wetlands

marsh grasses, beavers, and swallowtail butterflies.

kale

juice.
Some of you will love it, and live on it. Others of you will not.

two methods:
1. Using a blender:
Wash 1 bunch of kale and trim all stalks leaving only the leaves. Place 1 to 2 cups cold water, the juice of 1 large or 2 small lemons, 1 1/2 Tbsp agave nectar and the kale in a blender and whiz 'til smooth, then press through a sieve.

2. using a juicer:
Wash the kale and trim as above. Juice the leaves and add the lemon juice, water and agave.

As Dr. Steve Brule would say: "For your health! Have some!"

Jellyfish + Anemone

made by Miwa Koizumi.

Z.G.

this makes me laugh the hardest.

the daytime

is getting longer and longer. We took a hike up into the Fish Lake Mountains last week and, while the trail was a creek and there was still hip-deep snow (and pelting hail) at the top, it felt great to be out again. Alice was a wet, shivering little rat by the time I took her picture ...and fearless as ever.

Check out Lines and Shapes Connect Us.

A Little Grizzly

who I stopped to watch while s/he was munching on grass at the side of the road, not at all dismayed by cars, my peering, and the ding dong in front of me who kept whistling at him.

SS Keno

The last stern-wheeler to run on the Yukon River.

In 1960 the SS Keno sailed from Whitehorse to her final resting place on the riverbank in Dawson. Maybe I was hasty to say the Palace Grand is the most lovely building in Dawson because of course there is the Commissioner's Residence (Martha Black's one-time home) and the simple, beautiful Keno. J. and I tried to arrange a private tour through the Keno while I was in Dawson last week but...well, next time.

During their heyday there were some 350 stern-wheelers on Northern rivers, hauling supplies, equipment, ore and passengers. They were introduced to the Yukon River in 1866. The structure and design is patterned after the stately Missouri Riverboats, with flat hulls for speed and "hog posts" on the upper decks to prevent twisting and to haul the ships over shallow points in the river. Because they were often lost on snags, rocks, sandbars, ice floes and rapids, they had to be economically constructed of Douglas Fir, cedar and pine.

The only other surviving stern-wheeler in the Yukon is the SS Klondike which sits on the banks of the Yukon River near the Robert Campbell bridge in Whitehorse. It was built in 1929 by the British Yukon Navigation Company and was the largest of all 350 stern-wheelers with 50% more cargo space. She was retired in 1955.

And the origins of ships (and countries and oceans) taking the female referent (even ships named after men)? In modern English the use of the pronoun 'she' in reference to inanimate objects is an optional figure of speech, but this is in decline. In March 2002, the British newspaper Lloyd's List announced it would start referring to all naval vessels as 'it'.

And J. tells me that a 1960's list of why boats are 'shes' includes 'needing a strong hand' and 'a master's guidance'. Well, I suppose so, if one intends to be carried over the sea!

ice caves

in the Northwestern United States.

Can you believe them??

Kunstformen der Natur

by Ernst Haeckel, 1904.

5 of 1000 engravings produced based on Haeckel's sketches and watercolours:
1. Ascidian (Ascidiae)
2. Bat (Chiroptera)
3. Box Jellyfish (Cubomedusae)
4. Conifer (Coniferae)
5. Jellyfish (Discomedusae) which Haeckel named Discomedusae annasethe after his wife Anna Sethe who died the year before he observed this creature. He said the tentacles reminded him of her long hair.

"...not just a book of illustrations but also the summation of his view of the world."
- Olaf Breidbach

Sloths

BABY sloths.
And the sanctuary in Costa Rica where they live.
Get ready to flip right out, because these creatures are about the cutest thing you have ever ever ever seen.

" I like making images that from a distance seem kind of seductive, colorful, luscious and engaging, and then you realize what you’re looking at is something totally opposite. It seems boring to me to pursue the typical idea of beauty, because that is the easiest and the most obvious way to see the world. It’s more challenging to look at the other side."

- Cindy Sherman


Some reading today about CS and a quote I thought post-worthy.
(The same linoleum was laid in the kitchen of the house I was born in.)

