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SSS Kickoff Party Recap

Sat, 2006-04-01 12:09 — xtraspatial
Body: 

The first event for Sustainable Saratoga Springs was held last Sunday (26 March 2006) at Jim and Frenchy's house. Ten people were present for the potluck and seven remained for the screening of Rhinoceros. There was lively discussion during the potluck and after the movie.

An interesting point was raised by Steve G. regarding the term "Relocalization." He felt that the reflective prefix ("re-") downplays those localization efforts that aren't a reversion to some previous state of a more local socio-economic structure. I agree in part, but also say that the outward expression of many of our localization efforts might look similar to some previous state of human habitation. I refer primarily to the landuse patterns, re-introduction of more appropriate technologies (including non-mechanized farm implements, draft animals, windmills, etc), and the daily and seasonal rhythms of our lives. By all means however, there is no way we want to go back to the levels of pollution, unsanitary conditions, and wasteful practices that characterized life in the not-so-distant past. But I'm rambling, and that's what blog space is for...

We enjoyed a great vegetarian/vegan potluck, and then sat down to watch the film adaptation of Eugene Ionesco's Rhinoceros. The film was provokative and funny, often simultaneously. Gene Wilder, Zero Mostel, and Karen Black gave great performances in a tale of the gradual conversion of townsfolk from many walks of life into, according to Ionesco, Nazis (depicted in the play/movie as rhinoceri). To me, it is a cautionary tale of how complaceny, peer pressure, and the lure of "easy living" can transform the individual from a civil, rational citizen to one more member of the herd.

Suggestions for the next event are always welcome. Perhaps we want to do something for Earth Day (April 22nd)? I was supposed to be contacted by someone from Honest Weight food co-op in Albany about having a booth for their show. Potlucks and salon-style discussions were also suggested as ongoing events. Perhaps we're ready for a community screening of End of Suburbia, or The Power of Community. I've seen both of them and they are fantastic awakeners of consciousness.

Please feel free to post ideas here on our group news page or email them to Jim Zack (sss@spatialexperts.com).

The first event for Sustainable Saratoga Springs was held last Sunday (26 March 2006) at Jim and Frenchy's house. Ten people were present for the potluck and seven remained for the screening of Rhinoceros. There was lively discussion during the potluck and after the movie.

An interesting point was raised by Steve G. regarding the term "Relocalization." He felt that the reflective prefix ("re-") downplays those localization efforts that aren't a reversion to some previous state of a more local socio-economic structure. I agree in part, but also say that the outward expression of many of our localization efforts might look similar to some previous state of human habitation. I refer primarily to the landuse patterns, re-introduction of more appropriate technologies (including non-mechanized farm implements, draft animals, windmills, etc), and the daily and seasonal rhythms of our lives. By all means however, there is no way we want to go back to the levels of pollution, unsanitary conditions, and wasteful practices that characterized life in the not-so-distant past. But I'm rambling, and that's what blog space is for...

We enjoyed a great vegetarian/vegan potluck, and then sat down to watch the film adaptation of Eugene Ionesco's Rhinoceros. The film was provokative and funny, often simultaneously. Gene Wilder, Zero Mostel, and Karen Black gave great performances in a tale of the gradual conversion of townsfolk from many walks of life into, according to Ionesco, Nazis (depicted in the play/movie as rhinoceri). To me, it is a cautionary tale of how complaceny, peer pressure, and the lure of "easy living" can transform the individual from a civil, rational citizen to one more member of the herd.

Suggestions for the next event are always welcome. Perhaps we want to do something for Earth Day (April 22nd)? I was supposed to be contacted by someone from Honest Weight food co-op in Albany about having a booth for their show. Potlucks and salon-style discussions were also suggested as ongoing events. Perhaps we're ready for a community screening of End of Suburbia, or The Power of Community. I've seen both of them and they are fantastic awakeners of consciousness.

Please feel free to post ideas here on our group news page or email them to Jim Zack (sss@spatialexperts.com).

Comments

benjdm's picture
benjdm
April 1st, 2006

SSS Kickoff Party Recap

FWIW, I thought "Localization" worked better than "Relocalization" on two levels:

 

 1. Re-localization implies that we are going backward.  It makes the concept a tougher sell.  In reality, we don't wish to go back in knowledge or level of civilization, merely scale.  Localization doesn't make this implication.

