Mood:  happy

The French company La Machine has unleashed La Princess, a 37 ton robotic spider, on Liverpool.  It's an awesome art installation and you can read all about it in an article in the Mail Online.  One bit that gave me pause though was that it was funded with tax money--a lot of it.  On one hand I can totally see a public art installation as an improvement in community life, but on the other hand, I wonder if other improvements were being passed over in favor of something easily publicize-able.  

The spider was done by the designer of the Sultan's elephant and that amazing squid presented previously by Royal de Luxe.

Giant robot squid by the same designer in Tentacles tentacles on the Bean.

Mood:  cool

I recently finished and finally returned Lost Cosmonaut: observations of an anti-tourist by Daniel Kalder to its owner.  The time I took reading this superb book has more to do with my digging myself in deep with my to-read pile and nothing at all to do with the pacing of the book itself.  I thoroughly enjoyed the view point here and the little bits of culture and invention.   Kalder talks about the Russian translation of his book on his Gaurdian column here.   

I've also been reading The Japanese Disease: sex and sleaze in Modern Japan by Declan Hayes.   I have to admit, it is so very dense that if I were still a lazy and overloaded college student, I probably would have problems with it.  As I am no longer that person, I am enjoying the massive amount of information packed into each page.  I especially like how the author ties the human transgressions of all nations into an exploration of one nation.  Both the big picture and the smaller one are presented here. 

Finally, I get continually distracted from The Japanese Disease by reading Working IX to V: Orgy Planners, Funeral Clowns, and other prized professions of the Ancient World by Vicki Leon.  This is really just to satisfy my desire for small, digestible chunks of historic trivia, and it delivers very well.  

While these represent only a small part of the to-read stacks on my coffee table and surreptitiously shoved under my couch, these are the books I've been spending the most time with lately outside of my lanugage learning texts.  And I recommend all three!    

Mood:  happy

I never new canned cheese had such glue-tastic properties.  This reminds me of the Strawberry Shortcake cookbook for kids that I had long ago. Obviously, the non-heated assembly of kid friendly food materials was what every kitchen should be about!

This is just the first of many merry manic episodes.

Thu Tran's YouTube Chanel

Food Party Blog 

Mood:  don't ask

Please take a look at this article in Best Life Magazine about the current state and ramifications of the landfill like plastic island in the pacific.  This issue has slowly been coming to light in the past year or so, but hasn't garnered near enough attention.  Though it might be our first impulse to look away--doing that will only make it worse.

Mood:  hungry

So, before photography was invented and became employed by the masses, paintings all at once strove to accurately reflect reality and make it appear a little better than it really did.  Coinciding with or inspired by the advent of photography,new painting styles evolved to more accurately depict the world as a photo would, without constructing environments around the subjects and without smearing a soft focus on the uglinesses.  What tickles me about a lot of current photographers is that they are using a very honest medium to lie the way painters tried to use a very untrustworthy medium to tell the truth.  Photo editing has been around for long enough that people wouldn't trust what they see quite as much as with the Cottingley fairy pictures, but a good illusion is still a good illusion, even if the illusion is charactured tongue in cheek.  These are some of my favorites lately.

Julian Wolkenstein fabricates powerful images by throwing a little/huge bit of the unexpected and inexplicable (via Neatorama).

Avid Liongoren expertly incorporates drawn characters into photographic backgrounds in his Project 365 continued (via Drawn!).

Joshua Hoffine captures the horror of all the things that lurk in the night and sometimes the day-time, often with inconceivable photographic realism (via Right Some Good).

 Mutley James recently finished a book of his photo adaptations, Snapshots of the Abyss available for purchase on lulu.

Mood:  caffeinated

I have a confession to make, and I am not one bit embarrassed by it.  I love Doris Day movies.  There is only one thing Doris Day related issue that ever irked me and it was as nonsensical as a hairstyle, until now.  My Dream is Yours was captured dutifully by my DVR so that I could watch something non-TV-programming after work.  Little did I know that I would spend the majority of the movie in feminist indignation.

