha Kaechele www.interviewmagazine.com/art/kirsha-kaechele/ www.interviewmagazine.com/art/kirsha-kaechele/ EXCERPT: Kirsha Kaechele runs KKProjects, an arts program (though that's way too square a word for it) located in six previously abandoned structures in the down-but-not-quite-out part of New Orleans where she has lived since 2001 and where Hurricane Katrina did some of its worst damage ... "Art was a last, desperate attempt for me to be able to exist in the world after trying very hard not to exist in the world and realizing that it was just my lot to be a person and to live in the world. See, the normal world dissolves in these experiences, and you realize that it is just an illusion. But, inevitably, I just kept landing back in the middle of it." Posted November 10, 2010 at 11:40 AM

• Website: Life Is Art lifeisartfoundation.org/ lifeisartfoundation.org/ EXCERPT: NEW ORLEANS--Life is Art Foundation (Originally KKProjects) was founded shortly after Hurricane Katrina in the St. Roch neighborhood of New Orleans in six abandoned structures: a former bakery, a storefront, and four 1800s houses. The structures sat in a one block area of the derelict neighborhood on North Villere between Music and Arts streets. Each was home to a site-specific installation for varying exhibition periods. Local and international artists were invited to work with the spaces as they found them, as well as with the surrounding (often challenging) physical and cultural environment. Through art projects involving the greater social ecosystem, the project served to cultivate creativity and inspire the hearts, minds, and economy of the St Roch neighborhood and its visitors. Integrated into the spaces was an urban farm and children's program. As with the houses, the farm served as art space and vehicle for community evolution. During summer months, herbs and vegetables were grown with neighborhood children for eating and selling to New Orleans' best restaurants. The art installations continued until the houses, one by one, met their end- decay delivering ever disintegrating safety until they could no longer stand; a crack addict's fire reducing one of the last to the ground. This being the natural environment of St Roch, the project responded, evolving away from traditional physical installation art and into land and experience based art. The black swan came when life led the director to fall in love with a Tasmanian. Life is Art now exists in Tasmania- in a museum called Mona - Museum of Old and New Art. The St Roch experience lives on through the artists who participated in the project and their new work, the founder and Life is Art's new projects in Tasmania, and the children who were present for what happened there. Posted November 10, 2010 at 11:46 AM

• Article: Bright Spot in the Big Easy travel.nytimes.com/2009/02/15/travel/15surfacing.html travel.nytimes.com/2009/02/15/travel/15surfacing.html EXCERPT: In the three and a half years since Hurricane Katrina, Magazine Street has emerged as a boutique row and a testing ground for new retail concepts, many of which pay homage to New Orleans's heritage. Among them is Dirty Coast, a T-shirt company that was started by a graphic designer, Blake Haney, and an entrepreneur, Patrick Brower, shortly after the storm. Their design statement--T-shirts screen-printed with clever and occasionally provocative jokes like "New Orleans: So far behind, we're ahead" and "It's not beautiful being easy"--became a local sensation. Posted November 10, 2010 at 2:53 PM

• Website: Dirty Coast www.dirtycoast.com/store/detail/9/New-Orleans.-So-far-behind-were-ahead www.dirtycoast.com/store/detail/9/New-Orleans.-So-far-behind-were-ahead EXCERPT: On October 5th of 2004 we started Dirty Coast. The mission for the brand has never changed. Working with local printers and creatives, we wanted to create a series of designs that folks could proudly wear while poking fun at ourselves, proclaiming our local identity, and always leaving non-locals a bit perplexed at what the shirts might mean. Originally we thought we might sell to a few hundred local die-hards and that would be that. Small batches of shirts and posters. A fun side project. In 2005, a Category 3 storm made its way through the area without causing too much damage. But, the federally funded and constructed infrastructure meant to protect the city failed us and filled New Orleans with water. Maybe you saw something about it on the news. Soon after that, Blake found himself in Lafayette with all plans placed on hold. In his PJs he designed a bumper sticker that read "Be a New Orleanian, Wherever You Are." He printed 5,000 stickers and placed them all over the city once he could return. The reaction to the sticker was amazing and soon afterward, so became the brand. Suddenly having a much bigger audience, our original mission had become so much more important. Over 2,000,000 free stickers and 80+ shirt designs later, as well as an amazing community surrounding our brand, we could not be more happy or blessed to have the responsibility to keep the conversations about New Orleans and Louisiana happening. Posted November 10, 2010 at 3:57 PM

• Website: Defend New Orleans defendneworleans.com/ defendneworleans.com/ Interesting blog with feature-style articles and interviews--also video and photo galleries--and store where you can order items like the "Defend Who Dat" T-shirt, originally created in 2009 when the NFL claimed ownership of "Who Dat." Posted November 14, 2010 at 6:55 AM

• WWOZ: Dedicated to Bringing New Orleans Music to the Universe www.wwoz.org/ www.wwoz.org/ EXCERPT: WWOZ 90.7 FM is the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Station, a community radio station currently operating out of the French Market Corporation Offices in New Orleans, Louisiana. Our governance board is appointed by the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival Foundation. We are a listener-supported, volunteer-programmed radio station. WWOZ covers many events live in and around the city and across the United States. We also broadcast live from the famed New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival annually. Listen to streaming broadcasts, find music news and event information. Become a member of WWOZ to receive special Jazz Fest benefits along with local discounts through the year. Posted November 10, 2010 at 7:16 PM

• Website: Backstreet Cultural Museum www.backstreetmuseum.org/ www.backstreetmuseum.org/ EXCERPT: The Museum's mission is to present and preserve the unique cultural traditions of New Orleans' African American society, including Mardi Gras Indians, Jazz funerals, and Social Aid & Pleasure Clubs. Through its programs and exhibitions of artifacts, memorabilia, photos, and videos, the Museum endeavors to protect these treasures of the community. The Backstreet Cultural Museum is the only museum dedicated to these rich folk-life and musical traditions. The Museum's goal is to promote a deeper and more widespread understanding of the New Orleans African-American heritage through exhibits and presentations of the art and music surrounding the celebration of these traditions. The Museum serves as a repository for the cultural traditions of New Orleans' urban society. The Museum contains exhibits, artifacts, memorabilia, films and videos depicting Mardi Gras Indians, Social Aid & Pleasure Clubs, and Traditional Jazz Funerals. These three elements represent cultural institutions born from the spirit of the community in an effort to define and express itself. These unique aspects of the African American heritage in New Orleans are guarded by those who still practice these traditions. The Museum is housed in a creole cottage in the heart of a New Orleans neighborhood known as the "Treme". The Museum and the Treme are cemented in history by a cultural legacy. The Backstreet Cultural Museum is perfectly at home in its surroundings and serves as a focal point of the Treme and the cultural community it represents. The Treme, located directly adjacent to the French Quarter, has been and continues to be a vibrant enclave of musicians and artists in New Orleans. Posted November 10, 2010 at 5:52 PM

