and the long walk continues

I worked on the design on of this house, but that was in another country...

The images on this blog have been either non-existent, or uninspired as of late. Yet another example of the ennui of the 21st century--the long, slow decay of art and culture, the degradation of morals, etc....I'm just feeling guilty because I haven't mowed my lawn in over two weeks. I suppose I'll do it one last time before the leaves fall so I look somewhat respectable. My wife pointed out that the phrase "keeping up with the Joneses" refers to Edith Wharton's family from the great gilded era in New York. The Joneses were extraordinarily wealthy and to aspire to be like them was one of the things that drove the inequity, greed, and corruption of that period. Nowadays, values have shifted and inequity deepened and broadened. No one in Edith Wharton's time could get Botox or owned a television set.

Things will persist for at least four more decades, in my opinion. The era of cheap, solar power will then be upon us.

modernity in a nutshell

A few days ago I was having a discussion with my father about the state of the world and prospects for the future. We concluded that that major difference between his generation and mine was the cost of energy. For most of his life, energy was cheap, and for most of mine it has been expensive--and will grow more costly as time goes by.

No more commentary on Steve Jobs except this: He had his moment in the sun, and I do not begrudge him for his success. His legacy will only significant for a few decades. That too, is modernity in a nutshell.

As a matter of form, I refer to "modernity" as the here and now, not the great heyday of Eliot, Hemingway, Joyce, Woolf, and Fitzgerald. If we can't own the word "modern" what point is there in even having it?

projections of future states (part IX)

The Boston Globe had an article today that raised questions about the revenue projections for the proposed Suffolk Downs Caesar's Casino. Naturally, the proponents of the project are sticking to their claim. They could turn out to be right if two things happen; inflation picks up and no significant competing venues are built nearby. In the meantime, I will side with those who are more conservative in their approach to the income promised by this venture.

In general, I have mixed feelings about organized gambling. People want to bet on things, and it seems to be ingrained in our nature. I am skeptical when politicians and business interests collude to promote these activities. (See item #2--Wall Street)

meanwhile at pixar studios

I'm listening to the radio right now. I feel that is a mistake. It's making me forget to do simple things, like load the picture for this blog post.

So, more Steve Jobs today. I'm finishing up the biography by Isaacson, so pretty soon, we won't have to be bothered by this drivel much longer.

This is the Pixar headquarters, which Jobs was instrumental in designing. He insisted on an atrium/hallway that would encourage collaborative meetings and chance encounters. I guess it's working. Bohlin designed it. It looks more practical than the Apple Stores.

the eichler legacy

So, Steve Jobs grew up in a house like this one. I'm impressed by the stylistic purity of Eichler's houses, and I can see the strong links to the Modernist continuum. These are very dated houses from the perspective of enclosure design and material usage (and probably seismic considerations). Also, a photo like this makes the design appear more like a fishbowl than it actually is.

I need to find out more about him. Royal Barry Wills had a stock plans that was stylistically similar.

the sixties

There's a line from Peter Fonda in  the movie The Limey, that goes something like this:

"It was a dream, not a place....that was the sixties....you could speak the language... And it was only '66 and early '67, that's all it was."

For me, the sixties reach out across the decades and place a heavy hand on all that seems to transpire in the present. I was never there, nor would I want to go there, but I feel that events of that period resonate more strongly than things that happened in the years preceding or following. The trippy dope fiends and the military created the computer age. The international efforts of the government were revealed as insane, naked aggression, and the bright light of the atomic age shone down on every living thing. Men walked on the moon.

I do not know if the world we live in today is more mad, or less.

thoughts on yesterday

Twelve years out. For a teenager in an American high school the events of that day must seem surreal. What spin do their textbooks put on it? The ongoing wars, which I know less about than I ought to, continue to cause havoc out of proportion to their inspiration. The walls of our prison in Cuba seem sturdy enough and there is certainly no trace of that body in the Indian Ocean--and what comfort does that give us? What sense of security have we gained, or given to others?

I picture an office worker that day, going through the ritual of the elevators, feeling glad to get to work on time, to have a job, to have someone to look forward to going home to that evening.