=zev055a Edit of =zev053i ----------------------------------------------------------------- Zenith, Evaluation (sa), '05, Draft 3, Version i Rev 5 Sept '05 -- 1 Elul -- Rev. 19 Sept -- Rev. 9 Oct '05 THIS DOC IS 1 OF 2 2 OF 2 WILL BE =zev056*. ----------------------------------------------------------------- This starts my edit of =zev053i I will edit it sequentially, so I don't lose material. I will have to break into two docs. Optimally one doc should be general remarks, and one doc specific, but I think I can't juggle that much complexity without dropping a lot of remarks. So I'll jump from topic to topic, and level to level, with too much use of aphorism, irony, and obscure if not esoteric references and quotes. Plus a haughty hotiy_toity tone approaching dogma. And happenstance assonance. Some of my English is so colloquial not even I can understand it. Read Pound's Cantos for practice. "Sorry about that." "Nobody's perfect." I am still somewhat uncomfortable with this doc. Parts are not for hoi polloi. The saving grace is that maybe nobody will slog through it, nor even slog through all the Internet and Website clutter to get to it. "und der Zeit is vorbei, in den es von mir verbessert wurde konnte" (Wittgenstein, conclusion of his introuction to Philosophical Investigations, 1954 ), I do have to try to put most of my time and energy into Archiving PVK material, not pretending to be the back_seat__driver for Zenith. Incidentally, I would like to hear of and from anyone else who is Archiving PVK material. ------------------------------------------------------------------ Subsequent remarks have been input as =zev054e, which I will sneak in amidships, Chaps. ---------------------------------------------------------------- OK, so here's my Introduction: In accord with a request from M. Roehrs (in 1990, if memory serves, and repeated for the next 2 or 3 years), I Post my annual evaluation of Zenith Camp. All other staff members, past and present, should likewise Post their evaluations, and Email me the LINK to same (or text, for persons who do not have an available Website). I'll try to integrate whatever I get into a revision of this evaluation. "'I would meet with you upon this honestly'", quoth Tommy the Twit. (T.S. Eliot, coda to The Wasteland) ----------------------------------------------------------------- KITCHEN: RECOMMENDATION: Amina should be in overall charge of the Kitchen, with Kirana continuing as Manager. REMARKS: Meals are sent up to the Camp in insulated boxes. That seems to work well. The problem of food spoilage, which caused at least one major stampede of the trots in a past year -- I think it was '96, when lighting from a storm caused by the Haily-Shumacher comet curdled the cream -- has been eliminated. On the other hand, there are now practically no leftovers available for folks who miss meals. On a number of occasions, the main dishes ran out shortly before everyone had eaten. There is no longer any provision for f cooking more food when that happens. If memory serves, I have eaten approximately 1 kitchen meal a week. In general, if I hear the Camp bell clang, close down my computer, and walk up to camp, I can count on the food having come and gone back down to Campra -- whatever was left over, that is. Very often the better dishes were all eaten up before everyone had gone through the line. But of course the Germon ethos is -- I will wait in line and then take all I can get. At New Buffalo we used to stand silently at the end of the line and glare -- dare the tourists in front to fail correctly to calculate their maximum proper portion. Incidentally, WorkCamp Kitchen offered a welcome refuge to able_bodied men who wished to do niminal "heavy lifting". Cusine this year was only a bit too inventive, and usually edible except for a tendency, in the last phase of preparation, to add to whatever was cooked either a pack of organic red pepper or a liters or two of whipping cream, the 45% variety. In general, no provision is made for feeding folks who are in Campra and do not want to go up to the Camp to eat -- eg, folks who are too busy to take 2 hours off for a 15-minute meal. RECOMMENDATION: As a standard procedure, set aside one tin of each dish at each meal for folks who stay in Campra. Staff, especially teaching staff ("Lotus Staff") and kitchen staff, should have priority for Campra meals. At about Week 2, the main part of the kitchen was locked up. Kirana said this was the first time she had done that. She said people were taking a lot of food, too much, she did not know who. I said, are they selling it Olivone. My point was: so what -- the mroe they take, the less they eat at meals, so there's no loss. I said, if there's stuff you have in limited quantities, to make special dishes, you should mark it off. She said, there's too much to mark off. It's a nuisance if the sinks are locked up, makes it hard to make coffee and tea in the hotpot. I get up before daylight, and try to have some hot water ready for anyone else who is up and cold. ----------------------------------------------------------------- KITCHEN TRASH: RECOMMENDATION: Kitchen staff should take responsibility for proper disposal of kitchen trash. DETAILS: The procedure in '05 was simply for kitchen staff to throw everything non-organic into the garage, which often became too cluttered to function as an efficient workplace. Practically speaking, there are only about 2 young men who do all the maintenance, plus two drivers. It is not fair and not practical to ask them to tidy up after the kitchen crew. Half of 'em just sit around sniffing incense and peeling a grape. Don't attune the gorilla. And don't bait the bears. The kitchen staff should immediately take filled trash bags to the trash bins, rather than simply place them in front of the kitchen area. Especially on weekends, when there are a large number of Restorante customers, the kitchen crew should keep the area in front of the kitchen clean and neat. ------------------------------------------------------------------ RUGROOM AS CRASHPAD: The so-called carpet room should be available at all times for anyone who needs it as a temporary crash pad -- anyone rained out, anyone who hasn't got their tent trip together, women with children, etc. And especially for Campers who get the shits, and can't count on walking to the privy without humiliation. And for that reason, the toilets must remain unlocked there. It is not nice to make someone walk out 100 yards in middle of a dark night, especially if Honest George hath locked the Restorante potties. Anyone using the computer while people are sleeping there should not turn on the lights, and should use the computer without any sound effects. As far as I know, there were practically no problems in letting all staff and campers use the computer. Most did so for Email. -------------------------------------------------------------- SHOWERS: Adequate showers must be available at all times for working staff. This applies especially to the Toilet Crew and Maintenance Staff. Showers and toilets must be sepeerate for men and women. Although young secular European yuppies may not mind, older persons and those from a strictly religious background would find unisex showers unusable. As for tending to make access to showers and toilets a sort of class privilege -- with a sort of class structure of Teachers (Lotus Staff), Administrators, Leaders, Workcamp Staff, and Customers, in roughly descending order -- this is simply unacceptable. As HIK said. "Democracy of the ego, and aristocracy of the soul." Excluding Staff from Showers, and I suppose toilets, during Week 2 Leaders Week was inexcusable. It was in reaction that I quoted Pirke Avot 3:1 -- Ein Derek Eretz, ein Tora. That translates -- 'If there is no 'derekch eretz', there is no tora.' 