The Curious Autodidact

June 27, 2010

Photography and Architecture Beautifully Combined

Filed under: media related — Honilima @ 9:43 am

Visual Acoustics: The Modernism of Julius Shulman (2008) was an unexpected delight of a movie. This documentary tells the story of photographer Julius Shulman who made a name for himself doing architectural photography. You get such a great portrait of how much respect Shulman has for design and art in this marvelous film. I watched it wanting to learn about his life as a photographer but learned quite a bit about modern architecture in the mix. If you have read much about Frank Lloyd Wright or toured any homes and buildings he has designed you will be even more captivated.

The New York Times did a review of the movie here.

Here’s a encapsulation of the film from director Eric Bricker’s website:

Narrated by Dustin Hoffman, VISUAL ACOUSTICS celebrates the life and career of Julius Shulman, the world’s greatest architectural photographer, whose images brought modern architecture to the American mainstream. Shulman, who passed away this year, captured the work of nearly every modern and progressive architect since the 1930s including Frank Lloyd Wright, Richard Neutra, John Lautner and Frank Gehry. His images epitomized the singular beauty of Southern California’s modernist movement and brought its iconic structures to the attention of the general public. This unique film is both a testament to the evolution of modern architecture and a joyful portrait of the magnetic, whip-smart gentleman who chronicled it with his unforgettable images.

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June 21, 2010

Annie Leonard: The Story of Stuff

Filed under: cool internet stuff,environmental ideas,helpful hints,media related,women heroes — Honilima @ 10:22 am

In this time of environmental crisis anyone who can get this passionate about garbage must be listen to. Annie Leonard, a Seattle native is featured lecturer at Town Hall Seattle via KUOW radio and her speech about her movie, The Story of Stuff is something you may well want to pass along to your friends who may not have seen it. Any country who is so successful in creating so much waste must take a moment to pause and contemplate what we are creating for future generations on our finite planet. This is an excellent presentation there is nothing boring about it because of her creative enthusiasm for her work and her sense of humor.

June 13, 2010

The Warren Watch

Filed under: media related,social justice,women heroes — Honilima @ 10:09 am

Sheriffs indeed...


Elizabeth Warren, born in Oklahoma, the daughter of a janitor, has become the consumer’s champion in Washington DC. She has been called the “Sheriff of Wall Street” and told that her critiques are too public. She tells it like it is. She is a Harvard professor and one student, when asked about Ms. Warren’s teaching style, described it as “Socratic with a machine gun.” What’s not to love about this hero?

Professor Warren, overseer of the Troubled Asset Relief Program, was recently in Boston for an appearance that was broadcast for “On Point Radio” on which she described the middle class as “turkey on the Thanksgiving Table” and tells us that “lobbyists travel in packs.”

When host Tom Ashbrook mentions the outstanding women who appeared on the cover of Time Magazine, in leadership positions in government; Shelia Bair the chair of the Federal Deposit Insurance Insurance Corportation (FDIC), Mary Shapiro chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and Elizabeth Warren sho is overseeing Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) bank bailout and the chief advocate for new consumer-finance regulations Warren doesn’t miss a beat by dismissing this by saying there’s “still no line in the Ladies Room.”

Michele Asselin for TIME

At one point he asked her something about what it was like to be in her position and she says it is “get tough or die.” What’s not to love about her dedication to defending the average American in the face of all this corporate control?

Brave enough to challenge the big wigs to “call me any time.” To the banks and derivative wizards she says “You are not in control any more.” Upbeat in the face of it all she says the odds are good that “we will make real change.”

We salute you Ms. Warren for your dedication and willingness to stand up and speak out, bravo. Count me in the Elizabeth Warren Fan Club.

June 10, 2010

Thoughtful Quotations by Women

Filed under: end of life,social justice,women heroes,Word Related — Honilima @ 10:32 pm

Cautious, careful people, always casting about to preserve their reputation and social standing, never can bring about a reform. Those who are really in earnest must be willing to be anything or nothing in the world’s estimation.
–Susan B. Anthony (1820-1906)

The highest result of education is tolerance.
–Helen Keller (1880-1968)

I wanted a perfect ending. Now I’ve learned, the hard way, that some poems don’t rhyme, and some stories don’t have a clear beginning, middle, and end. Life is about not knowing, having to change, taking the moment and making the best of it, without knowing what’s going to happen next. Delicious ambiguity. –Gilda Radner (1946-1989)

Someone who thinks death is the scariest thing doesn’t know a thing about life.
–Sue Monk Kidd (1948- )

After all, Ginger Rogers did everything that Fred Astaire did. She just did it backwards and in high heels.
–Ann Richards (1933-2006)

June 5, 2010

A Few Computer Hints Worth Checking out

Filed under: cool internet stuff,helpful hints,media related — Honilima @ 10:38 am

 

Image result for Ipod shuffle

When I took my little ipod shuffle in to talk to the Apple “genius” about why it was malfunction I wasn’t impressed by the answers I was given nor by the snobby look I was given as if to say “oh so you’re the one who these are marketed to…” I listen to free pod casts so I don’t need to have a more pricey model of MP3 player.

A young man who saw my laptop told me that I’d better get another soon since it was reaching it’s three year expected life (huh?). The throw away nature of all this technology is more than a little upsetting and to think of all this techno-waste we are creating and what happens to it later it even more unnerving. This is why I was interested to see this listing of the most reliable portable computers by manufacturer after two and three years of use.

Here are some other computer related things that may be of interest:

Although I use Bing to keep some competition out there for the big G, here’s rundown of 10 Simple Google Search Hints from the New York Times.

Here are three worthwhile articles about password protection something you always say you are going to get around to from Slate Fix your Terrible Insecure Passwords in Five Minutes, Lifehacker’s Use Nostalgic “Keys” to Encrypt Files and Remember Passwords and Microsoft’s Online SafetyCreating Strong Passwords.

In case you didn’t get the bulletin on how to delete your Facebook account forever here’s a hint from the Consumerist’s website.

It’s hard to keep track of all this technological change but it is a dynamic world we are living in!

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