elmussol

Tue, 22 Oct 2019 07:41:51 -0400 last edited: Tue, 22 Oct 2019 07:42:14 -0400

elmussol

elmussol@elsmussols.net

I went to Barcelona yesterday to pick up Ben from the coach station (London to Barna via Paris). So Ben is home. Seven weeks in Britain and the journey have really taken it out of her. And the day she comes back -- wall to wall rain.

life

Tue, 22 Oct 2019 12:49:27 -0400

I'm glad :-)

Tue, 22 Oct 2019 13:10:18 -0400

elmussol

elmussol@elsmussols.net

Me too.

Wed, 23 Oct 2019 07:34:32 -0400 last edited: Wed, 23 Oct 2019 07:35:36 -0400

I really hope that things are going better for you and yours, @elmussol.

more sadness

Sun, 29 Sep 2019 06:02:45 -0400

elmussol

elmussol@elsmussols.net

Can this week get any better? Done guests breakfast -- all good. Start to feed the animals and am just sorting the chickens out. I hear unfamiliar barking, running about and general commotion and start to run back to the house.

I see a pack of six or eight stray dogs running from behind our house and past it, our dogs doing their best but they were outnumbered. One kitten was snatched and killed, the other was missing for a while but I saw her up a tree. I climbed to get her down but she scampered down and off, who knows where. I will just have to be patient and hope she comes back.

RIP Tippy.

life

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Sun, 29 Sep 2019 06:12:52 -0400

Sun, 29 Sep 2019 06:15:23 -0400

elmussol

elmussol@elsmussols.net

There are a lot of abandoned dogs in the campo.

Sun, 29 Sep 2019 06:23:35 -0400

I am sorry to hear about both your chicken and your kitten.

Sun, 29 Sep 2019 06:27:45 -0400

Oh, I accidentally deleted the comment. In Spain it is very common the abandonment and mistreatment of animals. It is still frequent the hanging of dogs. Many hunters kill them when they lose their sense of smell...

Sun, 29 Sep 2019 06:37:46 -0400

elmussol

elmussol@elsmussols.net

I am fully aware that death is part of life and all that. But enough for this week, thank you.

Sun, 29 Sep 2019 08:17:31 -0400

I'm sorry for your loss. During your previous loss, an owl or ferret take two of my caesars (Domestic guineafowl). I didn't even have feathers left, i didn't see how it happen.

Sun, 29 Sep 2019 11:07:21 -0400

Sun, 29 Sep 2019 18:26:14 -0400

elmussol

elmussol@elsmussols.net

Hedwig is back. I have no idea where she's been for the last twelve hours and is completely freaked. But she's back and that's the main thing.

no no no no no no

Fri, 27 Sep 2019 13:16:46 -0400

elmussol

elmussol@elsmussols.net

I love having chickens. I love my chickens. They have a wonderful, largely care-free existence. They have a group of dogs who take on responsibility for guarding them.

Today I did a terrible thing. I accidentally killed one. Shutting up the shed after last #egg check of the day, I swung the heavy wooden door shut just as one of the girls stuck her head out -- crushed her skull.

Instantaneous, nothing I could do. Still wept for half an hour. Thank you lovely for your contribution -- hope you had a good life -- I'm sorry.

egg life

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Fri, 27 Sep 2019 15:52:04 -0400

my aunt years ago did something similar with the cat puppy she had ...
unfortunately sometimes accidents happen. :-(

Fri, 27 Sep 2019 16:06:07 -0400

El Dorado

mike@z.macgirvin.com

Related: My least favourite responsibility as a land steward is dealing with mortally wounded and obviously suffering animals; which has been thrust on me a number of times now. Whether it is a chook. a wild rabbit, or a rat makes no difference.

