wish you were here

best christmas presents

a late holiday review, but none the less

un. being home with my family. this is the tent we built for maximizing the efficiency of my humidifier while i was ill. we put colored christmas lights on top and it became quite the hang-out in spite of being the sick ward. tad's told me the projector now reverse projects onto the foot of the tent which makes me look forward to going home again. it is magically boss.



deux. hand-embroideries from kelsey. they're gorgeous. i admire her patience and mad skills. i like this one especially because for some reason, when we were small, my parents decided that my brother's "spirit animal" was a bear. i would have thought an iguana or something like that since he was constantly (i mean, constantly) pretending to either be a dinosaur or to be engaging in conversation with dinosaurs, but no one asked me.



trois. a visit from caroline. i was digging out the old photographs and drawings that i had stored at home and found this. it is vintage caroline circa 2006 at the beach, eating strawberries.
meet me in the garden - dent may and his magnificent ukulele

feathers!

or drawings of feathers...


i suggest visiting claire scully's site for more gorgeous.

that new new

at work i got a glare from WDB for referring to the 2010 collection as that new new

what?!

When She Came Along - Kid Cudi (feat. Sharam)

recipe for celebrating winter

chistopher knowles is superb fellow in practically every way, perhaps especially so in the kitchen (that's him on the rabbit). lucky me arrived home tonight to find this recipe waiting in my email inbox.
there's not much that beats warm soup in the winter. so, i had to share...

1. Take a Butternut Squash, peel it, chop it, then roast it on a baking sheet.

2. While that's roasting, take two bosce pears, and one apple (preferably a sweet variety). Peel them and then chop them. I'd say after about 25 minutes of doing that, throw them amidst the squash. Let it all keep roasting about 15 more minutes (or until everything is tender and squishy).

3. Cut up some onion and FRESH sage. Cut a nice chunk a butter. Throw it all in a pan to caramelize a bit.

4. Take the roasting stuff (squash, apples, and pears), and throw them in a food processor if you have one around. Then add about 16 ounces of heavy cream to the processor. Try to get everything to form a puree.

5. In a larger pan, finish it all off: Turn the stove on to a lower heat. Pour in the puree. Add the following and stir them in. Ground Cinnamon, Fresh Nutmeg, More Butter (as much as you like), The onions and sage, and then to add liquid, pour in some white wine of your choosing. I used Trader Joe's Sauvignon Blanc. Cheap and good for cooking and some should be left over to enjoy...er, sorta.


* christopher is a charming guy who lives in NY, cooks, takes photos, and writes. stalk him at chris on scooter.

as pleasant as profitable

In the new Sherlock Holmes mystery-action-adventure, Jude Law and RDJ are presenting us with a bit more badass than we've previously attributed to the dandy Watson/Holmes team. Here, Holmes boxes (shirtless...which isn't fallible, but i think made me blush in spite of the darkened theater) and Watson is a decorated military man. Not sure how true that keeps to Sir Doyle's character portrayals, as I've never read the series, not even the Hounds of Baskervilles, and probably won't anytime soon. So, I'll just have to base everything I know about the dynamic duo off a film by Guy Ritchie.

Below is a set photo of Holmes'..er..home office. Mind, the lighting was a little dimmer and dustier on film than you see here. During scenes set in this space my eyes stayed busy devouring the dec. One of my favorite pieces from Holmes' office was a bust depicting a crying baby, trés comic grotesque. He also had a darling painted portrait of someone who looked a lot like Charles Darwin, but whoever it was appeared to be daydreaming. Watson's office, by contrast, was a pale and stark blue-green. A sickly, soft sort of color. On his mantle there was an infant's skeleton, which would be quite the oddity. And otherwise, lots of brass instruments for this and that. If you were to contrast the two characters based on their possessions, you might ascertain that, that while Watson has the medical or forensic end of the detective game covered, Holmes, a people-reader, has as much of an intellectual curiosity in human sentiment. Watson and Holmes had a psychological relationship (and conflict) with one another that reminded me of Dr. Wilson and House (of House M.D., of course). The productions don't share any of the same credits, but someone must be a fan. I learned that writer Simon Kinberg is also responsible for Mr. and Mrs. Smith, which would explain the high banter levels, as well as the love/hate dynamic between Holmes and Rachel McAdams' character. The fact that he's a crime fighter and she's a thief reminds me of Leob's classic Selina Kyle and Bruce Wayne, who suffered from similar personal and professional conflicts.

I noticed that two different villain cronies had the same industrial light fixture in their respective evil workspaces. I liked it and I'd happily accept it as an alternative to our ubiquitous florescent lighting or the track halogens that burn heat. I checked and there are not really bumble bees in the tile and fleur-de-lis on the carpet in Westminster Palace. I googled "parliament+bees+tile" and learned something new from wikipedia about an elizabethan poem called "The Parliament of Bees." It's allegorical, of course. Also, took a look at images of the House of Lords and the House of Commons, neither have blue carpet at all. Not that it's an issue, except maybe the fleur-de-lis, that's just sloppy. No British governmental building is going to install French blue carpet with traditionally French ornamentation, but that's a very knit-picky thought.


