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Test message - please ignore

by Seth Seeger

sorry for the noise.

5 years, 5 months

Calling a Halloween dance tonight? Try this circle mixer...

by Amy Cann via Callers

I try and call the dances of Rich Blazej whenever I can and this one's a Halloween favorite, re-done as "Werewolves and Zombies". *Garfield's Escape* -- circle of couples PLUS ONE EXTRA in the center (Garfield) A1 All into the center EIGHT steps and back, menacing the Garfield A2 Circle left, circle right B1 Women (werewolves) promenade single file to the right, while men (zombies) "star" by the right -- each man puts his right hand on right shoulder of the man in front - including Garfield. B2 Caller hollers "Escape!" ("Boo!", or maybe "Braaaiiins") and all men run to the outside and swing with a woman in the outer circle. A new Garfield remains in the center. Rich himself named this after Garfield the comic-strip cat, way back when he was cynical and funny (the cat, not Rich). "The single man remaining at the end of the dance is entitled to a pan of lasagna and some fresh kitty litter". My favorite normal tune for this is the minor jig Coleraine, played at a slightly slower lurch-y tempo, but if I'm lucky the band'll do the Alfred Hitchcock theme. Have fun, just thought I'd share -- and I'd love to hear how it goes if you do it, and what variations emerge. Cheers, Amy

5 years, 5 months

A new host, coming soon

by Seth Seeger

Hello dear callers, At long last, Shared Weight is getting ready to move to a new email host. I will be working to transition the four @sharedweight.net lists to the new host in the next week or so. I’m sure there will be some hiccups during the transition, so please hang in there with me. On the day of the move, I will send an email saying that the move is in progress. (Any emails you send during the transition may not get in to the archives.) Ideally, you won’t even notice the change. This is just a heads up to let you know it’s coming. Seth PS - For those that care about the details, I’ve built up a Linode VM running Debian Stretch and Mailman3. Outbound list traffic will go through AWS since they tend to have a good spam reputation.

5 years, 5 months

Ann Appleing

by Colin Hume

I'm sorry to announce that Ann Appleing died on the morning of 17th October. For as long as I can remember, Derek and Ann have been a Folk Sales point. Their caravan was a familiar sight at many Folk Festivals and dance weekends in England, and they had an enormous supply of books, CDs and other items related to folk dancing and music. If you want any more information, please contact Derek Appleing: Derek-Ann(a)Folksales.co.uk Colin Hume

5 years, 5 months

Does this dance exist ?

by Tepfer, Seth

Hello encyclopedic dance minds. Does this dance already exist? Formation: Becker, CW A1: [slide left] new ravens allemande right 1.5; neighbor swing A2: Circle left 3/4; balance the ring, neighbor CA twirl B1: balance, petronella twirl; balance, box circulate B2: balance, slide right; partner swing Question 2: is petronella followed by box circulate boring? Sent from my iPhone ________________________________ This e-mail message (including any attachments) is for the sole use of the intended recipient(s) and may contain confidential and privileged information. If the reader of this message is not the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any dissemination, distribution or copying of this message (including any attachments) is strictly prohibited. If you have received this message in error, please contact the sender by reply e-mail message and destroy all copies of the original message (including attachments).

5 years, 6 months

Fuel-efficient dancing

by Richard Hopkins

I share the concern about driving a lot to get to dance events. FWIW: The Concord Scout House is 0.6 miles from the Concord commuter rail station, which has approximately hourly service (more frequent in rush hour) to and from North Station in Boston and intermediate stops (including Porter Square for the Red Line subway). Last inbound train just before 11:30 pm. By contrast, I can pretty easily get to dances in Burlington, VT, from my home in Middlebury, VT, by public bus during rush hour, but there is no return service late in the evening. I need to be more diligent about seeking people to carpool with, but not everyone wants to get to the dance as early as the caller has to, nor stay till the bitter end. Richard `````````````````````````````````````````````````````````` Richard Hopkins 850-544-7614 hopkinsrs(a)comcast.net

5 years, 6 months

Ralph Page 2020 Scholarship Application for Callers

by Shari Shakti

Please help spread the word regarding the request for caller & musician scholarship applicants for 32nd Annual Ralph Page Dance Weekend at UNH. Here is the application link: https://www.neffa.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/2020-Scholarship-Applicati… Deadline for applications is November 21, 2019. We are looking forward to a wonderful time and encourage registration for attendance, which is now OPEN! https://www.neffa.org/ralph-page/32nd-annual-ralph-page-dance-weekend-janua… Thank you so much!

