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Thursday, September 30, 2010


Second Home?
Astronomers say they’ve found an Earth-like planet 175 trillion miles away… which means getting there will take only slightly longer than it currently takes to get from Trenton to Piscataway on New Jersey Transit.



Stimulus Report
The White House will release a report today on the success of the stimulus. The report is very long, but perfect reading for the millions of new people stuck on the unemployment line.



California Housing
Foreclosures make up 43% of all California home sales‬‪... the other 57% are people just trying to move further away from Lindsay Lohan.



New Airline CEO
Jeff Smisek is about to become the new CEO of the merged Continental and United airlines... as soon as his delayed connection comes into Atlanta, that is.



ADHD Passed On
There is now solid evidence that kids' ADHD is genetic... which is why the number one family activity in America today is sharing a ridalin high with your kids.




October 1st

1795: Belgium is conquered by France… 215 years later, Belgium still can’t believe it either.


1946: Mensa International is founded in the United Kingdom. But ironically, all the members are unable to find the address of the meeting hall.


1964: The Free Speech Movement is launched on the campus of University of California, Berkeley… and we’re all still waiting for someone at Berkeley to say something worth hearing.

The Arrow

Pointing towards...

This is my contribution to James at Newtown Area Photo's meme called Weekend Reflections. Post a reflection during the week-end, log on to MckLinky via his site - and you're on.

It's a job! Somebody has to do it!

When I started doing Men and Women at Work most Thursdays, I was looking for ordinary people doing ordinary jobs. It didn't occur to me the variety of both ordinary jobs and unusual jobs that ordinary people do. In another couple of weeks I will run out of picturesque jobs in British royal or historical (or both) locations.
We did not see the official changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace when a whole platoon exchange duties, but as individual guards change shift it is almost better.


Palace Guards at Buckingham Palace and at St. James Palace, London--men at work.

Wednesday, September 29, 2010


Big Mac Attack
McDonald's is considering dropping health care insurance coverage for its employees. But it promises to remain the number one reason why people in American NEED health care insurance.



Going Postal
The U.S. Postal Service is about to go broke. One solution is make huge changes like delivering the mail on time.



Housing Mess
Because of accounting errots, JP Morgan Chase is suspending foreclosures... but it will continue to foreclose on suspenders.



Trade War?
Congress has voted overwhelmingly to punish China for its currency devaluation... and for the last 16 Jackie Chan movies.



Chinese Charity
Bill Gates and Warren Buffett are in China to convince billionaires there to give money to charity... other than the charity they give when they buy U.S. bonds, that is.




September 30th



1901: Hubert Cecil Booth patents the vacuum cleaner… mostly for his own, personal erotic use.


1938: The League of Nations unanimously outlaws "intentional bombings of civilian populations". And thus, it has never happened again.


1962: James Meredith enters the University of Mississippi, and realizes all his efforts to defy segregation would have been better used trying to get into a real college.

Manet, Munch and my Photos on the web

Sometimes, when surfing the net, I am being surprised of the possible links that may occur. Tonight I was looking at details in Edouard Manet´s painting Picnic on Grass when my blogpost from June 4th 2008 came up among many others. I had called the photo Breakfast in the Garden, and Google found the link. Another expression of Manet´s original painting from 1863 is one of Picasso´s versions. You are free to choose what you like best.
An interesting link can also be found between images of Edvard Munch´s The Scream and my wife when preparing salad for our Summer dinner.
I have got her permission to present the photo without further comments.
However, the reason for my searching for details in "Picnic on the Grass", was the above painting "If not Summer no.3" which I found in this article in WIRED Underwire.
The excerpt below can be found in the image above created by two artists Simmons & Burke, who googled the web, scoured fan forums and browsed Flickr accounts to round up 5,000 images for a single collage.
If you find the detail (should not be difficult) return to the first image and try to find the frog in the painting by Manet.
Learn to love art.

Brad Heppner/Amy Morris House on the Cover of Atlanta Homes and Lifestyles


This Brad Heppner designed house is on the cover of Atlanta Homes and Lifestyles. If you remember, I am a big Brad Heppner fan - he designed my house. Terry over at the Architecture Tourist wrote about this fascinating house right after it was finished at the end of 2009. To visit Brad's website click here.



