A New Place to Drive

. We watched Greenberg a few weeks ago (highly recommended...and a more comprehensive Noah Baumbach post is long overdue). In one scene Duran Duran's "The Chauffeur" plays, and it reminded me of the video, which is kind of a cross between Helmut Newton and Under the Cherry Moon. Here it is – possibly NSFW:


Duran Duran "The Chauffeur" from Rio (1982, Harvest?! / Capitol)

Image of the Day

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Etsuko Ichikawa & Laura Ward: Smoldering, 2010 (Paper, burned mark) – from Bloom & Collapse, a collection of collaborations curated by Susanna Bluhm and Amanda Manitach, on view at SOIL Gallery in Seattle through February 26.

Precious / Throwaway

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"Caroline & Julia at Dior " from the Korean street fashion blog Street FSN

Last April I posted about a forum at SFMoMA which posed the question "Is Photography Over?" to a number of highly respected critics, scholars, and practitioners in the field, including Peter Galassi, Joel Snyder, Vince Aletti, Jennifer Blessing, and Philip-Lorca diCorcia. Here's video from that event, in two parts – it's long but worth a listen if you're interested in critical thinking on photography.



If you get through the first video and want more (you nerd!) here are links to the rest of the videos: 2 | 3 | 4 | 5

What Are You Running Away From

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Maria Schneider in Last Tango in Paris


Maria Schneider with Jack Nicholson in The Passenger

Best Foot Forward

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A debt of inspiration is clearly owed to Alexander McQueen's spring 2010 collection. Toned down, yes, but nonetheless looking suitable only for photo shoots, or lounging around the apartment, or at home on your bedroom mantel. Still, it's much more fun to be impractical, non?

Iris Van Herpen x United Nude, only 100 pairs made.
$1295 through Solestruck.

h/t to Kyle Johnson & fashiontoast.

Image of the Day

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Justin Colt Beckman: Stop or I'll Shoot (detail), 2011 (Digital C-Print, 24x18 inches), from Beckman's new show, Moving Target, opening tonight at Punch Gallery in Seattle.

More at Justin Colt Beckman's website and wickedly curated tumblr.

The Ant Farm

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Reason no. 86,078 to read the Obituaries section of the New York Times:

Milton M. Levine, 97, inventor of the Ant Farm. I always wanted one of those things and never got one. Someone had to invent that idea for it to exist and his name was Milt Levine.

The thing I like about reading the obituaries, and I know I've said this before, is that you get to read about ordinary people who in the course of their lives did extraordinary things – or even just one extraordinary thing. But maybe they also had a crummy childhood, went to war, figured some stuff out, moved around, worked a bunch of places, had some kids, failed, succeeded. It's interesting to read about people's whole lives – regular or famous – after they're over.



Reason no. 99,123: John Barry, who died last week at the age of 77. The dude composed the music for (among many others) Midnight Cowboy, Body Heat, and all the James Bond films until they started sucking. Before that he was married to Jane Birkin.

Exactly.

Anyway I think it's pretty fascinating to look back on a person's entire life, almost no matter who the person is. If you don't think that's morbid you can read more obituaries here. Also interesting is a 2008 interview with obituary writer Bruce Weber.

Image of the Day

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Perry Woodfin: Can Artists Really Make Money? (2010, Watercolor on paper, 24" x 32"). Up for auction February 19th as part of the Artist Trust 2011 Benefit at Seattle Center.

More of his work here.

Also, Perry is my uncle.

Let There Be Light

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Kuhns house exterior at night
University of Washington Libraries, Special Collections, Hupy 5181-6

Photographs by Art Hupy (1924 – 2003) of beautiful mid-century homes in and around Seattle (many if not all designed by architects trained at the University of Washington), from the UW Libraries' Special Collections digital image archive. It's well worth a visit; much more here.

