MAINE 3

MAINE 1

Natural Bridge, Ozark Attraction, Sold At Auction/ Norway/ Maine

The Natural Bridge of Arkansas, a 100-foot sandstone formation north of Clinton, was sold at auction Friday. (Anita Tucker photo)

By Anita Tucker

Arkansas News Bureau

CLINTON — Jack Smith thought about dropping out midway through the bidding for the Natural Bridge of Arkansas, but he stayed put as the landmark was auctioned off today and won what one seller deemed a “bargain.”

At $189,000, Smith, of Conway, was the highest bidder for the 100-foot long sandstone formation and 101 acres located just north of this Van Buren County community. He said he made the purchase on behalf of his son, James Smith of Kingsland, Ga.

It was a bittersweet morning for brothers Harold, Royce and Wayne Johnson, whose family had owned the bridge since 1973.

“It’s a little sad,” Harold Johnson said. “But the time has come.”

The brothers want to retire and travel.

Auctioneer Joe Wilson told a gathering at the site and an audience watching on the Internet that it was the first time he’d ever sold a natural bridge.

“That’s a pretty cool-looking rock,” he said.

The bidding was back and forth between Smith and another potential buyer at the scene.

“I was getting cold feet,” Smith said after the sale.

“Somebody got a bargain,” said Royce Johnson, though older brother Harold said the property actually brought more than he thought it would.

Smith said his son plans to relocate to the area as soon as he can and they will consider expanding the attraction, perhaps adding some hiking trails.

Meanwhile, the Johnsons will continue to run the show for a few more days. A wedding was scheduled to take place there Saturday.

The stone archway of the natural bridge was used as a wagon crossing during pioneer days.

Also on the site are two 100-year-old log cabins, one of which is a museum complete with an old moonshine still, and the other a gift shop.

The attraction is open seven days a week from March through October.

Sipapu Natural Bridge, Utah, seen from below

NOTE:  

        After a night of practically no sleep (we are currently at the beautiful, grand Colony Hotel in Kennebunkport, Maine, "Maine's first environmentally responsible hotel", which amazingly has no air conditioning, which is a little rough in the current Inferno-wave), I woke up wondering what, if anything, to post, given the horrible news out of Norway.  

        Reading the news stories and then the biography of Anders Behring Breivik, and then viewing his Twitter page (which they just took down a few moments ago) bearing the smug slogan "One person with a belief is equal to the force of 100,000 who have only interests", a pompous, know-it-all/know-nothing variation on John Stuart Mill, and seeing his idiotic, blank Mark David Chapman/John Hinkley/David Berkowitz countenance, made me wonder, uselessly as usual, about who might have spotted this “face in the crowd” and possibly provided some early warning of his madness, rage and mediocrity.

Arches Bridge Monument, New Mexico 

        So, I posted the Arkansas News story above about the natural bridge auction in beautiful Arkansas, a state more people should visit, and the pictures of other natural bridges above and below.  For some reason, it seemed appropriate to do.

        Earlier in the week, Tom Clark posted on Beyond The Pale two exceptional features focusing on the effects of pollution, one concerning China's "green tide" of algae and the other on the hideous effects plastic debris has wreaked on albatrosses in the South Pacific.  

Pont d'Arc natural bridge, near Vallon-Pont d'Arc, Ardeche, France

        By contrast, however, during our visit to Maine (to visit Jane at camp and explore other parts of the state), we have been treated to glorious views of Maine’s waterways and the Atlantic Ocean, both from the shoreline and out on the water.  Yesterday, we journeyed a couple of hours out from Kennebunkport on a whale watching tour.   

Rainbow Cave Bridge, Israel

        We saw whales (finbacks and minkes, the first I’ve ever seen up close), bluefin tuna, mako sharks and puffins.   We also saw beautiful, peaceful albatrosses and vast numbers of dolphins who put on the best water show we had ever seen, enthusiastically body-surfing in the prodigious wake of our vessel.  It was amazing and very moving to see them simply living their lives, far from the madness of current domestic and international news, and accepting us into their environment in stark contrast to the way we treat "intruders" of all sorts into ours.

 

Whale!

Why (J. McGuinn/D. Crosby)

Keep sayin' no to her since she was a baby
Keep sayin' no to her, not even maybe
Why?
Why?

You say there's a limit there, she can't go past that
She don't believe you, she don't think that's where it's at
Why?
Why?

Say she can't change that, it's the way you've always done it
She don't care about that, she thinks you've just begun it
Why?
Why?

You say it's a dead old world, cold and unforgiving
I don't know where you live but you're not living
Why?
Why?

Keep sayin' no to her since she was a baby
Keep sayin' no to her, not even maybe
Why?
Why?

1. Why -- The Byrds 

(Original mono 45 rpm release version), 1966

2.  Why --The Byrds
 
(Instrumental backing track -- fun!), 1967

Making Britain Modern

Parking meter, 1958 (for Venner)

        LONDON.- Kenneth Grange is Britain’s leading product designer, his prolific career spans over 50 years and he is responsible for designing some of the most iconic and familiar products and appliances that shape our daily lives. Kodak cameras, the silhouette for the Intercity 125 train, Kenwood food mixers, Parker pens, and the re-design of the London Taxi Cab are just some of his well-known designs. This exhibition is Kenneth Grange’s first UK retrospective and it will celebrate his work, his design journey and the role he has played in making Britain modern. During the 1960s and 70s Grange designed a considerable number of domestic products.

