The Composters Celebrate Three Years Together!

Mary here. The Composters, as in Glenda and yours truly, are celebrating our third year anniversary as an ecofeminist, postmodern, satirical duo today! That's right folks, just three years ago we were but seedlings waiting to burst out of the amorphous, poststructural messy and damp compost--just three years ago we buried ourselves in compost in our first performance. Ahh, mammaries, light the corner of my mind...

Loving you so much, Glenda and the rich, post-real experience we've shared now for three years.

Now, on with the show, or at least the re-cap of today's radio show:

We were lucky enough to have author of Perennials for Midwestern Gardens, Anthony Kahtz chat with us on the show today.


Geez, I gotta get more creative with my photo-taking because both Tony and Wayne look incredibly uncomfortable...could only mean one thing--they sense my haphazard aim and shoot sense of things.

Tony said that the "Mexican hat" perennial has the stamina to get through most of the summer in bloom. More bloom for your buck if you will. You can read more about what to this SIU-C alum has to say about perennials to plant, and those to hunt for here. He was great! And for those who want a rockin' garden-yard-mecca-land like Kahtz's check out his shopping spot, Planscape Nursery, in Herrin, IL.

Glenda and I also talked about the bitch-worthy (er, I mean buzz-worthy?) stigma that have people saying "I'm not sure I'm an enviornmentalist" or "I'm not an environmentalist"...yikes. Feminist-minded environmentalists (or ecofeminists, if we're talking about claiming names here) are probably cringing like Glenda and I did today. Check out the article here.

We celebrated our independence by discussing the politics of guerilla gardening and the recent July 4th effort to beautiful Los Angeles.

And so much more...composting toilets

Rain barrels (check out how to make your own)

Turning off your engine at train tracks (yea, not just for the I'm-just-gonna-run-in-and-idle-folk anymore)
and the guy who is getting into law trouble for not needing garbage pick-up services. No, that wasn't a typo, a dude is getting reprimanded by the law for not being a waster. Happy July, folks...lotsa things to compost!

Finally, here is our playlist from today (thanks to all who called in today. It was sweet because it was today :))

You Really Got a Hold On Me, She & Him
Wigwam, Bob Dylan
Alan Lake, The Music Lovers
Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!! Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds
I Was Never Young, Of Montreal
That’s When I Reach for My Revolver, Mission of Burma
True Affection , BLOW
Rentacrowd, The Len Price 3
All the Pretty Girls Go to the City, Spoon
Carousel, Iron & Wine
Beautiful Things Can Come from the Dark, Azure Ray
With Arms Outstretched, Rilo Kiley
Always See Your Face, Love
Short Skirt, Long Jacket, Cake
Last Day of Magic, The Kills
Everybody Wants the Same Thing, Scissor Sisters
Ding Dong, Nellie McKay
Weapon of Choice, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club
Heroes, Utah Phillips & Ani DiFranco
Worms, Beth Orton
Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds, Bono
Lust, the Ravonettes
Sea of Love, Cat Power
Almost Crimes (Radio Kills Edit), Broken Social Scene
It’s All a Lie, Keren Ann
Gardenia, Steven Malkmus & the Jicks
Pull Shapes, the Pipettes
Ghosts, Ladytron
Rules and Regulations, Rufus Wainwright
Swimming Pools, Thao
Soft Rock Star, Metric
I’m a Lady, Santigold

Our First Podcast - June 30th

It's podcast time. Here is our June 30th show in two parts, with guest Wayne Weisman (permaculture expert).

Today's Radio Show

Mary here. I have been going through a major feng shui attack and my iphoto library went through a major purging over the weekend. Here is a gem I found from spring '07 when Glenda and I went to Petit Jean State Park in Arkansas. Some of our cohorts from SIU belong to the fantastic BAR Corp and this is a piece of art by two of them:

We were so fortunate to have Wayne Weisman in the studio with us today. If you listened or want to know more about our glocal permaculture expert please check out www.midwestpermaculture.com and www.permacultureproject.com.

This week's pile turning epiphany: the grass isn't greener on the other side, it's brown, slimy and sure to stain a skirt.
Here is our playlist from today:

Stars, Ageless Beauty
The Last Shadow Puppets, My Mistakes Were Made for You
Gnarls Barkley, She Knows
Does it Offend You?, Battle Royale
Aretha Franklin, Eleanor Rigby
Thao, Yes, So On and On
Brendan Benson, Alternative to Love
Stars, Set Yourself on Fire
Mates of State, I like You Crazy
Santigold, Lights Out
The Ditty Bops, Aluminum Can
M. Ward, Chinese Translation
The New Pornographers, Challenger
Love, Always See Your Face
Plants & Animals, Guru
Wayne Weisman, Lightyear
Phoenix, Rally
Cat Power, I Don't Blame You
M.I.A., Boys
The Pipettes, Pull Shapes
DeVotchka, Transliteration
Spoon, All the Pretty Girls Go to the City
Amy Winehouse, You're Wondering Now

Mary "Misses" George Carlin

For me one sure way to know what is going on is to log onto facebook and see what my friends' statuses are. On Monday I logged on and saw many of my friends were: Blank misses George, Blank can't believe Carlin died, and Blank thinks first Russert, now Carlin, who's next? I don't know what to make of these statuses. But I do know that they prompted me to write a top five list for why George Carlin will go down in history for what he did to stand up.

1. he risked his career to reinvent popular art

2. he didn't sell out to hollywood like many of his fellow comedians did in the '80s.

