tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-80069554493431305712024-02-09T13:58:23.747-08:00Creatures of PrometheusWhen a man thinks, there is a spot of fire alive in his mind... -Ayn RandEarl3dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11255585398259543091noreply@blogger.comBlogger159125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8006955449343130571.post-47484357385246563322014-09-19T00:39:00.000-07:002014-09-19T00:39:12.801-07:00The Life and Times of Paul the Dog<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>One of the earliest photos of Paul, July 2002.</i></span></div>
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It is with tremendous heaviness of heart that I return to the blog to announce the passing of my beloved dog, Paul. Paul passed on Monday, January 27th of this year. At the time, my life was in a bit of a pressure cooker in many ways - personally, professionally, and otherwise, and it was all I could do to just hang on and deal with things one day at a time. I couldn't bear the thought of a big public announcement, either on the blog here, or on Facebook, where he has had a lot of fans over the years. I imagined an outpouring of well wishes and sympathy that seemed like it would crush or drown me, well-intentioned though I knew such an outpouring would be. At the same time I was counseled by a friend, that "sometimes grief needs privacy." So I gathered all the photos I knew I would want to use for this post when I was eventually ready, and then let it go and moved on in my own way.<br />
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Paul was the original Parson Architecture Spokesdog™, and with his passing I felt like I had lost part of my own voice.<br />
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So now it is nearly 8 months later, and I finally feel like I have sufficient distance, and I'm ready to pay proper tribute to Paul Baby, who was my loyal and stalwart companion since June 26, 2002, the day I brought him home from the <a href="http://beaglesandbuddies.com/" target="_blank">Beagles and Buddies Rescue</a>.<br />
<a name='more'></a>I had gone to Beagles and Buddies to look at dogs, thinking vaguely that I wanted a dog that was somewhat hound-ish. They had some cool looking dogs on their website and that was as much research as I had really done at that point. Nearly every single place I had lived in L.A. had been burglarized over the years, and now that I finally owned a house, I wanted a dog. It turned out that B+B was mostly full of overweight, geriatric beagles, which were nothing at all what I had in mind. They were all paired off in chain-link kennels lined up one after the other and I remember it being somewhat unpleasant.<br />
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Then there was this kind of interesting white youngish dog with the brown ears that looked completely out of place. He looked promising but I wasn't quite sure, and kept moving down the aisle. Then I looked back and saw the young couple behind me coming up the row stopped and they were pointing and looking at Paul (<i>Gambler</i>, actually. His rescue name was Gambler.)That did it. I wasn't about to have the one promising dog absconded with by someone else at that point. I don't know why I was suddenly so motivated. Kind of like in an auction, where the bidding action can make you want something more than you would have otherwise. I hurried through the rest of the maze of chain link and snapping snarling old things and told someone who worked there that I wanted to see Gambler out of his pen and check him out.<br />
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I really don't remember the rest of the details too much, except that once I committed to taking him, they had to bathe him. I remember it being the case that there was some kind of requirement for this, and that it seemed transparently obvious to me that they had done little more than hose him down and dry him off somewhat. He certainly didn't smell particularly clean after the "bath", as I recall the events of the day.</div>
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Then there was the question of what I would name him. I had debated this for some time. I have always preferred human-names for pets and had contemplated the name Paul. It always seemed utterly ridiculous to me that someone would have a dog named Paul. As a name for a dog, it was the most antithetical name to a pet-name I could come up with. Far too absurd to actually work as a dog's name. We made our way to my car, got ready to head home, and there he was on the seat next to me. And I looked down, and said, kind of half-timidly, "Paul?" And he looked up at me. And it stuck, and that was that.</div>
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The Early Years</h2>
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Mom came to visit me soon after Paul came home with me that day. She actually arrived on July 4, 2002, which was the day of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2002_Los_Angeles_International_Airport_shooting" target="_blank">the El Al shooting at LAX</a>. Mom's plane had landed ok, but I remember the airport was essentially closed by the time I arrived, and people were just walking around outside the terminals in the road and all around, just trying to find each other and get out of there. There was no panic at that point or anything, but it was a huge mess. We somehow found each other and got home. Back then I lived next door to where I am now, so the early photos are all of that house. Also, a lot of these are <i>scanned from actual film pictures</i>! Imagine such a thing! These are from the roll that Mom shot while she was here.</div>
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<i style="font-size: small; text-align: center;">Paul and me in the kitchen at my old house, July 2002.</i></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>Us on the front porch, July 2002.</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>In the back yard, July 2002. </i></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>I got him the bunny at the St. Vincent's thrift store.</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>Mom and Paul in the back yard, July 2002.</i></span></div>
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Also, by my memory of things, it was Mom on that trip who first coined the nickname Paul Baby.</div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>Front yard, circa 2003</i></span> </div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small; text-align: center;"><i>On the bed, circa 2005</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small; text-align: center;"><i>In the back yard with the crocosmia, circa 2004-5</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>Paul being cute, circa 2004</i></span></div>
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Paul + Todd</h2>
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There were a few housebreaking issues at first but they were resolved and things with Paul worked out better than I could have ever imagined. We bonded and I came to realize what is meant by the expression "dog is man's best friend." In late 2003, my neighbor Reyna offered to sell me her duplex next door. I was looking to invest in a rental property and she knew it, and she was moving to Texas with her small son to be closer to her family there. I jumped at the chance and we worked out the deal. Around the same time, a friend of some friends of mine found a mother dog and her pup on the street. I decided to rescue the puppy and bring him home with Paul and me to the new house (I moved into the smaller unit of the duplex and rented out the larger front unit as well as my original house where it all started). </div>
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Anyway, the duo of Paul and Todd, or P+T, became a thing. And they were so good at the "Sit Stay" training which we practiced with treats, that they also got good at posing for pictures. Thus the occupation of Spokesdog™ was created. Around that time I was welding up a storm and making lots of stuff in my garage, and they were often photographed displaying the goods.</div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>The classic portrait of P+T, Sept 2005</i></span> </div>
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<i style="font-size: small;">Todd used to sit on Paul like he was a chair.</i></div>
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<i style="font-size: small;">(Please excuse the unmade bed!)</i></div>
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<i style="font-size: small;">Photo with my motorcycle, hanging out in the driveway</i></div>
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<i style="font-size: small;">while I was working in the shop.</i></div>
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<i style="font-size: small;">Look at that grin on Paul!</i></div>
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<i style="font-size: small;">Hanging out in the front yard. </i></div>
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<i style="font-size: small;">(Sometimes when I entertain I move some of the</i></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>Spokesdogs™ in action! </i></span><i style="font-size: small;">Don't they look </i><i style="font-size: small;">completely</i></div>
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<i style="font-size: small;">disinterested in the product, </i><i style="font-size: small;">just like glamorous models?!?</i></div>
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<h2>
The Great Tennessee Road Trip</h2>
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Things went along pretty steadily for the next several years. In 2006 I sold the rental house I had started in, and around that time I also moved into the larger front unit of the duplex. I remodeled the back apartment, which it desperately needed, and my sister Allison moved in there for a while and was part of the scene.<br />
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At the end of 2009, I got the opportunity to design the <a href="http://www.parsonarchitecture.com/#769" target="_blank">Tennessee House</a>. As the construction got underway in late June of 2010, it became clear that I needed to be there in person for an extended period of time. I packed the car, piled the dogboys inside, and we were off on a great adventure that would last 10 weeks.<br />
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<i style="font-size: small;">Paul Baby the copilot.</i></div>
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<i style="font-size: small;">Paul sees his first large animals in Texas.</i></div>
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Paul was always visibly distressed and/or guilty whenever Todd misbehaved. It was quite endearing. At one gas/rest break on the long drive from Los Angeles to East Tennessee, I came back to the car from using the gas station rest room to find Todd in the driver's seat, and Paul clearly not liking this new development. This was the scene:<br />
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<i style="font-size: small;">Look at the difference in demeanor on these two!</i></div>
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I opened the driver's side door and pushed Todd over into the passenger seat, much to Paul's delight:<br />
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<i style="font-size: small;">Order has been restored!</i></div>
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The other big highlight of the drive to TN was our stop at the Parthenon in Nashville. The best payoff ever from all that sit-stay Spokesdog™ training! This will always be one of my favorite photos of all time ever in the whole world.<br />
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The site of the Tennessee House was a 26-acre farm, with horses, donkeys, Stella the mule (who sadly passed away while we were there) a couple of other dogs, and lots of farm stuff going on. There were lots of farm adventures to be had:<br />
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<i style="font-size: small;">Playing chase with Mercedes the farm dog.</i></div>
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<i style="font-size: small;">P+T out by the barn in the early morning pre-dawn mist.</i></div>
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<i style="font-size: small;">The dogboys got to chew on hoof trimmings</i></div>
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<i style="font-size: small;">the day the farrier came.</i></div>
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<i style="font-size: small;">Paul got to chew on corncobs too. Yum!</i></div>
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<i style="font-size: small;">Poor Paul Baby also hurt his foot!</i></div>
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<i style="font-size: small;">The nice country vet patched him up.</i></div>
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Along with the farm adventures, there were architectural adventures and Spokesdog™ duties to attend to.<br />
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<i style="font-size: small;">Spokesdog™ on the scene!</i></div>
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<i style="font-size: small;">P+T on the mezzenine.</i></div>
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<i style="font-size: small;">Paul Baby being cute.</i></div>
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<i style="font-size: small;">Inspecting my metalworking.</i></div>
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Eventually our time there came to an end, sometime around the end of October. The house was finished up by the end of the year, and I went back one last time at the end of January to photograph it and go through the punch list with the owners and contractor. It was weird being there without the dogboys. It really had been an amazing adventure, and if you want to read all about it, you can <a href="http://creaturesofprometheus.blogspot.com/search/label/Road%20Trip%202010?updated-max=2010-08-14T23:20:00-07:00&max-results=20&start=29&by-date=false" target="_blank">start here</a>.<br />
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Hikes and Other Outings</h2>
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Back at home in L.A., things settled back into a routine again, but mini-adventures are always nearby when you want to find them.<br />
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We used to go visit my cousin Ed, when he still lived in San Diego. The dog beach at Ocean Beach in San Diego was a favorite of ours, although I don't have any pictures from there. P+T liked Ed and always enjoyed going down there to visit. At Christmastime 2011 we went down and Paul donned a Santa hat for the occasion.<br />
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<i style="font-size: small;">Paul doing his typical thing in the car.</i></div>
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We hiked often, either in the Arroyo Seco Park, or Griffith Park, or just around town.<br />
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<i style="font-size: small;">Goofing around on one of the horse troughs at Griffith Park.</i></div>
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<i style="font-size: small;">Under the concrete bridges at the Arroyo. </i></div>
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<i style="font-size: small;">Splashing around at the Arroyo.</i></div>
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<i style="font-size: small;">Further splashing at the Arroyo.</i></div>
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<i style="font-size: small;">Pretty sure this was from the day we went</i></div>
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<i style="font-size: small;">hiking in Alta Dena with Troy.</i></div>
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<i style="font-size: small;">Taken on the Summer Solstice in 2011, at Echo Park lake.</i></div>
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<i style="font-size: small;">We didn't know </i><i style="font-size: small;">we would lose Todd only a few months later.</i></div>
<h2>
Life with Daisy</h2>
In early October of 2011, Todd was diagnosed with cancer. That happened the same week that Steve Jobs died, and it was also my birthday week. That was also right around the time I started dating Eric, which is now the preferred event to be remembered from that particular Fall. Todd passed away about a month later, and you can read all about that, <a href="http://creaturesofprometheus.blogspot.com/2011_11_01_archive.html" target="_blank">here</a>.<br />
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I guess I was so accustomed to having two dogs that it seemed natural that I would rescue another dog. Right before the end of the year, I made a couple trips to the local City of L.A. pound (the one on Lacy Street) and looked at dogs. On New Year's Eve, Daisy came home with me, and you can read all about that, <a href="http://creaturesofprometheus.blogspot.com/2012/02/puppy-love-valentines-daisy-edition.html" target="_blank">here</a>.<br />
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In hindsight, I have to be honest and say that I wish I had let Paul Baby live out his final years in peace. Daisy was very rowdy, and Paul was turning into an old man by then, and he never really took much of a liking to her.<br />
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Even so, we did all have some good times together in his final years.<br />
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<i style="font-size: small;">Daisy's first visit to the vet, for her first checkup.</i></div>
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<i style="font-size: small;">Look at Paul's evil grin!</i></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>On a splashy hike in the Arroyo.</i></span></div>
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<h2>
aka Mr. Booby</h2>
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Paul had another side to him, which I can really only describe as the equivalent of what would have been his stage persona if he had a lounge act. (Which, considering his frequent appearances and large fan base on Facebook and, later, Instagram, is not all that far fetched.) In point of fact, his vocal stylings were somewhat legendary.</div>
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I'll leave you with a compilation video of some of Mr. Booby's finer moments from the early days in 2003 all the way through his last weeks, when his spirits were still high.</div>
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Requiescat in pace, dear Paul Baby. </div>
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You will live in my heart forever, and I will miss you all my days.</div>
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Earl3dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11255585398259543091noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8006955449343130571.post-74741356559877355102013-02-20T11:27:00.000-08:002013-02-20T11:27:17.782-08:00Lou Kahn: Heroic Genius<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_Kahn" target="_blank">Lou Kahn</a> was born today in 1901. <br />
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I wrote a little bit about him in <a href="http://creaturesofprometheus.blogspot.com/2011/06/lou-kahn-some-thoughts-on-drawing.html" target="_blank">this post</a> from 2011. I don't have much more to add to the volumes that have been written about his work, except to say that he's a personal favorite of mine, and definitely holds a place of honor in my Pantheon. If documentaries are your thing, you might enjoy <i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/My-Architect-Edmund-Bacon/dp/B0006Q93EM/ref=sr_1_1?s=movies-tv&ie=UTF8&qid=1361386027&sr=1-1&keywords=my+architect" target="_blank">My Architect</a></i>, the documentary film about Kahn, his architecture, and his complex private life, made by his son Nathaniel. It is quite personal and touching, and is one of my favorite architectural documentaries.<br />
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Here in SoCal, we are very lucky to have one of the very best of Kahn's masterpieces, the <a href="http://www.salk.edu/" target="_blank">Salk Institute</a>. After Jonas Salk cured polio, he built a massive research institute along the coast at LaJolla. According to the Salk Institute website,<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">The Salk Institute was established in the 1960s by Jonas Salk, M.D., the developer of the polio vaccine. His goal was to establish an institute that would explore questions about the basic principles of life. He wanted to make it possible for biologists and others to work together in a collaborative environment that would encourage them to consider the wider implications of their discoveries for the future of humanity.</span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">Jonas Salk had a distinct vision for the Salk Institute as he worked with scientists and architects to create a new paradigm for research and collaboration.</span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">In December 1959, Salk and architect Louis Kahn began a unique partnership to design such a facility. Salk summarized his aesthetic objectives by telling the architect to "create a facility worthy of a visit by Picasso." Kahn, who was a devoted artist before he became an architect, was able to respond to this challenge.</span></blockquote>
</blockquote>
Last summer, I got to spend a little time at the Salk, during an outing from OCON. We spent a leisurely hour and a half or so, wandering around the outdoor passageways and courtyards. Although the building is most famous for its epic main courtyard and orientation to the Pacific Ocean, I find the most compelling part to be the complex layering of spaces comprising the stairwells and balconies around the researchers' private studies.<br />
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So, without further ado, here are my pictures from that day (the first and last were by Eric, and the rest were mine.)<br />
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<br />Earl3dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11255585398259543091noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8006955449343130571.post-4024326929865727622012-11-05T12:14:00.002-08:002012-11-05T18:01:30.855-08:00Raymond Loewy 1893 - 1986Today we celebrate the birthday of design giant <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raymond_Loewy" target="_blank">Raymond Loewy</a>, one of my all-time favorite designers.<br />
