"Weird Rooms" by Alexander Vertigo (photos) and Mal and Sandra Sharpe (text) Pomegranite Artbooks 96 pages No price given, but I paid $1 for it at a library book sale. Well worth it, too.
This is a collection of photos of and interviews with the room owners. Since I am not learned in psychological matters, it's impossible for me to draw a line between "collectors" and "hoarders." Perhaps in this exercise if we specify that hoarders save everything and collectors are more precise in their collections, we can reach some point of agreement. See what you think...
Some have practical reasons for creating. The Monster Room has a collection of horror movie miscellania. An art director for horror films created it for his son. The boy says, "My second favorite is the severed head" and that he and his friends love to gather there and tell ghost stories.
The Shoe Room veers toward the label "art project." The female owner loves shoes (more than 500 pairs) and she created a giant snakeskin shoe" that she said is actually a tricycle. She said, "My boyfriend Ken and I pedaled the snakeskin shoe 4,012 miles across the country." Next up? Taking it across the English Channel - she said it will roll on water.
I did find "The Fruit Room" tasteful and pretty. This is a huge collection of chinaware dedicated to our friends in the fruit world. The owner and his partner have built shelves that line the walls in the room to hold all of their treasures.
The Elvis Room is actually a bedroom; the mattress is neatly lined with print media (books, posters, album sleeves.) Vance Enrique has arranged his front lawn so that it resembles a giant guitar. He said, "A couple of times, a long black limo has parked right out front and somebody has rolled down the window to contemplate the yard. I really believe it's Elvis."
Jayson's Lego City led to a career. As a chld he apparently had unlimited access to Legos and built himself a city (he sleeps at eye level with it - "It makes me feel safe.") Now 21, he majored in Urban Design and plans to get his Masters in this field.
Another is a talented trompe l'oeil painter and it seems natural for him to have practiced, so to speak, on his own home.
But this guy really worries me. He built himself a command module on a space ship. "The walls and cabinets are made out of duct tape -- 4,000 rolls of grey duct tape. I used thousands of pounds of tinfoil. I have 61 televisions and 23 computers in here. One room I call my secondary command center has hundreds of plastic gloves filled with water hanging from the ceiling. This creates microsystems of bacteria. You can see the algae growing inside. Each glove is a space colony. I have six robots to protect me from invaders."
Whoa, Nellie. I don't think that's a collector or a hoarder. The category? Bat shit crazy!
Saturday, January 8, 2011
Friday, January 7, 2011
Doubles...
It's Take Out The Trash Day
Elizabeth Edward's ashes probably haven't even settled in the bottom of her urn yet ... when
I read in today's Drudge Report that John Edwards and Rielle Hunter have announced their engagement.
Call me old-fashioned, but since when does a man "get engaged" to his longstanding mistress? Of such duration that the couple's three year old daughter could be their flower girl?
To the curb with both of them!
Sometimes Less Really Is Less
Consumer Reports has an article in their February issue about downsizing. Not people or jobs, but products we all buy at the supermarket.
Some examples - Tropicana orange juice down from 64 fl oz to 59. Reason? Tropicana research reported that "people preferred to keep the same price and get less juice to keep within their budgets." Yeah, sure!
Kraft American cheese went from 24 slices to only 22 so the buyer just lost a sandwich. Haagen-Dazs ice cream - down 2 oz. from 16 to 14 oz.
Of note: none of the companies profiled announced these losses. Consumer Reports readers noticed them.
Elizabeth Edward's ashes probably haven't even settled in the bottom of her urn yet ... when
I read in today's Drudge Report that John Edwards and Rielle Hunter have announced their engagement.
Call me old-fashioned, but since when does a man "get engaged" to his longstanding mistress? Of such duration that the couple's three year old daughter could be their flower girl?
To the curb with both of them!
Sometimes Less Really Is Less
Consumer Reports has an article in their February issue about downsizing. Not people or jobs, but products we all buy at the supermarket.