'Tora' means -- 'religious/spiritual teaching' 'Derech eretz' -- literally, the road of the land -- means -- 'common decency' -- analogoous to 'common sense'. So everyone in Leaders Week 2 flunked the course, including the teachers, and should forget this Sufi stuff and sell herring until next year. Vanzetti went to a lot of trouble and expense to build that new shower room, to the right of the rug room. Those ingenious Swiss showers, with a hand-held ShowerHead -- optimally a ShowerMassage head -- on a slide_pole, are optimally designed for female hygiene. It is a shame that this shower_room was locked up after only 1 week of use. The shower room that was then reserved for women is minimal, with small fixed high overhead nozzles. No doubt better Bordeaux is wasted on ladies of the common class - - women, rather -- let them drink plonk witth a dash of strawberry syrup, and pass me the Chateaux Margaux, for I am a Master o' fArts in Philosophy -- but surely even the wives of hod_carriers, and possibly even common campers, have discovered the virtues of a proper wash. I mean gvalt, save that classist crap for Plato. Igor once said, Just because they're Sufi's don't mean they're any better or wiser than the rest of us. (Well, he didn't use quite those words, but doubtless he intended to. Dutch is a cross between English, and AltHochDeutsch spoken with a mouthful of mashed potatoes. ) ---------------------------------------------------------------- Well, I had intended to edit out the outrageous passages in this Revision, but -- "The spirit is wailing, but the flesh is woke." The Djinn is In. I said once to Mansur, zl'b -- his memory for a blessing, for there was a good man who tried never to hurt anyone -- and had a nice sense of humour -- if we didn't get smarter, we wouldn't have a chance against the young 'uns. Mansur used to pitch 3 tents. One for himself, and one for all his junk. Maybe the 3rd was for visiting relatives. ZR once asked Mansur, which recordings of the Bach B_Minor he would recommend. I'd sure like to know his answer. Mansur drove a taxi in Berlin -- I said, that makes you a Knight Errant, because if a Sufi flips out in public amongst the Squares, , only a taxi_driver is allowed to rescue him and take him to a SafeHouse. Whatever I know about the Sufi Order, I learned from taking LSD. (Beforehand, I should add. And anyhow, that line's not quite true, but it does have a nice ring to it. "Marco Polo if you can". Someone once asked Bill Buckley why he said something, and he replied, 'I needed the extra syllable.'') Even the Indians said to us, in another but only slightly different context, "Don't mix them." R. Shlomo said about pot, "Kids, its time to get out of diapers." I can't imagine how the Square Sufis know anything. Except Agnieska, who was born with psychedelics in her metabolism, and an intellect to match. ------------------------------------------------------------------- /GET =zev054e ---------------------- Zenith has 'sclerosed', to use PVK's term. It is not bad, but it could be much better. Zenith is built as much on an inner as an outer level. Each fall we taken down all the outer manifestations, savving all that is essential, and each spring we rebuilt it. Why should this not also occur on the inner level. Zenith is largely sclerosed. New ideas and approaches are need. Zenith is also a brilliant creation, providing spiritual paths for a very wide range of temperaments. The workcamp in particular is a brilliant creation. ZR has been extremely good in seeing that no_one is excluded from Zenith for lack of money. Management has been quite good at making places on Staff for anyone who could not otherwise afford to be at Zenith. And with few exceptions, Management is quite good at not making anyone do work beyond their physical or even temperamental capacities. ZR has also been exemplary in not taking Zenith resources for personal use. Camps out in a trailer and all that. ------------------------------------------------------------------- Again, Zenith must substantially improve its program to survive. The program was carried by PVK. Despite the success of this year, I would be surprised if ZIK attracts similar numbers in future years. ZIK's role is highly problematic, but this is not the place, and also maybe not my place, to discuss that. But: One person remarked that, unlike PVK, he has not yet taken on Zenith as one of his Projects; that rather, he seemed to see himself as a visiting lecture. One person has complained that this year under ZIK there was not a harmonious atmosphere, whereas under PVK there was a harmonious atmosphere. Well, I don't know if I noticed that. I clearly saw at Moshav Mevo Modi'in, that whenever R. Shlomo was there, for a Shlomo Shabat, not to mention a summer stay, the atmosphere became quite harmonious -- which few would deem the ordianry state of that Moshav when R. Shlomo was not there. In any event, PVK was a Master, who did not assume responsibiloity until he was almost 60 years old, and ZIK is a young man initiated as a Pir and sucessor to PVK, by PVK. So one cannot yet charge ZIK with responsibility for keeping a whole Camp of yuppies in attunement at all times. And anyhow, it is now our time to do it ourselves. PVK once remarked, in a Zenith lecture, that he wished we would learn what he was teaching, "and then I can die in peace." ZR remarked at the start of this Workcamp that PVK said to Walia: Tell them that I'll be around for 3 or 4 years [ after death ] , and after that they're on their own. Another senior figure in the SO remarked on a tendency that ZIK may be put into a guru role. He put the point rather strongly, speaking of tendency toward -- was it adulation -- not 'idolatry', that would be my rhetoric flourish -- maybe he said, 'worship', which is idolatry. I mean, leave that goof and guff to the Christians, they seem to need it. PVK continually emphasized that a Pir of the SO(W) is not a guru. It is to emphasize that point that KIT #32, 'On the Guru Syndrome', has for a decade or so been prominently included in the sets of KIT's on sale in the Zenth bookstore. There is a risk that Zenith may devolve into a cult, maybe guru_oriented. A cult is totalitarian, and may be facistic. ZIK at 30 seems to be arrogating the trappings that PVK assumed malgre lui in old age -- the opposite of PVK as a young man. If so, ZIK is pretending to a maquam he has not earned. And if so he is headed for a fall. Senior figures in the SO must be alert to this risk, try to guard him from it, and have contingency plans eo ensure the continuity of the SO. --------------------------------------------------------------- Everyone knows that in Hebrew, and I assume in Arabic, the same letter serves for F and for P. And everyone knows that in Hebrew, vowels are Dealer's Choice -- ad lib. So we have, coexisting simultaneously, the SuFi order, and its shadow, the SouPy order. Zenith is almost entirel SouPy. Examples of the SouPy Order include: is circles, 'sharing' -- which apparently roils up a lot of mud -- the 'rosh katan' [ modern Hebrew -- 'small head'] 'it is my job' (Das is mein Arbeit) attitude -- and wasting half the work_day in breaks. It is also SouPy dancing -- not the real stuff of Sufi Sam Lewis, Mansur Jonson, Azimat Shreiber, and I hope Shahabudin, but the sort of New Age Singles Bar -- or so I guess, I've not stayed awake for one of those in a decade. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Zenith, like New Buffalo Commune [ in Arroyo Hondo, New Mexico, ca. 1967--1974 ] , can be much better than RealWorld -- if everyone is trying to give all they've got -- or it can be much worse than Realworld -- when you get a few neurotic types with immature psychic powers and no identifiable ethics trying to exploit the system. That is, to grab an easy job and invoke a sort of class_ism and ethnic prejudice to manipulate and bully others into doing the hard work. ------------------------------------------------------------------- In '05, the first 3 Zenith weeks had substantial enrollment, the last week was a washout, with about 25 paying customers. Without PVK, and until ZIK comes into his own, there is no need to continue with all these Islamic and pseudo_Islamic trappings. So Zenith should move toward the Lama model -- an umbrulla organization for all bona fide religous traditions -- on the model of Universal Worship, where 'Sufi' is only one of many paths. So Zenith '06 should have workshops in Buddhism, Zen, a Jewish/Islamic week, and also straight Islam. Also Christianity - - Samuel Gessler could do that. Maybe Zenith should do Hindu too. Even with all those elephants and monkeys and blue_faced flute_players, not to mention the zaftic dakini's or whatever they are. I mean, Avoda_zora__City, but could be worse. At least we ain't Republicans. Also a joint week with the Hotel Venezia crew and their guru. [ The Hotel Venezia is on the old road down to Olivone, just before you get to Camperio. A Swiss group with an Indian guru who concentrates on Indian dance have bought it, and holds maybe 4 weekend seminars there each summer. They seem like nice people. And anyhow they're our neighbors. ] --------------------------------------------------------------- POSSIBLE JEWISH WEEK: A Jewish week could be expanded -- R. David Zeller loves Zenith, and gives all he's got -- but also he could be augmented with Emunah Witt, and with Leah Golomb if possble. Emunah Witt lives at 14 HaMishkanot , Mishkanot, Jerusalem. If you can't reach her, ask R. David Zeller to do so. Leah Golumb is at Moshav Mevo Modi'in, 73122 Israel. I have long wanted to do a joint week or mini_week with Shevki, on Judaism/Islam , highlighting the similar but different ways we treat common questions -- at what precise time to say the required prayers, how to cleanse oneself, how to critically examine traditional teachings, etc. etc. Also, especially if I were teaching Judaism solo, I would I think teach the Siddur as an aid to guided meditation. I have Posted some notes on the Siddur to one of my Websites -- www.geocities.com/sa73122 www.geocities.com/sa73122a www.geocities.com/sa73122c docname is =siidur.txt , I think. I am pretty good at presenting Judaism in cross_reference to the teachings of PVK. I do a lot of that on my Website, mostly in notes in teacings of R. Shlomo Carlebach. However, my knowlege of traditonal Judaism is substantially below the level of any of the Witt kids over the age of 6. R. David Zeller is good, a decent guy, and head of Yakar, a traditional but progressive Yeshiva, in the tradition of R. Shlomo Carlebach, essentially egalitarian, on Rehov haLamed_Hey, Old Katomon, Jerusalem. He is also devoted to Zenith, and makes himself very available as a counselor when he at Zenith. He is trained and I suppose certified in transpersonal pychology. Leah Golumb is maybe the foremost student of R. Shlomo Carlebach. Even Ben_Zion Solomon, who is first_rate especially with regard to the music of traditional Judaism, in particular Bratslav and R. Shlomo niggunim, attends to her. She brings a very grounded, woman's perspective to traditional Judaism. She is not in great health, and would be attended by her husband. Emunah Witt has often expressed an interest in teaching at Zenith. She is very highly regarded, particularly by women in the R. Shlomo chevre. R. Joshua Witt has remarried and attends the Carlebach shul in Baden_bei_Wien, Vienna. He is also highly regarded as a teacher. A very warm and caring person. Avraham-Hai, at Moshav Mevo Modi'in, is very good -- deep and steady -- but maybe would teach from too strict a perspective. He is not native_English speaking. Aryeh Naftali at Mevo Modi'in is from San Francisco. He can be very good, but sometimes plays music (and records) on an electronically amplified guitar when he is not making wine and olives. I have long hoped to see a class of Jewish__Islamic dialogue, focussed on how the two religions address similar situations in slightly different ways -- eg, the time for prayers, and ablutions before prayer -- and so can learn from each other. Being Jewish, and rather militantly so, I have never been entirely comfortably in an ostensibly Sufi, if not Islamic, group. But then, I have never been entirely comfortable on an ostensibly orthodox Moshav. But I've always said, in college, follow the teacher, not the subject. A great teaching will find and convey the universality in whatever he/she teaches. I've tried to buy every record I could find of performances of anything by Wanda Landowska, and by Svatislav Richter. And to watch every dance by Anna-Marie Sarazin, who was with the Boston Ballet in the 1970's. I once said that if R. Shlomo Carlebach taught auto mechanics -- Karmu, the healer in Cambridge Massachusetts in the 1970's, was an auto mechanic -- then I would have bought a set of lug wrenches. Well, a fortiori for PVK, so I put up with all those zikrs and wazifas for years, even if I almost never said them outside PVK's classes. (Not an ideologic objection, just a short attention-span. A philospher should strive to say everything that is true, once only.) So now that PVk is -- in the "next room" as Reb Nachman would say -- I wonder what I am doing with all this SSoupy Sufi -- stuff. The point to bring out here is that Zenith should expand into non_Islamic disciplines -- Buddhist meditation, and Zen meditation, and Christianity taught by real Christians , -- going more in the direction of Lama Foundation -- --------------------------------------------------------------- We should try to bring back Feizy. She was among the best of the Senior Leaders. In 1999, her last year, she really went all_out. ZR tends to see anyone who approaches his pinacle as a threat. If he has driven some good people away, and cannot make amends, it may be necessary to work around that. That suggests a sort of group Directorship of Zenith, or more practically and efficiently, a hands_on Advisory Board with authority to overrule ZR in exceptional circumstances. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Zenith Institute has never lived up to its name. It has been little more than a summer Camp. It has not evolved into a community, a year_long entity that looks out for its members, and offers them a refuge and retreat environment as needed -- a European analogue of the Abode. ---------------------------------------------------------------- Members of the SO strive to be "united with all the illuminated souls". Hence they are bound in behavior by various codes. One such code is the code of chivalry, associated especially with Islam. Hence membrers of the SO do not lie, and do not steal. And what if someone does. Properly, he should be expelled from the SO. But I don't see how anyone initiated by PVK could be expelled by anyone else. So a fortiori, a member of the SO cannot be charged with lying, nor with stealing. Saki once asked me to help some dude move his tent. He had a little tent_peg hammer with him. The Camp had one. I said, 'Is that yours?' He glanced at me, and I apologized. Turns out the dude was head of the Netherlands Healing Order. Particularly in conemporary Jewish religious custom, one not "back_bite", that is, speak ill to another of somoene behind their back. In Judaism this is termed 'loshon hora', 'evil' or 'angry' speech. The admonition against it derives from the biblical passage, in Deuteronomy if memory serves, "Thou shalt not go up and down the country as a tale_bearer among your people." Detailed discussion is associated with the Chfetz Chaim, whose work as been most comopetently publicized by R. Pliskin of Aish HaTorah Yeshiva in the Old City of Jerusalem, writing in English. Hatzkela, of Mevo Modi'in, says: You don't repeat loshon hora, and you should not even listen to it. I would add: To confront an alleged wrong_doer with an accusation based on loshon hora, without saying who said it, is quite bad, for then the accused may suspect everyone, and his friendships with everyone are thus damaged. And friendship is the precondition of social synergy. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Any system requires Oversight. You have Workers, who do the work, Supervisors, who make the decisions, and Oversee_ers, who continually check that the Supervisors have not made incorrect decisions. A Supervisor must know the details of the subject_matter, must have unlimited access, and must be honest. ----------------------------------------------------------------- In the last month of Zenith -- Takedown Camp plus Stragglers' Weeks -- I was implicitly accused of stealing darned near everything but the moon. This is a rather problematic instance of group hysteria. Apart from the complete set of individualized etched drinking glasses that I liberated from Honest George's Restorante for a pourboire -- the service at Honest George's is such that the customer gets the tip -- I am holding the following: An old Harmonica from the kitchen A collapsible shock_absorbent yuppie hiking stick A nice carpetbag left in the garage with a pillow and a Bach__B_Minor score in it Various itemes thrown out in the trash that you really don't want to know about And in the Carpetroom I see: A large white_and_grey lady's shawl, apparently woven from the nose_hairs of an endangered species Or maybe its a light_weight rug made of dishrag__lint I am also holding for safekeeping until spring the 3 esoteric occult board games left in the StaffHouse last year and this year -- If/when I leave here I'll put them back. So if anyone owns and wants any of that, drop me a note. Oh -- remaining loose ends. I checked the camp grounds twice, including all the big tent sites. Looked ok. I had bet I'd find 5 tent_stakes. Found 3, including one embedded metal rock_stake and one embedded wood stake. Staff House was left more than clean enough; not enough stuff left there to cook brunch for a cockroach. --------------------------------------------------------------- GOT =zev05e\ Now you're stuck with it. ============================================================= "Movin' right along -- " (Shalom Shwartz says that, at Moshav Mevo Modi'in. On a Shlomo Shabos, Shalom Schwartz could make chicken soup for the entire chevre, some of whom hitch_hiked 50 miles for a free meal -- the trick is to arrive just before Shabat, so they can't throw you out -- but "seriously, folks" , as Shalom Schwartz would say -- Moshav Mevo Modi'in welcomes anyone who comes for Shabat, and feeds them -- well, most of the women at Mevo Modi'in cook better than you'll find in almost any restaurante, except maybe the Osteria Centrale in Olivone -- So anyhow, Shlaom Schwartz could make all that chicken soup with only one chicken -- "and the chicken didn't even get wet", as Mike said, when I complimented him on the cuisine at an army base at which we were supposedly volunteers -- chicken ran so fast through the soup it didn't even get wet -- But I digress ------------------------------------------------------- MANAGEMENT STRUCTURE: RECOMMENDATION: Move away from Hieracrchy , toward Synergy. I am told that PVK favored a hierarchic structure. However I have not heard clarification nor confirmation of this point. Clearly he held with spiritual hierarchy, but I don't know if this extended to Administrative hierarchy. From remarks I recall PVK making at the end of a Zenith lecture in 1999, I would say that PVK did originally envision Nirtan as Administrative head of Zenith Workcamp, but agreed that there could be a collective leadership if that was ok with Nirtan. OK, so moving on: Godel's Proof states that in every system, you will have some entailments that are not true, and some true propositions that are not entailed. By analogy: In every structured organization, you will have some needs that are not met by that structure, and also that structure will make some mistakes. The clearest example of this is MicroSoft's Windows system, which is closed_source, in contrast to DOS, which as far as I know as open_source. DOS was anf remains filled with junk -- its original name was QDOS, which stood for 'Quick_and_Dirty Operating System'. But users created a large number of DOS utilities that met these needs. I know of no such shareware for Windows, users can't penetrate MicroSoft's code. So Microsoft programs remain Dinosaurs, unresponsive to evolution. The problem is entrenched by a typical SO fatalism, here manifested as a typically Germanic failure to challenge authority. An Israeli fighter pilot once gave a talk to our group of volunteer dishwashers. He said: When I'm up there, they give me an order, and so, like any good Israeli, the first thing I say is 'Why?'. When I post notes, supposedly telling folks what to do, I always initial them, and I try always to say Why. Here's a parable: When Heaven gave out the brains, all the Israelis pushed to the front of the line, and "in no time at all" they -- the brains, not the Israelis -- were all gone, except for one. The Heavenly Court ruled that the remaining brain would be given to the nationa that gave the best reason why they should receive it. It was awarded to the Germans, who said, "We only need one." So I have seen that here this year. No member of Zenith Staff, especially of Zenith Management, should be irreplaceable. Every administrator shouild have an understudy. Zenith should be structured so that if any administrator is hit by a meteor on Monday, the Camp will resume smooth functioning by Wednesday. Igor is in effect the understudy for Nirtan. When Nirtan was injured at the start of '05 Workcamp, Igor filled the necessary roles not merely competently, but very properly. Understudies for ZR, as overall Director, and for Katerina, as Administrative Secretary, are needed. That means that both should choose and thoroughly train an assistant who could if need be take over on a day's notice. ---------------------------------------------------------------- STAFF HOUSE: RECOMMENDATON: The ground floor of the Staff House should remain available to Workcamp Staff -- but in genereal not to CheeseStaff -- throughout Camp, provided that they respect the need for quiet and neatness of the VIP's. Even if it is seen as a Hotel -- though as such you couldn't charge more than SF 25 a person -- a Hotel Lobby is open to the public. There is no reason to lock the outside doors of the Staff House. The rooms all have locks. (As a matter of fact, the two right middle rooms share the same key.) To lock the doors is a safety hazard, in case of fire. Neither front nor rear door has an emergency release. My personal reaction was to perceive the locked front door as an insult. In that pereception, I was taking on the self_image of a member of the WorkCamp. But since I was not (and never have been) officially on WorkCamp Staff, I deemed it not my place to raise an official objection. It is improper to use one's power for merely personal gain. Workcamp Staff can keep the Staff House running properly. The stove turned on safely, etc. VIP's seem