Miss Snail Pail

Living Sea Sculpture Deploys

2012-02-13T07:58:00.001-08:00

There's a sculpture in Cancun, Mexico, that we made this past summer. It will become a Living Sea Sculpture coral refuge to support biodiverse marine organisms and help the economy embrace new forms of ecotourism that are more environmentally holistic and encompassing in their approach to business.

Inspired by DNA, the 15'x9'x6' steel sculpture is ready to be deployed into the underwater museum in the National Marine Park. It will be the first Biorock® sculpture to join the museum, MUSA, known for its cement castings by underwater sculptor, Jason deCaires Taylor. The intention of the museum is to give neighboring natural reefs a break from tourists and to inspire links between art, environmental science, and local economies.

Biorock® is unique in its ability to electrolytically raise the pH and precipitate Calcium Carbonate and Magnesium Hydroxide (limestone) depositions onto metal, amplifying exoskeleton resources for corals suffering from environmental stressors such as climate change, pollution and ocean acidification.

Once again we have turned to crowd-sourcing through kickstarter to raise awareness and fund the deployment of LSS:
From the Shore to the Seafloor: Living Sea Sculpture deploys
http://kck.st/vZ4GIk
Thanks to a successful campaign last year, we were able to create this bioremediative artwork. Due to a contract hitch that stopped installation in July, we are now regrouping to return this May. WE HAVE TO GET IT INTO THE WATER! (it rusts on land, it thrives in the sea:)

We have 30 days to meet our $35,000 goal. I am reaching out to share this project and ask you to help us return to complete our coral refuge by spreading the word and/or making a pledge. Thanks to our non-profit partners, The Global Coral Reef Alliance, all donations are tax-deductible.

There is a Living Sea Sculpture Facebook page with updates on the LSS project, coral, and related creative art/sci/action intersections.
http://www.facebook.com/LivingSeaSculpture
Most of you know, but for those of you who do not, the simple act of "liking" our page is a hugely valuable social media contribution. Thank you for your "likes" and posts.

If you tweet, you can follow @livingseasculpt. Your tweets and RT's are very helpful.

People from all over have reached out to say they care and wish to help this work succeed. We even have a song written for and inspired by this project as one of our rewards for supporting LSS. Julie and Aaron are waiting to release "Cancun Kiss" until our campaign is over on March 14th.
There are lots of creative rewards; as a maker, it feels good to be able to offer something hand-made and tangible in exchange for donations. One person asked me the other day, "Isn't helping coral reward enough?" Up to the backers! I'm happy either way.
We will be thrilled to be able to install this life supporting habitat and watch it grow!

THANK YOU!
Colleen, Amphitrite, and the LSS Team

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[tedfellows] TED Fellows go old school for new ideas

2011-11-27T10:08:00.001-08:00

awesome!!

On Nov 27, 2011, at 9:02 AM, TED Fellows wrote:

--- Reply above this line to comment on this post ---

TED Fellows go old school for new ideas

Posted by eric berlow to TED Fellows

In the spirit of the TED Fellows program mission to help “trailblazers spread world-changing ideas”, the second annual "Think Weird Go Big" workshop hosted 7 TED fellows to turn their creative visions into big realities. In an era of social media and a preponderance of virtual interaction, the Think Weird Go Big (TWGB) workshops, organized by and for TED Fellows, focus on the unique value of real human interaction for interdisciplinary cross-pollination. Set at the Swall Institute near Yosemite National Park, the workshop blends focused round-table discussions, group cooking, and kinetic dialogue during hiking sessions along the pristine landscape of the Sierra Nevada. The intimacy, play, and traditional face-to-face discourse fosters collaborations and deeper understandings that would otherwise be impossible. Below is a summary of the group’s diverse visions for the future:

2011 Attendees
Eric Berlow
Anita Doron
Jessica Green
David Gurman
Adam Huggins
Iyeoka Okoawo
Camilo Rodriguez-Beltran

IDEA
In "Talk Derby to Me" a scientist and two filmmakers will look at what the human microbiome can teach us about being human. Through the film, a roller derby team will take us from the macro to the micro, into worlds that have rarely, if ever been seen before. What unites us and evens our collective playing field may be the smallest, and most unexpected elements living in and on our bodies.
REASON
A new scientific field is emerging that has the potential to radically shift our perception of humanity. Our bodies contain 10 times more microbial cells than human cells, and 100 times more microbial genes than human genes. We are thus a complex system comprised of multiple organisms - a 'supraorganism' - and the interactions among our human and microbial components is crucial to our health and well being. Despite the importance of our microbiota, it is commonly assumed that sharing microbes through human contact is bad. We will address misunderstandings about the human microbiome by telling a story centered on human connections that the audience feels. We will take a visceral, emotional approach to illuminate a timely and peculiar issue which has a global impact. Roller derby is the fastest growing sport in the U.S. and a radical platform for capturing public attention on issues surrounding human contact and the human microbiome.
ANITA
When I was 15, I was almost sold into marriage for 200 sheep in remote Uzbekistan. If I were sold, I'd be living in the mountains of Tien Shain. I'd be making cheese and knitting wool sweaters. I'd be reading a lot of Russian literature and riding a dirt bike. But my father didn't know how to fit 200 sheep in the airplane. Now I live all over the world with my husband Adam and our little son Tian. Sometimes we eat cheese and I don't like wool sweaters. We make films, tell stories and once rode a Yamaha RX135 in North-West India but it broke down after a while.
ADAM
With a keen attention to detail and deep-rooted passion for finding out what is true, I work to pinpoint the essence of contemporary issues using the most effective means of storytelling to present my vision in compelling ways that maximize understanding by connecting with the emotional while engaging the intellectual. I have covered assignments for The New York Times since 2006 and my photographic work has been exhibited around the world in venues which include Le Centre Pompidou (Paris), La Triennale di Milano, and the Shanghai Art Museum. I also trained as a competitive figure skater for over a decade.
JESSICA
As Director of the Biology and Built Environment Center and Professor at the University of Oregon and the Santa Fe Institute, I have explored microbial biodiversity across the surface of the Earth - from buildings to oceans to forests. I skated for three years on the Emerald City Roller Girls and have long envisioned using roller derby as a tool to convey ideas about microbial science.

IDEA
We want to help people map and visualize the structure of complex problems to find powerful leverage points for social and environmental good. As an Ecologist/Complexity Scientist and Designer/Data Artist we are developing an open source platform that maps expert knowledge and perception to view the hidden influence structure underlying problems from climate change to middle eastern conflict.
REASON
We are just beginning to recognize the depth of our interconnectedness – and the degree to which solutions to the world’s problems are complex and tightly interwoven. At this critical juncture, now more than ever, we need tools that enable collective problem solving and allow cross-cutting solutions to emerge from a sea of data.
ERIC
I am an Ecologist, Complexity Scientist and founder of TRU NORTH Labs. For the past 20 years I have been investigating the order underlying nature’s complexity. I apply ecological thinking and complexity theory to help find leverage points in complex problems for social and environmental good.
DAVID
I am a Designer, Artist, and co-founder of Brainvise: a team of Artists, Designers, Programmers and Strategists. Brainvise delivers elegant solutions to complex visual problems, from Apps to Art. Brainvise's mission is to help people create resonant, creative expressions for their world-changing visions.

IDEA
"Lyrics For Literacy" is a project that creates a bridge of awareness to encourage the preservation of the Esan language - an endangered native dialect of the Edo State in Nigeria - through storytelling, proverbs and music.
The curriculum works to energize and promote language history through folk song preservation. The purpose of this music and language integration is to develop an appreciation for Esan history, philosophy, and their relationship to the present day natural sciences, while fostering a deeper understanding of the past and present generations of Edo Speaking people.
"When Women Were Drummers" is the featured presentation and audience-interactive performance, delivering native folk songs, proverbs and wisdom from Esan elders, weaving a diverse tapestry of African and Western language with songs and modern poetry.
In the area of language preservation there is a wide range of research to be done. Lyrics for Literacy is born from a need to promote opportunities for alternative methods of learning and exploring oral languages, as well as to further develop the skills of underprivileged communities in standard English with aid from music lyrics.
REASON
Words of wisdom from Esan historian Dr. Okogie C. G. states that language is not only a vehicle through which a people's culture can be expressed, but also a medium of ones imagination, creativity, aspirations and sacred capacity. There is a global interconnecting current responding to our needs to communicate with one another.
IYEOKA
My name is Iyeoka. I was named after my grandmother. The native Esan oral translation of my name is, "I am not a female to be insulted. I am one to be fully honored." In the Yoruba oral translation, my name means "mother who speaks the word." I am fascinated by the subtle influence of the spoken language and our potential access to the bounty of translation and meaning. My name and my journey synergistically encourages me to share the story of the Esan people.

IDEA
A network of self-sustained, locally built, and energy autonomous, centers set up in diverse communities of the globe that participate in the development and standardization of novel scientific methodologies in each community. These ¨nodes¨ will act as observatory platforms that track indicators of global changes, while focusing on community empowerment through the generation of knowledge at the local level. They will also serve as cultural and artistic shelters for exchanges and performances.
REASON
As a global snapshot, only a very few clusters in the world are considered to be participating in modern knowledge generation and technological development. This means that most societies (particularly those in developing regions) are only applying and not generating scientific knowledge. However, global challenges are culminating and necessitate a paradigm shift on the role of experts. Participatory and community-based initiatives for knowledge generation is a way to understand (and take action) on most of global challenges because not only does it provide billions of eyes and potential new ideas, but it opens new ground for democracy.
CAMILO
I'm a biochemist, an engineer, a filmmaker and an urban art gallerist. After working for 7 years in institutionalized research academia, I currently live a nomadic life with projects that relate to the demystification of science and art. My projects are based in the Basque Country, West Africa, Philippines, Solomons Islands and Chile. I usually work on projects and give lectures about molecular biology, critical views of technological transfer, urban and public art, and participative innovation and co-creation.
Special Thanks to our supporters:
* Peggy Bauhaus and Raymond Neutra
* Robert Atlee
* Quid

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Posted via email from TED Fellows

Living Sea Sculpture- MUSA Cancun, Mexico

2011-07-22T16:48:00.001-07:00

kickstarter Living Sea Sculpture
Update #9: Progress in Cancun

What a full-tilt adventure! We completed the land-build of Living Sea Sculpture. No less than 14 anchors to hold it to the seafloor once installed. Plans to deploy and wire the electrical are delayed due to further contracts that emerged in the final hours. Without power to catalyze a protective layer of minerals, the steel will rust and dissolve into the sea, so LSS is being stored until final clearance. Grateful we had such a resourceful team and collaborators to reach this milestone.
(getting to Puerto Cancun)

Pablo Pantoja located the site with me and was my local liaison/daily ally. (Better not begin listing all the huge support of the people in Mexico, never get through!! special thanks are at the bottom:)
Wendy Thompson and Terra Nyssa did a fish survey to observe environmental impact of the project; will fish and others quickly populate the sculpture once it is in place? Lots of rain and murky waters almost prevented them from snorkeling the site, but luckily the sun and ocean gave them one bright calm day.