Brad is coming by my house for a visit today - I'm looking forward to hearing about his new projects.

images courtesy of Atlanta Homes and Lifestyles, photography by Erica George Dines

Tuesday, September 28, 2010

What K would you do if you'd just been to Scotland? ABC Wednesday

The obvious K for someone recently visitor to Scotland--the KILT.

And for the answer to the question--I don't know.

Amtrak High Speed "Vision"
Today, Amtrak will unveil its 30-year plan for high-speed rail along the East Coast. Right now on Amtrak, it takes 30 years to get from Philadelphia to Newark



Union Takeover
The AFL CIO's President says it's time for unions to take over public companies... just as soon as they get off their lunch break.



BP Safety
The good news is BP is creating a new safety division. The bad news is it's headed by Lindsay Lohan.



AIG Deal?
There is reportedly a deal in the works to dramatically cut the government's stake in AIG... just as soon as we can find enough drunken sailors to buy the stock.



Attack Stopped
Paris police say the city has thwarted a massive al Qaeda attack. The terrorists were apparently ready to bomb several targets, but after living in Europe for several months they all refused to work more than three hours a day.




September 29th


1227: Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor, is excommunicated by Pope Gregory IX for his failure to participate in the Crusades and the Vatican fantasy football league.



1960: Nikita Khrushchev, leader of Soviet Union, disrupts a meeting of the United Nations General Assembly with a number of angry outbursts… mostly because they would not validate parking.



1962: Alouette 1, the first Canadian satellite, is launched… it is immediately sent to the penalty box.

K is for Keel

According to Wikipedia,

In boats and ships, keel can refer to either of two parts: a structural element, or a hydrodynamic element. These parts overlap. As the laying down of the keel is the initial step in construction of a ship, in British and American shipbuilding traditions the construction is dated from this event. Only the ship's launching is considered more significant in its creation.

The first one shows two very small Keels on two very small crafts, but Keels they are supposed to be. They had obviously been put ashore for the winter (if you wonder about the rather vibrant colours, I have used what is called a HDR-technique).

The other day I found one of them still lying on the jetty - in September. Maybe the Keel was Kaput.



Today's post is an Entry in round SEVEN of ABC Wednesday, the meme initiated by Denise Nesbitt. For more, you can log on via the ABC site.

Jens Bjørneboe in English

As previously posted in this blog on September 13th I am reading Tore Rem s Biography (in Norwegian) about the Norwegian novelist, poet, playwright, and essayist Jens Bjørneboe (1920-1976). He is still one of Norway's most cosmopolitan and controversial writers.

In January 1963 the then 42 years old J.B. published the Manifest expressed through a poem called: "Ti bud til en ung mann som vil frem i verden" (Ten Commandments for a Young Man With Ambitions).
I have (with strong support from my daughter Trine in Wales) rewritten the poem:
I
Commandment One is clear and straight,
the majority is always right

II
Predict what people will confide,
And take the stronger party’s side

III
When in doubt, deign to pause,
until you see who gets applause

IV
Choose your statements when you talk.
Count the costs from group to walk.

V
Don´t put forward too free rein.
But stick to what will bring you gain

VI
Give everyone what they adore,
go quiet through your boss´s door

(For truth brings sorrow, need and dread,
while daily lies bring daily bread)

VII
Curl your back, creep along,
in every home you will belong

VIII
A man is never praised too much.
Do all to get him in your clutch

(and with the shield of brotherhood,
your future will be long and good)

IX
Store every gossip word you hear.
It can be used when you are there.

(But no discreet and tactful guy
will talk to him that curse apply !)

X
If these commandments are your Lead,
your future life is guaranteed

Boldness always gains temptation,
but with prudent moderation!

Stride bravely to your chosen Quest, one step ahead of all the rest

After I had made the interpretation I searched the web and found Esther Greenleaf Murer´s site with this and other of Bjørneboe´s texts in English. If any, I will recommend the essay "How Arne Næss and I Conquered NATO"Have a nice time with Jens Bjørnebo in English by courtesy of Ester G.Murer.

Monday, September 27, 2010


IRS Cuts Costs
The IRS is no longer going to send out tax forms in the mail. Mostly because no one in America is making any money anyway.



9/11 Slur
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad now says the 9/11 attacks were an inside job. The good news is that Mayor Bloomberg now realizes that with guys like Ahmadinejad around to insult the 9/11 victims, who needs a Ground Zero mosque?


