Frank Quitely – note the idea
August 13, 2014
Found an interesting channel on Youtube, called Art documentaries.
The clip I started watching is with Frank Quitely. Something caught my attention on minute 3.09, which I came here to promptly document for the future reference. The thing is this:
This is about focusing…
So, this is about focusing. (Another synchronicity occurring for me today, showing what I am about at this particular moment, and I am loving to be about FOCUSING!) But also, about mental games. The guy in the water is a baddy, who is being captured in a world created by the other guy (behind you!) and kind of inserted into the Baddy’s mind. So, baddy is trapped in a fantasy world of not his making… Cool! I want the other guy’s power!
But for the moment, I just want to insert this idea into my own mind – another way of visualising the focusing. The focus. The layers of creation. The closing in on something. The creative process going from general to specific, from overall picture to details. This is IMPORTANT. And I am loving the process.
I’ll try it out on something simple, and not so simple later on.
Thanks, Frank!
Shigeru Ban: Curtain Wall House, 1995, Tokyo, Japan
Considered the Nobel Prize of architecture, the annual Pritzker Architecture Prize is given by Chicago’s Hyatt Foundation. It honors a living architect (or architects) whose built work demonstrates a combination of talent, vision and commitment, someone who has produced consistent and significant contributions to humanity and the built environment through the art of architecture. The 2014 winner is Japanese architect Shigeru Ban.
Meet Shigeru Ban, Winner of the 2014 Pritzker Architecture Prize.
14 Excellent Parenting Tips From Louis CK
March 14, 2014
I don’t agree with some of his conclusions, like the one below, for instance. But this one I do agree with.
It’s hard having kids because it’s boring.
Now, implementing it all of the time is a bit tricky… Right there, I think, he is talking to himself. I’d be talking to myself in this same situation. I am talking to myself all of the time anyway, and that is exactly what I usually say. To myself.
Louis CK on Boredom.
Steampunk and Other Beasts
February 22, 2014
Steampunk. Have you ever heard?
Wiwaxia steampunkus (2011)
Well, me, being an advanced culture-consumer, I’ve heard. I’ve read and loved Robert Rankin’s novels, many of which fall into that genre.
Rankin with a Raygun
But that was the extent of my familiarity with the Steampunk. What is it, I hear you ask. Many things apparently, all of which have something to do with the “Victorian fantasies” and “based on the appropriate technology of the era”, – according to K.W Jeter who minted the term.
Infernal Devices by K W Jeter
Right until 10 minutes ago I didn’t know that Steampunk was not only literary art movement, but visual, televisual, videogamisual and design and fashion too. Rich!
“Anatomy of Steampunk The Fashion of Victorian Futurism”
Why am I even going on about it? Because, expectedly, as I was looking for something else (mezzotint), I found a symbiosis of that and, unexpectedly, Steampunk here: Randie Feil – A Steampunk Bestiary: Raven, Trilobite, Wiwaxia, and Hallucigenia.
Steampunk Trilobite
Architecture: Thrills of a Certain Lifestyle.
February 14, 2014
Prickly beasts contained behind a glass! Looking into the privacy of your bathroom, waving their fat thorny flappers at you, you – naked and warm, only just having emerged from the safety of your soft bed… They are waiting.
Architecture Photography: Casa Talia / Vivian Haddad and Marco Giunta (9) (163269).
Practice Positive: 3 Things to Stop Saying to Your Home’s Visitors | Apartment Therapy
February 10, 2014
Years ago, when my older daughter was in her first year at the primary school, I and a couple of other mums were invited to a home of her schoolmate. Big family: four children aged between 1 and 7. Medium to small size house with ongoing improvements of various scale being done to its parts. Mum, who managed to enjoy having fun with her children, cook cakes for the visitors and still have the basic family logistics sorted. And no, it wasn’t a temple of cleanliness and order.
I entered the house and immediately felt relaxed and at home. With a happy sigh I said “What a lovely mess!” and then explained how at ease the place made me feel and how stiff and insecure one can feel in the immaculate kind of homes.
And then, on many occasions, I caught myself feeling bad about the imperfection of my own house and worse – apologising to my visitors for this and that. Took me years to see the error of my ways and, finally I am saying “no” to all that. My house is a reflection of my life. Life is always in the state of becoming. Perfection is an indication of death. I happy to be alive. I am happy for my house to be a developing site. I am alive, my home is alive, I am happy with the way it is now! And I want my visitors to feel happy and easy.
Today I am reminded about that day by the article by Adrienne Breaux at the Appartment Therapy in which she reflects my current sentiments perfectly:
“I’ve always thought that having a clean, put-together home (code: perfect) would make guests feel the most at ease, but I’ve found that the most comfortable homes I’ve visited have been the ones where the host was perfectly content with whatever level of cleanliness or disarray their house happened to be in when I stopped by…”
I agree with everything and also promise to myself to stop saying and doing the following:
“1. “Sorry for the mess”
First of all, is it actually a mess? Or do you have like, one throw pillow off center and a pair of shoes near the door? Even if it is a total mess in your eyes — how likely of a chance is it noticeably messy to someone else? And even if it really is a hugely disgusting mess, why point it out? If someone brings it up (probably don’t invite them again), feel free to explain you’ve had a busy week and then move on to wowing them with your charming personality.
