Tag Archives: Burma

Bamboo on the Internet for September, 2014 – my picks

With bamboo shoot season getting closer in the southern hemisphere, here is a timely reminder to seek out new bamboo shoot recipes. The original caption tells us that this dish hails from the north eastern states of India. The recipe for this bamboo shoot stir is here.

Who could resist a black burger? Images of the Japanese Burger King wonders were all over the Internet this month. Black buns, black cheese, black ketchup. Its here because the black buns are bamboo charcoal bread.

Bamboo bicycles are becoming more popular. I haven’t posted any here before because of their apparent ubiquity, but the DIY version looks really interesting.

This was one of the bamboo sculptures at the Brisbane Festival this year: Brisbane Airport Light Garden, a collaboration between Tony Assness and Cave Urban. Cave Urban are now calling for expressions of interest to volunteer for the 2014/2015 Woodford Folk Festival project, “Woven Cloud”. Details, and more stunning images, are on their website. Last years project, a bamboo tunnel, was featured here.

BOO! is a show by French trapeze artists, CirkVOSTA using a 15 metre high mobile bamboo structure. Click here for a short but mesmerizing YouTube clip of a practice session. Or watch the longer 5 minute vid of the show. Read more here.

Popularity can be problematic. In Burma’s northern Shan State, the forests are disappearing. Villagers seek out bamboo shoots to smoke-dry and sell to Chinese traders. The pressures on the environment are two-fold: the foragers are taking potentially unsustainable numbers of bamboo shoots and, huge amounts of timber are needed to feed the smokehouse fires. Full story and video clip here.

Bamboo memory foam pillows. They’re new to me. The claims are marvellous: life span of 10 years; dust mite resistant; hypoallergenic; anti-microbial; and, machine washable.

Bamboo on the Internet for November – my picks

bamboo

Bali mansion

For bamboo buildings on a grand scale, Bali is already famous for the Green School. Near the Green School is Green Village. The photo here is one example of the hand-constructed homes built of bamboo with outstanding attention to detail. Follow the link for some breathtaking photos on the Green Village website.

Jamaica is looking to resuscitate the bamboo industry. With approximately 106,000 acres of bamboo, Jamaica is one of 38 countries with commercially viable stocks of bamboo that are members of the International Network for Bamboo and Rattan (INBAR). The INBAR website is a good source of information for anyone with more than a passing interest in bamboo.

If you find yourself in Jamaica, you might enjoy a river trip on a bamboo raft.

A bridge for the people – not their elected representatives

The residents of remote village in Bihar, India, have built their own makeshift bamboo bridge after waiting since 1985 for the government to build a concrete bridge for them. Elected members are barred from using the bridge.

Most bamboo flowers and seeds rarely. In the south of Burma, the unusual event is being blamed for expected food shortages. Villagers say that when bamboo flowers and produces seed it attracts swarms of rats. The sudden proliferation of food causes the rats to multiply rapidly. When the bamboo seeds are depleted, the rats then consume the villagers’ rice crops.

Bamboo broom

As autumn approaches in the northern hemisphere, Weather Girl laments the ubiquitous leaf blower and expounds the virtues of the humble bamboo rake, and ex-pat Chris has visions of Harry Potter when he uses his bamboo broom in Tokyo.
Bamboo toothbrushes: environmentally friendly oral hygiene wrapped in feel-good social entrepreneurship – except for the nylon bristles. What I’d like is bamboo toothbrush with natural bristles.

Bamboo coffins: A local NGO in Mizoram, India, which helps in coordinating social functions and conducting funerals for poor families, have been providing free bamboo coffins to those who cannot afford the wooden ones.