Overall, the movie is fun-times. The story gets a little over silly at certain points. The plot twists were not a strong suit and the central mystery was a mythological hybrid so overworked it became painful and moronic, in spite of the writers embarassing attempt at something demonic. Like, most of the "black magic" markings that the bad guy was scribbling looked like hobo signs. They would have been better off being based in hieroglyphics. It looked like the designer had maybe researched some hieroglyphics, if for no other reason than it just being more logical for a sphinx worshiping cult.

The action in some places was heavy handed, even predictable. For example: of course the bad guy is going to take his last shot at you while standing with his foot in the middle of some rope that happens to be tied to an anchor on the construction site of London's first suspension bridge. Naturally, you'll cut the extension of that rope conveniently within arm's reach which will wrap around bad dude's legs, pulling his feet from under him. Voila! Villiain taking him by surprise, looney tunes style. With that said, earlier on in the movie, there were a couple of slow-motion sequences illustrating Holmes' highly analytical combat style which were pretty damn cool. They played in hyper-dynamic slo-mo first, then followed at real time. So, you saw them twice, but I still jumped and flinched on the second go! I have a habit of dodging punches while I sit in my seat. In any case, immediately following the film's key resolution, the producers took an extra 7 or so minutes to set us up for the sequel which is likely to be as pleasant as profitable. Hopefully, I'll see it once it's been pirated. I mean, this movie can carry a sequel about as well as Underworld carried a trilogy (brilliantly..; ) ). I simply can't support milking every idea, original or otherwise, for as much profit as imaginable. It's the same kind of greed that brings on economic crises. {dislike button}

ladies and gentlemen...

may i present to you,
a glimpse at the man, nay, the myth
whose designs have made your life,
practically, what it is today.

Mr. Dieter Rams


Dieter Rams: Less and More Interview from Gestalten.
Wikipedia Dieter Rams or learn more from The Design Museum in London.

warmest seasonal wishes to you and yours

workstead

i like this firm. i like their site.


seeing eye calendar


east village apartment

dismantling the eiffel tower

i've found the instructions for the eiffel tower. so, if you'd like to try taking it apart, these will certainly help.

"dear madison"

"dear madison"

"just discovered you blog and like your posts! great!"




youtube immortalized interview magazine NY



"more info about our work:
http://withoutyoubaby.com
http://www.invisibleheroes.net"



"maybe you like these too."





"greetings from switzerland!"
(The End)
ado & comenius


word, ado & comenius. that's what's up.



.

lost city arts & belvedere

I visited New York this fall and wandered into a beautiful 20th century design and furniture shop called Lost City Arts.

Where I met this sofa...

Isn't he gorgeous? The Danish designer's name was Illum Wikkelso.
Illum... what an enchanting name.

So, anyhow, I was making chit-chat with the owner and he asked whether I knew Belvedere (an Atlanta design shop owned Julie Carr-Baylor...it's very nice). And I exclaimed, "Yes, of course! You know Belvedere?!" He cooly replied that he was pals with the owner and that his shop had inspired her's. Once he'd said it, I got how they'd influenced one another aesthetically. It's always interesting to see those connections, beauty begetting beauty, you know.

I don't usually plug R&B on here, as it seems a conflict of interest, but I wanted to see what we had that might come close (with a significantly more reasonable price tag) and this or this is my answer. Better off with the latter option, the leather Reese. But it'd still take years to look as beautifully loved as the sofa by Illum. I'd suggest customizing it in a leather that shows wear as it will look beautiful in time. Honestly, I can't even think about how ridiculously good looking it would be in 15 years. It's sick.

suspiria

it's bizzare, i know, but the design is crazy in a way that only a late seventies italian horror movie could be.

note the wallpaper as you're watching this girl's face get smashed.

black matter matters

I've heard your cries. So, I will only post objects from Matter that, in addition to being boss, are reasonably affordable.
(and also black, just because)


Grenade Oil Lamp - $60 ...made from actual US Army surplus grenades.


Albert Hook - $45


Lace Tape - $10


Pigeon Light - $125


This post's thematic soundtrack: Dark Matter - Andrew Bird
An actual image of invisible dark matter from NASA

na na na, aw

First Aid Kit - A Take Away Show from La Blogotheque on Vimeo.

la, la, la, la blogotheque with First Aid Kit

check, check them with Atlas Sound

...ah....and Phoenix in front of the Eiffel Tower. Oh so charming...


Katie, what I want from Paris is for you to see a la blogothque show. Can you do that for me? Just wander the streets looking for musicians and video cameras? ;?

moss

His and Her
Pete Marigold, 2009, U.K.

Porcelain Skull
Franz Ignatz Gunther, 1760, Munich

Bol Sein de la Laiterie de Rambouillet
Louis-Simon Boizot Jean-Jacques Lagrené Jr., 1787, France

Zon
Matthew Waldman, 2009, USA

moss: online gallery and shop

inglorious bastards

set photos










once upon a time in nazi-occupied france...

boys,boys,boys,boys

more vids from the lennox bros. and between the eyes prod.

i wonder who art directed. i'll just assume it was somehow me from the future with a time machine.

“Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.”

I'd never heard this DaVinci quote and now twice in two days.
{that's a sign}

Desmond Winston Manchester XI

I want to be David Wasco when I grow up.