5 years, 6 months

Re: [Callers] [Organizers] contra dance gypsy & fuel consumption

by Paul Wilde

Hey all, This is a long email, as it includes three posts. First, I hope people don't mind, but I'm ccing, callers and musicians list here, as I think we can collectively bring about a major shift in habits w/ our concerted hive intelligence. I am including the original two posts near the top of this email, so callers/musicians list people can see where this started. PLEASE feel free to cut out the original lengthy posts when replying. First: On 10/7/19, Heitzso via Organizers <organizers(a)lists.sharedweight.net> wrote: > I'm a believer that climate change is a real threat. > I'm also a believer that our culture desperately needs activities that bind people together rather than fractures them apart, and I believe contra dance is an excellent way to do that. (sharing weight, dancing with everyone, ...) > I've mentioned the issue of how do we change our contra culture to minimize our carbon footprint from traveling to non-local contra dances to my wife, Jennifer Horrocks, a few times over the years (she sews and sells contra dance dresses all over the country). > Recently Liz Burkhart (on this email's "to" list) posted on Facebook about her trying to alter her contra lifestyle to minimize her contra carbon footprint. > Cut-and-pasting from her post: >> I've spent years with a contra habit that takes me to roughly one dance weekend per month. The closest, besides our own, was 83 miles away and the furthest was 795 miles. I am acutely aware that this is an incredible amount of distance to be covered for just one weekend (sometimes a week) for a pleasurable activity. It's been weighing on me more and more, as it's becoming painfully obvious that our lifestyles aren't sustainable. My lifestyle at home is mostly pretty simple, but I feel this nagging guilt when I do something extravagant, like drive to Vermont for YDW. Although we did our best to cram up to 6 people and our stuff in a van, we still consumed a lot of fuel to make it happen. Some people flew, which consumes even more. >> I think I'd like to work on decreasing the amount of out-of-town events I go to, and try to find alternative ways to get there. Carpools are great and much better than driving solo, but we could do more. One dancer this weekend took public transit and a bicycle from DC area to Vermont. A whole band playing for a square dance weekend a few years ago biked from south (I think New Orleans?) all the way to Nashville. I think this is really admirable and more people should consider something like this. This ongoing climate change makes our world a scary place, and it will only get worse (it doesn't look like those with the power to fix it care to change the high consumption status quo). It's also becoming more common for me to have to drive distances to call contra dances, which is harder to find carpool mates for. I'm not sure what that will look like for me - I am fantasizing about a NE train/bike tour with dates far enough apart that I can make it to gigs with this slower and less convenient transportation. I'm also considering making a vow to never fly on an airplane again. Their use is so incredibly terrible for our environment. >> Has anyone been adapting their travel habits in the face of climate >> change? > I believe that we, our contra community, needs to openly start discussing this issue. I applaud Liz's public request for comment and solutions. > Sincerely, > Heitzso > http://atgaga.com Finally, my reply: Yes, this is a very worthwhile discussion. On a slightly side note, 2+ yrs ago a hydrogen station was completed at a local super market parking lot 1 mile from our house. I tried for 1 yr, writing emails and calling Stop & Shop, Toyota, Honda, and people from Air Liquide who were the ones responsible for installing the hydrogen station. I got absolutely nowhere for all this effort. I was told repeatedly by everyone I could get to talk to at both Toyota and Honda (both who make hydrogen powered cars) that there weren't stations to provide fuel to start selling these cars anywhere but in CA. To my knowledge (I live in Prov RI), there are stations near Hartford CT, Mansfield MA (20 mi. from us), Newton MA, (40 miles from us and close to Boston), and I'm sure there are others nearby that I'm not aware of. Perhaps you know of others you could add to this? CA is the only place you can buy these cars (is what I'm told). Someone mentioned OR. I called dealers there, and no luck. SO, my very dissatisfied take on all this was that the industry (car makers, etc) are doing worse than just dragging their feet on switching to non-carbon based fuel alternatives. It pisses me off no end (esp having a station 1 mile from home). But honestly I don't know where to take this from here. After all this effort, we switched out from a Toyota Echo ('05) which had been getting just under 40 mpg for over 10 yrs, to a Prius, now getting 55+mpg overall, but I'm still not happy about the carbon footprint. Biking is great, (but I'm afraid our household is a little to old for that now), and public transportation is also a great alternative. However, just for an example, I believe there is no public transportation that will take you into Concord MA, where the Scout House is, and where there is dancing at least 10X/mo. Correct me if I'm wrong on this. So I'd love to hear from others and apologize for this slightly lengthy rant, but for one, I would LOVE to see hydrogen become the rule of the highways. Their exhaust is water, and being lighter than air, any leaks would go up, and not spread fire across the landscape, as gasoline would do, should there be an accident. Oh, and the Hindenberg? All that black smoke and all the fire after the first few seconds was due to diesel to run the engine and the canvas bag. Grrr!!!:-) These lists rock, Paul