Mike Gerzevitz captured some great interviews and footage of the making (as well as participated in the making). Here's a little timelapse for you:

Thomas Sarkisian helped immensely with forming the metal by hand, body and foot; and with Tom Goreau, prepared the power supply for phase 2--deploy. Will have to bring Thomas back over from Thailand to calibrate and install his BOLPS (Biorock On Land Power Supply prototype 3). Hope to return for phase 2 very soon! Hurricane season is stirring up, so we aim to process the paperwork and see what the weather holds.

Below is a photo tour of phase 1: making the DNA helices

the working model (12:1 scale) {photo by Clay Connally http://cscpictures.com/}

assessing the first workshop

setting up "open air studio" locating supplies and team...

at least 15 iguanas were studying the process.

we moved to Todo Inoxidable (stainless steel factory)

a roof to protect from the erratic downpours and intense sun.

access to tools and metalworkers.

see that smooth floor?? priceless! Mike's cutting away extra steel...

placing the expanded mesh, spot welding and cutting away the excess.

Joel Lopez is a master electrode welder. Fredy Ulloa de la Rosa is watching

Pablo protects his eyes with a common welder's mask--the hand.

Thomas and the team truly muscled that metal with grace and grimaces

we thought we were going to install the next day, alas...

the ship is there, but we have a contract to clear.

imagine corals and fish coming to bring this to life

in the waters of Punta Nizuc's tropical AquaFresh blue--that is the future 15 feet down.

(photos by Mike Gerzevitz http://mikegerz.com/Home.html
and Colleen Flanigan colleenflanigan.com)

For more from Dr. Tom Goreau about Biorock® and his take on Climate Change:

http://wn.co/OneClimate_interview_with_Coral_Reef_Expert_Thomas_Goreau_at_COP15_in_Copenhagen__1

And Sylvia Earle about the Coral Reefs--Rainforests of the Sea:

http://wn.com/Rainforest_Alliance_Coral_Reefs__Rainforests_of_the_Ocean

special thanks to Marcia de La Pena and Leif, Pablo Pantoja, Fredy Ulloa de La Rosa, Joel Lopez, Jason deCaires Taylor, Roberto Diaz, Mario and Enrique Chacon, Jaime Gonzales, Alain Ibanes, Todo Inoxidable - Guillermo, Suzie, and Jose Luis, Diego Gioseffi, Jorge Luis, Fernando, Lorenzo Guerrero, Kevin Watt, Karen Salinas, Rodrigo, Salvador, the staff of Aquaworld and Marenter, and of course, MUSA!...the long list continues of people who have offered creativity, skill, friendship, strength, and resources in Mexico.

See the full gallery on Posterous

Posted via email from TED Fellows

black snails...red ones

2011-05-09T14:48:00.000-07:00

This morning I went for a run in Forest Park. I came upon a snail with a beautiful orangey hue in its body. The rust-like color was permeating its shell. It reminded me of a sunset. I plucked it and set it in the grass to the side of the trail. I wanted to keep it as a pet. i know, why?? but sometimes the uniqueness catches my eye; just as the birds keep pulling at all the wire on this snail above that sits on my front porch trying to find the "shiny" for their nests, I am easily mesmerized by unusual snails.
While in SF in December, snails with white shells and black bodies were up in Bernal Heights. New variety to me. Not sure I want to eat them..would need to speak with a mallacologist to make sure they are edible. Happy they appeared.
If you find yourself reading this, thank you and have a day filled with whatever you love.

photo by Nancy Peach. steel snail by me. wire woven by the kids at the Discovery Museum in San Jose, CA.

only 9 days - Living Sea Sculpture update

2011-04-03T00:36:00.001-07:00

Dear Friends,

10 days!
now 9...

My 90 days with kickstarter are coming to an end soon! We have $3,000 to go to meet our goal of $15,000 for Living Sea Sculpture--Contemporary Art as Coral Refuge or will not receive any of the money raised. To find out about the project in detail and donate:
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/958753974/living-sea-sculpture-contemporary-art-as-coral-ref

my favorite cultural blogger, Maria Popova of Brain Pickings, featured the project this week:

http://www.brainpickings.org/index.php/2011/03/30/colleen-flanigan-underwater-biorock/

The Atlantic grabbed it:

http://www.theatlantic.com/life/archive/2011/03/underwater-sculptures-help-save-the-worlds-oceans/73269/

Much has been happening to get ready for this project in Mexico:

Artist and MUSA curator, Jason deCaires Taylor, has located a site for the sculpture near 4 of his pieces in a highly visited snorkel zone. Just got the green light from Club Med in Cancun for our electrical source today. The tidal turbine is still in the works for future projects. This small budget won't cover it this time, yet thanks to many backers, I've been getting suggestions about additional funding resources. Some of the grants are large enough that it could allow us to prototype a turbine and install another refuge.. to keep the momentum for more living sea sculptures.

Wonderfully talented people are joining in: Mike Gerzevitz has offered to come to Mexico and document some of the project. Margaret Andres has offered her editing skills. Thomas Goreau, Thomas Sarkisian, Brent Hartwig, Carey Robson, have been consulting and working on energy designs to ensure most efficient and affordable methods. I recently met with Diego Gioseffi, president of the non-profit, www.submerge.org, to discuss possible collaborations here in Portland and in Mexico this summer. They have a workshop scheduled for July 2nd-July19th in Playa del Carmen; timing may be perfect for kids in Mexico to join us in Cancun to replant coral on the sculpture, take underwater photos, and learn about reefs.

On March 25th, the Biorock simulation and Gossamer Crocheted Community Reef came down from the display at Knit Purl. It had been there since January 5th. LOTS of people walked by, saw the art and watched pieces of the movie, "Reef Reborn." Thanks to Clay Connally, the movie was looping for the entire 2 months and 3 weeks. Right in front of a busy intersection and bus stop, the installation was very public. Every time I was near, I saw someone peering at the screen; even overheard someone who "lives" by that window say, "It's about corals." nice:)

Some people plan to come down to help with the coral planting. lovely! I met Wendy Thompson at the "Wild and Scenic Film Festival" in Nevada City this Jan. when they were screening "On the Trail with Miss Snail Pail." She immediately offered to get involved. She has worked with Sylvia Earle and facilitated coral reef research in Belize, specializing in fish and invertebrate species abundance trends and coral identification.

The small Biorock® experiment at Sea Horse Aquarium Supply, here in Portland, OR, is beginning to accrete:

sooo, lots of good progress! Just a few thousand $$ to go. Please contribute whatever you can.
Any outreach you can do in these final days: post, tweet, publish, email, ask... THANK YOU!
This is my first attempt to raise so much money. I'm on a limb and keeping the faith. For those of you not familar with kickstarter, please check out the site; it has helped so many creative projects take off and backers receive unique "rewards."

As the hourglass trickles out, please give one final shout for the coral refuge!!

Here are a few photos I took of the Gossamer Community Crocheted Reef and Biorock Simulation installation at KnitPurl. Special thanks to Sandy Barnes, Elle Moody, and Tess Stevens for that opportunity!

thank you and best wishes!
Colleen

colleenflanigan.com
TED Senior Fellow

Posted via email from Biorock Around the Globe

coral refuge update #3

2011-03-20T20:12:00.001-07:00

Below is the update from my kickstarter that automatically goes to all the supporters of the project.

Excited to share the latest developments with you too.

22days to go!!!

Update #3 posted about 4 hours ago

Yes, 22 is my favorite number and that is how many days left to raise the final $5,700.

Thank you for backing and getting the word out, for sharing your knowledge and suggestions. Some exciting news: Mike Gerzevitz has offered to come to Mexico and document some of the project. Margaret Andres has offered her editing skills. Thomas Goreau, Brent Hartwig, Carey Robson, and Thomas Sarkisian are working on energy designs to ensure most efficient and affordable methods. I recently met with Diego Gioseffi, president of the non-profit, www.submerge.org, to discuss possible collaborations here in Portland and in Mexico this summer. They have a workshop scheduled for July 2nd-July19th in Playa del Carmen; timing may be perfect for kids in Mexico to join us in Cancun to replant coral on the sculpture, take underwater photos, and learn about reefs. That would be fantastic!

Through this kickstarter, I've met Julyo Espinoza in Mexico City. He works with coral importation into Mexico, among other biological research, and has a deep, poetic affinity for protecting and restoring their habitat:

"Some people think corals are like strange pretty rocks, some other that they are like oceanic grass where you can walk without concerns while diving, but when you watch this "rocks" moving, contracting, eating... god, it's shocking! Lonely glutton polyps or huge colonies, fighting against predators or against other colonies... I really admired them. Colonies as old as entire civilizations, as important as rainforests, but as fragile as leaves..."

Spending time at Sea Horse Aquarium, I see the slimy strands of fighting corals, the growing polyps and their sensitive nature. I also see how resilient they are when given the right environment that Woody and Tracie, plus the other volunteers, provide for them.

The Biorock in tank experiment is finally accreting!! we kept shifting small variables and wondering what was the hang up? the power source and anodes needed some tweaking...now we have 2.2 volts running with 2 amps and, not sure, but possibly the luck of the Irish helped save the day;) On March 17th, St. Patrick's Day, some fine white coating and big bubbles (in photo below) appeared. {note: It was also 2 Irish friends' birthdays and I did attend a potluck potato party...}

In all seriousness, I need to reach more backers! Please continue to support any way you can. tell people, post to your facebooks, tweet, publish, email...

Special opportunity: if you know of houses for sale ($50,000-$150,000) in Clark County (Vancouver, WA), please let me know. Someone is ready to buy the "Biorocker" and contribute $5000 if he can find a suitable house in that area to buy and renovate. Finding that house to restore for human habitation could be the final pledge towards creating this new coral colony!

thank you!!!

for more about Living Sea Sculpture: contemporary art as coral refuge, http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/958753974/living-sea-sculpture-contemporary-art-as-coral-ref

See the full gallery on Posterous

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AskNature of Biomimicry Inst. seeks Digital Design Strategist

2011-03-08T12:03:00.001-08:00

While at TED, this came in. What a great job for someone with these skills!

Subject - Casting Seeds: News from AskNature
Take AskNature to the Next Level
Do you think you are a Digital Design Strategist? If so, we'd like you to apply for that position to take AskNature to the next level of development. The ideal candidate will be incredibly Web savvy, with a keen sense of how people use technology in all facets of their lives. He or she will have demonstrated web project management skills, experience working with online educational content, great interpersonal skills, and an aptitude for building digital partnerships. The position will either be at the Group’s headquarters in Missoula, MT, or San Francisco (negotiable).

Reporting to the Executive Director at The Biomimicry Institute, the Digital Design Strategist will lead and grow an agile team of content providers, graphic designers, and IT specialists; collaborate with additional staff to ensure AskNature continues to meet audience needs; develop strategies and partnerships to ensure the continued growth of AskNature's content; and assist with seeking funding for the project.

For a complete job description and instructions for applying, please send an email to jobs+asknature@biomimicrygroup.com. To learn more about the Biomimicry Group, see http://www.biomimicry.net. The deadline for submissions is March 31, 2011.

Nature Tweeted Long Before We Did
In collaboration with BeeDance, HOLOS Collaborative, and E4S, AskNature will live tweet the South by Southwest (SxSW) panel discussion “It’s Nature's Way: Innovative Tech Design Through Biomimicry” on Saturday, March 12 at 11 am CST.

Join the discussion now!

