This was initially sent via our mailing list distribution and is being reposted here.
Hello, I hope you are well.
In Tatti (Southern Tuscany) the sun is shining and a lot of music is spinning around. We just published the daily Lithobag, and [CUUUUT…TOO MUCH INFORMATION].
Some of you may have seen updates via social media, but I like the idea of a weekly summary for our project, at least in these first stages.
The project is receiving international attention, for example by the Science+Technology+Arts inititiative by the European Union.
Concerning the household collections: several sample photos are arriving, mostly from outside Tatti, and out of Tuscany. In addition, other families from Tatti who didn’t know about the project at first have expressed their interest to join.
To avoid overloading the system, we have adopted some basic queue management strategies, but if you sent a sample photo over the past two weeks please be assured that it will be examined.
In parallel, we had other classifiers raising their hand to help. Some from Cagliari, Sardinia, some from Sterzing/Vipiteno, South Tyrol. These are people that we have never met in person, so we are seeing a familiar pattern.
Interaction #1 ‘This story is really cool, I’m in!’. Interaction #2. …takes a bit of time to be triggered and actually operate in the project.
On one hand this is easily motivated by everybody’s daily business and worries. On the other hand, there may be second thoughts (These guys are out of their mind!). With the pibinko.org we have been living in projects like this since 2006, so we are comforted by the fact that it could be no different, and we “keep on keeping on”…
In the meantime, Cristian from Torino, one of the classifiers since day 1, has conducted his review of over 90% of the current samples (some 200 items), and others will follow.
The developments in the entertainerment team have been very good. Last Thursday we published a geojazz tune featuring Liliana Cafiero: Tatti and its stones.
We are working on a third song, and we have received the first response to the Metalliferous Hills Jug Band call for an English mother-tongue vocalist. This came from South Africa, and we are now brainstorming in the team to see how we may collaborate.
Last, but not least, we remind you that it is possible to support the Participatory Lithology project in various ways, as explained in the page for prospective sponsors.
Best regards, and stay safe!
A.
P.S. Mauro the T-Rex is on the loose.