I don't usually let the celluloid depictions of inequality between the sexes bother me.  It's all culturally sound depictions of past and present beliefs after all.  I don't think that fixing sexist media is possible as long as the media is simply pandering to what people want.  That said, since I was four and rolled on the floor in laughter at Crissy from Three's Company's assertion that she NEEDED a man, I have exhibited a certain expectations for the single woman.   I think what gets me the most easily incensed is a female character who helps others to degrade her.  

Anna, quel particolare piacere (AKA Secrets of a Call Girl) was the first time that I really paid attention to the movie depictions of a woman setting the trap for herself.  Perhaps the desperation of circumstances isn't adequately explained to justify someone letting themselves be so mistreated, but it was supposed to be there?

My Dream is Yours is not quite as bad as Anna, quel particolare piacere, but I was sputtering none the less.  Not only does the only single and self-sufficient woman in the movie allow herself to be walked all over constantly by others, but a single mother is one of the character's doing the walking.  The movie very unsubtly lets the audience know that motherhood elevates a woman above other childless and/or single women to the extent that being a man is elevating.  Compound this with the single mother's obsession with getting a man.  Obsession can be the only way to describe it as she jeopardizes her career and relationships to stand by a man who  not only isn't there, but with whom there had been woefully little romance with to begin with.  One dinner date does not a husband make!

In true Hollywood fashion, everything works out in the end and the nice guy who only walked all over the single independent woman gets the single mother.  Ah, how lovely.  And of course, the single independent woman might not be single for long if her end of movie hook-up with the old, old, rich boss is to be believed.  Her dreams must be answered, I'm sure.

On the upside, this movie did not feature the long worn Doris Day hairdo that I really dislike.  She looked great!

Mood:  cool

I stopped by 7-11 this morning to get some coffee on the way to work and saw that the slurpy machine had a dragon-fruit flavor.  I don't think I walk around in a daze, so I'm surmising that the infiltration of what might previously been considered exotic Asian fruits is because of the Olympics being held in Beijing.  Am I alone here?  Because I don't remember seeing anything more exotic than the standard avocado and kiwi in the market and suddenly there are a plethora of spiky, colorful new foods.  

I am all for more variety and say 'bring it on!'  --even though it might take me a little while to try them all.

Serious Eats has a great feature called Snapshots from Asia if you wanna learn more.

Serious Eats: Dragon Fruit

Serious Eats: Dragon Eyes

Serious Eats:  Sea Coconut

Serious Eats:  Jackfruit

Mood:  happy

Not to dilute the amazingness of this art or the artists with a group post, but I can't help thinking 'Hey, that's a lot like....' when I see things.  So here are some of the most amazing artists in miniature that I have come across in the past year or so.  Each takes a very unique approach to interacting with these miniature scenes.  Some of them are set up for globes, some for photography and some for people to stumble upon them on the street.

Walter Martin and Paloma Muñoz's recent works pit miniature people against worlds of ice and snow.  Some seem to be struggling against it and others seem to walk through the whiteness as if in a dream world.

London's slinkachu has been working on his Little People: a tiny street art project and currently has a solo show at the Cosh Gallery and a book out in September.

Adalberto Abbate (previously on the Bean) encapsulates human idiocy and tragedy in miniature.

Thomas Doyle's precariously perched islands of life seem like frozen time inside their glass globes. (previously on the Bean)

Lori Nix often leaves the viewer to question whether they are looking at a photo of a real situation or a construction.  I picked this picture because it was one of the few that was most obvioulsy constructed.  (via Made in England by Gents)

Mood:  don't ask

Burj Dubai is nearing completion and is the tallest skyscraper in the world.  Can any one building really hold that title for long?  The Burj Mubarak al-Kabir is designed to top the Burj Dubai by 200 meters.  It will be the center tower of a massively planned City of Silk in Subiya, Kuwait.  Part of the plan for the City of Silk construction will be to provide a rail line that will link major cities in the Middle East and China (link to Inhabitat's article). 