Sun, 29 Sep 2019 17:01:29 -0400

I have no love for pigeons. But one day as I headed down the street in my car, one didn't get out of the way and I ran over it. I could hear the little bones crunch. I felt badly, for it too was one of God's creatures.

oil

Thu, 26 Sep 2019 13:46:06 -0400

elmussol

elmussol@elsmussols.net

That annual thing is coming up again soon -- the olive harvest. November and early December is looking the likely time. So two things:

1: Does anyone want to come and help us? We have free accommodation, hard work (in 3-4 day blocks), lots of fun, a feeling of accomplishment (and some oil).

2: Who wants some oil? It is relatively cost efficient to ship in Europe in quantities of 5l. The cost efficiency kicks up again at 25l.

So @els Mussols 2019 vintage is on its way. Any questions? Just ask.

life

Thu, 26 Sep 2019 14:53:20 -0400

@elmussol

2: Who wants some oil? It is relatively cost efficient to ship in Europe in quantities of 5l. The cost efficiency kicks up again at 25l.

I want. I could exchange on something. Are you interested in an natural exchange? Or only interested in selling for money?
I have something to offer.

Thu, 26 Sep 2019 15:02:53 -0400

elmussol

elmussol@elsmussols.net

@ivan zlax PM me your offer.

Thu, 26 Sep 2019 15:14:03 -0400

Sadly we already arranged our November holiday in Slovenia.. but our 25 Liters are all gone. We’re definitely interested but I can’t yet say in how much.

one day I'm going to tell a story

Mon, 23 Sep 2019 16:05:25 -0400

elmussol

elmussol@elsmussols.net

Still on my own, no end in sight. I've been alluding to bits of this story, but I can't go into details at this point, but a few observations (about the UK mainly).

Anyone who bangs on about benefit scroungers and about how easy people have it on disability: fuck you.

Anyone who thinks that homeless people get the same access to the health service that the rest of the population: fuck off.

Anyone who thinks that people with disabilities have any hope in hell of negotiating the labyrinthine, Kafka-inspired assault course that is their "support" without getting a "go back to the begining and by the way we've shredded all your documents" card: fuck off.

And don't get me started on social worker support, housing support, banking and the, it seems universal, hostility towards anyone who is perceived in anyway difficult.

I was never nationalistic about being British (part of the anarchism), but there were a few things I thought "we" did reasonably well, like health, housing, supporting vulnerable people. No more. The UK has turned into a neoliberal hellhole -- competitive, permanently angry at something, making giant leaps backward in terms of racism and xenophobia.

Can we just get Brexit over with one way or another so I can get on with getting another different passport? I have rarely been so angry and disgusted in my five and a half decades.

life

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Mon, 23 Sep 2019 17:09:28 -0400

elmussol

elmussol@elsmussols.net

And at the (sort of) suggestion of @JamJarChris I am now going to be working #neoliberalhellhole into my vocabulary.

Tue, 24 Sep 2019 09:29:26 -0400

Michael

mike@narrow.world

I'm sorry you are having to go through this, Paul. Hoping things get better soon.

Tue, 24 Sep 2019 13:17:26 -0400

Passport recognition is recognition of citizenship. Recognition of citizenship is recognition of nationalism. There is no any anarchism in this.
Why call yourself an anarchist when you pay taxes and support the bureaucratic system of any states?

Tue, 24 Sep 2019 15:25:24 -0400 last edited: Tue, 24 Sep 2019 15:26:26 -0400

elmussol

elmussol@elsmussols.net

Do I think nation states should exist? Not in my ideal world. Do nation states actually exist? Yes they do. It is hard to be born anywhere in the world and not be a citizen of some nation state. I happened to be born in the UK. I am a UK citizen. I hold a UK passport.

I am not a Spanish citizen, although I have lived here for years. If I didn't have a passport I would be liable to deportation. Projecting forward from where we are with relation to Brexit, it would probably be in my best interests to have Spanish citizenship rather than UK citizenship. I want to live here and have no intention of moving back to the UK.

So, if I'm anarchist I shouldn't take out a passport and should stay in my accidental nation for the whole of my life?

I also dispute that it is necessary to drop out of all state apparatuses to define oneself an anarchist. My working definition has always been about dismantling/smashing the state rather than divorcing oneself from it.

