Clothosfate’s blog

A thought that has always puzzled me and struck me as strange is Organic Food. This is why:

“Organic foods are produced according to certain production standards, meaning they are grown without the use of conventional pesticides, artificial fertilizers, human waste, or sewage sludge, and that they were processed without ionizing radiation or food additives.”

So basically the way food was originally grown, before it needed to be called Organic to distinguish it from the food that has been ‘treated’ with the above mentioned interventions. So in fact when you buy ‘potatoes’ what you are really buying is genetically influenced/chemically grown potatoes, and when you buy organic potatoes you are then truly buying ‘potatoes’.

It is misleading to label naturally grown food as Organic, and I think that it is done purposefully. Organic has been coupled with ‘hippie’, ‘environmental’, and other words associated with activism to give it a disruptive spin and create an opposition to the reintroduction of naturally grown food. This is just another ridiculous way in which the general population is being manipulated voluntarily. I say voluntarily because even if a number of you know this, you just don’t care enough to DO anything about it. I understand though… not enough time in a day to do what you HAVE to, let alone do what you SHOULD do.

Next, the irony of logging in B.C., Canada. HaHaHaHaHaHaHaHa!

So there are a lot of environmental activists here that have spent years and years protesting and slowly altering the logging practices of the Forestry Industry. Less clear cuts, more sustainable logging. Its a good idea, sure, we need trees and the forests handle thinning out much better then clear cutting. Its more expensive to the Logging companies, but then thats the whole point of environmental activism, not to trade our ecosystem for a quick buck.

The funny part of this is, the pine beetle. After all these years, a bug destroys HUGE amounts of pine trees here, that now need to be cut down to prevent wild fires and the complete eradication of the pine trees in B.C. So, the environment that the environmentalists are trying so hard to protect has replaced the ‘evil loggers’ and clears trees without favor or prejudice. I love it.

Lastly, STUPID FUCKING DRIVERS GET OFF THE ROAD!

Can anyone tell me what a passing lane is for? Is it for slow drivers to speed up because the road is straight and clear? NO! Don’t be a fucktard! If you were driving slowly before the passing lane, and I am (unobtrusively) riding your ass, keep your damn speed and let me pass you, you stupid, inbred, spawn of a whore.

Ahem.

Now some pics from my garden, enjoy

Oooo this is a must see for all you people who like to imagine the ‘what-ifs’ and have any interest in anthropology, politics, religion, evolution… or just like a good story.

This is definitly not a film of any budget, it all pretty much takes place in one small cabin and has no explosions, sex scenes (I know why watch it then right?), murder, hot babes or special effects. What it does have is imagination, creativity, ingenuity and originality in abundance.

What if a man from the ‘Cro-Magnon’ period never died? What if he made it through all the ages of history before it was history? What would it all be like to experience first hand instead of retrospectively? What would you want to say to this man? What would you want to ask? (I would love to hear what YOU’RE questions would be)

For me I would probably want to ask if there was ever a time that humans were in harmony with each other, or if there was ever a time that the spiritual or political leaders were not corrupt.

This is the kind of story that makes my toes tingle. A good ‘What-If?’

The prudishness spread to the hippies too.  Apparently before I came into the community there was a lot more nudity and frivolity, which was still in high swing when I did arrive, but not as much as years passed I hear.

At summer solstice there are costumes, music, dancing, acting and naked children playing with pools of water and paints…naked or partially naked people is a common thing to see… but even since I arrived the nakedness has gotten less and so I tend to go topless every year just to let it be out there to make people more comfortable to do it themselves. Body paint is fun! I was once one of the ‘covered’ and I know the freedom of realizing you can be naked without sex.  The swimming hole is naked by choice as well, but since it is not far off a dirt road, some people feel the violation of strangers eyes driving by.

The difference with the acceptance of nudity is, in the small community where I lived, no one felt intruded upon or violated by any one else’s eyes when they were naked.  There was an understood respect and even an appreciation that was not… objective.  In the city, in ’society’ a naked body is a commodity that is regularly sold… blatant nakedness is fed upon as a free buffet would be.

Besides nudity, the people attempt to be self-sustaining, such as growing there own organic food, home schooling there kids, environmental activism, a council… there are mechanics, electricians, carpenters, herbalists, amazing gardeners and cooks.  They live in nuclear family situations within a valley… like a rural neighborhood… but celebrate all the seasons and events together.