Some examples - Tropicana orange juice down from 64 fl oz to 59. Reason? Tropicana research reported that "people preferred to keep the same price and get less juice to keep within their budgets." Yeah, sure!
Kraft American cheese went from 24 slices to only 22 so the buyer just lost a sandwich. Haagen-Dazs ice cream - down 2 oz. from 16 to 14 oz.
Of note: none of the companies profiled announced these losses. Consumer Reports readers noticed them.
Thursday, January 6, 2011
I Saw This On A T-Shirt...
(Thanks to what on earth catalog.com - so send me a free shirt, awready!)
Looking for a few
good henchmen
Be thankful God loves you
no one else does
Don't harsh
my mellow (If you were alive and running around in the '60s... you get it.)
Rock,
Paper,
Scissors
Baseball bat
Master of
Obsolete
Technology That's us, fellow DOS-asauers!
To err is human
To arrrr is pirate
Are you the people
I'll be discussing
with my therapist?
I'm not aging
I'm fermenting
Instant Human
Just Add Coffee!
If you met my family,
you'd understand
Looking for a few
good henchmen
Be thankful God loves you
no one else does
Don't harsh
my mellow (If you were alive and running around in the '60s... you get it.)
Rock,
Paper,
Scissors
Baseball bat
Master of
Obsolete
Technology That's us, fellow DOS-asauers!
To err is human
To arrrr is pirate
Are you the people
I'll be discussing
with my therapist?
I'm not aging
I'm fermenting
Instant Human
Just Add Coffee!
If you met my family,
you'd understand
Wednesday, January 5, 2011
He Got A Whole Cookbook?
"The I (heart symbol) Trader Joe's Cookbook" by Cherie Mercer Twohy Ulysses Press 220 pages $17.95
Twohy owns the catering company Chez Cherie and clearly has an obsession with Trader Joe's. "I visit almost daily."
The first chapters on Starters/Small Plates and Salads were daunting to me because nearly all of them were simply mixing various Trader Joe products together and while you can get some great things to eat that way, that's not "cooking" in the full sense of the word to me. I tried to find a couple that weren't like that for you ...you may not live anywhere near a Trader Joe's.
SWEET POTATO, PECAN AND CRANBERRY SALAD
1 sweet potato cubed. drizzled in olive oil and baked until tender
Dressing:
1 T Dijon mustard
1 teas. honey
2 T red wine vinegar
1/3 cup olive oil
Mix together
Salad greens - your choice
1/2 cup candied pecans
handful of dried cranberries or cherries
handful of crumbled feta or blue cheese
Toss the salad greens in a little of the dressing, then arrange the sweet potato cubes with the dry in gredients on top and put it on the table for admiration before tossing it.
ASIAN FLAVORS SLAW
3 cups shredded green cabbage
1 cup shredded carrots
1 red bell pepper, cut in thin strips
2 green onions, shredded
2 T cilantro, coarsely chopped (she says to use 1/4 cup but that's too damned much)
Toss them all together and make the dressing.
DRESSING
1 T grapeseed or canola oil (I'd use olive oil)
1 T toasted sesame oil
2 T soy sauce
1 T rice vinegar
2 teas. brown sugar
1 jalapeno, minced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 teas. crushed ginger or minced ginger
Toss and serve! Bon appetite!
UPDATE; THERE ARE FIVE OTHER TRADER JOE COOKBOOKS. GO TO AMAZON.COM
Twohy owns the catering company Chez Cherie and clearly has an obsession with Trader Joe's. "I visit almost daily."
The first chapters on Starters/Small Plates and Salads were daunting to me because nearly all of them were simply mixing various Trader Joe products together and while you can get some great things to eat that way, that's not "cooking" in the full sense of the word to me. I tried to find a couple that weren't like that for you ...you may not live anywhere near a Trader Joe's.
