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INSPIRATION

Camille Armantrout — Tue, 29 Dec 2009 14:41:58 +0000

The last week of December is the week when I usually make my New Year’s Resolutions. But Bob and I are moving this week and are consumed with the endless chore of packing, cleaning, unpacking, sorting and shuffling our monstrous mountain of household goods.

Today should be our last day in Camelina and tomorrow we’ll focus on sorting out everything at Trouts Farm. Thursday I’ll start cooking enough black-eyed peas, rice, greens and cornbread to feed fifty people and Friday, we’re hosting a New Year’s Day Hoppin’ John party.

So I have not given any thought to what hurdles I’d like to jump in 2010. Everything outside the current task at hand seems insurmountable.

But then Bob came across an amazing video and shared it with me. After watching Danny MacAskill and his amazing bike acheive the inconceivable, I think I’ll be able to come up with at least one goal for the coming year. Great name for a bicyclist, by the way – Mac Ass Kill! If you’re needing inspiration for your own News Years Resolutions, here it is!

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WE’RE NOT AMISH

Camille Armantrout — Thu, 29 May 2008 18:37:27 +0000

We often say we’d be Amish without the religion because we admire their simple, industrious lifestyle. Not to mention their expertise in farming with animal power.

We also think Quakers are pretty neat. Especially as regards their Peace Testimony. Over the years, many conscientious objectors have been Quakers. The tireless promotion of non-violence earned Quakerism the Nobel Peace Prize in 1947.

However, Quakers and Amish often get confused with one another, probably because of the photo of the man in the Quaker Oats logo.

In this short video, Rob Jones, Quaker and soon to be famous rock farmer, sings a song clarifying the difference between the Quakers and the Amish:

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WAITING FOR THE CRASH

Camille Armantrout — Sun, 02 Mar 2008 19:36:05 +0000

Here’s a great little video exploring the possibility of the U.S. Dollar tanking that was snipped from a documentary recently aired on Dutch National Television:

If you think it can’t happen, think again. Just this week, the Federal Reserve rescued the stock market again. Here is how James Howard Kunstler described it in his blog entry “A Real Freak Out” March 17:

Over the weekend, the Federal Reserve engineered a $30-billion dollar Saint Paddy’s day present for the JP Morgan bank by handing them the corpse of Bear Stearns. The object of the game is to prevent the “assets” of Bear Stearns from going to the auction block, on which they would be discovered to be nearly worthless, which would instantly render all similar assets held by the other big banks to be similarly worthless, and would result in a universal margin call that would pretty much unwind the hallucinated “wealth” acquired the past ten years.
I am both elated and terrified. If it’s going to happen, I’d rather it happen soon. And yet, we aren’t quite ready. The power went out the other day and with it went our water because we have yet to replace the electric pump with something more sustainable.

Although we are mentally prepared, we need to get ourselves completely off the grid. Luckily, we are surrounded by a large group of extremely resourceful, like-minded people. Many of them are directly involved in growing food and/or making fuel. And we already process most of our food, including bread, Tempeh, tofu, and sausage.

Realistically, the crash will play out as more of a slide, giving us plenty of time to install contingency infrastructure while at the same time giving us plenty of time to procrasti

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$1.5 BILLION DOWN THE TUBE

Camille Armantrout — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 19:42:27 +0000

This just in: The Federal Government has earmarked 1.5 billion dollars, not for education or health care, but to help consumers continue watching television.
According to an article in the San Francisco Chronicle,, after ordering broadcasters to shift from analog to digital television to clear the airwaves for emergencies, the federal government has earmarked $1.5 billion to help cover the cost of thirty three million converter boxes.

Notice the appropriate use of the word “consumer.” As in, keep ’em hooked up to the great machine. Or: “Let’s make a Corporate Glory Hogging pyramid scheme that keeps Americans trapped in a deadly, lifelong cycle of working and shopping.” And: “make ’em work ’till they drop and let the insurance companies handle their health care!”
This is our cue to run out into the street and yell, “I’m as mad as hell and I’m not going to take this anymore!” as Howard Beale shouted in the 1976 movie, “Network” about Television.

Even better yet, if you don’t want to support the corporate machine, order the coupons and burn them. Seriously.

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CAMCORDER AT LARGE

Camille Armantrout — Fri, 11 Jan 2008 20:29:28 +0000

Matt got a new camcorder and brought it by Camelina the other night. At the same time, Ian dropped by with the good news that he had passed the big test, allowing him to move forward with his Ph.D.

So, over peanuts and beers, they filmed this:

Something tells me this is just the beginning…

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BIODIESEL SHOOTERS

Camille Armantrout — Mon, 19 Nov 2007 19:58:58 +0000

Here’s what kind of fun we were up to this weekend: watching Frankie Abralind making Biodiesel Shooters at the Atomic Ranch House in Olympia Washington.

Who but a Mad Genius, indeed!

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