tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33869363555718599252024-03-18T21:54:40.312-07:00Be Now HereSOMMwhere out thereNathan R. Hodgeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07741228006550328528noreply@blogger.comBlogger97125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3386936355571859925.post-1435958906131479822011-03-06T16:44:00.000-08:002011-03-07T22:54:35.322-08:00Marbles<a href="http://goo.gl/photos/eDSip3Rj8A" imageanchor="1" style="clear:right;margin-bottom:1em;margin-left:1em"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDqlVaGkkJrTQ92XACpdUvzAulfzRqA75ml3Q9uvWKwilSRI_0SS9NLZEtCwmZs4GCHBhtoQ72UkKZg0H_e8RL6E9c4rsHmenNu7DtBq_Y-cdYtzsEk6euebQLsZJmJITR3q9X7lIw3J0/s512/Marbles.png" /></a><div><br /></div><div>landscapes are often places where people lose things, lost in the tall grass. People also sometimes dispose of things that are otherwise hard to get rid of in the landscape, like cans of old gasoline. It's pretty common for people to dig a big hole and throw in whatever garbage they have lying around, sometimes burning it before it goes in. Blue corrosion on punctured batteries. Sometimes people bury the evidence of a crime in the garden, like a pistol under the boxwood. When I'm gardening I never know just what my shovel might turn up, but it's always a treat to find a marble, the unbiodegradable marker for obscure games of yesteryear.</div>Nathan R. Hodgeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07741228006550328528noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3386936355571859925.post-42248804122807529462011-01-23T21:48:00.001-08:002011-01-23T22:27:04.707-08:00For Your Eyes Only<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNOwTT0KhZ8Ak531Pg_BbFC7Lf8POkA9vJQkpKBgUuuNKbVY2mOwYEi5TrGxGjirgCRnpQMJn_qdblieCfTabrVMGy-cUEUo3JgLdbQ1sAKVETSA_HZzPSUB2ltJnw4_qo3TxrkQa8F4U/s1600/standingbugtron+copy.png"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 318px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNOwTT0KhZ8Ak531Pg_BbFC7Lf8POkA9vJQkpKBgUuuNKbVY2mOwYEi5TrGxGjirgCRnpQMJn_qdblieCfTabrVMGy-cUEUo3JgLdbQ1sAKVETSA_HZzPSUB2ltJnw4_qo3TxrkQa8F4U/s320/standingbugtron+copy.png" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5565634194700639394" /></a><div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNOwTT0KhZ8Ak531Pg_BbFC7Lf8POkA9vJQkpKBgUuuNKbVY2mOwYEi5TrGxGjirgCRnpQMJn_qdblieCfTabrVMGy-cUEUo3JgLdbQ1sAKVETSA_HZzPSUB2ltJnw4_qo3TxrkQa8F4U/s1600/standingbugtron+copy.png"></a>landscape animals (from the ancient archives)</div><div><br /><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAkPE2uJOnH6Ii8sKnMril9aWmv-w1nV5G0Fv1vZWypcXQOo6VC_qTSREh-FWVuWcSF-w2XvlBSSVHC6MTKqIVnuZVG_FEhijr-f0Bmm6o1_iAGrrABlRBGmgid8B9aqrY0USJsMlxzw4/s320/MSH80_st_helens_from_johnston_ridge_05-17-80.jpg" style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 214px;" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5565626446648110850" /><div>MT ST HELENS: BEFORE</div><div><br /><div><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXvRhnERAoNB2cDUOmbrZJv8ziwv2p9AJmuaFDDq4Jt5ORF0N_i1qR0UzzjlH0OFr1ddJAPhrm5nOF-q25sowmF93_nzAgt96B2GbOm_22PaiPhxWtFqO1eGf1KTLxz8g32bKIUYyouwE/s320/MSH80_st_helens_from_johnston_ridge_09-10-80.jpg" style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 214px;" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5565626453559338882" /></div><div>MT ST HELENS: AFTER</div><div>these things do happen</div><div><br /></div><div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiluJWNoV7fiBBetwq6m3XP16KnisDKpuZZGax56xfrYC9qjLjnf722aDid2rnRPhBJaHRq9MbBqYyb0XDJozPk2uit8cMuEmsmBoAPg2-2gn0ozw5Zo4DJxRQzuIzymWF3l5BeF3YqIiA/s1600/bucky_needle_skiff_02-179-013.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 248px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiluJWNoV7fiBBetwq6m3XP16KnisDKpuZZGax56xfrYC9qjLjnf722aDid2rnRPhBJaHRq9MbBqYyb0XDJozPk2uit8cMuEmsmBoAPg2-2gn0ozw5Zo4DJxRQzuIzymWF3l5BeF3YqIiA/s320/bucky_needle_skiff_02-179-013.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5565626441772933810" /></a></div><div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiluJWNoV7fiBBetwq6m3XP16KnisDKpuZZGax56xfrYC9qjLjnf722aDid2rnRPhBJaHRq9MbBqYyb0XDJozPk2uit8cMuEmsmBoAPg2-2gn0ozw5Zo4DJxRQzuIzymWF3l5BeF3YqIiA/s1600/bucky_needle_skiff_02-179-013.jpg"></a>Bucky on his needle skiff</div><div><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjB-b2J_-wT8xNXUM7TATJwHdxlwpxPKt6zH_PlcR6RpSyRJk86MMj6-1JiOahqj-qRzfLc_2GkJAkKhHyEYihGGmXaQ9Nuy78lgo2Xy7I3vVE3P4WNSi29M5WxOErD0_5WpG7np3fjgjQ/s1600/IMG_7494.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjB-b2J_-wT8xNXUM7TATJwHdxlwpxPKt6zH_PlcR6RpSyRJk86MMj6-1JiOahqj-qRzfLc_2GkJAkKhHyEYihGGmXaQ9Nuy78lgo2Xy7I3vVE3P4WNSi29M5WxOErD0_5WpG7np3fjgjQ/s320/IMG_7494.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5565626434395562898" /></a><br /></div></div><div>Vortex power</div><div><br /></div><div><!--copy and paste--><object width="446" height="326"><param name="movie" value="http://video.ted.com/assets/player/swf/EmbedPlayer.swf"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"><param name="wmode" value="transparent"><param name="bgColor" value="#ffffff"> <param name="flashvars" value="vu=http://video.ted.com/talks/dynamic/DanPhillips_2010X-medium.flv&su=http://images.ted.com/images/ted/tedindex/embed-posters/DanPhillips-2010X.embed_thumbnail.jpg&vw=432&vh=240&ap=0&ti=1015&introDuration=15330&adDuration=4000&postAdDuration=830&adKeys=talk=dan_phillips_creative_houses_from_reclaimed_stuff;year=2010;theme=the_creative_spark;theme=new_on_ted_com;theme=a_taste_of_tedx;event=TEDxHouston;&preAdTag=tconf.ted/embed;tile=1;sz=512x288;"><embed src="http://video.ted.com/assets/player/swf/EmbedPlayer.swf" pluginspace="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" bgcolor="#ffffff" width="446" height="326" allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always" flashvars="vu=http://video.ted.com/talks/dynamic/DanPhillips_2010X-medium.flv&su=http://images.ted.com/images/ted/tedindex/embed-posters/DanPhillips-2010X.embed_thumbnail.jpg&vw=432&vh=240&ap=0&ti=1015&introDuration=15330&adDuration=4000&postAdDuration=830&adKeys=talk=dan_phillips_creative_houses_from_reclaimed_stuff;year=2010;theme=the_creative_spark;theme=new_on_ted_com;theme=a_taste_of_tedx;event=TEDxHouston;"></embed></object></div><div><br /></div><div>thanks sister!</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div></div>Nathan R. Hodgeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07741228006550328528noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3386936355571859925.post-44428066968381177372010-12-03T20:04:00.000-08:002010-12-03T20:33:39.759-08:00Living Water<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5169/5230763610_6821f409c5.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 500px; height: 375px;" src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5169/5230763610_6821f409c5.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br />Stigweard Productions is proud to present Living Water, a bioactive wildcrafted spring water from the remote mountains of Southern Oregon. Collected by hand from Pumpkin Gulch, a historic water source for miners and travelers. The spring emerges from the ground in a grove of old growth douglas fir, flows through the undergrowth of salal and sword fern, over mossy rocks and under fallen logs. Imbued with the microscropic life energy of a healthy forest and rich in the minerals of bedrock, Living water is a potent elixir. Eight one-gallon green glass jars were filled and carefully packed a mile back to the car. Six gallons are still available.*<br /><br /><a href="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5201/5230764516_4a9e1fe658.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 500px; height: 375px;" src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5201/5230764516_4a9e1fe658.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5081/5230763154_4af86a0864.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 500px; height: 375px;" src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5081/5230763154_4af86a0864.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5085/5230170111_edc6f133bf.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 500px; height: 375px;" src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5085/5230170111_edc6f133bf.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />*NOTE: this is a totally unfiltered, highly biological product and contains living microorganisms. As such it is not legally or culturally permissible to consume. to life!Nathan R. Hodgeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07741228006550328528noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3386936355571859925.post-50067330796474567152010-09-09T22:49:00.000-07:002010-09-09T23:40:47.897-07:00Mountain LionsLast week while we were vacationing in southern Oregon I read in the local paper that a cougar had been shot over on Whiteschoolhouse Road. There's a herd of miniature horses in the area and apparently this cougar had been culling. A team of trackers from Selma OR were called in and within a few hours they had shot the 6ft long female cougar. Date, August 27th.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrctXJUfQ5yOOltOw6MWcOyyssbKvQ1uUKBLCUe-0l1K4yMyGVhRqOHGp612f2gyA2YDZFv3sVevmPeEzPwWjyF9XpCcwixE5_6Yd2Ddd2HwGZH2higxPOptDoqq5DJekiAeai-vW4PG0/s1600/cougar-crow.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 360px; height: 380px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrctXJUfQ5yOOltOw6MWcOyyssbKvQ1uUKBLCUe-0l1K4yMyGVhRqOHGp612f2gyA2YDZFv3sVevmPeEzPwWjyF9XpCcwixE5_6Yd2Ddd2HwGZH2higxPOptDoqq5DJekiAeai-vW4PG0/s400/cougar-crow.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5515162075224366866" border="0" /></a>.<br /><span style="font-size:78%;"><br /><a href="http://www.illinois-valley-news.com/archive/2010/09/01/cougar_killed/">http://www.illinois-valley-news.com/archive/2010/09/01/cougar_killed/</a></span><br /><br />When I get home I read in the news that on August 31st a cougar had been tracked and shot in the upscale gourmet neighborhood of North Berkeley.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.sfexaminer.com/local/Police-shoot-mountain-lion-in-Berkeley-101935053.html"><span style="font-size:78%;">http://www.sfexaminer.com/local/Police-shoot-mountain-lion-in-Berkeley-101935053.html</span></a><br /><br />Based on the newspaper account I put together a Google Map that shows the route of the cougar through North Berkeley and key points along the 1 hour and 13 minute hunt. Interestingly she makes a large loop through the neighborhood, ending up only 300ft from where the chase began. Returning to a kill? Returning to a den? With young? Not sure, but I hope to stop by the area tomorrow (A memorial has been set up at the corner of Cedar and Shattuck) and retrace the hunt, giving the few blocks around the abandoned Elephant's Pharmacy a quick search.<br /><br />CLICK TO BIG<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPgDtdsiFmoRknyclG0tgz6-qh_i4hreKBk_cYTRqPi1OH9lJg5hSUvRGuZTPEOpDV4PiKcMJhPYWWU_OIfTzEzkkzwV0YqOFOXKg97FbGm98lwXlId3f-58aas_u23kQiaUkypTZHUmI/s1600/FINAL.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 253px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPgDtdsiFmoRknyclG0tgz6-qh_i4hreKBk_cYTRqPi1OH9lJg5hSUvRGuZTPEOpDV4PiKcMJhPYWWU_OIfTzEzkkzwV0YqOFOXKg97FbGm98lwXlId3f-58aas_u23kQiaUkypTZHUmI/s400/FINAL.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5515165944626768770" border="0" /></a><br /><br />GOOGLE IS BUGGY SORRY<br /><iframe width="640" height="480" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" src="http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?hl=en&ie=UTF8&t=h&msa=0&msid=102118110549042551946.00048fc56e568caa609d2&ll=37.878381,-122.268782&spn=0.002874,0.003433&z=18&output=embed"></iframe><br /><small>View <a href="http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?hl=en&ie=UTF8&t=h&msa=0&msid=102118110549042551946.00048fc56e568caa609d2&ll=37.878381,-122.268782&spn=0.002874,0.003433&z=18&source=embed" style="color:#0000FF;text-align:left">Cougar Chase</a> in a larger map</small>Nathan R. Hodgeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07741228006550328528noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3386936355571859925.post-41093763078680487392010-08-18T23:44:00.000-07:002010-08-19T00:20:36.168-07:00microbiomehomedome<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQMBy2_-EwWqAx6BCGzppudEXhcK7v-Ftu-4sKPXBKAw2j042zjZDtaWMllqgKh94bBWGe4l55Cr6JXJKgRukvjs67z2VlkXbGtb4pNdpS9SL6VTnexV1nv7RW0aV1s8QXZ46khSoHSeY/s1600/Boulder_big01-048-018.