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Free shipping plus 5% discount at Modern Nursery now through 1231 enter code BABY5SHP
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this season has been one of genuine sharing, appreciation and reflection. of truly realizing that it is more about spending time, not money. of baking and eating and laughing and toasting. so, as 2009 winds down to its end, i thought i would turn to one of my favorite writers to remind us all of the meaning of christmas…

And the Grinch, with his Grinch-feet ice cold in the snow, stood puzzling and puzzling, how could it be so?

It came without ribbons.  It came without tags.  It came without packages, boxes or bags.

And he puzzled and puzzled ’till his puzzler was sore.  Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn’t before.

What if Christmas, he thought, doesn’t come from a store.  What if Christmas, perhaps, means a little bit more.

Dr. Seuss

here’s hoping christmas for all of us means a little bit more!

happy holidays to you, your family and friends.

Reading About Houses

With the many boxes of architecture books in our basement you could say that they’re helping to support our house, and with all the architecture books on our shelves you could also say that they’re helping to weigh it down. But at least it’s balanced — though some folks in my family could say we have reached a tipping point, literally. In any case, the obsession must be fed, so here’s a quick round-up of design books that have recently caught my eye — good for last minute gifts or your first reading list of the new year.

In the decades following World War II, a number of small communities across the country built modern, architect-designed houses, such as Snake Hill in Belmont, Massachusetts, and Six Moon Hill at Lexington in the same state. Living Modern, by Waverly Lowell (William Stout, publisher), chronicles the planning and building of such an enclave, called Greenwood Common, in the Berkeley Hills above the University of California campus in 1952.

It was developed by architect William Wurster, dean of Berkeley’s architecture school and later founder of the College of Environmental Design. His idea was to create a modern but regionally responsive, outdoor- and community-oriented neighborhood of houses by a diverse array of contemporary architects. (Full disclosure:  Wurster bought the land from my grandmother, who was very interested in modern architecture. My father used to tell us children about playing softball on what his family called “The Front Lot,” where eight houses now stand.) Landscape architect Lawrence Halprin designed the setting

including the common green facing a view of the Bay, and several of the individual gardens many years before he became famous for his city parks and water gardens around the country. The book vividly describes how clients and architects worked together to create very progressive living environments and includes conceptual sketches like this series by architect Donald Olsen,

which shows his interest in International Style geometries.

Casa Del Herrero, by Robert Sweeney (Rizzoli, publisher) is the story of a meticulously preserved Spanish Colonial Revival style house in Santa Barbara from the 1920s.

The name means house of the blacksmith and the edifice was built as the winter home for the family of St. Louis industrialist George Steedman, who enjoyed such hobbies as metal working (hence the name), wood working, and wine making.  For Steedman, according to Sweeney, “the shop was the holy land.” And his shop is indeed a marvel: the large room is densely packed and highly organized, with a vast array of tools occupying every surface.

He must have been a challenging client because he was constantly tinkering with every detail, from handrails to glassware. Spanish tile and wrought iron embellish every room.  You can visit the house by contacting the Casa Del Herrero Foundation.

Energy Free Homes for a Small Planet by Ann Edminster (Green Building Press) is an essential reference for anyone planning to build a home that uses as little energy as possible.

The author is an architect who helped develop our national green standards. She  explains what a net zero energy home is and shows how to develop your own plan for building such a house. The chapters address her concept of integrated design and how to minimize the energy your house needs, how to minimize the energy the house’s occupants need, and explain the options for appliances and fixtures. It’s a comprehensive guide to the greenest green.

What do architects read? I am always interested in this question because I want to know where architects get their design ideas. Unpacking My Library: Architects and Their Books by Jo Steffens (Yale University Press) looks at the book collections of ten contemporary New York-area architects.

Interviews with each architect explains what they read, and what their top ten books are. Robert Venturi’s seminal Complexity & Contradition in Modern Architecture — a book published in 1966 that championed the role of ambiguity in architectural form — is on several lists. There’s a voyeuristic aspect to the photos of sample shelves from each library…I confess I’m always looking for a copy of my book Cliff May and the Modern Ranch House! (must be the egg nog from our holiday party just now finished: it’s a truth serum). Billie Tsien and Tod Williams talk about their love of the eleventh edition of the Encyclopedia Brittanica both for its lucid writing and for its tactile leather binding. Most of these libraries are organized by subject or architect so the juxtapositions aren’t unusual. But it’s an intriguing idea for a book and just makes me want to know more about the sources of architectural imagination.

These volumes can be found at the usual Internet sources but bookstores that specialize in design are especially rewarding places to browse, including Mrs. Dalloways Literary & Garden Arts, Builders Booksource, and William Stout Architectural Books. Happy reading and Happy holidays.

about a million years ago, i did the artist’s way and the one thing i have had been committed to ever since then is writing in my journal. despite all the technologies of today – this blog, modernest’s facebook and twitter pages;  my iphone, my macbook – i am still a pen and paper girl at heart. i have my super cool jonathan adler mini-notebook that i carry with me always and i have my lovely journals that i write in daily. there is something about the sound of the pen moving across the white page that helps me to process and record whatever is going on in my life.

i have a ritual each december, when i reread all my past entries. it gives me a lot of insight, helps me to break old patterns and relive especially lovely moments and memories of the year that was.

i’m always on the lookout for beautiful, unlined journals, so i was especially excited to have read this ecofabulous post on  ecosystem journals – not only made in america from 100% post-consumer recycled paper, but they have calculated the carbon footprint of their brightly colored products and you can actually track the materials used to create your journal with an identification number. they also guide you through the recycling process, but i won’t need that since i keep all my past journals in vintage suitcases – my life written and recorded.

available at barnes and noble…i think i might still have a gift card with a balance on it – happy new year to me!

just like thanksgiving, the upcoming holidays are bringing so much joy and cheer (and people and food) into our homes. so, please take a quick look at this list that petfinder has posted of all the holiday hazards that may make little fido or fluffy’s celebrations not so merry…

paw-rum-paw-paw-pum!

