Archive for January, 2009
Flickr Friday: ChaHai
Your Rhodia Driver began to appreciate the art of tea preparation while studying at a university in Tokyo, Japan. It used to be that it was not our cup of tea (pun intended). But that year-long stay in the Land of the Rising Sun, just opened up a new Zen-like experience for us. While there, we noticed how people drink tea, instead of just plain water. And we experienced first hand the art of preparing the drink. So it was a pleasant surprise bumping into ChaHai online. It brought good memories of that awesome year, that would profoundly transform our view of the world.
Flickr photos via ChaHai
From blog to print
The conventional wisdom is, print publications are rapidly shifting online due to changing demographics, and reading habits. The Printed Blog, however, is of a different league. From its name, perhaps you can deduce what this new and innovative project is all about. The idea is to give local bloggers, who have something to say, the venue to be read outside of the virtual world. Instead of writers and editors, bloggers provide localized and unique content that directly appeal to a targeted audience and neighborhood. It’s a model that completely reverses the direction many established publications are taking. Yesterday, Tuesday, the very first issue was published in Chicago. A San Francisco edition was also launched simultaneously. What’s so cool about it is, it’s downloadable! The project, is already getting some attention, with The New York Times calling it a “Internet-era penny-saver” and Wired magazine dubbing it as “Current TV model for print news.” It’s an experiment, which we hope will succeed. And from the first look, it definitely has great potential!
CrunchGear gives away Rhodia notebooks
Although the contest is already over, we can’t let this pass without any mention. CrunchGear, a popular blog for techies, gave away some Rhodia notebooks over the Christmas holidays. We just learned about it following a tip from The Notebook Engraver. As part of the deal, CrunchGear asked its readers to send their “pretentious poetry” in the comment section. Here’s one tongue-in-cheeky poetry from Amy:
Soft and kind,
what a find!
Send TechCrunch please,
and make it mine.
Another contributor, Nate, writes:
Want anything said at all, which I still doubt
Sphinx of questioning substance, or a sort
One flash of eye, or blow one clarion-blast;
Snow haze gleams like sand.
Bronze the sky, with no
The surge of swirling wind defines
Standing in the way of the truth.
If you guys are into gadgets, gears and computer hardwares, go check out CrunchGear! The blog is under the helm of John Bigg, a techie consultant based in New York and author of ” Black Hat: Misfits, Criminals, and Scammers in the Internet Age.”
Signed, sealed, delivered
As we watched the new president being sworn in as chief executive of the most powerful country in the world, we could not help but get swept by the majesty of the office, and the historic significance of the event. Our attention then turned to him as he signed the first documents of his presidency. Naturally, we got curious about the presidential pen and ink he used during the ceremony. We scoured the Internet and here’s what we discovered about presidential pens and ink from Journalismo:
“Parker pens have played an important role since John F. Kennedy and care has been given to provide complete coverage of Parker’s half century involvement with the White House.”
Journalismo also brought us to a link, which traces the history of the presidential pen, complete with photos and some interesting trivia.
But speaking of presidential autographs, your Rhodia Driver happened to secure one from the future president, while on the field. We wrote about our Obama encounter last November:
“The next thing I knew, I was face-to-face with the would-be American president. He extended his right hand to me and flashed a toothy smile. All I could say was, “Thank You” as he I shook his rather skinny hand and looked him in the eyes.”
You can find the full article here:
National Day Of Service
It’s been a long day. Today, Martin Luther King Day your Rhodia Driver joined in the commemoration, by volunteering at a local Chicago organization giving shelter to homeless people. It’s been your Rhodia Driver’s most fulfilling day of 2009 so far. And it was just awesome to see people from all walks of life, coming together and giving back to the community. This is our way of honoring a man, who brought us to the mountaintop , and who made us believe that we will get to the Promised Land.
Flickr Photo via LunaPark
Flickr Friday: Danny Ku
“My soul consists of Music & Photography.” — Danny Ku (Taipei, Taiwan)
Flickr Photos via Danny Ku
Deep Freeze
More snow, 30-below windchills on the way, the Wednesday morning headline of the Chicago Tribune reads. Still, your Rhodia Driver managed venture outside last night and capture this scene from the Museum Campus near Adler Planetarium and the Shedd Aquarium. It was a magnificent view to behold, and there were only a very few brave souls who were there to behold it, including a couple of Weather Channel reporters. You know you’re in deep freeze when the meteorologists are the only people outside. Speaking of whom, Chicago’s Fox Channel top weather forecaster is actually named Amy Freeze. And we’re not kidding.
In times like these, it’s just nice to stay in and work from home, or spend some idle time just exploring the Internet. Here’s what we found out recently: Apparently, Vincent van Gogh can’t stand winter, because the cold forced him to work from home, and prevented him from savoring the beautiful colors outside during warmer seasons. Still, the artist that he is, he managed to finish a couple of winter landscapes, which was inspired by his collection of Japanese prints. But as we all know, those works did not fare well as much as his more colorful masterpieces. You can read the full article at Tracing Vincent.
