CONTEMPORARY ARCHITECTURE

CARR RESIDENCE

I'm just finishing a wonderful medium sized residence in Graton are for the world's best client. I knew if I stayed with this long enough I would encounter him. Harry Carr is a doctor here in Sonoma County, a batchelor who has a rare affliction, good taste in design. 2400 square foot with three bedrooms, the house has three heating/AC zones, ceiling heights that vary with the use (Basic 8'' general, 10' at kitchen & Master Bedroom, 14' at Living & Dining). Cedar celilings at high areas. Interiors are cherry floors with black slate at higher use areas. All cabinets are cherry. Joy & I have been able to help with the furniture specifying as well as designing a few major pieces (In cherry, of course). We used a single ply membrane on the roof, EIFS (Exterior Insulation Insulation System) for exterior walls, with redwood trim and trellising. Incredibally, the cost of the house came in at $256 per square foot, an amazing cost for this area considering we used the best appliances and fixtures available.

All lavs have wood countertops, which I like to use, except for granite in the kitchen. The house sits on a west facing slope overlooking vinyards and apple orchards.

THERE, I'VE FIXED IT
I've used the Krupps espresso maker for 20 years. My third one failed after many years of service so I bought a new one for $60. after a few months, the valve was difficult to use so I returned it to the store and they gave me a new one. Lo and behold, the same thing happened after another few months so I tried to let Krupps know of the problem. Well, this day & age, companies don't seem to want to hear anything negative about their product, and after trying on their web site, calling them, etc. to make them aware of this problem, I gave up. I returned it again, got my mony back, went over to Target and bought a Mr. Espresso for $25. (Actually $24.99). This machine is just the basic coffee maker with milk steamer like the Krupps, except not quite so cool looking. But it actually has a few features that are superior to Krupps. However, there is a major flaw in their design as the knobs are of some really weird design that actually hurt my fingers to operate it. In lieu of tossing the whole godamn thing out I, being the ultimate do it you selfer, decided I could make it funtional without too much trouble. I simply screwed on two plywood discs to the knobs, added a bit of epoxy, and viola! it works better than my old Krupps. Of course, I will paint them black and all will be well with my morning espresso.

I CAN'T STAND IT ANYMORE!

Harley Davidson motor noise machines. These miserable people that need to assert their idiocy on the rest of the population ought to be neutered so they can't reproduce anymore. Then maybe in a generation we (If we still have any hearing left) can spend the rest of our days in peace. My house is several hundred feet from a minor highway and although I do hear all the cars passing by,, it's mostly the air and rubber that I hear. But there is always some fool ripping by with his no muffler Harley blasting a noise path thru the neighborhood. I perceive these egotists at the center of a decibil monster that is a circle several hundred feet in diameter destroying the peaceful lives of us tranquel folk. I cannot imagine what is must be to live in a place like Richmond, Virginia, where they passed an Ordinance making it illegal to "cause a disturbance" that can be heard 50 feet away from the noise source. Now, I know that nut cases like Sarah Palin wouldn't let government intrude on our lives like that, but I'm all for it, and give those folks a medal who passed the ordinance on top of it. Of course, then you have to battle the ACLU that you're taking away the rights of others to fuck up the life of your neighbors.

VACATION TIME, AGAIN

Oh yeah. But we're not going anywhere soon.

All I've got are some memoriesw of Europe so I 'll just regurgatate some of those in lieu of actually being there. We always get in a weeks canal cruise which has become deriguer anytime we do play on the other side of the pond. It's pretty amazing that they will let you drive off in a $100,000 boat with only five minutes of instruction. Unfortunately, that wasn't enough on our cruise in North Holland as they didn't mention how to work the air conditioning (or that there even one was there) and we hit one of the hottest weeks in history. Joy & I shared the boot with two women from the East, but I was the capitan, of course, with my vast knowledge and experience on boats. I was a qualified submariner, you know. Pictured is our boat tied up in a small medievil town noth of Amsterdam, searching out a cold beer. Of course, these are not always strickly a canal trip as once in a while we found ourselves out in the middle of a huge inland sea (Zee). This kind of freaked Joy out but we soon realized that the water was only 3' deep if you miss the dredged waterway. We actually did ground once but got away without too much damage. If you choose this method of sightseeing, be sure to get a boat that has a BOW THRUSTER, a very important feature, especially when backing up to a dock. And always remember to duck when going under a low bridge.

