Where am I?

Spain?


France?


Italy?


No, somewhere a little closer to home.

Spoiler Alert: Dead Snake

Snake! Snake! It's a snake.

OK, it' s a dead snake, but I have never seen any sort of snake this far north before. I know we have them, I've just never seen one and certainly I never expected to see one flattened on the road outside the Cool House. Such a pity. Click the image to get the full beauty of what's left of his silvery scales. I wonder if he has any family around here?

Can You Hear Me Now?

Dear Verizon and ATT
I hear that you respond favorably to demands from damsels in distress and provide cell phone coverage to those who ask for it, no special favors necessary. I'm therefore asking you to accord me the same service you granted to Cindy McCain, so that I can be heard (and others can hear me) in this important election year 2008.
I know that you didn't grant Ms McCain any special service because Senator McCain's campaign says so: "Mrs. McCain's staff went through the Website as any member of the general public would -- no string pulling, no phone calls, no involvement of Senate staff,"(...) Just because she is married to a senator doesn't mean she forfeits her right to ask for cell service as any other Verizon customer can."
I live in an Incorporated Village where the Board decided in 2005 that we did not need twenty-first century telecommunications. I don't know the reason, the minutes aren't very detailed, but in any case I am denied coverage, which puts me at a disadvantage living in a world dominated by Blackberry's and iPhones. I am out of touch, and it is affecting both my mental health and ability to do business. It also makes us look rather backward to our friends in Europe and Asia who can't believe we live in the greatest country on earth^TM yet still cling to our landlines. I know just how Ms McCain felt missing her text messages, and I think one of those portable cell towers or "cell site on wheels" would be a solution to all my cellphone woes. Maybe you could park it right behind the Village Hall?
I know you don't like to comment on individual customers and their requests but I'm confident you will give my request the same priority you gave the McCain's and I'm looking forward to a favorable outcome and "full bars".
Sincerely
modernemama @ The Cool House.

Blog Action Day: Poverty 2008

Today is Blog Action Day '08, a day when bloggers worldwide unite to raise awareness of a single theme. This year the theme is poverty. Eight years have passed since the UN Millennium Declaration was adopted when the international community mandated to: "spare no effort to free our fellow men, women and children from the abject and dehumanizing conditions of extreme poverty, to which more than a billion of them are currently subjected."
The goals are, by 2015, to eradicate extreme poverty by halving the proportion of people living on less than a dollar a day; to achieve full employment for all, including women and young people, and to cut in half the number of people who suffer from hunger. We are currently halfway through the timeframe and while some progress has been made there are still nearly one billion people do not have access to safe drinking water; ninety-three countries, with 62 percent of the world’s population, are not on track to reduce under-five mortality by two-thirds by 2015; and, perhaps most heartbreaking of all, eleven million children below age five, some 30,000 every day, die each year from preventable causes.*
This is unacceptable and you may be wondering what we can do to help. Here's a few ideas to get you started:
- Learn more about poverty at home and globally by visiting the Millennium Campaign: End Poverty 2015
- Support local charities that work to combat poverty and join campaigns for nationwide action groups like Habitat for Humanity
- Microfinance an entrepreneur in the developing world through Kiva
- Donate at The Global Fund to fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria
- Promote awareness of poverty by joining Blog Action Day 2008

*Statistics from United Nations Development Programme

Classic/Fantastic Taccia Table Lamp

We had a very inspiring trip to the Met Museum the other day. Another small exhibition we wandered into was Classic/Fantastic: Selections from the Modern Design Collection. This show had lots of desirable pieces, we'd seen before like the Clarice Cliff pottery and the Henning Koppel silver clam-shaped serving dish, but especially the Taccia lamp, designed in 1962 by Achille Castiglione. We know we've hit upon a favourite when both The Guy and I yell out from opposite sides of the room "I love that lamp". The Taccia is glass floodlight atop a fluted column, it is at once classic and modern and fits perfectly into our style. And we have the perfect spot for it: placed on a plinth in the corner at the top of the front stairs. It would provide much needed light there, illuminate the redwood ceiling and provide something beautiful to look at even when not switched on. Luckily it's still available from Flos via ylighting for $2,548.00. Unluckily we are still forced to endure the fierce frugality measures we imposed at The Cool House in our attempt to mitigate the economic meltdown. It's a good thing we can go check it out at the Met when the need arises, no?