... In the Americas and Abroad

• Article: Successor States to an Empire in Free Fall www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/story.asp?storycode=411731 www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/story.asp?storycode=411731 EXCERPT: Postmodernism is dead. Wail and rend your clothes. Postmodernism is dead. The tyrant is vanquished! Can the rumours be true? Can postmodernism, the darling of the humanities for a quarter of a century, really have departed this world? Who says postmodernism is dead? Jean-Michel Rabate, professor of English and comparative literature at the University of Pennsylvania, for one. For him, the term is "now almost completely discarded". Posted November 2, 2010 at 8:28 PM

• Article: The Age of Semi-Post-Modernism www.artnet.com/magazineus/reviews/davis/semi-post-postmodernism5-15-10.asp www.artnet.com/magazineus/reviews/davis/semi-post-postmodernism5-15-10.asp EXCERPT: So, where, finally, are we at? On the level of theory, you have the waning of something, but an inability to articulate anything that actually sounds like an alternative. On the political and economic plane, you have the discrediting of the old ruling logic, but nothing new to do the job, so neoliberal notions continue to be the default wisdom. At every level you have something like "semi-post-postmodernism," a deliberately ugly term for an ugly period. Posted November 10, 2010 at 6:52 AM

• Wikipedia Article: Post-Postmodernism en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Post-postmodernism en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Post-postmodernism EXCERPT: Post-postmodernism is a term applied to a wide-ranging set of developments in critical theory, philosophy, architecture, art, literature, and culture which are emerging from and reacting to postmodernism. Posted November 2, 2010 at 8:30 PM

• Article: Lady Gaga, Community, and The Thing that Comes After Postmodern scrawledinwax.com/2010/04/05/lady-gaga-community-and-the-thing-that-comes-after-postmodernism/ scrawledinwax.com/2010/04/05/lady-gaga-community-and-the-thing-that-comes-after-postmodernism/ EXCERPT: So, to end, I'll just say this: the ideal of the post-ironic post-postmodern is Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind: postmodern tropes, but in the service of a return to a knowing, wise, reformed sincerity. It actually believes in something. And has the guts to actually lay claim to it. And it--like Community, Arrested Development and other bits of culture--are doing the best they can between two historical epochs. And so to return to Chris Turner: the future belongs to the sincere. Posted November 7, 2010 at 11:33 AM

• Article: Time Magazine Interview with Dave Chappelle www.time.com/time/arts/article/0,8599,1061415,00.html www.time.com/time/arts/article/0,8599,1061415,00.html Dave explains his reasons for walking away from the widely-discussed Chappelle Show third season contract. EXCERPT: "I want to make sure I'm dancing and not shuffling," he says. "What ever decisions I make right now I'm going to have live with. Your soul is priceless." The first two seasons of his show "had a real spirit to them," he says. "I want to make sure whatever I do has spirit." Posted October 28, 2010 at 9:20 AM

• Webcast and Blog: The Sound of Young America www.maximumfun.org/ www.maximumfun.org/ EXCERPT: Maximum Fun is your home on the internet for things that are awesome. Our blog will guide you, our family of podcasts will entertain and inform you, and our lively forum community will connect you with others. Your host is Jesse Thorn, "America's Radio Sweetheart." Posted November 10, 2010 at 5:48 AM

• YouTube Video: Handel's "Hallelujah!" at Macy's (Random Act of Culture) www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=wp_RHnQ-jgU&vq=large#t=131 www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=wp_RHnQ-jgU&;vq=large#t=131 On Saturday, October 30, 2010, the Opera Company of Philadelphia brought together over 650 choristers from 28 participating organizations to perform one of the Knight Foundation's "Random Acts of Culture" at Macy's in Center City Philadelphia. Accompanied by the Wanamaker Organ--the world's largest pipe organ--the OCP Chorus and throngs of singers from the community infiltrated the store as shoppers, and burst into a pop-up rendition of the Hallelujah Chorus from Handel's "Messiah" at 12 noon, to the delight of surprised shoppers. This event is one of 1,000 "Random Acts of Culture" to be funded by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation over the next three years. The initiative transports the classical arts out of the concert halls and opera houses and into our communities to enrich our everyday lives. To learn more about this program and view more events, visit www.randomactsofculture.org Posted November 14, 2010 at 7:54 AM

• Article: Garlic, Chainsaws, and Victory Gardens thearchdruidreport.blogspot.com/2010/05/garlic-chainsaws-and-victory-gardens.html thearchdruidreport.blogspot.com/2010/05/garlic-chainsaws-and-victory-gardens.html How to change the world--one backyard at a time. EXCERPT: Plenty of people have argued that the only valid response to the rising spiral of crisis faced by industrial civilization is to build a completely new civilization from the ground up on more idealistic lines. Even if that latter phrase wasn't a guarantee of disaster--if there's one lesson history teaches, it's that human societies are organic growths, and trying to invent one to fit some abstract idea of goodness is as foredoomed as trying to make an ecosystem do what human beings want--we no longer have time for grand schemes of that sort. To shift metaphors, when your ship has already hit the iceberg and the water's coming in, it's a bit too late to suggest that it should be rebuilt from the keel up according to some new scheme of naval engineering. Posted November 13, 2010 at 4:33 AM

