I spotted a story from The Guardian newspaper about a California initiative. This year, California launched a new satellite that spots methane leaks.
It is important because methane is a very strong greenhouse gas contributor to climate change. It pops up often around oil and natural gas extraction (which California still has a lot of). Here is a blurb from California:
Well, 2025 brought in the end of an era. The Tivo Era. Eddie and I had one of the first ever Tivos. And kept them forever. There is still one in our upstairs closet, even though it didn't work out here.
But now they are gone. The "boop boop" sound is history. Oh, the company rolls on. They still have the DVR patent and even have some streaming systems in Europe. But the happy little Tivo is gone.
sniff
Juni, the little pup I walked during COVID and after, has passed. She was old for a dog (16 or 18) but was great for Lori - her owner. Lori is disabled and Juni was perfect for her.
Anyway, nothing I can say doesn't sound trite, so I won't say more except to say I miss her.
Scooter
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| Juni, when we visited New York in October. |
Let's face it, time for the star signs to be updated. Mankind has upended the traditional seasons, replaced stars with movie stars, and changed the nature of time. So it is about time to put the old symbols behind us.
(FYI: The Anthropocene is the current epoch where mankind has changed the planet.)
I have helped create the new astrology signs based on human interaction with our moods and the planet.
In December the Dogs rule.
Positives:
Negatives:
Let's face it, time for the star signs to be updated. Mankind has upended the traditional seasons, replaced stars with movie stars, and changed the nature of time. So it is about time to put the old symbols behind us.
(FYI: The Anthropocene is the current epoch where mankind has changed the planet.)
I have helped create the new astrology signs based on human interaction with our moods and the planet.
In November, the gentle Capybara wanders in.
Positives:
Negatives:
Let's face it, time for the star signs to be updated. Mankind has upended the traditional seasons, replaced stars with movie stars, and changed the nature of time. So it is about time to put the old symbols behind us.
(FYI: The Anthropocene is the current epoch where mankind has changed the planet.)
I have helped create the new astrology signs based on human interaction with our moods and the planet.
In October, the Horse strides into view.
Positives:
Negatives:
Let's face it, time for the star signs to be updated. Mankind has upended the traditional seasons, replaced stars with movie stars, and changed the nature of time. So it is about time to put the old symbols behind us.
(FYI: The Anthropocene is the current epoch where mankind has changed the planet.)
I have helped create the new astrology signs based on human interaction with our moods and the planet.
In September, the penguin pops up.
Positives:
Negatives:
Let's face it, time for the star signs to be updated. Mankind has upended the traditional seasons, replaced stars with movie stars, and changed the nature of time. So it is about time to put the old symbols behind us.
(FYI: The Anthropocene is the current epoch where mankind has changed the planet.)
I have helped create the new astrology signs based on human interaction with our moods and the planet.
In August, the Mountain Lion prowls to protect
Also known as the Puma or Panther
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Negatives:
We have visited these houses with Lynn when she was out here and Jane and David when they were here. Here are the details on the two houses.
Albert Frey (1903-1998), one of the most important modern architects of our time, lived and worked in Palm Springs since 1934.
Over a long and prolific career, he produced more than 200 building designs, including such notable local landmarks as the Palm Springs City Hall and the Aerial Tramway Valley Station with John Porter Clark.
Frey House II, his long-time residence, is perched on the hillside at the west end of Tahquitz Canyon Way. Frey House II, architect Albert Frey's second home in Palm Springs, was completed in 1964.
Aluminaire House
The Aluminaire Houseis a three-story house designed as a case study by architects A. Lawrence Kocher and Albert Frey in April 1931. Made of donated materials and built in ten days, it was the first all-metal house in the United States. After being displayed at architecture shows, it was installed at multiple locations in New York, and was later transferred to the Palm Springs Art Museum, where it is currently on view as an exhibit.
That is what makes the art special to us. Also, The Frey House has giant Swiss Cow Bells downstairs as the door knockers. This is because a) Albert Frey was born in Switzerland and b) because he loved to be naked and wanted plenty of time to be respectable to receive guests. If you look at the poster, he is up there by his house, naked.
He did the interior work for Sunnylands. That is an estate out here owned by the Annenberg family. He was the Ambassador to England, and later their house, Sunnylands, was used as a location for their friends, the Reagans, to host multiple diplomatic meetings. Every President from Ronald Reagan to Barack Obama has used the house for meetings, conferences, and international negotiations.
I learned that William Haines, an interior designer out here, did it. I wanted to know more about him and the story.
Turns out he was born in 1900. He was an artist with the Bohemians in New York in the early 20's, then went to Hollywood. He was a big deal for a while. He was the top box office earner in 1930. He was also gay and open about it. The book is interesting in that Hollywood, before the production code and Catholic League, was very accepting of gay couples. Many of the biggest stars lived rather openly as gay or bisexual (although those labels weren't really used).