Posted via email from TED Fellows

MondoWindow--when you want to know what's below

2011-02-20T18:09:00.001-08:00

Below is an email from a brilliant friend, Gregory Dicum. I hope he goes to TED some day. He'd give an amazing talk! truly a grand polymath slicing and dicing economics, travel, art, writing, coffee,... He was one of my references for becoming a Fellow in 2009, so I'm thrilled to share his latest venture:

Hi There;

I suppose you're wondering why you haven't heard much from me lately--and why when you do, it's in a form letter. Let me explain...

Five years ago, when my Window Seat books were published, I got together with my friend Tyler Sterkel to try and figure out how we could make an interactive version of the books for airline passengers to enjoy in their seatbacks.

We found out that to get anything flying like that would cost buckets of money and would be seriously limited by existing technologies, so we shelved the idea and moved on.

Until last year, when we revisited the concept in light of the ongoing rollout of wifi on board airliners. All of a sudden, we had a way directly to the passenger, without relying on the airline gatekeepers and legacy systems.

We started to research things in earnest in the summer, and by the fall we had formed a company. Now, we are on the verge of unveiling the beta of MondoWindow.

MondoWindow works

like this: You get on a plane, you take out your laptop, tablet, or smartphone, you log in to the onboard wifi, and you go to mondowindow.com. There you find a map that tells you where you are as you fly, and what’s going on below. It’s layered with points of interest, audio, video, games, and social media.

It is the first of its kind, ever, and it is going to be amazing: we have an incredible team of designers, developers, and writers working all out to launch our beta for South by Southwest in March (sxsw).

This is full-on startupland madness, and if you want many, many more details, just ask! (Like, as an example, if you'd like to receive information on how you can get in on pre-money investment.)

And in the meantime, here are four things you can do right now:

1) sign up for the beta

2) follow us on twitter

3) like us on facebook

4) tweet/update that you are excited about @MondoWindow and have just signed up for the #sxsw beta

Can't wait for you to try MondoWindow on a flight this spring!!

Posted via email from TED Fellows

LOVE show

2011-02-09T23:03:00.001-08:00

For some, Valentine's day means something. And for others, it means something else. Still others, it means nothing. Having reason to celebrate is what life is all about, and however you do or don't feel about Valentine's Day and its ever morphing continuum of hearts and romance, rebellion and disdain, Valentine's Day is coming up!

If you are in Portland, come by and see what random concepts, carefully conceived crafting, and enigmatic mysteries have been displayed for a couple short weeks of LOVE at Gallery Homeland.
Over 300 artists joined in. Opening night this Friday, the 12th, from 7PM-midnight. Come in your eggshell (not the tired old pumpkin shell; Cinderella has that one anyway)..
http://portlandloveshow.com/events/opening-party/

there will be a potluck (just found out) with food made by the participating artists, music, a food drive....please tell your friends in Portland.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valentine%27s_Day
http://www.answers.com/topic/cinderella

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Contemporary Art as Coral Refuge

2011-01-31T08:32:00.003-08:00

Living Sea Sculpture: Contemporary Art as Coral Refuge

In October, I began talking with Jason deCaires Taylor of the Museo Subaquático de Arte (MUSA) in Mexico about including Biorock® sculptures in the underwater museum. Early January, I received happy news! Aah, I sighed a grand thank you. He and the others on the museum and marine park committee have approved some of my designs to join his in the ocean this year. Currently, Jason's cast cement pieces are the only works evolving there. His "Silent Evolution" was installed in conjunction with the UN Climate Change conference in Cancun this December. Yesterday I began preparing small steel pieces for our first Biorock® experiments at Seahorse Aquarium here in Portland...
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/958753974/living-sea-sculpture-contemporary-art-as-coral-ref
please pass it along!
http://kck.st/f3JVaO

So far, a few filmmakers have offered to help with documentation. Just got off the phone with KnitPurl, a downtown yarn store in Portland. They will soon be taking photos of our Biorock® coral restoration simulation brightening their shop windows through mid-March. The installation is complete with the movie "Reef Reborn" looping, the Gossamer Community Crocheted Reef, steel sculptures, a sample of Biorock...I'll post KnitPurl's newletter when it comes out later this week!

Which brings me to more international Biorock® news:
Karang Lestari (coral nursery) in Pemuteran, Bali, is going to get their green energy this spring! Rani and Celia found the funding. Congratulations and celebrations!
I hope Rani will post about it here.
for more about that coral nursery: www.biorockbali.webs.com

Back to Portland: Tomorrow I hope we switch the power and begin the coral cultivation. Fun to be in room filled with tropical coral, interesting people, and bright lights to warm my chilblains (I love that word!)

Posted via email from TED Fellows

Wild and Scenic Film Festival

2010-12-06T10:15:00.001-08:00

Some good news for a small film: "On the Trail with Miss Snail Pail"
Greg Young of Golden Bear Casting contacted me a few years ago in response to a news article. He asked if I was open to him following me around with a camera. Sure, it'll be fun and who knows what will come from it.
It has been selected for the 9th Annual Wild and Scenic Film Festival in Nevada City, California.
http://www.wildandscenicfilmfestival.org/films/

Looks like I'll be able to attend:) Have missed the other film festivals where it screened. Found lots of snails in SF this past week; perhaps three different varieties. I was at TEDxAlcatraz=congratulations and thanks to David Gurman, Greg Miller, Eric Berlow, and all the others who orchestrated a great experience! The talks, music, food, and of course connections with people, were inspiring.
Happy glistening trails~

Posted via email from TED Fellows

Gili Trawangan Workshop

2010-11-26T11:34:00.001-08:00

I hear it was an amazingly successful workshop in Gili Trawangan, Indonesia last week. 80 people attended and they made 16 new structures.

there are some great short videos about the work of The Global Coral Reef Alliance and Biorock at this link.
http://www.biorock-workshop.org/

Also, the documentary "Reef Reborn" is now available at http://www.longtailnet.com/1354

and a photographic and written brochure can be seen at
http://www.globalcoral.org/Biorock%20booklet%20online%20version%201.4.pdf

Posted via email from Biorock Around the Globe

Food Fight in NY

2010-06-03T12:56:00.001-07:00

Dear Friends of FOOD FIGHT,
This message will be short as I am traveling and in the middle of a great new partnership with a group in New York who are helping to bring the message of the film into schools in NYC. Along those lines, we are screening tonight at Teacher's College at Columbia University at Milbank Chapel (525 W 120th St) at 6pm. I will be there to lead a discussion panel afterwards as well as talk about the FOODFIGHT school initiative. We need to get the word out on this important event, so, if you are in the NYC area, please come and let your food-loving friends know about the screening as well.

Best,
Chris Taylor
Director
FOOD FIGHT

Posted via email from TED Fellows

How Harry Potter and Victoria's Secret Helped Save a Lot of Trees

2010-05-26T11:23:00.001-07:00

http://www.economist.com/world/international/displayStory.cfm?story_id=16209008

article by Gregory Dicum

Posted via email from TED Fellows

Coral alert! Bali kids~

2010-05-19T14:01:00.003-07:00

Here is the latest, dire alert about the coral situation:
http://www.globalcoral.org/2010%20GLOBAL%20CORAL%20BLEACHING%20ALERT.htm

And a positive note about Pemuteran's Bio-rock center and Bali kids on Earth Day:
http://www.balidiscovery.com/messages/message.asp?Id=6026

Posted via email from Biorock Around the Globe

Can snail farming save gorillas?

2010-05-02T15:15:00.000-07:00

Snails in Africa are big, and now may help save gorillas.
http://www.scientificamerican.com/blog/post.cfm?id=snails-and-endangered-gorillas-perf-2010-04-29

http://timbuktuchronicles.blogspot.com/search?q=snail

Gulf oil spill

2010-05-02T10:30:00.001-07:00

http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2010/04/oil_spill_approaches_louisiana.html

Posted via email from TED Fellows

Mission Blue, Earth Day, Oceans

2010-04-29T21:43:00.001-07:00

Biorock and Global Coral Reef Alliance news
Shore protection in the Marshall Islands http://www.globalcoral.org/Marshall%20Islands%20Journal.pdf
Interview about mineral accretion with Dr. Tom Goreau, President of GCRA
http://cdn3.libsyn.com/poddiver/PD106.mp3?nvb=20100430024846&nva=20100501025846&t=0476bbb26f8a4dc6c8456

Picture story of Ocean Project progress

Recently I went to California to work with master blacksmith,

Mark Nichols, aka the Bubblemeister (master bubblesmith as well!)

We began 3 steel sculptural apparatus(es) for the Ocean Project.
He has a 60 ton hydraulic press

Mark and Jodi Lomask holding tight to keep the steel from pulling out of line.

Now I know how to bend schedule 40 steel pipe in smooth undulating curves without crushing them.

Because of the strong force, Mike helps to keep the steel aligned.

Go Beam! It was so much fun to play with all the other artists and makers.

our first "coral skirt" of the coral garden.

While working at this fabulous metal shop, I was following Mission Blue tweets. http://www.tedprize.org/mission-blue-voyage/
I wanted to join Sylvia Earle's TEDboat to the Galapagos, so this is how I attended. One day I had over 56 tweets in a couple hours. Serious! I took notes. The ability to be in a very calm, relaxing creative environment while simultaneously "being" on a ship with unending mental stimulation, it blows my mind. Oh to attach an MRI to my brain to see what is happening with all this constant shifting from internet to phone, making to designing, dancing to...I imagine my neurons are branching out into new tendrils.. so curious what parts light up during different activities.

After working on the steel performance sculptures,

I went to see the Capacitor dancers in San Francisco experiment with the new toy.
Cari and Ian~

Ian and Marvin~~ Mayuko

{If you are in Oakland, California this weekend, you can see them perform on Sunday at the Oakland Museum. They'll be doing "Puncture," an excerpt from"The Perfect Flower," -- work commissioned for TED 2009. }

Leaving San Francisco, I headed south to visit family in Monterey. Timing was on my side. The snow storms that had delayed my driving through the Siskiyou pass days earlier opened the road for me to accept an invitation to share about coral restoration with the International School of Monterey, a recent recipient of an Ocean Guardian grant from NOAA.

photo by Camilla Mann

K-8th, these kids go on field trips, have guest presenters, make ocean-inspired art, and learn about many facets of the sea. They were concerned for corals after seeing scenes of dynamite fishing. Their "aahs" were audible as they were mesmerized by the colorful animations they saw in the documentary, "Reef Reborn." This link is to a short animation produced by Sea Studios of Monterey and LAIKA, Inc. of Portland.
www.healthyocean.org I showed it to the younger kids. Not to say it is only for kids..

Before driving back to Portland, I met with Mark Shelley of Sea Studios, slipped into Barbara Block's class at Hopkins Marine Station http://www-marine.stanford.edu/block.htm to catch some of Carl Safina's talk. http://carlsafina.org/
I was connecting with brilliant ocean explorers, getting my ocean fix before heading back to the forest-scape of Portland. Found out Barbara was a speaker on Mission Blue and she worked on Oceans, the movie.