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I discovered Loewy when I was in high school. I was into cars, and became aware that he had done a lot of the styling for Studebaker in the '50s, so I got some books on him from the library to learn more. I had been raised with a healthy amount of respect for the maxim, "if it ain't broke don't fix it" but Loewy had the opposite approach: that there wasn't a single thing that existed that couldn't be improved. His books, <i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Never-Leave-Well-Enough-Alone/dp/0801872111/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1352140343&sr=1-1&keywords=raymond+loewy" target="_blank">Never Leave Well Enough Alone</a></i> and <i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Industrial-Design-Raymond-Loewy/dp/1585679852/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1352140343&sr=1-3&keywords=raymond+loewy" target="_blank">Industrial Design</a>, </i>were a huge influence on me as a young man contemplating a design career.<br />
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Loewy was a design powerhouse, helping to create the modern look of America in the 20th Century. He designed everything from household objects to corporate logos, cars for Studebaker (including both the iconic bullet-nose look from the early '50s and later their Avanti), locomotives, and even conceptual designs for some NASA projects. <br />
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I wish I had more of my own images of Loewy's work but alas, this is a glaring hole in my image library. Instead I will link to other sources and let you check them out for yourself. (I really hate to post others' photos here, and don't have time today to sort out permissions, etc.)<br />
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<a href="https://www.google.com/search?q=raymond+loewy&hl=en&prmd=imvnsob&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=gAaYUOuDBeS9iwKOhoHQDQ&ved=0CDkQsAQ&biw=1600&bih=813&sei=ZQqYUIa2FqTvigKDkoDoBg" target="_blank">Here is a general image search under Raymond Loewy</a>, to give you a general flavor.<br />
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<a href="https://www.google.com/search?q=studebaker+bullet+nose&hl=en&tbo=d&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=U2-YUI35JqixiQK4jIGQDA&ved=0CAcQ_AUoAA&biw=1524&bih=739" target="_blank">Here is the classic bullet-nose Studebaker.</a><br />
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Don't forget <a href="http://muppet.wikia.com/wiki/Fozzie's_Studebaker" target="_blank">Fozzie Bear's bullet nose Studebaker</a> (from Muppet Wikia)<br />
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<a href="http://www.studebakermuseum.org/" target="_blank">Link to the Studebaker Museum, South Bend, Indiana.</a><br />
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<a href="https://www.google.com/search?q=raymond+loewy&hl=en&prmd=imvnsob&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=gAaYUOuDBeS9iwKOhoHQDQ&ved=0CDkQsAQ&biw=1600&bih=813&sei=ZQqYUIa2FqTvigKDkoDoBg#hl=en&tbm=isch&sa=1&q=loewy+avanti&oq=loewy+avanti&gs_l=img.3...15897.19812.0.20166.18.15.3.0.0.0.296.1738.0j5j4.9.0...0.0...1c.1.K7WVMV18TI4&pbx=1&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.r_cp.r_qf.&fp=e722e1d41d89b9d5&bpcl=37189454&biw=1600&bih=813" target="_blank">Loewy's design for the Avanti, including lots of great drawings.</a><br />
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Also, there is a lot of stuff (largely ceramics but some other really cool things as well) designed by Raymond Loewy <a href="http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_trksid=p5197.m570.l1313&_nkw=raymond+loewy&_sacat=0&_from=R40" target="_blank">available on Ebay here</a>.<br />
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Before writing this, I didn't realize the extent to which the Estate of Raymond Loewy was active today, but there is <a href="http://www.raymondloewy.com/">www.RaymondLoewy.com</a> which claims to be "the official site of Raymond Loewy", as well as <a href="http://www.raymondloewy.org/">www.RaymondLoewy.org</a> which seems to be the home of Loewy Design of Marietta, Georgia. In addition to these two, there is also <a href="http://www.loewymuseum.org/index.html">http://www.loewymuseum.org</a>, which appears to be the efforts of Loewy Design to found a museum around Loewy's work. I'm glad to see that they are actively pursuing the promotion of his legacy, and would be very excited to see them build a museum!<br />
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If you are interested in 20th Century industrial design and/or automotive design, then you might also want to learn more about the following related designers: <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Dreyfuss" target="_blank">Henry Dreyfuss</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norman_Bel_Geddes" target="_blank">Norman Bel Geddes</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walter_Dorwin_Teague" target="_blank">Walter Dorwin Teague</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virgil_Exner" target="_blank">Virgil Exner</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virgil_Exner" target="_blank">Brooks Stevens</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zora_Arkus-Duntov" target="_blank">Zora Arkus-Duntov</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harley_Earl" target="_blank">Harley Earl</a>. Not all of these Wikipedia entries are very elaborate, but could be a good starting point for more research. There are probably a lot of really great used books out there on these designers, that could be had for cheap at <a href="http://www.abebooks.com/">www.abebooks.com</a>.<br />
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<br />Earl3dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11255585398259543091noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8006955449343130571.post-11996117067746305612012-10-28T16:58:00.000-07:002013-02-20T16:34:41.106-08:00Honoring Los Angeles' Sixth Street BridgeAmong Los Angeles' least-celebrated treasures are her bridges. Not that they don't have their admirers, but the glorious concrete and steel spans that cross the Los Angeles River, as well as her tributary the Arroyo Seco, just don't tend to get a lot of attention. They seem to do a lot of filming down at the bridges and along the river, but nobody talks about the bridges much. There has been an exception lately, which is the Sixth Street Bridge, only the attention it has been receiving isn't exactly the good kind.<br />
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Apparently, the concrete of the Sixth Street Bridge has been diagnosed as having <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alkali%E2%80%93silica_reaction" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Alkali-Silica Reaction</a>, or<br />
ASR. This is a chemical reaction among the concrete's ingredients that eventually causes the concrete to expand. This expansion creates internal pressures inside the concrete, which increase until the concrete starts breaking apart. (Mind you, not breaking apart as in exploding, but more like crumbling.)<br />
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About a year ago, the L.A. City Council voted to replace the bridge, and earlier this week they announced the winning entry from among 3 teams that participated in the competition. There is a YouTube channel <a href="http://www.youtube.com/user/6thStViaductProject?feature=g-all-u" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">at this link</a>, where you can see short videos of all 3 competition entries. The 3 teams were Parsons Brinckerhoff, AECOM, and HNTB with Michael Maltzan. HNTB/Maltzan won, and you can read more about the new bridge <a href="http://la.curbed.com/archives/2012/10/city_picks_swoopy_bridge_design_to_become_sixth_street_icon.php" target="_blank">over at CurbedLA</a>.<br />
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Back when I worked at Studio Works, we were just a stones throw from the 6th St. Bridge. I made many a trip across it at lunch time, for the excellent tacos at Carnitas Michoacan. It's just across the river, about a block or two beyond the end of the bridge on the left side, corner of Whittier and Soto. Those have to be some of the best tacos in L.A. If you look closely at the taco stand, you can see that the place used to be a filling station. Look up above the counters where you order, and you can see the garage doors still up there in the ceiling. But I digress (and I'm making myself hungry!)<br />
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Since we've been having some pretty outrageously bright and clear mornings of late, and you never know when the next 7.0 is going to come rumbling through and reduce our beloved viaduct to a pile of steel and rubble, I went out and spent some time around, under, and on the bridge. I was reminiscing, and studying, as well as just enjoying. I'm not quite ready to mourn, but I will when the time comes for that.<br />
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I started off by checking out the bridge from the east side, and eventually made my way across the 7th Street Bridge, which is the next one to the south. I got out and walked back out on the 7th St. Bridge and took some pictures looking north. Click to embiggen.<br />
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The distinguishing feature of the Sixth Street Bridge is its mirrored pair of eccentric steel arches that carry the roadway across the L.A. River. The vast majority of the bridge is concrete, and just that center portion employs steel as the primary structural element. It is this hybrid combination of materials that makes the bridge so unique. There are a lot of concrete bridges out there, and a lot of steel ones. It's not uncommon to see a steel bridge with concrete abutments or piers, but you rarely see the two materials integrated so artfully into one structure.<br />
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In plan, the bridge isn't a straight line. It bends in the middle, so that the western flank is nearly straight east-west, but the eastern flank aims slightly south-easterly. This heightens the visibility of the steel arches as you approach from the west, since they are not in a straight line with your direction of travel.<br />
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You can see this in the image below, taken from alongside the western approach:<br />
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Another interesting thing I noticed above is that if you look at the row of light posts, and follow the line of any particular one downward, as it passes by the guardrail and down below the road bed, most of them continue all the way down to the ground as solid piers. Some, however, terminate in a corbel that doesn't go straight down. In the image below, you can see how the supporting concrete pier actually curves elegantly back inward.<br />
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The unfortunate addition of a chain-link enclosure somewhat obscures this detail but here it is close up. I love it when I find examples of Theme and Variation in design and this is a good one.<br />
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Also visible, upon closer examination, is ample cracking. When they say it has a 70% chance of failing in a 7.0 earthquake, I believe it.<br />
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I'd never been under the bridge before, in the actual river bed, and didn't know exactly how to get down there, given that the river is flanked by active railroad yards along both sides through this whole area of downtown. Unexpectedly, as I walked along the length of the western approach, I noticed this tunnel. No gates or signs or anything, just a tunnel. There was a vehicle with flashing hazard lights at the other end.<br />
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The tunnel led to the river bed directly, passing under the rail yards. There was a little filming action of some kind going on down there, with a spotless white RX-8 and two guys in suits and sunglasses trying repeatedly to make it to the car in time, or something like that.<br />
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It was pretty fantastic down there in the river bed. The sunlight and blue sky were glorious, and what little water there flowed happily past. There were other photographers out and about admiring the bridge as well, and I made some new friends.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPadouoAUPvXB5jQgFmnYlZ-HWlp9LpQIyrKKw2ncGTCb_HrEdGLo9-ULNyEc0K4zL3tB7mk9D0VzAvl2tGAtmc3ha1eJORkQ2hx3BdHE7tyxrn_NnxpXIfwF3aZeRnl5nb_3gItWgdyaA/s1600/12+Los+Angeles+Sixth+Street+Bridge+Viaduct+from++Riverbed-3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="198" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPadouoAUPvXB5jQgFmnYlZ-HWlp9LpQIyrKKw2ncGTCb_HrEdGLo9-ULNyEc0K4zL3tB7mk9D0VzAvl2tGAtmc3ha1eJORkQ2hx3BdHE7tyxrn_NnxpXIfwF3aZeRnl5nb_3gItWgdyaA/s320/12+Los+Angeles+Sixth+Street+Bridge+Viaduct+from++Riverbed-3.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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Then it was back up topside, to examine the tops of the arch-trusses up close.<br />
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I like how the sidewalk splits and the steel arch rises out of the center of the walkway.<br />
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I had a great time and intend to return. Based on the information I found online, I believe we have at least another year before they tear it down. And hopefully that 7.0 will hold off too. It makes me sad to lose such a great iconic work, but by all appearances it can't be helped.<br />
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And so, it seems the appropriate thing to do is to celebrate the monumental achievement that was the Sixth Street Bridge in the time we have left.<br />
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Earl3dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11255585398259543091noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8006955449343130571.post-8930479787544963532012-10-25T14:07:00.000-07:002012-10-25T14:33:24.822-07:00Garden Make-out Bench<i style="color: #181818; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">Between March and September of 2009, I wrote a few blog posts under the Parson Studio Group banner, before I launched Creatures of Prometheus as my main blogging platform. Since the old PSG web site is now being completely re-branded and re-designed, and t</i><i style="color: #181818; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">he old blog will go away when my new website launches, </i><i style="color: #181818; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">I will be occasionally re-releasing some of those posts here over the coming months. </i><br />
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<i>This post originally appeared on the Parson Studio Group blog on September 23, 2009.</i></div>
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I was recently approached by a collector who bought 2 of my pieces last November, when I participated in the Arroyo Artists' Collective fall show. Said individual indicated that he was going to a wedding and wanted a piece he could give as a gift, and wanted to know what I had in stock. As it turns out, he also prefers my furniture unfinished, that is to say without any paint or coating. He would rather let it rust naturally.</div>
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<span style="color: #181818; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12px;">Since I didn't have anything that wasn't already powder coated, I seized the opportunity to make a new piece and innovate a little bit. (Especially since I had the idea for this all worked out in my mind, and had been wanting to try it.)</span></span></div>
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I had these two steel tube remnants that were already cut to this shape when I got them:</div>
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<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=8006955449343130571" mce_href="javascript:showFullImage('/display/ShowImage?imageUrl=%2Fstorage%2F01-Basic%20Tubes.jpg;" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" mce_src="/storage/thumbnails/2120641-4241032-thumbnail.jpg" src="http://www.earlparson.com/storage/thumbnails/2120641-4241032-thumbnail.jpg" style="border: 0px;" /></a></div>
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And I had the idea to do a bench like this:</div>
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<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=8006955449343130571" mce_href="javascript:showFullImage('/display/ShowImage?imageUrl=%2Fstorage%2F02-Bench%20Idea.jpg%3F__SQUARESPACE_CACHEVERSION%3D1253749579129',800,1200);" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" mce_src="/storage/thumbnails/2120641-4241049-thumbnail.jpg?__SQUARESPACE_CACHEVERSION=1253749579130" src="http://www.earlparson.com/storage/thumbnails/2120641-4241049-thumbnail.jpg?__SQUARESPACE_CACHEVERSION=1253749579130" style="border: 0px;" /></a></div>
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So it was a pretty simple matter to weld the center seam and add legs.</div>
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<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=8006955449343130571" mce_href="javascript:showFullImage('/display/ShowImage?imageUrl=%2Fstorage%2F03-On%20Legs.jpg%3F__SQUARESPACE_CACHEVERSION%3D1253749728415',873,1200);" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" mce_src="/storage/thumbnails/2120641-4241068-thumbnail.jpg?__SQUARESPACE_CACHEVERSION=1253749728416" src="http://www.earlparson.com/storage/thumbnails/2120641-4241068-thumbnail.jpg?__SQUARESPACE_CACHEVERSION=1253749728416" style="border: 0px;" /></a></div>
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The biggest question I had was whether or not it would need a fifth leg at the apex, which it did. I thought it probably would, but wasn't sure. I also thought that if it were needed, the fifth leg might bother me. As it turns out, it doesn't bother me at all.</div>
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I did, however, put myself through a major aesthetic inquiry to make sure I was satisfied with this style of leg for this object. I actually debated myself and agonized over it for the better part of an afternoon. I almost changed them to boomerangs at the last minute, but that will be another bench for another day.</div>
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The last step was to add the chrome feet.</div>
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<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=8006955449343130571" mce_href="javascript:showFullImage('/display/ShowImage?imageUrl=%2Fstorage%2F04-Chrome%2520Tips.jpg%3F__SQUARESPACE_CACHEVERSION%3D1253750215288',839,1200);" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" mce_src="/storage/thumbnails/2120641-4241102-thumbnail.jpg?__SQUARESPACE_CACHEVERSION=1253750215289" src="http://www.earlparson.com/storage/thumbnails/2120641-4241102-thumbnail.jpg?__SQUARESPACE_CACHEVERSION=1253750215289" style="border: 0px;" /></a></div>
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When I first sat on it, I realized that the size and angle of the bench give it a really intimate feel. If you share it with someone else, you aren't just sitting next to them, you are actually slightly facing them, and at pretty close range, with your legs more or less sharing the same space. With the right companion, it pretty much lends itself to (if not downright encourages) putting your arm around them, and getting in close for a little smoochin'. Especially if you find yourselves sitting under a shady tree, in a partly-concealed corner of a secret garden somewhere (as opposed to the concrete driveway in front of my shop, where these shots were taken.)</div>
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So, I think it is the perfect wedding gift! Cheers to the newlyweds!</div>
Earl3dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11255585398259543091noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8006955449343130571.post-54088092578286548812012-09-21T16:26:00.000-07:002012-09-21T16:27:40.347-07:00Welcoming Endeavour to the City of AngelsEvery New Year's Day I enjoy getting up early and watching the B2 Stealth Bomber do its annual <a href="http://creaturesofprometheus.blogspot.com/2012/01/2012-rose-parade-b2-stealth-flyover.html">Rose Parade flyover</a>, to kick off the New Year. Today I looked to the skies over Northeast L.A. and the San Gabriel Valley for an even more dramatic spectacle. Space Shuttle <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_Shuttle_Endeavour">Endeavour</a>, flying piggyback on a Boeing 747, did an extended tour all around L.A.'s far-flung airspace, paying tribute to places and institutions that were instrumental in its development and missions over the years, and greeting the city that will be its new permanent home.<br />
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There had been considerable buzz about it all week, and many people made plans to go watch it from various vantage points around L.A. My sister <a href="http://www.allisonparsondesign.com/">Allison</a>, who lives over on the West Side, considered going up to the Getty Center to watch for it from there, but ended up finding a parking structure rooftop right in her neighborhood with clear views of the area. I had a meeting with a consultant here at the home office (I have a great dining room table that doubles as a conference table at the drop of a hat) and couldn't get away to go sky-watching at any of the announced flyover locations. Furthermore, I recently ordered a new plasma cutter for my shop and was expecting it to be delivered today, with signature required. Being pretty much stuck here at the house, the best I could do was head up to the roof after my meeting ended. Little did I know, I would have one of the best seats in town!<br />
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As my meeting was wrapping up, Allison texted me. The timestamp was 11:53 and she wrote "On its way. Spotted over Malibu." I was searching for my camera, scrambling to change my shoes to something more pitched-shingle-roof friendly, and unhooking the screen off of my bedroom window, when I heard a loud aircraft in the sky. As I scrambled up from the lower roof to the upper one (going where I had never gone before - kind of thrilling and terrifying at the same time) I saw that my neighbor was up on his roof too. He said that he had glimpsed it just then, in the western sky, but it had banked and flown back away again. It was probably passing by Griffith Park and the Hollywood Sign at that point, but we weren't sure where it went after that.<br />
