the demise of Waldorf Schools

Waldorf Schools mean very well, but they are presently in a constant battle of survival. Being the largest world wide entity of private education globaly, surpassing Montessori and such educational streams, it is a burden, if not challenge, to stay true to their initial cause.

... more to follow on this subject, too tired tonight, will go to bed and catch up in the following days and will elaborate on this issue when "fully there". Just came back from California yesterday, so you will have to excuse my jet-lag...

Pictures are gardening projects for middle-school students and a straw-bail house building that houses both gardening and clay-modeling/woodcarving programs in the East Bay Waldorf School. While I was there I designed a logo and started to carve a street sign with such, a start - but it has to be finished by the resident woodwork teacher John, carved meticulously and placed at the entrance. OK, more later.

California calling

Of course I was disappointed. "California Dreaming" from the Mama's and Papa's was still ringing in my head when I landed in San Francisco.
What then met me was torrential rains, mist, chilly temperatures and general ghastliness.
"It never rains in Southern California" was an other pop song on my mind, but heck, it never materialized in the north; they need water there though, urgently. I stopped complaining when I heard that and savored the rain instead as best as I could.
The college course in clay modeling went well as far as I can tell. It was good to meet people who are enthusiastic and open minded, and that is how they were...









The pictures: Some random people on the cable car in San Francisco, one of the Rudolf Steiner College buildings in Fair Oaks, Sacramento - two buildings from "the hood" in West-Oakland, a mostly black neighborhood where I am staying for my last three days in Cali. The rest are random picks, ending with that fisherman, preparing his gear on a bridge crossing the American river in Sacramento.

reflections

I don't want to sound mean, but I got a call today to step in for someone (clay modeling) who could not make it. So I am flying to California on Saturday, after I have done adequate preparations. There is no money per say "in for me" at all, but it is all about networking and such.... So in essence don't expect me to post much for a week or so from now on. I'll be busy getting my seven senses together, and this will be a task in itself.
As for the reflections on my driveway (the picture) I am pondering loosely about the spring to come, and the joy it will bring. So, in this spirit, I will beg you to be patient, until I return home safely again, before that time I will only sparesly respond to the comments of your fabulous thoughts.
Be well, be strong - Lukas (Zee)

The right to die

Eluana Englaro, the Italian woman at the center of a right-to-die debate, has died. She was in an incurable coma since 1992 due to a car accident. She died because they finally pulled out all the tubes, wires and other animosities to keep her artificially alive in a vegetative state.
The Vatican, which had described the decision to let Englaro die as "abominable", asked for God's forgiveness for those who are responsible.
"May the Lord welcome her and forgive those who led her there (to her death)," the Vatican health minister Javier Lozano Barragan told the press.
Well, the question for me is, how long do you let someone dangle
between heaven and earth. Don't we all have a right to die ... eventually?

more on "stimulus"

response to move on dot org

To Noah T. Winer - at MoveOn.org (open letter)

It isn't that easy.
The stimulus packages propel the same old, same old avenues, the ones which got us into trouble in the first place. Obama means well, and I voted for him. But when I glance through the glory, he is just an other politician, someone who has to play by the rules of the system.
The aching economy can not be solved by injections, same as the inability of Viagra to support true love - just an other "hard on" that will limp eventually. The conservatives instinct themselves what to do, so do the liberals. Both have been selected (elected) to be the keeper of the house, the dorm that we, the people, inhabit.
We have to become much more radical than just "move-on". Time is near when the whole narcissistic system of greed and Darwin's capitalism of survival of the fittest will collapse. No "stimulus" or "hard-on" will halt that path.
Well, the solution is pretty easy. Rely less on centralized "father" and "mother" figures - like Obama... and instead grow local independence from Washington (in the case of the USA). This sounds like I am a Libertarian, but I am not. What I do though have in common with their views, is that centralized economics and power-politics drive society into complete dependence by large cooperation's and political parties.
So no, I will not donate $25 for an advertisement that will support a "stimulus-package". I believe I will buy seeds instead for that amount of money and plant more vegetables for the next season to come.

