learning-making
Ceramic Destinations in Tokyo
The most popular post on Slowlane has been Ceramics Destinations in Kyoto, this post seeks to provide the same information for a Tokyo visitor.
Notes & essays
Writing
learning-making
Ceramics Destinations in Kyoto
A guide to the best ceramics destinations in Kyoto — Kawai Kanjiro's house with its magnificent climbing kiln, the Kyoto Ceramics Centre on Gojo-zaka, the Nomura Art Museum's tea bowl collection, and the Raku Museum. Essential stops for anyone drawn to Japanese pottery and the mingei tradition.
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Clear thinking - well informed outspoken
George Monbiot's essay collection Bring on the Apocalypse makes for compulsive reading — sharp, unapologetically left-wing, and full of the kind of gutsy analysis that rarely appears in mainstream Australian media. A writer who says what he believes needs to be said.
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Australian Organic Wine
Here in Australia we have a vibrant wine industry including an increasing number of vineyards producing organic and/or biodynamic wine. We are especially keen on the wines from Mudgee in central NSW.
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Managing information overload
Saw this great cartoon over at Devon-Technologies which I have been visiting lately as I start to tackle my own information overload.
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New perspectives on money
Resurgence magazine's special issue on money and true wealth opens with a sharp editorial by Satish Kumar: money is not wealth — true wealth is healthy land, clean water, honest work and human creativity. There is never a shortage of money for war, but always a shortage for art and education.
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Slow food university
The University of Gastronomic Sciences in Piedmont is the world's first academic institution dedicated to the study of gastronomy — combining botany, food technology, history and sensory analysis. A glimpse of the Slow Food movement's deeper ambitions, including the remarkable Terra Madre gathering in Turin.
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Krinklewood biodynamic wine
The Krinklewood vineyard was recently given a positive review in the local media so I thought I would give it a try. We would have gotten around to it anyway as we are very keen on organic and biodynamic wines.
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A very small farm
William Paul Winchester's A Very Small Farm is a memoir of quietly extraordinary simplicity — life on twenty acres, building house and barn, putting in a garden and orchard, taking up beekeeping. It belongs to the tradition of Thoreau's Walden and rewards return visits over the years.
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Organic vs local
These days we have a reasonable range of organic food available to us locally whether through the supermarket, our local shops and/or box deliveries. However, in common with nearly all modern food, much of it travels substantial distances before it gets to us.
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Frightened by voluntary simplicity
An article in the New York Times tells of a couple who are shedding their possessions prior to starting a new life as organic farmers. What I found interesting was that they have had some hostile reactions on the blog they are keeping to document the journey.
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Healing power of chooks
This post has been in my mind since I saw a wonderful program ABC TV. The program 'Rare Chicken Rescue' has two themes, one is depression and the other is about rescuing rare chicken breeds.
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Guerrilla bagging
Horrified by the damage plastic bags cause to marine life, Claire Morsman launched Morsbags — a grassroots network of people making reusable bags from recycled material and giving them away. From a January 2007 start, the project had spread to seven countries and produced over 20,000 bags.
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Pursuing a simpler life
Zen Habits has compiled all its writing on simplicity into a single resource — a useful reference for anyone working through the practical and philosophical challenges of living with less and with more intention.
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Biodynamic wine in the news
Australian biodynamic wine is attracting growing media attention, and the quality is finally being recognised more widely. A roundup of recent coverage, with recommendations for mixed cases from organicwine.com.au including Krinklewood and Tamburlaine.
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Chilly chook
While browsing the website of designer Zach Debord I came across this great picture of a chook in the snow with a jumper on, she looks very cosy.
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Visit to hepburn springs
A few winter days at Hepburn Springs — staying at Shizuka, Australia's only ryokan, eating slow-cooked food at Cliffy's, visiting the Chameleon gallery, and making repeat trips to the Red Beard bakery in Trentham for sourdough from one of the last Scotch ovens in the country.
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Shakuhachi festival world masters concert
An account of the closing concert of the 5th World Shakuhachi Festival — shakuhachi, koto, shamisen and harp, a mass playing of Temuke, and a performance by Living National Treasure Reibo Aoki whose Ajikan brought a rare stillness to the auditorium.
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Resurgence slow sundays
Resurgence magazine launches its first Slow Sunday, inviting readers to bake bread as a small act of defiance against commercialism. A personal account of attempting the dutch oven no-knead technique — promising, if not yet perfected.
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The franklin river campaign - 25 years on
A personal account of taking part in the Franklin River campaign — camped in Tasmanian rainforest, arrested on the Crotty Road, briefly held in Risdon maximum security prison. One of the defining experiences of a life, and a reflection on what was won and what was at stake.
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A slow sunday at the art gallery
A Slow Sunday at the Art Gallery of NSW — returning to the Harold Cazneaux exhibition, a remarkable body of pictorial photography that still impresses for its atmospheric use of light and location. Also the Taisho Chic exhibition of Japanese art from the 1920s and 30s.
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Whats lurking under the lid
Michael Pollan's In Defence of Food skewers "nutritionism" and offers simple, memorable rules for eating well. This post takes his thinking further with a closer look at the plasticisers lurking in the PVC seals of glass jar lids — a hidden hazard even in organic products.
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Notebooks and Manifestos
A love of notebooks — the Make magazine Makers Notebook with its graph paper pages and embedded manifestos, and the endlessly versatile Moleskine. The Crafter's Manifesto makes a compelling case: things made by hand have hidden meanings and magic powers that purchased objects simply cannot.
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Putting things off
A pointer to a piece on changing the way we work — slowing down, being more deliberate, and questioning the assumption that constant availability and busyness are virtues worth cultivating.
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Simplicity amongst the weapons
Son of a Lion is a quietly extraordinary film — shot covertly by an Australian filmmaker embedded with a Pashtun community in Pakistan's tribal weapon-making region. The story of a boy who demands an education over his father's trade is touching, authentic and unlike anything else.
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More on chicken tractors
Since my post about chickens which mentioned the Linda Woodrow inspired chook dome. I have noticed that people are searching in google for information about chicken tractors.
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Urban chickens
Backyard chickens were a common feature of Australian life during the Depression and wartime years and are making a welcome return. A reflection on the pleasures and practicalities of keeping hens for eggs — and the rather different challenge of keeping them for the table.
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Alan Watts
Reading Alan Watts in my teens I experienced my first taste of eastern thinking which has led to a life long interest. In his essays on Zen and the Tao I could feel deep truths were lurking just beyond the words.
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BEN - bicycle empowerment network
Its Blog Action Day - my plug is for BEN the Bicycle Empowerment Network of Namibia. Established by Australian Michael Linke who had previously edited Australian Cyclist.
