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Jamie Awesome

Now Interrupting Your Regular Programming

With your permission, I’ll take a break from posting right now and enjoy the long weekend. On Tuesday, I will be on my way to Philly and NJ for work. That means that there will be no regular posts starting right now. I know, I know… I don’t know what you’re going to do with yourselves either, which is why I’m telling you now, so you have time to prepare.

Anyhow, it’s time for me to go enjoy the rainy weather and start packing. Your regular programming will resume by the end of next week, but for now, please feel free to plumb the archives.

Have a delightful weekend!

Jamie Awesome

One Alaskan’s Perspective

Wow. This is a very interesting article about McCain’s new running mate: Sarah Palin… taken from an Alaskan’s perspective.

A must read for those interested in politics.

The Elevator

Yesterday I saw over at Metal Hygiene a classic prank from Allen Funt’s ‘Candid Camera’: the victims enter the elevator with three actors who employ unusual activities during the ride. It clearly illustrates the influence group behavior has on an individual, especially in tight spaces.

People aren’t so different from sheeps after all. This prank reminds me of something that happened to me a year ago or so, which I will call:

On My Way Up… I Think

Place: Building condo on my way to visit a friend
Date: Saturday afternoon
Time: 3 o’clock-ish

I enter the elevator lobby. A man comes in and faces the control panel. He pushes the button to his final destination, and says:

Rider: ‘Hello! How are ya?’
Me: ‘Oh. I’m fine, thanks… you?’
Rider: ‘Good, good. Where are you heading?’
Me: ‘Ninth floor, please. Thanks!’

The man doesn’t push the button, and mind you, the control panel is right in front of him. He then says:

Rider: ‘Ugh! I am exhausted! Lately I’ve been working seven days a week and over 12 hours each day. But I’m finally home now.’
Me: ‘Well, that’s good. Uh… are you going to push nine for me?’

He doesn’t move, but says:

Rider: ‘Oh! You’re with so-and-so? Say hello to her for me! On your way here, can you please bring us a bottle of wine and some capers? Yeah, man. See you in a bit!’.

He was talking to somebody else on his wireless headset all along and I didn’t notice because he was facing the wall. How embarrassing is that?!

You Know What Sucks?

Going to the doctor last Wednesday and getting a giant needle jammed directly into my elbow. I am certainly not a fan of needles to begin with, and I thought the needle process was going to be fast, but no. The doctor wanted to test me for allergies, thyroid, and a few other things. I asked him if it was going to be quick and he said:

‘Quick? Ha! Just look away and a few seconds later it’s done. You won’t feel a thing.’

Well, let me tell you that my doctor is a mega liar. For all the tests to be done, the lab technician needed about 6 capsules of blood from me, which took an eternity a lengthy amount of minutes to get.

I felt like I had a giant fishhook jammed into my elbow getting all the blood I had. I am back to the doctor’s office in two weeks… and I’m not happy about it.

McCain And Who?

Yesterday I learned that John McCain picked Alaska Governor Sarah Palin as his Vice-Presidential running mate. I am surprised and not surprised about it.

I know nothing about Palin, but she’s a woman, which is fantastic. This country will either have an African-American President or a female Vice-President and it’s about time! This is the kind of history that should have been made a long time ago.

(Click unless you have really good eyes.)

Interesting and smart move, right? I can clearly see why McCain made this choice.

• He’s trying to attract those former Hillary fans.
• He wanted to keep the conservatives happy.
• He wanted someone who’s young and dynamic.

Fair enough. But I am assuming that John McCain really analyzed who Palin is, her believes and abilities, before making his decision. While researching about Sarah Palin online, I learned that she is a member of the NRA and likes to hunt and fish. She also supports drilling for oil in the Alaskan National Wildlife Refuge.

It’s a big risk taken by our oldest ever candidate for president. But it might work.

What do you guys think?

From The Music Department: Going Old School

Back in 1982, Grandmaster Flash and The Furious Five were definitely ahead of their time. Great song, great beats… just perfect.

You’re welcome.

The Next Generation House

This little folly is called the Next Generation House, designed by Sou Fujimoto Architects. The concept is a house built with Jenga blocks overlooking the River Kuma in Kumakura, Japan.

The cube is aproximately 13’x13’x13′ in size and formed by big pieces of cedar logs which allow to create your own seating space. Simplicity, craftmanship and joinery are the main characteristics of Japanese architecture. Beautiful!

Via Notcot.org 
Photo credit: Iwan Baan.

The Wonderful New York City

Wow! I just love this commercial…

… and I love NYC too.

