The White House

Mini Mania

2010-10-04T09:00:00.001-05:00

Hungry yet??

Too bad. Because these delectable offerings from French artisan, Stephanie, wouldn't be enough to fill you up even if they were real:

Yep, they're miniatures. I can't imagine having the dexterity, not to mention the patience, to put something like this together - truly amazing. If you feel the need to own some of these delicious minis, check out her Etsy store. And don't worry, if you're past the playing with doll houses age, you can always wear your tasty treat.

Superhero Saturday

2010-10-02T09:00:00.003-05:00

I had no idea that Havana was Gotham City...

Interesting photo series of Superheroes in History at RxFresh. The comments got a little intense.

Size Does Matter

2010-09-30T09:00:00.002-05:00

This was pretty cool - art and the science combined. Created by SumoScience and Aardman,

The animation was filed using a Nokia N8 smart phone equipped with a CellScope, a diagnostic-quality microscope that was invented by Daniel Fletcher at the University of California, Berkeley. The CellScope allows a doctor working anywhere there is a phone service to capture and transmit images of blood samples anywhere in the world. The technology could help diagnose disease in developing countries where medical doctors and labs are few and far between.
~ Discovery News

Be sure to watch the credits - they really bring the whole size issue into focus.

Thanks to Christopher for the link!

Superhero Saturday

2010-09-18T09:00:00.001-05:00

He's such an expressive guy...

Rome Burns Part II

2010-09-13T09:00:00.003-05:00

Rome is one of my all-time favorite cities. The art, the food, the people, the awesome sense of history you get just from walking down the street...there is no place like the Eternal City.

And speaking of history, sometimes old is new: artists Thyra Hilden of Denmark and Pio Diaz of Argentina are planning to burn the coliseum next week...

The installation, titled “Coliseum on Fire,” is part of a wider project, City on Fire, to which the artists have devoted themselves to for some years, creating virtual fires in important institutions, monuments, museums, and churches throughout Europe.
~eternallycool

I think I hear fiddle music...

Read more about the project and see other monuments they would like to burn here.

Losing in the Wrong Place For the Wrong Reasons

2010-09-11T13:52:00.003-05:00

From Joe Quinn via the Tom Ricks blog:
"Al Qaeda murdered my brother Jimmy nine years ago...My brother Jimmy worked on the 101st floor. Not a single remnant of my brother would be recovered.

...Due to my emotions (and engineering classes), I barely graduated West Point in the spring of 2002...Nine years after my brother's death..I am currently contributing to the fight here in Afghanistan.

I have recounted the last nine years of my life because my journey through these wars has been similar to yours. You were devastated by the events of 9/11. You wanted revenge, or at least some sort of justice, where you supported the invasion of Afghanistan. You were sidetracked by the Iraq War in 2003 and then again by the Iraq "Surge" in 2007. Nine years after 9/11, you are tired of war, but finally find your blood and treasure in Afghanistan.

My greatest fear is that we will lose the Afghan war because of the Iraq war. The American people are tired of war mostly due to the painful doldrums brought on by the Iraq campaign. Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) also siphoned resources and attention away from Afghanistan, allowing an insurgency to rise and for the U.S. to never fully realize a plan for winning. What is winning? Winning is achieving irreversible momentum towards a stable Afghanistan, free from Taliban control, which will never serve as a base for terrorism.

After nine years of neglecting the Afghan war, we finally have a plan for winning, with the right resources, the right leadership and the right programs. At the end of August, the last of the 30,000 additional U.S. troops are finally in place. Undoubtedly, these additional troops will clear and hold large swaths of Taliban strongholds.

In General Petraeus, we also have the right leadership to orchestrate the Afghan war. Saying that General Petraeus will not make a difference in Afghanistan is like saying Michael Jordan would not make a difference in Chicago after coming out of retirement in 1994. Eventually the team will improve.

The right programs in Afghanistan have only just begun. General Petraeus made an immediate impact by partnering with President Karzai to begin the Afghan Local Police (ALP) program that will leverage local Afghans to provide village-level security. The Afghan Peace and Reintegration Program (APRP) is another concept that has just been ratified, where the effects of the program will only truly be felt in the months ahead. The right resources, leadership and programs in Afghanistan have just begun. Winning the Afghan war has just begun.

So after nine years, why are we still in Afghanistan? For me it's still simple. The men that killed my brother on 9/11 were five of 20,000 terrorists trained by Al Qaeda in a Taliban-ruled Afghanistan. The Taliban's return to power in Afghanistan will only embolden Al Qaeda even more to perpetrate terrorist attacks like on 9/11. It's easy to forget the connection between Afghanistan and 9/11 after all this time. For me, it's impossible to forget. Perhaps remembering is the luxury of my family's tragedy.

In the end, I do not want revenge anymore. The truth is that the perpetrators that murdered my brother died that same day. I now have a new goal: to leave Afghanistan. To leave Afghanistan as a stable country, free from Taliban control, which will never serve as a base for terrorism.

Joe Quinn currently works in Afghanistan as a Counterinsurgency Advisor for the International Security Assistance Force's (ISAF's) Counterinsurgency Assistance and Advisory Team (CAAT). He graduated in May from Harvard's Kennedy School of Government."

Ricks Foreign Policy

Superhero Saturday

2010-09-11T09:00:00.001-05:00

The Spideycan...ha ha ha ha

And because Spiderman had such a swingin' theme song...

Floaters

2010-09-10T09:00:00.001-05:00

Thought these were interesting - A series of 15 images by French photographer Denis Darzacq called 'Hyper'. If you've spent any time outside the major cities in France or Italy lately, you've likely run across the Hypermarts - think Tesco or Walmart on steroids.

Darzacq decided to use these monstrosities that are slowly but inevitably doing what Walmarts do, as backdrops for his images. His subjects, young street dancers, were told to jump or leap into the air, twisting and twirling. He used high shutter speed photography to capture the dancers in mid-air. Apparently there was no photo-shopping done to the images.

I really like these two - the one on top looks like the dancer was just hanging or floating around. Imagine seeing that when you turned your cart at the end of the aisle...

I like the one below if only in admiration of the dancer's commitment to the project - unless she really can levitate, that is one painful landing on the way.

The exhibit was at Laurence Miller Gallery in New York earlier this year.

Come Sail Away

2010-09-08T09:00:00.004-05:00

I’ve never been a big fan of boats – I get seasick in the bathtub. But this just confirms my decision to avoid the whole cruise vacation: apparently, the Pacific Sun encountered a serious storm north of New Zealand.

I guess that’s why they nail stuff down on Navy ships.

Via Tywkiwdbi

Labor Day

2010-09-06T09:00:00.001-05:00

click to enlarge

Breaker boys in #9 Breaker, Pennsylvania Coal Company mine at Hughestown Borough near Pittston in January 1911. Photograph by Lewis Wickes Hine via Shorpy

From a commenter:

If I recall my mining knowledge correctly, I think the breaker house was where the larger chunks of coal were broken down into smaller, more manageable sizes. This was accomplished using a series of augers and large rollers. I've heard stories of breaker boys falling into the machinery and being mangled. The companies didn't care. Common business mentality was that workers were just cogs in the machine to be replaced when they were of no further use to the Companies.