Which brings me to Earth Day. Watching Oceans, (gorgeous and moving), witnessing how each species is wired, conditioned, and built to behave in specific idiosyncratic ways, I left the theatre thinking about the baby turtles vulnerably flippering over sand to sea against the odds, the warring crabs piling too dense for comfort, the walrus cradling her pup, the camouflaged, low blood sugar rockfish snarfing the lovely damsels flitting by...Nature is so wild, bizarre and beautifully shocking, and here I go empathizing with and humanizing all those mysterious beings. I can predict some human behavior, but can't deeply fathom much of it any more than the behavior of a shark, penguin, or a puffer fish. Isn't it possible there are more sub-species, classes, phyla, orders (helps me scientists) of humans?

maybe just in folk taxonomy http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Folk_taxonomy

thank you~

See and download the full gallery on posterous

Posted via email from Biorock Around the Globe

Algae food, fuel,...

2010-04-05T13:15:00.001-07:00

I saw the algae tanks at Green Man 2007. After 8 years of invitations and urgings, it was my year to finally get to Burning Man. The theme, Green Man, was tempting. I am glad I went. Here is a story about the man behind the glowing green-filled tubes that I kind of fell in love with-- that beautiful color was alive and mesmerizing.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/04/05/DDV41CNK5T.DTL

Posted via email from TED Fellows

Bali Biorock Expedition

2010-03-16T23:31:00.001-07:00

After TED Longbeach 2009, I invited Jodi Lomask of Capacitor dance troupe to work with me on a dance, sculpture, science exhibit about the ocean and coral restoration. She was already beginning to direct her attention towards the ocean; turns out her father, Morton Lomask, had been one of the early Bathyscaphe explorers. We decided go to Bali in December. We would explore Karang Lestari, the world's largest Biorock nursery, in Pemuteran Bay. How would my memories of the metal reef structures look now?
                                                                          Karang Lestari drawing by Wolf Hilbertz

Swimming past the familiar but "mature" forms, I smiled at the obvious growth. The corals and limestone were hiding the spindly steel skeletons I remembered. Schools of fish wove their way through the sculptural, experimental seascape. Even Liku Liku (Zig Zag) that I quickly made during a previous workshop was disappearing into a colorful mass of spiny, fingerlike projections and polyps. In this top photo you can see the point is bare. In the next photos, through the murky visibility, you are looking straight down at the flourishing top.

Liku Liku photo by Wolf Hilbertz 2006

The point is almost touching middle right of photo=> coral camouflage.

Liku Liku photos by Colleen Flanigan 2009

This marine protection zone is in front of Taman Sari resort and a dive shop. Rani Morrow-Wuigk, partner-owner of the resort, longterm diver and ocean photographer, wanted to save the rubble-rich region from further dynamite fishing and global warming devastation. With supportive acts and efforts, local and international, this once fish-lonely coral cemetery of a place has recovered some of its vitality, and importantly, has impressed upon the village and beyond a new method for cultivating and protecting endangered resources. It is a reef garden with large aquatic topiaries reviving the kaleidoscope of life oceanic.

Nautilus photo by Komang Astika 2004                        approx.2 years growth

    Rani (middle) welcomed Jodi and me

        at her tropical paradise for 10 days.

photo by Komang Astika
We dove, shot footage, choreographed, welded and brainstormed about how to develop our exhibition. Our multimedia Ocean Project Sensory Immersion (working title) is dependent on merging scientific research and community innovation with artistic response.

-I designed an underwater "apparatus" Biorock structure that acts as ocean twin to a similar form for our land-based performance/exhibit.

wire model of "coral skirt"

found mechanic so could make a tool for tight bends

Made driving us and the steel parts back to villa

assembling

welding

"Coral skirt" before immersed...

this pool was finished the day we arrived!

-We captured footage.

Jodi in the coral skirt collage by Jodi, footage by Colleen

Komang in the skirt

We did movement studies and underwater choreography sketches. Diving and snorkeling, we were mesmerized by the territorial behaviors and bizarre activities of the array of life forms wordlessly communicating in the interconnected blue atmosphere. Being in a world without words is so intimate. My conditioned and conscious human needs and desires on land disappeared in this peaceful embrace of water. Bonded to the other wet-suited ones by our mutual breathing and observing, I knew If I were to slip out of sight, I might float to a dissolving place... I witnessed the patterns and intricacies of day to day life for the organisms down there; their idiosyncratic relationships to pressure, predators, prey, place, and personality. (5 p's for the seas)
-In addition to research and development for the ocean production, we wanted to know what Rani and the Bio-rock Center needed directly. Jodi and I planned to bring more dancers, scientists, divers, innovators, activists to participate in a future week-long lab/workshop: an active retreat where participants learn about coral and marine science, Biorock technology, and renewable energy solutions for this coral restoration enterprise. Complementing this track of inquiry would be the subconscious, emotive lens of dance, sculpture, and free-associative stream of discovery. Culminating from this intensive creative group process would be a performance (underwater? on land?), elements for the touring exhibit, and partners committed to helping Karang Lestari reach its goal of renewable energy by 2015.

One of those partners is Celia Gregory of The Marine Foundation.

selecting a goddess

Celia chose this goddess sculpture as a symbol of nurturance and preservation, a beacon of hope presiding over the corals and marine life at Karang Lestari.

She will be placed on top of this unfolding lotus designed by Celia, fabricated with Komang. Rani is shifting from battery chargers to all renewable energy for the nursery. With the installation of the lotus, they will be blessing this next step. For now, the coral goddess awaits the power source.

wind?

not quite there...

Another thing about the Bio-rock Center-

Komang Astika is in charge of maintaining the structures and making the names for the Sponsor a Baby Coral Program.

I couldn't make it to Yatin (TED Fellow) and Rashmi's wedding in India,

So I planted baby corals in their honor and invited a fish to celebrate their love.
http://biorockbali.webs.com/

I invite people to contact me or Jodi about the creative art/sci lab or to express interest in finding venues or partners, sponsors, producers or fabricators for the Ocean Project Sensory Immersion.
http//:www.colleenflanigan.com http//:www.capacitor.org

We were asked to be an opening act at Michael Franti's Baliday Bash in Kuta-- synchronized ocean-inspired choreography:)

For more about Biorock and the work of the Global Coral Reef Alliance: http//:www.globalcoral.org

Socio-ecological note: The trash along the beach is a shock. How could my paradise fantasy be denigrated with mylar and miniature plastic packages floating into my mouth and clinging to my mask? It is an astonishing contrast to snorkel amidst the often-times garbage-filled coastline, then boat half an hour away to one of the most beautiful natural reef walls in the world, Menjangan Island, part of Bali Barat National Park, a protected reserve area that encompasses much of Bali's little-populated western end. I am giving trash its due attention and developing another alter ego to transform my upset into compassionate intervention and interaction. I have to respond when there is so much at stake.

See and download the full gallery on posterous

Posted via email from TED Fellows

natural glue

2010-01-22T11:22:00.000-08:00

First, I have recently hatched baby slugs. Eggs were laid while I was purging some collected garden slugs, and voila! my first tiny brood.

I am working with Jodi Lomask of Capacitor (www.capacitor.org) on an Ocean Project. We recently returned from a creative R&D session in Bali. Finally I was back in Pemuteran, after nearly 6 years, diving among the beautiful corals: those on natural rocks, and those growing on Biorock structures (www.globalcoral.org, www.biorockbali.webs.com).
I made another steel structure, a "coral skirt," for Jodi to do underwater choreography and I captured it on video. We were invited to perform at the Michael Franti Baliday Bash in Kuta. Fun! We did a short synchronized movement piece on platforms with just-shot underwater footage on large monitors to the sides.
We are now developing our touring performance, art, sci, action exhibit to inspire healthy relationships with the ocean. In this process, my amazing talented friends are sharing videos about octopuses using coconut shells as shelter, solar-powered slugs, natural glues, bioluminescence. I really want to use biodegradable, non-toxic materials for this exhibit. Obviously, if I don't like pesticides, how am I going to be happy with all the toxic glues and plastics we use in the art industry? If anyone has contacts with medical chemists/scientists, I think that is one way to develop the materials that could also be useful outside of medicine. Another way, rewind to Indigenous knowledge and see what nature taught our ancestors. Learn from all the amazing living species on the land and in the sea.
Here are a few new links I have received.

http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn16124-solarpowered-sea-slug-harnesses-stolen-plant-genes.html
Makes me think of the algae labs being worked in down in Berkeley CA.

this is from the American Chemical Society
http://portal.acs.org/portal/acs/corg/content?_nfpb=true&_pageLabel=PP_ARTICLEMAIN&node_id=2108&content_id=CNBP_023259&use_sec=true&sec_url_var=region1&__uuid=32a86532-f264-43e5-a63a-697b3a2a181f

http://newsinfo.iu.edu/news/page/normal/3258.html
about strong bacteria adhesive

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1DoWdHOtlrk
octopus using "tools". coconut for shelter.

trouble attaching links, so I hope you can cut and paste in your search..

NEW YEAR!!

2010-01-02T16:09:00.000-08:00

My snail babies were having fun cruising around the snowmen this holiday season.

Happy new Year!! It has been so long, what was I thinking? I have been blogging on the TED Fellows Posterous blog (http://tedfellows.posterous.com/) and have been traveling in Bali for the past 3 weeks. I am working on a collaborative ocean project with Jodi Lomask of Capacitor (www.capacitor.org) and we went to Pemuteran, Bali to begin R&D and production for a touring perfomance, art, sci, action production about ocean health, coral restoration, and of course, the creative process. We are planning to return and have a Biorock workshop/Capacitor LAB some time later this year where participants help us develop the production and all of us ask serious and fun questions about green energy, waste management, and global solutions for helping our oceans thrive. Dance and sculpture, diving and innovating in the beautiful land of Bali is the goal as we film and improvise our progress with kids and adults.

I just received this: http://www.denverpost.com/search/ci_13662914#ixzz0bIbdz9Kd

arts and entertainment

Enviro film festival in Golden has beguiling, humorous sides
By Lisa Kennedy
Denver Post Film Critic
Posted: 10/30/2009 01:00:00 AM MDT

Over and over again, plastic water bottles make their determined way along conveyor belts. Consider it an industrial-design ballet. It's also blue-capped evidence of a multibillion dollar market.

Even the makers of "Tapped," an intelligent, critical documentary about the bottled-water industry, knew to send a photo. It's an oddly beguiling image.

Directed by Stephanie Soechtig and Jason Lindsey, the opening-night film of the fourth Colorado Environmental Film Festival (Thursday-Saturday in Golden) begins its journey in Maine. Global concern Nestle, the bottler of Poland Spring, Arrowhead and a number of other brands, has quietly purchased groundwater rights. The locals are beginning to simmer.

The common good and a community's interests often seem trumped by business concerns. When Raleigh, N.C., and Atlanta were in the midst of extreme droughts, citizens had to limit water use. Pepsi and Coca Cola kept pumping. (If the Denverites among you do a double-take during Durham city councilman Eugene A. Brown's interview, it's because he's Denver council member Charlie Brown's twin.)

Beside the basic question of who owns the rights to drinking water, "Tapped" addresses the impact of all that plastic on the environment. According to the International Bottled Water Association, Americans bought 29 billion bottles of water in 2007.

Sustainability is a theme throughout the festival, although not always in the ways audiences familiar with the burgeoning genre of enviro-docs might expect.

"That's something we're trying to avoid, becoming a heavy-handed, environmental doomsday festival," says event co-chair Joe Brown. "We want audiences to see interesting things, beautiful things. We're not a festival that's just going to lecture at you."