to have shown no appreciation of the Staff House as a resource. When I stay somewhere, I try to leave it in slightly better condition. And of course to clean up after myself. Ok, here's Take 2 on this point. I ain't got time to do an elegant edit: During the CampCamp, which is sort of a footnote to the WorkCamp, the StaffHouse was locked, and only Teachers -- Lotus Staff -- were allowed in. (There were one or two exceptions, which are a credit to Management.) I have raised the question of locking the Staff House with a number of people whom I look up to. None said they favored it, and none challenged it. It is a shame that none challenged it. (Well, I didn't do so either, I just as usual tried a bit of discrete sabotage. "Nobody's perfect.") In short, there needs to be a mechanism for realtime feedack into Zenith decision-making. Pragmatic feedback, feedback that results in changes. Pragmatic feedback, not the sort of 'psychologic bypass' that I suppose you have at those weekly Staff Sharing's, not that I've ever set foot much less tochas in one. -- "the lowing herd winds slowly o'er the llee" [ Thomas Gray, "Elegy from a Country Churchyard" if I recollect rightly -- "The curfew tolls thee, Nell of Parting Day" -- -- no worse poem was ever printed, except oof course for Wordsworth] , -- leaving a maverick or two in the mud (Balachine starts a dance [ "Four Temperaments" if memory serves ] with that image -- when the corps de ballet flutters off stage left, one damcer is revealed lying on the floor, all in white -- tule, or whatever they call that starched cheesecloth.) OK, to put it another way: Every so-called 'Staff Sharing' or Camp 'Support Group' session -- not that I've ever been to any of either -- sh“uld conclude with Recommendations to Management for Improvements in the Camp, and most of those Recommendations should be Implemented. "Cha-cha Cha" (as Carl Shrager would say). If anyone knows anything of Carl Shrager, please tell me. I lost touch with him after we shared a flat in Cambridge in the mid_1970's. The house was relatively inexpensive, perhaps because it was on the verge of collapse -- Shrager said that if you put a marble on the floor, it would never stop rolling -- we painted each wall a different colour We lived under Taj Mahal Taj Mahal is of course a U.S. Negro Folk-singer. ------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------- MEDICAL_ Zenith should have a medical officer at all times. This is ideally a physician -- Dr. Anna Farishta is of course the natural choice, but I do not know if she would be available -- but a Registered Nurse would also be adequate. However, the medical officer shouild have current certification. Katerina can not be assumed to be adequate. The location of keys to the medicine chest should be known by staff, and should be accessible on a moment's notice. There has been a terrible and inexcusable tendency at Zenith to pack off anyone who suffers a spiritual breakdown to an insane asaylum. ZR in particular, but also PVK, share responsibility for this. That is a sort of bourgeois over_reaction that would not occur in most strata of society. Upper_class oddballs are eccentric, lower_class oddballs are louts, neither get locked up. Only the would_be__upwardly_mobile middle class are deemed in needed of mental shrinkage and programming. It is a great sin against the soul of a spiritual aspirant. It is of course one reason why I stayed away from Zenith during years when I was so overwhelmed by a glimpse of the possibilities that seemed open to me, that I could barely function. In short, at times when I was most in need of the supportive spiritual environment offered by Zenith, I did not dare come, for fear of being trucked off to a place where I would be cut off from nature, and might well lose most of my mind and soul. --------------------------------------------------------------- FINANCIAL ACCOUNTABILIY: Zenith must publish, however inconspicuously, annual financial reports, and note that on its Website. The SO USA published such reports in Heart and Wings in the 1970's, and I guess they still publish them. Anyone who gives money to an organization has a right to know where it goes. That includes salaries, immodest as it may be, Stockholders have a right to know what their CEO's are paid. That is a safeguard against corruption. And now that we agreed on that point I would like to discuss an exceptional investment opportunity regarding an option of obtaining controlling interest in an historic single_span suspension bridge featured prominently in the poetry of Mr. Hart Crane, most recently a trans_Atlantic marathon swimmer. ----------------------------------------------------------------- HONEST GEORGE'S RESTORANTE: RECOMMENDATION: Zenith should do everything reasonable to placate Honest George, But recognize that whatever is done is unlkely to gain his lasting good_will, and that he may become an opponent of Zenith when it is no longer in his interest not to. It's my impression that he does have a certain measure of political influence hereabouts. And I reckon political ambition. His lease on the Restorante and rental rooms runs for one year after this year. I do not know if the Vanzetti's plan to renew his lease. Zenith should take responsibllity for seeing that the entire area around the Restorante is kept clean and neat, especially on weekends and when there are special events at the Restorante. That means in particular seeing that trash does not accumulate in the parking lot. That means that the Kitchen Crew must keep the area in front of the kitchen clean. ( They did not do that this year, I did. I do not think you can nor should count on the maintenance crew to do so.) Campra needs at least another two trash bins, and if Vanzetti will not buy or lease them, then Zenith should. That problem was adequately if inelegantly solved this year by parking the old flatbed next to the trashbins, and using it for extra trashbags. There needs to be a PET container for plastic bottles by the trashbins. For that matter, there needs to be a SwissCom telephone box, especially with that SwissCom Email. A set of glass_bottles bins would be nice too. If Honest George does any recycling, he is frightfully modest about it. Especially on weekends, the parking lot should be kept free for Restorante customers. Zenith staff and Campers should park their cars in the parking lot only when necessary. It is my impression that Honest George will cut every corner possible, and that he will do anything to make money except work. And of course set a good table. I expect that he is overcharging for his rooms, mostly by putting multiple clients in a supposedly private room. But I have not confirmed this. His Restorante prices are not high for Switzerland -- in fact they are a bit lower than par. And the quality of food is standard forgettable fare. I do not think Honest George likes me. But maybe he just not like hippies. But maybe I am the only hippie at Zenith. Or maybe it has something to do with the fact that I have still not paid last October's Restoramte bill. If it's about the Bank Transfer that was sent to Banca Raifeissen addressed to 'Honest George's Restorante', I can explain. It would probably not be a good idea to say, 'Hi Honest George, Steve represents the best and finest traditions of Zenith.' Also we should not steal his coffee cups. Except of course for the pair I have sitting on the trash loud_speaker boxes in front of my shack. That ain't theft, it's conceptual art. Bonhomme George runs the rental rooms at Campra, his contract runs for another year. He is pretty much open all year, and certainly in ski season, but takes about 6 weeks off in autumn and