The Root Simple 2016 Holiday Gift Guide

...ine, for the urban homesteady types in your life. Most of the links are to Amazon, and we get a small cut of the proceeds, which helps keep our webmaster in kibble. But First . . . Charity Of course, rather than buying unneeded crap that will only clutter our already messy houses, we could agree to give to a charity instead. This season, due to our national “orange swan” event, Kelly is favoring the National Resources Defense Council. In addition,...

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On Moon Bases, Free Parking and One Hell of a Grim Swedish Science Fiction Movie

...ecent Swedish movie Aniara, based on an epic poem, which you can watch via Amazon. Let me warn you that this film, despite the lack of gore, is definitely not for kids or for a cozy date night. While I’m not a fan of the film’s nihilism and dismissal of the numinous it does an excellent job of parodying the political impasse we’re currently living in (the spaceship in the film is nothing more than a bland shopping mall lead by leaders who everyone...

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The Wondrous 1-2-3 Block

...if a tool is square. To clamp pieces of wood together to guarantee squareness when gluing. To attach a machinist’s dial (a another inexpensive tool that will get its own post). For woodworking, a cheap set from Amazon will work fine. I assume machinists will want to seek out higher quality 1-2-3 blocks. They make a great, if heavy, stocking stuffer for the precision impaired members of your household . . ....

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Saturday Tweets: From Zines to Hedgehogs

...chael Pollan (@michaelpollan) May 10, 2018 Inside The Ecosystem That Fuels Amazon’s Fake Review Problem https://t.co/wepfnXO8iq via @itsnicolenguyen — Root Simple (@rootsimple) May 11, 2018 They paved paradise, put up a parking lot and here’s how we can take it back: https://t.co/Qolk4BE0zh — Root Simple (@rootsimple) May 7, 2018 10 herbs you probably haven’t heard of but should grow | Alys Fowler https://t.co/5ZDthQa7H2 pic.twitter.com/yOTRrsvH6V...

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