Basil Twist’s Puppetry Illuminated

/ Organikos / Leave a comment

Screen Shot 2013-04-27 at 9.25.19 AM

The New Yorker’s Joan Acocella profiled Basil Twist in a recent issue, and the magazine’s online team visited Twist at his studio, which you can see in the video above (click on the image), and the profile itself is worth a read:

“The crucial point about puppets,” Twist told me, “is that they are real and unreal at the same time.” At the beginning of the twentieth century, many writers and visual artists (Alfred Jarry, Paul Klee, Oskar Schlemmer, Sophie Taeuber-Arp), looking for something that was a little bit human, but much more art, made puppets, or works for puppets. The trend continues. Continue reading →

Sush, Future Tata Scholar & Cornellian, Made The Decision We Had Hoped For

/ Organikos / 2 Comments

Sush Krishnamoorthy, a student at Sardar Patel Vidyalaya, in New Delhi, is one of eight high school seniors around the world blogging about their college searches.

We have enjoyed watching the decision-making process of Sush and her fellow-bloggers on this site, and especially Sush’s decision to join Cornell where several of our Raxa friends are based:

Sush Krishnamoorthy, a student from New Delhi, is part of “The Choice” class that includes student-bloggers from Nairobi, Kenya; Topeka, Kan.; Seattle; Rogers, Ark.; Las Vegas; New York City; and Hunting Valley, Ohio. Her tenth post is below. — Tanya Abrams

After receiving a dream acceptance, I have chosen to enroll at Cornell University. Continue reading →

Reserva Los Cedros, Ecuador & Photos

/ Evan Barrientos / Leave a comment

Reserva Los Cedros  is a place of hidden beauty, starting with it’s location. Although only 60km from Quito, it takes a full day, about four modes of transportation, and a bit of very muddy hiking to get there. There reserve just feels distinctly…hidden. It can be reached only by a ~2 hour hike on a smally, unmarked trail, and from its center you can’t see past the nearest hillside. The rest of the surrounding landscape is hidden by forest and clouds. Even from Google Earth it’s invisible ( 0.308390°, -78.779466°).

Los Cedros has good reason to hide. Continue reading →

Nadumuttom – Central Courtyard

/ Salim.E.I / Leave a comment
Photo Credits: Manoj

Photo Credits: Manoj

Kerala has an abundance of architectural styles. There are two main features in Kerala houses that make them unique: The first is that domestic architecture follows the style of detached sections. Secondly the evolution of domestic architecture closely followed the trends in temple architecture. A typical house in Kerala is the courtyard type or the Nadumuttom.  Continue reading →

Job #43 – Sailing the World for Food

/ Barbara Lang / Leave a comment
Barbara following a footpath in the wine country of Stellenbosch, South Africa - during one of her many adventures

Barbara following a footpath in the wine country of Stellenbosch, South Africa – during one of her many adventures

There is a book called “150 Good Food Jobs” and I’ve had 43 of them. This means I’m either really old, I can’t keep a job or I get distracted and curious by shiny objects. But basically, these have been encapsulated within two long-term careers, one in Napa Valley as a winery culinary director and the other at Cornell University and in Ithaca.

Two-and-a half years ago, I “retired” from my 20-plus years at the Hotel School. After some years teaching about wines and later restaurant management and co-owning an Ithaca restaurant, I served as an academic and career advisor to “hotelies” – some of the most entrepreneurial, engaging, smart young adults around. After a serious cancer scare I retired at age 55 and went rogue, looking for a new career combining my love of travel, food, culture and service.

A SEMESTER AT SEA

I found my calling in fall 2011, as the adult lifelong-learning coordinator for the University of Virginia’s Semester at Sea program. With my husband Dave, 500 undergraduates, 60 adult learners, the faculty and the crew, I sailed from Montreal to Casablanca, Morocco; Accra, Ghana; Cape Town, South Africa; Port Louis, Mauritius; Chennai, India; Penang, Malaysia; Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam; Hong Kong and Shanghai, China; Kobe, Japan; Hilo, Hawaii; Puntarenas, Costa Rica; and Coxen Hole, Honduras before docking in Fort Lauderdale at the end of 120 days. students getting a semester’s credit while circling the globe, making 14 stops in 120 days.

