What Ya Doing At The Weekend?

So, it's the weekend what are you up to?
I will tell you what i am doing.
That's where i am going tonight, a talk by Gail Dines and i'm so excited.

I just think this woman is amazing. You can check out one of her websites here. I watched a couple of her youtube videos and she's pretty awesome. If you are interested in this this is another great website www.antipornography.org, its got heaps of resources on it.

Last weekend i checked out the Handmade Show in Oakleigh, Melbourne, to see what my friends were up to there. Pretty cozy venue with a little stage and velvet curtains. I also got to take a picture of this ..rabbit. First i thought it had little boobs but we got corrected pretty quickly by the little artist herself. Those are paws of courz! Didn't you hate that when you were a kid and people didn't know what they were talking about? I sure did.

Cute!

Ok, a picture of my friend Kerri of Vintage Sew And So. I'm afraid she is gonna bite my head off when she sees it, coz she looks a bit angry in it. But she is really a nice lady. She brought her teenage daughter along too. Lucky for her her daughter is really sweet, at that age some girls are lying in a drug induced coma in the street gutter. I won't name any names..
Anyways, that's Kerri and her stall..(my camera is pretty crap with indoor lighting, so this is the only half decent picture).

Love those polka dotted buntings..

Yeah, normally i just loiter around the streets of Melbourne on my weekends.. Last time i ran into this guy.. Dunno, maybe that's what these Melbournians consider to be art/culture? It's fuckin scary!

 

So what you doing? Are there any things you'd like to see or try?

 

Random Rant

Always good.



Why do some people jizz their pants over finding a microbe on mars, but have no respect for indigenous tribes they find in some rainforest.

We are always looking out in space for someone to give us the answer. But really if they are weaker then us we just gonna fuck them over, invade their planet and exploit their resources. That’s what we do on our own planet so why should we have respect for anyone elses?!

And if they are more intelligent then us, i almost, but not really, wish they would fuck us over, like the West has done it so many times with other cultures and countries.



Watch this film about the storage of nuclear waste. It's really good, kind of philosophical. I'm totally against nuclear energy it's unnecessary, corrupt and totally unevolved.

(EDIT: Just wanted to say that this film is really cool, one question it asks is how can we communicate to future generations in 1000's of years time how dangerous nuclear waste is and that it's disposal sites shud be left untouched. I can't find the whole feature in one youtube clip, but you can watch it in 5 parts here.)



This clip is very interesting, 2 weeks old, but ongoing issues. It's scary what so called democratic governments are up to.

Human beings think they are so smart and superior to anything else on the planet, but really we are the most self destructive and destructive in general, thus the most stupidest, because we got the resources and could be living the good life, but chose not to.

ALTERNATIVE LIFESTYLES

Sometimes life feels like just ticking the boxes and filling in the blanks.
You go to school, get a job, get a partner, marry, have kids, get a car, a house, stuff and have the optional hobby and travel.
Not that its necessarily bad to live like that, but it would be good if there were some more options.

For example, of course, i can decide if i want to have kids or not, but as a woman, i feel I'm living in a society where its expected from me to become a mother at some point, otherwise my life is not seen as completely fulfilled.

It can be difficult at the best of times to go your own way in this society, but i think its important to stand up for the life you want to live and to be the person you truly feel you are.

I want to share with you some different ways of living, videos of different housing solutions people chose for their lives which i find interesting.

The first is about an eco village in Kew, where people occupied vacant land and built tents and huts from reclaimed material, started to grow their own food and live sustainably.
As far as i heard the Kew site has been evicted by now, but people are always on the lookout for new land and might actually have a new site already by now.



Then there is Coed Hills, an artist community living in the forests of South Wales.
I like the yurts. I like some of the ideas. Probably would hang out there for 2 or 3 weeks, but i like my hot shower and clean clothes(its a bit muddy).



And then there is my ABSOLUTE favourite way of building houses and living and that is the 'Earthships'!

The earthship concept got to be THE most sustainable way of building houses and its just so elegant and stylish.
I don't think living consciously and in harmony with nature can't also be amazingly beautiful and comfortable at the same time and it just makes so much sense.

Once i got money i surely will get one of these, might even build some of it myself.



If you wanna find out more about this subject, you might wanna watch 'Garbage Warrior'. Its a documentary about the founder of the earthships and explains the idea even better.
I cant find the movie online, but here is the trailer,

THE STORY OF STUFF

Hi!
So i was talking to a couple of people and posted in the etsy forums about business ethics and over-consumption and i got quite interesting responses from people.
Quite a few of them send me a link of a little video clip called "The Story Of Stuff" and they seem to rather like it, i watched it and i think its quite informative and gives an overview of the consumption situation in todays society.
SO, i thought i put it on my blog!

Here it is, enjoy!

My first real rant-fucking sweatshop labour

Definition of sweatshops from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

'A sweatshop is a working environment with very difficult or dangerous conditions, usually where the workers have few rights or ways to address their situation. This can include exposure to harmful materials, hazardous situations, extreme temperatures, or abuse from employers. Sweatshop workers are often forced to work long hours for little or no pay, regardless of any laws mandating overtime pay or a minimum wage. Child labor laws may also be violated.'


i watched this documentary on google video yesterday, after my boyfriend showed it to me
and i think it shows the horrible and difficult situations of people working and living(!) in these kind of environments pretty well.
its a shocking subject and its close to my heart, it goes hand in hand with the exploitation of big coorporations of just fuckin
everything on this planet, let it be people, animals or the environment.
its very sad and i wish more people wud wake up to this and make better and more conscious choices with their purchases, because that is where their power is. maybe stop buying your children those 50 fucking plastic toys made by other children in poorer countries, which break til next christmas anyways, so u can buy new ones and keep trapped in the consumer cycle. and maybe buy them one or two nice ones, made environmentally friendly and handmade by a person, making a living from doing what they love!
as its stated in this documentary, people dont wanna pay the price for socially and environmentally responsibly produced items. now why is that? as i said before wudnt u feel better, by just buying a couple of things, but buying them right?
i made the handmade pledge and im pretty aware of what im buying(and thats not just coz i hate malls!)
im sure most of us cant avoid buying 'sweatshop made' 100%, but just starting and making some thoughtful choices is already a start and very helpful!

its just so wrong! especially around christmas, the time of giving! Yea, right i wonder for whom!? and its not just toys, i mean as everyone SHUD be aware off, most things we consume, let it be clothes, electronics or whatever appliances, is made in china under horrendous circumstances!

im just trying, with this article and by posting this interesting video, to make more people aware of the situation! dont feel helpless or just blame politicians for the state of the world! the world is run like it is, coz most people LET it be run like it is! do something, live ur life more liberated and make some right choices this holiday!