Monthly Archives

May 2009

I need this

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Cameron’s house from Ferris Bueller’s Day Off is for sale. Remember? With the Ferrari that careens out of the garage and into a ravine? That one. This one.

Cameron's House

I want this house bad. It’s gorgeous and still entirely contemporary in its mid-century retrofuturistic style. The furniture is even passable, though with a decór overhaul and few upgrades – namely, some better windows as I’m betting 1953 was not the most eco-friendly of times – this would be one flash tree house. I’d spend most of my time in that garage, of course…

(Thanks, Uncrate.)

Chestertown has found the internet

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It seemed inconceivable to me when I arrived here that Chestertown, by and large, wasn’t online. Sure, some restaurants had web pages. Sometimes you could find the dry cleaner’s phone number online. Occasionally the movie times at the glamorous Chester 5 were even correct when you found them. However, there was not really any sort of push for the community to use the web’s resources to make life easier for residents.

Well, with the advent of The Chestertown Spy it seems that the offline-only predilection of the Eastern Shore might finally be giving way, just in time for the second decade of the 21st century. Congratulations, Chestertown. May you even develop comprehensive online classifieds or a Craigslist next!

What the ghost?

General Entertainment, Unexplained by

My family and I put together a new version of the front flower bed. Dug out all of the river rocks, used the backhoe to remove overgrown holly bushes and other shrubberies and then planted a new tree, some ornamental grass and a rose bush. Oh, and dragged down a 1 ton boulder and then a half ton boulder for good measure. You know, the usual for my family.

After taking a few photos of the work done and Bailey perching on the larger of the megalithic decorations, we dumped things onto my mom’s MacBook and viewed the outcome of so much toil. However, we were not prepared for what we saw in the last of the images. Do you see what I’m talking about above?

How about now?

My mom has always been convinced that her father comes to visit from beyond the veil any time she takes on a new project, much as he would when he was alive. I’m inclined to believe her today.

Listen to this: Walking on a Dream by Empire of the Sun

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While watching Logo’s NewNowNext after work yesterday, I encountered the most remarkable of videos. (You can see it below or go straight to it on Vimeo.) What was this amazing world of spectacular colors and costumed insanity called Empire of the Sun? As always, I added it to my list to download after the show.

And I’m so very glad I did. I’ve talked about “Walking on a Dream” but I wasn’t prepared for the lush peculiarity of “Country” or the foreboding of “Half Mast.” The album art is bonkers and the music it wraps itself around does not deviate from the twirling, spinning path it prepares you for. If you think it looks kind of like a deranged IMAX movie poster, you’ve pretty much hit the way it sounds on the head, too.

Just avoid the last track “Without You.” It’s 80s ballad kitsch and it offends my sensibilities.

Good find, Kate

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Did you know that the Centers for Disease Control publishes its own line of health-centered e-cards? And that these e-cards are delightfully tacky in an Adult Swim kind of way? Neither did I, until Kate pointed them out to me in all of their stock photography glory. I highly encourage you to send someone you care about a CDC e-card right now. Like this one, for instance:

The Notificator

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Is this what hyper-connected internet users will have to fall back on after the energy grid takes a dump on us all? An interesting article I posted on my work blog:

Twitter Predecessor

Why leave the motherland?

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My family came to America sometime in the early 1800s, from what I understand. We don’t really talk about it anymore, though I’m sure it wouldn’t be too hard to trace back and I would be willing to bet that some far flung great aunt or second cousin has already pulled it off. However, what little I do know about my family lineage shows that most likely, the original immigrants were from around Freiburg, Germany. I know this because most everyone in my tiny hometown has stemmed from the founders of Fryburg, PA.

Now, I want you to pay special attention to two things about these places. I will illustrate with graphics:

In Freiburg one would be about 5 hours or less from numerous European cities, including Paris, Zurich and Milan. Not to mention great domestic places like Frankfurt and Berlin. That’s because Freiburg sits right on the border of Germany, Switzerland and France.

By comparison, Fryburg is in the middle of fucking nowhere. You’ll notice points of interest on the map like Oil City, Union City or Butler. These are not places where anyone sane would actually want to go, which you know if you’ve ever been to western PA. Unless, of course you want to buy crystal meth or heroine or have a hankering to see the remnants of 1960s downtowns that have been decimated by poverty and WalMart. Five hours in the car will put you in such exotic places as the outskirts of Philadelphia, the Chesapeake Bay or the flatlands of mid-Ohio.

To further compound my consternation with my ancestors’ decision to move, I’ve been hearing from the interwebs and real live Germans that Freiburg has become the sustainable gem of the Black Forest. Germans like going there because it’s relaxing, beautiful and progressive. So much could not be said of home. And, this article from today’s New York Times only rubs salt into the wound:

Germany Imagines Suburbs Without Cars

This would NEVER fly in Fryburg. I’d move to Germany but it seems that my forefathers didn’t think it necessary to continue speaking German. Or even to stay in touch with anyone from their home country.

I know what my first stop is when my time machine gets here.