The Blow Up (Bang)

Nothing Like Summer

2008-07-16T23:19:00.003-04:00

FALSE GOLD

2008-07-16T18:10:00.006-04:00

Afro-Beat? Check. Lyrics sung in Hebrew? Check. More percussion than you know what do with? Check. Pure fun? Absolute check.

Fool's Gold, (featuring members of Foreign Born) the self-claimed "best Hebrew soul band in all of greater Echo Park," are probably, I'm willing to bet, the best Hebrew soul band in all of Los Angeles. Maybe even greater California? Maybe the Western Sea Board? Maybe the United States? You get the idea.

Having just self-released a two-song promo of sorts, I'm sure we'll be hearing much more from them. In the meantime, for you fellow Los Angelians out there, go see them at the Getty Center this Saturday. It's free! Or if you can't catch them then, then later this month at The Echo.

Back to Nature ... Sort of

2008-07-16T17:36:00.004-04:00

It's been a while since I wrote anything. Got in the habit of just posting pics, and well, that was never the point. But today, I bring you this. Got the nod from fellow Blow-Upper SKR. And so for those of you who simply like beautiful things, I need not say more. And for those of who might feel guilty for their technological fetishes or those who seem to ask themselves over and over again, "do I really need this?"

Anyways, a beautiful solution. Forest as slipcase. Well, sort of. Granted, the money you saved on the 3G upgrade will be put right back into this puppy, but hell, you can etch whatever the hell you want into the back! Or give it to a school kid, or your child, let them go to work!

* BTW, iPhone required.

FOR YOUR PAWS

2008-07-15T01:39:00.005-04:00

GENERIC MAN SPORT LO-TOP

1.21 GIGAWATTS

Royal Robbins River Crusher Hat

2008-07-10T14:19:00.004-04:00

Get Your Drink On

2008-07-09T14:22:00.000-04:00

Bruce Conner R.I.P.

2008-07-08T03:04:00.002-04:00

Mews House

2008-07-05T14:31:00.004-04:00

A modern house in a centuries old carriage way in Edinburgh, Scotland. That wood paneling reminds me of old castle entrances.

from materialicio.us

Richard Murphy Architects

All Summer In A Day

2008-07-02T15:27:00.002-04:00

Based on the Ray Bradbury story

Yrjo Kukkapuro Atelje Sofa & Lounge

2008-06-28T02:22:00.001-04:00

1970's

New Scott Olson Show

2008-06-26T10:47:00.009-04:00

Opens at Overduin and Kite. 6-8 p.m. June 29.

Antique Abercrombie & Fitch Rhino Foot Stool

2008-06-26T10:32:00.007-04:00

Made by Omersa in the early 1930's.

There are great hippo foot stools and kangaroo magazine racks also.

Sale at Maxfield

2008-06-12T13:39:00.009-04:00

Sale at Maxfield lasts the rest of the week.

Among labels marked down:

Dior Homme, Rick Owens, Prada, Carol Christian Poell, Hermes, Yohji Yamamoto, Number (N)ine, Carpe Diem, Raf Simons, Dolce & Gabbana

The sale is private so call (310) 274-8800 to set up an appointment.

*picture found on flickr

Pietra Dura Wall Hanging

2008-06-05T12:18:00.002-04:00

Inlaid Marble

Jamaica Farewell

2008-05-15T02:20:00.004-04:00

Harry Belafonte - Jamaica Farewell

Mugshots

2008-05-14T06:09:00.006-04:00

These are from Mark Michaelson's book LEAST WANTED

Ocotillo

2008-05-13T01:53:00.008-04:00

Ocotillo look like dead spiny twigs for much of the year. When the rain comes though, it sprouts gorgeous leaflets and bloom in spring. I saw them at Blackman Cruz and they look like a dream outside climbing up the walls.

Bernard Rudofsky

2008-05-12T02:52:00.011-04:00

Great show at the Getty and pick up his inspirational and essential book Architecture Without Architects

Motorcycle Running Light

2008-05-10T12:33:00.005-04:00

Here

magnetic curtain

2008-05-08T18:20:00.005-04:00

Exciting new project from swiss designer Florian Krautli.
Soon available from Droog Design.

