WE LOVE CHARLEY HARPER

Here are a few pics from the CHARLEY HARPER EVENT AT THE TODD OLDHAM BY LA-Z-BOY STORE Thursday night.
Charley was on hand to sign art and view the textile collection inspired by his art. At 84, Charley is still making art with his latest , a new poster for Cape May just being completed.

A TODD OLDHAM BY LA-Z-BOY CHAIR with Charley Harper inspired Ladybug fabric.
GRAND CANYON
WHITE SANDS NEW MEXICO

The birds of Charley also grace the packaging of COFFEE FOR THE BIRDS. Check out this entire website.

LINKS
CHARLEY HARPER BIO
TREADWAY GALLERY
NATURE'S NICHE
TODD OLDHAM BY LA-Z-BOY

NATURE #092406

SPOTLIGHT ON FERNS AND FRONDS







The above ferns begin as dark purple fronds which turn green when they unfurl.


Here I am walking along a fern coverd ridge in Maui's Iao Valley which started out as the purple fronds.



These ferns actually begin as fire red fronds and change to green as they mature.

I LIKE YOU...UPDATE

The highly anticipated book "I LIKE YOU...HOSPITALITY UNDER THE INFLUENCE " by Amy Sedaris is set to hit the stores on October 15th. Here is a link to the I LIKE YOU VIDEO SPOT on Amazon. The link to watch the video is kinda hard to find... but it is on the top half right under the photo. Look for Amazon.com Exclusives tag line. Order your copy TODAY!

CELE-PRETTIES

Here are some fantastic celebrity portraits form my good friend Bonnie Bryant. We met at THE SCHOOL OF THE ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO way back in 1985/86. We got to hang out in New York for a few yaers before she headed back to New Mexico. She has done work for British Vogue, Gemma Kahng, Janovic and Harpers Bazaar. She is AMAZING at capturing the likeness of people as you can see here. Can you guess who they are?

NATURE #091706

One of our favorite things on TV is the nature segment on CBS SUNDAY MORNING. So as an homage to that show, we are going to start a Sunday morning nature post.

Not usually the first to like ANY reptile of ANY KIND... it is odd that I would post these little guys first. There is just something about these gecko's... as they are called in Hawaii, that make me laugh. They have this tough guy attitude yet would not harm you at all. All images were taken in the Hawaiian Islands of Kauai, Maui and the Big Island.
I love the blue around it's eyes. It reminds me of my 8th Grade English teacher... her eyeshadow looked just like this.




Above is a Jackson Chameleon. After 6 trips, this is the first one we saw in June 2006.


This one just reminds me of an old man. It looks as if it were about to say..." Get out of my yard".

CALIFORNIA FREAKOUT (IN PARIS?)

Ok you gotta make it through the slow part, then it kicks into full-on 60s high-gear with what seems like Rachel spacing out into an acid trip set in a bizarre gargantuan sculpture park. Thanks Chad!

OLD, NEW, BORROWED, BLUE..... ER UH RED

Again I found myself organizing stuff and ran across these wedding photo's from the 60's / 70's that I bought from a thift shop in Santa Monica. Don't ask me why I bought them... I just had to have them. They couldn't be more dull if they tried. Look at the sad curtains on the windows and the shot with Dad is just creepy with that small bit of door showing. Mom looks like she had a doll or two and the Bride and Maid of Honor look as if they are the ones getting married.

USE IT OR LOOSE IT

As I was organizing a stack of pages I had torn out of magazines, I came across this link to
THE MUSEUM OF USEFUL THINGS. I am looking forward to ordering this needle threader from The MUT. I just hope they are still around since the last exhibit they had was in 2003. In any case, I think it's a great stop for useful gifts.

ONE RINGY DINGY....

As we find ourselves with no hi-speed internet service this week, we are FORCED to use a DIAL UP ACCOUNT and will not be doing any new posts until after Thursday September 7th. That is if the cable company can correct the problem. Please bear with us.

*photo from oldphones.com

QUIET BEAUTY

I've been meaning to add this post for a few weeks. Please stop by my friend and photographer JASON FRANK ROTHENBERG'S site and enjoy the quiet beauty of his photographs. I happen to be the proud and lucky owner of this image. Thanks Jason!

ADD IT UP

I'm sure this has been out there for awhile, but I just got this link to the BIRTHDAY CALCULATOR from my aunt. It's pretty cool... I always forget what my Chinese New Year animal is, and for good reason... it's the year of the snake. It also gives you lots of other information about the day / year you were born like your birthstone, what phase the moon was in and even breaks down your age into total seconds.