Fired Auto Workers
13 of those Chrysler workers who were caught by TV news crews smoking pot and boozing on the job were fired yesterday afternoon. Luckily it's an election year, so the UAW will soon be hire them to beat up people at the polls.


NYC Teacher Tenure
New York City is making it harder for public school teachers to get tenure... meaning the only real reason to continue teaching in the city is dating your 14-year-old students.



Obama Interview
Rolling Stone Magazine is getting an exclusive interview with President Obama. From now on, the White House will only grant interviews to publications that cater to the stoned.






September 28th


935: Saint Wenceslas is murdered by his brother, Boleslaus I of Bohemia... who always preferred to sing about Frosty the Snowman at Christmastime.


1928: Sir Alexander Fleming discovers penicillin... making him the patron saint of hookers.


1971: The British Parliament bans the medicinal use of cannabis, and in so doing ruins the Rolling Stones, the Who, and 16 other British rock bands.

Mr and Mrs Smith, and it’s such a shame he doesn’t even look like Brad…

or... The Dream Breakers


So, here’s how it goes. Ever since I returned to South Africa in 1995, I’ve wanted to leave. Hey, what can I say, I’m just contrary that way. I guess I felt safer in the UK, I felt more at home – my mongrel heritage is, after all, entirely European (north, east central and west). But I realised, having returned to South Africa, that I wasn’t going to get back to Europe that fast. I was, though, willing to work with a longer term plan.

When I discovered I wanted to write full time, I also realised that in order for me to have a more even chance of getting published, I really did need to be somewhere closer to the main centres of publishing - and for me that once more meant the UK. I started to set my plans in motion, including networking intensively with fellow children’s writers in the UK. I soon realised that pretty much all my friends lived there, not here – writers and others, including old uni pals and ex colleagues who’d made the Great Departure. Yep, I thought, I needed to move. I had to move. I was determined to move. I would make the dream a reality.

And then the global economic crisis hit and Lovely Husband ran scared. “Not a chance am I going anywhere in this economic climate,” he announced. Fair enough. I could get that. But as time elapsed and things settled a little, I also came to realise, and reluctantly accept, that the reality was that Lovely Husband didn’t want to leave South Africa at all. That was my dream, not his – but like women the world over, I’d figured I could change his mind. A word from the increasingly wise (yep, that’s me) – never try to change someone and never try to change their mind (oh would that I listened to my own good advice…). The universe gave us free will and it’s a hard nut to crack when it’s someone else’s.

I’ve had a tough time accepting that a long held dream is just not going to become a reality. That time has also been compounded by my mother’s recent illness, age and the acceptance that I’m going to have to sort something out for her – because she sure as nuts won’t do it herself (I can do without lurching from one matriarchal drama to the next). Looking at the two situations and given that I have a really hard time being a glass half empty person, I set my sights on the next thing. And what I figured I would do was find my mother a really nice cottage in a retirement complex, and a piece of land for myself where I could build my dream home. It was a good goal and dream to have, I figured. I actually became quite seriously excited. (Yes, there was a lot of bouncing about.)

But I swear, the gods must be playing a rough hand of poker up there or wherever the hell it is that they are. Or it might be that the buggers are all pissed out of their skulls on mead. I don’t know. Perhaps the ethernet connection between me and them is just faulty and my mail’s not going through. Whatever.

See, I found a plot, a really, really nice plot – one with sweeping 180 degree views across the mountains, the valley and the sea. It was in an elevated position on a mountainside and, I was convinced from the moment of seeing it, that it was mine. It just had that feeling about it. Of course, whether I could actually afford to fulfill this dream was another matter. Thank goodness for calculators, prudent financial planning and bean counters etc. Yes, I finally worked out it was indeed do-able and I was even up for the nightmare of building. Shucks, I’ve dealt with enough stuff in my life; builders hold little or no fear for me.