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 271px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQMBy2_-EwWqAx6BCGzppudEXhcK7v-Ftu-4sKPXBKAw2j042zjZDtaWMllqgKh94bBWGe4l55Cr6JXJKgRukvjs67z2VlkXbGtb4pNdpS9SL6VTnexV1nv7RW0aV1s8QXZ46khSoHSeY/s400/Boulder_big01-048-018.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5507016786826093522" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJ1_OiLtNDdVKU1XTdRUR71iu4YLNXXVSbF_i-ENqcPHU_h5XmuYqmWLHCcuUyfesw_pSHPeg25DLk8iEniNp8Oh487zab3g66IT5rCbWPRQprNuSgfdW_y-H9u9sT__tSGV5IZMdF4yo/s1600/compost_cage04-084-001.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 338px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJ1_OiLtNDdVKU1XTdRUR71iu4YLNXXVSbF_i-ENqcPHU_h5XmuYqmWLHCcuUyfesw_pSHPeg25DLk8iEniNp8Oh487zab3g66IT5rCbWPRQprNuSgfdW_y-H9u9sT__tSGV5IZMdF4yo/s400/compost_cage04-084-001.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5507016773873684466" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMWhZISUa4KROGp6PYo1zRlXr-m7kOFxiSl8stzifkWzyMCYgRF436z5QiFPDz8B_c1Gv0DOxB-YpK0eNinsfR1jaVukNTdio2uo_jliLFQFCXhzD3EFOdinzxmG8Q1gqsAEQCnbd4z2k/s1600/monks_cells_99-112-005.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 265px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMWhZISUa4KROGp6PYo1zRlXr-m7kOFxiSl8stzifkWzyMCYgRF436z5QiFPDz8B_c1Gv0DOxB-YpK0eNinsfR1jaVukNTdio2uo_jliLFQFCXhzD3EFOdinzxmG8Q1gqsAEQCnbd4z2k/s400/monks_cells_99-112-005.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5507016771178269714" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaUvON9DuymTEALmuzmHh2b0XjwcNE_yR1-HG7bUwq0iYuJCW0EpENZBcjmDs5vu89SQr69-Wdw-ggz9mbr-dZbod3uLs9mkrcgGFqH0v2htby_4n8wPmm-TYk53xMIO-jemTDJZiMOhs/s1600/californian_indian_meeting_place97-135-011.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 259px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaUvON9DuymTEALmuzmHh2b0XjwcNE_yR1-HG7bUwq0iYuJCW0EpENZBcjmDs5vu89SQr69-Wdw-ggz9mbr-dZbod3uLs9mkrcgGFqH0v2htby_4n8wPmm-TYk53xMIO-jemTDJZiMOhs/s400/californian_indian_meeting_place97-135-011.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5507016768228629394" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhec8xD38ggcBnILOtx5v97kH3VQKegtMz_mMdT_arFp_ldEuPJyk8CKIrCoPvEggSeb8YzcokekRXNMz0uGoXddAgATQ5G89lkjuwKW-lRTLk0GsdkrBzzPDuRkXrRK0SyE_D9_budAIs/s1600/bucky_dome_living_06-044-082.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 290px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhec8xD38ggcBnILOtx5v97kH3VQKegtMz_mMdT_arFp_ldEuPJyk8CKIrCoPvEggSeb8YzcokekRXNMz0uGoXddAgATQ5G89lkjuwKW-lRTLk0GsdkrBzzPDuRkXrRK0SyE_D9_budAIs/s400/bucky_dome_living_06-044-082.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5507016762013115090" border="0" /></a><br />gardening again<br />landscape again<br /><br />one spider out, one spider in<br /><br /><a href="http://www.microbeorganics.com/">microbe man</a>... great resource on compost tea brewing specifics.<br /><a href="http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/08/060802103513.htm">bacteria create gold</a><br /><span style="text-decoration: underline;">tree farmers - why in quotes?</span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg98iTmI18-7-FkAKI4fIxutoNOY5iLCTHfD8dLLuy3EOW1ho1brs-yz6iBimVzu2G5eDm22dOtKe9Z8G4QwlSGXtAfaVtx9V91tPShLrMxj9PYx6kg4Qpqnr13eKdnvWFbtPB6K1LFNRA/s1600/bucky_dome_living_06-044-082.jpg"><br /></a>Nathan R. Hodgeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07741228006550328528noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3386936355571859925.post-59188199085789698682010-05-28T22:34:00.000-07:002010-05-29T10:25:44.321-07:00Archstoyanie wins the day<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPUZuG7Sfl39ilrZ0YAd7w_Wsb4yVVkWpvo9jBQ5XSkfS6XSvESJG3sxf9M6Y3XCWxICuhyN324jCwyA0D7dCpAz8kEF1lgHFa48bNie9l9mZQ3TOoQZaes8tD0Nhy2RXIQTh0gXwc3rQ/s1600/Arch2010h.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPUZuG7Sfl39ilrZ0YAd7w_Wsb4yVVkWpvo9jBQ5XSkfS6XSvESJG3sxf9M6Y3XCWxICuhyN324jCwyA0D7dCpAz8kEF1lgHFa48bNie9l9mZQ3TOoQZaes8tD0Nhy2RXIQTh0gXwc3rQ/s400/Arch2010h.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5476584888816226866" border="0" /></a><br />0nce <a href="http://greenishbrown.blogspot.com/2008/03/latest-poll-analysis.html">again </a>everybody's favorite russian architecture festival event <a href="http://arch.stoyanie.ru/en/news">Archstoyanie </a>brings us pure joy<br /><br />the standout for me, being landscape inclined, is a project by Atelier 710 that use the grounds of the festival to create a sort of lo-fi ecological/agricultural park using specific landscape-making tactics and recipes.<br /><br />They outline both the tools and the ideology of their project,<br /><span style="font-size:100%;"><br /></span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:100%;" >(from the project statement <a href="http://arch.stoyanie.ru/en/objects/lenivets-labscape">here</a>)<br />Atelier’s working principles include traditional landscape architecture means – trees leveling and heading, seeding the territory, gardening, building wood seats and pathways – as well as new experiences and means of landscape creation.</span><span style="font-size:100%;"><br /></span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:100%;" ><br />“Atelier 710” follows ecological principles and deny integration of alien systems and reject the idea of territory development via destructive urban approaches.</span><span style="font-size:100%;"><br /><br /></span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:100%;" >the project is planned for many-years-process where gradually developing functional elements will give birth to new life in old lands.</span><br /><br />They want to grow a landscape using non-destructive practices, enriching the ecologic landscape at the same time as they create a new human landscape.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0jMkAVtD1OdeiQxMnpyJtNgCiZbmHMJjggu-0xaqEeiXlCOwInjnTVgfNZlHaCKMN8Bl8rXTsZ2Wq8VZ58IHK5E3gyRXt5Lr3eP5B-p5QVBIdKYA8NcT7B6yktO-1shl4WoCh3PvrjIQ/s1600/Arch2010atelier710a.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 266px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0jMkAVtD1OdeiQxMnpyJtNgCiZbmHMJjggu-0xaqEeiXlCOwInjnTVgfNZlHaCKMN8Bl8rXTsZ2Wq8VZ58IHK5E3gyRXt5Lr3eP5B-p5QVBIdKYA8NcT7B6yktO-1shl4WoCh3PvrjIQ/s400/Arch2010atelier710a.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5476579904729057266" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhh5l0yZSrPAPtQ7TiKxNsUR4RKjgNl8IQQdi886d__JhyphenhyphenUj-CGzQz-98ugPPJTwYE45lmYZx-7ZISUTtWL_fBeA8IFHVCl_Ecq5Gsz6n2l94xlw7uFvhyYNquQ2eGhVZJrKwRzfFUKdfo/s1600/Arch2010atelier710b.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhh5l0yZSrPAPtQ7TiKxNsUR4RKjgNl8IQQdi886d__JhyphenhyphenUj-CGzQz-98ugPPJTwYE45lmYZx-7ZISUTtWL_fBeA8IFHVCl_Ecq5Gsz6n2l94xlw7uFvhyYNquQ2eGhVZJrKwRzfFUKdfo/s400/Arch2010atelier710b.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5476579915789434498" border="0" /></a><br /><br />hard to tell just what they did, mowed and put out some cows to graze? always hard in practice, but the direction they're going is where we should be headed: a process-based pro-biotic method of creating functional productive landscapes. no problem!<br /><br /><br />some of the other highlights from the Summer 09 series:<br /><br /><a href="http://arch.stoyanie.ru/en/objects/hyperbolic-cooling-tower-gradierhaus">Hyperbolic cooling tower</a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsDJOyS2UMbvMaYmYrfb2dtAmJEZytk1CvJPkYVFhmtJPXnk-JpatD8CPSyCJhwLu7JPvTGXsSwc75jeYtY-s1vSyPs-_d6IJ7jws4OLdCfZexWYe6t9MvbyoR6xxZ5_2SRmc6tIEH1CE/s1600/Arch2010.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsDJOyS2UMbvMaYmYrfb2dtAmJEZytk1CvJPkYVFhmtJPXnk-JpatD8CPSyCJhwLu7JPvTGXsSwc75jeYtY-s1vSyPs-_d6IJ7jws4OLdCfZexWYe6t9MvbyoR6xxZ5_2SRmc6tIEH1CE/s400/Arch2010.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5476579893920729954" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdspo6ViKRkctqKlBg3kkDYycAYGwwkc2qTQBM8OrE85K6Xmn4GRQv9nvm7qzB-BdTNuENkseDjIZJ-2a7ZpPkNN7JnbOWboqLezZ2JuPhlvkD5kq5_IeN61cfyXQJoadtj0jOMacgYw8/s1600/Arch2010g.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 266px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdspo6ViKRkctqKlBg3kkDYycAYGwwkc2qTQBM8OrE85K6Xmn4GRQv9nvm7qzB-BdTNuENkseDjIZJ-2a7ZpPkNN7JnbOWboqLezZ2JuPhlvkD5kq5_IeN61cfyXQJoadtj0jOMacgYw8/s400/Arch2010g.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5476581124072288978" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://arch.stoyanie.ru/en/objects/air-port"><br />Air-port</a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEge9ObYeqGRXD28_VGvj2B8ryT77_bFAMc91TILUmoYCkbpN5i_BoGV_jIAbk0li4yboLHM-0M2HapP2Bp5u4pfXElgqFcHzMndQ_Dn5lYXbvuaw5pBzBRZKvMixmwYkoaeSGDOX7eDdps/s1600/Arch2010d.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 266px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEge9ObYeqGRXD28_VGvj2B8ryT77_bFAMc91TILUmoYCkbpN5i_BoGV_jIAbk0li4yboLHM-0M2HapP2Bp5u4pfXElgqFcHzMndQ_Dn5lYXbvuaw5pBzBRZKvMixmwYkoaeSGDOX7eDdps/s400/Arch2010d.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5476580455855559554" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglSgUI-XHJQowBt3_AiCuQ8WmziACMdD1ELag7_4RJ9NLlgF-sQS-0usyOOOH0MiXvOmCcy5KIQpIS5o5bcpX8xkW5lRAoz7GbLTcPEfyFyFhUXGaLWDkhtBUASvK7y3eRtbh-m_bkd78/s1600/Arch2010f.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglSgUI-XHJQowBt3_AiCuQ8WmziACMdD1ELag7_4RJ9NLlgF-sQS-0usyOOOH0MiXvOmCcy5KIQpIS5o5bcpX8xkW5lRAoz7GbLTcPEfyFyFhUXGaLWDkhtBUASvK7y3eRtbh-m_bkd78/s400/Arch2010f.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5476580470233515826" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://arch.stoyanie.ru/en/objects/rotunda">Brodsky's rotunda</a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjj5GNesrGbAjY8DkRYECU5CZNkUSyr9soz8Pxk80JzccEWOWI0DeyBvq8Vmab8-AyLA7X4uKui4ENc3ZP-Mm8FolEwJsYBjeiVObVDxjxoIa6UmS0El2oAoDPIc0P57cLMOdzZ-35D5RI/s1600/Arch2010b.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 266px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjj5GNesrGbAjY8DkRYECU5CZNkUSyr9soz8Pxk80JzccEWOWI0DeyBvq8Vmab8-AyLA7X4uKui4ENc3ZP-Mm8FolEwJsYBjeiVObVDxjxoIa6UmS0El2oAoDPIc0P57cLMOdzZ-35D5RI/s400/Arch2010b.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5476580442806106386" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3270lAhetUuy0AJq25Mb2zI-PYmScmmDTGY3tcoH8dVo9vArSmK8fxk4mcFGMn0zpusgDEZE8VeqZ6TDdZ3whJAWuHdZgzBvOexmnlVYka9LRgZZzvRcQwUyuvCtdE3VuUoyWMjZgzDk/s1600/Arch2010a.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 266px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3270lAhetUuy0AJq25Mb2zI-PYmScmmDTGY3tcoH8dVo9vArSmK8fxk4mcFGMn0zpusgDEZE8VeqZ6TDdZ3whJAWuHdZgzBvOexmnlVYka9LRgZZzvRcQwUyuvCtdE3VuUoyWMjZgzDk/s400/Arch2010a.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5476579896518215458" border="0" /></a><br />and the wood they use!<br /><br />check the archstoyanie archives there are some real gems:<br /><br /><a href="http://arch.stoyanie.ru/en/objects?page=0">http://arch.stoyanie.ru/en/objects?page=0</a>Nathan R. Hodgeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07741228006550328528noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3386936355571859925.post-90113683211076139442010-05-03T23:51:00.001-07:002010-05-04T00:58:38.772-07:00SCHOOL'S OUT<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-VFqDT8oGnVg5SRt1DnuK7ENXuf7d5aCCWja7Cr3xVo5X8QOF7ILw-jMk1IB2e6jCn3Inf_mf9MXtyLGQlXBEdd36TI2GBA88_bNoIQUfc2jO_hunC6q28ONGGhHkjQHMTWQsk5AR0Gk/s1600/HODGES_MEXICO.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 276px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-VFqDT8oGnVg5SRt1DnuK7ENXuf7d5aCCWja7Cr3xVo5X8QOF7ILw-jMk1IB2e6jCn3Inf_mf9MXtyLGQlXBEdd36TI2GBA88_bNoIQUfc2jO_hunC6q28ONGGhHkjQHMTWQsk5AR0Gk/s400/HODGES_MEXICO.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5467304520091363106" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br />AND IN OTHER NEWS<br /><br />this guy<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJZpmOljOEGZHv1T9wanu2WyrKd66WBaE4sLnYa4_teeG5NpNdaiA3p7SozIIpugeLnVmCBLMxEUuFsS0zMVfKb8E1XnHwmouGPkK0n4FCSuumvKHnBb_-LMeadHUTjnodBgdpnyZ6-q0/s1600/charlie+patton.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 238px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJZpmOljOEGZHv1T9wanu2WyrKd66WBaE4sLnYa4_teeG5NpNdaiA3p7SozIIpugeLnVmCBLMxEUuFsS0zMVfKb8E1XnHwmouGPkK0n4FCSuumvKHnBb_-LMeadHUTjnodBgdpnyZ6-q0/s400/charlie+patton.