SWEET POTATO, PECAN AND CRANBERRY SALAD
1 sweet potato cubed. drizzled in olive oil and baked until tender
Dressing:
1 T Dijon mustard
1 teas. honey
2 T red wine vinegar
1/3 cup olive oil
Mix together
Salad greens - your choice
1/2 cup candied pecans
handful of dried cranberries or cherries
handful of crumbled feta or blue cheese
Toss the salad greens in a little of the dressing, then arrange the sweet potato cubes with the dry in gredients on top and put it on the table for admiration before tossing it.
ASIAN FLAVORS SLAW
3 cups shredded green cabbage
1 cup shredded carrots
1 red bell pepper, cut in thin strips
2 green onions, shredded
2 T cilantro, coarsely chopped (she says to use 1/4 cup but that's too damned much)
Toss them all together and make the dressing.
DRESSING
1 T grapeseed or canola oil (I'd use olive oil)
1 T toasted sesame oil
2 T soy sauce
1 T rice vinegar
2 teas. brown sugar
1 jalapeno, minced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 teas. crushed ginger or minced ginger
Toss and serve! Bon appetite!
UPDATE; THERE ARE FIVE OTHER TRADER JOE COOKBOOKS. GO TO AMAZON.COM
Tuesday, January 4, 2011
Daddy Declasse
"Sh*t My Dad Says" by Justin Halpern HarperCollins 158 pages $15.99
I think there's an expletive at least once on all 158 pages of this book and often several. "Bad language" can be funny as hell when it's used properly, i.e., every once in awhile to wake up the reader. Endless obscenities become boring in their predictability.
That said, the Dad is funny and his observations are trenchant, but there is a very strong thread running through this book of "You're my son, I love you; now go away" which is a mixed message indeed.
Some of Dad's advice...
On Furnishing One's Home: "Pick your furniture like you pick a wife; it should make you feel comfortable and look nice, but not so nice that if someone walks past it they want to steal it."
On House Sitting: "Call me if something's on fire and don't screw in my bed."
On the Death of Our First Dog: "He was a good dog. Your brother is pretty broken up about it, so go easy on him. He had a nice last moment with Brownie before the vet tossed him in the garbage."
I think there's an expletive at least once on all 158 pages of this book and often several. "Bad language" can be funny as hell when it's used properly, i.e., every once in awhile to wake up the reader. Endless obscenities become boring in their predictability.
That said, the Dad is funny and his observations are trenchant, but there is a very strong thread running through this book of "You're my son, I love you; now go away" which is a mixed message indeed.
Some of Dad's advice...
On Furnishing One's Home: "Pick your furniture like you pick a wife; it should make you feel comfortable and look nice, but not so nice that if someone walks past it they want to steal it."
On House Sitting: "Call me if something's on fire and don't screw in my bed."
On the Death of Our First Dog: "He was a good dog. Your brother is pretty broken up about it, so go easy on him. He had a nice last moment with Brownie before the vet tossed him in the garbage."
Monday, January 3, 2011
Ah-choo!
Among the Christmas gifts my sister gave us was a plastic container of Jess Hall's Seasonblend Seasoned Pepper, No Salt (try saying that fast.) Since there was plenty to eat over the holidays, I didn't get to it until two days ago and damn! I wish I'd opened it first!
It is the invention of a now 90 year old man named Jess Hall, of Weatherford, TX. He makes three or four other seasoning products which you can review at jesshall.com. They're not expensive -- $4.93 a jar plus shipping -- and in a pinch you could experiment and probably make your own.
I'd start with one teaspoon each of his listed ingredients:
garlic powder
black pepper
onion powder
cayenne pepper
ground celery see
ground bay leaves
dry sweet basil
rosemary powder
dried parsley
and he adds corn starch.
For my mix I'd probably use Scotch Bonnet peppers 'cause "Too hot! is just about right" as far as I'm concerned. It's great on peas, avocado, potatoes au gratin, a grilled cheese sandwich, used as a rub for a pork loin, dusted across a deviled egg ... I recommend it!