spring. He is rarely fully booked. Breakfast is minimalist. Bread and butter and jam. But thus has it always been at Campra. To get a good Economy Hotel breakfast, go to Israel. Excellent breakfasts are also available at the Dan Hotel by the Lake in Lugano (Glatt Kosher), and at that nice new hotel in Warsaw around the corner from the synagogue. But perhaps this is a bit far to travel, especially if you have a morning class at Zenith. I have finally seen what coffee George is serving. Moretto, which I have not seen sold in stores. With a cartoon of a smiling darkie on the package. Class that ain't. There is no Autobus service from Olivone to Campa 16 Oct -- 15 June. Maybe Honest George offers shuttle service, but I think not to hoi polloi. The gorilla, sir, is your true aristocrat. He continues to list prices as follows: rooms with wc/shower (the upstairs rooms above the garage, fine if no idiot is drumming indoors and you don't need a spare set of kneecaps) are CHF 70 single; that's a bit high for the boondocks. However, if you've got a lover at hand, the price is CHF 110, which is about as cheap as you can get in Switzerland. "Camera con seriva al piano" are listed at CHF 35 for 1 person, no mention of 2 persons. Normally that would mean, a private room, with a potty off the hallway, and is a low price. But I think George has put bunk beds into the room, and so intends to pack inas many strangers as he can. In which case it should really be classed as a dormitory. These are the rooms above the Restorante, so maybe you are locked in until the Restorante opens around 08:00. But also maybe not. As I recall, there are also 2 or 3 small rooms upstairs, these are a bit small (when you take off your shoes, you should place them end_to_end) with a view of practically nothing. Dormitory is listed at CHF 25, but I think the Vanzett's are running all the dormitories. Pension is available for CHF 15 for either lunch or dinner , I assume that's table d'hote. With luck they won't be serving the dead horse that day. Otherwise order minestrone and upend the bowl of grated cheese into it. Ludmilla's parents run (and own) the Hotel Arcobaleno at the top of Olivone. Their usual rate is CHF 55 for a single, and I think twice that for a double, incluidng a good breakfast in a nice sunny room. Meals are above par, though not on the level of the Osteria Centrale. There is also a sauna/hydromassage at the Arcobaleno, though I've not yet tried it. All rooms have satellite TV, or maybe it's Cable, and commercials of a certain sort are shown after midnight. For obscenity, try CNN. As Lenny Bruce would say. They are closed Tuwsdays. Osteria Centrale has singles for CHF 50. Closed Wednesdays, so you can't stay there Tuesday night either. I've not yet stayed there. Hotel San Martino has nice large rooms, wihout bath, for about CHF 65 as I recall. They practically lock you in untill 08:00, although of course I sneak out the emergency exit to see the sunrise. Breakfast is ok, if you detour around the instant cheese with ham_sprinkles. ---------------------------------------------------------------- CANDLES MUST BE PROHIBITED IN ROOMS: First time I checked the Staff House, the Sunday when everyone had supposedly left, I found a mattress with a burnt area hollowed out of it. I suppose somoene had put a candle on it, and the foam caught fire. That is extremely dangerous. First of all, that foam is very hard to extinguish when it catches on fire. Much worse, when it burns it produces a toxic gas that can kill a person. We had such a fire in one of the volunteer shacks at Kibbutz HaOn, 1998 I think, the young woman who was asleep there was nearly asphixiated. Of course, those foam mattresses should be prohibited. ------------------------------------------------------------------ CORRUPTION OF POWER: Apart from the question of salaries -- which does need investigation -- staff members should not abuse positions of power for personal gain. Some don't, some do. More subtly, this applies to imposing one's -- lifestyle -- preferences on the way the Camp, especially the WorkCamp, is run. In general, it is a matter of exceeding one's delegated responsibility. Nirtan is Construction boss, in charge of building up and taking down the camp. Katerina is Administrative Secretary. Neither has been delegated authority to impose an attunement on the Camp. It is no doubt tidier, and fits a certain (petit_bourgeois) aesthtic, to send away staff members as soon as their work is no longer needed (to take an example from ancient history), and to close extra showers and toilets to staff (to take an example from '05). But neither is necessary to achieve the objectives of the Camp. When Management imposes arbitrary rules, it breaks the spirit of individuals and the morale and espirt of the WorkCamp (and of the Camp as a whole) and so loses the respect of the staff (and Campers) and so creates a situation in which staff and Campers break rules. Personally, I passed that threshhold by Week 2 of '05. I now coutenance the breaking of many rules by Staff and to some extent by Campers. I try to not break rules for personal gain if I am empowered to do so, as_is_is_said "but to live outside the law you must be honest". Of course if I am not empowered to do so, then it is fair game. ----------------------------------------------------------------- WORKERS' WAGES: WorkCamp Staff wages, at least a guaranteed minimum wage ( I don't mean the Swiss legal minimum wage ) should be set when staff are hired, and should be paid as earned. This should be priority payment, even if management has to go play flutes on the streets of Lugano, and even if teaching staff has to go earn an honest living selling herring. That means that all WorkCamp staff should be paid on a monthly basis. In addition to wages, all workcamp Staff should have guaranteed transportation home or to wherever they are going(within reason, we ain't talking New Zeland, Mate), by cheapest safe means. ---------------------------------------------------------------- REGISTRATION: The registration form should include Auto license, and should also include Website. Registration form input should be in Spreadsheet. MicroSoft Excel I suppose, I hear that it superceded Lotus 1-2-3. That way owners of improperly parked vehicles can be immediately identified. As for Website -- for some of us, this is the primary way that we offer the world whatever we have to offer. One may hesitate to give out one's Email, for fear of unwanted junkmail, but ones does not hesitate to give out one's website; quite the contrary, one wants to do so. Folks waiting to register should take a bakery number, be told that registration takes a minimum of about 10 minztes per person, and referred to Honest George's Cappucino. Folks who miss their number should go to the head of queue, if that does not shatter the Weltanschauung of too many waiting Germans. There is no need for those slave bracelets, and never has been. I mean, the Zenith cuisine ain't that great. Most folks would not travel a thousand klicks for a week of free Zenith food. As for taking spiritual classes without paying whatever one can afford -- well, that's like stealing a Bible -- you can do it, but you only get 9 commandments. So Hatzkala says to me, you can't take software without paying for it -- that's stealing -- it's one of the 10 Commandments. So I says back , "But there's still 9 left." ----------------------------------------------------------------- CARS PARKED WHERE THEY SHOULDN'T BE: I don't think this has been a major problem since the first few years at Campra. Cars continually park on the exit lanes from the Strada Romana, opposite the road to the Camp, but only once