Great Design Wins; Why Isn't It Here?

A truly modern residential skyscraper: Aqua

Chicago's Aqua is Emporis' "skyscraper of the year." I'm sure other awards will follow.

Members of the jury praised Aqua for its fascinating shape, whose appearance changes dramatically depending on the perspective. It was also cited as a brilliant technical achievement for the precision of its construction, and lauded as an application of green design innovations to an extremely large building project.

As someone who lives among the sad attempts to recreate bigger versions of contemptible copies of outdated designs (and which have no respect for even past-modern aesthetics or craftsmanship), I say, "Hoorah!"

Why are people so easily herded into ugly, inefficient, and poorly designed homes?

Forget Chicago, I'm Going To NYC This Summer

Green Day is turning their epic album American Idiot into a Broadway play.

Architecture, history, art, great food, martinis, and a punk musical...who's with me?

Anyone?

Obama = Anti-Religion

Sean Hannity and Mike Huckabee think that when White House staffers met with an atheist group, it's proof they don't meet with or respect religious groups.




Then there are those pesky facts, as incontrovertibly reported by Media Matters for America.

These people are so myopic that it's no surprise that they can't see the insides of their own colons. Fight that blackness Hannity!

Atheist = Hate

White House officials met today with representatives from the Secular Coalition for America. The hysterical responses by right-wing Christians could just as easily be the predictions by any thinking person of what those people would say. Case in point, the irony-deficient Catholic League spokesperson/apologist/sole member Bill Donahue:

In an unprecedented move, leaders of a presidential administration are hosting some of the biggest anti-religious zealots in the nation.

A photo for Bill to ponder over:

In a very precedented move, a President is hosting one of the biggest anti-atheist* zealots in the world: President Bush pictured with cross-dressing daywalker Pope Benedict XVI.

*Also anti-Protestant, anti-Muslim, anti-gay, anti-women, anti-rationalism, and anti-child molestation investigations

I Have Problems With This

I'm not as negative on Mies Van Der Rohe as one might expect a Frank Lloyd Wright fan to be. I've marveled at his Seagram's building in New York City (it is more stunning than one would ever expect) and at several of his buildings in Chicago (which are legion). I don't agree with his style; but I do respect his anti-"everything built before WW2" ideals of clean lines, modern craftsmanship, and natural light. And he was a visionary who changed our skylines.

I loved watching this BBC documentary on Mies, but I disagreed with many of the narrator's points. I'll save my opinions, some of which might surprise my friends. Watch all 7 parts and please post your opinions: I think the man and his work warrant some discussion and debate. If you need more encouragement, the whole thing is too well-filmed not to watch and be mesmerized by pretty.

Autism: A Redux And A Regard

The Lancet has retracted the study that caused the hysterical vaccines=autism scare.

Science definitively corrected itself: the study was poor and has been countermanded by numerous better ones. Will the anti-vaccine crowd correct themselves? I'll give you 3 guesses, and the first 2 don't count.

I had the pleasure of watching half of HBO's Temple Grandin the other night. I can't recommend this movie enough. Dr. Grandin not only changed how we treat cattle ("Nature is cruel, but we don't have to be."); she changed how we understand, accept, and embrace those unique and beautiful humans with autism. Her story is far more enlightening than the sickening bewilderments and primitive fancies of pseudo-scientific simpletons, and she is to be celebrated for her courage and fortitude.

Dr. Temple Grandin

Major Caravaggio exhibit in Rome

The mastery of Caravaggio and his "chiaroscuro" -- the contrast of shadow and light -- are brought back to life in a exhibition to mark 400 years since the artist's death. Dozens of works by Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio are on show at Scuderie del Quirinale, a museum located inthe former stables of Rome's Quirinal Palace.

Caravaggio's remains are retrieved by scientists

Caravaggio
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

If One Were To Judge Reality Shows On Their Signature Catch Phrase...

...RuPaul's Drag Race would win hands down. I typically don't enjoy drag shows (most are, to loosely quote Tim Burton, charming when they should be creepy and creepy when they should be charming), but this trashy gem is now my favorite reality show ever.

"And don't fuck it up!"

Foodie Fun

Molecular Gastronomy article/links.

Alabama Bathos

In the midst of helping Veronica celebrate her 5th birthday, I lost consciousness, mid-coloring book, crayon-in-hand. Woke up at 0100, and, being unable to go back to sleep, decided to try to catch up with my favorite blog. I ended up following an endless series of links (probably from one of Cary's John McCain makes Gay Baby Jesus cry rants) and ended up on this blog . (I got there from reading something she wrote back in 2003 to in the the Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest :

They had but one last remaining night together, so they embraced each other as tightly as that two-flavor entwined string cheese that is orange and yellowish-white, the orange probably being a bland Cheddar and the white . . . Mozzarella, although it could possibly be Provolone or just plain American, as it really doesn't taste distinctly dissimilar from the orange, yet they would have you believe it does by coloring it differently.

Mariann Simms, Wetumpka, AL (2003 Winner)

and ended up finding out that she still hasn't cooked a standing rib roast. Oh, what Tobermory could teach her.

Bromide should get a golden globe, but the eurotrash won't recognize his on-screen excellence.

I miss you guys, and hope to get to hang out together again soon. Will try to do better at keeping up.

Yeah It's Bad; Yes I Love Them

I'm a huge fan of Billy Talent, even while I admit--and emphatically warn--that they are not for everybody. However, their latest album, Billy Talent III, has a song--"The Dead Can't Testify"--that I will tentatively post.

So they marched me down to the center of town,
With their pitchforks high in the air.
I was chained and bound with a blindfold around
So the judge wouldn't catch my stare.
And they hung my soul from the gallows pole
But the witch they never found.
So to those who don't fit society's mold,
Learn to swim or you will drown.

Bromide goes Hollywood

Murder Story (University of Alabama 2010) from Campus MovieFest

Zombieland is great fun!

IMDb & Rotten Tomatoes: 89%
Rule #1 - Cardio

Triangle - surprisingly good.

Thriller, time loop movie that was way better than I expected. IMDb & Rotten Tomatoes: 81%

The Pious Reject Shame

It's a long video, but it has to be watched in its entirety: Republicans are now as pious as they are shameless.

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

A Gay By Any Other Name

I mourn the dearth of great, eloquent polemists, both for and against my positions. Without well-crafted arguments, semantics and histrionics rule:

A new CBS News/New York Times poll released this afternoon shows 57% of Americans approve of "homosexuals" serving in the military. Change the word "homosexual" to "gay men and lesbians" and the support jumps to 70%. The change in support holds when respondents were asked whether they think "homosexuals" vs. "gay men and lesbians" should be allowed to serve openly in the U.S. armed forces.

On the "serve openly" question, 44% were in favor when the word "homosexual" is used, and 42% were opposed. When that word was swapped for the alternate "gay men and lesbians" wording, support for serving openly jumped to 58%. Just 28% were opposed.

I am perplexed. Is our nation's bigotry so debase as to be semantic?

Contrast this statistic to the arguments held over at my favorite naval blog, Information Dissemination, where two people who agree on repealing "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" can disagree on how it should be argued ([1] vs [2]). Well enough, but neither argument relies on a term. Sadly, the rights of a minority might ultimately depend on what they are called. And, like any minority, the gays can be called a great many things...

R2D2 & Chewbacca: Agents of the Rebellion?

Great theory that could redeem the mess the sequels made of Star Wars: A New Sith, or Revenge of the Hope.