| Noguchi trickles down to IKEA |
[Feb. 4th, 2010|09:57 pm] |
 Noguchi's lamps for Akari have been knocked off many times. Even Noguchi's designs were essentially simplified paper lamps that have been made for centuries. Of course, IKEA has knocked them off before - but poorly until now. The latest versions are plump and fine and cheap as chips. |
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| Netflix as Cultural Index |
[Feb. 4th, 2010|12:10 am] |
In the "Browse DVDs" section you can find the top 25 local favorites in most major cities. Not only does this show which titles are popular, it also reveals - at least among Netflix customers - well, something.
Anywhere, USA pretty much exhibits the expected mix of action and family entertainment, but larger cities vary wildly. Of the lists I viewed, NYC had the best mix of art and classic film yet had a seemingly self-obsessed level of local interest. Atlanta by contrast is gay, Gay, GAY! Even in San Francisco, art trumps gay in viewing choices.
What is the deal with Atlanta anyway? The gay themed films in question are, frankly, cheesy to me - little more than the softest core porn imaginable. Atlanta's gay culture, in terms of brick and mortar, is on an alleged down trend, so is everyone watching DVDs in the closet?
NYC
Nursery University
Le Jour Se Lève
Callas Forever
Barbarians at the Gate
Summer
A Little Night Music
New York
1900
Summer Storm
Code Unknown
The Red Shoes
New York Stories
Smiles of a Summer Night
Rogue Trader
Basquiat
A Man and a Woman
The Panic in Needle Park
Scenes from a Marriage
Dominick Dunne: After the Party
The Harmonists
Time to Leave
The Pope of Greenwich Village
Manhattan
Wall Street
Divorce, Italian Style | ATL
Dog Tags
Back Soon
Their Eyes Were Watching God
Shank
The Beales of Grey Gardens
White
Shelter
Eating Out: All You Can Eat
Objectified
Hollywood, Je T'aime
Cover
Chris Rock: Kill the Messenger
Born Into Brothels
Island at War
The Butch Factor
Janky Promoters
Another Gay Sequel: Gays Gone Wild!
The Boondocks: Season 2
Gossip Girl: Season 2
The L Word: Season 1
Grey Gardens
Fur
Holding Trevor
The Mission: Special Edition
Eulogy |
After these revelations, I would recommend consulting Netflix before ever moving to a new city. The data almost drives me away from mine. |
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| Forbidden Fruits? |
[Feb. 3rd, 2010|11:17 am] |
Here's a painful exercise in branding for you. The messages include "bite me" and "live 4 ever." If you eat them will you sparkle? |
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| Relax with Poäng |
[Feb. 2nd, 2010|06:47 pm] |
Are you adding a note or a person? My complaint to IKEA is not so much that it has produced another in an endless line of knock-offs but that it took so long to make this one. The Poäng lounger is the obvious distillation of Breuer, Aalto and Mathsson if not half as elegant. Still, the price is quite soothing. |
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| Convince me that cruises don't suck. |
[Jan. 13th, 2010|01:16 am] |
That's right. I have pre-formed an opinion without actually having been on a cruise, but these are the assumptions I'm working from:
- You're on a floating hotel - and for me, vacation doesn't happen at the hotel.
- The stops are too short for any real exploration and tend towards tourist trap areas.
- You can get Japanese, French and whatever dining, but it's still just one restaurant.
- Onboard entertainment is all but guaranteed to be lame.
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| Room & Board's latest knock-off |
[Jan. 4th, 2010|09:11 pm] |
It's hard to protect modern wing chair designs. McCobb's original is elegant but hardly groundbreaking. It is, however, distinct enough to identify as the source of R&B's copy. The primary difference is found in the squareness of the arms, but in the round it's even more similar than this photo reveals. What's more irritating is their description of the chair as "a modern interpretation of a European club chair." No! It's as American as the designer you copied! |
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| Belly Flops |
[Dec. 29th, 2009|10:21 pm] |
I found these at Dollar Tree. Where else can you buy irregular candy?