Aurelio Voltaire's short "X-Mess Detritus" is a macabre meditation on gift-giving that could make Tim Burton proud.

Robert McFalls' "Homegrown" is a portrait of Jules Dervaes and grown children Justin, Anais and Jordanne, who have created a homestead organic farm within vrooming distance of Interstate 210 in California. They are modern-day pioneers — stubborn, mildly eccentric, hardworking — micro-farming their little plot, not on a prairie, but near Pasadena's teeming freeway.

A woman chasing down the common backyard snail is not a feat of speed. But Greg Young's 12-minute "On the Trail With Miss Snail Pail" is intriguing just the same. "No, no, keep them alive," snail-abatement specialist and artist Colleen Flanigan — a.k.a. Miss Snail Pail — tells a potential client over the phone. "Because I'm going to eat them." The film has surreally lovely images of Flanigan's "micro-livestock."

Jeremy Seifert's "Dive!" sounds like an oceanographic adventure. It's not. (For that, see "Gimme a Hug," a Dutch treat about shark behavior.) Instead, "Dive" documents the director and his friends' Dumpster-diving food forages in Los Angeles. Among the markets tossing pounds of still-good food away: Trader Joe's and Whole Foods.

Chances are, Seifert and friends won't convert viewers to a life of plundering plastic bags stuffed with produce just past its sell-by dates. But "Dive!" provides plenty of food for thought about how much we waste.

One could say that the growing festival serves a similar purpose: to entertain, engage and nudge audiences toward awareness.

Film critic Lisa Kennedy: 303-954-1567 or lkennedy@denverpost.com. Also on blogs.denverpostcom/madmoviegoer

happy 2010!

Labor Day Eat-In: Picnicking as Art and Advocacy

2009-09-02T10:14:00.000-07:00

Slow Food Portland and Portland Institute for Contemporary Art (PICA) have teamed up to organize a huge communal meal on the lawn of what was once Washington High School this Labor Day, September 7th. It’s a free Time Based Art (TBA:09) event called Planted: A Labor Day Picnic with Slow Food Portland. And everyone’s invited.

So what’s an eat-in? You show up with a meal you prepared with locally grown ingredients to share (plus a lawnchair or blanket or something to sit on). Then you eat! It’s pretty simple. Wood-fired flat bread provided by Tastebud. Attending the eat-in is a great way to lend your support to Slow Food’s Time For Lunch campaign to bring healthier food to the nation’s public school children.

Check out the un-games (cooperative fun with artist Wayne Bund) and the Bread Friend Map while you’re there.

Not only will you enjoy high quality food and entertainment, but you’ll be in good company. Over 250 eat-ins have been scheduled by Slow Food organizers around the country. So go share some food, have some artsy fun, and make a statement this Labor Day.

Location: Washington High School, 531 SE 14th Ave

Hours: 12:30 pm to 4 pm

Written by betsy, http://portlandoctopus.com/labor-day-eat-in-picnicking-as-art-and-advocacy/ Filed Under Art, Outdoors, Upcoming

Biological Control

2009-06-12T08:50:00.000-07:00

I met some entymologists yesterday. Talking about their work as Biological Control, the conversation shifted to pesticide usage. The phrase, "People want quick fixes," clubbed me. There is no such thing as a quick fix when speaking or thinking about life and the complexity of biological organisms. If you are tired, sleep. If you are hungry, eat. Basic needs can have quick fixes (unless you have sleeping or eating disorders. Ok, I realize i better not overlook the severity of those health issues), but when talking about huge infestations of the white fly consuming mono-crops that have been engineered without considering balance or the value of intangibles in the equation, there are no "quick fixes." The parasitic wasp may have worked on the white fly in So. Cal, but again, what scale was tipped?

One of the men said that Fipronil is non-toxic to humans. Kills all insects, but no prob for humans.
"What is it?" I asked. "A chemical pesticide?"
"I don't know the formula...after a short period with these wasps in a closed container with it, they were released and went back to their colony. Within 15 hours the whole colony was dead."
The horror!! A poison indiscriminately killing all insects. No analysis from a holistic perspective about the underlying cause or the repercussions of these sweeping, abusive actions. Killing is the most sacred act. If you are going to take a life, are you willing to acknowledge that you are creating hierarchy? The food chain is a cycle, but humans seem to lack the natural control to know when enough is enough.

OK. On my soap box. I went to this website--
http://www.sailhome.org/Concerns/BodyBurden/Sources3/Fipronil.html
and found:
"In 1996 when fipronil was introduced for commercial use in the U.S., it was praised as a safer insecticide because it appeared to target invertebrates rather than vertebrates.

Fipronil selectively acts on GABA and glutamate receptors. It kills an insect by disrupting its central nervous system. The mechanism for this 'selectivity' is not completely understood.

Newer research now shows that exposure to low concentrations is toxic to vertebrates including mammals and humans. The mechanism is excitotoxic.

───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────

Fipronil has been shown to mutate proteins and to kill human liver cells at concentrations of 0.1 nM. Using fipronil's molecular weight = 437.15 g/mol leads to

Calculate fipronil exposure

That is a ~very~ low exposure. Meanwhile, the government allows fipronil residue in foods at levels 220x to 34,000x higher.

The researchers noticed that the dose-response curve was non-monotonic. In other words, the smallest doses were more toxic than larger ones (see hormesis for more about this kind of toxic behavior).

Also, the researchers found that fipronil sulfone, a chemical left over after fipronil breaks down, was more toxic than fipronil itself.

Fipronil sulfone caused cell death at lower doses."
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Not very comforting to think that people working in the area of pest control did not know about this data. It is not innocuous or mild. Apparently the mindset, "we are not going back to the middle ages...if we want to have modern medicine and save lives, than chemicals will stay..." was the contained belief system driving this man.

We did discuss the hopeful prospect of people weaving ancient wisdom and global awareness to seek new solutions. Some conversation about permaculture and how it considers the soil web and the delicate balance.

I am happy to see so many gardens everywhere in Portland. Last night walking home I saw 4 heads of lettuce in the front of one yard when I thought, "It is weird that people panic about food when 4 heads of lettuce for one small family brings a lot of greens into that home." At our house, we have so many tomatoes we have to give many away and can a bunch.

I do not believe the poison peddlers and I hope you don't either.

The woman at the next table said she was listening in to our conversation and she believes there is no one solution. We entered a conversation about carbon, chemicals, money,... eventually it spiraled to snails. Yes, she has a lot of them. When she heard I eat them as an alternative to pesticides, she lurched back.

"You're not coming near my yard!" They are her friends.

Perfect. I am biological control for rampant garden mollusk "pests", not a friend killer. As she finished her chicken burrito, she said she eats meat, but cannot kill it herself. I know, it is a teary affair for me sometimes boiling the snails, yet I think it helps me remember how valuable they are...

Snailing expedition~

2009-05-25T14:35:00.001-07:00

It is Memorial day today. Putting together a visual proposal for a multi-disciplinary art/sci project to help the oceans. And organizing my house...on May 16 I roamed Alberta St. during their 10th annual Art Hop. All sorts of creative booths and exhibits lining the street. For 5 hours I discussed snails, slugs, agriculture, the environment, art. Ryan of Pixelgrain.org took a fabulous bl/wh polaroid portrait of me. I gave him a snail shell full of tiny succulents. It is starting to heat up here in Portland. I love the sun. And soon under the moon, we will be embarking on a snailing expedition. Bicycling from garden to garden to collect garden mollusks for a future feast. I hope you can join us~

slug skins...

2009-05-20T23:35:00.000-07:00

Finally getting somewhere with the slugs. Past the puree and disguise method, I tried skinning and scraping out the insides. Marinating in soy and sesame oil. Then grilled at a wonderful good-bye party to "Coraline" crew friend, Jan. He was back to Germany for a bit. He and Suzanne sent me a pic of an Egyptian slug circa 1600.

The slime is quite a challenge. I think it might be useful for some medical or topical purpose. I wonder if it can be sterilized and used as some sort of lubricant. I tried to hold them in my hands after boiling and they just slip right out. They are completely sheathed in slime. I know it isn't appetizing to think of, but those of you who have ever scaled a fish or slaughtered an animal for a meal (that is the only reason!) can attest to the need to adjust to the process. All of us who have been vegetarian for years know that it is hard to deal with the killing.

I got teary over a slug yesterday. It was about 5" long. I found it riding my bike to tango the other night. I could see it from 40 feet away! On the sidewalk of a closed road for paving. I had a container with me. Somehow I knew I'd find one. It laid eggs in its container...I think that made me sad to know it was trying to reproduce. I attributed all the emotions of nesting to this captive. And who am I to know. He/she seemed a bit limp from the labor. Again, I can't quite help how much I felt for that slug.

Back to the slime. Maybe I'll attach scrubbies to the tips of gloves.
Grilled on the bbq was delicious. My friends actually were asking to try the little crispy skins. They were kind of sweet and one of the really charred ones (almost over cooked them) tasted like bacon. It sent me back to bacon days.
tomorrow I'll try some snails and slugs with wakame. The recipe is coming to me. Better sleep on it~

French American School

2009-05-04T17:50:00.001-07:00

On Saturday, I watched Pendulum Dance Theatre's anniversary performance, "Nine." (www.pendulumdancetheatre.org). It was at the French American School where they train, but I admit, their skill and choreography needs to find larger venues too.
I took some aerial acrobat classes last year with Pendulum. I loved climbing the silks and learning to trust myself at a height that is out of my comfort zone. Wrapping teh fabric around yourslef and then saying, "really, I can just let go? Just let go?" and voila, you drop to get caught by the careful weave you wove. All the students and instructors are wonderful, so seeing them perform this Saturday was a great reunion. And now I am working with Suzanne Kenney, artistic director and founder, to realize a performance and exhibit fusing art, science, and activism for the oceans and all life on Earth. It is a big endeavor. I can't get it out of my head, though. So we go for it!

But THE exciting moment for Miss Snail Pail was when we were heading out of the event. I looked on the sidewalk and what should I see, 2 snails!! here in Portland the snails are much less common than slugs (so far). it was exhilarating. next thing I knew, my friend Heidi had handed me a thermos. The slugs were huge. The snails had years on them. Those shells are enormous and timely to make! I couldn't believe how thrilled I was. It was like running to hug an old friend. I know, I am going to eat them, but i can still welcome them for having been gone so long.
Jody Hughes (www.jodyhughes.com/press.html) and Heidi Sowa joined in the hunt. There is something thrilling about encountering something that cannot be taken for granted, like searching for mushrooms. Not a lot of fun when not finding them. But once you are in the thick of a fungi field, big smiles! same sort of thing with snails and slugs.

Now they are feasting on greens and organic grains. My first 4 found Portland snails (they are pets and breed at times) came from my first day of classes with Pendulum at the French American School. (My first snail, Moody, was a gift.) But since then, have not had such a haul at once. I wonder if the school welcomes them to keep the escargots culture alive, or if the snails sense their native language. it is odd, but again, i may need just to get out to the hills more to find my bounty.