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1) A government department has a particular job to do.

2) This job is contracted out to a private firm, for no obvious reason beyond the fact that this is the sort of thing that apparently has to be done nowadays.

3) The private firm find themselves unable to devote the manpower needed to do it properly (or perhaps – a cynic might say – choose not to devote the manpower needed to do it properly because they know they’ll easily get away with it in this “private good, public bad” world).

4) The original public body ends up having to assign staff to help out the private firm that is still being paid public money to do the job.

Sweet baby Jesus and all the angels. Thatcher couldn’t have imagined it even in her most excitable of dreams.

in the spirit of this year’s white house holiday theme, volunteers and decorators went into the white house warehouses to collect over 800 ornaments from past administrations. michelle obama had them sent out to 60 community groups and asked them to decorate them in tribute to a local landmark and send them back. instead of the usual dozen trees, this year there are seven, decorated with the recycled ornaments and LED lights.

and while this may not be a completely new idea, i find it inspirational on many levels. whether you host a reuse-redecorate or ornament exchange party; or do it yourself and give them as gifts, i think it’s a lovely gesture of gratitude and upcycling for the holiday season.

following up on my post yesterday, here is a perfect example of what i mean by living in a modern world…i found these plastic ornaments at the goodwill 3 years ago. they were in a box marked $2.50 – score! the shiny ornaments bring color and sparkle to our house and a smile to the faces of all passersby in the daytime. but best of all, we are using zero energy (no lights!).

i placed them under our awnings and roof lines to protect them from the elements (which, in southern california really only means wind and rain). the front of the house is themed in silver and the back patio in gold.

we’ve already received many compliments from our neighbors. and while i understand the tradition of lights and lawn decor (please buy LED lights!), i like the minimal, yet whimisical and modern vibe it brings to our 50s house.

i was unable to get a wide shot of the house, but i hope you can get a sense of what i’m trying to achieve…

i hope by using and reusing these decorations (and not using energy), i will offset the fact that they are plastic. and obviously, buying them at the thrift store already saved them from their fate in the landfill! and that is living in a modern world:  doing the best you can whenever you can to save energy and reduce waste.

happy holidays!

i’m getting a late start on my xmas decorating, so i wanted to explain the title of this blog (and will post photos tomorrow of holiday glee). as a lover of modern design, it is nearly impossible to live a plastic-free life (what would i do without all of my alessi?).

this morning, i paid attention to how many things i touched/used that were made from plastic (even as i type this, my clear speck case on my laptop is prime example of what i’m talking about). plastic is everywhere…

living in the modern world means trying to buy intelligently as possible. i look at long term use; good design; buy used whenever possible; recycle everything that is recyclable; reduce our waste; think about where things come from and know that the cheapest option usually isn’t the best one (for the environment, for the workers who make it, etc.). our house is almost completely furnished with items from craigslist, yard sales and ebay. none of these are original ideas, just my way of living.

tomorrow’s post of our holiday decorations will be a bright and shiny example of what i’m talking about…

I’m sure there must be lots more lovely Christmas stuff, but I can’t seem to find very much of it. Nuts to New Year. This is the West Midlands, not Scotland.

Standard disclaimers: I can’t ensure that these events will go ahead, that they’ll be good, or that I will be going to them. This is just a list of things I found that looked like they might be interesting, so please do not contact me to ask for your event to be included. That’s not the way it works.

Until Saturday the 6th of Feb – “George’s Marvellous Medicine” (Birmingham Stage Company) @ The Old Rep, Birmingham – Mixing up everything in your medicine cabinet is not recommended at home, kids. Unless you’re genuinely thirsty.

Until Saturday the 9th of January – “A Christmas Carol” (Birmingham Rep Theatre Company) @ The Rep Theatre, Birmingham – Seems fair to me to say that “Marley was dead: to begin with” is the second greatest opening line in all of literature.

Between Tuesday the 1st and Saturday the 19th – A whole tonne of Capsule stuff to celebrate ten years of ‘em @ various venues in Brum – There’s loads of stuff. I’ll list the lot (and just link to their event pages) for the sake of completeness, so this doesn’t mean I’m seriously recommending SunnO)))~!111: Monotonix, Esquilax, Beestung Lips and Cum Dogs at Vivid in Digbeth on the 1st; Tunng, Six Organs Of Admittance, Lightning Dust And Bella Emerson at the Town Hall on the 2nd (this is the one I’m most looking forward to); Lightning Bolt, Tweak Bird and Pete Prescription at Vivid on the 8th; Sunno)))}}}]]] and Om at The Asylum in Hockley on the tenth; Pram and Light Trap at Vivid on the 11th; a free afternoon film showing at Vivid on the 13th with a buffet and pictures provided by 7 Inch Cinema; Beak, Einstellung and Thought Forms at Vivid on the 16th (Edit: That one is cancelled. Poo.); some sort of evening social or suchlike at Vivid on the 17th; and a final partay with Modified Toy Orchestra, PCM, Calvados Beam Trio, Una Corda and Stinky Wizzleteat at Vivid on the 19th. You owe me a pint if I’ve managed to put all of those links in without cocking up the code at all. (EDIT: There’s also one in association with Heat And Light at Vivid on the night of the 13th, with Sudden Infant and Nic Bullen).

Tuesday the 1st – Alice Cooper @ The Civic Hall, Wolverhampton – Giving a golf seminar, perhaps.