The Essential Art of African Textiles: Design Without End

While we were at the Metropolitan Museum of Art soaking up the sun on the roof and admiring the Jeff Koons sculptures, we took time to wander through the galleries and see The Essential Art of African Textiles: Design Without End. It's only a small exhibition placed in the middle of the Arts of Africa, Oceania, and the Americas wing, but it was very inspiring.
Three pieces in particular stood out for me:


El Anatsui Between Earth and Heaven, 2006, aluminium and copper wire textile


Sokari Douglas Camp Nigerian Woman Shopping, 1990, steel sculpture


Grace Ndiritu The Nightingale, 2003, video installation

In addition to these three works, the exhibition features textiles dating from the 19th century to the present day and is held in collaboration with the British Museum, London. Catch it if you can at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, NY.

Fall with a hint of Guacamole

Just a few of the chores we accomplished this weekend:
1) Stained post Cabot Cardovan Brown. We would have liked to stick with Pacific Redwood Clear Coat but this wouldn't disguise the wood filler we had to use to repair the damage caused by the damned woodpecker. However, it covers beautifully and matches the protected part of the siding under the overhangs which is much darker than the rest of the house. We'll see how it weathers before deciding whether to stick with it when we next stain the siding or go with something more translucent.
2) Also stained under the overhang where The Guy filled in some missing wood and then dropped a ladder on my head. Was not crazy about holding said ladder this time but escaped with only a few drops of brown stain on my T-shirt. Whew!


3) Treated with wood hardener one windowsill and one threshold that had a spongey feel or rot. Painted another couple of frames and gave the garage door a second coat. Filled the holes, the enormous holes, holes big enough for a family of badgers to take up residence. Will have nightmares about this, guaranteed.
4) Cleaned the house from top to bottom
5) Made nachos with homemade chili
6) Dropped a pot of guacamole as I opened fridge, covered myself, fridge, floor and cabinets in green goo. That stuff can really fly. Stood dripping for a while. Eventually The Guy yelled from the yard "That sounded just like the thwack of a tub of guacamole hitting the ground". How prescient of him.
7) Cleaned kitchen, including inside of fridge, again, washed green clothes.


8) Took this photo of The Guy, still laughing.

Shiny Happy Sculptures*

Perfect weather last Friday to view the Jeff Koons exhibit at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.


Sacred Heart (Red/Gold), 1994–2007


Balloon Dog (Yellow), 1994–2000

You may think Koons' work is simplistic but I have to admire the technical genius of the construction. It's flawless. And it made me smile on a day when the financial markets were plummeting.

* To sing along, click my playlist at the bottom of the page

Universal Declaration of Human Rights

It's 60 years since the most vital, and the most translated, document in the world, The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, was signed. Human Rights Action Center puts the declaration into a memorable video format that can be easily understood by everyone. Spread the seeds of human rights by signing the petition to include The Universal Declaration of Human Rights in your passport and join the U.S. Campaign for Burma.
Pass it on.

Adding value

Walking through the Incorporated Village on a superb Fall Sunday I was struck by the progress that has been made on a few houses. One is in the midst of an attic conversion and new dormers and a cupola have been added since I last walked this street, another has new windows and siding while the third has dramatically changed the entrance with curved stacked stone walls and piers supporting wrought iron lamps. It looks like a million bucks and is rumored to have cost only slightly less than that. I remarked to The Guy that the number of houses on the market seems to be matched by those that are being "pimped" and that maybe when we have weathered the current market meltdown, unclogged the conduits of credit, and allowed the current of finance to flow freely again (yes, we made these up while we were walking) we should think about tarting up the front adding value and a WOW factor with something spectacular like this driveway:


So I have a question for you, no, not how many years will it take to get ourselves out of the economic morass, but rather:
If money were no object, what would you add to the house exterior or yard to boost curb appeal?

Eggsplosion

High speed photography by Stefan featured at web urbanist.

Terminator Bath Tub

Am I the only person who when they see this


thinks of this?

The Teuco Swarovski Bathtub, made to order in Italy from Teuco.

