ARCHITECTURE FOR HUMANITY - SUPPORT SUSTAINABLE EARTHQUAKE RECONSTRUCTION IN HAITI

Here is a link to ARCHITECTURE FOR HUMANITY. Please go to it and learn how you can help to rebuild Haiti.  Also, here is a link to a book on the innovative homes that were rebuilt after Hurricane Kattrina in Biloxi Mississippi.

                                      

REBUILDING AFTER DISASTER: The Biloxi Model Home Program

‘Blue Latitudes': Adventuring In The Pacific

http://www.tonyhorwitz.com/

Link to the Book on Amazon

How much do we really know about Captain Cook?  What school has taught us might be that he was an English Explorer, or that he was killed in Hawaii.  Why should we care?  I was blissfully unaware of so many of his contributions to the knowledge of the world and its peoples and his great skills as a map maker, navigator, diplomat, envoy, explorer and sailor.  Three multi-year voyages throughout the Pacifc Ocean and around the world tours bringing him home to England, one starts to realize that this man, Captain James Cook, was nothing short of extraordinary when reading Pulitzer Prize winning author Tony Horwitz's book.

After visiting Alaska and seeing his stamp on the place,  Captain Cook, Hawaii, as well as sailing through Tahiti on The Paul Gauguin, one realizes that to be the first visitor to these locales in the 18^th century was an astounding accomplishment.  I became fascinated to learn more about him.  What Tony Horwitz does in Blue Latitudes, is to retrace many of Cook’s footsteps with an Australian sidekick and at times a historian or two, interspersing the history with real time experiences, centuries later. 

Trying to piece together the life and voyages of one of the greatest adventurers of all time, one realizes what an extraordinary impact this man had on the world as we know it.  Merely look at the styles and trends in art and design in the 18^th century in England, their awareness of Polynesia, and tropical flora and fauna….this all came from Cooks voyages

This humorous and entertaining read is chock full of history, past and current cultural phenomenon and a big dose of reality that we know so little about such an extraordinary and intrepid explorer.  Kudos to Tony Horwitz, this book was just a joy to read.

Inadvertently, we have traced Cooks steps on three separate trips, one to Tahiti on The Paul Gauguin, in Hawaii snorkeling in the very bay where he was killed, and in Alaska where Cook had some of his greatest weather and navigational challenges.  We have been so lucky to see these places in our lifetime, it is just amazing to think what it must have been like to be the very first European visitor to most of the places Cook explored in the 1700's.  

Cook's Cove Moorea, Tahiti

The Paul Gauguin off of Moorea in the Tahitian Islands

The Big Island, Hawaii, Kealakekua Bay the place of Cook's Demise
We like the Four Season's Hualalai

The rocks where Cook was murdered

Anchorage, Alaska on the Cook Inlet

Winterlake and Winterlake Lodge  a short Float Plane Flight from Anchorage

The mode of transport around the environs of the Winterlake Lodge is Helicopter

The only way in to Winterlake Lodge is via Float Plane or Ski Plane 

Captain James Cook

Holiday Decorations: The Aluminum Christmas Tree and My eBay Remorse!

Here's a Link for this Cool Book "Seasons Gleamings the Art of the The Aluminum Christmas Tree"

The story is this. Gregg and I live in a Modernist House in Montecito, Ca. We have decorated this home with all collectable modernist furnishings and art from galleries ranging from Paris, New York,  Los Angeles, San Francisco, Phoenix, Palm Springs,  and Santa Barbara. All of the furniture is collectable mid-century modern furniture. Sooo, I got a bug this year to get a vintage "Silver" christmas tree with rotating color wheel et all. Honestly, because I really don't have the energy or vibe to decorate a 10' tree this year, plus I'm a Mad Men freak which is spilling over into my design cravings. I go to check it out on ebay and sure enough some gal had just bought a vintage aluminum tree with a real authentic color wheel from 1960, it was in perfect condition. She stated in comments on ebay that she had purchased it earlier that day at an estate sale (garage sale) somewhere in Ohio. She was selling it on ebay because her husband was harassing her about it so she was willing to to "give it away" for $250.00, just to shut her husband up. She stated it was too late for her to list it with the BUY IT NOW option. I bit her bate and put in a bid just below $250. There was only 20 minutes left the auction, so I brought my laptop to the dinner table.....big mistake. Evidently the bidding was non-existent until I put a bid in, needless to say, while I ate a beautifully prepared, um, whatever it was, with my nose in the bidding war that ensued, I turned to Gregg, who had the made the beautiful prepared dinner, whatever it was, as asked him if I should go over $425...he said I should do is just go away. It sold for $423 and not to me. This was a total cart before the horse scenario for me, I was into buying this on instinct based on this gals story (which I totally believed) and my instinct that this color wheel was rare. Subsequently I have done a bunch more research and boy, were my instincts correct. I'm sure some hipster in Palm Springs is going to be very  happy with his Gleaming Pink, Blue and Green Tree!