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| ZOTZ |
[Dec. 16th, 2009|09:11 am] |
Until day before yesterday, I hadn't eaten a Zotz for years. They're sour, fizzy and capable of dissolving teeth in a flash. I'm limiting myself to 6 per year. |
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| Dead List 2009 |
[Dec. 11th, 2009|04:32 pm] |
Another list that had been sporadic but will now be made annual is the assortment of things that are either dead, phasing out or otherwise not worth your attention in 2010.
1. The Beckhams
There was a time when celebs required at least a modicum of talent to maintain tabloid buzz. That time is over.
2. Desktop PCs
Cell phone computing, low cost notebook computers and networked console gaming have displaced the boxes.
3. Project Runway
There's another season coming, but who cares? Absence on Bravo, a long delay and an arguably boring string of episodes simply sucked the momentum right out of a series that was already coasting.
4. Palm
The Pre and the Pixi are surely the last.
5. Hipsters
Your paraphernalia is now mainstream. You can no longer differentiate.
6. Blog Music
Today's polished pop system is similar to the late seventies music industry. Only the creation of a handful of producers (with questionable talent) gets played.
7. Educational Cable Channels
National Geographic and The Science Channel are still clinging on to being informative, but for A&E and TLC, all hope is lost. History and Discovery are starting to lose their grip as well.
8. Network TV
How many months before they're just another cable option?
9. Dieting
Fat is something you are until you can afford surgeries, a chef and a trainer. Instead of doing the obvious (eating properly, exercise, reasonable expectations), most tubby folks (self included lately) have tried nothing and it hasn't worked.
10. Using more than 140 characters to blog
Oops. |
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| Exit 2009 |
[Dec. 9th, 2009|07:16 pm] |
It's time for the annual list of irritations I'd love to see end along with the year - though I'm certain they won't.
1. Disney Pop
Artificially virginal sani-pop is too much to bear. How has the current generation of young people escaped being jaded at all? That's right. They're not half as worldly as the generations before them.
2. "It is what it is."
The vaguest and most overused expression often is code for excusing bad behavior or willful acceptance of the inferior. Had an illicit affair? Oh well. It is what it is. Enjoying some frozen pizza? It is what it is.
3. Hoodies
I'm guilty of owning exactly two. They're useful, but I'm not planning to rob a bank, do Meth or pretend I'm 18.
4. Auto-Tune
5. Blu-ray
I just bought a cheap player in order to watch what I want now, but this transient technology is merely a pause on the way to a files-only sales model.
6. Young Vampires
Even I couldn't avoid this entirely (watched and enjoyed Being Human).
7. Young Hollywood
It's not that I'm getting older. Every adaptation or new project has gone Muppet Babies.
8. The Jacksons
It's amazing how long Michael's coattails have gotten now that he's gone. How precious of Janet to keep tight lipped until she had a disc to promote, and now tv must endure a Jacksons reality show.
9. Facebook
I'm still on it and not leaving it. It's the only social networking site that connects me to people I don't care about because I'm polite and we share some pointless commonality.
10. Greening
Must all sustainable products scream the materials they're made from? Look! My Prius is made of sawdust and runs on dryer lint. |
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| Blacker Hole |
[Dec. 1st, 2009|05:10 pm] |
I learned today that a remake of The Black Hole is in the works. At the age of ten I thoroughly enjoyed this film. I can't quite enjoy it now, but I just can't leave it alone either. The core of the film is startling for a 1979 Disney film. With the plot of a scientist turning the crew into drones due to mutiny over the plan to plunge to their likely deaths in a black hole - and cool floaty robots - how can you go wrong? Well, if you're Disney, you can derail things quite easily. For every cool robot there is a silly one. For every bit of science there is some nonsense. For every masterful design or special effect there is a dubious one. A great deal of scenery gets chewed along with some dated, corny lines.
