May 2nd


1876: The April Uprising breaks out in Bulgaria. Like most everything else Bulgarians do, it's two days late.


1969: The British ocean liner Queen Elizabeth 2 departs on her maiden voyage to New York City. She comes back knocked up and with a set of bad tatoos.

2000: President Bill Clinton announces that accurate GPS access would no longer be restricted to the U.S. military and his drivers helping him find hot pieces of ass.


THANKS!!!

April visits to this blog were up 15.4%, year-over-year. Thanks for reading!

May 1st

1707: The Act of Union joins the Kingdom of England and Kingdom of Scotland to form the Kingdom of Really Drunken Slobs.


1751: The first cricket match is played in America... it's expected to end any day now.


1927: The first cooked meals on a scheduled flight are introduced on an Imperial Airways flight from London to Paris. Some of the meals cooked that day are still being served on U.S. Airways.

John Fowler & Nancy Lancaster

Fowler London bedroom from 1970's, image from Architectural Digest

John Fowler worked with and was inspired by and inspired Nancy Lancaster for many years. He began as an apprentice in a workroom that painted screens and fabric. He joined Sibyl Colefax's interior design firm in 1938. But it was his collaboration with Nancy Lancaster that really put him on the map. Together they made famous the English Country look (which wasn't really invented by a decorator, it just evolved in English country houses). It is the beautiful but slightly shabby look featuring lots of chintz and antiques handed down through families. Nancy Lancaster and John Fowler perfected this look. Over time Fowler's style became less shabby and more refined and fussy (especially the elaborate curtains he favored).

Some of his rooms:


Fowler's London drawing room for the Bruces, 1960's, image from Architectural Digest


Bruce family London drawing room by John Fowler



Another Fowler drawing room from the 1960's - Wingfield House, from Aesthetes Lament blog


Parisian drawing room, image from A Different Shade of Gray blog



Washington, DC drawing room of the Bruce family in 1970's, image from Architectural Digest, via Aesthete's Lament



Same DC room, close up of chairs that were in Nancy Lancaster's bedroom at Haseley Court, Architectural Digest, via Aesthete's Lament

Monochrome Benches

I haven't posted any benches for a while - indeed, I haven't posted very much lately. Other things have kept me busy and will continue to do so for some time. However, today I have combined my interest in monochrome photography with my interest in benches.

These are located in Nordnesparken (The Nordnes Park) in Bergen. There are several groups of these concrete benches, and each one has its own distinct pattern on the seat.

Some say that concrete is a dull material, but as you can see, it doesn't have to be.

In my opinion, the dull one in this trio is the plain and ordinary park bench to the right.

This Monochrome concept came from Aileni at Monochrome Weekend.

Jobless in Spain
Spain unemployment is now at 20%, the other 80% are officially employed as siesta inspectors.



Wall Street Protest
Thousands of union members marched on Wall Street yesterday. It's not the huge bank profits that angers the unions the most, it's the fact that the bankers made that money while they were actually working!



Drill Stop
The White House has just announced that no oil drilling in new areas in the U.S. will go forward until there's a full review of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill. This is in addition to last year's White House announcement that no profits will be made by anybody until the Democrats get re-elected in November.



Shakira Speaks Out
Singer Shakira has joined the growing chorus of opposition to Arizona's new immigration law. In response, Arizona is now offering immediate citizenship to all illegal aliens who look like Shakira.



Crist Bolts
Florida Governor Charlie Crist has announced that he is leaving the Republican Party. He will now be running for the Senate as a member of the new Tanning Bed/Melanoma Party.





April 30th

313: Roman emperor Licinius unifies the entire Eastern Empire under his rule. He goes on to challenge the West coast rappers and assassinate Tupac Shakur.


1789: On the balcony of Federal Hall on Wall Street in New York City, George Washington takes the oath of office to become the first elected President of the United States... and the last president who wasn't a lying sack of crap.


