Shirari Industries

Home > Blog

Adventures in making art and living sustainably.

Send the Rude Mechanical Orchestra to the RNC

By Ari | May 15, 08 02:13 PM

DSC_8744.jpg
Originally uploaded by dogseat

Our friend Hugh (the gentleman in very short shorts in this photo) is part of the Rude Mechanical Orchestra, which is AWESOME and currently raising funds for a wonderful project. Check it:

After 4 years of inspiring political work in New York City, this August the RMO is taking our show on the road - in a low-impact, environmentally-friendly manner. We are collaborating with the students and faculty of the Brooklyn-based Automotive High School to convert our recently-acquired school bus to run on waste veggie oil. Our goal is to go across the country for a two-week adventure, to cross-pollinate with progressive grassroots organizations and other amazing movers and shakers and to loudly register our dissent at the Republican National Convention. Along our journey, we plan to raise awareness about and support for the groups and individuals who are fighting against racism, sexism, homophobia, war and violence in all its forms.
Every penny counts, and we have raised almost half of the money we need to go on our tour! The government is investing in a temporary "solution" to systemic problems; the RMO is investing in the long-term fight against them. Please help us in reaching our goal! Please go to our chip-in page at http://rmo.chipin.com/rmo. For more information please see our webpage www.rudemechanicalorchestra.org or our Myspace at www.myspace.com/rudemechanicalorchestra.

Guerilla Girls meet Barnstormers - Saturday, NYC

By Ari | May 15, 08 12:19 PM

We just heard about a cool event happening on Saturday at the Bronx Museum: A "Collaborative Day of Performance" that goes 12-6pm and includes, among other wonders, a collaborative "Satiric demonstration" by the Barnstormers and the Guerilla Girls. If you don't know the folks in question yet, check out the video below of the Barnstormers in action. Now imagine it crossed with feminist art activism. I think this is not to be missed. More info can be had here: Bronx Museum Events.

(Via the Bluestockings Feminist Book Club)

Shirari's Peace and Love Podcast #2: Housing

By shirari | May 14, 08 12:09 PM

We're sure that you've been on the edge of your seats ever since we released our first podcast. Well, edge-dwell no more - here's the second installment.

In this edition we discuss the topic of housing, focusing on our upcoming move to Ithaca, NY where we are exploring the idea of building our own home from local materials and maybe even starting a vegan ecovillage.

Shirari's Peace and Love Podcast #2: Housing »
May 13, 2008 - 48 minutes - 5.5MB

Show Links:

Recommended Books - check your local library or buy used:

Ahimsa Ecovillage

By Ari | May 13, 08 12:53 PM

Our ecovillage idea continues to gather steam - a bunch of people have been emailing with us about it! We're evolving the "radical solidarity" idea into an ideology of sorts so we renamed the ecovillage Ahimsa for now, instead. (Ahimsa, or non-violence, was the idea behind veganism back when it was first defined by Donald Watson in 1944).

To help get the word out about the project and to document its progress, we've put up a simple webpage for it at shirari.com/ahimsa/. Even if you're not vegan, or never thought you had the money for home ownership, there's room for you at Ahimsa - check it out.

Two and a Half Weeks in Israel, Amsterdam and Iceland

By Shira | May 12, 08 05:36 PM

Israel (232 Photos)

Amsterdam (232 Photos)

Iceland (207 Photos)

Photos from Ari and more about the trip coming soon :)

Helping Myanmar

By Ari | May 9, 08 12:35 PM

Looking for an effective way to help the people of Myanmar deal with the recent cyclone devastation? Their military government is blocking and intercepting aid, and as we know from 2004's Indian Ocean tsunami debacle, some aid organizations are more effective than others. So how can we best help?

Our friends at freeDimensional report:

Jay Koh, who runs NICA (Networking & Initiatives for Culture & the Arts ) based in Yangoon (Rangoon), and I have been in close email contact this week. His organization is currently accepting donations to be distributed to local relief organizations within Myanmar, the first being the Health and Death Assistant Association, which is managed by a monastery in Yangoon.

