sketchgrrl

Vote for Us and Come to Our Celebration Party When We Win!

2009-03-07T18:50:00.000-05:00

Please vote 10 stars for our two-minute audio pitch in an entrepreneurial start-ups contest!

If we win you will be invited to a big Sarasota, Florida party in our new cafe!

Judges will choose the winner from the entries that have the most stars and the most votes.

If you would like to vote for us every day, that would be awesome!

Here's the link:

http://tinyurl.com/7v4mdl

Don't Miss An Inspiring, Tree Saving Program on WSLR Radio at 9 a.m. Thursday, Feb. 26

2009-02-25T17:35:00.001-05:00

Tune in to Truly Sustainable Sarasota on FM radio station WSLR, 96.5 at 9 a.m. on Thursday, February 26 (or listen live online at http://wslr.org/listen-live/). That's when host Vicki Chelf will interview Turner Tree and Landscape of Bradenton's CEO Darrell Turner about how his company saves beautiful, mature trees. They dig them up from construction sites, then replant and care for them--for years, if necessary--and then replant them at the original site when the construction is completed. Truly sustainable and truly inspiring! If you miss the live broadcast, you can listen to a podcast of it here.

An Open Letter To FL Governor Charlie Cri

2008-10-08T20:41:00.002-04:00

Following is a letter a friend of mine wrote to Florida's Governor Charlie Crist. This is a letter that needs to be circulated widely; I invite you to blog about it and e-mail it around:

Dear Governor,

I have lived in Sarasota for most of my life. I have eked out an existence working and having a few low end rentals on the side. This was a rough yet rewarding existence helping those folks who were down. Renting to the poor I have never been able to get first, last and security. People do not have it. Especially today. Now there is no work to be had in this town translating to a real shortage of tenants. The current batch are all so far behind I am facing having to evict three. I have not had to do an eviction in ten or more years. Imagine my chagrin when I discovered that it will now cost me OVER FOUR HUNDRED DOLLARS EACH to evict. That is if I do all the work myself and go through all the hoops myself and make sure not to cross one i or dot one t or it starts all over again from the beginning. All this in my free time. Even if the tenants do not fight leaving - because they cannot afford to go anywhere - I will be out several months rent and the huge repair costs to rehab three units. It is coming down to leaving the tenants in place and giving the property to the bank. I have worked my whole life for this. Shame on you and your ilk. Your approval rating with me just dropped its last ten points to zero. I am also letting everyone I know about this your alternate form of taxation. Shame on you.

Vincent Dessberg
BellaGlass.com

The Hypocrisy of the Sarasota, FL Chamber of Commerce

2008-09-22T16:04:00.007-04:00

Following is a letter that a friend of mine sent to the Sarasota, Florida Chamber of Commerce (and by the way, his decorative glass items are gorgeous):

Dear Sarasota Chamber,

I have been a Chamber member for almost a year and I am not planning to renew my membership. The reason is that I no longer believe that the Chamber's mission is to promote Sarasota and its businesses and not just to keep my dollars flowing to the Chamber itself. The one idea I felt important enough to suggest which I sent via email months ago, did not even warrant an auto-responder saying thanks or no thanks or even kiss my ass. Way to show support of Members and Sarasota businesses! Sadly the same can be said about a couple of commissioners.

On the morning of September 22, I got to talk to a very nice lady who was calling Chamber members to let them know that their Chamber once again wants more money. This time, to place an ad on the ad display racks in the Chamber lobby. In chatting with the lady, I found out that she was calling from Charlotte and she told me that a lot of Floridians have settled there recently. As my current business is not succeeding here in Sarasota, perhaps I could land a position with the Sarasota Chamber while living in Charlotte. Charlotte would be great, and I would not even mind phone work. Though, I am guessing that phone work, according to the Chamber website, is not "work compatible with our community standards." Otherwise, why would the Chamber have outsourced it to Charlotte when many Sarasotans are eagerly looking for work?

Also please let me know when the display racks and display rack management contracts are coming up for renewal as I would be in Charlotte already and thus could bid on them.

Sincerely,
Vincent

Vincent Dessberg
BellaGlass.com

Rock Drummers Are Top Jocks

2008-07-22T09:09:00.000-04:00

Research study says that rock drummers have the stamina of top athletes. Rockers as jocks, anyone?

A Book Store That Gives All Its Books Away for Free

2008-07-19T03:18:00.000-04:00

How wonderful, a book store named Book Thing whose mission is to give away all of its books for free, to people who want them. They're in the Baltimore area. This is an idea that ought to be everywhere!

Spike Lee Is making a Film about Life Story of Physics Professor Ronald Mallett

2008-07-17T03:57:00.002-04:00

Professor Mallett's story is a fascinating one.
He became a physicist to invent a time machine so he could travel back in time to save the life of his father, who died of a heart attack at the age of 33.
He has made great strides in advancing theories in physics and now Spike Lee is making a feature film based on Mallett's memoir, Time Traveler:

You can see Professor Mallett talk about some of his work here:

Mike Bloomberg is a Hero, Passionate About Preventive Health

2008-02-08T02:04:00.000-05:00

NYC Mayor Mike Bloomberg Launches Worldwide Non-Smoking Plan

Fascinating New Yorker Article "Darwin's Surprise"

2007-12-03T16:51:00.001-05:00

Michael Specter's fascinating article on paleoviruses in the Dec. 3, 2007 issue of The New Yorker gave me ideas and provoked many questions as I read it. The article explains that paleoviruses are:

extinct viruses that reside within us, carrying a record that goes back millions of years.