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The reports were that it was supposed to do a flyover up at <a href="http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/">JPL</a>, which is just northeast of us, so we continued to watch and wait. Several minutes passed. Then we heard it again. Suddenly they emerged in the western sky, coming right towards us. <br />
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RIGHT TOWARDS US!!!!<br />
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I took about a zillion pictures, and tried to shoot some video too, but I just wasn't any good, stability-wise, and I'm afraid the video isn't blog-quality (unless one's goal is to spread nausea among your readership, which mine is not).<br />
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Pretty soon they were right over us. I heard on the news that one of the fighter jets was filming it and the other was the security detail.<br />
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They went pretty far to the east, and I'm guessing they may have passed over CalTech before making a hard left, hooking back around and up towards JPL.<br />
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Then she flew back towards the west again. The 747 and Endeavour looked great framed against the mountain range.<br />
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Then she lifted and banked, and came back our direction, heading towards the southeast.<br />
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We got an awesome profile view as she departed for points south, possibly Disneyland, which I heard was on the list of flyover locations.<br />
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I love that you can make out the NASA logo on the tail fin of the 747.<br />
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Welcome to Los Angeles, Endeavour! I'll be in the crowd cheering you on next month <a href="http://www.californiasciencecenter.org/Exhibits/AirAndSpace/endeavour/Mission26/Mission26.php">when you make your way to the California Science Center</a>!<br />
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<br />Earl3dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11255585398259543091noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8006955449343130571.post-87689002846875560642012-07-18T19:57:00.001-07:002012-07-18T19:57:43.451-07:00John Lautner Tour: Schwimmer House, 1982<i>Note: Nearly a year ago, there was a big to-do for John Lautner's 100th Birthday (and deservedly so, I must say). I toured 4 of his houses in L.A. and intended to blog about them all, but only 2 posts got finished. The third post was started but never completed; now I have finished it.</i><br />
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<i>I didn't want to completely re-write the beginning, so I am just appending this note at the top.</i>
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<i><br />To see all my posts on Lautner, <a href="http://creaturesofprometheus.blogspot.com/search/label/Lautner">click here</a>.</i><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;">We continue our exploration of the work of John Lautner, in celebration of what would have been his 100th birthday this month, with our 3rd installment from last weekend's tour: The Schwimmer House, from 1982.</span><br />
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With this house, we see a departure from the hexagonal and triangular geometries we saw in the Jacobsen and Harpel houses. Instead, Lautner works with circular geometry in this project. Like all the houses on the tour, this house is in the hills, and has spectacular views.<br />
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Here we see it from the Google satellite, along with the view itself:<br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-pJv3tOCW5mQ/TjTdcebv8EI/AAAAAAAABgY/5S6Q5OuyW1k/s1600/00+Schwimmer+Aerial.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="161" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-pJv3tOCW5mQ/TjTdcebv8EI/AAAAAAAABgY/5S6Q5OuyW1k/s320/00+Schwimmer+Aerial.png" width="320" /></a></div>
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You can see from the plan that the house is designed along a series of concentric arcs. The outermost side of the arc, which is the south side of the house, faces the view. The innermost arc is towards the hillside, i.e. not the view. </div>
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There are other many other circles and arcs employed in different ways throughout the design. The entrance is a sequence of both concentric and eccentrically arranged circles and arcs, which create a curving walkway to the front door. At the middle of this sequence is a stone cylinder that contains the powder room.<br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-uR6tgg0VnM4/TjVkxUy-x0I/AAAAAAAABg0/3iUvx7rXlt4/s1600/01+Schwimmer+Plan+-+entrance.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="298" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-uR6tgg0VnM4/TjVkxUy-x0I/AAAAAAAABg0/3iUvx7rXlt4/s320/01+Schwimmer+Plan+-+entrance.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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In lieu of photos, I have a <i>very short</i> video, only about 30 seconds long, showing the entry sequence from both the outside and inside. I want to incorporate more video here on the blog, and I suddenly realized this while I was there at Schwimmer. So, I have to disclaim a little bit that this was slightly off-the-cuff, and I'm not that experienced as a videographer (yet). Also, this was shot with my Nikon D-90 SLR and not any kind of specialized video equipment. In fact, its best feature may be its brevity! Anyway, here it is:<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/TCQwx55QQK8" width="640"></iframe><br />
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Lautner's use of these circular motifs isn't restricted to the plan. He pushes the concept one step further and uses it in section also, by curving the roof beams. Thus, we have a curved plan combined with a curved section.<br />
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As you approach the house, you can't see enough of the overall picture to really know what's going on, spatially. Then, once inside, the first space you come to is the long, curving hall that is generously wide and goes the entire length of the house. Apparently the client had a collection of Medieval art and antiquities that were displayed in this space. Here it is, looking back towards the entry, from the far end:<br />
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The wall between the hall and living room doesn't extend all the way to the ceiling (you can see this in the photo above), which has the effect of rendering the roof/ceiling as an overarching canopy. The ceilings are lofty and open, with all of the roof framing is exposed to view. The joists are curved to accentuate the curved plan shape of the house, which you can observe in the living room ceiling:<br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-J4DCr8M7Wvg/TjVzDuWTc-I/AAAAAAAABg8/0UO-epPsyDg/s1600/05+Curved+Living+Room+Ceiling.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="205" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-J4DCr8M7Wvg/TjVzDuWTc-I/AAAAAAAABg8/0UO-epPsyDg/s320/05+Curved+Living+Room+Ceiling.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">And now, another video. This shows the living room, hallway from outside the living room, and the study, which is the next room along the hallway after the living room. The living room and study have back-to-back fireplaces that are carved out of the same masonry mass. This one is just over a minute long.</span><br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/6t16WF0ekJU?rel=0" width="640"></iframe>
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<span style="background-color: white;">Turns out that the stone cylinder, or turret, at the entry, is like a bit of architectural foreshadowing. All along the outer curving arc of the plan (the view side), there are a series of these same stone turrets. They serve as part of the structural system of the house, supporting the roof beams. Also, each one is a little room with a different function, depending on which larger room it is adjacent to.</span></div>
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In the plan detail above, the turret at right is the pantry for the kitchen; the one at the center houses the wet bar for the living/dining room; at the left it is a place to keep wood for the massive stone fireplace next to it.</div>
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Here is the wet bar. There is a curtain in the doorway to the bar, made of very fine individual bronze chains hanging from a rod (another nod to the Medieval, perhaps). You can also see the roof beam springing to the right off the top of the stone.</div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-qGS5EEc-cIY/TjVyUHJqbhI/AAAAAAAABg4/r6W-y5laE30/s1600/06+Bar+Turret-1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-qGS5EEc-cIY/TjVyUHJqbhI/AAAAAAAABg4/r6W-y5laE30/s320/06+Bar+Turret-1.JPG" style="cursor: move;" width="212" /></a></div>
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Here, a turret is the skylit shower for the master bedroom:<br />
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At the exterior, the space between turrets is made up of sliding wood and glass doors, and the depth of the turrets gives each room ample privacy. Notice also how the overhang provides the perfect amount of shade at the height of summer.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrIejD-Mb6PEvOqEJKYypdHjDy_kEzqDY7OpQl8Yl5ODWY5K9ExdI41WGRjMqeemOSWlHxbG53elQKEM03IJOYjFv4oig1DFwl9eIJeF8EEa4LVdTfw9OmjP1AWND6q5088uMiZXQ4NsQ1/s1600/Lautner+Schwimmer+Master+Bedroom+Terrace+Doorway.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrIejD-Mb6PEvOqEJKYypdHjDy_kEzqDY7OpQl8Yl5ODWY5K9ExdI41WGRjMqeemOSWlHxbG53elQKEM03IJOYjFv4oig1DFwl9eIJeF8EEa4LVdTfw9OmjP1AWND6q5088uMiZXQ4NsQ1/s320/Lautner+Schwimmer+Master+Bedroom+Terrace+Doorway.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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The kids bedrooms are downstairs. The stair descends from the back of the kitchen:<br />
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The curved downstairs hallway is just as lovely as the stair or the rest of the house.<br />
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<span style="background-color: white;">Sticking with the theme, the turrets extend to the lower level where they are bathrooms.</span><br />
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I especially love the meticulous detailing whereby this door jam between two adjoining rooms downstairs is set into the stone.</div>
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Underneath the house, the turrets re-emerge and anchor the whole thing into the hillside. I wish I had a view of this from a position floating in midair out in front of the house, with the brush cleared away so you could see it.</div>
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Sometimes I wonder what Mr. Lautner would think of some of the things people put in his houses today. I wonder whether he would be outraged or just chuckle.<br />
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I saw this and I chuckled.<br />
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Earl3dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11255585398259543091noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8006955449343130571.post-63325347867980357672012-07-18T18:38:00.000-07:002012-07-18T18:39:28.086-07:00Thank you, Jenn.<span style="background-color: white;">The final round of layoffs at Keating Khang had happened in January or February of 2009, and I was casting about, trying to figure out what to do next. My work had been very demanding, including a lot of travel, and suddenly it was like coming up for air and having all of this free time. So I started looking around online to see what other Objectivists were doing and what kind of community might be out there. I had joined facebook in 2008, but hadn't significantly expanded my online social circles much beyond my real-life friends.</span><br />
<br />
I think the first O'ist bloggers I became aware of were <a href="http://www.philosophyinaction.com/blog/">Diana </a>and <a href="http://treygivens.com/">Trey</a>. <span style="background-color: white;">I would see this weekly Objectivist blog roundup mentioned on their blogs, and I gradually started getting to know of all these other bloggers, and sort of one-way getting to know them personally, as happens when you start following other peoples' blogs. And there were a lot of them, a whole online community of them just like I hoped there might be. </span>I wanted to join in on <span style="background-color: white;">all this cool interesting stuff that was going on, so I launched CofP in early 2010. </span><br />
<br />
<a href="http://rationaljenn.blogspot.com/" style="background-color: white;">Rational Jenn</a><span style="background-color: white;"> was always, and continues to be, one of my favorite blogs. I that's because she has such a great way of telling a story, plus those Casey kids are just so freakin cute! I think also because she reminds me in many ways of my sister, </span><a href="http://whatsthatgonnabe.blogspot.com/" style="background-color: white;">Emily</a><span style="background-color: white;">. But now that I know Jenn in real life, I admire her even more than I did when she was just a famous internet personality who lived clear across the country. </span><br />
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So, thank you, Jenn. Thank you for running the Round Up all this time, creating this regular way for lots of interesting people to get together and share their ideas and thoughts. Thank you for introducing me to so many awesome people, both online and IRL. (You can keep doing that, btw.) <br />
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Thank you for inspiring me in so many ways.Earl3dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11255585398259543091noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8006955449343130571.post-10725539569363126072012-07-11T20:05:00.002-07:002012-07-11T20:14:13.854-07:00Death of a Crock Pot<br />
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It feels like the end of an era.</div>
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My trusty old Crock Pot has finally bit the dust. I don't know exactly what happened, but this morning while putting it away I noticed a hairline crack extending clear across the bottom of the heavy ceramic bowl and up the side. The crack may have been there for some time, and might even be perfectly harmless, but I'm not particularly inclined to continue using it in its present state. </div>
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It had been on a bit of a slow decline for a while now. A couple of years ago I made the mistake of putting the lid in the dishwasher, causing the knob to warp. Then the screw that held the (still somewhat functional) warped knob in place, removed for cleaning, went into the garbage disposal, thus dispensing with any further use of the knob. This was provided an unexpected improvement in the form of a steam vent, via the now permanently exposed hole in the lid. I used it this way for a while, until I dropped and shattered the glass lid, sometime earlier this year. </div>
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After that I was using a salad-sized plate for a lid, but now, finally, it's time for a whole new unit.</div>
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The Crock Pot was a gift from my mom in the early 2000's. I used it only occasionally before going paleo. After that transition, it became an indispensable part of my kitchen arsenal, and throughout 2011 it got its heaviest workout ever. At the beginning of that year, I used it to make lots of tendon stew and bone broths while I was recovering from surgery on a tendon in my left hand. Later that fall, it ran nearly constantly, stewing up pig feet, which were the only thing I could get my dear old hound Todd to eat in his final stages of terminal cancer. I nearly threw it out after that, but in time the unpleasant associations with that episode faded to where I could make use of it once again, without being upset by it.</div>
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And so now, having properly eulogized my cherished slow cooker, it goes off to the rubbish bin, to be returned to the earth whence its raw materials originated. I will toss it into the black bin with a salute of "Thank Capitalism" in my heart.</div>
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I've decided to upgrade with my next slow cooker purchase. The old one was a basic round 4-quart model; I think I will replace it with a 6-quart oval one. I was a bit surprised by all the choices available on Amazon, and after a bit of looking it has come down to a choice between these:</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifFJKQ4EDBj8QpCC9KCXsUTk-Z6McY03JDIz85NCsEH_p0kX-yB30HQ3F3dBvmOhLcdkm3vBO8Bo9yNkXpYtxIRGLrsJ1eGGd6c7egEdX-gkaLqJog4HOh7Ly6fuXcqi3ZhQTgxj8zcRQr/s1600/CrockPot-6qt.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifFJKQ4EDBj8QpCC9KCXsUTk-Z6McY03JDIz85NCsEH_p0kX-yB30HQ3F3dBvmOhLcdkm3vBO8Bo9yNkXpYtxIRGLrsJ1eGGd6c7egEdX-gkaLqJog4HOh7Ly6fuXcqi3ZhQTgxj8zcRQr/s320/CrockPot-6qt.jpg" title="Basic Crock Pot" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #222222;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Crock-Pot-SCCPVL600S-6-Quart-Portable-Stainless/dp/B003HF6PUO/ref=sr_1_4?s=appliances&ie=UTF8&qid=1342057610&sr=1-4&keywords=crock+pot"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;">Rival Crock Pot, 6-qt. with locking lid, $37.99 on Amazon.com</span></a></span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVr9bSJhgdtbpG_VUue-iokHDEElcCh3TDuawnvAHQxpOkfQQwlqayPIHbUNQoGUQ1V6fJR1eYXG1b2zHnYFpVl_-PAL7ThImk7wBhAjmQa5mlRhgqiBhBzy9lxxpLKI4nY6yOuPJCMVKt/s1600/Hamilton+Beach.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVr9bSJhgdtbpG_VUue-iokHDEElcCh3TDuawnvAHQxpOkfQQwlqayPIHbUNQoGUQ1V6fJR1eYXG1b2zHnYFpVl_-PAL7ThImk7wBhAjmQa5mlRhgqiBhBzy9lxxpLKI4nY6yOuPJCMVKt/s320/Hamilton+Beach.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Hamilton-Beach-33967-6-Quart-Programmable/dp/B001AO2PXK/ref=pd_sbs_la_3">Hamilton Beach, 6-qt. with locking lid, programmable timer,<br />and temperature probe, $49.99 on Amazon.com</a></span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Cuisinart-PSC-650-Stainless-2-Quart-Programmable/dp/B000VA48PM/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_nS_nC?ie=UTF8&coliid=IX5IZTN6ZP545&colid=124YB4105W97R">Cuisinart, 6.5-qt. fancy rectangular slow cooker, $99.95 on Amazon.com</a></td></tr>
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I suspect I'll end up with the Hamilton Beach, even though it seems like a betrayal to not stick with the Rival Crock Pot brand. I like that it's programmable, with start time and stop time; it has a warming mode to keep your dinner hot without overcooking it; and I really like the temperature probe for roasts and such. All that for fifty bucks seems like a pretty good deal, and Rival doesn't have one with the temperature probe at all, that I can find. The Cuisinart looks great (a very important consideration in my household), but has almost half as many 1-star reviews on Amazon as it has 5-star reviews, and that's a terrible ratio.</div>
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Thankfully, I had just finished a big batch of carnitas when the crack was discovered. I should be up and running with the new 'Pot by next week. As sad as I am to see the old Crock Pot go, I recently discovered nirvana in the form of <i>braised lamb shanks </i>(at the Elephant Bar in Burbank), and can't wait to get my hands on my new, bigger, programmable, temperature-probing slow cooker and give them a try at home!</div>
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Thus, the end of an era, and the beginning of a new one.</div>Earl3dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11255585398259543091noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8006955449343130571.post-11916940562270640842012-06-28T09:54:00.002-07:002012-07-12T08:02:21.640-07:00Objectivist Round-up for June 28, 2012Welcome to the Objectivist Round-up for June 28, 2012. This is my first time hosting the weekly carnival of articles on various topics by Objectivist bloggers, and I'm glad I got to play host before the carnival finally winds down in a few weeks. I want to give a big shout out to <a href="http://rationaljenn.blogspot.com/">Rational Jenn</a> and a big thank you to her, for organizing and running the Round-up.<br />
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This is also the last Round-up before Independence Day. Even though it's nearly a week away, I'll take this opportunity to present a quote on the Founding Fathers and their unique achievement, from the book <i>The Ominous Parallels</i> by <a href="http://www.peikoff.com/">Leonard Peikoff</a>, as quoted in the <a href="http://aynrandlexicon.com/lexicon/founding_fathers.html">Ayn Rand Lexicon</a>. This quote takes on a particular resonance given this morning's announcement of the Supreme Court upholding the Obamacare individual mandate, about which I'm sure there will be ample commentary in next week's carnival.<br />
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Throughout history the state had been regarded, implicitly or explicitly, as the ruler of the individual—as a sovereign authority (with or without supernatural mandate), an authority logically antecedent to the citizen and to which he must submit. The Founding Fathers challenged this primordial notion. They started with the premise of the primacy and sovereignty of the individual. The individual, they held, logically precedes the group or the institution of government. Whether or not any social organization exists, each man possesses certain individual rights. And “among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness”—or, in the words of a New Hampshire state document, “among which are the enjoying and defending life and liberty; acquiring, possessing, and protecting property; and in a word, of seeking and obtaining happiness.”</blockquote>
<span style="background-color: white;">And now, without further ado, I present this week's Objectivist Round-up:</span><br />
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<b>Tim Cheadle</b> presents <a href="http://timcheadle.com/post/25507879241/design-thinking">Design Thinking - Tim Cheadle</a> posted at <a href="http://timcheadle.com/">Tim Cheadle</a>, saying, "A brief recap of my design talk with Tori Press, along with the slides we presented."