Gene Zema house showing living room, Seattle, ca. 1966.
University of Washington Libraries, Special Collections, Hupy 4226-28

Lovett House exterior, Hilltop neighborhood,* Bellevue, WA.
University of Washington Libraries, Special Collections, Hupy 5157-4

Hodge House interior showing living room.
University of Washington Libraries, Special Collections, Hupy 5180-5

Hodge house interior showing living room.
University of Washington Libraries, Special Collections, Hupy 5180-1

Morse House at night, Hilltop neighborhood, Bellevue, WA (built 1948).
University of Washington Libraries, Special Collections, Hupy 5155-9

Morse house interior showing living and dining room.
University of Washington Libraries, Special Collections, Hupy 5155-6

Perry Johansen house courtyard, ca. 1955
University of Washington Libraries, Special Collections, Hupy 4222-18

Prechek house, exterior, Hilltop neighborhood, Bellevue, WA (built 1952).
University of Washington Libraries, Special Collections, Hupy 5153-2

Prechek house, living room.
University of Washington Libraries, Special Collections, Hupy 5153-5

Smith house exterior, Hilltop neighborhood, Bellevue, WA (built 1949).
University of Washington Libraries, Special Collections, Hupy 5152-6

Smith house interior.
University of Washington Libraries, Special Collections, Hupy 5152-2

Thomas Graham house interior showing living room, Seattle, 1956.
University of Washington Libraries, Special Collections, Hupy 6169-1

Webster house, living room, Port Angeles, WA (Paul Kirk, architect).
University of Washington Libraries, Special Collections, Hupy 5120-14

*According to UW Libraries:

Hilltop is the second-oldest cooperative residential development in King County. It was established in 1947, founded by individuals who, after bypassing conventional real estate developers, planned a community that was founded on the desire to utilize principles of modern planning and architectural design to enhance the natural beauty of each home site and to make possible a sharing of benefits and opportunities among the members on as equal and democratic a basis as possible. Founding members intended that site plans and buildings should have a straightforward contemporary character and that there should be no racial restrictions and no requirements as to the size or cost of homes. [Source: A half-century on the hill: collected memories from 50 years of community living. Edited by Connie Reed, et al. Hilltop, Wash.: Hilltop Community, 1998?].

Charles Anderson, a Seattle-based architect who resides in Hilltop, provides an interesting summary of the community's beginnings here. An excerpt:

Having lived in a ‘contemporary’ [John] Morse designed house for more than 40 years, [resident Victor] Scheffer had this to say: “If I may speak for the founders, I suggest that ‘contemporary’ is functional, designed more for comfort, utility, and internal beauty than for display. As though to acknowledge humankind’s primal link to the planet, it favors the use of natural materials such as wood and stone, complemented by the lightness of space... It stands for honest construction... It expresses the richness of simplicity." . . . [E]ach site was established not as a piece of property, but as a specific place in the landscape. Each place had a floor elevation that had a precise relationship to the site. The first community plan drawing depicted each site as a rectangular platform with a number in feet above sea level. The physical manifestation of the Hilltop dwellings began as conceptual camping platforms where the early community members hiked and explored. This initial idea carried through to the design of many of the actual houses. Some are concrete slab-on-grade (left exposed) while others hover as slightly elevated wooden platforms.

Happy Birthday Stan Getz

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Stan Getz & Luiz Bonfá, "Saudade Vem Correndo"
from Jazz Samba Encore! (1963, Verve Records), with Maria Toledo (Bonfá's wife) on vocals.

Bonus:

Yes the Tide

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Whidbey Island weekend

Mandatory stop at the Conway Pub on the way up for a late Saturday lunch

My mom and aunt Shan looking at my grandpa Don's agates Sunday morning

Beach glass with type, my favorite

One of the cooler natural structures, especially collectively

Rodarte x Penn Cove

My uncle Perry, aunt Shan, Emily, and my mom near one of our older family friends,
a gigantic stump

Sentries on the cliff

Harley the dog after checking out this washed-up tangle

Double-page spread version of the top photo

One of two small agates I found on the beach

Fornasetti x Whidbey Island

Kabuki fish (no South Park)

Primary colors

Wood box

Is This Local?

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Just in the off-chance that no one has heard about this yet: "Portlandia" on IFC. Not always funny, but generally awkward and worth watching.

[see also]

Need vs. Want

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ACNE Dolphin oversized dress, $442.40 at Matches. Want.

Image of the Day

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La Lupe and friends (including Tito Puente, second from right) in Venezuela, 1965 – one of many great photos included in La Lupe: Puro Teatro, the most comprehensive collection ever of the Cuban-born singer's music, designed by yours truly, with A&R and re-mastering by Wax Poetics, and recently released by Fania Records. Check out a review of Puro Teatro on today's edition of Fresh Air, at NPR.org.

Bay of Pigs

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Exciting development on the breakfast-scape: Bays English Muffins appear to be making inroads to the Northwest (these ones were spotted in the Oak Harbor Safeway). I'm serious, Bays are the best English muffins known to man, eat one and think of me.