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lwoodSo, why teal?
Sure, it was an offhand comment of "what happens when Odin, whose signature color is dark blue, goes green", but I had to refine things a little more during Pantheacon, during an impromptu conversation with![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
emberleo's mum, karyljan.
"So what is this Teal Party thing all about?"
"Well, basically, it's Green/Libertarian. The Greens are too socialist, and the Libertarians think lawsuits will take care of the environment. To my mind, social and environmental justice skip hand-in-hand down the lane--but we strongly emphasize the environmental side over the social one, because without an environment there's not much room for social justice. First, protect the forests, but after that, you can have your drugs, have your guns, and marry whomever you like."
"So enough government to protect the environment, but not a lot of nosing around in my shit?"
"Yeah, pretty much!"
"Hey...have you ever considered making a real political party out of this? You know, registering with the state?"
"Oh, gods no--I'm too busy being a theoactivist to be a political one!"
It ain't a party so much as a movement, in nine-part harmony.
You want to save the earth and stuff, you gotta sing loud...
Which brings us to today's interesting news item:
This was brought to our attention by![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-syndicated.gif)
macraven, aka Daithi Haxton, Troth Hostmaster, Cranky Libertarian Heathen Farmer, Most Excellent Unix Admin, and All-Around Good Egg. Originally from the Christian Science Monitor, it discusses how posh suburban houses are being bought up, then get their basements converted into giant "grow houses" to grow lots and lots of marijuana:
http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0305/p01s02-ussc.html
Now, I'm a crazy idealist dreamer and all, but I suspect there'd be a lot less profit in that whole business if the good folks of Georgia (et al) could just grow some damn pot in the front yard and/or buy loose weed down at the corner store. Not that I think hemp's the panacea that its loudest proponents claim, but jeez, people. It's pot. People wandering to the Quik-E-Mart with the munchies are not the ones who break into your car and steal the stereo.
Plus, this involves a ridiculous electricity cost, and they're doing things hydroponically, which isn't terribly environmentally sensitive. Could we just take this outside? Please?
Over breakfast this morning, I was getting the last dregs of content from last week's San Francisco Bay Guardian, and encountered this:
http://www.sfbg.com/printable_entry.php?entry_id=2996
To summarize: after a good, if breezy, history of the farming and consumption of tea (their history of Earl Grey particularly amuses), they touch on some of the current questions of politics and quality surrounding this favored beverage.
See, a lot of small tea growers don't certify organic and/or fair trade. It's expensive. We're talking about family farms, who were doing this whole organic sustainable thing twelve centuries before it was cool, because, um, that was how you kept having a tea bush. This, from conversations I've had at my local Peet's, is pretty much how it is with coffee, too: a lot of the high-quality stuff comes from families who have had these trees for a long time.
The certifications tend to go to that old favorite enemy of cranky liberals everywhere, the same corporations who want to do organic at the scale at which they used to do conventional.
Keeping with the letter of the idea, but rather taking a crap on its spirit.
The answers keep coming back around to supporting small, family farmers--no different for tea than for broccoli or chickens (hi,macraven!).
I don't have any good answers for this because, of course, that all comes with greater expense. I'm fond of The Republic of Tea, as they specialise in estate-grown stuff of the kind I'm talking about. Indeed, if you got one of those "Odin Tea" blends fromdpaxson and I this Yule, you've had some. Good leaves go further, but cost more, and this does not necessarily even out.
That's all I've got today, folks--tomorrow, I'll probably blather about my personal Rules for Successful Society. In the meantime, remember: There Is No Away.
-- Lorrie
Sure, it was an offhand comment of "what happens when Odin, whose signature color is dark blue, goes green", but I had to refine things a little more during Pantheacon, during an impromptu conversation with
emberleo's mum, karyljan."So what is this Teal Party thing all about?"
"Well, basically, it's Green/Libertarian. The Greens are too socialist, and the Libertarians think lawsuits will take care of the environment. To my mind, social and environmental justice skip hand-in-hand down the lane--but we strongly emphasize the environmental side over the social one, because without an environment there's not much room for social justice. First, protect the forests, but after that, you can have your drugs, have your guns, and marry whomever you like."
"So enough government to protect the environment, but not a lot of nosing around in my shit?"
"Yeah, pretty much!"
"Hey...have you ever considered making a real political party out of this? You know, registering with the state?"
"Oh, gods no--I'm too busy being a theoactivist to be a political one!"
It ain't a party so much as a movement, in nine-part harmony.
You want to save the earth and stuff, you gotta sing loud...
Which brings us to today's interesting news item:
This was brought to our attention by
macraven, aka Daithi Haxton, Troth Hostmaster, Cranky Libertarian Heathen Farmer, Most Excellent Unix Admin, and All-Around Good Egg. Originally from the Christian Science Monitor, it discusses how posh suburban houses are being bought up, then get their basements converted into giant "grow houses" to grow lots and lots of marijuana:http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0305/p01s02-ussc.html
Now, I'm a crazy idealist dreamer and all, but I suspect there'd be a lot less profit in that whole business if the good folks of Georgia (et al) could just grow some damn pot in the front yard and/or buy loose weed down at the corner store. Not that I think hemp's the panacea that its loudest proponents claim, but jeez, people. It's pot. People wandering to the Quik-E-Mart with the munchies are not the ones who break into your car and steal the stereo.
