Eva Hesse and the Enduring Ephemeral

Photo by Andy Keate


Sometimes the yearning becomes an ache. It is fleeting, but poignant. This particular yearning-turned-ache is for a city, a city of rich history and embodied decorum, one with so many enduring charms, but a city principally, for me, and uniquely, in which art is at once both immaculately institutionalized and as fresh and raw as the meats in Smithfield Market. Born forth on winds from the whispers of the muses of passion and spontaneity, the ache encourages me to ride those winds straight into the arrivals terminal at Heathrow Airport.
But winds change.

This week the muses' whispers came courtesy of an article in the NY Times T Magazine about a show that recently closed at the Camden Arts Center - "Eva Hesse Studiowork". Shows of this intrigue almost never find their way to Washington, and even occasionally skip New York, but never miss London.

Having first fallen in love with Hesse's work at a 2002- 2003 retrospective at the Tate Modern, the article awoke in me that yearning which is, like her work, something ephemeral that endures.

Flying Fox Commuters

Do you ever have those dreams where you can fly? And you wake up just wishing it were true so that suddenly that 30 minute (or maybe 2 hour) commute to work is but a mere quick, self-launched flight of all of 5 minutes. Well, in Colombia, that is how the kids are getting to school these days, or at least some of them.

As reported by the Daily Mail, members of this remote village travel via a system of flying foxes once made of hemp and now, thankfully, updated to steel cables. First outsider reports of this high-flying, high-speed transportation date back to 1804. In this photo "Daisy" carries her younger brother in a sack dangling below her as she uses a wooden fork to temper her speed. Photo Focus/Otto/Rex.

Hello Friend! The mypressi TWIST Espresso Maker

For those of you at there that share my love of caffeinated beverages, this toy is for you. All the ease and simplicity of coffee from a French press, but the end result is a deliciously frothy shot of espresso. The TWIST is highly portable, requiring only ground coffee and hot water. Note to self: add Thermos and ground espresso to ever-expanding purse (where is Mary Poppins' purse maker when you need him?).

Or perhaps, if you're brave (or British), you'll experiment a bit - whiskey espresso? Two good things, but together?

Thank you, Oliver Strand, for introducing me to this cheeky new gadget.

World's Most Famous Doll Meets World's Most Famous Lady du Jour

Just when I thought Lady Gaga mania couldn't get any better, designer Lu Wei Kang has gone and proved me wrong. For the aspiring artists (vocal, conceptual, Barbie, and other) and pop-crazed young'ns out there, I gave you Lady Gaga Barbie.

Check them all out here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/veik11/sets/72157621855594581/

Sleep Talkin' Man Makes Me Chuckle

It's really almost impossible to pick a favorite among the many rants and rumbles of this somniloquent Brit, but the ones that invoke audible laughter deserve to be repeated, and repeated often (though I've skipped a few that were a tad raunchy).

"Yes, I can get away with wearing leather chaps. Just not on a windy day."

"Tea bags, see? Better be careful with the tea bags. They're delicate creatures. Handle them with care."

"No puppy! Bad puppy! Make you into puppy slippers."

[chuckling throughout] "I'm trying not to laugh. But your face! Your face! Oh, please look away. Please?"

Super Bowl Bacon Cheese Turtleburger

The newcomer to the zoo that is bacon-centric food experiments - please give a round of applause for the Bacon Cheese Turtleburger. Created the day the Saints made their first appearance at the big dance, these little guys are sure to be a fan favorite. Who doesn't love a lot of meat on Super Bowl Sunday?

Handmade ground beef patties are topped with sharp cheddar cheese and then wrapped in a bacon weave before the Hebrew Nationals are inserted as the heads, legs and tails. Place them on a rack, cover loosely with foil and then put them into an oven heated to 400 degrees. Bake for 20-30 minutes, or until the bacon is done - cooked through and a little crispy, but not too crunchy.

And voila! Perfectly cooked Bacon Cheese Turtleburgers.

Recipe, experimentation and photos courtesy of
MRD, the Marquis de Meat.

'The Hijacking of 'Modern''

Schermerhorn Symphony Center
Designed by David M. Schwarz Architects
Photo by Hedrich Blessing

Writing for Traditional Building Magazine clearly indicates a certain bias, but this is a very interesting debate and one that really should be brought forward into the mainstream architectural media - into the very publications that have propagated said hijacking.

http://traditional-building.com/clem_labine/

Forget Russian Roulette

This is far scarier... http://chatroulette.com/

Just hope you get this guy:

If a blog post falls in the forest...

Or better yet, in Snowmaggedon...