From mtownOsPAMend@earthlink.net Fri Jan 16 03:08:47 1998
Newsgroups: alt.slack
Subject: electricity
From: mtownOsPAMend@earthlink.net (Michael Townsend)
Date: Fri, 16 Jan 1998 06:08:47 -0500
YOU try going 7 days without it.
--
mtownsend@earthlink.net po box 4722 portland me 04112-4722
I just ate "Bob"
From petehip@cogsci.ed.ac.uk Fri Jan 16 04:24:52 1998
Newsgroups: alt.slack
Subject: Re: electricity
From: Peter Hipwell <petehip@cogsci.ed.ac.uk>
Date: Fri, 16 Jan 1998 12:24:52 +0000
Michael Townsend wrote:
>
> YOU try going 7 days without it.
>
All you need is gas and lamp oil. And stuff that uses them.
Whining addict!
--
Sa-ti muste vampirii curul!
From !!!bmyers@ionet.net Fri Jan 16 05:08:27 1998
Newsgroups: alt.slack
Subject: Re: electricity
From: !!!bmyers@ionet.net (TarlaStar)
Date: Fri, 16 Jan 1998 13:08:27 GMT
mtownOsPAMend@earthlink.net (Michael Townsend) wrote:
>YOU try going 7 days without it.
So...how long has it been since you've had a nice hot shower, Dad?
Tarla
betting generator sales
skyrocket in Maine
****
Dammit Jeb, I'm as Amish as the next guy, but if we don't take
out that sub, there won't be a Pennsylvania to go home TO!
--my son, Eric.
***
Rev. Mutha Tarla Star ://www.ionet.net/~bmyers/homepage.html
From mtownOsPAMend@earthlink.net Sat Jan 17 14:39:34 1998
Newsgroups: alt.slack
Subject: Re: electricity
From: mtownOsPAMend@earthlink.net (Michael Townsend)
Date: Sat, 17 Jan 1998 17:39:34 -0500
In article <69nodk$cnb@snews1.zippo.com>, !!!bmyers@ionet.net (TarlaStar) asked:
--> So...how long has it been since you've had a nice hot shower, Dad?
Um, about 5 hours ago I guess. My power came back on Wednesday night, the
7th day. During the outage I had places to shower anyway. I might have had
to sleep in a down sleeping bag with a kerosene heater and a handful of
flashlights and candles and - praise "Bob" - my battery-powered radio, but
I had no wish to SHTINK like a Brit as well!
From: Peter Hipwell <petehip@cogsci.ed.ac.uk>
--> All you need is gas and lamp oil. And stuff that uses them.
-->
--> Whining addict!
Right, as if that's how you live asshole. What about the Canadians, where
they can't buy gasoline because the pumps don't work. And can't get cash
because the ATMs don't work. And can't get to the bank because there's no
gas in the car. And can't buy food or lamp oil because they can't get any
money.
How you gonna run a big mother generator without fuel, Lurch?
From: toxiccow@mindspring.com (Sister Pammy of the Soil)
--> Seven days without electricity? Seven days? How about thirteen years
--> without indoor plumbing? Twelve years of heating with wood (until I
--> hurt my back and couldn't carry wood for awhile). But we're fully
--> wired, so we can make the loud music, you know?
No, I don't. Does this mean that you do need electricity, even if you
don't need indoor plumbing? See, my question was, how many of you "whining
addict" internet junkies could really go for a prolonged time WITHOUT
ELECTRICITY?
From: UnitIV@sputum.com (Doktor DynaSoar)
--> (P.S.: Fuck you Dad, you old crank.)
Thanks! You should talk ya big windbag. Actually, I did a pretty good job
of maintaining my Slack (once I got the ladies out of the house and in
warm beds at a neighbor's) through the week - although, ok I'll admit, I
started to lose it the last couple of days when it became apparent to me
that the electric company had overlooked my block, and despite the DOZENS
of times I called their automated outage reporting system, they pretty
much believed my power was on. Finally had to EMAIL the fuckers (from
work) to get noticed.
See, I'm a city boy. If you live out on a farm somewhere, well maybe you
can accept living in the dark and cold, maybe you can even shrug off
having to let the livestock die or whatever. I got tape decks and
computers and keyboards and radios and TVs to tend!
--
mtownsend@earthlink.net po box 4722 portland me 04112-4722
dad's new slacks
From nojunkmailtoxiccow@mindspring.com Sat Jan 17 23:26:33 1998
Newsgroups: alt.slack
Subject: Re: electricity
From: nojunkmailtoxiccow@mindspring.com (Sister Pammy of the Soil)
Date: Sun, 18 Jan 1998 07:26:33 GMT
mtownOsPAMend@earthlink.net (Michael Townsend) wrote:
>From: toxiccow@mindspring.com (Sister Pammy of the Soil)
>
>--> Seven days without electricity? Seven days? How about thirteen years
>--> without indoor plumbing? Twelve years of heating with wood (until I
>--> hurt my back and couldn't carry wood for awhile). But we're fully
>--> wired, so we can make the loud music, you know?
>
>No, I don't. Does this mean that you do need electricity, even if you
>don't need indoor plumbing? See, my question was, how many of you "whining
>addict" internet junkies could really go for a prolonged time WITHOUT
>ELECTRICITY?
Well, I did six months easy in Santa Cruz, so I'd say six months,
provided I got to pick the months. I'd want six well-lit months---
definitely not January and February.
Need electricity? Yeah, for the life I'm living now I do. If I wanted
to punt writing and opening a nursery and being busy, I could go live
on a nice warm beach somewhere and gladly do without the power lines.
There's a huge space between necessity and luxury that's called, as
Lurch put it, convenience. Convenience and TOYS, let's call it. I like
convenience and toys as well as most people I suppose. I don't find
outhouses an inconvenience at all. Not having a hot shower is mildly
to extremely inconvenient, but it doesn't cross the line into
necessity. Electricity IS necessary, because I need a pump to water
the plants, and something to power the computer for writing, and a
Juno 106 to make the good whooshy noises for Gription Clench.
But I'm not much of an internet junkie anyway, so maybe you weren't
talking at me.
SPOTS
"I'm a rug, you can lay me down..."---Fetchin Bones
From snorts@erratix..com Sun Jan 18 01:49:14 1998
Newsgroups: alt.slack
Subject: Re: electricity
From: snorts@erratix..com (RevLurch)
Date: Sun, 18 Jan 1998 09:49:14 GMT
On Sat, 17 Jan 1998 17:39:34 -0500, mtownOsPAMend@earthlink.net (Michael Townsend) wrote:
>In article <69nodk$cnb@snews1.zippo.com>, !!!bmyers@ionet.net (TarlaStar) asked:
>
>--> So...how long has it been since you've had a nice hot shower, Dad?
>
>Um, about 5 hours ago I guess. My power came back on Wednesday night, the
>7th day. During the outage I had places to shower anyway. I might have had
>to sleep in a down sleeping bag with a kerosene heater and a handful of
>flashlights and candles and - praise "Bob" - my battery-powered radio, but
>I had no wish to SHTINK like a Brit as well!
>
>From: Peter Hipwell <petehip@cogsci.ed.ac.uk>
>--> All you need is gas and lamp oil. And stuff that uses them.
>-->
>--> Whining addict!
>
>Right, as if that's how you live asshole. What about the Canadians, where
>they can't buy gasoline because the pumps don't work. And can't get cash
>because the ATMs don't work. And can't get to the bank because there's no
>gas in the car. And can't buy food or lamp oil because they can't get any
>money.
>
>How you gonna run a big mother generator without fuel, Lurch?
runs on propane. Gas generators aren't worth a shit for the reasons you mentioned. Barring
sabotage, I can run it for a couple months without taking a trip anywhere or having
anything delivered. In fact, I don't have to go anywhere and get ANYTHING for a couple
months, unless someone gets really sick.
You CAN rathole gas, too, if you want. I have a bit. But it goes bad over time and you
have to stick stabilizers and shit in it. But I realize doing any of this stuff is an
option that's not available to city dwellers. But I don't live in the city.
You COULD get an inverter (mail order jobs are cheap now) and gel battery or two and keep
them in a closet . The 1500-2500 watt jobs are cheap now. You wouldn't be able to run big
stuff like washing machines, but it would handle lights and stereos and TV's and such.
When the batteries get drained you can lug them outside and charge it off of your car
(har. provided you got some gas stashed somewhere or can get some or siphon some out of a
car belonging to some elderly couple that yer pretty sure has froze to death in their
unheated house).
>From: toxiccow@mindspring.com (Sister Pammy of the Soil)
>
>--> Seven days without electricity? Seven days? How about thirteen years
>--> without indoor plumbing? Twelve years of heating with wood (until I
>--> hurt my back and couldn't carry wood for awhile). But we're fully
>--> wired, so we can make the loud music, you know?