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<b>Paul McKeever</b> presents <a href="http://blog.paulmckeever.ca/2012/06/22/bully-the-new-nazi/">"Bully": the new "Nazi"</a> posted at <a href="http://blog.paulmckeever.ca/">Paul McKeever</a>, saying, "Prepare to see the "Bully" card played more an more frequently in a place near you."
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<b>Darius Cooper</b> presents <a href="http://practicegoodtheory.blogspot.com/2012/06/country-shares-of-world-gdp.html">Country Shares of World GDP</a> posted at <a href="http://practicegoodtheory.blogspot.com/">Practice Good Theory</a>, saying, "I present some graphs showing relative GDPs of various countries"
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<b>Diana Hsieh</b> presents <a href="http://www.philosophyinaction.com/blog/?p=6648">NoodleCast #143: Q&A Radio Podcast: Spanking, Parenting, Cheating, and More</a> posted at <a href="http://www.philosophyinaction.com/blog">Philosophy in Action</a>, saying, "In Sunday's episode of Philosophy in Action Radio, I answered questions on corporal punishment of kids, parenting as a central purpose, compartmentalized cheating, something greater than yourself, and more."
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<b>Rachel Miner</b> presents <a href="http://theplayfulspiritrachel.blogspot.com/2012/06/having-now-finished-both-intensive-six.html">Lindamood Bell Experience</a> posted at <a href="http://theplayfulspiritrachel.blogspot.com/">The Playful Spirit</a>, saying, "Lindamood Bell is an individualized, intensive therapy that helps students with very specific language issues. In this post, I write about my experience using one of their programs. Due primarily to the high cost, it was a decision that took several years to make, but it was a positive experience that other parents may find valuable. They also work with adults."
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<b>Paul Hsieh</b> presents <a href="http://blog.westandfirm.org/2012/06/backdoor-euthanasia-in-uk.html">Backdoor Euthanasia in the UK?</a> posted at <a href="http://blog.westandfirm.org/">We Stand FIRM</a>, saying, "A UK neurologist reports that British patients with treatable conditions are being pushed against their will into "care pathways" for the terminally ill."
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<b>Roberto B Sarrionandia</b> presents <a href="http://sarrionandia.com/blog/2012/06/sam-brown-wins-19th-of-a-free-coffee/">Andrew Brown wins 1/9th of a free coffee</a> posted at <a href="http://sarrionandia.com/blog">Roberto Sarrionandia</a>, saying, "Is the Guardian giving out free coffee to journalists who smear Ayn Rand?"
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<b>John Drake</b> presents <a href="http://trhome.blogspot.com/2012/06/starting-project-with-zero-resources.html">Starting a Project with Zero Resources</a> posted at <a href="http://trhome.blogspot.com/">Try Reason!</a>, saying, "Even if you don't have the time or money, it is possible to start big projects. You just have to get REALLY creative."
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<b>Rational Jenn</b> presents <a href="http://rationaljenn.blogspot.com/2012/06/tonight.html">Tonight!</a> posted at <a href="http://rationaljenn.blogspot.com/">Rational Jenn</a>, saying, "Kelly and I are appearing Wednesday evening on the Philosophy in Action radio show to discuss Parenting without Punishment. By the time the carnival appears, the radio show will already have happened. But if you missed it, you can catch the recording at the Philosophy in Action website."
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<b>Earl Parson</b> presents <a href="http://creaturesofprometheus.blogspot.com/2012/06/strange-in-good-way.html">Strange in a Good Way</a> posted at <a href="http://creaturesofprometheus.blogspot.com/">Creatures of Prometheus</a>, saying, "I've finally taken the plunge and rented a workspace outside my home. I'm now the resident architect at Strangeways Academy!"
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That concludes this edition. The next edition of the <b>Objectivist Round-up</b><span style="background-color: white;"> will </span><span style="background-color: white;">be hosted over at</span><span style="background-color: white;"> </span><a href="http://3-ring-binder.blogspot.com/" style="background-color: white;">Three Ring Binder</a>.<span style="background-color: white;"> </span><span style="background-color: white;">Submit your blog article to </span><span style="background-color: white;">using our
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Past posts and future hosts can be found on our
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<br />Earl3dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11255585398259543091noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8006955449343130571.post-14045258982222774622012-06-27T19:49:00.001-07:002012-07-12T08:03:50.393-07:00Strange in a Good Way<span style="background-color: white;">For the first time ever, in the entire history of the Universe as I have known it, I have a place outside my house where I can go for no other purpose than to do my own work.</span><br />
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<i>My </i>work.<br />
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I can't tell you what a thrill this is.<br />
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My friend <a href="http://altdesignco.com/">Ana </a>posted on facebook several weeks ago about an upcoming vacancy at Strangeways Academy. Strangeways is a shared studio-workspace in Chinatown that she started with some other graphic designers a few years ago. It's not fancy; it's a small storefront with 6 identical desks, behind each of which is a single Homasote panel for pinning stuff up on the wall. In the front there is a conference table, but that area converts, via some clever moving walls, into a gallery space where they have exhibitions from time to time.<br />
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I had gone to some of their gallery openings and events in the past, and had looked longingly at Ana's previous facebook postings of vacancies there. Finally, the timing was perfect. My work has picked up, and and the summer is turning out to be pretty busy for me. In fact, I'm relatively confident that things are even somewhat <i>secure </i>(to whatever extent that word has any meaning at all these days), probably though the end of the year (fingers crossed). So, when Ana posted about the upcoming vacancy, back in May, I expressed interest. Then I had to go out of town and the whole thing was back-burnered for a bit.<br />
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After a few weeks went by and the workspace was still available, I met her down in Chinatown for lunch one afternoon and we went over the particulars. <span style="background-color: white;">The next step was a meet-n-greet lunch with the other studiomates, which happened on Friday, June 8th. The following Monday I moved in. </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;">Some of the Strangeways folk also teach, and some also have other full- or part-time employment or consulting they do elsewhere, so it's rarely a full house. I generally have the place to myself, especially in the mornings.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;">I'll continue to settle in there over the coming weeks. I plan to bring <a href="http://creaturesofprometheus.blogspot.com/2011/02/wire-glass-shelves.html">these shelves that I made</a> for behind my desk, and I'll populate my Homasote panel with some inspiring images and such. Even without those things, having a place without the distractions of home, where I can just focus on my </span><i style="background-color: white;">work</i><span style="background-color: white;">, is bliss. And, I can walk from my house down to the Highland Park stop on the Gold Line and ride it down to Chinatown, where the station is only a couple blocks from the studio. From there, I can also take the metro to my gym, which is on the other side of Downtown (although I haven't tried that yet).</span><br />
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Another plus is that Strangeways is dog-friendly, although I haven't met any of the other studio dogs (except for Ana's dog Gus, whom I had met previously). Paul and Daisy came here with me one evening last week, and I think that Daisy still needs a bit more civilizing before we make that much of a habit. I found a place in my neighborhood with great Yelp reviews for obedience training, so after I return from OCON (woohoo!) we'll get started on that.<br />
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Here it is:<br />
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Right next to the herbal foot reflexology joint on Jung Jing Road! Stop by and say Hi!<br />
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<br />Earl3dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11255585398259543091noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8006955449343130571.post-68674137958530857472012-06-08T10:37:00.003-07:002012-06-08T10:37:43.159-07:00Celebrating Frank Lloyd Wright's Birthday, 2012 EditionLast year I inaugurated my <a href="http://creaturesofprometheus.blogspot.com/search/label/Happy%20Birthday%20to%20the%20Great%20Ones">Birthdays of the Great Ones</a> series on this date with Frank Lloyd Wright. I enjoy the little inspirational boost I get from this series. (Looking back, I guess I didn't post as many of these as I added to my Google Calendar. Hopefully I'll be better at it in the coming year.)<br />
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And now a year has gone by, and we're back around to Mr. Wright. Here are a few links on Wright and his work for your edification and Friday enjoyment.<br />
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<a href="http://www.archdaily.com/242851/happy-145th-birthday-frank-lloyd-wright/">ArchDaily</a> has a nice little piece on Wright today with a lovely photo of Fallingwater surrounded by colorful autumn leaves.<br />
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<a href="http://archive.org/details/RobertTwombyAuthorfrankLloydWrightLouisSullivan-March2011">Here</a> is an enjoyable lecture by historian <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Robert-C.-Twombly/e/B001IR3KT2/ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1?qid=1339176999&sr=8-1">Robert Twombly</a>, discussing the relationship between Wright and his mentor Louis Sullivan. I listened to this on the plane back from <a href="http://creaturesofprometheus.blogspot.com/2012/06/atloscon-2012-wrap-up.html">ATLOSCON</a>. It's about an hour long. As I recall, the audio is a little rough at first, but it gets better after a minute or two. He does an good job of fact-checking a lot of the dates and assertions put forth by Wright regarding his relationship to and work for Sullvan, and has an interesting take on Wright's moonlighting and subsequent firing from Sullivan's office.<br />
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Of course there's always <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Lloyd_Wright">Wikipedia's entry on Wright</a> for the relatively brief overview of his long career.<br />
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He didn't get a Google Doodle this year, but he got one in 2005, which you can see <a href="http://www.google.com/doodles/frank-lloyd-wrights-138th-birthday">here</a>. I can recognize the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Larkin_Administration_Building">Larkin Building</a> (I think, in yellow), the Guggenheim, and of course Fallingwater. I don't quite see what the little cube next to the red O is supposed to be.<br />
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Lastly, you can also check out my posts from last year, where I posted a <a href="http://creaturesofprometheus.blogspot.com/2011/06/frank-lloyd-wright-on-whats-my-line.html">YouTube video of Wright</a> from the early days of television, and some <a href="http://creaturesofprometheus.blogspot.com/2011/06/happy-birthday-frank-lloyd-wright.html">photos from my visit to Fallingwater</a> a few years ago.<br />
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<br />Earl3dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11255585398259543091noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8006955449343130571.post-60938372225197417002012-06-07T06:59:00.000-07:002012-06-07T06:59:06.969-07:00ATLOSCON 2012 Wrap-UpOver Memorial Day weekend I had a great time in Atlanta attending (and presenting at) ATLOSCON, the mini-conference of the Atlanta Objectivist Society. I also presented a seminar on how modern architecture is much more than just blank white minimalist boxes, which is what I think most members of the general public think of, if they think of modern architecture at all. My talk was both well attended (over 40 people, about half of the total conference attendance! WooHoo!) and very well received.<br />
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The few weeks leading up to the conference, I was completely deluged with work, and the week immediately prior, I came down with a bad sinus infection. All of this combined to make getting out of town in any kind of reasonable way almost impossible, and I nearly missed my flight. I gave up on preparing my remarks in advance, and decided to just skip half a day of the conference to do it in Atlanta. That part worked out pretty well, and, combined with the fact that I can stand in front of a room full of people and talk about architecture all day long anyway, meant that I was in good shape by the time it was my turn to present.<br />
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But before I get ahead of myself, let's briefly recap the whole weekend.<br />
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I flew in on Thursday, arriving at around 3:00. Tom picked me up at the airport and we we went back to our hotel. We had arranged to split a room and a car, which all worked out very well. I needed the car because I had another architectural agenda for the weekend besides my talk: visiting and photographing the Peachtree Center and its adjacent hotels in downtown Atlanta, all of which were designed by the architect John Portman.<br />
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Thursday night was the conference meet-n-greet event, and it was like a homecoming for me in many ways. I had gotten to know many of the ATLOS folks when I was in the area (sort of) building the <a href="http://creaturesofprometheus.blogspot.com/search/label/Tennessee%20House">Tennessee House</a>. That was almost 2 years ago! It was great to see old friends again and begin to get caught up in person (which is so much better than Facebook and the blogs, although they are better than nothing). The highlight of my evening was meeting <a href="http://3-ring-binder.blogspot.com/">Lynne Bourque</a> and her husband Stephen. I have known them online for a while, and they are every bit as great in person as I had expected them to be.<br />
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Friday morning I discovered that the local public library was next door to the rec center where the conference was held, which made it extra easy to cut class and work on my talk, while still joining everyone for lunch. The rest of the day I had 3 seminars, which were "What's So Darn Special About Firefly?" with Kelly Elmore; "Design Thinking" with Tim Cheadle and Tori Press; and "Wine and Cheese? Yes, please!" presented by Maggie Roberts. All of them were fun and engaging, and a good time was had by all.<br />
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That night I got busy polishing my talk for the next day, and decided in the process to scrap all the slides I had prepared earlier at the library, and devote my entire talk to John Lautner's architecture. I realized that since I had tons of photos of some excellent examples of his houses, both from the tour I took last summer and a couple of events I had participated in since, I would show those. The photos really did deserve a wider audience, and they fit my talk perfectly, which was titled, "Style and Individualism in Modern Architecture". You will be hard pressed to find a more individualistic architecture than Lautner's, and I had around 8 very good examples of his houses (some of which I still need to write up <a href="http://creaturesofprometheus.blogspot.com/search/label/Lautner">for the blog</a>), ranging from his early career in the 1940s to as late as the '80s. By the time I pulled it all together and appropriately revised my introductory remarks, I finally made it to sleep by around 2am.<br />