18th Century French Safe

2008-05-08T02:13:00.002-04:00

Italian 1960's Floorlight

2008-05-07T00:06:00.003-04:00

Price was right but it was too difficult to transport.

Brass Handles

2008-05-06T00:26:00.002-04:00

Drop-dead gorgeous door handles on this Ford.

Rick Owens Glove Jacket

2008-05-05T01:04:00.002-04:00

lamb leather

Bianca Runge

2008-05-03T01:34:00.003-04:00

Colonial American Spurs

2008-05-02T03:53:00.004-04:00

1820-1845
Silver Inlaid.

lost out on these.

Nice Leather Sofa

2008-05-01T03:11:00.005-04:00

1970s by Alberto Rosselli.

Jackfruit "Carnitas" Tacos

2008-05-01T01:14:00.013-04:00

After Andrew introduced me to the amazing Jackfruit Tacos at Pure Luck Restaurant, I was determined to figure out how to make them on my own. Luckily, Patty at Pure Luck was so nice that she gave me some tips to get me on my way.

This is what I came up with and I've been using it pretty regularly. It's pretty handy since they can be made in bulk and it's pretty light on the stomach. It takes about an hour and a half and you'll need a crockpot.

Jackfruit is commonly found in Southeast Asian markets and Indian markets. Make sure you get young Jackfruit in water or brine. If the jackfruit is too ripe or its canned in syrup, it becomes sweet and harder to season.

Ingredients:
Jackfruit, grown or canned in water. (I use Fortuna)
better-Than Bouillion, Vegetable Base
1/2 onion, chopped
1/2 onion, diced
Garlic clove, crushed
Soy Sauce
Coca-Cola
Corn Tortillas
Green salsa
Cilantro, chopped

Instructions:
1. In the crockpot, add 2 cups of water and 2 cups of Coca-cola to the 1 can of jackfruit.

2. Now add 1/2 chopped onion, 1 crushed garlic clove.

3. Bring to a boil, then lower to a simmer.

4. Now add 2 tbsp, better-than bouillon, vegetable base and 1/2 cup of soy sauce.

5. Let it simmer for an hour, stir occasionally.

6. Spoon out the jackfruit and put it on some corn tortillas.

7. Top the tacos with some chopped cilantro, some diced onions and some green salsa and squeeze a little lime on top.

8. Enjoy!

Cafe Lumiere

2008-04-26T21:44:00.028-04:00

Hou Hsiao-Hsien's great movie CAFE LUMIERE plays tomorrow April 27 7p.m. at Cinefamily.

Commissioned for the Shochiku studio in honor of the centenary of house filmmaker Yasujiro Ozu, it is contemplative, calm, quietly evocative and ironically even more beautiful than the late works of the devotee Ozu. The protagonist is an independent-minded freelance writer in Tokyo and the movie observes the ebb and flow of a few days of her life.

I've seen it 3 times and the low-key reality created by the movie is hard to shake. There's so much to look at, "read" and casually puzzle over that it felt very different each time too.

Paul McCartney

2008-04-24T22:47:00.002-04:00

Hou Hsiao-Hsien

2008-04-23T16:54:00.028-04:00

Went to go see Hou Hsiao-Hsien’s newest film FLIGHT OF THE RED BALLOON yesterday. It was pretty great. The loose plot revolves around 3 characters in modern day Paris: a professional puppeteer, an aspiring filmmaker and a young boy who occasionally sees a red balloon.

If you’re a newcomer to director Hou Hsiao-Hsien’s work or have been put off previously by his unortohdox style, FLIGHT OF THE RED BALLOON may be a good place to start. He most resembles a grittier late-Yasujiro Ozu with equal the chops though Hou's worldview is more hopeful and based on current day life. By selectively showing the complex details that shapes people’s lives through distanced and elliptical storytelling, he creates a charged atmosphere that makes one reflect deep thinking about your own. Sometimes even profoundly prescient thinking. His more recent films are so quietly vivid and incisive about people and the historical context of modern living they can even hurt. This one is a commissioned work for the Musee d’Orsay so there's a bit more melodrama and some lip service paid to pie-eyed idealism (all shown in the trailer) but the overall effect is the same.

