No Temperature Days

So this is my inner 70s dad moment. You know when the temperature outside is neither hot nor cold and you don't know whether to wear that jacket and be a little warm or just put on the t-shirt and be chilly? Well, here's the perfect solution...via the genius at A Time To Get: The Short Sleeve Sweatshirt! Just like my pops used to wear to embarrass the heck out of me when he picked me up from school. Ah, dad. Love you.

Do-It-Yourself Art Kits

Crafters (and those without any artistic inclination) unleash your inner bad boy/girl with IArtistLondon's make-it-yourself kits that deconstruct original works of art that may cost thousands even millions of dollars. These kits cost a fraction more than the sum of their parts. Hey, it's all about art for the people. My favorites include the kit 'for the love of god' by damien hirst and kit of banksy graffiti. Get one now and impress your friends. http://www.iartistlondon.com

Wall of Sound

In honor of the craz-ma-taze Phil Spector, who was recently found guilty of murdering a woman (umm, special), I wanted to post this amazing song by the Flirtations: "Nothing But a Heartache" –a perfect example of Spector's Wall of Sound, which Wikipedia defines as "a music production technique for pop and rock music recordings that has a number of electric and acoustic guitarists performing the same parts in unison, adding musical arrangements for large groups of musicians up to the size of orchestras, and then recording the sound using an echo chamber."

Guten Nacht Music

I think I am in need of some hot Texas nights sitting out on the back porch listening to songs like Karen Dalton's In the Evening and Merle Haggard's Warm Red Wine.

One of my most favorite places

Out in west Texas, life's little problems don't seem so bad. Click here to see a time lapse video of the night sky as it passes over the 2009 Texas Star Party in Fort Davis, Texas. If you haven't had a chance to see how the stars at night are big and bright, make your way out there pronto.

Summer games

With beautiful weather outside, and a recent trip to the Hudson Valley this weekend, all I want to do is hang out in great outdoors. Growing up, my grandfather had a washer pit in the backyard where I got schooled by my cousins and loving brother each spring and summer. I'd be happy losing again, just to have a sweet set like these:

Missouri Washer Works explains the game’s rules:

The game can be played with two or more players, as long as the teams are even.

Boxes are placed 20 feet apart on a flat and level surface.
Players must stand behind the front edge of the box,
and toss each of his or her three washers (usually underhanded)
toward the opposite box. The next player then does the same.
The highest score wins the round.

Points are awarded as follows:
1 point for a washer that lands in the box
3 points for a washer that lands in the cup (a “cupper”)

Opposing washers in the box (or in the cup) cancel each other out.
Continue rounds until one player reaches 21 points.

In Fredburg, it’s as common to find a summer bbq with a washer competition as it is to find a cooler full of Bud Light tallboys.

E. A. Seguy

E.A. Seguy, a prolific artist from the 1930s, produced eleven albums of illustrations and patterns of which Papillons and Insectes that were dedicated to insect subjects. Seguy graphic technique was achieved through hand coloring prints through numerous plate stencils. I can not get enough of these colors.