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| With his best friend, Joan Crawford |
It's a fascinating story of what changed and who was in same sex relationships, but that isn't the point of this post. What is more germane here is that William Haines refused to go into the closet. He lived with the same man from the late 1920s until he died in 1973. Since he refused to conform to the new Hollywood standards, he was blackballed from the movies. He moved on to a second love: interior design.
He was great friends with Marion Davies and William Randolph Hearst. Hearst and Haines used to talk about design at San Simeon / Hearst Castle a lot. He was one of the few consistent Hollywood visitors to the castle who got along great with Hearst.
He was a big believer that interior design worked well only with an architect and landscaper to create a home. In Hollywood, stars had the money to do this. He did lavish homes of stars - the example of Jack Warner's House is included in pictures below.
Starting in the 1960s and 70s, he worked with a few women who aspired to move into the upper reaches of society. These were Nancy Reagan and her friends, including Betsy Bloomingdale and Leanore Annenberg. That is how ultimately he scored the Annenberg Estate, Sunnylands, gig. This is a very different vibe of house.
His last design was for the Annenbergs as they redid the Winfield House - the official residence of the US Ambassador to the United Kingdom. Again, a completely different style.
Jack Warner's Home - Hollywood (more pics)
Sunnylands - Palm Springs
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| Formal Atrium and Living Areas |
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| Game Room and Theater |
Winfield House - London (more pics)
Let's face it, time for the star signs to be updated. Mankind has upended the traditional seasons, replaced stars with movie stars, and changed the nature of time. So it is about time to put the old symbols behind us.
(FYI: The Anthropocene is the current epoch where mankind has changed the planet.)
I have helped create the new astrology signs based on human interaction with our moods and the planet.
In July the Condors watch over us.
Positives:
Negatives:
If you missed it, last month in Virginia, a raccoon broke into a liquor store. He proceeded to break a few whiskey bottles and partake therein. After the evening of debauchery, he went and passed out by the toilet. Which proves to me that Raccoons are, if not intelligent, at least pragmatic.
Just as a follow-up, he was fine. Images of his plight helped raise $50,000 for the local animal shelter.
It is too bad that we have chopped down the message of America into "Republican" vs "Democrat". There is a fantastic article about voters in Montana, and one of the sad things is that they force their people into Republican vs Democratic people. Even though the author notes that the person himself is a conservative, not a Republican.
I agree with him on almost everything in the article. Most of those issues are NOT Republican versus Democrat. Most are local issues where the political party shouldn't matter. And didn't use to, which is why Montana was purple.
How did we let partisan shit disrupt everything?
Here they are from TikTok
@weratedogs Top 5 Dogs of the Week! 5. @GoldenGirlMabel 4. @Copper 3. @sky_v13 2. @Comet 🩷 1. @Radley Barkley #weratedogs ♬ original sound - weratedogs
It didn't get great reviews. My assumption is that this was a 180-degree change from Bong Joon Ho's Oscar-winning movie Parasite.
It was in English. It was a comedy. And it was science fiction.
All of that is true, but beside the point. Mickey 17 is a very, very good movie, albeit just this side of great. It is in English, but the setting is not Western; it is space. A derelict space colony which has all of the dirt, grim, and dystopian signals that are universal.
And, it humorously addresses the way big money corporations and institutions treat people as replaceable cogs that are not important, but cheaper than automation.
I give away the first 10 minutes, which was given away in the trailer anyway.
Robert Patterson has signed up to go off-world to avoid problems earthside. He has no skills so he signs up as a general schlub, without reading the fine print. If he dies in the course of his work, his clone is brought up to speed with his last recorded memories and rebooted. The first time we see him, Patterson is "Mickey 17", the 17th clone. Then he is hurt and lost, and Mickey 18 is spun up. But, we see something is dropped in loading memories, and Mickey 18 is not quite the pleasant and obsequious Mickey we have grown to know and love.
Meanwhile, Mickey 17 didn't die and has returned. Now the Mickeys argue and fight. The Mickeys' girlfriend enjoys the double-the-pleasure aspect, and we all know that death awaits both Mickeys if caught.
And it stays funny. All the while making that point that big corporations dont' care if you live or die, there is always someone to replace you.
Like I said, underrated.
Let's face it, time for the star signs to be updated. Mankind has upended the traditional seasons, replaced stars with movie stars, and changed the nature of time. So it is about time to put the old symbols behind us.
(FYI: The Anthropocene is the current epoch where mankind has changed the planet.)
I have helped create the new astrology signs based on human interaction with our moods and the planet.
In June, the Lemurs, excitable and fun, come out to play.
Positives:
Negatives:
Let's face it, time for the star signs to be updated. Mankind has upended the traditional seasons, replaced stars with movie stars, and changed the nature of time. So it is about time to put the old symbols behind us.
(FYI: The Anthropocene is the current epoch where mankind has changed the planet.)
I have helped create the new astrology signs based on human interaction with our moods and the planet.
The sign for May is the Pangolin. Shy but lovable.
