People make places what they are, so if you really want to get to know a place then you really have to get to know its people.  When I was in India over the summer I got used to everyone wanting to be my friend, ask me invasive personal questions, and try and sell me things I didn’t want or need (the pick of the bunch probably being the guy with the cat o’ nine tails outside Agra Fort).

Then, there was this little scamp:

Drawing up water from a well in Jaisalmer

I met him first in the above picture, when I was helping him draw up water from a well just outside Jaisalmer (to feature in a later Changing places post).  His first priority was to try and thieve my sunglasses and it was amusing trying to evade his attempts while also letting him try them on and look trendy in front of his friends.

I then met him again the next day when he was sat outside a temple; he ended up being ‘on my side’ in an Indian board game which seemed to be draughts crossed with snooker and resulted, unsurprisingly, in me having to buy a round of drinks for everyone.  Unfortunately, in India, you do tend to get scammed but on the most part it is fairly good-natured (and a round of bottles of lager was a lot cheaper than it would be in this country).

The culture of crafty vendors out to exploit tourists was explained to me by this wonderful man:

Myself and Riyaz in Jodhpur

Riyaz Ahmed is one of the most remarkable men I have ever met and may well get a blog post all to himself one day soon.  For the first two weeks I was in India he was my driver, guide, interpreter, and my friend.  His English was a lot better than my Hindi (though he did teach me some) and we managed to have reasonably good conversations. 

His life story was extraordinary, and made me realise every day how privileged I am by the mere coincidence of where I happened to be born.  Riyaz was brilliant; from asking me whether we had many camels in the streets of England to trying to entice me to eat neem tree, he was endlessly kind and entertaining.

Riyaz trying - and failing - to teach me yoga

He even attempted to teach me the (very difficult) discipline of yoga.  Through no fault of his own, he didn’t succeed; as the picture shows, I have the co-ordination of a sedated yak.  But he did teach me many, many things; and of all, the most was that to truly know a place, you must first know its people.

Bijou Basin Ranch is a small family owned and run yak ranch. Our primary goal is to produce and sell premium yak fiber products such as rovings, yarn, and yarn blends.

Website: http://www.bijoubasinranch.com/

Nel dare una definizione del Natale non si può lasciare da parte la questione del momento migliore per fare una buona azione.

Save the Children questo lo sa e, pur essendo impegnata costantemente nella tutela dei diritti dei bambini di tutto il mondo, propone per il periodo natalizio la “lista dei desideri” come un qualcosa di concreto e pratico per trattare la questione della miseria che affligge una parte del mondo. 

Ma cos’è una lista dei desideri? Ovviamente non la letterina colma dei “voglio avere” e “deve essere mio” che ogni anno (più per edonismo che per tradizione) ci affrettiamo a compilare; bensì una lista di beni di prima necessità che migliora la vita di quei bambini che in realtà, non solo per Natale e tanto meno per tradizione, vorrebbero vedere la loro vita cambiare.

Come funziona la lista? E’ semplice, e di “covattiano” insegnamento: scegli il tuo regalo online; la persona a cui vuoi offrirlo riceverà una cartolina come certificato di donazione. Il regalo medesimo raggiungerà un progetto Save the Children. Nel mondo tanti bambini vedranno così i loro desideri esauditi. Tra le possibili opzioni regalo troviamo: yak, caprette, copertine e anche polli, che come potrete vedere, se potessero ci andrebbero da soli….

