An animated mind melt into a post human New York where TV and animals rule. Consider environmental concerns and our relationship with the media. Video found by Kadhja for Sunday’s ‘political viewing.’
Tag Archive: co-op
Genderfuck refers to the conscious effort to “fuck with,” play with, or mock traditional notions of gender identity, gender roles, and gender presentation.
Basically we are creating a space where gender does not exist- at a Co-op party. What else could you possibly want?!
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Performance by The Hi-Fi Honeydrops
and DJ Evan Jones
***This is NOT your typical rager. Rather it is a progressive social experiment that seeks to alleviate some of the pain many feel as a result of societies current oppressive binary gender system.***
Ah, well, do I wish that we lived in a world where gender didn’t figure so prominently? Of course. Do I even think about myself as a woman when I go to make art? Of course not.
Judy Chicago
Gender is a kind of imitation for which there is no original; in fact, it is a kind of imitation that produces the very notion of the original as an effect and consequence of the imitation itself
.Judith Butler
There is no original or primary gender a drag imitates, but gender is a kind of imitation for which there is no original.
Judith Butler
‘Queer is by definition whatever is at odds with the normal, the legitimate, the dominant. There is nothing in particular to which it necessarily refers. It is an identity without an essence.’
David Halperin
Wes And Zimmermans theory of “Doing Gender”
The theory explains that “Doing gender involves a complex of socially guided perceptual, interactional, and micropolitical activities that cast particular pursuits as expressions of masculine and feminine ‘natures’” and advocates that “Gender depictions are less a consequence of our ‘essential sexual natures’ than interactional portrayals of what we would like to convey about sexual natures, using conventionalized gestures. Our human nature gives us the ability to learn to produce and recognize masculine and feminine gender displays-‘a capacity [we] have by virtue of being persons, not males and females”(Zimmerman, West,). Basically feminine and masculine qualities are not innate in humans, rather society created and forced these rules on its constituents.
Genderfuck can be an expression of gender identity or, paradoxically, a conspicuous refusal to express gender identity in any conventionally interpretable fashion, or to respect the gender expression of others. Genderfuck uses parody and exaggeration to call attention to its transgression of gender roles, seeking to expose them as artificial[2], often by manipulating one’s appearance to create gender dissonance or ambiguity in stark opposition of the gender binary.
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- Strawberry having some trouble.
So since people weren’t generally available for a workshop wednesday, we’ve decided to go with a teach-in tuesday (not finding tutorial tuesday as nice).
Rachel and Max led a bike workshop where several people learned how to change and/or patch their tube.
Three Ways To Fix A Bicycle Flat
There are three ways to fix a bicycle flat tire. You can replace the whole inner tube, which is more reliable than another way, patching it. Patching is cheaper, the patch kit is easier to carry than a whole tube and you will have more than one patch, in case you have another flat.
The third way is the easiest. There are various liquids and foams that you can squirt into the inner tube through the valve. They seal leaks by clogging them up. Sealants can be put into your tires before you have a puncture, as a preventive measure. But they have less than a fifty percent success rate. Sealants are at their best in cases of numerous small punctures, such as running over areas where thorn bushes grow. They seldom work with large holes.
Patching The Bicycle Tube
Put lots of air into the tube until it is twice its regular size. The hole should be noticeable by now, but if not, you can put the whole tube under water and look for bubbles coming out. If the hole is small, you can mark it by poking through the hole with a screwdriver to make it larger.
Unless you have glueless patches, follow this procedure exactly:
1. Deflate and make sure the outside of the tube is dry.
2. Using sandpaper, or the metal scraper that comes with some patch kits, buff the tube around the area of the hole to remove the outer surface of the rubber revealing fresh rubber underneath. Make sure to buff at least as large an area as the whole patch will cover. If you use a metal scraper, be careful not to cut deep enough to create new holes.
3. Put glue over the buffed area. Work only in a well-ventilated area.
4. Let the glue dry fully. Really! This kind of glue, also called contact cement, must dry completely before applying the patch. Many people are confused about this and do strange things including setting the glue on fire!
