That you so much everyone for your words of solidarity in my current state of depression. The best feeling in this state of depression doesn’t come from bullshit advice, but solidarity in feeling the pain of those around me. Thanks for that. It feels good to not feel this pain alone. So, thank you thank you thank you! And thank you to Jason, David and Christine for throwing some much needed cash into my tip jar.
Author Archive for Urban Scout
Depression ain’t just for the economy. It sucks. I haven’t felt this depressed since age 20. At least, I haven’t felt noticeably this depressed since age 20. Age 21-24 I self-medicated using alcohol and cigarettes so I can’t clearly say what I felt during that time. But now, I don’t medicate at all, legal, illegal, prescribed or otherwise. I drink coffee for the occasional boost, like right now, in order to write this.
You’re right. I’ve gotten really sick of writing, and this is just a ploy to pass the time until my writers block passes (probably four weeks from now when my job ends!). Write an essay under 500 words in length on your topic Vs. Rewilding. It can be sincere, ironic or absurd, just make it good!I will select my favorite three who will win an award or prize of some kind… Perhaps a lifetime membership to the Urban Scout Cool Kids Club. I’ll make little badges or certificates you can frame or something. You have one week! Please send them to urbanscout (at) gmail (dot) com with the subject “rewild challenge.” You have until Sunday May 4th.
Humans have a long history of teaching social taboos through jokes irony, sarcasm, and mockery showing us what we do not find as acceptable behavior. Such comic geniuses as Jerry Seinfeld and Larry David know this too well, their narcissistic characters always breaking social taboos and looking like assholes. In Farley Mowats “People of the Deer” I recall a moment where he drew a picture of a deer smoking a pipe, to which the intuits laughed hysterically! I think this kind of ridiculousness encapsulates the humor in irony and mockery. It has a kind of innocence to it; it looks silly for a deer to do human things, just as it looks silly for a human to mimic deer things. We laugh at the ridiculousness of the situation, whether we see a deer smoking a pipe or Larry David not bringing a gift to Ben Stiller’s birthday party.
Good ‘ay mate, if you live in Australia check out the new issue of Chain Reaction, the national Friends of the Earth Australia magazine. I adapted my Agriculture Vs. Rewilding chapter for an article in it called “Rewilding Food Systems.” If you can’t find a copy of the magazine you can read it online here.
I notice a lot of people from Austin, Texas check out my site, and I have a few myspace friends in Austin. I thought, perhaps, that some austinites would feel compelled to throw a weekend rewild camp? mikerock just formed an e-mail list in yahoo groups for those-rewilding-austin, so if you live there and want to connect with some like-minded folks, peep this list. If you want my help to organize a rewild camp in your area, first read my How To Run A Rewild Camp article and than tell me what you need.
No one knows what the future will bring, but this we know: Civilizations destroy the land. Our civilization won’t last much longer. A movement known as rewilding has started against civilization. This movement has a frontier and we live in it.
I have so many design ideas and stupid slogans that I figure I should just get a bunch of them out there. I recently finished these three. Click the pic to go to my store:
I made this first one as a two part joke. One because a few hundred people have called me a douchebag and I need some love. Secondly because someone put my poster-boy picture from ReadyMade up at the Whole Foods in Austin with hearts all around it:
This next one I made after I realized that the anti-tractor sign may feel too confrontational for some types. I feel this one works as a softer more subversive alternative to that:
This last one I orignially made to bring people to the rewild forums, but I think it stands alone as a fun piece of art while making fun of classic propaganda:
WARNING: This film will either make you want to vomit (as in my case) or perhaps laugh yourself silly. It shows exactly the kind of future Science tells us to look forward to… the kind without any ecological systems thinking whatsoever. Please feel free to vent your comments.
In the spirit of Myspace, I wrote up a funny survey to give to you, readers. Please fill it out and post it in the comments below. Extra credit if you can answer using e-prime, but completely unnecessary.
Do hunter-gatherers have religion? That question makes about as much sense as asking if hunter-gatherers had language, science or art. Of course they did. Although their religions looked vastly different than the religions (and science & art) that we see today in civilization.
First, thanks Darrin, Katie, Scot and Christine for your tips! I really appreciate it.
Every month I put up a new rewilding design on my cafepress store. Click the pic to go to my Ye Olde Anti-Civilization Shoppe:
Car culture signifies one of the most wasteful, violent and pollutive parts of civilization; from co2 emissions, fragmenting of habitat through road-building and poisoning of plants and water with toxic metals and the murdering of countless animals and insects. Dying by the wheels of an automobile has no humanity, no respect. Many animals experience a mortal wound from car accidents and die slow deaths in the gutter. I hate cars. I hate traffic. I hate this legacy of the last 100 years of car culture. I hate oil companies. I hate civilization. And I really fucking hate assholes like Tom Green who make a mockery of this tragedy (Poop on the end of a microphone? Funny. Humping the rotting corpse of a dead moose, who died a pointless death in the name of civilization’s progression, and in front of millions of people just for its mere shock value? Well… Not so funny).
This last week marks my first year as Urban Scout. I have taken some time to reflect on what worked and what didn’t. I have listed my accomplishments and my failures and used that debrief to outline ideas and goals for intensifying my rewilding in the following year. I never made my full plan public, for fear that I would totally fuck it up. Of course, I did, and now I will share it with you so that you can laugh with me (or at me!). To say that I bit off more than I could chew sounds like a complete under statement.
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