an indie music lesson

31 December 2008

...for Mom.

The following album is at the No. 1 spot on 90% of the top album lists around the internet. They didn't make it on my list 'cause I haven't started getting into them until very lately. I didn't like their big single "White Winter Hymnal" so it surprised me when I finally listened to the whole album that most of the songs were better. I think the following songs would have been better choices to promote the album. But who's asking me anyways? So here, Mom, is most of what you need to know about current music:


Fleet Foxes- Fleet Foxes

[just click on the play button to listen]


Tiger Mountain Peasant Song [mp3]


Blue Ridge Mountains [mp3]

Conclusion of Lesson: Fleet Foxes are the Bomb.com. and I think you'll like their folk sound. Class dismissed.

obligatory top albums of 2008 list

30 December 2008

So as we close 2008, the sound of millions of keyboards can be heard tapping away as everyone and their mom is blogging about what they think are the top albums of 2008. So why shouldn't I do one too? I think I will:

[Bon Iver- For Emma, Forever Ago] I know that this is from 2007, but we all know in our hearts that For Emma, Forever Ago is an album that helped define 2008. Also, Bon Iver was the best show I saw all year, so I'm putting it here.



[Delta Spirit- Ode to Sunshine] Delta Spirit is a newer one to me, but I'm a firm believer that you can never have enough happy beach music in your life.



[Of Montreal- Skeletal Lamping] I love these guys. Skeletal Lamping is more experimental than Hissing Fauna, and the complete lack of song structure was a bit off putting. But the pure gold nuggets of mini songs hidden in the tracks keep you coming back.



[Beck- Modern Guilt] I'm a child of the 90s, so Beck insured with Odelay that I would buy every album of his for the rest of my life. Modern Guilt isn't his best, but it gets better with every listen.



[Vampire Weekend- Vampire Weekend] I'm surprised how much of a guilty pleasure this is on the end of the year album lists. Everybody is a little ashamed to like them, but Vampire Weekend is too good to ignore. I got through some tough days this year building the house with Oxford Comma keeping me upbeat.

See some other good lists here.

upon the polar hem

18 December 2008

Some of the summer continents are gearing up for a fight.

I find this fascinating:



The Arctic is once again the contested Frontier.

conchords

17 December 2008

here it is:



Sorry Will, it says "US only" so yer Korean IP address may block the video. Just another reason to get back stateside as soon as possible!

Reaction: Pretty good. Not Great. I built it up a lot in my mind, so maybe I set myself up for disappointment. They pick up where Season One left off: Maury is managing Crazy Doggz and the Conchords fire him because he isn't paying any attention to them. Is this the start of a new story arc? Not really. By the end, everything is status quo ante and we're back to the old formula, which is what we really want anyways. The banter and story are right on. The scene when they conduct their own band meeting (and keep the role call) and go over their "merchandise" is priceless. What seems like a glaring hole here is the lack of a great new song- there's nothing like "Beautiful Girl" that got Season One started. Which may mean exactly what Bret and Jermaine have said: Season One used up most of their stand-up songs, so now they have to write on the fly for the show. Let's hope they're just getting warmed up. They've said that Season Two is it for the series, so if this is all we're going to get, let's hope they've got some killer new songs up their sleeves.

Posted by ck at 6:17 PM 0 comments  

winter and its music

11 December 2008


Time to descend into dark winter, and listen to music that reflects it.


Bon Iver - Hazelton [mp3]


Bon Iver - Beach Baby [mp3]

See Also: Sufjan Stevens, Nick Drake, Boards of Canada

season 2 ! ! !

08 December 2008







The flower one is genius.

[A preview of the first episode will be in Funny or Die on Dec. 17]

stand up and heave



This is from one of my favorite shows. As we all know, nothing is as funny as puking.

a new instrument for kevin

04 December 2008

hammer dulcimer + Of Montreal = killer song intro = stuck in my head



mp3 link

Skeletal Lamping is a weird and awesome album.