1970's Italian Lamp

2008-04-15T20:02:00.002-04:00

I REALLY like this lamp.

Mammillaria family

2008-04-11T19:35:00.011-04:00

from Mexico

1. Mammillaria Senilis blooming.
2. 6' Mammillaria Spinosissima var. Polyacantha, AKA Red-Headed Irishman, hanging upside down. They naturally hang off cliffsides.

Good t-shirt

2008-04-11T19:21:00.007-04:00

from Textfield

Band Of Outsiders Made-To-Measure

2008-04-10T03:15:00.015-04:00

Tailor Martin Greenfield and designer Scott Sternberg of clothing label Band Of Outsiders will be at Barney's in Los Angeles April 17 offering a Made-To-Measure service so you can drop by and say hello and possibly get sized up for an awesome custom-made suit.

Elon Musk

2008-04-10T00:30:00.012-04:00

* Along the same vein, if you're on the prowl for a medium-priced car, the VW Jetta TDI currently seems to be a great option. ~$20,000. 40-50mpg. It actually becomes more fuel-efficient after vegetable oil conversion so you can be buying something cheaper and more eco-friendly than the Toyota Prius.

Tokyo Subway Map

2008-04-09T01:42:00.010-04:00

I really like this one but bonus points if you can find the map from the early 90's.

Fish Tank

2008-04-08T21:49:00.003-04:00

Lost out on this one.

Chalkware composite and glass.
England 1940s.

2008-04-06T20:30:00.007-04:00

beautifully knit organs from sarah illenberger.

Martin's Margins Spectacles

2008-04-02T08:10:00.004-04:00

18th century

Bid Here

Progress Report

2008-03-29T21:37:00.003-04:00

Granted, there are a million other ways to do such a thing. A diary. A slip of paper. But Time Machiner seems to add a sense of mystery to it all. Like you can literally sneak up on your own self somewhere in the future. And for a single moment, you just might be able to become "two."

Miscellaneous

2008-03-29T20:12:00.010-04:00

1. Sweet Singapore Air Concorde

2. Angelo Mangiarotti "Saffo" for Artemide 1967. Blown glass.

3. Sammy Pruett with his Gibson.

Satantango

2008-03-21T16:53:00.023-04:00

SATANTANGO, Bela Tarr, Laszlo Krasznahorkai & Agnes Hranitzky's mega-movie, is playing at LACMA tomorrow Saturday 3/22/08 at 2:00 p.m.

If there's any chance you can make it, just go.

It sounds daunting at 7+ hour but it's never boring. It's like Tarr, Krasznahorkai & Hranitzky have a fail-safe button. You'll be swept up by it's profoundly beautiful camerawork and its chronologically overlapping storytelling. Even if you can't stay for the whole thing, stop in and see some of it. You won't forget it.

Daniella Spinat

2008-03-18T21:50:00.002-04:00

Yale MFA student Daniella Spinat is getting some nods for her lovely folded-paper typeface. Using shadow and subtle nuance, the type is a refreshing approach, almost a cleansing from of the extremes of Swiss influenced type or the hokey ones that get proliferated about. I can imagine process was key. Stuff this in the mix of a Bauhaus book, chances are no one will call your bluff.

Recent Pickups

2008-03-17T05:35:00.008-04:00

Coffee Table

2008-03-16T02:24:00.028-04:00

signed "Cool" here

....also see this beautiful terrazzo table

Miscellaneous

2008-03-15T11:23:00.022-04:00

1. Nice axe. 150 years of use.

2. Carol Christian Poell dress shirt fabric & stitching.

3. 5'1" Hydrodynamica Fish by Joe Baughess.

4. Axal Antas "Cloud Formation Suspended".

Oh, To Be Susan Sontag

2008-03-14T12:56:00.000-04:00

Beat Up

2008-03-14T12:47:00.006-04:00

Another evening of nothings. For whatever reason, this made sense to me for a short time.