 

 2. Maybe it is just me but I keep reading "Relocation."

 

Is The Power of Community the movie about Cuba ?  That one I would love to see.  After watching The End of Suburbia, I vote to skip that one.  It spends too much time detailing how we got where we are.  Too tempting to then try and assign blame instead of working on creating new ways of doing things. 

 

How about a short info exchange ?  Everyone who thinks they have some good knowledge / information takes ~5 minutes to share it.  Everyone who is particularly ignorant or unskilled in an area can ask for info / knowledge.  I have ideas for myself for both sharing and asking. 

 

Darnit, why won't this thing keep my paragraph breaks ?

- Ben 

xtraspatial's picture
xtraspatial
April 7th, 2006

Localization vs Relocalization etc..

Thanks for the comments, Ben. I agree with you about the retro implications of relocalization. I concur that our efforts should be directed at moving forward rather than back. If some of the patterns and practices we see in the future look like those in place in the past, so be it. It was probably because we were enjoying an unsustainable bonanza provided by ultra-dense energy and the short-sightedness in our planning. As for relocalization/relocation confusion, I just found a folder of mine called "Relocation" and thought it was about SSS, only to find out it was some material from my move out here four years ago. Regardless, I suspect our localization effort will involve a fair amount of relocation, of people and infrastructure! The Power of Community is indeed the documentary about Cuba's coping with sudden shutoff of Soviet and other (i.e. embargoed) sources of petroleum. The "Special Period" they endured shows how a forcing event can (and did) mobilize the poorest nation in the Western Hemisphere towards self-sufficiency in food production, alternative sources and conservation of energy, and transportation re-shuffling (cameltruck/buses with a 300-person capacity!). The film hasn't been released yet, but I suspect its release is imminent. I think that "The End of Suburbia" is a great wake-up call that we could offer to show at the library every month or so as a public event sponsored by SSS. For our SSS meetings, I'd like to view newer provokative films. Your info-exchange idea is great. It would help identify those areas where we have "resident experts" and those where we need to reach out for assistance. I suggest we reserve a half hour for this at each of our meetings. Finally, in order to enable paragraph breaks, you must choose "Filtered HTML," or "Full HTML" as your Input format. Choosing "HTML, no filters" will strip out the extra whitespace including line and paragraph breaks. Let me know if that doesn't solve the problem. You can always create a message with the paragraph breaks and preview it to see if it'll work. Cheers, Jim Z
benjdm's picture
benjdm
April 8th, 2006

Power of Community is available now

The Power of Community is available now, I just ordered a copy.  I have also begun the process of lowering my agricultural ignorance with "The Permaculture Way: Practical Steps to Create a Self-Sustaining World" by Bill Mollison.  Along with the library End of Suburbia idea I think the Oil Age poster looks like it has a lot of value.  ( http://www.oilposter.org ).  I plan on scouting out a few local town government meetings and maybe doing a little presentation.  As I haven't yet attended any meetings, all my ideas in this area are very tentative.  Where do I find this Input Format setting ?  I thought I was computer-savvy until this website.......        - Ben

xtraspatial's picture
xtraspatial
April 8th, 2006

Power of Community etc.

Ben, Did you actually order or pre-order the Power of Community DVD? If it's released, that's great! I want to see it again (I saw it at NOFA-VT Winter Conference) and definitely want to show it to others. Permaculture is great technology. As for local government meetings, Saratoga County Supervisor Cheryl Keyrouze is forming a fast-track citizens committee on the county-wide transportation system. Email her with your name, phone number, and email address to get involved. She hinted that she will have weekly meetings with an "aggressive" agenda. As for the website design, prepare for some changes! PCI is in the process of revamping Relocalize.net (which is the domain SSS will be subordinate to). In the meantime, when you reply to a post, you should see the following bold text headings:
  • Reply
  • Your name:
  • Subject:
  • Comment:*
  • Input format: (this is where you can select from Filtered HTML, Full HTML, or HTML, no filters)
    • If you see something else, please let me know! Jim Z.
    benjdm's picture
    benjdm
    April 8th, 2006

    Power of community oops

    Erm....looking again, I pre-ordered it. Dang, got myself all excited too early. When I reply to a post I see: Reply Your name Subject Comment And underneath the comment bit is an 'enable rich-text' hyperlink that opens up an editing box with bold, italics, underline, etc. No input format option. Disabling the rich-text seems to be working, though, if this preview matches what will actually happen. Thanks for the good info on the County Supervisor ! I have also signed up. Ben