Monday, December 11, 2017
Wednesday, October 25, 2017
Monday, October 23, 2017
What does Life mean to you?
✨😇🙏🏄
Happiness is a choice.
"The meaning of life is there is no meaning, so you get to create it." -Jesani Drew, Love & Empowerment Coach/Motivational Speaker, Brooklyn NY
"We incarnate on this planet with a sort of curriculum or learning, where life puts us through tests, trials, & tribulations in order to deconstruct our ego to reconstruct our heart." -Jennifer Sodini, evolveandascend.com
Happiness is a choice.
"The meaning of life is there is no meaning, so you get to create it." -Jesani Drew, Love & Empowerment Coach/Motivational Speaker, Brooklyn NY
"We incarnate on this planet with a sort of curriculum or learning, where life puts us through tests, trials, & tribulations in order to deconstruct our ego to reconstruct our heart." -Jennifer Sodini, evolveandascend.com
Friday, October 20, 2017
Mark.
You can’t depend on your eyes when your imagination is out of focus.— Daily Zen (@dailyzen) October 20, 2017
— Mark Twain
Saturday, October 7, 2017
Constructs.
"It doesn’t take a particularly smart or thoughtful person to look at
both history and the current times to realize that people are being
obedient to awful things and stupid people, and that the potential in
them will not be realized if they keep serving these evil constructs." -Mike Gogulski
Wednesday, October 4, 2017
Primitive Technology: "John Plant"
I saw one of his videos awhile ago and was in awe....This is pure gold!
I built a hut with a tiled roof, underfloor heating and mud and stone walls. This has been my most ambitious primitive project yet and was motivated by the scarcity of permanent roofing materials in this location. Here, palm thatch decays quickly due to the humidity and insects. Having some experience in making pottery I wondered if roof tiles could feasibly be made to get around these problems. Another advantage of a tiled is that it is fire proof. A wood fired, underfloor heating system was installed for cold weather. A substantial wall of mud and stone were built under the finished roof. It should be obvious that this is not a survival shelter but a project used to develop primitive technological skills.
Time line: 102 days (21/5/15-30/8/15)
Chopping wood, carving mortises, putting up frame: 10 days (21/5/ 15 -31/5/15)
Using a celt stone axe I had made previously (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BN-34JfUrHY) I harvested the timber. 6 posts were put into the ground. The floor plan of the hut was a 2 X 2 m square. The 4 corner posts stood 1 m above the ground and buried 0.25m below ground. The 2 ridge posts were 2m above the ground and buried 0.25 m below ground. The ridge and wall beams were 2.5 m long. These had 2 mortises each at 0.5 m from the ends made using a mallet and stone chisel. These were then fire hardened to prevent the wood splitting. The top of the posts were carved into tennons for the mortises to fit onto. Rafters 1.75m long were lashed together and laid onto the frame and then lashed to it. Saplings for the tiles to sit on were harvested later as needed after each firing.
Building kiln and tile frames: 5 days (3/6/ 15- 8/6/15)
A simple kiln was built with a removable (replaceable) kiln floor or grate. The grate was a clay disc about 0.25m in diameter with 19 holes in it to let flames through it. A 0.25m wide, 0.25 deep trench was dug into a slope and a stone lintel was used to cover over it. Onto this the mud wall of the kiln was built. The inner diameter of the kiln was a bit wider than the grate (about 0.3m) and the height of the kiln was about 0.5m tall. The kiln wall was about 0.12m wide. A fire was then lit in the trench or firebox to dry the structure. Originally the fire box of the kiln had 2 stones with a broken tile resting on it as a sort of grate bar. Wood was fed over the bar while air entered under it. This caused the air to come up through the burning wood so that efficiency was increased. Later 2 rows of mud were put into the fire box and a few purpose made grate bars were put in place to make a permanent version of this. Having grate bars that raise the fuel bed off the ground so air goes up through it increases heat production and fuel efficiency several times. 20 tile frames were made. These were split strips of lawyer cane that were kinked and bent into rectangles. They were 25cm long and 15cm wide.