For Colleen:



Apparently talented animators hook up with talented musicians for awesome videos. Take note Colleen and C-Dub.

a thought on how to end piracy in the gulf of aden

03 December 2008



Things in the Gulf of Aden have gotten pretty ridiculous. Piracy in the 21st century? Sounds like the early nineteenth. The warships there are having a hard time keeping up, so I say let's try something else:

Q ships. During WW2 they took merchant ships and armed them with concealed weapons to lure in U-boats. The idea was to make them think the target was harmless, then blow them out of the water when they got close. An old tanker with some concealed rocket launchers, Phalanx guns and a few platoons of Marines would do the trick.

digital rangefinder, anyone?

25 November 2008

I've recently become obsessed with 70s era rangefinder cameras. I want to be able to manually focus and adjust settings, but I don't want to lug around this:


Watching Colleen lug her SLR around Chicago did not make me itch to get one. Why isn't there a simple, small manual camera? There is, if you like film. Something like this:


Yes! But do I want to go back to film? I'm considering it, especially because you can get one of these in good shape for $50 on eBay. But what about a digital version? You'd think the camera companies would be making them, but all you can find are bulky SLRs and tiny point-and-shoots, with nothing in between. With notable exception of Leica (cue my drooling) with their M8:


But I'm not looking to spend several thousand dollars. So what can I do? Nothing, for now, but it looks like the camera companies are finally paying attention to this huge design gap:



This is a beautiful concept design from Olympus. Sign me up.

Posted by ck at 5:04 PM 2 comments  

not mars. nope.

24 November 2008



I remember this Sesame Street skit vividly from when I was a kid. Probably because I was rolling on the ground laughing in our old living room in Elkins. It still made me laugh today. Genius.

I wonder if this is how Americans look in foreign countries trying to read out of English-to-Whatever dictionaries?

1416 is inhabitable

20 November 2008

Our house is safe enough to occupied by human beings, according to the City of Knoxville. Which we will do post-haste, as soon as the bank appraises its value (which is happening at noon).

The "POD" with all our stuff is getting dropped off tomorrow, and Mr. Davis is bringing the dogs and a washer and dryer up from Franklin. So the family will all be back together tomorrow (if I can pry the cats from Cullin's love/hate relationship with them).

Now it's almost over. Just the paperwork and all the mortgage stuff to process. It doesn't quite seem real yet. I've built so many houses, some of which I poured a lot of passion into, and always finished up and then someone else lived in them. I feel like some client will just take this one, then on to the next project for me.

But no! This is our home. Alice and I are just wrapping our minds around that. Maybe it will sink in when we sleep in it for the first time on Friday night. I'll let you know.

Update: The appraisers came today and got the information they needed. This was the last major hurdle before we can move in! Feel free to come and help us move in tomorrow if you're in Knoxville. Now I want to move in tonight, but I'll have to be patient until there's a bed for me there.

still alive

18 November 2008

I'm at the office waiting for my final payment from the pant to finish this house up. Today is the final day of work. I have to lay the brick sidewalk and paint various surfaces today. Alice took the day off and we're gonna stay up late until it's done. The final inspection should go this afternoon or tomorrow morning, followed shortly by the bank appraiser. All our documentation is in, so after the appraisal it's sit back and let the mortgage process and then close. "Sit back" is not quite it- we also have to move in and unpack, and get ready for the family who are coming down to break in the house with Thanksgiving next week. So, busy- but after today starting to slow down to some semblance of normal life. I hope.

it's all crazy

04 November 2008

I'm in the office this morning trying to keep my current project going forward, but in reality I'm lucky to get 25 hours a week in here. The rest of my time is spent tying up the millions of loose ends I'm swamped with at the house. Now I have all the little stuff to get together, all the half hour projects that add up to days and days of work to get a house "finished". Sigh...