My job was to keep the adults (“the Salty Dogs”) happy and occupied. A perk of the job was the opportunity to chaperone field food programs, which I often did, including a Tropical Spice Garden in Penang Pang, Malaysia; a cooking class in Capetown, South Africa; and a coffee plantation tour in Mercedes, Costa Rica.  This freedom in ports allowed my husband Dave and me to explore each host country independently for three to six days at a time. I spent that time focused on food; food in the markets, restaurants, and the street (which caused a bit of food poisoning and worse, two days in ship’s quarantine). Continue reading →

Travel For The Marine Biodiversity, Support Conservation in Baja California Sur

/ Organikos / Leave a comment

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

We’ve posted about the biodiversity of this spectacular region before so when we came across this article highlighting the Cabo Pulmo National Marine Park it definitely drew our attention.

The park is

a 27.5-square-mile ecosystem with an unusual history and an uncertain future. At least 226 fish species live in the park, and it is home to the only living hard coral reef in the Sea of Cortez. But environmentalists fear that a major resort development could significantly alter this delicate fringe of Baja, both above ground and underwater. Continue reading →

Pooja – Hindu Worship

/ Salim.E.I / 4 Comments
Photo Credits:Ramesh Kidangoor

Photo Credits:Ramesh Kidangoor

The Hindu view of the universe is a cyclical one and the complex theme of Hindu mythology is dominated by the constant conflict between good and evil. Pooja is a ritualistic worship performed by Hindus as an offerings to various Gods and Goddess. It is an act of showing reverence  through invocations, prayers, songs and rituals. Pooja can be performed in different ways like through meditation, chanting mantras, and offering flowers and fruits. Poojas are regularly performed in Hindu homes, irrespective of caste or status. Continue reading →

Who am I and what am I doing in Ecuador?

/ Evan Barrientos / 2 Comments

I ask myself that every so often. My name is Evan Barrientos, I was raised in suburban Wisconsin and I go to school at Cornell University in upstate New York. So why am I on a farm in Ecuador right now? The short answer is that I’m about to begin a study on sustainable agriculture and I thought the readers of Raxa Collective might like to hear about it.

Farmer Evan

Farmer Evan

I’m interested in large-scale conservation solutions that make big impacts. There’s nothing wrong with small changes, I’ve just always been a big-picture kind of person. Continue reading →

The Bishnois of Rajasthan: The First Environmentalists

/ Allegra / 1 Comment
During Mukam festival, pilgrims traditionnally release sand on top of the dunes to fortify them and block the advance of the desert. With the years they had come to bring the sand in plastic bags, Khamu Rham’s campaign aims at inciting the pilgrims to use fabric instead.
Khamu Ram Bishnoi installs the first dustbin near the temple dedicated to Bishnoi’s prophet Jamboji, who edicted the 29 rules of the Bishnoi faith in the 15th century. The dustbin is modeled after the ones he saw in France to which he adds a sustainable twist: a jute bag.
Khamu Ram Bishnoi campaigns against plastic pollution in India since 2005. In 2010, he created this public dustbin modeled after the ones he saw in France where he was invited for a series of environmental conferences.
Khamu Ram Bishnoi has been awarded «Extraordinary man of India» for his fight against plastic pollution. He received his award on February 24, 2013 in Jaipur.

Khamu Ram Bishnoi fights against the pollution carried by discarded plastic bags in India since 2005. Every year during Mukam festival, the Bishnois, his community, must bring sand on top of dunes to solidify them and block the advance of the desert.  Lately pilgrims had taken the habit of collecting the sand in plastic bags, causing a widespread pollution in the Thar desert. To protect the landscapes and the animals who regularly ate plastic bags, Khamu Ram started to demonstrate noisily to educate his community about alternatives to plastic bags.

