[Callers] Callers Digest, Vol 66, Issue 2
Liz Burkhart
burkhart.liz at gmail.com
Tue Oct 8 04:12:54 PDT 2019
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 at lists.sharedweight.net> wrote:
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> 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 at gmail.com>
> To: "Heitzso <" <heitzso at growthmodels.com>,
> organizers at lists.sharedweight.net, callers at lists.sharedweight.net
> ,
> musicians at lists.sharedweight.net
> Subject: Re: [Callers] [Organizers] contra dance gypsy & fuel
> consumption
> Message-ID:
> <
> CACyeUsMm8qihAKH3OiCV91xCQv6xcRRR+UPmbxo7g8dH-9bOeg at 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 at 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 at ymail.com>
> To: "Heitzso <" <heitzso at growthmodels.com>,
> organizers at lists.sharedweight.net, callers at lists.sharedweight.net,
> musicians at lists.sharedweight.net, Paul Wilde <zenyente at gmail.com>
> Subject: Re: [Callers] [Organizers] contra dance gypsy & fuel
> consumption
> Message-ID: <960702987.4902764.1570475233043 at 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 at 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 at 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 at lists.sharedweight.net
> http://lists.sharedweight.net/listinfo.cgi/organizers-sharedweight.net
>
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> ------------------------------
>
> Message: 3
> Date: Mon, 7 Oct 2019 15:19:12 -0400
> From: Becky Liddle <beckyliddle at bell.net>
> To: Mac Mckeever <macmck at ymail.com>
> Cc: "Heitzso <" <heitzso at growthmodels.com>,
> organizers at lists.sharedweight.net, callers at lists.sharedweight.net,
> musicians at lists.sharedweight.net, Paul Wilde <zenyente at gmail.com>
> Subject: Re: [Callers] [Organizers] contra dance gypsy
> Message-ID: <95AEA65C-DA9C-495D-9E66-3EA1EB5FD69A at bell.net>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8"
>
> We should avoid the term ?gypsy? in all ways, in my opinion, not just as
> an official dance call. In some areas of the world it is a racial slur akin
> to the N word. It has been reclaimed by some Roma in the same way some
> lesbians have reclaimed ?dyke? but when a term is reclaimed, it can still
> only be used by a member of the group. I can call myself a dyke but you
> cannot, and a black person can use the N word but I, as a white person,
> cannot. Since we are not all Roma we need to avoid the term gypsy in the
> same ways we would avoid other racial/ethnic/other slurs. I miss the term,
> myself. There was a flirty quality to ?gypsy? that ?right shoulder round?
> simply cannot connote. But if there were a traditional term that used
> ?dyke? in it, I would object, and I need to show the same respect to other
> groups. So when I call this weekend, it will be ?right shoulder round?, tho
> in the walk-thru I?ll also say something like, ?don?t forget to make a
> little joking-pretend-flirty eye contact as yo
> u go around! That?s the fun of it!?
> Becky
>
> > On Oct 7, 2019, at 3:07 PM, Mac Mckeever via Callers <
> callers at lists.sharedweight.net> wrote:
> >
> >
> >
> > 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
> >
>
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> ------------------------------
>
> Message: 4
> Date: Mon, 7 Oct 2019 19:52:33 +0000 (UTC)
> From: Mac Mckeever <macmck at ymail.com>
> To: Masha Goodman Crawford <mashagoodman at yahoo.com>
> Cc: organizers at lists.sharedweight.net, callers at lists.sharedweight.net
> Subject: Re: [Callers] [Organizers] contra dance gypsy
> Message-ID: <1205155183.4888150.1570477953548 at mail.yahoo.com>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8"
>
> Sorry - I did not mean to hijack this thread with discussion of gypsies -
> just found it curious that the term 'dance gypsy' was used in the subject
> line.? I have not heard of anyone addressing that usage.? Please return to
> the original discussion
> Mac
> On Monday, October 7, 2019, 02:46:21 PM CDT, Masha Goodman Crawford <
> mashagoodman at yahoo.com> wrote:
>
> Becky - Excellent answer.
> The first time I heard the term "gypsy" for the dance move, I happened to
> be living among Roma in Europe and was back in the states on a short
> visit.The part that seemed particularly offensive to me was that the move
> was taught with the emphasis on gazing flirtatiously into the other
> dancer's eyes - something that would have been absolutely taboo among the
> people I had been travelling with. I suppose the name came from someone's
> mental image of a Flamenco dancer circling, and some idea that Gypsy =
> Flamenco? who knows. I discovered, much to my dismay, that many of my
> well-educated American friends thought "Gypsies" were just a fictional
> group or general term for folks who travel, hence the "dance gypsy" slang.
> They are a proud and very real ethnic group with a centuries-old language,
> customs, and a long history of being marginalized and persecuted.In your
> mind, take any other group with a similar history, and substitute it: Would
> you teach dancers to do a "Xxx", and tell them that it
> means to behave a certain way with strangers?? (Becky gave one good
> example, I can think of others as well.)Can we just DROP the term "gypsy"
> altogether, please?- Masha(dancing and calling since 1978)
> _______________________________________________
> List Name:? Callers mailing list
> List Address:? Callers at lists.sharedweight.net
> Archives:? https://www.mail-archive.com/callers@lists.sharedweight.net/
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>
> End of Callers Digest, Vol 66, Issue 2
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