GINSBERG
Oil on wood
120" x 72"
A generous gift of Johnny Depp

The Caterpillar

2008-03-14T04:44:00.007-04:00

Early 20th Century steam traction engine by Benjamin Holt.

Coors U.S.A. Laboratory Pottery

2008-03-13T05:36:00.030-04:00

In 1910, Adolph Coors used money he made with his Coors Brewing Co. and started Coors Ceramics with porcelain maker John J. Herold. They started out producing just a small line of cooking utensils and grew steadily.

When WWI broke, Germany was then the leading supplier of ceramics in the world. The embargo on German goods left the U.S. labs and factories in need of a ceramics supplier. Coors Ceramics stepped in almost seamlessly, quickly becoming one of the world's leading manufacturers. After war's end, they continued to make scientific ceramics and even started making some decorative ceramics. During WWII, the government asked them to develop advanced ceramic insulators and Coors delivered. This durable ceramic material would be what Coors would concentrate solely on and be known for. Years later, Coors found out that the insulators were used for the Manhattan Project.

From the war on, the ceramic materials produced by Coors became among the hardest materials available in the world, second only to diamonds in strength and durability. Their antique ceramics can withstand extreme heat, corrosive liquids, tremendous pressure, and they don't conduct electricity, making them ideal for a wide variety of industrial applications. Every time you drive a car, switch on your computer or pick up the phone, you are probably putting a ceramic part to use. With that in mind, their scientific pottery's near indestructibity make them a great option for cookware.

Carl Aubock Bottle Opener

2008-03-13T04:59:00.007-04:00

Darn. Lost on this. The more I think, the more I wish I put a higher bid in. It's cane & stainless steel.

Nicholas Ray

2008-03-13T03:06:00.016-04:00

I’ve always loved the films of Nicholas Ray. Below are clips from his movies JOHNNY GUITAR and BIGGER THAN LIFE.

Do you see how Ray instilled a poker-faced parody of Hollywood conventions inside the films? A kind of “irony”. You may not see it initially. Look at how he subtly pushes up the stylization of the acting (considered the norm then), set design, colors and even music at times. Indeed, sometimes he is utilizing Hollywood conventions, sometimes he is using “parody” to distance the audience from the material and sometimes somehow the films are doing both in stunning and wild combination to masterful effect.

Jean-Luc Godard declared “The cinema is Nicholas Ray”. And watching a lot of early Godard, you can see how Godard would use similar techniques of “alienating” and distancing the audience. The big difference is that, with Godard, the use of irony is used to draw attention to its own technique and as an affront to status quo. With Ray, on the other hand, the technique is less artful, more agile. His uncontrollable emotions are ready to burst out in every frame but he had an obligation as an entertainer and as a hired hand and these intuitively conflicted works were the result. Also, Ray would never admit to this but I also believe he realized how dated Hollywood filmmaking (and narrative filmmaking) was and would eventually be perceived so his language of filmmaking was built to last past the period.

It is this egolessness and timelessness that make his work so great.

* Some interesting biographical notes. Before filmmaking, Ray studied architecture briefly under Frank Lloyd Wright before leaving Taliesin due to "creative differences". After his career, he served as mentor to Jim Jarmusch (STRANGER THAN PARADISE, DEAD MAN) and Wim Wenders (PARIS TEXAS, KINGS OF THE ROAD) and used his leverage and creative input to help get them both started.

Miscellaneous Stuff

2008-03-10T20:08:00.035-04:00

1. Russell Moccasin Bespoke Fishing Oxfords. These are the ones with the Plantation Crepe soles. The ones with the Mariner Boat soles are even nicer.

2. Terrazzo Coffee Table

3. De Sede Lounger

Nieves at Ooga Booga

2008-03-06T10:32:00.004-05:00

An exhibition of the entire library of Swiss publisher Nieves opens tonight March 6, 7-10pm at Ooga Booga. New zines by Geoff Mcfetridge and Mari Eastman.

