so hip it hurts

Our brief northern heatwave has passed only to be replaced by the return of the August drearies. ho hum.

There is a bright spot shining through the drizzle with this morning's discovery of Unhappy Hipsters. Reminds me a little of my favourite Martin Parr series, Bored Couples.















Stare all he might, he couldn’t wrap his head around how to panel the interior of the fridge with plywood.

















Though the hike to town was back-breaking, they both agreed that installing a road would have ruined the juxtaposition of the built and natural environments.

Add this to the rotation along with Regretsy, Awkward Family Photos and Cake Wrecks.

everything i ever needed to know about photography i learned from duane michals

Like Magritte, Duane Michals' work tweaks something in my brain. I've tried before to explain the response his work elicits in me. The best I can manage is that somehow when I look at his images it's as though discovery and primal recognition converge and I am immediately taken to my happiest of happy places.

(from "a visit with magritte")











Whenever I'm feeling adrift, I pull out my beloved copy of Sequences. It calms and anchors me again.
















And when I'm seeking creative guidance, I re-read this incredible 1969 transcript of a discussion between Michals and a group of students at New York's MOMA. Some of my favourite excerpts below.

On spontaneity

"Why does it have to be spontaneous? Ah, you see you're operating under the point of view we've been functioning under the last 20 years and that's the Robert Frank, [Henri] Cartier-Bresson point of view. The reality or the truth of the street. "Something really is valid only when you catch the instant that the thing happens in front of your eyes," you know. You get locked under a question of "reality." That's one kind of reality, there, but you know reality is really a fantastic problem. I mean you really get into this with photography. My pictures are as valid, or may be even more valid, in their contrivedness; they have their own reality. It's two different points of view. But all I'm saying is that people should start considering this point of view as being as valid as the "truth of the street.''

On pretty pictures

"...the fact that you were there to respond to something—that's not enough. Also, when you look at it, it all depends on what you want out of your photographs. If you look at a photograph and you think, "My isn't that a beautiful photograph," and you go on to the next one. Or "Isn't that nice light?" so what! I mean what does it do to you or what's the real value in the long run? What do you walk away from it with? I mean I'd much rather show you a photograph that makes demands on you, that you might become involved in on your own terms or perplexed by. Or I'd much rather suggest something that explains something. I think that, so you see a picturesque picture of a lady standing on a corner with a grumpy face wrapped up in an American flag . . . well that's an interesting photograph; but two minutes later it's not an interesting photograph. Ah, where are all those private head images that are all sitting here at the table? You know, everybody's waiting for something outside to happen for them to record. You know, what's going on inside of you? Why are you ignoring yourself?"

On cameras

"I think photographers should use what a camera can do, like a painter uses what the paint can do. I mean cameras can blur, you can double expose, you can do all sorts of things technically with the camera. People don't use that on purpose, you know what I mean? And I think you should use all the things that people consider as mistakes or the negative aspects of the camera. I think you should keep yourself open and work with blur—you can do many beautiful things. Outside Ernest Haas, that sort of thing, but using it, not accidentally the way he did. Using it for your own means, to suggest a vague impression of an event. So I think people should use the camera as a machine. I hate cameras myself—I don't really like cameras. I'm not a camera buff; I'm not interested in cameras. I always feel like a writer "hung up" on his typewriter. The camera is just . . . like you should know your camera thoroughly and then you should forget about it completely. And it should not be a thing between you and the person or what you're doing."

There you have it - THE definitive master class if you ask me.

bob's yer uncle

Ahh she does it again.... "Ode to Bob Ross" by the one, the only, the I-wish-she-lived-next-door-to-me-and-we-were-bff's elloh aka ellen lohse. Visit her here.
















Limited edition of 100 - did I mention my birthday's coming up?

eames house blocks

There are a lot of toys perched on high around the house and in my studio, the majority of which are off limits to little people. Cruel, I know. If only there were a happy marriage between horrendous kid-approved stuff and my precious vintage treasures...

Enter the newly released Eames House Blocks by the marvelous folks at House Industries. With this set's cool design and solid construction, we may just have stumbled upon a thing of beauty that's actually built to survive drooling and chewing. Happy days are here again.

While the price ($175) isn't exactly cheap, I think I may just make an executive decision and bypass the purchasing committee on this one. After all, as Charles himself said, "toys are not really as innocent as they look. Toys and games are the preludes to serious ideas."

kool in de skool

One of our visits to Holland was in August during the height of back to school season. Signs everywhere pronounced "kool in de skool" or something along those lines. It's a phrase oft repeated in our household ever since.