I saw a poll recently that asked the question, "If time travel existed, was readily available, and you were guaranteed to return to the present, would you prefer to travel to the past or to the future?"

61% of respondents said they'd go back to the past. Why does everyone always think that the past was such a great place?

Happy Labor Day!

Superhero Saturday

2010-09-04T09:00:00.000-05:00

The Flash finally makes it in Hollywood...

Illustration by Joao Fonte

Morning Coffee

2010-09-03T09:00:00.002-05:00

Drinking your coffee in one of these might just make the morning go a little easier:

The Milk Cup from Pension fuer Produkte
I'm not sure I get this one - is it supposed to look like your cup has leaked milk?

The Cookie Cup from the coffee company Lavazza and Venezuelan designer Enrique Sardi via PACKAGING | UQAM. Yes, you can eat the cup when you're finished with your coffee...

The Angel Cup from Sami Rinne.

~~She~~ He does Bats, too...

The Zero Gravity cup - by XU54. I have no idea who this is (couldn't translate the site) but he spends a lot of time looking at his coffee.

I Laughed

2010-09-01T09:00:00.000-05:00

My other bike is a donkey.

I'm sure the kids around here are getting a fine education.

One of these things is not like the other...

One word: scary.

That Wasn't There a Second Ago...

2010-08-30T09:00:00.001-05:00

Back in 1985, the Venezuelan government flooded the small village of Potosi to create the Uribante-Caparo water reservoir. The only structure visible after the flooding was the steeple of the 82 foot church that stood in the center of the village. The image above was taken in January 2009.

Venezuela generates almost 70% of it's energy from hydroelectric power plants and this reservoir provided some of that power for the area.

Unfortunately, Venezuela has been experiencing a drought brought on by the effects of El Nino and Global warming. This is what the reservoir looked like in February 2010:

via National Geographic

A similar situation occurred in Spain in 2008:

Back in the 1960's, the town of Sant Roma in the Catalonia region was flooded to create a water reservoir. Severe drought drained the reservoir in 2008 and the region was forced to import drinking water from France. They are working to address the problem with a desalinization plant but the drought, and the lack of water, continues. Barcelona ran out of water earlier this year, resulting in the closing of all city fountains and the implementation of strict water usage requirements.

So at least 2 huge reservoirs, both full of water for the last 25 years (40 years in Spain), now completely dry. But that whole "Global Warming" theory? Yeah, that's just a bunch of hooey.

Also via National Geographic

Superhero Saturday

2010-08-28T09:00:00.001-05:00

Someone needs a membership to the gym...

Taking the Game to a Whole New Level

2010-08-27T09:00:00.008-05:00

Be sure to have the sound on

Saw this video and was totally hooked by it - I have no idea why, but I've played the thing 8 times in the last 15 minutes. From what I can figure out, FreddieW (the guy who made it), mashed up a video of himself playing various instruments with the concept behind the video game Rock Band - you know, the game where the colored lights on the monitor tell you which keys to hit on the instrument in order to play a song. (We're not very video game savvy here at the White House...)

Only Freddie overlays the lights from the game on top of the video - it looks like the signal lights have left the monitor and are connecting directly with the instruments, his vision of what the game might be like in the future.

Even more impressive, it seems like he wrote the music himself. I would definitely listen to more of that song!

Things I Don't Understand

2010-08-25T09:00:00.004-05:00

Because the mailman is height challenged?

Because the living room used to be a swimming pool?

Because the guys laying track were startled?

There's so much wrong with this photo that I just don't have the words...

Woodn't you like one in your house??

2010-08-23T13:21:00.000-05:00

File these in the 'wish I could find room in my home' file.

Beautiful cabinet from Elisa Strozyk - a little hard to see from this perspective, but the front of the cabinet is multi-dimensional. Really lovely.

Coffee table from Josh Finkle - bringing the forest to your living room.

The Molly desk and Wishbone Chair from Toby Howes. More art than furniture. Now that I think about it, I'm sure I can find room for the Molly desk somewhere...

Superhero Saturday

2010-08-21T09:00:00.003-05:00

I know that 'Superhero' is a big internet meme. Not a day goes by that I don't see an image or video or story that references one of the Superheroes.

And why not? Superheroes are a good thing. Most of them are fighting for truth, justice and the American Way...

So I've decided (for now), that Saturday will be Superhero Day here at the White House blog. Once a week, I'll post an image or video clip that caught my eye or made me laugh.

And to start us off, I'd like to introduce you to Brooklyn Superhero Supply Co. That's right, now those of you in the NYC area can find all your Superhero accessories in one convenient location:

You'll find everything from costume help (capes, tights, masks) to crime fighting paraphernalia like Evil Blob Containment Capsules and Anti-Gravity lotion. I particularly like the signs, so helpful:

And for those of you who don't live in the NYC metropolitan area, never fear, the internet is here: Brooklyn Superhero Supply.

via Artsytime

For the Birds

2010-08-20T09:00:00.001-05:00

The White House cats don't like birds much - all that twittering and flying about is so annoying. Not to mention sitting on the balcony railing like they own the place!

You better believe they wouldn't be so cocky if there wasn't a screen between them and the kids...

Maybe they wouldn't be hanging out on our balcony, taunting the cats if they had one of these fabulous bird houses to go home to.

By Luke Bartels and Jeff Canham for the Curiosity Shoppe in San Francisco. Btw, if you've ever been to SF, you'll know that the Condor actually exists. And yes, it's a strip club.

via You Might Like This

Land of the Giants

2010-08-18T09:00:00.004-05:00

By now I'm sure you've seen these electricity generating windmills - they seem to be all over the place these days. Popping up wherever there's a stretch of empty rural land, like majestic alien sentinels. I kind of like them. In addition to the 'alternative energy' perspective, I think they look cool.

Of course, I don't have to live next to them. Although I like they way they look, I can see how folks might feel that they spoil the scenery on the wide open range or the cosy family farm.

Imagine the response to these guys:

From Choi + Shine Architects, these one hundred fifty foot tall electricity pylons were designed for use in Iceland. The towers can be configured to respond to their environment, arms up for height, in a crouch to get low, side by side or in single file.

Regardless of configuration, these pylons would definitely add something to the scenery.

See more at Choi + Shine

via Dezeen

Spots V Stripes

2010-08-16T09:00:00.000-05:00

I really like the Cadbury ads - the one a couple years ago with the two kids was priceless so when I saw this on YouTube I was all prepared for something really good. Take a look, I'll wait. (audio isn't required but it does add to the video)

OK, do you have any idea what is going on here?? I know that Cadbury's is an English company and that I am probably not the target market, but it was only after I clicked on the link at the end of the video that I understood.

It seems that Cadbury's has just been named the Official Treat Provider* of the 2012 Olympic Games being held in London. And this is part of the ad campaign they are using in the lead up to the games. I think the video is very well done and I liked it better the second time around. But I'm not sure it works unless you #1 know that its by Cadbury and #2 know that they are now an Olympic sponsor. Like I said, I'm probably not the target market.

*I think Official Telephone Sanitizers is next...

