your only weapon is your work

cannon_will @ 2009-06-08T12:14:00

2009-06-08T16:23:39Z

So, as an update....all of these fine ideas didn't just float away to some ethereal nether region of the internet.

My wife and i have reopened a general store in springfield, ky with a broad assortment of local goods including pottery, pickles and aviator hats.

sadly due to the time constraints of living up to my boasts my blogging has gotten whittled down to face book sized chunks, look up david zoller if you want any further updates, the store also has a fan page it's the valley hill store.

i hope all of you are well, and i miss the hell out of livejournal (sometimes)

Xanadu walkthrough #1

2005-10-27T03:39:01Z

approaching the entrance

inside the entrance

the first room

inside first room

looking right into office

inside office

veiw from office

looking right from office

entertainment center dome

living room

fountain in living room

tower in living room

central "tree" in living room

fire pit?

control tower at base of tree

curved bench circling around tree control tower

planter in corner of entertainment dome, by door to kitchen

entertainment center inside

actual entertinment center

sun room off of living room

front-ish door in living room

floor scape of living room

Start! milestones; when these notches are on our belt the whiskey's on us.

2005-09-18T21:50:33Z

1.) brochure made
2.) website made
3.) calendar made
4.) 501(c)3 status attained
5.) 1st grant gotten
6.) diesel vehicle attained and converted to run off grease
7.) 1st solar system up and running
8.) 1st garden planted
9.) 1st mention in paper
10.) PAZ conference
11.) 1st cob structure built
12.) library goes public
13.) $10,000 in bank account
14.) 1st piece of property purchased
15.) 50 folk directly involved

cannon_will @ 2005-09-07T15:08:00

2005-09-07T19:08:26Z

Dr. Tinkerpaw

2005-08-29T00:13:39Z

In the beginning, Beal says, “I had no more in mind of doing this than growing feathers.” But now, he proudly claims, “It’s the finest monstrosity this side of hell.”

By most accounts, Beal was born twenty miles up the coast from Cambria on June 26th, 1896. He was orphaned at age ten when his mother, a Klamath Indian, lost her life in the San Francisco earthquake. He never knew his father. After a series of orphanages and odd-jobs, he landed in vaudeville, performing with a one-legged bicyclist and a fearless stunt dog at the World’s Fair in Toronto during the 1920s. The climax of the act, as Beal explains it, occurred when he would feign heat prostration and fall spread-eagled on the ground, at which time the one-legged bicyclist, pedaling furiously, would aim his front tire directly between Beal’s twitching legs. Just a split-second before certain disaster, the bicyclist would execute an amazing tumble maneuver, flip the bicycle completely over Beal, and land safely on the other side. Beal says the trick never failed, although at the same time he admits he hasn’t fathered any children in his lifetime.

“If I could remember everything, I’d be a walking encyclopedia,” Beal says, whenever you broach a subject he doesn’t feel particularly interested in. Then he’ll wink one of his periwinkle blue eyes at you and say, “If only this old boar’s nest could talk….”, waving a gnarled hand about the dark and musty bedroom, “There’s so much history here.”

“Seeing is knowing,” is another phrase you’ll hear over and over again if you spend any time at all with Beal. “People see things the way they want to see them,” he bellows, shaking his crooked cane like Ahab going down with his whale, “They don’t see things in re-Al-ity.”

Beal has fought for the rights of the deer, raccoon, mountain lion, and the Monterey pine while the “Madame Rich Bitches” and “Doctors Stoopntakit” blithely go about building four-car garages and superfluous little stores upon which they insist on bestowing cutesy names like Sewtique or The Quiche Wagon.

A sign in his kitchen reads, “Every man deserves at least one good woman and one good dog in his life,” but Beal never married (“I’m a member of the Detergent Club: work fast and never leave a ring.”)

“I’m a big rebel,” Art Beal has said. “I’m the biggest revolutionist that ever put on a pair of shoes. I revolt against anything, everything, and even that. Whatever it is, I revolt against it….”

