Dumpster diving and an enlightening film

Dumpster diving?  What does that mean to you?  Have you even heard of it before?

According to wikipedia: dumpster diving is the practice of sifting through commercial or residential trash  to find items that have been discarded by their owners, but which may be useful to the dumpster diver.  (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dumpster_diving)

Have I ever gone dumpster diving myself?  Picked stuff out of the trash to re-use?  Well, yeah.

It only makes sense!  People make a living off this stuff even! In the US 40-50% of the food thrown away by supermarkets and restaurants is perfectly good!!  Lots of stuff goes in the garbage that could be recycled or given to someone who can use it/make something out of it/re purpose it.

I even belong to a group where you can give away stuff and get stuff people are offering up for FREE.  Yeah that's right...FREE.  www.freecycle.org

I furnished my first apartment pretty much based on what I got from freecycle.  Maybe with the exception of the bed that I came with.  I got a free sofa bed, lamps, dishes, pots, pans, hell I even got 2 free televisions.  FOR FREE.  All I had to do was drive to where the person had the item, pick it up, put it in the car, and take it home.  Done deal.

Well if anyone is wondering where this is going I will let you in on a little secret.  This blog is going to culminate in an awesome documentary that I recently watched on the topic of dumpster diving.  The two film makers moved into an apartment and then lived there for 3 months only getting all their stuff from the trash.  They ended up eating awesome well balanced meals and having more stuff than they knew what to do with just from dumpster diving.  It's a pretty sustainable lifestyle.  Re-using "trash".  They obtained 2 full wardrobes, food, furniture, appliances, and art materials all from the GARBAGE.  Perfectly good stuff someone didn't want because they probably got new stuff.  Then at the end of their "experiment" they gave all their stuff away...for FREE.

THINK ABOUT IT

Consumerism sucks.

So watch the movie and let me know what you think.  What kind of impact could you be making on the planet?
http://www.snagfilms.com/films/title/i_love_trash/

I'm sure going to try harder now....


 Signing off 10:38

The Kingston Lounge. Abandoned and Historic Buildings

In my never ending search for cool stuff on the internet I inadvertently, but gladly found a fellow blogger who photographs and blogs about abandoned and historic buildings in New York.
The blog is called The Kingston Lounge- Guerrilla preservation and urban archaeology. Brooklyn and beyond.  The link to check it out:  http://kingstonlounge.blogspot.com/

I was on the site the other night and there are some excellent pictures of the abandoned buildings at Creedmore State (Psych Hospital), Hart Island, The abandoned hospital on North Brother Island (think Typhoid Mary), Buffalo State Hospital (abandoned), The Victory Theatre in MA, as well as others.  Pretty cool stuff....like stepping backwards in time and seeing what it looked like when everyone just got up and left.  Some of the sites have collapsing roofs, animal damage and other issues but the pictures tell a story that you wouldn't believe.

I totally recommend checking them out.  For those of y'all on Facebook they have a page there too: http://www.facebook.com/KingstonLounge

Check them out, you will not be disappointed.

Signing off 22:33

Fat Head...the documentary that sheds light on governmental involvement of nutrition and diets

I had the fortune to find this documentary and watch it last night. It's about the government and cover ups dealing with the fast food industry and nutrition in general. EVERYONE should watch it!! It pertains to me because I am in the middle of a diet, trying to lose 40-50 pounds before next summer. Now I have some more knowledge about how to better eat so I can improve my health. And it's not what you think!! Enjoy!!





Signing off 2054

New Job

With all the nonsense going on at the school I work in and my need to buy another car soon I went out and got a second job. I'm mostly working nights there...in Queens and working days at the school (until I can quit). They cut my hours at the school just because I can't work Fridays anymore. I'm not working 20 hours on Fridays! I can't do it! So for now I am supplementing my income and making decent money. Its working out well. I'm off work today. Working a double tomorrow.

Signing off 12:35

Happy Beltane!!

In celebration of Beltane 2011 I share with you an awesome video by Loreena McKennitt....The Mummers Dance!  Happy Beltane!!









When in the springtime of the year
When the trees are crowned with leaves
When the ash and oak, and the birch and yew
Are dressed in ribbons fair

When owls call the breathless moon
In the blue veil of the night
The shadows of the trees appear
Amidst the lantern light

We've been rambling all the night
And some time of this day
Now returning back again
We bring a garland gay

Who will go down to those shady groves
And summon the shadows there
And tie a ribbon on those sheltering arms
In the springtime of the year

The songs of birds seem to fill the wood
That when the fiddler plays
All their voices can be heard
Long past their woodland days

And so they linked their hands and danced
Round in circles and in rows
And so the journey of the night descends
When all the shades are gone

"A garland gay we bring you here
And at your door we stand
It is a sprout well budded out
The work of our Lord's hand"





Signing off 23:49

420??

Today is 4/20.  Seems pretty mundane, right?  Well, apparently everyone is making a big deal about it for a reason.  I mean, it WAS posted about on Facebook quite extensively today.  I had a co-worker ask me about it and thought it was funny when she didn't know.  Neither did a few other people at work today...I took an informal poll.  So after much thought and contemplation (and one google search) I decided to post info about it for all of you that are STILL clueless.   It has to do with pot....ya know, marijuana...

The Huffington Post published an article on the history behind 420 here:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/04/19/420-history-the-story-beh_n_851136.html

The term started with the a group of high school students in California and the term 420 spread through the Grateful Dead"s network of fans and on from there. It was a code word for getting together and smoking pot which now is used across the country (apparently).  The article is chock full of interesting info!!