I've uploaded some photos of the progress to Facebook, because it's easier to upload them directly with the FB widget (you need to catch up and make an iPhone widget, Blogger!) than to put them here right now. So if you're my "friend" go there and check it out.

In other news, I early voted last week. So today is the day to see how it'll all turn out. I think both men would do a good job (I'm just glad my choice wasn't between Hilary and Mitt), but in the end I took a chance. I won't say here, but let's say I helped make sure Cullin owes me a steak dinner.*

*back in the primaries, Cullin assured me Obama didn't stand a chance. So we did what any gentlemen would do- we bet on it.

getting closer...

30 October 2008

Well folks, we're in the final stretch here. The bank is pushing hard to have the project mostly finished by next weekend. So I'm trying my hardest. This feels like a huge complex version of the intense deadlines I had back in architecture school, where I had to just power through and work, work, work. It feels good to know that it will be over soon, the meantime is daunting. In school we worked ourselves to exhaustion knowing that we'd sleep when it was all over. Once, I slept 24 hours straight after finishing a project. That's basically the working philosophy here.

I ordered all the appliances yesterday. That made this all seem very real. I'm going to live in this house. This is where I'll keep my food. I've built so many houses for other people, this one started to seem like just another construction project. But this is my house.

The plumber finished up this morning, and the electrician is underway. But I've had a hard time keeping him on site. So it's going a little slower than I'd want. The drywall is finished upstairs, so we're in the process of priming and painting it. I have one more bedroom and two closets to trim out. But the biggest thing left on my plate by far is the stairs. This weekend will be dedicated to putting in all the treads and the handrails. Sound simple, but it's one of the easiest things for a trim carpenter to screw up. So wish me luck.

tiny ninjas in fur coats

28 October 2008

homeless

27 October 2008

Well, after wowing everybody with internet nonsense that last few days, I'm sure it's time for an update:

Alice and I moved out of the apartment this weekend! This morning, the pod people will come and take all our stuff away until that glorious sun-filled day we can move into the house. Until then, we're staying at Alice's brother Wilson's apartment. We gotta get that house done! Last night as we were moving the last stuff out, Miles went AWOL. All the doors were open to the outside, so he could've been anywhere. After two hours of tromping through bushes and ivy, and me trying to keep Alice from completely flipping out, we gave up and went back up to the apartment. Alice was preparing to sleep in a sleeping bag with all the doors open in case he came back. I sat down, exhausted, and a little cat head came poking out of a closet. It was Miles. We had searched EVERYWHERE in that apartment, and there was no way he had been there. Either he had some super secret hiding place we didn't know about, or God miraculously teleported him back to us. Alice thinks it's the latter.

In this photo: Miles "Lil' Houdini" King

The Epic Hardwood Laying Campaign of '08 is at long last finished! Severely testing mine and Cullin's friendship, with the most hellacious splinters that bamboo could muster stabbing our hands, and sore lower backs tormenting us in our sleep, we prevailed to victory. After many late nights of blaring AC/DC and the constant fear of "fluffing" a nail and having to tear up planks, we have a killer-looking, eco-friendly hardwood floor.

my bottom feels strange

25 October 2008



That's right, I have nothing intelligent to put up here this week. I'm too tired.

This video makes me want to be a Pants Man! And apparently it's painful for Japanese children to poop.

real victory

24 October 2008

This commercial has been around for a while, but I saw it afresh last night. The editing is awesome, writing a vivid story without a word in one minute. The slow dawning realization of the gloating team that they didn't really win, as the disappointment of the losing team turns to condescension... Look for the long shot of the kids with the trophy and in the blurry foreground the kid slowly raises his red Happy Meal in response. Brilliant. And when the kid drops the trophy right as the music pauses- the whole story has flipped around. Even though I don't go to McDonald's that often, I do appreciate that they've really gotten clever with their advertising.

it's a two party system!