Regards, Lukas


___________________________________________________________________________________
On Wed, Feb 4, 2009 at 1:58 PM, Noah T. Winer, MoveOn.org Political Action wrote:

Conservatives are playing politics with Obama's stimulus plan while Americans suffer. Can you write a letter to the editor about the real cost of inaction?
Write a letter
Dear MoveOn member,
President Obama's economic stimulus plan is in trouble. Conservative talking points are dominating the media's coverage and there's lots of misinformation around. Here are a few things you may not have heard about it:
1) This is a very, very good bill. As The Nation writes, "If enacted, the economic recovery plan will be one of the biggest and boldest pieces of progressive legislation in the past forty years."1
Here are some facts about what the bill really does:
* Creates or saves 3 million to 4 million jobs in the next two years.
* Averts "literally hundreds of thousands of teacher layoffs"—and doubles funding for the Department of Education.
* Creates 500,000 green jobs and doubles our clean energy production.4
* Immediately helps unemployed folks get affordable health insurance.5
Some folks are arguing that it should be bigger, and they're probably right, but this is the best down payment on economic recovery we have seen, and it needs to be passed.
2) The stuff that's being singled out for criticism amounts to a tiny fraction of the bill—like anti-smoking programs that make up less than one-ten-thousandth of the spending.6 They would have you believe this is the centerpiece of the bill. It is not. This kind of nit-picking is pure politics.
3) If it doesn't pass, we're in deep trouble. Even John McCain's economic adviser estimates that without the stimulus, unemployment would top 11% by 2010, the highest level since the Great Depression.7
____________________________________________________________________________
my comment:
If it doesn't pass, we will not be in deeper trouble than we already are. The so called "stimulus package" included provisions to encourage to buy American goods. Now that's a funny joke indeed. All we have here is Chinese t-shirts and cheap underwear, BMW's and VW's made in Germany and assembled in Mexico and Taiwan, oil from the Saudi's, telephone help for product info on computers from India... and peanuts from Georgia. What's left? Seriously, what is left? Bye bye buy! There is nothing left to buy "American" anymore besides steel and corn. Levis sold out a while ago, and all the rest of them corporates followed suit. No more American pants to pet your legs, no more American Colgate to brush your teeth, no more Marlboro's to make them teeth dirty again. They are all gone ... overseas. All they do here is keep their patented name in the USA. Gloria, hallelujah.

Uruguay calling

This is really rough, just one take, harmonica ok, my voice just dry and improvised on the spot - oh well...
There is a friend of mine in Uruguay - REVERB who builds the most awesome surf-boards, but he also plays music, a bit more upbeat than the famous surfer kid Jack Johnson and his "On and on..." albums. Don't be taken aback, I actually like some of Jack Johnson's tunes, really!

The picture is from a top of a mountain in Hawks Bay NZ, particularly posted for Aggie, since she doesn't get turned on by naked woman (maybe man), but she might also get aroused by barren hills, naked and eaten away by imported British sheep. It is too bad that 90% of New Z's indigenous forest got chopped away for mammals that go "BAAAEEEH" for two legged creatures who go "maaaeeehh".
Sorry, no nudes today, only the naked truth.

It works

It is still in an experimental league, this song... but most of the technical kinks have been sorted out. Peter and I took some time to get over these hurdles, now we can do multitrack recordings from whoever wishes to participate on this globe. It is fairly easy to contribute from wherever you are, and if you need help with it, we will "walk" you through.
There is a friend of mine from Paraguay - he plays some mean Rock'n Roll ... and he is interested! (he is also a fantastic surf-board builder). So watch out, there might be surprises coming down the "pipeline".
If you wish to participate in a project, or you happened to know someone who would - please let me know, OK?!
(PS. On G-cast, the embedded player, I can NOT delete old uploads. Sorry for the inconvenience of having several versions of same old, same old. Just stop the player with that pause button or search "posts" for a completely other tune, I would suggest "Valley Below". Thanks)

son of a ....

I just realized that my latest postings tended to become more and more negative and depressing. My apologies, it was never my intention to drag you down!

But the fumes of poison still surrounds us, the outcome inevitable.
I might not experience or see the next dawn,
though I am fairly clear that I will be witnessing the break-down
before the dust settles.
The Lazarus tree was never there,
it was always a song in the air
and the birds chanting so fair
are just a melody.

OK, I will post sexy maidens, pictures of beauty, other nature lovers delights - from now on, for a while
until I grow tired and old of living a lie.