5 years, 6 months

Re: [Callers] Callers Digest, Vol 66, Issue 2

by Liz Burkhart

I love the wider conversation this has generated! (Thanks Heitzso for sharing my original post.) I also discovered that on long trips, my mileage went from around 45-48 on the highway to closer to 53 MPG when I just drove the speed limit - it'd probably be even better if I kept it at 55. It makes for a more relaxed drive if I give myself tons of time to go a moderate speed (and stop for breaks for a little hike or lunch). I made my automobile purchase with fuel economy in mind - I drive an 04 Jetta TDI 5-speed, can't afford a Prius! My mechanic friend advised me on this, as electric cars and hybrids need batteries replaced more often, and those are built from materials mined unethically in terms of often using slave/child/unfairly paid labor as well as it being devastating for the environment from where its sourced. As for Dance Gypsy (which btw is not a word I use to describe myself), I think the bigger question is, why do we celebrate the people who drive or fly the furthest to get to events all across the country, and indeed the world, without taking into consideration their carbon footprint? I get the joys and benefits of traveling for dance, I do it all the time. But I wonder - how many others feel that it's unsustainable? On Tue, Oct 8, 2019, 1:32 AM <callers-request(a)lists.sharedweight.net> wrote: > Send Callers mailing list submissions to > callers(a)lists.sharedweight.net > > To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit > > http://lists.sharedweight.net/listinfo.cgi/callers-sharedweight.net > or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to > callers-request(a)lists.sharedweight.net > > You can reach the person managing the list at > callers-owner(a)lists.sharedweight.net > > When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific > than "Re: Contents of Callers digest..." > > > Today's Topics: > > 1. Re: [Organizers] contra dance gypsy & fuel consumption > (Paul Wilde) > 2. Re: [Organizers] contra dance gypsy & fuel consumption > (Mac Mckeever) > 3. Re: [Organizers] contra dance gypsy (Becky Liddle) > 4. Re: [Organizers] contra dance gypsy (Mac Mckeever) > > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > > Message: 1 > Date: Mon, 7 Oct 2019 14:54:51 -0400 > From: Paul Wilde <zenyente(a)gmail.com> > To: "Heitzso <" <heitzso(a)growthmodels.com>, > organizers(a)lists.sharedweight.net, callers(a)lists.sharedweight.net > , > musicians(a)lists.sharedweight.net > Subject: Re: [Callers] [Organizers] contra dance gypsy & fuel > consumption > Message-ID: > < > CACyeUsMm8qihAKH3OiCV91xCQv6xcRRR+UPmbxo7g8dH-9bOeg(a)mail.gmail.com> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset="UTF-8" > > Hey all, > > This is a long email, as it includes three posts. > > First, I hope people don't mind, but I'm ccing, > callers and musicians list here, as I think > we can collectively bring about a major shift > in habits w/ our concerted hive intelligence. > > I am including the original two posts near the top of > this email, so callers/musicians list people can > see where this started. PLEASE feel free to > cut out the original lengthy posts when replying. > > First: > > On 10/7/19, Heitzso via Organizers <organizers(a)lists.sharedweight.net> > wrote: > > I'm a believer that climate change is a real threat. > > > I'm also a believer that our culture desperately needs activities > that bind people together rather than fractures them apart, and > I believe contra dance is an excellent way to do that. > (sharing weight, dancing with everyone, ...) > > > I've mentioned the issue of how do we change our contra culture > to minimize our carbon footprint from traveling to non-local contra > dances to my wife, Jennifer Horrocks, a few times over the years > (she sews and sells contra dance dresses all over the country). > > > Recently Liz Burkhart (on this email's "to" list) posted on Facebook > about her trying to alter her contra lifestyle to minimize her contra > carbon footprint. > > > Cut-and-pasting from her post: > > >> I've spent years with a contra habit that takes me to roughly one > dance weekend per month. The closest, besides our