Positives:
Negatives:
Let's face it, time for the star signs to be updated. Mankind has upended the traditional seasons, replaced stars with movie stars, and changed the nature of time. So it is about time to put the old symbols behind us.
(FYI: The Anthropocene is the current epoch where mankind has changed the planet.)
I have helped create the new astrology signs based on human interaction with our moods and the planet.
April brings the return of the Crow. Did you know that Crows can hold a grudge for 10 years? It is Lisa's spirit animal.
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So Orca (Killer Whales) are always predators of dolphins. However, scientists have found at least 1 group in Vancouver where orcas and dolphins work together to catch prey. That is unique and unusual.
In Canada, near the northern end of Vancouver Island, a population of orcas and dolphins works together. Dolphins are better at finding salmon deeper in the ocean than orcas are. So they lead the orcas to the salmon. During the feasting, orcas are slobs and dolphins get the leftovers, but that isn't the reason this cooperation is happening.
There are many ways the non-attacks might have gone down. The dolphins might just go away. Or they could stay topside during attacks. The orcas might ignore them. Ot the orcas could figure it is easier to ignore them and eat salmon (which they like a lot) than hunt and eat the dolphins.
But none of that seems to be the case. Instead, it appears that the orcas benefit from the dolphins' finding and driving the salmon to the orcas. The dolphins benefit primarily by having the orcas tell other orca pods passing through to leave these dolphins alone. Really. Isn't that odd.
Many animal species work together to feed. But it's rare for mammals to do it, and VERY rare for a predator and hunted species to work together.
Let's face it, time for the star signs to be updated. Mankind has upended the traditional seasons, replaced stars with movie stars, and changed the nature of time. So it is about time to put the old symbols behind us.
(FYI: The Anthropocene is the current epoch where mankind has changed the planet.)
I have helped create the new astrology signs based on human interaction with our moods and the planet. For February, it is the Coyote.
The Coyote is the Trickster (similar to Loki) for Pacific Coast Indians. March, the beginning of Spring, is when they are most active.
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What fascinates me is that I learned about him as he changed and grew.
His very early stuff was interested in volumes and the usage of spaces. His first real work was for himself at his home in Santa Monica (ps the neighbors hated it). He decided to morph the house as he expanded it to blur the line between inside and outside.
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| There is an article about this house from New York Times here |
He then received a few odd projects in Santa Monica. An ad agency, where he made a statement with the images and the Santa Monica Mall interior, which he jumbled to create interest. And finally a commission in Venice to add a writing studio to a house owned by a former lifegaurd.
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| The agency on Pacific Ave - Right near where the bus on Speed was hijacked! |
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| Interior of the old Santa Monica Mall (The Main Place) - now closed |
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| Writer's room overlooking the ocean in Venice |
There are two other LA projects I find interesting. Interesting because he is still playing with shapes, size and interiors. One is a condo roof on Roxberry. This was a chance for him to play with colors and volumes. The other is a super bland artist residence and gallery on Melrose, right off Orlando, where the inside space is amazing, but outside is dull as hell.
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| The Roxbury Condo Addition |
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| Exterior of the Lou Danziger Studio and Home |
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| Interior of the Studio |
Below is a model he made of volumes and shapes after the 1991 Danziger Work, but before his famous Bilbao Museum.
Once you realize that volumes and shapes are integral to him, the first big Bilbao Museum commission makes more sense. Here was able to play with shapes with a LOT of money. After it hit, he never looked back.
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| Gehry's major break, The Bilbao Museum |
Other icon works followed, but I find his early stuff the most interesting (if not the best).
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| Art Museum in Minneapolis at the University of Minnesota |
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| Los Angeles Disney Concert Hall - with projections on it |
Let's face it, time for the star signs to be updated. Mankind has upended the traditional seasons, replaced stars with movie stars, and changed the nature of time. So it is about time to put the old symbols behind us.
(FYI: The Anthropocene is the current epoch where mankind has changed the planet.)
I have helped create the new astrology signs based on human interaction with our moods and the planet. For February, it is the adorable, if slightly dizzy and lazy, Koala.
Positives:
Negatives:
It, in this case, is my antipathy towards Josh O'Connor. He is a good actor. I didn't see Saturday Night Live yet, but we watched Wake Up Dead Man - the latest in the Knives Out series with Daniel Craig as inspector Benoit Blanc. It was fun, and Josh O'Connor as the young priest was excellent.
So... Not his acting. And his big ears don't bug me at all. I think Russell Tovey, also of prominent ears, is cute. Hell, I have some big ears (and they are uneven, but that is part of my charm).
No, the part that bugs me is that he seems to have neck beard everywhere.
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| Neck Beard is the scraggly part that is unkempt. |
Maybe he should just wait to grow a beard until he gets a little older and can grow one.
Just me 2 cents. Like I said, he is a good actor and has succeeded well so far, so maybe he knows what he is doing. Hell, maybe women find a scraggly neck beard face hot?
