December 26th 2006 update
Haven’t gotten around to doing much this last week. I’m not sure if I am going to participate in Christmas next year. Let’s see…
Final Cut: I’m getting Final Cut Pro this week. I was going to just edit in imovie but I played with it for a few hours and realized that I’ll be able to cut faster… way faster, with Final Cut. So I’m getting it this week.
Clothes: I bought a bunch of new clothes last week. I felt a little guilty buying a few new articles. I feel like I should make all my own clothes from here on out, but I’m not sure. I told myself that I was buying “wardrobe” for the film aspect of the project and it made me feel better. Maybe I should explain the way I choose clothes, new or old or handmade. First off, they need to be “Earth Tones.” That means grays, greens, browns, and blacks. These colors provide more camouflage than say, neon pink. Second, they have to look cool. Vain? I don’t know. I like feeling like I look good in the clothes that I wear. I want the clothes to attract people. I care about my image. I like to look sexy, smart and hip. This is why I’ve had a problem with most outdoor gear. Third, I want them to function properly for the outdoors. This means they must be; warm and waterproof and silent. Modern outdoor clothes totally suck for people like me who want to remain silent. Most “northface” crap is multi-colored, and LOUD synthetic material. You can’t wear those clothes and walk silently. My rain pants for example, make a swish-vip sound every time I take a step. Wool, leather, fur are the best materials. Wool is silent, flame resistant, and warm when wet. The only problem is that most functional wool clothes are ugly as hell. One-size military surplus pants and sweaters. I try to stay away from cotton, but I do wear a few t-shirts.
Dioxin, etc: I’m starting to have second thoughts about eating urban game. Or urban anything really. I recently read this article. I’m scared that I’ll end up poisoning myself pretty bad. I want to know what you all think. Anyone know any great herbs that clean out dioxin and other such toxins? Should I be fasting regularly? Sweat lodges? Medicinal Teas? There is part of me that says, “It’s in everything now. There is no escaping the poison. If you want to live as the raccoon, then like the raccoon you will process these toxins in your body. This is the fate your grandparents have left you with.” You know? I read this article about US beef too. The poisons are even in the food we are trying to control… Is there more poison in wild animals than in domestic animals? Does it matter anymore…?
Food: I’ve been on the Paleolithic Diet off and on for a long time now. My latest stint has been the last 7 months, maybe 90% paleo. A little sugar here, a little soy there. I also quit smoking and drinking 7 months ago. I still am experiencing constant fatigue. It’s going away slowly, but Willem recommended that I go on the Body Ecology Diet, which is like a more hardcore version of the Paleo Diet. Basically the idea is that carbs and sugars that are so prelevant in Industrail Civilization create a nice place in your guts for really bad bacteria. This bacteria, mostly Candidiasis, causes yeast infections among many other symptoms like my constant fatigue. First you starve the bad bacteria by not eating sugars or carbs. Simultaneously you eat lots of fermented foods that are filled with the “good” bacteria, replacing the bad as it starves and dies. Once you have a healthy amount of good bacteria, you need only eat fermented foods and no carbs to keep your health up. There is a great article on how Native Americans ate fermented foods here. Also check out the books Wild Fermentations and Nourishing Traditions. Anyone know of any other books on indigenous diets please post. I feel like this diet will prep my body for dealing with the toxins I will find in the wild urban game that I eat.
WordPress: I’m having trouble formatting this site. I have a list of needs and am too lazy to search through the WordPress help section. I thought someone on here might know how/what I need to do to fix the following:
-Header image off center after turning it into a link.
-Cant figure out how to change the hover color of main blog articles. Also, the links in the articles are not red.
-Still need to figure out the forum. Anyone know a good free forum that will work with this site?
-Need to figure out how to make blogs only be summaries on the main page, not the full post.
-How can I view how many visits my site is getting?
I guess that’s it for now. I’m still trying to make sure I get the video from the Meyer Trust up by January 1st, but if not… I’ll post something fun.
Scout
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Happy holistic holidays to you, Urban Scout. I read a couple of articles you linked to regarding toxicity in wildlife and US beef — I think I may be changing my own diet this coming year.
Speaking of the coming year — any plans for a Nuclear Winter Formal within the next month or two? Last year’s was a post-apocalyptic party to remember, but I’ve nearly forgotten what it was like so I need to do it again.
I began to plan the next NWF about six months ago… then shit got crazy. There will not be a nuclear winter formal this year. I promise that next years will be awesome!
The Ancient and Healing Art of Chinese Herbalism deals alot with plants that some persons claim cleanse the blood / chi and regenerate organs while boosting the immune system. If you want to take the word of countless generations of superstious Asians.
Also, Kombucha Tea supposedly has all sorts of detoxifying qualities.,Also mildly fermented and energizing.
I tried reading your site code. It’s all mangled. Don’t know what to suggest. A simple revamp?
Thanks for the tip on Kambucha. I’ll read up on it. Fermented and detoxifying sounds like a great combination.
Not sure how to do a simple revamp yet.
I would think sweat lodges and Reishi Tea would pump all the poisions out of you pretty damn well. You already have a tipi, so that covers the sweat lodge part. If you would like, I could mail you some reishi. The tea is extremely detoxifying, and will help to keep you from catching colds, and vaginal cancer as well. I can give recipes too, cause it tastes like shit. You know how to find me.
Hey Rory! Good to see you over here. Thanks for offering me some Reishi. I have never heard of it before. Does it grow locally by you? If so I’d love to make a trade with you for some. I’m trying to only explore resources that will be readily available in my bioregion… but while civ is around, why not make some trades. Is there a latin name for the plant? Perhaps it has a sister around my region.
It is a chinese medicinal mushroom, Ganoderma Lucidum. I know that Paul Stamets, in your area, grows them like crazy, and it is a pretty common mushroom. You may be able to forage it in your area. I do know of a sister called Ganoderma Orogonese, as well. I actually discovered it growing wild in my backyard, and no I have so much I need to give it away.
We have tried it as tea, in spaghetti, and swiss-and mushroom burgers. personally, I prefer reishi tea with lemon balm and lots of peppermint.
Check this out: http://www.reishi.com . tons of good info.
“It’s in everything now. There is no escaping the poison. If you want to live as the raccoon, then like the raccoon you will process these toxins in your body. This is the fate [all your relations] have left you with.â€
Yes, my thoughts exactly. I still have fears, and want to be as knowledgeable as possible before I get myself into deeper shit than is necessary, but I can’t avoid it. The practice or art for me is to learn how to be healthy even in non-ideal conditions.
What you say on clothes goes for me, too. When I discovered just how loud synthetic clothes were at the Teaching Drum, I immediately invested a good bit of money in wool clothes. I also want to have an image that is attractive, and some of these wool clothes are awkward-looking, that’s for sure — but I’ve found a few that aren’t so unattractive. At TD they had Swedish army pants, in gray, that were pretty damn cool. And I found some relatively hip, although retro, Pendleton wool shirts on ebay for a good price. Ultimately though I want to be wearing skins or wool clothes I cut/sew myself, although sewing is definitely not one of my strong points. I think I’m going for something of a modern-day Robin Hood look — practical, functional clothes that are also stylish.
Have you ever heard of the book Neanderthin, by Ray Audette? It’s small, but definitely worth reading and has tons of resources in the back. Doing a search for it on Amazon will also bring up similar titles, but I only have experience with the WAPF/Nourishing Traditions, Paleo diet stuff, and Neanderthin. I think the bibliography of Neanderthin is available in the web archive of the site, it’s pretty impressive. Here’s the link.