5. Peel the foil or the plastic backing off the patch and press it firmly on the glued area. Do not touch the side of the patch which sticks to the glue because even the microscopic amount of material on your fingers deactivates its stickiness.
Installing The Bicycles Tire And Tube
1. Check the rimstrip, the rubber, cloth or plastic covering over the spoke nipples to be sure it is in good condition and in proper position.
2. Look at the outside of the tire while feeling around the inside (carefully) to see whether the puncturing object is still stuck in the rubber.
If the tire has a large hole, you may be able to shore it up temporarily. Just lay a square of cloth between the tire and the tube. The air pressure will hold it in place.
3. Pump just enough air into the tube for it to take its doughnut-like shape.
4. Put the inner tube fully into the tire.
5. Push the valve about half way into the valve hole on the rim. If you have trouble getting it in, lift up the rimstrip first, push the valve through the rimstrip, then into the rim.
6. Lay the wheel on a table and then slip the bottom side of the tire into position onto the rim.
The last little bit may be difficult to slip over the edge of the rim. Resist the temptation to use a tire lever to pry it on.
This may damage the tire edge, or you may slip and put a hole in the tube. It is almost always possible to get the tire on entirely by hand if you force just an inch or two at a time over the rim using your thumbs. Practice helps more than strength. Except with a few thin tires, almost no strength is needed.
7. Now put the top side of the tire on the same way. If you have trouble, make sure there is not too much air in the inner tube. Also check to see that the tire goes on properly. Sometimes the tire won’t drop fully into position on the rim, often near the valve. This is why you put the valve half-way into its hole at first, to help prevent the tube getting caught between the tire and the rim edge.
Getting the last portion of the tire over the rim.
8. When the tire is installed, gently pull and wiggle the valve stem into position.
9. Put just a little air into the bicycle’s tire, about ten pounds per square inch. Look at the tire, all the way around and on both sides, to be sure it is seated properly. If there is a section of tire that is trying to bulge off the rim, let the air out and fix this area by pushing it into position. After you are satisfied with the tire installation, inflate the tire to full pressure. Do this slowly, periodically checking that the seating is still OK. The proper pressure is written (vulcanized) on the tire side.
Another seating problem is the opposite of bulging. The tire will not seem to fill up entirely in one area, giving you a wheel with a sort of flat spot. Sometimes this can be cured by letting the air out, manipulating the tire by hand into place, and then re-inflating. Sometimes you have to do more. One approach is to coat the edges of the rim with soapy water to lubricate the tire and rim, allowing the tire to slip into position as you inflate it. Use a kind of soap that dries up. Some mechanics just exceed the recommended pressure for a short while until the tire pops into position, but this is dangerous. In some cases, a new tire is necessary.
- Last semester, meetings would start with a political discussion or reading for discussion at the beginning (as opposed to the end, which lead to discussions getting cut short). In continuation of this practice, Rachel started off the meeting with a reading about Israel and a discussion of her time in Israel.
2. Recruitment stuff: Angie and Laila, Tuesday (08/09) at 6 to discuss Recruitment
3. Hitchhikers guide to the galaxy: Everyone PLEASE work on it! Work on it tomorrow
4. Make the compost 3rd tier
5. Make Chore Tags; get more Velcro
i. Trash Attack
ii. Purple Plant Rain
iii. Hungry Chicken
iv. Turning & Watering Compost
v. Table Wiper
vi. Living Room Collector
vii. Owl Post (and delivery)
viii. Dish Fairy (empty dishwasher, empty drying rack)
6. Make a magnet for the dishwasher to say clean or dirty!
7. Make for the washer and dryer! Micky made them! Yay!
8. Rachael will be having a gardening day during morning hours on Friday!
9. We have mothers visiting!
10. Katie’s friends may stay.
11. Couchsurfing: Angie’s Couchsurfing account is back in service. All requests must be made the Sunday before the person visits (before the Sunday meeting). All potential surfers must be approved by the house. Anyone staying longer than a week must be discussed further.