It’s a wonderful idea that got my attention young, I was 19 when I moved there from Vancouver, but it has its flaws and dysfunctions.  Politics is a tricky thing and some people who leave society tend to have pretty big hang-ups and issues that don’t play well with others.  I tend to be a black sheep always on the outskirts of the communities inner council, which is as I would have it.  The society I would wish to be on the inner circle with probably doesn’t exist outside of some really good books.  But i give them big kudos for the effort, and to be fair, some of the people in the valley, are really…. well groovy is the right word.  They blow my mind and I love it… When I found myself here, I knew I would always be a part of it, no matter where I was in the worlds…

And yes, read LeGuin, she’s worth it.  Winter, what a great name for a world.  I would recommend this book to you, the politics in it is in itself worth reading.

Enjoy!

This book came into my hands in an almost inexplicable way, the way great stories tend to. The copy I have is a 1969 hardcover, owned by an aged real-life ‘hippie’ woman I know from the alternative community I used to live in. It almost smells like hope and action. It is my first Ursala K. LeGuin novel and I wonder where I have been hiding all this time.

The writing itself is compelling and intelligent; she does not place her words carelessly or without intention. I am drawn into the tale immediately and can practically feel my brain growing, feeding almost… the experience is addictive and wholly satisfying.

The story is ground breaking and multi-faceted in it’s description of a subdued society that is absolutely not compelled or controlled by the raging hormones of any one sexual side or the other, and the alien man who travels to the world called Winter, as an ambassador.

To a hermaphroditic race which only becomes sexually capable during ‘kemmer’; a type of ‘heat’ they go into, this man from the stars is a sexual deviant, a pervert with his constant and blatant sexuality. Although he may be able to hide his nature under the heavy clothing that is necessary to life on a world deep into ice-age, redefining his experience and his ability to relate, which is based so strongly on being responded to as a man, is much trickier. Getting past that hurdle is only the beginning to the challenge of convincing these people that they are not alone in the universe.

And that is only a slight whiff of the underlying flavor of this incredible novel. I give her all ten toes, all eight fingers and both thumbs up!

I can see the potential in all things. Especially in people. I see all these possibilities and choices and outcomes. I see great imagination, invention, love… so much potential. Thats all it is though… potential : existing in possibility : capable of development into actuality.It is not actuality though. Potentially people are incredibly brave and innovative. Creators. In actuality most can only dream of these things. Including me sometimes.

I look around me and I see a world where all of our choices are handed to us in a neat little package. “Here’s is your family, here is your ethnicity, here is your potential career, here is your education, here is your dreams… now choose between the pink folder, the green folder or the blue one.”

What you don’t like those choices? Well too bad, who do you think you are anyway? These are the same choices everyone gets, now live with it and no complaining.

If you dare to step outside the box and say “well what about all the other possibilities?” You will be harassed, laughed at, scolded and forced back into line by shame and fear. If you don’t stay in school and get a good education, you will amount to nothing. If you don’t wear the right clothes you will be ostracized. If you don’t take any job you can get, you are ungrateful and lazy.

How are these choices meant to make us feel? How do they make you feel? Trapped? Stressed? Unfulfilled? Alone? Not good enough? Well don’t worry, they have pills for that.

Let me get more specific, I do tend to drift. First, our education system. Exactly what are we being taught? I asked my son recently what he felt was the big message to kids these days from the school and the tv. He said “to compromise.” Very insightful that boy. I agree with him.. we have all been asked to compromise. Compromise our beliefs, our thoughts, our desires.. our whole lives actually. Now compromising is being sold to us as a ‘fair’ way to go through life, and its true, sometimes compromise is necessary and good. But life isn’t fair remember. So fuck compromise.

Our education is a one way ticket to becoming consumers and tax-payers. There is no other lesson being taught to our children, as if there is no other life to live. Wow. Is that really what we are here for? The greatest potential of the universe, which started ages ago as bits of stars, that blew up, traveled all this distance, through time and evolution to become a complex, imaginative and amazingly feeling creature that can actually ponder its origins.. and we are here to work lame ass jobs to buy stuff and pay taxes. Mhm.

