Transition Culture

An Evolving Exploration into the Head, Heart and Hands of Energy Descent

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Monthly archive for January 2009

Showing results 16 - 20 of 24 for the month of January, 2009.


13 Jan 2009

Bombs at Teatime

Saw a wonderful film a while ago called ‘Bombs at Teatime’, a collection of archive films made during World War Two as part of the public education campaign that led to the emergence of Dig for Victory, rationing and so on.  Although they were very much of their time, media and film-making having moved on vastly since, there are still some fascinating insights here into how one might communicate thift and conservation.  The first is a wonderfully stilted film called ‘Two Cooks and a Cabbage’ which is about the right and wrong way to cook a cabbage.

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Discussion: 3 Comments

Categories: General


12 Jan 2009

Book Review: Permaculture, a beginner’s guide

Permaculture: a beginner’s guide (second edition). Graham Burnett. Spiralseed Publications.

I have had a copy of the initial edition of this small book for many years.  Graham both wrote and illustrated the book, and it has a very distinctive look and feel which are particular to his work.  His particular background and his perspective on permaculture emerges from a long background in anarchism, veganism, and a more urban, communitarian approach than some more rural-focused writers such as Patrick Whitefield.  He is also active in Transition Westcliffe-on-Sea

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Discussion: 1 Comment

Categories: General


9 Jan 2009

Caution: Beware Low Flying Hijacked Cows

A profoundly historic event happened yesterday.  The Sun ran a front page story, an ‘exclusive’ no less, about a windfarm in Lincolnshire where one of the wind turbines was apparently “hit by a UFO”.  Apparently local people had seen odd lights in the sky, heard a crash, and the next morning one of the blades from the turbine was missing and another was buckled and twisted.  Spooky.  The historic event was, of course, not the alleged UFO incident itself, but rather the fact that for the first time ever, wind power had been deemed important enough, and interesting enough, to grace the front page of The Sun.

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Discussion: 12 Comments

Categories: General


8 Jan 2009

Carolyn Baker Reviews the Transition Handbook

The Transition Town Movement: embracing reality and resilience.  By Carolyn Baker.
Sunday, 4th January 2009

The Transition HandbookFor several months I have been meaning to write a review of Rob Hopkins’ The Transition Handbook: From Oil Dependency to Local Resilience, but other things got in the way-like a planetary economic meltdown and out of control climate change that exceeds some of the most dire predictions by climate scientists. I should have spoken out earlier in support of this movement, but I didn’t. Now, as we commence this new year, I am.

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Discussion: 4 Comments

Categories: General


7 Jan 2009

The Problem is the Solution

Related to which, here is a rather nice cartoon from ExtraEthical.com.

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Discussion: Comments Off on The Problem is the Solution

Categories: General