23 October 2008

I brought this Simpsons episode up last night when Cullin told me he was thinking about voting for a third party:



Best lines:

"...and always twirling, twirling towards freedom!"

"The politics of failure have failed. We need to make them work again!"

"It's a two party system! You have to vote for one of us."
"I believe I'll vote for a third party candidate."
"Go ahead! Throw your vote away!"

house update no. 1,287

17 October 2008

Well, things are moving fast. The downstairs electrical work is mostly done, the heating and air conditioning is hooked up, the water and sewer lines are hooked up. Mark, the plumber, is doing all the tile work for me and is about 40% done. The bathtub tile surround looks awesome! Now that I have AC working, I can start laying hardwood downstairs, which I'm picking up today.

Now it's down to:

-finish upstairs drywall
-finish upstairs trim
-paint upstairs
-get upstairs carpet installed
-trim out stairs and handrail
-lay hardwood downstairs
-put in plumbing fixtures (once the tile is done)
-install stove hood
-paint porch floor
-finish porch ceiling
-build back porch steps

Still a lot to do, but much better now that i can get off of drywall finishing. Oh yeah, that's the other thing- Rose, my banker involved with all this, found a good drywall sub to do the remaining work for me. Yes!

Mom, Ethan, and Mary Kay are coming down from West Virginia to help for the weekend. Alice's mom should be showing up sometime too. So hopefully we can get a ton of stuff knocked out.

diet

14 October 2008


I could use a cat like this. See? Funny stuff here on the blog. I'm not stressed out- no sirree, I'm just escaping my worries by looking at all the junk the interweb has to offer and bringing here for you.

and how

13 October 2008

hurrying up

09 October 2008

For those of you who haven't been around me this year, you may not realize that this house has been a race against time due to the constraints of the loan we needed to make all this possible. We could get enough money to do it, but just. It meant that most of the work had to be done by yours truly, since there wasn't enough money left over to hire people to do it for me. This wasn't a big deal, because over the last ten years I've acquired a lot of knowledge about to construction. What was working against me was time. It takes a long time to build a house, much less by yourself and holding a regular job at the same time. So I've taxed everyone I know for as much work as they've been willing to give me. Jason, Cullin, and Ryan deserve mention for their many, many evenings working with me.

But now it's crunch time. The construction loan is maturing on November 6th. That means our mortgage has to be closed by then. We can't close until the house is finished, inspected, and appraised. It takes a few weeks to process a mortgage. The 6th is four weeks from now. You do the math.

Please pray that God gives me strength through this, and that the other people involved (drywall, electric, plumbing, heating & air, ect.) would be swift and timely. Pray that the mortgage company and bank would work with us to make this all come together. Pray for Alice as she deals with the realities of her new job basically without a husband. Pray for our marriage as we hardly ever see each other. Pray that this task would be completed well and that good will come from it.

Thank you...

just in time...

...to become hyper-aware of everything going on for the election, Alice renews my subscription to this:


I love my wife!

Posted by ck at 11:50 AM 0 comments  

house update

01 October 2008

Things are moving quickly this week at Casa King.

Here's a progress shot of the kitchen. The upper cabinets are in now and the countertop will be in on Monday:


We've been trimming away- here's the custom mantle I built:



There will be a tile surround in the middle.

I've been so busy at the house that I haven't had much time for blogging about it. I'll try to add more updates this weekend. Please pray for us- our lives are very hectic and stressful right now! We know that God wants this for us, and that He will work things out, but right now we can't see how. We've got to get our final inspection and then process our mortgage, and be out of our apartment by Nov. 1! Pray that things will fall into place and the timing will work out.

corpus clock

22 September 2008

This thing is as fascinating as it is creepy. And it's all mechanical! Check out the blinking golden eyelids of the "Chronophage" ("Time Eater") grasshopper monster.



