bigato's journal

Where are you and where are you going?
Scott 2
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Re: bigato's journal

Post by Scott 2 »

Your pictures offer such a strong contrast from city life. I really hope the job pans out in a way that makes staying put sustainable.

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Seppia
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Re: bigato's journal

Post by Seppia »

You could make pesto with the extra basil, it's delicious.
I'll post the recipe if you want, it's easy and quick, and it lasts a long time in the freezer.

take2
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Re: bigato's journal

Post by take2 »

Wouldn’t the monkey puzzle nuts you gathered in the forest work well for that? I imagine they’re not too dissimilar from pine nuts which is what is supposed to go into pesto.

guitarplayer
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Re: bigato's journal

Post by guitarplayer »

Your place looks great!

Last year I was helping a guy on an organic banana farm on Madeira. The farm was with his family for generations and he shared a few interesting things about bananas, who knows maybe you will find them useful.

* He said that every plant should have a grandparent, parent and a child. The child is the small shoot that you leave so that it grows into a tree. The parent is the tree that is soon going to fruit. The grandparent is the tree that has fruited. Apparently it is good to leave quite a bit of the grandparent's stem rather than chop it right down to the ground straight away. This way the grandparent can transfer whatever life's still in it to the parent.

* It is quite an art to choose which shoots to leave to grow, especially when there are many trios next to each other. This is because from one generation to another, the trio will be moving ever so slightly as the grandparent will be chopped and a child allowed to grow. So it is good to be smart in picking the shoots to grow so that trios don't interrupt each other.

* He would peel banana surplus and freeze it, later making banana milk. Very yummy! And yeah if he had loads he would sell them.

EDIT: Also, since this was an organic enterprise, he had a way for keeping bugs away from the actual bananas. When he had a bunch, he would cut off the tiny 'aborted' bananas right below the proper bananas, and leave the flower at the very bottom. I think the logic was that any bugs would first inhabit the flower, and then climb their way up to the bananas. That way, he still had something for the bugs (the flower), but cut off the ladder leading to the fruit.

guitarplayer
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Re: bigato's journal

Post by guitarplayer »

Just blended with water, and sometimes cinamon or cocoa.

About the stem, that guy was/is very much into permaculture so I wouldn't be surprised if some of the stuff he did was non-standard.

2Birds1Stone
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Re: bigato's journal

Post by 2Birds1Stone »

Curious to how it goes. Went without any cell service for two months in Portugal and it definitely took a few weeks to "detox".

ertyu
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Re: bigato's journal

Post by ertyu »

Wow, the area is really beautiful.

Seems to be house-building year on ERE. Cool.

reepicheep
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Re: bigato's journal

Post by reepicheep »

@ertyu, kinda, yeah!

Bigato, such a beautiful area you're in. Can you paint over the patch? How is the house exterior finished?

theanimal
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Re: bigato's journal

Post by theanimal »

Still going strong with no smartphone? I'd like to do the same but am currently caught in the trap of wanting too many things from it camera/maps/internet. I went without it from ~2012-2018. Maybe I'll try again soon.

What kind of wood is it that lasts so long? Is it not available for purchase because it no longer grows? Was that what was once in the area prior to deforestation?

bottlerocks
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Re: bigato's journal

Post by bottlerocks »

Brazilian Rosewood? Probably the most sought after lumber in the world. MarlingBaits on youtube got a piece in the mail recently from an international subscriber -- very cool properties and very beautiful.

rube
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Re: bigato's journal

Post by rube »

Did we lost Bigato?

jacob
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Re: bigato's journal

Post by jacob »

Yes. He requested that his account+posts be deleted. I couldn't talk him out of it, but he left me with this explanation in case anyone asked.
Since I figure a lot of you will eventually ask, I'm posting it here.
bigato wrote: It was actually prompted by reflections after [the Wheaton] incident, but
not directly caused by the incident itself nor by your actions.
My last message there was a bad one indeed, and I was going to
rewrite it but then I saw it had already been quoted.

Using the countertop metaphor yet again: imagine a world where
having your own kitchen in the house is just not standard. In
this world, renting and sharing kitchens is common. Like airbnb
for kitchens or some such, including kitchen owners who invite
people over to cook at their homes just to enjoy a share of the
food and good company.