Finally...

Well, economic meltdown or no, we can't just sit around here doing nothing. But we have to be very, very frugal, so instead of buying $3000 worth of tiles, a $2500 shower system and four $500 faucets to finish the master bath, we bought a can of paint ($14) to finish the ceiling of the boys bath. The ceiling that we primed, oh when was it now? April 2007.
We didn't mean to be so lax but we figured we should leave the final coat to the ceiling until the master bathroom was done when, we planned, the painter could do a professional job on both bathrooms at once. Ha, in this house great plans have a habit of curling up in the corner for a long snooze and, apart from the occasional snore to remind us they are still alive, can be ignored until we are forced (by the imminent arrival of visitors, or the need to sell up and move to different continent) to dust off the cobwebs and ACTUALLY PUT THEM INTO ACTION. Anyway, we are no nearer getting the master fixed-up than we were eighteen months ago, so I called it diy time. Two trips to the paint store, one for a can of paint and one for a liner for the paint tray and we were ready to go. That was until we discovered that we couldn't get the stepladder into the shower to paint the ceiling without some serious trauma. One more trip, this time to Home Depot, and we scored a two foot step ladder for $13.95. An hour later we had a bright, clean ceiling, and we can finally, finally call that bathroom done.

The Voice of Reason

Amongst all the desperate pre-election name calling and innuendo, one person, who lived through some of this country's worst history, is telling it straight. Donna Brazile at the New Yorker Festival; rational, impassioned and honest.

Crisis, Panic and The Weather

Well of course it rained over the weekend but we managed to get the death out of the pool and the guys are closing it up as I type. I sent The Guy up on the roof to clear the gutters and resisted the temptation to remove the ladder while he was up there. Why would a contemplate doing such a potentially dangerous thing? This is why. See, you couldn't blame me, could you? Anyway, when push came to shove I just couldn't leave him up there and besides I needed him to get back up the ladder to fill in the woodpecker damage to the pillar on the front porch. It looks a whole lot better now and it will be almost invisible once we can stain the whole post. We couldn't do that on Sunday because
a) it rained
b) the local paint store only had a gallon of stain and we wanted a no more than a quart
c) the other branch they sent us to that had quarts available (they checked on their computer) was CLOSED on Sundays. They didn't check that on their computer for us, did they?
We were forced to postpone the Met visit, and more seriously, our forthcoming trip to Europe. Obviously the weather was to blame for the former, the latter we can attribute directly to the global financial crisis. Instead of getting on a plane in a few hours I will be staying home learning to weave warm blankets from discarded animal fur and making soup out of nettles.

Project Humanity

At the beginning of the summer I mentioned that One Project Closer was running a competition for the best makeover with proceeds benefitting Habitat for Humanity. The competition deadline has passed but the fun continues. Now it is up to you, dear reader, to vote for the most impressive Before and After project. There are fourteen good'uns to choose from (including mine), and the lucky winner gets a $50 gift card.
Remember, US readers, that there are important elections coming up next month, and you need to get your technique down now. We don't need another hanging chad debacle, so practice for Nov 4 by selecting the most appropriate candidate at One Project Closer: Before and After.

Maple leaf

A little reminder of Canada in our own backyard.

House porn in La Jolla

Totally. Love. This. House.


Stunning views of the ocean


married with seclusion in the subterranean living area
Via LA Times Home & Garden

To do list and city fun

Ok, so we have a few things to get done this weekend:
1) Tackle the new hole the blasted woodpecker has made in the post by the front door before the porch falls down.
2) Clean out the gutters. Again. Yes, someone is going back up on the roof. And yes, that would be the same someone who forgot our anniversary. As both this and chore #1 require someone else to hold the ladder, I can foresee all sorts of calamities before we are done.
3) Clean out the dead moles from the pool filters so the guys can come and close it up without being totally grossed out.
4)Run into the city to see the Jeff Koons exhibit on the roof of the Met before it closes.
All these things require fine weather, so it BETTER NOT RAIN BEFORE SUNDAY EVENING.

Farming out the economy

What's warm and fuzzy and might stave off financial ruin? Alpacas. Or at least alpaca farming. Maybe I should consider a change in career?