Floating Dinner

2010-08-11T09:00:00.001-05:00

Image: School of Fish Foundation

Now this is a restaurant that I'd like to try: The Plastic Dining Room, a temporary outdoor dining room on the False Creek in Vancouver, BC.

Developed by the The Goodweather Collective, the structure floats on approximately 1,700 recycled 2 liter pop bottles.

The project was built for The School of Fish Foundation, which was co-founded by Shannon Ronalds and Chef Robert Clark of C Restaurant in Vancouver. The Foundation is dedicated to persuading culinary schools throughout the world to include a comprehensive sustainable seafood course as a requirement prior to graduation.

Image: Goodweather Design

The Plastic Dining Room is also a fundraiser - every night between July 21st and September 30th, 12 guests will enjoy a multicourse sustainable seafood dinner, complete with matching wines, as designed by Chef Robert Clark. The seats are going for $215 - not bad for a fabulous dinner in a unique setting.

I would love to see something like this on the Chicago River. I can see the menu now - Asian Carp six ways...

via DesignBoom

What's in your bookbag?

2010-08-09T09:00:00.002-05:00

I like books, I usually read them.

The Slovakian artist Matej Kren does something different with his books...he stacks them. His latest project is Scanner, a tower of stacked books at MAMbo, the Museum of Modern Art in Bologna, Italy.

The narrow inside space, multiplied and complicated by mirrors, evoke a sensation of sublime terror, an alteration referring to a puzzling infinity itself created to destabilize conventional spatial habits. Mirrors become an instrument to create illusion and, at the same time, to unmask it. Since the public can easily see themselves reflected in a false infinite – thus discovering the illusion – the problem becomes the latency of perception.
~MAMbo

I'm not sure if it's the translation or the really profound artsy description, but I have no idea what that means. I do, however, think it's pretty cool.

I'm also pretty sure I have enough books to build my own igloo, or maybe a teepee?

via Inhabitat

Rain, rain go away

2010-08-06T09:00:00.001-05:00

I would say click to enlarge but that probably won't help

We've had some violent weather here in Chicago this summer. First it was the micro bursts that took down trees and littered the streets with debris. It's kind of spooky when you hear tornado sirens in the city.

Lately it's been heavy storms. I can't remember a week without a major storm coming through, often more than one. The folks in the burbs know all about this - flooding has been rampant.

I don't have to worry about flooding here at the White House, but I am having some issues keeping the balcony plants happy. It's so hot that they wilt unless I water daily. Unfortunately, I water in the morning and the storms seem to be coming through in the evenings, resulting in drowned parsley, basil and tomatoes. If only there was a way to know ahead of time if it was going to rain...

According to this Infographic, all I need to do is keep an eye on the cats - apparently their ears need cleaning when it's going to rain.

btw, if you want to actually read the Infographic above, go to Marisys

Wandering through dreamland

2010-08-04T09:00:00.001-05:00

These acrylics by Katherine Lewis are absolutely beautiful. I saw them at the Mosswood Market Cafe in downtown Boonville CA where they made walking into this little coffee shop / lunch room feel like stepping into a dream.

Had I known that they wouldn't be gracing the walls the next time I was there, I would have bought one (the horses below) and left clothing behind in order to get it back on the plane with me.

The two pieces above are acrylic on canvas but she also does them on wood. I like how the wood grain and the breaks in the planks show through on these two, primitive while still feeling light and airy.

See more at her site: Katherine Lewis Art

Moron Monday

2010-08-02T09:00:00.003-05:00

A pictorial roundup of the not so bright:

Points For Creativity...

2010-07-31T14:47:00.001-05:00

A Forest a Day

2010-07-30T10:35:00.000-05:00

I've mentioned before that I truly love trees - everything from the majestic Redwoods on the California coast to the humble Maple growing on a suburban parkway. Trees make me happy.

Turns out I'm not imagining that good feeling - studies show scientific evidence that

Forests...can reduce stress, improve moods, reduce anger and aggressiveness and increase overall happiness.
~ Science Daily

They may not be Redwoods, but the trees in Chicago do their part to reduce my stress every day!

Wild Wild West

2010-07-28T09:00:00.000-05:00

Loved this stop-motion animation piece by Eleanor Stewart set to 'Hoedown' from the Rodeo Suite by Aaron Copland.

Be sure to have your sound on - yee haw!

Mad at Men

2010-07-26T09:00:00.010-05:00

Image via Flavorwire. Double click to enlarge

I have a love-hate relationship with Mad Men. I love the cultural references to the 60's - easily the most exciting decade that I've lived in, even if I was too young to remember most of it.

But watching the portrayal and treatment of women and minorities during this period, both at home and in the workplace, makes me homicidal. Just reading through the "Harsh Realities" block on the left was enough to raise my blood pressure.

Of course, I'm still watching...

I laughed

2010-07-23T09:00:00.000-05:00

How fat is your food?

2010-07-21T09:00:00.007-05:00

Question - What do these 3 food items have in common?

New York

Indiana

North Carolina

Answer - in addition to being something I can safely say I would never consider eating, they represent their State’s fattiest food.

I’m not sure how thorough the investigation was, but Health.com identified the food associated with each State that had the highest fat content.

The prize for Illinois went to deep dish pizza (40 – 55 grams of fat per serving depending on topping) while Louisiana’s Beignet came in at 11 grams (about the same as that found in a McDonald’s cheeseburger).

At least pizza and beignets are good to eat. Words cannot describe the level of ick I feel with these guys:

the Garbage Plate from New York: 93 - 203 grams of fat per plate depending on the version
the Fried Brain Sandwich from Indiana: 24 grams for beef, only 18 for pork
the Livermush from North Carolina: 30 grams per serving

I would rather eat an entire deep dish pizza myself than even a forkful from one of these.

See the whole list at Health
Via SoGood

Month at the Museum

2010-07-19T09:00:00.004-05:00

Image

Remember when you were a kid in grade school and your class took a field trip to the Museum of Science and Industry? You spent the day marching in a group from exhibit to exhibit, holding hands with your 'field trip buddy' so you wouldn't get lost, eating your smushed PB&J sammich and drinking your lukewarm can of pop downstairs in the museum cafeteria during lunch break? You got to climb around in an old submarine, take a ride in a coal cart down a mine shaft, see some really gross anatomical stuff and explore Colleen Moore's Miniature Fairy Castle. If your 'trip buddy' was a boy, you usually didn't get to spend much time looking at the fairy castle...

Was it just me or did every kid want to somehow get left behind (for at least one night) so you could explore the place completely on your own? Well now's your chance. The Museum of Science and Industry is looking for someone

...to take on a once-in-a-lifetime assignment: spend a Month at the Museum, to live and breathe science 24/7 for 30 days. From October 20 to November 18, 2010, this person's mission will be to experience all the fun and education that fits in this historic 14-acre building, living here full-time and reporting your findings to the outside world.
~ Month at the Museum

This innovative experiment by the largest science museum in the Western Hemisphere is a science lover's dream come true - plus, the person selected will walk away at the end of the month with some technical goodies and $10,000.

The selection process includes submittal of a 60-second video, a 5x7 photo, a 500-word essay; and a detailed application. There are a number of requirements (including, for some reason, the ability to lift up to 40 lbs) and restrictions, like no smoking and no guests after the Museum is closed to the public.