A Floating Weekend Retreat

Take a look at this sweet little floating getaway home, located somewhere in the Swedish Archipelago. It is a summer houseboat were a husband and wife escape to on weekends, but definitely not child resistant.

It even has a little motor on the back and a flip-up steering wheel on the roof for whenever you wish to move it. Sweet, huh?

Here’s the website (in what I think it’s Swedish).

Via Materialicious
Photo credit Johan Carlson

What’s The Big Deal?

I have never seen “The Hills” on the tele. I have never seen “Laguna Beach” either. But I watch TMZ on occasion and it makes me wonder…

What’s the big deal about Heidi Montag?!

She dropped out of college after one day because she ‘didn’t feel like going’. She calls herself “humble” and a “small town girl”, but she’s had work done on several areas of her body. She and her boyfriend, known as Speidi, are often photographed out and about because the couple pays the paparazzi to take their photos. She doesn’t do anything, so…

What’s the big deal?! This is how much I care:

A Whole Lot Of Randomness

• Forget about the pumpkin soup from Atlanta Bread Company! My favorite ABC dish is the Balsamic Bleu Salad.

  

  Am I the only one who loves this salad? Think about the sliced apples, the romaine, the pecans, the blue cheese, the sun dried cranberries… Not that you would care because you probably hate vegetables. And you know what? Vegetables hate you too.

  Seriously. What’s wrong with you? This salad is delicious and nutritious. Where are you getting your vitamins? You probably aren’t. I could probably say a lot more but you’ll be dead soon from vitamin deficiency so I won’t.

  [Note to Atlanta Bread Company: Am I getting a discount next time I visit?]

• This section doesn’t deserve its own posting, but let’s give it a title anyways. Let’s call it:

  The New McDonald’s Ad is McHideous

  McDonald’s has come up with this new ad.

  

  Apparently they’re promoting finger fat as French fries. Guys, I am no advertisement guru here but from a design standpoint, I thought that food ads had to be, uh… appetizing, right?


(Click my creation para mas grwandei.)

• Have you guys noticed that Mr. Clean man only appears when the lady of the house is home alone? During the commercials there’s never a husband or boyfriend around. Confirming what I’ve been suspecting for a while: Mr. Clean is evidently a major playa.

Seriously. I personally don’t use Mr. Clean but you can clearly see on the tele how he just materializes into any house he wants at any time… What a phenomenon! Check out the flirtatious eye contact between the lady of the house and this dude.

• Can you believe that some girls out there are actually attracted to Rob Schneider? He’s little and ugly and has a bad haircut, so I don’t know what the deal is. You girls have issues. Get some help.

Serial No. 3817131

Rachel Papo is an Ohio-born Israeli photographer who began photographing young women in the army in 2004. She served two years as a military photographer in the Israeli Air Force starting when she was eighteen before returning to the US.

Her latest photo essay project is called Serial No. 3817131, named after her own ID number during service. It displays the everyday life of an 18 year-old soldier girl in Israel during her mandatory two-year military service. 

Check out Rachel Papo’s website for the full photo slideshow.

Via Boing Boing

Gehry’s Serpentine Pavilion Unveiled

I’m a bit late with this article, but hey! It’s never too late, right? This is the end result of Frank Gehry’s Serpentine Pavilion.

I was a little bit skeptical about this design, but not bad at all. It looks interesting. What do you think?

Cutting The Impossible

This is how to cut an impossible figure on paper, in other words, realistically shaping an impossible object. Here’s the cut-out on PDF format:

(Click for maxi-view)

Here’s the end result:

Via LuTerceiro

A Greenhouse With Doors… Lots Of Them!

My blogger friend Janie’s husband (a.k.a HBL) designed and constructed this beautiful greenhouse made out of recycled doors. Neat, right! It was built with the help of their friends and family.

Most (if not all) of the doors have a lookout window, giving the little house almost a complete 360 degree view of the surroundings… especially of the beautiful lake. Great job, HBL!

For more info, check out their blog ‘Midlife Slices’  for details.

[It’s never too late, Janie. Thank you! Your blog is amusing.]

Photo credit: Midlife Slices

National Debt

This is the trailer of a documentary about national debt: a topic that is growing rapidly but is greatly ignored. Would it have the same exposure of ‘Fahrenheit 911’? We’ll see.

Scary.

A Chair Without Legs

I received an email earlier today with a link to this magnificent chair. The Kasara chair by Aloke Pillai, was designed with the idea of creating a leg-less chair of minimalist style. The designer is working on a bench form of this design, suitable for public places. Nice, huh?

