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All Blog Posts (696)

A Great Day at McRorie Community Garden

Today was a beautiful day at the garden. Click the photo below to see the set I took.

Enjoy!

The photo below is of a luffa sponge goard. Both Bruce (pictured) and I were amazed at the size of it. Bruce said he planted a few plants because the small luffas taste like zucchini. The luffa plants propagated like weeds. There must be 50 huge luffas in Bruce's patch. Last night, I cooked a small one Bruce gave me. It tasted just like zucchini. Delicious!

By the way,… Continue

Added by Michael Levin on October 10, 2008 at 7:00pm — No Comments

Green is the New Black

Morning conversations over coffee can be wake up calls. Let me reflect on what's in my head this fine morning.

Consider this scenario: A secretary with 2 kids making $22K/yr whose husband lost job drives into work and spends $100/wk on gas. That's 22K/yr and $5K goes to gas.

How about a medical patient who postpones a checkup because of transportation costs?… Continue

Added by Michael Levin on October 10, 2008 at 8:30am — 2 Comments

Still going strong

Hi again

The two gigs with NMA were a success. Our old stock of CDs was sold out - luckily we were able to find few more in Italy. (Don't ask...), so we might have some stock left for the merchandise table next gig also.

My latest project includes a scrap bicycle found in a forest. Litterally, it was dumped in a bush. I carried it home just to see, that there was some damage above the bottom bracket - I hope the welding is done well so it can be turned into something nice… Continue

Added by pete korhonen on October 10, 2008 at 3:37am — 1 Comment

Lu Yuan Electric Bike

You are going to love this. The Lu Yuan Electric Bike is a bicycle with electric assist. It has a three-speed gear for normal cycling and will go up to 15-20MPH on electric power. And, it's a blast to ride.

The Lu Yuan Electric Bike is available here in Gainesville at...Swamp… Continue

Added by Michael Levin on October 8, 2008 at 5:30pm — No Comments

Fall Harvest Festival

Abundant Edible Landscapes, (now a member here at Zoobird!) hosted a fall planting festival on 10/4/08 at INDIGO with workshops, food from Reggae Shack Cafe, and a wide variety of perennial edibles, vegetable plugs and compost for sale. Workshops focused on organic soil building…

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Added by Michael Levin on October 7, 2008 at 5:00am — No Comments

Enhance your Garden with Worms!

Hello all Zoobirds! I'm back from Ireland and Scotland. It was a good trip. All went well until Saturday. I somehow caught a bug on the plane back and have been feeling sick until now. Who knows what caused it. I've been eating rice and chickpeas under strict orders from my doctor. And, sleeping a lot. I think I am better today...but I am going to take it slow. Meanwhile, there's nothing stopping me from writing!

Today is a special day. It's the Jewish new year,…

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Added by Michael Levin on September 30, 2008 at 7:00am — No Comments

Signing up

I met someone here in Dublin who lives in Berkeley, CA. She said she doesn't own a house, lives in a small 1bdr flat and her friends sometimes comment that she is such an "un-slave" to fashion. She said she lives like this because she doesn't want to sign up. Now, she is a hospitalist, so there's no real financial issue, but her point is that she lives way below her means and only materially to her needs. I like that philosophy. Comments?

PS - I hope we see her here in Zoobird! That's…

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Added by Michael Levin on September 26, 2008 at 12:30pm — No Comments

Mixed emotions

Hello all

Sorry about the pause on the postings. There has been some things going on.

Last Sunday I learned that one fellow that used to play in band one of my bands has shared a gig for a couple of times and with whom I have been sitting in a bar chatting, talking having fun had been killed in a fire on carbon monoxide poisoning. R.I.P. So unneccessary, so sad. Gadget called carbon monoxide detector costs around $50. Get one. Today. I did, yesterday.

For that… Continue

Added by pete korhonen on September 25, 2008 at 6:30am — No Comments

Coutryside weekend

Our friends and us (me and my girlfriend) spent last weekend in countryside. Some Sauna, some beer, some boardgames, some walking trips outside, some bbq-cooking, fire in the fireplace. Very, very relaxing.

Some shots:

Apples were almost ready.

Barley was almost ready.

Sorbus berries we strikingly red.…

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Added by pete korhonen on September 15, 2008 at 3:08am — No Comments

Sonnet

Figurine

They whirled below me, happy, heartless, free,

While I was left alone, all to myself,

They danced, they sang, they even called to me;

I did not hear them, standing on my shelf

Of sorrow, hanging high upon a wall

O solomn, rigid wood; I watched that crowd

Below me, gliding through their spacious hall,

I would not join them, I was much too proud.