Process Recess: James Jean
There’s an absolutely fascinating art exhibit going on right now at the Jonathan Levine Gallery in New York. It’s by the amazing artist, James Jean and it’s on until the 9th of February. We just learned about it from one of our many Rhodia fans from New York, Cleverly Eleanor, a grad student at New School University. The above artwork by Jean, is entitled Fables 76 Sketch. The exhibit is part of Jean’s multi-media work called Process Recess. On his website, you can also find Jean’s other works that range from the provocative to the whimsical.
Image via James Jean
Flickr Friday: Cloud8
Cloud8 is the blog of our Flickr Friday featured fotog. When you live in the San Francisco area and work for a tech company in the Silicon Valley area, you’d be in Cloud 8 too. No, not Cloud 9 , because according to Josh, “Cloud 9 doesn’t last long.” Outside of work, Josh is a photography aficionado, and it squares well with his other interest, travel. So far, he’s been to Brazil, Italy, China, India, and as far as New Zealand among other coutries. He even maintains a “white-board on travel” with his friends to track their escapades. We’re curious to know if he records them on his Rhodia as well. Here’s what a friend of his, wrote about him:
“A man of the moment! He is fulfilling a lifetime wish many have aspired but yet lifted a foot to proceed. I am inspired by his actions, be it arduous or exhilarating. Through it all, he remains steadfast on this journey and shares it well. his beautiful images can attest.”
Thanks Josh for the wonderful photos!
Flickr Photos via Josh
Okinawa Diary
Okinawa has a special spot in our heart. Although your Rhodia Driver has never been to this southernmost prefecture of Japan (at least, not yet), one of its chain of islands is the birthplace of an old friend from college. We met while studying at a university in Tokyo. He was a regular student, and your Rhodia Driver was a one-year exchange student. Ironically, we only became good friends the year after, when it was his turn to become an exchange student at our university in the Philippines. Over dinner or cold beer, we would engage in lively debates from culture to religion, to relationships. He just got married to a college friend, who is now a doctor, and they are currently in Washington D.C. while he’s taking his MBA at Georgetown University.
Coincidentally, another friend and close confidante, a fellow Scorpio, is now being stationed at a military base in Okinawa. A Filipino by birth, he would find some comfort from the tropical breeze of Naha, the cool waters of Heiji Falls and the beach at Hedo Point, even as he complains about the overpriced goods at the supermarket. Thanks to technology, he is now able to get a phone with a Merrimack, New Hampshire number, so we would often burn the line. He would report to us that his unit might engage in a military exercise in the Philippines, which excites him no end.
Recently, while studying American history, Okinawa came up again as a part of a discussion on World War II and the Allied campaign. Predictably our discussion would touch on the intense naval and ground assault of American forces of the Ryukyu Islands. Intense fights would erupt between the two forces, claiming thousands of casualties. Now, the chain of islands can only be described in a more peaceful manner.
And that’s where we find the author of the fascinating Okinawa Diary. She describes herself as “daughter of a sushi chef, wife of a logophile, and lover of anything funny.” We’d like to add, terrific storyteller and photographer to that. In a not-so-recent entry, she wrote about a delivery man who can draw using his two hands, simultaneously. Yes simultaneously!
Mr. M is a delivery man, but he’s not your typical delivery man. He is more like a comedian or an entertainer pretending to be a delivery man. I suspect that working as a delivery man is merely a disguise for him to get to know people he can entertain.
What actually first caught our eye to this entry was the picture of dragonfly and the haiku in Kanji, a form of Japanese writing that is based on Chinese characters. We do not know what kind of Japanese ink Mr. M has, but knowing how Japanese regard art, good taste and keen eye on detail, we can speculate that the ink he is using possibly is an ink stick called sumi. Has anyone ever used the traditional Japanese ink? We would like to hear your story.
You can read the story and many more Okinawa stories here.
Photos via the Okinawa Diary
Paper & Ink
Has anyone of you ever tried the J. Herbin Fountain Pen inks on a Rhodia pad? The reason I am asking is, we came across a recent entry by Biffy Beans reviewing the said ink on a Dick Blick drawing paper. Of course, you guys remember Biffy Beans and her Mandala artworks. She actually writes about her spiritual evolution and some earthly concerns, including papers and inks at Biffybeans.com. On the J. Herbin inks, she writes:
“Overjoyed with the ability to test all of these beautiful inks, I decided to do a quick swab test just to get an idea of what each one looked like...
“With this test and the images that follow, I ask that you keep an open mind with the fact that these might look different on your monitor, in your hand, in your pen, or if you swab them yourself…
“We’ve got gray snow clouds in the sky today, and it frustrates me that I couldn’t get better pictures. My scanner also seemed to have a bit of difficulty in accurately representing the colors of the ink. I did my best – hope it’s at least a little bit helpful.“
A lively discussion followed her review. One commenter named Torrey exclaimed:
“Wow, and here I was blown away that, upon requesting to try Lierre Sauvage, Karen from Exaclair included Vert Empire as well! But look at your scan… you got the goods, Biffybeans!”
So now, we’re wondering how the J. Herbin inks work on a Rhodia. Anyone?
Photo via Biffybeans.com
