Friday Morning Music: For Once in My Life

Loving the mini-dresses on those dancers. Or are they cheerleaders? Happy Friday, one and all.

Globes

Image from lovelydesign

I love vintage globes. I know, they have been popular in the design press for a few years now. But I haven't tired of mine or of looking at images of them online. I would love to own a few more, particularly the Cram's Silver Oceans globe with the full meridian. I let one get away a couple of years ago on eBay, to my lasting regret. 

Image from Omniterrum

I hope to pay a visit to Omniterrum in nearby Lynchburg, Virginia, someday to enjoy their outstanding selection and perhaps add to my small collection.

Image from Omniterrum

Image from Elle Decor

Source unknown

Image from eBay

Lunar eclipse December 21, 2010

Friday Morning Music: Brown Eyed Girl

For all of us brown eyed girls, here's Van Morrison. Happy Spring!

The Next Wave at Artisphere

The Next Wave: Industrial Design Innovation in the 21st Century at the Artisphere in Arlington is still on view through May 19. Several innovative and award-winning designs are represented. Whimsical, useful, colorful and thought-provoking. A mixture of materials, colors and functions. Some designers represented in the show: Marcel Wanders, Hella Jongerius, Sarah Morris, Christopher Roy, Patricia Urquiola, Clara von Zweigbergk, Scott Mason, Jasper Morrison, and some guy named Cristian Wicha. Oh wait, isn't he my woodworking/furniture design prof? Yes, he is! That's his amazing Flying Fish long board and molded plywood stool. Congratulations, Cristian. 

Friday Morning Music: All This Useless Beauty

Listened to this tune on my walk to Tenleytown Metro this morning.

And this marks the blog's 100th post. A milestone I will enjoy celebrating this weekend. For your enjoyment!

Nordic Cool 2013

There's still time to enjoy Nordic Cool 2013 here in D.C., a two-month festival of all things Nordic in the visual and performing arts, literature and amazing design across many disciplines. These photos are from the exhibitions at the Kennedy Center. All are exhibits, and many of the speakers and panel discussions, are free and open to the public. But hurry, the festival ends this Sunday!

Savonnerie Heymans | MDW Architecture | Brussels | Project Portfolio | Architectural Record

Savonnerie Heymans | MDW Architecture | Brussels | Project Portfolio | Architectural Record

Friday Morning Video: Destiny - Animation Short

Ah, I've been remiss in posting this week. I am feeling much better, though! Today, we're changing it up a bit. Lately I've been having fun watching short animation films. In addition to Paperman by the Disney studio, I've come across some less well known animated shorts. This one is priceless .... it made me laugh out loud this morning. Ta!

Friday Morning Music: Under the Weather

No, that's not the name of this week's tune. Your blogger has been under the weather for the past couple of weeks. I'll catch up next week ... Cheers!

Friday Morning Music: Outside of Space and Time

To commemorate the Earth's close encounter with Asteroid 2012 DA14 close by the Indian Ocean around 2:25 ET today, here's David Byrne and St. Vincent with 'Outside of Space and Time'. DA14 will miss us by little over 17,000 miles, a mere blip in galactic terms. 

Makena Beach and La Perouse Bay, January 24, 2013

Yes, dear readers, we did spend time at the beach while in Maui. But our focus for these five days was most definitely seeking out the full experience of nature in the hills, mountains, sea and of course sand. To do this, we couldn't spend too much time lying around soaking up the rays. One of the best destinations for white sand in Maui is the still fairly undeveloped Makena Beach on the south shore. This was our destination for Thursday. With our other goal of seeking out as much fine art as possible, we also planned on a quick stop by the Four Seasons Maui resort in Wailea.

The morning started, however, with breakfast at The Plantation House restaurant in Kapalua. We sat by an open window overlooking the North Shore of Maui and Lanai. The atmosphere was very elegant and yet somehow completely laid back, friendly and casual. Yet another example of how even the more formal venues on Maui always end up being relaxed and convivial. I had quite possibly the very best eggs benedict ever. Light and fluffy, with lox instead of ham, pescetarian-style. 

The pineapple motif on the carpeting at the restaurant was quietly elegant. I loved the soft turquoise of the planters, inside and outside.

We then headed to the Four Seasons to say hello to Kari McCarthy once again. Kari was there for the weekly artists' showcase. Kari transports a number of paintings and her easel to make the trip from Kula each week. It's a fantastic opportunity for these artists to speak with hotel guests and others, like us, who come just to see the collection. After our visit with her, we walked around to view more of the artists and their work, in addition to the works installed throughout the open air Wailea foyer. This is known as Maui's premiere collection for art, a real step up from nearly all the galleries and work we saw in Lahaina. One of my favorites was this antique quilt. The actual color was a bit softer and rosier than it appears in these photos. Nevertheless, I like seeing it as a sunset orange, too.

Mika McCann is a fiber artist who works with local dried plant fibers of all kinds. We saw a display cabinet of her work, some of which we had also seen in Lahaina at the gallery in the old courthouse.

Then our Thursday road trip really started. The road to Makena Beach was carved straight out of lava flow ("the flow," as we were told by a Haleakala park ranger on Tuesday). 

We had an opportunity to stop at a scenic outlook for yet another opportunity to view breaching and spouting humpbacks. The Hawaii Ocean Project had a couple of staff members available to hand out information and answer questions.

On the road once more, no longer a paved four lane highway, but a rocky, dusty two lane road with little to no shoulder. Here we were truly in the middle of an old lava field, barren and inhospitable to plant life. The dark rock and soil appears to be fertile, but we had learned that it contains virtually no nitrogen, essential for supporting growth. I reasoned that the fat cable we saw must have been for internet service for residents who lived out this way. There were far fewer cars at this point, as the trip out here is more of a commitment and not as widely known. Good thing. This is probably why Makena remains less developed and there are fewer tourists like us to disturb its natural beauty. These fields were also used at some point for explosives tests, and there were signs posted everywhere warning visitors not to step off the road because of the danger of encountering unexploded ordnance.

We drove beyond Makena first so we could stop and admire the haunting beauty of La Perouse Bay. This isn't much of a beach for soaking up the sun, but the contrast of the black rock with the blue water and golden sand was quietly beautiful. This protected wildlife sanctuary contains a wide array of sea and land creatures as well as sensitive and important indigenous Hawaiian cultural sites and objects. Walking and sitting on the rock to pose for these photos was a bit tricky.

Friday Morning Music: Get on the Good Foot

It's a dreary, rainy day in DC today. I need to get charged up! Here's the Godfather, showing us his moves in his prime. And love Don Cornelius' hair!

A Master's Final Touch

Women Designers of Note:  Eva Zeisel

A Master's Final Touch | Projects | Lighting Products | Architectural Record

De Markies

For some reason I've always been fascinated with campers. I'm not talking about big, supersized motorized RVs, but compact trailers that allow real freedom on the road. I've found several that I'd like to share. Here is one of my favorites, De Markies (The Awning). The ends fold down to substantially increase the living space. I just think it looks totally amazing.