Rain delay: 36 days (9/6/15- 14/7/15)
In what would normally be the dry season we had over a month of unseasonal rain. Work completely stopped on the hut. Unfired tiles left in the open dissolved in the rain, large amounts of dry firewood were impossible to find and the wooden frame of the hut lay exposed to the elements with mould growing on it. It was during this time I built the wood shed (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZajpkwDeEYg) to store fire wood and unfired tiles in preparation for the firings to come. Despite the weather I managed to make and fire 20 roof tiles as a test.
Tile making and firing: 28 days (14/7/15-11/8/15)
To make a batch of tiles, clay from the creek bank was dug, mixed with old crushed up pottery or broken tiles and made into 20 balls per batch. A flat stone was dusted with wood ash to stop the clay sticking to it. A lawyer cane tile mould was placed on this and the ball of clay pressed into it and flattened. The surface was dusted with ash and the tile flipped over. The other side then had a tab made into the upper end for it to fit onto the batten. The tile, still in its frame, was then set upright near a fire to dry or left to air if no fire was available. Meanwhile the tiles made two days earlier were place into the kiln 20 at a time (10 at the bottom and 10 at the top) and fired until those at the top glowed at least red hot. Each firing took about 4 hours with the kiln only needing periodic feeding of fire wood allowing me to make tiles for the firing 2 days in advance. The semi dry tiles from the day before were laid against the kiln to become bone dry (slightly damp tile would explode if fired). A typical day of tile making was divided into a morning and afternoon shift: The morning involved firing a batch of dry tiles while simultaneously making another batch and leaving it to dry. The afternoon shift involved mining, processing clay and collecting firewood. In total I made and fired 450 flat tiles and 15 curved ridge tiles. It took 25 firings with 20 tiles per firing (the 24th and 25th firing made up for breakages). A 26th firing was done for the roof capping tiles. The tiles above the firebox got the hottest glowing orange to yellow hot. Those near the top only glowed high red. Some days the wind blew into the kiln and raised the temperature to the point where the some tiles started to soften and sag with some minerals beginning to melt out of them. These tiles were like stone in hardness.
Stone footing for wall: 1 day (14/8/15) A stone footing was built around the hut for the mud wall to be built on. If a mud wall is built on stone footing its longevity in increased as it cannot wick up moisture from the ground. This only took a day.
Underfloor heating: 2 days (15/8/15- 16/8/15) A trench was dug into one side of the floor of the hut from front to back and covered with stone slabs. Gaps were sealed with mud and a fire was lit in the front end. The slight incline ensured that the smoke and flames travelled beneath the floor heating it. A short chimney was built at the back to increase the draft and the stones were covered in mud to form a level platform. The result was a slightly raised floor area that was heated from below. This is similar in principal to a Korean “Ondol”, Chinese “Kang” bed or Roman “Hypocaust”. Flames travel beneath the floor heating it and radiating heat straight up into the room.
Wall: (17/8/15- 30/8/15)
The wall was constructed of mud. Originally I was going to dig soil from around the hut to use for the wall but it became quickly apparent that the drain it would leave around the structure would be too large and lead to the structural instability of the hut. So instead I excavated a large pit in front of the kiln for soil. The mud was placed onto the stone footing so that the wall was about 0.25m thick. The first few layers were of mud alone but I started adding stones to the layers to cut down on the amount of mud needed. It took less effort to carry rocks than it did to dig soil and carry water to make the mud. Before building the wall the wooden structure swayed worryingly when pushed by hand. After the first few courses of mud wall however the posts were held rigidly in place forming a solid structure.