As our interview was ending, I spoke to him about the problems of bureaucracy and the generalized idiocy that has caused architect Warren Leopold to give up building houses. I noted that it would be impossible today to get away with building a structure like Nitt-Witt Ridge, even though professors of architecture from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have studied it with awe. Art agreed, saying, “You can’t do this anymore. You got to get a license, a permit, and be a damned engineer. A licensed engineer. It’s getting so you got to have a license to fart….”

cannon_will @ 2005-08-12T21:08:00

2005-08-13T02:04:46Z

>S.T.A.R.T!
* get website up
* finish mission statement
* halloween party benefit
>> get in touch with joey and verity
>> find a location
>>> 953
>>> LAVA
>>> aaron and haley new place
* benefit dinner
>> track down wendell berry
>> find out how to book the juggernaut jug band
>> find out if contra dancing still has live band
>> try to get unitarian church to donate space
* benefit calendar
>> pindown dates with nathan
>> call, aleve and david, scott scarborough and mandy's friends
>> get cristin schuler to put together coupons
>> lawernce folk went through p and l in denver and got 400 calendars for $700
and wound up making about $1000, charging $5-10
*stockyards land
>> get ahold of ivor-done
>>> what do the ownership rights look like?- home of the innocents, land will not be developed
>>> can trees be planted?
>>> can structures be built?
>> track down trees
*christmas wish list
*unwanted present donation
>> going to need a vehicle to pull this one off

>PAZ
*get website up
*finalize date

>ELSEWARE
*get website up
*get zine made
*compile addresses
* get contacts at DOT, school board, train yards, new albany and jeff

Xanadu walk through #3

2005-06-09T03:29:13Z

looking from living room into hallway leading to learning center

in hall way looking into learning center

the learning center

looking from learning center into master bedroom

master bed bubble headboard

looking from master bedroom into master bathroom with master bedroom entrance on right

master bathroom

waterfall leading into jacuzzi

blurry picture of sauna entrance

sauna sky light

sit down shower type thing

close up of sit down shower type do hickey

shower

toilet alcove

looking from master bathroom into office

example of drywalling to produce a flat ceiling

Xanadu guts inside office closet

looking into study area from office

desk alcove

looking up from study area into play area on second floor

study area leads back into main room, thus completing the tour of the ground floor

cannon_will @ 2005-06-07T12:55:00

2005-06-07T17:35:33Z

john eccles used the metaphor of a field of lamps to describe the workings of the human mind, with various lights going on and off to represent thought patterns.

it might be a good idea to apply this to the lamp mosaic idea.

rock gate park

2005-05-18T00:47:23Z

built by Edward Leedskalnin as a tribute to his unrequited love Agnes Scuffs, the coral castle could easily be called america's taj mahal.

ed worked entirely alone and mainley at night, no one ever witnessed the construction of the castle. when questioned about his methods ed ( who was 5 foot and weighed in at 100 pounds)would explain he was very familiar with the laws of weight and leverage. however. ed's library contained a number of books on egyptology and magnetism which has led many folk to the conclusion that there may have been a whole lot more than leverage at play in the creation of the coral castle.

ed published 5 pamphlets during his life,and they are available at the gift shop for folks whose finances are in better shape than mine.>

xanadu walk through #2

2005-05-16T23:54:19Z

kitchen panorama looking to the left after entering from living room and turning clockwise.

kitchen ceiling

view from kitchen green house

turning right from kitchen is the family room

and a storage room next to that, industrious squatters turned this one into a bathroom

view into the cieling of the storage room

stairs into the flooded basement

looking around corner of basement

back in living room looking at doorway to large un-named room

looking in from room

looking left in large room

looking right in large room

stair way in livingroom beneath tower

cannon_will @ 2005-05-16T17:32:00

2005-05-16T22:32:21Z

In the New Apothecary, they grind their grain in a coffee mill, brew in dairy tanks, ferment and mature in kegs. Each brew is a different style, and a variety of yeasts have been used.