It's not a subject I care to delve too deeply into in this particular forum (slippery slope to the world of the mommyblog, yikes!), but since we've entered that certain phase of life, I've been horrified at the general hideousity of most things kid. It's been a bit of a learning curve finding the balance between sucking it up and graciously accepting pre-loved yet oh so aesthetically-challenged baby gear with shelling out ridiculous amounts of money for short-term items that will not cause our eyes and ears to bleed. Aside from an incurable addiction to danish baby clothes, I think I've been showing remarkable restraint - so far.

Designed for Kids is a neat sourcebook compiling some of the best of the best in the way of design for smafolk. A number of the featured items are sure to become classics - like one of my favourites, the Sleepi crib by Stokke. I had my heart set on one initially but in an uncharacteristic fit of fiscal responsibility was convinced to go with a lovely wooden hand-me-down instead. Fortunately, a girlfriend's mom gifted one to her so I will be able to drool over it in person whenever we visit. Perhaps pop the wee one in for a photo op - who'll be the wiser?

personal values

Rene Magritte is one of my favourite artists. As a young teenager, his work made me sit up and take notice of art as something that had the potential to be intelligent, political and witty - not just pretty pictures people stick up on their walls. I've seen many of his pieces in museums over the years and was thrilled to find this painting on exhibit at the San Francisco MOMA when we visited in April. Something about his work just tickles my brain.

















Les valeurs personnelles, 1952

living room

Plans are finally afoot for a rather substantial addition to our house. Come next spring, we'll be adding a whole new structure pretty much replicating the main living space in the marvelous Eames house, aka Case Study House number 8. Don't quite know how we'll pull off any kind of R-value out of all those windows, but that's just pesky details.

san francisco

Heading back to one of my favourite cities.

Love this hand printed map from delaflamant. Limited edition of 50.

bow-wow haus

Phillipe Plein dog bed










Design Public's Pet Pod
















Eddie's Room by Pet Project



















An etsy find

state of mind

Diane says it all.

something new under the sun

I've been cooped up in the 'Horse for so long now that new discoveries have been few and far between - until this happy day. I'm in love with David Graham Baker.








































Thanks Paul for the find.

cha cha cha changes

it's a new year. it's a new world.



















(image copyright the marvelous Sloane Tanen)

do those poor bastards even know it's christmas?

I'm not really into traditions for the most part. Not religious, skipped my graduations, opted for a commitment ceremony over a legal marriage, kept my name, don't do dishes, windows or 9-to-5 --you get the gist. But when it comes to Christmas, this atheist likes to adhere pretty closely to certain time honoured traditions. Like real trees, peppermint bark, mashed potato cookies, brussel sprout souffle, advent calendars and John Denver and the Muppets. Come December first, it's game on.

Being a child of the '80's this little ditty always gets its fair share of play (preferably on vinyl). As a tween, while I cared about the the socio-political message of the song, I confess I was probably more interested in the fact that Bono, Sting and Paul Young all appeared on screen together than anything else.

Listening to it today, I can't help but cringe at the patronizing and embarrassing lyrics ala "there won't be snow in Africa this Christmas" and "tonight thank god it's them instead of you" but like most traditions, this one is best not subjected to too much analysis or deep thinking. You just got to go with it. Enjoy.

Boggis, Bunce and Bean

"... One fat, one short and one lean.
These horrible crooks,
so different in looks.
were none the less equally mean."

Roald Dahl. Wes Anderson. I'm so excited.

That's saying a lot considering my general disposition these days.

beard weather

Around these parts, we're months past sweater weather and well into winter's subzero grip which calls for an arsenal of practical but puffy, lumpy and clunky cold weather wear. Imagine my happiness when I stumbled upon this beauty last year.

Quirky, original and warm? It can be done. I bring you the beard cap by Icelandic textile design collective Vik Prjónsdóttir.


The cap is modeled after the traditional Icelandic lambshed hood (think balaclava) worn in winter by sheep farmers who have to make long treks through bitter winds and snow between their barns and neighbouring farms.








Unfortunately, as is so often the case with original and inventive designs, the beard cap has fallen victim to a host of cheesy, cheaply made knock-offs. If you love it, give the designers the props they deserve and get an original. I just picked one up for my sweetie's birthday at Scandinavian Grace. They carry many other incredible textile designs from the marvelous Vik Prjónsdóttir collective like the baby seal pelts and regional blankets.

road worthy

Like so many things made for kids, car seats seem designed to be hideous. Practical? Ok. Safe? To be sure. Easy on the eyes - not so much.

