MONEY
As the USA wallows in design conservatism our monetary system, the Dutch have shown how many light years they are in front of us in that area. They recently had a competition (What a concept!) for the design of a new 5e coin. It is only good in the Netherlands. The interesting part is that it is called the “Architecture Fiver” and is a pretty far out coin. The front contains the names of 109 Dutch architects, past & present, rendered in a single line that coils to create the likeness of Queen Beatrix (The real Queen, not a pop idol), The back features Dutch architecture books arranged to form an outline of the country. Check out the designer’s blog at www.pythonide.blogspot.com for a really interesting discourse about how he designed it.
MONEY MYSTERY SOLVED!
I’ve been ranting all over the place about how gas stations still use the mill, or 1/10th of a cent on all their pricing. I’m probably the only person I know who actually has an actual mill, a tiny miniature copper penny, let alone even knowing what it is. It’s the ultimate pricing scam, like pricing everything like $9,999.99, which, in effect is $10,000. This reflects our mass stupidity as if we can’t relate to the fact that it really is basically $10,000. I get so tired of all the God damned 9's! Anyway, it seems that the government is responsible for the gas pricing fiasco. I should have known. In 1932 the Feds passed the Revenue Act which imposed a penny per gallon tax on gas. It is now 18.4 cents per gallon. This probably made sense when gas was 20 cents a gallon but is meaningless now. Whole numbers should have replaced the pricing but have you ever tried to remove a government program, no matter how obsolete?
GREG REITAN
Greg has lived in one of my modular houses that I designed & built in LA for 10 years. He has just released a CD of his swingin’ trio, titled “SOME OTHER TIME”. Very mellow and very cool stuff. Read about how he recorded it in his redwood pad at www.sunnysiderecords.com/release_detail.php?releaseID=423.
He’s working on another titled “ANTIBES” and it’s also very groovey, man.
Greg is about the only pianist (Other than Theolonious Monk) that uses all the keys & even could use a couple more at the top of the keyboard. His music is not background music, it’s the type where it demands you really listen to it, just as if you were hearing it in a studio or Jazz club, which is similar to Dave Brubeck’s , where your enjoyment is the music, no matter how many times you hear it.
