Sabbatical

As at 24 January 2012 I will be taking a short break from this blog to pursue another small online project. I don't expect the Sabbatical will be long!

The Importance of Making - Locally

A note I sent to various colleagues some weeks back about the Melbourne Mini-Maker Faire, which is something we at the Culture and Contect Unit (of which I'm the "weaver," otherwise known as Director) have supported because of the importance, we think, of incubating more spaces for community "doing together"......

Dear friends, colleagues, acquaintances, contacts and connections,

A small request for help or ideas, which I hope you might have time to read in this often overly busy season….

The “maker movement” is a growing movement of people through which people learn small scale material construction and repair skills. The aim is to foster local community resilience and sustainability by increasing “making” skills in local communities. The focus of the movement to date has been on small scale technology skills but is increasingly expanding to include more traditional skills (woodwork and so on) and handcrafts.

I have been building some low key relationships with the movement on behalf of the Uniting Church because:

• There is some suggestion that the community building nature of the movement can provide alternatives to more intensive forms of community service and welfare in some circumstances.

• There is suggestion that the act of “making things together” can contribute to better relationships of people with different faith, political (etc) understandings

• There are opportunities for traditional community spaces in local areas (like church buildings) to be partners in helping to grow the movement.

On Saturday 14 January 2012 a Maker Faire is being held at Swinburne University’s Hawthorn (Melbourne) campus to showcase the emerging movement. The organisers are looking for people to “demonstrate their maker skill” at stalls on the day.

Do you know of anyone based in or around Melbourne who might be willing to show off a more non-high-tech or handcraft related maker skill?

If you know of anyone who would be willing to contribute, let me know their details and I will connect them to the organisers. The website for the event is http://makerfairemelbourne.wordpress.com/

Warm regards,

Adrian

Two openly and affectionately gay asylum seekers walk into a bowling club....



I took this photo in my neighbourhood recently. How useful a word is "friendly?" What exactly does it mean? One wit I know suggested that in the case of the word in this photo, it depends how well you bowl. That is one way to answer the question -I am sure there are many others.

Schwarzwälder Kirschtorte

Dear Colleagues,

On Friday 25 November 2011 at approximately 10:45am - all other things being equal - a rather large Schwarzwälder Kirschtorte will appear in the communal area in the middle of the fourth floor (those with various food intolerances please speak to me about alternatives). This will occur because:

1) We all appreciate a little sweetening up from time to time.

2) This is not the type of food that any of us are likely to order alone in a café, as it requires a communal eating ethic.

3) It will be fun to hear people with Germanic origins say things like “That’s not really how they make it.” ….and…

4) I like writing and saying Schwarzwälder Kirschtorte.

In order to enjoy this sensation, take note of these simple steps;

1) Ask someone with a Germanic background what SWKT is, if you are unsure.

2) On Friday morning at about 10:32am, infuse a green teabag in hot water for ten minutes. You will need all of the antioxidants you can muster to offset the nutritional wasteland that is SWKT.

3) Report to the common area in the middle of the fourth floor.

4) Select a piece of SWKT and then enjoy a conversation with someone you haven’t spoken to for a little while (it’s fun to talk to different people with a mouthful of K and T and the Z that holds the K between the T).

See you there, all else being equal….

Adrian

Adrian Pyle

Director: Relationships Innovation

Culture and Context Unit: Uniting Church in Australia