I think the kitchen of this renovated stone barn looks fantastic with both the original stone left exposed, concrete, wood and stainless steel. The exterior shots of the place available via the via link below this image are worth a look as well imo. Via
Entertainment Room
Bedroom(s)
Garden / Conservatory
Fireplace
I think the first thing to install in a home should be the fireplace. There is a reason that when all the cowboys in old western movies gather round a fire in the evenings. Below is an awesome fireplace made of bronze slats:
Look out Guatemala, just seeing this bag makes me want to invade a small country.
Can I get one with more pouches?
I bet this next awesome thing is heavy especially with that many books on it. Also, I wonder if the shelf for each state contains only books that relate to that state. Learn more about this awesome American bookshelf here.
What is that landmass extending from the east coast of Florida?
This image from here
has inspired me to create a similar series of images of items available for purchase and where they can be purchased from depicting what can be purchased to make for an awesome party/ experience.
If I get more followers on this blog, and if you're good, I'll publish
them here.
The topics to be covered will be:
Diamonds and Denim
Pimp and Ho
Unicorns and... something rhymes with or is appropriate to go along with unicorns
High Class and Hobo
Favorite Movie Character
This Post is Now Halloween Themed
Finally, Nathan took his love of Tetris and added it to everyone's love of jack-o-lanterns resulting in the first (that I am aware of) game of Tetris inside a pumpkin. Behold:
Windows 8 is officially available for purchase starting today... from... here, I think. At the time I setup this link to the official Microsoft Windows website, I found I would need a PhD in Microsoft to determine how much money they want me to give them to get my hands on a copy of the operating system. Seriously, all I want to know is how much this thing costs and where I should send the money. You try looking at this page and telling me how much the product they are selling will cost me:
Psych Wards are Full of People
Who Have Been Driven Mad by this Website
Topics covered by Microsoft employees before creating the page above:
We want to tell people that Windows 8 will be release on October 26. Good.
It's critical that people know Windows 8 will be "Serious. Fun." This is essential.
Include the phrase "And more" because people should be aware that our product will do more than what we are able to explain using words, pictures and video.
Finally, as we are all aware, offering a new version of the best selling computer operating system in the history of the world is best conveyed by the image of a man holding up a child who is sucking on a lollipop. Put that front and center on the site.
Topics not covered during this meeting:
Screen captures of the actual product
Displaying the price of the new product
The competition has a much better page that describes their latest os
I've written about my experience using the pre-release copy of Windows 8 I snagged several months ago here. Oh and I am impressed by the fact that Microsoft is offering these new computer/ tablet things that run Windows 8:
Someone should have told the graphic designer to adjust
the hue/ saturation slider before going to publication
Type Connection is a site that seems to be making its way around the innertubes these days because it tries to walk the tightrope between the banality of in-depth knowledge of typefaces and entertainment. I managed to spend about two minutes on the site before a strong wind started shaking the tightrope and I sprinted to the end.
If you're into trying the Type Connection experience for yourself, you can visit their site here. Or, if you're the up, up, down, down, left, right, left, right, select, start type, you can skip the game and go here to download the "specimen_xxx.jpg" files that appear to have some value for future design projects. I suggest you snag copies of these images soon before they turn off directory browsing. Here is an example of these images:
Looks Like A Good Addition to Your Graphic Design Resources Folder
Recently Overheard Conversation
A guy in a coffee shop pulled himself away from his MacBook to interact with a guy and a girl sitting at a nearby table when he heard them mention brands of computers. "If you don’t want a
Mac, get yourself an Alienware laptop" the Mac user said. "That’s like telling
a homeless person to go buy a house" came the reply immediately from the girl.
Twenty-two months ago, in June of 2010, I made a note to myself indicating that I would like to buy a wireless keyboard that has a built-in track pad so that I could control a computer connected to a TV monitor from the couch. Now it's here!
It's Bigger IRL
In the past, I tried using a wireless keyboard and mouse that come as two separate pieces, which does not cut it for me. Using a wireless mouse from the couch would require me to have a book or something else that is both large enough to move a mouse around on and rigid enough to be able to set down on a soft couch and remain flat. The problem with this is that the mouse inevitably moves around, which is a pain when you're trying to watch a movie and even the tiniest movement of the mouse causes the controls on the screen to pop up and distract from the story being told. Counting the keyboard, now you have three things that all take up real estate which could otherwise be used for sitting or lounging as the couch was intended. Finally, the last wireless keyboard I tried to use was not able to communicate with the computer unless I held it the bottom of it directly at the receiver on my computer, which is less than ideal for typing.