So, new dream in hand, I set out to make an offer to purchase. And what do you know. Enter Mr. and Mrs. Smith. No, I’m not kidding, they really are called Mr. and Mrs. Smith. But unlike the Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie version of the couple, these two don’t assassinate people, just their dreams. Mr. and Mrs. Smith, you see are estate agents – of the unethical and unscrupulous variety, sort of like the greater striped venomous viper (yes, I know, like so many others of their species). Mr. and Mrs. Smith believed I should have made an offer on the plot through them. When Mr. and Mrs. Smith learned that I had put in an offer with another agent, Mr. and Mrs. Smith turned nasty. I have, indeed, spent the entire weekend doing battle with Mr. and Mrs. Smith. I regret to say, that until or unless I can find a sneaky sort of solution, Mr. and Mrs. Smith have broken my deal and won. Exit the dream.

Frankly, I’m getting more than a little miffed with all this dream wreckage. I’m also wondering what the hell to do next. My motivation levels appear to have descended to the depths of hell where they’ve used up all the fuel in the fires so there’s none left to propel me back up and out again. The Black Dog is snuffling around, making growly noises and slavering in a most unattractive manner. I tried seeing the sod off with some choccie raisins, but he just came back for more; serves me right for trying to take a conciliatory approach with the beast. Now I’m just staring at the glass – you know, the one with the water in it (would it was champagne…), trying to figure out if it is half full or half empty. Just sitting here, staring and staring and staring…

I may be a while.

House of the Week - Shutze Beach House

Southwind



I noticed this house immediately from the beach, but had no idea that Philip Trammel Shutze was the architect. When my godmother gave us a driving tour of the island she told me this was "Aunt May's house" and that it was designed by Shutze. Of course I jumped out of the car and starting taking pictures. Later I got the whole story on the house, called Southwind, and the wonderful woman who lived there.




Southwind in 1938, photo by Gottscho-Schleisner

May Patterson Abreu (1891-1976)was from Atlanta. In the 1920's she worked at the interior design firm of Porter and Porter in Atlanta to help her family financially. She married James Goodrum in 1926. Sadly he only lived two years after they were married. May met Cuban born architect Francis Abreu at Sea Island and they were married in 1938. Francis Abreu designed many homes in Florida in his early years as an architect, but he is best known for his commercial and public buildings. He designed Eugene O'Neill's house on Sea Island. In Atlanta Francis and May lived in the Shutze designed house on W. Paces Ferry that was the Southern Center for International Studies, or the Peacock House.

Southwind was May's beach house - Shutze was the architect. May commissioned the house when she was still married to James Goodrum. Shutze used the stucco architecture of Bermuda as the design precedent for the beach cottage even though most of the architecture on the island was either designed by or inspired by Mizner and his Eclectic Spanish style. In American Classicist, Elizabeth Downling says of the project: "This new model employed the canted walls and peculiarly Bermuda-esqu stepped roof, which effectively break from Mizner's use of the Spanish precedent. For interior and exterior detailing, Shutze used a scallop shell motif to refer symbolically to the seaside location." (p173)



Southwind garden entrance, 1938


Garden entrance today










Southwind
The living room in 1938, you can see the shell motif at the cornice.

From the Abreu Charitable Trust website:

"After their marriage, they were active members of Atlanta society during the 1940s and 1950s and were staunch patrons of the arts. May enjoyed the opera, arts and the symphony, while Francis preferred golfing, hunting and fishing. However, while Francis may not have shared May's love for cultural events, he did attend events to be social. May and Francis lived on West Paces Ferry Road in the home that is now headquarters for the Southern Center for International Studies.

May was an active participant in many charities in Atlanta, supporting the Atlanta Humane Society and the American Red Cross, as well as individual citizens. After the Depression, May provided several people with financial assistance to help them get back on their feet. One day when walking down Peachtree Street in Atlanta, May saw one of these people look at her and cross the street to avoid repayment. At Christmas, she sent "paid in full" messages in her Christmas cards to all who had received money from her with the simple message, "Merry Christmas."

May established the Francis L. Abreu Charitable Trust in her will to honor her husband. Today, the Trust carries on the tradition of giving begun many years ago and continues to benefit the Atlanta area arts and cultural programs, education, health associations, human services, children and youth services."










The house is currently under renovation - which is great news for all of us who love historic buildings and good architecture. Shutze of course planned the gardens as well as the house. The garden is directly behind the house and one enters the house through the garden. There are several raised bed, walled planting areas with stone paths. At either end of the garden sit two guest houses.





One of the guest houses.


At the North end of the gardens and house is this building now being used to store garden tools.


View of the south side of the house.







What fun to find such architectural history at the beach!