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5467315186988395906" border="0" /></a><br /><br />is charlie patton, he just invented this<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaP5AtB5gslfoXtNDhOkhrp0EjHSd_4Rmu8msoaAjVrT0Afv31t0q355SdCWfVoGfjS5xzWHrGB4egefKp2BXC1PHrIv2wtKthyphenhyphen0KgZrikNiUQwOKfh30wflO8uHXwPL3SN_nykq3RVKk/s1600/greenhouse.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 238px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaP5AtB5gslfoXtNDhOkhrp0EjHSd_4Rmu8msoaAjVrT0Afv31t0q355SdCWfVoGfjS5xzWHrGB4egefKp2BXC1PHrIv2wtKthyphenhyphen0KgZrikNiUQwOKfh30wflO8uHXwPL3SN_nykq3RVKk/s400/greenhouse.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5467313452075324466" border="0" /></a><br /><br />it works like this<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.seawatergreenhouse.com/process.html"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 127px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSMCQBZaXIUSL2_XMIumHcXvLwpKAcflOJaqMG5qT5ppBJzfuUoGEy-eyO365MeGyXPDVmgmOzcEmqXwSxAnigjsQi2cOg-ND2bFtz7qR3viaIQrvHqfOxKUXzXTvpsCboZHoQggp_bgQ/s400/SGdiagram.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5467308389479720274" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.seawatergreenhouse.com/downloads/Greenhouse%20Designed%20with%20Simulink.pdf">the seawater greenhouse</a><br /><br />a greenhouse passively converts cold seawater into freshwater. the plants get watered and the temperature is lowered, providing perfect growing conditions for arid coastal areas.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsujI16ET6-bTomf4NrwK-Af7bg3qUEHFPdl1VzpL-zExgUn9AYYi5FFph4TuqKfWWmoZBBQ4wq78r8Q9_tReNGNiP-YvZHWg36VlP9T2iw9TkdK0OooWniBMMzXRBCDuvRO2gUrWunFk/s1600/omantruckhelp.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsujI16ET6-bTomf4NrwK-Af7bg3qUEHFPdl1VzpL-zExgUn9AYYi5FFph4TuqKfWWmoZBBQ4wq78r8Q9_tReNGNiP-YvZHWg36VlP9T2iw9TkdK0OooWniBMMzXRBCDuvRO2gUrWunFk/s400/omantruckhelp.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5467308319125595794" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.seawatergreenhouse.com/">these guys</a> will build it for you<br /><br />and they did all the science <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6TFX-4BVH8V6-7&_user=4420&_coverDate=11%2F05%2F2003&_rdoc=1&_fmt=high&_orig=search&_sort=d&_docanchor=&view=c&_searchStrId=1321500358&_rerunOrigin=google&_acct=C000059607&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=4420&md5=edc34f7121f1c2ad601ead2235776923">here</a><br /><br />and <a href="http://www.exploration-architecture.com/">exploration architecture</a>... blew it up <a href="http://www.exploration-architecture.com/section.php?xSec=35">here</a><br /><br />the basic design pulls warm salty air through a porous cardboard wall that has cold seawater trickling down it. this cools the air in the greenhouse. as the cool air is sucked out the other end of the structure it encounters yet another cardboard membrane, but this one has seawater that has been heated in overhead pipes trickling down it. As the cool greenhouse air meets the warm seawater it gets hot and humid. This heavy air then runs right into a series of pipes that have deep cold seawater in them. As the humid air rapidly cools on these condensers water droplets form and then fall to collect in a subsurface cistern.<br /><br />Over time a thick skin of evaporated salt crystals forms on, and eventually replaces, the cardboard.<br /><br />prototypes and pilots<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZxYZ9hLZ0WD4kEsYMftLiYDODtTaEhbDshws8kED5ePsWgN-gG5OuwSy05kCaSjCXAb4WMtMd7lOknLyA8g5IAOikJh7_Lc5kiqJAEYzpjVnzMBWfXVGzM982DnmsoCSAd9G-m-JGMKs/s1600/greenhouseoman.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 165px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZxYZ9hLZ0WD4kEsYMftLiYDODtTaEhbDshws8kED5ePsWgN-gG5OuwSy05kCaSjCXAb4WMtMd7lOknLyA8g5IAOikJh7_Lc5kiqJAEYzpjVnzMBWfXVGzM982DnmsoCSAd9G-m-JGMKs/s400/greenhouseoman.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5467314384727032866" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjm1OYdZ_g2xH9q4c2QKlr6BTxKCWHY6mEeRw2layFcsYSN19ph0Pgs5-_T97y3DolitAA6vQItrdtXnugwNmaAnlUcSxanQzsypJNnuZb5OEFE6AVbdY_enix181q0D5PBLP7Fq8mEz5I/s1600/omansunset.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 129px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjm1OYdZ_g2xH9q4c2QKlr6BTxKCWHY6mEeRw2layFcsYSN19ph0Pgs5-_T97y3DolitAA6vQItrdtXnugwNmaAnlUcSxanQzsypJNnuZb5OEFE6AVbdY_enix181q0D5PBLP7Fq8mEz5I/s400/omansunset.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5467314372619154466" border="0" /></a><br /><br />This seems to me like one of the best ideas I've heard about in a while.<br /><br />but always operating across scales<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEQSc1YMekVNTI_FnqIezi4Ojqo9l-lxk8m4JaXICHP1MU9bfWLmBRqRAWOhQjg3_upumxoO405cDS42mI9Qjzi2UqUPS7mA_8-vaTvW8zybwC-zA8McGWW5rVfJ5kb6i3Vq-czuSySk0/s1600/bubbledome.jpeg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 389px; height: 334px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEQSc1YMekVNTI_FnqIezi4Ojqo9l-lxk8m4JaXICHP1MU9bfWLmBRqRAWOhQjg3_upumxoO405cDS42mI9Qjzi2UqUPS7mA_8-vaTvW8zybwC-zA8McGWW5rVfJ5kb6i3Vq-czuSySk0/s400/bubbledome.jpeg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5467317178035328770" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://www.shelter-systems.com/">here</a><br /><br />the skin can be recyclable recycled plastic.<br /><br />off gassing is an issue. dunno, UV stabilizers help.<br /><br />high speed small scale living systems.<br /><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-style: italic;">top image,</span></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-style: italic;"> Copywrite. "The New</span></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-style: italic;"> Riviera." 2010. HODGES & CO</span></span> <span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-style: italic;">all rights revealed. </span></span>Nathan R. Hodgeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07741228006550328528noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3386936355571859925.post-61876874736237306682010-04-28T02:48:00.001-07:002010-04-28T02:57:48.702-07:00jump up<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/nhodges/4560167406/" title="photo sharing"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4062/4560167406_0cf2f96527.jpg" alt="" style="border: 0px solid rgb(0, 0, 0);" /></a><br /><span style="margin-top: 0px;font-size:0.9em;" ><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/nhodges/4560167406/">img017</a><br /></span> <p> only three days to go!</p>Nathan R. Hodgeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07741228006550328528noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3386936355571859925.post-43262910178506498652010-04-23T17:56:00.001-07:002010-04-24T01:35:44.702-07:00Infrastructure animal<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOAloKecGe9DEqmXCouEyocCPryKzHazGViaIa0soxlU7xAkgi6qwMcV6W9UmkhggGKe7npA5AvGbxgYz5vCXtZ1xsBUS4Dduma1sCuwKCVvby-4oj1dEp7ukFcwvCbvuBvrKhKLVOlGM/s1600/GESTALT_SNAKE.png"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 264px; height: 401px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOAloKecGe9DEqmXCouEyocCPryKzHazGViaIa0soxlU7xAkgi6qwMcV6W9UmkhggGKe7npA5AvGbxgYz5vCXtZ1xsBUS4Dduma1sCuwKCVvby-4oj1dEp7ukFcwvCbvuBvrKhKLVOlGM/s400/GESTALT_SNAKE.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5463502003453483778" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnL5aMSt4EGutqrXAj1_me6pjfa8jlt6BOCNawrcv6Rhk7PWXg2iUYofsmnA9hsN_klEYqZJlTrrJnNZSAzbHJsCoN5_NysQzRNoJNJsbtY-do64jspBJcTVTEvu-Dr0n3vkmMrtk26jQ/s1600/SNAKE_FREEWAY.png"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 310px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnL5aMSt4EGutqrXAj1_me6pjfa8jlt6BOCNawrcv6Rhk7PWXg2iUYofsmnA9hsN_klEYqZJlTrrJnNZSAzbHJsCoN5_NysQzRNoJNJsbtY-do64jspBJcTVTEvu-Dr0n3vkmMrtk26jQ/s400/SNAKE_FREEWAY.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5463619682228977554" border="0" /></a><br />massive integrated network ecologies<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgi_cTkIFX96YcFuU0VbbzrmOkzqeJ-YCval41AeUU5Tp3MGXS6XasSq3FhyphenhyphenXpPOZyZAI0cS-gw3s-6u_0lmA_A9-ZAx62khJ-OSf6Ay219_XAsm4E0PggsqantfaCK-4ygyqkhQ96xKl4/s1600/SNAKE_FREEWAY.png"><br /></a>Nathan R. Hodgeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07741228006550328528noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3386936355571859925.post-31760300172000692832010-04-21T21:09:00.001-07:002010-04-21T21:28:21.277-07:00footbridgessome great images of footbridges have been cropping up. I'm always mystified by the enormous gap between the vernacular created for function through trial and error and the hyper-engineered solutions produced by the constriction of regulatory frameworks. as per usual, resiliency requires an increase in risk.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_9QdZ1Qu_aL22PLdS2Mj5TfNqCCHVbZNSTD6yIFWhHNNNwQFrHAX_j6cMbuBk0xp1sfEyh-VWeTdxPp1EESsZrRS0yiLXr2a7hfs9ZnS1SfMktSpvBc2eJo7hUmI4ffn-yFub9mH9tHw/s1600/log_bridge04-200-044.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 264px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_9QdZ1Qu_aL22PLdS2Mj5TfNqCCHVbZNSTD6yIFWhHNNNwQFrHAX_j6cMbuBk0xp1sfEyh-VWeTdxPp1EESsZrRS0yiLXr2a7hfs9ZnS1SfMktSpvBc2eJo7hUmI4ffn-yFub9mH9tHw/s400/log_bridge04-200-044.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5462810061323699522" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSgTcjC6jR-7sYfr7OPgjDWdfGzQjp34vvqzXH4KE6rHfPFta-UGyVUF_geZGd2zoonDxsRNISjh8VK8veNFugeiRpYFMrxCnnFke2h_3vTbSiCc2XNmJNAZuzpGCF8KZtSkoPlYr9g6I/s1600/Afghan_footbridge00-274-004.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 231px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSgTcjC6jR-7sYfr7OPgjDWdfGzQjp34vvqzXH4KE6rHfPFta-UGyVUF_geZGd2zoonDxsRNISjh8VK8veNFugeiRpYFMrxCnnFke2h_3vTbSiCc2XNmJNAZuzpGCF8KZtSkoPlYr9g6I/s400/Afghan_footbridge00-274-004.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5462810053806517394" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://slightlywarped.com/crapfactory/curiosities/2010/images/indias60.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 550px; height: 366px;" src="http://slightlywarped.com/crapfactory/curiosities/2010/images/indias60.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br />Top two images from SPIRO (UC Berkeley image archive) bottom image from <a href="http://slightlywarped.com/crapfactory/curiosities/2010/indias_living_root_bridges.htm">here</a> the amazing root bridges of india, worth the click!<br /><br />love,<br /><br />nathanNathan R. Hodgeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07741228006550328528noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3386936355571859925.post-53719844390645983882010-03-26T09:11:00.000-07:002010-03-26T10:09:45.164-07:00AARC Memo 1 - Radioshack<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4036/4463595135_03db858975.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4036/4463595135_03db858975.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />We are pleased to announce that the Animals in Advertising Royalty Concern protest organization has successfully mailed a notice of the wrongful use of an animals image in advertising to the Radioshack Corporation for their abuse of both the grizzly bear and bald eagle.<br /><br />The final paragraph from the memo sums up the position of AARC<br /><br />Beyond the factual and ecological errors in these advertisements it is the overwhelming sense of sadness that is evoked by these images that forms the basis for AARC's action. We as humans have so completely and irrevocably altered the world in which we live that the existence of the grizzly bear and bald eagle is dependent on the power of our collective conscience to stay the hand of unbridled growth. By no means are we required by the law of humans to honor the beauty and individuality of all life, but we are given a choice to do so. AARC deeply hopes Radioshack has the courage to make the right decision and give the grizzly bear and bald eagle the respect and freedom they deserve. (For full text of letter click <a href="http://landscape.ced.berkeley.edu/%7Enhodges/pdfs/AARC.pdf">here</a>)<br /><br />AARC is calling for Radioshack to accept their corporate responsibility and donate an appropriate amount to two non-profits who are dedicated to the preservation and conservation of these two animals.<br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2678/4464371528_9a13106437.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2678/4464371528_9a13106437.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4064/4464371626_0dd16591d3.