Check out Aloke Pillai’s website for more info.

Don’t Bother Explaining Your Side Of The Issue

I cannot believe this! A preacher tries to calmly explain how he, like everyone else, wants to take measures reducing emissions. This as long as they don’t negatively affect his poor community.

All of a sudden, when he politely finishes, a senator snaps back (I mean, interrupted) rudely.

Via Press Democrat

The Death Of The Email Generation

Here’s an interesting article about the death of the email generation by Chad Lorenz.

I definitely consider myself from the email generation. I still remember when I got my first email address in 1996 at my school computer lab.

I used to have a MySpace page for about two years until I closed recently. For the last 9 months or so, it was only there for show. I tell my friends and family that the best way to contact me is via phone or email. I really don’t need yet another place to go to look for messages (I’ve already got three email accounts).

Plus instant messaging doesn’t appeal to me. For the office, I personally think email is much better… there’s less ‘how r u doing?’ fluff. It gets down to business. If I want to talk to you for a long time, I’m going to pick up the phone and call you. Bam!

And let’s not even talk about texting! Wow, I guess this is a sign that I’m getting old, huh?

The Magnificent Lexus Nuaero

Check out this beauty! It’s the brand new Lexus Nuaero, designed by Swedish automotive designer Jon Rådbrink.

The design concept is a catamaran-shaped car, which was exhibited at the Royal College of Art graduation show in London last month.

This super car has motors in the wheels, a touch-screen dashboard where the information and controls can be moved around, and is driven only by hand without the use of foot pedals. In other words, to break, the driver pushes the steering wheel away from their body.

Here’s a video of Rådbrink’s design:

Via Dezeen

Why Do You Fall So Weak And Slow?

Some of the spam email I get cracks me up. It’s not the content… I actually never open them. It’s more about the creative titles used in the subject lines. To give you an example, here’s a recent shot of my bulk mail folder:

Apparently spammers don’t know that I am a girl… and a straight one.

This Title Made Perfect Sense At The Time. Now I’m Not So Sure.

• I don’t know much about surfing, but I bumped into this magnificent video of the biggest wave ever ridden. Let me tell you… it is amazing! Check it out!

 

Looking for info on the biggest wave ever, this is what I found on WikiAnswers:

Cortez Bank, Mike Parsons officially surfed the biggest wave ever on January 5, 2008, photographed surfing a wave that the Billabong XXL judged to be 70+ feet, which should put him in the Guinness Book of World Records.

• I came across this article showing a collection of families from around the world with their food supply for one week. It is interesting and sad at the same time.

PS: Wow, that Mexican family drinks a lot of Coke!

• I bought a new bottle of dishwashing liquid on my last visit to the grocery store. After I got home, I noticed this new label:

  

  Okay, my question is, how do you know if it’s working? I guess I’ll just have to take their word for it unless you have an electron microscope. At least I sleep better at night knowing that all my unseen food residue is being eliminated.

An Open Letter To That Turtle Crossing The Road

Dear Mr. Turtle,

What in the World is up with you trying to cross the road during rush hour?! Why would you attempt to cross a busy road slowly? You might need a watch or something to figure out your ETA… oh, that’s right! You guys don’t have watches, or wrists for that matter.

I remember one time in college where I had to stop the car, grab and help one of your friends (well, my ex-boyfriend did) to get to the other side of the road before he got killed. And let me tell you, you guys can fight back. That little guy didn’t want to go where is safe.

So yeah, like I said before, don’t try to cross the street during rush hour. Your speed blows! If you need to cross the road badly, wait for an off peak time like 3 am before a tropical storm warning or something. Remember you’re slow, so plan ahead. Also, don’t stop and turn into a ball to take a break when you’re half way across.

I am glad you crossed the road safely after all, but hopefully you’ll spread the word among your turtle friends.

Sincerely,

Jamie Awesome

Comfortable: Yes Or No?

Here I present you the Pipedream seating system designed by LYX. From the website:

The Pipedream seating system from LYX turns any open area into an exciting place. The parallel tubes – one used as seat and the other as backrest – winds through the room like a friendly pipe grid. The effect is spectacular, softly forcing people to want to sit down even if they had not planned to – offering a short time of contemplation and reflection in a fast paced world. A combination of high-density foams makes it surprisingly comfortable. And since it’s available in a number of upholsteries and leg materials it fits into any environment. With white leather and chromed legs it enhances any designer hotel lobby. And with a cool +100 000 Martindale fabric it belongs in any design oriented space with intensive human traffic.

I am curious as to how comfortable this is.