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Saturday morning rolled around and I was up extra early re-editing and revising, and deciding which shirt to wear for my talk. Before I presented I attended Miranda Barzey's talk on "The Importance and Value of Personal Style" which I enjoyed, although I was mostly focusing on my notes for my talk, which was next. (We were a little late to Miranda's presentation because Tom let his GPS talk us into going to the wrong Starbucks (#firstworldproblems) which I bring up here in the spirit of not being ready to let him live it down.)<br /><br />Then it was my turn! The room was packed and I was a little nervous at first, but then I was fine once my own enthusiasm for the work took over. They audience was responsive and engaged, and asked great questions along the way. I had floor plans for some of the houses, and one person remarked to me that he started to glaze over at first, when the first plan drawing flashed onto the screen, but that when I started pointing out specific features of the house in plan and linking them to the photos too, that it really came alive for him. Also, he observed that others in the audience were having a similar experience. I had many comments afterward that a) my enthusiasm was infectious; and b) that people in general had no idea that modern architecture could be so interesting! <br />
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I can't express how happy it makes me that I took a bunch of people who were pretty much ambivalent at best with regard to modern architecture and showed them a beautiful and interesting side to it that they didn't know existed previously. It just doesn't get much better than that.<br />
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That afternoon I had 2 more seminars: "The History and Science of Five Classic Cocktails" with Trey Peden and Tori Press; and "Maintaining Rational Optimism" with Paul Hsieh. That evening was the big party at the Casey House, where I had a great time mingling, meeting new people, and talking about the events of the weekend. It was great to unwind and relax with a great group of folks, once my presentation was out of the way.<br />
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Sunday morning I headed to downtown Atlanta to check out the Peachtree Center and its hotels by John Portman. Portman pioneered the big open atrium lobby style of hotel (with glass elevators going up and down in the big atrium lobby). This model is somewhat common today, but never existed at all prior to his 1967 Hyatt Regency, which is one of the three hotels by him in downtown Atlanta that I got to see on this trip. They were doing work on the roof and skylight but it still looked pretty great:<br />
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I also saw the Westin and Marriott Marquis, both of which were amazing, but I have to say that the Marriott rises above <i>amazing </i>to the level of <i>stunning</i>. I'll discuss these buildings in more detail in the future, since I'm out of time today. Suffice it to say I have my subject matter for next year's ATLOSCON talk, likely to include a walking tour!<br />
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The rest of my Sunday afternoon included the OHomos panel discussion with myself, Tom, and Trey; and "Exploring Ayn Rand's Theory of Concepts" presented by Stephen Bourque. The panel discussion was lively and consisted largely of coming out stories and questions from parents or future-parents about gayness and kids. Stephen's talk was just getting interesting when he unfortunately ran out of time, but he had some interesting observations on the topic.<br />
<br />It's hard to decide which aspect of the conference I enjoyed most, between seeing old friends, giving my talk, and seeing the Portman buildings. Let's just call it a trifecta weekend of awesomeness.<br />
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Big shout out to Jenn, Kelly, Miranda, and the ATLOS-folk who put together such a great and fun conference!<br />
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<br />Earl3dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11255585398259543091noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8006955449343130571.post-72207204547035911392012-05-23T16:03:00.002-07:002012-07-12T08:11:55.175-07:00A Little Pre-Summer InterludeOk, so I've been totally neglectful of the blog for months. And now it's almost Memorial Day, which means Summer is nearly upon us, and I have a huge backlog of stuff I've been doing, all the while thinking, "this would be good to put on the blog..."<br />
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And then I'm onto the next thing without taking any time out to stop and reflect and think about anything. And then the next thing, and the next thing and the next thing.<br />
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Meanwhile there the blog sits in a big old months-long silent streak.<br />
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Going to try and break that streak right here and now with a fun little interlude that will hopefully help lead us into a fun summer of adventures and blogging about them.<br />
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Here (below) is an interactive panoramic photo I shot <i>last </i>summer, when I was in Chicago playing <i>Uncle Nanny</i> to my <a href="http://whatsthatgonnabe.blogspot.com/">sister</a>'s kids and hanging around photographing buildings in the Loop in my spare time. You can click anywhere on the image (once it loads its 5 mb - sorry about the size) and pan around almost a full 360 degrees.<br />
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The building at left (as it opens on the screen) is the 1955 <a href="http://www.inlandsteelbuilding.com/">Inland Steel Building</a> by SOM, and to the left of Inland Steel is One South Dearborn, which was designed by my old boss, Rick Keating, years after he left SOM. One South Dearborn was built just a few years before I came to work for him, and it has some similarity to the buildings we did while I was at Keating Khang.<br />
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This panoramic image is a disaster by the standards of most serious pano photographers, but I like it. At first I was greatly distressed by the ghosting and general weirdness, and then all of a sudden I just loved it.<br />
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There! Look, I blogged! <br />
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That wasn't so bad; heck, it was pretty easy.<br />
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Hope your summer is off to a great start!</div>
Earl3dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11255585398259543091noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8006955449343130571.post-1310502414691503952012-02-17T07:37:00.000-08:002012-07-12T08:14:55.274-07:00Creatures of Prometheus 2nd BlogiversaryToday we are celebrating our 2nd Blogiversary here at Creatures of Prometheus! Hooray!<br />
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If you haven't ever read my first post, which explains why I named the blog <i>Creatures of Prometheus</i>, now's your chance. <a href="http://creaturesofprometheus.blogspot.com/2010_02_01_archive.html">Here's a handy link to make it easy</a>. I just reread it and have to say, it is a fine little piece of writing. Two years later, it really holds up. Beethoven, ancient mythology, and Ayn Rand, all wrapped up in a tidy little package, tied with a bow.<br />
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Last year I didn't do anything to mark the occasion, as I was thrown pretty suddenly into hand surgery in early February, and thus never got to it. This time around, I want to mention some of the things I've written about, of which I'm especially proud, and in no particular order.<br />
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My <a href="http://creaturesofprometheus.blogspot.com/search/label/Lautner">series on John Lautner</a> still gets tons of hits from Google image searches. I toured some of his houses last summer and wrote about 2 of them. I'm going to revive this series and add to it, because next Friday I'm going to Palm Springs with my friend LouAnne to tour the <a href="http://elrodhouse.org/">Elrod House</a>, which ought to be pretty spectacular. I really really really really really hope they let us take pictures!<br />
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Back in 2010 I went on an <a href="http://creaturesofprometheus.blogspot.com/search/label/Road%20Trip%202010">epic 10-week road trip</a> and helped build my greatest residential commission to date: the <a href="http://creaturesofprometheus.blogspot.com/search/label/Tennessee%20House">Tennessee House</a>. Many of those posts are labeled under both categories, but not all of them are. I'm so happy that I made the effort that I did to document both the trip and project. I will always look back upon that experience as one (of what will hopefully be many) of the highlights of my career.<br />
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I'm getting back into a lot more <a href="http://creaturesofprometheus.blogspot.com/search/label/Welding">welding </a>and <a href="http://creaturesofprometheus.blogspot.com/search/label/Making%20Things">making things</a> here in the shop these days, so I'm looking forward to adding a lot of new stuff to those categories this year.<br />
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Studying <a href="http://creaturesofprometheus.blogspot.com/search/label/Objectivism">Objectivism </a>and contemplating its application to my life, and using the blog to work through my ideas and discoveries, gives me a certain type of fuel that is both intellectual and emotional. There are some really good insights in that category, and I hope to continue with more of those in the coming blog-year.<br />
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Along with Ayn Rand's work, I really enjoy digging into the <a href="http://creaturesofprometheus.blogspot.com/search/label/Sullivan">writings and work of Louis Sullivan</a>. He was such a profound thinker, it's really hard to overstate the importance of his writings. I just discovered that all his posts aren't labeled, so I'll have to go in and fix that behind the scenes. My pictures of the Auditorium Building also get tons of hits from Google image searches, which is pretty neat, I think.<br />
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And, last but not least, the recipes posted under <a href="http://creaturesofprometheus.blogspot.com/search/label/Paleo%20Food%20Intake%20Strategy">Paleo Food Intake Strategy</a> also get tons of hits! Hopefully I'll be able to do more writing on food in the coming year also.<br />
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It's good to spend a minute going through the blog archives, because it makes me realize how much I've covered on the blog, and how much I still want to do! <br />
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Time to get busy!<br />
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Cheers!Earl3dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11255585398259543091noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8006955449343130571.post-56756351205265778152012-02-14T10:22:00.000-08:002012-02-14T14:46:55.210-08:00Puppy Love: Valentine's Daisy EditionHere it is, Valentine's Day, and I am completely remiss for not posting sooner about the new pup, Daisy. She came home to live with Paul and me (and Roomie) on New Year's Eve, making it 6 weeks that she has been part of our little household. I mentioned her in my <a href="http://creaturesofprometheus.blogspot.com/2012/01/2011-year-in-review-at-creatures-of.html">2011 Year In Review</a> post, but that's been about it.<br />
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When I first saw Daisy at the pound, I pretty much knew she'd end up coming home with us. This was her mug shot, and a few pictures of her from the pound:</div>
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At the pound, they called her Chula, but I have no problem with the idea of changing a dog's name from its pound name to something that you think will better suit its new life with you. After much deliberation, I decided on Daisy. I didn't have a specific reason; it just seemed right.<br />
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Then I learned something that pretty much brought tears to my eyes. I got the following email from Mom:<br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Happy your new puppy is adjusting well. Daisy was the name of my little black dog as a little girl. She lived a long life, passing at an old age when I was in college. We got her </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">from Aunt Elsie when I was little, little.</span></blockquote>
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I can't say I had never ever heard that story before, in my whole entire life, but I also can't say that I have any conscious memory of it, either. So, it pretty much cemented the name, in the best possible way.<br />
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Daisy had to go straight from the pound to the clinic where she was fixed and got her shots - they require that for adoption, and it's all covered in the $122 fee they charge at the L.A. city pound. Here she is in the car on the way home from the clinic, on New Year's Eve:</div>
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She made herself right at home!<br />
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The Monday after New Year's, I took her to our regular vet for her first checkup. She did great!<br />
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Paul photobombed while I was taking pictures.<br />
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The only thing the vet really had any comment about was that he didn't think she was really 2 years old, which is what they said at the pound. Even though dogs can still have a lot of puppy energy at 2, she definitely seems younger than 2. He based his opinion on the condition of her teeth.<br />
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She's been settling in pretty well. The pound also said she had been an outdoor dog in her previous life, but I had her house trained in less than a week. She is learning her basic commands, like sit-stay, sit-stay-ok, how to sing for a treat (at which Paul excels), and how to act like a civilized creature when on leash. That last one is the most challenging, but she's gradually showing improvement.<br />
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I'll leave you with the video I made, just fooling around with iMovie, of her demolishing an egg carton. Happy Valentine's Day, from Creatures of Prometheus!<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/A_ooEOIgBKw?rel=0" width="640"></iframe>Earl3dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11255585398259543091noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8006955449343130571.post-67169366757446543012012-02-02T16:00:00.000-08:002012-02-02T16:08:28.295-08:00Reflections on Randsday<span style="font-family: inherit;">Today we're celebrating Ayn Rand's birthday, here at Creatures of Prometheus. Harry Binswanger has come up with a really great way of marking the occasion: the creation of a new holiday, <a href="http://www.hblist.com/Randsday.htm">Randsday</a>. </span><br />
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<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">To celebrate Randsday, you do something not done on any other holiday: you give <u>yourself</u> a present. Randsday is for getting that longed-for luxury you ordinarily would not buy for yourself. Or for doing that long-postponed, self-pampering activity you cannot seem to fit into your chore-packed schedule...On Randsday, if you do something that you ordinarily would think of as <b>“</b>fun,<b>”</b> you do it on a different premise and with a deeper meaning: that you need pleasure, you are entitled to it, and that the purpose and justification of your existence is: getting what <u>you</u> want—what you really want, with full consciousness and dedication.</span></blockquote>
<i>Getting what you want, with full consciousness and dedication.</i> Getting what you really want, not just as a whim or an impulse, but, rather, <b>getting what you really want out of your life.</b><br />
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Randsday is about pursuing your happiness. It's about recognizing that your life belongs to you, and only to you, and that you only get one, and it's short, and so you better get busy, because if you don't pursue your own happiness it's not like someone is just going to come around and hand you some. You have to earn it.<br />
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So when you treat yourself to that special Randsday present (which, for me, is that Kindle Touch I've been wanting for weeks now), remember these words:<br />
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We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness. </blockquote>
Your life belongs to you. Go live it.<br />
