Joshua Myrvaagnes

“They didn’t get that right!”: What’s a moment in a TV show that frustrated you recently?

And what would you really love to see portrayed accurately in a drama or sitcom?

I’m not promising that I’m going to be able to incorporate everyone’s requests into the show, but this is a we project, not a me project.  

If you don’t feel like blabbing about your thoughts in public here,you’re welcome to send me an email (assuming kickstarter allows this)—inspiringtutorboston at gmail dot com.

Thank you everyone who has pledged money to support this project, and everyone who has shared it with other people. We don’t have big money on our side, but we do have people.

INT. SAGE’S FAMILY HOUSE - LIVING ROOM, DAY
Several of the parents are being interviewed.

JOHAH
Well, the question we get asked most frequently is who’s gonna take care of you when you’re old?
ANDRE
Our retirement strategy is being nice to Sage.
SAGE
(O.C.)
I heard that.


—

This scene and many others can be on your screen and millions of Americans screens.

With abundant funding, we could conduct sufficient research with the Sabido methodology, to ensure a highly viral show and maximize support for belief and behavior change.

CROSS DISSOLVE TO:
INT. SAGE’S FAMILY HOUSE - LIVING ROOM, DAY
Luis is pounding logs of wood on  a kindling cracker with a hammer, Tammy walks by holding her ears, Luis loads the Liberator and lights it, but it isn’t staying lit. He blows a fan down the feed tube and flames shoot out, melting the fan a bit, and a bunch of smoke fills the room.

LUIS
Fuuuuuck!!

TAMMY
Having trouble with the liberator?

LUIS
If it weren’t for the f*$&%ing building codes, we could have a real one.

Tammy shrugs. Kalendra wheels into the room, with lots of blankets surrounding her, shivering.

KALENDRA
So cold in here. Do you smell smoke?

LUIS
Yes, we get it there’s smoke.

TAMMY
Where there’s smoke there’s fire.

KALENDRA
No, there isn’t.

LUIS
Shut up, you’re not funny!


—-
This scene in many others can be on your TV screen on the screen of millions of Americans, if we can dream it, we can do it.

Blatantly advertising, and asking for your support.  

Shooting a pilot of a mainstream family dramedy about a lot of humans raising one child together in 2025-2042.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/positiverealfutures/an-actually-fun-tv-show-about-a-future-with-real-hope

I would really appreciate if you kick in even just a dollar on day one, tell a few friends about this. If you can’t contribute anything, telling other people is still very helpful. Thank you.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/positiverealfutures/an-actually-fun-tv-show-about-a-future-with-real-hope?ref=project_build

An unusual family with many elements serving a single function raises a kid between 2025 and 2042. When they are not arguing about parenting approaches, whose turn it actually is to do the dishes, or whether overpopulation or overconsumption is a larger problem, they’re arguing about whether a rocket mass heater could possibly be carbon negative.  (spoiler—it can, but not in the season one.).

This story asks how far a family would go to protect their child from the problems encroaching on us all around, and become the kind of parents they want to see in the world. An all-American underdog story of responsibility, reinvention, and family.

The kickstarter description is more generic to communicate to a broader audience, but trust me, they find their way into permaculture—and never find their way out again.

I will be most grateful for your support, especially on day one, March 22, since early donation signal to others that this is a viable project.  Thanks for considering it.

Jack Sato wrote:That sounds like a dream tbh, My fiancee and I have been searching for a place, yet we have hit some financial issues ourselves.

if luck turns around for us I will have to reach out again!

Thanks Jack.

It's a beautiful pace, and it is anthroposophist, not theosophist.  There were issues with the theosophical movement that anthroposophy would not want to be tarred with.  

S Tonin wrote:I don't know if it's still there, but in the early oughts I visited a place somewhere in upstate NY (right along the Hudson, you could see the lights of NYC from the hill the place sat on, I think it was close to the Tappan Zee Bridge) that was a mixed-age intentional community whose central focus was eldercare.  Unfortunately I don't remember a lot of details or even the name of the place (I met a guy on the internet and went to meet him; I was only there 3 days/ 2 nights), and Google isn't helping me either.  I think it was super expensive and catered mostly to rich Manhattanites, but the place itself was a working farm that grew most of the food for the community.  They were just getting back to using horsepower for some tasks, like pulling the wagon that held all the tomato plants going in the field.  It was really cool to participate in planting, 20-30 people of mixed ages all working together to get the tomatoes in the field.  They did group meals, too, and I remember dinner being compulsory for everyone except the staff on kitchen/ dining room duty that day.  

I'm pretty sure the place had been established in the 70s, at least as a nursing home, though it may have been an intentional community for longer.  It was Theosophist, and they were kind of strict about what the community members were allowed to do.  The atmosphere was a little too restrictive and too cult-like for me (and I'm no wild child or anything, it just wasn't my scene), but I really loved the idea of it.  Everyone there seemed pretty content, and not like Manson-family blissed-out--truly satisfied with their existence in that place and time.  I think they had like 150 elderly residents, I don't know how many staff.  They did have some kids there, though not many, and I think there was a Montessori school nearby or they homeschooled the kids in that manner.  I remember the staff stayed in houses on the property (the one I stayed in was a 19th century farmhouse, I think 4 or 5 people lived there) and the elderly residents were in different buildings, so it wasn't a truly integrated community.

