To Build a Home

 

I have officially been an “inner looper” for two weeks now and through setting up my new apartment I have come across a few decorating deficiencies with which I figured you blog friends could help out.  Gift registries courtesy of BoingBoing, Gizmodo and io9.  There’s a wide variety of items and price ranges to chose from, so spend spend spend!

Carved Gourd Lamps: Calabarte’s stunningly intricate lamps come in a variety of styles and sizes.  Check out his homepage for more examples his work.  Also, seeing as how it’s been just shy of six months since I’ve put up a new header I figured this was as good a time as any to change it up. (Plus it seems appropriately October-y for some reason).

 

 

 

Fancy Pantsy Toothpaste Squeezer: For just the price of around a hundred tubes of toothpaste you too can own this absurdly opulent device intended for the laziest and richest amongst us.  Yay dental hygiene!!

*Note—$10.00 tube of Marvis toothpaste not included

Elipson “Sound Tree”: Umm… do I really even need to explain this one?! It’s a tree made of speakers!!  Also, feel free to throw in that pair of chairs on the right and we’ll call it a joint housewarming/Christmas present.

“Tree of Life” poster (option 1): It’s a tree trunk made out of ANIMALS!!!  Noah would be so happy.

 

Tree of Life poster (option 2): I mentioned previously how I was lucky enough to catch this movie showing at the Michigan Theater when I was in Ann Arbor this summer and I’m a bit ub-sessed with the movie poster. PRETTY COLORS!!!

Blown-glass Goldfish Bowl: The only pet I’ve had since moving away from Crockett was when I was living in Ann Arbor.  My friends Will and Clinton had a guinea pig, Mr. Piggles, that seemed reasonable enough to deal with so I decided to get one, thinking they might become friends as well—they just ended up fighting a lot.  At any rate, I decided to give Phineas away after about a year because I wasn’t home enough to spend any quality time with him.  A goldfish, though… you don’t even have to pet them! (In fact, I’m pretty sure it’s recommended you don’t do so).

 

Tsunami Hurricane Capsule: And now perhaps the human equivalent of a fish bowl—a Japanese designed survival pod intended for use in a tsunami but, I’m assuming, perfectly acceptable for hurricane season here in Houston.  Plus… it “could hold four adults and had survived many crash tests.  It has a lookout window and breathing holes, and could also be used as a toy house for children.” 

A. Can’t you see me floating down Richmond in that?  B. I LOVE that he removed his shoes before going into the capsule.

 

Artist: The Cinematic Orchestra/ Album: Ma Fleur

When the Sun Comes Out

 

Ignoring the fact that Houston was com.plete.ly dissed to receive one of the space shuttles today, I thought we’d celebrate another anniversary (the 50th of manned space flight and the 30th of the shuttle program) with a new header and some fascinating shots of the heart of our solar system— the sun!

“A cloud of ionized gas floats over the surface of the sun. […] Using a filter that only records a narrow wavelength of light emitted by hydrogen. [Alan] Friedman captured the sun’s texture and eruption.” (via io9.com)

 

 

The TRACE satellite takes a close-up image of a magnetic active region at the limb of the Sun - the bright arches are due to the Sun's strong magnetic field channelling the hot, million degree ionised gases. (via ScienceDaily)

 

 

February 7, 2011 (via NASA)- The Sun unleashing one of its most powerful explosions, and X-class flare

 

 

Jimmy Dean, unleashing some serious sausage and eggs

 

Artist: Barbra Streisand/ Album: The Second Barbra Streisand Album

The Picture Show

Oh... I also want to give credit where credit is due concerning the picture at the top of the blog. I'm hoping to change the header photograph frequently and will make sure to letcha know where each one comes from and why I chose it.

This one happens to be cropped from a picture of the work-in-progress United Kingdom pavilion for the Shanghai Expo 2010, perhaps better identified as the futuristic, yet nostalgic sounding: Shanghai Worlds Fair! Check here for the full sized aforementioned picture as well as some other stunning photographs from Hu Jintao's backyard.

When I was younger I always thought the World's Fair sounded like one of the most amazing things imaginable. They never failed to evoke that old Tex Avery cartoon "The House of Tomorrow." Sure it may be a taaaaaad misogynistic and re-enforces negative gender stereotypes. BUT, it has a machine that shuffles bologna sandwiches AND a hot 50's pin-up girl, soooooooo ya win some ya lose some I guess. For an even longer trip down memory lane (and in Louis XIV inspired mauve-mobile no less) check out "The Car of Tomorrow" and "The Farm of Tomorrow."



I didn't even realize that World's Fairs- excuse me- Universal Expo(sitions) were even held any more, but apparently they are going as strong as Evan Lysacek's resolve to convince America he's not a complete tool. The last one held in the US was New Orleans in 1984, and for those of you yearning for an ol' fashioned bowl of kimchi just like mama used to make, look no further than the 2012 Yeosu, South Korea Expo!!! That is, unless the Mayan calendar succeeds in making humanity obsolete by then. That was a movie, right?

Now, off to bed for me before I turn into "The Pumpkin of Tomorrow". . . . . . . ;)