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4064/4464371626_0dd16591d3.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2776/4464371794_f4af823173.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2776/4464371794_f4af823173.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>Nathan R. Hodgeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07741228006550328528noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3386936355571859925.post-76458006379164286262010-02-21T20:30:00.000-08:002010-02-21T20:47:15.989-08:00Bucky was almost right<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjw9yhBLGiYEm_y3U5Ld4u144yaJzjWiXFY7IssDdsP4s8ZyZ-Xsip_iTzEG67x2Q8v-4WviEWfKWstWndPGB175C9qkqtz2OeRukhyLCvkKVJTP43O-77q3LbywXEn477y_d0rvE9JWFQ/s1600-h/buckywaswrong.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 241px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjw9yhBLGiYEm_y3U5Ld4u144yaJzjWiXFY7IssDdsP4s8ZyZ-Xsip_iTzEG67x2Q8v-4WviEWfKWstWndPGB175C9qkqtz2OeRukhyLCvkKVJTP43O-77q3LbywXEn477y_d0rvE9JWFQ/s320/buckywaswrong.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5440920870470176066" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Buckminster Fuller proposed building massive domes over entire cities, large enough to have their own weather and float suspended on the cushion of warmed air that they created. A truly awesome vision.<br /><br />Here on Alcatraz Ave we're facing a couple of problems. Rats eating our vegetable starts, pollution from the busy roads, and a cool canyon climate created by the shadow of the building next door. The solution is to scale down Bucky's dream from massive infrastructure to the home. A simple large greenhouse would be built to cover the entire lot, dug down it would keep out rats, a double walled skin would moderate the temperature, and block air pollution. Integrated rainwater capture would feed into precision targeted irrigation, allowing for year-round food production, aquaculture of tropical fish species, and maintenance of a Living Machine-type wastewater treatment system.<br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiU5IZ_qqVz98ctCGLGzZZkxy__XVo9t7eS9145NVOutb3PdUWE-V9Xr28j4hlatPVt0LDVskJbl9xKuJPuKpvTH286nsF625CW47I42tLF7OG3dDCCEUPQqKat3baL6M96l72f9LDNzxQ/s1600-h/alcatraz_birdseye+copy.png"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 318px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiU5IZ_qqVz98ctCGLGzZZkxy__XVo9t7eS9145NVOutb3PdUWE-V9Xr28j4hlatPVt0LDVskJbl9xKuJPuKpvTH286nsF625CW47I42tLF7OG3dDCCEUPQqKat3baL6M96l72f9LDNzxQ/s320/alcatraz_birdseye+copy.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5440920868821832226" border="0" /></a>Nathan R. Hodgeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07741228006550328528noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3386936355571859925.post-77365285417576587302010-01-15T00:01:00.001-08:002010-02-08T23:13:26.923-08:00Superfoods StewardshipCareful scrutiny of the grocery store aisle reveals a burgeoning market for native "superfoods" sourced primarily from South America and "the Himalayas." Maca root, goji berry, chia seed, cocoa nibs, hunza raisins, acai, golden berry, taro, quinoa, others? Rich in antioxidants, complex proteins, vitamins, plant sterols, essential minerals, amino acids, endocrine nourishin alkaloids, polysaccharides, and healthy fat, superfoods help us thrive. I enjoy many of these foods and beverages and their presence on the shelves means that the genetic resources of our edible plant community are being protected, rather than diminished. The story on the packaging usually assures me that the people who grow it are being treated right and the price tag attests to their efforts to maintain a healthy world in an artificially cheap food market. It still travels a long way, and while I can testify that the magic volcanic soil and mineral rich glacier water really do make my raisins tastier, what if I could taste the jet fuel and diesel that brought them to me? With this in mind I started thinking about other indigenous superfoods, the ones right in my backyard.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrnwhhtWr_QC8gN5nWSFGwkDoLyaNh2fAA2fj0UKWPnZfX8G8Fx6m2M7muNzWul-1xr4OmvT3BkjYIZyRejNN5x60CHzQX5d1l59UiO5eVno6ZMqy1ILephicZhatHFaOjhTlNi_hG2-U/s1600-h/oldmap.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 218px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrnwhhtWr_QC8gN5nWSFGwkDoLyaNh2fAA2fj0UKWPnZfX8G8Fx6m2M7muNzWul-1xr4OmvT3BkjYIZyRejNN5x60CHzQX5d1l59UiO5eVno6ZMqy1ILephicZhatHFaOjhTlNi_hG2-U/s320/oldmap.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5434669435454564450" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-style: italic;">Coastal survey map from 1859.<br /><br /></span></span>The same territory my little apartment in Berkeley sits on is thick with human history. In 1542, when Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo sailed up the coast of California under a Spanish flag, my rented land was occupied by an entirely different culture; the Huichan, part of the larger Ohlone group, (now included in the petition for federal status by the <a href="http://www.muwekma.org/">Muwekma</a>). Pre-Spanish California had an unusual density of languages and neighboring tribelets within a few square miles might only understand a few words of one another's vocabulary (<a href="http://www.nahc.ca.gov/lanuage.html">map here</a>). The precise count of villages and their populations is muddled by the rapid obliteration of the tribes by disease and missions, but evidence suggests that the East Bay area was home to some 30,000 people. They may have lived on or near the <a href="http://emeryville.wli.net/index.htm">Emeryville</a> and University Shellmounds. Rising 60 ft these mounds were massive accumulations of marine detritus, ashes, broken bits of material culture, and thousands of human burials.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-2siwIllNxgji1TWifbeNsvsvaX6JJxtL0QG9feSmXJnR8DQhgmnI-ZDuzjWwJSABgrKwCn2VkH7LTh8as8DTIqxiT428BDNSazzjWzAg-lf7aWbyk9qZGFnMo9j61bEgQLZS5-JODKU/s1600-h/composite2.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 244px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-2siwIllNxgji1TWifbeNsvsvaX6JJxtL0QG9feSmXJnR8DQhgmnI-ZDuzjWwJSABgrKwCn2VkH7LTh8as8DTIqxiT428BDNSazzjWzAg-lf7aWbyk9qZGFnMo9j61bEgQLZS5-JODKU/s400/composite2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5434671784984720770" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-style: italic;">Current aerial photo of Emeryville shellmound site with mound height & burial location map superimposed. Green is the highest and deepest point of the historic mound approximately 60 feet in height (400ft in diameter). The site is now a large outdoor shopping mall with townhouses above, looking down on a false mainstreet. The bodies that were disinterred during the 1992 excavation were returned to the site, where they remain.</span></span><br /><br />The stratigraphic analysis of these shellmounds suggests that the geography and culture of the Ohlone changed little for over 5000 years. Their diet consisted of an astonishing diversity of plants, mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, fungus, insects, and shellfish. Every part of their environment was known and used based on millenia of experience. A reliance on biodiversity for a secure source of food, fiber, and shelter seems to have fostered a culture that valued and managed land for total system health and resilience. For example, if the acorn crop got wormy they could always eat the nuts of <span style="font-style: italic;">Aesculus californica,</span> if rabbits were scarce gophers would do.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGkuZ9B5wluGc1Hro2NFG9DHoSqJxFz9dzAlyYQiRl5C0mpmvIHSDdTzCz9CDZBkD4uedbCgm6n1dCE8PzMXIwBTShIGVOIBob_5gY8qnIH4q0HVIw5kk8DGXSnoGo4FTSUgKSa94CH_s/s1600-h/ohlonedancing.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 266px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGkuZ9B5wluGc1Hro2NFG9DHoSqJxFz9dzAlyYQiRl5C0mpmvIHSDdTzCz9CDZBkD4uedbCgm6n1dCE8PzMXIwBTShIGVOIBob_5gY8qnIH4q0HVIw5kk8DGXSnoGo4FTSUgKSa94CH_s/s320/ohlonedancing.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5432710859832579938" border="0" /></a><br /><br />What we might call a "natural landscape" provided them with the raw materials for homes, groceries, hardware, clothing, weapons, household goods, and a complex mythology that wove the relationship between humans and an ecosystem into a coherent cultural framework. In exchange for this richness the Huichin were careful stewards of their productive landscape, understanding that in order to take resources from the earth a reciprocal act of maintenance (physical or spiritual) had to be given in return to insure the long-term stability of their way of life. What developed was a form of agroforestry aimed at the reliable production of food/fiber through the careful maintenance of multiple successional stages in an intricate spatial and temporal matrix. Controlled burning, weeding, coppicing, sowing seeds, transplanting, irrigating, pruning, and potentially composting (as Dr. Lee Klinger argues <a href="http://suddenoaklifeorg.files.wordpress.com/2009/04/lee_klinger_2006.pdf">here..PDF</a>) were all common practices that held the landscape in peak productivity and (in contrast to agriculture) biodiversity. For a thorough treatment of the wide variety of management practices used by native Californians I'd highly recommend M. Kat Anderson's <span style="font-style: italic;">Tending the Wild</span>. While there is certainly evidence of over-exploitation of resources, such as some marine mammals, a relatively static culture persisted for millennia in a geographical area of a few dozen square miles, indicating a viable cultural resource management strategy.<br /><br /><a href="http://sirismm.si.edu/naa/harrington/sinaa_00001446.mp3">Luseno song</a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4_IMeHYlRjP6QxbWapaJ8mFlfAt_Or8LDBcM2_gWQblpDFMKIGUoyu_4CwPzDMrw7yGgyCG06NV57iTkInBTmA0OxB1WEC4Q8JJg9Wgh7I57ThA02gzy1lToknn9koJn1OZQGRbrirpk/s1600-h/calfirorniaasanisland.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 225px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4_IMeHYlRjP6QxbWapaJ8mFlfAt_Or8LDBcM2_gWQblpDFMKIGUoyu_4CwPzDMrw7yGgyCG06NV57iTkInBTmA0OxB1WEC4Q8JJg9Wgh7I57ThA02gzy1lToknn9koJn1OZQGRbrirpk/s320/calfirorniaasanisland.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5432742760627461778" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-size:78%;"><span style="font-style: italic;">Early maps of California consistently depicted it as an island. The landscape changed as they generated more accurate maps; introduced grasses, cattle, and the steady decline of indigenous stewards changed how the land looked and functioned.</span></span><br /><br />The rules have changed in the 500 years since the Huichan walked through my backyard, and it's unlikely that we'll all join the neo-anarcho-primitivist camp and make do with our bodies' capacity to produce what we need from our local territory. However, the burgeoning indigenous foods market suggests a way to steward the land in a more traditional way, safeguard the diversity of our forests, and make a bit of cash for communities up against a wall.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEwHqsJFe715TnnNdHRHVLoY98uOzn-DcELRmojeqIVIPnX3r9hOxmATBmOfBYAAlHNKkzyQQ0ylfdlczmQ-cGmZcOOEw4DNhQEEyjZP_SmYdChyphenhyphenwZ8uahgjwp3kGMqHPocLxm-Zh8l6M/s1600-h/Fig_12_Forest_lands_med_res+copy.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 352px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEwHqsJFe715TnnNdHRHVLoY98uOzn-DcELRmojeqIVIPnX3r9hOxmATBmOfBYAAlHNKkzyQQ0ylfdlczmQ-cGmZcOOEw4DNhQEEyjZP_SmYdChyphenhyphenwZ8uahgjwp3kGMqHPocLxm-Zh8l6M/s400/Fig_12_Forest_lands_med_res+copy.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5434668688493397602" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-size:78%;"><span style="font-style: italic;">Map of California's forested, non-agricultural land. These forests grow where the rain falls.</span></span><br /><br />The mountains and forests of California produce large volumes of food & fiber on otherwise non-arable land. Some of this food is being taken advantage of; wild game, shellfish & fish, easily recognized edible mushrooms, some greenery for the floral trade, and of course timber. Most of what these forests produce is given over to the squirrels and birds. Many of these wild indigenous foods could be considered "superfoods", rich in complex vitamins and minerals that are increasingly rare in our overbred fruits and vegetables. And with the exception of matsutakes & chantrelles I can't buy any of it at my local grocery store. Indigenous superfoods from the global south? Whole Foods. Superfoods from my backyard? Fringe.