The Advantages of Closing a Few Doors

2008-03-06T10:05:00.006-05:00

by John Tierney
for the NY Times

The next time you’re juggling options — which friend to see, which house to buy, which career to pursue — try asking yourself this question: What would Xiang Yu do?

Xiang Yu was a Chinese general in the third century B.C. who took his troops across the Yangtze River into enemy territory and performed an experiment in decision making. He crushed his troops’ cooking pots and burned their ships.

He explained this was to focus them on moving forward — a motivational speech that was not appreciated by many of the soldiers watching their retreat option go up in flames. But General Xiang Yu would be vindicated, both on the battlefield and in the annals of social science research.

He is one of the role models in Dan Ariely’s new book, “Predictably Irrational,” an entertaining look at human foibles like the penchant for keeping too many options open. General Xiang Yu was a rare exception to the norm, a warrior who conquered by being unpredictably rational.

Most people can’t make such a painful choice, not even the students at a bastion of rationality like the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where Dr. Ariely is a professor of behavioral economics. In a series of experiments, hundreds of students could not bear to let their options vanish, even though it was obviously a dumb strategy (and they weren’t even asked to burn anything).

The experiments involved a game that eliminated the excuses we usually have for refusing to let go. In the real world, we can always tell ourselves that it’s good to keep options open.

You don’t even know how a camera’s burst-mode flash works, but you persuade yourself to pay for the extra feature just in case. You no longer have anything in common with someone who keeps calling you, but you hate to just zap the relationship.

Your child is exhausted from after-school soccer, ballet and Chinese lessons, but you won’t let her drop the piano lessons. They could come in handy! And who knows? Maybe they will.

In the M.I.T. experiments, the students should have known better. They played a computer game that paid real cash to look for money behind three doors on the screen. (You can play it yourself, without pay, at tierneylab.blogs.nytimes.com.) After they opened a door by clicking on it, each subsequent click earned a little money, with the sum varying each time.

As each player went through the 100 allotted clicks, he could switch rooms to search for higher payoffs, but each switch used up a click to open the new door. The best strategy was to quickly check out the three rooms and settle in the one with the highest rewards.

Even after students got the hang of the game by practicing it, they were flummoxed when a new visual feature was introduced. If they stayed out of any room, its door would start shrinking and eventually disappear.

They should have ignored those disappearing doors, but the students couldn’t. They wasted so many clicks rushing back to reopen doors that their earnings dropped 15 percent. Even when the penalties for switching grew stiffer — besides losing a click, the players had to pay a cash fee — the students kept losing money by frantically keeping all their doors open.

Why were they so attached to those doors? The players, like the parents of that overscheduled piano student, would probably say they were just trying to keep future options open. But that’s not the real reason, according to Dr. Ariely and his collaborator in the experiments, Jiwoong Shin, an economist who is now at Yale.

They plumbed the players’ motivations by introducing yet another twist. This time, even if a door vanished from the screen, players could make it reappear whenever they wanted. But even when they knew it would not cost anything to make the door reappear, they still kept frantically trying to prevent doors from vanishing.

Apparently they did not care so much about maintaining flexibility in the future. What really motivated them was the desire to avoid the immediate pain of watching a door close.

“Closing a door on an option is experienced as a loss, and people are willing to pay a price to avoid the emotion of loss,” Dr. Ariely says. In the experiment, the price was easy to measure in lost cash. In life, the costs are less obvious — wasted time, missed opportunities. If you are afraid to drop any project at the office, you pay for it at home.

“We may work more hours at our jobs,” Dr. Ariely writes in his book, “without realizing that the childhood of our sons and daughters is slipping away. Sometimes these doors close too slowly for us to see them vanishing.”

Dr. Ariely, one of the most prolific authors in his field, does not pretend that he is above this problem himself. When he was trying to decide between job offers from M.I.T. and Stanford, he recalls, within a week or two it was clear that he and his family would be more or less equally happy in either place. But he dragged out the process for months because he became so obsessed with weighing the options.

“I’m just as workaholic and prone to errors as anyone else,” he says.. “I have way too many projects, and it would probably be better for me and the academic community if I focused my efforts. But every time I have an idea or someone offers me a chance to collaborate, I hate to give it up.”