[How can scientists know these viruses go back millions of years? I'm not challenging the statement, just wondering how they discovered that.]

As the article says, it turns out that scientists are now able to bring dead viruses back to life.

So one of my thoughts is: If they can do that, will scientists eventually be able to use that technology to bring dead people back to life?

Another sentence in the article says:

Eggs cannot eliminate waste.

Wouldn't that mean, then, that when we humans eat eggs, we are ingesting waste material?

The article says:

Cell fusion is a fundamental characteristic of the mammalian placenta but also, it turns out, of endogenous retroviruses. In fact, the protein syncytin, which causes placental cells to fuse together, employs the exact mechanism that enables retroviruses to latch on to the cells they infect.

Hmmm, that would make an awesome basis for a sci-fi movie!

And when Specter quotes the evolutionary geneticist Harmit Malik as saying:

"We have been in an evolutionary arms race with viruses for at least one million years. There is genetic conflict everywhere."

Well, wow--that would make an awesome educational video game, with characters based on those tiny biological elements that are in conflict.

The article goes on to say:

The AIDS virus has one gene, called "vif," that does nothing but block a protein whose sole job it is to stop the virus from making copies of itself.

So that makes me wonder why scientists have not been able to disable vif.

The article refers to Michael Emerman, a virologist at The Hutchinson Center's Human Biology and Basic Science Division, and his research with the H.I.V. virus and an endogenous retrovirus with the acronym PtERV that prevents chimpanzees from getting sick from AIDS:

What he found astonished him. No matter how many times he repeated the test, the results never varied. "In every case, the protein blocked either PtERV or H.I.V. But it never protected the cells from both viruses," Emerman said.

To me, that sounds like the uncertainty principle in physics, in which scientists can know either the direction a sub-atomic particle is moving in, or the speed the particle is traveling at, but never both. Since I'm not a scientist, I'm wondering if there is some connection between that concept in quantum physics and the results Emerman got.

"Viruses are accumulating and becoming more decrepit with every passing million years."

Well, I'm thinking: That would make one great T-shirt!

Finally, the article says that specific mutations seem to protect certain people against the H.I.V. virus:

There are people, though, whose genes instruct them to build defective receptors. Those with two copies of that defect, one from each parent, are resistant to H.I.V. infection no matter how often they are exposed to the virus.

So my question is: Are there any scientists working on ways to implant those genes into people who would benefit from them?

Spread the Word! Sarasota for Dennis Kucinich

2007-11-30T14:05:00.000-05:00

There's a new group called Sarasota for Dennis Kucinich. Dennis is the best candidate for so many reasons. Please spread the word about this new group. The intention is to get Dennis more media coverage and to lift him to the top.

Original Prints for Incredible Value

2007-09-19T05:08:00.000-04:00

I just discovered a site called tinyshowcase.com, an online gallery of original prints selling for only $20 apiece. I can't wait to look through the gallery. It sure makes me want to get back into making art again!

Car Sharing, An Idea Whose Time Has Come!

2007-07-05T20:41:00.000-04:00

Decades ago, when I lived in NYC without a car, I thought: Wouldn't it be cool if cities owned lots of cars that they allowed residents to drive from point to point whenever they needed one?

I saw something on NBC's Nightly News with Brian Williams tonight that made my dream come true! In many cities, private companies are providing car sharing service, which is fabulous for the environment and for people who don't have cars.

http://www.carsharing.net

A Resource Every Town Should Have

2007-07-03T22:12:00.000-04:00

A South Florida musician and writer named Laura Sue (also known as the Silver Nightingale) posted the following letter to an e-group and I love what she says, so I'm posting her letter below. I think resources like the one she mentions ought to spring up in every town!

She writes:

I wanted to let you all know about a great new non-profit I just
discovered called Trash to Treasure. It's a Creative Re-Use Center, in
other words, they collect donations of a wide range of clean, re-usable
materials (called "clean scrap") which can be repurposed for artistic
and educational uses. Great place for artists, art teachers, families
etc.!

All those things you feel guilty throwing out - the cardboard from pads
of paper, foam from the boxes computers come in, egg cartons, the
cardboard roll from paper towels and TP, plastic cups and straws from
Starbucks, fabric/wire/wood scraps, CD jewel cases and a whole host of
other things - can be used to make art projects with kids and such.
Businesses can donate stuff like out of date stationery, paper boxes,
etc. and cut down on their disposal costs. I just visited their
warehouse for the first time (conveniently located near I-95 and
Commercial Blvd. in Fort Lauderdale) and was really impressed by the
array of materials they have available. Re-use helps everyone by
cutting down on waste, trash disposal fees, demand for raw materials,
energy consumption and more.

I am so enthusiastic about Trash to Treasure I want the world to know
about them, and thought there would be some folks on this list who
would be interested in T2T, as writers and creative people are often
artists as well! For those of you who have not managed to go completely
paperless, they have shelves full of binders for all your wonderful
musings (and computer printouts)! Lots of other great stuff too!

I also thought some of you might like to write a story about T2T, or
even volunteer to help them with some press releases and PR.

I am joining T2T, and look forward to picking up some cool stuff there,
but honestly I'm more excited about having a place to donate a lot of
things I'd otherwise be throwing away or cluttering up my house with.
And you do not have to be a member to donate materials or money. Of
course members are also needed - Normally $60 a year but $45 now until
August 31 - members can visit 12 times a year and take as much as they
want. What a deal! : )

If you know any art teachers, please pass this info along!