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2627/4313436430_8f8be87366.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 500px; height: 375px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2627/4313436430_8f8be87366.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-size:78%;">A cluster of number one matsutakes just uncovered in the mountains of Southern Oregon. These mushrooms can fetch exhorbinant prices in Japan and high end groceries along the West Coast. I sold these to Cambodians in a shipping container sitting in a gravel parking lot for $8/lb. Experienced pickers guess that the yearly hunt for these heady fungi manages to find 10% of the total crop.</span><br /><br /></span>The danger of course lies in the power of money to incentivize quick profit over sustained yield. When a single part of a forest is marketable it has resulted in over-exploitation of that resource (pre-1900 hunting nearly destroyed most wild game populations in the U.S and did the passenger pigeon in). What's to keep these agroforestry products from being decimated by market pressure? I think a demand-side pull for these goods to be sourced with specific techniques is most likely. The market is niche anyway, and the better the story behind the product the better chance it has of gaining a foothold. "No fossil fuels were burned in the growth, harvesting, preparation, and transport of this food." <a href="http://www.foragesf.com/">Forage SF</a> is a great example (that is BLOWING UP) of a supplier in this potential chain, providing boxes of wild foraged California foods (including fish) to people in the Bay area, as is <a href="http://www.seattlepi.com/food/336553_forage24.html">Foraged and Found Edibles in Seattle</a> that brings wild food to farmer's markets in the city.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.seattlepi.com/dayart/20071024/226mushroom_1.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 226px; height: 151px;" src="http://www.seattlepi.com/dayart/20071024/226mushroom_1.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br />I think the next step is to stop looking at the landscapes where foraged foods are gathered as wild areas that we snag from, and start thinking of them as gardens that we tend. Start using the action and energy of foraging to manage the land with the goal of producing more of what you just picked next time you come to pick it. Pruning, removing brush, loosening soil, burning small biomass piles where appropriate, and sowing seeds for desirable non-aggressive, preferably native, perennial food crops. This might seem like heresy to the ardent protector of wild lands, but the notion of a silent lonely wilderness is a recent cultural construct. These lands are not wild, they're feral, and there's evidence (M. Kat Anderson again) that not only do many of California's distinct ecosystems benefit from human action, some actually require it.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4052/4313431430_afb7a11042.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 500px; height: 375px;" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4052/4313431430_afb7a11042.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2752/4312694345_c05eac3d19.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 500px; height: 375px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2752/4312694345_c05eac3d19.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-size:78%;"><span style="font-style: italic;">Top photo is from Tilden Park in the hills above Berkeley. The trees in the middleground are invasive eucalyptus that suppress understory vegetation with their heavy allelopathic (toxic) litter. The areas of the park where this plant has not invaded are rich in resources like acorns and the epic Golden Chantrelle of California. The largest chantrelle in the world. </span></span><br /><br />This would open up acres of California's land for the production of a variety of edible native plants, animals, and fiber including building materials & biomass. Currently most of this land is public and managed for timber, usually Douglas Fir. While historically a boon for small rural communities the shine is off the timber industry and many towns bordering federal lands are betting on the marijuana boom to keep them afloat. If marijuana is normalized and the bottom begins to creep out from under the market, where do we go? Agroforestry as an alternative requires biodiversity with a complex ecosystem and produces food that has the potential to reconnect people with their land. For example <a href="http://www.lomakatsi.org/">Lomakatsi Forest Restoration</a> teaches communities how to care for their oak trees and is working to bring healthy fire back into forests. Or <a href="http://www.wholetreesarchitecture.com/CommunitySupportedForestry.html">Whole Trees Architecture</a> a community supported forest in Wisconsin that lets members access the whole range of useful forest products from recreational camping to building stone to morels. Many European parks and increasingly some municipalities in the U.S. have a biomass harvesting program and reuse the nutrients on-site to keep their land energized or market the byproducts of land maintenance, like lumber from urban street trees blown down in a storm.<br /><br /><br />Small-scale, maintenance intensive forms of land management do not preclude other uses such as residential development. Certainly any Native tribes who want to manage their historical land in this way should be allowed to do so and many of these tribes are amazing resources on actually how to be on land in this way. The profits probably wouldn't be much. At least not at first, but as these foods and materials become increasingly common in our diets and material culture it's possible that agroforestry production could become a staple of the California resource and stewardship portfolio.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_k2VkqpiP0Q0fd_k8IGfN-CzUSCh6slP43K9L86_zozRw3xkjKVEXipkIBmdyqDRdfSQ_2IhlvZ3dcfYvChtQ0kyrxQ-mCpy3tzqwMRxY1dhUQhYHjTcs13kh1w5yitF0osX0EjZcuNY/s1600-h/grinding+holes.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 225px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_k2VkqpiP0Q0fd_k8IGfN-CzUSCh6slP43K9L86_zozRw3xkjKVEXipkIBmdyqDRdfSQ_2IhlvZ3dcfYvChtQ0kyrxQ-mCpy3tzqwMRxY1dhUQhYHjTcs13kh1w5yitF0osX0EjZcuNY/s320/grinding+holes.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5434683158034924674" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:78%;" >Grinding depressions such as these were hollowed in the bedrock throughout California by the intergenerational processing of food and materials.</span><br /><br />How we spend our money is how we choose the way we want other people to live. When we buy food (or anything else really) we're throwing our cultural currency behind a specific philosophy of land stewardship and human culture. How do we, as individuals, want people to live on this planet? Every day we get to decide as we go about our daily chores and rituals. Every action ripples out from us pushing at the flow of culture as we move along with it. All action requires energy, all energy comes from the sun and earth. There is no such thing as a personal decision, the interconnectedness is shown to be physical (the car exhaust from freeways can make people sick), and believed to be spiritual. Our individual power to influence the whole is enormous, whether we believe it to be or not.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/96/264441828_586c6d3eb2.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 500px; height: 375px;" src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/96/264441828_586c6d3eb2.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>Nathan R. Hodgeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07741228006550328528noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3386936355571859925.post-4597628026126609192009-11-24T21:37:00.000-08:002009-11-25T00:08:58.885-08:00superweeds<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://blogs.oregonstate.edu/h2onc/files/2009/08/invasive_curve.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 315px; height: 206px;" src="http://blogs.oregonstate.edu/h2onc/files/2009/08/invasive_curve.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><br />The above graph nicely illustrates what we're up against when it comes to invasive plants. A few species of highly adapted superweeds are being transported across oceans at unprecedented rates. The California Invasive Plants Council estimates that CA spends a minimum of $82million a year on attempting to control these runaway armies of leafy terrorists with very limited success. The plants continue to spread and new species are regularly introduced despite valiant efforts to intercept these illegals at CA's borders ("Any fresh fruits, vegetables, or living plants with you today?")<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.science-house.org/kudzu/kudzu-car.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 442px; height: 331px;" src="http://www.science-house.org/kudzu/kudzu-car.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br />The top dozen most wanted weeds in california?<br /><br />Aegilops triuncialis - barb goatgrass<br />Bromus madritensis ssp. rubens - red brome<br />Centaurea maculosa - spotted knapweed<br />Centaurea solstitialis - yellow starthistle<br />Cortaderia selloana - pampasgrass<br />Cytisus scoparius - Scotch broom<br />Delairea odorata - Cape-ivy, German-ivy<br />Euphorbia esula - leafy spurge<br />Foeniculum vulgare - fennel<br />Genista monspessulana - French broom<br />Hedera helix, H. canariensis - English ivy, Algerian ivy<br />Lepidium latifolium - perennial pepperweed<br /><br />in urban areas these are the plants the colonize the cracks and margins where maintenance is minimal. Once established, these plants can be impossible to eradicate. Many of the plants will readily grow in the rugose spaces of architecture and infrastructure, often at edges, seams, or material transitions where an interruption in the impermeable cap creates a micro-swale for collecting nutrients and water. As the plant grows the expansion of roots, stems, and leaves act like small hydraulic jacks slowly and inevitably pushing aside the built environment to increase the potential for growth, survival, and reproduction. The forces at work are enormous, the sun pump driving massive disintegration of urban spaces through the microscopic multiplication of meristematic tissue. If we stopped our constant hacking, poisoning, mowing, pulling, and burning a handful of feral plants would quickly engulf our homes and cities, attacking walls, roofs, rafters, roads, bridges, skyscrapers, freeways, gardens... a smooth green skin appliqued to the city's<br />bones.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://writersforensicsblog.files.wordpress.com/2009/09/kudzu-1.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 468px; height: 351px;" src="http://writersforensicsblog.files.wordpress.com/2009/09/kudzu-1.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br />so how do we stop them?<br /><br />A few options:<br />manual control: expensive, time consuming, hard, and effective<br />fire control: dangerous, many invasives surive or are encouraged by fire<br />chemical control: cheap, fast, easy, and completely ineffective.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://extension.oregonstate.edu/yamhill/sites/default/files/Ivy_removal.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 354px; height: 336px;" src="http://extension.oregonstate.edu/yamhill/sites/default/files/Ivy_removal.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br />broad spectrum herbicide applications for the control of invasive plant species poses the same risks overreliance on antiobiotics does; namely the inevitability of breeding resistance into the target population. This is readily observed in the proliferation of Roundup resistant weeds in areas that rely on Monsanto for their genetically modified herbicide resistant crops. (another reason to buy organic... less risk of GMOs)<br /><br />the good folks at<a href="http://www.grist.org/article/attack-of-the-superweeds"> grist</a> bring us this:<br /><br />"In the U.S. alone, glyphosate use jumped by a factor of 15 between 1994 and 2005, CFS claims. And this herbicide gusher has given rise to a host of "superweeds" -- weeds that tolerate heavy doses glyphosate. How do farmers deal with superweeds? By jacking up the dose of glyphosate"<br /><br />Glyphosate... (key ingredient in Roundup) better than atrazine right? Sure, but that's like saying a Hummer is better for the environment than a Hummer limo, not inaccurate but not entirely true. Wikipedia <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glyphosate#Toxicity">summarizes</a>.