Sycthe Silence

I bought a scythe for Christmas, or more precisely, one handle and two blades from The Scythe Shop, a great example of an artisan-run business, delivered by someone with a passion for their craft.

It's never made sense to cut the paths and meadows in front of the house with a petrok-driven, noisy, two stroke strimmer that's so dangerous to use that I need to wear goggles, boots and ear defenders.

Every 15 minutes, I stop to sharpen the blade of the Austrian scythe with a wet stone carried on my belt, to keep the edge keen. It gives me a chance to stretch and rest awhile too, noticing the ground under my feet.

I wouldn't want to see armies of people cutting the prairies by hand, but for gardens, sharp steel and the swing of an arm seems to take some beating

Be part of a world record

The Age of Stupid is running a 'People's Premiere' in two weeks' time - and planning to get 16,000 people to the opening night, and getting into the Guinness Book of Records to boot. Be there! www.ageofstupid.net

Sun Shines on the Righteous

Last week, in a great example of thawing opinions relating to climate change and global warming, the UKs leading red top newspaper, The Sun, carried a double page spread on The Age of Stupid, which goes out on general release in the UK in March 2009. It's the second time this year that this widely-read paper has carried a major story (the other was a Clinton article), and represents a glowing step forward in communication. Much as I love the Guardian, it's the Sun that reaches into 10x as many homes.

Next up for conversion: a) The Daily Mail, b) The Telegraph, c) Gordon Brown

Mailed with love

For years I've been hearing lovely stories of student-style contests to push the limits and patience of the Royal Mail, the UK's postal service, to it's limits. Tales, many made-up, I'm sure, range from writing the address really small on the back of a stamp and posting that, to writing addresses on feathers, bricks and everything in between.

Today, our friends at howies went old school and sent out a mailing of their lovely spring catalogue without an envelope; it meant that it couldn't be full of those anoying flyers, which wasn't a problem as they don't do that anyway. No envelope is a small difference, for sure, but the message is the meaning - unwrapped can be just as good.It's time to look hard at what else can be challenged, unwrapped and enjoyed differently - like food, garden tools, mobile phones, shoes and a whole lot more.

The catalogue arrived in perfect condition.

Remembering Peak Oil

It's interesting to see how little mention there is in these times of Peak Oil, and the way that low oil prices seem to be placating debate. Important though, is the stark comment from the Peak Oil Task Force, back in October:

“Our main point is this. The speed with which the UK would need to mobilise for a “descent” peak oil scenario, much less a “collapse” scenario, exceeds anything that has yet been considered in the climate-change policy-response arena. Formulating a plan for either the “collapse” or the “descent” scenarios will require an entirely new framework for energy thinking in the UK.

Failure to act would entail major social and economic problems for government, industry and consumers alike, should either the “descent” or “collapse” scenarios materialise. Acting without taking a total-energy approach could lead to bad decisions involving little net-energy gain for the national economy, and deleterious impacts on our balance of payments”

Peak oil and energy security will be important for forthcoming workshops with local government directors at four events in coming weeks.