Davos

... and the greedy 2% of the world population who don't give a shit and still smile on the verge of collapse of the global economy whilst raking in gorgeous profits as we common folks just stumble along, barely...
That is what it is all about at the G-9 conference. Are there more than nine "G"'s right now, in Davos Switzerland? So the theme on the invitation is:

How can we suck the last morsel out of every ordinary sucker and exploit them until they all drop dead.
Question is, what will happen with those infamous smiling guys from these meetings once thereafter, at a time, when there is no one else left .... to exploit. What will they do?
Or is exploitation a repetitive theme - forever, on this earth?
As I said previously, send those suckers up to the moon. They can have their own party there. Maybe we even supply them with a few containers of air. Once the oxygen runs out, the party will be over; last waltz for them.

the spiral

As I listen to a country music station as an exercise to broaden my tolerance for humanity in general (second best thing to make you go crazy before sucking in HipHop), I also contemplate about the winding roads of the state of our nation in particular.
I don't know why I torture myself that way. Maybe I have evolved into this masochistic phase in my life, who knows. But the reality around me is still a stark reminder that 'Ohbummer' will not be able to fix this mess ... unless we also chip in! Unfortunately I see very little movement into that direction, everyone seems to hold on to same old, same old. What does it need to accomplish REAL CHANGE? A catastrophe, a powerful revelation, a squeeze or knock over your head? What does it take? Humans seem to be the slowest learning species on this earth, even crows seem to adopt to new circumstances faster. Maybe there is a reason for this, being multifaceted and naked as we are, no furs no feathers... But still, it drives me up the wall. And now I had enough of country-music, turn it off and regress from this silly exercise of tolerance.

(sculpture was a "Christmas-Card" I casted in cement years back for family members, about 18x20 inches)

Gaza

There is no other option -
the weak have to become stronger
by fully understanding their strength,
and it’s not all in numbers any longer

Hamas has build an illusion for Palestine
over the years, and so it goes and goes.
If my child would be killed by bombs and fire
I would be mad as hell as well, and search for who god knows what
to resurrect the crumbling empire and sense some gratification of desire
as a recourse

But this is not how it works
the solutions never rested in barbarian laps
oppressing the ones who need to see
If Palestine wants to be free
without atrocities
slander and slaughter
it must choose a different avenue
the one who clearly could save yours and my daughter's life
isn't that worth a strive?
Gandhi was not a saint, but he prevailed,
threw out the empire in a surprise
so now the Palestinians could arise
to the occasion - and leave the crumbled castles
that stuff ... it's only a demise.

"Let's Don't Worry"

Here is the second recording/flick with an addition of some new faces. That woman from Israel makes an impressive showing, even the chorus from Africa started smiling. I think the voices in general were blending much better than in the first project they did! I also like Dijango from Spain with his triangle and donuts on his head...

	Song Around the World "Let's Don't Worry" http://playingforchange.com - From the award-winning documentary, "Playing For Change: Peace Through Music", comes the follow up to the classic "Stand By Me" and the second of many "songs around the world" being released on CD/DVD in April, 2009. Join the Movement to help build schools, connect students, and inspire communities in... more

ah ha

So we talked about the bad economy and that I am unemployed right now as a result of this mess. We mentioned that a US withdrawal in Iraq means that there still will be five major military enclaves left behind, I guess they call them military bases, not to mention that the US embassy has relocated into a new built multimillion dollar building in Baghdad, diminishing staff by 1000 people, now the count of staff therefore is only 4000 instead of 5000 (how many people does it take to grant a visa?). The Palestinians are still trying unsuccessfully to save their skin, Israelis are still dumbfounded by their own stupidity, Russia does not know how to treat former satellite states and shuts off gas delivery to Europe as a result. American Idol is still the number one diversion in the US while the ecology and environement takes a beating. Unemployment numbers will rise "officially" to 9% in February, while a realistic estimate puts it up to 12%.
So, this is all the bad news and the chewed up news, and we can chew them over and over again.
As for me, I am cleaning up my studio. Perhaps clear thoughts might follow.
Truthfully, I am getting tired of this mess. No, not only the one in my studio, but this general chaos within humanity. I am sick of it.
The cheating, the greed, the resulting violence and the dear price we have to pay makes life a hardship. I used to have fun and party, but nowadays I just get up in the morning, stunned with bewilderment.
Is this only about my midlife crisis?

flight

I know I should have written something about the inauguration of Obama, but I pass. There is too much chatter out there anyway. Instead I apprehensively watch this new turn in the road, watching that this "something" might arise, or at least get a feel and sense, a hint of a new aera to come - and then time will tell what kind of promises can be kept, more so than just the hollow words, or shadows of broken dreams.

the English version of this lullaby

Oh jeah, rock on ....

wait until it loads and starts playing. Once you get sick of it, hit the pause button on the embedded player in my former post.
I stopped auto play ... you got to go to the embedded player to start it.