In 2008, he was invited to talk at a series of environmental conferences in  France. When looking at the street dustbins in Paris, Khamu Ram had the idea of a mobile public dustbin.  Since 2010, he installs these dustbins complete with jute bags in public places, during festivals, pilgrimages, and organizes their collection. Last February Khamu Ram Bishnoi received the award of “Extraordinary man of India” in Jaipur, Rajasthan.

If Khamu Ram Bishnoi is an extraordinary man, he’s also part of an extraordinary community. He is a bishnoi. Continue reading →

Vidyarambham – The Beginning Of Learning

/ Salim.E.I / Leave a comment
Photo Credits: Ramesh Kidangoor

Photo Credits: Ramesh Kidangoor

Vidyarambham means the beginning of education, or being initiated into the world of learning. As the auspicious day of Mahanavami approaches, devotees get ready to pray to Sarasvati, the Goddess of Knowledge and Education. On the eve of Mahanavami books and equipment associated with one’s vocation are placed before the Goddess to invoke her help in surmounting obstacles in the path of learning. The ritual of Vidyarambham is performed on the following day, Vijayadashami, which is the last day of the 9-day Navaratri festival. On the Vijayadashmi day from early morning hundreds of children between the ages of three and five are initiated into the world of education in various temples across the state. Continue reading →

Sticky Science Reporting

/ Organikos / 3 Comments

Thanks to Mr. Krulwich for pointing this out:

In a cluttered, noisy world with so many distractions, it’s yet another way to stop people in the middle of their day and make them say, “Really?” Science intimidates people. Yet we’re all curious. The sly goal here is to poke folks with a good question, and then say, “You want to know the answer?”…

Continue reading →

Rural Bees

/ Organikos / 3 Comments

Our soft spot for bees is self-evident. We also have a soft spot for Greece in general and the Peloponnese in particular, the southern part of this southern European country that forms the “sweet spot” for olives, olive oil, wine and yes, honey.

Unblended honey is one of the world’s amazing taste experiences, with sensory “notes” as varied as herbal, floral, citrus and wood. The Peloponnese and the rest of the country provides a wide range of habitats with distinct blooming periods because the majority of its land is home to forests and wild ecosystems with less than a third of it allocated to farming.

“Colony collapse disorder”,  a problem in the United States and some European countries has not yet reached Greece, partially because the beekeepers are still able to maintain a safe distance from commercial farming, and the pesticides so frequently used there.

Beekeeping is a way of life in rural Greece. Continue reading →

Flavours Of Kerala – Banana Chips

/ Salim.E.I / Leave a comment
557298_418938768156506_518875458_n

Photo Credits : Ramesh Kidangoor

Kerala cuisine is noted for the many snack items to be enjoyed, especially during tea time or in between major meals during the day. Banana Chips are a common example found throughout the state in any bake shop, snack shop or tea stall. They are are also included in the traditional Kerala sadya meal. Continue reading →

Red-tailed Hawk Chicks Hatch on Earth Day at Cornell University

/ Seth Inman / 6 Comments

Photo by Cornell Lab of Ornithology

If you were up around 6AM this Earth Day you probably didn’t think to check the Cornell Lab Bird Cams, but if you had, you might have seen two hawk chicks hatch into their nest atop a light pole on one of Cornell’s athletic fields.

According to the Lab’s news release, the third chick (i.e. the egg in this picture) is due to hatch in the next 48 hours, so keep a close watch by following the link in the photo, and enjoy your Earth Day! As you check out the live feed, you’ll probably see the father hawk, Ezra (named for Cornell University’s co-founder Ezra Cornell), or the mother, Big Red (after Cornell’s sports teams) taking turns incubating the egg and chicks.

Be sure to refer to the Red-tailed Hawk cam frequently asked question page, and also check out the Great Blue Herons in Sapsucker Woods!