I know all that isn't much help, but I just wanted to add my (very limited) experience.  If your googling is better than mine, maybe you can find more info on the place (if it still exists).  Seems like it would be a cool place to live/ work for a while to gain experience.

Edit: I was wrong about some of the details (hey, it was almost 20 years ago), but I found the place-- The Fellowship Community in Chestnut Hill, NY.  

Seeking deep green permie(s) for carrying on the work here:

—rmh that still needs some more cob on the drum to really sing
— willow feeder buckets in process, and willow. (not the whole willow feeder setup just yet, unfortunately, just a large store of semi aged willow food in the barn)
— soil building with fowl for 4 years
— a few nut trees, sadly not from seed, but that was attempted also, and some black walnuts from seed, mulberries, legacy apples, wild apples, some stone fruit. Two honey locust from John Hershey line, by way of the river Chestnut Farm
— one properly built hugelbed , and a bunch more that are easier soil to grow in, hauled in from a landscaper‘s jobs. the properly angled one has issues—soil is so sandy it will take a long time for it to function, maybe a few more years? and I didn’t know about the magic basketball of garden soil going in the middle of it… has drip irrigation barrel in place.
— multiple portable bird hutches, electric, fencing, perimeter fence
— Solar hot water heater
— on a major numbered route, perfect site for a farm stand. Space to build on a second parcel, and by right two more dwelling could be built for a total of 4. In addition if it were up to me, and no building code could get in my way, I would build a wofati there. if I stayed here longer, that’s exactly what I would do, and keep it small enough to be within the code definition of a shed, making an “animal shelter“
— well is OK, there’s also deeded access to a spring across another nearby numbered highway, and there’s another Spring nearby that you can fill up large container containers from
— up-and-coming community, that is to say, this town is really hitting bottom hard. The long range plan may have some Permaculture and resilience measures in it, if it ever comes out I’ll update.
— local Strong Towns conversation, one of only about five towns or cities in the state to have one
— a lot of people care a lot about this town, even if some of the ideas of how to make it better might be going backwards, and  the building regulations (irc) are real barrier
— land is unfortunately very flat, and extremely extremely extremely sandy.
— road noises considerable, recommend putting up a berm on the south field or something and live there.
— sunchokes established, but you should know that even sunchokes struggle to grow in this soil.
— rainwater catchment, barrels, and gutters,
— big barn and below-grade barn basement
— House can hold four people for sure, and up to 608 hippies
— seeds Of Solidarity and the Farm School are nearby
— maker space within walking distance; sort of bikeable
— more than happy to pass on all of my notes from my many, many mistakes I’ve made here on the land—and boy do I have a genius for making mistakes.
-- I really want this land to go to someone who will be a good steward of it, and will use and value the RMH
--$460,200 zestimate; 3 br, 2 bath, 2.25 acres on north and 2.25 on south side of highway, an alfalfa field, woods owned by the rail. turkeys and coyotes common.
--will try to finance but I don't know if I'll be able to afford this.
I'm putting out feelers now, will want to build trust to know for sure.  Thanks.

If there's interest Emily of Biolithic Builds could be persuaded to give a workshop again.  There's a farm near here that may build one for their greenhouse.  If she can get compensated enough to make it work financially Emily coulld lead that.  If not I could do a decent job, the book is really all you need (Erica and Ernie Wisner, The Rocket Mass HeaterBuilder's Guide). But it's more fun to learn in a group.  You can search for Biolithic Builds and reach out to her.

I would love to have a podcast about integrating, hot water, cooking, and heating people/Plumbing

Here is my hack that I figured out: my friend has a J-tube rocket mass heater, and this winter I have been cooking on top of the wood feed! Yes, that’s right, instead of putting a brick on top of the wood feed, I put a big old cast-iron skillet for greens or a pot with squash in it or a pot of buckwheat.

It takes a while to get warm enough, and I would not try and cook a pot of stew this way, for that I would take the extra thermal battery off the top of the main barrel.  But for every day use and reheating, you can use it just fine.

Why this works is that the coals radiate a certain amount of heat, even if the flames are being drawn, laterally and up the riser.  

This is one way of integrating cooking with a rocket mass heater, even if you’ve got some kind of Cob hat situation on top of your barrel, or a supplemental thermal battery (eg a feeding trough of water with a lid)

A downside of this is that sometimes vapor from the skillet is getting sucked into the fire, which probably decreases the efficiency of the burn somewhat. But if the pot is tall enough, then this does not seem to happen. And for sautéing there is less moisture involved then for cooking a pot of grain.

If other people experiment with this or have thoughts, I would be interested to hear them!

For hot water, I think Solar is still worth discussing, although I know there are reasons that it’s not so great in cold climate, and my super-professional, pricey, German-overengineering system is truly a pain in the butt