SPCC A Casa Amarela

so thanks to a rat (the human kind of rat) the police came over to force us to take down the electricity, so we're back to basics. our solar design is in tests, all that's missing for now is a good battery and a better inverter. we're running on a small inverter plugged into my car that can provide for cell phones, internet modem + laptop and some eco bulbs. as long as it is just for some hours at a time it's fine. it will take a toll on the car but i'm hoping to have most of the solar system sorted out within the next week.

the main issue was the conflicts P created with this crazy neighbor. the neighbor (we call him Fiscal because he claims to be the owner or connected to the owner) told me that it was him that called the police on us all those times just to get back at P. it's sad that it ended up being us paying for it. my suspicion is that water will be next. that's why we're pushing forward the renewable design now before we get on to other things.

we're also considering the dry toilets, since they would be much nicer than the current system.

on a lighter note, we planted our first tree (a pomegranate tree), the first of many i hope.

godspeed starstuff ☆★☆☆★★★☆☆☆☆☆

it seems that now not only some beer is left for the next day, but people are opening up more and more. the hard drugs issue has come up again, and most residents feel it should be a house rule not to allow them. we might have a meeting soon because of this.

the peaceful has now become the cathartic. we're working out all the personal issues with each other, each of our own personal issues, and with it, creating a better, happier community.

godspeed starstuff ☆★☆☆★★★☆☆☆☆☆

our helpex host listing has been approved! check it out: http://www.helpx.net/host.asp?hostid=7824

i'm curious about what this will bring. CS requests are pouring down again, like blood pumping into SPCC!

godspeed starstuff ☆★☆☆★★★☆☆☆☆☆

so we've been lazying out a bit, 'cause we now have a HUGE swimming pool 5mins away, music all day, internet, computers, etc etc. i also think we're slowly bouncing back from all the bullshit that has been going on.

on to the good news. one of my non profits (Associação Musical INDUSTRIAL PT) met at the squat on sunday to assert a possible artistic residency. the associates are interested in trying it out but they don't want to use our legal status for the squat. that means this non profit will be a "customer", not a manager. anyway we're having the non profit birthday party at the squat. probably it will be mostly DJs and a couple of bands, but i'm happy to say we're starting our cultural offering. if we don't get kicked out, that is. this means that we might have to start our own non profit again. i'm considering making it part of my exuberantist non profit project and make it a subsidiary. but for now, these are minor issues.

next on the list is another non profit i work for (Chili Com Carne), this one focusing mostly on publishing and graphic works. i'll be talking with them soon about the same kind of possibilities.

our guest stream is now steadily rising again, with a lot of CS requests filled out correctly, so i'm running another study: visual perception. i'm switching my picture every thursday and counting requests. my prediction: an anonymous picture generates less requests than my fancy laying out in the grass picture. we're also considering putting up a sexy picture too. maybe that one with the mustache.

we now down to 7 residents. it's quieter and more peaceful and personally i'm being productive again. happiness does feed creativity and they are interchangeable.

godspeed starstuff ☆★☆☆★★★☆☆☆☆☆

spcc

yesterday we went to the big tank the kids were talking about. it's fucking huge. we can add another star to our hotel: swimming pool 5 mins away (check the picture).

we hit tipping point with P and M. M left by herself, and the whole house decided that both P and M must go.

we have resumed international hosting. we mostly finished the guest room and now we should start having the usual endless stream of people that i used to have at escotilha8. it's good to see that guests bring a different kind of stimulus to the house, they pacify the mood and put us all on learning mode.

the new guests are very experienced in permaculture and other eco lifestyle techniques, so we are learning from them stuff like dry toilets, permaculture principles and other eco techniques.

here we go again. someone cut the chain to go and steal some construction material from our street. among other things, they also got into fights and threw some rocks at the house. so we called the police and the person in question is now identified. the irony of it all: we used the police to protect our squat. law enforcement really is different (for the better) in portugal. i've also stopped worrying about our illegal immigrants. one of them was taken to court (S), only to hear the judge defend him and complain about the lack of employment and integration for immigrants in this country.

well, it's not really a tiki bar, but almost. i have been doing some (much needed) maintenance on the few trees that SPCC had around the security shack (grape vines and some other unknown fruit trees, probably peach or apple). we cleaned up the security shack and we'll build a small bar there, since i suspect that during hot summer days that will be the preferred spot (it has great shade). we're also quitting the high stage on the bottom floor and going for a much lower one. our initial design required concrete pillars, this one won't.

we got a lot of stuff done this week. chill out area, new kitchen with plumbing, bathtub with watering bucket shower, barbecue outside, part of the new stage, cleaned up some trees (grapes are coming), cleanup of the future dog park, i could go on. overall, a very productive week. we hope to continue some of this by getting internet to work there and a sound system.