“Once upon a time, when I visited other countries, I would head to the department stores so I could experience the wide cultural variations in such things as cookware, cutlery and tools for crafts and gardening. Today, I seldom do this anymore because all the stores look the same. Rice cookers and woks may have originated in Japan and China, but today they can be found in kitchen appliance stores all over the world. Italian, German and American appliances are for sale in Asia. Asian appliances are for sale in Italy, Germany and America. The country of design and manufacture no longer matters much. A television set, automobile, mobile phone, camera or refrigerator looks the same whether made in Asia, North America or Europe.”
Amazing vision of university campus police hurting peaceful protestors.
Filed under 99% protest brutality
This review mirrors my experience. The book draws you in. However I did think it revealed some inadequacies in Stephenson’s grasp of non-American characters and locations. The British characters especially seemed like Americans with formal accents, self-consciously using American idioms. In the end it made Stephenson seem strangely parochial and unsophisticated which is not an impression I’ve gained from his earlier work.
Filed under books science fiction review
Brilliant “Moses Bridge”.
Filed under design
Filed under industrial design design age product biography usage career wabi-sabi
A well polished, interesting student project by Andrew Kim. It looks at repackaging Coke for greater sustainability.
Filed under industrial Design design packaging sustainability
On a flying visit to the UK I stayed with my uncle in Liverpool and had time for a quick drive around the old city. Saw this installation in progress.
Filed under art Liverpool travel
Last night I think I lost a close friend of 25 years—my Swiss Army Knife. I think it fell off my belt during C’s football practice. We went back to look for it but found no sign.
I bought the knife for myself during my second year of university in 1982. I’ve carried it almost every day since then. It makes me sad to think about it but in a way it was inevitable: carry something for long enough and one day you’ll misplace it. In fact I was thinking that just a few days ago while I was oiling the hinges but I couldn’t see the point of putting it away safely in a drawer. A pen knife lives to be used after all.
Interestingly, I have photos of almost everything in my life, important or unimportant, but not one of my Victorinox pen knife. Farewell, old friend.