If you want to get involved or get more info:
http://www.trash2treasurefl.org/
954/623-0603

All the best,
Laura Sue

* Flute Fusion * from The Silver Nightingale
http://www.SilverNightingale.com

Unbelievable Rube Goldberg Contraption

2007-06-14T00:15:00.000-04:00

I don't know if this is real (click on headline for link) but the video makes it look real.
Am I too gullible?

Amazing Kinetic Sculpture

2007-06-11T20:31:00.000-04:00

Theo Jansen's kinetic sculpture is amazing! It's kind of like a wind-powered robot. It's not designed to look human, and is far too wide to resemble a human, but the way it moves is oddly human-like. Here's more about the sculptor and his work.

A Duckling With Interspecies Compassion

2007-04-09T03:11:00.000-04:00

Have you seen this short video of a baby duck feeding carp?

It's hard to see the duck at first because it blends in with the background. The duck is in the center of the frame, slightly toward the right. I had no idea that one species would feed another in a direct way (I mean other than being the food for a larger animal). Is this behavior unusual?

This baby duck has more intelligence and compassion than some humans.

Former Canadian Defense Minister Says Alien Technology Can Save the World From Global Warming

2007-03-02T19:54:00.000-05:00

Former Canadian Defense Minister Paul Hellyer is calling on world goverments to use the technology derived from crashed UFOs to stop global warming.

I think this is a great idea, although people switching to a vegan diet would have a larger effect on stopping global warming than switching to hybrid cars.

Eat Future Fruit and Catapult into the Future

2007-02-26T23:34:00.000-05:00

There's a new sci-fi TV show being developed by the Jim Henson Production Company that has as a plot element something called "future fruit." Eat it and be projected into the future. Since I like both raw fruit and time travel, this show sounds very interesting!

Spiritual Aptitude Test

2007-02-25T11:44:00.000-05:00

Here's a very interesting spiritual aptitude test.

I found it on the website of Todd Murphy, who was recently on the Coast to Coast AM radio show, which has fascinating guests.

Little Book of Raw Thanksgiving Recipes

2006-11-15T06:57:00.000-05:00

Hi,

I'll keep this message short because the busy season is upon us!

If you're hosting Thanksgiving dinner or bringing food to someone else's gathering, RawFoodsNewsMagazine.com's Little Book of Raw Thanksgiving Recipes is just the ticket for some great ideas! (It also makes a sweet surprise gift. Send us the e-mail address of your special people and we'll send it right out to them!)

Our little e-book contains 32 festive and fabulous Thanksgiving recipes by more than a dozen great American raw chefs. You'll find instructions for making tasty soups, salads, "turkey," stuffing, side dishes, and many scrumptious desserts. This year we have additions from David Norman's Bonobo's Restaurant, Matthew Kenney's The Plant, and Roxanne Klein and Charlie Trotter, plus my own yummy recipe for Cinnamon Ginger Chocolate Candy, and tips for entertaining.

Delivery is fast, via e-mail. Our e-book requires no special software to read (it's delivered as a Word document), and it's convenient! If/when you splatter food on a recipe while making one--which I can't seem to avoid doing! :o) --you can just toss the recipe and print out a new page.

Our Little Book of Raw Thanksgiving Recipes is a bargain at only $5!

Here's how to order:

RawFoodsNewsMagazine's Little Book of Raw Thanksgiving Recipes

Wishing you a wonderful Thanksgiving,

Judy Pokras
editor/founder/publisher
www.rawfoodsnewsmagazine.com

Announcing the Cute Raw Foods Shop

2006-09-19T02:23:00.000-04:00

Artwork Copyright: By Judy Pokras

Judy Pokras is pleased to announce the opening of her online shop "Cute Raw Foods."

Her shop carries the cutest cutting edge stuff--t-shirts and camis and totes and mugs and baby items and more. It's fashionable and stylish, and it pushes the envelope! We honor a healthy lifestyle, especially raw foods, and we do it in a hip way.

World Class Raw Foods Chef to Give Siesta Key Dinner Party On Oct. 13

2006-09-17T05:05:00.000-04:00

Come experience what it would be like to eat in a raw foods restaurant in Sarasota!

On Friday, October 13, Raw Chef Dan, a restaurant consultant, chef and teacher in town from New York, will be hosting a dinner party in a beautiful Siesta Key townhouse where he'll prepare many recipes over the course of three hours--a sensational buffet of tasty raw vegan treats--ranging from drinks, tapas and entrees to fantastic desserts. The buffet will be open as the first guests arrive, dine and mingle as more guests arrive. Raw Chef Dan will prepare and serve new dishes throughout the party. Guests will have the opportunity to watch him prepare the various recipes, or can simply mingle and enjoy the festivities.

The party will be a fun place to socialize, meet like-minded people, get great ideas for dishes, and learn even more. Raw Chef Dan will talk about a raw foods restaurant in Sarasota, movies, the Bio-Photonic Scanner, Secrets of the Cube, resources, and books.

The innovative and talented Raw Chef Dan will give two raw vegan recipe classes plus a buffet dinner party with live preparations and demo.

