Behind the Power Curve

You know how every once in a while you find something on the internet that's cool and you want to share it with everyone? Only then you realize that it's been around for a long time, and you're just late to the party? Well, that just happened with me.

I followed a link to a link to a link and stumbled on The Perry Bible Fellowship today. It's a web comic, and it doesn't really have anything to do with the bible, but it is pretty funny. Here's a sample:



The best way I can describe the strip is like a 3-panel Far Side. I was clued in that the artist, Nicholas Gurewitch, might not need THIS blog's endorsement when I read that his first book sold out the first two printings and is on for a third re-print. It's worth a look, if you're trying to kill some time at work.

Kid Art

We bought Aidan a kid's camera for his birthday. He seems to take a lot of inspiration from the dog, his toys, and holiday decorations. There is an obvious need to work on his composition, but there does seem to be some evidence of an inate eye for photography...

Here are some of the pictures he has taken, just for kicks.

Bob Like You Mean It

So, we went sledding this weekend in Asiago, or, as they call it here it Italy, "bob." I mean, I get it- like bob sledding, but it is so wierd. I have no idea how you would talk about sledding in Italian, since they conjugate their verbs. I bobo, you bobi, he/she boba? More on that later...

We had heard about this place from some friends, and they were really talking it up. When we got there, it did not disappoint. There was a really nice sledding hill, with a "magic carpet" that you rode on to get back to the top of the hill. I have never been skiing, so I conceed that it IS possible, but I have never heard of such a set-up in the U.S. Do we even have sledding hills?

Kids on the magic carpet:

My ignorance about sledding was just about immediately obvious, as I was the absolute worst sled driver there. Eight year old kids were flying by me, with excellent control and steering. On the other hand, I felt like I could crash or possibly defy the laws of physics and flip my sled at any moment. Joel said, "I could pick you out right away- you were all over the place." Thanks!

For his part, Joel managed to make a spectacle of himself by wearing some Army cold weather boots that, based on performance, were possibly made out of solidified Crisco. On top of his many, many near misses, he fell right on his ass at least four times. At least he had boots on- the rest of us (including our friend and her two kids)were in jeans and running shoes, amid a sea of ski pants, ski coats, designer sunglasses, "Moon Boots,"and mid-length fur coats. We might as well have had Toby Keith t-shirts and American flag bandanas on.

Check out this Italian Nonna (grandma) enjoying her day at the slopes in style:

Of course your big question is, "Did Aidan have fun?" I think his expression in this picture says it all:

So, no, he didn't. Fortunately, we found a small playground with the equivilent of a bunny (sledding) slope that he and the other kids we were with could handle much better.

And maybe your next question is, "What did you do with the baby?" Here is your answer:

Close up:

No Mr. Bond. I expect you to die.

A couple of posts back I wrote about the grappa tasting that we went to in Bassano. It was at the Nardini grappa factory. In that post, I wrote about how the building itself deserved it's own post. And here it is.

The building was designed by a "high-art" Italian architect named Massimiliano Fuksas to commemorate the company's 200th anniversary of being in the same family. The story goes that it the design was drafted on a dinner plate while the architect and the boss were discussing the plan over dinner. I don't know how true that is, but it's a kooky story.

There's not much that I can saw about the building that is going to better than the actual pictures, so here they are:

External shot

Another external shot, closer to the building. The whole building rests above a reflecting pool. The small glass domes that you see in the water are windows to a concrete and wood basement.



View from inside the upper-most dome.



External shot, reverse angle.



As we were touring this building, I couldn't help thinking how this looked like a Bond villain's hideout. Maybe from Dr. No? At the very least, it looked like it could belong on Buddy's island from "The Incredibles".

The two glass bubbles are made of glass and steel. Apparently, it took months for the builder to find someone that is could make the special curved glass to fit the complex shapes around the corners and edges. The glass rests on a cushion of special rubber spacers on the steel frame and the whole building expands and contracts with the heat. For heating and cooling, there is an underground artisan spring that they use to cool the building in the summer and the sun heats the domes like a greenhouse in the winter. Clever.

By the way, all these pictures were taken by me with my awesome N95. Take that, iPhone! pwned!!!11!