Plus, this involves a ridiculous electricity cost, and they're doing things hydroponically, which isn't terribly environmentally sensitive. Could we just take this outside? Please?
Over breakfast this morning, I was getting the last dregs of content from last week's San Francisco Bay Guardian, and encountered this:
http://www.sfbg.com/printable_entry.php?entry_id=2996
To summarize: after a good, if breezy, history of the farming and consumption of tea (their history of Earl Grey particularly amuses), they touch on some of the current questions of politics and quality surrounding this favored beverage.
See, a lot of small tea growers don't certify organic and/or fair trade. It's expensive. We're talking about family farms, who were doing this whole organic sustainable thing twelve centuries before it was cool, because, um, that was how you kept having a tea bush. This, from conversations I've had at my local Peet's, is pretty much how it is with coffee, too: a lot of the high-quality stuff comes from families who have had these trees for a long time.
The certifications tend to go to that old favorite enemy of cranky liberals everywhere, the same corporations who want to do organic at the scale at which they used to do conventional.
Keeping with the letter of the idea, but rather taking a crap on its spirit.
The answers keep coming back around to supporting small, family farmers--no different for tea than for broccoli or chickens (hi,
macraven!).I don't have any good answers for this because, of course, that all comes with greater expense. I'm fond of The Republic of Tea, as they specialise in estate-grown stuff of the kind I'm talking about. Indeed, if you got one of those "Odin Tea" blends from
dpaxson and I this Yule, you've had some. Good leaves go further, but cost more, and this does not necessarily even out.That's all I've got today, folks--tomorrow, I'll probably blather about my personal Rules for Successful Society. In the meantime, remember: There Is No Away.
-- Lorrie
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no subject
Date: 2007-03-07 08:54 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-03-07 09:18 pm (UTC)I knew caffeine was a good plan for driving home, but didn't want coffee. Thus: tea.
They had many choices, including:
Blackberry Sage (http://www.republicoftea.com/templates/detail.asp?navID=283)
and
Wild Blueberry (http://www.republicoftea.com/templates/detail.asp?navID=1385)
As you might expect, I couldn't decide which to have, but the day was saved when I found out that large meant two tea bags, so I had one of each.
The result was excellent, and remained so even after it cooled to room temperature, and
Odin Tea. 8-)
-- Lorrie
no subject
Date: 2007-03-07 10:44 pm (UTC)I might add just a touch of lapsang souchong to it...
no subject
Date: 2007-03-08 12:25 am (UTC)I've never found looseleaf to be a particular problem--a properly made teapot will solve most of that issue, and looseleaf will have more of a chance to swirl around if not hemmed in, blah blah pretentious tea snobbery here.
But! I think the smoky flavor of lapsang souchong would be a fine addition--it would complement the black, of course, but also the sage. My wonder would be as how it worked with the fruit, but this could be determined in practice.
The bitch is, though, that the Wild Blueberry is only available in loose if you go with a one pound package, $41--but the equivalent of 250 tea bags, so that's a lot of tea. Blackberry Sage, in an equivalent amount, runs $26. For testing with LS, I might start with the 2.5oz looseleaf, $10.50--I know that 1:1 works with what I have, but LS is strong and I wouldn't want it to overpower.
So, obviously, test pots are necessary...
-- Lorrie
no subject
Date: 2007-03-07 09:35 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-03-07 09:40 pm (UTC)I told
-- Lorrie
no subject
Date: 2007-03-07 09:41 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-03-07 10:09 pm (UTC)-- Lorrie
no subject
Date: 2007-03-08 01:02 am (UTC)I was all set to make some esoteric connection between caffiene and Odin's powers of inspiration, but apparently it is an herbal tea.
Not that that's a bad thing, but my wow connection totally falls flat. :P
no subject
Date: 2007-03-08 01:15 am (UTC)I wouldn't not have caffeine in such a thing, because yeah, caffeine is one of the natural sources of wöd. ;)
-- Lorrie
no subject
Date: 2007-03-08 05:25 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-03-08 01:28 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-03-08 01:45 am (UTC)*looks at Canadian shipping prices on RoT*
*winces*
I am going down to the US next month though:)
Oh? I've had trouble finding the Wild Blueberry in stores, but their Blackberry Sage is generally findable.
Enjoy your trip, and don't forget your passport!
-- Lorrie
no subject
Date: 2007-03-08 03:35 pm (UTC)dammit!! why didn't i see this BEFORE we got our basement finished into a music studio!! :)
no subject
Date: 2007-03-08 06:36 pm (UTC)I know! Think of the music studio you could have built with the profits!
-- Lorrie
no subject
Date: 2007-03-08 08:30 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-03-08 08:40 pm (UTC)Until the DEA ran off with the lot, plus anything you had lying around...
8-P
-- Lorrie