2. “You’ll have to excuse…” (all the projects you can see that need doing/finishing but your guests probably haven’t noticed)
This is similar to number one. Yes, to you that loose doorknob and unfinished light fixture is glaring. But again, it’s about not calling attention to your home’s minor flaws and championing all the things you have DIYed successfully. I’m going to try to start drawing a guest’s attention to a recently completed DIY project that went well instead of give them a long list of all the things I still want to complete.
3) Not accepting any praise and deflecting compliments
Accepting praise and compliment is difficult in many areas of life for plenty of folks, and that can often stretch to the home. Saying “it was nothing” or that “someone could do it better” aren’t the way to go. Neither is being sarcastic or immediately trying to turn the conversation back to the compliment giver. Deflecting compliments by putting yourself and your home down is actually not very kind to the person giving your home a (probably well-deserved) compliment. Next time a guest says something nice about your home, consider smiling big and saying “Thanks! I really appreciate you saying that.”
Do you say and point out negative things to guests when they first come into your space? Or have you rid yourself of that habit? Or do you think giving attention to the things you’re insecure about is a good habit to have?”
Practice Positive: 3 Things to Stop Saying to Your Home’s Visitors | Apartment Therapy.
BBC News – Kimchi: South Korea’s efforts to boost its national dish
February 4, 2014
For the connoisseurs of all things pickled: perhaps you’d enjoy to know about a famous Korean pickle – kimchi.
A dish of Korean kimchi. Yum!
Tim sent me a link to a BBC article about it today. Blatant Korean propaganda, especially the bit about kimchi made in China not having got quite the bacterial bouquet of the kimchi made in Korea due to the temperature and humidity difference and blah-di-blah… Yet I approve of the general stance – kimchi is GOOD FOR THE WORLD!
Kimchi Festival in Gwangju, Korea.
It is yummy, although very spicy and stinky – both: long term and long distance! It is also extremely good for you as a source of vitamins, micro elements and beneficial bacteria. Really, really!
Vitamins!
It might be the only thing still holding the North Korea together…
A Kimchi Yard.
Amongst my favourite food channels on Youtube, there is a Korean lady Maangchi who has instructions on a variety of kimchi. This is a link to a proper Chinese cabbage and radish kimchi recipes, but I’d recommend a cucumber kimchi recipe as an easier and more appealing one to have a go at for a beginner ;-).
Cucumber kimchi
I hope you enjoy the links, if not for the food (it might look a bit too exotic for some!), then for the presenter herself. I find her so cute and delicious, that if she ate a bowl of worms in front of the camera, it would look the most delectable food ever, and while she was at it, I’d start munching on the bits of my immediate environment with a transfixed and happy gaze. And then I’d eat her too!
Maangchi
… not that I am trying to get you hooked on her channel or Korean food at all!
PS. All this time while writing this post and getting the pictures and sorting out the SEO stuff, I’ve been SALIVATING like a rabid dog! You’ve got no i-d-e-a… KIMCHI!!! And I haven’t got any in my fridge! Aaaarrgggggg!…
Geoduck, Gooey Duck, Gweduc…
January 31, 2014
… and other names by which this most peculiar shellfish is known.
Most Peculiar Animals. Geoduck.
The storms in UK lately caused all sorts of inordinate occurrences. Can’t say whether finding a couple of these on the shore of South East England is a normal thing or not, but that is what happened to me the other day.
My harvest that morning also included two other varieties of clams – very conventional looking and already gastronomically tested,.. tasted.
Conventional Clams
So, no challenge there. However, when I presented Tim with this,
Yummy shellfish!
as a prospect for that night’s entrée, the answer was a perfectly articulated: “absolutely not”! And you can see why…
But it didn’t deter my tastebuds, once I’d found out that not only these beasts are edible, but are at the top of the seafood lists.
Wikipedia says:
“The large, meaty siphon is prized for its savory flavor and crunchy texture. Geoduck is regarded by some as an aphrodisiac because of its phallic shape.[35] A team of American and Italian researchers analyzed bivalves and found they were rich in amino acids that trigger increased levels of sex hormones.[36] Their high zinc content aids the production of testosterone.[37] It is very popular in China, where it is considered a delicacy, mostly eaten cooked in a fondue-style Chinese hot pot. In Korean cuisine, geoducks are eaten raw with spicy chili sauce, sautéed, or in soups and stews. In Japan, geoduck is prepared as raw sashimi, dipped in soy sauce and wasabi.”
So, how do I deal with it?.. Here: perfect instructions on how to clean a geoduck:
Yum indeed! Mine turned out really good too!
PS. It turns out, that my finding of the geoducks on the beach was unusual, because normally you have to dig them out!
Digging for Geoduck. Yeew!
“Advanced Style”
January 29, 2014
“Advanced Style”
Wouldn’t you like to have this kind of presence?! Not for the limelight, not for the special occasion, but for the everyday’s “movie of your life”?
This is the book published by a blogger Ari Seth Cohen, and below is the most inspirational trailer to his film, which I’d love to see!
In his own words: “My name is Ari Seth Cohen. I roam the streets of New York looking for the most stylish and creative older folks. Respect your elders and let these ladies and gents teach you a thing or two about living life to the fullest. Advanced Style offers proof from the wise and silver-haired set that personal style advances with age.”
Rye
January 29, 2014
I live in this place!
Rye – Place I Call Home.
Phonetically, in Russian “rye” means “paradise”. That’s my home!
Marina Kim - personal 