Enter the Cosco car seat circa 1960/70. Fortunately we were thinking ahead and snagged one at the SF Deco and Modernist Show a few years back.



Small profile - check.
Streamlined design - check.
Easy on the eyes - check.
Eames inspired contours - check
Safe - one can't have everything.

if you can't beat 'em ....

. . . might as well join in the fun. Happy Hallowe'en.

Bloodbath shower curtain (designer unknown).



Adam Arber's Roadkill toys: racoon and weasel.



Liquid Bookmark from Kyouei designs

hello, elloh!

I have a sort of love-hate relationship with Etsy. So many knock-offs of other people's original designs and hundreds upon hundreds of cookie-cutter versions of cutesy, fadish, here-today, forgotten-tomorrow stuff made from the same tired patterns and fabrics. If you have the patience though to sort through the crafty crap, there are some real original gems to be found.

Case in point the marvelous drawings by elloh (aka ellen lohse) paying tribute to an eclectic assortment of pop culture, literary and cinematic favourites from yesterday to today.

Just arrived in my mailbox this week is this sweet homage to two of my most favouritest people - Charles and Ray Eames.












There's so many wonderful prints to choose from, it was hard to pick just a few to show you. Check out her etsy shop for other gems including odes to Flight of the Conchords, the A Team, various Hitchcock movies, Willy Wonka, the Darjeeling Limited, Mary Tyler Moore, To Kill a Mockingbird and on and on.



Don Draper AND Han Solo!!!



Nobody puts baby in a corner!


Breakfast at Tiffanys

still life with egg

Meet my latest Wehringer. Oh happy, happy day.

why i can never again set foot in scottsdale arizona

WANTED:

Jennifer Williams
DOB: 4/9/65
Fraudulent schemes, burglary


Let's hope no future employers stumble upon this.

who is john galt? (aka schizophrenic book club)

When I was a kid, I was fascinated by the titles in my parents' book shelves. The Gulag Archipelago. Anna Karenina. Ship of Fools. Canadian Realist Paintings. Atlas Shrugged. For some reason, the last one seemed especially interesting. Maybe it had something to do with the cover. While I've gone on to read many of those titles in the intervening years, I never got around to Ayn Rand. Until I started watching Mad Men and my interest was re-ignited. Somehow between Cooper's recommendation and a brief internet search I got it in my head that the premise of the book is that all the artists and innovators, inventors etc agree to go on strike to prove to the world how useless everything would be without them. Well, 100 pages or so in and I'm beginning to realize, that's not quite what it's all about. Oh well, I'm committed now. Never let it be said that this left leaning socialist lover isn't open to alternate ideas.... wish me luck.

Maybe it has something to do with all the changes in the air in my own life, but my night table is definitely beginning to resemble something of a schizophrenic's book club these days.

In addition to Ayn Rand, I've been reading pretty much any Richard Yates story I can get my hands on. It all started with watching the film Revolutionary Road. His utterly unredeeming tales of suburban angst and resigned hopelessness have a kind of Mad Men feel to them.



Add to that Corinne Maier's witty and urbane call to arms No Kids: 40 Reasons Not to Have Children - a must read for all thinking people - parents or not - and Apexart's Cautionary Tales: Critical Curating and you have yourself a pretty good glimpse into my frenetic state of mind these days.



Oh, I almost forgot - just arrived in the mail is the latest work from my man Tom

spider lamp

I've been on the look out for this chandelier since I first saw it in hanging in Kollwitz 45 in Berlin last fall.

I'd begun to think it was a figment of my imagination but then I found it again at Unicahome.
Behold the amazing "Dear Ingo" light aka the spider lamp by designer Ron Gilad for Moooi. So awkward, yet so right. Sadly, at $3200US, so expensive too. Normally I'm not in favour of knocking-off design originals but in this case the temptation is strong....

hot tub

Today's favourite things posting would be a most welcome addition to our household - the fabulous Dutchtub. (Not to be confused with a dutch oven which is never greeted with a welcome.)


Normally, I'm just not a fan of hot tubs. I tend to run far far away from any vacation rental or hotel that boasts of one. (Shiver me timbers, just the thought of it makes me gag.)

The Dutchtub on the other hand is pretty darn irresistible. For more photos of this wood-fired marvel in action, check out the Flickr stream.