Summary
This was the most complex hut I’ve ever built because of the materials involved, the scale and planning and management of resources. The frame was an experiment in the use of mortise and tennon joints- the first time I’ve used them in a structure and it was justified, given the weight of the roofing material. Firing the tiles in small batches of 20 was inefficient in terms of fuel with one large firing being preferable to 26 small ones. If I were to do it again I might make the all the tiles first then stack them in a pile and cover them with mud- a clamp kiln. The advantage of firing the tiles in small batches was that they did not need to be stored before firing in a separate shelter but be made, fired and put in place on the roof as I went. The underfloor heating was an interesting experiment though here it would only be necessary during the coldest months of the year. It was easy to build and would make all the difference to comfort in cold locations. The mud wall was technically easy to build but required much more labour compared to a wattle and daub wall. The benefit of this though was the stabilising effect on the whole structure. The roof wobbled slightly before building the wall but after was held firmly in place. The finished structure is a little dark and needs to be lit using resin fuelled lamps. In future I may consider windows for better lighting. All in all it is a good, solid, fireproof structure that will not decay any time soon.
Time line: 102 days (21/5/15-30/8/15)
Chopping wood, carving mortises, putting up frame: 10 days (21/5/ 15 -31/5/15)
Using a celt stone axe I had made previously (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BN-34JfUrHY) I harvested the timber. 6 posts were put into the ground. The floor plan of the hut was a 2 X 2 m square. The 4 corner posts stood 1 m above the ground and buried 0.25m below ground. The 2 ridge posts were 2m above the ground and buried 0.25 m below ground. The ridge and wall beams were 2.5 m long. These had 2 mortises each at 0.5 m from the ends made using a mallet and stone chisel. These were then fire hardened to prevent the wood splitting. The top of the posts were carved into tennons for the mortises to fit onto. Rafters 1.75m long were lashed together and laid onto the frame and then lashed to it. Saplings for the tiles to sit on were harvested later as needed after each firing.
Building kiln and tile frames: 5 days (3/6/ 15- 8/6/15)
A simple kiln was built with a removable (replaceable) kiln floor or grate. The grate was a clay disc about 0.25m in diameter with 19 holes in it to let flames through it. A 0.25m wide, 0.25 deep trench was dug into a slope and a stone lintel was used to cover over it. Onto this the mud wall of the kiln was built. The inner diameter of the kiln was a bit wider than the grate (about 0.3m) and the height of the kiln was about 0.5m tall. The kiln wall was about 0.12m wide. A fire was then lit in the trench or firebox to dry the structure. Originally the fire box of the kiln had 2 stones with a broken tile resting on it as a sort of grate bar. Wood was fed over the bar while air entered under it. This caused the air to come up through the burning wood so that efficiency was increased. Later 2 rows of mud were put into the fire box and a few purpose made grate bars were put in place to make a permanent version of this. Having grate bars that raise the fuel bed off the ground so air goes up through it increases heat production and fuel efficiency several times. 20 tile frames were made. These were split strips of lawyer cane that were kinked and bent into rectangles. They were 25cm long and 15cm wide.
Rain delay: 36 days (9/6/15- 14/7/15)
In what would normally be the dry season we had over a month of unseasonal rain. Work completely stopped on the hut. Unfired tiles left in the open dissolved in the rain, large amounts of dry firewood were impossible to find and the wooden frame of the hut lay exposed to the elements with mould growing on it. It was during this time I built the wood shed (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZajpkwDeEYg) to store fire wood and unfired tiles in preparation for the firings to come. Despite the weather I managed to make and fire 20 roof tiles as a test.