AN INCONVIENT TRUTH

OK... I know this is not new, but after being in Indiana last week and talking to friends and family I am still surprised that more people have not gone to see this film. An Inconvenient Truth is a must see. Click here to find out WHAT YOU CAN DO to reduce your impact at home. Spread the word.

ROW, ROW, ROW YOUR BOAT...

Yesterday our office took a field trip and went rafting down the Delaware River. It was a perfect day and we were lucky enough to see a Bald Eagle soar overhead. It was an adult with a wing span of at least 6'. Here you can just make it out in the bottom photo. Click to enlarge.

SING LIKE A BIRD

CONGRATULATIONS to my cousin Andrea! She just opened "THE SING SHOP" in Avon, Indiana. You can get private voice lessons, rent a studio and make your own vocal cd or rent it out for karaoke parties...and she already has quite a following of students. Keep an eye out for the website which I will be designing and posting for her very soon.

SAY CHEESE!

Last Thursday I left left town and headed back home to Indiana for my family reunion.
Well after my flight got delayed hour after hour, they finally cancelled my flight at midnight and I eneded up sleeping in the airport. Then boarded a flight to Boston at 6:00 Am and made it home at 11:30 AM. ARGH!!!!


Anyway, here are a few pics of my second cousin Savannah. I looked over at her and there she was divining into this large tub of cheese balls and filling her plastic cup. Remember when you were a kid and had not a care in the world? Well, except for getting caught doing something you were'nt supposed to be doing? When dirty hands didn't matter?


And here is Ella right after she licked all the icing off here cake. The next words out of her mouth were... "I want another one."


Here we have Olivia carrying a cicada in two plastic cups. Love the hot pink satin disco shorts.


And finally, here was what I saw at the end of the day in the trash can. Now you just know there was a sad little girl out there who cried all the way home.

REMODEL SURVIVORS

When my friend Jenny and I drove across the country back in 1996, I hopped out in Salt Lake City, she continued on to Seattle where she has more-or-less remained since. You learn a lot about a person when you drive across the country with them. I learned that Jenny has great resolve and humour in the face of potential disaster. Case in point: the night in Kansas when we had to abandon our campsite to seek shelter in the men's toilet of a campground to escape the threat of a tornado. Jenny had the wits about her to ask the older couple in the stall next to us to take our picture to commemorate the sheer ridiculousness of our predicament. So i shouldn't be surprised that she was able to withstand the grueling strain of a 6 year remodel on the Seattle home she shares with her beau, Rob. And i am pleased to see that the Seattle Times also recognized this amazing feat by doing a story on them for their home and garden insert called Digs. I just love the pic of her on the cover holding the drill. The article paints a very good picture of the pitfalls and landmines they had to face. I'm so proud of her. Also, there is a good side bar on how to tackle a remodel without trashing a relationship.

Hailstones & Halibut Bones

This animation says Sunday morning to me. It's called Hailstones & Halibut Bones from NBC's "Exploring" series from 1966. The narrator sounds like Miss Ellie from Dallas--but i don't think it is. It's all about colors and the artwork in it is great. It was made by Fine Arts Films which was founded by award-winning animator John D. Wilson in 1955. I found the link through Cartoon Modern, a great site if you're into mid-century animation.

Click here to go to the page on Fine Arts Films site where you can watch the animation. Just click on the still of the boy with an olive in his mouth.

VAN SHE BOPS

Van She has been haunting me. I saw a video for their song "Kelly" and it made me uncomfortable. In same way that finding an old trapper keeper decorated with your sketches of gnomes and unicorns would. Or maybe not. Anyway, the point is that they do 80's pop better than the actual 80's did. I thought when i bought their ep that i would regret it in a week. But their songs float into my shuffle and i am instantly pleased and assume they are old New Wave songs (old New Wave?) They finally have a site up with an equally uncomfortable logo. My teeth hurt just looking at it. Of course, i love it. The site offers up a radio that you can set to play in the background that runs through all their songs. I loves me some internet.

WHATEVER HAPPENED TO BETTE?

Ok. Um. What to say about this one? The backgrounds excellent! Poor Bette.

BANG BANG!

I got sucked into this little gem of retro television. Nancy Sinatra looks adorable and she really shows some vocal prowess...watch it to the very end though to see her awkward exit.