recovering consumist assh*le

i left my apartment this morning in silence. two weeks ago, the third crap set of headphones i've bought in the last couple of months broke for good (after having uhu'ed them back together twice). last week my 30-gig ipod expired. it was only three years old. its premature passing has sparked a quiet rage within me. i'm getting better now, reading zygmunt bauman. feeling like a possibly recovering assh*le.

landscape urbanism bullshit generator

a must see

got mugged?

people never learn. first, that bloddy limey non-profit suggested in a recent add campaign that, like laura martínez puts it, mexicans wear awfull hats...and will give you aids. now it's some goddam bushwacker team dissing mexico to allure dumbfolk.

found it on ballardian:

walking past sta travel in collingwood (melbourne), I was struck by this advertisement: ‘i was mugged in mexico.’ sta targets the thrillseeking youngish backpacker scene, and it seems to have finally realised the futility of promoting mexico via the standard travel-industry imagery of tacos, burritos and tequilas to a street-smart, apparently narcissistic audience that has seen it all and done it all before.

this coming from a country of ex-cons...
pinches pendejos

(oh, the un-pc ranting about brits and aussies is just to give the post pizzaz. i really love anglos. really...)

crossborder ecology

700 miles of fence (not white picket) are rolling across the u.s-mex border faster than expected according to the nyt. aside from the obvious humanitarian concerns, a call for crossborder environmental conscience against the probable disruptive effects of the border's fake physical hardening is in order.

we can start with kevin lynch's 1974 temporary paradise?

reasons to love the us of a *

1. roadfood

*reasons to hate the us of a are pretty obvious for everyone. au contraire lots of people have no clue whatsoever of why you should love gringolandia too. i will sporadically share some of my reasons with y'all.

greengob

i have a lovehate relationship with magazines. when i'm lucid, i recognize them as generally useless, deceitful and disposable. other times i can't help being seduced by all that shine and prettiness.

i went up to the rack. i grabbed and leafed through the fashion mags. i felt naughty. i wanted some of that carne that looked so good. i almost couldn't help myself from buying vman with david gandy on the cover. i blushed it was so obscene and yummy.

but i cooled down, managed to resist, picked up the last issue of dwell instead. it felt like the right thing to do, after all, since the cover promised something about the new green revolution conscience or whatever. for a second i was happy with my strategic consumption choice. soon enough i realized the whole buy green thing was, in a sense, bullshit. i should have gone with the seminaked male model.

the issue is replete with the usual deluxy pads (talk about obscene) and supposedly eco must-haves. it was a nice match to the just as dissappointing october 2007 issue of metropolis mag, promising a "green leap forward" (btw, when did maoism become p.c. again?). sorry metropolis, but this time you sucked. arts&craftsy furniture with trees carved into them? sustainable carpeting? 130 euro camper shoes? is this the best we can do? is this really a good starting point?

does small is beautiful as in nouvelle cuisine apply to environmental concerns? will the current (peaking) green hype come crumbling down like its late-eighties culinary equivalent?

now i'm just angry and hungry and horny.

word 18 : sustain

sustain

v.

1. to support, hold, or bear up from below; bear the weight of, as a structure.
2. to bear (a burden, charge, etc.).
3. to undergo, experience, or suffer (injury, loss, etc.); endure without giving way or yielding.
4. to keep (a person, the mind, the spirits, etc.) from giving way, as under trial or affliction.
5. to keep up or keep going, as an action or process.
6. to supply with food, drink, and other necessities of life.
7. to provide for (an institution or the like) by furnishing means or funds.
8. to support (a cause or the like) by aid or approval.
9. to uphold as valid, just, or correct.
10. to confirm or corroborate, as a statement.

xxx

what exactly do we want to sustain, anyway?

visit kabul

courtesy of archis

via archinect
more @ architecture of fear

aloof

sometimes i feel really stupid.

i was trying to think of why i'm drawn to architecture.
the answer is: because architecture is (still) an important component of space-making.

i was trying to think of why i'm drawn to space.
the answer is: because space is (still) an important component of experience.

truth is, though, i'm less and less drawn to architecture itself (architectural production, the world of architects, etc.) and more and more drawn to architectural spoils, leftovers.

fixation on failure is symptomatic of tercermundismo, i'm sure.

please make mine blues

nothing like some good 'ol early o'gorman to fight this sense of impending weekend blues...

totally slummy

apart from climate change, there may be no more pressing challenge to planetary health and security than the fate of slum dwellers.

john beardsley, a billion slum dwellers and counting

le blogger lisant

i have a problem. my eyes hurt, twitch. they betray me. i spend 9 or 10 hours a day staring at blinking scrolling screens. i have forgotten the quiet reads i had in school. reading now involves the purr of machines, printers and cpu's. i don't flip or feel pages anymore. i barely write anything by hand anymore, some post-its or jots on a notebook maybe. in school i took hand-written notes on notecards while reading. now i skim, scan, click, double-click, type. i wonder through amazon or google books instead of shelves. i'm addicted to wikipedia. i skip through nyt online and do a daily ceremonious blogroll. i've been blogging for over four years now, and i've changed. i don't know if it's for better or worse.

no doubt george steiner would disapprove.

gloss vs. gloss

gloss

n.

1. a superficial luster or shine.
2. a false or deceptively good appearance.
3. a cosmetic that adds sheen or luster.

gloss

n.

1. an explanation or translation, by means of a marginal or interlinear note, of a technical or unusual expression in a manuscript text.
2. a series of verbal interpretations of a text.
3. a glossary.
4. an artfully misleading interpretation.

slide

we are sliding towards an irreversible obsession with totally visual communication. text is struggling to keep up. only dense, layered, information-rich text cuts it in the online world, preferably broken up with images and other information, which might explain why the blog form, in particular the visual blog, is currently so successful.

(things dixit)