>
>No, I don't. Does this mean that you do need electricity, even if you
>don't need indoor plumbing? See, my question was, how many of you "whining
>addict" internet junkies could really go for a prolonged time WITHOUT
>ELECTRICITY?
Can't speak for the others. But I think I'd survive. I just never figured it was
something I wanted to do, unless I decided when to do it. So I decided not to.
lurch
From dallastexas@makinityourself.net Fri Jan 16 12:28:49 1998
Newsgroups: alt.slack
Subject: Re: electricity
From: dallastexas@makinityourself.net
Date: Fri, 16 Jan 1998 20:28:49 GMT
On Fri, 16 Jan 1998 17:57:17 GMT, snorts@erratix..com (RevLurch) wrote:
>>YOU try going 7 days without it.
>
>I went longer than that a few years back, but I had an 2500 watt
>inverter and a bunch of car batteries. I have a big propane generator
>wired directly to the bus bars in my power box now, as well as a
>shitload of unwanted company whenever we have an outage, which we do,
>pretty often. I wish I'd never told anybody about it.
Going without it is easy, getting too much all at once is a pain in the ass.
This is getting weird, I hear more and more people talking about doing their own
voltage nowdays.
We used to use one to back up the water pump - had to join a water co-op though, so
the well is only used for irrigation.
I have jacked a couple of coleman-style generators to the house, I have been looking
for a auto-cut in model, seem to cost about $7000 for the bottom of the line.
I have five UPS's that supply most of the lamps that are normally on at night, and
the computers. I had one pc blow up last summer when lightining hit the ground about
a half-mile from here. It went straight through the UPS - which was toasted also.
Also cooked the airconditioner compressor, the blower fan motor and some small shit.
Lost about 8 grand in one lighting strike. Other than that it had been over 20
years since we had a loss due to lightning - well at least one we could blame on the
lightning.
The bad part is when the power is out - which is often - we can hear a neighbor or
two talking in the distance - "hey their lights are on over there why are ours out?"
My wife checks on some of the older folks around here if the juice is off for more
than a couple of hours - I might loan out a generator if someones heart/lung/kidney
machine needed to run. I don't know if I would charge them for the gas or not. I
hope those fucks dont get any ideas about running over to my house and tracking in
mud and shit all over the place and eating up all the snacks.
If I crank up a generator its just to keep the referigarator and freezer running,
plus I can drop the line when those big lightning storms roll in, and try to keep
the damage down. Earth grounds are going to become a growth industry.
RiM
From petehip@cogsci.ed.ac.uk Fri Jan 16 13:56:33 1998
Newsgroups: alt.slack
Subject: Re: electricity
From: Peter Hipwell <petehip@cogsci.ed.ac.uk>
Date: Fri, 16 Jan 1998 21:56:33 +0000
dallastexas@makinityourself.net wrote:
>
> On Fri, 16 Jan 1998 17:57:17 GMT, snorts@erratix..com (RevLurch) wrote:
> >>YOU try going 7 days without it.
> >
> >I went longer than that a few years back, but I had an 2500 watt
> >inverter and a bunch of car batteries. I have a big propane generator
> >wired directly to the bus bars in my power box now, as well as a
> >shitload of unwanted company whenever we have an outage, which we do,
> >pretty often. I wish I'd never told anybody about it.
>
> Going without it is easy, getting too much all at once is a pain in
> the ass. This is getting weird, I hear more and more people talking
[more crap about generators deleted]
I like to point out to you incredibly dumb bastards that if you're
generating electricity with your fuck-off-big generator down in your
concrete cased survivalist bunker then you're NOT going without
electricity, and you can still watch TV. You dirty fuckers, why not
FOLLOW THE FUCKING SCRIPT INSTEAD OF ATTEMPTING TO WITTILY AD-LIB?
From dallastexas@fuckshitdammitiforgottoputafuckingfakeaddressinandthedamnthingbounced.net Fri Jan 16 16:06:47 1998
Newsgroups: alt.slack
Subject: Re: electricity
From: dallastexas@fuckshitdammitiforgottoputafuckingfakeaddressinandthedamnthingbounced.net
Date: Sat, 17 Jan 1998 00:06:47 GMT
On Fri, 16 Jan 1998 21:56:33 +0000, Peter Hipwell <petehip@cogsci.ed.ac.uk> wrote:
>[more crap about generators deleted]
[all generator crap deleted - fuck you and your big assed dirty teeth Hipwell]
>I like to point out to you incredibly dumb bastards that if you're
>generating electricity with your fuck-off-big generator down in your
>concrete cased survivalist bunker then you're NOT going without
>electricity, and you can still watch TV. You dirty fuckers, why not
>FOLLOW THE FUCKING SCRIPT INSTEAD OF ATTEMPTING TO WITTILY AD-LIB?
This one time the lights went off for 79 or 91 days, my ol lady kept forgetting to
pay the bill, and we had all these little people living with us, so they had to
decide weather to eat cheze whiz or ez-cheeze with their Tom's Peanut Crackers and
wot was the bestest way to heat vienna sausages - on the asphalt during rush hour or
to stick them up the dogs ass. Well the damn things took forever to warm up on the
frozen tundra of the highway, so they decided to stick these lovely sausages up the
terriers ass. Not that they liked the taste of dog ass mind you, they kept breaking
their stainless steel caps off on the rock hard frozen weiners. I never questioned
their motives, you know one persons dogs ass is another mans heat source.
issat better?
RiM
From snorts@erratix..com Sat Jan 17 14:56:56 1998
Newsgroups: alt.slack
Subject: Re: electricity
From: snorts@erratix..com (RevLurch)
Date: Sat, 17 Jan 1998 22:56:56 GMT
On Fri, 16 Jan 1998 21:56:33 +0000, Peter Hipwell <petehip@cogsci.ed.ac.uk> wrote:
>dallastexas@makinityourself.net wrote:
>>
>> On Fri, 16 Jan 1998 17:57:17 GMT, snorts@erratix..com (RevLurch) wrote:
>
>> >>YOU try going 7 days without it.
>> >
>> >I went longer than that a few years back, but I had an 2500 watt
>> >inverter and a bunch of car batteries. I have a big propane generator
>> >wired directly to the bus bars in my power box now, as well as a
>> >shitload of unwanted company whenever we have an outage, which we do,
>> >pretty often. I wish I'd never told anybody about it.
>>
>> Going without it is easy, getting too much all at once is a pain in
>> the ass. This is getting weird, I hear more and more people talking
>
>[more crap about generators deleted]
>
>I like to point out to you incredibly dumb bastards that if you're
>generating electricity with your fuck-off-big generator down in your
>concrete cased survivalist bunker then you're NOT going without
>electricity, and you can still watch TV. You dirty fuckers, why not
>FOLLOW THE FUCKING SCRIPT INSTEAD OF ATTEMPTING TO WITTILY AD-LIB
I didn't have any good candlelight and Campbell's soup on the campstove sitting around the
darkened house playing pinochle while wrapped up in an injun blanket with a flashlight in
my teeth and cooking mushmellons on a coathanger over a fire in the wastebasket and having
a really big time with people I normally would have been ignoring stories.
Anyway, point taken. But while I go without electricity (and most everything else) and sit
on the dirt in both the daylight and in the dark fairly often for fairly long periods of
time, don't force me to prove how boring the on-topic accounts and descriptions of such
self-imposed psuedo-monkisk do it to have done it and not to be doing it excursions can
be. You'd be begging me to talk about generators faster than you could say Freezer Fulla
Rotten Meat.
lurch
From truwe@miNd.net Fri Jan 16 15:23:38 1998
Newsgroups: alt.slack
Subject: Re: electricity
From: truwe@miNd.net
Date: Fri, 16 Jan 1998 15:23:38 -0800
dallastexas@makinityourself.net wrote:
> The bad part is when the power is out - which is often - we can hear a neighbor or
> two talking in the distance - "hey their lights are on over there why are ours out?"
Man. I may just be naïve, but that sounds BAD. I mean, it sounds like
peasants-with-torches-raiding-Castle-Frankenstien BAD. Like that
episode of Twilight Zone where the doctor had the bomb shelter and no
one else did and they all tried to get in, but it wasn't really time to
die so they all felt really bad.
Blackout curtains. You need blackout curtains.
Annnnnnnnnnna
--
|<truwe@mind.net> | Ben, Shelley, Matie and/or Anna *** 113 Earls! |
|38 Daves ******** "Given the choice between accomplishing something
| * and just lying around, I'd rather just lie around. No contest."
|--Eric Clapton | Ignore alt.slack.devo | Ditto annna@earthling.net|
--------------------------------------------------------------------
From fake@email.address.mil Sat Jan 17 06:39:36 1998
Newsgroups: alt.slack
Subject: Re: electricity
From: fake@email.address.mil (Rev. Matthew A. Carey)
Date: Sat, 17 Jan 1998 14:39:36 GMT
On Fri, 16 Jan 1998 15:23:38 -0800, truwe@miNd.net wrote:
>dallastexas@makinityourself.net wrote:
>> The bad part is when the power is out - which is often - we can hear a neighbor or
>> two talking in the distance - "hey their lights are on over there why are ours out?"