3. Carlin was honest. He consistently told his own truth without avoiding the unpleasant truths or realities. He was so honest that sometimes his truth became the Big T TRUTH--and when it was, truth was entertaining, interesting and a bit daring.

4.a. he was antiestablishment during and after vietnam
b. he went through a very public transformation via stand up

5. his work inspires me to work on that cutting edge of a culture that has a nasty habit of catching up with us.

in closing, this is one of my favorite Carlin bits:

"Bulletin, bulletin, bulletin! Bulletin, bulletin, bulletin! The sun did not come up this morning, huge cracks have appeared in the earth's surface, and big rocks are falling out of the sky. Details twenty-five minutes from now on Action Central News, kids!"

Monday's Playlist

The Composters are about to celebrate their third year anniversary! To honor this occasion, here is a picture from our first year together....

So, Glenda and I had a blast on the radio today. If you have any questions or want to continue talking about Vanity Fair's Agenda--"Everyone Has a Carbon Footprint, What's Yours?", or VOC-free paint, or food scrapping city collection programs, or green dating and clubbing, or the 100 thing challenge, or mothers milk, OR Illinois wildflowers, post something and we will continue the discussion!

Here's our playlist from this morning:
Summertime, Janis Joplin
Violet, Thao
I Can Feel Your Heartbeat, Chuck Prophet
Doom, Does it Offend You Yeah
Human Fly, the Cramps
Early in the Morning, Plants & Animals
Hard to Say, Jaymay
Yr. Mangled Heart, the Gossip
Colors, Hot Chip
You Love It, Peaches
No Cars Go, Arcade Fire
Satisfaction, Bjork & PJ Harvey
Gotta Get Away From Tommy, New York Dolls
Oh Lately it's Quiet, Ok Go
What The World Needs Now Is Love , The Chambers Brothers
Just Another Thing to Dust, Paper Cuts
Ever Fallen in Love, Nouvelle Vague
Why Can’t You Be Nicer to Me, The White Stripes
Girls, Eleni Mandell
Starstruck, Santigold
Time, Tom Waits
Somewhere Over the Rainbow, Israel Kamakawiwo'ole

Glenda contemplates the layers. Fear. Hope. WE

I was at a conference this past year and someone asserted that the main reason Al Gore won the Nobel Peace prize was for bringing the issue of global warming to the masses. The work was important, the books, movie, slideshow, but they were just the tools. The real value was in the publicity, bringing the issue of global warming front and center. The last three years has provided a swell of information and it seems a color has become a movement. We've seen cover issues, greenwashing, new products, new industry AND, I would like to believe new hope.
Yet, it seems that for real change to occur it means we have to motive the masses? What motivates the masses? Is it fear? Hope? Or a dance between the two. It seems like we are in a renewed and thriving environmental movement. What is making people change their habits and their life? And are enough of us doing it? I know there isn't a easy answer. There are probably a variety of different motivations. But is fear behind most them? Was that the instigator?
The Composters have taken on the idea of fear being used to change environmental practices. It is often called the apocalyptic narrative and Greg Garrard does a fine job of breaking it down in his book Ecocriticism. I also found some interesting notes that do a nice quick job of summing of the history in context to the environmental movement and beyond. The main issue with this tactic is that it gets tired. (For instance, who knows what the security threat level is today?) So I find myself wondering if now is the time we might see a shift either from fear to hope and change, or fear to exhaustion and inaction.
This is what Al Gore's new media effort makes me think about. He is behind the relatively new WE campaign. As in We Can Solve It. It is, I would say, rooted in optimism - yet doesn't forget what may have gotten you there --- fear. At least that seems to be how the commercials go. And if you are interested in a sample, the site video is below.
I'll keep thinking about the dance.

Backyard, Balcony or Basement - Embrace the Decay...

Summer is upon us and if you haven't been composting then why not start now! I came across a great little video on the relatively new (and fun) Earth First site. You should check it out - it has no ties to the Earth First activist organization (they've been called radical - but that is a whole different subject - perhaps for another post). On to the subject at hand.. this quirky little compost song is kind of wild -



Watching the "I Compost Anything" video made me think that The Composters need to record their songs - AND we should also have some basic "how to" information available about starting the composting process. I'm feeling inspired to grab the video camera and make an instructional video that is fun but informative. However, once again we are heading out of town very soon - for the Wayne State Doctoral Seminar - so I think I will have to put that project on the list for after I return (and it will be behind a few other pressing items). So, in the meantime here are some instructional videos on how to start composting. If you live in a city you might want to consider worm composting (of course you don't HAVE to live in a city to worm compost). I know it sounds nutty - having a bunch of worms hanging around. You could just think of them as pets - and really you hardly have to see them - although I have a friend who is worm composting now and said she thought she would be grossed out but has since really fallen in love with her worms. Awww, how sweet. She also says it is amazing what they can do. And when you compost using worms you don't get the smells associated with the traditional method. In addition to that they produce some of the most fertile compost you can make. Just think what your balcony garden will look like, or even your house plants. You could grow a mini ecosystem in your third floor walk-up. Here is an instructional video (very thurough) on how to build a worm compost bin and what to do with it.



And if you have a backyard and want to attempt to build your pile then here is a great short video on how to go about building your pile and getting started - it's very basic info. but really almost everything you need to know to get started.



I'd love to hear about your composting adventures. Are you embracing the decay? Why not? Let us know what is keeping you from taking the plunge. After all, we have a lot of things to transform so go ahead - turn the pile (or worm the pile).
Yours in humus,
Glenda Greenhouse