Terry Sanders - Plastics (1973)

Strangely hypnotic educational film about the plastics industry, featuring an eerie bloop bleep electronic score by Carl Stone. I remember watching films like this in elementary school -- grainy 16mm documentaries about plankton or mitochondria or why you should wear seatbelts. How did they not expect kids to be a bit deranged after watching stuff like this?

heath ceramics

Right before we left the Bay Area we struck gold at the Heath Ceramics studio in Sausalito. There's a shelf in the back full of seconds (technically thirds) with very minor blemishes and glazing imperfections, offered at a fraction of the retail price -- see the pic below. Joyce had already staked a flag here, once casually scoring Heath's iconic tea pot for a mere $25. But this summer we triumphed on another scale entirely, as we hauled away at least twenty dinner plates at the low-low price of $1 each.

They are so beautiful and simple. Our plates range across a few earth tones, but they complement each other really well, and make us seem like better cooks than we are. The picture above is from our personal collection.

And below are pictures from the outing itself, made in July while my family was in town. The studio is like the mid-century house of our dreams. It was rainy that day and we tracked quite a lot of mud on the studio floor. bg

gold top dairy bar

We only eat ice cream now. The Bay Area does have certain kinds of ice cream that we miss, or will do now that I've gone and started thinking about it. You've got cinnamon ice cream at Mitchell's in the Mission, and makapuno (young coconut) ice cream at Tucker's in Alameda—probably the best ice cream in the world. Let's also not forget CCAC (caramel cream almond crunch) at Fenton's in Oakland, or the new frou-frou boutique ice creams to be found at places like Ici in Elmwood and Bi-Rite's new ice creamery in the Mission.

But hope springs anew. Graeter's ice cream is Cincinnati's signature brand, and counts Oprah Winfrey among its many fans. We do like Graeter's, but I think the best ice cream we've had has been at a suburban soft-serve place called Gold Top Dairy Bar. We were driving to a nursery to look for houseplants last week when we saw their huge yellow sign and swerved off the road with bulging eyes. bg

foux de fa fa

I can't resist posting this spoof video by the kiwi comic duo Flight of the Conchords. For more 60's French pop nuggets, not all of them spoofs, check out this excellent blog.

northside

la jetée

Lots of vernacular weirdness here in Cincinnati that we are dying to share with you. Chili on spaghetti anyone? Will upload picture collage and wry commentary soon. In the meantime, may I recommend a film or two? We were both pretty absorbed by a new Danish film called After the Wedding, starring Mads Mikkelsen of Casino Royale fame. I missed Le Chiffre's bleeding tear duct, which I believe I said out loud a number of times while we were watching it, but Mikkelsen still puts in a brooding, hunky performance -- and the soundtrack will have you thinking, wait, maybe I should give Sigur Ros another chance.

An American indie film called Mutual Appreciation is waiting in a pile of mail downstairs. Mumblecore yada yada, according to NY Times Magazine. The protagonist is played by Justin Rice, who fronts a real-life band called Bishop Allen. Sound familiar, Show Me State lads? A film about Williamsburg hipsters could be annoying. Why did I rent this?

But this week's Netflix sweepstakes winner has to be La Jetée, an avant sci-fi film from Chris Marker in 1963. It isn't a film so much as a photo collage with voice-over narration. There's a fairly ambitious plot involving time travel, post-apocalyptic Paris, two star-crossed lovers, and a man wearing a bra on his head. But the film succeeds purely at the level of the still image. Delicate and disturbing -- and the wardrobe is straight out of APC or something. Score by Trevor Duncan on a Boosey & Hawkes library record. I bet Jarvis Cocker is really into this movie. bg

thrifty finds

The idea of finding some cool, undiscovered troves of vintage furniture and mid-century stuff was part of what made our move to the Midwest / Upper South appealing. Well, at a Cincinnati Goodwill earlier this week, Ben scored a lovely little stool (Yugoslavian modern, of course)...


... for 4 bucks! Now when I read some collector's claim in Dwell or Ready-Made that he or she found an amazing Danish credenza/Eames chair/Martz lamp for $10, I'll be less inclined to dismiss that individual as a liar.

We also hit the Cincinnati Public Library's book warehouse sale this afternoon. Shelves and shelves of finds. Many volumes were bought, but this c. 1960s oversize children's book was the pick of the litter.

Hansel and Gretel is appropriate because today Ben and I were feeling a little lost. Culturally, not spatially. After having a nice dinner, however, we're feeling a bit better. jm

lo concept

You are probably thinking, "What about Ben's records? I've been worried about them." I put together this shelving unit over a sweaty afternoon last week. Basically this means that I slapped some legs on pine record boxes that I had stained a while ago. I guess the idea was to keep things low and long, like a bench. Now all we need is a couch and TV.

farmer's market

This morning we went to Findlay Market in downtown Cincinnati. Good cheap produce here -- both from local farmers and wholesalers practically giving away slightly-too-ripe bananas and such. Nice to know we aren't the only foodies around. Here's a picture of lunch afterwards. It's been hovering around 95 degrees, so we've been making good use of Mark Bittman's "Summer Express" recipes in the NY Times. This is shrimp sauteed with cumin, garlic, and red pepper flakes. Kinda smokey tasting because of the cumin -- delicious.

chopped salad y'all!

hello friends

Well, we have finally arrived in Cincinnati. We have been here for just over a week and have so far developed the subtle, nuanced observation that it is really hot here. We'll post some pictures of our house and neighborhood real soon. Seems like Cincinnati is going to be interesting once we get our heads around it. We live in a neighborhood called "Northside" that sort of reminds us of Temescal in Oakland, in that it's cool and bohemian but a little rough around the edges. Every morning Joyce runs to the front window to check that our cars are still there. But there are some intriguing things about Northside that we're happy about, such as a great cafe, an independent video store, a hippie farmer's market, and the world's grungiest hardware store, run by a man named Bill Dickhouse who has worked there for 49 years. We thought it was funny that a bar in the neighborhood offers "San Francisco-style burritos." Aside from the heat and humidity and general feeling of confusion and alienation, it's like we never left home.

What are Jesus Bugs? Well, one nice thing about Cincinnati is that some very talented artists and designers call it home. Our favorites are Charley and Edie Harper, who lived and worked in the area for many years. (Why is it that all the cool modernist designers were married couples? Charles and Ray Eames, Robin and Lucienne Day, and now these two.) At any rate, Charley Harper was a celebrated wildlife artist, and "Jesus Bugs" (1969) is one of his signature pieces. It shows insects gliding on a watery surface. We haven't found any jesus bugs out here yet, but we will keep looking.