• Video Interview with Vandana Shiva: The Future of Food cookingupastory.com/vandana-shiva-the-future-of-food-part-1 cookingupastory.com/vandana-shiva-the-future-of-food-part-1 EXCERPT: What inspired Jacob Bronowski's classic science book, Science and Human Values resulted from his visit to Nagasaki in 1945. After witnessing the aftermath of that terrible destruction, he began to understand the power that science can unleash, and the responsibility of not only the scientist, and the scientific community at-large, but also it's citizenry, to remain informed and actively engaged with the scientific decisions of the day. He did not view the scientist as a technocrat, nor a conjurer of magic, but one for whom the pursuit of science was to better understand nature's laws, within a wider set of universal values, particularly the values of "tenderness, of kindliness, and of human intimacy and love". These values were not to been seen as hard rules, they provided the foundation for a deeper understanding between just and unjust, between good and evil, between the means and the ends. Though his book was first published in 1956, it remains as important today, as then. Posted November 13, 2010 at 4:51 AM

• National Geographic: Animal Portraits ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2008/03/animal-minds/musi-photography ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2008/03/animal-minds/musi-photography Delightful set of portrait-style photographs of various animals with facts about their cognitive abilities. EXCERPT: Minds of their own: Animals are smarter than you think. Posted November 11, 2010 at 6:31 AM

• YouTube Video: It's Not Too Late www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=CHoQcXHuiV8&vq=medium#t=49 www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=CHoQcXHuiV8&;vq=medium#t=49 This beautiful close-up video of creatures both unusual and magnificent demonstrates the vast diversity of life on our planet. In his new book of animal portraits, National Geographic photographer Joel Sartore shows us that while some species have already gone extinct, it's not too late to protect these and others. Available at http://www.nationalgeographic.com/books Posted November 13, 2010 at 6:06 AM

• Article: The No-Stats-All-Star (Shane Battier) www.nytimes.com/2009/02/15/magazine/15Battier-t.html?_r=1&scp=6&sq=BASEBALL+STATISTICS+magazine&st=nyt www.nytimes.com/2009/02/15/magazine/15Battier-t.html?_r=1&scp=6&sq=BASEBALL+STATISTICS+magazine&st=nyt EXCERPT: Battier's game is a weird combination of obvious weaknesses and nearly invisible strengths. When he is on the court, his teammates get better, often a lot better, and his opponents get worse--often a lot worse. He may not grab huge numbers of rebounds, but he has an uncanny ability to improve his teammates' rebounding. He doesn't shoot much, but when he does, he takes only the most efficient shots. He also has a knack for getting the ball to teammates who are in a position to do the same, and he commits few turnovers. On defense, although he routinely guards the N.B.A.'s most prolific scorers, he significantly reduces their shooting percentages. At the same time he somehow improves the defensive efficiency of his teammates--probably, Morey surmises, by helping them out in all sorts of subtle ways. "I call him Lego," Morey says. "When he's on the court, all the pieces start to fit together. And everything that leads to winning that you can get to through intellect instead of innate ability, Shane excels in." Posted November 11, 2010 at 4:08 AM

• Interview: Jackson Pollock Fractals www.npr.org/templates/transcript/transcript.php?storyId=6631149 www.npr.org/templates/transcript/transcript.php?storyId=6631149 Transcript of National Public Radio interview with artist and physicist Dr. Richard P. Taylor Posted October 27, 2010 at 10:20 PM

• Website: Golden Number.Net goldennumber.net/ goldennumber.net/ EXCERPT: Dedicated to providing you with the best information on--the golden ratio, section, or mean--the divine proportion--the Fibonacci series--and the golden number, Phi. Posted November 14, 2010 at 1:40 PM

• Website: The Library of Halexandria www.halexandria.org/home.htm www.halexandria.org/home.htm EXCERPT: Halexandria is a Synthesis of new physics, sacred geometry, ancient and modern history, multiple universes & realities, consciousness, the Ha Qabala and ORME, extraterrestrials, corporate rule and politics, law, order and entropy, trial by jury, astronomy, monetary policy, scientific anomalies, religion and spirituality, and a whole host of other subjects ranging from astrology and astrophysics to superstrings and sonoluminesence to biblical and geologic histories to numerology, the Tarot, and creating your own reality. Posted November 14, 2010 at 1:42 PM

• Website: Is God Needed to Create the Universe? www.aish.com/ci/sam/Stephen_Hawking__God.html www.aish.com/ci/sam/Stephen_Hawking__God.html EXCERPT: Stephen Hawking, in his recent book The Grand Design, breaks the news that "God" was not needed to create the universe; rather, all that is needed are the "laws of nature." Given my background in both a Torah and science, I could agree with his statement. How so? It all comes down to how we define "God," and what exactly are these "laws of nature." Posted January 5, 2011 at 8:43 AM

• The Kabbala of Shakespeare www.spunk.org/texts/misc/sp000277.txt www.spunk.org/texts/misc/sp000277.txt EXCERPT: The doctrines I have identified as having parallels in Shakespeare's plays are hardly new, nor are they even specific to the Kabbala. They have their place in most other systems of mysticism, and many systems of mysticism were studied and practiced during Elizabethan times. But that very fact is the reason I find the topic so compelling: the Kabbala applies universally, just as Shakespeare's characters and themes are universally understood. The Kabbala addresses the full range of human experience. Shakespeare's characters and plots are as relevant today as they have ever been. Posted July 11, 2012 at 1:59 PM

• Article and Links: Alejandro Jodorwsky www.hotweird.com/jodorowsky/disinfo.html www.hotweird.com/jodorowsky/disinfo.html Short article and great links to more articles and interviews with this influential filmmaker, artist, author and symbologist. Posted November 14, 2010 at 1:31 PM

• Article: The Film That You Will Never See (Jodorowsky) www.duneinfo.com/unseen/jodorowsky.asp www.duneinfo.com/unseen/jodorowsky.asp EXCERPT: There is a Hebraic legend which says: "the Messiah will not be a man but one day: the day when all the human beings will be illuminated". Kabbalistes speak about a conscience collective, cosmic, a species of meta-Universe. And here are what for me all the DUNE project was. Posted November 14, 2010 at 1:34 PM

• Website: David Lynch www.lynchnet.com/ www.lynchnet.com/ A "clearinghouse" site for information on filmmaker David Lynch and his works. Includes media, interviews, articles and more. Posted November 2, 2010 at 10:01 AM

