...is the name of a documentary that Brett Cook-Dizney shared with me. It blew my mind. It is the true story of the people of Bougainville, an island off the coast of Papua New Guinea in the South Pacific not far from Australia. They had been exploited by various colonial powers and then by a mining company in the 1960s, and their sovereignty was given to Papua New Guinea. The massive mines laid waste to one of the richest parts of the island. The people struck back, driving the mine company off the island, and staving off the larger, better funded Papua New Guinea Defense Forces and surviving a siege by naval blockade.
But this revolutionary army is not just a fighting force. You see pictures of all sorts of crazy resourcefulness, discipline, singing, industrial design, permaculture, spirituality,hydroelectricity, biofuels. It is all integrated in a new revolutionary society. And the leaders of the group seem to be conscious of this. They are grateful that the blockade for making them use the opportunity to develop ways of self sufficiency that are brand new and brilliant.
I want to find out more.
So I made it back to Brooklyn last week. It was 38 hours in total, with a few pee / refueling stops, and naps in Arkansas and Tennessee.
I left Austin in the afternoon, and got deep into Arkansas. Around 2:30 I pulled into a rest stop, parked, and promptly fell asleep in the drivers seat. It was freezing...I had myself wrapped up in a table cloth, towels, all sorts of stuff to keep warm. At one point, I had to pee so I got out, slammed the door, and in that tiny sliver of time as the door was closing I had realized the key was still in the ignition. I was locked out.
Keeping a straight head is important in these situations. I called AAA (a plus membership is worth every penny) and told them where I was. They sent a lockout specialist out who came through in about 45 minutes. He had a rough time at first, but then got me in. No charge.
At a truck stop, I met a man who rides all across the country on his bike and washes truck gas tanks for a living. He has a small camping setup, a trailer, and a cb radio with which he communicates to the truckers on the road and in the lot as he advertises his services. He has a website.
Two transportation misfits in the same parking lot in Arkansas. Go figure.
I drove into the morning, getting into Memphis and crossing the Mississippi River as the sun rose in the east. As I got deeper into the pine forests of Western Tennessee, I got tired again, and pulled into a park to sleep a bit more.
Tennessee is a very very long state. It was cold there. I got to Virginia around 6 PM. I was hoping to see some of the prettier parts of the Smoky Mountains, but it was already dark. More driving. It was getting noticeably colder. I had found a little chemical hand warmer pak and opened it and stuck it in my shoe...the driving foot. The other foot I wrapped in a towel, and covered my legs with a thin mantel (cotton tablecloth). Around West Virginia, it started snowing, and as we entered Pennsylvania, the snow flurries got thicker. It wasn't sticking, but it was coming down hard and the roads were wet. Trucks roared by me as I stayed to the far right doing 50. A few cars flew by, but mostly trucks. It was intense and not seomthing I'd like to repeat anytime soon.
Snow was equally bad in New Jersey, but passing Newark, things had mellowed down so that by the time I rolled into New York--to a beautiful sythetic red dawn, the sky had cleared. I could smell the air, and my stomach turned. I flipped on the radio to 89.9 WKCR. It was the John Coltrane festival. As I write this four days later, the festival continues, 24/7 for two weeks in total.
So the car is rolling, albeit on diesel. There are a few small leaks which I need to look at. I fixed the coolant leak which happened where the servo (the thing that sends heat into the cabin of the car) was bypassed. It is also leaking a little diesel from the gas tank, especially when over 1/2 full. It is also dripping a little motor oil. Ugh! Fortunately the transmission fluid is full and clean. Yee haw.
I feel like a hypocrite for driving this think...spitting diesel and dripping nasty fluids everywhere. It is getting worked out, but it's frustrating as hell. What I am learning is that whatever car gets converted: make sure that everything that normally wears out regardless of the fuel (radiator, shocks, muffler, starter, etc.) is in good shape. Also, make sure you have a good, cheap source for parts, should you need them.
The future of the car...we shall see.
This (March 15) marks the day of the murder of Julius Caesar. I always wondered what ides are, and thanks to the internet, I found out quickly.
Yesterday was a rainy day in Austin. I went to Zilker Park, in the drizzle. It is a massive park that hugs part of Town Lake (aka Lower Colorado River) and a tributary creek. Despite the waves of drizzle, Austinites were out, walking, running, biking, playing frisbee and soccer.