Thursday the 3rd till Saturday the 12th (but not the 7th) – Aston Hall By Candlelight @ Aston Hall, Aston, Birmingham – This year themed around the Victorian household entertaining a royal visitor.

Thursday the 3rd till Saturday the 5th – “The Just Price Of Flowers” (Stan’s Café) @ A.E. Harris, Jewellery Quarter, Birmingham – Inspired by Brecht, but not actually one of his (apparently there has been some confusion). Parallels are drawn between modern-day financial nuttery and 17th century Dutch tulip nuttery.

Friday the 4th – Chris Addison @ The Wulfrun Hall, Wolverhampton – Ollie Ollie Ollie, Oi Oi Oi.

Various dates between Saturday the 5th and Saturday the 19th – Verdi’s “Othello” (Birmingham Opera Company) @ The Argyle Works, Bordesley, Birmingham – Birmingham Opera Company’s version of “Idomeneo” last year was greater than great can be. Judging by the postcode, the venue for this should be somewhere in the general vicinity of here.

Friday the 5th – Frank Sidebottom @ The Wulfrun Hall, Wolverhampton – Fantastic showbusiness.

Saturday the 5th – Boxing (dunno who’s promoting) @ The Hilton Hotel, Coventry – Including Max “Max” Maxwell vs Martin Concepcion, in what must be Max’s 381,789th Midlands area title match (EDIT: or 4th, if you want to be boring and accurate).

Sunday the 6th – Madball @ Busk, Birmingham – Hardcore for tuphguyzzz. I will forever maintain that “Droppin’ Many Suckers” is one of the greatest names that anyone ever has called and ever could call an album.

Monday the 7th – The Unthanks @ The Wulfrun Hall, Wolverhampton – North-Eastern folkifiers formerly known as “Rachel Unthank And The Winterset”. I’m glad they’ve changed their name. OtherUnthankSister didn’t outwardly appear to do any less than Rachel, so it’s fairer this way.

Tuesday the 8th – Jodi Ann Bickley @ The Hare & Hounds, Kings Heath, Birmingham – Interesting and endearing poetry, happening at the same time as the ’Freestyle’ photography exhibiton.

Wednesday the 9th – Alexander O’Neal @ The Civic Hall, Wolverhampton – Or rather “80s soul nuisance Alexander O’Neal”, as the in-joke that you won’t get has it.

Wednesday the 9th – Seth Lakeman @ The Wulfrun Hall, Wolverhampton – Frequently fancied fiddler fascinates folks (with) folk.

Wednesday the 9th – The Bookhouse Boys @ The Hare & Hounds, Kings Heath, Birmingham – Like Tindersticks on holiday in Hawaii, or somesuch.

Wednesday the 9th – “Arc” (with Graft) @ The Vaults, Jewellery Quarter, Birmingham – The first of a new monthly art night, with a different set of artists each time. Here ‘Graft’ (whoever they might be) will bring a Jewellery-with-other-meanings exhibition from “The Institute Of Meaningful Interaction” and artist Mark Baldwin appearing as part of the structure of the building. Apparently. All very vague as a result of the fact that no sod seems to have a web presence because… I don’t know why not. I love The Vaults, though, it’s a great place.

Thursday the 10th – Madness @ The Academy, Birmingham – Mavva Brahn’s got her knees up, presumably in the process of skanking. This one is (unsurprisingly) sold out, but they’re also at The Civic on the 17th.

Friday the 11th – “Resistance, Revolt, Rebellion: A Double Bill of Civil Disobedience” (Kindandgenerous Productions and Emma Purshouse) @ The Arena Theatre, Wolverhampton – In Love And Taxes, current Brum poet laureate Adrian Johnson and Jessi of Eastfield bring songs and stories recalling the popular opposition to the poll tax. In “Are You Sitting Comfortably?”, Emma Purshouse tell poems of “rebellion, revolution and armchair inactivism”.

Sunday the 13th – Basement Jaxx @ The Civic Hall, Wolverhampton – Let’s all have a disco, let’s all have a disco.

Sunday the 13th – Depeche Mode @ The LG Arena, Marston Green, Birmingham – A band who I’d say have been quite the unsung influence on quite a fair bit of music in recent years.

Tuesday the 15th – Public Image Limited @ The Academy, Birmingham – Given that my LOTTSADITWM often feature metal and boxing, it seems only too apt that a band who put out an album called “Metal Box” should be in here. Also: post-punk legends, Country Life butter etc.

Wednesday the 16th till Sunday the 20th – “The Snow Queen” (Screamingvoiceyouththeatre) @ The Arena Theatre, Wolverhampton – Screamingvoice etc.etc. are absolutely ace, they really are.

Wednesday the 16th – Nile @ The Wulfrun Hall, Wolverhampton – Ancient Egyptian themed death metal, and I can’t see how you could possibly think that isn’t the best idea ever. Nothing I’ve ever heard by them is quite as good as the concept, but Krisiun are on the bill too and they’ll blow your earwax free (I mean that in a good way).

Wednesday the 16th – The Pogues @ The Academy, Birmingham – [Slur]Dirty old Towwwwwwwwwwn…[/slur]

Friday the 18th until Friday the 9th of January – Funworld @ The NEC, Marston Green, Birmingham – I don’t see how anyone could dislike a world of fun. It’s a huge indoor funfair (including, apparently, a “300ft bungee slingshot”. Indoors, I’ll repeat with vague concern) and has to win the all-time title for “event I’ve been handed the largest number of the same flyer for”.

Saturday the 21st – The Beat’s xmas party @ The Asylum, Hockley, Birmingham – 30 years since they started, apparently (see also the 27th).

Monday the 21st – The Wildhearts @ The Wulfrun Hall, Wolverhampton – My unbroken run of not managing to see any Wildhearts or Wildhearts-related gigs since 2001 will definitely continue here. They’re still ace though.