from american gods

2005-05-16T22:07:07Z

" there are churches all across the states though"

in everytown. sometimes on everyblock. and about as significant, in this context, as dentists' offices. no, in the usa, people still get the call, or some of them, and they feel themselves being called to from the transcendental void,and they respond to it by building a model out of beer bottles of somewhere they have never visited, or by erecting a giantbat house in some part of the country that bats have traditionally declined to vist. roadside attractions: people feel themselve being pulled to places where, in other parts of the world they would recognize that part of themselves that is truly transcendant, and buy a hot dog and walk around, feeling satisfied on a level they cannot truly describe, and profoundly dissatisfied on a level beneath that"

Xanadu walkthrough #1

2005-05-06T17:51:12Z

kissimmee ripley's notes

2005-04-27T21:12:42Z

scrap art folk that are at every ripley's ....you should really find out who the artist is

don quixote mirror

two headed cow supplied by paul springer

janky fiji mermaid , " too much fish to eat, not enough woman to love"

jade rickshaw

dryer lint portrait by slater baron

lincoln in pennies by lionel perkowitz

toast mona lisa by tadahiko ogawa

>bill stead of oakland ca trained frogs
>robert charles heitman- button artist
>aretino spinnello died after paintin "the fall of the rebel angel" due to the fearsomeness of his painting of the devil
>bill black is a barber in st. louis that works in hair
*make wooden chain
>yamakasi- amatuer french stuntmen
*make nail porcupine
>jean rugibet of france swore his beloved church bells could drive off a storm, he ran up to them but while ringing the church tower was hit by lightning fusing rugibert to his bells. the storm did leave in short order though.

cannon_will @ 2005-04-20T08:21:00

2005-04-19T19:25:56Z

http://www.drmegavolt.com/

the incombustable!!!

2005-04-19T19:23:00Z

Chamouni was the celebrated "Russian Salamander," assuming the title of " The Incombustible." His great feat was to enter an oven with a raw leg of mutton, not retiring until the meat was well baked. This person eventually lost his life in the performance of this feat; his ashes were conveyed to his native town, where a monument was erected over them

Martinet, the so-called " French Salamander," was born in Havana. As a baker he had exposed himself from boyhood to very high temperatures, and he subsequently gave public exhibitions of his extraordinary ability to endure heat. He remained in an oven erected in the middle of the Gardens of Tivoli for fourteen minutes when the temperature in the oven was 338 gegrees F. His pulse on entering was 76 and on coming out 130. He often duplicated this feat before vast assemblages, though hardly ever attaining the same degree of temperature, the thermometer generally varying from 250 degrees F upward

wolpentinger

2005-04-19T19:18:21Z

The Wolpertinger, sometimes spelt Wolperdinger, is a curious creature. They are hybrid animals which live in the Bavarian countryside. They have the body of a small mammal, but with the feathered wings of a bird. Some sub-species have fangs and antlers. They're very shy and hardly ever seen in the wild.

paul springer

2005-04-19T19:15:10Z

indentSpringer has been collecting strange animals for 27 years, ever since he bought a 5-legged calf in Florida. Many of his animals are stuffed at "Ripley's" locations from Wisconsin Dells to Orlando.
indentSpringer no longer displays his odd animals at the State Fair, as he did in the 1970s and 1980s, but does buy and sell them. Farmers, animal dealers and veterinarians know of his interest, so when something strange is born, Springer gets a call.

we passed the places in the pasture where Springer has rigged hanging salt licks and fly-brushing curtains for the comfort of his cattle, we came to a place heavy with the smell of cinnamon.
indent"That's candy," he said, pointing to a 55-gallon drums filled with gummy cinnamon bears. "The cows and horses like it."
indentSpringer buys reject candy from a manufacturer in Milwaukee, and feeds it as treats.

Susan Lampert Smith writes about the people and places that make Wisconsin unique. Send her story ideas at ssmith@madison.com or care of the Wisconsin State Journal, Box 8058, Madison, Wis., 53708.

cannon_will @ 2005-04-01T21:14:00

2005-04-02T03:17:37Z

if i ever get around to making the big rickety computer setup of my dreams it'd be nive to have an enourmous lever of sorts to serves as the caps lock.

home?