But suddenly my nailed shelf gave way,

I left it and went realing through the… Continue

Added by Lois Hudson on September 14, 2008 at 1:22pm — No Comments

Sonnet

I have been writing sonnets, one a week. I cannot write one now, as I am busy preparing fror the storm which is quickly coming in.

Added by Lois Hudson on September 12, 2008 at 9:12pm — No Comments

Irish Organic Lifestyles

Some of you know that I once lived in Ireland. Well, the next entries you'll get here will be from Eire. I'm going back to the Emerald Isle tomorrow for the rest of the month.

Donal O'Hare's place is one stop I'll make. Donal is a tree specialist with the Republic of Ireland. You see me with his dog, Sparky, at the top of beautiful Wicklow Mountain in the photo above. I'll tell more about Donal and his work in the…

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Added by Michael Levin on September 12, 2008 at 10:30am — No Comments

Shine like a star

Yesterday, we went on recording the forthcoming album. We finalized two more tracks with the rhythm guitar parts and some extras. Quite exiting.

After the session I was cycling home and I ran into a large group of sports fans heading towards the Olympic Stadium of Helsinki (home of Summer Games 1952) where Finland was playing againste Germany in the Football (Soccer for some Americans) World Cup qualifiers. Saw the game in tv, result was 3-3 - which is a good result - Germany being… Continue

Added by pete korhonen on September 11, 2008 at 1:49am — 1 Comment

"'cos it's raining, raining all day, and i'm diving deeper than ever.."

Yeah,

althought the forecasts tell that the rain will stop today and we will get some sunny and crispy weather. We'll see about that. The lyrics in the title are from Psychoplasma's song called Raining. Excellent song.

Today, after work, I am supposed to go to our "home studio" to help our guitar player to record some track to our punk-rock-bands ("Kätyrit" = The Henchmen) next album. Other guitar player - the one that is used to operate the studio - moved to Manchester… Continue

Added by pete korhonen on September 10, 2008 at 1:30am — No Comments

rainy day

took the usual morning ride to the office.
it was raining. and it was windy. somewhat autumny feeling in the air.
reminded myself that perhaps a mudguard on the rear would not neccessarily harm me.

Added by pete korhonen on September 9, 2008 at 2:30am — 1 Comment

A Good Day at the Garden

The spring harvest yielded wonderful vegetables. There's a view of Sh'mal's patch in May '08. You can see the collard greens in the center, which are the hardiest veggies in the patch. Just to their right is kale. The garlic chives (three sprouts on the bottom of the photo) make for delicious additions to salads and many recipes. The Daikon radishes are huge. See the lush, soft patch of lamb's quarters near… Continue

Added by Michael Levin on September 4, 2008 at 1:00pm — No Comments

Letter to Sh'mal

In case you Zoobirds haven't met Sh'mal yet, here's a video I call "Sh'mal, the benefactor" to introduce him:

And, here's a letter I just wrote to Sh'mal, who has moved to Seattle.

Hi Shmal! I sent you a shot of the garden I took yesterday and you replied:

"Looking at the garden makes me feel that I'm still there."

The earth was very soft and easy to work with. The weeds came up pretty well. I am…

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Added by Michael Levin on September 3, 2008 at 9:52am — 2 Comments

Zoobirds Write!

We have a magic community here at Zoobird! Here are some of the things our members have written about:

Robbie, my vegan friend I met at the NW Hostel in Portland with his friend Gabby, who I hope joins Zoobird, has taught me so much about healthy food. Gabby has, too!…

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Added by Michael Levin on September 1, 2008 at 11:30am — 1 Comment

Coffee Zoo!

Find more photos like this on Zoobird

It's easy to roast your own coffee. Just take a handful and put them in a pot over a high heat. Roast them until brown. It takes five to ten minutes. Then, grind and brew. Coffee… Continue

Added by Michael Levin on August 30, 2008 at 12:50pm — No Comments

The Garden ::: Chapter 3

I looked around the garden. There were patches with flowers, patches with herbs, and some patches with vegetables. I bent down and rubbed some rosemary between my fingers. I smelled it. What a lovely smell! When I looked up, I noticed someone else in the garden on the other side.

So, I walked over and said "Hi! I'm Michael Levin". He said "Hello! My name is Sh'mal". I wasn't sure I heard him, so I asked him to repeat his name. He said… Continue

Added by Michael Levin on August 29, 2008 at 9:30pm — 1 Comment