>
>Man. I may just be naïve, but that sounds BAD.
One there was a power outage in my neighborhood so I thought I'd walk
around in the dark to check out the chaos. As I was walking down the
street I saw this college kid walk out of his house with a flashlight
and say to someone inside "I dunno. I'm gonna check the fusebox!"
Yeah, THAT'LL FIX IT.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Strange new text files at: http://www.humboldt1.com/~carey/text/
New cassette list at: http://www.humboldt1.com/~carey/tapes/
email is: carey(at)humboldt1.com
postal is: Matthew Carey
PO Box 594
Arcata, CA 95518
From snorts@erratix..com Fri Jan 16 16:05:18 1998
Newsgroups: alt.slack
Subject: Re: electricity
From: snorts@erratix..com (RevLurch)
Date: Sat, 17 Jan 1998 00:05:18 GMT
On Fri, 16 Jan 1998 20:28:49 GMT, dallastexas@makinityourself.net
wrote:
>On Fri, 16 Jan 1998 17:57:17 GMT, snorts@erratix..com (RevLurch) wrote:
>>>YOU try going 7 days without it.
>>
>>I went longer than that a few years back, but I had an 2500 watt
>>inverter and a bunch of car batteries. I have a big propane generator
>>wired directly to the bus bars in my power box now, as well as a
>>shitload of unwanted company whenever we have an outage, which we do,
>>pretty often. I wish I'd never told anybody about it.
>
>Going without it is easy, getting too much all at once is a pain in the ass.
>This is getting weird, I hear more and more people talking about doing their own
>voltage nowdays.
>We used to use one to back up the water pump - had to join a water co-op though, so
>the well is only used for irrigation.
>I have jacked a couple of coleman-style generators to the house, I have been looking
>for a auto-cut in model, seem to cost about $7000 for the bottom of the line.
I didn't pay anywhere NEAR that for my rig. But it's not an auto. I
just throw the main and start the generator. Got some light bulbs
wired into the box above the main breaker that let me know when the
power comes back on. Anyway, you can pick up 10,000-plus watt
generators for cheap if you watch the paper and are willing to wait
until you find someone who's desperate for cash. They are heavy and
hard to get rid of in a hurry. It's a lot easier to sell the shitty
little 1500 watt jobs than it is a big one.
>I have five UPS's that supply most of the lamps that are normally on at night, and
>the computers. I had one pc blow up last summer when lightining hit the ground about
>a half-mile from here. It went straight through the UPS - which was toasted also.
>Also cooked the airconditioner compressor, the blower fan motor and some small shit.
>Lost about 8 grand in one lighting strike. Other than that it had been over 20
>years since we had a loss due to lightning - well at least one we could blame on the
>lightning.
I lost an air conditioning compressor that way once, but other than
that I've been lucky, Fried a few modems, but hell, the dam things are
designed to get fried. The best kind of toy is a toy that breaks.
lurch
From dallastexas@confucioussaycusterfullashit.net Fri Jan 16 20:39:05 1998
Newsgroups: alt.slack
Subject: Re: electricity
From: dallastexas@confucioussaycusterfullashit.net
Date: Sat, 17 Jan 1998 04:39:05 GMT
On Sat, 17 Jan 1998 00:05:18 GMT, snorts@erratix..com (RevLurch) wrote:
> Fried a few modems, but hell, the dam things are
>designed to get fried. The best kind of toy is a toy that breaks.
Damn Lurch don't start talking about toys, we're catching shit for having a fucking
battery or generator !
Back to the earth man, quick before civilization catches up with us and
crams comfort down our throats.
You still got yer "Earth" shoes ? I was going to mention my new tractor it's one of
the hydrostatic drives, electric clutch, pto, ground-engaging, with disk, furrow, and
60" mower - Big fat tires and everything. I love her, I need her, she's all mine.
HAHAHAHAHAHA
RiM
From snorts@erratix..com Sat Jan 17 03:30:59 1998
Newsgroups: alt.slack
Subject: Re: electricity
From: snorts@erratix..com (RevLurch)
Date: Sat, 17 Jan 1998 11:30:59 GMT
On Sat, 17 Jan 1998 04:39:05 GMT,
dallastexas@confucioussaycusterfullashit.net wrote:
>On Sat, 17 Jan 1998 00:05:18 GMT, snorts@erratix..com (RevLurch) wrote:
>
>> Fried a few modems, but hell, the dam things are
>>designed to get fried. The best kind of toy is a toy that breaks.
>
>Damn Lurch don't start talking about toys, we're catching shit for having a fucking
>battery or generator !
>Back to the earth man, quick before civilization catches up with us and
>crams comfort down our throats.
>
>You still got yer "Earth" shoes ? I was going to mention my new tractor it's one of
>the hydrostatic drives, electric clutch, pto, ground-engaging, with disk, furrow, and
>60" mower - Big fat tires and everything. I love her, I need her, she's all mine.
any more Deep Purple and I'll track you down and kill you. I mean it.
lurch
From dallastexas@runningonemptywithoutaclueorasaftey.net Sat Jan 17 11:15:02 1998
Newsgroups: alt.slack
Subject: Re: electricity
From: dallastexas@runningonemptywithoutaclueorasaftey.net
Date: Sat, 17 Jan 1998 19:15:02 GMT
On Sat, 17 Jan 1998 11:30:59 GMT, snorts@erratix..com (RevLurch) wrote:
>> - Big fat tires and everything. I love her, I need her, she's all mine.
>
>any more Deep Purple and I'll track you down and kill you. I mean it.
Fuck me then,
I'm sorry, so sorry. I was just a fool - I don't really love her, I don't know how
to love her. I wanna know what love is, I want to know how to find it. I used to
think happiness is a warm gun, I've never felt this way before - I swear it's the
truth.
RiM
From UnitIV@sputum.com Fri Jan 16 16:18:52 1998
Newsgroups: alt.slack
Subject: Re: electricity
From: UnitIV@sputum.com (Doktor DynaSoar)
Date: Sat, 17 Jan 1998 00:18:52 GMT
Dad sez:
}>>YOU try going 7 days without it.
Pammy and Random?
Yer on.
--
(@ @)\DynaSoar\___, Doktor DynaSoar Iridium, Scienfictiontologist
ll ll Yetii Genetii Research InstiToot, Somedamnwhere, VA
Clench of The One True Pipe Dream, ElectroChurch of the SubGenius
From nojunkmailtoxiccow@mindspring.com Fri Jan 16 22:15:13 1998
Newsgroups: alt.slack
Subject: Re: electricity
From: nojunkmailtoxiccow@mindspring.com (Sister Pammy of the Soil)
Date: Sat, 17 Jan 1998 06:15:13 GMT
UnitIV@sputum.com (Doktor DynaSoar) wrote:
>Dad sez:
>
>}>>YOU try going 7 days without it.
>
>
>Pammy and Random?
>
>Yer on.
Seven days without electricity? Seven days? How about thirteen years
without indoor plumbing? Twelve years of heating with wood (until I
hurt my back and couldn't carry wood for awhile). But we're fully
wired, so we can make the loud music, you know?
It does amaze me how people lose their sense of perspective about the
difference between luxury and necessity. (This is not aimed at you,
Dad. Maine in winter probably has a big three hours of sunlight. Ugh.)
So which is the most necessary: electricity, or being able to enjoy
darkness at night, seeing stars instead of streetlights? Do I need my
rock and roll more than my earthy peace and quiet?
When I was in garden school in Santa Cruz we didn't have electricity
at the farm on campus where we lived. It turned out to be one of the
biggest lessons I learned living there: how to be a night creature. I
took long walks at night, stargazed, listened to night sounds. My
eyesight, strained by years of school, returned to 20/20, and I was
able to get rid of my glasses. We lived in tents and teepees (no rain,
no ticks, no chiggers and very few mosquitoes!). By mid-summer most of
us had moved our bedrolls out into the field. I fell asleep in the
grass, with friends snoozing nearby, and woke up with the daylight in
my eyes. We cooked on a gas stove, had a gas refridgerator, cleaned
the kitchen at night by the light of oil lamps. I had no doors, no
locks or keys, very few possessions to possess me.
Here at our farm Random and I could install plumbing, in fact we
occasionally talk about the idea. But outdoor showers with the garden
hose work for much of the year, and for the rest we do actually have a
bathroom and tub. I just heat a kettle of water and take a "shower" in
the tub. Easy. I feel richer, safer, and saner for knowing the measure
of myself and what my "necessities" are.