2005-03-06T09:15:12Z

2 miles from highway 64. 6 miles from new harmony. right on the wabash.

Feature Name: New Baltimore

Feature Type: ppl

State: Indiana

County: Posey

County Population: 27061

County Housing Units: 11076

County Size: 408.5 Square Miles

Latitude: 38.17722

Longitude: -87.9175

Elevation: 375

irons in the fire

2005-03-02T22:17:35Z

1.) roadsidetech community and all affiliated research roadsidetech
A.) promote
a.)graphic
b.)xanadu page

2.) permaculture and roadside outline http://brkst.com/index.php/Narragonia
A.)plants need the most work

3.) existential narrative exploration http://brkst.com/index.php/Jack_tale
A.) find a way to turn the clock makers "precious" conversation into an
analysis of scheduling. at which point it can go into speed reading
and memorization.
B.) go much deeper into the wandering jew
a.) this is where you can play with sufi's and sexologists
b.) maybe tie in robbins' lost tribe

4.) rocking http://www.soundclick.com/bands/2/ahasverus.htm
A.) objects song with will
B.) life well lived song with sarah
C.) track down musicians in florida
D.) get garage band or some such program
a.) ask around
E.) get or make a microphone that'll work with the laptop
F.)learn about field recording techniques
http://www.loc.gov/folklife/fieldwk.html

5.) learn to yodel http://www.yodelcourse.com/

6.) storytelling as a revolutionary alternative to bands.
A.) find copy of jack tales
B.) work on turning conversations with strangers into plots
C.) read up on how to keep peoples attention

7.) owning a motorcycle
A.) get air pressure gauge
B.) get more wd40
C.) bend mirror
D.) figure out leaks
E.) get contact cleaner
F.) figure out horn

8.) becoming the consummate house guest
A.)cooking

B.)cleaning
a.) diy cleaning products

C.)craftin
a.)cornhusk dolls
b.)applehead dolls

D.)traditional etiquette

9.) learning esperanto http://pacujo.net/esperanto/course/
A.)write song/poem in esperanto

10.) going through the mit anthropology program http://ocw.mit.edu/OcwWeb/Global/all-courses.htm#Anthropology

11.) learn to facilitate well (yes, i know, it's the starhawk page. it's all i can find) http://www.starhawk.org/activism/trainer-resources/consensus.html

12.) engineer treasure hunt http://www.thefoolsparadise.com/masquerade/index.htm

13.) motorcycle as horse primitivism
A.) learn to make traditional riding tack
B.) learn to tan leather
C.) learn to make own shelter
D.) get better at foraging
a.)get wildlife identification books

14.) become more pattern oriented

cannon_will @ 2005-02-22T05:13:00

2005-02-22T10:14:03Z

hell yeah!! all them notes below no exists in a much more betterer fashion over at http://brkst.com/index.php/Permaculture

now i sleep

notes on permaculture

2005-02-21T05:02:50Z

mollison draws a distinction between an akido approach to your landscape and a karate one...i'm reasonably sure i know enough to follow this metaphor, but maybe further looking into akido is warranted.

site components; water, earth, landscape,climate, plants
social components; legal aids, people, culture, trade and finance
energy components; technologies, connections, structures, sources
abstract components; timing, data, ethics

if i get a website up and running the above would be a grand way of organizing.

work where it counts, plant a tree where it will survive, assist people who want to learn.

the garden is place between the home and the chicken pen, so that garden refuse is collected on the way to the chicken pen and chicken manure is easily shoveled onto the garden

the elements in a typical farm might include; house, green house, garden, chicken pens, water storage tank, compost pile, bee hives, nursery area and potting shed, woodlot, dam, aquaculture pond, windbreak, barn, tool shed, wood pile, guest house, pasture, hedgerow, worm beds etc...

it is best to start with the most important node of activity (house/ or nursery if a commercial venture)

permaculture analysis is broken down by; innate characteristics, basic needs and product/ output. this can serve as the second tier of the site.

