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junichiro tanizaki was a guy. famous modern novelist, maybe comparable to robert frost in that his writing was direct and unflowered.

i have that book too, and quite enjoyed it. have read that ando made all his students at yale read it to get some idea of japanese culture...

the house i am in is about 150 yrs old, but as my father in law is an architect/builder (of sorts; he used to do houses and now just renovates them, but on a huge scale) he had his crew redo the place with traditional and/or expensive western materials. really beautiful. all the walls are finished with earth/plaster, the floors are 2 inch thick wood flooring (oak from recycled whiskey barrels, and something amazingly purple i don't know the name of), and the ceilings finished with various kinds of bamboo. it is lovely, sort of the vision that westerners have of japan but can never see because no one lives that way anymore. thankfully the toilet is not as junichiro describes, but the modern japanese version, with the heated seat (no central heating here, just local, and only where it counts).

unfortunately am back to tokyo and to work this afternoon. ah well. life is still good.

Jul 2, 06 7:52 pm  · 
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mad+dash

@dot-- I'm not so sure it is hush hush. There have been a few news reports, I believe it may have been one of the nightly news programs like Nightline.

I believe if you return a certain number of movies in an allotted time period, you don't receive the highest choice selection which seems fair to those who don't rent as many movies. However, the slower service to frequent watchers/returnes is fairly sketchy.

I still think it's better than blockbuster and hollywood home video. is it just me or is there always a funky smell at those places?

Jul 2, 06 8:09 pm  · 
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godspeed guys.

Jul 4, 06 1:52 pm  · 
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colinrichardson

dot, i'm pretty sure the suit you're talking about was the one that was settled a few months ago... you got your account upgraded for a month i think.

Jul 4, 06 2:22 pm  · 
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WonderK

manamana, I just got done reading that article. Holy crap it was informative. Dense but certainly very, very thorough, and terribly helpful. Thank you so much!

I don't know about you guys but I am NOT looking forward to going back to work tomorrow. This has been the best mini-vacation I can remember, I think because I had 4 days to do ordinary things so it felt like I never had to go back to work at all.

Also I don't think I'm going to sleep much tonight. Part of the fun of living in the ghetto is massive amounts of fireworks.....oh well.

Jul 4, 06 11:37 pm  · 
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A Center for Ants?

ughhhhh

fireworks in Orinda, CA until 9:45 pm.
depart Orinda @ 10pm.
arrive in LA @ 3am...

where's my coffee...

Jul 5, 06 12:24 pm  · 
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dot- if that's a secret, it's a badly-kept one. I was informed of that by no less than three people within a week of signup (not NEtflix people, blockbuster-loving people).

This was a very good weekend. Lots of time with friends, lots of time alone, just lots of time. Dodger game and fireworks last night, bbq for lunch, beach all day saturday.... good stuff.

Sign me up for the PLA! I'm going to be investigating less hilly routes between home and work this week in the hopes of un-retiring my roller blades. I'm tired of being a fatty.

Jul 5, 06 1:08 pm  · 
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WonderK

Holy crap, rationalist! Don't say that about yourself!

I really know how you feel though. I took up running (on purpose) to train for a race that I just ran on Saturday. I still hate running but the results are undeniable so I think I'm going to try to keep it up. It just gets the job done faster.

Jul 5, 06 1:31 pm  · 
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brian buchalski

i actually walked all the way home from work last friday (usually do part of the trip with the bus) and was pleasantly surprised to find that it only took me 38 minutes including a stop at my fav liquor store. i'll probably do it more frequently now that i've tried it once.

Jul 5, 06 1:50 pm  · 
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Well, it's pretty true. You guys (if you even remember) have only seen a headshot of me, when I was 10 lbs. lighter. I need to do something about it. I'm starting on a lunch regimen of Lean Cuisines, and am, as mentioned, investigating alternative means of transport. I walked to and from work for about a month last year, but it took an hour each way (damn Overland hill!), I didn't lose a single pound because it didn't raise my heart rate much, and I felt like the office stink-bomb because of how sweaty I was by the time I got in.

Unfortunately, I can't just 'take up running' because of my health. I am one of the few survivors of active childhood tuberculosis (apparently most children who get it full-on don't make it through, so I was told), so the development of my lungs just kind of stalled when I was about 11. I can run for about twenty feet before I revert to a walk, feeling like I'm going to explode. A flight of stairs makes me breath noticeably harder. So it appears that fitness will be a life-long struggle. *sigh*

Jul 5, 06 2:37 pm  · 
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brian buchalski

running is definitely a great way to keep trim. i've been doing about 4-8 miles/day recently and i'm probably the leanest i've ever been in my life.

another suggestion would be grad school. i dropped 15lbs my first semester back due to a lack of eating and sleeping. actually, that was kinda scary because i wasn't all that large to begin with...but exhaustion is certainly a good technique.