If you've ever read The Golden Compass, then you know the Corpus Clock belongs in that world.

how to make a mod intro

19 September 2008

Continuing the obsession:

Take the skyscraper grid motif of North By Northwest:



add the abstracted falling man from the movie poster for Vertigo:


and you get the Mad Men intro:



Thank you, Saul Bass!

also noteworthy, the above poster definitely influenced the poster for Burn After Reading:


And this is just fun:

Posted by ck at 9:00 AM 1 comments  

to hell and back

18 September 2008

...or How to Escape IKEA Before It Sucks the Soul From Your Body.

Most Americans, upon being born, thank their lucky stars for being born in the strongest, richest, freest nation on earth. But those of us who grow up to be designers often lament, "Why wasn't I born in Scandinavia?!" As we learn in architecture/art/industrial design school, those former Vikings have positioned themselves at the top of the design world.

Bringing their stylish wares to us tacky Americans, Swedes have set up IKEA- the paradise/hell of aspiring designers. Cheap, well-designed furnishings? There must be a catch!

well, there is... "The Store Experience"

IKEA is not Target- there isn't one in every town. You must make a hajj-like trek to the largest city of your region, far enough away that you have to make this trip count and buy EVEYTHING. Upon arriving, you saunter through a bunch of fake living rooms thinking, "My place is going to look AMAZING!" If you're a first time IKEA shopper, you may pick up a lamp and a nifty wine rack and call it a day. But the long-time IKEA addict goes for broke. Maybe you have to buy all the kitchen and bathroom cabinets for your new house (like me). Then you launch into a whole new level.

First, IKEA has you understand that you are buying WELL-DESIGNED and CHEAP stuff. CUSTOMER SERVICE is not part of the package. Employees will flee from you if they sense a question forming in your mind. Second, you have to do everything yourself. You want the aluminum doors with the horizontal cabinets? "Sorry our new hinges no longer work that way, even though we still have pictures of it in our magazine." You want birch faced lower cabinets? "We have 5 out 6 you need in stock." Do these handles work with these doors? "I don't know."

Once you get together your bible-sized order, you go to pick it up. This takes however long they feel like. God smiled upon us and it only took two hours. However, they will give you extra pieces you don't need, forget crucial pieces, until you have to unpack your car and go over the inventory bit by bit. After waiting in line again, you have everything you need (hopefully) because you have to do all this in one trip! Now you just pack your (Swedish) car in an intense life-size game of cardboard Tetris, and drive home slowly hoping you don't break an axle.

Title of Picture: "I Heart Sweden ['s products]"

angry males

16 September 2008

Sitting comfortably on the bandwagon, I have a new favorite show. At first it was just out of interest with all the award buzz, then the characters that I empathize with (especially their dark secretive sides) hooked me. And this intro sequence that I LOVE:



The whole show could be summed up as "calm before the storm" and the above sequence sets that mood perfectly.

Posted by ck at 8:34 AM 1 comments  

trim carpentry

15 September 2008

I have been trimming out doors and windows for the past few days, including our fireplace, which I am very excited about (but no picture yet-sorry). Alice and her mom and my mom painted all weekend and got most of the downstairs finished. More soon...
And I liked this picture with the trees. It makes our house look like it's in the country, which is definitely not the case. Our neighbors' houses are just out of frame. If only I could hold my iPhone steady.

my baby dun got a job

14 September 2008

Alice is gainfully employed!

She will be an 8th grade language arts teacher at Farragut Middle School.

Thanks for all the prayers!

Posted by ck at 8:02 AM 1 comments  

when it rains, it pours

10 September 2008

Alice had her interview at Ijams today, so we should know soon about that. And out of the blue on Monday, Farragut Middle School called Alice about a position there. She went and interviewed with the principal yesterday and has to get back to them by the end of this week.

So that's good news. I always feel better with a backup plan.

And... I'm going through the confusing process of setting up our first mortgage, which is scary. And working on the house non-stop. It's crazy.