Con l’avvicinarsi del Natale torno a proporre – come lo scorso anno – la Lista dei Desideri by Save the Children, l’innovativa soluzione di regalo virtuale e solidale con la quale dare il proprio piccolo-grande contributo per garantire educazione di qualità, per costruire asili comunitari e per migliorare la salute e la nutrizione di bambini dei paesi nei quali di certo le festività non fanno rima con la parola consumismo (qui di fianco l’immagine del nuovo simpatico video circa l’iniziativa).
Come reagirebbero le persone a noi più vicine se ricevessero davvero in regalo uno Yak, 40 polli o magari 100 vaccini? Forse non ne sarebbero entusiaste, l’esatto contrario di quello che proverebbero i bambini che vivono in paesi poveri o in via di sviluppo per i quali questi regali significano la vita stessa.
Nella Lista dei Desideri – per chi ancora non la conoscesse – ci sono regali per tutte le tasche, da 10 a oltre 1.000 euro: da un cesto di cibo (14 euro) a una bicicletta (43 euro), da un vaccino (15 euro) a dei filtri per l’acqua (57 euro). Un modo utile e intelligente per trasformare i regali da futili a utili, aiutando realmente a migliorare la vita di migliaia di bambini. Doni che rendono felici noi, i nostri cari a cui sono rivolti e soprattutto i bambini nei paesi in via di sviluppo.
Per tutti i donatori che acquisteranno un regalo sulla Lista dei Desideri, tra le altre cose, c’è la possibilità di accedere ad un’applicazione che permetterà di prestare il proprio volto e posare insieme al simbolo nonché primo testimonial della campagna, lo Yak, di stampare lo scatto o di condividerlo su Facebook.
Sempre su Facebook è anche possibile compilare un test a cura di Save the Children dal titolo “Scopri il regalo che fa per te”.

Per maggiori info:

http://desideri.savethechildren.it
http://www.facebook.com/savethechildrenitalia
http://twitter.com/SaveChildrenIT
http://www.youtube.com/user/savethechildrenIT

Ringrazio Sharon per questo articolo che riporto integralmente:

Le festività si avvicinano ma non sai cosa regalare per Natale? Perchè non uno yak, 40 polli, una zanzariera, un posto a scuola o alberi da frutta? Grazie a Save the Children puoi scegliere tra 22 regali utili garantendo un futuro a milioni di bambini in tutto il mondo.

Con l’avvicinarsi del Natale, Save the Children torna a proporre la Lista dei Desideri: questa innovativa soluzione di regalo virtuale e solidale.

La Lista dei Desideri è un modo per offrire e farsi offrire regali originali, seppur virtuali, ma di grande valore. Per farlo è sufficiente andare sul sito www.savethechildren.it, scegliere uno tra i 22 regali messi a disposizione ed effettuare on-line la donazione corrispondente.

La persona cui si desidera offrirlo sarà gratificata ricevendo una cartolina (cartacea o elettronica) quale simbolo di un regalo che migliora la vita di un bambino nel mondo. Concretamente si farà una donazione a beneficio dei bambini delle aree in cui Save the Children lavora.

Nella Lista dei Desideri ci sono regali per tutte le tasche, da 10 a oltre 1.000 euro, ma soprattutto regali utili come: uno Yak, 40 polli o 100 vaccini, giocattoli, gli alberi da frutto, un posto a scuola, il baby-kit  e il kit di primo soccorso per clinica.

E’ possibile inoltre creare la propria Lista dei Desideri segnalandola agli amici in occasione di una ricorrenza, onde evitare regali inutili sia per chi li deve offrire sia per chi li riceverà. Un’opportunità anche per bomboniere, liste nozze e per le aziende che ad esempio possono donare virtualmente ai propri clienti, collaboratori e fornitori dei Plumpy’Nut®, per combattere la malnutrizione, o Sali reidratanti per salvare la vita a tanti bambini che ancora oggi muoiono per una semplice diarrea.

Per maggiori informazioni: www.savethechildren.it

Place: Jamaree Yak Cafe Gallery

Address: 213 Rama 9 soi 60Bangkok, Thailand, 10250

Phone: 02-718-4445

Opening: Tues – Sun @ 12:00 pm – 10:00 pm

One heated Thursday afternoon with nothing to do..my aunt called and suggested we hang out.

It was a great idea, but where should we go? My aunts are old and they don’t like to walk a lot, so shopping mall is definitely not in the list… then where?

Luckily, one of the two aunts coming today lives near this 7-month old fantasy cafe, so we thought we should try it out.

This place is full of decorations, not an inch of space is available for a clear wall. There were this and that everywhere, felt like I entered a Harem or a Tarot Card tent; the place somehow seemed magical! I’d really believe it if a unicorn suddenly walks out.

We ordered fried chicken wings, salty-fish spaghetti, beef curry, green chicken curry, tuna sour-paste salad and white chocolate frappe.

I have to say.. I enjoyed the chicken wings and white chocolate frappe, but other main dishes were so-so.