Monday the 21st – Musical Youth @ The Hare & Hounds, Kings Heath, Birmingham – Don’t take the mick, you know which way you need to pass it.

Wednesday the 23rd until Sunday the 3rd of January – “The Gruffalo (Tall Stories) @ The Town Hall, Birmingham – They had The Gruffalo plodding along as part of the Reindeer Parade in town recently. I thought he was cute.

Friday the 25th – IT’S CHRIIISTMUUUUUUS!

Sunday the 27th – Drongos For Europe’s xmas party @ the Asylum, Hockley, Birmingham – 30 years since they started, apparently (see also the 21st).

Do you constantly wish there were more hours in the day?

As I write, the time is 0629, the sky is black and the roads outside are empty. I can see from my apartment that even in a city, few people are up and about. It makes me wonder how anyone hopes to achieve anything. If I was to surface at 0830 I’d spend the day playing catch up.

It’s true, I do many things, and for that, I frequently run short on time, so do the highest achievers appear efficient because they do less and do it well? Between study, work and ‘other’ work I need to lay out my day specifically if I plan to do more that a handful of things. I’ve been experimenting with that method lately and it seems to be the only one that works. For instance, I’ve allocated 30 minutes to blogging, which seems a fair amount of time to get my point across. Without a time limit, I can imagine myself saying half as much in twice the time. It’s a curious thing – time limits make me get more done! It is my one secret to productivity…that, and arising at an unholy hour.

So what are my tools? Simple to say the least. iCal on a MacBook and an iPhone and a Google Cal to micromanage my hours with Seamus Kavanagh & Co. Did I just say micromanage? Yes. Antiquated, obsolete and unpopular as it is, self-micromanagement is my way of staying on top of things. Try it, versus the dynamic idea of “sit at my computer and see what happens”. Don’t touch your keyboard unless you know what your going to do, and for how long.

That’s enough from me. Time to try and coax some actual effectiveness out of the warm, soft and misleadingly comfortable jumper that is complacency.

P.

(Idea yoinked from Culture And Anarchy).

1) Grab the nearest book;
2) Open it to page 56;
3) Find the fifth sentence; and,
4) Post the text of the sentence along with these instructions.

The nearest book was Linsey Hanley’s “Estates” (borrowed from Our Louise and resting in the pocket of my coat on the back of my chair), which I’m glad indeed to have read (well… very very nearly finished. The bus tonight will do for it). It’s an exploration of the world of council housing in Britain: of the stigma now attached to what was once (briefly) one of this country’s prouder achievements, and of the ‘walls in the head’ that arise from shutting people off in an isolated and un-mantained area before going on to tell them that they’re some kind of failure for having to live there.

The definition of ‘sentence’ in the instructions is perhaps more ambiguous than one might have expected: I’d have assumed it meant ‘the fifth sentence on the page”, but the abovelinked post that I got this from appears to read it as the fifth line down the page (I say ‘appears’ – theirs is a Tolkein book, so who bleedin’ well knows). (EDIT: Woah there Nelly, it’s been all a-changed).

If, then, the former:

“The LCC’s actions would still have lasting significance in that it was the first example of the state, operating at a local level, stepping in to do what once only charities, The Church and philanthropists had been prepared to do.”

Although if the latter:

“…slum had been demolished, never to be replaced.”

These may not be the most spectacular excerpts (it’s not dryly written at all, nor is it a purely historical account. There’s a lot of personal material about her own experiences in Chelmsley Wood and Tower Hamlets) but it is nevertheless an amazing book that everyone should read.

Everyone should also do this meme. This is my idea of fun.

So let us talk about what this is and what this isn’t. This is a list of things due to happen that I’ve heard about and that I think look like they could be good. This is not some proper arts listing or gig guide that you can submit your events to. Cool? Cool.

Standard disclaimers (y’know, the ones that appear here every month that you would have thought were sufficient to render the previous paragraph unnecessary): I can’t ensure that these events will go ahead, that they’ll be good, or that I will be going to them. This is just a list of things I found that looked like they might be interesting, so please do not contact me to ask for your event to be included. That’s not the way it works.

Until Monday the 30th – Shout Festival @ venues all over Brum – I don’t know what Pride is if this is (as claimed) Brum’s first dedicated LGBT festival but there’s plenty a-happening, mostly theatre and sport: line-up here.

Up until Sunday the 8th, but not including Monday the 2nd – “Eat Your Heart Out” (Kindle Theatre) @ The A. E. Harris Building, Jewellery Quarter, Birmingham – Three cooks create a meal at the end of the world. A play including music and food for the audience (I think. Not 100% sure about that).

Sunday the 1st – The Bad Shepherds @ The Glee Club, Birmingham – Along with everyone else who was present at the Sunday of Moseley Folk this year, I absolutely adore their version of “All Around My Hat”.

Wednesday the 4th till Sunday the 8th – “The Event” @ various venues in Digbeth, Birmingham – Or rather a series of events. I like the sound of pigeon loft themed content at The Rea Garden.

Thursday the 5th till Saturday the 7th – Flip Animation Festival @ The Light House, Wolverhampton – With all sorts of animatory and computer gamery fun happening. You can even have a go yourself.

Thursday the 5th – Steve Earle @ The Town Hall, Birmingham – Doing a set dedicated to Townes Van Zandt. I’m told he was on fantastic form in Derby last month.

Friday the 6th till Sunday the 8th – Hellfire Festival @ The NEC, Marston Green, Birmingham – With Saxon, Fields Of The Nephilim, My Dying Bride, Anathema, Katatonia, Blakfish and a load more. #MetalNovember and I suppose a bit #GothNovember too.