that I know of did they block it completely, that was maybe 10 years ago. Though it did then freak out the natives. Very few dudes and dudesses drive up onto the Camp grounds, except for a few of the holier retreat guides. Eg Munir, he should only buy a lightweight aqualung or give up smoking. So you can either write this off as a problem, or deal with it strictly. If the latter, then: Auto owners should pay a SF 100 deposit, from which fines for illegal parking can be deducted. Auto owners should also pay a SF 100 surcharge for driving those ugly smelly overweight rolling greenhouse gas_makers, when a perfectly good system of public transportation exists. Autos should be parked in "dead storage" so they can not be used until the Camper leaves. That was done at least once at the Abode Camp, under Gedalya Persky, a relative of Shimon Peres the Vulture and of Lauren Bacall, who had class. Driving onto the Campsite should be only for bona fide need -- for handicaped and injured persons, for young children, and when necessary to transport goods. It should not be a privilege of rank. Munir has no need to take his car to the edge of the retreat area, he should stop smoking and walk. Shucks, he should be required to hike three mountain passes for every week he teaches. Retroactive. A shuttle-van should be run only for people who are unable to walk. The white van is inadequate for a shuttle van, you should hire Samuel to drive his mini_bus. That white van is likely the reason flu has been going around the camp. Its a sure way to spread respiratory_transmitted diseases. A proper medical officer should have seen that and stopped it. ------------------------------------------------------------------ BOOKSHOP: The Bookshop stock needs to be augumented. I have tried to convice ZR of this since about '90, with very little success. I once asked Agnieska, do you think my suggestions are counter_productive. She said, Oh, not always. A Zenith Camp Director cannot afford an anti_intellectual attitude. This is not a matter of college degrees, as_it_is_said (Playboy Magazine, 1980's if memory serves:): 'B.S.' -- B.S. M.S. -- More of the Same. Ph.d -- Piled Higher and Deeper.' I was glad to see that Art Waskow's 'Seasons of our Joy' was stocked, until it it ran out. I continue to recommend this book as a general introduction to Judaism, especially for non_Jews. I once asked Ben_Zion Solomon to recommend R. Shlomo material, and he recommended his own cassette (now a CD, I'm sure) Nachmu, Nachmu Ami. I've listened to it, and would agree. It is also topical, since Tesha b'Av falls during Zenith Camp. This is available from, and most likely only from, Ben_Zion Solomon, Moshav Mevo Modi'in, 73122 Israel, benzion@netvision.net.il Larry Ksuhner's 'Book of Letters' is beautiful Hebrew calligraphy, and a nice general introduction to Juaism. Jewish Lights Publishing, Woodstock, Vermont. Recently retailed at the Jewish bookshop in Zurich by Bahnhof Engel for CHF 58.50 . Larry Kushner notes that readers have used this book as "An introductoin to learning Hebrew, a meditation guide, and studying the lettters as rubrics of Jewish spirituality." I don't know what rubrics is, but the rubes should sure find this book useful. I have. Hardcover only, as far as I know. The Whole Jewish Catalog -- the first one, with the red cover -- came out of Haverat Shalom ( 113 College Ave., Somerville, Massachusetts -- a stop or two on the new subway extention from Harvard Square ). It is a New Age, or more precisely Haverat, introduction to Judaism, but thorough and detailed. Invaluable for anyone starting to practice Judaism. This is rainbow, at the opposite pole from the black_and_white legalistic attunement that has come to dominate the baal tchuva ("back to religion") movement. A Metsudah siddur -- the Shabat edition is ok, paperback is ok. If I were to teach a class om Judaism at Zenith Camp, especially for serious students of spirituality rather than spiritual tourists, it is the Siddur that I would teach, albeit from an eclectic perspective. I would however prefer to co_teach a class on similarities between Judaism and Islam, with Shevki. Optimally with a Christian perspective added, from Samuel Gessler. An Interlinear Chumash Bereshit (Genesis). Recently priced at CHF 32.50 from the Jewish Bookshop across from Bahnhof Engel in Zurich. Hardcover only, as far as I know. Feldheim Publishers, Jerusalem/New York. I have just received, but scarcely begun to peruse, 'The Mystical Power of Music' by Avraham Arieh Trugman, Targum Press, Distributed by Feldheim Publishers, www.feldheim.com This will be from a strictly orthodox perspective, albeit from a USA hippie/mystic background. I would assume that it's worth stocking. Of course Sarah Nechama Podborny's books are great -- I have previously recommend them, to no avail. Published in Jerusalem. They should be listed in one of the Israel Websotes. eg www.isrealvisit.com or www.virtualjerusalem.com amd should surely be available from Pomeranz Booksellers, pomeranz@netmedia.net.il , Shmuel HaNagid 4 , Jerusalem 94592, Israel. There ought to be someting by Reb Nachman -- R. Zalman once did a lovely version of his Tale of the 7 Beggars -- so that too, but I mean, of Reb Nachman's teachings. There are any number of short paperback selections from the teachings of Reb Nachman -- that should be available from Pomeranz Booksellers, and maybe also the shop across from Bahnhoff Engel in Zurich -- which incidentally would be the best and darned near only source for any Judaica in German. As I have repeatedly said, in the literature of practical mysticism, Reb Nachman is I guess unmatched for his detailed and helpful discussion of the 'spiritual fall'. Which incidentally is what R.D. Laing is speaking of when he decries the hospitalization of mystics manquees. Maybe St. John of the Cross is good too, if so, ZenŚth should stock him too, as_it_is_said (by Jefferson Airplane), "and if you go chasing rabbits -- and you know you're bound to fall". Well, Ben_Zion Solomon at Moshav Mewvo Modi'in, 73122 Israel, would be the bet person to recommend books by and about the teachings of Reb Nachman. bsolomon@netevision.net.il I would also recommend the Buber/Rosensweig German translation of the Bible, if it is in print. The bookshop should also stock a King James Bible -- the so_called 'Authorized' edition -- unless Samuel Gessler has a better recommendation. The Gideon Society New Testament seems to me ok, and would probably be available very cheap. While I was on the beach at Rodos I would occasionally find a JW's Watchtower Booklet, and found it quite refreshing. And beutifully illustrated, with real spiritual taste. Those are presumably available free from the WatchTower Society in Brooklyn, New York. They have solid religious values, quite in keeping with the values of the SO. OK ok, so they look forward to an Apocalypse, and intentionally if ineptly violate the Jewish taboo against articulating the Divine NAME -- (Robert Graves makes a much better start at that in 'The White Goddess' , which seems to be quite a great book, and which I would certainly recommend). -- but -- "nobody's perfect". I have looked at the Catholic edition -- the New Jerusalem Bible, Readers Edition -- and found it impossibly colloquial; all the poetry falls out. There should of course also be a Koran available. I have no idea what edition to recommend. I had picked up a Penguin edition, which to me looked responsible. As for American Indian texts -- well, Frank Walters' books are good -- 'The Man who killed the Deer'. And of course there is 'Black Elk Speaks' -- I don't think I ever read it -- and 'The Book of the Hopi'. There should of course be a