Of course, I don’t blaim the place, we should have went there in the night.. this place will be superb in the dark when you sit and sip on cocktails .

My aunt told me that at first Jamaree Yak served only drinks/alcohol, but as people starts to come more often, they demanded for food to go with their drinks, that’s why the list in menu increased.

A great place to chill out with friends and definitely for photoholic people XD I wanted to take photos everywhere in here!!

Oggi vi guiderò alla scoperta del programmatore di videogiochi più psichedelico e freak di tutti i tempi. Il suo nome è Jeff Minter, ma preferisce farsi chiamare Yak. Vive nel Galles con 3 pecore, 2 capre, 2 lama e un piccolo pazzo border collie chiamato Curry. Yak ama le bestiole, i giochi la musica, Curry, la birra e tutto ciò che è fluffy (lanoso, morbido). Programma videogiochi dal 1978 e nei primi ‘80 (con la sua Llamasoft) inizia a sfornare giochi uno dopo l’altro per i maggiori sistemi di gioco del periodo dai Commodore VIC-20 e 64 allo ZX-Spectrum passando per l’Atari 400.

Continua a leggere “Jeff Minter, detto Yak: ritratto di un programmatore freak”

This has always an intense time of the year for me. While I embrace and celebrate all the seasons and their offerings, I have always been particularly drawn to Autumn.

I see it as a glorious display of a life well lived, full of richness and passion, sensual warmth and sweetness with a cool, brisk edge of independence and experience.

Last year I came to the realization that despite the absence of Jewish heredity, I instinctively celebrate the New Year around the end of September.

With my birthday in mid September I naturally spend some time reflecting a little on the passing of another year, but I think it goes back to my formative years spent on a small farm in the Sierra Nevadas.

Autumn was the time to prepare everything for the following year: planting the seeds for early growth. It’s interesting, with nature, we think of sprouts bursting from the ground and babies being born in spring as the beginning of life but really, that beginning starts months earlier.

I went for a glorious walk in the sun yesterday, to devour the last of the fall colour and to drink in the earthy air. I stopped in to visit the peacocks, lamas and the baby yak in High Park.

Tha yak was absolutely yummy to felt with!  If I remember Blas correctly it was an 80% yak 20% merino mixture but I am going to check this out again.  Although the fibre is quite a bit more expensive than merino it is worth every penny and I definitely will be ordering some more for myself in the not too distant future!  It was gorgeous and soft to lay out but due to the short fibre length totally different than working with merino.  Initially I thought that I would have to be very frugal with the fibre as I only had 61g but in actual fact I made an extremely long but fine scarf and had quite a bit left over!  I had kind of decided to try it for cobweb felt but as soon as I discovered how short the fibres were changed this for 2.5 thin layers (2 layers and a bit of topping up in thin areas!) with a lot of silk fibres on the surface.  The yak was super quick to felt, within about 50 minutes from start to finish (including laying out and no use of the sander!!) my new winter scarf was ready!

Continuing with my destash, I came across some stunning hand carded rolls that I created one day when I spent some hours hidden away with Carmen’s drum carder.  Hiding their light under my table is what these lustreous fibres have been doing in the meantime so off to Etsy they’ve gone to find a slightly more appreciative new home!

It’s wet and windy outside today and I can quite see why those yaks need to grow a soft undercoat during the winter months to keep themselves all warm and snug!  Luckily I was able to buy some beautiful soft yak fibre from Blas and Jamie at Urban Fauna Studio recently and now is the afternoon to put it to the test and make a soft and chic winter scarf or cowl for myself.  I had brought two colours home with me, Carmen choose an unusual blue which means that I am left with (ha, ha) a beautiful blend of olive green, just 61g which is not a lot to spare but I hopefully by the time I post tomorrow I will have some pictures taken to show you the results. 

This morning was spent tidying up more of the studio but a body needs a break sometimes and since the wind is blowing up a storm disallowing any outdoor phtography today the felting table calls, wouldn’t you agree??  Still no sign of my own camera under all the mess and at this stage I am beginning to wonder if it will ever turn up again.  It is especially frustrating as not only did I love the camera (it was a present from Alan) but my pictures from my trip to Felt in Focus were still on the card as were some from another friend who had problems with her own camera in Denmark as well.  I wanted to finish posting about making the large felt sculpture and was hoping the pictures would say it louder than words!