1803: The United States purchases the Louisiana Territory from France for $15 million. It takes 15 years just to get rid of the smell.


1945: Adolf Hitler and Eva Braun commit suicide after being married for one day. This remains the most successful marriage in European political history.

RiZoTe - Any Ground

[vIa]

Creating order out of chaos

image from India Hicks

Today we are headed to a client's house to get started on making the house beautiful. We are going from something like this


image from ocsitcom blog

to this


image from Schuyler Samperton
Hopefully!!!

Bullock Adoption
Sandra Bullock has adopted a new child... but the baby is already cheating on her with Madonna and Angelina Jolie.


Bullock's estranged husband Jesse James is also committing a selfless act... he's adopting all of Tiger Woods' ex-girlfriends.



Space Water
An icy asteroid orbiting the sun between Mars and Saturn is adding credence to theories that Earth's water was delivered from space... so is the recent discovery of an empty 15 billion gallon bottle of Poland Spring at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean.



Greek Debt
Greece's debt crisis continues to spiral out of control. It's getting so bad that I went to my local diner this morning and they charged me 15 billion euros for coffee.



Height Service
President Obama will deliver the eulogy for civil rights icon Dorothy Height this morning. Then, he'll go back to delivering his ongoing eulogy for the American economy.



Monkey Meat
Two people have been arrested in Indonesia for making and selling meatballs from the meat of protected monkeys. The couple also faces charges in the U.S. for not posting the meatballs' full calorie and fat content on the packaging.





April 29th


1986: A fire at the Los Angeles Central Library destroys 400,000 books... which would be a real tragedy if anyone in Los Angeles could read.


1999: The Avala TV Tower near Belgrade is destroyed in the NATO bombing of Yugoslavia. Broadcasts of the Yugoslavian hit show, "Who Wants to be a Casualty?" continue on the radio.


2005: Syria completes its pullout from Lebanon, but not before impregnating the country with 29 years worth of terrorists.

PIXELS by PATRICK JEAN

Recipe for a successful, comfortable room

Sitting room at Haseley Court, image from little augury

Nancy Lancaster thought rooms should look undecorated, aged and furnished over time. We agree with her. Here is her list of things that are important for a "comfortable environment," from The Great Lady Decorators:

"1. In restoring a house, one must first realize its period, feel its personality, and try to bring out its good points;
2. Decorating must be appropriate;
3. Scale is of prime importance, and I think that oversized scale is better than undersized scale;
4. In choosing a color, one must remember that it changes in different aspects;
5. Understatement is extremely important, and crossing too many t's and dotting too many i's makes a room look overdone and tiresome. One should create something that fires the imagination without overemphasis;
6. I never think that sticking slavishly to one period is successful; a touch of nostalgia adds charm. One needs light and shade, because if every piece is perfect, the room becomes a museum and is lifeless;
7. A gentle mixture of furniture expresses life and continuity, but it must be a delicious mixture that flows and mixes well. It is a bit like mixing a salad. I am better at rooms than salads.

To these guidelines Nancy always added her magic ingredients; open fires, candle light, and masses of fresh flowers."

image from live like you blog

Her famous yellow room above is filled with beautiful furniture and things and yet don't you just want to kick off your shoes and curl up in a chair? Comfortable, beautiful rooms have form and function working together hand in hand.

Charleston designer Amelia Handegan's rooms have that same feel to them.



the other side of that room above -


image from Southern Accents

I adore this Alessandra Branca room! Look at all of the fresh flowers.


image from elle decor

This Branca room conveys vibrant warmth and beauty.


image from Southern Accents


Branca understands what Nancy Lancaster was describing above - she says: "For me it's not enough that a room look good. It also has to work. I put an incredible amount of effort into making people feel comfortable." from New Classics Interiors by Alessandra Branca

Male / Female a question about brains?