It even sparked it's own Snopes.com page:

http://www.snopes.com/language/stories/420.asp


And even a Wikipedia.com article:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/420_%28cannabis_culture%29

So for those of you who actually care...here ya go!  You can read my blog, get stoned, and go raid the fridge!  Happy 420!!! :)

Signing off 22:11

The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald

The legend lives on from the Chippewa on down 
of the big lake they called "Gitche Gumee."
The lake, it is said, never gives up her dead
when the skies of November turn gloomy.

I first remember hearing this song when I was a little girl.

I remember thinking that it was a cool song.

At that point I didn't realize that it was about an actual event.

Gordon Lightfoot wrote "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald" in 1976.

The actually event...the sinking of the ore ship the SS Edmund Fitzgerald 

took place on November 10, 1975.

From what I have researched the ship was sailing on Lake Superior and sank 

when it was hit by a rogue wave during a fierce storm

(this is just one theory).

They don't really know why the ship sank. 

The entire 29 man crew on board the ship was lost in the freezing water

that tragic night.

I wanted to share this song, the lyrics, and a few websites

with everyone because  I want to try to capture 

the memory of all the crew members and how 

they are immortilized by this song.

I hope you enjoy the song and hopefully you will learn something new. 

This video is especially interesting because it contains news footage 

and radio transmissions from the time the sinking occurred.

The legend lives on from the Chippewa on down 
of the big lake they called "Gitche Gumee."
The lake, it is said, never gives up her dead
when the skies of November turn gloomy.
With a load of iron ore twenty-six thousand tons more
than the Edmund Fitzgerald weighed empty,
that good ship and true was a bone to be chewed
when the "Gales of November" came early. 

The ship was the pride of the American side
coming back from some mill in Wisconsin.
As the big freighters go, it was bigger than most
with a crew and good captain well seasoned,
concluding some terms with a couple of steel firms
when they left fully loaded for Cleveland.
And later that night when the ship's bell rang,
could it be the north wind they'd been feelin'?

The wind in the wires made a tattle-tale sound
and a wave broke over the railing.
And ev'ry man knew, as the captain did too
'twas the witch of November come stealin'.
The dawn came late and the breakfast had to wait
when the Gales of November came slashin'.
When afternoon came it was freezin' rain
in the face of a hurricane west wind.

When suppertime came the old cook came on deck sayin'.
"Fellas, it's too rough t'feed ya."
At seven P.M. a main hatchway caved in; he said,
fellas, it's been good t'know ya!"
The captain wired in he had water comin' in
and the good ship and crew was in peril.
And later that night when 'is lights went outta sight
came the wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald.

Does any one know where the love of God goes
when the waves turn the minutes to hours?
The searchers all say they'd have made Whitefish Bay
if they'd put fifteen more miles behind 'er.
They might have split up or they might have capsized;
they may have broke deep and took water.
And all that remains is the faces and the names
of the wives and the sons and the daughters.

Lake Huron rolls, Superior sings
in the rooms of her ice-water mansion.
Old Michigan steams like a young man's dreams;
the islands and bays are for sportsmen.
And farther below Lake Ontario
takes in what Lake Erie can send her,
And the iron boats go as the mariners all know
with the Gales of November remembered.

In a musty old hall in Detroit they prayed,
in the "Maritime Sailors' Cathedral."
The church bell chimed 'til it rang twenty-nine times
for each man on the Edmund Fitzgerald.
The legend lives on from the Chippewa on down
of the big lake they call "Gitche Gumee."
"Superior," they said, "never gives up her dead
when the gales of November come early!"

Websites:

http://www.ssefo.com/

http://gordonlightfoot.com/wreckoftheedmundfitzgerald.shtml

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS_Edmund_Fitzgerald


R.I.P to the crew of the SS Edmund Fitzgerald 11/10/1975

Michael E. Armagost	37	Third Mate	Iron River, Wisconsin
Frederick J. Beetcher	56	Porter	Superior, Wisconsin
Thomas D. Bentsen	23	Oiler	St. Joseph, Michigan
Edward F. Bindon	47	First Assistant Engineer	Fairport Harbor, Ohio
Thomas D. Borgeson	41	Maintenance Man	Duluth, Minnesota
Oliver J. Champeau	41	Third Assistant Engineer	Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin
Nolan S. Church	55	Porter	Silver Bay, Minnesota
Ransom E. Cundy	53	Watchman	Superior, Wisconsin
Thomas E. Edwards	50	Second Assistant Engineer	Oregon, Ohio
Russell G. Haskell	40	Second Assistant Engineer	Millbury, Ohio
George J. Holl	60	Chief Engineer	Cabot, Pennsylvania
Bruce L. Hudson	22	Deck Hand	North Olmsted, Ohio
Allen G. Kalmon	43	Second Cook	Washburn, Wisconsin
Gordon F. MacLellan	30	Wiper	Clearwater, Florida
Joseph W. Mazes	59	Special Maintenance Man	Ashland, Wisconsin
John H. McCarthy	62	First Mate	Bay Village, Ohio
Ernest M. McSorley	63	Captain	Toledo, Ohio
Eugene W. O'Brien	50	Wheelsman	Toledo, Ohio
Karl A. Peckol	20	Watchman	Ashtabula, Ohio
John J. Poviach	59	Wheelsman	Bradenton, Florida
James A. Pratt	44	Second Mate	Lakewood, Ohio
Robert C. Rafferty	62	Steward	Toledo, Ohio
Paul M. Riippa	22	Deck Hand	Ashtabula, Ohio
John D. Simmons	63	Wheelsman	Ashland, Wisconsin
William J. Spengler	59	Watchman	Toledo, Ohio
Mark A. Thomas	21	Deck Hand	Richmond Heights, Ohio
Ralph G. Walton	58	Oiler	Fremont, Ohio
David E. Weiss	22	Cadet	Agoura, California
Blaine H. Wilhelm	52	Oiler	Moquah, Wisconsin

Signing off 22:09