And they plan to put the winner to work - meeting and interacting with Museum visitors, performing science demonstrations and reporting daily (via some type of computer journal) on his/her experiences at the Museum. Did I mention that the winner will also have access to his/her own 'home' within the Museum? That woud be the glass cube up there, designed by CB2 for the 'chic science geek'.

At least the winner will have somewhere comfy to sleep once the novelty of sleeping on the Zephyr or in the U-Boat wears off.

Get your application going now - all entries must be submitted by August 11th.

A Better Travel Poster

2010-07-16T09:00:00.008-05:00

Remember my disappointment over the lack of imagination and style in the travel posters you see today vs. those of yesteryear?

My concern may have been premature, it seems that the folks at Knack Weekend, a Belgian on-line lifestyle magazine has brought in graphic design studio KHUAN + KTRON to design a series of covers for it's travel section.

Now these are travel posters I would frame and hang alongside those in the Los Angeles Public Library collection.

See more at SUT KUTUSU

Putting the sun to work

2010-07-14T09:00:00.001-05:00

We don't have an electric car, in fact, we don't have a car of any kind. Nor, being city dwellers, do we have anywhere to put the nifty PHATPort 350. I wish we did - solar energy has gone from panels set on top of roofs to free standing structures.

The 350 will be capable of supporting a 2.5 kW solar array, which is more than what is needed to fuel an electric car, or make a significant difference in the power needs of a typical home.
~Phat Energy

The PHATPort can be used as a carport, a covered patio, a pool cabana, any residential structure that would normally be covered or shaded. Only instead of just getting a covered space, you're also harvesting the energy of the sun - doing your bit to reduce carbon emissions as well as your energy bill.

Our government is making alternative energy sources and energy efficiency attractive to the end user via tax credits and rebates. The guys at Phat Energy are making solar power easier to install as well as good looking. Put them together and there's no reason this kind of structure shouldn't be a part of every suburban home.

Hear, Hear (cont.)

2010-07-13T20:28:00.001-05:00

TW: Matthews is exasparating and cloying frequently but here he is spot on:
"...Sen. David Vitter, R-La...was asked where he stands on whether President Obama should be sued for not being an American, and he said that such a suit would be "valid and possibly effective."

Question: Why would a United States Senator support a court case arguing that the President isn't one of us, isn't an American? Why would he say for all to hear that bringing such a case in U.S. courts could be an "effective" way of exposing the President of the United States as an undocumented alien, who not only doesn't have the right to be in the White House, but also, on the same legal basis, doesn't have the right to be among us in the United States? Why would he say that the president needs to be deported to some country where he, according to this brand of thinking, was born?

So, Vitter backs "Birthers." Well, that's bad enough... But there are a dozen other Republican members of Congress who've backed the Birther movement.

This no-nothing-ism is catchy. During the last presidential campaign, a trio of Republican candidates – Tancredo (No surprise there!), Huckabee (Join the club!), and Sam Brownback – all said that they didn't believe in evolution.

The beat goes on. No matter how much information is accumulated on climate change, it's okay in the Republican Party to simply deny it, this despite the fact that the Nixon Library just released a memorandum from Daniel Patrick Moynihan in 1969 warning of the impact of climate change. Four decades of science is simply rejected. Not a single Republican Senator is now ready to take action on climate change.
Sarah Palin likes to talk about being a "common sense conservative."

Where's the common sense in all this refusing to use your brain?"

Tea-Infused BS

2010-07-13T08:27:00.003-05:00

TW: I cannot take it anymore. All of this hypocritical BS from the tea-infused Republicans must be stopped.

From Barry Ritholz:
"Once upon a time, there was a President. He was elected in the middle of a recession, following an economic crisis and a decade long bear market. He came into office on high flying oratory, but was regarded by many as a lightweight.
Once in office, he passed a variety of legislation over the objections of a hostile opposing party. The pundits and the thinktanks derided his big spending, his tax cuts, and his reorganization of government. He had very different priorities than the prior president, and tried to put his stamp on government in a variety of reprioritizations.

The President had barely been in office for 18 months when the pushback to his agenda became fierce. The media and the opposing political party all focused on the budget deficit. Most of it had been accrued long before this President came into the office, but that did not stop him from getting the full blunt of the blame. “We must stop this fiscal profligacy, or it will be the end of us!” the critics all cried.
But the president ignored the critics, and put forth a deficit laden budget that contained a massive stimulus and tax cuts. He even joked about the debt issue: “I am not worried about the deficit. It is big enough to take care of itself.”
By the second year of his presidency, the stimulative effects of the deficit had their impact. Unemployment began to come down, incomes went up, and the stock market roared ahead.

By now, it should be obvious that we are not discussing President Barack Obama, but rather the 40th President of the United States, Ronald Reagan.

Which raises an interesting question: We seem to be overrun with Austerians, newly minted deficit chickenhawks who recently have discovered the evils of deficit spending.

What would all of these deficit foes have said to Ronald Reagan during the first 2 years of his Presidency? Mr. President, we cannot spend more than we take in? Mr. President, we cannot afford those tax cuts — or to spend so much on the military?
The current president, who obviously has very different priorities than RR, is in many ways following his path: Huge deficits, tax cuts targeted to his electoral base, allowing policiies of his predecessor to expire.