Even if some of us do overcome our dumbing-down and make it to fulfilling, imaginative and incredible experiences, those are the exception, not the rule. They are not the people that our education system (or any of our ’systems’ for that matter) is trying to pump out. No matter what lies it tells us all. You are not going to grow up and become a famous movie star or entertainer. Most of you are not going to grow up and become a doctor, or politician, or even the less glamorous occupation of a scientist.

Those ‘jobs’ are passed down in families, or through connections that involve influence and power. Most of the young people in school will end up flipping burgers, (I don’t care what Bill Gates says; flipping burgers isn’t suitable for anyone who does not desire to be a cook), or taking any of the other multitude of demeaning jobs for minimum wage. They will do these jobs with the idea that they are a temporary, necessary evil, on the way to some greater more fulfilling life. They are taught to think just that; to compromise what they really feel and want. After 10 years or so, they realize that there is not a more fulfilling life on the horizon, they were lied to, but how do you change it by then?

If your parents are blue collar, so shall you be, and gladly right? Don’t forget to be grateful.

We must learn to think differently then what we are taught, begin to create our own choices and some day we may realize our potential.

Invasion sounds like such a  scary thing; evokes visions of aliens, or armies with guns and lots of death and destruction.  But not if it was Canada invading.

I am sure there are at least a half a million Native Americans who would love to curse me for saying such a thing, but they can go back to their subsidized houses, educations and jobs and bitch about it all they like.  All I got to say to them is, stop whining, for a conquered people you are doing pretty damned good for yourselves.  It’s not our fault that, like other North Americans, many of the people in your culture are messed up and can’t seem to make healthy choices for themselves.  That is a human problem, not a cultural problem, just look around.

Now I personally think that if Canada were to invade any other country in the world, the people there should consider themselves lucky.  If you look at how Canada treats its conquered people, you will know that you have nothing to worry about, and in fact it means that your children will have a good education, your elders will have good health care and you will be privileged enough to have your choice of jobs above and beyond the choices of your conquerers.

Sounds like a pretty sweet deal to me.  So I say, LET CANADA CONQUER THE WORLD!!

I just finished watching a movie that blew my mind more then any other movie in my life so far. There have been some amazing things I have watched, What the Bleep do we Know is a great example of mind blowing, but this one still takes the cake. I will attempt to explain why, but first let me introduce you.

World, meet Zeitgeist. This is not a movie for the faint of heart, or for the chronically close-minded. If you want to remain shut up in your little box of security with all your expensive toys and continue being told what to think and what to do, do not even bother glancing in the direction of Zeitgeist, because my friend it is not meant for you. Insanity is attempting the same thing repeatedly and expecting different results. I would never want to be the kind of insane that attempts to change the mind of the unchangeable. What I desire is to inform those who wish to know, and who wish to know that they are not alone.

I have long felt that the failure of the 60’s generation to truly bring about the global change they were looking for was due to the simple fact of ignorance. An ignorance that has been carefully manufactured and nurtured throughout our history. What were they ignorant to? That which could have saved them.. the precise design of the cage that held them captive. That same cage that continues to hold us all captives.

Consider Zeitgeist the blueprints to that cage.

If you were enslaved and after ages of captivity were presented with the blueprints to your prison, would you not seize the opportunity? Maybe YOU wouldn’t… some of you, but I would. That is precisely what I am doing and I invite all of you who wish for change to join me.

The website www.zeitgeistmovie.com has the full movie to watch or to download, along with many links to help you direct the pleasant vibration that will begin in your brain once you watch the movie. Once you have, please drop me a line, or share it with your friends and see what they think… if for no other purpose then intellectual debate, let this movie spark conversations that will in fact light up the dark one way or another. Do not be afraid of conflict or disagreement, do not be afraid to fight for what you know is true.

I will not go gentle into that good night. How about you?

Forget that youth is wasted on the young… theres not much to waste when you don’t have the mental development or independence to fully enjoy your childhood. Enjoy youth vicariously later, when you can positively affect the youths in your life by making their childhoods as painless as possible.

What really makes no sense to me is how ‘grown-ups’ can excuse the terribly narrow-minded and selfish behavior that we persecute our children for having. If a child refuses to share with another child… they generally get a lecture about it. If your son or daughter hits, or physically hurts another child, you discipline that child or attempt to teach them that its wrong.  Strange how those rules fail to apply with the adults in those children’s lives.  Share? HA!  Lets bomb them instead!