Monday, Oct. 9 from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m
BASIC RAW FOOD INTRO CLASS

When you attend Raw Chef Dan's Basic Raw Food Introduction Class, you’ll hear a short overview on the “whats and whys” of the raw food diet, you’ll see demos of recipes, and you'll get to eat the recipes, including:

Super Power Green Juice
Chocolate Banana Smoothie
Bell Pepper Soup
Marinated Italian Zucchini with Sun-Dried Tomato
Mock Tuna Salad Wraps with Sweet Mustard Sauce
Raw Sesame Hummus
Mock Cream Cheese
Basic Pie Crust
and Chocolate Mousse Pie with Berries.

The fee is $60 when you mention RawFoodsNewsMagazine.com or $75 at the door.

Weds., Oct. 11, from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m.
INTERMEDIATE RAW PREP CLASS

Raw Chef Dan's Intermediate Raw Prep Class will feature a recipe demo, after which you’ll get to eat the food:

Black Nori “Caviar”
Cashew “Sour Cream”
Almond Milk
Marzipan
Basic Flax Crackers
Mock Meatballs with Creamy Gravy
Broccoli “Cheddar” Cannelloni
and Vanilla Chia Seed Pudding with Banana and Nutmeg.

The fee is $60 when you mention RawFoodsNewsMagazine.com or $75 at the door.
Take advantage of both classes for just $100 in advance or $120 at the door.

Friday, Oct. 13, from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m.
DINNER PARTY

On Oct. 13, Raw Chef Dan will host a sensational buffet of tasty raw treats, ranging from drinks, tapas and entrees to fantastic desserts. The buffet will be open as the first guests arrive, dine and mingle, as more guests arrive. Raw Chef Dan will prepare and serve new dishes throughout the party. You'll have the opportunity to watch him prepare the various recipes, or you can simply mingle and enjoy the festivities.

This dinner party is a great opportunity for raw foods enthusiasts to introduce skeptical friends and relatives to a variety of delicious raw foods.

The fee is $70 when you mention RawFoodsNewsMagazine.com, or $95 at the door, with the discount price of $120 for two people in advance or $140 at the door.

Attend all three events and pay only $170 in advance or $200 at the door.

RESERVATIONS

Classes need to be paid for by cash, and credit card information is needed to reserve your place.

For more information and to reserve your seat, please contact Raw Chef Dan at 718-702-6275 or rawchefdan@yahoo.com, or call Mun at 917-270-0360.

Raw Chef Dan is a raw foods chef, teacher, and restaurant consultant in New York. His website is http://www.myspace.com/81872716.

See posting on SarasotaCalendar.com

A Druze Soapmaker Driven to Help Heal the World

2006-06-12T22:58:00.000-04:00

I admire Gamila Hiar for being an entrepreneur who makes pure products, and who works to promote peace, coexistence, and the advancement of women's causes.

Calabasas California Bans Outdoor Smoking--Hooray!

2006-02-07T01:24:00.000-05:00

I like when there are signs telling me that I'm moving in the right direction. And I'm not talking about traffic signs. I've been working on a treatment for a screenplay, and since I started, lots of synchronicities have been appearing in my life.

For the last year or so, I've been thinking about where I would move to. After all, this town, Sarasota, is a bit of a letdown (understatement!) after so many years in Manhattan. But I've become smitten by my proximity to nature and all the warm, smiling sunshine.

California's been beckoning to me for a long time. It's got the climate I prefer, the entertainment industry (where I should be working), lots of raw foods restaurants (where I want to be eating), and now it's got Calabasas, which has decided to ban outdoor smoking. That's a pretty damn great sign that I need to move there!

I'm one of the original anti-smokers. I don't mean I was against people who smoked. I just hated the secondhand tobacco smoke infusing my hair, my clothes, and my lungs. For several years before I moved out of New York, I stopped going out to clubs because I could no longer tolerate their wall of choking smoke. That was a big hardship, because I love to dance, and I love live music.

When I was around 14, I would stroll on the beach (the Jersey shore) with my 12-year-old cousin Dale. We would go up to boys and ask for a cigarette. (Actually I only remember doing this once.) One afternoon when we approached a tall boy and asked, he gave us a cigarette. My cousin, who was doing my bidding, broke it in half right there in front of him while she and I said smoking was a bad habit to get into.

Some years ago, I created an online petition asking for smoking to be banned in all workplaces. Finally, the times are catching up with me! Smoking's being banned in more and more localities. I'm thrilled; it's not so easy being decades ahead of the culture.

And now, thanks to Calabasas, the OUTdoors is being protected as well. Brav-O!

Now I just have to figure out how to make a whole lot of money so I can move to Calabasas. Cross your fingers for me that I turn my treatment into a hot screenplay.

Scientists Say Mice Can Sing

2006-01-15T13:53:00.000-05:00

The above link (click on the headline) is a news item featuring the actual audio of male mice serenading their mates (or their would-be mates). Nature at its finest! Almost as great as Owen Wilson singing in Starsky & Hutch! (Well, okay, I'm prejudiced.) I can't wait to see the music video of the first real live mouse to get a recording contract.

Eavesdropping From Far Away

2005-10-23T13:18:00.000-04:00

As a former Manhattanite who's always amused to hear the odd things passersby say, I'm delighted to find Overheard in New York. Here's something I overheard in NYC many years ago, something I never forgot:

I was walking west on East 10th Street from University Place. As a couple walked past me, the man said to the woman,

"She pays her bills with psychic checks."

I'd love to create a site called Overheard in Sarasota, but I never hear people saying anything interesting in this town. Sad, isn't it.

