December 2005

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Christmas is coming … look busy

December 21, 2005 by AndrewH | Permalink

Christmas is almost upon us. What it mainly means to me is that I get to see my daughter for about 10 days and be her dad. I get to see my parents and be their kid. Everything else feels pretty extraneous right now.

It’s amazing how hard humanity works to create so many different early winter-solstice holidays for feasting and celebrating. It all feels like whistling in the dark to me; like we’re all encouraging one another to keep up our spirits before the dark and cold descend with all their fury. Maybe it only feels that way because I’ve started getting used to Pennsylvania winters?

At any rate, I hope everybody has an excellent holiday season, whatever holiday it may be for you.

But if you don’t know how already, you just may want to learn to whistle.

Space 1999 as design showcase

December 8, 2005 by AndrewH | 4 comments

I ran across a link to The World Of Kane today, and it’s really cool. Lots of design examples from the 60s-70s. And lo and behold, there were a bunch of stills from my favorite show as a kid, Space 1999. The caption says this is a “Sorella lamp by Studio Technico Harvey.”

Space 1999 designer lamp

Such a jolt of deja-vu. I haven’t seen an episode of this series in years. I may have to rent them soon, now. Especially now that I realize there’s so much cool design to look at … it did something for me as a kid (of 8 or 9) though, I’ll admit. But at the time it just felt *cool*…

But then again, anything looks cool with Zienia Merton standing in front of it. (I’ll confess, I think I had a tiny crush on her even when I was 9.)

via Boing Boing

Dark Chocolate is the new red wine

December 5, 2005 by AndrewH | 2 comments

A while back, the big deal was that red wine was suddenly great for you. While the hype was a little overblown, it turns out it was quite true, much to the happiness of those of us who enjoy red wine. (Especially Merlot, in spite of what that character in “Sideways” thinks.)

Well now dark chocolate is getting the same kind of hype. For a long time I’ve preferred dark chocolate to milk or other stuff — and now anything but 70% dark tastes awfully sweet and milky to me. Evidently companies like Hershey and Dove are now pushing their dark chocolates (fancier and more isoflavone-packed versions of them too) because increasing publicity of the health benefits are making it the latest medically sanctified indulgence.

Honestly, I’m not sure if I’d care if it was as bad for me as tobacco, I’d still have to eat the stuff.

While I used to be a big Ghirardelli fan, I’m now more partial to Lindt and especially the utterly perfect carnal tongue-gasm known as Scharffen-Berger. So, if you’re looking for something delicious for the holidays — or if you’re wondering what to get me for Xmas — look no further …

Scharffen-Berger Obsession