Lessons From Posters

I stumbled across a set of WWII posters available for high quality download from the Cincinnati Library. The thing that struck me are a few things being promoted that we could use a little bit more of today regardless of weather we are at war or not. Since we are at war currently it would be cool if the government took that as an opportunity to get us to make positive changes instead of the "shop more or the terrorists win" mentality we have now. Eating healthier, and using our resources better are themes we could all live by today.

Swoon

Aaron Rose's DIY America series is really awesome. The latest episode features Swoon. I had no idea Swoon was a girl. I also always wanted to do wheat pasting but never really had any ideas for images.

Back in action

$50 later...

Phone

As if having a tree fall on my house wasn't enough, my phone broke yesterday and I don't even know how. I think can receive calls but I can't reliably dial out.

Three Free MP3s

Amazon is running a promotion where you can download three MP3s for free. Whenever I went to a record store I always forgot what bands I wanted to look for and having to pick three songs out of so many with no real sections or guides I came out with a pretty random mix. Listed below are the three songs I got in the order I got them.

C+F by Sam Prekop
Ruff Ryder's Anthem by DMX
M. E. by Gary Numan

What three songs did you get..?

to the chipper

Tree getting craned out.

Timelapse set up

Shooting a timelapse of the trees coming out.

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In the bathroom

A tree fell on our house and this branch ended up in our bathroom.

The Morning Commute

I needed to come to work this morning to train someone for a meeting they are having on Saturday, and these are the photos I took along the way. Click on them to get a better view.

This photo is terrible but if you might be able to see the floating dock above the level of the parking lot. Pretty crazy.
This is Llewellyn Ave behind Mi Hogar. Those new apartments aren't looking so hot right now.
This is Omohundro behind that bank off Granby.
This is the Stewert Center from 38th St. the flooding was across 38th, so I had to take a different route.
This is Stockley Gardens on Raleigh Ave.
Tree on cars on Graydon Ave and Colonial Ave.

Fortunately, our house is fine. We have had plenty of downed branches and the basement is flooded, but that is to be expected.

So Rad

Via: Haw-Lin

Refreshments

The meeting I am shooting today is also hosting a desert contest

Plastic Diet

Chris Jordan is known for his powerful photography dealing with environmental issues. His new Midway series is probably his most powerful yet. Baby Albatross are fed a diet of plastic by their unknowing parents. As their starved and poisoned bodies decompose they reveal a stomach full of our trash. Via: Good Problem

The Botany Of Desire

I'm a big Michael Pollen fan, so I'm psyched that his book The Botany Of Desire has been made into a two hour PBS documentary premiering October 28th on PBS. Click here to check the trailer and find out when it is playing in your area.

The Future

Maybe in the future this will be me, out in a canoe with my dog an a beautiful autumn day. Found among other autumn scenes at The Big Picture.

Yard Sale Score

I came up on some tools at a yard sale today. Only $10 for all this.

Lunch

Sal and i share lunch

Red Cross Morning

Donating blood

Blocked Internet Article

Those who know me know how frustrated I get with blocked internet access at work. I've even contemplated getting one of those internet anywhere USB things, but $60 a month or more just isn't worth it. I read this Slate article on Corporate IT Depts with great interest. I've been lucky, or unlucky, enough to have jobs where they do not take up the entire 8 hour day, so unhindered internet access is important to me. The below quote was particularly vindicating to me. 

Indeed, there's no empirical evidence that unfettered access to the Internet turns people into slackers at work. The research shows just the opposite. Brent Corker, a professor of marketing at the University of Melbourne, recently tested how two sets of workers—one group that was blocked from using the Web and another that had free access—perform various tasks. Corker found that those who could use the Web were 9 percent more productive than those who couldn't. Why? Because we aren't robots; people with Web access took short breaks to look online while doing their work, and the distractions kept them sharper than the folks who had no choice but to keep on task.

The article goes on to discuss Results Only Work Environments and how what you get done is more important than how long you spend at work. With all our time saving technology, you would think that the 40 hour work week would be a thing of the past. 

Instead of working less to make the same amount of stuff we have to work more to make more stuff then go out and buy more stuff than we need to justify all the time we waste at work making all kinds of stuff we don't need. 

Costs of Calories

A study in theAmerican Journal of Clinical Nutrition found that a dollar could buy 1,200 calories of potato chips or 875 calories of soda but just 250 calories of vegetables or 170 calories of fresh fruit. 

From a Time magazine article on food.

AM Session

Early morning blunt slides by Neal Wood

Collection

I posted this over at MostlySkateboarding but figured some of you guys might have missed it. My parents brought all my old skate videos and magazines up to my new house and I was stoked to finally have them with me. Click on the images to see them really big. While going through my old magazines I found the first and only two issues of Journal, the short lived east coast magazine and a couple of old Alien Workshop zines. Also on the shelf are some old zines from old friend and Berrics contributor Dallas Clayton and others.

Manufactured Landscapes Opening

This is the opening of Manufactured Landscapes and it is awesome. I remember seeing this at Sundance and being blown away. You probably already know about Edward Burtynsky but if not, check him out. Via: Triumph of Bullshit.