Tile making and firing: 28 days (14/7/15-11/8/15)
To make a batch of tiles, clay from the creek bank was dug, mixed with old crushed up pottery or broken tiles and made into 20 balls per batch. A flat stone was dusted with wood ash to stop the clay sticking to it. A lawyer cane tile mould was placed on this and the ball of clay pressed into it and flattened. The surface was dusted with ash and the tile flipped over. The other side then had a tab made into the upper end for it to fit onto the batten. The tile, still in its frame, was then set upright near a fire to dry or left to air if no fire was available. Meanwhile the tiles made two days earlier were place into the kiln 20 at a time (10 at the bottom and 10 at the top) and fired until those at the top glowed at least red hot. Each firing took about 4 hours with the kiln only needing periodic feeding of fire wood allowing me to make tiles for the firing 2 days in advance. The semi dry tiles from the day before were laid against the kiln to become bone dry (slightly damp tile would explode if fired). A typical day of tile making was divided into a morning and afternoon shift: The morning involved firing a batch of dry tiles while simultaneously making another batch and leaving it to dry. The afternoon shift involved mining, processing clay and collecting firewood. In total I made and fired 450 flat tiles and 15 curved ridge tiles. It took 25 firings with 20 tiles per firing (the 24th and 25th firing made up for breakages). A 26th firing was done for the roof capping tiles. The tiles above the firebox got the hottest glowing orange to yellow hot. Those near the top only glowed high red. Some days the wind blew into the kiln and raised the temperature to the point where the some tiles started to soften and sag with some minerals beginning to melt out of them. These tiles were like stone in hardness.
Stone footing for wall: 1 day (14/8/15) A stone footing was built around the hut for the mud wall to be built on. If a mud wall is built on stone footing its longevity in increased as it cannot wick up moisture from the ground. This only took a day.
Underfloor heating: 2 days (15/8/15- 16/8/15) A trench was dug into one side of the floor of the hut from front to back and covered with stone slabs. Gaps were sealed with mud and a fire was lit in the front end. The slight incline ensured that the smoke and flames travelled beneath the floor heating it. A short chimney was built at the back to increase the draft and the stones were covered in mud to form a level platform. The result was a slightly raised floor area that was heated from below. This is similar in principal to a Korean “Ondol”, Chinese “Kang” bed or Roman “Hypocaust”. Flames travel beneath the floor heating it and radiating heat straight up into the room.
Wall: (17/8/15- 30/8/15)
The wall was constructed of mud. Originally I was going to dig soil from around the hut to use for the wall but it became quickly apparent that the drain it would leave around the structure would be too large and lead to the structural instability of the hut. So instead I excavated a large pit in front of the kiln for soil. The mud was placed onto the stone footing so that the wall was about 0.25m thick. The first few layers were of mud alone but I started adding stones to the layers to cut down on the amount of mud needed. It took less effort to carry rocks than it did to dig soil and carry water to make the mud. Before building the wall the wooden structure swayed worryingly when pushed by hand. After the first few courses of mud wall however the posts were held rigidly in place forming a solid structure.
Summary
This was the most complex hut I’ve ever built because of the materials involved, the scale and planning and management of resources. The frame was an experiment in the use of mortise and tennon joints- the first time I’ve used them in a structure and it was justified, given the weight of the roofing material. Firing the tiles in small batches of 20 was inefficient in terms of fuel with one large firing being preferable to 26 small ones. If I were to do it again I might make the all the tiles first then stack them in a pile and cover them with mud- a clamp kiln. The advantage of firing the tiles in small batches was that they did not need to be stored before firing in a separate shelter but be made, fired and put in place on the roof as I went. The underfloor heating was an interesting experiment though here it would only be necessary during the coldest months of the year. It was easy to build and would make all the difference to comfort in cold locations. The mud wall was technically easy to build but required much more labour compared to a wattle and daub wall. The benefit of this though was the stabilising effect on the whole structure. The roof wobbled slightly before building the wall but after was held firmly in place. The finished structure is a little dark and needs to be lit using resin fuelled lamps. In future I may consider windows for better lighting. All in all it is a good, solid, fireproof structure that will not decay any time soon.
Sunday, September 17, 2017
Innovating a future economy that transcends old binaries
The path to a better future will be cut by regular people being curious
and open enough to challenge the wisdom received from our schools, our
parents, and our governments, and look at the world with fresh eyes.
Sunday, August 27, 2017
Sunday, July 23, 2017
Friday, July 21, 2017
Sunday, July 9, 2017
#Thoughts
"The day you decide that you are more interested in being aware of your
thoughts than you are in the thoughts themselves – that is the day you
will find your way out.” ~ Michael Singer
Tuesday, July 4, 2017
Saturday, June 17, 2017
Friday, June 16, 2017
The Yoshino Cedar House!