When I went shopping a few years ago for a piano, the saleman showed
me the Yamaha Clavinova. Digitally sampled grand piano sound, plus a
ton of goodies like drums and stuff I could trigger. What a play toy!
I left to think about it for awhile, but when I came back I bought the
piano. I can play it even when the electricity goes out.
How's that, Dyna?
SPOTS--playing piano in the dark sounds cool!
From dallastexas@easydaysonmotherearth.net Fri Jan 16 21:08:28 1998
Newsgroups: alt.slack
Subject: Re: electricity
From: dallastexas@easydaysonmotherearth.net
Date: Sat, 17 Jan 1998 05:08:28 GMT
On Sat, 17 Jan 1998 06:15:13 GMT, nojunkmailtoxiccow@mindspring.com (Sister Pammy of
the Soil) wrote:
>It does amaze me how people lose their sense of perspective about the
>difference between luxury and necessity.
It is amazing, when high summer is eight months long, the humidity can be 0% one day
and 70 the next. The sun is dead straight up for five hours - its really amazing how
anyone decided to settle this fucking area in the first place.
WATER COOLERS! First came the water coolers on the roof, through the wall, then came
the people. Luxury or a need to breathe?
If you want to test yer metal camp out in old San Antone for a while, the first year
is the one that runs most people back to Nyark.
> (This is not aimed at you,
>Dad. Maine in winter probably has a big three hours of sunlight. Ugh.)
>So which is the most necessary: electricity, or being able to enjoy
>darkness at night, seeing stars instead of streetlights? Do I need my
>rock and roll more than my earthy peace and quiet?
I have to agree with your point - I live miles from the city, and their lights mess
up the sky at night it's just a glow, but still bothersome. The quiet in the
"country" is different than in town.
> When I was in garden school in Santa Cruz we didn't have electricity
>at the farm on campus where we lived. It turned out to be one of the
>biggest lessons I learned living there: how to be a night creature. I
>took long walks at night, stargazed, listened to night sounds. My
>eyesight, strained by years of school, returned to 20/20, and I was
>able to get rid of my glasses. We lived in tents and teepees (no rain,
>no ticks, no chiggers and very few mosquitoes!). By mid-summer most of
>us had moved our bedrolls out into the field. I fell asleep in the
>grass, with friends snoozing nearby, and woke up with the daylight in
>my eyes. We cooked on a gas stove, had a gas refridgerator, cleaned
>the kitchen at night by the light of oil lamps. I had no doors, no
>locks or keys, very few possessions to possess me.
I was inna the army for a buncha years. We had lots of nights like that, sort of, in
an armyish kind of way. Managed to sleep in the grass a lot of times too, the
unnatural thing was when you got up in the morning - it was still the army.
>Here at our farm Random and I could install plumbing, in fact we
>occasionally talk about the idea. But outdoor showers with the garden
>hose work for much of the year, and for the rest we do actually have a
>bathroom and tub. I just heat a kettle of water and take a "shower" in
>the tub. Easy. I feel richer, safer, and saner for knowing the measure
>of myself and what my "necessities" are.
Yeah its great to know what you really need - far too few of us are able to live with
the minimum - even for the short term. Primitive camping should be an american
pastime.
Plumming is easy, just glue pipes together make them go here and there.
Easy instructions too,
Hot goes on the left
Cold goes on the right
Shit runs downhill
If its a trailer the rules work backwards.
>When I went shopping a few years ago for a piano, the saleman showed
>me the Yamaha Clavinova. Digitally sampled grand piano sound, plus a
>ton of goodies like drums and stuff I could trigger. What a play toy!
>I left to think about it for awhile, but when I came back I bought the
>piano. I can play it even when the electricity goes out.
>
>How's that, Dyna?
Pretty good from here, but Im not Dyna. I don't think anyone would trade a real
piano for a Clav especially in the dark.
Bye
RiM
From nojunkmailtoxiccow@mindspring.com Sat Jan 17 10:52:04 1998
Newsgroups: alt.slack
Subject: Re: electricity
From: nojunkmailtoxiccow@mindspring.com (Sister Pammy of the Soil)
Date: Sat, 17 Jan 1998 18:52:04 GMT
dallastexas@easydaysonmotherearth.net wrote:
snip
>It is amazing, when high summer is eight months long, the humidity can be 0% one day
>and 70 the next. The sun is dead straight up for five hours - its really amazing how
>anyone decided to settle this fucking area in the first place.
I am the only person I know who will admit to liking it hot and
humid---the weather, guys, alright?!? Up to about 92 degrees or so I
barely notice it's hot (and in winter I wear five shirts and I'm still
cold--metabolism like a damn hummingbird!)
snip
>If you want to test yer metal camp out in old San Antone for a while, the first year
>is the one that runs most people back to Nyark.
Yeah, I gotta admit I ain't tried desert camping. Dehydration and
hiding under a rock all day with the rattlers sounds like a whole
lotta no fun.
>
snip
>I was inna the army for a buncha years. We had lots of nights like that, sort of, in
>an armyish kind of way. Managed to sleep in the grass a lot of times too, the
>unnatural thing was when you got up in the morning - it was still the army.
You know, I never once woke up in Santa Cruz and thought, "I wonder if
I'll be shot at today."
>
>>Here at our farm Random and I could install plumbing, in fact we
>>occasionally talk about the idea. But outdoor showers with the garden
>>hose work for much of the year, and for the rest we do actually have a
>>bathroom and tub. I just heat a kettle of water and take a "shower" in
>>the tub. Easy. I feel richer, safer, and saner for knowing the measure
>>of myself and what my "necessities" are.
snip
>Plumming is easy, just glue pipes together make them go here and there.
>Easy instructions too,
>Hot goes on the left
>Cold goes on the right
>Shit runs downhill
>If its a trailer the rules work backwards.
We've done some plumbing, just haven't finished it. We're too busy in
the summer with the gardens, and in winter we're too damn tired from
gardening all the rest of the year! Now we're starting a nursery, so I
guess I'll be washing out of a pot when I'm ninety!
SPOTS
From cuthulu@prysm.net Sat Jan 17 15:46:27 1998
Newsgroups: alt.slack
Subject: Re: electricity
From: guru cuthulu <cuthulu@prysm.net>
Date: Sat, 17 Jan 1998 17:46:27 -0600
Sister Pammy of the Soil wrote:
> I am the only person I know who will admit to liking it hot and
> humid---the weather, guys, alright?!? Up to about 92 degrees or so I
> barely notice it's hot (and in winter I wear five shirts and I'm still
> cold--metabolism like a damn hummingbird!)
I love it here when it is hot. Ninety-eight degrees with a heat index of 115 or
more. That's when I get my best lawn-work done. I put on the wight over the
winter, then by next winter I'm a rail again. It rules.
From snorts@erratix..com Sun Jan 18 06:10:37 1998
Newsgroups: alt.slack
Subject: Re: electricity
From: snorts@erratix..com (RevLurch)
Date: Sun, 18 Jan 1998 14:10:37 GMT
On Sat, 17 Jan 1998 18:52:04 GMT, nojunkmailtoxiccow@mindspring.com (Sister Pammy of the
Soil) wrote:
>dallastexas@easydaysonmotherearth.net wrote:
>
>snip
>
>>It is amazing, when high summer is eight months long, the humidity can be 0% one day
>>and 70 the next. The sun is dead straight up for five hours - its really amazing how
>>anyone decided to settle this fucking area in the first place.
>
>I am the only person I know who will admit to liking it hot and
>humid---the weather, guys, alright?!? Up to about 92 degrees or so I
>barely notice it's hot (and in winter I wear five shirts and I'm still
>cold--metabolism like a damn hummingbird!)
I absolutely despise it. If the wife was the same as I was I'd move to Canada so fast I'd
leave a vapor trail. Well, I might need to take my customers along, too. So I'm sorta
stuck in North Georgia, which is not the best place for someone that hates hot weather,
but it least we have a bit of altitude here, so it's no where near as bad as the city is.
Still, I haven't had a coat on all winter (sweatshits a few times), and we adopt what we
call possum hours during the summertime. We start work at about 2:30 or three a.m. and
knock off at noon, to avoid becoming sweat-soaked, sawdust-caked mummies. I have spent the
winter in places where they have hard ones, and the snow and slush and biting wind didn't
bother me anywhere near as much as our insufferable, sticky, buggy, muggy, oppresively hot
summers. Cold weather makes me feel alive. Heat just makes me feel pukey and makes me
lumber around at a tree sloth's pace, grumbling and bitching.