• Interview and Article: David Milch and Deadwood (HBO series) community.livejournal.com/new__yorker/19702.html community.livejournal.com/new__yorker/19702.html EXCERPT from another Milch interview at Salon.com-- MILCH: Some people will not know themselves. As the minister says at Hickok's funeral, he quotes Paul... "If the hand shall say, 'Because I am not the foot, I am not therefore the body of Christ,' is it not of the body?" In other words, because we misunderstand our natures, does that exclude us from the community of spirits? And the answer is no, it just means we misunderstand our natures. So many of these characters misunderstand their natures, but that does not prevent us from recognizing that they're of the body of Christ. My feeling about "Deadwood" is it's a single organism, and I think human society is the body of God, and in a lot of ways it's about the different parts of the body having a somewhat more confident sense of their identity over the course of time. SALON: What kinds of characters do you enjoy writing the most? Do you favor certain characters? MILCH: No. You know, William James said that what every spiritual experience has in common is ego suppression at depth. That is, one loses one's sense of one's own separate identity, and experiences a kind of in-rush of either a sense of God or one's commonality with others. So when I write, I try to have no favorites. I try to be sort of a vessel of the character, and that's how I feel a part of the body of Christ. I feel that they're all part of a single thing, and they just exhibit their sameness differently, if that makes sense. SALON: It does. Do you feel like you're channeling God or the spirits when you write? MILCH: Well, I think we all are vessels of God, you know. As Saint Paul says, if the hand doesn't know, that doesn't mean it's not part of the body, that just means it doesn't know. And that's why, when I'm able to be of service to the characters, I experience God's presence more acutely than I do when I'm not working. So I try to work as much as I can. Posted October 27, 2010 at 10:45 PM

• Wikipedia Article: Joseph Campbell and the Hero's Journey en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hero_with_a_Thousand_Faces en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hero_with_a_Thousand_Faces EXCERPT: The Hero with a Thousand Faces (first published in 1949) is a non-fiction book, and seminal work of comparative mythology by Joseph Campbell. In this publication, Campbell discusses his theory of the journey of the archetypal hero found in world mythologies. Since publication of The Hero with a Thousand Faces, Campbell's theory has been consciously applied by a wide variety of modern writers and artists. The best known is perhaps George Lucas, who has acknowledged a debt to Campbell regarding the stories of the Star Wars films. Posted November 2, 2010 at 12:06 PM

• Website: The Joseph Campbell Foundation www.jcf.org/new/index.php?s=13d21d499857d040a40516af65f2e12d www.jcf.org/new/index.php?s=13d21d499857d040a40516af65f2e12d Information about and links to the complete works and lectures of cultural anthropologist and well-known author of The Hero's Journey, Joseph Campbell. Register for free as an associate to view and participate in forums and access other materials about comparative mythologies and universal symbolism. (Please note that Campbell's published work, including books and lectures, is available only for purchase or with donation.) Posted November 10, 2010 at 4:25 PM

• Article: An Interview with Susan Faludi query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage... (more) query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=940DE4D9163EF934A1575AC0A9619C8B63&scp=5&sq=susan%20faludi&;st=cse&pagewanted=1 Ms. Faludi said that each culture "shapes its own myths in a specific way based on its own historical dramas.'" Other countries, she said, '"have an ancient tradition of customs, rituals, and a deep-rooted sense of identity. It's different for us because we're so young as a nation,'" she added. No matter that the United States has been mostly impervious to attacks on its soil: '"American settlers' vulnerability is '"our founding trauma." Posted November 10, 2010 at 1:49 PM

• Editorial: America's Guardian Myths (Susan Faludi) www.nytimes.com/2007/09/07/opinion/07faludi.html?pagewanted=1&sq=susan%20faludi&st=cse&scp=10 www.nytimes.com/2007/09/07/opinion/07faludi.html?pagewanted=1&;sq=susan%20faludi&st=cse&scp=10 EXCERPT: September 11 cracked the plaster on that master narrative of American prowess because it so exactly duplicated the terms of the early Indian wars, right down to the fecklessness of our leaders and the failures of our military strategies. Like its early American antecedents, the 9/11 attack was a homeland incursion against civilian targets by non-European, non-Christian combatants who fought under the flag of no recognized nation. Like the "different type of war" heralded by President Bush, the 17th and 18th century "troubles"--as one Puritan chronicler of Metacom's Rebellion called them, refusing to grant them "the name of a war"-- seemed to have no battlefield conventions, no constraints and no end ... One ultimate casualty of Metacom's Rebellion was the Puritans' determination to face that fear. By revisiting our ancient drama, 9/11 gives us a chance to regain that abandoned resolve, to see our frailties in a realistic light, instead of papering them over with dangerous delusions. Posted November 10, 2010 at 1:35 PM

• Encyclopedia Article: Critical Realism www.enotes.com/science-religion-encyclopedia/critical-realism www.enotes.com/science-religion-encyclopedia/critical-realism EXCERPT: Critical realism is a philosophical view of knowledge. On the one hand it holds that it is possible to acquire knowledge about the external world as it really is, independently of the human mind or subjectivity. That is why it is called realism. On the other hand it rejects the view of naive realism that the external world is as it is perceived. Recognizing that perception is a function of, and thus fundamentally marked by, the human mind, it holds that one can only acquire knowledge of the external world by critical reflection on perception and its world. That is why it is called critical. Posted November 8, 2010 at 6:34 AM

• Website: International Association for Critical Realism criticalrealism.wikispaces.com/ criticalrealism.wikispaces.com/ Critical Realism is a theory of social and physical reality first articulated by Roy Bhaskar. The founding principles of Critical Realism were expounded in Bhaskar's book "A Realist theory of Science" (1977). [Chapters 1 - 3 are on the web at http://www.raggedclaws.com/criticalrealism/archive/rts/rts.html] In this book, Bhaskar follows Kuhn and others in emphasizing the importance of the social in scientific practice. This has implications for Social Science, which he further explored in "A Possibility of Naturalism"... Posted November 8, 2010 at 6:41 AM