Bill's Fruity Birthday Cake

2005-09-09T00:30:00.000-04:00

Gee, President Bill's birthday cake (from this summer) looks like a raw vegan cake. Decorated with fruit. Maybe, just maybe, it is! If you know, we hope you'll let us know. Even if it's not raw, it's mighty pretty.

Catalogue of Songs that Mention Various Dictionaries

2005-08-25T16:31:00.000-04:00

This was pretty quirky and I had to list it. This inspires me to make a movie called Dictionary. Or Dictionary Grrl.

Dan Meth's Smart-Ass Guide to New York City

2005-08-25T09:21:00.000-04:00

As a former Manhattanite whose heart is still there, I love Dan Meth's smart and smartass interactive animated cartoon about The Big Apple. Since I used to live just a short walk from the East Village, and did most of my food shopping there, I clicked on that part first. As my mother said upon seeing Dan's smartass guide, "Any time you miss New York, you can watch this."

Rock and Roll & UFOs

2005-08-05T03:59:00.000-04:00

There's a new book on the link between Rock Stars and UFOs. Its author, Michael Luckman, was on Coast to Coast AM last night. Fascinating stuff. And while we're on the subject of little known facts about Rock and Roll, I just discovered this website as well.

Deejay Dancing in Publix

2005-07-10T01:22:00.001-04:00

Adam Sandler dancing in a supermarket in Punch Drunk Love

I grew up wanting life to be like a Broadway musical, with people spontaneously bursting into song & dance in the middle of their everyday lives. I can't say I've encountered that very often. But it happened today, Saturday! Right here in Sarasota.

In this hypohurricane weather, I went to Publix to buy some supplies. When I stepped through the automatic doors, right there in front of me was a teenage deejay spinning dance music. I could hardly believe it! I parked my shopping cart and began dancing. Right there inside Publix's entrance doors.

It was dinner time, and although there were other shoppers, I was the only one dancing. Once I hear compelling music I've just gotta dance. Middle-aged shoppers in the checkout area peered over at me, bemused. Teenage store clerks looked at me and smiled. When the music slowed down, I did some shopping, then came back to join a conga line of six employees and an eight-year-old girl. They were doing an intricate dance as the song instructed: "Slide to the left, jump back, spin around, cha cha." I'd never heard this one before, but it must be popular because the little girl knew the steps perfectly.

Turns out that the deejay booth--complete with a boombox with a built-in video camera and a black and white screen--is just a one-weekend promo. But I love the idea of dancing while buying salad greens and pineapple, any time. Why limit it to one weekend? When I got home, I sent a letter to Publix corporate, suggesting that a dedicated dance area become a permanent feature of the Lakewood Ranch Publix. Being the only supermarket in the country with dancing would get them tons of publicity. I can see it now, entertainment news and late night talk shows all talking about Publix. I like the year-round idea because it beats driving to Ibor City to go deejay dancing. I'll be going back to Publix Sunday to dance. Who knows--I might even become their first-ever salaried go-go dancer.

April 21, 2008:

I just discovered this awesome video of two guys dancing to disco in a supermarket!!! These guys are my soulmates!

Got Psi?

2005-06-28T01:39:00.000-04:00

Dean Radin, the head of the Institute of Noetic Sciences, was on Coast to Coast am last night, talking about the bizarre and fascinating world of quantum physics and mass consciousness. A woman called in to ask if by playing the "psi" games that IONS has online a person could develop their psychic abilities. (She said it's been happening to her.) Dean's answer was a resounding yes.

So I'm off to play some of these! Click on the "Got Psi" headline to see some of these games, and visit the Psi Arcade for more. If you go and play these, we hope you'll let us know how they're affecting you!

10 Things You Should Do If You See A UFO

2005-06-27T12:51:00.000-04:00

People make fun of the subject, but why not have an open mind?

Send This to Your Neighborhood Wino

2005-06-22T21:44:00.000-04:00

http://www.cafepress.com/rfnm
The resveratrol is in the grapes;
There's no need to drink wine
To get this anti-cancer nutrient.

Scientists Cultivate 2,000 Year Old Date Seed

2005-06-13T21:41:00.000-04:00

Israeli researchers believe it could help them to generate new medicines by uncovering the secret of why the ancient Judaean palm Phoenix dactylifera was so valued for its health-giving properties as well as its beauty and the protection it offered from the sun.

This is great news. Let's hope it inspires researchers to plant other vintage seeds.

ABC News Heralds Enzyme Study Results As Breakthrough of the Century

2005-06-03T01:19:00.000-04:00

BREAKING NEWS!

from RawFoodsNewsMagazine.com

Your online source since March 2001 for news about the raw foods lifestyle

ABC News Heralds Colorado Professor's Enzyme Study

As "Possibly the Breakthrough of the Century"

Tonight, Thursday, June 2, ABC-TV's Prime Time Live featured a story on groundbreaking research that shows that a pill containing a few herbs (among them turmeric and green tea) creates enzymes in the body that reduce people's oxidative stress to the level of a newborn baby, thus preventing chronic disease and lengthening the human lifespan by perhaps 50 percent.

Dr. Joe McCord, the University of Colorado at Denver biochemistry professor who did the research, told reporter John Quinones that oxidative stress is what happens in the body when people eat! (As we raw foodists know, it's what happens when people eat cooked foods, but they didn't go into detail about this on the show, probably because these scientists don't even consider that some people might eat raw foods.) The professor said that "eating" causes oxidative stress, in which free radicals in the body get out of hand and cause disease and aging.