I find it terribly amusing that some conservatives have latched onto the deficit as their key issue, when they took the idea of deficit spending to great new heights! Whether you are looking at the economic policies of Ronald Reagan or George W. Bush, reining in the deficit was clearly of no concern. (Forget speechifying, I refer to actual policies).
~~~
I continue to see the Austerian movement in the United States as thinly disguised partisan politics. These are people who will say anything to keep the subsidies and tax benefits flowing to their electoral base. They will say anything –regardless of whether they actually believe these things — to thwart the opposing fellows priorities.

Anyone who believes the new deficit fighters care about deficits has not been paying attention. This is simply about power and money and legislative priorities and cash. With only a very few exceptions, it has nothing to do actual fiscal priorities and debt loads and deficits.

The vast majority of these new deficit chickenhawks — who voted for unfunded entitlement program (prescription drugs), who gave away trillions in unfunded tax cuts, who voted for a trillion dollar war of choice, are simply not to be believed. Their past actions speak far louder than anything they might say today."

Not so simple

2010-07-12T09:00:00.007-05:00

When I first saw the image above from Joan Salo, I thought it was a sculpture, perhaps made with string or some other fiber. It's actually a drawing - pen on canvas. How amazing!

I also thought the evolution of this technique was pretty interesting as Salo goes from a fairly flat image in 2007 to something that looks 3D by 2009:

2007

2008

2009

via Booooooom

Sculpture Gardens

2010-07-09T09:00:00.005-05:00

I love outdoor museums and sculpture gardens - I always try to walk through the Hirshhorn and the National Gallery of Art sculpture gardens when I'm in DC and the Rodin sculpture garden in Paris is not to be missed.

Something about gardens and scultpure together really appeals to me. I now have a good reason to go to Japan: the Hakone Open Air Museum. This place looks incredible - amazing art that is both interesting to look at and meant to be interactive - either with the viewer or the environment.

Man and Pegasus

Wikimedia

Deep Maze

Wikimedia

Flickr user PSD

Giant Head

PSD on Flickr

See more amazing photos at Kuriositas

Aquascapes

2010-07-08T09:00:00.006-05:00

I've never been a big fan of home aquariums. The big ones like the Shedd in Chicago or Monterey Bay are pretty cool but unless you have room for a large tank at home, they just seemed to be smelly glass containers with sad little fish.

Of course, I never saw home aquariums like these

2008 IAPLC Grand Prize Work - Cheng Sui Wai

World Ranking #12 - Yee Kin Cheong, Living Art

These are award winning "aquascapes" from the 2009 International Aquatic Plant Layout Contest. The event, which has been held annually since 2001 now receives over 1,300 entries from underwater gardeners in more than 50 countries.

The competition has specific judging criteria based on artistic and technical points such as "do the color, size, swimming method and ecology of the fish match the layout?"
Swimming method??

A photo to give you some perspective on the size of both the tank and the plants used.

World Ranking #27 - Jamie Lin, Underwater Forest

See more photos at Twisted Sifter

Back in the day

2010-07-05T09:00:00.004-05:00

We're in the process of planning a vacation and I've noticed that travel posters these days are kind of boring.

Not that the photos aren't beautiful or interesting,

but there's no style, nothing that says 'This is the place you want to go on your vacation!'

These vintage posters, on the other hand, make me want to pack my bags:

From the Los Angeles Public Library (if you're trying to figure out how to get to the posters, click on the steamship in the right corner of the screen...took me several attempts to figure this out)

The Boston Public Library also has an exhibit of vintage travel posters, did you know that Chicago was "The Vacation City"? Check out some of the items in the exhibit at Boston.com

Maps & Photos & Stories

2010-07-02T09:00:00.000-05:00

Ponte Vecchio, Florence April 1905

Google Maps is one of my favorite tools - it makes being geographically challenged less of a disability. And they've done a great job adding functionality over time.

First it was the ability to search for businesses or cultural institutions near a particular address - useful for finding what you need in an unfamiliar location. We used it to identify a laundry service near the hotel on our trip to Istanbul (2 loads of laundry for $10 - well worth the cost of spending 3 hours in a self-serve laundry).

Then they added street view. I LOVE streetview (I'm useless with a map so I always do a street view of my final destination so I know when I get there...).

Now there's HistoryPin. Not really part of Google Maps but definitely tied in. In short, HistoryPin takes the Google Maps tool and allows user to "pin" old photos to specific spots on a map. You can also add stories to go along with the photo. The program is still in Beta phase but already has over 8,100 photos.

The photo at the top was pinned to Florence Italy by MirrorPix who also included an interesting writeup about the bridge. Don't forget to click on the Streetview icon at the bottom right of the photo - amzaing to see the photo pinned to the bridge today.

Hello Ladies

2010-07-01T09:00:00.001-05:00

I seriously wish I was a man so I could wear Old Spice just because of this ad campaign...

Paper Artist

2010-06-30T09:00:00.000-05:00

Nick Georgiou has fun with paper...

The Queens born artist uses newspaper, old books, magazines...whatever happens to be lying around, to fashion interesting creatures that he then positions around the city. Photos of his work are then posted to his blog, My Human Computer.

Cool, but I've lived in NY. How does he have room for all these pieces in his apartment?

via Flavorwire

Interior Design

2010-06-29T09:00:00.000-05:00

This is genius. LA based actor, writer and comedian Molly Erdman brings us the inner musings of the people who live in our catalogs:

This seat is taken...
I’ve only set out personalized towels for Margaret and Patrick, but I see three people arriving on horseback…if they’re bringing a friend I wish they had told me ahead of time. The embroiderer is fast but not that fast.

Keeping the Doctor away...
Elaine should have known better than to interrupt Gary during “apple time.”

See more at Catalog Living and then try not to feel inferior to Elaine and Gary.

Sunday Funnies

2010-05-15T19:41:00.000-05:00

A Bit of Fry and Laurie

2010-05-14T09:00:00.001-05:00

Another English comedy series that I absolutely love - why is there nothing like this on television these days?

Stephen Fry's use of the English language is brilliant and Hugh Laurie is the perfect straight man in this one.

I love you, don't go in there, get out, you have no right to say that, stop it, why should I, that hurt, help, Marjorie is dead.

A Universe of Photos

2010-05-13T09:00:00.000-05:00

I'm sure you've been on Flickr before, if not to upload your own photos, then maybe to take a look at what others have posted.

Tag Galaxy is a unique way to look at Flickr photos using the tags assigned by the posters. It's easy - enter a starting tag (I went with flowers) and the program brings up a 'sun' with various planets circling it. Each planet has it's own tag - you can select as many as you want, each planet / tag acts as a filter on the photos that will be displayed. I selected gardens and then macro. I have no idea what macro means.

When you're ready to view photos, click on the sun. The image above is what I got back. You can then click on any of the photos to get a larger view, use your cursor to spin the globe or click on the arrow at the top of the screen to bring a fresh set of photos. It's like making your own kalaidescope of photos - much cooler than the image looks above. Check it out - Tag Galaxy

via Webphemera

Nashville Hurts

2010-05-12T09:00:00.005-05:00

I’m sure everyone is aware of the muddy mess down in Nashville – if you've ever been there, it's hard to imagine a city that size with water 4 feet deep in the streets.

Mr. Blogger was born there and still has family in the area. In fact, his parents were there visiting when the storm hit and although their travel plans were disrupted, they were able to get home fairly easily.

Nashville wasn't so lucky, there's a lot of work to do before the Music City is back in the swing of things.