Just down the road is the Botanical Garden. I went straight to the "Oriental Garden" (will someone please tell me if this is not PC...that's what they called it there), and ended up under a tree by a small, shallow pond looking at dozens of orange carp swimming by. It was very calming for the nerves, which have been tested by my recent circumstances.
Later in the evening, Celeste had some interesting people over--Miguel Alvarez and Romeo Navaroo and Bboy City people. It was a chill evening, just eating good food (Celeste's spring rolls with peanut sauce), good music, sangría and chocolate blunts.
Hopefully Antibalas will make it down here soon and we can do something with the bboys, who are world-class dancers.
Before crashing, I watched a documentary called Split Decision (Decision Dividida) about a local boxer named Jesus Chavez (came to Chicago at age 7) who was at one point deported to Mexico for a crime that he had committed while a minor. He was barred for several months from fighting in the US, including proposed world champion featherweight matches, for which he was top contender. I don't care too much about boxing, but I really had to admire Jesus' dedication and discipline, and also his patience and willingness to make the most out of any situation, be it jail, deportation, and long periods of limbo dealing with bureaucracy.
That's all for now. It is threatening to rain this afternoon, but I'm out for some fresh air.
Hopefully tomorrow night I'll be on the road back to NYC.
Without getting too deep into auto jargon, the fuel system (the injectors to the injection pump, to all the fuel lines) has been checked out in great detail, and to great expense.
The veggie oil mechanic hasn't heard of anything like this ever happening so fortunately for other veggie oil drivers, this is not something normal to expect.
The mechanic is setting up the car to run on diesel so I can drive it back up to NYC and get it checked out by the veggie oil specialist.
It will hopefully be ready by the end of today. Otherwise, I'm here in Texas through the weekend.
And I'm considering going to auto repair school..!!
SAVE THE DATE: 4/20/04 An info-session / birthday party / benefit concert for Vegetable oil fuel research and community outreach in New York City. Stay tuned or click on the link at the left to email me for more details.
Also, if you'd like to contribute money to the project, you can do so securely online by clicking the PayPal link on the lower left of this page.
Forget for a minute that Austin is the capital of Texas, that GWBush used to run the show from here, the scores of executions and dirty deals, etc.
Austin is a beautiful town. As the snow comes down in NYC, I was walking around Town Lake in the sunshine. Down tree lined streets and woodsy paths with creeks.
Yesterday I sat by the Congress St. bridge and watched thousands of bats fly from underneath the bridge into the dusk. It is a natural phenomenon that happens every day from mid-March through the fall, supposedly most amazing in late August, when the baby bats learn how to fly and the number of flying bats doubles from 750,000 to 1,500,000.
People smile more here than in New York.
I stumbled upon Resistencia Books and met a man named Raul Salinas, who has been making poetry for the people for many many years. I was glad and honored to meet him. On the walls were a photo exhibit of indigenous women of resistance, from Puerto Rico to Canada to the PODER, an Texas group that fights environmental racism here in the Mexicano and Afro communities. Communities of color all over get stuck with the garbage of society.
We went past a (now defunct?) club in East Austin called the Fresh Up Club. Any readers who may have been to the Fresh Up Club and know what kind of entertainment it had, please write!
Adrian and Celeste are wonderful hosts. It looks like I am going to be here at least 3 more days and they are still putting up with me. I try to be a good houseguest and stay out of the way. They are so gracious, and Celeste is an amazing cook. Their pet Chihuahua, Ana, is completely crazy but not annoying-crazy. Just hyper and playful at times.
I have been learning the ins and outs of Macintosh System X (Panther, oooh) and some new software programs, trying to use the computer to my advantage.
Tomorrow? Calls to the mechanic, work on the children's book manuscripts, some songwriting, a good walk and stretching session, flute practice.
So I got the car back, from the first mechanic who replaced the fuel pump and it runs just as bad as before. The one thing that's better is that the horn works! (It mysteriously stopped one day, a few weeks back).
The car is a now at a proper shop. The owner of the shop was very apprehensive, and may want to reset the car to run on diesel, which is better than nothing. I can drive it back to NYC on diesel and then reconnect the veggie oil system.
Frustration! Austin is a beautiful place to be shipwrecked, however.
Greetings from Austin. I came down this morning to a muggy, rainy, but still charming Austin, TX. The new fuel injection pump has been put on but not fully tightened and timed. Could tomorrow be the day that the car will be up and running?
Regardless, this is a fact-finding mission here in the Texas capital and I plan to be here for a few days.