Of course there's got to be a plan in reserve for an even bigger tower.  If London's Megatower ever gets approved, it will be the next up to top the Burg Mubarak al-Kabir's record (previously on the Bean).  

Have a little knowlege on me:   Encyclopedia Britannica article on skyscrapers .

Mood:  a-ok

While I love the revival of do it yourself everything, from clothes to furniture, I realize that all the time and effort and materials aren't for everyone.  They may not even be for anyone all of the time.  And that's where these options come in.  I am a firm believer in loving everything you've got, even if its just a useful item.  What better way to love something than to have had a hand in making it uniquely your own?  Here's a quick list to illustrate just some of the things you can have custom made.

Flakes Design - by SHLDesign at Piiroinen Flakes 3-D design configurator allows you to plaster your own larger than life images on tables and chairs.

Freddy & Ma - handbag design.  First choose your style, then your print, and then your trim.  Finally, have a bag like no one else's.

Funnel Paper Goods - Where you can customize your calling/business cards for "business & pleasure."

Miss Brache's Customize-able clothing - is just one of the options on Etsy for a fully custom made wardrobe.

Monogram Market - choose your colors and embroidery style and customize anything an everything fabric.

Moo - anyone who uses flickr should know about moo.  Put your own images on business cards, stickers, mini cards, postcards and more.

Orange Piel - will work with you and your images to create huge wallpaper murals, or just your own wallpaper print.

Pandora - favorite artists and genres for a customized online radio experience.

Phootlery - "jewelry for the foot" where you choose your sole, and your upper separately to make the shoe you really want.

Shapeways - will 3D print your own design for you.

Spoonflower - get your own fabric designs printed here.  I think this is especially great for the clothes maker.  What better way to up the unique value of something you have made then to make it with something you have customized?!

Tastebook - assemble your own cookbook, even add your own recipes and get the entire thing, printed and bound delivered to your door--or a friend's door as a gift.

Zazzle - stick your images on anything.  From t-shirts and ties to mugs and shoes.  

Mood:  cool

"The pattern of human reaction to human-like things has already been noticed by Japanese roboticist Masahiro Mori.  The closer that approximations to human appearance get to their goal--the more humans find them creepy and unapproachable(previously on Bean)." 

The robot below is Julio, created by David Hanson to imitate the emotive and expressive qualities of a singer.  Julio sings with the voice of David Byrne, and Byrne says this project stemmed from his interest in Masahiro Mori’s theory of the “uncanny valley."  (via io9) Yes, I find Julio creepy.

The team that produced the animation for Grand Theft Auto created this sequence of an employee talking.  Its super realistic.  (Link to the Times Online article, Link to Neatorama coverage)

Mood:  chillin'

Any one who's seen A League of Their Own with Gina Davis and Madonna probably knows a little bit of the history behind the All American Girls Professional Baseball League.  At least, we know the Hollywood history of the AAGPBL, which can be a little reliable every now and then.  During the man shortage during the Draft for WWII, men's minor baseball leagues were being depleted of their players.  Philip K. Wrigley who had newly inherited the Chicago Cubs' Major League Baseball franchise devised to fill the entertainment, sport, and money making hole that was growing as more and more young men were sent over seas.  With a lot of name changing, rule writing, scouting, auditioning and training rigmarole the AAGPBL was born.

Of course, this being the forties and fifties, the girls who were signed to the league not only had to be exceptional ball players, but had to be schooled in etiquette, know how to best make-up their faces and wear a short dress while playing.  And though the league became increasingly popular in its All American host cities, it could not garner enough steam in the big city games to keep Wrigley interested in keeping the league, and he sold it in 1944 to Arthur Meyerhoff.  Meyerhoff may have been the glue that kept the league together and successful even after WWII ended and all the men came home.  In fact, popularity in the league grew exponentially after the war to the extent that the team directors voted to purchase the league from Meyerhoff in 1950.  Unfortunately this was a damning move for the league, and without centralized balancing and publicity the league started to falter and died out in 1954.  