• Article: Perspectival Anthropology and the Method of Controlled Equivocation https://digitalcommons.trinity.edu/tipiti/vol2/iss1/1/ https://digitalcommons.trinity.edu/tipiti/vol2/iss1/1/ Anthropologist Eduardo Viveriros de Castro outlines a theoretical method for understanding reality. Not an easy read but worth the effort: another solid epistemological foundation for what I am calling "neoprimitive" thought. Posted October 28, 2010 at 8:42 AM

• Article: "Animism" Revisted (Anthropology) 72.52.202.216/~fenderse/Animism.pdf 72.52.202.216/~fenderse/Animism.pdf How can we be so sure that trees and rocks don't talk--if we've never learned to talk with them? ABSTRACT: "Animism" is projected in the literature as a simple religion and a failed epistemology, to a large extent because it has hitherto been viewed from modernist perspectives. In this paper previous theories, from classical to recent, are critiqued. An ethnographic example of a hunter-gather people is given to explore how animistic ideas operate within the context of social practices, with attention to local constructions of a relational personhood and to its relationship with ecological perceptions of the environment. A reformulation of animism as a relational epistemology is offered. Posted November 13, 2010 at 8:47 AM

• The Original Affluent Society (Anthropology) www.primitivism.com/original-affluent.htm www.primitivism.com/original-affluent.htm A short selection from the book Stone-Age Economics by Marshall Sahlins. EXCERPT: Hunter-gatherers consume less energy per capita per year than any other group of human beings. Yet when you come to examine it the original affluent society was none other than the hunter's--in which all the people's material wants were easily satisfied. To accept that hunters are affluent is therefore to recognise that the present human condition of man slaving to bridge the gap between his unlimited wants and his insufficient means is a tragedy of modern times. Posted November 13, 2010 at 7:34 AM

• Article: Beyond "The Original Affluent Society" (Anthropology) www.uiowa.edu/~lsahunni/good%20soc/Bird-David.pdf www.uiowa.edu/~lsahunni/good%20soc/Bird-David.pdf EXCERPT: I suspect that if we examine the temporal and idiosyncratic patterns of foraging, as well as patters of ownership and circulation, with these aspect of the banking system in mind, we will find that in many other ways these hunter-gather economic system, premised on trust in the natural environment, does generate wealth. Shalins summarized his case by the catch phrase "Want not, lack not." It may not be, however, that the hunter-gathers' case is "Think rich, be rich." Posted November 13, 2010 at 7:40 AM

• Article: The Wisdom of Way Kot--Art, Rhetoric & Political Economy (Anthropology) coa.sagepub.com/content/28/4/347.abstract?rss=1 coa.sagepub.com/content/28/4/347.abstract?rss=1 ABSTRACT: In this article I examine how commerce and the global economy are represented locally through the analysis of a popular Yucatecan tale. Way Kot depicts a veritable fantasy world in which human beings become winged beasts and animals betray their natural instincts; however, unlike the authors of many studies that explore the intersection of different modes of exchange, I do not view these images as projections of a mystified mind. On the contrary, building on Marx's discussion of money, and the aesthetic theory of the Frankfurt School, particularly Adorno's notion of 'exact fantasy', I demonstrate the myth's rigorous logic by showing how it unravels the mysteries of the commodity form. In addition, I highlight the critical function of the tale (c. 1935), as rhetorical counterpoint to the commodity aesthetics of the era. While agents of a rapidly modernizing state were eager to make commodities enchant, Way Kot presents commerce as a form of witchcraft, and consumption as a form of cannibalism, in which unsuspecting Maya consume their relatives. Posted November 10, 2010 at 9:42 AM

• Article: Karl Marx and the Iroquois libcom.org/library/karl-marx-iroquois-franklin-rosemont libcom.org/library/karl-marx-iroquois-franklin-rosemont The author discusses Karl Marx's Ethnological Notebooks, which include Marx's thoughts and personal notes to himself on topics including primitive societies and early anthropological theorists, especially Lewis Henry Morgan Posted October 27, 2010 at 3:59 PM

• Newsletters: Society for the Anthropology of Consciousness www.sacaaa.org/newsletter.asp www.sacaaa.org/newsletter.asp EXCERPT: The Society for the Anthropology of Consciousness became a section of the American Anthropological Association in 1990. Until then, the group that would become SAC was known as the Association for the Anthropological Study of Consciousness (AASC). During the five years of its existence, AASC published a quarterly known as the AASC Newsletter, which in 1989 was renamed the AASC Quarterly. On this page, you can see the contents of each issue that was produced during those five years, and you can download .pdf versions of all of these issues. Posted November 2, 2010 at 9:02 PM

• Website: The Foundation for Shamanic Studies www.shamanism.org/ www.shamanism.org/ EXCERPT: Started in 1979 as the Center for Shamanic Studies, the Foundation for Shamanic Studies presents the world's foremost training programs in shamanism and shamanic healing. They are based on the pioneering work of anthropologist Michael Harner, who brought shamanism to contemporary life in the West after extensive field and cross-cultural investigation, experimentation, and personal practice. He originated, researched, and developed core shamanism, a system designed for Westerners to apply shamanism and shamanic healing successfully to their daily lives. This system is based upon the underlying universal or near-universal principles and practices of shamanism, rather than upon culture-specific variations and elaborations. Posted November 2, 2010 at 9:06 PM

• Article and Interview: Daniel Pinchbeck www.interviewmagazine.com/culture/daniel-pinchbeck/ www.interviewmagazine.com/culture/daniel-pinchbeck/ EXCERPT: ... I don't know what's going to happen (in 2012), but my hope is that everybody comes through this experience safe and happy. It seems almost like an initiation process for the human species. If you look at shamanic initiation, it's a kind of death-and-rebirth process where people can, in visionary states, go through the experiences of those things and then reintegrate when they've gotten over their fears because they recognize that there are other dimensions to being, that the soul goes further along even when the body is not here. So I think that the more people go through their own personal initiations, the less collective destruction may be unleashed on the planet. Posted November 10, 2010 at 11:19 AM

