Peak Moment Television

Peak Moment online TV and video: Locally Reliant Living for Challenging Times

Conversations is an online television series featuring people creating resilient communities for a more sustainable, lower-energy future. Programs range from permaculture farms to electric bikes, ecovillages to car-sharing, emergency preparedness to careers for the coming times. As of May 2010, over 170 half-hour programs were available online on site, at YouTube Peak Moment channel and other locations online.

Specials or longer programs include "Introduction to Permaculture", a comprehensive weekend course; the "Best of Peak Moment" series featuring collections on Backyard Gardens, Permaculture and Local Business; "Peak Everything", a presentation by Richard Heinberg, and "A Renaissance of Local", a 3-day conference near Boulder, Colorado.

At the website you can purchase DVDs of video and specials, subscribe to the Peak Moment newsletter as well as rss feeds for Conversations and Journal entries

Peak Moment Television

How-To gardening video in English and Spanish

from the Common Ground Community Garden list, 

Master Gardener Millie Macen-Moore has produced some wonderful How-To gardening videos for beginning gardeners in English and Spanish from the Milagro Allegro Community Garden in Los Angeles community of Highland Park .

Milli Macen-Moore, a sustainable landscape expert, pours seeds for planting 

during "Organic Sundays," at Milagro Allegro Community Garden in Highland Park, 

Email directly from the site to join mailing list.

Scholastic Lies to 4th Graders

Tell Scholastic to end its "InSchool Marketing" program that promotes corporate interests in classrooms. Let's say you're the CEO of McDonald's. You know kids love to eat your food, but their pesky teachers keep telling them it's not healthy. Don't worry! You have options. Scholastic (the company that publishes tons of children's books) has a program where companies like McDonald's, the American Coal Foundation, and SunnyD can pay to have teachers teach kids about their products to create "brand awareness" and "consumer loyalty."  It's called Scholastic InSchool Marketing –– and it has nothing to do with education. Here's how the program works: A corporation gives Scholastic a pile of money. In turn, Scholastic creates a curriculum designed to further "client interests," cleverly masked as actual learning opportunities for students. (For example, Scholastic sometimes says these materials will help improve students' scores on standardized tests.)  According to Scholastic, this program reaches more than 66,000 classrooms. Some terrific groups (including the Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood and Rethinking Schools) are fighting hard to end Scholastic InSchool Marketing. This week, they had a big win when Scholastic agreed to stop selling its "United States of Energy" curriculum (paid for by the American Coal Foundation) which teaches 4th graders about the benefits of coal while hiding all the risks to public health. Momentum is on their side. Now it's time to stop this practice for good. Sign the petition today to tell Scholastic to end its insidious InSchool Marketing division: http://www.change.org/petitions/tell-scholastic-stop-pushing-corporate-pr-in-classrooms Thanks for taking action

Friday May 20: Sonic Follies

The line up includes Gerard Bezzeg, Poets and Writers Picnic favorite and host of "Hello in the There!" (New Mexico Eclectic), along with a number of other singer/song writers and poets from slam and traditional spoken word to cowboy and folk, guitarists for all seasons, styles and tastes, a mandolin player and a fiddler. The event is also supposed to include open mic time.

Sonic Follies: Music, Poetry & More  a fundraiser for the OFFCenter / iCreate Guitar Program

Friday, May 20th, 5:30 - 8:30 pm Suggested Donation $7 at the door Come join in the fun with many wonderful performers! This special concert raises funds for OFFCenter and the unique iCreate Guitar program held free every week at OFFCenter. iCreate is a non-profit organization fostering creativity and the arts in underserved communities. Their volunteer instructors present the guitar workshop on Fridays at OFFCenter where people can attend 12 free sessions, learn 5 songs by heart, perform a recital and earn their very own guitar!  Please help support the continuation of this unique program held at OFFCenter!

Alas, the long awaited and much anticipated list of performers did not come in a ready to use format. Silly me expecting a flyer, a program or even plain text I could copy and paste. I'm hoping for the best from OCR because I won't type out the program after having specifically asked for ready to use copy. 

Sat May14: iCreate Bake Sale & Tomato Table

~ 9:30am - 12n in front of the #Mountainair PO. Rebecca Lueras is putting on an impromptu iCreate / musical outreach bake sale to raise funds for helping send talented local youth Shawn Brown (an iCreate music outreach alumnus) and his trumpet overseas for a very important and prestigious concert competition. Exciting, isn't it? I'm waiting impatiently for more details to share with you.  

Donations and baked good to sell are also welcome.  If you can help out by baking up or otherwise stirring up some sweets for sale, please call Rebecca, 847-0973, to let know so we'll have an idea of what we've got. 

At the same time and table, Joan Embree will be selling tomato plants to raise funds (water and, literally, seed money) for the Community Garden. According to Joan, "We still have MANY tomato plants that need homes. Most of the remainders are beefsteaks and plums (Roma) tomatoes. Need some? Contact me at 847-2539. The plants are outgrowing their paper-cup pots."

After our morning of selling and good deed fundraising, we will retire to Joan's home at 407 S. Sunset, for a 12:30 pm Community Garden planning meeting and major decision making session as we consider 2011 directions and options (and we have them) of where to relocate our garden and about to be homeless seedlings. Interested in the Mountainair Community Garden? Bring a sandwich and join us. 

On the Commons

Yet another page found by serendipity that seems to fit right in. The site has a number of resources and articles on reviving the "commons" as well as more specific ones on community gardening, sustainability, local food sovereignty and more. 

The commons is what we share together. From parks and clean water to scientific knowledge and the Internet, some things are no one’s private property. They exist for everyone’s benefit, and must be protected for future generations. A movement is emerging today to create a commons-based society.

What is On The Commons?

On the Commons is a citizens’ network that highlights the importance of the commons in our lives, and promotes innovative commons-based solutions to create a brighter future.

Making Mischief With Food Not Bombs

The graphic is irresistible. That goes without saying. So is the sentiment expressed. Sentiment and graphic are equally in sync with the iCreate mission, even without the garden (surely there is one behind the billboard): music and healthy sustenance for the underserved and voiceless.

Food Not Bombs, which serves free healthy meals to homeless people in about 1,000 cities, is fighting a legal battle in Orlando, Fla., where a judge ruled the city can restrict food giveaways downtown. He noted there's an area where such controversial actions are allowed. Small problem: It's shut down. More here on Food and their spring events, including upcoming days of action and a Change We Knead Now: Bake Goods Not Bank Bailouts Tour.

Making Mischief With Food Not Bombs | Common Dreams