Its nice to know that the AAGPBL did not die out as a direct result of the men returning from war.  Women succeeded in so much while filling the roles and jobs that men had left open during war-time and yet reverted so much when the absolute necessity left.  I think an active and well publicized AAGPBL would even make me interested in baseball and it is sad that it died out.

For those that remember the movie, one of the great AAGPBL players focused on by the movie, Dottie Collins, recently died (New York Times).

Mood:  happy

When I used to live in St. Pete., FL my most used on-ramp to 275 was 5th Ave N (northbound I think).  And there, every time I drove up to Tampa to go to school was this amazing sculpture of a lizard snatching a lightning bug--made entirely out of car parts and street metal.  Yes, it does light up.  Interestingly enough I've never seen the building it is perched upon from the front and so never new it was a City of St Pete building.   There is a little article about it on the St. Pete council of neighborhood associations:

 "...he is made up of 2 tons of recycled steel, garbage truck parts, car bumpers, street lights, license plates and other industrial equipment created by popular local sculptor Paul Eppling."

Paul Eppling's work in a AAA Going Places Slide Show includes this picture and several more examples of his inspired creations.

Another angle of it by Damgaard Photography on Flickr.

Mood:  happy

Why did it take until I read the io9 article on the successful double arm transplant on a German farmer, to find out that there have been several successful hand transplants already?! So, the first time I read that a 54 year old farmer who had lost his arms had successfully had arms from a teen donor cadaver attached, I didn't initially get anywhere beyond marveling at modern science and medicine and immediately making the connection to Mad Love with Peter Lorre.  Finding out that there are also people out there who have had successful hand transplants just makes Mad Love more relevant.

You see, for those of you who have not seen this movie, in Mad Love Peter Lorre plays a genius surgeon who is madly in love with the wife of a pianist.  The pianist winds up in a horrible accident that crushes his hands and his sense of self.  Being a good wife, the object of Peter Lorre's affections begs the good doctor to save his hands.  Peter Lorre undertakes this task, but the only option that would give the pianist usable hands is to do a previously unheard of hand transplant.  If you know anything about horror movies, you know where this is going.  Yes, Peter Lorre's character gets the hands from a recently executed convicted murderer who was famous for throwing knives.  

As the pianist recovers full function of his hands, he and the audience slowly become aware that the hands carried with them the memory of their past  employment.

*Warning: I intend to ramble nonsensically*  I imagine that those successful hand transplant patients would have very interesting answers to Cakes' "When you sleep" (where do your fingers go) song.  I certainly hope none of them ends up with the hands of a murderer, or something worse like the hands of an obsessive nose picker.  And if medicine ever makes it beyond simple corneal implants to whole eye implants, imagine the ghosts and memories that could plague those poor patients!  Just like in Gin Gwai (The Eye late to be made into The Eye for English speaking people who don't like Asian movies) where the psychic powers and ghosts of the donor haunted a young eye transplant patient.  I can't remember the movie all that well, it might have been just a corneal implant.

Hey, Encyclopedia Brittanica gave me the ability to help you learn from reliable sources:

transplant article on Encyclopedia Brittanica online 

Mood:  chillin'

I really do love the wonderful and varied stuff that I read on i09.  Because of them, I am now waiting for two movies that will take forever to get to theaters near me.  Maximum Ride will be the big screen adaptation of James Patterson's young adults series.  I had no idea that James Patterson had written for young adults.  I might read some of his work now--I was never really avoiding it, only the rare fiction I have read in a couple years now has been of the young adult variety.  And the Drona Trailer (picture from the Drona movie via io9) promises some epic effects and a refreshing non-American setting.  Seriously now, the movies in our theaters so often are so homogenized.