It's the economy, stupid

Overheard outside a store:

"Man, it's slow today"
"Why isn't anyone buying anything?"

Obviously not everyone has got the whole the economy is tanking, credit has dried up, pretty soon we'll all be unemployed, homeless people with no healthcare so we're not spending anything message.

Someone's in Trouble

Short post for The Guy. Barack Obama may be unsure just how many years he has been married to Michelle but AT LEAST HE REMEMBERED THEIR ANNIVERSARY.

Before long we'll just be eating soup

The market is banking on it. Shares in Campbell's Soup rose as the market plummeted.

YSL Retrospective

One of the highlights of my recent trip to Montreal was visiting the Musee des Beaux Arts to see the Yves St Laurent retrospective. The exhibition, which opened only a few days before YSL died, spanned forty years of innovative fashion design and was awe inspiring, not least because you could really get up close and examine the garments to see the work that the couturier put into each outfit.


It is only when you get within two feet of a dress that you can truly understand how they can cost thousand of dollars.


All the designer's work was represented from Le Smoking, via safari jackets and the yeti style jackets to the transparent blouses and glamorous evening gowns


Memorable designs were the lattice beadwork fringed tribal dresses and this tiny little black micro minidress on the right designed for Diane Von Furstenburg by Yves St Laurent in 1990. Exquisite.
The retrospective in Montreal has now closed but will open at the de Young Museum in San Francisco on November 1st. Go, and be inspired.

Scratch-free

I got really excited when I read the headline for self-repairing paint. Turns out it's for cars, but car today, house tomorrow, right? I could sure do with some instead of constantly having to touch up the animal-inflicted nicks and scratches on the walls and trim at the Cool House. Until then I'll have to make do with this handy little gizmo.
Of course what I'm really waiting for is a self-painting wall....

Imagery

As the financial meltdown continues, with news that Playboy is now a junk stock with no future, I stepped out to the beach to take some shots. It's pretty stormy out there, too. These are the words that kept leaping to mind: Bail, bailout, maelstrom, sinking, ship.....


Then, to the side of the road I spotted one perfect, beautiful flower on a scrap of wasteground, thriving in spite of the wind, the peeing dogs and the occasional truck. There's always hope....

More Balls!

Feeding my fascination with Buckminster Fuller and geodesic structures, we visited the Biosphere Environmental Museum in Montreal. This fun, interactive museum is built inside the dome designed by Fuller for the 1967 World Expo. The original structure was protected from the elements by a transparent acrylic membrane that was destroyed when the sphere caught fire in 1976. Now the dome is completely uncovered, which is great for viewing the surrounding landscape and watching the these guys perform a little maintenance.

Stars in my eyes

Starlight Pendant from Heal's. On sale for 75 GB pounds. I don't have anywhere for it to go but I love it, I may even go visit it when I'm in London. J'adore.

Spam and serendipity

I was checking my gmail and decided to look at what spam they had collected for me when I noticed the link in the corner. Look at what I got, a genuine spam recipe for Gingered Spam Salad. At once delightful and truly repulsive. And unsurprisingly, it serves just one person. After all would you share this with anyone else?
Enjoy.

Bring back the bad hair

The 80s are so back, at least at Madison Square Garden in New York. So here we go, spanning the whole decade:


First Squeeze (kicking off the decade) and James (shutting the 80s down) are playing MSG tonight.


Then Liverpool's own Echo and the Bunnymen are playing their 1984 album Ocean Rain in its entirety on October 1st .


And finally the one and only AC/DC on November 12th and 13th.
Oh, I'm sorry, I almost forgot, you wanted some REALLY BAD HAIR. I'll throw in a little bonus for you, a killer quote from 80s heroine Muriel Gray: "Designer violence? Is that like Terence Conran throwing a bread roll at a dinner party?" Brilliant. Enjoy!

We got tagged

Living out in the alternate universe of the Incorporated Village doesn't mean you don't have to suffer spray-painted graffiti all over your property.


It just means you know exactly who the perpetrators were. Thank you Suffolk Water.


And if you have two water meters in the yard, one for your house and one for the house next door, that you are "tagged" twice.
I'm luckier than one neighbor, whose beautiful moss stone retaining wall now has an accent of bright blue!
File under: Grrrrr.