The herbal pill (Protandim) restores the enzymes that our bodies stop making as we get older. The restored enzymes then kill the free radicals, those nasty things that cause chronic diseases and aging itself!

So, although they didn't make the connection, this big news is as good as ABC News saying that eating a raw foods diet prevents disease and aging!!!!!

Here's the ABC-News story

Ask us about placing your raw-foods-related announcement on RawFoodsNewsMagazine.com

Style, Cosmetics and Raw Foods

2005-05-29T15:58:00.000-04:00

RawStyle

We now have a sister blog on all things stylish that are also sound for our health and the environment. We invite you to visit it and post your comments!

Great Idea: An Owen Wilson Film Festival

2005-05-27T17:05:00.000-04:00

An Owen Wilson Film Festival

When you search google for Owen Wilson, you get nearly 2.5 million references. (I purposely didn't use "google" as a verb here, because the verb sounds vaguely obscene, especially when used with Owen, who defines the word hot.) I wonder if it ever bothers celebs that they don't have time to read everything that's been written about them. I wonder if any of them ever tried to, and how much time they actually spent. I wonder who they are.

As a lover of both the written word and Owen, I've read my share of articles and essays about him. I'm citing this one because I like the tasty way this fametracker.com guy writes and I also like where his heart's at re: Owen.

Bicycles and Tricycles and Romance

2005-05-12T04:12:00.000-04:00

In a post titled Mind Over Machine, the blog Joshua Birtles: Life, the Universe and Nothing quotes a lyric from the old song, "Bicycle Built for Two," which was written by Harry Dacre in 1892 and updated with a techy twist in a notable 1968 film:

"Daisy, Daisy, give me your answer do. I'm half crazy all for the love of you. It won't be a stylish marriage, I can't afford a carriage. But you'll look sweet upon the seat of a bicycle built for two." --HAL, 2001: A Space Odyssey

I'm mentioning it because of the serendipity of happening upon Joshua Birtles' blog soon after posting the post below this about tricycle pedicabs. How synchronistic!

Sarasota Eyes Tricycle Cabs for Downtown

2005-05-12T01:22:00.000-04:00

I used to live in Manhattan, where a guy named George Bliss (who I once directed in an art video) converted old bikes into pedicabs. Open to the elements, the PoNY Cabs, as they were called, were available as taxis for tourists and others braver than me. I loved the idea of the PoNY Cabs, but Manhattan, with its dense traffic, loud noise and polluted air, didn't seem like the ideal place for something so environmentally-forward. Now I hear that George is being forced to sell his fleet because of an insurance dispute over an accident in which no one was even injured. Here's a video clip about George's tricycle cabs.

Cut to 2005, and I've been a Sarasota resident for two and a half years. And I read that Sarasota is considering something similar. The nice thing is that--except for hurricane season--our downtown is a perfect venue for tricycle cabs. The weather's usually beautiful, the traffic's usually light, and there are lots of trees to sweeten the air. Here's what Joe Moraca's Sarasota Livin' blog says:

Another transit option may be coming to Downtown Sarasota. People power to get you around... read it in the Sarasota Herald Tribune
"Randy Giffen's thoughts are now taking shape as the Sarasota Surrey Cab Co.Giffen wants to introduce “pedicabs” to downtown Sarasota.
The transportation service would be similar to taxis but without the polluting combustion engines. Tricycle carriages, with licensed drivers, would carry residents and tourists to and from hotels, condos, theaters and restaurants. It’s an untried idea in a downtown where a county-operated trolley service recently failed to attract enough passengers.
“If it’s not done in a proper way, it could be an embarrassment for the city,” Giffen said. “It’s imperative that it be done right.”
I guess I can ride one to the water taxi stop...

Here are some really cool transportation ideas from an artist named John Lee. I so share his vision!

Paint By Number? No, Eat By Color & Vit. C

2005-05-10T12:56:00.000-04:00

Here's an arresting splash of a page from the USDA about the benefits of eating produce that's vibrantly colored:

And here's a chart of the world's fruits and how they rate in Vitamin C content. Camu Camu berries are listed as having an "astounding" amount of Vitamin C. We want them growing in our backyard!

A Dessert to Adapt to Raw

2005-05-09T15:27:00.000-04:00

Apricot Dessert Cones

Here is the recipe as posted with this amazing photo by Keiko on her blog nordljus:

Apricot and honey frozen cones

Makes 10

825g tin apricots, drained
1 cup sugar
1/3 cup water
2 cups plain greek-style yoghurt
3/4 cup honey
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup crème fraiche or light sour cream
Place the apricots, sugar and water in a medium sauce pan over low heat. Stir until the sugar dissolves. Bring to the boil, reduce the heat and simmer for
3-4 minutes.

Set aside to cool. Place the yoghurt, honey, vanilla and crème fraiche in a
bowl and stir to combine. Set aside.
To make the cones, cut out 10 x 15 x 30cm lengths of baking paper. Twist the baking paper to form a cone shape making sure there is no hole at the pointy end and staple to secure. Spoon 1 tablespoon of the apricot mixture into each cone. Top with 1/4 of the yoghurt mixture. Place upright in the freezer for 2 hours or until set. To serve, invert the cones on to a serving plate and peel off the baking paper.

Now all we need to do is adapt it! Send in your adaptations and we'll publish them here.