At the hospital the next of kin of a seriously ill family member gathered in the living room. The doctor came in and looked tired and gloomy out, "I am afraid I bring bad news, " he said and looked at the anxious faces.

"The only hope left for the patient at this point is a brain transplant. "
"This is a difficult and risky process, and you must pay for the donor brain. "
The family members sat silent and thought the matter over. After a long time, it was one that asked, "OK, how much does a brain cost?"
The doctor responded quickly,"$ 30,000 for a man's brain, and $ 1.200 for a woman's brain."

The atmosphere was a little embarrassing. The men in the room tried not to smile, avoiding eye contact with women, but sat with a satisfied expression in their faces. A man was unable to control his curiosity, and asked what everyone wanted to ask, "Why does a man´s brain so much more ......?"

The doctor smiled and said:" $30,000 is a standard price. We need to put down the price of female brains, because they have been in use. "

Another one?

Subject: Women are smarter than men

A woman and a man are involved in a car accident and it's a bad one. Both of their cars are totally demolished, but amazingly neither of them are hurt.

After they crawl out of their cars, the woman says, "So you're a man, that's interesting. I'm a woman. Wow, just look at our cars! There's nothing left, but fortunately we are unhurt. This must be a sign from God that we should meet and be friends and live together in peace for the rest of our days."

The man replied," I agree with you completely. This must be a sign from God.

The woman continued, "And look at this, here's another miracle. My car is completely demolished but this bottle of wine didn't break. Surely God wants us to drink this wine and celebrate our good fortune." Then she hands the bottle to the man.

The man shakes his head in agreement, opens it and takes a few very large swigs from the bottle and then hands it back to the woman.

The woman takes the bottle, immediately puts the cap back on, and hands it back to the man.

The man asks, "Aren't you having any?"

The woman replies, "No. I think I'll just wait for the police.

Searching for more evidence? See jokebreak

Male / Female a question about brains?

At the hospital the next of kin of a seriously ill family member gathered in the living room. The doctor came in and looked tired and gloomy out, "I am afraid I bring bad news, " he said and looked at the anxious faces.

"The only hope left for the patient at this point is a brain transplant. "
"This is a difficult and risky process, and you must pay for the donor brain. "
The family members sat silent and thought the matter over. After a long time, it was one that asked, "OK, how much does a brain cost?"
The doctor responded quickly,"$ 30,000 for a man's brain, and $ 1.200 for a woman's brain."

The atmosphere was a little embarrassing. The men in the room tried not to smile, avoiding eye contact with women, but sat with a satisfied expression in their faces. A man was unable to control his curiosity, and asked what everyone wanted to ask, "Why does a man´s brain so much more ......?"

The doctor smiled and said:" $30,000 is a standard price. We need to put down the price of female brains, because they have been in use. "

Another one?

Subject: Women are smarter than men

A woman and a man are involved in a car accident and it's a bad one. Both of their cars are totally demolished, but amazingly neither of them are hurt.

After they crawl out of their cars, the woman says, "So you're a man, that's interesting. I'm a woman. Wow, just look at our cars! There's nothing left, but fortunately we are unhurt. This must be a sign from God that we should meet and be friends and live together in peace for the rest of our days."

The man replied," I agree with you completely. This must be a sign from God.

The woman continued, "And look at this, here's another miracle. My car is completely demolished but this bottle of wine didn't break. Surely God wants us to drink this wine and celebrate our good fortune." Then she hands the bottle to the man.

The man shakes his head in agreement, opens it and takes a few very large swigs from the bottle and then hands it back to the woman.

The woman takes the bottle, immediately puts the cap back on, and hands it back to the man.

The man asks, "Aren't you having any?"

The woman replies, "No. I think I'll just wait for the police.

Searching for more evidence? See jokebreak

Goldman Sachs Marathon
The Goldman Sachs hearings on Capitol Hill dragged on for almost 11 hours yesterday. It went on so long that Goldman made $2 billion by taking bets on which Senators would fall asleep first.



