[Cob] manure is good for the mix!

[Ocean Liff-Anderson]

thanks for your kind apology, cat!  i guess it's too easy for me to  
take things the wrong way on these listservs - too impersonal to  
notice the wry smile or coy wink of the eye.  your humor is very well  
received.  and i can tell from your writing you're an artist and  
anarchist, and i would love to see some of your cob creations.  do  
you have any pics on the net?

in response to your last post, i agree:  shit is good for the mix.   
in fact - and please sssshhhhhhh, don't tell my local building  
officials about this - kiko used cow manure from the local ag school  
cow barns as part of his mix for the final finish plaster in our  
restaurant's decor, even in the interior plaster features!  i tried  
to get him to used very fine straw, but it just wasn't good enough  
for the fine features - after going through 5 stomachs, the cow turns  
hay into the finest fiber possible, plus there are binders in manure  
that help it stick.  so only shit will do for kiko's plaster!

funny thing was, we were open for business throughout the bar  
renovation last summer, and the new plasters were quite a bit stinky  
while drying!  i was crossing my fingers and praying customers  
wouldn't notice.  if they did, i was going to tell them that it was  
the lovely fragrance of the cow barns wafting over, as sometimes they  
do.  once the plaster dried, no smell at all.

here are a couple pictures of kiko's beautiful manure-plastered  
creations at intaba's restaurant:

http://www.woodfiredeatery.com/images/kiko_plasters.jpg
http://www.woodfiredeatery.com/images/bar_exterior1.jpg
http://www.woodfiredeatery.com/images/bar_exterior2.jpg
http://www.woodfiredeatery.com/images/kikosoven.jpg
http://www.woodfiredeatery.com/images/bigmuthuoven.jpg
http://www.woodfiredeatery.com/images/benchfalls.jpg
http://www.woodfiredeatery.com/images/yourtable.jpg

cobbing always,
ocean

On Jul 16, 2007, at 3:41 PM, Yun Que wrote:
> Cat here!
> Sorry I offended you ! The throwing shit remark was not supposed to  
> be so seriously taken.  Particularly since manure is often  
> incorporated into some mixes!  It is difficult to speak in words to  
> folks from all over the world who have different perspectives.   
> Humor is so personal and impossible to translate.
>
>  I'm just a seat of the pants kinda gal, existentialist, anarchist  
> and part time shit disturber,  making the best of a weird world  
> that is just getting weirder.  We are obviously not on the same  
> side of the elephant!.  your rope is my wall or vice versa.  I like  
> to laugh at myself and have some great fun thinking how much we all  
> help each other see the gaps.
>
> fear was not a personal remark or accusation it was a general  
> observation in the emotional, manipulation of action.  I am often  
> amazed at how much of it is still built into my circuits. I prefer  
> to accept fear as a healthy tool for survival.  when it blossoms  
> into cowardice then it becomes damaging
>
> I am not against you or for you just along the same way dragging my  
> trust along for security!!  and I'll take that shit and pound it  
> into my gaps if you don't mind  Thank you for your candid remarks.
>
> Smile the post was not directed at you personally.  often an  
> individual can inspire a philosophical thread.  And so it was with  
> this.