Now you are one of these kitchen owners, and also happen to be
a damn good cook yourself. Over time, you attracted a sizable and
selected group of people who frequent your kitchen and have a
great time. But every now and then you start having problems with
people not keeping your place tidy and clean to your standards. Then
you start making rules and doing your best to enforce then. After
all, it's your kitchen and your house. If it's not kept clean and
orderly, you are the one that will suffer it later. So it's your
standards that should prevail. If it were at my house, for example,
I would not like to have non-vegan food being prepared. Because it
stinks to my nose and I'd have to cope with it later. At some point,
one kitchen owner may start asking himself, "why do I even do this
job of managing cooks", because it sucks.

The problem, in my mind, is the disconnect between ownership and
responsibility. It's the same thing happening in communes, except
in digital form. You own the kitchen, but I own my dishes. But if
I decide to use your kitchen to cook meth, you'd be legally liable.
Me, on the other side, could just jump from kitchen to kitchen, and
avoid responsibility for the consequences of my own actions. The
maintenance on the kitchens would be all on the owners after all.

So that made me question all my participation in online communities
and my use of instant messaging tools as a whole. I'm studying this
problem and the alternatives in this space, and I don't have a clear
answer yet, but I'll try doing without whilst I decide what's better
to do. Furthermore, I even suspect that my social interactions online
(mainly ere forums nowadays) could be taxing my limited social energy
in the real life interactions. or at least preventing me from
going out of my way to have better interactions with people near me,
because online people I can find are so awesome and they fill my
limited social needs pretty well.

Looking at it from another angle, it is as if all interactions I have
with the world sit in a spectrum between complete agency and no
agency at all. In food words, I have choices ranging from sitting in
a restaurant and ordering from the menu (minimal agency and freedom of
choice) and growing my own food and cooking it myself
(maximum agency and freedom of choice).

The same applies for communication and relationships: the maximum
agency side of the spectrum in my mind would be meeting diverse people
in the real world, developing social ties, gathering a group that I
can trust and maybe even resemble something like a community of sorts.
The other side of the spectrum, with minimum agency, there would be
options like relying on the job for social relations. Somewhere in
between would be options like subscribing to an online community or
even a physical commune where a leader already gathered a number of
people for you. Instant social capital as Alphaville put it. That comes
with its own set of rules set by the people responsible by the
community, and produce some problems stemming again from the disconnect
between ownership and responsibility. The leader owns the community
and is responsible for it, and I partially own my contributions and the
social relations I derive from the interactions.

I don't know where I'll go from here regarding digital social
interactions, maybe I'll try to find some alternative that does not put the burden for
my actions in the shoulders of someone else, and that also does not make
me dependent on someone else for a space. Or maybe I'll build one. Or
just mostly do without digital interactions, if I find them being
actually harmful for my life. The digital and real life lines are increasingly
blurry. Just this morning I read an article saying that the populist
president of my country is adopting a new social network which promises
freedom of speech. One that, as you can guess, is full of their own
problems brought about by unchecked free speech, such as widespread
dissemination of fake news. So I may not be able to just ignore digital
social life, but for the moment, I'll retreat.

You may share this message privately or publicly if you need or want to,
in case my absence raises questions. You may also share my email with
someone from the forums if they ask for it,
but please avoid posting it in the public web to avoid spam.

Thank you.

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Mister Imperceptible
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Re: bigato's journal

Post by Mister Imperceptible »

I don’t understand the decision to nuke a years long dialogue. He could have just taken a break. This is becoming a trend.

We are losing.

chenda
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Re: bigato's journal

Post by chenda »

That's a great shame, Bigato was such a lovely chap...

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Jean
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Re: bigato's journal

Post by Jean »

I really liked bigato.

George the original one
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Re: bigato's journal

Post by George the original one »

Will miss you, Bigato!

classical_Liberal
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Re: bigato's journal

Post by classical_Liberal »

This is a big loss to the forum. Bigato will be missed.

Dream of Freedom
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Re: bigato's journal

Post by Dream of Freedom »

As I recall Bigato was the main guy to help change over the ERE site to the new system.

theanimal
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Re: bigato's journal

Post by theanimal »

Bigato is definitely one of the people that makes this place special, especially having been around so long. I hope he returns.

sky
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Re: bigato's journal

Post by sky »

I am very sad that bigato left this forum. I hope it works out in a way that is best for him. We lost an important part of this group.

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