anytime we stop the chicken from working naturally, we have to do work for it.
both work and pollution are the results of incorrectly designed systems.

a pond can be used for irrigation, watering livestock, aquatic crop, and fire control.

a dam wall functions as a road, a firebreak, and a bamboo production area

various plants work for; windbreak, privacy trellis, fire control, mulch, food, animal forage, fuel, erosion control, wildlife habitat, climatic buffer, soil conditioner etc....

to begin star a small species index for plants ( probably online already) keep track of; form, tolerances, uses

if divided into roadside/ homestead type arrangement the zone system of permaculture can work in such a way that the petting zoo/ livestock which would be in zone three can but up against the attraction.

zoning is determined by, frequency that you visit the element and how many times the element needs you to visit.

the golden rule is to develop the primary zone first, get it under control, then expand the edges.

zone 0 is the home or barn or village
zone 1 is the garden, work shops, green houses, propagation frames, small animals, fuels for houses, compost, mulch, clothesline and grain drying. large animals and tons of large trees are generally bad ideas, but small and frequently visited trees are fine
zone 2, is still intensively maintained with dense plantings, structures include terraces, hedges, trellis, ponds. there are a few large trees with complex herb layer and understory, especially small fruits. plant and animal species that require care and observation are here, and water is fully reticulated. poultry is used strategically, and the might even be a milk cow.
zone3 unpruned and unmulched orchards, large pastures and ranges for larger animals and main crops. water is available to only some plants although there are watering areas for animals. plants include windbreaks, thickets, woodlots and large trees such as nut and oak for animal forage.
zone4 is semi managed semi-wild used for gathering, hardy foods, unpruned trees and wildlife and Forest management. also timber harvesting.
zone5is unmanaged or barely managed. no design in this are. here you observe and learn.

each zone is to broken down into; main design for.., establishment of plants, pruning of trees, selection of trees and plants, water provision, structures.

consider the following in linking two sites; access, water and energy supply, sewage, fencing connections.

when mapping out sectors factor; fire danger, cold/ damaging winds, hot/salty/dusty winds, screening unwanted views, winter and summer sun angles, reflection from ponds, flood prone areas

a factor left unplanned is the high slope road access, such a road can provide drainage for higher damns

slatted floors in animal sheds allow easy access to manure

once analysis is completed you should be aware that something is happening for three reasons; site resources, external energies and slope/elevation

carefully use what is available, use it for the best possible reasons, and develop more sound alternatives as soon as possible.

allelopathic plants suppress weed growth

cannon_will @ 2005-02-12T15:59:00

2005-02-12T22:08:43Z

First, you want to stretch the general area by doing the basic "push the wall stretch". Place your hands on the wall about shoulder height, step back with the leg you want to stretch (not too far, just far enough to feel the stretch) exhale into the stretch while keeping your heel in contact with the ground and back leg straight. Think about driving your hips forward while keeping the heel in contact with the floor. Hold until you feel the area relax into the stretch (10-20 sec). Do the other foot. Then work on the lower calf. This stretch is much like the above except you do not step as far back, and you bend the knee on the stretching leg. You should feel the stretch in the lower part of the calf/achilles area. Repeat on other leg. There are lots of variations, but give these a try first.