Jul 5, 06 3:28 pm  · 
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ok, since I apparently stink-bombed Thread Central with that last post, here's a happier thought to share:

I'm getting a new car! A smaller, more effecient car. My current car is a boat, and I found a salvage that's easy to repair and pretty cheap, and is much smaller. Actually, I think just about anything would qualify as 'much smaller'. Anyway, that'll be fun. Anyone else on thread central economizing as a result of gas prices?

Jul 6, 06 12:12 pm  · 
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AP

I carpool. I pretty much drive only to work and back home...once I'm home my neighborhood is walk-able...2 minutes to the grocery, 6 minutes to the local bar and my favorite vintage clothing shop, 3 minutes to the riverfront park...downtown Jacksonville is only 5-10 minutes by car, depending on traffic...so, I'm gonna keep my 4cylinder '95 Toyota until it won't go any further!


now, TC, go respond to my fireworks thread, please.

Jul 6, 06 1:29 pm  · 
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AP

oh, and walking around my neighborhood has been my only exercise for the last month at least...

Jul 6, 06 1:34 pm  · 
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hey it's not the end of the world rationalista. watch your carbs and stuff. i have this extra 15 (probably more) myself and it doesn't go away for last several years. i know its not a bigger deal for guys and all but don't go into despair because of it. i have not been doing any exercise other than walking the dogs @ 2/mph and only couple of blocks per day. sometimes i get tired just tying my shoes. it has been 7 months already since i quit smoking cigs. i should step up and start doing some exercise but i just don't have the motivation right now. i could go to the beach but it is polluted out there and i've this dislike about swimming pools thinking people pee in them, i know i did as a kid.

on a different subject,
is there a good looking acoustical tile (2'x2') for a replacement of existing ones in so-cal area? i've not dealt with acoustical tiles business for about 25 years (since my first job). i realize there ain't much choices but i remember some decent looking ones from us gypsum co.

Jul 6, 06 2:20 pm  · 
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aml

if you can't do the jogging, maybe you should try 'fast walking'- not as effective as jogging but the next best thing if you have lung problems. not something to be done on the way to work, but as a separate part of your routine- also, i think more light exercise is better than 'i'll do a lot once a week' so take that into account and if you can't exercise heavily, do it lightly but often.

i am a 'new born jogger' meaning i just discovered it and hate it [well, actually the better i get the more i like it] but like the results. i've also discovered pilates recently, and although it won't burn away the fat, it does make you feel great- and strenghtens muscles which is good. lungs shouldn't be a problem at all there. heard great things about yoga too but it's difficult to find a place and more time in my schedule to make it fit.

Jul 6, 06 2:22 pm  · 
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I tried yoga. I don't know if this was super-power-yoga for extra-fit people or something, but it killed me. Not only was it hard, but the teacher had a fetish for the upside-down poses. 100 sweaty people together in a room, upside down, trying to breath, makes me feel like I need to throw up. It wasn't just me, either- I brought a friend who is way fitter than me and she said it made her want to barf, too. The air would get all thick and hot from the sweat, then he'd make us stay upside down for five minutes at a time.... ew.

I do manage the elliptical trainer at the gym. Somehow I make it through (although my face is the color of a ripe tomato by the time I'm done and I'm gasping for air, I can do it for 35 min.) But yeah, scheduling...

Jul 6, 06 2:34 pm  · 
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A Center for Ants?

i did yoga once and LOVED it. i surf a lot and have all sorts of weird joint/muscle issues w/ my shoulders. i really hate all the frou frou spiritual yoga crap but went to a "yoga for athletes" class and it was really good. loosened me right up. and my shoulder pain i had that day evaporated. sorta cool.

running? eh. i ran track in college and it was then i found that i really don't like running. i find it boring.

Jul 6, 06 2:50 pm  · 
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AP

I also find that running is boring.
If I am to run, I need a ball and an objective.

Yoga is great, most anyone should be comfortable in a beginning class...which typically includes Sun Salutations (a sequential routine, usually repeated a handful of times to warm up), and then some basic Asanas. Shouldn't be too much upside down stuff, maybe a little....




