According to the Italian census office (ISTAT), in the early Nineties within the municipality of Milan there were 1500 cows, plus more animals that I do not recall at the time of writing. Thirty years later, at least a couple of roosters remain. We were not able to check if they are little or red, just next to the “imperial cruisers” (the various corporate headquarter offices located in the area. This was around 7AM:
For more stuff relating the pibinko.org network and Milano: https://www.pibinko.org/tag/milano/ (switches to Italian, but you may then re-switch to English if the EN version of an article exists)
In the pibinko.org network this has been a hot topic for some time. After one of the national TV news made a report about this, we could no longer wait. Before some supposedly independent production company started the next hypo-lobotomizing reality show, we considered sharing some hints for some DIY territorial survey.
We noted in Italy that this year there is a mild proliferation of christmas trees which are (1) home-made (2) decorated with crochet-hook works.
We have actually found a few along the Via della Citta Brusca (the link goes to Italian), one of our metà-verse trails. One in Scansano, right in the middle of the Garibaldi square, and one in Torniella. These are places in Souther Tuscany.
We also had a message indicating that another similar tree was covered on national television. If two clues make one piece of evidence, three clues clearly indicate that the time of old-style Christmas trees is closing, while the era of self-made trees is dawning. This has the up-side that knitting and crochet hook are calling for experts with a rather high age, so they can maintain a role in today’s world. This is very, very important.
If you would like to let us know about any hand-made tree, especially with crochet hook works, please write, together with a significant photo, to micalosapevo@pibinko.org, or +393317539228.
The survey will close on January 6, 2024 and the results of the survey will be subsequently published on this site.
Jennifer, the psychedelic reindeer, is the latest entry in the pibinko.org crew
We have only one event left to close one year of work with the pibinko.org network and the Jug Band Colline Metallifere: this will be the epilogue of the Fourth Winter Fest, on Dec. 21.
In fact, the year of work is not even closing as a year, in that we are somehow following a calendar of our own. Since last Spring we are in a continuous flow of events, initiatives, and planning. This is helping us to actually slow down our pace, since we have more advance time (even though the effect on the outside is that we go too fast). Since last July we are already at work on stuff for the Summer of 2024, and so forth…stay tuned.
The Jug Band Colline Metallifere base quartet. The JBCM is our “performing arts” units (photo credits Elio Bendinelli)
We hope you will enjoy reviewing the list below…feel free to go with random clicks. You will have the possibility of refreshing some stories which you already knew, and to find out things you skipped.
Also, if you like these stories (which are in fact interdisciplinary territorial animation services), please consider the possibility of supporting them, and contact us to understand how. As E.V. from Pisa once said, after spending 24 hours in our space:
They do not live to work. Rather, the do not “work”, but the “live”. They do work, as in physics, not as in economics. Their goal is to be, to be well, and to know it. They pursue this goal for themselves and for the people they care about, who are a lot. They deal with ecology, from any angle, including that of human aggregates, and of aggregates within each of them. They are fractal.
Blog articles in 2023 (as of Dec. 20), in reverse chronological order. The list combines the Italian and English version of our stories (translations are not automated, so we think they should count as an additional article).
With the mapping and surveying activities that we conduct since 2007, we will occasionally stop to eat and drink something. Considering that we are primarily focused on lesser-known territories, we tend to taste products from lesser-known producers.
We occasionally buy some of these products, and bring them to friends and colleagues to taste. Since they liked them, we thought that you might like them too, and this brought to launch the “Jug Trading dalle Colline Metallifere” project as a spin-off of our Jug Band dalle Colline Metallifere music & territory outreach combo.
How are the producers chosen
First of all, do not be mislead by the “Colline Metallifere” in the name. We do not propose just products from the Metalliferous Hills in Southern Tuscany.
A second aspect in our producer selection process, is that they share the activities which we propose as a network or as a band.
In practice, should you visit one of these producers (either to taste their products or to stay in their premises, in case of farm tourism), you will find other people who took part in our community mapping exercises, who have been monitoring night sky quality, who played with us or who made us play. Ultimately: there are people who are affine to the pibinko.org network or to the Jug Band Colline Metallifere.
In addition to yummy products, in the pibinko.org network you will also find interesting recipes (see this link in Italian) and more hints about people and places.
Payments and prices
For each producer you have a link to their catalog and retail prices. Wholesale options are also available offline.
All prices exclude packaging and shipping (please also see “delivery options”)
All payments are made to the producers.
Delivery options
Unless you have the possibility of collecting the products yourself when you visit the producers, there are two options for delivery.
For moderate quantities, the recommended delivery option is that these are brought to you by someone from the pibinko.org network. Since we tend to travel quite a bit, we might be passing by your place soon, and play you a song while we bring you your products. As an alternative, the products can be handled by traditional shipping/delivery services.
In both cases, you will receive through the pibinko.org network a quote for packaging and delivery costs, if necessary.
This is the flyer for the Fourth Winter Fest organized by the pibinko.org network, in collaboration with those who are willing to collaborate (names of individuals and organizations will be disclosed as the festival unfolds). While the first three editions were set in the Farma Valley, a lesser known location in Southern Tuscany (some 100 km South of Florence), in this round we will propose a travelling event, with a dozen or so stops in three Tuscan provinces. At this stage the finer details are intentionally omitted. Partly for non-business confidentiality agreements, partly in order to turn this into some kind of treasure hunt , partly because some of the stops will be defined in “co-design” mode.
It is to be noted that, in addition to the three past Winter fests, the organizers have proposed an average of one event per month since 2007. So, even though the flyer looks somewhat obscure (also to our Italian-reading audience), for once please trust us and ride the wave.
For more information on places and times of what will happen:
