Corporate Spies
So I read that Solid Energy, NZBio and the arms manufacturing industry have been hiring students to pose as activists in Wellington and Christchurch.
In the SST they feature this piece about what Don Elder knew about the recent railway blockade:
Three days before the protest, seemingly out of the blue, Elder gained national media attention saying that delays caused by environmental work (such as removing native snails from mine sites) and protests had been costing the company millions of dollars. When the protest occurred, he stayed away from issues of coal use and climate change and responded that the group was less concerned with protecting the environment and more concerned with disrupting Solid Energy and costing it money.
The protesters “don’t give a second thought about tying up the time and resources of the emergency services as well as the courts”, he said. Christchurch police, fire service and railway staff chimed in with this line.
All this sounds understandable until we know that Solid Energy knew the time and place of the protest in advance and did nothing to stop it.
Um, if Don Elder knew about it, shouldn’t he be charged too? If it is true that he allegedly knew this was all about to happen, then he is an accessory to the crime because he didn’t immediately notify the police.
This behaviour coming from a senior staff member of a SOE, surely is grounds for immediate dismissal.
As for Thompson and Clark, I hope someone is laying a complaint to the police against them also for using private detectives without a license. In complete breach of the law.
As for the two who were employed to partake in this activity, I agree, they shouldn’t be targets here. Sure what they did was pretty feckin crap and for such measley pay! But the real criminals are the people that hired them.
Extreme Fun in Lithuania
I was among the Extreme Crafters invited to participate in the Extreme Craft Exhibition at the Centre for Contemporary Art. So given that Emma Goldman was originally from Lithuania, I felt sufficiently motivated to stitch that pattern up (slightly altered cause I was seriously running out of time!). I decided to make a wall hanging since it was going on a wall. Also, I didn’t think I’d be able to figure out how to make anything else out of it 
So, presenting Red Emma!
Hooray for Boobies
My new favourite website is The Nipple Project. Having found a completely new level of understanding of my own nipples recently, I do feel compelled to contribute something to this project. Might have to do a nipple cross stitch!
Submit a hand-made artistic interpretation of your nipple or of someone’s nipple you love. Send us a nipple(s) made out any material that can be woven, sewn or attached to other nipples. Our goal is to create a wonderfully large, community based art installation consisting of 3-dimensional craft media such as knitting, crocheting, beading, sewing, and felting. Other alternative materials such as gourds, leather, metal, wood and other fibers are welcomed and encouraged! The final piece will include all of the nipple submissions sewn, wired or stitched together to create a large hanging wall installation to be shown in late 2007, as soon as we are able to secure a gallery or exhibition location. We are still accepting submissions! We have a rolling deadline so that we can get as many nips as possible!
Some Inspiration For You
Now I’m not really a fan of knitting (’cause I can’t figure it out grrr), but I must give kudos to the knitters for being pretty cool activists. And I won’t grumble about them having an unfair advantage ’cause their craft is easier to do lasrge amounts quickly than cross stitching
Anyhoo, stumbled across a couple of new craftivism projects which I though deserved a bit of a mention. Firstly, the Street Knit crew in Toronto (which must be such a cool city to live in!). They knit for the homeless:
They are asking for contributions of knitted blue squares which are all knitted together to make a river. Pretty groovy. Again, if I would/could knit, I’d be in!
Radical Ceramic Graffiti
Check this out for some serious craftivism.
This is part of a house in West London that is being transformed into a giant ceramic mosaic graffiti piece. Yay for the artist Baroness von Carrie Reichardt!
And it has a serious political message. Extreme Craft has all the details.
Warning: Addictive site
Yeah so, I discovered this site while looking for cool things to do in the garden using recycled materials. And I am so hooked.
Check out instructables.com
You can learn everything from how to make a broken jar to laundry detergent to understanding ICSP for PIC microcontrollers, all with step by step instructions with photos.
And it’s a community collaboration site, so even better!
My Own Needlecase
It doesn’t take long when you get into Radical Cross Stitch to start leaving needles everywhere, especially in the arms of couches. My partner had started to make some subtle observations about the hazards of sitting on the couch. So when I saw this wonderful tutorial at Crafting Chaos I knew I had to make myself one. And I thought it was about time I made myself something. So I’m calling this my own Mother’s Day present.
I’m quite proud of this one, I think it’s really ‘pretty’ and I used mostly scrap materials to make it.
Fancy New Document Wallet
Now here’s a tutorial for you. Want to learn how to transform a classy wee NZ Post courier bag into a stylish document wallet?
Well not quite transform, more like copy and replace… Continue Reading →
The best $15 ever spent
I saw this in Fat Helens in Chapel Street, Prahan. And seriously, how could I resist something with a tag like this?