lullaby for the children in Ghazza

I accomplished a few things: Got my USB microphone to work, made a test multitrack recording (Audacity, a free bare bone program but very handy), rummaged in an ancient scribble songbook of mine from the Norwegian days, and here is the result both visual and audible.
I am awfully sorry that the guitar part sucks, it has nothing to do with the technology, rather the technique ... the poor guitar that never gets any practice anymore. Also, the song is recorded somewhat bizarre in that it starts real slow and then speeds up throughout the verses. In addition, I felt too lazy to put some violin tracks on it, hence the open gaps... my apologies!
VUGGEVISE means lullaby - I spare you the translation because it is somewhat sinister, and I'm lazy. But if you insist ...
Oh, I believe the original was a Swedish song, but I did it in Norwegian because it is the only Scandinavian tongue I am familiar with.







Ok so here is a rough translation 'cause I sort of like the person who asked:

Winds are riding high on seas
over havens land and trees
storms are raging in a race
sorrow or death don't near my place

chorus:
Someone comes, and someone goes
people die in spring, who knows
but stars will still shine brightly

Life is weaving on its loom
all you did and thought or taught
all those things are just a color
the shuttle moves, and others follow

Maybe at some point in life
will you find that crown of strive
maybe after days of dread
will your hair find a silver thread

Where you stump and tread your shoe
many more come after you
look therefore that you do seed
flowers as a plowman's deed



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Ok, I actually like this song - maybe I get organized and sing the damn lyrics in English and have my brother help me out on the instrumental parts, he is famous to be good at that. Also, I took some liberties while translating, needed to keep the flow. Ciao - talk to you later...

unspecified musings

...maybe more words to follow. But I am presently making an attempt to give Aggie a hard time, and show her that what is sand and beach at her East Coast vacation place in NZ, equals snow and cold winds here.
The sun bathing chair collapsed in the snow, the other bench is also inhabitable, the little table is not ready for cappuccino either as it accumulated an other foot of snow after the last cleanup was done.
Winter once seemed fun when you were young - now it just drags on forever. I learned to ski when I was five, now I am fifty and just smile at the notion of racing down a slope - but I will go out there anyway, just to break a leg. Is it not that, this symbol of good luck, if you "break a leg"?
While you surf the waves in the southern hemispheres, I will try to save my neck in the northern territories.

8,000,000,000,000

There was $29 billion for Bear Stearns, $345 billion for Citigroup. The Federal Reserve put up $600 billion to guarantee money market deposits. With the bail out package of the auto industry, all told, the price tag so far: $7.2 trillion. Now comes President-elect Barack Obama's economic stimulus plan. The bill is getting awfully close to $8 trillion...

Where the heck is my share?

the cooking contest

For years I scratched my head why my homemade pizza didn't turn out the same superb way as served at the local place who has an Italian style brick oven. Finally I found a recipe that made sense and can reverse this misery, and I don't even need a fancy oven. The secret is preparing the dough beforehand and storing it in a cool place (refrigerator or so) overnight and and then using a "pizza-stone" if possible (instead of a fancy Italian brick oven with "life-fire"). It's the dough dude!!!

In any case, as I get increasingly impatient with what is happening in the Middle East, I thought we might cook up something different, a COOKING CONTEST!
Participation is of course voluntarily and there are no glorious prices (like a two week vacation to the Caribbean, or so), but if you share some of your more successful recipes, at least I will try them out and follow your directions and then "judge" the outcome if it was mouthwatering or not...

The final and grand prize will get a surprise mailing, still to be determent.
(update: my pizza actually turned out quite all right after letting the doe "mature" for a day and cranking the stove up to max before putting the thing in)

4 1/2 cups (20.25 ounces) unbleached high-gluten, bread, or all-purpose flour, chilled
1 3/4 (.44 ounce) teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon (.11 ounce) instant yeast
1/4 cup (2 ounces) olive oil (optional)
1 3/4 cups (14 ounces) water, ice cold (40°F)
Semolina flour or cornmeal for dusting