own, was 83 miles > away and the furthest was 795 miles. I am acutely aware that this is an > incredible amount of distance to be covered for just one weekend (sometimes > a week) for a pleasurable activity. It's been weighing on me more and more, > as it's becoming painfully obvious that our lifestyles aren't sustainable. > My > lifestyle at home is mostly pretty simple, but I feel this nagging guilt > when I do something extravagant, like drive to Vermont for YDW. Although > we did our best to cram up to 6 people and our stuff in a van, we still > consumed a lot of fuel to make it happen. Some people flew, which consumes > even more. > > >> I think I'd like to work on decreasing the amount of out-of-town events > I go to, and try to find alternative ways to get there. Carpools are great > and much better than driving solo, but we could do more. One dancer this > weekend took public transit and a bicycle from DC area to Vermont. A whole > band playing for a square dance weekend a few years ago biked from south > (I think New Orleans?) all the way to Nashville. I think this is really > admirable and more people should consider something like this. This > ongoing climate change makes our world a scary place, and it will only get > worse (it doesn't look like those with the power to fix it care to change > the high consumption status quo). It's also becoming more common for me to > have to drive distances to call contra dances, which is harder to find > carpool mates for. I'm not sure what that will look like for me - I am > fantasizing about a NE train/bike tour with dates far enough apart that I > can make it to gigs with this slower and less convenient transportation. > I'm also considering making a vow to never fly on an airplane again. Their > use is so incredibly terrible for our environment. > > >> Has anyone been adapting their travel habits in the face of climate > >> change? > > > I believe that we, our contra community, needs to openly start discussing > this issue. > I applaud Liz's public request for comment and solutions. > > > Sincerely, > > Heitzso > > http://atgaga.com > > Finally, my reply: > > Yes, this is a very worthwhile discussion. > > On a slightly side note, 2+ yrs ago a hydrogen station was completed > at a local super market parking lot 1 mile from our house. > > I tried for 1 yr, writing emails and calling Stop & Shop, Toyota, Honda, > and people from Air Liquide who were the ones responsible for installing > the hydrogen station. I got absolutely nowhere for all this effort. > I was told repeatedly by everyone I could get to talk to at both > Toyota and Honda (both who make hydrogen powered cars) > that there weren't stations to provide fuel to start selling these > cars anywhere but in CA. To my knowledge (I live in Prov RI), > there are stations near Hartford CT, Mansfield MA (20 mi. from us), > Newton MA, (40 miles from us and close to Boston), and I'm sure > there are others nearby that I'm not aware of. Perhaps you know > of others you could add to this? > > CA is the only place you can buy these cars (is what I'm told). > Someone mentioned OR. I called dealers there, and no luck. > > SO, my very dissatisfied take on all this was that the industry > (car makers, etc) are doing worse than just dragging their feet > on switching to non-carbon based fuel alternatives. It pisses > me off no end (esp having a station 1 mile from home). But > honestly I don't know where to take this from here. > > After all this effort, we switched out from a Toyota Echo ('05) > which had been getting just under 40 mpg for over 10 yrs, to > a Prius, now getting 55+mpg overall, but I'm still not happy > about the carbon footprint. > Biking is great, (but I'm afraid our household is a little to > old for that now), and public transportation is also a great > alternative. However, just for an example, I believe there > is no public transportation that will take you into Concord MA, > where the Scout House is, and where there is dancing at least > 10X/mo. Correct me if I'm wrong on this. > > So I'd love to hear from others and apologize for this slightly > lengthy rant, but for one, I would LOVE to see hydrogen become > the rule of the highways. Their