On the up side, we do have a nice long growing season, and I get by as long as I do my
gardening and outside type work just after sunup.
lurch
From UnitIV@sputum.com Fri Jan 16 22:35:23 1998
Newsgroups: alt.slack
Subject: Re: electricity
From: UnitIV@sputum.com (Doktor DynaSoar)
Date: Sat, 17 Jan 1998 06:35:23 GMT
Sister Pammy of the Soil wrote:
}UnitIV@sputum.com (Doktor DynaSoar) wrote:
}
}>Dad sez:
}>
}>}>>YOU try going 7 days without it.
}>
}>
}>Pammy and Random?
}>
}>Yer on.
}
}Seven days without electricity? Seven days? How about thirteen years
}without indoor plumbing? Twelve years of heating with wood (until I
}hurt my back and couldn't carry wood for awhile). But we're fully
}wired, so we can make the loud music, you know?
WOO HOO tell it Sis!
}It does amaze me how people lose their sense of perspective about the
}difference between luxury and necessity. (This is not aimed at you,
}Dad. Maine in winter probably has a big three hours of sunlight. Ugh.)
}So which is the most necessary: electricity, or being able to enjoy
}darkness at night, seeing stars instead of streetlights? Do I need my
}rock and roll more than my earthy peace and quiet?
NO, hell NO sis. You SAY it.
} When I was in garden school in Santa Cruz we didn't have electricity
}at the farm on campus where we lived. It turned out to be one of the
}biggest lessons I learned living there: how to be a night creature. I
}took long walks at night, stargazed, listened to night sounds. My
}eyesight, strained by years of school, returned to 20/20, and I was
}able to get rid of my glasses. We lived in tents and teepees (no rain,
}no ticks, no chiggers and very few mosquitoes!). By mid-summer most of
}us had moved our bedrolls out into the field. I fell asleep in the
}grass, with friends snoozing nearby, and woke up with the daylight in
}my eyes. We cooked on a gas stove, had a gas refridgerator, cleaned
}the kitchen at night by the light of oil lamps. I had no doors, no
}locks or keys, very few possessions to possess me.
And thhat's just the START Sister. Tell it ALL.
}Here at our farm Random and I could install plumbing, in fact we
}occasionally talk about the idea. But outdoor showers with the garden
}hose work for much of the year, and for the rest we do actually have a
}bathroom and tub. I just heat a kettle of water and take a "shower" in
}the tub. Easy. I feel richer, safer, and saner for knowing the measure
}of myself and what my "necessities" are.
Get DOWN in that funky water. Get NACH-UR-ALL.
}When I went shopping a few years ago for a piano, the saleman showed
}me the Yamaha Clavinova. Digitally sampled grand piano sound, plus a
}ton of goodies like drums and stuff I could trigger. What a play toy!
}I left to think about it for awhile, but when I came back I bought the
}piano. I can play it even when the electricity goes out.
}
}How's that, Dyna?
}
}SPOTS--playing piano in the dark sounds cool!
YEE-HAW it's DAMFINE Sister, you DAMN BETCHA.
SO damn fine I cain't even throw in my sour assed cynsicism. Shitchya, it
was damn worth it.
Thankee much.
(P.S.: Fuck you Dad, you old crank.)
--
(@ @)\DynaSoar\___, Doktor DynaSoar Iridium, Scienfictiontologist
ll ll Yetii Genetii Research InstiToot, Somedamnwhere, VA
Clench of The One True Pipe Dream, ElectroChurch of the SubGenius
From cmcjp02@nt.com Sat Jan 17 01:09:28 1998
Newsgroups: alt.slack
Subject: Re: electricity
From: "Rev. Random the Other" <cmcjp02@nt.com>
Date: Sat, 17 Jan 1998 04:09:28 -0500
Sister Pammy of the Soil wrote:
>
> UnitIV@sputum.com (Doktor DynaSoar) wrote:
>
> >Dad sez:
> >
> >}>>YOU try going 7 days without it.
> >
> >
> >Pammy and Random?
> >
> >Yer on.
>
> Seven days without electricity? Seven days? How about thirteen years
> without indoor plumbing? Twelve years of heating with wood (until I
> hurt my back and couldn't carry wood for awhile). But we're fully
> wired, so we can make the loud music, you know?
I sure do miss the wood stove. This is the first winter without it.
Wimpy propane-fired airheater does not begin to create them pure,
radiant Slackwaves roaring off the stove, warming my hands from as
far as 30 feet away. And yes, we're fully wired NOW, but it was a lot
of fun that first year using the backpacking lantern or candles
as a primary source of light, acoustic music only. A few years
of drawing water from a hole in the ground four hundred feet
distant with a five gallon bucket, not having stove or fridge, just
the Hibachi on the porch.
Running a sears craftsman 2.5hp pump into that hole got us the luxury
of running water, warm water if the hose was left in the sun. We ran
cold water to the house after another year; STILL don't have hot water
at the faucet, but we now have a gas stovetop to take the place of our
woodstove to heat dishwater, or bathwater if we just don't feel like
a gardenhose shower. Of course, 29 days out of 30 I opt for the
gardenhose shower anyway. I got great pictures of showering outdoors
barefoot in a foot of snow last year at 22 degrees.
When hurricane Hugo blew through it was a call from my friend Gregory
in California that alerted us several days after the fact. The call
was surreal: "No, I hadn't noticed....You're RIGHT, the electricity is
off!...Four days ago?....Well that explains why the peach tree fell
over...Err, no, we don't own a TV or a radio..."
We were without electricity for four days and hadn't noticed.
> It does amaze me how people lose their sense of perspective about the
> difference between luxury and necessity. (This is not aimed at you,
> Dad. Maine in winter probably has a big three hours of sunlight. Ugh.)
> So which is the most necessary: electricity, or being able to enjoy
> darkness at night, seeing stars instead of streetlights? Do I need my
> rock and roll more than my earthy peace and quiet?
It surprises me not at all that people lose their perspective, with
the CONspiracy ever at work to convince people that they need
climate controlled homes, offices, and automobiles. The CON has got
this battle all but won, judging from how often I hear "Oh, I
couldn't LIVE without my TV". But the CON is insidious; it not only
fuels a sense of superiority in those who have the latest technology
(that's why the commercials often focus on self-esteem issues, on why
your life is lacking and how their product will make YOU a better
person) but provides the BLINDERS to keep you from recognising that
Slack that's all around you. The Slack that perhaps those other
people are soaking up. You're handed the easy comparisons and the
easy labels for those people and their ways. It is not a matter of
one ideological stance vs. another but of AWARENESS vs. AUTOMATION.
The CON tells you that it's safer with street lights, but doesn't
mention the Slack in walking out to the compost pile on a dark night,
unable to see six inches in front of yourself. The CON tells you to
come in out of the cold, but what about those weirdos in Cedar Grove
ROLLING NAKED IN THE SNOW? (Really gonna miss that woodstove this
year.)
I have no issue with those who do not WANT to roll naked in the snow;
what I have as a target here is how EASY the CON has made it to label
those po'buckras like Pammy and me so as to create a false sense of
assurance that we are MISSING OUT somehow. The words used are
usually full of negative connotation: Anti-technology, Natureburgers,
Hippies, revivalists, survivalists, sun worshipers, nutcases, kooks.
The CON wants you to do be happy, their way. It never mentions that
people living unconventionally often are doing it for Slack, that the
Slack of rolling naked in the snow is a far better thing than the
numb conformity of not wanting to upset the neighbors and so staying
indoors.
Ted Kaczynski mails a few bombs and is considered a dangerous
criminal; the fact that he lives without electricity or plumbing
makes him CRAZY. Hell, HE has REAL WOOD paneling, and while his
restroom facility is also a hole in the ground outside, it is MORE
CONVIENIENTLY SITUATED near the house. I don't see broken glass
panes or squirrel holes. HIS fire-pit is nicely stone-lined. I get
real nervous that the CON has decided he is crazy based on THAT place;
our place makes his look upscale. He doesn't even sleep in a
bed, just on a wood slab. Uh oh.(That's right, no matress/boxsprings)
The CONspiracy supplies all the illusions needed to keep subjugation
up to date. People who care about what everyone else thinks often
NEED to think that there IS NO SLACK, oh no, just being happy and
getting along is enough. If we ALL simply got along, look the same,
act the same, ARE the same...
It is easier for the CON to ignore them wierdos in Cedar Grove who
purposely created an immediate environment filled with scents and
colors of innumerable flowers (why should anyone want to work that
hard?), who play music (why so LOUD?), who roll in the snow (they'll
catch their death a cold!) and walk in the woods and play with the
snakes (it's dangerous!). But if it just can't ignore them wierdos,
it at least can label them as ANYTHING but Slackful, anything that
keeps one from thinking that one may have something in common with
'em, that keeps the focus on salient differences and keeps the focus
away from the possibility that the CON programming is not sufficient
to a satisfying life. As long as they keep spoon-feeding you the
Options, they keep you from noticing the Slack that's YOURS for the
taking; as long as they make ridicule an unquestioned response to
unconventionality, they make it unlikely that you will value
self-expression in yourself or in others.