The ideal solution in my mind is to have one unit that has a full-sized keyboard with the same kind of track pad that you find on every laptop computer attached. That way moving the device won't tell your computer to hold everything because you moved the mouse, you're not going to lose it between the couch cushions and you can use it to manipulate your computer a lot more effectively from the couch by just using a wireless mouse.
Aside from the benefit of being able to hook up my computer to my TV to watch internet based video, it's also nice to see how well, or how poorly (I'm looking at your Bing with your images that don't scale up on a large monitor) websites look when viewed on a large monitor. Being able to pause a movie when the mood strikes to band out a bit of typing is also a really nice feature.
The pictures of
this house really do speak for themselves but because the search engines don’t
read photos the way humans do, I’ll describe.
I'm in love with this fantastic house because it has a garden on the roof of the first floor. If I am interpreting these photos correctly, one could actually
walk out of a door on the second floor and onto the garden.
If that isn’t cool enough for you, there is a
climbing wall instead of a ladder to access a loft area. All we need now is a larger version so that I
could enjoy it rather than it simply being for kids.
Get Down From There Billy, It's Daddy's Turn!
This place has nice things like hard wood
floors and according to the architects it's built using sustainable materials.
Since I tend to
think about how I could do that myself when I see impressive looking things, my
first thought when I saw this place was "I wonder if I could build that using
stacked shipping containers?" I’m fairly
certain that if I tried, I would fail in a massive way. In fact, I think I would be lucky if the property
wasn’t declared a Super Fund clean up site.
I suppose what I
should be thinking when I see a place like this is how can I earn enough money
from the Clean Sheets and Dirty Girls blog to afford to hire the people at
Feldman Architecture to build one of these for me.
Here is a link to
an article that lists more details about the property.
As those of you who
read the sidebar on this site know, the purpose of this blog is to share with
the world advances in computing, technology, world affairs, the struggle
of the middle class in America, famous authors, computer programming, well-designed
things and anything I come across that makes me want to exclaim, "Why did
I not know about this before?”
Today, I have one
of those well-designed things to share.
Specifically, we’re going to take a look at the design of parking
garages. I typically associate parking garages with the original Deep Throat,
stagnant air, the smell of hobo urine and generally the worst part of the
shopping mall experience.
What better place could there be to find a great example of how to build a parking garage than Las Vegas?
In January of 2012,
I made the pilgrimage to what I like to think of as the happiest place on
Earth, Las Vegas. Specifically, I
visited the Cosmopolitan, a relatively new casino located on the Las Vegas Strip.
A lot of casinos in Vegas really push their valet parking service at the expense of their free parking lot. In more simplistic terms they either make their free parking lot inconvenient relative to their casino floor. Thankfully, the Cosmopolitan in Las Vegas really extends the Vegas glamor to their guest parking lot.
Below you can relive the wonder and excitement
I experienced when entering their free guest parking garage.
So Much Excitement! I Can't Believe Hollywood Hasn't Offered Me a Job
Designing a better parking garage might not
solve the problems of famine, endless wars taking place around the
world or the serious lack of bare breasted young women preparing and delivering strawberry kiwi smoothies to me whenever I clap my hands.*
[Drawing of me clapping goes here]
See, Nothin'
Still, at the very least parking garages are large blank canvases that could be opened up to artists.
When I was leaving
the parking lot, I noticed a girl in her early twenties who held up her entire crew of four people so
that she could point her fancy large body Nikon camera at the wall of the
parking lot to snap a photo. Seriously,
I’m not making this up: the walls of the parking garage at the Cosmopolitan are
photo worthy.
*Female applicants interested in an
exciting unpaid internship position with Clean Sheets and Dirty Girls which will prepare them for either the
smoothie making or sex industry are encouraged to apply by leaving their contact information in the "Comments" section below.
At first glance, I really like the look of these concrete dinnerware pieces from Ivanka Concrete Works.