It’s just another symptom of the illness that debilitates our culture.  What do you do with lots of money?  Oh there are a million and one companies designed specifically to keep you from doing with it what you should.  Instead a wealthy person is expected to spend ridiculous amounts on ridiculous things and not think for a moment that there may be greater things in life then owning the most expensive new car and renting a Condo in Belize for $50,000 a night.

I have a strange and wonderful new idea of what to do with all that excess cash.  No I am not going to suggest charity, even though its a great thing, the reason its so terribly needed pisses me off far too much.  My ideas are a little bigger then that.

Let’s just say, if I were wealthy, I would spend less on nonsense and much more on logic.  I would want money for the same reason most people without it want it; so I can pay my bills without stress.  How much of life gets eaten up by worry about having your needs met… for some, thats all there is.  If your basic needs consume all of your resources, that leaves very little room for personal growth.  So what I would do is this; make sure your general needs are taken care of… then spend your life exploring life.  Exploring what it is to be here and now, to be this amazing product of nature mixed with spirit that is human.

If I were wealthy, I would use my money to expand my consciousness.   I personally am quite sick of the nonsense that has become our society.  We have stopped searching the horizon for home, or searching our minds for greatness.  We have SO much potential… so much that we can conceive of something greater then the greatest thing we can conceive of, which very possibly might be God/dess.  Yet we waste our time, our money, our brilliance and our overwhelming passions on reality t.v. shows, all-inclusive resorts, environmentally challenged vehicles, unacceptable education, really shitty music, and running around in a hamster ball otherwise known as politics.  Jump the fuck off the ride and take a look around at the amusement park.

Didn’t you ever wonder what the hell we are here for anyway?

So as I promised, here is a little taste of what I have been working on.  This is intended for use in a larger piece, but it also works well on its on I think.  There are still revisions ahead, but I’d love to get some feedback.

*      *      *

I have finally come home to you, my blank pages waiting to be filled.  How lost I have been, for what feels like frozen centuries. Just maybe, I have cried enough warm tears to melt the ice that has held me… practically petrified and incapable.

 Who can tell what strange ingredients will be needed to dispel the curse, or free the prisoner.  The requirements seem to change with the infinite possibilities.  This time it seems that tears of bewildered sorrow were the key antidote… such a high price and so tricky.  But here I am, ready to tell the tale.

 I have sailed across the dark and stormy seas in search of safe harbor; free of charming pirates and beautiful assassins.  After ages I finally stumbled upon the luscious green hills that whispered a word to me: home. Only to find that the gates of home were guarded by a little blonde girl in braids who demanded the highest price.  All of me, no exceptions.  This consuming request revolted me and filled me with fear and despair.  I could never give that, what if…? what if…? Too many what ifs’.

 So I pleaded and cajoled, tempted and demanded and the girl stood firm and said to me: “Ok.  That is a little of you.  More” I debated, I manipulated… I seduced and I philosophized and still she was not satisfied.  Then I tried walking away; ready to give up on home, wanting to run… and she reached out to stop me.  “This is a powerful piece of you… strong and demanding.  Will you give it up to me?  Or keep it safe and nurture it more.”

 Her words stopped me.  I stared at her, through her… to me.  I felt my knees buckle and I cried.  Again she spoke to me, “Yes, yes.  The cost is greater if you keep it.  Just give it all to me and you can pass through the gates.”  But I didn’t know how, or what or who.  So I stayed right there and cried a million glittering tears.  I cried and ached and mourned until it was so much water I felt I’d never get dry.  I hurt until it made me angry and I stomped and yelled and splashed the little girl who only stood by and watched.  This made me angrier still and I raged and grew mean… and this is when the child cowered and her fear defeated my anger and turned it inward. 

 Once more the girl stepped forward, she said, “This too is good.”  But I did not understand and so yet again tears came to my eyes and I withdrew from all things outside of me, growing so cold my tears began to freeze and hold me in an icy winter.  When I felt all hope was lost and the frigid grip of despair appealed to me, the child reached out to touch me with her soft little hands and whisper; “You are going to be alright.”  And my tears turned hot and full.  Relief, desire, and passion flowed through my veins, warming me.  The tears became a blessing and the hills grew greener.  I wanted to be alright.

 I turned and looked into the little girls’ eyes, a reflection of my own, and asked the question.  “What must I do?”