• Website: The Focusing Institute www.focusing.org/index.html www.focusing.org/index.html EXCERPT: The living body is always going beyond what evolution, culture and language have already built. The "Philosophy of the Implicit" comes after postmodernism. It goes on further from the current impasse. The "Objectivists" hold that human experience is an illusion emanating from brain structures and chemistry. Their opponents, the "Relativists," hold that human experience is just a product of one of the many cultures, histories and languages. The Philosophy of the Implicit leads to new concepts in physics and biology, to understand the human body differently. Your body is not a machine, rather a wonderfully intricate interaction with everything around you, which is why it "knows" so much just in being. The animals live intricately with each other without culture and language. The different cultures don't create us. They only add elaboration. The body is always sketching and probing a few steps further. Your ongoing living makes new evolution and history happen -- now. Posted November 2, 2010 at 8:07 PM

• Website: Dr. Candace Pert www.candacepert.com/ www.candacepert.com/ Author of The Molecules of Emotion, and Your Body is Your Subconscious Mind. EXCERPT: Dr. Candace Pert is best known for her opiate receptor, endorphin and peptide research showing that our brain, glands, and immune system are in constant communication through the "molecules of emotion." Consciousness is like light; Dr. Candace Pert has explained in popular lectures throughout the world how emotions exist both as energy and matter, in the vibrating receptors on every cell in the body. The fact that the word "trauma" has been used to describe both physical and mental damage has been a key part of her theory of how the molecules of emotion integrate what we feel at every level of what Dr. Pert has called our bodymind. As a practical manner, people have a hard time discriminating between physical and mental pain. So often we are "stuck" in an unpleasant emotional event--a trauma--from the past that is stored at every level of our nervous system and even on the cellular level--i.e., cells that are constantly becoming and renewing the nervous system. Dr Pert's laboratory research has suggested that all of the senses, sight, sound, smell, taste and touch are filtered, and memories stored, through the molecules of emotions, mostly the neuropeptides and their receptors, at every level of the bodymind. Posted November 11, 2010 at 5:10 AM

• The DNA Phantom Effect www.twm.co.nz/the-dna-phantom-effect/ www.twm.co.nz/the-dna-phantom-effect/ EXCERPT: In this contribution I am going to describe some observations and interpretations of a recently discovered anomalous phenomenon which we are calling the DNA Phantom Effect in Vitro or the DNA Phantom for short. We believe this discovery has tremendous significance for the explanation and deeper understandings of the mechanisms underlying subtle energy phenomena including many of the observed alternative healing phenomena. This data also supports the heart intelligence concept and model developed by Doc Lew Childre. Posted July 11, 2012 at 2:04 PM

• Article: Genes as Mirrors of Life Experiences www.nytimes.com/2010/11/09/health/09brain.html www.nytimes.com/2010/11/09/health/09brain.html EXCERPT: For decades, researchers have ransacked the genetic pedigrees of people with mental illness, looking for common variations that combine to cause devastating conditions like schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. The search has stalled badly; while these disorders may involve genetic disruptions, no underlying patterns have surfaced--no single gene or genes that account for more than a tiny fraction of cases. So scientists are turning their focus to an emerging field: epigenetics, the study of how people's experience and environment affect the function of their genes. Posted November 10, 2010 at 7:52 AM

• Article: Epigenetics--DNA Isn't Everthing www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/04/090412081315.htm www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/04/090412081315.htm EXCERPT: Research into epigenetics has shown that environmental factors affect characteristics of organisms. These changes are sometimes passed on to the offspring. ETH professor Renato Paro does not believe that this opposes Darwin's theory of evolution. Posted November 10, 2010 at 7:40 AM

• Video and Transcript: NOVA on Epigenetics www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/sciencenow/3411/02.html www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/sciencenow/3411/02.html EXCERPT: Once nurture seemed clearly distinct from nature. Now it appears that our diets and lifestyles can change the expression of our genes. How? By influencing a network of chemical switches within our cells collectively known as the epigenome. Posted November 10, 2010 at 7:47 AM

• Encyclopedia Article: Coherence (Physics) www.spiritus-temporis.com/coherence-physics-/ www.spiritus-temporis.com/coherence-physics-/ An extremely important concept. EXCERPT: Coherence is a property of waves that measures the ability of the waves to interfere with each other. Two waves that are coherent can be combined to produce an unmoving distribution of constructive and destructive interference (a visible interference pattern) depending on the relative phase of the waves at their meeting point. When combined, waves that are incoherent produce rapidly moving areas of constructive and destructive interference and therefore do not produce a visible interference pattern. Truly monochromatic plane waves with exactly the same frequency are always coherent, but waves do not have to be monochromatic in order to be coherent with each other. Two non-monochromatic waves are fully coherent with each other if they both have exactly the same range of wavelengths and the same phase difference at each constituent wavelength. For waves to be coherent with each other, they generally must either both come from, or be phase-locked to, the same source (e.g. the sunlight passing through the two slits of Young's double-slit experiment), or be monochromatic with precisely the same frequency (e.g. two extremely stable oscillators--two or more different sources can only be used to produce interference when there is a fixed phase relation between them (they are phase-locked), but in this case the interference generated is the same as with a single source; see Huygens's principle). Posted November 11, 2010 at 4:54 AM

• Website: Fractal Geometry classes.yale.edu/fractals/ classes.yale.edu/fractals/ And, cannot possibly overstate the importance of fractals. This site includes a very nice "Introduction to Fractals" section that can be enjoyed by all. You will need an aptitude for mathematics to go beyond that introductory section. Posted November 14, 2010 at 12:09 PM

• Website: The Golden Ratio library.thinkquest.org/C005449/ library.thinkquest.org/C005449/ EXCERPT: Welcome to this site! When you think of math, do you think of beauty? Do you think of stuff like pinecones and sunflowers? What does Leonardo da Vinci have to do with anything? What do the Greeks, Romans, and people of the Renaissance have in common? Well, if you don't know, you're in the right place ... We're going to explain all that, and then some, in order to help you understand that yes, math can be beautiful too! Posted November 14, 2010 at 1:46 PM

• Video and Transcript: NOVA on Fractals www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/fractals/ www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/fractals/ EXCERPT: Hunting the Hidden Dimension--Mysteriously beautiful fractals are shaking up the world of mathematics and deepening our understanding of nature. Posted November 14, 2010 at 12:15 PM

