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Happy New Year!
Wishing you a new year filled with all the good things you want.
Thank you for your support.
With Love, BiG TeA PaRtY Sustainable Living
Eat more vegetables in ‘10.
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Holidaze greetings from the Fiends:
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Like birds, leave behind what you don’t need to carry. Life is beautiful, enjoy it.
Happiness in the New Year! Love, Elizabeth and Allen Fiend
Salute from VaLerie K:
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I try to grow enough food in my garden to share with the birds, insects and animals. It’s really worth it! I stumbled across this berry eating party over the weekend when I was clearing out some weeds way, way in the back of the garden. I’m not too worried about this one eating too much, because I think he’s already stuffed (har, har).
Photo by: Elizabeth Fiend
Orange Creamsicle Cake
RECIPE BY ELIZABETH FIEND
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A favorite childhood memory of mine was running outside when the ice cream truck came around my block. I would always get the Orange Creamsicle ice cream bar. Orange sherbet coating over a rich creamy vanilla ice cream bar, this treat always spelled carefree days to me! I’ve duplicates these flavors as a refreshing, fruit filled cake. Yes, there really are two pounds of fruit in this cake!!!
Quick and easy. Dress up a store bought cake or if you have a favorite recipe, make your own angel food cake. You’ll get raves, trust me!! Only takes 1/2 hour (with store bought cake).
THIS CAKE JUST SCREAMS FUN!! MAKE THIS CAKE FOR YOUR NEXT PARTY.
Category: Vegetarian, Dessert Recipe
OK, a cake’s a cake. It’s dessert and there’s no denying it. But I’ve tried made this cake more healthful by incorporating two pounds of fruit into the recipe. (I must be a genius!) Plus I’ve lightened up the custard filling by using yogurt and mascarpone cheese, a soft, sweet Italian cheese with half the calories of butter. And — angel food cake contains less fat than most other cakes.
Special tools: Angel-food-cake cutter. This looks kinda like an Afro comb. You first slide it down thru the cake poking little holes in to the cake which will enable you to then slice the cake with a regular knife. (If you don’t have one, it will be a little harder to slice, but not the end of the world.)
Ingredients:
Use your favorite recipe for angel food cake. Or to save time use a store-bought cake.
8 oz mascarpone cheese
12 oz orange-cream yogurt
Two 15 oz cans mandarin oranges (drained)
8oz prepared whipped topping (if frozen, defrost) or fresh whipped cream
½ cup sliced almonds
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Biography Channel Commercial Shoot – with the Fiends
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Mr. Fiend and I were invited to be in a shoot for the prototype of a series of commercials being pitched to the Biography Channel. The theme of the commercials was people talking about their heroes and why they found them inspirational.
For the shoot they were using the new Red Camera which has incredible resolution, up to 4096 x 2304 pixels. So much detail, they can zoom in for close ups AFTER it’s shot!
Allen was assigned a hero – James Brown and had to read a script about how great Brown’s hair and teeth were.
I was allowed to choose my own hero. I selected George Washington Carver who is occasionally rolled out for Black History month but I think should be repackaged as a hero for today’s sustainable living movement. Yeah, I never miss an opp to educate and spread the word! Read my article on George Washington Carver, click here.
The stylist was very nice but I guess was under orders to make everyone look bland. I think the actual term was ‘simple.’ She had Allen put on a button-down shirt (which she ironed for him) over his normal tee shirt. Halfway through the shoot the guy who hired us, said “This guy would never have a tucked-in shirt, let’s untuck it.” I was asked to wear a solid color outfit and to remove all my jewelry – no bracelets, no earrings, no rings, no hair accessories.
It was a fun experience, but I’ve never understood why freaky people like the Fiends — who are popular because we’re interesting and different — when asked to participate in something mainstream are always re-imaged into a more boring package.
BiG TeA PaRtY editor VaLerie K has just received a grant from the Philadelphia Independent Film and Video Association (PIFVA).
Congratulations Val!
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This grant will help support a NEW BiG TeA PaRtY DVD on GREEN issues like composting, the importance of buying local food, water conservation and much more. Look for it this fall.
PIFVA is a membership organization whose mission is to strengthen, promote and serve Philadelphia’s independent media community through programs which provide opportunities to learn, mentor, produce and screen work, advocate for the community and network. PIFVA is dedicated to increasing the creative capacity of Philadelphia media artists, promoting public appreciation of independent media making, and encouraging the talent and ability of the region’s creative community of filmmakers.
VaLerie K is a professional film and video editor, specializing in Final Cut Pro, Avid, Photoshop, After Effects, DVD Studio Pro, mixed-format projects, HD, DV, DigiBeta, you name it. Contact her if you’re in the NY/Philly/NJ/DE area and need an experienced editor to start/finish/critique your video or film project, tutor or teach editing techniques and skills.
Posted by Elizabeth Fiend.
BiG TeA PaRtY is on VACATION!
Playa del Fuego, an East Coast Burning Man
BY ELIZABETH FIEND
May 2009 look for the BiG TeA PaRtY Sustainable Living Theme Camp at PDF!
Join us on Saturday, May23 - Noon, for a Wormwood Iced Tea Party
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PDF 2008: They burn a pony, not a man. The vibe is chill, not hot.
I was trying to describe the difference between Burning Man, which by now every one knows about, and Playa del Fuego, which is still pretty much a secret, to my Burning Man campmates last year, who would be coming to PDF for the first time. ) PDF is the mid-Atlantic regional “burn” – one of the many regional off-shoots of Burning Man.
Playa del Fuego is nothing and everything like Burning Man.