exhaust is water, and being lighter > than air, any leaks would go up, and not spread fire across the landscape, > as gasoline would do, should there be an accident. Oh, and the > Hindenberg? All that black smoke and all the fire after the first few > seconds was due to diesel to run the engine and the canvas bag. > Grrr!!!:-) > > These lists rock, > Paul > > > ------------------------------ > > Message: 2 > Date: Mon, 7 Oct 2019 19:07:13 +0000 (UTC) > From: Mac Mckeever <macmck(a)ymail.com> > To: "Heitzso <" <heitzso(a)growthmodels.com>, > organizers(a)lists.sharedweight.net, callers(a)lists.sharedweight.net, > musicians(a)lists.sharedweight.net, Paul Wilde <zenyente(a)gmail.com> > Subject: Re: [Callers] [Organizers] contra dance gypsy & fuel > consumption > Message-ID: <960702987.4902764.1570475233043(a)mail.yahoo.com> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8" > > These are some really important things to consider.? There are easy ways > to reduce our carbon footprint without avoiding travel > Carpools are wonderful - more efficient and a great opportunity to bond > with other dancers > There are lots of more fuel efficient cars that make a real difference.? > Outside out local dances it is starting to look like a Prius dealer's lot - > those get near 50 mpg.? All electric or plugable hybrids do even better - > but are relatively new and expensive right now.? Trains and buses take a > little planning but better for the environment.. > only slightly related question:? Why is it offensive to call a dance > figure a gypsy but not offensive to be a dance gypsy? > Mac McKeever > On Monday, October 7, 2019, 01:55:01 PM CDT, Paul Wilde via Organizers > <organizers(a)lists.sharedweight.net> wrote: > > Hey all, > > This is a long email, as it includes three posts. > > First, I hope people don't mind, but I'm ccing, > callers and musicians list here, as I think > we can collectively bring about a major shift > in habits w/ our concerted hive intelligence. > > I am including the original two posts near the top of > this email, so callers/musicians list people can > see where this started.? PLEASE feel free to > cut out the original lengthy posts when replying. > > First: > > On 10/7/19, Heitzso via Organizers <organizers(a)lists.sharedweight.net> > wrote: > > I'm a believer that climate change is a real threat. > > > I'm also a believer that our culture desperately needs activities > ? that bind people together rather than fractures them apart, and > ? I believe contra dance is an excellent way to do that. > ? (sharing weight, dancing with everyone, ...) > > > I've mentioned the issue of how do we change our contra culture > ? to minimize our carbon footprint from traveling to non-local contra > ? dances to my wife, Jennifer Horrocks, a few times over the years > ? (she sews and sells contra dance dresses all over the country). > > > Recently Liz Burkhart (on this email's "to" list) posted on Facebook > ? about her trying to alter her contra lifestyle to minimize her contra > ? carbon footprint. > > > Cut-and-pasting from her post: > > >> I've spent years with a contra habit that takes me to roughly one > dance weekend per month. The closest, besides our own, was 83 miles > away and the furthest was 795 miles. I am acutely aware that this is an > incredible amount of distance to be covered for just one weekend (sometimes > a week) for a pleasurable activity. It's been weighing on me more and more, > as it's becoming painfully obvious that our lifestyles aren't sustainable. > My > lifestyle at home is mostly pretty simple, but I feel this nagging guilt > when I do something extravagant, like drive to Vermont for YDW. Although > we did our best to cram up to 6 people and our stuff in a van, we still > consumed a lot of fuel to make it happen. Some people flew, which consumes > even more. > > >> I think I'd like to work on decreasing the amount of out-of-town events > I go to, and try to find alternative ways to get there. Carpools are great > and much better than driving solo, but we could do more. One dancer this > weekend took public transit and a bicycle from DC area to Vermont. A whole > band playing for a square dance weekend a few years