Jul 6, 06 4:17 pm  · 
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AP


Sun Salutation

Jul 6, 06 4:24 pm  · 
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re; the ceiling tile question,
i get the messege. google indeed. bingo. armstrong. t you t bar.

back to sports,
here is something that will catch on fashionfire soon. tell them you've heard it from me. any investors for yoga-fence salon with starbucks attached?

on guard...

Jul 6, 06 4:55 pm  · 
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manamana

I had a friend in school who's older brother was a big10 fenceing champion. I went to one of the club recruiting meetings at the insistance of a female friend who saw a flyer, and we pretty much spent the whole time whacking each other with metal sticks and gigling stupidly. WHACK. Hey! no fair! WHACK..... there are some tremendously talanted people at it though. but for me it was just too tempting to play nerf swordbattle constantly.

Jul 6, 06 8:16 pm  · 
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off the subject...i won't claim to have sparked any interesting conversation on here, but has anyone else noticed that the discussion forum is going through a lull in interesting topics? think it might be the holiday weekend?

right now all we have are rants about egomaniacal architects and their prada outfits. at this point i would almost welcome back the, dare i say, [northeastern-ivy-league-school] Blows thread.

Jul 6, 06 8:34 pm  · 
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my first year in japan i spent every morning at the local high school doing kendo with the kids ( i was only a few years older than them at the time ). i still have the swords, and the calluses on my feet.

was great exercise, and as they believe in hardship training also got to experience the pleasure of practicing in the middle of winter in an unheated gymnasium, barefooted, at 7 in the morning. Was actually surprisingly fun, and at the end of practice steam was rising off of our bodies...very cool effect.

it is hard to find time to exercise now, but up to a few years ago managed to do ten hours a week of shorinji...my body is still suffering...

Jul 6, 06 9:14 pm  · 
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A Center for Ants?

since we're on the topic of our extra curricular activities...


this is where i was this morning before work. small but still manageable. no other feeling like it when you have a freight train of a wave nipping at your heels and you're going full tilt down the line.

and seeing dolphins and seals in the morning is fun too. and it's a great upper body workout.

Jul 7, 06 12:23 pm  · 
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that looks nice! is that venice pier?...so glassy.

Jul 7, 06 12:41 pm  · 
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brian buchalski

i'm alive.

Jul 7, 06 12:45 pm  · 
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A Center for Ants?

nice call dot. right on the money.

Jul 7, 06 12:45 pm  · 
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in the news section there is a job post by graves' office and right under it there is a news post called 'ghosts of the past'. i wonder how long thats gonna last? its like making a rhyme.

Jul 7, 06 4:47 pm  · 
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WonderK

3 days and no TC posts. We must really be uninteresting right now.

Well here's something. I'm doing a whirlwind tour of the East Coast this weekend. Going to Pittsburgh, NYC, Baltimore, and DC over the course of 5 days. Only spending a couple of hours in Pittsburgh though. If anyone wants to join me for brunch/lunch any time, please do let me know.

Jul 10, 06 10:05 am  · 
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liberty bell

Steven and I will try to perk up TC now that we are back from GSA and I, for one, am NOT eager to get back to my real job yet. I will, shortly.

The beginnings of an interesting discussion are up here. jump and I are marvelling at how older architects seem to be able to take risks and come up with innovative ideas. Granted, a pavilion is a pavilion, and it is not unreasonable to think that given 12 designers and the program "pavilion", you might come up with some similarity among the twelve.

On the other hand, Steven and I had our students recreate jello boxes using tarpaper, no tape or glue, and the results were twelve radically different ideas:


These were teenagers, of course. I wonder what the results would be if you gave the same project to 12 adults? I'd be willing to bet they would be more efficient and less interesting in their solutions, frankly. Which would go against what I'm stating on the thread about Warm-Up. Maybe it's true for most people: college education makes you more inhibited, then a few decades of personal experience make you less so.

Jul 10, 06 10:27 am  · 
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AP

awesome assignment, lb. I like #5 and #10, especially (counting from top left to bottom right).

Jul 10, 06 11:00 am  · 
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liberty bell

Thanks AP. We did tell them "excess is good", meaning it's OK to have a lot of material hidden inside the box if that helps make it structurally sound.

Jul 10, 06 11:05 am  · 
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AP

#8 reminds me of Rabbit in the Moon

Jul 10, 06 11:10 am  · 
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brian buchalski

tread central is not a good post

Jul 10, 06 11:35 am  · 
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nice, LB.

when i taught first year architecture students one of the things that i really had to work at was getting the young folks to stop thinking so hard about what they know is possible and really go nuts.

This was the hardest thing to get over for them, more than thinking about materiality, space, construction and all the rest.

