The Stone Roses - Waterfall

Skyroom by David Kohn

The Skyroom is a new rooftop venue to host events programmed by the Architecture Foundation and realized by Lake Estates. Sitting above their offices on Tooley Street, the structure offers a range of rooms, both covered and open to the sky, for different occasions and uses ranging from lectures and performances to dinner parties and sun-bathing. The project opened to coincide with London Design Week on 20^th September 2010.
The project features a central courtyard open to the sky, framing the rising form of The Shard being built high above London Bridge Station. A balcony cantilevered over Tooley Street offers breathtaking views through the More London development to the Thames and the Tower of London beyond.

Constructed of white steel, stainless steel, copper mesh panels and a material developed by NASA to create enclosures on the moon, ETFE (Ethylene Tetrafluoroethylene) cushions cover certain parts of the enclosure, while the courtyard area is left open to the sky.

Book seat by Fishbol

A simple bookcase that playfully curves and becomes a seat, is a creative design responding to the advent of multifunctional spaces in today’s urban living. Noted as one of the “ten must sees” at Toronto Interior Design Show 2009. This piece is manufactured with Canadian birch plywood and available with a felt cushion in customizable colors.

Nas Chompas

Yesterday...

I go to therapy. Weekly. Why? I'm...shall we say, broken? a fuck up? a white hot mess of a man? Whatever answer you choose, I'm trying to work through my shit, and come through it a better man. Mostly it's been about me, my relationships, what made me act a certain way. It's made me look at myself, my actions, etc. Yesterday...well, it was different.
Not sure how it started, but we got on the subject of school. Where I fit in, etc. I got on a small rant about hypocrisy. It made me remember the death of a close friend and my school's reaction to it. In 6th grade I met a guy named Carl Newheki. Carl was a grade older and lived in a nice area of Detroit (yes, there are a couple of them), where Ross and Tudrick lived. I never knew why he hung out with us, guess to get stoned and get away from his home life. Maybe to make himself feel better about his own home life, I don't know. He became one of us, but more likable. When push came to shove, he was there to back you up. Because of that he was labeled with the same labels. "Stoner." "Loser." "Fuck Up." We used to go back to his house, hang out in the basement, listening to new records and talking shit. Funny thing was that, at least to me, Carl had it all. Stay at home mom, dad who worked a good job, new clothes, shoes, whatever he needed, and yet he wasn't any happier than we were. Long story shorter. One night, Rausch is banging on the door. I opened it and he's teared up, freaking out. "Carl's dead. Fuck, fuck, fuck!!!" It takes me a few minutes, but I finally get out of him what was on the news. Carl's dad returned home from work to find his 5 children and wife dead. Apparently, Carl's mom had killed each of the kids as they came home from school and then herself. I guess, the relationship was coming to and end and she couldn't handle it.
So all of us got together on top of an old building, got high and talked about what was going on with us. Talked about Carl, about his brothers and sisters. What it would be like to have YOUR MOM shoot you. I just remember Rausch saying over and over "if anyone talks shit tomorrow, I'll kick their fucking ass." So we went to school the next day, half expecting to hear people talking about "one less loser." That wasn't the case though. Instead there were girls crying, banners saying "we'll miss you Carl", teachers talking about dealing with "our feelings." In my head I was screaming "What the fuck are YOU crying for? YOU didn't lose a friend. Fuck, when was the last time YOU said hi or even smiled at Carl?" You know the craziest thing about it all? All these middle class white kids wanted to talk to us about Carl, find out what he was like. I wasn't having any of it. You didn't want to know him while he was here-fuck yourself. I wonder why people want to be close to death, to know someone that's died. It's not that great of a feeling, I promise.

The xx - Crystalised

That's Entertainment - The Jam

Fallingwater by Eamon O'Kane

mumford and sons - Roll Away Your Stone

Flogging Molly - If I Ever Leave This World Alive (lyrics)

Generation X-Your Generation (This song changed EVERYTHING for me)

The Jam - But I'm Different Now

The Paintings of Eyvind Earle

What I'm doing in school these days

 

Doing a lot of pen & ink architectural renderings. The above is to give you an idea of what I mean.

Blanca Gomez

 

 City Scape by Blanca Gomez. 

Black Rebel Motorcycle Club cover Dirty Old Town

Gang Of Four - To Hell With Poverty (TV Live)

House in Minamiyama by Tomoaki Uno

 Japanese architect Tomoaki Uno has recently completed 'house in minamiyama'.situated on a hill, the modular

three storey residence is constructed with concrete. The main entrance of the house is through the rooftop on street level. Internally the surface of the walls are the same as its exterior. Its minimalist design is evident throughout all the rooms.

