As a child I enjoyed Lego in its endless array of things I could build. Nowadays most Lego seems heavily themed, in that each kit builds something specific. This artist, Nathan Sawaya, has an enviable job in which he creates Lego sculptures that are commissioned by clients. He has a large gallery with lots of interesting themes.

Some artists use paint, others bronze – But for Nathan Sawaya he chooses to build his awe-inspiring art out of toy building blocks. LEGO® bricks to be exact.

With more than 1.5 million colored bricks in his New York studio, Sawaya’s sculptures take many forms.

Sawaya’s art is currently touring North American museums in a show titled, The Art of the Brick. It’s the only exhibition focusing exclusively on LEGO as an art medium. The creations, constructed from nearly one million pieces, were built from standard bricks beginning as early as 2002. More information on the tour, dates and locations can be found here.

A full-time freelance artist, Sawaya accepts commissions from individuals, corporations, and … well just about anyone with a good idea! He’s also available to design and build custom creations at events, photo shoots and conventions.

So let Sawaya know what you have in mind, there are literally no limits to what he can create out of LEGO.

Nathan Sawaya’s Web Site for his Lego sculptures

Unlike many fellow Canadians and various American friends to the south, I do not eat many donuts. This is not by choice of course, because donuts are quite tasty. Its a health thing, as a proverbial west coaster I grow strong and healthy from organic food; locally grown produce, artisanal food and tasty fruit. I estimate I might eat a dozen donuts a year. However, when I do eat a donut or two -- I like it to be a sublime experience and combine it with a nice cup of coffee.

I watched with great interest a Pacific North West episode of adventure program, No Reservations, with Anthony Bourdain -- you can see a clip of this one hour show here:

Anthony visits Voodoo Donuts in this video:

I encourage you to visit the Voodoo Donuts web site.

Famous for their girth, our doughnuts are made fresh with love and care. You can pay us more for our product which is locally made, locally owned, and an honest dream come true, or you can buy cheaper, megalacorp, machine cut, rebaked, defrozen, warehouse doughnuts and pastries.

I plan to visit this place sometime this year.

The Door……..

And so, this is the way of it.
You there in the hallway, me crouching in my room.

Suffer you not dismay, entrance into my room is forbidden to all.
Consideration for mutual saftey is the weight that bars the door.

Your ideas, hanging as coats in a closet there in the great hallway
while mine rest just behind the door upon the icy floor.

At the very beginning of time, light filled the room.
The portals have now sealed themselves.

I recall entering this room many lifetimes past,
the hallway was brightly lit as though the summer sun did rest therein.
The cold is viscious and cannot be killed here inside this cell.

Your thoughts resting there in the sun, mine imprisoned here just inside this door.

Perchance a miracle, the door would swing wide and our intellects collide
as two comets in the night.
A great shower of sparks as our views combine and tumble to the earth.

What a fabulous dream
Alas, I awake to discover there was never a door at all.

I had simply closed my eyes and drifted off to sleep.

Michael Radford
12-12-06

SMILE

Day is long, sun hot, toil is fierce.

Moving forward the hard concrete rises up to smash into my feet.

Gravity forces me to the ground.

Then, just over there, the instant smile of a child.

It all rushes back to me.

SIDEWALKS

Looking out at everybody
ridin’ in their new soft life,

They got that look that says
I’m Gods wife.

They engineered their world
insulated from reality,

Smile on their face
got a little hint of insanity.

Deep introspection,
a pause for reflection.

No, I’m afraid not,
you see, this lane is closed.

I’m knowin’ there are some who have
traveled out too far.

I see’em in the streets when I’m
ridin’ in my car.

Shaggy clothes
vacant stare.

Gotta dog too,
one with nasty hair.

They mutter and they mumble,
wildly throwin’ up their hands.

Just keep on walkin’,
ain’t got no plans.

If you think it’s scary
when they cast a fearsome glance.

Imagine being prisoner
in their nightmare trance.

Let’s all lock our doors
and switch on the alarm.

Think of ways to distance ourselves
to escape from harm.

I don’t think you’ve noticed
there’s more of them these days.

So hide you well and scurry like a rat,
slip behind your Oakleys.

You don’t have to deal with that,

A “doomsday” seed vault built to protect millions of food crops from climate change, wars and natural disasters opened a few weeks ago. The seed vault is buried deep within an Arctic mountain in the remote Norwegian archipelago of Svalbard.

This facility will serve as a backup for hundreds of other seed banks around the world. It has the capacity to store 4.5 million seed samples from around the world and shield them from man-made and natural disasters.

“The Svalbard Global Seed Vault is our insurance policy,” Norway’s Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg told delegates at the opening ceremony 130 metres underground (around 400 feet). “It is the Noah’s Ark for securing biological diversity for future generations.”

Dug into the permafrost of the mountain, it has been built to withstand an earthquake or a nuclear strike, said Kent Bradford, director of the Seed Biotechnology Center at U.C. Davis.