When I was in undergrad myself the profs tried to overcome this through a bauhaus-y program...building tetrahedron collages, playing with tensegrity, and making structures from paper and no glue (much like your project, except we had to make a thingy that would protect a raw egg from destruction when dropped from the mezzanine). I think it worked well but at the time didn't understand the intent of the education...

i think something similar happens when first going out to the real world and realising projects on the ground. commercial firms are a whole different basket of bunnies, but even the creative types can find it hard to test the limits when they get the chance...certainly is something i still struggle with, anyway.

Jul 10, 06 9:26 pm  · 
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WonderK

This

is a fun thread. I especially like the part where THuh asks about hot men.

Jul 11, 06 12:17 am  · 
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French

I need to stop posting on the soccer thread but the final was so dramatic I can't stop arguing about zz headbutt and all that stuff. Please guys, lead me to a good discussion that can stop me from talking about soccer when I really don't give a crap about it!

Jul 11, 06 11:37 am  · 
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the last 3 weeks at the governor's school. i got bad sleep on a saggy bed, missed my wife and baby, ate food that made me feel bad every day, suffered through being either too hot or too cold most of the time, was constantly tired and on edge simultaneously, allowed tons of my normal responsibilities to drop, and generally turned my life upside down.

i miss it already.

Jul 11, 06 12:44 pm  · 
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liberty bell

Yep, Steven: subsitute "husband" for "wife" and you exactly describe my feelings right now!

One aspect of the governor's school that had a big effect on me: I realized I'm lonely! I've spent the last year working mostly alone (my partner goes to a lot of meetings) and being surrounded by people every day for 3 weeks makes me now realize how much I hate being alone every day. I need to change my work environment.

Any architecture firms in Indy interested in renting desk space to my partner and me? I'm serious - I'm starting to look at the AIA too.

Not that you guys on Thread Central don't keep me company as best you can!

Jul 11, 06 1:22 pm  · 
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Read (the reality of being) sleepless in Brussels (pp.91-92 of QBVS1, and then think a little about reenactionary architecturism. It won't cure your loneliness, but at least you'll be sure you're not the only one.

Jul 11, 06 1:35 pm  · 
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brian buchalski

why can't the terrorist target the suv infrastructure instead of picking on hapless mass transiters?

and in a completely unrelated note, i stumbled across an interesting formation the other day...while looking at my feet (trying to gauge how cool my shoes make me look while walking) i noticed an area of the sidewalk that was covered in bird droppings and cigarette butts.

have birds taken up smoking?

this avian flu crisis is bad enough, i really don't care to start hearing about an epidemic of avian lung cancer.

Jul 11, 06 1:43 pm  · 
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liberty bell

Thank you SuperImpose - that actually was very helpful, and I closely identify with it. Especially the notion of being alone usually then the surprising enjoyment of being "suddenly right in the thick of architectural discussion". And then going back to being alone.

Of course this is a place.

Jul 11, 06 1:56 pm  · 
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vado retro

im lonely all the time. im getting used to it.

Jul 11, 06 6:26 pm  · 
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A Center for Ants?
Jefferson is on my shit list

now for being snooty to LB, who has my utmost respect.

Jul 11, 06 6:27 pm  · 
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A Center for Ants?

and the italy wins world cup thread degenerated into just utter mind farting within a few posts.

what's wrong with archinect these days? thread central is increasingly become my solace and place of respite. that and old threads that had some quality.

Jul 11, 06 6:32 pm  · 
 · 
e

yeah, i didn't understand jefferson's post to lb either. bad form.

Jul 11, 06 6:37 pm  · 
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liberty bell

Ooooh, I haven't yet read "Jefferson's post to lb" yet....I can't wait..........

Jul 11, 06 8:13 pm  · 
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AP

damn lb, nice work in the NYC explosion thread.

"...with subtlety that is no doubt lost on you..."

I would love to see his/her face upon reading that line - pause - oh...

Jul 11, 06 9:20 pm  · 
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liberty bell

Thank you AP. Funny "pause" comment too. Jefferson was actually pretty mild to me, don't you think? I expected to read fury! Profanity! Obscene image posts!

But thanks for looking out for me everyone.

Honestly I just don't understand people who post one sentence thread topics. After coming off a 3-week teaching experience wherein I realized again how much I loooove to talk about stuff especially architecture (sorry for all the times I interrupted you, Steven!) I just can't do brevity well. Clever brevity is one thing, but a lot of people's brevity seems to be more related to laziness than wit. vado being a significant expection, of course!

Jul 11, 06 9:29 pm  · 
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