So this is the real reason I had to give up TV. Found myself watching way too much of the high strangeness that is public access television.
Picture Sundays
Picture Sundays: A Native Bee Hotel
Don’t know much about this native bee house other than that it’s near Paris.
For more info on native bee habitats, see our post from earlier this year.
Update: reader Drew left a comment to say that this habitat is in the Jardin des Plantas in Paris which is attached to the Muséum national d’histoire naturelle (http://www.mnhn.fr/le-museum/).
Thanks to David Dalzel for the tip.
Picture Sundays: Unique Cadillac Cargo Carrier
Spotted in the posh HaFoSaFo district of Los Angeles, a re-purposed pickup truck shell serving as a cargo carrier.
And since it’s so spectacular–here’s another view. A note about the house in the background: if an object stands motionless for long enough in this city it will get stuccoed. The Cadillac? It too will have a layer of matching beige/orange stucco within a year or so. Then house flippers will buy them both and rehab the interiors to look like something out of Dwell Magazine by way of Home Depot.
Sunday Spam: Automatic Chicken Cage
We interrupt the usual picture Sunday feature to bring you the best and most misdirected spam email that has ever graced the Root Simple in-box:
Dear Sir or Madam,
Liaocheng Dongying Hengtong Metal Manufacturing Co.,Ltd here. Glad to hear that you are on the market for Automatic chicken cage. We are a professional producer of the complete sets of equipment for raising birds. At present, it is an enterprise which has the import-export license and exports a batch of complete sets of automatic equipment for raising chickens.
These products gained good prestige among customers and they are not only used in great-scaled biological raising farms in domestic provinces, but also exported to Middle Asia, South and East regions, Australia, South America, Middle East areas, Africa mainland and so on in great lot. We are willing to wholehearted with all the friends and customers to establish good relations of cooperation, realize a win-win benefits, and create a magnificent performance. If any interest, feel free to contact me.
Best regards,
Senior Sales Manager,
Fatma
Clearly a product that’s not a win-win for the chickens, but thank you “Fatma” for providing us with some much needed scratch for the blog.
Picture Sunday: A Table Made From Election Signs
Now that the election is over it’s time to make some tables.
Picture Sundays: US Postal Service Creates World’s Ugliest Stamp
I got some stamps out of a machine at the post office yesterday and this is what got barfed out. Is this a sign of the imminent collapse of the US empire or just evidence that the email thing is making the post office go broke? Either way, you’d think the Postal Service would be embarrassed by this graphic design nightmare.
How do we get them to reissue this one? I may not be a big fan of the American Poultry Industry, but that sure is a fine looking stamp.
Thankfully the post office lets you make your own stamps.
So how about one with that beekeeping donkey from yesterday’s link dump?
Or that menace of poultry keepers, an angry raccoon.
How about a composting toilet?
Or a tribute to the Mayan/Zombie/2012 Apocalypse.
Video Sunday: Victorian Hipsters
Two Thomas Edison films that prove the existence of fixed gear bike riding hipsters in the late Victorian era.
Picture Sundays: A Chicken Coop Made From a Trampoline
From the Homesteading/Survivalism Facebook page, a chicken coop made from a trampoline. Here’s a little more on the project.
This coop appears to be a DIY variation on the Joel Salatin movable poultry pen. I’m assuming there’s a way to lock the chickens in the top part at night to keep out critters that might dig under the run.
Picture Sundays: Why Cats Purr
Some solid science here. Not sure where this comes from, but spotted it on Doug Harvey’s Facebook page.
Picture Sundays: The Vigo County Canning Club
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| Vigo County Canning Club, Indiana 1918. Via Kaufmann Mercantile. |
I hope we’ll be seeing more food preservation clubs in the years to come. They make a lot of sense. You can pool resources, labor and expertise. No need to be nostalgic, this is an idea for the present and future.