The Case For Working With Your Hands

"....mechanical work has required me to cultivate different intellectual habits. Further, habits of mind have an ethical dimension that we don’t often think about. Good diagnosis requires attentiveness to the machine, almost a conversation with it, rather than assertiveness, as in the position papers produced on K Street. Cognitive psychologists speak of 'metacognition,' which is the activity of stepping back and thinking about your own thinking."

Story HERE

Bill Cunningham At The Farmers Market

Pre-Animal Collective

Nifty use of Modul8

How David Beats Goliath

Little guys rule.
"David’s victory over Goliath, in the Biblical account, is held to be an anomaly. It was not. Davids win all the time. The political scientist Ivan Arreguín-Toft recently looked at every war fought in the past two hundred years between strong and weak combatants. The Goliaths, he found, won in 71.5 per cent of the cases. That is a remarkable fact. Arreguín-Toft was analyzing conflicts in which one side was at least ten times as powerful—in terms of armed might and population—as its opponent, and even in those lopsided contests the underdog won almost a third of the time."

Story HERE

Image Search: Zip Gun

Improvised fire arms usually created by gang members. Thanks to Steve.

EBAY AUCTION: Vintage Biaggio Light for Flos

1968 by Tobia Scarpa. I lost this auction. $1,681 U.S. and still a bargain at that. Yuck. This is an amazing light. One day.

EBAY AUCTION: Eames LTR

c1950s. Charles And Ray Eames. California. $456.00. Congrats to the winner.

Hui Ka Kwong

Mid-Century Chinese Ceramicist

Hope for reform of California Prison System?

The Supreme Court ruling will force the state to address the issue. It's a start.

Column Here

A Life Sentence Of Joblessness

Homegirl Cafe and Homeboy Bakery employs ex-convicts. What's crazy is the food and service is actually really good. Read Here.

Earlier story Here. Thanks to Ryan for pointing this Op-Ed out.

Makeshift Steadicam

Very useful. Another reason to grab the Sunpak 7500 Platinum Tripod.

La Rose De Fer (1973)

Jean Rollins. One of my favorite openings to a movie.

Shelter

Lloyd Kahn claims that shelter is more than a roof over your head. As the author and publisher of over a dozen books on home construction, Lloyd has been grappling with the concept of home, physically and psychically, for over five decades. Situated in the financial and housing crisis, this film profiles Lloyd's ideas on do-it-yourself construction and sustainability.

SHELTER from jason sussberg on Vimeo.

Jack Lenor Larsen Blanket

c1956 Seattle, WA

EBAY AUCTION: Hans Wegner Round Chairs

5 PP503 Hans Wegner Birch Round Chairs. $2,202 total. Congrats to the winner.

These are the chairs famously used in the first televised U.S. presidential debate. The PP503 was chosen by Kennedy and Nixon for its looks, its ergonomics and its ability to keep a suit from ruffling.

The chair has since permanently joined the White House. Check out its construction here.

La Jolla Cave

La Jolla, CA. The 145 step stairwell is inside a shell shop on the first floor of a house on the ocean. This man bought this house in the 50's and it came with a cave! Pictures thanks to Kelly.

COOKING RECIPE: Eight Treasures Rice Pudding

Thanks to Aunt Virginia for teaching me this one.

Ingredients:
2 cups sticky rice
2 cups water
1 tbsp lard
4 tbsp sugar

lotus seeds
candied cherries
mung beans
dried dates

300g red bean paste
3 tbsp lard
1 cup water
6 tbsp sugar
1/2 tbsp corn starch

Recipe:
1. Wash and soak glutinous rice 5 ~ 6 hours. Drain. Add proper amount of water. Steam for 1 hour.
2. Add sugar and lard to rice while hot. Mix well.
3. Take red bean paste, add lard and sugar. Mix well.
4. Chop dried fruits and beans. Coat deep bowl with lard. Distribute the fruit and beans through out the rice.
5. Place rice in bowl. Add bean filling in center. Close with remaining rice. Steam again for 15 minutes.
6. Place plate over bowl. Turn over (rice is now on the plate). Boil 6 tablespoons sugar with 1 cup water. Thicken with cornstarch diluted with water. Pour over pudding and serve hot.

Thomas P. Lynn

1968. California. Sculptured Aluminum Table with Candelabra that rises through glass

1968. Cast Aluminum Chair

Trendglas Large Apothecary Jar

EBAY AUCTION: Murmansk Bowl

1982. Ettore Sottsass. Italy. €887. Yuck. This is one of my favorites of his. Congrats to the winner!

Good art shows.

"Jericho" 1968-69. Barnett Newman

"Catherine Deneuve, B and Bewitch" 1988. Robert Heinecken.

Installation View, Yves Klein

"Snow Storm - Steamboat Off A Harbour's Mouth" 1842. Joseph Mallord William Turner

EBAY AUCTION: Peter Voulkos Ice Bucket

California. Lost again. $3,261.00 and still a bargain at that price. Congrats to the winner.

Hollywood Glamour

Yvonne Gale

Lana Turner

Anna May Wong

1987 240 DL Wagon

Neil Moss

Great underrated ceramicist from Torrance, CA.

EBAY AUCTION: Dries Van Noten Suit 36R

$227.00. No bids.

Growing Kale

Kale is one of the single best vegetables for maintaining good health, offering much cancer protection and being especially rich in vitamins A, C and K. Conveniently, kale is also one of the easiest plants to grow, being extremely weather tolerant and low maintenance.

Sow in rich and loamy soil with high nitrogen content and water regularly until the plants are established. In Los Angeles, you should grow from fall to late spring.

EBAY AUCTION: Sunspel Riviera Polo

Outbid again. $66.00. Congrats to the winner.

March 6 LAMA Auction Lot

Beautiful Ettore Sottsass Rug

Ray Kappe's House

Pacific Palisades, California.