So what can be done? One answer, Dr. Ariely said, is to develop more social checks on overbooking. He points to marriage as an example: “In marriage, we create a situation where we promise ourselves not to keep options open. We close doors and announce to others we’ve closed doors.”

Or we can just try to do it on our own. Since conducting the door experiments, Dr. Ariely says, he has made a conscious effort to cancel projects and give away his ideas to colleagues. He urges the rest of us to resign from committees, prune holiday card lists, rethink hobbies and remember the lessons of door closers like Xiang Yu.

If the general’s tactics seem too crude, Dr. Ariely recommends another role model, Rhett Butler, for his supreme moment of unpredictable rationality at the end of his marriage. Scarlett, like the rest of us, can’t bear the pain of giving up an option, but Rhett recognizes the marriage’s futility and closes the door with astonishing elan. Frankly, he doesn’t give a damn.

Emotion

2008-03-05T18:39:00.002-05:00

Andree Putman Coffee Pot

2008-03-05T14:39:00.006-05:00

1987 for Sasaki
Here

Dendrosicyos Socotrana

2008-03-05T02:00:00.013-05:00

The cucumber tree (Dendrosicyos Socotrana) is one of my favorite trees and a great example of island evolution. Until 10 million years ago, when Socotra was still attached to Africa, any broad-trunked tree would have been destroyed by large herbivores like elephants and rhinoceroses. Since the island of Socotra broke away with no herbivores, the shrubs found a safe ecological niche to grow and grow. The Dendrosicyos Socotrana is a kooky example of this gigantism. All other members of the cucumber family is a shrub or a climbing plant. The Dendrosicyos Socotrana is a tree that can grow up to 4 meters high and grows cucumbers from its branches.

They can grow indoors with access to sunlight but it takes some experience.

Recent Pick-Ups...

2008-03-04T03:24:00.005-05:00

Jonathan Rosenbaum

2008-03-03T19:48:00.032-05:00

Jonathan Rosenbaum, arguably the world's greatest film critic, retired from the Chicago Reader on February 27. His influence on film criticism cannot be understated. Some of his stances on film are so prominent now that we take them for granted. For instance, he was the first U.S film critic to register the previously minority opinions that the films of Abbas Kiarostami, Alain Resnais and Bela Tarr/Laszlo Krasnahorkai/Agnes Hranitky were masterworks and he was the first to openly question the canons of Woody Allen, John Ford, Ingmar Bergman & Eric Rohmer. His controversial criticisms of both the distribution of foreign films in the U.S. and the dectractors of modern filmmaking are finally starting to gain steam also.

Check out some of his old capsule reviews here

I owe Jonathan so much! He almost singlehandedly taught me how to think about films. I went from reading his reviews as an alternative to "mainstream" reviews, to aping his opinions and calling them my own, to finally being able to make my own opinions that I otherwise may've never attained without his pushing.

Thank you Jonathan and enjoy your new ventures!

Carrie Schneider

2008-02-23T11:51:00.005-05:00

I went to school with her, so perhaps I'm a bit biased. But in my head, a Carrie Schneider retrospective is already shaping up to be quite impressive. Often using, but not limited to, photography as her medium, Carrie creates work enshrined in narrative and identity. And dare I say, it's nothing short of brilliant.

You Must Create

2008-02-22T13:14:00.004-05:00

Spring is right around the corner. What better way to bring in the sunshine than with this lemony sweater. Put your head back some 50 years, get on your bicycle and ask that girl out to that Fish-Under-The-Sea Dance!

Brought to you buy YMC, S/S 2008.

Steven Harrington print

2008-02-17T18:37:00.014-05:00

This was being sold on craigslist but it was already gone by the time I got to it.

Walter Lamb Bronze Chairs

2008-02-15T13:15:00.009-05:00

After WWII, in Hawaii, Walter Lamb started making curved frames from bronze and copper pieces culled from the sunken naval ships in Pearl Harbor. The seat backs were hand wrapped with cotton and cording also scavenged from the sunken ships.