> When I was in garden school in Santa Cruz we didn't have electricity
> at the farm on campus where we lived. It turned out to be one of the
> biggest lessons I learned living there: how to be a night creature. I
> took long walks at night, stargazed, listened to night sounds. My
> eyesight, strained by years of school, returned to 20/20, and I was
> able to get rid of my glasses. We lived in tents and teepees (no rain,
> no ticks, no chiggers and very few mosquitoes!). By mid-summer most of
> us had moved our bedrolls out into the field. I fell asleep in the
> grass, with friends snoozing nearby, and woke up with the daylight in
> my eyes. We cooked on a gas stove, had a gas refridgerator, cleaned
> the kitchen at night by the light of oil lamps. I had no doors, no
> locks or keys, very few possessions to possess me.
>
> Here at our farm Random and I could install plumbing, in fact we
> occasionally talk about the idea. But outdoor showers with the garden
> hose work for much of the year, and for the rest we do actually have a
> bathroom and tub. I just heat a kettle of water and take a "shower" in
> the tub. Easy. I feel richer, safer, and saner for knowing the measure
> of myself and what my "necessities" are.
Hee Hee - we built the "bathroom" as an addition onto the back porch
because a friend let us have a 5'x9' window and we really wanted that
window. Years of hauling water by the bucket (remember watering the
garden with rainwater off the roof?) have me still smiling at the
"luxury" whenever I turn on a spigot.
>
> When I went shopping a few years ago for a piano, the saleman showed
> me the Yamaha Clavinova. Digitally sampled grand piano sound, plus a
> ton of goodies like drums and stuff I could trigger. What a play toy!
> I left to think about it for awhile, but when I came back I bought the
> piano. I can play it even when the electricity goes out.
>
> How's that, Dyna?
>
> SPOTS--playing piano in the dark sounds cool!
Rev. Random the Other
Gription Mud Clench
"isn't it time YOU rolled naked in the snow?"
From snorts@erratix..com Sat Jan 17 05:29:55 1998
Newsgroups: alt.slack
Subject: Re: electricity
From: snorts@erratix..com (RevLurch)
Date: Sat, 17 Jan 1998 13:29:55 GMT
On Sat, 17 Jan 1998 06:15:13 GMT, nojunkmailtoxiccow@mindspring.com
(Sister Pammy of the Soil) wrote:
>UnitIV@sputum.com (Doktor DynaSoar) wrote:
>
>>Dad sez:
>>
>>}>>YOU try going 7 days without it.
>>
>>
>>Pammy and Random?
>>
>>Yer on.
>
>Seven days without electricity? Seven days? How about thirteen years
>without indoor plumbing? Twelve years of heating with wood (until I
>hurt my back and couldn't carry wood for awhile). But we're fully
>wired, so we can make the loud music, you know?
I still heat my shop with wood. Gotta do something with all the scrap.
Makes more sense to burn it than to pay to have it hauled off
>It does amaze me how people lose their sense of perspective about the
>difference between luxury and necessity. (This is not aimed at you,
>Dad. Maine in winter probably has a big three hours of sunlight. Ugh.)
>So which is the most necessary: electricity, or being able to enjoy
>darkness at night, seeing stars instead of streetlights? Do I need my
>rock and roll more than my earthy peace and quiet?
Yeah, I feel the same way, sorta. I just have to be able to run my
tools and such. People needing fixtures for a grand opening or
something aren't very understanding if you tell them you won't have
their stuff when you said you would because you got no power. In fact,
the one time I did, the guy said "Why don't you have a generator, you
asshole?" Didn't have a real good answer to that, so I got one.
But at the same time, I like either to have a lot of functioning
conveniences or absolutely nothing. I'll go out in the woods in the
wintertime and sleep in a debris hut for a week, but when I get back
it will piss me off if the Cuisinart malfunctions. I only like
roughing it when I get something out of it. Nothing to be gained by
hanging around a house fulla junk that don't work, at least for me.
>some snips>
>Here at our farm Random and I could install plumbing, in fact we
>occasionally talk about the idea. But outdoor showers with the garden
>hose work for much of the year, and for the rest we do actually have a
>bathroom and tub. I just heat a kettle of water and take a "shower" in
>the tub. Easy. I feel richer, safer, and saner for knowing the measure
>of myself and what my "necessities" are.
Okay. You win. I can't go that far. I gotta admit I like plumbing. No
matter where I was or what situation I was in (if I was gonna be there
any length of time) I'd try to rig something up, even if it was just a
bunch of rainfall cisterns and gravity-fed punched bamboo and pitch
piping or something. I understand how a measure of self-imposed
ascetism can make for a simpler, better and less stressful life, but
it just seems a lot of normally quick and easy tasks can become kinda
pointlesly time consuming if the position of the line between "wants"
and "needs" is not affected by some concessions to convenience.
I do business with a lot of Amish guys, and stayed with one for a
while when I was learning to steam-bend wood, and have seen first hand
how hard they are having to struggle to hold on to the best aspects of
their lifestyle, (which, I'll admit, goony religion aside, beats the
shit out of our ant-like consumerist frenzy) while allowing a
reasonable level of practicality, but for the most part, I think they
are pulling it off. But when faced with reducing the width of a rock
maple plank a half inch along it's entire length, it's hard for them
(and me) to justify dragging out granpappy's razor-sharp jointer plane
and spending an hour pushing it along the board in long,
soul-satisfying strokes, glorying in the aromatic shavings that litter
the workshop floor and the bench, instead of poking it through a
tablesaw. So they don't. They got lots of power tools. Me too. I think
it's okay to use the things that can make your life easier, as long
as you aren't ruled by them, and thier attainment doesn't become an
end in itself.
Not having TV's makes sense. So does not having cars (as long as you
can mooch one off a Mennonite when you really need one). It's nice to
have a horse that knows the way home when you are too shitfaced to
find the way yourself, anyway. Not having a phone is kinda dumb in
this day and age (and a lot of them have them. they just hide them in
outhouses and woodsheds so they don't catch any crap from the bishop).
But living close to the land, maintaining a reverence for it, looking
out for each other, enjoying fellowship and fresh air (even when
discreetly scented by the midsummer dispersal of pigshit), and
maintaining at least the capability for self-sufficiency are certainly
sensible practices, and it's depressing that the majority of us have
lost sight of the worth of them. But I don't think that availing
oneself of conveniences neccessarily precludes an appreciation of that
sort of lifestyle. I hope not. I can't cause something to be
uninvented by not using it. I know that much. May all be just
rationalization, but I think perception, and the way and to what a
person assigns value is more important than the way he or she manages
to get it into his or her life.
>When I went shopping a few years ago for a piano, the saleman showed
>me the Yamaha Clavinova. Digitally sampled grand piano sound, plus a
>ton of goodies like drums and stuff I could trigger. What a play toy!
>I left to think about it for awhile, but when I came back I bought the
>piano. I can play it even when the electricity goes out.
Well, you could rig up a pigpoop generator. Maybe do some small scale
hydroelectric stuff if you have a creek, or make a windmill that spins
an old alternator, store the current in car batteries and invert it.
But just blowing it off and keeping the piano is okay, too, I guess.
It's just so much fun to fritter with stuff. I dunno. Harmonicas are
good, too. And they don't need no jiuce either and they'll fit in your
pocket. But I can't play them and they got no moving PARTS so I don't
wanna mess with them. HONK.
I want some bagpipes. Do they make electric ones? With a fuzz pedal,
maybe? I could get one of them big foam-rubber cowboy hats and cover
it with solar panels and run 'em offa that and stand around in the sun
making distorted hogs-being-slaughtered noises during hangover hours
and pissing off all the neighbors till they start braying and throwing
their pitiful little phone books and threatening to pee thru the fence
and asking me if I don't at least know some REAL songs like countin'
flowers on the wall or something and I'd toot and BLAAAAAH!!! at 'em
and say fuck no!, cause I know I'd be to lazy to really learn how to
play the dam things. Har Har. That'd be a big hoot. Yep.
lurch
From user@domain.demon.co.uk Sat Jan 17 12:29:01 1998
Newsgroups: alt.slack
Subject: Re: electricity
From: user@domain.demon.co.uk (dode)
Date: Sat, 17 Jan 1998 20:29:01 GMT
On Sat, 17 Jan 1998 13:29:55 GMT, snorts@erratix..com
(RevLurch) wrote:
>
> I still heat my shop with wood. Gotta do something with all the scrap.
> Makes more sense to burn it than to pay to have it hauled off
>
My heating packed up just before christmas, I would sell my
soul (any offers, one careless owner limited karma warranty)
for a solid fuel stove and an open chimneys.
