An Evolving Exploration into the Head, Heart and Hands of Energy Descent
Transition Culture has moved
I no longer blog on this site. You can now find me, my general blogs, and the work I am doing researching my forthcoming book on imagination, on my new blog.
Sometimes I pass things so ridiculous I have to go back again for a second look. The other day I was near Paignton, and I passed a zebra crossing and its attendant Belisha beacons (see right). Interesting fact for the day (or quite possibly not), Belisha beacons are named after Leslie Hore-Belisha (1895-1957), the Minister of Transport who introduced them in the 1930s. The idea of Belisha beacons is straightforward, a black and white stripey pole with a yellow flashing globe on top which shows people where to cross the road. The yellow flashing light has long been considered adequate in attracting attention and which in turn insinuates where the stripey pole is to be found (if anyone should be interested). This Belisha beacon near Paignton had come up with an ingenious, energy-wasting way of solving a problem that I never knew existed, lighting the pole up from within!
I had a rare visit to the cinema the other night, not with anything in particular to watch but just to see what we might fancy. The only thing that wasn’t a horror film or a children’s film was ‘Sex and the City’, so we went to watch that. I haven’t watched any of the TV programmes so I was a bit lost, but really, what a load of rubbish. I have never seen more product placement, more vacuous people and more costume changes in a single film in my life. Anyway, that, in essence is my film review, but the one thing that stuck with me about the film was something that came as a deep shock and which I thought was quite extraordinary.
There is something delightful about the whole experience of making a clay pizza oven. The creativity of the work, the smell of woodsmoke, the feeling of your skin after a day immersed in clay and sand, the great sense of being part of a team, and the elemental connection with mixing earth, water, straw and fire and producing that great human staple, bread. I just spent the last couple of Sundays making one at my kids school, and it was delightful. Rather than writing a long piece about it, here are some photos to tell the story of the process.
This has really very little to do with Transition, peak oil, or any of our usual fodder here at Transition Culture. It is a short film that I found rather fascinating, which is an interesting take on the idea of things that ‘go viral’. I am fascinated by how that happens, it seems to be happening with Transition initiatives, with many other ideas too; this is a film about a 6 second drum ‘break’, known as the ‘Amen break’, recorded in 1969, which , with the invention of the sampler, has gone viral. No profound lessons for Transition here (unless you can spot any), just something I found rather intriguing.
From Friends of the Earth’s Earthmatters Magazine.
“The Transition Handbook is skillfully structured to help you and your neighbours move from oil dependency to local resilience. Its author, Rob Hopkins, argues that making changes to your lifestyle makes you feel more in control, ready to cope rather than collapse with post petroleum stress disorder. He should know: Hopkins is not just a brilliant communicator, he is the founder of the Transition Town movement – a grassroots burst of empowerment that provides solutions to the twin changes peak oil and climate change must bring. If Hopkins is right about the viral spread of the Transition concept, then he has to be a runaway contender for a Nobel Prize. Until then the Transition Town story is powering up The Archers plot on Radio 4″.
How might our response to peak oil and climate change look more like a party than a protest march? This site explores the emerging transition model in its many manifestations
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Sometimes I pass things so ridiculous I have to go back again for a second look. The other day I was near Paignton, and I passed a zebra crossing and its attendant Belisha beacons (see right). Interesting fact for the day (or quite possibly not), Belisha beacons are named after Leslie Hore-Belisha (1895-1957), the Minister of Transport who introduced them in the 1930s. The idea of Belisha beacons is straightforward, a black and white stripey pole with a yellow flashing globe on top which shows people where to cross the road. The yellow flashing light has long been considered adequate in attracting attention and which in turn insinuates where the stripey pole is to be found (if anyone should be interested). This Belisha beacon near Paignton had come up with an ingenious, energy-wasting way of solving a problem that I never knew existed, lighting the pole up from within!
From Friends of the Earth’s Earthmatters Magazine. 