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Held in not-so remote Odessa, Delaware, PDF is a four-day campout with a max capacity of 800 peeps (editors note: as of 2009 1,000), and this alone changes the tone. It’s a personal, intimate scene of outlandish, crazy, weird, extraordinary strangers who will end up being your best friends at the end of the weekend. That is, if you do it right.
Playa del Fuego is closer to the first Burning Man I attended, way back in 1996, when there were only 8,000 participants, unlike today’s 40,000-plus.
At today’s Burning Man, you’ll encounter astounding creations like the Belgian Waffle — a $250,000 project constructed of 100 miles of wooden beams. A spun-shredded wheat marvel by day, and a glorious electronica shrine by night. State-of-the-art sound and light with cult DJs flown in from Europe, it’s impressive and amazing, but it isn’t that personal.
Interaction is what PDF is all about.
PDF is about connecting and participating. Sure B’Man’s motto is participation, but it’s increasingly difficult to compete for attention if you don’t have some major bucks and a lot of folks behind your group.
I was telling my six campmates that we needed to dream up a theme camp to make the most out of our experience at PDF. A theme camp is an event, a residence, a place to dance or chill, a giving of yourself, music, street theater, performance, art of any kind.
Future Weather the Movie: Philly Filmmaker Jenny Deller is on a Quest to Make a Feature Film Sustainably
by VaLerie K
Ever think about the wastefulness of the entertainment industry? Here’s a biz where they build a whole city in a matter of weeks, only to dismantle it or blow it up in the end. A movie crew can sweep into a city, a major U.S. city that is struggling to maintain funding for basic public services, and make streets over to look like Toronto in the 1800s, filled with horses and carriages with fake street signs and gas lamps. Or a movie crew can make a summer day look like fall, or a sunny day into an overcast sky pouring rain. And as is probably obvious, these movie and tv projects use an enormous amount of energy and resources, usually without really taking the environmental cost into account.
And yet there is a lone warrior, on a noble mission to actually produce an independent feature film without a huge carbon footprint. Ok, she’s not so lone as all that, Jenny Deller has gathered a group of talented and dedicated folk around her to work toward making the story come to life in as environmentally-friendly way as possible. “Future Weather” is a tale about a plucky tween determined to learn to grow trees from seed in an effort to help slow global warming. Deller and her team have also developed a resource blog about all things green and sustainable. where you can find all kind of info from green gifts for any occasion, to how to navigate the complex world of plastic recycling, to a review of an automotive product called ‘the blade’ that you can attach to your car to reduce carbon emissions instantly.
For Future Weather: The Movie [website], click HERE.
For Future Weather Report [the Blog], click HERE.
To see the BiG TeA PaRtY blog post about our participation in GreenFest Philly 2008’s Eco-Film Fest, programmed and hosted by none other than Jenny Deller and Future Weather the Movie, click HERE.
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The Physics of “Green” and an Exploration of Sustainability
Six Week Workshop For Teens In Philadelphia’s Historic Italian Market
Instructors: Elizabeth Fiend and Richard Hwang
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Project 360 Spring Workshops For Home-schooling Teens and Youth Seeking Enrichment
April 20-May 29 (6 weeks)
Register today! Call Sonia at 215/336-2418 to sign up or email her at sonia@meow.name for more information. Enrollment is limited to 10 youth per class.
The Physics of “Green” and an Exploration of Sustainability: Wednesdays 6:30-8 pm April 20- May 29 (six weeks)
(HWANG and FIEND)
This class will look at lifestyle issues of sustainability as well as “green” technologies such as wind turbines and solar energy. Two tag-teaming teachers will rotate weeks bringing a lively element to this investigation of how to become more sustainable.
Sustainable living refers to a lifestyle and set of choices that minimize a person’s ecological footprint. It is a lifestyle that pays attention to the symbiotic relationship between Earth and humanity with the ultimate goal of preserving the Earth’s natural ecology, its plants, animals and resources.
In this class you will learn ways to tweak your current life to become more sustainable. But to really achieve a sustainable future, we need science. You will also learn about “green” technologies such as wind turbines, solar energy, and other elements of physics being used today in the new trend toward a sustainable future.
Each student will receive a free 30-minute VHS video, Green Tea Party, with tips on how to live a more environmentally friendly life, and make their own green shopping bag from recycled materials.
Materials are included in the cost of the class.
Don’t worry, I’ll be bringing you an entire recap of my adventures in Japan, stories, photos and of course more monkeys. For now a teaser: Photo through a fish restaurant window in Shinjuku, Tokyo. Love, Elizabeth Fiend
CHAIN LETTER or EXCITING SOCIAL EXPERIMENT and ON-LINE COMMUNITY ACTIVISM? By Elizabeth Fiend
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I normally don’t do this sort of thing. [Sorry to everyone I know in the world that has sent me the ‘recipe’ chain letter. I didn’t do it. Because, well, I was the first person everyone thought of in regards to great recipes, which meant I received that chain letter, oh about a million times.] I’m only doing this one because it was sent to me by Rodney Anonymous of the Dead Milkmen (Oh my did I just imply that my celebrity friends are more important than my other friends?!?). I was also quite taken aback that there was no biting sarcasm in the request. So I figured it must be an extremely important experiment and I should be happy to have been plucked out and given a chance to participate in this time-wasting Internet exercise.
Here’s the email I got from Rodney:
Hello Elizabeth,
Earlier today, I was invited by the good folks at
Skepchick to take part in a small experiment that
falls somewhere between charting the evolution of a meme and an obnoxious
chain letter. One of my tasks is to
see if I can get six other people involved in this, so I’m asking Tim &
Eric, Eleanor Cliff, Steven Pinker, The Dalai Lama, and you to participate.
If you’re interested in participating, please follow the instructions
provided at the above link; if you’re not, I’ll more than understand.
Thanks,
Rodney