London taxi-cab Model TX1, 1998

        The Kenwood Chef was a revelation in home baking and it became a standard aesthetic for food mixers. Razors for Wilkinson Sword, cigarette lighters for Ronson, Irons for Morphy Richards, Pens for Parker, each of his designs supported new materials and advances in technology. This was a time when Britain led the way with its strong manufacturing base and renewed vigour for design, a time for Britain to embrace the future. In 1972 Grange, together with Alan Fletcher, Theo Crosby, Colin Forbes and Mervyn Kurlansky established Pentagram, a world renowned multi-disciplinary design consultancy.

Wilkinson Sword Razor, 1991


        In 1968 Grange designed the iconic exterior and interior layout for the High Speed Intercity 125 train for British Rail. Unveiled in 1976, the Intercity’s distinctive and futuristic aerodynamic cone nose caught the mood of the time and set the standard for high-speed train design still referenced today. Born in 1929 Grange attended Willesden School of Art, London, his National Service was spent as a technical illustrator for the Royal Engineers.

Bowers & Wilkins Diamond Signature Loudspeakers, 1975

        In 1951 whilst working as an architect’s assistant Grange contributed to the Sports and Home pavilions for the Festival of Britain. In 1958 Grange designed the interiors for the Kodak Pavilion at the Brussels World Fair and so began the start of a successful partnership which would lead to Grange designing his first camera for Kodak the 44A in 1959. Grange also developed the Kodak instamatic camera in 1968, followed by the Kodak Pocket Instamatic in 1972, the start of a new generation of portable, inexpensive cameras. Influenced by the form and function of Scandinavian, German and Italian design, Grange’s elegant and functional designs embraced a contemporary aesthetic, combining a unique style and appreciation of domestic values, creating products that were not only a commercial success but also a joy to use.

British Rail Intercity 125 Train, 1976

        More recently, in the 1990s, Grange has produced distinctive designs that have become part of our landscape, from the re-design of the London black cab, the Taxi TX1 in 1998, to the Adshel bus shelters of 1993 and the Rural Post box for Royal Mail in 1998, these familiar designs shape our streetscape and continue Grange’s work in street design that started with his parking meter for Venner in 1958. Today Grange continues to work with British companies including Anglepoise, furniture designer Hitch Mylius and fashion designer Margaret Howell.

Kodak Istamatic camera, 1970

        Still at the centre of the design community, he was made a Royal Designer for Industry in 1969, awarded a CBE in 1984, has an impressive five honorary doctorates and continues toteach and offer his support and experience to the next generation ofdesigners at the Royal College of Art. The exhibition will be designed by James Irvine and Jasper Morrison with graphics by Graphic Thought Facility.

RECENT WORK: One of Grange's many lamp designs for Anglepoise, where he serves as the company's design director

Note:  I felt foolish yesterday when I discovered that I didn't know anything about Kenneth Grange, Britain's leading industrial designer, whose career is being celebrated this month in a London museum retrospective at the Design Museum.  A fascinating man and a prodigious, prolific creator, Grange's Making Britain Modern book is being published in paperback this summer.  Whenever I travel to Britain, I notice that the "shapes of things" are different there than they are in the US.  Like most people, I tend to attribute this to a general, but undefinable, difference in cultural aesthetics that may have reached its apotheosis in the conception and design of Daleks and composition and recording of the original Doctor Who theme. (Click link if desired.)  It's good finally to have a more precise fix on things. And I would really like to acquire one of those Margaret Howell workshirts pictured at the bottom of this post.  The press release above was re-posted from ArtDaily.org, an excellent online newspaper covering the world art scene.  The Kenneth Grange retrospective will be on view through October 30.

Adshell bench, 1972

 Workshirt for Margaret Howell, 2010



Kenneth Grange Knighted!! (Link) (1/13/13)

 

HAMAD WAS HERE

 

 

 

 

Hamad, the biggest name in the desert: Arab sheikh carves two-miles-long name in sand until it's visible from SPACE

By Daily Mail Reporter

Last updated at 11:56 AM on 21st July 2011

        The word 'HAMAD' measures 1,000 metres high and is a staggering two miles long from the 'H' to the 'D' on the Al Futaisi island.

       And rather than allow the writing to be washed away by the ocean, the letters actually form waterways that absorb the encroaching tide.The ruler's name is even visible on Google's map service.

        Hamad dreamed up the idea and had his workmen toil for weeks to craft the enormous piece of sand graffiti. It is not known how much it cost to make.

       However, the sheikh boasts a personal fortune second only to the Saudi king's.

Hamad, also known as the 'Rainbow Sheikh', is a member of the Abu Dhabi Ruling Family.

        He is understood to have some 200 cars including seven Mercedes 500 SELs painted in different colours of the rainbow which he stores in a giant pyramid.

        The Arab sheikh has a taste for doing things on a large scale. He built the world's largest truck - eight times the size of the Dodge Power Wagon, with  four bedrooms inside the cabin.

        Hamad constructed a motor home in the shape of a giant globe which is exactly 1 millionth the size of the actual earth.

       Alongside his lavish displays of wealth he has become a well-known philanthropist in medicine and supplied a complete kidney stone operating theatre to a public hospital in Morocco where he continues to fund its staff. 

Anything's possible: Hamad, 63, ordered workers to write his giant name in the sand

Musical accompaniment:  The Move: Kilroy Was Here (Link) by The Move (wr. Roy Wood)

Plover

I was the solitary plover

a pencil

        for a wing-bone

From the secret notes

I must tilt

upon the pressure

execute and adjust

      In us sea-air rhythm

"We live by the urgent wave

of the verse"

Lorine Niedecker, From Paean to Place (!968), included in Collected Works (ed. Jenny Penberthy), Berkeley, University of California Press, 2002