Food and Eating

Michael Pollan has an article/movie review in the New York Times Magazine about, among other things, how Americans spend more time watching cooking shows than they do cooking. There are lots of interesting statistics most striking to me was the one in the quote below.

"Already today, 80 percent of the cost of food eaten in the home goes to someone other than a farmer, which is to say to industrial cooking and packaging and marketing."

Food for thought...

We started watching Lost.

In Defense Of Food

I just finished reading In Defense Of Food by Michael Pollan. There is lots to think about from this book about what we eat and how we eat. It makes me thankful to my parents for bringing me up in a great food culture with home cooked family meals every night at 7PM and a garden in the back yard. We had plenty of cookies and chocolate chips around the house, but no soda for a long time. There was very little convenience food. Any meals had to be made from scratch for the most part. Big thanks to my mom for always cooking for us. 

Filming

Hurts but I wouldn't have it any other way.

Sister Corita Link Round-Up

Aaron Rose's documentary on Sister Corita is screening in Los Angeles and it got me thinking about her again and tracking down some interesting links. I first heard about her through this Weekend America story. This AIGA article is a good quick introduction to the artist. I also came up on three clips from Rose's documentary. Clip one, clip two, animation. 

Radness

I was poking around on Club Mumble today and came across two really awesome things. First is that flyer up there. I love the block print/ non flat colors. It makes me want to do some screen printing. Second is this happy graffiti. I'd like to see more of this type of stuff than ultra complicated illegible words. 

Thursday Was a Good Day For mail

I got the new Zoo York video and the Field Notes notebooks that I got for free after scanning a page from the new Readymade for them.

New Mower

We made our first purchase for our new house yesterday. We got a lawn mower. It is an old style reel lawn mower. I found in on Craigslist and scooped it up for $40. According to my research the MSRP is $305. The above picture is the same model, but not our actual new mower. We wanted a reel mower for two reasons. It is quiet. We can mow our lawn whenever we want without having to worry about disturbing our neighbors. It is environmentally clean. lawnmowers are some of the least effeciant machines out there. The human powered reel lawn mower doesn't spew out any nasty exhaust, just sweat.

Partly Cloudy

Partly Cloudy is the short before Up. It is online for now in its entirety, so watch and enjoy.

Home

The French photographer Yann Arthus-Bertrand, the man behind the Earth From Above series just released his first film entitled Home. It is available on Youtube starting today and looks to be a visually stunning film detailing the human impact on the Earth. It is shot entirely from the air. If you liked Koyaanisqatsi or other nature documentaries, you'll like Home. I've watched abtou 15 minutes of it and it's really good.

Message In A Bottle Update

Joe mentioned this in the comments...

Meet Artist Andy Hughes Saturday May 30, and Sunday, May 31. Meet artist Andy Hughes during opening events and special programs on Saturday, May 30 and Sunday, May 31. All free with Museum admission.

Presentation and guided gallery tour with Andy Hughes Saturday, May 30 at 11 A.M. and Sunday, May 31
1 P.M. Roper Theater

Join us as Andy Hughes discusses his work and the importance of cleaning the beaches, as well as his book Dominant Wave Theory, which features over 150 photographs taken on beaches around the world. Then join him for a guided tour of the exhibition Message in a Bottle.

Mad Men Season 3

Production begins in August on the third season of Mad Men. Stoked! For those who haven't seen Mad Men, get seasons one and two on DVD and catch up. 

Nice Desk

I like our existing desk, which is actually just a table, but I'd love to have some drawers. While looking at Grain Edit's studio visit with Chris Bettig, his desk really caught my eye. 

Message in a Bottle

The Mariners' Museum in Newport News has a good photo show coming featuring the works of Andy Hughes and a personal favorite of mine Chris Jordan. I hear on the radio this morning that Andy Hughes is speaking there some time, but i haven't found any info on that lately. Both photographers explore consumerism and the environment and where those two worlds meet. The show opens May 30th and goes until January. I have a fantasy photo exhibit in my head and Chris Jordan would definitely be a part of that. 

Credit Card Update

If your not into listening tot he podcast I linked to yesterday, you can read the article that the Planet Money guest, Charles Duhigg, wrote here. It's six pages, so be ready for a long read. You can also hear an interview with Charles on the Leonard Lopate show if you can't get enough of this. Also, big ups tot he New York Times Magazine for the nice simple yet illustrative graphics. Here are a few quotes to give you the idea, but you should read the whole thing. It's real interesting.

"The other solution was learning to predict how different types of customers would behave. Card companies began running tens of thousands of experiments each year, testing the emotions elicited by various card colors and the appeal of different envelope sizes, for instance, or whether new immigrants were more responsible than cardholders born in this country. By understanding customers’ psyches, the companies hoped, they could tell who was a bad risk and either deny their application or, for those who were already cardholders, start shrinking their available credit and increasing minimum payments to squeeze out as much cash as possible before they defaulted."