<br />I'm most interested in <a href="http://www.ppi-ppic.org/ppiweb/BRAZIL.NSF/3a773b217d047cd185256c24000746e8/30ad5d7475e1dc98032571f400712b22/$FILE/Herbicide%20Effects%20on%20Plant%20Disease.pdf">this paper</a> which suggests that glyphosate may inhibit the ability of soil microbes to protect plants against pathogens, causing higher incidence of plant diseases in fields treated sprayed with Monsanto's magic SAFE weed killer.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://oregonstate.edu/dept/nursery-weeds/feature_articles/spray_tank/sprayer_750.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 392px; height: 293px;" src="http://oregonstate.edu/dept/nursery-weeds/feature_articles/spray_tank/sprayer_750.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />uh oh...<br /><br />There are now confirmed cases of herbicide resistant weeds in 13 states, reporting a total of 63 different weed species. At this rate Roundup ready crops will be completely useless despite the millions of gallons of glyphosate saturating our soil. This points to a larger problem of herbicide resistance in invasive plants and suggests that it's only a matter of time before English Ivy, pampas grass, and japanese knotweed figure out our chemical tricks.<br /><br />I imagined a sort of high-tech government facility deep in the Ozarks where top-notch plant breeders are hard at work developing the most virulent and unstoppable weeds imaginable. The vigor of Arundo donax, the taproot of knapweed, the rhizome of bamboo, the seeds of a thistle, the thorns of himalayan blackberry, the roundup resistance of Monsanto's weeds, and the speed of kudzu.<br />Weaponized weeds.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjY77AL_WolrIjqEHMCKqhd5_Yr2BDK8qBQxW7UZBaPRZR6cqN8729oQv6NEZcPn6AX6H-F7icD4RNiMC31Ecf7bx0QMvMisx9A8705VrAVBjEXD1Hlv2YqAEBAQZar2lnpds6tK_EzSS4/s1600/Plant_Tissue_Culture_Lab_-_Atlanta_Botanical_Garden.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjY77AL_WolrIjqEHMCKqhd5_Yr2BDK8qBQxW7UZBaPRZR6cqN8729oQv6NEZcPn6AX6H-F7icD4RNiMC31Ecf7bx0QMvMisx9A8705VrAVBjEXD1Hlv2YqAEBAQZar2lnpds6tK_EzSS4/s200/Plant_Tissue_Culture_Lab_-_Atlanta_Botanical_Garden.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5407950140603718818" border="0" /></a><br /><br />So what can we d0?<br />biomass production seems like an obvious solution. these plants can be converted into compost or energy (or both via biochar) and used to increase soil fertility in the degraded zones that often have both the absence of maintenance and competition that incubate these over-zealous castaways.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.permacultureactivist.net/PeterBane/heat-exchanger3.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 449px; height: 332px;" src="http://www.permacultureactivist.net/PeterBane/heat-exchanger3.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />(example showing <a href="http://www.permacultureactivist.net/PeterBane/Jean_Pain.html">Jean Pain's</a> biomass experiments)<br /><br />This requires, like always, a ton of maintenance and given the tendency for machines to make the problem worse via incomplete removal and meristem shattering, it will probably have to be done the old fashioned way, by hand. This, of course, is radically expensive and would seem to encourage more creative incentives for invasive control, such as exchanging space for time (the homestead approach).<br /><br />There is the possibility that the proliferation of exotic invaders that destroy our human-made environment are a sort of built-in mechanism for biosphere regulation. Invasive plants are the land's attempt at fighting back against the suffocating cap of impervious surface, a bioclimatic reflex. Combined with<a href="http://urbanentomology.tamu.edu/ants/exotic_tx.cfm"> crazy rasberry ants</a>: eating electrical devices throughout the southern U.S.(!), H1N1, and zebra mussels it would appear that the control we believe we have over our environment is a wayward delusion persisting from the mechanistic roots of enlightenment science. Maximum control only pushes the inherent energy of the system into other channels (why fences are always hopped). We exist at the mercy of our fellow lifeforms and rather than fighting them we need to focus more of our energy towards developing complex probiotic solutions to our abiotic actions.Nathan R. Hodgeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07741228006550328528noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3386936355571859925.post-30036566271789145312009-11-22T21:45:00.000-08:002009-11-25T23:12:44.070-08:00weeding exercisevisiting tilden park is something we love to do<br />our dog can be off leash, there are rock outcrops and big oak trees.<br />we went up to the quarry trail and i spent a few minutes pulling out weeds before we went on our hike. According to the law this is an illegal act. We have collectively entrusted the management of our public lands to government agencies who protect us from ourselves by outlawing resource tampering. Tilden is overgrown, muddy, choked by eucalyptus and blackberry. The forest could use some maintenance, but the law would seem to limit the power of the individual to make a difference.<br /><br />FROM East Bay Regional Park ORDINANCE 38, Chapter 8 "Park Features Protection" (M/I ) SECTION 804 "Damage to Plants"<br />No person shall damage, injure, collect or remove any plant or tree or portion thereof, whether living or dead, including but not limited to flowers, mushrooms, bushes, vines, grass, turf, cones and dead wood located on District parklands. In addition, any person who willfully or negligently cuts, destroys or mutilates vegetation shall be arrested or issued a citation pursuant to Penal Code Section 384a.<br /><br />SECTION 807 "Special Permission" however, says...<br />Special permission (Section 103) may be granted to remove, treat, disturb, or otherwise affect plants or animals or geological, historical, archaeological, or paleontological materials for research, interpretive, educational, or park operational purposes.<br /><br /><object width="400" height="300"><param name="allowfullscreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><param name="movie" value="http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=7765655&server=vimeo.com&show_title=1&show_byline=1&show_portrait=1&color=01AAEA&fullscreen=1"><embed src="http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=7765655&server=vimeo.com&show_title=1&show_byline=1&show_portrait=1&color=01AAEA&fullscreen=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always" width="400" height="300"></embed></object><p><a href="http://vimeo.com/7765655">weeding in tilden</a> from <a href="http://vimeo.com/manysmallwindows">Nathan Hodges</a> on <a href="http://vimeo.com/">Vimeo</a>.</p><br /><div style="text-align: left;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2681/4127003652_521251a3a5_m.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 180px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2681/4127003652_521251a3a5_m.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a></div>Nathan R. Hodgeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07741228006550328528noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3386936355571859925.post-39834821320641129122009-11-15T20:32:00.000-08:002009-11-16T00:06:58.564-08:00the nomadic city<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2666/3860513849_10f5f93424.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 500px; height: 375px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2666/3860513849_10f5f93424.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />an interview with constant nieuwenhuys by linda boersma at bombsite<br /><a href="http://www.bombsite.com/issues/91/articles/2713">http://www.bombsite.com/issues/91/articles/2713</a><br /><br />has images CN made around his imagined urban environment "New Babylon" (<a style="font-style: italic;" href="http://www.notbored.org/new-babylon.html">text</a>) a city for Homo ludens freed to romp in their creativity. Inspired by a gypsy camp near Alba Italy, CN saw the ceaseless wanderings of people as attempts to<br />realize a need "<i>for playing, for adventure, for mobility</i>."<br /><br />His answer was NB:<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">"where, under one roof, with the aid of moveable elements, a shared residence is built; a temporary, constantly remodeled living area; a camp for nomads on a planetary scale."</span><br /><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.bombsite.com/images/attachments/0000/6223/constant02_body.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 548px; height: 655px;" src="http://www.bombsite.com/images/attachments/0000/6223/constant02_body.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:78%;"><span class="caption"><em>Symbolische voorstelling van New Babylon</em> (detail) (Symbolic Representation of New Babylon), 1969, collage on paper, 55×60”. Photo: Victor E. Nieuwenhuys.</span></span><br /></div><br />He envisaged a system where all work would be fully mechanized and, living within the meta-construct, we would be free to drift in a timeless state, space becoming an effortless media through which we could move, manifesting our creative spectrum.<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">"Mobility, the incessant fluctuation of the population -- a logical consequence of this new freedom -- creates a different relation between town and settlement. With no timetable to respect, with no fixed abode, the human being will of necessity become acquainted with a nomadic way of life in an artificial, wholly 'constructed' environment"</span><br /><br />While fully in the Situationist's camp CN was, however, criticized by Debord. (excerpt from "Non-plan" by J. Hughes)<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwuf1R4desJg0M6SkD-KGSF-blZ-DVPwg3uaoTMexobdQ8z8TTWpiMVDGO2oy4n_bk_rDiHyLohLZhY0QGH2imkH15iomH4dAr87pRo8Cg3NBgkHj2joCoHjWXbntMq1zJi_fpttw7MBc/s1600/DEBORDQUOTE.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 90px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwuf1R4desJg0M6SkD-KGSF-blZ-DVPwg3uaoTMexobdQ8z8TTWpiMVDGO2oy4n_bk_rDiHyLohLZhY0QGH2imkH15iomH4dAr87pRo8Cg3NBgkHj2joCoHjWXbntMq1zJi_fpttw7MBc/s400/DEBORDQUOTE.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5404565171749085842" border="0" /></a><br />i think this is a valid critique of the project, which reaches just a bit too far past the present to ever get any closer to now, but ad-campaigns do change the way people live. Maybe by comparing NB to a Coca-Cola ad Debord was slyly congratulating CN on creating an alternate future that was so rich and compelling that people <span style="font-style: italic;">wanted</span> to live there.<br /><br />the deliverables are great anyway<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.bombsite.com/images/attachments/0000/6229/constant03_body.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 548px; height: 361px;" src="http://www.bombsite.com/images/attachments/0000/6229/constant03_body.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:78%;"><span class="caption"><em>Secteur Jaune</em> (detail) (Yellow Sector), 1958, wood, metal, Plexiglas, 9×37 x 35”</span></span><br /></div><br /><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://rebeccareilering.files.wordpress.com/2009/10/3877144619_20aa0b292f.jpg?w=300&h=195"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 195px;" src="http://rebeccareilering.files.wordpress.com/2009/10/3877144619_20aa0b292f.jpg?w=300&h=195" alt="" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://rebeccareilering.files.wordpress.com/2009/10/newbabylonnord.jpg?w=300&h=285"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 285px;" src="http://rebeccareilering.files.wordpress.com/2009/10/newbabylonnord.jpg?w=300&h=285" alt="" border="0" /></a><a href="http://rebeccareilering.wordpress.com/2009/10/10/metabolic-city/"><span style="font-size:78%;">http://rebeccareilering.wordpress.com/2009/10/10/metabolic-city/</span><br /></a></div>Nathan R. Hodgeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07741228006550328528noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3386936355571859925.post-59009789046718349402009-11-10T00:28:00.000-08:002009-11-10T01:08:54.789-08:00maintenance<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2429/4091616987_28a95e0ee0.