Stuff from July, 2008
This is the archive of tumbledry happenings that occurred on July, 2008.
Bimbo Breads
I know I know, it’s a common brand. I still wanted to take this picture.
This is the archive of tumbledry happenings that occurred on July, 2008.
I know I know, it’s a common brand. I still wanted to take this picture.
A bit tipsy, I think — he wanted me to take their picture outside the Cathedral. Funny.
This place had the trickiest lighting I have ever had to deal with in my life.
I submit this to you: the movie Wall•E is an instant classic. Instant. New York Times columnist Frank Rich, in “Wall-E for President”:
Indeed, sitting among rapt children mostly under 12, I felt as if I’d stepped through a looking glass. This movie seemed more realistically in touch with what troubles America this year than either the substance or the players of the political food fight beyond the multiplex’s walls.
While the real-life grown-ups on TV were again rebooting Vietnam, the kids at “Wall-E” were in deep contemplation of a world in peril — and of the future that is theirs to make what they will of it. Compare any 10 minutes of the movie with 10 minutes of any cable-news channel, and you’ll soon be asking: Exactly who are the adults in our country and who are the cartoon characters?
Coldplay’s new album “Viva La Vida” has a song called Strawberry Swing.
People moving all the time
Inside a perfectly straight line
Don’t you wanna just curve away
When it’s such
When it’s such a perfect day
It’s such a perfect day
Crash Bandicoot Nitro Kart 3D is a game for the iPhone. For the iPhone? For the iPhone. Holy cow, it’s like they made the Nintendo Wii mobile. The new iPhone comes out this Friday for $199. I still can’t afford it, but with its business AND gaming features, well… I think if you clicked through and watched that video, you just saw the reason why this thing has won. A list:
The lighting made for some interesting colors on the ceiling.
I’ll be the first to agree with the spirit of George F. Will’s editorial about the historical importance of beer in the growth of urban populations (via Daring Fireball), but there are two issues in this piece of which the reader should be aware:
A three page article in the New York Times about chocolate chip cookies? Well, OF COURSE, I’m going to link that! Cookies recently surpassed doughnuts as my favorite food, and so I sat up and took notice at some helpful suggestions for baking great cookies in this article.
Here’s an excerpt from Metacritic’s synopsis of the 2004 film Garden State:
Her warmth and fearlessness give him the courage to open his heart to the joy and pain of the infinite abyss that is life.
I think these are relief carvings.
My alma mader, St. Thomas, is upgrading its email system. Though I use a dedicated desktop email program, sometimes I do have to check email through a web browser — so, with some trepidation, I clicked over to the tutorial for the new version of Microsoft Office Outlook Web Access.
Really enjoyed this architecture.
How much wood could a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood?
Maybe 500 drams?
Dream Garden is probably the most stunning piece of art in glass I’ve ever seen. A bit about the Curtis Publishing Company building, which houses this work:
I had one chance to do this shot — I had to diffuse the flash and guess the exposure. Turned out about as creepy as it appeared in real life; it was a tour de force in whatever limited photo skills I possess.
Don’t read the following excerpt from this news story if you are squeamish. Father beaten protecting daughter at Valleyfair:
A father who tried to protect his 12-year-old daughter after she was groped while leaving Valleyfair amusement park was beaten, stomped in the face and kicked by a group of young men, police said.
The 41-year-old victim, identified in a criminal complaint only by his initials, was unconscious when police arrived. He suffered skull fractures and possible bleeding on the brain, the documents said.
Helen Hunt eschews the surfboard, choosing instead to float magically in the air above the water.
Good job, Helen Hunt and photographer!
This is one of my favorite pictures from the trip.
I’d like to address a few things, re: Nils, myself, and movies. He and I have disagreed before about Roger Ebert. Nils has said Ebert is too easy on movies, I love Ebert because he reviews the way I would: he first tries to understand the vision and intent of the film, and then analyzes whether the execution works. This is why I believe his reviews tend toward the positive… he’s focusing on the positive because that is his style. Regardless, I think Nils and I can agree with Ebert’s take on The Dark Knight:
Casa Milà, better known as La Pedrera… see more at the great Wikipedia entry.