Your solutions work for you. Good. Your solutions are not necessarily appropriate for everyone.

Tue, 24 Sep 2019 16:00:28 -0400

@elmussol

Do I think nation states should exist? Not in my ideal world.

But not in my real world. Enough.

Do nation states actually exist? Yes they do.

No. States exists only in your mind (and minds of other supporters of states)

It is hard to be born anywhere in the world and not be a citizen of some nation state.

No. It is hard to be born anywhere in the world and BE a citizen of some nation state. It usually takes 10 years of preparation by the Prussian education system, from call to call. It is very hard to carry out it.

I happened to be born in the UK. I am a UK citizen. I hold a UK passport.

With this passport you can easily go almost anywhere in the world legally. UK passport could open colonial borders. For example, the passport of the Russian Federation, on the contrary, restricts legal movement - people usually want to get rid of it in order to leave this raw materials colony.

So, if I'm anarchist I shouldn't take out a passport and should stay in my accidental nation for the whole of my life?

I can't answer that question because i don't understand why you concider yourself as anarchist. Please explain it for me. Anarchism is the rejection of any form of authorities (from greek ἀν – without и ἄρχή – authorities).

I also dispute that it is necessary to drop out of all state apparatuses to define oneself an anarchist. My working definition has always been about dismantling/smashing the state rather than divorcing oneself from it.

How can you dismantle/smashing what you're a part and supporter of?
If you ignore bureaucratic workers without paying taxes or using their documents, you are an anarchist. If you take from the banks and don't repay them, you're an anarchist. If you put bombs in police stations, you are an anarchist. But if you follow the laws of the authorities and sponsor and legitimize their activities, there is nothing anarchic about it.

Your solutions work for you. Good. Your solutions are not necessarily appropriate for everyone.

A completely agree. I just wish i could figure out the concepts. I very often observe how notions are replaced in the West (i can give vivid examples, if you are interested). In this case, it seems to me that the concept of "anarchism" is also gradually changing. Please explain what exactly you consider anarchism and on what basis.

Tue, 24 Sep 2019 16:22:30 -0400

elmussol

elmussol@elsmussols.net

Thank you @Michael. Unfortunately the material conditions for those at the bottom of society are getting harder and harder. Battling through is proving very difficult -- being 1,500km away is hard.

Tue, 24 Sep 2019 17:23:58 -0400

elmussol

elmussol@elsmussols.net

@ivan zlax Ever tried to cross a national border with that particular philosophical argument and no passport?

I am aware of the advantages of my accidental passport compared to those issued by other "in my head" nations.

I am not willing take to take the time today to write an essay of self-justification. I have material things to do improve the situation of my loved ones in difficulty. A real state oppressing real working-class, vulnerable, oppressed people (which is a great deal more anarchist (cf Mutual Aid) than divorcing oneself from the state in a personal condition of ideological purity).

Tue, 24 Sep 2019 17:35:45 -0400

@elmussol

Ever tried to cross a national border with that particular philosophical argument and no passport?

Yes. It was RF and Abkhazia (Georgia) border. I was also near the Mongolian and Chinese borders - i could cross it, but i didn't need it. The main thing in this case is to rely on your two (legs). If you want to be transported comfortably through a checkpoint on an airplane or train, you may have problems with that.

I am not willing take to take the time today to write an essay of self-justification. I have material things to do improve the situation of my loved ones in difficulty. A real state oppressing real working-class, vulnerable, oppressed people (which is a great deal more anarchist (cf Mutual Aid) than divorcing oneself from the state in a personal condition of ideological purity).

Please do not write an essay of self-justification. I do not ask you about that. I just ask to explain why you consider yourself as anarchist.
It is important for me. It seems that now in the West this word has a very different meaning than it was originally. I want to understand what you mean by "anarchism". Thank you in advance.

dancing and maximum lungs

Wed, 18 Sep 2019 14:42:47 -0400

elmussol

elmussol@elsmussols.net

!Music I've been at els Mussols on my own for a couple of weeks now. CraftyBen is back in the UK at the moment looking after our son (long, long story which makes me flip between anger, frustration and despair). Her absence is still of indeterminate duration.