Adho Mukha Shvanasana - Downward Facing Dog
This offers just about the best overall stretch and is good after nearly any exercise routine. It stretches out your calves, your hamstrings, opens your shoulders, stretches your spine and refreshes you. If you're in a real hurry, Down Dog can take the place of several stretches (although it works best as an enhancer). Take a number of deep breaths while you are in the pose and notice where your muscles are the tightest. Send your energy there to get them relaxed. Don't do this pose, however, if you are a woman who is menstruating, if you have wrist pain such as carpal tunnel syndrome, or (of course) if your doctor advises you against it.
Uttanasana - Forward Bend
This soothing pose stretches out your back and feels especially great after a run, or after any activity in which you've been upright for a long period of time. Post-workout, however, is not the time to see how close you can get your head to your shins. Use Forward Bend here as a releasing pose - allow yourself to bend your knees and just hang. There is a modification that is excellent for this kind of stretching called Rag Doll. You can either let your arms hang or clasp your elbows. Breathe. Breathe some more. If your back is bothersome, stand a couple of feet away from a sturdy chair and drape your elbows over the back of it.
Malasana - Garland Pose
Here is a pose that opens up the hip joints, groin area, and ankle joints. As the link mentions, Malasana is good for the back pains suffered by menstruating women, but it also eases back aches for both men and women who are runners or who use their legs quite a bit. While this variation shows the model bending forward, you can also remain upright, like you're playing leap frog (this pose is sometimes called Frog). Either hold your hands in prayer position with your elbows at the inside of your knees, pushing your legs open, or if you need to balance, put your fingertips on the floor between your feet. It's okay if your heels don't touch the floor - prop them up on wooden blocks if you feel the need. Remember that your feet should point outwards at a slight angle. This gentle squat is especially nice after any athletic activity.
Jathara Parivartanasana - Lying Spinal Twist
One of the most relaxing methods of releasing your back is through this pose. While the Sitting Spinal Twist is more active, the Lying Spinal Twist uses gravity to accomplish the stretch. As in all yoga postures, remember to breathe. Here the rhythm of your breathing should match your movements, as the instructions explain.
Mudhasana - Child's Pose
Not only is this a great way to end your stretching session, it can be done any time you want to take a break from the day's pressures. There's something very calming about this fetal-like pose. Just lie there in one of the two variations - with your arms stretched out, you will get a bit of a shoulder stretch; your hands by your side is the more meditative pose - and breathe fully, filling your abdomen in the same way a baby breathes. This pose is another gentle back release.

cannon_will @ 2005-02-09T13:42:00

2005-02-09T18:47:13Z

Contrary to contemporary opinions, the Hodag is neither indigenous to West Virginia or to caves. The first known hodag (Bovinus spiritualis) was captured near the end of the 19th century near Rhinelander, Wisconsin by one Eugene S. Sheppard and two companions.

Evidently Sheppard, a former forester, was attracted by the hodag's odor at the headwaters of Rice Creek in Oneida County, where he was able to trail a Black Hodag to the cave in which it lived. The cave entrance was then blocked with large blocks, leaving only a small hole through which was passed a sponge soaked in chloroform on one end of a long pole. The hodag was rendered unconscious, captured, and transported to Rhinelander, where it was subjected to public viewing for a small nominal fee.

The Black Hodag had "the head of a bull, the grinning face of a giant man, thick short legs set off by huge claws, the back of a dinosaur, and a long tail with a spear at the end." It lived in the dense regions of nearby swamps, feasting mostly on mud turtles, water snakes, and muskrats, although it did partake in an occasional human. The beast had the transmigrated soul of one of Paul Bunyan's oxen and a very obnoxious odor. This odor was so rank that the residents of Oneida County burned their woods for seven years in an effort to be rid of the beast.

Mr. Sheppard was also able to catch a female hodag after noticing that hodags only slept by leaning against trees. He simply cut down the tree, capturing the hodag. The two were successfully bred, and the result was thirteen eggs, all of which hatched. Sheppard taught these hodags a number of tricks, which he hoped to show for a profit.

It should be noted that although the Rhinelander Daily News "advanced the theory that the hodag was a missing link between 'the ichthyosaurus and the mylodoan' of the ice age," some disbelievers proclaimed that the hodag was simply a large dog that had been covered with a horse hide and displayed in poor lighting. These people further claimed that the word hodag was a combination of the words "horse" and "dog." However, as any student of Latin knows, Bovinus spiritualis means drunken ox, which can certainly not be confused with any dog in a horse hide.

There are postcards of the hodag available in Rhinelander. It is the author's belief that the hodag may have migrated to West Virginia with the extensive logging in the 1900's and, after finding a lack of swamps, which are usually found only on flat land, the hodag had to resort to living in caves. There are no early reports of a hodag with one leg longer than the other, so this may be a recent adaptation to living underground. One can only speculate if the hodag sleeps only by leaning against a speleothem.