I'll post some pictures of the trim I've been putting up this week. We start painting the interior tomorrow, doors should be in on Tuesday. So look for lots of updates.

interview !

08 September 2008

Please please please pray for Alice this week... She's been ill (it's a long story so I won't waste trying to tell it here) and she wasn't able to go to a huge interview on Thursday. She's made it to the second round to be the Site Educator at Ijams Nature Center (pronouned eye-amz), a really cool preserve near downtown that's the main environmental education center for Knoxville and the surrounding nine counties... in other words, perfect for Alice. So pray she does well this week and doesn't get ill again. She has to do an "interactive interview" in which she basically teaches a whole outdoor lesson that she has had to design. I heard through the grapevine this morning that it may be down to two people now for the postition. It's exciting, but also nerve wracking! I'll be glad when this month is over. Many things will be resolved in our lives, for better or worse.

Posted by ck at 12:13 PM 2 comments  

baroque pop?

05 September 2008

Apparently my favorite genre is called "Baroque Pop". I knew there was common thread through all this music, but I didn't know it was so defined. It's a style that "with clear indie-rock inclinations, uses additional members in the band to create a fuller-bodied, more orchestral sound. The writing style of the genre often has a distinct narrative quality to it and often makes references to history, literature, philosophy, and folklore." It's interesting they've revived the word "baroque", a term I'm more used to seeing in architectural descriptions. But if you've ever seen a jumbled, multi-layered, self-referential baroque palace, then you know that this is an apt term. It seems that architecture and music often swap references.

Look at the list in the Wikipedia article; it's a who's who of all the stuff that I've been obsessed with the past few years, plus old stuff like The Association that I've always loved.

Check out some "Baroque Pop":

Sufjan Stevens

Andrew Bird

Vampire Weekend

Panda Bear

Beruit

and of course, Of Montreal

[Disclaimer: this post is aimed at everyone but Jason, who manages to stay light years ahead of me in music awareness. Go ahead and laugh that I'm still catching up with 2007, you hipster scumbag]

chicago !

04 September 2008

As promised, a few photos from the trip...


Alice presents... The Field Museum! Va-voom!


Colleen and Cevin basking in the glow of public art. Note the matching SLR cameras to document everything.


Yup, they like public art in Chicago. Add water and you've got one crowded piece of art.


It's a pretty city, especially at sunset.

We had a lot of fun- I wish we had time to experience it more. There's too much for just a weekend. It would take years to fully soak in Chicago. I think it might be my favorite city in the U.S. I'm thankful for little time we've spent there and the good memories.

Now, back to total focus on getting this house finished.

back from chicago

02 September 2008

Alice and I got back from our long weekend in Chicago last night. What a beautiful city. We had a great time and got to meet Colleen's boyfriend Cevin. I'll post some of the pictures up here tomorrow.

Now on to the hellacious month working on the house!

pooping on people

27 August 2008

in 12 easy lessons!

drywall IN PROGRESS

25 August 2008

The hangers are working hard and the drywall finisher should start this week. I'm hoping it's all done by the end of the weekend. It's very exciting.

sign

22 August 2008


I found this when I was taking pictures for a project downtown. It's the back of a sign on an old 1930s parking garage. I really like the rust patterns.

fortune cards

21 August 2008

Friday night I am riding my bike home from work. My wife has asked me to pick up a paper for her, so she can look at job advertisements. After a futile search for a paper stand at Kroghetto, I roll into the Pilot down the street from my place. After noting the irony of riding a bike into a gas station, I "park" and walk in.

The place is jumping! Apparently Friday night = gas station in my neighborhood. There was a line to the door at the second cashier, but only one woman at the first. I get in line behind her and soon find out why no one was there.

