2009

I am a great fan of subversive media that seeks to tell truths that do not sit easily in the tomes of the major outlets, being dictated as they are by large advertising revenue and they need to appeal to as wide an audience as possible.

For several years now I have been sporadically receiving a small journal called the Fourth World Review. The wonderful polemic was the work of John Papworth a great eccentric of the type only Britain seems to produce. I mean that as a compliment, it is exactly his unique character, keen intelligence and insistence on telling people exactly how he see’s the world that have made his beautifully written editorials a joy to read. The journal has consistently stood up for the importance of small scale, local initiatives whether it be farms, local politics and all types of communities. Papworth was a friend of EF Schumacher and has published many articles by Leopold Kohr who continues the vision outlined by Schumacher in his classic work Small is Beautiful.

I met John Papworth some years ago when he visited Australia. He is small very energetic man who must has been in his late seventies at the time. His speech was littered with Shakespearean quotes and classical references. His oration skills were highly developed and he was very entertaining to listen to
It seems that the journal is no longer being published, however several years worth of editions are available online at the Fourth World Review Archives and would be rewarding reading. John has written the following plea for others to take over aspects of the journal

I have edited FourthWorld Review since I founded it in 1984. Now I am trying tohand over to a new team. Technology now makes it feasible to divide functions.Can you help? … I am bowing out only because at 86 it istime. If this is not to be the last issue of FourthWorld Review what can you doto ensure its continuance? I will keep you posted on developments withoccasional newsletters.

Note: I received a message that the journal is back in publication

Recent writing by John Papworth can be found here at Transition Culture

Nice post here at Mother Earth News Stop Putting Off Chickens

In season down in Sydney at the moment (from the Slow Food Sydney newsletter)

• Strawberries
• Spinach and watercress
• Valencia oranges
• Asparagus

Ethical Eating book reviewed in the Eco Pages of the Sydney Morning Herald

We rented a great DVD - How to Cook Your Life should be very interesting to anyone who still has a yellowing copy of the Tassajara cookbook or bread book as it features Ed Brown who also wrote those books back in the 70’s. Ed has been practising Zen and cooking for over 30 years and the video is full of insights.

Here is a design for a traditional chicken ark. This is from Charles Hayward’s 1940 book “Carpentry for Beginners” which has still a useful reference as it shows hand tool methods (even better is “Cabinet Making for Beginners”).

Click here for the full PDF -> How to build a chicken ark

Nice to see Pamela Slim’s book in the shops, I am looking forward to giving it a read after enjoying her blog for some time.

The Ecologist is one of the great journals of the green movement and has recently gone through the transformation from print to online. This makes access to its stimulating content much easier.

Click here to read about an interesting prototype building just opened at Bath university that uses pre-fabricated wall panels filled with straw.

The Bath University Balehaus project site is worth a look.

When will we have access to locally produced building products like this in Australia I wonder ?

The way to keep the food miles down is to eat in sync with whats in season for your region. Its a simple idea that would once have been the only option for most people. In modern first world countries it now requires an effort to know what is in season and to track down local producers. If you have a local farmers market then patronise it well so the producers keep going to the trouble of turning up.

Slowfood Sydney has a useful blog that regularly posts information on seasonal produce, here is the latest entry.

Seth Godin has published a free ebook, “Things that matter”. It contains over 70 short essays from todays leading thinkers. Definitely worth a read. I found resonances in many of the entries however the following extract from Howard Mann caught my attention as its a phenonmena I see growing daily.

We walk the streets with our heads down staring into 3-inch screens while the world whisks by doing the same. And yet we’re convinced we are more connected to each other than ever before. Multi-tasking has become a badge of honor. I want to know why.

Howard Mann in Things That Matter