Friday the 6th – Clutch @ The Academy 2, Birmingham – Real Maryland Rock and that’s all there is to it. There are a few gigs on this night, though. (EDIT: Oh me oh my it appears that Kylesa are also on the bill. #MetalNovember).

Friday the 6th – Alabama 3 @ The Academy, Birmingham – See? London cowboys, anyway, and I’m not talking about cockney builders.

Friday the 6th – Beverley Knight @ The Civic Hall, Wolverhampton – Yampy soulstress of high repute. Another victim of The Great Friday The 6th Gig Clash, but she is also at Symphony Hall in Brum on Monday the 23rd.

Saturday the 7th – Femme Metal Festival @ The Asylum, Hockley, Birmingham – Will it be challenging or reinforcing stereotypes? I’m never cynical as you know Ted. #MetalNovember.

Saturday the 7th – Damien Jurado @ The Hare & Hounds, Kings Heath, Birmingham – “If you tear down the dancehall places / Where’re we gonna see the beautiful faces?” he asks through the medium of swirly psychedelia. It’d probably be more apt for him to play in Digbeth than Kings Heath.

Sunday the 8th – Bill Bailey’s Remarkable Guide To The Orchestra @ The Town Hall, Birmingham – This promises to tell us what bassoon players are secretly obsessed with, and I for one would like to know.

Monday the 9th till Saturday the 14th – “Mrs Warren’s Profession” (Bath Theatre Royal) @ The Rep, Birmingham – George Bernard Shaw comedy, starring Felicity Kendall. Hopefully she’ll bring that pet bird of hers that flies around the outside of a flower while light music plays.

Monday the 9th and Tuesday the 10th – The Specials @ The Civic Hall, Wolverhampton – Definitely looking like we’re getting towards our last chances to see them, now.

Monday the 9th – VV Brown @ The Academy 2, Birmingham – Poppy garage soul’n’roll. Really fun, going on the few songs I’ve heard.

Tuesday the 10th – The New Beautiful South @ The Academy 3, Birmingham – I actually liked The Old Beautiful South, now you come to mention it.

Tuesday the 10th – Woods / Espers / The Cave Singers @ The Hare & Hounds, Kings Heath, Birmingham – Folk rockin’ (head knockin’ quick droppin’, they laugh ‘cos they mastered the craft etc).

Wednesday the 11th – The Drones @ The Hare & Hounds, Kings Heath, Birmingham – Were bloody amazing at the same venue in June. Wouldn’t give a Castlemaine XXXX for anything else.

Thursday the 12th and Friday the 13th – “The Waiting Room” (Other People’s Shoes Theatre Company) @ The Old Joint Stock, Birmingham – Three actresses wait together for their separate auditions. This sounds to me like the tradition of a play within a play, only it’s not actually in the play.

Thursday the 12th – Beyonce @ The NIA, Birmingham – The most famous person I’ve ever actually met. And that includes Pato Banton.

Thursday the 12th – Sham 69 @ The Robin 2, Bilston – Although apparently Jimmy Pursey isn’t in the band anymore.

Thursday the 12th – Worriedaboutsatan @ Ikon Eastside, Digbeth, Birmingham – Electronic/groovy-glitch types playing a gig in the name of the end of Ryoji Ikeda’s installation, through which he considers the nature of data between 0 and 1.

Friday the 13th – Einstellung @ The Flapper, Birmingham – Local Krautrocky repeatalots, and very good they are too. (EDITED: I originally had this on the 12th, presumably because I am a dur-brain. Ta to Big Dave C in the comments).

Friday the 13th – Deep Purple @ The LG Arena, Marston Green, Birmingham – DER DER DERRN, DER DER DERN-NERRN (#MetalNovember).

Friday the 13th – Martha Tilston @ The Glee Club, Birmingham – Folkstress with some fantastic album titles (I cannot find any fault at all with “Mouse Tales” or “Of Milkmaids And Architects”).

Saturday the 14th till Sunday the 22nd – The Grand Slam Of Darts @ The Civic Hall, Wolverhampton – And Bully’s SPECIAL PRIIIIIIIIIZZZE…

Saturday the 14th – “Culture Jam” @ Moor Straight Station Wine Bar (I did not know that such a thing did or could exist) and Volt Warehouse, Digbeth, Birmingham – Anglo-Lithuanian arts and music and fun. Now there’s a sentence you don’t get to say every day.

Sunday the 15th – “Celebrating Darwin: Is Human Evolution Over?” with Steve Jones (the biologist, not the one from the Sex Pistols) @ The Town Hall, Birmingham – The response that leaps to mind is “Eh? What makes you think that it even possibly might be?”, but then again I haven’t heard what he actually has to say.

Sunday the 15th – The Christmas Reindeer Parade @ Birmingham City Centre – Santa with his reindeer, a-parading. We’re also promised lanterns and marching bands.

Monday the 16th – Joe Lally @ The Hare & Hounds, Kings Heath, Birmingham – Your man there from Fugazi. Mentioning ‘Fugazi’ is not, as some would have it, some sort of assertion of elitist superiority. It’s just a question of them being the band he’s in, y’get’me?

Wednesday the 18th – “Hearts And Minds” (The Drum & Khayaal Theatre Company) @ The Drum, Newtown, Birmingham – There was another play called “Hearts And Minds” around here not so long ago, but this isn’t the same one. In this, young Asif is forced to contemplate to whom or what he feels loyal to.

Thursday the 19th – Slayer @ The Academy, Birmingham – Slayaaaaaarrrgh. #MetalNovember.

Friday the 20th – Alec Empire @ Busk, Birmingham – At! Ar! Ee! Tee! Nage! Riot! Go! Go! Go! Go! Go! Go!

Saturday the 21st – The Supreme Cat Show @ The NEC, Marston Green, Birmingham – It’ll be a bit like this, I imagine.