 She took my hand into her tiny one and said to me, “Do what you have not done, give all of you.”  The hazy comfort of confusion beckoned me, but as I pondered, determined to understand, I saw how I have withheld myself in so many ways.  So I asked, “To who, or what?”  Thinking of a cause, a child, a man…

 This time the child gave me a big smile, clapped her hands and danced around me.  “To you! To what you do!!”  She sang and giggled. 

 And I understood.  As I stood up and stretched I felt as if I had not moved for ages.  I wanted to run through the gates, to do whatever I had to… and yet my feet wouldn’t move.  The girl came to me and gestured for me to crouch down.  When I did she cupped her mouth to my ear and whispered, “Do not be afraid.”

 And I understood.  And my feet, my hands, my heart and my mind were free.

Here are some fun and interesting facts I received in my email a while back from a good friend, I got a good laugh out of them, but I haven’t actually checked them out to see if they are real… enjoy.
The next time you are washing your hands and complain because the water
temperature isn’t just how you like it, think about how things used to be.

Here are some facts about the 1500’s:

These are interesting…

Most people got married in June because they took their yearly bath in
May, and still smelled pretty good by June. However, they were starting to
smell, so brides carried a bouquet of flowers to hide the body odor. Hence the
custom today of carrying a bouquet when getting married.

Baths consisted of a big tub filled with hot water. The man of the house
had the privilege of the nice clean water, then all the other sons and
men, then the women and finally the children… Last of all, the babies. By then the water was so dirty you could actually lose someone in it. Hence the saying, “Don’t throw the baby out with the bath water.”

Houses had thatched roofs-thick straw-piled high, with no wood underneath.
It was the only place for animals to get warm, so all the cats and other
small animals (mice, bugs) lived in the roof. When it rained it became slippery and
sometimes the animals would slip and fall off the roof. Hence the saying “It’s
raining cats and dogs.”

There was nothing to stop things from falling into the house. This posed
a real problem in the bedroom where bugs and other droppings could mess up
your nice clean bed. Hence, a bed with big posts and a sheet hung over the
top afforded some protection. That’s how canopy beds came into existence.

The floor was dirt. Only the wealthy had something other than dirt. Hence
the saying “dirt poor.”

The wealthy had slate floors that would get slippery in the winter when
wet, so they spread thresh (straw) on floor to help keep their footing. As the winter
wore on, they adding more thresh until when you opened the door it would all
start slipping outside. A piece of wood was placed in the entranceway.
Hence the saying a “thresh hold.”

(Getting quite an education, aren’t you?)

In those old days, they cooked in the kitchen with a big kettle that always
hung over the fire. Every day they lit the fire and added things to the
pot. They ate mostly vegetables and did not get much meat. They would eat the
stew for dinner, leaving leftovers in the pot to get cold overnight and
then start over the next day. Sometimes stew had food in it that had been
there for quite a while. Hence the rhyme, “Peas porridge hot, peas porridge
cold, peas porridge in the pot nine days old.”

Sometimes they could obtain pork, which made them feel quite special.
When visitors came over, they would hang up their bacon to show off. It was a
sign of wealth that a man could “bring home the bacon.” They would cut
off a little to share with guests and would all sit around and “chew the fat.”

Those with money had plates made of pewter. Food with high acid content
caused some of the lead to leach onto the food, causing lead poisoning
death. This happened most often with tomatoes, so for the next 400 years
or so, tomatoes w ere considered poisonous.

Bread was divided according to status. Workers got the burnt bottom of
the loaf, the family got the middle, and guests got the top, or “upper crust.”

Lead cups were used to drink ale or whiskey. The combination would
sometimes knock the imbibers out for a couple of days. Someone walking along the
road would take them for dead and prepare them for burial. They were laid out
on the kitchen table for a couple of days and the family would gather around
and eat and drink and wait and see if they would wake up. Hence the custom
of holding a “wake.”

England is old and small and the local folks started running out of
places to bury people. So they would dig up coffins and would take the bones to
a “bone-house” and reuse the grave. When reopening these coffins, 1 out of
25 coffins were found to have scratch marks on the inside and they realized
they had been burying people alive. So they would tie a string on the
wrist of the corpse, lead it through the coffin and up through the ground and
tie it to a bell. Someone would have to sit out in the graveyard all night
(the “graveyard shift”) to listen for the bell; thus, someone could be “saved
by the bell” or was considered a “dead ringer.”

And that’s the truth… Now, whoever said that History was boring !!