Nashville Artist Kyle Jones has designed and is selling a $20 poster to help with that cleanup. $15 of the price goes directly to United Way of Nashville for flood relief, the remainder goes to cover cost of printing and shipping. Stop by and pick one up – you’ll be doing something to help plus you’ll have yourself a very nice poster.

Kids....they're everywhere

2010-05-11T09:00:00.003-05:00

I laughed

2010-05-10T09:00:00.005-05:00

We Get What We Vote For (cont.)

2010-05-09T10:01:00.003-05:00

From Joe Klein:
"Sen. Bob Bennett is a standard-issue conservative, a reliable, down the line Party-of-No voter...who, on occasion, bestirred himself to cast a bipartisan vote--or, in one extremely admirable case, co-sponsor a bipartisan health care reform bill that was simpler, more equitable and more radical than than the mish-mosh that Congress passed (the Wyden-Bennett Healthy Americans Act). For this, and for his longevity in office, he was defenestrated by the Utah Republican party today.

I never met the man, but his statement today certainly was classy:

"The political atmosphere obviously has been toxic and it's very clear that some of the votes that I have cast have added to the toxic environment," an emotional Bennett told reporters, choking back tears.

"Looking back on them, with one or two very minor exceptions, I wouldn't have cast any of them any differently even if I had known at the time they were going to cost me my career."

We are in a moment when anger seems more important than experience or wisdom. Sometimes anger is justified. Right now, a sober review of the problems we face in a very unstable world requires something more: it requires a judicious national conversation about the decisions we make as a people. Are we spending too much or too little? Are we taxing too much or too little? If we're spending and taxing too much, which services need to be curtailed--and I mean, real services that cost real money, like defense and entitlements. If we can't decide what to cut, then perhaps we need to tax ourselves more--if so, how and what should we tax?

The fact that we can't seem to have this sort of conversation right now, that's it is ripped away from the vast majority of decent Americans by telecharlatans and infotainers, does not speak well for our ability to survive as the greatest nation in the history of the world. The departure of Senator Bob Bennett is a small event in a national tidal wave of witless extremism and thoughtlessness.
http://swampland.blogs.time.com/2010/05/08/bennett-tea-bombed/

TW: The combination of highly motivated voting minorities and the apathetic/tired/distracted amidst the rest of the electorate have elected poor candidates since our republic was founded. The world changes many are afraid of it but Glenn Beck/Ms. Palin et al. ain't gonna make it better of that I have no doubt.

Paint a tree

2010-05-07T09:00:00.004-05:00

A creative advertising campaign from DDB China and the Chinese Foundation of Environmental Protection that encourages people to walk instead of drive.

A large canvas silkscreened with a leafless tree was laid down at a busy pedestrian intersection. Large sponges saturated with environmentally friendly and easily washable green paint lined the crossing points.

As pedestrians crossed the street, their green footprints filled the tree with leaves and sent the message: every step you take helps create a greener planet.

Roger That

2010-05-06T10:21:00.001-05:00

From Economist:
"Missouri police storm house, shoot dogs, find small amount of hash in pipe

MY KIDS' pet hamster died last night, so I had about half an hour of crying, explanations, and a funeral in the front yard to deal with.
Fortunately, though, I didn't have to explain why half a dozen police in scary black body armour had charged in the front door shouting and shot the family pets...

At some level, I think it goes beyond even the "war on drugs". I think there's a generalised problem of militarisation in society, leading an increasing number of Americans, both in and out of uniform, to hunt around for things to shoot so they can claim to have been protecting someone. The absurdity becomes exceptionally clear when police claim to have protected children by invading their home and shooting their pets, but it's really a broader issue."
http://www.economist.com/blogs/democracyinamerica/2010/05/war_drugs

The Buckminster Fuller Challenge

2010-05-06T09:00:00.002-05:00

"You never change things by fighting the existing reality. To change something, build a new model that makes the existing model obsolete”
~ Buckminster Fuller

Mr. Fuller, inventor of the geodisic dome, was a wise man, we could use this kind of thinking now in just about every aspect of life on this planet.

And that's exactly what the Buckminster Fuller Challenge is all about - providing “a workable solution to one of the world’s most significant challenges such as water scarcity, food supply, and energy consumption.”

Six entries have been selected from a pool of more than 200 in this year's contest. The winner will be announced on June 2nd in Washington DC where he/she will be awarded a $100,000 prize. My vote for the winner: Eco-Boulevards, of course

Chicagoans discard over one billion gallons of Great Lakes water per day. This “wastewater” never replenishes one of the world’s most vital resources. As a remedy, this project re-conceives the Chicago street-grid as a holistic Bio-System that captures, cleans and returns wastewater and storm-water to the Lakes via “Eco-Boulevards.”

Get more detail and watch a slide show at Urbanlabs

See all the finalists here
via inhabitat

Hear, Hear (cont.)

2010-05-05T19:09:00.001-05:00

Via Andrew Sullivan's blog:
"I’m feeling grateful to the prez these days because we happen to be in the middle of a bunch of midsized crises. There’s the oil spill in the Gulf (which is verging on a big crisis, I guess). There’s the Times Square bomber. There are various floods in Tennessee and elsewhere. The European Union is falling apart over the Greek debt crisis, and so on and so on. It’s good to have a president with equipoise. It seems to me that Obama is handling his role, which ranges from the marginal to the significant, in these events with calm professionalism. He’s active yet not annoying. He’s not taking credit for everything. He’s not creating friction by making any missteps. He is calm, cool and collected,"
- David Brooks on our temperamentally conservative president.
http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_daily_dish/2010/05/why-his-approval-rating-is-ticking-up.html

TW: I think many of us have been saying this for quite awhile, glad to see a proto-conservative coming around...

Color my world

2010-05-05T09:00:00.005-05:00

Good Luck...Jealousy...Nature

Quick - what color comes to mind? If you're American or from a Western culture, you're likely thinking green right now. But if you're Chinese or African, Good Luck comes in red and you don't really have a color for Jealousy or Nature.

What am I talking about? The graphic below by David McCandles is a cultural color wheel - a depiction of how various cultures associate color with different concepts.

click to enlarge

I found two things interesting - first, it seems that we Westerners associate color with just about everything. 54 of the 84 listed concepts have a color assigned to it in our culture. The culture with the next highest color association? The Japanese with 50. The Hindu culture, which appears to be far more colorful in everyday life (have you ever seen a Bollywood movie?) than either the Western or the Japanese, comes in a distant 3rd with only 30.

The second thing I found interesting - who do you think we overlap with most often, from a color/concept perspective? Once again, it's the Japanese - we connect on 21 different points. The next closest culture is the Eastern European with 8 match ups. I'm not really sure what this means - are the American/Western and Japanese cultures really that similar?

from Information is Beautiful

Hear, Hear

2010-05-05T08:08:00.002-05:00

From Robert Rapier's blog speaking of the Gulf oil spill:
"Who is ultimately responsible for this? BP and Transocean obviously bear the most direct responsibility. But keep in mind that we enable BP because we demand cheap energy. There are very real consequences from our cheap energy demands, and this incident casts a spotlight on one of those consequences. When gas prices spike, the public gets angry and politicians promise their constituents that they will fix the problem. So what is the result? We continue to scour the globe for cheap fossil fuels to satiate the public’s demand to be able to pull up to the pump and pay $2.50 a gallon for gasoline any time they feel like it. So while BP is certainly responsible, so are we all.