Extreme Cuisine

2009-03-23T15:07:00.000-07:00

I did it!! I ate things I never want to eat again (at least this week). I was so excited to participate in the Extreme Cuisine class at the Oregon Culinary Institute in Portland. I met with the chef/instructor, Melinda Casady, last week to talk about my attending as Miss Snail Pail with my snails and slugs to add to her huge array of offal and mealworms, kangaroo meat, lamb tongue, pigtails, oxtail, rocky mountain oysters, frog legs, ostrich, crickets, blood sausage, chicken feet...It was A LOT of food from animals that I don't usually eat, so it was a day of expansion and exploration. A day of fun and feasting!

Melinda wants us Americans to remember that if you eat chicken breasts, what about the thighs and the feet? Why do people waste so much of an organism that has died for one small piece of cuisine? And hey, mealworms are great protein! Just avoid the really big ones because they are fed hormones. As I was biting into the mealworm chocolate chirp chip cookies, I was expecting the chocolate chip love I wanted. It was there, but so were the crunchy crispy tubular worms to keep me from binging on sugar. One was great!!

I did love the lamb (pig?) tongue thinly sliced in this amazing warm salad with vinegar, onions, ginger, lemon. And after my third slice of pig testicle, I was nodding my head, "OK," this is definitely food. The kangaroo meat was delicious with that oregano. And the curried ostrich I prepared was tasty. Since I promote foraging for slugs and snails in our yards as a local source of protein, as well as a sustainable way to avoid losing plants to the slimy mollusks, I had to learn more about what people eat around the world. A couple people in the class from Asia said that oxtail, the duck eggs, and balut, were all pretty common fare. Balut being an expensive delicacy. I had to watch, but not able to bite there. Just a personal hang up. The durian and mangosteens are Asian fruit with mixed reputations. Mangosteens remind me of lychees a bit.

The purpose of the class was founded in a real desire to get people to remember that we take animals and food for granted, and perhaps we just don't know how to prepare them. We don't know how to get to the bones.

As a chicken, fish, and garden mollusk eater, with a love of fruits, grains and vegetables, I took huge leaps eating those fatty pigtails and trying to bite into the tough rattlesnake. Oxtail was like good old home cooking from my Hungarian grandmother, and if my Polish grandmother was still alive, I am sure she would have brought in her sausage recipe and whipped up some pickled pigs feet. In her last days, she craved them.

We made so much food, enough for many other culinary students to try, and to bring home for our housemates:
"I've got leftovers, guys. Mealworms," I try to sound tempting.
"I know who loves mealworms, you'll make them real happy," Rebecca says smiling, pointing to the chicken coop, "the girls." The hens do love the grubs.

I ate some more of the unusuals last night and shared some with my hungry little Plum dog. Wow, he couldn't praise the delicious creations enough. That said, he will eat raw lettuce and chunks of carrot too, so perhaps the lesson is enjoy the bounty and don't be too picky. Variety and balance. Tune in to nature. And "Love the slug."

I just got an email today: a new Miss Snail Pail is posted on YouTube.

Snail Caviar

2009-02-24T19:00:00.000-08:00

Today my amazing fashion and costume making friend, Paloma (www.palomasoledad.com) told me about snail caviar. She said it sells for some outrageous fee, 200 EU's for 125 grams. I know when my snails (and slugs did it too!) started laying eggs, I had lots of babies in 2 weeks. Never really thought of not letting them emerge as mini snails. On a YouTube about it, they say that one snail only lays like 100 eggs in a lifetime. Not true. I think that is to make it seem more precious. Snails can lay 60-120 eggs every few weeks in a Mediterranean climate. And they can live a number of years. Plus being hermaphrodites...well, still, the eggs are tiny. I really need to up my snailing value. I realize when I act like I will do it without charging lots of money, people just can't value the generosity. Come spring, I need to get all of us out there collecting and eating our snails and slugs!!!

ACLU and Alberta Co-op

2008-12-13T15:13:00.000-08:00

The sun was out a couple weeks ago, so I went for a walk with my dog to catch the light and warmth. "excuse me, do you have a minute?"
And so he tells me about his mission against prop. 8 and will I join the ACLU. He gives a good spiel and I appreciate his efforts....
"Really? You mean I could have been eating beer marinated slugs this summer?"
"Well, I don't know if I'd want ones that had been outside soaking dead in beer. But there are those people who eat road kill; swear by it. That isn't my scene. I like to collect when they are alive and purge them, make sure they are healthy."
"That's great! I don't know why I didn't think to eat the slugs...of course."
OF COURSE! You hear that? It is happening.
I took some of the left over Muhammarra to the Alberta Food Co-op where I work as a substitute/on-call cashier. It was a training session about recruiting owner-members. A few people tried the dip. Others were interested in being so near to it. One co-worker came up to me, "Is that with slugs? I heard you eat them. I am so excited to try. We had 4 cabbages in our garden completely covered in slugs last year and they devoured them."
"Yes, and now you can devour the slugs with the cabbage in some delectable vegetable garden mollusk medley of your own imagining."
"Do you purge them? How?"
I told her my methods for clearing my mind and garden mollusk guts before eating them. She smiled, "Cool. Thanks!" excited and anticipating the spring to come.
And won't it be fun to go on a snailing expedition in Ashland in spring?! Someone from tango just told me that the sidewalks are slippery with snails in May and June. What a blessing!

Slow Food potluck...

2008-12-13T14:27:00.000-08:00

I walked in a few minutes late. Lots of savory dishes on this table, salads on that, desserts over there. I realized how many events and situations I have been attending lately that give me the initial feeling that I am in school; the sense that I am a bit awkward inside and self-conscious (does it have to do with the clothing?) No, it is the entering into a place where you know no one and don't know what to expect. Sure, it will be fine, perhaps fun, perhaps educational. But there is an element of effort that is noticeably different from when I go to a party that is just a social gathering about relaxing and enjoying. Oh yes, and I know over half the people there. Whenever there is a cause at hand, this case p:ear was announcing its work with homeless youth, the focus is on action and responsibility; revelry is not the theme. Love, delicious, nutritious food, and caring for the health and wealth of people and planet was on the table.
I was serving up an adaptation of a Turkish Muhammarra using pecans from my housemate's parents' farm, local red peppers, garden mollusks (mostly snails, about 25 small slugs and one large Limax Maximus), lemon, parsley, mint, toast, garlic...It tasted the same with and without the garden mollusks, so I consider this a great starter dish for the squeamish. All but 1/4 of the dip was eaten. The sign said "Muhammarra: Pecan, pepper, and garden mollusk dip." The escarglows (snail shell candles) burning in the lettuce leaf garnish helped illuminate the ingredients for those questioning "what does she mean by garden mollusks?".
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I am learning so much about reducing my footprint. When I went to the potluck, I was under the impression that I was to bring enough plates and utensils for 6-8 people. It seemed odd that 6-8 people would all bring enough food for 6-8 and also enough plates and napkins...wouldn't that be like 60+ plates? Yes, and that is how I learned that you bring food for 6-8, but a ceramic plate, metal fork, and cloth napkin for yourself. So there I was handing Anil a small paper (of the highest recycled materials, I tell you) cocktail plate and thinking, "Crap, I just gave some ceramic dishes back to this catering guy the other day or I'd have some in my car." And all this Pelegrino water is just for us, honey, so drink up. The wine people brought is apparently for 1-2, not 6-8, and so don't imagine that a draught of organic red will be smoothing over your palate any time tonight. It worked well. Anil and I could load up our mini plates and go back for seconds. It helped me take one bite of the over 30 or 50 dishes and truly downsize my eyes. Probably the most vegetables I have eaten in months in one sitting. So delicious!
I spoke with an acquaintance about her food. She introduced me to her husband and said, "He ate it!" about my dip. She did not. I looked at his plate and smiled. There was one bite taken from the small slice of bread shmeared with the reddish paste. "You didn't eat it." I semi-rudely blurt. Really, did I have to put him on the spot? He tasted it. "The slugs kind of ..."
Of course. It took me 4 years to get there. Some are already there, others close, others definitely aren't heading there and that's great. I have many things that don't interest me, and I commend him for giving it a shot at all if it wasn't on his radar before.
As we were getting my dish to leave, Anil points around a wall to a small kitchen with a dishwasher open revealing at least 10 plates. I laughed. The dishwasher was directly across from the food. Obviously the whole plate fiasco was a form of entertainment for us and a humbling reality check for me. There are so many ways to lessen our waste on this planet. Fortunately I am gleaning bits of knowledge as I continue to immerse myself in the world of food.

SO I wrote this a week or so

2008-12-05T00:28:00.000-08:00

ago. It has been crinkling up on the back side of an outline of a bracelet my sister asked me to make for her. I made it. How fun to hammer silver again. I was housesitting where I could use the studio. It was comforting and rewarding to play with metal.

Back to the other side: I turn on the radio. I am listening to Studs Terkel being interviewed on Speaking of Faith," a radio program on OPB. "How great. This is perfect for cleaning the garden mollusks."
So I rinse them in a colander and put some new cornmeal and crushed egg shells, fresh water into their small last residence. For the last 20 minutes of the interview, I sit with my metal strainer full of snails and slugs. Their gliding and sliding around the rim, over one another's shells is mesmerizing. One large snail reaches out to lean on a Limax Maximus slug. One tiny translucently young snail hitches a ride on larger one. Then a small slug wraps itself like a letter C around a shell traveling the narrow circular rail. So much roundness. Such social creatures. Could you be any less violent than them? At any minute they will climb to towering heights. Like in the Dr. Seuss book, Yertle the Turtle, they stack atop each other, but I don't get the feeling they are competing for the best view or to be the king<>queen of anything. They like each other and are uninhibited about their affectionate and curious nature. I am speaking for them, sort of paraphrasing the unheard word. If there is scientific data showing that they are truly merciless angry shell stacking assailants, don't hold back. I can synthesize and adjust for my fabrications.
"When you speak of death, it turns to life, you see, " Terkel is talking about his experiences writing his book, Will the Circle be Unbroken. No one speaks of the end, their end, without coloring the book of their life.

It makes me wonder why I can kill the snails and slugs; one friend lightly called me "miss mollusk murderess." I will not kill a chicken, squirrel, rabbit, dog,...and then eat it. I am imposing gradients of value onto forms of life. It is sobering and real. Not heavy and downer, but fills me with a peace that it is really that simple. We must eat. We must reduce our waste. We must allow for the food chain to exist and be responsible for our choices...sounds heavy after all. But when I hold a tiny newborn snail to Henrietta the chicken, she hammers her beak, "That's MINE!" I know she isn't feeling guilt about meeting her dietary survival needs. She needs to make eggs; snails have calciferous shells that she needs.
My conundrum when speaking to vegetarians and vegans is summed up in Horton Hears a Who: "a person's a person no matter how small." That Seuss wisdom is powerful. Just take out the person and add mollusk and you see, I know I am taking the life of something valuable. Maybe one day I'll stop eating them. For now I am grateful that they pirate my neighbor's vegetables and flowers while leaving trails that glisten me into the moment everywhere.

I have been carrying the 30th birthday...

