The last couple of days I have been concentrating on fundraisers for the victims of Katrina and there is some stuff cooking behind the scenes here which I will announce if they eventuate. I have also not yet heard back from E bay In America in response to my inquiry as to the possibility of international sellers being able to sell items for charities that are helping Katrina refugees. When i do I will people know what their policy is. So I am in a holding pattern with that for the moment.
I have created a separate page for Katrina Hurricane Relief fundraisers listing various ways people in the textile community can help. Mrs Pilkington has been covering this topic and has a huge list of charity links in her sidebar that people might want to investigate.
There has been lots of activity for the bags of fun challenge particularly over at the Bags of fun flickr group
As you can see I have started to add buttons to what I call the scrunchy scrumpy embroidery. I remember embroidery on denim as not being quite as tough as my fingers are now telling me. I think like many of us I am finding that stitching is not as easy but it is still fun. Click if you want a larger image
On another note again, I found these Fractal Embroidery fascinating. Thanks Arlee for the link.
Still catching up on my blog reading Serena of Layers of meaning has posted a links to some absolutely amazing shoes
Mobile phones users in Katrina affected Area Codes,
(especially prepay users) are demographically and geographically,
out of minutes, have no airtime, on second batteries.
The lucky have some capability to re-charge.
Big Mobile Phone providers plan a release of phone cards at the Astrodome.
It’s a media circus.
Big Mobile Phone providers are proposing a limited number of methods
to deal with a National Catastrophe impacting oil and food exports and imports.
The oil reserves themselves are in and amongst this destruction in the salt domes.
Old School, the phone companies could easily pump free minutes into all phones
with the same programs they send you all that spam with.
An immidiate and global distribution of FREE MINUTES and FREE AIRTIME
to all phones in the Katrina devestated Area codes and Katrina evacuation routes
must be implemented now. Out of minutes = no communication = disorganization
Physical distribution of cards will create a fast and dangerous trade market.
The people who distribute these cards could seed more volitility into this situation.
The people distributing these cards in the long-term are in a dangerous physical situation.
The people of this nation affected by National Security and National Disaster issues
as a result of Hurricaine Katrina must have MANY to MANY communication NOW.
Vendor locations for pre-pay are shut down,
phone cards along evacuation routes are sold-out or in limited supply.
These refugees don’t have, or cannot get to, prepay cash.
Our phone service is so capitalized and compartmentalized,
it seems very inneffective at this time compared to a wide open
100% free phone system. And I’m not advocating a 100%
free phone market of any sort, I just want you to think
about the difference it would make and how close
we can get to that, in the shortest amount of time.
For the purposes of Katrina RESCUE and RELIEF.
Pre-pay Mobile Phone user Market closely mimic those
Americans victimized by Natural Disasters.
They are prey to SCAMS and FRAUD.
Young people with prepay ‘Virgin Mobile’ phones as well as
the markets of Tracone, prepay markets, are not being afforded
the opportunity to use their EMERGENCY COMMUNICATION DEVICES,
especially in the long-term. These markets must be sustained
with the Automatic scripting of free minutes pumped into the phones,
globally with no regard for economic strata, race, etc..
Again, the pre-pay Market is made up of the poor, elderly, infirm,
handicapped, low and fixed income, children, etc …
The phones are lifelines to order in the short and longterm.
The FCC must require all phone companies to fill all phones in the
area codes affected by Katrina, especially flooded New Orleans,
with free minutes. This must be done globally without
regard for race or economic class. The AUTOMATED scripting
on Mobile phone service providers administrative computers to
push free minutes and free airtime globally to all Mobile Phones in Katrina
affected areas is the American thing to do. Push the free minutes
to prepay and to CORPORATE customers as well. Give them to everyone,
now. Let this place communicate and continue RESCUE, continue RELIEF,
and continue to REBUILD in the longterm.
Alltell.com is continuing to produce an organized, informed and effective
response to Hurricaine Katrina Relief issues.
http://www.alltell.com/corporate/media/0905hurricanerelief.html
Other Mobile Phone Providers are thinking and acting, check their homepages.
HERE ARE THE EMAILS for the FCC bigwigs,
email them to get free minutes for Katrina devestated area codes –
KJMWEB@fcc.gov
Kathleen.Abernathy@fcc.gov
Michael.Copps@fcc.gov
Jonathan.Adelstein@fcc.gov
Copy and paste those emails into the -TO- box of your email.
I don’t want to attack the phone companies.
I just want all of us to send some suggestions as to how they can help.
Ask the Mobile Phone companies for what we need, free airtime,
unemcumbered with their marketing schemes.
Email the customer service departments of all the Mobile Phone
companies you can think of. Gather their customer service EMAILS,
their Media reps emails. Forward all of this.
Check knowledgeable communities on the internet that address
the needs of Katrina Victims and Refugees. Ask the phone companies
for what we need, free airtime, unemcumbered with their marketing schemes.
Ask the Mobile Phone companies to establish an account to
DONATE FREE MINUTES from YOUR PLAN.
Ask them to MATCH YOUR DONATION.
Thus, any injured or incapacitated person with a phone, and any phone
they might FIND that is working will get them through. Many to many
communication.
Auto location of the looters who hunker down can be facilitated,
they can be saved also, rather than slaughtered.
Additional resuce is enabled which is critical as resuce options
continue to approache the point of no return for some stranded infirm, etc..
People will come through the network.
That’s what this is about right, people!
Where there are discarded phones, their are babies, children,
women and men. The phones need to have minutes.
Guard dogs can hear phones dialing, ringing, etc..
Guard electronics can sniff and locate the phones, as well as the
ability of a Guard dog to smell a warm cell phone, the warm battery
and it’s characteristic smell.
These phones are lifelines and key to restoring order.
A lot of young and elderly will die of dehydration in the next days.
Refugees need to FIND THE RESOURCES, they need minutes.
Many of them are lost, out of state, with no transportation.
The Katrina refugees need free minutes and free airtime.
Those needing rescue need those minutes.
The automated and global scripting of a push of free minutes to all cell phones
will most importantly transcend the racial and class structures.
This is DISASTER RELIEF and should never
approach the line over which NATURAL DISASTER PROFITEERING
is approached, lonterm or shorterm, by any company.
Jockying for market position at the demise of the American People,
will be observed if it is present.
Schemes to give out free phones to lock in desparate customers in the
months ahead are PUTRID. Schemes to get customer database information
for Phone Marketing departments is off limits here.
Keep it on the up and up, script the automated push of the free minutes
to all Mobile Phones in the Katrina devestated area codes and evacuation routes,
gloabally. Now.
Hi Sharon
I love the scrunchy scrumpy embroidery, it’s brilliant. What stitches are you using and do you just build up layers? I have a project in mind where I would love to do something like this, but not sure how to start.
Sharon, I’m speechless! That’s new for me! 😉 This is breathtaking! Your work is so faceted!
And now that you’ve brought up Fractals, I may have to share my Fractal Quilt!
The fractal embroidery is amazing and inspiring. Have you looked at the Art of Science exhibition from Princeton Uni? http://www.princeton.edu/~artofsci/gallery/index.html