<br /></div>Earl3dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11255585398259543091noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8006955449343130571.post-70513827850898399542012-01-24T10:19:00.000-08:002012-01-24T15:41:41.052-08:00Sam Maloof Exhibit at the HuntingtonA nice collection of the work of iconic Southern California furniture maker Sam Maloof, along with many other artists and craftsmen in his circle, has been on exhibit at the Huntington since September; Roomie and I finally made it over there last Sunday to have a look and get inspired.<br />
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Maloof started out in the early 1950s, and this show presented examples of his work from private collections through 1985. Below are my favorite pieces from the show, presented in roughly chronological order, which is the order in which they were displayed in the exhibit.<br />
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">String Chair</span></b></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="text-align: center;">I like this chair for its simplicity, low proportions, </span><span style="text-align: center;">and the unexpected, fun shape of the rear legs. It makes me want to do something similar in steel as a study piece.</span></blockquote>
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">Templates + Patterns</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">There was a whole wall of templates, patterns, and unfinished fragments.</span></blockquote>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0QGSh4HEQGeJUZPMnhKkk4TksYYn3V54LLTo4l2R_5rJTOWmchxq4kuLmBUg6IxwJLqcQH2BacCrv_OdRxHSfBraekpKdanDAu_ltRyQyclGRQjd5MwlcOGy76iUM-uHDrc1y-zdmadQF/s1600/07+Maloof+Templates-3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0QGSh4HEQGeJUZPMnhKkk4TksYYn3V54LLTo4l2R_5rJTOWmchxq4kuLmBUg6IxwJLqcQH2BacCrv_OdRxHSfBraekpKdanDAu_ltRyQyclGRQjd5MwlcOGy76iUM-uHDrc1y-zdmadQF/s320/07+Maloof+Templates-3.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">Cork Top Desk</span></b></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
This piece was interesting in the way Maloof used contrasting wood to emphasize the joinery. The foot detail was on the chair to the left of the desk. Unfortunately, I failed to get a picture of the chair.</blockquote>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Armchair</b></span></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Maloof made furniture that looked great from any angle, and this piece is a good example of that. I also like the low-set buttons on the back cushion. Notice how the cushion thickens towards the bottom, providing lumbar support.</blockquote>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Counter Stool</b></span></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
This was a prototype that he made for a commission. He saved the prototype for himself. Notice how the concentric rings of the grain on the back are centered. The attention to that level of detail is astounding in these works.</blockquote>
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">Loveseat</span></b></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Again, notice how the wood is carefully selected and placed, so that the center of the wood grain pattern is at the center of the back.</blockquote>
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">First Rocker</span></b></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
This is the first rocker that Maloof made; it dates from the late 1960s, and he made it for his wife. The rocking chair would become one of his signature pieces. Again, notice the proportion of the back pillow, for lumbar support.</blockquote>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Later Rocker</b></span></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
This was a later rocker, from the 1980s, also made for his wife. Here, the lumbar support is provided by the shaping of the wood slats in the back.</blockquote>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqqCwl9bY_GF9yWucKvMc3BZPElivkZwsjeSHrvQAkOxb1zuXtILnsOliFTUocyEPcCAjCtjvAUD-zYRa6xJ4ZpvHAZ67g1h3NAN6ylcEJkWaM7qqSGqqi1pO3bRzJiA6cWZKS_3KE__YS/s1600/18+Maloof-rocker-2-detail.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqqCwl9bY_GF9yWucKvMc3BZPElivkZwsjeSHrvQAkOxb1zuXtILnsOliFTUocyEPcCAjCtjvAUD-zYRa6xJ4ZpvHAZ67g1h3NAN6ylcEJkWaM7qqSGqqi1pO3bRzJiA6cWZKS_3KE__YS/s320/18+Maloof-rocker-2-detail.jpg" width="212" /></a></div>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Armchair</b></span></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
One of the last pieces displayed is an armchair version, similar in style to his signature rocker.</blockquote>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh73zv07YayAdxmCTXDaof8McBb0h0IyTcZ7C-5MWaMrfeE2byba3BUe8yyYAqep8lr0T4RMvqWy1a4WRbu7mwmEnQU0e0UAsZSHJ-q2SvSWOsQVck0KBrI_KVixKt7qpG-5kY3dW-UMVkl/s1600/19+Maloof-Armchair-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh73zv07YayAdxmCTXDaof8McBb0h0IyTcZ7C-5MWaMrfeE2byba3BUe8yyYAqep8lr0T4RMvqWy1a4WRbu7mwmEnQU0e0UAsZSHJ-q2SvSWOsQVck0KBrI_KVixKt7qpG-5kY3dW-UMVkl/s320/19+Maloof-Armchair-2.jpg" width="212" /></a></div>
<br />
I love how you can observe the evolution of his personal style when you look at the arc of the whole show. The early string chair, while certainly unique, has a much more rigid, angular geometry, whereas the later pieces show a much different, and more personal, style. The string chair looks very Mid-century Modern in style, but the late rocker and armchair are pure <i>Sam Maloof</i>.<br />
<br />
Maloof passed away in 2009; he would have been 96 today. I delayed this post until today, so we could have another Birthdays-of-the-Great-Ones celebration here at CofP. I've been adding names and birthdays to the Birthdays of the Great Ones Calendar, and want to do a lot more of them in 2012.<br />
<br />
The exhibition <a href="http://huntington.org/huntingtonlibrary_02.aspx?id=9454">The House that Sam Built, Sam Maloof and Art in the Pomona Valley, 1945-1985</a> runs through January 30, 2012 at the Huntington.<br />
<br />
Check it out if you can, and get inspired.Earl3dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11255585398259543091noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8006955449343130571.post-67707107523136085012012-01-17T21:05:00.000-08:002012-01-17T22:37:42.760-08:00Going Dark to Protest SOPA & PIPAJust announcing that Creatures of Prometheus will go dark tomorrow, January 18, 2012, along with Wikipedia, Google, Mozilla, reddit, and many other sites, to protest the Stop Online Piracy Act, and the Protect IP Act.<br />
<br />
These two bills, now being considered in Congress, would represent a massive power grab by Washington, and would change the way the internet functions, forever. If either of these bills becomes law, the government will have wide, new powers to shut down entire websites, immediately and without hearings, trials, or anything, based on simple (or wild) accusations of piracy or intellectual property misuse. Apparently, you can even be shut down for linking to such alleged material - it doesn't have to be actually posted on your webpage.<br />
<br />
This is NOT the way online piracy should be handled.<br />
<br />
You can learn more here: <a href="http://sopastrike.com/">http://sopastrike.com/</a><br />
<br />
Educate yourself. Write your congresspersons and tell them to oppose these draconian bills. Lend your voice to the struggle. Washington needs to know enough is enough!<br />
<br />
-Earl<br />
<br />
p.s. I'll be back later in the week, with an update on the new pup!<br />
<br />
--------<br />
UPDATE: I created this avatar for my facebook and twitter accounts; feel free to copy and use it!<br />
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<br />Earl3dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11255585398259543091noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8006955449343130571.post-59345490318595965942012-01-04T16:38:00.000-08:002012-01-05T12:28:13.496-08:002011 Year-In-Review at Creatures of PrometheusLet's just say that my 2011 had its ups and downs. It certainly felt at times like I was having way more than my fair share of frustrations heaped upon me, but there were some really stellar moments as well. <br />
<br />
Let's go month by month, <a href="http://rationaljenn.blogspot.com/2011/12/2011-year-in-review.html">Rational Jenn Style</a>, through the year.<br />
<a name='more'></a><br />
<b>January:</b><br />
<ul>
<li>I remember wanting to write a 2010 Year In Review, but never getting around to it.</li>
<li>The year started with my being asked to teach full-time for the Spring Semester, in the Architecture Dept at a local community college, where I had taught in the past. Things got ironed out with HR in January, in advance of the semester starting off in late February. </li>
<li>I blogged about the <a href="http://creaturesofprometheus.blogspot.com/2011/01/tennessee-house-update-railings.html">railing installation</a> and <a href="http://creaturesofprometheus.blogspot.com/2011/01/everything-in-its-place-tv-edition.html">fireplace/TV cabinet</a> as the finishing touches were put on the Tennessee House.
</li>
<li>I scheduled my final trip to the Tennessee House, to shoot it for my portfolio and marketing efforts. I was there for about a week, from the end of January into February.</li>
<li>The TV show "The Event" <a href="http://creaturesofprometheus.blogspot.com/2011/01/event-filmed-in-my-neighborhood.html#more">filmed an episode in my neighborhood</a>, just about a block and a half from my house. I never saw the episode in question; maybe I'll look for it on Netflix.</li>
<li>Monday the 24th, my dearly departed Todd got into a fight with Caufield, my neighbor's dog, in my living room. In the process of separating them, I suffered a bite on my left wrist, which left one puncture. At the time, it didn't seem nearly as bad as it might have been, but it was painful. Later in the week, just when it was starting to feel better, I further injured it at the gym, and that time <b>it really hurt</b>. That injury was the morning of the day I was to take the redeye to Atlanta, for my Tennessee trip. I iced it, bought a brace at the sporting goods store, and went on my trip.</li>
<li>I cleverly arranged my travel through Atlanta so that I could hang out with Jenn, <a href="http://www.reepicheepscoracle.blogspot.com/">Kelly</a>, and my other <a href="http://www.atlantaobjectivists.com/">ATLOS </a>peeps, which is always a good time.</li>
</ul>
<div>
<b>February:</b></div>
<div>
<ul>
<li>I returned from Tennessee and promptly got some of the <a href="http://creaturesofprometheus.blogspot.com/2011/02/tennessee-house-punch-list.html">new photos</a> posted on the blog.</li>
<li>I wrote an additional post on <a href="http://creaturesofprometheus.blogspot.com/2011/02/tennessee-house-fireplace.html">the fireplace</a>, describing how the mantel was crafted from a rejected structural beam that I had had the contractor pull out, over a quality control issue.</li>
<li>While in Tennessee I realized that I had partially lost use of my thumb as a result of those wrist injuries from the dog bite. Before returning to L.A., I set up an appointment to see an orthopedic specialist as soon as I was back. That week that I returned ended up being one of the most harrowing of my life. Monday was my appointment. After a brief examination, the doc. said, "hold on, I'll be right back. I'm going to go get the hand surgeon." I was really not expecting to hear those words, and just about passed out while he was gone. He returned with the hand guy, who determined I had severed (ruptured) my EPL tendon (the one that lets you make a 'thumbs up') and should have surgery ASAP if I wanted to have the best shot at getting it back. He had an opening on Thursday, and I took it. The next day my regular doctor worked me into her schedule for a complete pre-op physical. Wednesday I visited the outpatient surgery center and had a tour, then went home and did as much housework as I could. I figured that since I was about to become more or less incapacitated for some time, I should at least do what I could, to have a clean house in which to lay about incapacitated. Thursday I went under the knife.</li>
<li>10 days later, school started, and I somehow got through it all and managed my life with my left hand in a cast for several weeks, and a brace for several more weeks after that. I really don't know how I did it, without being able to play my piano or knit or weld or make things, or do any of the creative things I enjoy that keep me sane. Or work out at the gym, the other thing that keeps me sane. That recovery was one of the most difficult things I've ever gone through. But, I did it! I recovered very well, and now there are just a couple minor scars and a little occasional stiffness.</li>
<li>From my recovery bed, I somehow blogged about this little <a href="http://creaturesofprometheus.blogspot.com/2011/02/wire-glass-shelves.html#more">steel and glass shelving unit</a> that I had made and photographed back in December/January before everything fell apart.</li>
</ul>
<div>
<b>March:</b></div>
</div>
<div>
<ul>
<li>I learned that for most arm and hand recovery, you do <i>occupational therapy</i>, whereas with the rest of the body it's <i>physical therapy</i> that you do. I started OT on my thumb at a place that I decided I wasn't completely thrilled with. I later switched to a different therapy clinic, with a superb hand specialist, with whom I was very pleased.</li>
<li>I attended SnowCON in Denver, which was great fun, even though I still had the brace on my wrist.</li>
<li>The rest of March was pretty much a long blur of teaching a very full schedule, while keeping up with my exercises and therapy to get my thumb back.</li>
</ul>
<div>
<b>April:</b></div>
</div>
<div>
<ul>
<li>April bore a striking resemblance to March. I had made real progress with my thumb however, and around the beginning of the month, I posted my first <a href="http://creaturesofprometheus.blogspot.com/2011/04/thumb-update.html">video blog post</a>, which is a somewhat boring 11-plus minutes of me talking about my thumb and playing exercises at the piano. I'm pretty sure Mom enjoyed it. (Hi, Mom!)</li>
<li>At school, they announced that they were going to hire someone to permanently do the job I was currently doing on a full-time, but temporary, basis. I applied. The application deadline was sometime around the middle of the month, and it required a lot of effort.</li>
<li>I took my students to the L.A. Cathedral for a field trip. I'm fond of that building. I later <a href="http://creaturesofprometheus.blogspot.com/2011/05/cathedral-of-our-lady-of-angels-quick.html">blogged about it</a>.</li>
<li>The week of the 17th-24th was our Spring Break at school and I developed a cold, which dragged into the following week, but I was mostly better by mid week. Then it worsened again, and the following weekend I went to the Urgent Care near my house. I was there first thing on Saturday morning, not wanting to wait till Monday to drive all the way across town to my regular doc. The Urgent Care doc said I had a little "light bronchitis" (exact quote) and gave me antibiotics. He said I should have no problem going back to work/school on Monday.</li>
</ul>
<div>
<b>May:</b></div>
<ul>
<li>By the Monday, which was now the beginning of May, my condition had worsened, so I called my regular doc. We decided to keep an eye on things, which continued to worsen. It was Wednesday morning before I finally went in. She listened to my breathing and told me she didn't even need to see an X-ray to tell me I had full-blown pneumonia. She sent me straight back to bed; do not pass go; do not collect $200. My recovery was fairly routine, as far as that goes, but it sucked to be back on bed rest just as I was getting out of the woods with my thumb. Also, let me just say that it's pretty freaky and a little scary to have your lungs feel like big, heavy, wet sponges, which is just what pneumonia feels like.</li>
<li>At the end of my pneumonia recovery, I had my final follow-up appointment with my hand surgeon, who declared my thumb tendon to be fully recovered. WooHoo!!!</li>
<li>I was invited to interview for the tenure-track position at school. The interview went well.</li>
<li>I blogged a lot in May, compared to what I had been doing. I wrote a long post, towards the later part of the month, about how I was "<a href="http://creaturesofprometheus.blogspot.com/2011/05/feeling-like-my-old-self-again.html">Feeling Like My Old Self Again</a>". I still think that was a particularly good bit of writing.</li>
<li>I wrote a <a href="http://creaturesofprometheus.blogspot.com/2011/05/john-herman-dersch.html">tribute to my grandpa</a>, on what would have been his 101st birthday.</li>
<li>At the end of the month, I spoke at <a href="http://creaturesofprometheus.blogspot.com/2011/05/atloscon-architecture-talk.html">ATLOSCON</a> in Atlanta. That was a real treat. I had gotten to know a lot of the Atlanta Objectivist Society folks in the summer of 2010, while I was in Tennessee, and I always enjoy hanging out with them. And of course, I love standing in front of a group of people and lecturing on architecture, especially when it's a receptive audience (not always the case at school, ha!). So it was a real win-win-win.