BOOK REPORT

"Blowback" by Chalmers Johnson, lays out the dangers faced by our overextended Empire, which insists on projecting it's military power to every corner of the earth and using American capitol and markets to force global economic integration on it's own terms. This book, written a couple of years before 9/11, warned us of the consequences of our foreign policies that rely on a massive military presence in so many countries. His more recent book is "The Sorrows of Empire" to opens our eyes to our 800+ military bases around the world (We have 80 bases alone on Okinawa). We may be at a point where our military is so imbedded in our government it may be too late to regain control from them. Onward, Christian Soldiers!

CHICKEN OR EGG?

CHICKEN OR THE EGG?
Have you ever wondered why chickens lay eggs every day while other birds in our trees only lay a few in a nest maybe once or twice a year?
I’m glad you asked! It seems that chickens were domesticated about 10,000 BC , in India or Vietnam from the Red Jungle Fowl, who still exist and look just like a real chicken. Dogs & pigs were also domesticated about the same time, my guess is that you needed eggs with your bacon, didn’t you? A chicken, if left alone, when about a dozen eggs are laid (a clutch) she stops laying and sits on them , turning them over until they hatch, then they’re on their own pretty much. However, some clever dude found that if he took away each egg as soon as it was laid, the hen automatically laid another to take it’s place. The hen does this diligently for a few years until she runs out of eggs, then it’s time to whip up the Coq au vin. Those of you who are anti-Columbus should realize we have the Spanish to thank for introducing this wonderful commodity to the Western World.

OLYMPIAN GAFFE
It has degenerated from an original contest between men to see whom would be the victor or the best or more skilled at a particular area like javelin, discus, wrestling, racing, etc. How do you justify that the current highlight of the Olympics is “Ice Dancing”, have we become a world of pansies? How do you even judge that? It appears that if you perform a couple of “Triple Axels” in your choreography and not fall down too much and show a lot of panties, wee, you’r going to be the toast of the sport world. I have to admit that it may be more physically exerting than “Synchronized Swimming”, or even “Curling”. Curling is all skill, if you’re adept at sweeping furiously with a broom. What’s next? Yoga? Ballet?

GEOGRAPHY PROBLEM
Here is something has mystified me for years. I have yet to get a clear answer from anyone & I thought hordes went to Niagra Falls to get married. All the pictures I have seen of the falls show the river running from right to left. However, I assume (maybe this is where I am wrong) that the river runs from the lakes to the Atlantic, in other words, from left to right from the US side. If that the case, all the pictures of the falls are taken from the Canadian side. Help me out here.!

AVALANCHE!
A new house was just completed next door to our little ‘A’ frame cabin at Donner Summit and has presented us with a new problem as their roof snow builds up on their 4 in 12 metal roof and will slide off in a big mass which ends up inside out porch. Joy is afraid someone will be caught in this small avalanche and has taken steps to alleviate the danger. Hearing the avalanche canons occasionally gave us the idea that a loud bang could knock their snow off when we desired. We considered getting some blanks for a handgun, but settled on trying a recording of Beethoven’s 1812 Overture which features actual cannons in the score. Not having that handy, the closest score she had was Led Zeppelin’s “Whole Lot of Love”. Joy positioned the Subaru in our drive, opened the doors, put on some earplugs and played the drum solo part wide open. Voila! The whole snow load slide right off the roof! Mission accomplished! We now have plans to drive up and down the streets playing our song and blowing all the snow off everyone’s roof.