One byproduct of this enforced solitude is that I get to listen to exactly what I want. Ben and I share a lot of music but my tastes are more catholic (and noisy and dissonant).

One of the things I've been catching up on is my Larry Grogan backlog. Up today was #^Funky16Corners Radio Show Episode #476 – Airdate 07/15/19.

Excellent as always, but I particularly draw your attention to 29m12s to 41m54s. The tracklist is as follows:

Sugarpie DeSanto – Go Go Power (Checker)
Sugarpie DeSanto – Good Timin’ (Checker)
Sugarpie DeSanto – Slip-in Mules (No High Heel Sneakers) (Checker)
Etta James and Sugarpie DeSanto – In the Basement (Cadet)

What follows is joyous, danceable, funny, assertive and exactly what needed after feeling a bit overwhelmed earlier.

Note: Etta James has what my secondary school music teacher called "maximum lungs". Prepare to be blasted.

#^mp3 download

#funky16corners #larrygrogan #sugarpiedesanto #ettajames

sugarpiedesanto funky16corners larrygrogan ettajames music life

Thu, 19 Sep 2019 03:29:34 -0400

Very cool

Thu, 19 Sep 2019 03:32:46 -0400

elmussol

elmussol@elsmussols.net

I do cool.

Thu, 19 Sep 2019 03:35:38 -0400

I deleted my double post... though the music is twice as cool.

Sorry to hear you are on your own at the moment.

relaxing Sunday

Sun, 15 Sep 2019 10:00:54 -0400

elmussol

elmussol@elsmussols.net

So I've had a "do nothing" day today so far. All I've done is feed the chickens, feed the donkeys, feed the dogs, feed the cats (multiple times), given the dogs their meds, cooked a vegan gluten-free breakfast for the guests, watered the garden, done the washing up, emptied the litter tray and got the dry washing in.

#farmlife

farmlife life

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Sun, 15 Sep 2019 11:07:15 -0400

elmussol

elmussol@elsmussols.net

Everything else ;-)

Sun, 15 Sep 2019 11:21:44 -0400

@elmussol ¿No cavarás también los pies (= limpiar la base, alrededor del tronco) de los olivos, no? Porque si es así, te llevo a hombros hasta Tarragona :-)

Sun, 15 Sep 2019 11:35:02 -0400

elmussol

elmussol@elsmussols.net

Mañana hombre.

old friend

Thu, 12 Sep 2019 13:00:43 -0400

elmussol

elmussol@elsmussols.net

Excellent but bizzare experience to spend the afternoon chatting with someone you've known for forty years, but not seen for thirty. Thanks for the visit Marcus!

life

mini rant

Sat, 17 Aug 2019 19:06:31 -0400

elmussol

elmussol@elsmussols.net

Maybe not a popular opinion, but hey ho. I am bored and irritated, nay angered by exceptionalism. I don't care if it's USofAmerican, British or European. I am reading so much at the moment by folks who get their view of the world through a (probably plastic) straw. The inability to see the world in anything more than binary terms is a character flaw.

life

Sat, 17 Aug 2019 20:15:58 -0400

Lamento que te encuentres así. Es normal que todos, los del norte y los del sur, los del este y los del oeste vean el mundo con las herramientas que tienen a mano. Los que no son de Estados Unidos, Gran Bretaña o "resto" de Europa tienen más herramientas para tener una visión más global. Pero no se libran de la mentalidad corrompida desde el siglo XIX. Historias de odio heredadas.

Todos necesitamos un baño de humildad, desde el norte hasta el sur, desde el este al oeste.

milestone

Thu, 15 Aug 2019 17:24:18 -0400

elmussol

elmussol@elsmussols.net

@els Mussols Today we passed 6MWh of consumption since we went #offgrid in July 2008. #solar

offgrid solar life