• Article: The Universe as a Hologram (Physics) homepages.ihug.co.nz/~sai/hologram.html homepages.ihug.co.nz/~sai/hologram.html EXCERPT: The "whole in every part" nature of a hologram provides us with an entirely new way of understanding organization and order. For most of its history, Western science has labored under the bias that the best way to understand a physical phenomenon, whether a frog or an atom, is to dissect it and study its respective parts. A hologram teaches us that some things in the universe may not lend themselves to this approach. If we try to take apart something constructed holographically, we will not get the pieces of which it is made, we will only get smaller wholes. Posted October 27, 2010 at 3:45 PM

• Videos and Transcripts: NOVA on String Theory www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/elegant/ www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/elegant/ EXCERPT: The Elegant Universe--Eleven dimensions, parallel universes, and a world made out of strings. It's not science fiction, it's string theory. Posted November 14, 2010 at 12:19 PM

• Website: The Official String Theory Website superstringtheory.com/ superstringtheory.com/ I really don't know how "official" it is, as no one can quite "claim" the concept--but this is a great site by any other measure. Articles are offered in both "basic" and "advanced" versions, making this an excellent resource--no matter where you fall on the formal-education and natural-inclination scales. Posted November 14, 2010 at 12:34 PM

• Website: Physics.org www.physorg.com/physics-news/ www.physorg.com/physics-news/ News articles summarizing the latest published research in physics and its many subfields. Awesome site--kept as my browser homepage for a long time. NOTE: You do not have to be a physicist (or even a scientist) to enjoy. Posted October 27, 2010 at 7:20 PM

• Back From the Future discovermagazine.com/home/issues/2010/apr/01%20back%20from%20the%20future#.UYzq592Yk-Q discovermagazine.com/home/issues/2010/apr/01%20back%20from%20the%20future#.UYzq592Yk-Q EXCERPT: A series of quantum experiments shows that measurements performed in the future can influence the present. Does that mean the universe has a destiny? and the laws of physics pull us inexorably toward our prewritten fate? Posted February 13, 2014 at 6:06 PM

... It's Where the Rubber Hits the Road

• Bike Easy--New Orleans www.mbcnola.org/ www.mbcnola.org/ This organization is working to create a viable bicycle infrastructure in New Orleans--streets with dedicated bike lanes, multi-use recreational paths, signed shared roads, public bike racks and more. Join to support these projects with a $25 individual membership, or simply attend organizational meetings that are open to community members. Posted November 10, 2010 at 7:03 PM

• Plan B: The New Orleans Community Bike Project www.bikeproject.org/ www.bikeproject.org/ Plan B is a community-run bike project that functions as an open workspace for bicycle repair. The workspace makes an array of professional bike tools available for use to the public for free while volunteers offer free help in bike repair. The bike shop makes parts available at low cost or for small donations. All of the proceeds from parts sales are used to keep the project running. Posted November 10, 2010 at 6:45 PM

• Dance Quarter: If You Can Walk, You Can Dance www.dancequarter.com/ www.dancequarter.com/ Our mission at DANCE QUARTER (in New Orleans) is to share the wellness benefits of partner dancing with everyone: young. young-at-heart, white, black, latin, skinny, healthy, timid, outgoing, etc, it doesn't matter. Throughout human history, dancing has proven to be universal. Whether your goal is to learn how to social dance, meet new people, prepare for your wedding dance, or entertain guests at your next event--you've come to the right place. Free instruction sessions, as well as classes and workshops, are offered for Swing, Lindy, and Blues dancing. Posted November 11, 2010 at 2:55 AM

• New Orleans Center For Creative Arts (NOCCA) www.nocca.com/ www.nocca.com/ The New Orleans Center for Creative Arts is a regional, pre-professional arts training center that offers secondary school-age children intensive instruction in dance, media arts, music (classical, jazz, vocal), theatre arts (drama, musical theatre, theatre design) , visual arts, and creative writing, while demanding simultaneous excellence. NOCCA was founded in 1973 by a diverse coalition of artists, educators, business leaders, and community activists who saw the need for an institution devoted to our region's burgeoning young talent. Today, Wynton and Branford Marsalis, Harry Connick, Jr., Terence Blanchard, Nicholas Payton, Jeanne-Michele Charbonnet, Wendell Pierce, and Saints former cornerback Ashley Ambrose are only a few NOCCA graduates who can attest to the extraordinary educational opportunity the Center represents to the children of Louisiana. Posted November 11, 2010 at 3:13 AM

• The New Orleans Healing Center www.neworleanshealingcenter.org/home/ www.neworleanshealingcenter.org/home/ MISSION STATEMENT: To provide a holistic, safe, sustainable center that heals, fulfills and empowers the individual and the community by providing services and programs promoting physical, nutritional, emotional, intellectual, environmental and spiritual well-being ... With an overarching aim to revitalize and unify the seven (7) surrounding downtown neighborhoods, the NOHC will work fervently to ensure that the synergistic culture established will be a holistic and sustainable sanctuary to its community, the city, the region and visitors throughout the world. The NOHC will provide a full range of programs, services and products designed to enlighten and engage the minds, bodies and spirits of a diverse population while transforming and healing lives. The NOHC through its collaborative silos will stimulate economic and environmental development in the city and redefine how to "heal" a community. Posted November 11, 2010 at 4:35 AM

• Article: How to Communicate With Your Subconscious Mind www.selfgrowth.com/articles/How_To_Communicate_With_Your_Subconscious_Mind_Through_Your_Body.html www.selfgrowth.com/articles/How_To_Communicate_With_Your_Subconscious_Mind_Through_Your_Body.html EXCERPT: One of the ways in which we can communicate with our subconscious minds is through our bodies ... Posted November 11, 2010 at 5:14 AM

• Yoga Basics: Your Guide to the Practice of Yoga www.yogabasics.com/ www.yogabasics.com/ All the information you need to learn about and practice yoga. Resister for free to participate in message board, post comments, and receive email newsletter (optional). Posted November 13, 2010 at 5:35 AM

