Passport Hell

This morning at 6am I realized that our passports were out of date and had to be renewed. After 4 hours of running around, standing in lines and over $400 they will be ready for pick up tomorrow. I still can't believe how much. Oh well, 5 years without having to worry about it.

Checking out restuarants reviews in Los Angeles and came across the best site I have seen in years.

Watch the intro then put your mouse over the buildings. Each one is a different part of their business. Then visit the restuarants. Thats when I realized why I like the style so much. Its philip Stark. Made famous for his Alessi designs.

http://www.sbeent.com/restaurants/rg_katsuya.html

Marianna and I have collected Alessi since we first met.

Here - learn something - check out the Stark site.


One the bridesmaids from a wedding last year asked my why I talk about things like Alessi or sushi, or art movies.

You see, the weddings are all pretty similar. But our photos of weddings are far from the norm (that's why we are so popular.)

How is that we get the ideas we do??? My best answer is life.

If you visit 25 countries, read about 2000 books, eat a exotic restaurants, shop for unique and special things, keep you eye open to other cultures, and appreciate the art in nature then you will gain a certain perspective on life. You can't help it overflowing into your photography.

This is a kettle. Serious. Amazing huh? Too bad it failed.

Here is an article about the kettle:

Hot Bertaa

28-11-2006

Hot Bertaa Kettle, 1989
Philippe Starck

Aluminum, plastic
Alessi S.p.A., Italy.

This aluminum kettle is filled by pouring water in through the cylindrical handle. Its considered design allows the water to enter the kettle, heat and exit through an opening that appears to be an extension of the handle. Production of this kettle stopped in 1996.

Not all of Philippe Starck's designs were so successful. This kettle, launched in 1990, is the favorite design fiasco of Alessi CEO Alberto Alessi. The cone-shaped shaft pierces the body of the kettle, serving as both its handle and spout. The complex mechanism needed to redirect the steam proved unreliable, leading Alessi to pull it from the market in 1997. Says Alessi, "You shouldn't need an instruction manual to operate a kettle."

"The Hot Bertaa is one of my first pieces produced by Alessi. Alessi is a star, so it was a real highlight, a heart-stopping moment. Michael Graves had done it, as had Richard Sapper, so I had to be extraordinary, to show all my talent. But I became somewhat self-deluded and came up with the theory of immobile aerodynamics. There are certain objects that don't need to move, like a kettle placed on a table. If you give such objects movement, or dynamics, as they are unmoving, they might try to instil movement around them. It may be true. It seems to work a little. But with hindsight, I was just trying to get myself noticed, I wanted to make a masterly, sculptural object. In fact, this sculptural object is one of my worst pieces ever. It isn't very functional, it's dated, too fashion conscious. It's one of the things I'm most ashamed of. And to take the story further, this object, which existed for all the wrong reasons, also had a very difficult birth. It took 5 years to develop. Firstly because certain people at Alessi were very slow. And secondly, they didn't understand the complex system of valves and such. After 5 years, we couldn't recall why this object existed. So if a thing starts out badly, it ends badly, too. That piece was one of my big regrets. It illustrates the limitations of design, and it was responsible for my gradual loss of interest in stylistic design and masterly design."