Posts by — spy_vondega

Jewel Kilcher - prefers Bravo to Discovery

Raised off the grid in Alaska, singer Jewel Kilcher,  known professionally as Jewel, has sold tens of millions of records.  The multi-platinum-selling singer and songwriter also co-hosts a successful TV series.  But she is having nothing to do with her family’s latest venture – a low-budget reality show following their off-grid lives.

Her father and siblings are cashing in on her fame by allowing cameras from Discovery TV to follow them as they endure winter off the grid in Alaska. Jewel has not confirmed she is feeling betrayed by their decision to go for the series without her.  She says the roots of the family are more adventuring than ecological:  “”As a kid, we traveled by bush planes to Alaskan native villages. It would drop us off in the night, and dog sleds would pick us up in the village. I was probably about 6 or 7 years old.”

The simply titled, “Alaska: The Last Frontier,” is just the latest in the ever-expanding list of reality TV shows set in Alaska. (more…)

New Zealand web site Oily Rag is a swap shop of money saving tips for everyday household items. Here are a few examples.

*One very handy easily remembered recipe for a lovely shortbread — say 3, 6, 9. I can only do ounces — 3 sugar, 6 butter and 9 flour! Make as usual. – Ann of Whakatane.

*My house is always looking for mouthwash, and a cheap, easy way to make some is to simply put half a teaspoon of baking soda in with a small glass of water, gargle as normal. Also, for a set of sparkling pearly whites, brush teeth with toothpaste as normal, then brush again, this time baking soda sprinkled on your toothbrush. Over two weeks your teeth will whiten, and save you an expensive trip to the dentist! (more…)

Angelina and Brad at Fallingwater in 2006

Five years ago Angelina Jolie gave Brad Pitt a visit to architectural marvel Fallingwater as his birthday present. The stunning Frank Lloyd Wright designed house is built right on top of a waterfall in Western PA.

This December 18th,  she went one better – with the present of a waterfall of his own, plus the land surrounding it – so Brad can build his own version of the Wright home – but unlike the 1934 original, this one could be powered entirely from the waterfall beneath it.

“He’s so hard to buy for,” Jolie had told Fallingwater’s staff members during their previous visit to Wright’s masterwork.

“Brad said he had wanted to experience Fallingwater ever since he took an architectural history course in college,” (more…)

Its really easy to upload video to this site, and we need your help building a global portrait of off-grid living. Please send us your Christmas off-grid family snaps or phone-videos.

PLEASE send us any video footage, whether its shot on a phone or a camcorder or a film camera.  Its really easy,so there will be no hassle with snail-mailing a DVD or fiddling with YouSendIt.  We have our own uploader that sends the footage to our YouTube channel.

Whatever next?

He sold his life on eBay and travelled the world – now Ian Usher has bought his own Caribbean island.

Situated just off the coast of Bocas del Toro, in north-west Panama, Mr Usher’s private tropical getaway has no name and is undeveloped.

The 47-year-old, who hit the headlines in 2008 when he sold his Australian home, car, job and friends as a package on internet auction site eBay after splitting from his wife, bought the 2.2-acre island from an anonymous British ex-pat for an undisclosed sum.

It was purchased by Darlington- born Mr Usher for less than $50,000 (£30,000). (more…)

Multi-millionaire TV presenter Jeremy Clarkson has said that anyone living off the grid is likely to have a better life than his own.

In a recent newspaper column he describes his move to an unfurnished flat in Central London and says that someone living in a barn and feeding off “what you could find in a hedge” would be better off than him.

In his column, Top Gear presenter Clarkson, 50, reveals  he has been thinking of doing without the modern conveniences of living.  “In recent times, I have become so fed up with everything I own that I started to think seriously about what life would be like without any of it,” he said. (more…)

You won't find this on facebook

There’s close-ups of fireplaces, flowers and flooring. There’s design ideas, tech ideas, interior color co-ordination and bottle-reinforced walls. Oh, and did I say, there’s Earthships…galore? (more…)

The prestigious TED lectures invited Mark Boyle, The Moneyless Man, to their Oporto summit last week. His lifestyle practices the teachings of the Gift Economy – the idea that if each of us gave unconditionally – without expecting anything back in return, then the world could function just as it does at the moment, but without banks, mortgages or exploitation. (more…)

…but he isn’t.  He actually lives in an extremely on the grid ranch in McLennan County. But the crazed quote machine has now declared himself the “Czar of Off-Grid.”

He loves to go hunting (nothing wrong with that) and apparently he is quite a sweet guy when you get to know him. Nugent has trained one-on-one, through the years, with assorted troops, law-enforcement personnel, Navy Seals, U.S. Marshals and more. His eye for the controversial statement appeals to us. Like this one to Fox: (more…)