blog-cation

Coming back from blog-cation next week!

Upcoming:
The bees in the roof
Ten worst record covers ever
Witty quips
etc.

The "Classic" View that never was

Minus Barbara Walters, plus Bette Midler. Could this have been a recipe for success? Star and Lisa look bummed, Joy looks like a jealous older sister, and Meredith has something on her hand. Bette, of course, looks divine.

Which reminds me, starting next week I'll be posting the top 10 album covers I hate. So far, the list includes one from Midler, and 2 from Al DeMeola.

Sometimes I Feel like Cathy During Bathing Suit Season

Music journalism is singularly awful. I read a review this afternoon of some indie rock band where the author compared "the scrappy fivesome's" sound to" The Pretty Things, Television, Chuck Berry and 80s SoCal punk".

This is totally lazy uninformed referentialism. The only bands that sound like Chuck Berry are from Japan. Nobody sounds like a combination of all of these things. 80s SoCal punk is not a valid reference. I went to the band's website, and they sound like an ipod crossed with the Violent Femmes.

Maybe Erik Spiekermann can redesign journalism too.

German PC Magazine redesigned by Germans

I guess PC Professionell decided to not look like a totally crappy PC magazine anymore. Unfortunately, their website is still touting a classic look. But hey, kudos Spiekermann! Now will you come over here and fix our periodicals? Seriously. Sigh.

I used to get a couple of magazines like this from going to events like LinuxWorldCon and MacWorld and they're almost all terrible looking. The ads are even worse -- but that's an entirely different thing.

The Dolphin Dying of a Broken Heart

Heartbreaking news from a frequently disappointing world

Dying Of A Broken Heart

A dolphin is dying of a broken heart after its beloved trainer was killed by her neighbour in a frenzied attack.

Mary G was rescued from the Adriatic Sea and nurtured back to full health by Tamara Monti at the Oltremare water park in Riccione, Italy.

But the 37-year-old was stabbed to death at her flat by neighbour Alessandro Doto.

He claimed he had been driven mad by the constant barking of Ms Monti's two dogs.

Now Mary G is refusing her diet of milk and squid and has lost 50kg in weight. She has also failed to respond to treatment for a gastric infection.

Leonardo Stanzani, the park's director, said Ms Monti had become the dolphin's "substitute mother".

"The relationship between a dolphin and its trainer is always special but this time it was especially close," Mr Stanzani told The Times.

"Tamara was constantly stroking Mary, who would nuzzle her cheek."

Keepers are hoping the introduction of an older dolphin called Pele into Mary G's aquarium will help cheer her up.

My top ten favorite walls

I think this was a temporary paint job for a museum in Japan... but it reminds me that totally amazing graffiti is rare. Like the flying penis in the Solano tunnel. Or the crazy drawings in the Long Life Vegi House bathroom. Sigh.

But I guess this is corporate graffiti... isn't it. With that in mind. Moonite led graffiti and Andy Kaufman stickers were not awesome. The weird linux triptych that IBM did was. Any instances of people making FEAR stencils with the long box the CD used to come in also ruled.

Do you remember when cds came in long cardboard boxes? So did tapes, for a time.

The best house in the world (or a giant peach of one's own)

At some point in my life I'd like to live in a dome house. This one claims to be Earthquake resistant, flood proof (when the floods come, the house floats) and more. I think I'm most attracted to the floating element because I've always secretly wanted to live out James and the Giant Peach. Now when California sinks into the ocean, I can float to Japan and thank the inventor of my awesome house in person. Plus, there's no chance of sharks eating my peach/house. This one is made of wood!

The website also suggests using the space as a cafe, which kind of appeals to me.

Buy yours now at http://g-wood.jp/en/
(spotted at treehugger)

UPDATE: actually... the absence of a bathroom might be a deal-breaker.
[+/-] Click here for more photos