ago biked from south > (I think New Orleans?) all the way to Nashville. I think this is really > admirable and more people should consider something like this. This > ongoing climate change makes our world a scary place, and it will only get > worse (it doesn't look like those with the power to fix it care to change > the high consumption status quo). It's also becoming more common for me to > have to drive distances to call contra dances, which is harder to find > carpool mates for. I'm not sure what that will look like for me - I am > fantasizing about a NE train/bike tour with dates far enough apart that I > can make it to gigs with this slower and less convenient transportation. > I'm also considering making a vow to never fly on an airplane again. Their > use is so incredibly terrible for our environment. > > >> Has anyone been adapting their travel habits in the face of climate > >> change? > > > I believe that we, our contra community, needs to openly start discussing > this issue. > I applaud Liz's public request for comment and solutions. > > > Sincerely, > > Heitzso > > http://atgaga.com > > Finally, my reply: > > Yes, this is a very worthwhile discussion. > > On a slightly side note, 2+ yrs ago a hydrogen station was completed > at a local super market parking lot 1 mile from our house. > > I tried for 1 yr, writing emails and calling Stop & Shop, Toyota, Honda, > and people from Air Liquide who were the ones responsible for installing > the hydrogen station.? I got absolutely nowhere for all this effort. > I was told repeatedly by everyone I could get to talk to at both > Toyota and Honda (both who make hydrogen powered cars) > that there weren't stations to provide fuel to start selling these > cars anywhere but in CA.? To my knowledge (I live in Prov RI), > there are stations near Hartford CT, Mansfield MA (20 mi. from us), > Newton MA, (40 miles from us and close to Boston), and I'm sure > there are others nearby that I'm not aware of.? Perhaps you know > of others you could add to this? > > CA is the only place you can buy these cars (is what I'm told). > Someone mentioned OR.? I called dealers there, and no luck. > > SO, my very dissatisfied take on all this was that the industry > (car makers, etc) are doing worse than just dragging their feet > on switching to non-carbon based fuel alternatives.? It pisses > me off no end (esp having a station 1 mile from home).? But > honestly I don't know where to take this from here. > > After all this effort, we switched out from a Toyota Echo ('05) > which had been getting just under 40 mpg for over 10 yrs, to > a Prius, now getting 55+mpg overall, but I'm still not happy > about the carbon footprint. > Biking is great, (but I'm afraid our household is a little to > old for that now), and public transportation is also a great > alternative.? However, just for an example, I believe there > is no public transportation that will take you into Concord MA, > where the Scout House is, and where there is dancing at least > 10X/mo.? Correct me if I'm wrong on this. > > So I'd love to hear from others and apologize for this slightly > lengthy rant, but for one, I would LOVE to see hydrogen become > the rule of the highways.? Their exhaust is water, and being lighter > than air, any leaks would go up, and not spread fire across the landscape, > as gasoline would do, should there be an accident.? Oh, and the > Hindenberg?? All that black smoke and all the fire after the first few > seconds was due to diesel to run the engine and the canvas bag. > Grrr!!!:-) > > These lists rock, > Paul > _______________________________________________ > Organizers mailing list > Organizers(a)lists.sharedweight.net > http://lists.sharedweight.net/listinfo.cgi/organizers-sharedweight.net > >

5 years, 6 months

Our collective & individual ways of reducing our carbon footprint

by Paul Wilde

Hello all, Changing the subject line to reflect the topic of discussion. Thank you, and please think and contribute if you can. This could be a game changer. Kind regards, Paul If people want to revisit the use of words, please reflect that on a different thread.

5 years, 6 months

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