"data indicated, for instance, that people who bought cheap, generic automotive oil were much more likely to miss a credit-card payment than someone who got the expensive, name-brand stuff. People who bought carbon-monoxide monitors for their homes or those little felt pads that stop chair legs from scratching the floor almost never missed payments. Anyone who purchased a chrome-skull car accessory or a “Mega Thruster Exhaust System” was pretty likely to miss paying his bill eventually."

Most of the major credit-card companies have set up systems to comb through cardholders’ data for signs that someone is going to stop making payments. Are cardholders suddenly logging in at 1 in the morning? It might signal sleeplessness due to anxiety. Are they using their cards for groceries? It might mean they are trying to conserve their cash. Have they started using their cards for therapy sessions? Do they call the card company in the middle of the day, when they should be at work? What do they say when a customer-service representative asks how they’re feeling? Are their sighs long or short? Do they respond better to a comforting or bullying tone?

What Your Credit Card Company Knows About You

Planet Money's latest podcast deals with credit cards and what they know about us and what they do with that knowledge. They have determined that customers of pool hall in Canada called Sharx are more likely to default on their credit cards and those who buy premium bird seed are most likely to pay always. Pretty interesting stuff, some psychology meets economics stuff. Psych meets Econ is one of my favorite subjects. 

I'm pretty sure no one is going to listen to this, but I'd be stoked if someone did and we could talk about it next time i see you. Planet Money are the guys who have worked with This American Life on their financial shows, so you know this is quality radio.

Chairs

Sorry for all the furniture posts, but that's what I'm thinking about these days. I've been thinking about the dining room lately and been liking the idea of the Emeco Navy Chair, but not liking their $415 price tag. Target famously made a knock off that sold for $259 a pair. that's still kinda spendy for a knock off. While searching for other knock offs, I found the Oceanic Chair which goes for $99 each but looks a bit off compared to the real Navy Chair. Then while searchign ebay I came across a set of four Remington Rand chairs that look damn close to the real Navy Chair only with upholstery which I kinda wanted anyway. They are of that time period so they've lasted quite a long time and should last a long time still. There are a lot of options with these chairs. you could get a dark wood table which matches the existing vinyl or maybe reupholster them with a bright red and paint a table bright high gloss red. Another great thing is that bar height versions of these chairs are made so we could buy new versions for our bar for a nice cohesive look.

With all this furniture thought I've been tempted to throw up my hands and get whatever. I doubt many people would notice or appreciate totally awesome furniture over less awesome furniture. But then getting existing vintage pieces like these Remington Rand chairs just fits into my value system much better. They already exist so they aren't going to create any more environmental impact other than shipping. They will last just about forever. They hold their value. Try selling your Ikea furniture and see how much you can get for it, that is if it lasts long enough to sell it. With reupholstering they can grow and change with our style. They could even be used outside since they are alumanium and won't rust.

Below is an idea of what the chairs look like with a table. These came from the Emeco website.

Chris Ware/Robert Krulwich/This American Life

I was listening to Radio Lab today and was reminded of the above animation by Chris Ware form This American Life. Watch and enjoy...

Couches

With the upcoming move we've been thinking a lot about furniture. I've got pretty specific ideas about what I want (but probably can't afford). While searching I came across this awesome George Nelson couch that looks just about perfect. You have to write in to see the price which means "if you have to ask you can't afford it. One can dream...

New Camera bag

As Kellie and I where looking at Thrift Stores yesterday I found a nearly brand new Lowe Pro Photo Trekker camera bag. I had been in need of a new camera bag for a while after my Mini Trekker's zipper pull had come off it's zipper for the second time. Both times where when I had loaned my camera to someone else. Anyway. I now have a new camera bag that's a lot bigger than my old one. It's also a lot heavier. Not the perfect bag for my purposes, but I'm stoked anyway. A lot of the dividers where missing, so I pulled the dividers from my old bag and put them in the new one.

The Amazing Story of Sealand

I was looking at The Big Picture yesterday and thought the Maunsell Sea Forts looked interesting so I did some research and discovered that after WWII these abandoned structures became home to pirate radio stations and in 1968 the Principality of Sealand. I'm not going to retell the story of Sealand but it is awesome. Check out the Sealand websiteand the Wikipedia entry for the full story. The Pirate Bay even tried to buy Sealand to avoid prosecution for internet piracy. 

Recent Shelf Obsession

Recently I've been really into shelves. I think the impending move and the decorating that goes along with it has me in that mind set. Plus I think of shelves as fairly easy to build and I'll actually have space to build stuff in the new house. below are some awesome shelves I've come across.

The shelf going in the corner is such a rad idea plus I like how the lower shelves are larger than the upper shelves. 
Flat shelves just look awesome. I have no idea what I'd put on these shelves though. just awesome.
Lots of little cubbie holes are cool too. You could just put one item in each hole and be super organized. This would be cool for paint. Each cubbie could be painted with the paint it contains. 

Book Shelf

I'm totally feeling this bookshelf style from Inspiration Resource. I had a similar idea. Make cubes or rectangles from old desks and book shelves, the ones made out of wood pulp with a veneer on them. So you'd have a few different wood finishes going on in one shelf and some different shapes going on. maybe something I explore when we move and I have the space and more tools to work with.