~Meniscus Archives~

Summer 2004
Issue #4

May - August 2004
 
           

Visual Art and Spiritual Evolution
Andy Gmür
Biological evolution has advanced to the point that a 'spiritual evolution' is taking place. This natural process is happening, no matter if we are aware of it or not.

The Dehydration Epidemic
Jaime Larese
Our first step to improving a myriad of health problems is understanding dehydration and how much water we need to be drinking daily to maintain our fragile health.

What's Endangering Our Earth?
Jeff Hernandez
The everyday items that are meant to facilitate our lives, in fact may be harming us more than we bargained for. Organic chemicals are extremely cheap to produce and are very effective in their job functions.

Looking Forward to Clean Energy
Jon Heinrich
Fortunately, solutions exist and if we are able to raise awareness and convince our policy makers to consider it a priority, we can all look forward to a bright, energy-rich future instead of one marked by environmental, political, and social disaster.
Sustainability
Aaron Ades
You don't need to save for a rainy day if you create a system that is in harmony with the needs of the human animal. Create what you need and eliminate the reliance on things you cannot create.
Ten Things You Can Do to Help Your Earth
Chrystie Hopkins
Whether you live in New York City or Big Fork, Montana, everyday decisions that you make can impact the environment. The revolution starts at home. Here are ten things that you can do to help save YOUR world.
Gaia
Derek Gumuchian
We are all one. In this article we explore the idea of the Earth as an entire entitiy and as our mother.
The Fabulous Sylvan Sisters
Dan Berthiaume
An hour later, Donna was lazily reclining in the passenger seat of Melinda's cherry red Volkswagen New Beetle, consuming a brunch consisting of a can of Diet Pepsi and a low-tar cigarette...
è bella Designs in Peru
Michael Weintrob
Photographer Michael Weintrob travels to Peru with è bella Designs, to capture how è bella has helped to revive the art of weaving and the Peruvuian economy.
Rough Around the Edges
Jonathan Alsop
Invinoveritas.com

Technically, first thing in the morning is the very best time to taste wine since your palate is fresh and unviolated. But I don't do it: the sight of daddy in his bathrobe on a Sunday morning slogging down a half-dozen bottles of wine could stay with a child.

Show Review:
Pete Pidgeon & Arcoda—Six Years of friends, funk and crack horns.
Jon Heinrich
Pete Pidgeon & Arcoda celebrate six years as a band by playing at Boston's Harpers Ferry. Opening up for Arcoda was Color and Talea and Caveman. 4/4/04.


CD Reviews:


Empty Food
Kerry Rumore
Fish Pond &
The Little Prince Discovers a Rose
Katie Molnar

Selections by Brian Gagné:

  • [It Fails to Pass]
  • Fever/Lever
  • Grief
  • Smallness annihilated in the scope of puzzlement
  • Untitled A

Events:
Spring Issue Launch
Club Europa,
Feb. 19, 2004

State of the Art,
Oct. 23, 2003

MetroSaturdays
Portland, Maine
Aug. 30, 2003

Premier Launch,
Zeitgeist Gallery,
Aug. 14, 2003

 

Letter to Meniscus

Sustainability

Aaron Ades
Published 5/15/04

Dear Meniscus,

I have been pursuing the idea of "sustainability" lately. It goes much deeper than buying a hybrid car or energy star appliance (although these are ecologically and socially important). I recently saw a financial counselor to help figure out this marriage-life-kids-retirement puzzle, and left his office even more perplexed than when I entered. He told me that I need to save about 1.5 - 3.0 million bucks to retire and live a lifestyle consistant with the one I live now. ONE POINT FIVE MILLION????? Hmmm... That's a big nut to crack. It's hard to believe that I will be consuming that much energyMONEYresource in the golden years.

I returned to Crestone a few weeks ago and was revitalized with hope. We have a friend that is living in a straw-bale construction house with a passive solar orientation (to optimize heating of the house from the sun), solar hot water, and PV panels for electricity. We also got the grand tour of Crestone's sustainable living sub-culture.

Straw-bale to Earthship:
We saw about a dozen 'thisMAKESsoMUCHsenseWHYisn'tEVERYONEdoingIT' houses. It really drove home the point of sustainability. It comes down to this: You don't need to save for a rainy day if you create a system that is in harmony with the needs of the human animal. Create what you need and eliminate the reliance on things you cannot create. Utilize all available technology for meeting these goals.

The enabling technology (Hi-tech and Low tech)

1. Passive Solar building (Low Tech)- Orient your house so that the southern exposure has a significant amount of glass (double paned). Place heat sinks (stone or tile flooring or walls) in direct sunlight so that they absorb heat when ever the sun shines on them. The passive solar houses I saw in Crestone are never colder than 60 degrees even in the dead of winter without heat.

2. Indoor gardens (Low Tech)- produce up to 75% of your food by growing it yourself—INSIDE. An indoor garden about the size of a bathtub can keep fresh veggies in your house 365 days a year.
Additionally, the bathtub sized planter box makes a great heat sink for your passive solar system if it is made out of dark stone.

3. Photovoltaic electricity (High Tech)- PV systems can basically produce all the electricity a household consumes if you make a few sensible changes (i.e. energy efficient appliances and compact florescent lighting.) Battery technology is about to be revolutionized via nano-technology and high tech polymers which will further enable off-the-grid living.

People are building house for 60-150K in Crestone that are 95 percent self contained. This is exciting, but brings up an interesting issue. If I can exponentially reduce the size of my 1.5 million dollar nut and reduce my consumption of external goods and services, what happens to the republicanHALIBURTONwarmachineECONOMY that is 100 percent dependent on my taxes. What happens if you multiple this dream by 1,000,000 or 10,000,000?

I believe that tiny changes at the foundation of our economy/society can have a staggering overall impact. The bickering over foreign energy dependence, farm subsidies, and globalization may end not because one side wins, but because the entire paradigm shifts, leaving the issues
totally irrelevant.

Everything is accelerating. The Kundalini IS Rising—for our entire society. As the Yogi's have noted, this explosion of energy starts at the base of the spine (the foundation of the human organism.) The interconnectedness and communication of jet travel and the Internet has created a conduit for this energy to surge throughout our society. From the base of a yogi's spine to the jewel of his crowning Chakra across the Internet and into the mind of the editor-in-chief to discussions with local musicians to the ears of an entire amphitheater....

All silliness aside, this Social Kundalini has the potential to create extreme change in our world for the better. It is possible that the suffering in the world we see today is a result of that energy being awakened and mis-routed through our society. It is our duty to make every corrective action possible (like a highly trained social yogi) to coax the energy into the proper channels. Once it is running through the proper meridians a "Great Organizing" will occur.

Aaron Ades

 


Meniscus Magazine © 2004. All material is property of respective artists.