I have read of demands that this needs to be a wake-up call that we need cleaner sources of energy. I think we have already had that wake-up call. I think people recognize that we need cleaner sources of energy. If you poll the public, you will find broad support for that. No, the wake-up call needs to be that people connect the dots from their own energy consumption to oil spills in the gulf and explosions in coal mines. When that wake-up call is heeded, perhaps people can begin to understand the consequences of our perpetual demands for cheap energy. Then maybe we can all decide that the “non-negotiable American way of life” is actually negotiable."
TW: I actually support offshore drilling as a least bad alternative, oil prices are going to go up even with such drilling, it is only a matter of how much. But the costs (e.g. negative externalities) of oil and coal and other fossil fuels must be integrated into folks minds when pondering alternatives. And blaming politicians for perpetuating the never-ending chase for cheap oil is hypocritical when we demand it. We are the hypocrites.

Zoo babies

2010-05-04T09:00:00.004-05:00

Hard to believe that these cuties at the Bronx Zoo will soon be capable of ripping your throat out...but right now I just want to scoop them up and cuddle!

Chicago in 1948

2010-05-03T09:00:00.003-05:00

This was really cool to watch - James Fitzpatrick's Traveltalks visits Chicago in 1948. As might be imagined, things have changed in the last 52 years. The scene that looked most different to me was the old water tower on north Michigan Avenue. It looked so lonely standing there all by itself.

Be sure to have your volume on and I highly recommend setting the picture to full screen. The video quality is pretty good and you will get much more detail.

If you're interested in more of Fitzpatrick's Traveltalks, more can be found here on YouTube.

Thanks to Christopher for sending the link!

Sunday Funnies

2010-05-02T06:10:00.002-05:00

Saturday's Animal Shots

2010-05-01T06:04:00.000-05:00

Exactly!!

2010-04-30T11:32:00.000-05:00

"George loves to tell the story of how all his Midland friends would come to the Oval Office and say, 'I can't believe I'm here.' And then they looked at him. Couldn't believe he was there either."

-- Laura Bush, in an interview with Ladies Home Journal.
via Taegan Goodard

Alex Andreyev's World

2010-04-30T09:00:00.003-05:00

Alex Andreyev is a Russian painter living in St Petersburg. He's been painting for more than 20 years - I'm a little worried about his home life.

But I still like them.

via BestBookmarks
See more here

Everybody Jump Now

2010-04-29T09:00:00.003-05:00

I’ve mentioned before that I’m not a big fan of having my picture taken. For some reason, I’m always caught with my eyes closed or a funny look on my face. I blame this on the photographer…

Philippe Halsman was a brilliant photographer. Not only did he take some amazing portraits of celebrities and politicians, he got many of them to jump.

Dean & Jerry

Grace Kelly

Benny Goodman

Yep, the famous and powerful of the 1950’s had their photo taken while jumping. And they all look fantastic!

The National Portrait Gallery has a great retrospective on Halsman. Here’s their explanation of how the jump pictures came about:

In 1950, NBC asked Halsman to photograph many of its popular comedians. Milton Berle, Ed Wynn, Sid Caesar, Groucho Marx, Bob Hope, Red Skelton, and many others came to Halsman's studio, where they performed while he captured their antics on film. A single session could generate two or three hundred pictures. When Halsman compared these comic images to more traditional portraits, he found that comedians often jumped and always stayed in character. Desperation (and good humor) finally drove him to ask others to jump for his camera when the Ford Motor Company commissioned him to make an official family photograph in honor of the company's fiftieth anniversary. Halsman spent a long, tiring session with nine edgy adults and eleven restless children. Afterward, Halsman's irrepressible humor inspired him to ask matriarch Mrs. Edsel Ford, "May I take a picture of you jumping?'" The astonished Mrs. Ford replied, "You want me to jump with my high heels?" Next, her daughter-in-law, Mrs. Henry Ford II, requested a turn. The "jump" pictures had surprising charm, and over the next six years, Halsman asked many clients to jump for him. Van Cliburn, Edward R. Murrow, and Herbert Hoover declined Halsman's invitation, but most people realized they had nothing to lose. (Some gained considerably, like the suddenly buoyant and likable Vice President Richard Nixon, who jumped for Halsman in the White House.) Halsman claimed the jumps revealed character that was otherwise hidden. "When you ask a person to jump, his attention is mostly directed toward the act of jumping and the mask falls so that the real person appears."

Marilyn

I’m planning to jump next time someone comes at me with a camera.

See more here

Via The Photography Post

All it takes

2010-04-27T09:00:00.000-05:00

This has been out for a while but I thought it was a lot of fun. Be sure to have your volume on.

I haven't really paid attention to pop music since the 90's so I didn't recognize many of the songs, but given that the ones I did recognize clearly fit the 4 chord pattern, I am truly amazed.

When In Doubt....

2010-04-26T21:00:00.003-05:00

From an anonymous WH reader:
"...I do miss your political postings - Can't you take at least one day a week to update us humble proletariat on your views - We are wandering aimlessly now and seek your wisdom."

TW: Obviously an astute observer...I am going to try to crank out some posts soon but in the interim things are quite simple. If Barack Obama suggests something it is probably a good idea, if Mr. Limbaugh or Mr. Beck or Ms. Palin does so, it probably is not (the titular leaders of the Republican party, McConnell and Boehner are mere puppets to them at this point). This stuff is not that complicated.

The further away from the everyday babble (and I have at times become quite immersed in it) I get the better off I feel and realize my guy knows what he is doing amidst the tumult of many insecure folks whipped into a fury by some really bad media.

Immigration for instance is somewhat complex but the Republicans are on top of it:

Via Taegan Goodard:
"South Carolina Lt. Gov. Andre Bauer (R) said that lazy state residents are contributing to the number of illegal immigrants in his state, the Columbia State reports.

Said Bauer: "The problem is we have a give-away system that is so strong that people would rather sit home and do nothing than do these jobs. Laziness is not a disability. There are a lot of people that are flat-out lazy and they are using up the goods and services in this state."

TW: This stereotyping fantasy has been around for centuries, just think if the Anglo-Americans had just gotten off their collective asses a hundred years ago we would not have had to let in all of those Italians and Irish and Germans and Russians and Hungarians and Polish and etc.

She was a roller skater...

2010-04-26T09:00:00.001-05:00

I've always loved skating - I'm pretty sure most of my allowance as a kid went toward Saturday afternoons at the local roller rink. I remember spending hard earned money from my after school job to buy a pair of indoor/outdoor shoe skates with flashy red polyurethane wheels and one of the best gifts I ever received was a pair of in-line skates.

Looks like Wheelskates might be next:

...unique, patented design [that] replaces the limitations of boots and small-wheels with a free, fluid flow that feels like ice skating and snow skiing at the same time
~ChariotSkates

Of course, they aren’t available yet and when they do come out, will likely be priced in the $5,000 - $10,000 range. Now that I think about it, I probably don't love skating quite that much.

Sunday Funnies

2010-04-25T08:50:00.000-05:00

Saturday's Animal Shots

2010-04-24T08:49:00.003-05:00

2010-04-23T11:11:00.000-05:00

h/t KOB

Birthday Campari

2010-04-23T09:00:00.001-05:00

I’ve posted about Campari here before – that ruby red bitter apéritif from Northern Italy.