Time for tea

Isn't this one of the most gorgeous designs you've ever seen? Just as art, I mean. The fact that it's a teapot does nothing for me as tea makes me gag. It's just a beautiful, sculptural piece. And with any luck I will be going to see it soon in its temporary home at the Design Museum in London where it is part of the Design Cities exhibition. The Christopher Dresser teapot is one of the earliest exhibits, dating from 1879. I love the geometric form, it's forward looking yet timeless, and would look as good in a modern home as it did in the Victorian household it was designed for. Good design never ages, does it?
To see more of Dresser's work, including beautiful arts and crafts wallpaper and the cutest watering can ever, go here.

Brazilian design

Brazil is famous for bikini waxing, hair straightening, carnivals and an imposing statue on a mountain top, but less well known is that in the twentieth century Brazil produced some of the most beautiful and unique pieces of mid-century modern design. Unlike Scandinavian designers such as Saarinen or Americans Charles and Ray Eames, Brazilian designers have until very recently been ignored. Now furniture by Sergio Rodrigues, Oscar Niemeyer and others is appearing at auction houses and antique dealers outside Brazil.

I've been searching for four years for the right 1960s or 70s table to go under the chandelier in the great room and I was lucky enough to hit upon this great 1978 Michel Arnoult Alagoas Collection rosewood and teak table with two pink suede slingback chairs. Michel Arnoult (1922-2005) was born in France but studied at Rio de Janerio’s Faculdade Nacional de Arquitetura and was a trainee in the office of Oscar Niemeyer. His designs include this 1968 Peg Lev chair that resembles the two I bought, which is in the Museu da Casa Brasileira, Sao Paulo and his last creation, the Pelicano chair that was featured in Marie Claire Maison in December last year.

So where did I get my Brazilian treasure? From my favourite New Jersey ebay sellers vintage 747 who have been a fantastic source of modernist furniture that has now found a home at the Cool House.

Hide and Seek

The kitten games continue

Smells Like a Spa

As the thyme had decided that it couldn't survive, let alone thrive, along the flagstone path I had to come up with another solution. I still wanted something that would smell great if you brushed up against it, was hardy enough to tolerate to being trodden on and had a green or grey color. The local nursery had sent us a $10 coupon as an anniversary gift so on Monday I wandered around the new autumn selection looking for something suitable.
I was drawn to this plant, Cumberland Rosemary, by the herbal scent. It's reminiscent of rosemary but has slight eucalyptus note to it. It looks like a softer, more feathery version of the rosemary bush but is supposed to be hardy. They did say it was the first time they'd offered it so it will be an experiment for all of us to see if it makes it through a New York winter but if it's as warm as it was last year it should fine (global warming may have advantages, after all).
Beach car still smells like a spa, (and I only transported three plants two miles) which makes a nice change from wet dog, an advantage I hadn't counted on. We'll see if it likes this sunny spot and forms nice clumps of fragrant green along the path. If not I think I'll have to learn to like the raw earth look!

Crisis? What crisis?

The stock market is tumbling to the depths but the art market is looking pretty perky, especially if your name is Damian Hirst and you sold a huge collection of recent works through Sotheby's yesterday and today. “Beautiful Inside My Head Forever” featured 223 works including Golden Calf (above), which fetched a record breaking 10.35 million pounds. Hirst's six studios have been working flat out to produce the art for the auction and other works for sale include The Kingdom, a tiger shark suspended in formaldehyde and Aurothioglucose, a dot painting. Although some people thought Hirst was taking a risk by-passing galleries and selling directly through an auction house, it seems to have paid off. I wonder what he is going to do with all that money?
And just to make me feel old, the auction was held on the 20th anniversary of the Freeze exhibition that launched Damian Hirst on the art world.

Cook in Laura Bush's Oven

I thought it was a joke, what with the housing market being a mess but no, oh irony, the first home of George and Laura Bush is on the market. Insert joke here. The home has a lot of original features, including the sheer curtains, the cooktop, that oven and a few of her dead plants in the atrium, too. I kid you not.


The decor is 80s-sad, but at least there are some personal interest pieces, like these magazines tastefully arranged on the coffee table. You want more? Here you go. Enjoy!