12. Intro to Co-Op game show!
13. Movie tonight and tomorrow! Who wants to watch a movie tonight? Tonight: ? Tomorrow: Short Bus
14. Meetings get posted on the blog and everyone is emailed the link to their emails.
This week as the sweltering heat hit LA, Angie and I chose to make a quiche. I was silly enough to think that we would only have to be around the stove when we were baking the quiche, and we’d be able to leave the room for that. It actually takes a bit of stove top cooking to make this though and we ended up spending about four hours in the kitchen. What can I say, I’m a pretty slow cook (Angie was done with her half of things way before I was 
), and the recipe does take time. But it was worth it. The quiche was a great success!
The recipe for the filling was taken pretty much verbatim from 101 cookbooks, except that we used silken tofu instead of firm, and tripled the quantities in order to feed all the hungry co-opers. I’ll leave the quantities at as they were in the original recipes so that those who don’t want to cook for 14 can make this without having to divide by 3 (I always like multiplying better than dividing anyway)
The recipe for the crust was taken from lunchboxbunch.com and slightly altered to fit our taste/ budget constraints/ available ingredients. It was still tasty tasty! Anything that differs from the original recipe is in blue.
Crust:
1/2 cup water
1 tsp salt
2 Tbsp agave
1/3 cup flaxseed meal
*Ground up flax seeds (which we left out due to budget constraints)
3/4 cup flour (any variety)
1/4 cup chickpea flour (or any variety you’d like)
1 Tbsp olive oil
1/2 tsp black pepper
1 Tbsp dried herbs (rosemary, thyme, sage, basil)
cornmeal for dusting
Grease a 8-9″ cake pan with vegan buttery spread.
Flour dust the inside as well.
Combine all the crust ingredients in a large bowl.
Add a bit more or less flour as needed to get a soft, but kneadable dough.
Roll out dough on floured surface to about a 12″ circle.
Drag bottom of crust through a few Tablespoons of corn meal.
Position dough in cake pan.
Try to get a nice even wrap-around crust with edges, but it’s OK if it isn’t perfect.
Brush crust with an olive oil/agave glaze.
Poke a few holes in bottom of dough.
Place a parchment paper circle on top of crust, fill with cooking weights or dry beans.
(This will prevent the crust from rising during baking.
Bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes to partially brown edges.
Set Pan aside to cool while you work on filling.
Filling:
7 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 cup finely diced onion
10 ounces white button mushrooms, thinly sliced
2 tablespoons dry white wine or water
1 1/2 teaspoons coarse sea salt
3 garlic cloves, slice crosswise into 1/8-inch rounds
10 to 12 fresh basil leaves, chopped
1/2 teaspoon finely chopped fresh thyme leaves
Pinch hot red pepper flakes
1 pound silken tofu, rinsed and patted dry
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 tablespoon rice vinegar
2 pounds fresh spinach
Paprika for dusting
In a wide saute pan over medium heat, warm 2 tablespoons of the oil. Add the onion and mushroom, raise the heat to high, and saute for 10 to 12 minutes, stirring and shaking the pan until the vegetables are caramelized. Add the wine and scrape up any brown bits from the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon. Season with 1/2 teaspoon of the salt and continue to cook until dry. Using a rubber spatula, scrape the vegetables into a mixing bowl and set aside.
In a small saucepan over medium heat, warm the remaining 5 tablespoons of oil. Add the garlic, basil, thyme, and red pepper flakes. Simmer gently for 3 to 4 minutes or until the garlic is golden. Do not let the garlic brown or it will become bitter. With a rubber spatula, scrape the garlic oil into the bowl of a food processor.
Crumble the tofu into the bowl of the food processor. Add the lemon juice, vinegar, and remaining 1 teaspoon of salt and puree until smooth. With a rubber spatula, scrape the puree into the mushroom-onion mixture.
Remove and discard the tough stems of the spinach. Wash the leaves in a large bowl with several changes of cold water. Transfer the spinach to a pot and cooke, covered, over high heat for several minutes, just until wilted. Drain in a colander and rinse under cold water to arrest the cooking. Drain well and squeeze dry. Transfer the spinach to a cutting board and chop fine. Add the spinach to the rest of the filling and stir well to combine.
Fill the tart shell with the tofu and vegetable mixture and smooth the top with the back of a spoon. Dust with Paprika. Bake for 45 to 50 minutes,until firm.