Yoshino Cedar House is a collaboration between Tokyo-based architect Go Hasegawa, Airbnb and the community of Yoshino. The house is built from sustainable cedar forests located in mountains nearby, and was built by local master carpenters and craftsmen.
Co-created with Tokyo-based architect Go Hasegawa and Airbnb co-founder Joe Gebbia, the Yoshino Cedar House explores how architecture can promote new relationships between hosts and guests beyond existing notions of domesticity and ownership.
Saturday, June 10, 2017
Monday, May 8, 2017
Thursday, May 4, 2017
Persuing. Passion^ Projects*
Brilliant. Building^ Bureau*
-Regenerative Reclaimed Renovations & Creations; Aquaponics Educational Oasis
-->Immediate Solutions for Homeless, Hungry & Pollution
414Cast/MKE Trotters
-All-encompassing Soccer Oasis with focus in the inner cities and area of poverty
-Utilization of Social Media and Live Streaming in particular
Tuesday, April 18, 2017
Empathy: Key to Effective Action
Are you strong enough to turn Blame into Curiosity? If so, watch your Curiosity turn to Creativeness!
Empathy: Key to Effective Action from Charles Eisenstein on Vimeo.
Wednesday, March 22, 2017
Monday, March 20, 2017
FLUX & the Big 7
"It's time to fix Democracy. Vote to Flux The System!"
Can Technology Save Democracy?
*This is the closest initiative I've seen which is very similar to 1 of my 5 Life-Long Goals:
3) Invent collective voting Tool/App utilizing social media to bring people and planet together
Here are my updated Big 7 Life Goals:
1) Community Aquaponics Vertical Garden/Educational Restaurant Co-Op Cafe Oasis
2) Collective Voting Tool/App utilizing Social Media/Internet to bring peeps together
3) Planet Earth Peace/Love Minute
4) Hotel 4 Homeless/Homeless Whisperer/ALL Humans of MKE
5) MKE Soccer Basics.^/MKE Soccer Trotters
6) Brilliant Broadcast AKA 414Cast
7) Brilliant. Building^ Bureau* AKA Regenerative. Reclaimed^ Renovations*
Can Technology Save Democracy?
*This is the closest initiative I've seen which is very similar to 1 of my 5 Life-Long Goals:
3) Invent collective voting Tool/App utilizing social media to bring people and planet together
Here are my updated Big 7 Life Goals:
1) Community Aquaponics Vertical Garden/Educational Restaurant Co-Op Cafe Oasis
2) Collective Voting Tool/App utilizing Social Media/Internet to bring peeps together
3) Planet Earth Peace/Love Minute
4) Hotel 4 Homeless/Homeless Whisperer/ALL Humans of MKE
5) MKE Soccer Basics.^/MKE Soccer Trotters
6) Brilliant Broadcast AKA 414Cast
7) Brilliant. Building^ Bureau* AKA Regenerative. Reclaimed^ Renovations*
Sunday, March 19, 2017
Thursday, March 9, 2017
Thursday, February 23, 2017
Wednesday, February 22, 2017
Monday, February 20, 2017
Saturday, February 18, 2017
Friday, February 17, 2017
100 Tips About Life, People & Happiness
Thanks High Existence!!!