2008-12-04T23:45:00.000-08:00

in my mind, not sitting down to share. It was amazing. The Halloween rain didn't happen this year. I got some great catch, and the garden mollusk kheema in a pumpkin with aloo gobi surrounding it was well-received. People ate with ease and were not averse to the land oysters offered. They were well-flavored in the spices and squash; a good texture and seasonally warming feast.
Tim Pearce told me that the slug pics I sent were both in the family Limacidae. One, the bigger, was a Limax Maximus (sounds like it can lift you car and toss it over a bridge), the other most likely a Lehmannia Valentiana: "I haven't eaten very many slugs from the Limacidae, but I do remember trying a Limax Maximus a long time ago. I don't remember whether the digestive gland was foul tasting or not; since they are in a different family from the Aronidae, for which the ones I have tasted do have bad-tasting digestive glands. You could try the Limacidae digestive glands yourself and see how they are...I am glad to hear you are practicing biological control by eating your pests!"
So we ate the glands of the European invaders; nothing detectable to describe as foul-tasting. I can't quite express my impression about that night, it was such a grounded and vibrant affair. Considering how many people think slugs are gross, this was a gourmet-appreciative group eating with silver in a home being created to capture the colors and qualities of far away travels. Not pretentious, but conscientious.
Afterwards, after the hours of cooking and being filmed while making a dish I had never tried before, I needed to go tango dancing. Sure, I was in "costume" and people thought I couldn't get over Halloween...well, maybe one of my old housemates was right, "I would think Halloween was a high holy day for you." So no one thought that I was just in from a day of Miss Snail Pailing. I shared some of the left over Garden Mollusk Kheema with a couple people there. OK, 2 people tried it.
"What is it?"
"Garden Mollusk Kheema."
"This is GOOD."
I wondered, "Do I need to say that slugs are in it? I mean, I have always announced when even the slightest bit of snail is included, like in my gingersnail bread men cookies. But this night I said "garden mollusk kheema...it has meat."
"Do I look like a vegetarian to you?" and the bite was being swallowed and I know, I know. I plan to declare the ingredients boldly and in plain laymen's terms when I serve for them again. Somehow at the moment, I didn't want to act like something was wrong, when nothing was. Garden mollusks are a local meat source found in gardens. It is for the people with mollusk allergies that I worried. I was being honest and didn't want to act like I was dishing out an eww sick kind of meal:
"Wait!! There are slugs in there! Are you ok with that?!" No, "It is garden mollusk kheema. (pause) there is meat in there. (pause)." I wasn't pushing it since I was there to dance and drift into the musical dreaminess and loving connection. He swallowed and smiled and I smiled and danced.

"On the Trail..."

2008-10-27T10:56:00.000-07:00

Last Tuesday I received a call. She had seen my card at Gossamer Fiber Arts (www.gossamerfiberarts.com) next to my escarglows. "Do you collect slugs too?"
"Why yes."
"Do yo charge?"
And then I realized that my pricing plans are not that cut and dry. I truly need to pay for my time, energy, and if driving, gas. But... I went to her house last Thurs. evening to hunt garden mollusks. Lee was upset by the massive damage caused to her artichoke and strawberries, tomatoes. She throws them into the street, like most frustrated gardeners, and still feels that the battle is stacked against her. She is right. It takes a certain amount of vigilance and time to get the balance in a new garden. I also spoke about garlic and crushed walnut shells as a barrier to help protect the plants. And really, the slugs were doing a great job of attacking the fallen fruit and dying leaves. Super good detritus removers. Lots of slugs, about 6 snails. There were the flat-shelled snails with grey-blue bodies as well, but very small and I am not familiar with those as edible. I took some photos of the slugs so I can send them to Tim Pearce and have him identify them.
On Halloween I am gong on a hunt with a camera man. He wants to share the renewable, sustainable effort on public television; just like fishing with a line, when collecting by hand, not likely to decimate anything. Should be fun to collect on Halloween. I love all the kids' in costume and I will be ready for the occasion, of course. I am getting this collection ready for a friend's 30th birthday feast this Sat. Nov.1st. She asked me to prepare garden mollusks for her party, so how can I refuse to serve so many acupuncturists, yogis, artists, dancers these local treats?! And right on the heel of Halloween. The phrase trick or treat makes me wonder how they will feel about the slugs...I can't decide whether to make spicy Thai wanton soup, Indian kheema, or Italian Babblucci, and if I am spelling things incorrectly, I am spelling things incorrectly. It will come to me. The right dish is coming to my mind. Om.
The curious thing about this "service," is that while it is a pest control service, it also provides me with a form of food (even though I am still squeamish about the slugs. I admit, it makes me a bit nervous like scuba diving) . My "clients" are eager to feed me. They seem to realize the service they are providing me (free of charge!) and I haven't been so great at asking for the $10 per half hour fee. Yes, I have halved my $20 per hour pail rate during this election year unregulated federal greed lust time. I am open to barter at this point. I love that Lee gave me a beautiful rich cup of rooibos tea and I got to meet her in her lovely home. It was welcoming and she offered to share my service with plant and gardening people, so that was a great payment. I like sharing the concept and seeing where it leads. Lee was intrigued about the prospect of becoming more dependent on our own backyards for dinner. There is a trailer for "On the trail...with Miss Snail Pail" on YouTube. It is by Golden Bear Casting (Greg Young). He contacted me a few years ago about a project and now has edited a 12 minute documentary. Please check out the trailer. He used a friend's music, Jody Hughes (www.jodyhughes.com).
Today I will make more escarglows, the candles from the snail shells using recycled soy and beeswax drippings. When lit, they last about 45 minutes and honor the life given by the snail as they shine light onto the great potential of each living being. I hope it inspires people to take action for the true wealth of the planet. I am getting into the ethics of business, so I will leave with the hope that some of you are thinking more seriously about what you can do to support alternatives to pesticides and toxic living and create an abundance of wealth even at a time when the "news" would have you stricken with fear and perilous doom about the economy. And please vote!! The coral reefs want Obama.

Telephone lines and dangling slug threads

2008-09-11T16:29:00.000-07:00

I am looking out the window over to my view. The giant dill and marigolds by the tomatoes across the street. Midday sun hot on the bright orange caution cone behind the little garden that is my ponder gaze place. Pallets and broken wood piled high hedge the garden. Like a jazz ensemble with its fractured sound, the reclaimed wood awaits hauling to the Rebuilding Center next door.
"Why the piles?" I mean, I enjoy the arrangements, the variety of thrown not placed configurations as it smothers the one green plastic chair that no one ever sits in. I finally realize that the forklifts and trucks that come and go are not only dumping but lifting. Giving and taking. The homeowners share this space. The man who carefully tends the plants in the 1/8 plot so lovingly grows his flowers and produce amidst the mayhem.
Recently I have noticed electrical lines, power stations, telephone poles with a new sight. Many people have drawn attention to them in paintings, art, ...but only recently have I begun to catch myself tracing the negative space and twisted cables to their furthest reaches. Crossing the mountains and trees, houses, and streets. When I was working at a 50th wedding anniversary recently, there was an absence of lines. A presence of expansive golden land arriving at trees and sky. I could feel the disentangled landscape and found the vast vast vast.
In contrast, I turn to last Friday, September, 5th. I went to the Slug Queen Coronation in Eugene. Where the eternal limitless lineless land was now crisscrossed with slimy glitter trails. It was "Old Queen Radia," 2002, who invited me. She owns A Natural Burial Company (www.naturalburialcompany.com) here in Portland. When we met, we first spoke about natural burials (surprise), but then we slipped to talks of garden mollusks and I mentioned a slug thug. Voila! Unbeknownst to me, I was speaking to a S.L.U.G. Queen!! The Society for the Legitimization of the Ubiquitous Gastropod. (www.slugqueeneugene.com) For about 25 years this event has been going on. Once a queen, always a queen. It has aspects mirroring beauty pageants of old, but embraces diversity, equality, and hilarity.
I drove out to Eugene with my little love bucket, Plum, (he is a dog). My caddy full of handmade objects gave the impression that I was loaded with bribes (bribes are encouraged in this contest), and people were sure that I was a contender. No, I only learned about the event 2 days before. No, this is my life. I am not acting. Although I think I should take some of those comedy classes with last year's Queen, "Glorious Gastropause," because funny needs to stay.
At times I crawl into my shell when someone is talking to me about me. It strikes me that now, yes, now, I better be at ease. And nothing makes life better than being able to breathe and relax. Laughter is the key. So back to the Coronation. One of the Queens has made it to the last 17 coronations without a slip. The costumes, titles, talents and concepts are unique to each contestant. Not a lot of similar styles which makes for an imaginative sojourn into deep and shallow waters of creativity. This year Slugtoinette and her grand court won the crown. A true fashion designer, with all that precision regal refinery. Impressive pomp and circumstance!
Before I hauled out to Eugene, I called Tim Pearce in Pittsburgh to ask some slug questions. I really wanted to make a day of it in every way! We spoke about the hollowed foot of the slug versus the meaty mass of the snail's foot. And the acrid tasting bit within the slug tail tip. It was one of those calls that adds bioluminescence a la luciferase or aequorin to my life. Enough glow to light up the next few hours or so as I stood at the event with my caddy pulling heavily on my neck and my red hair tightly tugging on my forehead. I was in a surreal set-up and yet agriculture, food routes, science, so serious were on my mind. I needed to laugh. And that is why the comedy of the old queens was so divine.
As Plum and I awaited some snacks at The Dough Co. after the coronation, I had the opportunity to congratulate Queen Slugtoinette and her posse as they waltzed by. And a true MSP gift arrived as Plum and I stood in silence by the door to The Dough Co. Well, for Plum the gift was the chicken handed to him by the guy working inside, but for me, it was the threesome who just had to know. Had to know what I was and why. They were people who consider slugs, might eat them, care about farming, care about resources, actually had garden mollusk problems to such an extent that we exchanged contacts and spoke of a Slow Food Convivium. How great! Pamela said she'd try eating the irritating slugs by the fistfuls that congeal around the pipes at her farm. I can't wait to hear how it goes...One last thought, mating.
Someone I work with at the Alberta St. Grocery Cooperative said he saw slugs mating the other day. He described in great accurate detail what I opened to on page 91 of Battle of the Sexes: The Natural History of Sex, by John Sparks. While looking for sculptural inspiration, I found myself in the biology section. Was it the lions on the cover or the title, who knows, but I grabbed the book and poignantly opened to page 91. Two slugs entwined like a corkscrew dangled from a shiny thread of slime. A translucent parachute-like umbrella of their genitalia quite massive below. Very different from copulating snails. Just because they are similar hermaphrodites, doesn't mean they like the same positions.

Pesticide Peddler

2008-06-30T16:35:00.000-07:00

I spoke with one today. He is a a self-proclaimed pesticide peddler and organic farmer. I asked about pesticide screening and he said that it could run me $400 per pesticide. It isn't something you can broad scan, you need to zone in on the exact component you wish to find. Expensive prospect! I think I will stick with testing for lead, arsenic, maybe the water and soils in the areas.
I asked him why organic farming can't compete with conventional; does he think it can?
"Well, if you go into a store and there is a worm in one nectarine next to a worm without a nectarine..." No, he said a nectarine without a worm next to a wormy one, "which would you buy?"