Many more details in this good Science Daily article

Government of Norway Press Release

The Svalbard Global Seed Vault opened February 26 on a remote island in the Arctic Circle, receiving inaugural shipments of 100 million seeds that originated in over 100 countries. With the deposits ranging from unique varieties of major African and Asian food staples such as maize, rice, wheat, cowpea, and sorghum to European and South American varieties of eggplant, lettuce, barley, and potato, the first deposits into the seed vault represent the most comprehensive and diverse collection of food crop seeds being held anywhere in the world.

The building of the vault itself has attracted much outside interest due to its location and its unusual engineering, security, and aesthetic features. Its engineering allows it to stay cool with only a single 10-kilowatt compressor, which is powered by locally generated electricity.

The vault consists of three highly secure rooms sitting at the end of a 125-metre tunnel blasted out of a mountain on Norway’s Svalbard archipelago. The seeds will be stored at minus 18 degrees Celsius (minus 0.4 degrees Fahrenheit) and sealed in specially-designed four-ply foil packages. The packages are sealed inside boxes and stored on shelves inside the vault.

Each vault is surrounded by frozen arctic permafrost, ensuring the continued viability of the seeds should the electricity supply fail. The low temperature and moisture level inside the vaults will ensure low metabolic activity, keeping the seeds viable. If properly stored and maintained at minus 20 degrees Celsius (about minus 4 degrees Fahrenheit), some seeds in the vault will be viable for a millennium or more. For example, barley can last 2000 years, wheat 1700 years, and sorghum almost 20,000 years.

Anyone seeking access to the seeds themselves will have to pass through four locked doors: the heavy steel entrance doors, a second door approximately 115 metres down the tunnel and finally the two keyed air-locked doors. Keys are coded to allow access to different levels of the facility. Not all keys will unlock all doors. Motion detectors are set up around the site. Boxes of seeds inside the rooms are scanned before entering the seed vault.

A work of art also will make the vault visible for miles around. Artist Dyveke Sanne and KORO, the Norwegian agency overseeing art in public spaces, have worked together to fill the roof and vault entrance with highly reflective steel, mirrors, and prisms. The installation acts as a beacon, reflecting polar light in the summer months, while in the winter, a network of 200 fibre-optic cables will give the piece a muted greenish-turquoise and white light.

Dear Henry,
You probably aren’t aware of it, but you have been a great inspiration in my life for many years now. So it is with heavy heart that I sit down this morning to write you this letter.

You see — I live under a cultural rock, and — what with a wife, two gorgeous kids and a full time job — in addition to my own music and writing… I simply never knew you had your own TV show on IFC / Fuse. Fortunately, there is a DVR in my cable box, and I am slowly catching up.

The show is great! I especially enjoyed the John Waters interview; in part because he has been out on the fringe for so long that he is now in many ways — mainstream. The Steve Buscemi interview was gold as well, and it is always a pleasure to hear about his newest celluloid adventures in “Hollyweird”.

Your musical bits are stirring. The Mars Volta were amazing, and Billy Bragg forced an unconsciously raised FIST from me as he sang with skeletal accompaniment about “The Great Leap Forward”.

The short bits you do are vintage Hank, and the animated Wall Mart piece was both poignant and hilarious. Why the fuck is that poor old broken down war hero working as a greeter anyway? Its embarrassing to me as an American that a guy like that should ever have to do anything more then watch his great grandkids play, and sip pink lemonade on the porch while dozing over a good book. But — I digress.

No, Henry… The real reason I am writing you today has absolutely nothing to do with your show per se, and everything to do with the presentation of the show. You see, I have a 10 year old daughter who is a talented artist and musician in her own right, and I was hoping to share your show with her also. Unfortunately, that means I have to stand ever vigilant over the fast forward button when your advertisers step in to shill their wares.

Answer me this: What does 900 dating lines and Girls Gone Wild have to do with the Henry Rollins Show? Now, please don’t misunderstand me here… I like sex as much as the next guy, but wouldn’t ads like those be better placed during the Glen Beck Show? I realize that you probably have little control over your advertising content, but perhaps this can be a place for you to make a stand in the coming weeks? Your demographic doesn’t need to pay for sex. Your demographic is young and hip, and can get laid whenever they feel like it. It’s the demographic of the “Man Show” that wants or needs this shit, and that’s about it, right?

Anyway — you look great, and I hope your show continues for many years. I am proud of you, Hank, and I hope you take these criticisms in the spirit they were intended.

In other words — please don’t come to Falcon CO and kick my ass, but DO stop in for Tacos.

Warmest regards,

Chance

I bought a very interesting book recently – ‘Decotara” by Japanese photographer Masaru Tatsuki.

Decotara is the combination of decoration and trucks. He spent nearly 10 years researching Japanese trucker culture. I learned about this book at this great site: http://pingmag.jp/2008/01/31/decotora/

I don’t think I have ever seen trucks with those side windows in the front of the cab before. I wonder what those windows that jut out serve in terms of function? Decorative?