More here

Baltimore Cathedral

2008-02-14T14:57:00.005-05:00

Found on Flickr

Carl Theodor Dreyer DVD Collection

2008-02-14T14:55:00.006-05:00

The collection by Criterion includes DAY OF WRATH, ORDET, and GERTRUD.

It takes a little time to get into the tone of these films, but once into them, they build enough force to knock you down. Seriously, Dreyer can kick it into a higher gear.

One of my prized possessions.

Chinlone

2008-02-14T14:50:00.006-05:00

Chinlone is the traditional sport of Myanmar (Burma). The goal is to keep the rattan ball in the air for as long as possible with your friends while performing the most beautiful moves.

Check this video

Candy Girl

2008-02-12T13:18:00.001-05:00

Nice Dorm Room

2008-02-12T12:57:00.000-05:00

A student room in Cite Universitaire during the early 1930's. The furniture in the dorms were a Jean Prouve commissioned work. I like his light.

Crazy that most all of the furniture was replaced and put out on the sidewalk.

Borzicactus Samaipatanus Cristata

2008-02-12T12:46:00.000-05:00

Cactus from Bolivia. Blooms in Autumn.

FRENCH NEW WAVE SERIES

2008-02-11T00:00:00.000-05:00

Hope to make posters of these sometime soon. Then sell them to the world. And so, feedback would be helpful at this point. Before we sell six million units in Charleville alone. Also, what about the "A-R-D"? Could it be "doing something else?"

© JMB, 2008

CHARLES DICKENS MEET STACEY ADAMS

2008-02-10T23:53:00.000-05:00

Somehow, these are both casual and elegant. It's almost like a shinier-with-more-rigid-leather version of the same very pair of work boots you wore to dig for oil all day.

At your local Stacy Adams.

Nice Pair Of Sconces

2008-02-10T20:34:00.001-05:00

Lost out on these.

URBAN DICTIONARY

2008-02-10T05:19:00.000-05:00

I'm a bit torn between Urban Dictionary being either the worst thing I've ever seen or perhaps one of the more brilliant. Lately, I'm leaning towards the latter. Where else can you get something like this? In the year 2064, a child will miss the opportunity of going to her dream school after she scores poorly on her verbal portion. She chose "LOL" instead of "WSD?" which was in fact the currect answer.

Here's an excerpt:

400 CALORIES
Supposedly making out for 20 minutes burns 400 calories.

Actually, 400 Kilocalories, but food companies thought it would be easier to denote those things we burn as calories, so what the hell. Apparently metric prefixes are fucking scary.

Chad: "Hey Lisa want to burn 400 calories?"
Lisa: "Sure Chad, but I'm not taking off my pants...yet."
{ 20 minutes later }
Chad: "Wanna burn 400 more."
Lisa: "Let's go for 2000. Take off your pants."

Balenciaga

2008-02-09T02:00:00.000-05:00

Balenciaga's new Women's Pre-Fall 2008 seems to be an exercise in another kind of design: graphic. From afar, the color and contours are nearly logo-like. Or if nothing else, they seem to be inspired by the wardrobe and features of a human figurine from Playskool's Red Barn set.

Before leaving the house, ask yourself if you're looking iconic enough ....

Nice Lettering

2008-02-08T18:25:00.000-05:00

Nice lettering on decorative block walls.

Starstruck: Photographs From A Fan

2008-02-08T18:24:00.002-05:00

A great book of Gary Lee Boas's photos and stories from his lifelong love of photographing famous people.

Dieter Rams Lounge Chair & Ottoman

2008-02-08T18:24:00.001-05:00

1960's for Vitsoe

Shanghai Express

2008-02-08T17:25:00.001-05:00

A great clip here and here

It's supposed to come out on DVD for Criterion later this year.

Aeonium Balsamiferum

2008-02-08T17:10:00.000-05:00

Perfect for the winter time!

Native to the Canary Islands and Northern Africa, the sap of these succulents were used by the Guanche tribe for mummification. Now, they are best known for their amazing scent when their fuzzy rosettes open up during cooler climates. They close up like green rose buds during the summer. They grow in a more shrub-like manner and like it most in light shade.