It is the invention of a now 90 year old man named Jess Hall, of Weatherford, TX. He makes three or four other seasoning products which you can review at jesshall.com. They're not expensive -- $4.93 a jar plus shipping -- and in a pinch you could experiment and probably make your own.
I'd start with one teaspoon each of his listed ingredients:
garlic powder
black pepper
onion powder
cayenne pepper
ground celery see
ground bay leaves
dry sweet basil
rosemary powder
dried parsley
and he adds corn starch.
For my mix I'd probably use Scotch Bonnet peppers 'cause "Too hot! is just about right" as far as I'm concerned. It's great on peas, avocado, potatoes au gratin, a grilled cheese sandwich, used as a rub for a pork loin, dusted across a deviled egg ... I recommend it!
Saturday, January 1, 2011
Soggy Confetti on the Barroom Floor
Resolutions, Anyone?
I wonder how popular the old "New Year's resolution" is today? Given the instant gratification most people seem to want, it may well not even exist any more. In that spirit, all I can say is that I hope my pants button as easily a year from now -- and then work my butt off to make sure that happens.
Age Appropriate Behaviour
A friend of ours is devoting the afternoon to watching bowl games. He's a fanatic about the UCLA-USC game and his wife reports he barely goes to the bathroom during one. A neighbor, who turned 50 not too long ago is a rabid Nebraska fan. I can understand being a fan while you're actually attending that school, but ... 30, 40, 50 years later???
I saw a 30-something guy skateboarding down busy Pacific Coast Highway. I'm sorry, son, skateboards get put away when you're 16 (and can drive legally) unless you have absolutely no other means of transportation and lack bus fare. Otherwise you're just an organ donor, waiting to happen.
Black-Eyed Peas and Hoppin' John
Both are considered good luck things to eat in the South on New Year's Day. Richie and I went one earlier and (I think) better. We went to Joey's Smokin' BBQ yesterday in the Manhattan Beach mall and ate pulled pork sandwiches, baked beans and cole slaw! (Joey's Smokin' BBQ has been reviewed previously. )
"You're Fired!"
I'd love to say that to Kathy Griffin who co-anchored the Times Square ball drop last night with Anderson Cooper. She's not funny, she's mean spirited (like a bullying little kid) and really irrelevant to the event.
Note to Self:
When you're wearing Ugg boots for house slippers, it's cold in your house. #746
I wonder how popular the old "New Year's resolution" is today? Given the instant gratification most people seem to want, it may well not even exist any more. In that spirit, all I can say is that I hope my pants button as easily a year from now -- and then work my butt off to make sure that happens.
Age Appropriate Behaviour
A friend of ours is devoting the afternoon to watching bowl games. He's a fanatic about the UCLA-USC game and his wife reports he barely goes to the bathroom during one. A neighbor, who turned 50 not too long ago is a rabid Nebraska fan. I can understand being a fan while you're actually attending that school, but ... 30, 40, 50 years later???
I saw a 30-something guy skateboarding down busy Pacific Coast Highway. I'm sorry, son, skateboards get put away when you're 16 (and can drive legally) unless you have absolutely no other means of transportation and lack bus fare. Otherwise you're just an organ donor, waiting to happen.
Black-Eyed Peas and Hoppin' John
Both are considered good luck things to eat in the South on New Year's Day. Richie and I went one earlier and (I think) better. We went to Joey's Smokin' BBQ yesterday in the Manhattan Beach mall and ate pulled pork sandwiches, baked beans and cole slaw! (Joey's Smokin' BBQ has been reviewed previously. )
"You're Fired!"
I'd love to say that to Kathy Griffin who co-anchored the Times Square ball drop last night with Anderson Cooper. She's not funny, she's mean spirited (like a bullying little kid) and really irrelevant to the event.
Note to Self:
When you're wearing Ugg boots for house slippers, it's cold in your house. #746
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