Prior to the announcement of the remake, I had always wanted to do a fan edit. A much more enjoyable film could be achieved mostly by taking the unneeded parts away, redubbing BOB's voice with new, accent-free lines and a few graphic embellishments/fixes. There's a major problem with the ending, too. It's not so much the wierd Dante's Inferno stuff, it's that surving the journey through the black hole in the probe ship into a different part of the universe - or, indeed, another universe - doesn't really do anyone any favors. I can't imagine they have much to eat while waiting to be rescued. Hungry are the damned! |
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| Atlanta Midcentury Homes Map |
[Nov. 28th, 2009|05:27 pm] |
I've started adding placemarks to a Google map of classic modern homes in and around Atlanta. Thanks to the increased number of street views, I have been able to locate far more of these homes than I ever spotted while exploring neighborhoods by car. It's a bit tedious to mark every individual home, so I decided to only mark streets where classic modern homes are found. Many of these are only modest designs of the post and beam ranch variety, but they're no less worthy of preservation. I suppose the recession is even helping to reduce the rate at which this type of design gets replaced by McHomes (exactly what neighbors of these homes probably thought of them while peering through garish white columns decades ago).
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| dressing ingredients |
[Nov. 22nd, 2009|12:48 pm] |
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Due to travel, the dressing gets the old bake & freeze. Incidentally, the secret to moist and tender dressing is fresh sage and thyme plus simmering the celery and onions in the chicken broth before mixing in. I use both crouton and cornbread. |
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| Teaching Moment? |
[Nov. 21st, 2009|06:46 pm] |
As I was browsing (but not buying) Christmas ornaments in Target this afternoon, these two youngsters were annoyingly underfoot and screaming. One of them asked it's mother if it could press the button on the customer service call box located at the foot of the Christmas trees. She chirped, "sure, but you better know what to ask for."
On the one hand, her response was not overprotective and might teach her kids to be responsible for their actions. On the other hand, Target employees ain't go no damn time to entertain your children, fool! |
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| suffocation shield |
[Nov. 21st, 2009|11:03 am] |
Want to protect your microcephalic baby from the rain? Have I got the product for you!
Tired of that little pinhead already? The Stroller Shield doubles as a suffocation device! |
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| The Pink PIg |
[Nov. 21st, 2009|10:58 am] |
 This kiddie ride has been brought out every holiday season for years albeit in different locations and safety levels. There's one little problem, though. Why does the pig look so shocked? If you're wearing blush, eye shadow and false lashes, you might be scared when the farmer comes around. |
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| Vick's Vapor Chub |
[Nov. 6th, 2009|03:44 pm] |
Actually, this nugget (thanks for that word, Chelsea!) is in the Vick's NyQuil commercial, but I couldn't make a pun with that. Anyone we know?
I used to post about nuggets on tv all the time, but then I got uppity. Well, that's over now. Bring on the fat screen caps!
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| Big & Tall the Kohl's Way |
[Nov. 6th, 2009|02:52 pm] |
 It's a good thing that Kohl's stocks clothes for ample dudes, but they're clearly out of touch with the actual needs of the outsized man or how to style him. Shapeless bag plaid? Clown costume? Pull your pants up to grandpa's armpits? Come on!
Furthermore, they have a weird definition of Big & Tall:
Big: Demonstrates a body from 5'8" - 6'0" tall with a midsection that's wider than the chest. Order a big size if you are 6'2" or shorter, and your waist measures the same or larger than your chest. In other words, big sizes are designed for men with a full waist and average height.
Well, I'm plenty fat, but I don't think it's even possible for my chest measurement to be smaller than my waist. Can you imagine how I'd look with a 52" chest and a 52" waist? I'd be a Hershey's Kiss!
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| (un)Healthy Choice (for the environment) |
[Oct. 20th, 2009|06:29 pm] |
Many people want convenience for lunch, but ConAgra is packaging everything but the microwave in the Healthy Choice Fresh Mixers line. The main container consists of bowl, lid and plastic seal and shrink-wrap around the lid. Inside is another plastic container with a seal. The lid doubles as a colander, which is clever except that we don't need single-use colanders floating in the Pacific! And for a single serving at that. In some ways this is even worse than Kraft Lunchables. |
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