CLEAN ENERGY REPORT
On one of our trips to France, we discovered a pretty far out and progressive electrical generating system that uses tidal movements for generation. This is situated in a large estuary near Dinard and St. Malo, just South of Mont St. Michael. As the tides flow in or out, it passes thru a long series of turbines that lie beneath the road bridge. All this is incorporated in a bridge which runs on top of it. When the tide changes, letting the water in or out of the estuary, the turbine blades rotate and generate electricity. Each turbine is about 8' in diameter, one of the few drawbacks is the corrosive salt water on the equipment. This installation has been operational for many years, maybe twenty years? I'd show you pictures of it but some asshole stole my camera.

WALLED CITIES
One of our most memorable experiences (Only if you’re a history buff) is staying in an old walled Medieval city in France. Aiuges Mort, in the Languadoc area of Southern France, is one of the few left that have a couple small hotels inside the city. Cars are not allowed so you have to drag your bag all thru the city banging around on the old cobblestones. Naturally they do have a system of allowing small delivery vehicles in at certain times. In the Hotel St. Louis (He really wasn’t a saint but a real asshole). We had a small room in a sixteenth century building with a tiny balcony overlooking a small square . It’s not the same as the Reniassance Faire, but you do get the feel of life in a fifteen century, before the cannon rendered the huge walls obsolete. Nevertheless, you could almost read the history of these walls, from the lower level Roman stonework to the top of the battlements, the stonework changing style about every 400 years of it’s building.
Also in southern France is Carcassonne is totally restored, being restored in the 1800's by the Architect Villet le Duc. Of the three hotels in the cite, we stayed for a few days at Hotel _____? It also gave one the impression of living in a filthy town, in a 12th century abbey, converted when indoor plumbing arrived. However, they never quite understood the system of plumbing vents as the sewer smell was sometimes pretty ripe. (Naturally, this was the cheapest of the three hotels in town). Otherwise, we were happy, roaming up and down the ancient stone circular staircase that was amazingly worn from hundreds of years of wear.

THE MERCHANTS OF DEATH
I am currently reading about the people and companies who make war, not love. It’s pretty interesting reading a book written just before the 2nd World War. The names Krupp, Rothechild, etc. have a marvelous method of supplying both sides of antagonists with weapons with deals made between countries to go easy on bombing other’s plants & facilities.

THE MERCHANT OF DEATH
Then I read about Victor Bout, a Russian and a current purveyor of weapons. This guy is pretty amazing, selling to both the rebels & the government of all the African countries so they can kill each other more efficiently. He has developed a huge clandestine airline of huge, tough, Russian Air Force surplus planes. He knows how to get around all the controls the UN imposes on arms selling. Incredibly, he was selling to the Taliban and the US occupation force at the same time in Iraq and Afganistan. Sometimes these things just don’t seem believable.


MORE UNBELIEVABLE SHIT
An even more interesting book is The Sorrows of Imperialism, by Chalmers Johnson. The extended title is “Militarism, Secrecy, and the End of the Republic”. The author describes the rise of our Imperialism in the last 100 years, beginning with our acquisition of the Phillipenes, Guatanamo Bay & Hawaii. The military is so ensconced in our government with lobbyists, the shuffling of presidential advisors & advisors that we probably will not be able to reverse this process. Did you know we had 80 bases on Okinawa alone? Shit, that has to be smaller than California, doesn't it? No wondedr the Okinawans hate us, as well as the rest of the world. However, most of the world relies on our money that they have a hard time getting us out. It seems we have about 800 bases in a network around, the world, probably why our military budget of 400 Billion a year is larger than the combined budget of several of our allies combined. We just want to protect our oil supplies. And it just isn't Republicans like Bush I and II, as Democrats have kept it going also, even Carter.
There's no hope!