First I notice Kadeisha's (as I started calling her in my head) bleached blonde hair and ear full of jewelry. I count her earrings carefully three times (10) because she is buying lottery tickets (10) and taking her sweet time. Now that we have a state lottery, they've made up dozens of little games to play, most of which involve scratching off that silver skin that conceals the numbers to fortune, or bankruptcy. Kadeisha is cherry picking her games and playing them slowly (at the counter) with relish. She carefully considers each card like tarot reader, trying to sense with her fingers which will change her life. I watch, as she has the most exciting time of her week.

After waiting (10) minutes, Kadeisha moves to the door 50 bucks poorer and I approach the counter. The clerk looks at the paper in my hands and says, "Oh- papers are free on Fridays." I walk back to my bike and ride home.

the hole of despair in my sidewalk

19 August 2008

Last night I had to confirm the water meter number in front of my house for the utility before we could hook it up. I took a hammer out to pry the iron cover off. After two tries I got it off, and that's when several hundred cockroaches looked up at me and panicked.


Jumping back and stifling the little girl squeal in my throat, I ran to the house post-haste and grabbed some insect poison. Running back, I saw that most of the roaches had made like underage kids and bolted from the party. I dumped some poison in, letting the stragglers know the party was definitely over. As they made a final bid for freedom, I started stomping. When it was all said and done, I had stomped 67 of them. 67 roaches. And those were just the stragglers.

That was my evening. How was yours?

inspite of myself...

18 August 2008

...Rorschach is my favorite character in Watchmen.


I love the part when he gets thrown in prison with all the criminals he's caught over the years: they all keep trying to kill him, but he calmly survives and beats all of them to bloody (sometimes dead) pulp. He's the only character (besides the Comedian) who does whatever it takes to get the job done. I respect that.

Posted by ck at 3:44 PM 4 comments  

insulation DONE

15 August 2008


After three weekends of hard, itchy work, the house is insulated. Now there are just a few odds and ends to do over the weekend to get ready for the drywallers, who are due to start on Monday.

max patch

14 August 2008

At the request of Will, who was visiting Knoxville this past weekend, we went up and camped at Max Patch, the 4629 foot bald on the TN/NC border that seems to draw us back yearly:


I love the way the blue ridges fade into the blue of the sky.


Good times were had with guitars, roman candles (that woke up a three year old camping nearby, according to her sleepy dad), a galaxy of stars, and the largest steak kabob I've ever tried to roast over an open fire. Here's looking forward to next year!

(legal) drugs in wv

13 August 2008

West Virginia is the most medicated state in the Union?

Apparently so.

This makes a lot of things about home make more sense.

i heart iphone

08 August 2008


Well, it's been about a week since I got it, and I still love it. The interface is so intuitive and fluid, exactly what I've been wanting after dealing with Verizon's clumsy software for 5 years. It's just the right size and looks great. All in all, this is the best designed phone I ever seen.

Now I'm hyper connected at all times, which is a blessing and a curse. I think I'm going to turn off the email alert. But it is cool to be able to stay connected to everyone, especially friends who live far away. The only flaw is that all this connection takes a lot of juice. Whereas I might charge my Razr every other day, I have to be diligent about charging the iPhone because it sucks up battery power like it's going out of style.

Despite my heart's pitter-patter for the iPhone, all is not well in Apple Land. My MacBook Pro has decided it doesn't want to boot up. This just after syncing with the iPhone and updating the software- coincidence? I think not. Again, I love the industrial design of Apple's hardware, but I am becoming less and less impressed with their software. As they try to be all things to all men, their overall quality seems to have tanked. Back in the days of my Ti Powerbook, I had nary an issue. I hope they regroup soon and focus on getting everything back up to that level, before they become the next Microsoft.

on the bandwagon

05 August 2008


Had a good time with the family this past weekend. We got most of the insulation installed on the second floor, and got to do some fun stuff too. Cameron and Colleen also got me sign up for Facebook. I'd been resisting it, thinking that blogging was the way to go (don't worry d e s i g n : :, you're still first in my heart). But Facebook is exactly what it purports to be- a "social utility". Apparently everone is on this thing. I've gotten over twenty friend requests in two days, many from people I haven't seen in a while. So I guess that's cool. One more thing to waste my time on the computer.

design : a sign for a church

29 July 2008


Sevier Heights is one of the bigger churches in Knoxville, but they have surprisingly little presence on the highway they are located on. So I am trying to come up with a sophisticated yet welcoming monument sign to address passing cars.