Saturday the 21st – Junius @ The Flapper, Birmingham – Pinchin’-from-the-80s atmospheric indie-rock, but a touch (only a touch, lets not go mad) less obvious about it than your Editors and your The Horrorses and your Interpols and whatnot. Not that I dislike any of those.

Sunday the 22nd – The Pantomime Horse Grand National @ Birmingham City Centre – Stick a fiver each way on Airbiscuit, if he’s running this year.

Wednesday the 25th then all the way till Saturday the 9th of January – “A Christmas Carol” (Birmingham Rep Theatre Company) @ The Rep, Birmingham – By far the thing I’ve seen the most different versions of over the years, between stage and screen. I doubt I’m alone in that. The Muppets were the best, obviously.

Wednesday the 25th – Skunk Anansie @ The Civic Hall, Wolverhampton – A band who aren’t exactly forgotten but (I think) deserve to be remembered a lot more widely than they currently are. Or were. Looks like they’re back together now.

Friday the 25th – Chuck Berry And His American Band @ The Alexandra Theatre, Birmingham – That’s how it’s advertised. A shame, really: I’d always thought he sounded his best when with his Estonian band. It’s Chuck Berry, anyway, I’m sure I don’t need to describe him.

Friday the 27th – Dio @ The Academy, Birmingham – Surely the most #MetalNovember of them all.

Friday the 27th and Saturday the 28th – “Tales Of Terror” (Happiness Patrol) @ The Old Joint Stock, Birmingham – Spooky stories from the theatre company that did an absolutely amazing version of Poe’s “The Masque Of The Red Death” last year.

Friday the 27th – Steeleye Span @ The Town Hall, Birmingham (no proper website as far as I can find, sorry) – Well, they’re no Bad Shepherds (see 1st), but their version of “All Around My Hat” is quite good too.

Friday the 27th – Discharge @ The Wagon & Horses, Digbeth, Birmingham – Not quite part of #MetalNovember, but there’s certainly some overlap.

Friday the 27th – The Heavy @ The Rainbow, Digbeth, Birmingham – Indie-hop-soul. Or somesuch.

Friday the 27th – Boxing (First Team Promotions) @ The Tower Ballroom, Edgbaston, Birmingham – First Team promoting at The Tower Ballroom seems to have been done deliberately to confuse me. At the time of writing it’s said to be Neil Perkins, Rob Hunt, Chris Truman, Nasser Al Harbi and Ben Wilkes all against the feared TBA. First Team then also have a doings at The Venue in Dudley the following night, with Alex Strutt, Jamie Ball, Richard Ghent, Dean Anderson, Spencer Evans and Rob Doodie all also against the dreaded TBA (once again as advertised at the time of writing).

Sunday the 29th – Motorhead / The Damned / Girlschool @ The Civic Hall, Wolverhampton – Motorhead tend to try to get around the fact that they’ve been playing near enough exactly the same set for FIVE HUNDRED YEARS by always having a good supporting line-up. This does, by and large, work. P.S. #MetalNovember.

Sunday the 29th – A @ The Academy 2, Birmingham – 90s Britrock sorts who never seemed to get quite as big as quite a lot of their contemporaries. Nowadays I would put that down to them having such a pain-in-the-arse name for search engines.

Sunday the 29th – Thea Gilmore @ The Glee Club, Birmingham – Last time I saw her she thought Wolverhampton and Bilston were the same place, but I suppose we shouldn’t hold that against her forever.

Monday the 30th – Regina Spektor @ The Academy, Birmingham – Like a young Tori Amos, only a bit Russian.

Once popular in Europe, folding campers have come to struggle with a bit of an image problem. They’re practical and make for cheap travel, but have as much sex appeal as an orthopedic shoe. Aiming to change that is Opera, a foldout trailer that’s as eyecatching and luxurious as it is convenient.

Designed by Axel Enthoven, who has led the department of Man & Mobility at Eindhoven’s Design Academy since 1989, the Opera’s overlapping domed tent is unabashedly inspired by the Sydney Opera House. It folds out of the trailer in minutes, revealing a sleek interior that includes hot and cold running water, a toilet, a simple stove, a wine cabinet and an espresso bar. As well as two luxury beds that slide together at the push of a button. And an enclosed teak veranda.

More compact than a full-sized recreational vehicle, the Opera allows travelers further off the beaten track, which is why it’s being marketed as “your suite in nature”. The concept will no doubt appeal to a new breed of nomads who want the feeling of roughing it out in the bush, without the actual roughness. Pricing hasn’t yet been announced—Opera will be officially launched in December and taken into production in 2010—but it’s safe to say that the company is targeting the high end of the market. (Related: Pop-up cabins designed for stargazing — Upscale camping at summer music festivals — Farm camping in cottage-style tents.)

Website: www.yoursuiteinnature.com (note that the current website is limited to a Flash presentation)

I hate watching the news. Not because it is depressing, or because it is too violent. Mostly because it makes me sad that so many people believe everything they hear on there without questioning or attempting to determine if what they are being told is true or not.

Recently, every time I turn on the local news, there is something about H1N1. There are flu shots (not H1N1) galore at work. People are seriously scared … of the flu. The FLU!

Yes, the flu is a fatal virus, and it is unfortunate that it kills as many people as it does every year.  It is also unfortunate that science does not look for some other way to deal with the flu than through a vaccine.

Now, let me start by stating that I am not a doctor, microbiologist, or any type of scientist at all. So what? My experience has been that scientists that focus in on one teeny tiny area tend to lose sight of the big picture quickly. Linguists that cannot speak the language they study but understand the morphology of that language inside-and-out are useless.