>
> Well, you could rig up a pigpoop generator. Maybe do some small scale
> hydroelectric stuff if you have a creek, or make a windmill that spins
> an old alternator, store the current in car batteries and invert it.
I lived a pretty idyllic island childhood for a time, no
electricity, no hot water, doing without all those things
that business men pay a fortune to do without on team
building courses. One old geezer had a nice windmill that he
used to charge car batteries, he had to collect his water
from a well, the weather blew straight through his house but
the old bastard always kept the windmill in good order all
he powered off it was an old black and white TV.
> I want some bagpipes. Do they make electric ones? With a fuzz pedal,
> maybe?
They do make electric bagpipes but only for old windbags who
can't blow hard enough to fill the wee tartan bag (I am sure
that it was originally part of a sheep). I haven't seen one
with a fuzz pedal though, I'm not sure you could
realistically expect to distort the sound of the bagpipes
and survive.
> I could get one of them big foam-rubber cowboy hats and cover
> it with solar panels and run 'em offa that and stand around in the sun
> making distorted hogs-being-slaughtered noises during hangover hours
> and pissing off all the neighbors till they start braying and throwing
> their pitiful little phone books and threatening to pee thru the fence
> and asking me if I don't at least know some REAL songs like countin'
> flowers on the wall or something and I'd toot and BLAAAAAH!!! at 'em
> and say fuck no!, cause I know I'd be to lazy to really learn how to
> play the dam things. Har Har. That'd be a big hoot. Yep.
>
I don't know what scares me more the bagpipes or the idea of
you in a solar powered cowboy hat. As for learning to play
the bagpipes don't worry about it. No one really plays them
they just skirl and whine out white noise, the audience only
hear what they expect to.
Doh'd
For email, user = dode, domain = dolmen.
homepage = http://www.dolmen.demon.co.uk
From nojunkmailtoxiccow@mindspring.com Sat Jan 17 23:41:14 1998
Newsgroups: alt.slack
Subject: Re: electricity
From: nojunkmailtoxiccow@mindspring.com (Sister Pammy of the Soil)
Date: Sun, 18 Jan 1998 07:41:14 GMT
snorts@erratix..com (RevLurch) wrote:
>On Sat, 17 Jan 1998 06:15:13 GMT, nojunkmailtoxiccow@mindspring.com
>(Sister Pammy of the Soil) wrote:
>
>>UnitIV@sputum.com (Doktor DynaSoar) wrote:
>>
>>>Dad sez:
>>>
>>>}>>YOU try going 7 days without it.
>>>
>>>
>>>Pammy and Random?
>>>
>>>Yer on.
>>
>>Seven days without electricity? Seven days? How about thirteen years
>>without indoor plumbing? Twelve years of heating with wood (until I
>>hurt my back and couldn't carry wood for awhile). But we're fully
>>wired, so we can make the loud music, you know?
>
>I still heat my shop with wood. Gotta do something with all the scrap.
>Makes more sense to burn it than to pay to have it hauled off
>
>
>>It does amaze me how people lose their sense of perspective about the
>>difference between luxury and necessity. (This is not aimed at you,
>>Dad. Maine in winter probably has a big three hours of sunlight. Ugh.)
>>So which is the most necessary: electricity, or being able to enjoy
>>darkness at night, seeing stars instead of streetlights? Do I need my
>>rock and roll more than my earthy peace and quiet?
>
>Yeah, I feel the same way, sorta. I just have to be able to run my
>tools and such. People needing fixtures for a grand opening or
>something aren't very understanding if you tell them you won't have
>their stuff when you said you would because you got no power. In fact,
>the one time I did, the guy said "Why don't you have a generator, you
>asshole?" Didn't have a real good answer to that, so I got one.
>
>But at the same time, I like either to have a lot of functioning
>conveniences or absolutely nothing. I'll go out in the woods in the
>wintertime and sleep in a debris hut for a week, but when I get back
>it will piss me off if the Cuisinart malfunctions. I only like
>roughing it when I get something out of it. Nothing to be gained by
>hanging around a house fulla junk that don't work, at least for me.
>
>>some snips>
>
>>Here at our farm Random and I could install plumbing, in fact we
>>occasionally talk about the idea. But outdoor showers with the garden
>>hose work for much of the year, and for the rest we do actually have a
>>bathroom and tub. I just heat a kettle of water and take a "shower" in
>>the tub. Easy. I feel richer, safer, and saner for knowing the measure
>>of myself and what my "necessities" are.
>
>Okay. You win. I can't go that far. I gotta admit I like plumbing. No
>matter where I was or what situation I was in (if I was gonna be there
>any length of time) I'd try to rig something up, even if it was just a
>bunch of rainfall cisterns and gravity-fed punched bamboo and pitch
>piping or something. I understand how a measure of self-imposed
>ascetism can make for a simpler, better and less stressful life, but
>it just seems a lot of normally quick and easy tasks can become kinda
>pointlesly time consuming if the position of the line between "wants"
>and "needs" is not affected by some concessions to convenience.
You are probably alot more patient with construction than I am. I love
hard work, like gardening, but anything that involves alot of right
angles drives me over the bend pretty fast.
I love convenience, too. It's just that I dug myself in pretty deep
with the garden. Do you know that feeling of having so much work to do
that, if you could stop and set up the conveniences, it would be
easier, but meanwhile there's too much work to do to take time out for
side projects, even really useful ones? That's where I was when I hurt
my back, loving my work but a bit overwhelmed. This recovery period
has been a useful evaluation time. When i get back to gardening I want
to make it easier!
>I do business with a lot of Amish guys, and stayed with one for a
>while when I was learning to steam-bend wood, and have seen first hand
>how hard they are having to struggle to hold on to the best aspects of
>their lifestyle, (which, I'll admit, goony religion aside, beats the
>shit out of our ant-like consumerist frenzy) while allowing a
>reasonable level of practicality, but for the most part, I think they
>are pulling it off. But when faced with reducing the width of a rock
>maple plank a half inch along it's entire length, it's hard for them
>(and me) to justify dragging out granpappy's razor-sharp jointer plane
>and spending an hour pushing it along the board in long,
>soul-satisfying strokes, glorying in the aromatic shavings that litter
>the workshop floor and the bench, instead of poking it through a
>tablesaw. So they don't. They got lots of power tools. Me too. I think
>it's okay to use the things that can make your life easier, as long
>as you aren't ruled by them, and thier attainment doesn't become an
>end in itself.
>
>Not having TV's makes sense. So does not having cars (as long as you
>can mooch one off a Mennonite when you really need one). It's nice to
>have a horse that knows the way home when you are too shitfaced to
>find the way yourself, anyway.
Do the Amish get shitfaced, really? My mom's Pa Dutch, so I've spent
alot of time up there. I sure admire the Mennonites I've met up there
for the good, hard work they do. It's not just the Amish and
Mennonites, though. My relatives still on the farm have a notion of a
good day's work that involves doing a good job, finishing it, cleaning
up their mess, and still being in the door at five o'clock for a hot
supper. They work hard.
Not having a phone is kinda dumb in
>this day and age (and a lot of them have them. they just hide them in
>outhouses and woodsheds so they don't catch any crap from the bishop).
>But living close to the land, maintaining a reverence for it, looking
>out for each other, enjoying fellowship and fresh air (even when
>discreetly scented by the midsummer dispersal of pigshit), and
>maintaining at least the capability for self-sufficiency are certainly
>sensible practices, and it's depressing that the majority of us have
>lost sight of the worth of them. But I don't think that availing
>oneself of conveniences neccessarily precludes an appreciation of that
>sort of lifestyle. I hope not. I can't cause something to be
>uninvented by not using it. I know that much. May all be just
>rationalization, but I think perception, and the way and to what a
>person assigns value is more important than the way he or she manages
>to get it into his or her life.
Good stuff, Lurch. Thanks.
SPOTS
"What we need, what we all need...money!"--Fetchin Bones
From snorts@erratix..com Sun Jan 18 02:34:57 1998
Newsgroups: alt.slack
Subject: Re: electricity
From: snorts@erratix..com (RevLurch)
Date: Sun, 18 Jan 1998 10:34:57 GMT
On Sun, 18 Jan 1998 07:41:14 GMT, nojunkmailtoxiccow@mindspring.com (Sister Pammy of the
Soil) wrote:
>snorts@erratix..com (RevLurch) wrote:
>
>>On Sat, 17 Jan 1998 06:15:13 GMT, nojunkmailtoxiccow@mindspring.com
>>(Sister Pammy of the Soil) wrote:
>>
>ascetism can make for a simpler, better and less stressful life, but
>>it just seems a lot of normally quick and easy tasks can become kinda
>>pointlesly time consuming if the position of the line between "wants"
>>and "needs" is not affected by some concessions to convenience.
>
>
>You are probably alot more patient with construction than I am. I love
>hard work, like gardening, but anything that involves alot of right
>angles drives me over the bend pretty fast.
