Symphony in color

The girl who drew the clowns is my mom's student. Go my mom!

D'Angelo Barksdale

Stephan and I just finished watching season 3 of the Wire, and I'm still thinking of D.

Invention Convention

My friend recently told me about a Mike Davis article based on Planet of Slums where he bemoans the state of the global economy in the last 30 years. The state of the world economy is devastating, where countless people are unemployed and have no prospect of employment in their entire lifetimes. For people lucky enough to have jobs, wages have been stagnant. And even on top of all that, there have been no significant technological innovations in the past 30 years; the type of technology that can change the game for better or for worse. Even the internet was building off technology developed by the government in the Cold War, and even then, why did it take so long to get to market?

So in an attempt to make myself feel a bit better about the future, since wages and slums look like they're only going to get worse, here are some prototypes/inventions that make me smile.

First, some high school kids (from Indiana!) have invented cars with unbelievable gas mileage. Via the House Next Door.

Second, the inventor of the Segway has now tackled the water and energy problems.

Third, we've got more high schoolers inventing stuff. Man kids are awesome nowadays, even if light sensitive nail polish is a lesser contribution to the world than solving global warming.

And finally, these guys are old, but I like them. A fridge without electricity. And one laptop for every child.

Shopping in Color

Here is more stuff I don't need/can't afford. I meant to make this just colorful, but it turned out Pinocchio themed. Also I should mention I never really understood window-shopping until they invented the web.

Alessi made this Pinocchio for Xmas.


Here's a finger puppet by the Small Object. It's not Pinocchio, but it's a puppet and she's got no strings.


This is a vintage Blue Fairy valentine sold by Gasoline Alley Antiques.


And this book won the Caldecott. I haven't read it so I'm going to allege it has a Pinocchio reference.


And that's the end of my shopping series. (The top image is from Britannica.)

Shopping neutrals

I inadvertently whetted my shopping appetite with the last post. Here are other things I've been wanting.

These Camper Mary Janes found via Fabulist.


This trash can found via Frolic, but not even for sale.


This fabric from Ikea. I want to make a new tote bag for myself, with this on the outside and green lining.


These plates at Fishs Eddy:


I'll do a shopping in color soon.

Francophile

I've been coveting Eva Green's necklace from Casino Royale, seen above, and I recently found these versions at Dejarnette. I want one. This is partly due to my girl crush for Eva Green, and a related girl crush on another French lady, Charlotte Gainsbourg. These particular girl crushes are a bit strange because I'm usually an Anglophile, not a Francophile. I will attribute it to their abilities to pull off dark hair and being pale much more gracefully than I do. Either way, Dejarnette has very nice things besides this, and eventually I'll break down and buy something from there.

We need pics

It's been visually bare around here lately.

Some of the concept art from Sleeping Beauty via this NYT article.


Gucci's fall 2008 Russian inspired line via Love Made Visible.


The two Darrens from Bewitched. Where did I find this?????

best 100 last lines

http://americanbookreview.org/PDF/100_Best_Last_Lines_from_Novels.pdf via kottke. I forgot how much I love Leopold Bloom.

Summer Anticipation

I can't wait for summer:
swimming in the lake
swimming in the pool
farmer's markets
the butcher
grilling out
flea markets
eating outside
movies in the park
jamba juice
ice cream
wearing skirts
wearing dresses
flip flops
plants
jogging
the zoo
Garfield Park
summer movies
no workshops

Things I manage to forget while anticipating summer:
bugs
a/c bills

Second Looks

Instead of blogging, I've apparently been rewatching stuff a lot lately. But that also means I noticed things I've never noticed before. And now I'm going to point them out.

First, I rewatched the episode of Mad Men where Don makes Roger puke and Pete buys a gun. For some reason, I didn't notice the first time around how well constructed the Betty portion of the story line was. First, we just had Pete the week before asking his wife to sleep with a man of power to advance his career. In many ways, Betty was following a less extreme line than Pete wanted, but was essentially doing the same thing. She flirted with Roger as Don's boss and says as much when she suggests attracting Roger is part of "earning her keep." So when Don gets pissed, it's both showing the difference between Pete and Don but also between Pete's wife and Betty. Second, I didn't notice her drinking during the day the first time. And finally, despite her perspective about her role as a wife, I have to admire Betty for standing up for herself to Don in the kitchen. When he grabs her, she challenges him to bounce her off the walls. It immediately deflates Don and belies Don's accusation that Betty's just a little girl. Until of course, she eagerly asks Helen Bishop about Glenn--notably not Helen's daughter--in a way that suggests Betty's way too flattered by the nine-year-old's attention. It's a really complicated portrait of her character.

Second, I rewatched Now, Voyager on TCM yesterday. Somehow I didn't notice last time that James Cameron stole the fucking in a limo on a boat scene in Titanic from Now, Voyager. Stealer.

Third, I rewatched the group challenge episode of Project Runway. Heidi Klum asks each designer to say who they would eliminate if it were up to them. And Sweetpea doesn't want to answer and whispers something to Chris. And then Heidi gets pissed and demands that Sweetpea answer. And Sweetpea responds like Heidi is the Nazi she shares an accent with. She's so scared. It's awesome.