Most church signs look like this. Nothing wrong with them, but they've become so common that no one pays any attention to them.

Posted by ck at 8:24 AM 1 comments  

pbf stikes again

26 July 2008

After a long lull, Perry Bible Fellowship has a new one. I love the guy's face in the third panel.

well hello ladies

25 July 2008

Me standing in line at the grocery store last night:

In front of me are two older ladies, all dressed up for shopping. They are buying:

- 4 party packs of assorted candy

- Virginia Slims

- 2 Chocolate Bars

- 2 40 oz. Budweisers

- a bunch of bananas

The reason why I know this is that they took ten minutes to get through the checkout. But my question is, where's that party happening and how can I get invited?

framing inspection PASSED

23 July 2008

The house passed it's framing inspection this afternoon! That may not sound very exciting, but it means that we can start to work on the interior. The next two weekends will be insulating, and then drywall starting the first week of August. Good times!

how west virginia sees america

21 July 2008


Thanks to Laurence for this one. It's basically true. I'm glad to see Tennessee in the portion where "People Talk Normal".

bike rage

18 July 2008

To the a'hole that felt compelled to lay his car horn at me for TEN SECONDS this morning:

I'm sorry that I held you up and increased your commute by five seconds. I know that your huge pickup truck, that you were driving alone, can barely fit in the lane without a pesky bicycle in it. I know that you're probably already pissed at how expensive it is to fill up that monster every other day. I know you probably hate the 45 minutes of traffic that you have to fight each way so you can live the suburban dream. And now some punk has the audacity to ride his bike in road?

Well, all I can say is that you did this to yourself. Don't take it out on me. Bicycles have a legal right to the road. I only have three miles to commute because I chose to live close to where I work. I haven't filled up my car in two weeks and have stopped paying attention to gas prices. Let me do my thing, and lay off the effing honking. Thanks.

In related news, I'm kickin' it old skool these days with a '83 KHS road bike that I found on Craigslist (for $50!).


It's way better than riding a granny-gear mountain bike on the road. It's old and heavy, and only has 10 gears, but it sure can cruise.

music : the game

17 July 2008


Bringing back West coast rap. "Hate It or Love It" is an infectious track. Listen to it [here]

the fall

16 July 2008



Alice and I saw this movie last night. Very cool, beautiful movie. It's had a very limited release, so we were lucky to see it on a big screen. I definitely recommend catching it when it comes out on DVD.

And it's gotten me OBSESSED with Beethoven's Symphony No. 7.

Posted by ck at 2:50 PM 3 comments  

analog coolness

14 July 2008



If you don't like Radiohead, you probably won't like this video. The intro is kinda long, so skip to about 1:10. It's worth it.

back gable DONE

13 July 2008

Like staging a summit push on Everest, with weeks of effort and many people involved, the back gable of the house is complete. Now all of the outside is basically done once except for paint.
Also, I've begun re-conquering our backyard, aka "the jungle" and getting it ready for domesticated pursuits, like a garden. I cleaned out a lot of the junk and pretty soon we'll be able to see the alley.

design : : finnish church

10 July 2008



Look familiar?

This is a church in Vikki, Finland. Exposed trusses, double wooden columns, how do I love thee? Let me count the ways. (If you're wondering what I'm getting at, you may have not seen the Camp Cowen Dining Hall) Those Scandinavians sure know how to use wood in simple, elegant ways. I hope I will get to design a church this cool someday.

Posted by ck at 4:33 PM 0 comments