I like rigging stuff up. Sometimes it even works when I get done
>I love convenience, too. It's just that I dug myself in pretty deep
>with the garden. Do you know that feeling of having so much work to do
>that, if you could stop and set up the conveniences, it would be
>easier, but meanwhile there's too much work to do to take time out for
>side projects, even really useful ones?
yeah. Woodwormers call that being too busy using the blades to sharpen them.
>That's where I was when I hurt
>my back, loving my work but a bit overwhelmed. This recovery period
>has been a useful evaluation time. When i get back to gardening I want
>to make it easier!
Yeah. I like to get the most stuff for the least effort. I'm more concerned with yield
than looks. I'd be in good shape if it weren't for the stinking trumpet vines that grow
two feet a day and grow back no matter how many times your rip them out by the roots.
Tractors are nice, but if your area is like mine, you probably can find someone to come
over once in a while and do what you need done. Getting yer teeth rattled out with a
rented roto-tiller is the shits.
>can mooch one off a Mennonite when you really need one). It's nice to
>>have a horse that knows the way home when you are too shitfaced to
>>find the way yourself, anyway.
>Do the Amish get shitfaced, really? My mom's Pa Dutch, so I've spent
>alot of time up there.
Yeah. I dunno if the religion prohibits it or not, but the guy I worked with liked a good
sized nip (or two) after a long day of bending wheel rims and pitching Percheron poop, and
I didn't get the impression he was the only one.
>I sure admire the Mennonites I've met up there
>for the good, hard work they do. It's not just the Amish and
>Mennonites, though. My relatives still on the farm have a notion of a
>good day's work that involves doing a good job, finishing it, cleaning
>up their mess, and still being in the door at five o'clock for a hot
>supper. They work hard.
Yeah. They do. I've really only I've crossed paths with them because they are about the
only people that make parts for buggy wheels. They know a lot about drying, choosing, and
working with wood, and their houses and barns don't blow down in a breath of wind like
the popsicle stick sapwood stud and oriented strand board sixteen penny formaldehyde
fuming chambers English builders toss up.
I still have never figured out why all the men have beards but none of them have
moustaches, though. Or why the women are usually half again as big as the men they are
married to. I was afraid to ask that stuff was rooted in religion as well.
>>rationalization, but I think perception, and the way and to what a
>>person assigns value is more important than the way he or she manages
>>to get it into his or her life.
>
>Good stuff, Lurch. Thanks.
really? Thank you. At least for not pointing out it was perhaps a tad fatuous and
long-winded, which it seemed to be to me, when I re-read it after getting my blood
caffiene up to normal operating levels.
live it up!
lurch
From fake@email.address.mil Sat Jan 17 06:39:37 1998
Newsgroups: alt.slack
Subject: Re: electricity
From: fake@email.address.mil (Rev. Matthew A. Carey)
Date: Sat, 17 Jan 1998 14:39:37 GMT
On Sat, 17 Jan 1998 06:15:13 GMT, nojunkmailtoxiccow@mindspring.com
(Sister Pammy of the Soil) wrote:
> Do I need my
>rock and roll more than my earthy peace and quiet?
>
> When I was in garden school in Santa Cruz we didn't have electricity
>at the farm on campus where we lived.
> We lived in tents and teepees
>. By mid-summer most of
>us had moved our bedrolls out into the field. I fell asleep in the
>grass, with friends snoozing nearby,
> I had no doors, no
>locks or keys, very few possessions to possess me.
>
>Here at our farm Random and I could install plumbing, in fact we
>occasionally talk about the idea. But outdoor showers with the garden
>hose work for much of the year,
> I just heat a kettle of water and take a "shower" in
>the tub.
Fine more emfs and meat food product for me.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Strange new text files at: http://www.humboldt1.com/~carey/text/
New cassette list at: http://www.humboldt1.com/~carey/tapes/
email is: carey(at)humboldt1.com
postal is: Matthew Carey
PO Box 594
Arcata, CA 95518
From charliec@cybernex.net Sat Jan 17 19:02:24 1998
Newsgroups: alt.slack
Subject: Re: electricity
From: TheCharlie <charliec@cybernex.net>
Date: Sun, 18 Jan 1998 03:02:24 GMT
Sister Pammy of the Soil wrote:
>
> When I went shopping a few years ago for a piano, the saleman showed
> me the Yamaha Clavinova. Digitally sampled grand piano sound, plus a
> ton of goodies like drums and stuff I could trigger. What a play toy!
> I left to think about it for awhile, but when I came back I bought the
> piano. I can play it even when the electricity goes out.
I went with the clavinova.. but didn't bother with the 'goodies'
cause I don't like most of them. (mostly wanted the grand piano
sounds and the Rhodes) I like it cause I can play it at ANY time
without bothering anyone.. even in the same room)
> SPOTS--playing piano in the dark sounds cool!
best way.. no visual distractions
From seester@earthling.net Fri Jan 16 15:25:54 1998
Newsgroups: alt.slack
Subject: Re: electricity
From: seester@earthling.net (Seester Rosa Gabriel)
Date: Fri, 16 Jan 1998 23:25:54 GMT
On Fri, 16 Jan 1998 17:57:17 GMT, snorts@erratix..com (RevLurch)
wrote:
>On Fri, 16 Jan 1998 06:08:47 -0500, mtownOsPAMend@earthlink.net
>(Michael Townsend) wrote:
>
>>YOU try going 7 days without it.
>
>I went longer than that a few years back, but I had an 2500 watt
>inverter and a bunch of car batteries. I have a big propane generator
>wired directly to the bus bars in my power box now, as well as a
>shitload of unwanted company whenever we have an outage, which we do,
>pretty often. I wish I'd never told anybody about it. When the juice
>goes out now, my scuzzy neighbors come rooting and snorfling and
>dropping broad hints and I'm usually not mean enough to send their
>sorry, unprepared asses back to their dark, cold shacks to jones over
>the sitcoms they can't watch.
Lurch, I'm shocked! I expected a story of buckshot and flamethrowing
as the city ants begged for your country ant salvation. Not even
*ONE* hound was released upon them? They got you now, Son.
Next time you need that End Times Condo they will already be there,
using your re-usable toilet paper and sending FEMA taxi's and pizza's
from your satellite communications etch-a-sketch. You'll be lucky if
they let you have a korner to nibble your dehydrated lamb shank.
You got to go over there right now and shoot 'em all in the head,
arrange them in a circle and point the evidence at the youngest boy.
I've come to know and love you as a Survivalist not a bleeding heart
socialist. Take back your power Underground Homeboy!
Seester Rosa
******************
http://exo.com/~area27/
From snorts@erratix..com Sat Jan 17 06:03:28 1998
Newsgroups: alt.slack
Subject: Re: electricity
From: snorts@erratix..com (RevLurch)
Date: Sat, 17 Jan 1998 14:03:28 GMT
On Fri, 16 Jan 1998 23:25:54 GMT, seester@earthling.net (Seester Rosa
Gabriel) wrote:
>>goes out now, my scuzzy neighbors come rooting and snorfling and
>>dropping broad hints and I'm usually not mean enough to send their
>>sorry, unprepared asses back to their dark, cold shacks to jones over
>>the sitcoms they can't watch.
>
>Lurch, I'm shocked! I expected a story of buckshot and flamethrowing
>as the city ants begged for your country ant salvation. Not even
>*ONE* hound was released upon them?
In the midst of a hound shortage here. They wanted some grits, and I
gave 'em some. They had bugs in 'em, and I didn't tell 'em. Does that
count?
> They got you now, Son.
>Next time you need that End Times Condo they will already be there,
>using your re-usable toilet paper and sending FEMA taxi's and pizza's
>from your satellite communications etch-a-sketch.
>You'll be lucky if
>they let you have a korner to nibble your dehydrated lamb shank.
>You got to go over there right now and shoot 'em all in the head,
>arrange them in a circle and point the evidence at the youngest boy.
>I've come to know and love you as a Survivalist not a bleeding heart
>socialist. Take back your power Underground Homeboy!
Hey, as soon as congres starts meeting in Diego Garcia and the
National Guard goes on a national Food Giant-looting spree, I'll
re-attach all the fishing line trips and bait the Malay Man-Traps with
Mars Bars and nudie books.
lurch
From felixxx@goodnet.com Sat Jan 17 17:06:54 1998
Newsgroups: alt.slack
Subject: Re: electricity
From: "Elvis J.R." <felixxx@goodnet.com>
Date: Sat, 17 Jan 1998 18:06:54 -0700
Michael Townsend wrote:
> YOU try going 7 days without it.
I'm now in sunny Phoenix, Arizona! And it sucks to be YOU! :)
--
Elvis J.R. current teenIdol of the ʸ cAbAl
home of darkElves, piXies, and other sillyBeasts.