5. Spend more time around people that both challenge and respect you.
25. Genius gets you nowhere. Execution is everything.
27. Meet new people as often as possible. Offer to help them.
51. But also, help people who have never helped you, and can’t.
52. When you know that pain is temporary, it affects all of your decisions.
55. Meet with friends more often than you think you have to.
62. Don’t take anything personally, ever.
76. Be like Jesus, not like his followers. (This applies to all of them.)
79. Good connections are about people, not social networks.
84. If the internet is the best thing in your life, you have a serious problem.
85. Give away your best work for free.
86. Find mentors. Just don’t call them that.
95. The best conversations are had side by side, not one in front of the other.
5. Spend more time around people that both challenge and respect you.
25. Genius gets you nowhere. Execution is everything.
27. Meet new people as often as possible. Offer to help them.
41. Show up.
50. Always remember those who helped you. Deliver two or three times as much value back.
51. But also, help people who have never helped you, and can’t.
52. When you know that pain is temporary, it affects all of your decisions.
55. Meet with friends more often than you think you have to.
62. Don’t take anything personally, ever.
71. Find your voice.
75. Find ways to cheat the system– just don’t cheat people.
76. Be like Jesus, not like his followers. (This applies to all of them.)
79. Good connections are about people, not social networks.
84. If the internet is the best thing in your life, you have a serious problem.
85. Give away your best work for free.
86. Find mentors. Just don’t call them that.
95. The best conversations are had side by side, not one in front of the other.
Wednesday, February 15, 2017
Doug Rushkoff AKA Team Human!
"Humans are not here to serve the market, the market is here to serve the humans."
"Let's be heirs to the thing that we made, rather than the victims of the thing that's suppose to replace us."
"If you're doing a sustainable business, if you actually get it spinning and going in that great gyroscopic sort of equilibrium, you're gonna stop growing! You're gonna reach a steady-state health, like a corral reef, like a forest, like a human body...you get Full-Grown!" Doug
The Digital Economy Should Be about Capital Creation, Not Extraction
Douglas Rushkoff Deconstructs the Digital Economy
"Let's be heirs to the thing that we made, rather than the victims of the thing that's suppose to replace us."
"If you're doing a sustainable business, if you actually get it spinning and going in that great gyroscopic sort of equilibrium, you're gonna stop growing! You're gonna reach a steady-state health, like a corral reef, like a forest, like a human body...you get Full-Grown!" Doug
The Digital Economy Should Be about Capital Creation, Not Extraction
Douglas Rushkoff Deconstructs the Digital Economy
Saturday, February 11, 2017
Friday, February 10, 2017
Tuesday, February 7, 2017
Thursday, February 2, 2017
Dr. Rhonda Patrick Explains The Cause Of Heart Disease
Unbelievable.
-LDL Cholesterol
-Over 100 Trillion Bacteria in the Gut
-ENDOTOXINS
-Immune System
-Refined Sugar
-Refined Carbohydrates
-LDL Cholesterol
-Over 100 Trillion Bacteria in the Gut
-ENDOTOXINS
-Immune System
-Refined Sugar
-Refined Carbohydrates
Sunday, January 29, 2017
What do we do about Trump...
"As dangerous as the election of Trump is for the world, we can also see
in this moment the truth that we simply cannot rely on the electoral
political system to save us, because it is designed to prevent the
fundamental change we need.
We are the ones we are looking for, who can and must grasp the opportunities in these crises that are undoubtedly there."
We are the ones we are looking for, who can and must grasp the opportunities in these crises that are undoubtedly there."
Saturday, January 28, 2017
Thursday, January 26, 2017
Charles on The Tavis Smiley Show
An Absolute Gem. Thanks per usual Chuck!
Empathy invites alternatives to fighting, creating an external enemy for Everything. Empathy opens that Creative Space that makes other answers & responses available.
Empathy invites alternatives to fighting, creating an external enemy for Everything. Empathy opens that Creative Space that makes other answers & responses available.
Saturday, January 21, 2017
Rebuilding Exchange
About Rebuilding Exchange
The Rebuilding Exchange is a non-profit social enterprise (501c3) and our mission is to create a market for reclaimed building materials. We do this by diverting materials from landfills and making them accessible for reuse through our retail warehouse, by promoting sustainable deconstruction practices, by providing education and job training programs, and by creating innovative models for sustainable reuse.
Tuesday, January 10, 2017
Wednesday, January 4, 2017
Tuesday, January 3, 2017
Sunday, January 1, 2017
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