</li>
</ul>
<div>
<b>June:</b></div>
</div>
<div>
<ul>
<li>I was invited to have a second interview for the position at school. That interview was on the 8th. I spent a lot of time thinking and writing about what I wanted to say, and how I would approach the interview. I thought a lot about what I would want to do with the position, should I be hired, and about my approach to teaching drawing. I also gave a lot of thought to the relationship between hand drawing as a technique of design, versus the digital age, with all its offerings and tools, and the future that all those things promise. I prepared for that interview like I'd never done for an interview before. The following week, the school year ended, and I found out I didn't get the job. They told me they valued my contribution to the program, and that they still wanted me to teach part time, if I was interested in that.<br /><br />As hard as I had tried to get the job, I also knew all along that I was somewhat conflicted about the whole thing. Taking a full-time, tenure-track position in academia would have sent my career in a very specific trajectory, and I was somewhat relieved that I would remain free to build, and pursue my other interests, without being committed to spending quite so much time in the classroom, in division meetings, and in dealing with the necessary (but often unpleasant) internal politics of the California Community College System.</li>
<li>I wrote 2 blog posts on the occasion of the birthday of Frank Lloyd Wright. The first is a <a href="http://creaturesofprometheus.blogspot.com/2011/06/frank-lloyd-wright-on-whats-my-line.html">video of Wright himself</a>, from YouTube. The second was mostly <a href="http://creaturesofprometheus.blogspot.com/2011/06/happy-birthday-frank-lloyd-wright.html">my pictures from Fallingwater</a>, when I visited the house a couple years ago.</li>
<li>I spent the afternoon of the Summer Solstice at Echo Park Lake <a href="http://twitpic.com/5ez1cr">with Paul and Todd</a>.</li>
<li>Later on in the month, my buddy Alan asked me if I was still interested in renting my spare bedroom. Apparently I had mentioned it in an offhand kind of way at some point in the past, and he was now in the position of needing a place. Since my teaching income had ended for the summer, I was happy to clear out what had become the de-facto storage room and rent it to him. Also, he's great with the dogs, and was really the only other person besides me who I ever felt like Todd really trusted. He took the room, and it's gone well so far. We've just passed the 6-month mark, and things have settled into a pretty good routine around here, with him on board. Cheers, Roomie!</li>
</ul>
<div>
<b>July:</b></div>
</div>
<div>
<ul>
<li>The second half of the year started in a really fun way with my friends deb and Seth and their little baby David visiting for a few days. I hosted a BBQ/garden party in their honor, and a good time was had by all.</li>
<li>On the heels of that fun visit, <a href="http://blog.dianahsieh.com/">Diana</a> and <a href="http://blog.westandfirm.org/index.html">Paul Hsieh</a> were in town for a few days, and we got to hang out at a Starbucks one afternoon.</li>
<li>I did some really fun consulting work for interior designer and <a href="http://www.hotellautner.com/">Hotel Lautner</a> owner <a href="http://tracybeckmann.com/Commercial/Commercial.html">Tracy Beckmann</a>. Tracy is great to work with and I hope we can do more work together in the future.</li>
<li>Friday the 22nd I went with my friend Fernando to hear Dolly Parton play the Hollywood Bowl, which was a real treat. She is an amazing entertainer, and didn't disappoint!</li>
<li>The next day, I attended the <a href="http://creaturesofprometheus.blogspot.com/2011/07/celebrating-john-lautners-100th.html">John Lautner 100th Birthday Home Tour</a>, which was amazing. I blogged about 2 of the 4 houses, the <a href="http://creaturesofprometheus.blogspot.com/2011/07/john-lautner-tour-jacobsen-house-1947.html">Jacobson House</a> and the <a href="http://creaturesofprometheus.blogspot.com/2011/07/john-lautner-tour-harpel-house-1956.html">Harpel House</a>. There is an unfinished post on the Schwimmer House in my blogger queue, and I never got around to writing up the magnificent Sheats-Goldstein house. I would still like to finish up both of those and get them published on here.</li>
<li>The main reason I didn't get back to those posts is that less than a week after the tour, I flew to Chicago to spend a week playing Uncle Nanny to <a href="http://whatsthatgonnabe.blogspot.com/">my sister Emily</a>'s three kids while she attended Sock Summit in Portland, Oregon. That was a challenging but awesomely fun week.</li>
</ul>
<div>
<b>August:</b></div>
<ul>
<li>At the end of that week in Chicago, in what was now August, I got to spend a couple of days doing some specially-arranged photography of Louis Sullivan's Auditorium Building in downtown Chicago. I had made arrangements to conduct a <a href="http://creaturesofprometheus.blogspot.com/2011/07/touring-louis-sullivans-auditorium.html">tour of the building</a> over Labor Day weekend as part of the Chicago Objectivist Society's MiniCON, and this was part of my research. David Maltby from COS met me at the Auditorium and helped out. We had lunch too, and made a fun afternoon of it. I got some great photos, and finally wrapped my head around how this amazing and complex building works.</li>
<li>Right after I got back to L.A., Diana was in town again, this time for the Ancestral Health Symposium. She came over on Sunday morning and broadcast her Rationally Selfish Webcast (now called <a href="http://www.philosophyinaction.com/index.html">Philosophy in Action</a>) right from my living room! You can listen to that episode <a href="http://www.philosophyinaction.com/archive/2011-08-07.html">here</a>. Then we drove around L.A. and talked about food. She <a href="http://twitpic.com/62la3w">bought me a pint of frozen pig brains</a> at the Asian market in Echo Park, which I <a href="http://twitpic.com/66sjo1">thawed and cooked</a> later that week. They were kind of weird but not altogether inedible.</li>
<li>I signed up a couple of new clients: one who wanted a master plan to completely overhaul and remodel her house, patio, yard, pool, etc. in phases. We're still working on that one, and should have the master plan complete in the coming weeks. The other one was a modest addition to an existing house.</li>
<li>My Chicago friend Mariah had a very, very long layover at LAX, en route to Australia. I picked her up and we went for sushi. S U S H I ! Good times. :)</li>
<li>I got to hear Beethoven's 9th Symphony and Choral Fantasy in C minor at the Hollywood Bowl, on the evening of the 18th. Roomie got us free tickets through someone he used to work with. Score! It was a great show.</li>
<li>At the end of the month, I started teaching for the fall semester, this time as adjunct faculty, with a lighter schedule. The guy who got the job instead of me turns out to be a really great guy, and we enjoyed teaching together.</li>
</ul>
<div>
<b>September:</b></div>
<ul>
<li>Labor Day Weekend found me back in Chicago, giving my talk on Viollet-le-Duc, Sullivan, and Wright, and leading my tour of Sullivan's Auditorium Building for about 15 people from the conference. My big sis, Emily, even drove in from the suburbs to join the tour! The whole thing went really well.</li>
<li>I wrote up my <a href="http://creaturesofprometheus.blogspot.com/2011/09/amazing-gluten-free-high-fat-semi-paleo.html">Amazing Gluten-free, High-fat, Semi-paleo Mac + Cheese</a> for the blog, which continues to be one of my most popular posts.</li>
<li>After having such a great time at all these Objectivist conferences in other cities, fellow <a href="http://olist.com/obloggers.html">OBlogger</a> and SoCal resident <a href="http://jasonstotts.com/">Jason Stotts</a> and I decided to start our own community group, and perhaps eventually even have our own local mini-conference. So, the <a href="http://www.socalobjectivists.com/">SoCal Objectivists</a> was launched.</li>
<li>At our very first meeting of the SoCal O'ists, I happened to meet a tall, handsome fellow, whom I'll call Mr. Handsome, and let's just say he and I have been seeing a fair amount of each other. I'd even go so far as to say we're rather enjoying getting to know each other. He tends to keep a relatively low profile, so I'm not going to go blathering on about him too very much on the blog here, but I think that at this point, he warrants at least a mention.</li>
<li>The biggest solo project of my career thus far almost landed in my lap, but ended up being a near miss. It was a dream project - a successful businessman was interested in building a large, ground-up new house, and wanted something constructed entirely of concrete and glass. He had selected a site on a lovely street in Pasadena. In the end, it didn't work out, for various reasons. What was exciting about it for me, even though it never materialized as a project, was the size and scope of what I was being seriously considered for.</li>
<li>I started consulting at <a href="http://www.kellywearstler.com/commercial.html?album=avalon">Kelly Wearstler Interior Design</a>. They had a large residential project for which I was doing interior detailing and technical work. It was a good gig, which ended up lasting through the end of the year.</li>
<li>My second cousin Ed and I went to Palm Springs for a weekend. That was a lot of fun.</li>
<li>The exhibition<span style="font-family: inherit;"> <span style="background-color: white; line-height: 15px; text-align: -webkit-left;"><a href="http://www.pacificstandardtime.org/exhibitions?id=sympathetic-seeing-esther-mccoy-and-the-heart-of-american-modernist-architecture-and-design">Sympathetic Seeing: Esther McCoy and the Heart of American Modernist Architecture and Design</a> opened at the Schindler House on the 29th, and I went to the opening with my friend LouAnne.</span></span></li>
</ul>
<div>
<b>October:</b></div>
<div>
<ul>
<li>On the 6th, I took Todd to the vet. He had become increasingly lame in his left hind leg, which the vet had previously attributed to arthritis. Now the whole leg had become fairly inflamed and swollen, and I thought it should be looked at. He looked at it and got very serious. He thought it looked more like a growth than inflammation, and wanted to take a biopsy to confirm this. They also took X-rays, which confirmed that it wasn't something wrong with the bones. The vet told me that what he removed for the biopsy didn't look good, which caused me much distress. This was on top of the distress of Steve Jobs' death the day before, and was on the eve of my birthday.</li>
<li>Emily came out from Chicago for the weekend of my birthday, and we also had a special celebration of our <a href="http://allisonparsondesign.com/">other sister Allison</a>'s 40th birthday. Her birthday is only a few days before mine, and we usually celebrate together. That was a really fun weekend, as it was the first time we siblings had all gotten together without any parents, spouses, kids, or significant others in years, <i>probably in decades!</i></li>
<li>Finally, on the 11th, Todd's biopsy results came back: he had a nerve sheath tumor. The next day we went to the veterinary oncologist, who wanted to amputate. I couldn't put him through that, for a number of reasons I don't feel particularly inclined to reiterate here. I got him pain meds and resolved to make his last days as full and good as I could. I contacted a hospice vet and discussed having her come out to the house when it was time for the end.</li>
<li>Mr. Handsome and I celebrated his birthday, which happens to be just several days following mine, and it turns out that we're born the same year, how about that?!</li>
<li>At some point, I renewed my membership (friendship) with the <a href="http://www.makcenter.org/">Friends of the Schindler House</a>.</li>
<li>SoCal Objectivists had our second meeting, which was held in Riverside, and doubled our attendance from 6 to 12.</li>
<li>The rest of October was pretty routine, with teaching and consulting and caring for Todd keeping me busy.</li>
</ul>
<div>
<b>November:</b></div>
</div>
<div>
<ul>
<li>The morning of Saturday the 5th, Roomie Alan noticed an open wound on Todd's leg, and called me while I was out running errands. It was on the inside of the upper thigh, and I hadn't noticed it. I came straight home, and it was as I had feared: the tumor was growing so aggressively, that it had broken through the skin. Once that happens, there isn't much you can do. I called the hospice vet and made arrangements for the next day. Paul, Todd and I went for a last walk at the Lower Arroyo Park, <a href="http://twitpic.com/5ma1mc">below the big concrete bridges</a>. <br /><br />Coincidentally, we ran into a dear friend of mine, with whom I teach. She had never met Todd, but had lost dogs to cancer in the past, and had been a great source of counsel and moral support during my difficult decision making process after Todd was diagnosed. Of all the times I had walked Paul and Todd at that park, I had never seen her there. She and her husband were walking their two dogs. It was quite a poignant moment, when she got to finally meet Todd, during his last walk in the park. <br /><br />That night I wrote <a href="http://creaturesofprometheus.blogspot.com/2011/11/rip-todd-2003-2011.html">his obituary for the blog</a>, figuring I would be in no condition to do it the next day, and set it to auto-post. In the morning it was raining out, but the clouds parted and the vet ran late, so we got to walk around the block one last time. Allison came over, and Roomie was there, and their moral support that day was tremendous. <br /><br />Then the vet arrived, and it was the end. It was extremely sad. Allison stayed all day, fixed me mac + cheese, which was our comfort food, and we all drank heavily.</li>
<li>The next week, my friends and former neighbors <a href="http://www.aluminarium.com/">Brian and Leigh</a> were in town, and we had dinner together. I miss them, and we had a nice time catching up. </li>
<li>SoCal Oists had our third meeting, this time in O.C. We had several new faces, as well as some regulars. After 3 meetings, you can start to tell the regulars from the new faces, which is cool.</li>
<li>My school semester ended right before Thanksgiving. I was on a weird 12 week schedule that made my last class the week before Thanksgiving.</li>
<li>Thanksgiving was a big deal this year, as Emily and her husband Dave and their kids came and stayed with me the whole week. They've done that every odd numbered year since '07, making this is the third time. Mom was here too - she's spent Thanksgiving in L.A. every year since '06, although the last couple times, she's stayed over at Allison's in West L.A.</li>
<li>The big highlights of the kids' visit this year were Disneyland, The Getty Center, and the L.A. Zoo, as well as crafting with <a href="http://www.eksuccessbrands.com/perlerbeads/">melty beads</a>.</li>
<li>The actual Thanksgiving feast day, which I have dubbed my 'Annual Thanksgiving Extravaganza' was the second largest to date, with about 20 people in attendance. The largest was '09, when I had 24. I enjoy hosting these massive sit-down dinners, even though it stresses me out a little. Everyone had a great time. There were new faces and regulars; old traditions and new dishes.</li>
<li>I had a few conversations and a meeting with a former employer, about joining the firm she is currently with. They were very good talks and meetings, although nothing has come of it as yet.</li>
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<b>December:</b></div>
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<li>The end of the year, work-wise, was mostly spent putting a lot of time into the consulting I'd been doing at Kelly Wearstler's office. That assignment wrapped up just before Christmas, and I transitioned out. I enjoyed the work and people there, and would happily go back if asked.</li>
<li>We had a massive wind storm that knocked my power out for 2 1/2 days, and uprooted massive trees all around my part of town. A lot of my neighbor's roof shingles blew off and went all over my front yard, but luckily I didn't have any damage to speak of. All the dead fronds got blown off my giant palm tree in the back yard, which was actually good for me, since it's expensive to have someone climb all the way up there and trim them.</li>
<li>I decided not to go to Emily's for Christmas, since the kids and everyone had just been here for the whole week of Thanksgiving. That was a difficult decision, but I stuck to it and focused on my work here over the holidays, which was the right thing for me to do.</li>
<li>I spent Christmas Eve with Mr. Handsome, which was nice, and we spent Christmas Day together with some other friends. We got really beautiful weather coming in to Christmas Day, and it's been pretty much in the 70s and even low '80s since. It was a lovely holiday all around.</li>
<li>The week between Xmas and New Year's Day, Roomie and I went and looked at dogs at the North Central L.A. Animal Shelter, which is the one on Lacy Street, a couple of miles from my casa. They had 2 really great looking dogs that I liked. Actually, there were 3, but only 2 that I asked to play with in the little play yard. One was this very handsome and playful pit bull, <a href="http://www.petharbor.com/pet.asp?uaid=LACT4.A1243349">Ted</a>. He is young and puppy-like, very nearly full grown, and already neutered. I would never adopt an un-neutered adult male pit bull into a house with other dogs, but Ted is young and already neutered, and just seemed like a really great athletic-type dog with a big spirit. I guess he reminded me of Todd in that way. The other dog was the little black female basset hound x pit bull mix, which is Paul's mix, that I adopted in the end. It was a really hard decision, and it started to feel a little like Sophie's Choice, since they euthanize at that shelter. I left both dogs there that day and came home to think things over.</li>
<li>I went back and looked again the next day, which was Thursday, and <a href="https://twitter.com/#!/Earl3d/status/152507330242674688/photo/1">adopted the little black dog</a>. She went to a nearby clinic to get spayed on Friday, and I picked her up there on Saturday, New Year's Eve, and brought her home. I didn't bring her directly home - Roomie put Paul on his leash and met us down the street from my house, by the school, and we walked the dogs together to introduce them. That went really well, and the two of them have been getting along great. She really makes Paul look like an old man! Todd had come home to live with me on January 1, 2004, so I liked the idea of bringing the new pup home on NYE.</li>
<li>Naming the pup was a huge dilemma, which dragged into the new year. At first I liked Ursula, but it didn't really work. I considered Charlene or Denise, but eventually settled on Daisy, which seems to suit her - although the last couple of days, I've found myself somewhat involuntarily calling her Darla. I don't know why it's such a dilemma for me. The intangibles of personality and character come into play in a big way when naming a pet, I think. Todd went by Jimmy for the first week or so, before I changed his name to something that suited his personality better. But, Paul stuck instantly on Paul when I got him. Anyway, she is settling in well, and adopting her was a great way to end the year.</li>
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Whew! If you read all the way down to here, you must win some kind of prize. </div>
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This post was really more for myself than for any audience out there. It had become way too easy to just dwell on the difficult things that I endured last year, and it was healthy and cathartic, even if a bit tedious, for me to pick my way through the year, month-by-month, and sort things out for myself. </div>
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A lot of good stuff happened last year, much of which went by so quickly that I lost track of it as soon as I was on to the next thing.</div>
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Farewell, 2011. You were one for the books. Now let's move on, shall we?</div>
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</div>Earl3dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11255585398259543091noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8006955449343130571.post-69330061063540503262012-01-04T11:28:00.000-08:002012-01-05T12:29:03.675-08:002012 Rose Parade B2 Stealth FlyoverSunday was New Year's Day, as everybody knows, but didn't really register as such with me, since there was no Rose Parade, and consequently no B2 Stealth Bomber flyover to watch from my front yard, slightly groggy-eyed, at 8:00 a.m. sharp. I've come to rely on it for the past several years, as my marker for the start of the New Year. It's a much more exciting way to 'ring in' the new year than staying up until midnight on New Year's Eve. *yawn*<br />
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Monday morning I finally got my flyover. <br />
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Here's how it goes down: First, the Goodyear Blimp appears on the scene. Last year it motored right over my house en route to the parade; this year it flew in from the southeast and I spied it over my neighbors roofs across the street:<br />
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The blimp usually appears 10-15 minutes before 8. Then you just watch the northern sky and wait. This year I was getting a little antsy when, according to my iPhone, it was a couple minutes past 8, with nothing happening. I was about to tweet my frustration when I heard the roar approaching from the west. It's tricky, because the sound somehow seems to precede the plane in a weird way. It's hard to describe.<br />