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 500px; height: 375px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2429/4091616987_28a95e0ee0.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />these are people that the government is forcing to do land maintenance, usually for vegetation suppression around roads and airports. <br />They're being forced to actualize a cultural belief about how land is supposed to function.<br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2566/3861248250_48b6118c1a.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 500px; height: 375px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2566/3861248250_48b6118c1a.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />These are vegetables planted in the parking lot of a Chinese food drive through in Fort Bragg CA. It looks like it was recently converted from a mass of junipers, a prickly tough shrub. The owners removed the junipers, created small berms and planted bok choi, squash, cucumber, and beans. A single juniper was left in the beds and when we walked by a man was carefully pruning away the dead branches to reveal the trunk.<br /><br />He was actualizing a cultural belief about how land should function.Nathan R. Hodgeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07741228006550328528noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3386936355571859925.post-16163980842632031462009-11-05T01:17:00.000-08:002009-11-05T01:29:38.235-08:00data boom<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCHcBW4LAPXl6xylLd51Bzn4s39erUbw70yJA-sqx-FrVur4b08dvTIVkyLq4GBrfH_b0wVnYzxr032qEg0l2S0wADV2RMXXBllsRCnPvL_vls6oVeF0L5WtPQH2816ABcJ-R2UQE9pnc/s1600-h/fleamarketsatellitephotos.png"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 311px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCHcBW4LAPXl6xylLd51Bzn4s39erUbw70yJA-sqx-FrVur4b08dvTIVkyLq4GBrfH_b0wVnYzxr032qEg0l2S0wADV2RMXXBllsRCnPvL_vls6oVeF0L5WtPQH2816ABcJ-R2UQE9pnc/s400/fleamarketsatellitephotos.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5400546476350262642" border="0" /></a><br />The above two images show an aerial view of the Ashby fleamarket that happens every Saturday and Sunday in the parking lot of the Ashy Bart Station. The top photo is from the USGS Seamless database and is 0.33' for Alameda County, the bottom is from Google Maps. The GM aerial seems to be taken at an earlier date, based on how the shrubs along the north edge of the parking lot have grown in the USGS aerial. (or were they pruned?) Despite this the similarity in the layout & temporary structures of the flea market itself make it seem like images could have been recorded on the same day, perhaps just a few hours apart. Why do I only have access to aerial images that were taken on the weekend?<br />these and other questions, weekly and biweekly.Nathan R. Hodgeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07741228006550328528noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3386936355571859925.post-51352237014651883312009-10-24T22:31:00.000-07:002009-10-25T19:57:20.881-07:00knowing snails<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkORNDfL_V1j-cAx3p9DRtmZU-8V0Jd-jV9UXC_FUTe5kGxQfC45UobzeI8xovit6rByDcCKoj52AQloMA14LlhZ4dn6K7y4MrBWwXm7wqtLQ_AQ39jupsgMRoLK2PUiPphWKGhm5aqIc/s1600-h/imageULQ.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 149px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkORNDfL_V1j-cAx3p9DRtmZU-8V0Jd-jV9UXC_FUTe5kGxQfC45UobzeI8xovit6rByDcCKoj52AQloMA14LlhZ4dn6K7y4MrBWwXm7wqtLQ_AQ39jupsgMRoLK2PUiPphWKGhm5aqIc/s400/imageULQ.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5396666853743901074" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Back in 2005 I was working on an undergraduate thesis at Portland State University, studying terrestrial mollusk species diversity in a Portland Oregon urban forest.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiv8EbjftE8I9chqdpHgXdWcyhyphenhyphenvbm9ED-iapwvePPGmDih4JsKwYr53v4qYqdNhclPrV1YUYypJHm0V-Mn0YwhZW0BNf-NwUjQFzEeb_we4barqF_Oa2RIG5DqXAPEmxusETXK1hSenw/s1600-h/image4TS.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 245px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiv8EbjftE8I9chqdpHgXdWcyhyphenhyphenvbm9ED-iapwvePPGmDih4JsKwYr53v4qYqdNhclPrV1YUYypJHm0V-Mn0YwhZW0BNf-NwUjQFzEeb_we4barqF_Oa2RIG5DqXAPEmxusETXK1hSenw/s400/image4TS.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5396663959646739618" border="0" /></a><br /><br />It was a fairly straightforward piece of research that wanted to answer the question: what species of slugs and snails live in this patch of woods?<br /><br />26 sample sites, 844 square feet per site, 21944 square feet total. 1004 total terrestrial mollusks found, 16 species, 1 range extension for <span style="font-style: italic;">Cryptomastix germana germana</span>, 1 possible threatened snail, <span style="font-style: italic;">Megomphix hemphilli</span>.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1Tb7SVavLcfXVYAcb50Tz-1wsk2uFn9iskykj9BK8ACuS0iUWk3FwPdqgK42lYEdlHjOvalrpoWb1-YFgQ5efbzr7jSdl4CA5JiCv8ClF780MftPEjYwp_MmLpWkNjPJxt9gXTK2QUtU/s1600-h/image195.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 339px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1Tb7SVavLcfXVYAcb50Tz-1wsk2uFn9iskykj9BK8ACuS0iUWk3FwPdqgK42lYEdlHjOvalrpoWb1-YFgQ5efbzr7jSdl4CA5JiCv8ClF780MftPEjYwp_MmLpWkNjPJxt9gXTK2QUtU/s400/image195.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5396663950196427442" border="0" /></a><br /><br />I crawled around in the rainy woods looking under leaf litter & sword ferns for a few small slugs or snails that I would temporarily corral, identify, photograph, then release.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnk5zSL6rw3i5rfrkfjta1cafK1wr8-PDrRbFcjpoyqG3gTSCZRF1W2BWo3wNyH4PiVkta8awB-vgM6Q0AxEtBVzo3iLimNyOkphFsQLgQsL8tSi4oojZHoS9-_eU9etrMV-ZR-rV64rk/s1600-h/image7KP.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 221px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnk5zSL6rw3i5rfrkfjta1cafK1wr8-PDrRbFcjpoyqG3gTSCZRF1W2BWo3wNyH4PiVkta8awB-vgM6Q0AxEtBVzo3iLimNyOkphFsQLgQsL8tSi4oojZHoS9-_eU9etrMV-ZR-rV64rk/s400/image7KP.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5396667393927484322" border="0" /></a><br /><br />I brought a few home with me, boxed them up, and sent them to the BLM offices outside Roseburg, where Nancy Duncan preserved them and stored them in their Oregon Mollusk collection.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjZ8FJXS17WxqKALage9rM29BrqaW3eomUtz1KDBXazMGNUDEqnzetEIyUAFfgIr3IBF6jPKwMKBNlK91tXLXqu_aeKJ_cwjBNFOd9ZX5qoONH1lNFbcn2rZgChSOWYgZq5XNZmeG1rAg/s1600-h/imageOFH.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 120px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjZ8FJXS17WxqKALage9rM29BrqaW3eomUtz1KDBXazMGNUDEqnzetEIyUAFfgIr3IBF6jPKwMKBNlK91tXLXqu_aeKJ_cwjBNFOd9ZX5qoONH1lNFbcn2rZgChSOWYgZq5XNZmeG1rAg/s400/imageOFH.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5396667385992031714" border="0" /></a><br /><br />I also took samples of the leaf litter, baked all 26 liters in the oven in our small apartment, then sorted through the detritus with a hand loupe looking for microsnails about the size of a pinhead.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhncbyNcNcNOA1pptzYcr-c9yr2e90m01ZnUgxlzZzmaiZVQtt1sSM3obcrpUhvlOlxCXd9b_JAS8swB0rrt1Yf8Spe17pU4hq_nVEQElai8scVzb5NINB0kuj0PgvRiMJEcAewy8CJW68/s1600-h/imageG47.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 135px; height: 385px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhncbyNcNcNOA1pptzYcr-c9yr2e90m01ZnUgxlzZzmaiZVQtt1sSM3obcrpUhvlOlxCXd9b_JAS8swB0rrt1Yf8Spe17pU4hq_nVEQElai8scVzb5NINB0kuj0PgvRiMJEcAewy8CJW68/s400/imageG47.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5396668724094113650" border="0" /></a><br /><br />the thesis is <a href="http://web.pdx.edu/%7Enathanh/research/Hodges_Honors_Thesis_Final_Draft.pdf">here</a>, the associated field guide is <a href="http://web.pdx.edu/%7Enathanh/research/Hodges_Macleay_Park_Mollusk_Guide_2006.pdf">here</a><br /><br />The thesis process was great and the results typically "scientific" but they both lacked, in retrospect, any kind of discussion of the subtle character of the snails & the environment. There is no subjective information, information without numbers, or purely intuitive data in this kind of product. (<a href="http://www.jir.com/critics.html">Journal of Irreproducible Results</a> which has some real <a href="http://www.ee.bilkent.edu.tr/%7Ehaldun/young/foolrev.pdf">oddities</a>)<br />Snails are full of character, and spending time in their habitat gave me a lot more information than I could package up and put in the report. The literature seems to suggest that snails have favorite foods, preferred & avoided trails, repeat acquaintances, memories, can live for 20(+?) years, and make their way back to their nest even when picked up and moved (no slime trail to follow, how do they know which way to go?) Through my observations and sensing I began to understand how each snail was different, some were gregarious, recalcitrant, feisty, or gentle. Some were strong for their size, some were very curious. Slugs and snails seem to have individual personalities informed by their genetic code <span style="font-style: italic;">and</span> their life experiences. They make choices.<br /><br />The science that attempts to get at this holistic view is behavioral ecology. This research tends to focus on explaining the evolutionary origins of behaviors rather than finding patterns or meaning in how/why a plant or animal responds to its environment. What is the organism's nature? This is an extremely difficult question for science to answer and would require mountains of data just to establish action, nevermind motive (Do you know why you do what you do? Do you know the snail does what it does?).<br /><br />Maybe the better method is to use intuition to establish a relationship with a given life form. Perhaps we could all be assigned a creature, like a zodiac, that we are responsible for observing closely. I think we would find that every organism has the potential to invoke empathy in a human. The ability to feel what it's like to be that plant, animal, or (archae)bacteria. While we call this "projection" and dismiss it as a human artifact we simultaneously labor under the belief that other means of knowledge production are objective and can create a reality divorced from individual experience, with repeatable results, and no fingerprints. A myth, that we believe in to guide our actions.<br /><br />The explanation many indigenous indians in California gave for how they knew which plants were good to eat, weave baskets with, heal wounds, calm babies, make rope, was much the same; the plants told them what they were good for. A dialogue. Trial and error over long periods seems a likely way to have this conversation, but keeping the records would be no mean feat. Most California tribes had names for each plant, but also a more refined name that depended on where the plant grew. Perhaps our capacity for empathy is great enough that, if trained and valued, we can intuit our relationship to other organisms.<br /><br />We're currently driving many species extinct without understanding what they can do. Human action has outpaced the system we have of establishing cultural limitations for those actions; science. Eliminating variables before we know what they are, erasing unknown knowledge, foot shooting. catch up quick! it's an emergency.Nathan R. Hodgeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07741228006550328528noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3386936355571859925.post-21852610744789382632009-10-13T23:00:00.000-07:002009-10-14T00:10:53.951-07:00maintenance<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg45QUm2BXkf4qBhP2kO9qEueWzv5O_sEbn1pLawvREWIgUpEu1C090PbQnb2SEzHQInZKmmplHJRy-XkRxHei9Rfbgf0d0I8jG_Ackgyvxad4c0qfY9zI9d72Jlr_FmgE98-mBttHbzf0/s1600-h/nathan.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg45QUm2BXkf4qBhP2kO9qEueWzv5O_sEbn1pLawvREWIgUpEu1C090PbQnb2SEzHQInZKmmplHJRy-XkRxHei9Rfbgf0d0I8jG_Ackgyvxad4c0qfY9zI9d72Jlr_FmgE98-mBttHbzf0/s400/nathan.