Sweet Potato Hummus--A Recipe to Adapt

2005-05-09T15:06:00.000-04:00

Here at sketchgrrl (and at RawFoodsNewsMagazine.com) we love to look for interesting recipes to adapt to raw food cuisine. We read the following at My Adventures in the Breadbox about one unique recipe that we're looking forward to tackling:

I found the recipe for this sweet potato hummus on the MSNBC website. The recipe is from Debra Paquette, chef-owner of Restaurant Zola, in Nashville, Tennessee. I like how the article tabulates the cost of making this appetizer for yourself at home. According to the article, it costs $3.63 to make it yourself, whereas it would cost you $6.50 to go order it at Zola. Hmm, I didn't keep my grocery receipt...I wonder how much I spent.

The taste of this unusual hummus is absolutely incredible. The toasted and crushed cumin seeds and orange zest really give it a complex, deep, rustic flavor. Lemon juice brightens it up, cayenne pepper gives it a good zing, and the tahini adds the subtle essence of traditional hummus. I omitted the olive oil when I made this, but I'm sure it would taste even slightly richer if you would choose to use it. This is definitely something I will make again and again. Next time, I think I'll add some chipotle pepper as well...hmm, and I wonder what would happen if I also added some chickpeas...maybe it would be even more hummus-ey?...there's only one way to find out!

Farmers Markets are Multiplying!

2005-05-09T14:48:00.000-04:00

The blog cooking with amy notes:
Can we ever have too many farmers markets? I don't think so. One of the most exciting trends in the past few years has been the explosion in growth of farmers markets. According to the USDA, the number of farmers markets increased almost 20% between 2002 and 2004, from 3,137 to 3,706.

A Party for People From the Future & Us

2005-05-08T03:24:00.000-04:00

Time Traveler Convention at MIT

Luckily I was watching Saturday Night Live tonight. Weekend Update mentioned that some MIT students and profs were holding a party that they hoped time travelers would attend. As the people throwing the party pointed out, they only needed to have one such party. Time travelers could attend it whenever and as many times as they liked.

Damn, I just missed it! I didn't find out about it in time to travel up there from Florida because I haven't perfected my time traveling skills. And this was so my kind of party!

In 2001, I happened upon a website called MadSci network (love that name!) that invited web surfers to submit science questions. I was excited that I might get an answer to a question that had been plaguing me for quite some time, ever since I had gotten my first computer in the late 1980s, a dedicated terminal from France called a Minitel. The MadSci network's online form asked me what grade level and school I was in! Why is the mad scientist limiting his answers to kids' questions? Our culture wouldn't be discouraging us from asking questions, now, would it? My question's subject line was "Can an ET send an earthling an e-mail message?" Here's what I wrote. (Note that the URL in my 2001 question is no longer my website, personal or otherwise.)

The MIT student who came up with the whole idea for the Time Traveler Convention is Amal K. Dorai. Here are a few excerpts from his convention announcement page, which featured a Q and A format, with the questions being ones that might be asked by the general public:

Why do you need my help?

We need you to help PUBLICIZE the event so that future time travelers will know about the convention and attend. This web page is insufficient; in less than a year it will be taken down when I graduate, and futhermore, the World Wide Web is unlikely to remain in its present form permanently. We need volunteers to publish the details of the convention in enduring forms, so that the time travelers of future millennia will be aware of the convention. This convention can never be forgotten! We need publicity in MAJOR outlets, not just Internet news. Think New York Times, Washington Post, books, that sort of thing. If you have any strings, please pull them.

Great idea, I'd love to help! What should I do?

Write the details down on a piece of acid-free paper, and slip them into obscure books in academic libraries! Carve them into a clay tablet! If you write for a newspaper, insert a few details about the convention! Tell your friends, so that word of the convention will be preserved in our oral history! A note: Time travel is a hard problem, and it may not be invented until long after MIT has faded into oblivion. Thus, we ask that you include the latitude/longitude information when you publicize the convention.
You can also make an absolute commitment to publicize the convention afterwards. In that case, bring a time capsule or whatever it may be to the party, and then bury it afterwards.

Isn't time travel impossible?
We can't know for certain. The ancient Greeks would have thought computers were impossible, and the Phoenicians certainly wouldn't have believed that humans would one day send a spacecraft to the moon and back. We cannot predict the future of science or technology, so we can only make an effort and see if any time travelers come to our convention. If you would like to read more about time travel, check out our reading list.
I'm from the future, and I'd like to attend!
We're not sure how you're e-mailing us from the future, but we'd love to have you! Come as you are! No dress code whatsoever. We do request that you bring some sort of proof that you do indeed come from the future, and haven't just dressed like you do. We welcome any sort of proof, but things like a cure for AIDS or cancer, a solution for global poverty, or a cold fusion reactor would be particularly convincing as well as greatly appreciated. (No RSVP required.)

Amal has asked that we include the mapping coordinates of the convention, should anyone from the future be reading this at some point when M.I.T. is no longer at that address:

The Time Traveler Convention
May 7, 2005, 10:00 pm EDT (08 May 2005 02:00:00 UTC)
(events start at 8:00 pm)
East Campus Courtyard, MIT
3 Ames St. Cambridge, MA 02142
42:21:36.025°N, 71:05:16.332°W
(42.360007,-071.087870 in decimal degrees)

Another exciting thing about a Time Travel convention is that in the future a lot more people will be eating raw-food cuisine and the recipes and exotic produce that people bring to the convention will be fab!