Designer Garage - Cyber Monday Gift Ideas for the Car Guy/Gal

We designed this garage for the person who likes to tinker with toys with motors. This garage also happens to be designed with special outlets for catering companies who will basically install a kitchen in the Garage for large catered parties, thus the restaurant sink. I found the flooring and Cabinets at an web order based company in Chicago called Car Guy Garage. This company has fantastic gift ideas for people into cars. The sink and sprayer are from a commercial restaurant kitchen supplier.  This is a great resource and a very cool site. 

Also Check out this link to Great Books on Ultimate Garages! 

I know it sounds dorky, but it is really hip.

Lisa See: Shanghai Girls,an Historical Novel about Life in China - Put it on a Kindle

Conjuring images of luxury, beauty, design and style then tempered by suffering, ugliness, triumph, then ultimately, reality. In a timeless, fascinating read that illuminates so much hidden history in a such a short time. Fundamentally this is a story about Sisters and Family.  This New York Times best seller is a perfect gift for the holidays, Hardcover, Mp3 download or for Kindle. Here's a link to the Amazon Kindle Edition.

One of those books you cant put down, Shanghai Girls by Lisa See, is a very insightful and at times educational read about the phenomenon in Shanghai in the 1930’s.  Set against the backdrop of ‘Paris of the East’ as the Japanese invaded and took control of the region in the 1930’s.  The life of the Shanghainese was likened to those of Paris at the time.  Glamour, style, design and cuisine were key elements to the life in the City at the time.  Lisa See in Shanghai Girls paints the canvas of the beautiful daughters of a successful merchant, whose greatest worry is where to be on a weekend night and what to wear.  These girls were a phenomenon at the time, and LeRoy Shields Orchestra created an international hit in 1930 called ‘Sing Song Girls’ based upon these beauties and the international sensation it created in Shanghai at the time.

The Vintage Shanghai photos on this YouTube Video are terrific!

But as the City falls, and as the Second World War progresses,  the girls are married off to American Chinese and are eventually shipped to Angel Island in San Francisco Bay, where many immigrants landed at the time.  Their families are killed off and they are alone.  Alone with no money in a time when women, particularly Chinese women were only property. Ultimately ending up in Chinatown in Los Angeles at the time of the growth of the film industry in the 1940’s, the ancient Chinese protocol and culture clash with the reality of the times and the two great beauties of Shanghai, whose world is blown up and they must make their way as working class girls.

 How appropriate that given Chinas growth and stature as a nation, that this tale told of the superficiality and shallowness of a pair of sisters who dwell upon appearance and material gain are stripped of everything and are left with only their will and determination.  Set in a post war California backdrop, cast with a poorly educated American populace, these two Shanghai girls forge their way in an intolerant society and illustrate the challenges of women in general, and particularly immigrant women with no education…..how appropriate parallels can be drawn to our current times, of a multinational country foraging for a place in the world society.

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Holiday Gift Idea: The Most Beautiful Villages and Towns of the Southwest

Two wonderful books by Joan Tapper with Photographs by Nik Wheeler.  If you love travel, design and great photography these books are a visual travel adventure and make great coffee table books!  

The Most Beautiful Villages and Towns of the Southwest at Amazon

"From pueblos to Victorian storefronts to ski resorts: a vision of the southwest that evokes both America's frontier heritage and the expansive vistas of its future" Nik Wheeler's photo essays include Route 66, Native American Culture, The Southwest and the Movies. From Thames & Hudson.

The Most Beautiful Villages and Towns of California at Amazon

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