• Go Green NOLA: Yoga Studios www.gogreennola.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=33&Itemid=56 www.gogreennola.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=33&Itemid=56 Welcome to Go Green NOLA, the guide for the New Orleans community on how to build and live green. We hope to introduce you to new ways of thinking and living because we know one person can make a difference in her/his community (here's proof). We also highlight the many people and organizations making a positive and green change in this city. So, Go Green NOLA! We also think one great, real-world example is worth more than 100 theoretical ones. We look at the Samuel Green charter school with its edible schoolyard program and think that it should be multiplied in every school in the New Orleans area. We look at the community garden project of the Vietnamese community in New Orleans and want a community garden in every neighborhood in New Orleans. Posted November 11, 2010 at 4:42 AM

• Non-toxic Home Care eartheasy.com/live_nontoxic_solutions.htm eartheasy.com/live_nontoxic_solutions.htm There are many inexpensive, easy-to-use natural alternatives which can safely be used in place of commercial household products. Here is a list of common, environmentally safe products which can be used alone or in combination for a wealth of household applications Posted November 13, 2010 at 5:27 AM

• List of New Orleans Farmer's Markets www.nola.com/food/index.ssf/2009/07/farmers_markets_in_the_new_orl.html www.nola.com/food/index.ssf/2009/07/farmers_markets_in_the_new_orl.html Includes location, hours, description, and contact information. Posted November 10, 2010 at 6:13 PM

• The Victory Garden www.pbs.org/wgbh/victorygarden/ www.pbs.org/wgbh/victorygarden/ Find helpful information on all kinds of plant and vegetable choices for your garden, and healthy recipes for your kitchen. You can also watch gardening tips from The Victory Garden online. From creating a healthy garden bed to protecting your peonies from disease, you'll find tips from the pros at The Victory Garden that you can put to use right away. Posted November 13, 2010 at 4:28 AM

• 5 Urban Farming Ideas for Your Own Backyard ecosalon.com/5-urban-farming-ideas-for-your-own-backyard/ ecosalon.com/5-urban-farming-ideas-for-your-own-backyard/ Growing your own food has gone beyond the hippie counter-culture of the '60s. With the advent of books by the likes of Michael Pollan and Barbara Kingsolver, people are taking a hard look at what they Posted November 13, 2010 at 4:55 AM

• The New Orleans Food Cooperative www.nolafood.coop/ www.nolafood.coop/ We are a community group who believe in access to healthy, affordable groceries, and who support local and regional food production. We operate a Buying Club for our members as we move toward opening our first cooperative store grocery store as the anchor tenant of the New Orleans Healing Center. Our store is owned by the community. Currently 775 people have invested in our store. These member/owners have provided the capital to fund our start-up. As owners they exercise control of the organization by electing a board of directors, made up entirely of members. The board has hired a General Manager to guide the opening and operation of our store. Ownership also provides economic benefit ... If you would like to become a part of our organization; please review our bylaws and policies and join on our website . Posted November 10, 2010 at 6:17 PM

• Slow Food USA: Supporting Good, Clean, and Fair Food www.slowfoodusa.org/?gclid=CJfewLv0l6UCFU0J2godaUAAGw www.slowfoodusa.org/?gclid=CJfewLv0l6UCFU0J2godaUAAGw Slow Food is an idea, a way of living and a way of eating. It is a global, grassroots movement with thousands of members around the world that links the pleasure of food with a commitment to community and the environment. Join for $25 to: Become a part of our active online community; meet people who care about slow food in your local community; join your local Slow Food USA chapter; get a Slow Food USA membership card; and other benefits. NOTE: There are local chapters in Baton Rogue and northern Louisiana, but none listed for the New Orleans metro area. Contact Slow Food USA to find out how to start one. Posted November 10, 2010 at 6:24 PM

• The NOLA Watchdog www.freewebs.com/nolawatchdog/ www.freewebs.com/nolawatchdog/ NOLA Watchdog is a non-partisan grassroots organization (in New Orleans) that helps citizens organize around local issues and gives them a stronger voice in government. Join us, or simply use our website to find the information you need to TAKE ACTION. Posted November 11, 2010 at 5:26 AM

• Give Your Stuff Away Day giveyourstuffaway.com/ giveyourstuffaway.com/ On Saturday, May 10, 2014 and September 13, 2014, give your stuff away. Seriously. Just look around where you live and work. Whatever you don�??t want �?? just give it away by bringing it to your curb. This simple act will help others. It will reduce clutter and shrink landfills. It will lower municipal hauling costs. It will reduce waste and promote giving. It will probably boost the economy a bit. Posted November 10, 2010 at 6:01 PM

• Go Skateboarding Day en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Go_Skateboarding_Day en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Go_Skateboarding_Day Every year on June 21, skateboarders around the globe celebrate the pure exhilaration, creativity, and spirit of one of the most influential activities in the world by blowing off all other obligations to go skateboarding. Check their interactive map to find out about events near you, or contact them to register your own event. Posted November 10, 2010 at 7:31 PM

• WIkipedia Article: DIY--Do it yourself en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Do_it_yourself en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Do_it_yourself Do it yourself (or DIY) is a term used to describe building, modifying, or repairing of something without the aid of experts or professionals. The phrase "do it yourself" came into common usage in the 1950s in reference to home improvement projects which people might choose to complete independently. In recent years, the term DIY has taken on a broader meaning that covers a wide range of skill sets. DIY is associated with the international alternative rock, punk rock, and indie rock music scenes; indymedia networks, pirate radio stations, and the zine community. In this context, DIY is related to the Arts and Crafts movement, in that it offers an alternative to modern consumer culture's emphasis on relying on others to satisfy needs. Posted November 10, 2010 at 6:31 PM

• Google search results for "beyond scarcity" www.google.com/search?ei=zHIyX... (more) www.google.com/search?ei=zHIyXNCIGJ22jwT7ooHQAQ&q=beyond+scarcity&oq=beyond+scarcity&gs_l=psy-ab.3..35i39j0i7i30l4j0j0i8i30l3j0i5i30.5895.11448..12153...0.0..0.87.647.9......0....1..gws-wiz.......0i71j0i13j0i22i10i30j0i22i30j0i131j33i160j35i304i39j0i8i13i About 43,100 results (0.33 seconds) when run on November 11, 2010 ~ About 65,100 results (0.23 seconds) when run on July 11, 2012 ~ About 30,700,000 results (0,56 seconds) when run on January 6, 2019 Posted November 11, 2010 at 12:17 PM