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Then it got very still, almost like you're in the eye of the storm. I almost thought I'd missed it, when I spotted the B2.<br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-wUwXej2jUFY/TwSjEjhL6JI/AAAAAAAABoo/_bA3n9Z6Pj4/s1600/Stealth-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="186" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-wUwXej2jUFY/TwSjEjhL6JI/AAAAAAAABoo/_bA3n9Z6Pj4/s320/Stealth-1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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Again, the whole thing is a little hard to describe. It just appears to glide without any effort whatsoever, and makes very little sound at all at this point. It gradually descends, on a perfectly controlled trajectory, as it approaches the parade route.<br />
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Once it goes below the edge of the mountaintops, it becomes extremely hard to see. Then I run inside and watch it swoosh over the Rose Parade on TV.<br />
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On a lark, I just did a quick YouTube search, which turned up this really great video (not by me) of the Stealth on approach; you can see it banking and everything, and it's extremely cool:<br />
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Happy New Year from Creatures of Prometheus!<br />
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<br />Earl3dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11255585398259543091noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8006955449343130571.post-49126584753384559872011-11-06T14:00:00.000-08:002012-01-05T12:30:19.896-08:00RIP Todd, 2003-2011I am very sad to report that earlier today, Todd lost his battle with a malignant nerve sheath tumor that had been aggressively growing on his left hind leg.<br />
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Todd was rescued in January of 2004 as a six-month-old puppy, when he came to live with Paul (his brother) and me. <br />
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Todd seemed pretty clearly to have a good percentage of <a href="https://www.google.com/search?q=plott+hound&hl=en&prmd=imvns&source=lnms&tbm=isch&ei=Uie2TsGiM4aUiAKQv6xn&sa=X&oi=mode_link&ct=mode&cd=2&ved=0CA0Q_AUoAQ&biw=1276&bih=683&sei=%20Vie2TtzaN8qViAK3l_lI">Plott Hound</a> in him, as you can tell by looking at the photos in the link. Plotts are native to North Carolina, and hardly anyone here in L.A. has heard of them. When we were in Tennessee last summer, however, he was regularly recognized as a Plott by local folk who knew of the breed.<br />
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Here are some pictures from our 8 years together. I have picked out the ones that I think show the best things about him, that I want to remember the most. Click on any to embiggen.<br />
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<br />Earl3dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11255585398259543091noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8006955449343130571.post-2203548180705847402011-09-15T22:52:00.000-07:002011-09-15T23:04:25.457-07:00Amazing Gluten-free, High-fat, Semi-paleo Mac & Cheese RecipeI grew up with Mom's made-from-scratch, baked-in-the-oven Macaroni and Cheese, which was always a favorite in our house. I never even tasted the stuff from the box (that strangely goes by the same name but is almost completely unrelated) until college. <br />
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Her basic cookbook, then and now, has always been the 1963 Good Housekeeping Cookbook. <br />
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In more recent years, Mom has managed to track down additional copies of that exact same edition...</div>
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...and now my sisters and I all have our own.</div>
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The recipe presented below was adapted from the "Basic Baked Macaroni and Cheese" recipe from that cookbook. </div>
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Mac + Cheese is one of the things I have missed after going paleo a couple of years ago. I won't say I never made it again, but I have definitely gotten out of practice, with a recipe that had become something of a specialty. After discovering gluten-free pasta at my local Trader Joe's, I've made it a few times over the past several weeks, and I think I've managed to get my Mac + Cheese Mojo back.</div>
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<a name='more'></a>Here's how I make it:</div>
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1 lb gluten-free pasta.</div>
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2-3 T butter and/or bacon grease.</div>
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2-3 T mustard. I use Guldens Spicy Brown, but you can use whatever you prefer, including ground mustard powder, which is preferred by my sister, Allison.</div>
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1 medium sized onion. (I take medium to be roughly 2.5" - 3" diameter). I use either a sweet yellow or regular yellow/brown onion.</div>
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In a pinch, you can consider the mustard and onion optional, but I strongly recommend them for the flavor.</div>
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2 T corn starch.</div>
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1 pint (16 oz) heavy cream.</div>
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Roughly 1.75 lbs cheese. See discussion of cheeses below.</div>
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1 t ground black pepper, or to taste.</div>
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Cook the pasta. The TJ's pasta I used is rice-based and cooks pretty similarly to traditional pasta, except that I think it has a little more tendency to stick together during boiling. I use an entire 1-lb package. While it's cooking, prepare the cheese sauce per below. Don't forget to stir often while it's cooking. When the pasta is cooked, drain and arrange in greased 9x13 glass oven dish. Preheat the oven to 350.</div>
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Cheese Sauce:</div>
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Gently melt the butter/bacon grease in a sauce pan. Ideally, use a double boiler. I've made it many times without a double boiler, and had fine results most of the time (except for the infamous dinner party at deb's when we all get distracted drinking wine in the other room, and the sauce got completely ruined. It had to be thrown out and we started completely over). </div>
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The last time I made it, I improvised a double boiler using 2 sauce pans, and I think the dairy ingredients responded more favorably to the extra gentle treatment it gave. If you don't use the double boiler, do take extra care not to overheat the sauce.</div>
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Dice the onion and add it to the melted fat. Saute until the onion is transparent. Add the mustard and mix it all together.</div>
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The next step is to add the cornstarch. Some people would add it directly to the mustard mixture, mix thoroughly, and then add the heavy cream. I have trouble getting it perfectly smooth using this method. I prefer to put about 1/4 cup of the cream into a small dish, while adding the rest to the saucepan. Mix the corn starch and cream in the dish until smooth, then stir it into the saucepan with the other ingredients. Don't forget to add the pepper.</div>
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Heat gently over medium/low, stirring frequently, and it will gradually start to thicken a little bit. Slice your cheese and gradually add it to the sauce, making sure to reserve some to put on top before it all goes into the oven. I will discuss cheeses below.</div>
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When all your cheese has been added and melted into the sauce, and the pasta is cooked and arranged into the pan, pour the cheese sauce over it. Use a spoon to poke and push around on the pasta and cheese sauce to make sure the sauce gets all worked down into it, and everything is distributed evenly.</div>
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Place your topping cheese on top, and put it all in the oven. Bake 45-60 minutes as desired. I like it brown on top and crusty around the edges. When you take it out of the oven, allow it to settle down for about 10-15 minutes before serving.</div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-yE3bLRDrNaw/TnLgfyUq7eI/AAAAAAAABiU/GP5MCjU9GEA/s1600/MacnCheese.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="192" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-yE3bLRDrNaw/TnLgfyUq7eI/AAAAAAAABiU/GP5MCjU9GEA/s320/MacnCheese.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">photo by my roomie, Alan</span></i></div>
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Notes on Cheese:</div>
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My latest version was made with about 2/3 lb. each of Brie, Gouda, and aged Cheddar cheeses. For the topping cheese, I used about 1/4 lb. of crumbled Gorgonzola. I haven't really encountered a cheese that didn't work for this recipe. You can make it on the cheap with regular supermarket jack and cheddar, or mix it up with some fancy stuff. Just use whatever looks and sounds good to you at the time.</div>
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With this recipe, even cheap cheese makes great Mac + Cheese!<br />
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If you have a favorite version, let me know in the comments. Enjoy!</div>
Earl3dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11255585398259543091noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8006955449343130571.post-68242181676279734642011-09-09T00:20:00.000-07:002011-09-09T00:20:56.124-07:00New Community Group: SoCal ObejctivistsI just got back from Chicago where I had an awesome weekend courtesy of the <a href="http://www.chicagoobjectivists.org/">Chicago Objectivist Society</a>, at their MINICON. Over the past year and a half, I've made many good objectivist friends in <a href="http://www.atlantaobjectivists.com/">Atlanta</a>, <a href="http://frontrangeobjectivism.com/">Denver</a> and now Chicago (among other places). All those cities have vibrant objectivist community clubs, run by and for people with an enthusiasm for Ayn Rand's philosophy of Objectivism.<br />
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Once I realized how much fun was being had by these folks, with their monthly socials, dinner lecture events, and conferences, I started thinking how much fun it would be to start such a group here in the L.A. area. One would think that with the Ayn Rand Institute right here in our backyard, such a club would be thriving, but there isn't really one. (I guess that would make Irvine the backyard of L.A. Well maybe that's a bit of a stretch, but stay with me.)<br />
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Meanwhile, I was going back and forth to Tennessee, and even living there for a while, for a <a href="http://creaturesofprometheus.blogspot.com/search/label/Tennessee%20House">house I designed</a> and helped build. Then the new year rolled around and I thought it was a great time to start up the club. Then I had a freak accident requiring hand surgery, and all that stuff that completely derailed the first half of the year. My summer was spent getting caught up, and now I'm finally moving forward again.<br />
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Which means:<br />
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ITS TIME TO START THE CLUB ALREADY!<br />
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It also helps that I've become friends with Objectivist sex blogger <a href="http://jasonstotts.com/">Jason Stotts</a> over the past several months, and he wants a local club here in SoCal too. So, without any further ado, we are proud to announce the formation of the SoCal Objectivists. <br />
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From the 'About' page on our Google Group:<br />
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<tr valign="top"><td><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">This announcement list is for Objectivists and others in Southern California seriously interested in Ayn Rand's ideas. It's purpose is to announce our periodic, informal social events, and distribute info about other events of interest, such as Objectivist campus clubs and Ayn Rand Institute Events.</span></td></tr>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">We're planning our first social event for the evening of Saturday, September 17th, probably in the Long Beach area. Meeting locations will alternate monthly between Los Angeles and Inland Empire/Orange County. Our goal is to create simultaneous L.A. and I.E./O.C. chapters under one larger organization.</span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;">For now we're running things from the Google Group, but we will have a regular web page up and running soon. </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">You can follow us on Twitter <a href="http://twitter.com/#!/SoCalOists">@SoCalOists</a>, or like us on <a href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/SoCal-Objectivists/131214386977055">Facebook</a>, or just sign up to get our announcements at our <a href="http://groups.google.com/group/socal-objectivists/about">Google Group</a>. We will also be disseminating information about other local events of interest via the Google Group, such as objectivist campus club events and Ayn Rand Institute events.</span></span><br />
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</span>Earl3dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11255585398259543091noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8006955449343130571.post-31012687287432536062011-08-22T12:13:00.000-07:002011-08-22T12:13:43.963-07:00The Auditorium Building - Additional Images & Tour InfoSince it's less than two weeks until the Big Tour of the Auditorium Building, as well as the Louis-Sullivan's-Birthday-Edition of my talk on Viollet-le-Duc, Sullivan and Wright, and I'm in full-on final prep mode this week. I'm also very excited!<br />
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If you have no idea what I'm talking about with this tour, here's the deal: I'm leading a tour of one of the greatest extant works (the Auditorium Building) by the Godfather of Modern Architecture (Louis Sullivan), on Friday, September 2nd, starting at 2 pm.<br />
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The Auditorium Building is now owned by Roosevelt University, and we will be visiting several spaces that are part of Roosevelt that aren't generally available on a walk-in basis to the general public. We will also be seeing some spaces that are viewable on a walk-in basis, as well as visiting the Auditorium Theatre in a private, specially-arranged group tour. All in all, we will be seeing as complete a picture of the entire building as one can have, and we will see Sullivan's architectural genius on full display.<br />
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To kick off the week, I thought I'd post a few additional pictures of the Auditorium Building from my visit there last month. Let's start off with some of the Roosevelt University portions of the building that are not part of the Auditorium Theatre itself.<br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><u>Roosevelt University Library</u></span><br />
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The library is located on the upper levels of the east and south sides of the building. The main reading room was the hotel dining room in Sullivan's original design.<br />
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The reading room is a vast, barrel-vaulted space that runs north-south, high above and parallel to Michigan Avenue, on the 10th floor of the building. At the north and south ends of the room are murals, depicting a fisherman and a duck hunt, respectively.<br />
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At the south end of the main room, there is a more intimate room with an ornate, lower, flat ceiling. The wood colonnade separating these spaces is ornately carved, and each column is carved to a different design.<br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><u>The Sullivan Room</u></span><br />
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Down on the second floor, right above the intersection of Michigan Avenue and Congress Parkway, sits what is now called the Sullivan Room. This room was originally the Ladies' Lounge for the hotel. It is restored to its original design, and is now used by the President's Office of Roosevelt University for special events, board meetings, and the like. <br />
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It's main features are its pair of ornate fireplaces and restored stencil decoration:<br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><u>Ganz Hall</u></span><br />
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Ganz Hall is on the 7th floor of the building. It was originally a private banquet hall, and was later converted into an intimate recital hall. If I had to name one, I would say that this is my favorite space in the building.<br />
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One enters the hall itself through a lobby, which features wood paneling and stained glass skylights:<br />
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The hall itself is exquisite, and this photo doesn't even begin to do it justice.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSncxZnZyLgXgBnRX-DNyPg0qwLCP2bwDkKRq73VrTOGqTqlmO-On9ZLw8svNT0lEq5RrzVhnfI_JebDId4_ujoumuKv4F4Yy4_Hg_RPkFyoEH1uO0pdumTE27Rcl_503j6tlMcwdqT_d0/s1600/Ganz+Overall.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="217" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSncxZnZyLgXgBnRX-DNyPg0qwLCP2bwDkKRq73VrTOGqTqlmO-On9ZLw8svNT0lEq5RrzVhnfI_JebDId4_ujoumuKv4F4Yy4_Hg_RPkFyoEH1uO0pdumTE27Rcl_503j6tlMcwdqT_d0/s320/Ganz+Overall.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">As with the library, all the wood carvings are unique. Here are a few examples:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-NIJQeA43Mf8/TlKhlKvdAzI/AAAAAAAABhk/7MMHwi0v2QM/s1600/Ganz+Capitals.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-NIJQeA43Mf8/TlKhlKvdAzI/AAAAAAAABhk/7MMHwi0v2QM/s320/Ganz+Capitals.jpg" width="319" /></a></div><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><u>The Auditorium Theatre</u></span><br />
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There is so much to talk about with respect to the theatre itself that I am going to limit myself in this discussion to a few things I liked, that also photographed well. The theatre and its lobby are particularly hard to photograph due to the relatively low light levels and the extremely warm color of the vintage Edison-type bulbs used.<br />
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In the interior of the theatre, Sullivan used concentric parabolic arches due to their acoustical effect on the transmission of sound. He then used them decoratively in the lobby spaces, to unite these spaces thematically with the interior of the theatre.<br />
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Here we see this theme employed, with the stained glass fanlights depicting the Muses in the background, over the entrance doors:<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-U3U8-lN9WEo/TlKjPs6JxlI/AAAAAAAABhw/UnF9bhcfyyQ/s1600/Lobby-Arches.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="206" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-U3U8-lN9WEo/TlKjPs6JxlI/AAAAAAAABhw/UnF9bhcfyyQ/s320/Lobby-Arches.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
The lobby also contains two inglenooks. An inglenook is an intimate, semi-enclosed alcove with a fireplace and seating, adjacent to a larger room. Here, patrons could warm themselves and engage in conversation before the show.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-bT9X7HQk1r0/TlKjL3X2t6I/AAAAAAAABhs/GYf-n-H-tHM/s1600/Inglenook-1a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-bT9X7HQk1r0/TlKjL3X2t6I/AAAAAAAABhs/GYf-n-H-tHM/s320/Inglenook-1a.jpg" width="245" /></a></div><br />
A view of the grand theatre space itself:<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-kZiIpdB4Yxo/TlKlLbz1j1I/AAAAAAAABh0/6q5xccnrn3w/s1600/From+House+Left+-+Pano-a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="166" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-kZiIpdB4Yxo/TlKlLbz1j1I/AAAAAAAABh0/6q5xccnrn3w/s320/From+House+Left+-+Pano-a.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
Even from the highest upper balcony, the sight lines to the stage are superb.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-WYRxC7lOV6g/TlKlQ50QpMI/AAAAAAAABh4/NaRrxl26-0o/s1600/Theater+from+Upper+Gallery-a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="222" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-WYRxC7lOV6g/TlKlQ50QpMI/AAAAAAAABh4/NaRrxl26-0o/s320/Theater+from+Upper+Gallery-a.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
There are other spaces I haven't shown here that are going to be included on the tour. Also, as of this writing, we can still add 6-8 more people. If you have RSVP'd and need to pay your $15, I have added a PayPal link on the upper right sidebar. If you aren't attending MINICON but would like to join us for the tour, we'd love to have you! Please contact me via earl(dot)parson (at) gmail(dot)com.<br />
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For my previous post on the tour, with some drawings and other information about the building, <a href="http://creaturesofprometheus.blogspot.com/2011/07/touring-louis-sullivans-auditorium.html">click here</a>.<br />
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Earl3dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11255585398259543091noreply@blogger.com0