The food on them, not so much
I imagine that once they have developed too many oil spots from your cooking,
you can use them as stepping stones outside
What concerns me about these is the possibility of what they might do to my teeth. I remember going on a field trip as part of my public school education in Southern California. During the trip, I learned about Native American people who would process the staple of their diet by grinding acorns against large rocks in the American Southwest. These people were effectively using a mortar and pestle system in which one large rock would eventually become pock marked with dozens of holes that served as pestles. These large rocks can still be seen sprinkled all over the landscape in California. What stuck with me about this was the revelation that the small bits of stone ground off from the rocks during the grinding process would, over many years, wear down the teeth of the Native American people of the Southwest to nubs. I worry that the same process of slowly grinding down my teeth might occur when I scrape a metal spoon against these concrete bowls, use a steak knife to cut through a T-bone and inevitably score the concrete plate beneath, etc.
Is that guacamole with a sliver of sour cream in it?
Ohh, I wanna put a chip in that!
While I worry slightly about what eating regularly from these dishes might do to my teeth, we all have to eat and drink from something. I'm sure I've ingested my share of minute amounts of plastic, porcelain, wood, metal and other materials transferred to my mouth from the dishes I've eaten from and the cups I've drank from during my years on this earth. But as long as I'm not drinking water delivered to me in pipes made of lead (I'm looking at you Ancient Rome) I probably won't wind up as mad as Carroll's Hatter.
How is a raven like a writing desk?
Also, I like the looks of these concrete bowls from Port Living Co., which come with cork bottoms and an air tight canister lid:
Finally a Place for Your Pepper Collection
To my eyes it appears that the manufacturer has really mastered the art of pouring and setting concrete because these look smooth and I don't think you can get concrete much smaller without adding a support structure like wire mesh inside.
What I don't like is the price on these containers. The $75 they want to charge for these could buy me a lot of air tight plastic food containers.
TL:DR: You can check out some kitchen things made out of concrete.
Things to go inside your dwelling, Part 1 - Clocks:
I often see things that catch my eye and make me think "that's something I would like to have when I grow up and have a place of my own". Well, I am grown up (physically, not so much in terms of maturity) and I can put whatever the hell I want to inside of my place. Unfortunately, this thought is often soon followed by sticker shock so I typically don't buy any of these things.
Part one of this compelling series on things I would like to own and may someday make myself in order to get exactly what I want at a price far lower than what a retail store would charge me explores the fascinating world of wall clocks. Here I will compile photos and links to products that I would like to either purchase or better yet knock off and construct by myself.
Why do I bother thinking about making my own clock you ask. Well here is how it plays out inside my head:
Any girl ever: "Nice clock."
Me: "I made that myself using parts salvaged from an old steamship."
Same girl: "I must have sex with you right now."
Anyway, I'm pretty sure that's how this will play out.
Also, clocks are easy to make. There are lots of stores out there that would be happy to sell you the mechanical devices that power the hands of an analogue style clock around in circles. The challenge is to find the right display to go with the store bought clockworks.
Below are some of my thoughts on existing clocks available for purchase these days:
I'm not sure why the image of the American Flag appears to be painted on a piece of old wood. Our Flag tends to be, well, you know, a flag. Also, having the numerals overlay with the stars on the flag bothers me. I think the designer could have just used dots to indicate the hours. Found here
Black and white goes with anything so your future girlfriend probably won't insist on throwing this away when the two of you move in together. Still, the chunky 12, 3, 6 and 9 marks just strike me as being wrong somehow. Why make these marks bigger? Why are these marks even present since the hours are designated with circles instead of dashed lines? I find this very busy for a minimal design.
Found here
It lists an address in London so you know it's fancy
Found here
At the risk of being labeled a steampunk nerd, I'll admit that I kinda like this. The problem I see is that the metal hands don't really stand out from the metal back of this piece, which, if I have to stare at it for more than a few seconds to tell the time, kills the functionality of the clock.
Found here
Again, I would like to see more contrast between the hands and the dial behind.
Found here
Why have three clocks all in the same place that all tell the exact same time?
Found here
Do I add them up and divide by three to get the average current time?
Found here
I like the metal look. I like that the hands contrast with the multi-colored backgrounds. It would bother me to have the 5 and 11 angled the way they are when all the other numerals aren't angled at all. Also, the multiple colors on this one might not gain the above mentioned significant other seal of approval.
No product page available
Pic used as a category shot but
doesn't exist in their catalog
To summarize, I prefer Roman Numerals over Arabic in most cases. The idea of having three clocks all done as part of one display piece intrigues me but only if they can be set to the time in three different areas, say the U.S.'s East Coast, West Coast and some foreign city. I like the idea of constructing such a clock out of metal. Gears are being used everywhere these days to make clock dials, which is a good enough look but I bet one could go further in sourcing materials from which to make a good looking clock.