Laces Lamp

Antoinette Bader has created lights constructed out of hundreds of yards of shoelaces. or 'laceslamp', bader collaborated with Rudolf Scheer Und Söhne, makers of custom shoes and former imperial and royal suppliers, to create an appropriate design for the showroom, now the property of the shoe store. The material of the
design--shoelaces--coupled with the form and function of the object--a light--serves
to respond to both elements that define the site.

Cumin Vinaigrette:

Have been thinking about making a salad. Found this vinaigrette recipe:

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
2 tablespoons fresh orange juice
½ cup extra virgin olive oil
½ tablespoon ground cumin
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Prepare the vinaigrette: place the lemon and orange juices, the oil, and the cumin in a glass jar and seal the lid tightly.
Shake the jar vigorously to combine.
Season with salt and pepper to taste. (The vinaigrette can be refrigerated, tightly covered, for up to two weeks. Let it return to room temperature and shake before using.)

I would probably add a little heat to this, cayenne or red pepper about a 1/4 tablespoon. or maybe a tablespoon of fresh ginger.

Driving into El Centro

Driving out to El Centro yesterday I ran into a storm. Reminded me of Florida, with the lightning and the sudden downpour. It's been sometime since I've experienced this type of storm. I was on the 8, coming through the mountain pass, when the sky opened up and started pissing rain. The wind was blowing me across the street.  It reminded me of riding my bike in Florida, when the summer showers would open the sky wide. It was always so hard to maintain control, but I loved it! Rain welting your skin as you rode down the highway. I need to get another bike.

Seafood Stew

 The Soup

• 1 1/2 to 2 lbs of fillets of firm white fish such as halibut, swordfish, or cod, rinsed in cold water, pin bones removed, cut into large portions
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 4 Tbsp lime or lemon juice
• Salt
• Freshly ground black pepper
• Olive oil
• 1 cup chopped spring onion, or 1 medium yellow onion, chopped or sliced
• 1/4 cup green onion greens, chopped
• 1/2 yellow and 1/2 red bell pepper, seeded, de-stemmed, chopped (or sliced)
• 2 cups chopped (or sliced) tomatoes
• 1 Tbsp paprika (Hungarian sweet)
• 1/2 piece of ginger chopped
• 1/2 teaspoon sriracha sauce.
• 1 large bunch of cilantro, chopped with some set aside for garnish
• 1 14-ounce can coconut milk 

  For the Fish Puree

• 1 pound (1/2 kg) fish scraps (head, tail and backbone)
• 1.5 ounces (50 ml) of olive oil
• 2 garlic cloves
• 1 bunch of cilantro, parsley and green onion
• 1/4 green pepper and 1/4 red pepper, roughly chopped
• 2 roughly-chopped tomatoes, de-seeded
• 1 onion
• 1 quart of water
• 1 pinch each of annatto powder, salt, black pepper and malagueta pepper (or hot chile powder) to taste
• Manioc flour to thicken
• A few drops of fresh lemon juice

1 Place fish pieces in a bowl, add the minced garlic and lime juice so that the pieces are well coated. Sprinkle generously all over with salt and pepper. Keep chilled while preparing the rest of the soup.

2 In a large covered pan (such as a Dutch oven), coat the bottom with about 2 Tbsp of olive oil and heat on medium heat. Add the chopped onion and cook a few minutes until softened. Add the bell pepper, paprika, and sriracha. Sprinkle generously with salt and pepper. (At least a teaspoon of salt.) Cook for a few minutes longer, until the bell pepper begins to soften. Stir in the chopped tomatoes and onion greens. Bring to a simmer and cook for 5 minutes, uncovered. Stir in the chopped cilantro.

3 Use a large spoon to remove about half of the vegetables. Spread the remaining vegetables over the bottom of the pan to create a bed for the fish. Arrange the fish pieces on the vegetables. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Then add back the previously removed vegetables, covering the fish. Pour coconut milk and  fish puree over the fish and vegetables. 

4 Bring soup to a simmer, reduce the heat, cover, and let simmer for 15 minutes. Taste and adjust seasonings. You may need to add more salt (likely), lime or lemon juice, paprika, pepper, sriracha to get the soup to the desired seasoning for your taste.


To Make The Fish Purée

1. 
   
   
   
   Season the fish with salt, lemon and black pepper. Fry the garlic in olive oil, then the tomatoes, pepper and onion. 
2. 
   
   
   
   Add the fish and cook for about 10 minutes. Add the water and bunch of cilantro, parsley and green onion. Cook until the liquid is reduced to approximately 1 quart.
3. 
   
   
   
   Strain the mixture, then place back on the heat, and adjust the seasoning with salt and malagueta pepper. When the mixture boils, add sufficient manioc flour so that it attains the consistency of a purée.