Top Cooked-Chefs

2005-05-07T13:42:00.000-04:00

The Food Section: All the News That's Fit to Eat lists the 10 best US chefs in 2005 as selected by Food & Wine magazine.

We invite all 10 of these chefs to send us one raw-food recipe that they're proud of having created. We hope some of America's talented raw-food chefs will make this top 10 list next year!

Watermelon Art

2005-05-07T12:04:00.000-04:00

Michelangelo said: "I saw the angel in the marble and I carved until I set him free. " Thanks to the fabulous Boing-Boing, we can see what one artist set free in a watermelon. In our opinion, it's much better to find art in a watermelon than to make an ersatz watermelon (not that it's not artistic) from dairy ice cream, as Martha Stewart has done in her Watermelon Bombe. Now, if her Bombe were made of non-dairy raw ice cream, that would rate an award.

Newsweek Online's Erroneous Piece

2005-04-13T15:13:00.000-04:00

My response to Newsweek online's April 12, 2005 article on raw foods:

Dear web editors,

As a long-time raw foodist and the founder and editor of www.RawFoodsNewsMagazine.com, an online magazine celebrating raw foods since March 2001, I'm glad to see you ran an article on the raw foods lifestyle.

I wanted to point out an error in your article. The writer says that Woody Harrelson came out with the 400-page book Living Cuisine a year ago. The book is actually by the raw chef Renee Underkoffler; Woody Harrelson merely wrote its foreword.

Also, your writer says that most people eat raw foods for health reasons. I would like to know where she found statistics on this. As someone who has been in the raw foods community since 1992, I know that while a decade ago many people tried raw foods at first for health reasons, over time more people are eating the food because it tastes great and because it makes them feel and look fabulous.

Your writer cites an M.D. and a nutritrionist as saying that it's ok to eat cooked food. Please explain to me why it is, then, that people who eat 100 percent raw foods don't ever get colds or sore throats.

Judy Pokras
editor/founder/designer
Raw Foods News Magazine
http://www.rawfoodsnewsmagazine.com
vegwriter@aol.com
An online newsmagazine founded in March 2001 as rawfoodsnews.com celebrating the raw foods lifestyle with authoritative info, breaking news, and fun interactive features. * Rated Number 1 in the Webseed Directory's most interesting sites list, based on how many articles a person looks at in any one visit. * Recommended by Writer's Digest, EnergyTimes, The Vegan Guide to NYC, the Japanese magazine Engine, breathing.com, and the national radio program Carolyn Craft's Inner Wisdom.

How to Avoid Food Cravings: one idea

2005-04-06T11:08:00.000-04:00

TeshMedia.com

The John Tesh newsletter suggests one way to steer your diet to a place you want it to be:

Outwit your stomach. Food is most enjoyable on an empty stomach. However, researchers at London’s University College found a possible craving killer: If you want chocolate, eat some twice a day for two weeks on a full stomach. Pretty soon, your brain will start thinking “I’m full” every time you want a chocolate bar.

If you try this method, let us know if it works!

Cell phone radiation and big business: Buzz & Biz

2005-04-05T02:05:00.000-04:00

The Cell Phone Industry: BIG TOBACCO 2.0?

We live in a man-made world (and I use the word man-made intentionally, as men have run more corporations than women have) and, unfortunately, the people running the corporations care a lot more about the bottom line--profits--than they do about products that support our health. (Consider the multi-billion dollar cosmetics industry, whose products are rife with toxins.)

So I'm not surprised that cell-phone industry moguls are denying the mounting evidence that cell phone radiation harms cell phone users.

What can we consumers do? I wouldn't want to go back to the days before I owned a cell phone. They're just damn convenient, especially for travel connections. There has to be some way companies can make safer cell phones. There is always a way.

A comedian once said: "The black boxes on airplanes are designed to be virtually indestructible. So why the hell can't they make the PLANES out of the same material?"

It all comes down to corporate profits and greed.

What's your favorite treat to eat?

2005-04-04T18:38:00.000-04:00

FL David writes:

gosh, there's too much to list....

the trick is to find the food!

i love mid term coconut meat, especially blended with the water...

i love organic heirloom tomatos with basil and a touch of garlic and bariani olive oil...

i love greens just out of the ground...

i love wet dressings made with cukes, celery, peppers, some cayenne pepper, tomatoes etc just poured on a big green salad...

maybe sprinkle with some pumpkin seeks or pine nuts etc....

just could go on and on...

i love a ripe mango just off the tree, black sapote smoothies with coconut,

i love nut meat salads (like tuna or shrimp but use pureed nuts/seeds, even some truly raw nut butter if you can't puree the nuts yourself)...

take a look at bonobo's menu- i love all that...

i'm so happy with this food there is no end...

i have no no no cravings for what i used to eat and i don't want to eat fake food--raw made to taste like cooked;
again the trick is to find super fresh greens, vine ripe fruits, veggies...

fresh nuts and seeds etc etc etc etc

thankfully in fla we have the abundant fresh cocos all around us here...

the trick, again, is how to get them off the tree and be able to open them in your kitchen...

homestead has great fresh fruits and produce...

you'd have to research where you are to find the sources for the real food that you can celebrate in it's own right, without making it taste like anything else...

this is probably more than you want to hear.......... :)))

i'm passionate about it all...

and can't wait for my next feeding!!

today we have some just-off-the-tree blood oranges,

honey tangerines,

grapefruit,

fresh no wax cukes,

a basket of just picked coconuts

and more!