Terence Conran on Pencils

"Does the future look grim for the 6B pencil?"





"6B is a little on the soft side--I'm more of a 2B man myself.






"...I think it's now recognized that technology is no substitute for the quickness and efficiency with which the brain and hand can connect and demonstrate creative ideas via pencil and paper. The problem with technology is ... that it can become so addictive that it absorbs time and energy and crushes creativity. People become techno junkies rather than creative whizz kids. Rather than let technology gain the upper hand, designers need to allow more poetry and 2B pencils into their work.






"Thank God for the 2B pencil and the A4 layout pad."





from Q&A: A Sort of Autobiography by Terence Conran p.165

How To Meet Women

click on the comic to read

Albert Ellis 1913-2007

Dr. Ellis made a big contribution for the positive in my life among the
many others he helped. His ornery, salty persona did not conceal the
idealism which underlay the mission statement on friday nights to "cure
every screwball in town, one at a time".




In fact, it enhanced its accessibility to this "Fallible Fucked Up
Human".

Obit from his official site

Also: New York Times obit

Robot Fly

"You probably wouldn't notice a fly in the room, but you certainly would notice a hawk"

Pilgrimage to Revere Beach

Lucky Star Bus -> South Station -> Revere Beach.

Why this much used beach means so much to me, I dunno. It's like a used bookstore book that has pencilled in annotations, marks of being much handled, lived in... All I know is that it is a summer ritual to take a walk along that concrete boardwalk and check out the scene, or scenes.

The Mixer (Men and Women Together)

"He thinks he wants a conventional marriage with a compliant wife, but what he really wants is to be overwhelmed by the female life force. In the screwball comedies, the woman doesn’t ask her man to “grow up.” She wants to pull him into some sort of ridiculous adventure. She has to grow up, and he has to get loose—the opposite of the current pattern."



David Denby in this week's New Yorker.



I couldn't find the Jonathan Richman song I wanted to post here, but here is a Reason To Be Cheerful: J.R. doing an intro to Girlfren:

What is good design?

Like pornography, I know it when I see it.

Everytime I see info about Ettore Sotsass & the Olivetti Valentine
typewriter, my heart skips a beat.

This blog had a few sweet pix I want to link to:

http://thingstolookat.blogspot.com/search/label/Olivetti

The MOMA catalog cover is just gorgeous.

Give Paris One More Chance

This bike rental scheme is great and worth reading about if you missed it. The main idea is critical mass, only instead of a bunch of citizens getting clobbered by cops for "unlicensed parading" or whatever, it is the city of Paris actually helping to make it happen.



Shades of John Belushi screaming "AMSTERDAM!...HASH IN THE STREETS".

iPhone = Combat Rock or Born To Run?

Looking around at who has the first iPhones in Manhattan, I see duchebags of all stripes. Inevitably they have wrapped their new purchase in some lame "protector" instead of just letting cool industrial design be.

Pink leatherette cases? Ugh.

This is the moment when the band you love comes out with a record that the jocks like too. A friend said "Combat Rock" in answer to this formulation.
Exactly!

Of course this is better than being a "beleagured computer maker". And even after The Clash and Bruce Springsteen started playing arenas, they were still (insanely) great.

BAD HOUSES or This Blog Is On Vacation

I will not post for awhile. Or maybe I will redo this blog.I couldn't find a YouTube link for Big Black performing "Bad Houses" or it would be posted here as some lateral reference point for internet addiction.

"I tell myself I will not go/Even as I drive there."

Back in a bit with either more pointers to Reasons To Be Cheerful or a new take on what blog move to make next.