I'm not being melodramatic when I say these smell incredible.

Saturated yet?

2008-02-08T00:07:00.000-05:00

Next up:
The Ting Tings - another female vocal driven group with seemingly widespread appeal and similarly evoking established and already embraced sounds. Ongoing in the UK, pending in the US, already playing at the local club...

More hybrid ish

2008-02-07T23:18:00.002-05:00

Santogold is set to go now with an upcoming album on the label responsible for the Killers (but don't hold that against her). Recent Creator/L.E.S Artistes release is equal parts M.I.A and Karen O. Hopefully, she can also channel both on the *same* track.

At least for the sake of convenience, this spot will explode.

Collins Kids

2008-02-07T14:25:00.001-05:00

A great clip of them whipping out a Hank Williams cover

Here

Invisible Man Revisted

2008-02-06T23:52:00.000-05:00

Or this one?

Invisible Man

2008-02-06T23:40:00.000-05:00

Call me nuts, crazy, what you will, but I'm pretty sure this isn't what Ralph Ellison had in mind for a film adaptation of Invisible Man? It's strange it doesn't even use jazz music. And I'm not sure how Ellison would have reacted to its emo-bent. I don't want to say "anti-blowup," but what about "anti-sensitive"?

G.L.O.W.

2008-02-06T13:37:00.000-05:00

Here's a great clip

I think the second team is the one that gets worked.

Anglepoise Wall Lamp

2008-02-06T13:26:00.000-05:00

1940's-1950's by George Cawardine for Herbert Terry & Sons

Here

Don't Look Back

2008-02-04T21:08:00.000-05:00

In the back of my mind, I'd like to think that I have a convincing argument that Sam Crenshaw from Today's Special was based on Bob Dylan circa the Don't Look Back years. In particular, his playfulness and antagonism with the Times Reporter. We can go many ways here: putting Sam Crenshaw's dialogue to a Dylan song, overdubbing Crenshaw's dialogue over top of Dylan's from the film.

Anyways, if anyone would be so willing?

Toyota Chinook

2008-02-04T18:31:00.000-05:00

When Toyota was just entering the U.S. market, in order to compete with established automobile brands they made better cars.

20 mpg in the city. 28 mpg on the highway.

Thanks for the tip Ryan

Tom Eatherton

2008-02-04T18:15:00.000-05:00

A new show plus some other nice stuff of his in the back.
Right now at Cardwell Jimmerson

"Treble Clef" Wall Shelf

2008-02-03T20:10:00.001-05:00

Circa 1955 by Mathieu Mategot

... dang I think this got pulled off the auction. The last high bid was something like 370 euros.

Pruane 2 Forever

2008-02-03T00:49:00.000-05:00

This young man is a genius!

Steel Tube & Wood Chairs

2008-02-01T19:10:00.000-05:00

Two Chairs
Circa 1920's
attributed to Thonet.

Sterling Silver Pin

2008-02-01T17:06:00.000-05:00

1930's-1940's
3" x 2"

Here

Modernism Rediscovered

2008-01-31T17:18:00.000-05:00

Photographs by Julius Shulman

3 Volume Edition. Limited press.

Max Bill Wall Clock

2008-01-29T12:26:00.000-05:00

Circa 1960's for Schauer.

Oak Wall Mount Conductor Seat

2008-01-29T12:21:00.000-05:00

Circa early 1900's.
It folds up against the wall.
A possible set prop.

The Devil Is A Woman

2008-01-27T13:53:00.000-05:00

Josef von Sternberg movie

Dracaena Dragon Trees

2008-01-27T00:42:00.000-05:00

These ancient trees require warm weather and grow over 40 feet high. A crimson red resin comes from the leaves and bark and is used by locals to cure stomach ailments, freshen breath, decorate pottery and houses and even as lipstick.

The first photograph is a group of Dracaena Cinnabari taken from the Diksam plains of Socotra. The second photograph is the Dracaena Draco in Icod de los Vinos.

*Check out the guy walking next to the Draco. That tree's huge!