The human body is intended to be a balanced system. It is designed to fight off foreign attackers. So when you look at a disease that does not easily mutate (smallpox or polio), a vaccination makes perfect sense, and can save lots of lives. However, trying to vaccinate against a virus that mutates almost at will, and already exists in innumerable different variations is a Sisyphean task at best. (Don’t even get me started on hand sanitizer — that is a different article).

Of course, I wouldn’t be saying all of this if there weren’t something to back it up. That is just the tip of the iceberg. Of course, there is also history: a couple of years ago it was avian flu. Before that it was SARS. Or was it West Nile Virus that came before bird flu? Of course there is the entire mad cow scare as well.

Well there is my rant. But ranting doesn’t do anyone any good. So, just like in the pancake post, I am going to bring this back to the future. Even though they don’t get it yet, I discourage my kids from getting focused on their grades. What I want them to get out of school is an education, which for me is the ability to think for myself, not necessarily the ability to recite a bunch of inane and useless facts (even though I am pretty good at that as well).

The good Lord blessed us all with a brain, and the ability to use it. Of all of the things that probably make God reconsider renigging on the covenant of the Flood; I would hazard a guess to say that people not using their intellect is the one that sets him off the most. I intend to use mine, and I am doing my best to teach my kids to use theirs.

So how does all of this relate to H1N1 (or the regular flu shot for that matter)? Simple, just because the CDC, or CNN, or Jon Stewart, or whoever you prefer comes out and says you should get a flu shot; the decision is still mine. Yes there many be consequences to the decision (I have 2 tickets for not wearing a seatbelt that can attest to that). But in the end, we will all need to think for ourselves.

What I can promise is that if one of my kids came to me, and asked for H1N1 vaccine, and was able to present a thought-out and logical argument, then I would willingly let them get the vaccine.

So again, I end with a message for all of the parents out there. Encourage your kids to think and question the authority in their lives. The questioning of authority does not need to be disrespectful — that would be the challenging of authority, and that is another article. Any authority figure that deserves to be in authority should be able to be questioned. It is OK to ask your doctor questions — you absolutely should. The next time you go to the doctor with flu-like symptoms, and he offers to give you an antibiotic; question it. Why would you need an antibiotic for the flu? The next time your clergyman says something that sounds biblical, but doesn’t seem quite right, ask him about it. The nest time your computer dude of preference tells you to reboot, ask him why rebooting is almost always the first solution.

By doing all of this properly, you will help your kids learn to think for themselves, make their own decisions, and be resepctful of the authority in their lives.

However, be prepared. Eventually they will call you on something you say (it has happened to me, and Ross is only 10). No one ever said raising intelligent kids would be easy. But it is worthwhile. If you don’t believe me, then just wait for my posting on why Idiocracy is one of the scariest movies I have ever seen.

So my first blog post is going to be about pancakes. When I was a kid, my Dad would occasionally make pancakes from scratch, but more often than not, we would make them from a store-bought mix. Well when we moved to Indiana, my Mom would bring us some of that mix from time to time, and we tried a few different mixes that we would find at Kroger, but none of them were quite up to snuff.

I suppose that I should point out here, that there is a huge long list of food that I am kind of a snob about (someday I will post about Vodka). Pancakes are one of them. There is no good-enough pancake. Either they are awesome or inedible.

Well I was about to give up on pancakes. We had found an awesome recipe for waffles, but waffles are a bit of a pain to make; and as Alton Brown would say, waffles are a different article. But then it was Alton Brown to the rescue.

Again, I think a little bit of back-story may be necessary. I watch the food network. A lot. There are a lot of personalities on that network that I like, and even more that I don’t like (Tyler Florence). But Alton Brown has never let me down — I have never tried one of his recipes and been disappointed. Never. Ever.

So one night when I saw that Good Eats was about pancakes, I could barely contain my excitement. The best part of all of this was that he didn’t just make pancakes. He made pancake mix — a dry mix that I could keep on the shelf ready to make pancakes whenever the mood hit. Now for the right time to try them out.

Enter Anthony. When he turned 6, we asked him what kind of cake he wanted for his birthday. In typical Anthony style, he says “I want pancakes.” Well, it was his birthday, so I decided the best way to try out this new pancake recipe was on a bunch of 6 year old kids. In the end, I think it was a stroke of genius because Jen ended up spending the entire 2 hours with all of the kids at the party, while I stayed in the kitchen and made pancake after pancake after pancake.

Turns out, they were the best pancakes I had ever had. As I recall everyone at the party agreed. We made them again a few months later while we were camping. Turns out that they taste even better when cooked over an open fire.

I hope by now you are wondering where the recipe is. Well it is here.

But before you click there … in my opinion, that recipe is a little thick. I end up adding about 1/2 cup of 2% milk to thin them out just a little.

Now, I am not just some nut job that decides to write a blog post about pancakes just because I really like pancakes (I do). I recently spent the afternoon at the kids school, and I have been paying attention to my kids and their friend’s attitudes about food. What I am seeing is disturbing, and it is making me rethink some of my attitudes about food. Now I know that I have some unhealthy habits when it comes to eating (to which my spare tire will gladly attest). But that isn’t what is really bugging me. I think the best way to explain it is with an anecdote.

I remember being excited when I left for college, and a little intimidated (to be honest). I also remember that after a couple of weeks, I wanted to get home. The main reason to see Jen, who was still finishing up her last year of high school. But there was also the food. I remember not realizing it until I sat down to eat on Sunday afternoon. I can’t remember what we had, but I remember thinking that it was the best thing I had eaten in a while.

Now I see my kids, and even moreso with their friends, who think that the pancakes at Denny’s are good (FYI, they are not), or that hamburger helper is a decent meal (again, it is not). This trend makes me sad. What is there to look forward to when you leave home if the cookies you are used to are from Subway, or the freezer section of the grocery store? Sure there is lots of new stuff to experience when you leave home, but that is what makes the food of home all that more important. Afterall, who wants to be nostalgic for Spaghetti-Os the way Mom used to make them? I don’t know about you, but I want something better for my kids.