"…The recipe, which has remained unchanged, originated in Novara in 1860 and is the base for some of the most famous cocktails around the world. Campari is an alcoholic spirit obtained from the infusion of bitter herbs, aromatic plants and fruit in alcohol and water. With its distinct colour, aroma and flavour, Campari has always been a symbol of passion - passion that expresses itself in terms of seduction, sensuality and transgression..."
~ Gruppo Campari

Transgression???

Campari & Soda is one of my favorites, refreshing and just a bit exotic – oh look: here I am enjoying a before dinner drink on my balcony overlooking the Mediterranean while Signore Blogger puts a little Ornella Vanoni on the stereo.

And Campari with either grapefruit or orange juice is like a party in a glass, only more sophisticated. It’s Italian.

This year is the 150th anniversary of Campari and they are celebrating with a series of labels created by the artists AVAF, Tobias Rehberger and Vanessa Beecroft.

via SUT KUTUSU

I need to get to the liquor store.

It's Earth Day

2010-04-22T09:00:00.000-05:00

Don't just sit there, do something:

Buy a new energy efficient appliance (and get a rebate)

Get green at home

Eat more vegetables

Help clean up a Chicago Park

Earth Day...shouldn't it be every day?

Are you smarter than a plant?

2010-04-21T09:00:00.000-05:00

I bet you think that plants have it easy - hanging out in the sun, drinking in the rain, photosynthesizing.

Well think again, it's not all gentle breezes and pollination. In fact, the life of a plant is downright dangerous, what with drought, insect abuse, failure to propagate. No wonder it's survival of the fittest.

Still think living the plant life is child's play? Lucky for you, Darwin Today has developed a short game to test your plant survival skills.

Check out Extinct! But don't feel too bad when you don't make it - Remember, 100% success is virtually impossible in nature

Just what the cats asked for...

2010-04-20T09:00:00.000-05:00

A $700 IPad cat toy

Darth Vader is Everywhere

2010-04-19T09:00:00.000-05:00

Sunday Funnies

2010-04-18T06:00:00.000-05:00

Saturday's Animal Shots

2010-04-17T08:47:00.004-05:00

Paper Cuts

2010-04-16T09:00:00.001-05:00

Remember gradeschool art class? Cutting snowflakes out of folded up pieces of construction paper?

Well Beatrice Coron must have had some art teacher. Her paper cuttings take the snowflake project to a whole new level.

From the Identity Project

From The Invisible Cities series

Check out more at her site here.

via Daily Art Muse - there's a short video here of Beatrice Coron working on one of her cuttings.

All You Need To Know

2010-04-16T00:01:00.003-05:00

From Barry Ritholz' Big Picture Blog:
"There is a huge CBS/NYT poll and article (Poll Finds Tea Party Backers Wealthier and More Educated) about the tea party members.

I was not surprised to read they skew older, white, Republican, better educated and higher income than the average American. I was surprised to read they favor Social Security and Medicare.

Towards the end of the article, I read a shocking data point. In the orgy of coverage of this poll and article generated, no one seemed to mention this:

The percentage holding a favorable opinion of former President George W. Bush = 57%

A substantial majority of Tea Party members hold a favorable opinion of the man that history will very likely deem the worst president in American History (Presidential Historians disagree as to whether he is in the bottom 3 or 5 as of today).

Its all you need to know about the Tea Party."

Tax Day

2010-04-15T09:00:00.001-05:00

Figured we could all use a chuckle today...

Run Away!!

It was a really late night

How you doin'?

Best. Caption. Ever.

Things that made me look twice

2010-04-14T09:00:00.000-05:00

Going Up...

I seriously had no idea how huge these things were

I really don't have any words for this.

That's how I caught my whale

Squirrels for Leslie

2010-04-13T09:00:00.000-05:00

Because she is nutty for Squirrels.

The LG Film Fest

2010-04-12T09:00:00.000-05:00

People do great things that inspire greatness in others. It was with this human truth in mind that we created the LG Life's Good Film Fest, a contest inviting filmmakers to submit their uplifting short films about "Life's Good" and share them with the world.
~LG Film Fest

The winning entry -

Beautiful if somewhat unnerving imagery.

See more here
Thanks to Christopher for sending the link!

Sunday Funnies

2010-04-11T06:00:00.003-05:00

Saturday's Animal Shots

2010-04-10T11:00:00.002-05:00

Let's Visit the Sistine Chapel

2010-04-09T09:00:00.000-05:00

We had dinner with some friends last week who told us about a fabulous trip to Rome that they have planned. In addition to the usual stops at the Colosseo, the Pantheon and Piazza Navona, they have lined up a private tour of the Sistine Chapel, led by the head restorer.

Can you imagine?? The chance to see this beautiful work of art without all the tourist crowds and with the person responsible for the restoration? I am sooooo jealous!

And then I saw this: a high resolution, interactive virtual tour of the Sistine Chapel produced by the Vatican.It takes a little work to get used to the controls in the bottom left of the screen, but then you are on your way to an up-close, private viewing of one of the greatest works of art in the world.

Wikipedia has an excellent summary of the Chapel's history, a discussion of the method and content of the paintings and architectural and pictoral maps.

I'm still jealous.

Mundane or Awesome?

2010-04-08T09:00:00.001-05:00

This was funny – New York Magazine’s slide show “A History of Obama Feigning Interest in Mundane Things”

"Obama pretends he is amazed by this very ordinary bolt..."

“No, Joe, I have no idea what we’re supposed to be looking at. Just keep looking.”

This was funnier – dryponder’s FLICKR stream of “Barack Obama Looking at Awesome Things”

Sword of Omens
Godzilla
I am proud to say that I am geeky enough to have caught all the awesome references…before I saw the titles on the photos

The Transparent City

2010-04-07T09:00:00.001-05:00

These photos of Chicago by Michael Wolf are stunning - from his series The Transparent City

In Honor Of Opening (cont.)

2010-04-06T13:00:00.001-05:00

TW: A nice bridge photo of a future POTUS (GW the first...ie the one with some brains) and baseball's past.

In Honor Of Opening Day...This Week

2010-04-05T16:00:00.001-05:00

TW: Can you identify the former POTUS...

2010-04-05T13:00:00.000-05:00

via Big Picture blog (I think) click to enlarge

The Elephant Parade

2010-04-05T09:00:00.000-05:00

London is one of my favorite cities - so much history, culture and great food... Well, two out of three isn't bad and the food has definitely improved since the days of bangers and mash.

This year, London is hosting the Elephant Parade -

...a social enterprise founded by father and son Mike and Marc Spits. through their exhibitions, they aim to raise support for the Asian elephant, which is threatened with extinction. The benefits of the Elephant Parade are donated to the Elephant Family, the largest elephant charity in the world.
~Elephant Parade

From May through July this summer, the city of London will be filled with over 250 elephants that have been painted by artists and celebrities who support the effort.

Looks like there's another reason to visit the ancestral home of our founding fathers - a chance to see the Elephant Parade.via wejetset

2010-04-04T11:13:00.001-05:00

TW: Photo entitled "Fruit"
via the Big Picture blog (click to enlarge)

Sunday Funnies

2010-04-04T11:00:00.001-05:00

Saturday's Animal Shots- Tongue Edition

2010-04-03T11:00:00.004-05:00

Lincoln Park Zoo

2010-04-02T10:00:00.000-05:00

We took advantage of a nice day last week to walk up to Lincoln Park Zoo. Things were pretty quiet until the big guy up there let out a monster roar and starting chuffing.

I've seen the Travel Channel, I know that the lion's roar is supposed to be one of the loudest animal noises on Earth. I didn't really believe it until last week.

Of course, his girlfriend wasn't too thrilled - it seems he woke her up from a perfectly good nap in the sun...

Cool for Cats

2010-03-31T09:00:00.000-05:00

These are the White House catsMax (on top) and Sam

He should be an artist

2010-03-30T09:00:00.000-05:00

These drawings by John MacNair caught my eye and I had trouble looking away.

Even though I kind of wanted to...

Green Energy
Night Attack
Tchaikovsky
See more at his website or his blog Scritchy Scraps. but be advised that you may be disturbed. The images above do not do his oeuvre justice.