I can vouch for Jay: his commitment to his community is incredible, but he is desperate for help right now. With the UN cutting off aid, this is one way to get funds to Myanmar almost instantly. NICA has a PayPal account set up (visit www.paypal.com; send to ifima-at-gmx-dot-net). Please consider making a donation.

Another friend knows someone who works at the Burma Project at Open Society Institute, who suggests folks who want to give aid do it through Avaaz.org, a global online movement with millions of members. Avaaz.org is concerned that the junta can easily delay, divert, or misuse aid. They are partnering with the International Burmese Monks Organization (IBMO) and other local organizations to aid people directly through local networks.

NPR Covers Gender Queer Kids

By Shira | May 8, 08 01:46 PM

On All Things Considered yesterday, there was a pretty in-depth piece about families dealing with gender queer kids. In typical NPR fashion there was an attempt at objectivity by interviewing two doctors with very different approaches - one who thinks kids should be forced to behave accordingly with their biological sex, another who focuses on the child's happiness and sense of comfort and security with their body and gender expression. It's nice to see these issues getting some mainstream media coverage.

Listen to Two Families Grapple with Sons' Gender Preferences

Stop 'N' Swap on Saturday - NYC

By Ari | May 8, 08 09:59 AM

Build It Green is having a Swap Fest Block Party this Saturday in Queens, 11am-4pm. Like a Really Really Free Market, this is a great opportunity to get rid of stuff you're not using anymore (and maybe pick up some stuff you need), in a really local/community-centered and environmentally-friendly way.

Build It Green is a very cool place to wander around any day. If you need any low-cost salvaged building materials (or even furniture), this is the perfect time to get to know these guys and to check out the warehouse. Good stuff!

March to Save Our Healthcare this Friday - NYC

By Ari | May 7, 08 05:01 PM

Every Teacher, Transit Worker, Librarian, and Public Worker will be impacted!
5/9 FRI, 4:30 pm - Protest: "March to Save Our Healthcare."

Join the fight to prevent GHI-HIP from converting to a for-profit company & jeopardizing the healthcare of 4 million policy holders, including 500,000 NYC workers (93% of the workforce) & retirees. Mainstream politicians & union leaders support the change, hoping to benefit from the nearly $3 billion windfall profits of such a sale. Help send a "no privatization" message to the NYS Sup't of Insurance & GHI-HIP. Bring friends & signs.

At Office of the NYS Superintendent of Insurance, 25 Beaver St
(4/5 to Bowling Green, J/M/Z to Broad St , R/W to Whitehall St,
1 to Rector St, 2/3 to Wall St, A/C to B'way-Nassau).

Info: (718) 869-2279, noprivatization-at-yahoo-dot-com (request flyer)
http://www.consumersunion.org/conv/
http://www.metrohealthcare.org/html/hcoa080116.html [video]
http://www.myspace.com/saveourhealthcare
http://going.com/saveourhealthcare
http://nyc.indymedia.org/en/2008/05/96895.html

Spread the word!

Day of Silence

By Ari | May 7, 08 02:23 PM

Check out GLSEN's new Day of Silence Blog, designed by Shirari Industries. This year's DOS fell on April 25th and drew record numbers of participants. Hundreds of thousands of students from more than 7,500 middle and high schools took a pledge of silence to bring attention to the bullying, name-calling, harassment and other violence that silences queer folks every day.

This year's DOS was held in remembrance of Lawrence King, a 15-year old California student who was shot and killed because of his sexuality and gender expression. We had the honor of designing a quick skin for Lawrence's MySpace page, another GLSEN project.

Save the date - the next DOS is on Friday, April 17, 2009. In the meantime, anyone can take action year-round to create safer schools and communities for queer youth. Visit GLSEN for information and ideas.