Let the tart cool for 8 to 10 minutes before slicing and serving.
Yield: 4 to 6 servings
Which Veggie Burgers Were Made With a Neurotoxin?
By Kiera Butler, Mother Jones Online
Posted on April 13, 2010, Printed on April 14, 2010
http://www.alternet.org/story/146439/
This is about the time of year when I start keeping packages of veggie burgers in the freezer, just in case of an impromptu barbecue. In the past, I haven’t had much fake meat brand loyalty: I’ve found that once I smother my hunk of textured vegetable protein in barbeque sauce, all soy patties are pretty much created equal. But after reading a recent investigation by the Cornucopia Institute, I’m going to be a lot more picky: The food and agriculture nonprofit found that most non-organic veggie burgers currently on the market are made with the chemical hexane, an EPA-registered air pollutant and neurotoxin.
In order to meet the demands of health-conscious consumers, manufacturers of soy-based fake meat like to make their products have as little fat as possible. The cheapest way to do this is by submerging soybeans in a bath of hexane to separate the oil from the protein. Says Cornucopia Institute senior researcher Charlotte Vallaeys, “If a non-organic product contains a soy protein isolate, soy protein concentrate, or texturized vegetable protein, you can be pretty sure it was made using soy beans that were made with hexane.”
If you’ve heard about hexane before, it was likely in the context of gasoline—the air pollutant is also a byproduct of gas refining. But in 2007, grain processors were responsible for two-thirds of our national hexane emissions. Hexane is hazardous in the factory, too: Workers who have been exposed to it have developed both skin and nervous system disorders. Troubling, then, that the FDA does not monitor or regulate hexane residue in foods. More worrisome still: According to the report, “Nearly every major ingredient in conventional soy-based infant formula is hexane extracted.”
The Cornucopia Institute found that a number of popular veggie burgers were made with hexane. The list (pdf, page 37, and below) is longer than you might think:
Amy’s Kitchen
Boca Burger, conventional
Franklin Farms
Garden Burger
It’s All Good Lightlife
Morningstar Farms
President’s Choice
Taste Above
Trader Joe’s
Yves Veggie Cuisine
Hexane-free products:
Boca Burgers “Made with organic soy”
Helen’s Kitchen
Morningstar “Made with organic”
Superburgers by Turtle Island
Tofurky
Wildwood
Also worth noting: Products labeled “organic” aren’t allowed to contain any hexane-derived ingredients, but that rule doesn’t apply to foods that are labeled “made with organic ingredients.” For more on soy sourcing, plus a list of popular “made with organic ingredients”-labeled protein bars that are made with hexane, read the Cornucopia Institute’s full study, “Behind the Bean.”
http://veganyumyum.com/2009/05/perfect-cinnamon-buns/
Praise for VEGAN CINNAMON BUNS:
“Orgasmic!” — Gerardo
Update on TTT:
1) Chickens:
The chickens have been eating from the compost bins leading me to believe that composted dirt tastes better than regular dirt. Also, Micky showed me that chickens like to eat weeds. Micky pulled out a giant weed, which I thought was part of the tomato plant, and fed it to the chickens. The chickens have also been burrowing in the dirt for fun. Micky suggested we make them ash baths from future bonfires. P.S. Is Chubb Chubb a boy? See future blog on the “Great Chubb Chubb Mystery”. Newsflash: Chubb Chubb just pooped in laundry room. See attached photo.
2) Compost:
Compost is being eaten by chickens. They seem sad that there isn’t quite as much of it as usual. See above regarding Chickens.
3) Cats:
Mana seems to have hurt her paw. She doesn’t put weight on it when she walks. We are a bit worried, but she is eating and aside from that seems well.
We’ve heard rumor of strange neighborhood cats possibly interested in eating our chickens, but everything seems to be okay so far.
4) Carrots:
Micky pulled out 3 chubby midget carrots from the backyard today. They are just cute enough to eat. Adorable.
Side note: Our apologies, but we will be having a garden extravaganza feast excluding everyone else except Micky, me, and possibly Sunny. Sorry for your jealousy.
Happy Holidays!!!
Love,
Peggy & Micky