I understand the financial situation for farmers, but that helps me clarify my goals. I want us to envision balance in our lives. Grow more gardens with beneficial insects and birds to maintain enough balance so that we don't have such uni-crop problems. Huge fields with only one crop is absurd for nature. It cannot control such an out of control gift for specific predators. In the mean time, slugs are out of control; eating them is one easy way to tip the scales a bit. My pesticide peddling organic farming friend, wow, he cancels his own vote. Most people need another person to do that. He said it is very progressive to imagine everyone getting personally involved in food production. But really, if you spend 2 hours a week at a community garden, grow some berries, have a few chickens, tomatoes, sprouts, anything that creates edibles. Even hunting for mushrooms, garden mollusks, wild greens, you will have such positive impact locally and globally.
Maybe my political and philosophical views are too independent and interdependent. I am upset by the chasm between my concept of wealth and say, our president's. If you are battling enemies all the time, when can you actually nurture your dependents? When can you actively care about the details of harmony and hope? If you focus on all the problems, you'll become a wreck. If you focus on all the fun, you'll become a wreck. Better to have fun solving problems and taking train rides. There is a risk of a wreck, but you're going somewhere!

not mentally ill, just spiritual

2008-06-26T11:41:00.000-07:00

What a trail. I am talking with people every day about how to find a lab that will test the slug and snail tissue. I mean, how to find funding for the analysis. I can see the opportunity for a grant; combine the fact that garden mollusks are an untapped local (organic?) resource, a protein source with no antibiotics or irradiation, and eating them is a way to avoid pesticides or garden mutilation, that adds up to a serious agricultural food science pesticide reduction GRANT! (and if we discover they are toxic little pollution receptacles, good to know)

And I keep the faith. The faith that mental illness comes from blocking these ideas, not from patiently excavating and seeking alternate routes. I bring up mental illness because most people I know have at one time or another been concerned about their mental well being. Most likely they were on the cusp of a new awakening or spiritual growth spurt. Perhaps they were grieving a loss left unattended for far too long, or a recent setback. Maybe working so hard at something stressful and forgetting about food, rest, and fun. I see this whole snail, slug, and coral thing (that has to do with my work to help the coral reefs) as a direct link with my spiritual need to live in the eternal center of life and death. Recently when asked about my use of the word spiritual:

Chris: What do you mean when you say "Spiritual?" I am curious because a lot of people say "spiritual" and it seems like what they are expressing is a higher emotional sensitivity to things. Almost like if they have a strong emotional connection or feeling towards things, they are somehow more spiritual than others...
Me: I guess when I say "spiritual," it's about life and death. Religion and spiritual questing originated with people's desire to understand life and death. Not just life and death of the physical body, but life and death of thoughts, feelings, dreams, phases...change and passage. How do we live in the presence of the passing and the becoming?

And we biked on. And so with that little side trip, I return to the situation at hand. I am going to call Scott Exo of the Food Alliance and see if he has any guidance. He's very involved in matters of sustainability and agribusiness. Wise to these things that we eat, breed, and seed.

As I await...

2008-06-21T16:53:00.000-07:00

Well, As I await a reply from Dr. Tim Pearce at the Carnegie Museum of Natural History, I accept his website info as validation that slugs truly are snails with their shells on the inside. They are edible and he is credible. I wrote to him with questions about slug nutritional data; perhaps he'll recommend labs that might do tissue analysis. I embrace the hidden whorled ones as peers to escargots.

another nocturnal adventure...

2008-06-18T12:42:00.000-07:00

Snails are such night owls, and so am I. And they meander, as I. And most importantly, while you read this, envision a snail shell. It starts at a point and spirals out. No need to ask, "What's the point?" I started at one when I typed "snails," and it is all expansion from there.

Back to last night. Riding my bike all over Portland with friend, Chris Carlsson (author of "Nowtopia," "Critical Mass," and other books about radical social change), I absorbed the full moonlight and let it guide me home. Without my bike lights, I was a lucky pedaler to have such a clear and glowing path. We discussed the challenges of public spaces and privatization. How newly built shining boxy structures with overly-manicured cement and plant layouts will one day thrive with the decay and recovery that occurs with all places and spaces. People and plants will reclaim a new order out of the persistence of life and death.

We mused about relationships, about serial monogamy and the joy and challenges of love and partnership. Acknowledging the differences between males and females, I only recently realized how differently we think and behave. A blessing and a curse to wake up and smell the pheromones. It isn't that I didn't get attraction and the obvious, but the way we respond to the opposite sex and some of the sociobiological theories newly printed are fascinating. If you are curious, check out UnderstandingMen.com (PAX programs) and the book, "Sperm are From Men. Eggs are From Women," by Joe Quirk. Angles that aim to stir the pot of peace and frustration yet more. I can no longer assume that a man is going to get it, or vice versa. It is a conscious choice to collaborate and accept the differences. Now to wake out of my Sleeping Beauty Cinderella stupor. I still hope for something more "meaningful" from an intimate, sexual relationship than fixating on the size and reactivity of my amygdala.

Snails have it all!! As Hermaphrodites- they really do have it all. And the love-making lasting 4-12 hours.... Now that makes for a grand show of reciprocal affection. Do you know about Professor Ronald Chase at McGill University in Canada? You must. I wrote to him a few times about his research and my love of all things sex in the snail. I am not sure if my last email missed him, or if my interest in feeding my snails colorful foods to attempt to create rainbowrific shells caused him to recoil and rethink my integrity. No matter, I encourage you to Google "Prof Ronald Chase-home page." You will see how Cupid may have been born from snail gazers, and why again, snails are leaders of our time with their massive neurons.

Can you smell the Calcium! I swear there is something about snails, something about their Calcium and slime that will benefit human reproductive health. I feel it and have felt it for a few years now. Just seeing Dr. Chase's mention of the mucus as a means to secure reproduction for the dueling swords, it all clicks. That mucus really sticks, and all that Calcium. Oh sure, skeletons seem like the obvious connection. Bones need fortification. But an artist with no real scientific education like myself, why would you doubt my hypothesis? It is in the peptides!! Reproductive human health will receive a boost once we figure it out in about 12 and half years. Please, sooner than that. Molluscan mucus has some vital healing, generative force. Once we get to eating all these garden mollusks (not all, remember, balance) we will need to skim the vital slime for creative scientific purpose.

And that is where I conclude: science, art, health, environment. Do you have a snail story to share? Any sluglore? Sling it!

I wrote something last night...

2008-06-12T21:20:00.000-07:00

I think it is more of an editorial piece, but I will share. It came to me as if I were writing for some garden magazine or newspaper. An attempt to persuade, I suppose. Whether you are on board or not...

If you are growing a garden, any plants, odds are you are raising pests as well. And you probably hate them for destroying your hard work and vision of "your garden." You didn't hope for a row of holey lettuce and headless sunflowers, but now that you have them, your anger spurns you to torture the thoughtless, cruel organisms devouring your photosynthesizing babies.

I used to hate snails. I could step on them and throw them to the eucalyptus park across the street. There were hundreds in the garden. Every time I put the last pat of earth over some glorious new roots, I felt not only happy satisfaction, but anxious tension that some land mollusk troop would slide on over for a feast. This is what I call a problem. Everyone I know complains about it and everyone continues to reach for a way to kill or ignore this perceived enemy.

Sure, chickens. We have them. And they do eat so many pests. If you can go this route, do. They are great pets and their eggs are free range. But again, not all people want chickens, and wild birds just can't get all the newborn slugs and snails; these hermaphrodites are quick to procreate. As slow movers, they need some defense against predators, so they reproduce constantly in a numbers battle against speed.
And that brings me to us humans. When did we rise above consuming garden mollusks? Related to clams, mussels, and oysters, so highly valued as delicacies, snails and slugs are overlooked by mainstream American society. We are fools for neglecting our backyard bounty! With gas costing $4+/gallon, and grocery prices soaring, why not do some backyard exploring? (Dr. Seuss influence)

If you read all the websites talking about chemical and physical warfare against these invertebrates, you might actually believe they are hard to catch. They are not. Hand collection is the number one method for reducing their populations. When I became Miss Snail Pail in 2004 (not a pageant), I enjoyed swinging my pail of helix aspersa, also known as the petits gris. I maintained my prejudice against the sleek slug. Not only by name, but also appearance, I was discriminating against the shell-less gastropods. I preferred to await my Slug Thug to drown them in beer. When he arrived, we were sure to embody our own personal mythology:

Miss Snail Pail collects snails. She purges them and prepares them so to feast.
By this practice, she honors the cycle of life and death that is natural and necessary
for survival. Slug Thug nefariously drowns them in a mug of beer. He swills the beer and lets the slugs die a sad, useless death in his bottomless mug of hate.

Oh maybe a bit heavy handed, but aren't mythologies all about the contrasts and drama of nature?

And here I sit, on my little uncomfortable throne, the kind I remember my mom sitting on to apply make-up when I was a little girl talking to her while she was getting ready for a night out with dad. The wood is hard and flat and squashing my ass, yet I need to let you know, all garden mollusks deserve the mercy of our murderous ways. If we must kill them, why not let them nourish us and give us their protein-rich strength? This chain links us with the truth: we are natural. Hunting and gathering for whole foods is still possible. When we speak of sustainable energy, are we really just talking about fueling our cars, computers, lights, and coffee pots? Can we afford to forget our bodies, minds and spirits?
Miss Snail Pail says: Eat your garden mollusks and you will feed your soul!!

If you live in Portland, OR, I am looking for your garden mollusks. Please put them in an empty plastic container: yogurt, cd's, ...and make some slits for air. Label with the date of collection and location. I want to do some tissue analysis to determine the nutrients. Also see if there are harmful amounts of pollutants. Seems like snails are "food" by most, but I think slugs will take a bit more sneers, so best to get the data.
Do you have a lab? Connections? That is my next challenge. To find an affordable way to test the tissue. It is expensive and I hope that I can get some funding or find someone who wants to help with this food science. If slugs are indicators of heavy metals (lead, arsenic,cadmium), that is important scientific data. I am sure the Fish and Wildlife will want to find out, don't you think?

Miss Snail Pail

Living Sea Sculpture Deploys

[tedfellows] TED Fellows go old school for new ideas

TED Fellows go old school for new ideas

Living Sea Sculpture- MUSA Cancun, Mexico

kickstarter Living Sea Sculpture Update #9: Progress in Cancun

black snails...red ones

only 9 days - Living Sea Sculpture update

coral refuge update #3

Below is the update from my kickstarter that automatically goes to all the supporters of the project.

Excited to share the latest developments with you too.

22days to go!!!

AskNature of Biomimicry Inst. seeks Digital Design Strategist

MondoWindow--when you want to know what's below

LOVE show

Contemporary Art as Coral Refuge

Wild and Scenic Film Festival

Gili Trawangan Workshop

Food Fight in NY

How Harry Potter and Victoria's Secret Helped Save a Lot of Trees

Coral alert! Bali kids~

Can snail farming save gorillas?

Gulf oil spill

Mission Blue, Earth Day, Oceans

Algae food, fuel,...

Bali Biorock Expedition

natural glue

NEW YEAR!!

Labor Day Eat-In: Picnicking as Art and Advocacy

Biological Control

Snailing expedition~

slug skins...

French American School

Extreme Cuisine

Snail Caviar

ACLU and Alberta Co-op

Slow Food potluck...

SO I wrote this a week or so

I have been carrying the 30th birthday...

"On the Trail..."

Telephone lines and dangling slug threads

Pesticide Peddler

not mentally ill, just spiritual

As I await...

another nocturnal adventure...

I wrote something last night...

kickstarter Living Sea Sculpture
Update #9: Progress in Cancun