I will admit that I have been accused of being an elitist in the past, so I need to be clear here: sometimes we have to settle when it comes to our food. Nothing esle could explain the existence of Taco Bell. We just have to. But it should be the exception to the rule. Are our kids really benefiting from a hurried fast food meal so that they can get to <insert your sport of choice here> practice?

This weekend, Anthony & I made peanut butter cookies. From scratch. Only 3 ingredients (thanks Paula Dean!), since chocolate is always optional. They were awesome. Last weekend Sydney & I made pancakes (yep the ones that started this whole thing), and they were great. Ross & I have a special meatloaf that we make from time to time.

So, for me, I think the moral of the story is that we should all take some time and cook with our kids — it’s good for us, it’s good for them — and we should try to teach our kids that we should never, ever settle for mediocrity. If we settle for mediocre food, what else are we settling for?

I’m probably not smart enough to be the superintendent of schools in Lansingburgh, NY but I am smart enough to know that a knife with a 1-1/2 inch blade is not a weapon.

So what’s up with George Goodwin? According to an article in the Times Union, Mr. Goodwin, superintendent of schools in Lansingburgh,  recently suspended a student for 20 days because the young man had a keychain size pocket knife in his car at school.

The student is Matthew Whalen, a 17-year-old Eagle Scout and National Guard member. The high school senior plans to apply for an appointment to West Point, but now he’s worried that this knife nonsense could be a problem.

Was Goodwin worried that young Whalen would run amok in the school hallways slashing people with his tiny knife? Yes, it’s ridiculous to think that a knife this small is a weapon, but it would be way too easy for us to sit here and call Mr. Goodwin names. Just because it was a stupid decision doesn’t necessarily mean he’s a stupid man. Even the best among us sometimes do things that are hasty and shortsighted.

The only thing for George Goodwin to do now is to fess up and admit he made a mistake.

Why not tell him yourself. Here’s George Goodwin’s email address ggoodwin@lansingburgh.org —and his phone number is 518-233-6850.

Haven’t finished your holiday shopping yet? Or, like me, maybe you haven’t started?

Oh good.

From now through Oct. 31, if you shop at Modern Nursery, pokkadots or Wall Sticker Shop and enter the code MOMS4MOMS at checkout, the stores will donate 10 percent of the sale of regular-priced items to Postpartum Education and Support.

Here’s what Devin Weisleder, COO of the Modern Living group of Web sites, had to say about Postpartum Education and Support:

“Making the decision to provide assistance to Postpartum Education and Support was an easy one for our company. Postpartum mood disorders affect so many families, yet so few people are willing to talk about them. We applaud PES for helping struggling families, and, more importantly, helping mothers get past a postpartum mood disorder and back to the business of mothering.” 

Postpartum Education and Support has helped tons of women suffering from perinatal mood disorders, including yours truly.

Please take a peek at these fabulous stores and consider making a purchase this month.

What a great excuse to shop!

“WORRIES about job security and the cost of raising children are the primary reasons Australian women are now putting off having a child”-Courier mail

http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/story/0,23739,26033922-5016679,00.html

Saddening.Life is meant to lived.What is the point of making money and building up career, if you can not lead a happy married life with children?One must remember our parents have been able to manage with less.Why not us?Reason is we have unnecessary wants and convince ourselves it is essential.Money is essential.but not at the cost of normal family life.Better people realize it before they grow old.
Medically giving birth after 25 yrs by a woman is not easy for her.

Parenting is instinctive.It is strange that people read books to be a parent.Take the instance any living being;they take care of their offspring.They do not read books nor do they attend seminars.
Problem lies in the fact that adults have become self centred and their pleasures take the driving seat in their lives.Beyond a particular age(this varies,depending on one’s maturity), one compromises him/herself for their offsprings.Sadly this is lacking today.
In cases where people resort to reading books etc. it is generally born of a guilt feeling that they they have neglected children.Especially when both parents work, the child is left on its own.You also do forget what needs to be done to it;even if you know, you have no time;for material comforts are important to you.
I have my brother’s grand daughter in London in a senior position.
She has a three year old son.Suddenly she has resigned her job.Reason-She overheard her 3 year old son telling his friends that he does not like his mother going to office and he does not want to tell her directly lest he may hurt her.
Children yearn for physical presence and you also know it.Why do not we listen to our own voice, instead of trying to justify on economic considerations?If you leave the child in a creche , the child will leave you, when grown up, in an Elders’s home.
Parenting, especially to women is in born;nurture it;you do not need books and seminars.Be yourself and be happy.Remember money is an instrument of Happiness, not Happiness.You can buy a pillow,not sleep.

http://parenting.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/06/01/books-for-a-parents-nightstand/?apage=2#comments

Men are blessed with the ability to relieve themselves almost anywhere: behind bushes, in bottles, between cars, seated in football stadiums, in the subway… you get the idea. But here’s a case where you’re trying to do your thing where you should be doing it and you’re in plain sight anyway.

The men’s room at my new office has an electric door opener for those with physical disabilities. Well, it seems that some men on my floor (like the lawyers down the hall) enjoy using the electric opener so they don’t have to touch the handle. Fine —but it just so happens that this leaves the urinal user exposed and in plain site for a very long time, like to the folks getting off the elevator. See for yourself:

That’s ten seconds of exposure.

Look, I understand not wanting to touch the door handle, but come on guys, can I get a little privacy here? If you’re a germaphobe or something just push the door open with your elbow —and when you’re done use a paper towel to pull the handle from the other side. That’s not unreasonable.