These are a few of the sculptural elements Gaudí came up with to disguise and shelter the rooftop utilities necessary in a building like these apartments. Stunning in their functionality, durability, and uniqueness.
Because Beijing is so polluted, the performance of athletes could suffer due to the poor air quality. China has decided to take drastic measures to clean up the air:
Under rules to curb smog and traffic congestion that will last from July 20 to Sept. 20, owners of 3.3 million private cars can drive only on alternate days in China’s capital, based on whether the last digit of their license plates is even or odd.
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Freight trucks that don’t meet minimal emission standards were banned July 1…
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Over the weekend, the city also opened a $2.3-billion subway line linking the northern Zhongguancun area, the capital’s high-tech neighborhood, with its central business district.
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Beijing has gone on a spending spree, relocating factories, seeding clouds, retiring old vehicles, planting millions of trees and halting building construction amid concerns that athletes and visitors could suffer breathing problems.The prospect of competitors wearing masks during events has spurred authorities to set a goal of 256 “blue-sky” days this year, up from 100 in 1998. World record holder and asthma sufferer Haile Gebrselassie of Ethiopia has opted to pull out of the marathon and concentrate instead on the 10,000-meter event. Other teams are training for as long as possible outside China.
Today’s thought of the day comes from a Slashdot comment:
Sorry for the polemic, but believe me, your son will stretch himself to understand you far more than he will even for the most gifted teacher. What I owe to my parents can never be repaid, and there isn’t a day goes by that I don’t miss them.
A while back, if memory serves, my Dad told me a story about love. It was understated in the way that true stories tend to be, and of course the details elude my fuddled memory, but the idea of it always stuck in my head. Something like this: my Dad said that the closest he ever came to seeing love at first sight was in college, orientation, I believe. Two people locked eyes and right then, in that moment, the spark of attraction ignited their love. As far as we know, they were together after that.
These are BRILLIANT. Gaudí was preoccupied with overseeing every element of his buildings — here, we see his door handles. They were cast from molds made by plunging one’s hand into wet clay. See how closely they mimic the form of the human hand?
The real kicker is how they work — their design conveys their function. Clearly, when you grasp the handle on the left, your hand assumes a pulling motion, whereas when you reposition your hand for the handle on the right, your hand assumes a pushing motion. No “pull” or “push” signs necessary. Perfect.
The decorative, organic grates on the outside of Gaudí’s amazing apartments.
Mykala recently commented about the doping substance EPO… and I started writing a comment in response. Unfortunately, the comment got so long that, well, it turned into a full post. I recently revisited a first-person account of EPO and other chemicals for enhancing human performance — we now join this comment already in progress…
Hey Richard, you were right — this YouTube video of John Butler playing the song “Ocean” is pretty spectacular. It’s the sort of chord progression I enjoy when I’m sketching on the piano.
Good stuff.
This a bit (didn’t bring the wide angle lens!) of our fantastic digs in Barcelona — modern, quiet, cool — a great place to relax after a long day of touring.
Here’s a comment by Ryan from a few years back that I ran across today:
“haha, Emerson is such an under used punchline.”
Stuff like that is essentially why I keep writing here and refining the website. Good times.
Paging Sagert Sheets. Sagert Sheets to the tumbledry front desk — heard anything about this? ‘Energy boosting’ eel drink goes on sale for Japan’s hot summer:
A canned drink called “Unagi Nobori,” or “Surging Eel,” made by Japan Tobacco Inc., hit the nation’s stores this month just ahead of Japan’s annual eel-eating season, company spokesman Kazunori Hayashi said Monday.
“It’s mainly for men who are exhausted by the summer’s heat,” Hayashi said of the beverage, believed to be the first mass-produced eel drink in Japan.
LexisNexis, defined in its own words on Wikipedia:
LexisNexis claims to be the “world’s largest collection of public records, unpublished opinions, forms, legal, news, and business information”