For those of you interested in climate change and how it impacts on our environment you may be interested in viewing my friend Cathy FitzGerald’s new short film  ‘once i counted birds’.  This short has been entered in the UK Guardian Newspaper’s worldwide 1 minute to save the world film competition and selected films will be screened at the Copenhagen Climate Change summit in December.  If you enjoy the film please please vote for Cathy by rolling your cursor over the stars  (you can vote until the 7 November) and please feel free to forward the link to any friends you think might like it!

Every beginning spinner should as lucky as me. My spinning mentor Bunny is an extremely talented and inspirational fiber artist – and did I mention she’s generous? Besides loaning me her Ashford Traditional wheel and many other spinning tools, she’s also been consistently giving me fibers of all kinds to try. Almost everything I’ve spun has come from Bunny. Every time I go visit her she’s got something else new and exciting to show me, and I end up bringing half of it home with me.

I’ve had no qualms about diving into the bags of local wool, but a 1/2 oz. of local yak fiber and some (I’d be more precise about how much if I only had a scale) beautiful dyed cashmere top from a trip Bunny took to Seattle were just too precious to waste my uneven spinning on, and so were saved. When Jonathan got all my fibery stuff out of the storage unit he brought back my spinning fiber and I looked at that yak and cashmere and thought, “Why save it anymore? I’ll never learn to spin it if I don’t try it.” So I tried it. And it was the most enjoyable spinning I’ve ever had. I can see why people worry about becoming addicted to cashmere. I’d happily spin nothing else for a long, long time just to feel that fine, soft fiber running through my fingers. Well, maybe a little yak on the side.

Yak in the back, cashmere up front

The yak yarn is spun from Tibetan yak roving from Spring Brook Ranch, a family-run buffalo and yak ranch right here in Kalispell, MT. It comes in 1 oz. bags, but I had about 1/2 oz from Bunny. Here’s a quote from the front of the bag: “We hand-comb our yak calves and yearlings in the spring when they shed their downy underhair after a long, cold Montana winter. These young animals produce the finest fiber: sinfully luxurious with warm, natural color and wonderful hand. We thoroughly clean the yak down and remove all of the coarse guard hairs. Yak down is as fine as cashmere. The staple averages 1.2 inches, has excellent crimp, and is not slippery. Yak down is a joy to spin and a delight to wear.” I completely agree with all of the above.

Yak cow and calf at Spring Brook Ranch - don't you want one? (photo credit: Spring Brook Ranch)

I tried to spin the yak as a semi-woolen two-ply fingering weight, but when I fulled it by vigorously dunking it alternately in sinks of hot, sudsy water, and cold, clean water, it plumped up. It’s still gorgeous yarn, just fatter than I thought it would be. Without any tools for measuring it, I’d say it’s a light, airy DK weight yarn with a gentle fuzzy halo. Compared to the cashmere, it’s a wooly-er looking yarn with a very unique non-wool hand. Having a local connection to my fiber source makes it even more valuable to me. I’ve seen these yaks out in the fields of Spring Brook Ranch. There’s nothing like the sight of a Tibetan yak wandering peacefully through a Montana meadow to brighten my day.

Since I’m “Spinning with Intention” from now on, I spun this fiber intending it to become fingerless mitts (gloves, wristwarmers, what-have-yous) for myself. I was planning on designing my own pattern, but then I fell in love. I fell so hard I bought the entire Whimsical Little Knits 2 online booklet from Ysolda Teague, just because of these. And it was so worth it.

Yak/cashmere "Veyla" mitts

Specs:

• Pattern: Veyla, by Ysolda Teague
• Yarn: handspun yak down and cashmere, DK/fingering weight (depending on where you look)
• Needles: size 3 double pointed needles, size 8 for bind off
• Modifications: I left off the lace leaf on the back of the hand, and changed the top edging around the palm and thumb to the following:

Knit one round with new color. Purl one round. Knit one round. Work (k2tog, yo) all around. Knit one round. Bind off in purl with size 8 needles.