full line of Sacred Spirit tapes and CD's. That's Mikhel Horowitz, at the Abode. One copy of each item for sale, especially books and music, should be set aside as "Demo Copy", and not sold. Thus the Bookstore doubles as a Reading Library. There should be a few Walkman/Discman's for listening to tapes/CD's, with earphones. And the Bookshop must keep all products in stock, re_ordering as necessary. Re_order info must also be available in the bookstore for customers to use. Even though that may reveal excessive markups. I mean, we ain't selling herring; books is an essential resource and public service to the spiritual community. One cannot give the last copy of anything away to the first turkey to push to the front of the queue. The Bookshop should be moved down to Campra, probably to the orange caravan -- or better, to the living room of the Staff House. Aziz thinks this might cut down on sales, since many people would not want to walk down that far. If so, sell them herring, they likely won't know the difference, especially if you put chocolate sauce on it. -------------------------------------------------------------- CAMP KIOSK: At Camp, there should be a kiosk selling sundires: flashlights, batteries (for flashlight and walkman), hygiene supplies, rain ponchos, et. al. And some snackfood, maybe for a worthy cause. "Comfort food" they call it in BushieVille. Campra needs a Coca-Cola vending machine. Also a Swisscom phone booth, with the Swisscom Email terminal. And a hamburger stand. (Not Kebab, there is a Swiss Kebab Monopoly that sells shredded cardboard with too much pepper added. ------------------------------------------------------------------ SUPPORT FOR PERSONAL TENTS: There should be at least one Staff Member who functions as a personal tents master. That means, who helps Customers and Staff when needed put up their personal tents, deal with weather disasters, and stay warm and dry. That involves knowing how to put up those pop_top tents, knowing how to find a somewhat level place, ensuring that no-one digs up the ground to improve their tent place. It also involves knowing how to keep a tent, and one's gear, warm and dry. There are little tricks, like putting cardboard boxes on the floor for insulation, and putting one's packs in 110 liter garbage bags to keep them dry in case of rain. And ways to make a water_run_off ditch with a stick, so that the ground is not noticeably dug up. ---------------------------------------------------------------- TAPE COPYING: N.B.: ZR remarked that starting in '06, tapes will not be used. So I assume this is direct recording onto a laptop -- Katerina has a program that does that -- GOLDWAVE , and COOL96 -- I've been used AUDACITY from www.sourceforge.net -- FreeWare -- I haven't tried the other programs yet Then one sells the Rubes the entire week on a DVD -- rather than selling them a single class, more or less, on a cassette -- You can just about put a week of a single teacher on a DVD in MP3 format -- if you go to Ogg Vorbis, you save about 1/3 -- it's about 35 Mb for 45 minutes in MP3, and about 25 Mb in Ogg Vorbis. Compared to about 350 Mb in WAV or Audacity. Katrina was using her Laptop to record Shabhabudin in Frankfurt in October '04, until some of the Germans found the hum of the laptop distracting -- though I doubt that even a hailstorm could distract from Shahabudin's teachings -- -- and then there's the story of the Germann town that banned tennis during the Sumday Lunch time, because some of the burgers found that "Plop ..... Plop ..." just too noisy -- So OK: In '05 El Cheapo tapes were used for both Master's and Customer Copies ("Rubies", ie, what you sell to the Rube's. Rube, from Latin, a country yokel who don't know nothing and will buy anything. USA 1900's circus slang, as in "Hey, Rube!".) I say -- use namebrand Type II for Master, and namebrand Type I for Copies. TDK is ok. InterDiscount, in Bellinzona, sells namebrand at low prices, buying remainders I suppose. InterDiscount is a nationwide chain, and reliable. Aziz says: use namebrand Type II for Masters, but El Cheapo are ok for customer copies, since the customers usually play them only once. (Aziz implied that type II should be used, you can confirm that with him. ) I expect that if you buy in bulk, via one of the Discount chains - - Interdiscount, or Fust, or whatever -- thhat the price of namebrank Type I's is much less than it was in the early yearas of Zenith, when ZR started buying El Cheapo's for the Rubies. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Elite Housing: The Chalet has a telephone connection to the Zenith phone line, so with ADSL added it would make a good office. A lot better than Vanzetti's goldfish bowl. The StaffHouse luxury suites overlooking the cement cesspool , two rooms with a paper-thin wall and a shared toilet shower, should be reserved for special needs folks -- anyone who can't without discomfort walk downstairs to a toilet, I suppose. As for the yellow container -- oh, turn it into a solarium. Otherwise let Old Igor stay there with his Teenie Bride. --------------------------------------------------------------- Management must be careful not to 'dis the Workers. 'dis is USA-Afro slang for 'show disrespect to' It it any act such that, if you do it in Manhattan, you should try to keep the knife in place until the paramedics take it out. That means, show genuine respect for the Workers in all contexts, even when it makes for a less efficient organization. Otherwise its like that fashionable modern architecture which looks great as a model, but is almost unbearable to dwell in -- all concrete plazas and potted palms in the summer sun. Obviously Zenith is built as much on the inner as on the outer level. ------------------------------------------------------------------ WITCHCRAFT: Justin Case used to say: "There has never been a fight at New Buffalo, so don't be the first one to get hit." One should expect that a spiritual community will attract a few half_assed__black_magicians. I recall a photo of Sufi Sam Lewis, with a caption that he was practicing 'The Glance'. Well, that may be what traditional Judaism -- and Islam, and even the blue_bellied phlegmatic English -- calls 'The evil eye'. I once punched a chap in the face for doing that. It seemed like a reasonable reaction at the time. But then, I may be the only non_staff member of Zenith to have been fired twice for guarding the gate. --------------------------------------------------------------- GUARDING THE GATE: I rather doubt that this has been necessary for the past 15 years or so. Every year a few of Munir's cherubim sneak through in off hours to unload and reload their sins, but most Campers know better. ----------------------------------------------------------------- It was good to see some organized hikes in free time during this year's work camp. Samuel Gessler, who should be hired as a senior staff member, is a very good and reliable hike leader. ------------------------------------------------------------------ =============================================================== OK, This doc is just about full -- just 1K left -- so I'll cut it here and continue as =zev056*. ---------------------------------------------------------------- ================================================================ sa, Campra, 9 Oct '05 -- 6 Tishrei -- 6 Ramadan L_shana t_ktav_nu -- May we all be inscribed for a good year. Today was a brigh sunny day, with fresh snow on the glacier. Gets close to zero Centigrade during the night, with the Milky Way bright and clear, T_shirt weather at mid_day. Respects and best wishes to all. / sa ===============================================================