Senate Schedule
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid now says the Senate will try to pass a cap and trade bill before it takes up immigration reform. That way, we'll have enough illegal immigrants to help us gather firewood after the Democrats ban oil and natural gas.



Free Trip
Lufthansa has offered a free flight to Germany to the Apple employee who allegedly left an iPhone prototype in a German-style beer garden in California. It's not clear if this is a German tourism publicity stunt, or if they just want this worker to be interrogated by the kind of people who really know how to do it right.



Thai Chaos
Thai security forces fired rubber bullets and tear gas into crowds of anti-government protesters today. Now Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi are trying to hire the same troops to handle the next Tea Party protest.



New Abortion Law
Oklahoma has passed a law that forces pregnant women to listen to the heartbeat of their fetuses before they decide to get an abortion. To be fair, the fetuses should also be forced to learn they are going to live in Oklahoma before they decide to be born.





April 28th

1253: Nichiren, a Japanese Buddhist monk, propounds "Nam Myoho Renge Kyo" for the very first time and declares it to be the essence of Buddhism... then he gets run over by an out-of-control rickshaw.


1945: Benito Mussolini and his mistress Clara Petacci are executed by a firing squad for the high crime of considering macaroni and cheese to be authentic Italian food.


2001: Millionaire Dennis Tito becomes the world's first space tourist. He comes back to Earth with a series of overpriced t-shirts and mugs.

Push It To The Limit 2 DVD Trailer

[ViA]

Nancy Lancaster's Mirador

I have been pouring over the photographs and devouring the words of the The Great Lady Decorators by Adam Lewis. Most of their stories have been told before (some many times), but it's nice to have all of them in one pretty place.

I loved reading the chapter on stylemaker Nancy Lancaster - she is legendary in Charlottesville, Virginia, which is where I went to college. Her family's house, Mirador, is just outside of Charlottesville. If you've ever driven by the house, you know it's something special. The house was bought by Nancy's grandfather Chiswell Langhorne after he rebuilt his fortune after the Civil War. It was then owned by various family members and was subsequently bought by Nancy and her husband Ronald Tree. It is still privately owned (the Trees sold it in the fifties, when they lived in England).


image from HMBD.org






above images from dhr.virginia.gov

Besides the beauty of the house itself, the house is special because three fascinating ladies lived here at some point. All of the Langhorne family (Nancy Lancaster's mother's family) - they are: Nancy Astor, Irene Gibson, and of course Nancy Lancaster.


Nancy Astor, painted by John Singer Sargeant
Nancy Langhorne Astor was born in Danville, Virginia and was the daughter of Chiswell Dabney Langhorne and Nancy Keene. She lived at Mirador in her late teens. She married Waldorf Astor, Second Viscount Astor and lived in England. She was the first woman to sit as a Member of Parliament in the British House of Commons.


Irene Langhorne Gibson, wife of Gibson Girl artist Charles Dana Gibson

Irene Langhorne Gibson was Nancy Astor's sister. She married Charles Dana Gibson in 1895 and was one of the primary muses for his Gibson Girls.


Gibson Girls by Charles Dana Gibson



Nancy Lancaster
Nancy Lancaster was the niece of the above two ladies. Her mother was Elizabeth Perkins, eldest daughter of Chiswell and Nancy Langhorne. Nancy grew up in Richmond, Virginia and New York. Her fondest childhood memories were while visiting her family at Mirador. She married three times, and it was during her second marriage to Ronald Tree that she bought Mirador from her aunt Phyllis. She bought the house in 1922 and sold it in 1950 when she was living in England. Nancy lived in England for most of her adult life and was considered to be quite a tastemaker in England in the first half of the twentieth century. She owned the interior decorating firm Colefax Fowler.


Nancy Lancaster's famous yellow room



Nancy Lancaster's Gothic bedroom at Haseley Court - image via Peak of Chic



There is more great information over at Little Augury.