1. Stir together the flour, salt, and instant yeast in a 4-quart bowl (or in the bowl of an electric mixer). With a large metal spoon, stir in the oil and the cold water until the flour is all absorbed (or mix on low speed with the paddle attachment), If you are mixing by hand, repeatedly dip one of your hands or the metal spoon into cold water and use it, much like a dough hook, to work the dough vigorously into a smooth mass while rotating the bowl in a circular motion with the other hand. Reverse the circular motion a few times to develop the gluten further. Do this for 5 to 7 minutes, or until the dough is smooth and the ingredients are evenly distributed. If you are using an electric mixer, switch to the dough hook and mix on medium speed for 5 to 7 minutes, or as long as it takes to create a smooth, sticky dough. The dough should clear the sides of the bowl but stick to the bottom of the bowl. If the dough is too wet and doesn't come off the sides of the bowl, sprinkle in some more flour just until it clears the sides. If it clears the bottom of the bowl, dribble in a tea- spoon or two of cold water. The finished dough will be springy, elastic, and sticky, not just tacky, and register 50 to 55F.

2. Sprinkle flour on the counter and transfer the dough to the counter. Prepare a sheet pan by lining it with baking parchment and misting the parchment with spray oil (or lightly oil the parchment). Using a metal dough scraper, cut the dough into 6 equal pieces (or larger if you are comfortable shaping large pizzas), You can dip the scraper into the water between cuts to keep the dough from sticking to it, Sprinkle flour over the dough. Make sure your hands are dry and then flour them. Lift each piece and gently round it into a ball. If the dough sticks to your hands, dip your hands into the flour again. Transfer the dough balls to the sheet pan, Mist the dough generously with spray oil and slip the pan into a food-grade plastic bag.

3. Put the pan into the refrigerator overnight to rest the dough, or keep for up to 3 days. (Note: If you want to save some of the dough for future baking, you can store the dough balls in a zippered freezer bag. Dip each dough ball into a bowl that has a few tablespoons of oil in it, rolling the dough in the oil, and then put each ball into a separate bag. You can place the bags into the freezer for up to 3 months. Transfer them to the refrigerator the day before you plan to make pizza.)

4. On the day you plan to make the pizza, remove the desired number of dough balls from the refrigerator 2 hours before making the pizza. Dust the counter with flour, and then mist the counter with spray oil. Place the dough balls on top of the floured counter and sprinkle them with flour; dust your hands with flour. Gently press the dough into flat disks about 1/2 inch thick and 5 inches in diameter. Sprinkle the dough with flour, mist it again with spray oil, and cover the dough loosely with plastic wrap or a food-grade plastic bag. Let rest for 2 hours.

5. At least 45 minutes before making the pizza, place a baking stone either on the floor of the oven (for gas ovens), or on a rack in the lower third of the oven. Preheat the oven as hot as possible, up to 800F (most home ovens will go only to 500 to 550F, but some will go higher). If you do not have a baking stone, you can use the back of a sheet pan, but do not preheat the pan.

6. Generously dust a peel or the back of a sheet pan with semolina flour or cornmeal. Make the pizzas one at a time. Dip your hands, including the backs of your hands and knuckles, in flour and lift I piece of dough by getting under it with a pastry scraper. Very gently lay the dough across your fists and carefully stretch it by bouncing the dough in a circular motion on your hands, carefully giving it a little stretch with each bounce. If it begins to stick to your hands, lay it down on the floured counter and reflour your hands, then continue shaping it. Once the dough has expanded outward, move to a full toss as shown on page 208. If you have trouble tossing the dough, or if the dough keeps springing back, let it rest for 5 to 20 minutes so the gluten can relax, and try again. You can also resort to using a rolling pin, though this isn't as effective as the toss method.

7. When the dough is stretched out to your satisfaction (about 9 to 12 inches in diameter for a 6-ounce piece of dough), lay it on the peel or pan, making sure there is enough semolina flour or cornmeal to allow it to slide. Lightly top it with sauce and then with your other top- pings, remembering that the best pizzas are topped with a less-is-more philosophy. The American "kitchen sink" approach is counterproductive, as it makes the crust more difficult to bake. A few, usually no more than 3 or 4 toppings, including sauce and cheese is sufficient.

8. Slide the topped pizza onto the stone (or bake directly on the sheet pan) and close the door. Wait 2 minutes, then take a peek. If it needs to be rotated 180 degrees for even baking, do so. The pizza should take about 5 to 8 minutes to bake. If the top gets done before the bottom, you will need to move the stone to a lower self before the next round. if the bottom crisps before the cheese caramelizes, then you will need to raise the stone for subsequent bakes.

9. Remove the pizza from the oven and transfer to a cutting board. Wait 3 to 5 minutes before slicing and serving, to allow the cheese to set slightly.

Makes six 6-ounce pizza crusts.