All Blog Posts (696)

There's a new tool on Zoobird that lets you translate the entire site to different languages. Give it a try! You will see it on the righthand column. Hope this helps all you non-English as a first language people. All the best, Michael

Mycol Stevens walks the trails at Pisgah Forest, outside Asheville, NC. Mycol is a degreed engineer specializing in habitat restoration with Florida Wildlife Commission. He's got a WWOOFer farm, teaches mycology and earth skills. More info about Finca Mycol, his off the grid haven in North Florida is at…

Just having a little fun with the birds in Florida. Notice the Great Blue Heron in the background!

Frank Cook discusses a concept he calls flow, which is the interrelatedness of all things in the world. Frank's work has influenced many of the people here on Zoobird, particularly Mycol Stevens, Marc Williams and the folks at the Hostel in the Forest. You'll hear people at many of the botany related festivals and gatherings mention Frank Cook…

In Rajasthan, India, an extraordinary school teaches rural women and men -- many of them illiterate -- to become solar engineers, artisans, dentists and doctors in their own villages. It's called the Barefoot College, and its founder, Bunker Roy, explains how it works.



Sanjit “Bunker” Roy is the founder of Barefoot College, which helps rural communities becomes…

Hello all!

I just wanted to thank you all for the wonderful content you've contributed to Zoobird! Please keep it up and invite some friends.

All the best,

Michael Levin

Founder,…

Who will be Zoobird's 500th member?

IIt's exciting to see Zoobird visitors from around the world. Please - update your profile. Add a profile photo and update your interests. Please invite a friend to join Zoobird. And, most of all, please write something in your Zoobird blog. Add a discussion to one of the groups. Upload some photos, link to your favorite organic related video, give us some content.…

Can you imagine a more beautiful sight? I conclude that art imitates life. Smile.

Some of the best graffiti ever. 

No apologies. Zoobird is all about culture, not politics. But we have to mention this.

"A French court on Monday declared U.S. biotech giant Monsanto guilty of chemical poisoning of a French farmer, a judgment that could lend weight to other health claims against pesticides.



In the first such case heard in court in France, grain grower Paul…

Playing for Change is an organization I love because they work for good through music. I want to share with you their latest video release. You'll find others in Zoobird's videos section. 

This is the message…

I was walking in the garden the other day and I found a little booklet in the grass. It's called "Steps Toward Inner Peace", by Peace Pilgrim. I found several aspects of the booklet interesting. For one thing, it's written by a contemporary woman who says making money was easy for her. She chose to give up a conventional material pursuit in favor of a life spent trying to be happy and…

Here's a message from Joey and the Church of Holy Colors:

"Hey Michael. We are trying to raise money to get our art across the country via veggie oil bus this summer. Check out the video on this …

Of all Leonardo Da Vinci’s great ideas, one of my favorites is one of his simplest. No diagrams, no assembly required, just a simple re-purposing of an everyday item—the canoe paddle. He suggested if we put its blade into water and then pressed our ear against its shaft, we could hear the sounds of aquatic life. Once again, Leonardo was way ahead of it’s time. Not only did this idea pre-date sonar, it predated the belief that the sea was worth listening to.

In a…

I just wrote an article for Elephant Journal about my new friend and musician Lauris Vidal. Click here to read it and please let me know what you think - either here or on the Ele article as a comment. That would make my day!…

 OCEAN’S CHOISE

Really! Flager Beach Ocean, what were you up to that day?

How do you choose?

It all seemed pleasant.

Enjoying our selves.

As we sat on warm sand; watching people play.

In waves not too rough for a brave few.

Then down the beach a bit, voices of alarm.

Oh, come now, it’s a beautiful, sunny, fall, day.

A few begin to run.

Why…

Civil rights activist and author Cornel West spoke Friday at the Bo Diddley Plaza in downtown Gainesville. Read more here. 

The taillights of the black Cadillac disappeared and the sudden quiet gave way to an ambient, deafening screeeee. Treefrogs or cicadas in the dark trees resumed a clattering conversation interrupted when the now vanished car pulled off onto the gravel so the driver could, yet again, get out to open his pants.



I bailed out at the driveway of an old country school, a long-abandoned classic—red brick, two rooms, big windows, nearly matching brick restrooms added on…