The Palace Grand

I was back in Dawson this week for a conference. It was absolutely gorgeous, sunny and lush. In my opinion the most beautiful building in town is the Palace Grand, which opened in gala style July 1899. Its architecture is a combination of luxurious European Opera House and boomtown dance hall. It was built by 'Arizona' Charlie Meadows, a wild west showman who came to Dawson City during the Klondike Gold Rush. The Theatre played host to a variety of entertainment, from wild west shows to opera. When the show got slow, Arizona would get on stage and perform shooting tricks for the audience. I organised a little cinq a sept event at the PG one evening with drinks at the bar and appetisers in the theatre. It was lovely -most of all to be in that space alone while setting up and taking down.



Above is a photograph of the Dawson Light Opera Chorus in 1903 which performed regularly at the PG. Back row, second from left is Mrs. Judge Macauley and front row, centre, is Lillian Whyte. (Dawson City Museum and Historical Society)

Louise Nevelson

Her Sky Landscape is also at the park.

I fell in love with black. It wasn't a negation of colour; it contained all colour... black is the most aristocratic color of all... you can be quiet and it contains the whole thing.

- L.N.

a path

in front of Calder's Eagle.
Behind it is this well-placed, slanted half wall with the donors' names inserted into the concrete.

Eagle

Sandy Calder's elegantly commanding creature, installed at the Olympic Sculpture Park in Seattle. When I saw it I wondered again if his favorite colour wasn't red. Was it red? It seemed to figure so prominently in his work and wardrobe.

I was fortunate to catch A Balancing Act in Seattle in January, an exhibition beautifully installed at the SAM featuring many of his mobiles. There too was my favorite work: Le Grand Cirque Calder (1955), the documentary film made by Jean Painleve who saw Calder perform his circus live in Paris in the 1920's. When he performed the circus for film, his wife Louisa James assisted, switching lps out on a portable record player and dropping chestnuts behind the performing elephant, after which her husband poop-scooped them up.

I liked how the curator set up the projection at the SAM, with a large rectangular carpet laid out on the floor in front the screen. It was perfect to lie down on and watch.

A dvd of the film can be purchased here.

a skirt

A boy's suit in wheat-coloured lightweight linen, trimmed with bands of dark olive braid. The double breasted jacket has half-moon shaped pockets and mother-of-pearl buttons. The pleated skirt slips over the head with no closure and the waist size can be adjusted with the ribbon tie belt. Seams are machine-sewn while everything else including pocket application and button holes are hand-sewn.

I think as late as 1870 it was considered proper for a British boy to be dressed in a skirt. As America approached the 20th century it became less common. I suppose Americans weren't as likely to be comfortable with what they saw as a feminine image for boys.

C'est la vie as Max Fisher would say.

lunch and a walk

by the river.

Look at this about food and this about lists.

the crocuses

are up in the Yukon, in their furry little coats.
And it's light 'til 11pm. Quite a beautiful time here.

And here is Ensuite.

W of S

The great Wall of Sound, for rare & out-of-print lps and cds.

did you happen to see the most beautiful girl in the world?

I check The Sartorialist on a daily basis, and he takes some lovely photos, but for me this is far and away the most lovely photo he has posted.

Thank you Scott Schuman (and Charlie Rich).

LB

at the Seattle Olympic Sculpture Park (which opened January, 2007)

The Eye Benches were a gift from Louise Bourgeois that accompanied Father and Son. Made of black granite form Zambabwe, they're wonderful to sit in (more in than on) ...warm from absorbing the sun, and perfectly smooth.

Father and Son sits on the edge of the park, overlooking the sea. Two volumes of water encircling each figure are on a timer mark each of the 24 hours in a day. The bell suspended from the underside of the tip of walkway in the background (you can just see it in the photo) rings on the hour and the water then lowers to reveal the son. At the next hour the water rises to hide the son, while the other mound of water descends to reveal the father. When revealed, each figure seems to float on air above the water.

Louise Bourgeois says, "nudity and obscurity represent vulnerability and the way male familial relationships deteriorate".

I'll post a few more images from the Park over the next few days.