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5392332580017641538" border="0" /></a><br /><br />a beautiful, healthy, and abundant landscape requires a lot of it at small spatial scales<br />replacing humans with machines may also mechanize the ecology<br />but for maximum resiliency use maximum diversity<br />we just have to start tending every square inch<br /><br />photo from peter sucheki: 1/2 mastermind behind <a href="http://redstartstudio.com/">redstart</a><br />taken in <a href="http://laep.ced.berkeley.edu/blakegarden/?paged=2">blake garden</a>Nathan R. Hodgeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07741228006550328528noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3386936355571859925.post-13493386259879546532009-09-20T20:39:00.000-07:002009-09-21T21:24:07.212-07:00Back to the Land<object data="http://www.elsewhere.org/mbedr/?p=3940219840&s=1.25&v" type="text/html" width="400" height="300"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/nhodges/3940219840/" title="home by thewhitebear, on Flickr" target="_blank"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3449/3940219840_806227b70f.jpg" alt="home" width="400" height="300" /></a></object><br /><br />After a long summer away from the Doghouse I've been putting energy into the garden, testing out some ideas and research I've been doing about taking care of the soil. What I've done thus far:<br />1. Fork up the beds whose summer crops had died back.<br />2. Mix in some composted horse manure bought at a premium from Berkeley Horticulture (the guilt)<br />3. Seed a variety of cover crops into areas that I'm not quite ready to plant. Fava beans, Austrian Winter Vetch, and some Red & White Clover. I sprung for the innoculant.<br />4. Seed a bed with a few varieties of radish and some turnip.<br />5. Seed a six pack of broccoli & cabbage for transplant once the soil is ready.<br />6. Transplant in giant chard, italian parsley, sage, and peas.<br />6. Snag a few bales of straw from David's house via PARK(ing) Day: "Hollywood Hoe-Down"<br />7. Harvest the forest of Arundo donax that regularly springs up along the fence and prop it to dry for eventual chipping via Anida's chipper (Assuming it's still up for use.)<br />8. THE CHLORAMINE ISSUE. Treating garden water with aquatic life protector & a few teaspoons of quality liquid fertilizer with no industrially processed nutrients.<br />9. Trap out 5 rats, all five clean kills, buried in corner by comfrey.<br />10. New garden gate: 1 redwood post, wire.<br />10. General weeding, raking, trimming, pruning, hacking, spading, picking, chopping.<br /><object data="http://www.elsewhere.org/mbedr/?p=3940252180&s=1.25&v" type="text/html" width="400" height="300"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/nhodges/3940252180/" title="extra moon by thewhitebear, on Flickr" target="_blank"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2536/3940252180_6928018ec0.jpg" alt="extra moon" width="400" height="300" /></a></object><br />Things learned:<br />1. Rats are suckers for peanut butter with a small piece of bread and a raisin stuck in it.\<br />2. Leave No Trace ethic is incorrect, it should be "Choose What Trace To Leave".<br />3. Deferred maintenance is often more difficult, time-consuming and tedious than daily maintenance.<br />4. Using weeds in the garden is tricky, my field mint was getting out of control but seemed to be keeping the ants out of the NW bed.<br />5. The distinction between and ecological decision and an aesthetic decision is constantly evolving.<br />6. The three primary elements are Camper, Campsite, and Campground<br />7. Started the 1859A Log, a journal of activities related to the house & garden that stays with this place the next tenants.<br /><br />After a few months away from this project I decided that I should never be too busy to have a garden. Everytime I work around the house I have a sense of immense satisfaction and feel good physically and mentally. I also receive the added benefit of good food and increasingly healthy soil. I always have the time to garden but I often choose to spend it doing other things and pay farmers to do my gardening for me somewhere else. I think I have to put the same amount of calories into land as I take out or other energy sources have to be tapped to make up for the deficit, like fossil fuels. With all that extra energy we go the moon, make hollywood blockbusters, and build helicopters.<br /><br /><object data="http://www.elsewhere.org/mbedr/?p=3939438415&s=1.25&v" type="text/html" width="400" height="300"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/nhodges/3939438415/" title="home by thewhitebear, on Flickr" target="_blank"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2598/3939438415_9baf804f61.jpg" alt="home" width="400" height="300" /></a></object>Nathan R. Hodgeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07741228006550328528noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3386936355571859925.post-17732962283217804972009-09-20T20:16:00.000-07:002009-09-21T21:22:00.380-07:00POLL<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqfAZaing3XNmu_lfK7fYOc2nMtTGupXXF-UhnrcmijqQ3VQ2yCmQIt5J5pwWRNj1WOXCN7dGa7K84f7oTvDZxuk36Jxt9dN8PtSWMuKi1EucbhxSYZfWZcHjZ366NDhBwpZ2mtMW-aS8/s1600-h/pathanalysis.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 268px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqfAZaing3XNmu_lfK7fYOc2nMtTGupXXF-UhnrcmijqQ3VQ2yCmQIt5J5pwWRNj1WOXCN7dGa7K84f7oTvDZxuk36Jxt9dN8PtSWMuKi1EucbhxSYZfWZcHjZ366NDhBwpZ2mtMW-aS8/s400/pathanalysis.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5384141504943765058" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br />Insufficient turnout at the poll prohibits statistical conclusion analysis.<br /><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-style: italic;">Photo Copyright. Shared Territory. 2009. HODGES & CO. all rights revealed</span></span>Nathan R. Hodgeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07741228006550328528noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3386936355571859925.post-6608809769304376742009-08-29T13:35:00.000-07:002009-08-29T14:00:37.306-07:00Utility Sleeper<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj06N4hj2Q4bz7Kd18blxIt-8OQp3B8_n8f-SG0zceWKYKlT3XE0dzV2qKbrDBvgbBflqZjgKPUgWx7p6OHlbvivbJmj2Wdcr7yrrB7llIfXtEyaCljwhY-i-TDCtuEBQ6cvUKZOJAMoa0/s1600-h/utilitybox_notext.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj06N4hj2Q4bz7Kd18blxIt-8OQp3B8_n8f-SG0zceWKYKlT3XE0dzV2qKbrDBvgbBflqZjgKPUgWx7p6OHlbvivbJmj2Wdcr7yrrB7llIfXtEyaCljwhY-i-TDCtuEBQ6cvUKZOJAMoa0/s320/utilitybox_notext.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5375490570210032034" border="0" /></a><br /><br />The Utility Sleeper utilizes a ubiquitous urban infrastructure skin to camouflage a small homespace so that a human can sleep without getting hassled by the cops. Solar panels embedded in the skin provide power to a small fan that draws cool air from beneath the Sleeper and into the homespace to ensure adequate ventilation. click to enlarge or go <a href="http://landscape.ced.berkeley.edu/%7Enhodges/websitefiles/extracurricular/UtilitySleepers.html">here</a> for mouseover version.<br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjr3Q7omN5g1BCx6LgL216tKQyNG-TGgrvt88bXLqSj70E3Tkyb-oNs_ta3_n13T1TJCdXSbps4a_PVtTV9ffTgm66gPQZrYEZA1FaY_NNNz1bIi-OU0eYEQswIvzZbxAtcy6u9lIkKNqY/s1600-h/utility+sleeper_notext.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjr3Q7omN5g1BCx6LgL216tKQyNG-TGgrvt88bXLqSj70E3Tkyb-oNs_ta3_n13T1TJCdXSbps4a_PVtTV9ffTgm66gPQZrYEZA1FaY_NNNz1bIi-OU0eYEQswIvzZbxAtcy6u9lIkKNqY/s320/utility+sleeper_notext.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5375490566588814674" border="0" /></a>Nathan R. Hodgeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07741228006550328528noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3386936355571859925.post-31183657980553863042009-08-28T12:28:00.001-07:002009-08-28T12:32:43.953-07:00UPDATE!:!:! HISTORICAL POLL RESULTS E-RAZED!<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8ZuaAKhvyj18fKNrbc_U-IGngMhfZrRo9VODuFwBXm-lcQlFLh88I01cp8UWdT4Xl-b6b0-D1DVlwKFeR2pAxKxxCXuLatA2CzO5tLGsS6-tESxbmLlt8MFZjjuVvhL_S-BOMMBLyuFA/s1600-h/3861293426_cf33f3482e.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8ZuaAKhvyj18fKNrbc_U-IGngMhfZrRo9VODuFwBXm-lcQlFLh88I01cp8UWdT4Xl-b6b0-D1DVlwKFeR2pAxKxxCXuLatA2CzO5tLGsS6-tESxbmLlt8MFZjjuVvhL_S-BOMMBLyuFA/s320/3861293426_cf33f3482e.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5375099252251850834" border="0" /></a><br /><br />attempting data recovery. sad loss but everything begins, middles, and ends. RIGHT?<br /><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-style: italic;">Photo Copyright. territorial dispute. 2009. HODGES & CO. all rights revealed</span></span>Nathan R. Hodgeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07741228006550328528noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3386936355571859925.post-30476892886486312982009-08-27T13:09:00.000-07:002009-08-28T12:48:15.786-07:00plumbing the depthsHumans, despite our obvious shortcomings, are phenomenally good at pushing ourselves outside our comfort zone in search of larger, often obscure meanings. The elasticity of both the mind and body continually punch holes in the gypsum board of cultural history and reach through to the unknown. Michel Siffre is a favorite and recently the voyage made by Jacques Piccard & Lt. Don Walsh has floated past and captured the old imagi-nathan.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqbh4E0Dy46osPGNi4rs0pBEeY02bC1Hh1dic8B9NmeUtiMx19fI-lAnUQXUuWL03idg70nOrKd7IHwlBoIsO_9eyJncFeMtgocue3yJPuXb76CJqZksp2z1910FRi4cGXvykxwJ8_RjY/s1600-h/Bathyscaphe_Trieste.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 268px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqbh4E0Dy46osPGNi4rs0pBEeY02bC1Hh1dic8B9NmeUtiMx19fI-lAnUQXUuWL03idg70nOrKd7IHwlBoIsO_9eyJncFeMtgocue3yJPuXb76CJqZksp2z1910FRi4cGXvykxwJ8_RjY/s320/Bathyscaphe_Trieste.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5374734911765432050" border="0" /></a><br /><br />On January 23, 1960, Piccard and Walsh, made a dive in the <i>Trieste</i> to the deepest known point on Earth. The team descended 35,810 ft (10,916 m) to Challenger Deep. Piccard and Walsh sat in a 6-ft-diameter (1.8-m) steel bubble tucked underneath an enormous tank of gasoline (a buoyant fluid that does not compress) while the vessel made the a five-hour dive to the ocean floor. The Trieste provided completely independent life support, with a closed-circuit rebreather<span style="text-decoration: underline;"></span><span class="HoverPopup" id="l256925"></span><span class="HoverPopup" id="l256926"></span> that used soda-lime to scrub CO2 from the air. Power was provided by batteries.<br />As the sphere passed 9,000 feet the thick plexiglass window suddenly cracked, shaking the entire sphere, but remaining water tight. The two men spent 20 minutes on the ocean floor, eating chocolate bars and staring out into the deep sea, lit up by quartz-arc light bulbs, watching small fish swim by.<br /><br />This is the only time that humans have been this deep. In the years since no one has come within 10,000 feet of their record.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPOmXqX_mHIEH78gVXPHxQI3NNXRExhYAzvy5gDFKoelaaUt8MqFiCFFZR-fI122y2E9d8z0cszh_qQbq-i7dZcPe4k-g_eUeUg_FiyZhgxH99lu6tu3E6SWzHEmEAGTO3iVz_CsoSkzA/s1600-h/triestepiccard.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 197px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPOmXqX_mHIEH78gVXPHxQI3NNXRExhYAzvy5gDFKoelaaUt8MqFiCFFZR-fI122y2E9d8z0cszh_qQbq-i7dZcPe4k-g_eUeUg_FiyZhgxH99lu6tu3E6SWzHEmEAGTO3iVz_CsoSkzA/s320/triestepiccard.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5374734897229265650" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Interestingly enough the depths of the ocean below 1000 meters form the largest habitat on the planet by volume and also happens to be the least explored. Recently a remotely operated submersible off the coast of California spent a few hours in this zone and came back with a treasure trove of new species. The earth is fantastically thick with life, thicker than we can ever imagine due to our limited spatial and temporal scale. From the film of bacteria, yeast, and spores that coat every surface on the planet to the giants of the deep that we dismiss as myth without ever having taken a peek into their world. Here's to our constant (and increasingly forgotten) companion, the unknown.Nathan R. Hodgeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07741228006550328528noreply@blogger.com1