Goose

Dan Barber talks about foie gras on TED. Why did I listen to this presentation you ask? Probably because the title included the words 'surprising parable'.

Little by little it be comes apparent that mass production and global distribution can be difficult to manage environmentally. At the same time the quality of the product often suffers. The product becomes generic, appealing to an acceptable commonality. These products are often 'suitable'.

For those of use who are trying to learn the nuances of things of value, these 'suitable' products demonstrate little to separate themselves. This becomes apparent in automobile advertising when the most distinctive characteristic is Sirius radio or GPS.

What Mr. Barber shows us in his parable is that the interconnectivity of the universe around us can serve us extraordinarily well if we make ourselves aware and treat appropriate elements appropriately.

Take a listen.

Richard

In 1963 a classmate of mine told me that an architect was going to speak at Kent State University and that a group was going to the presentation.

I was rather naive about famous architects or any architects for that matter, never heard of R. Buckminster Fuller (Bucky) and only with a bit of encouragement decided to tag along with my friends.

The lecture did not start well. When was this guy going to talk about architecture. He talked about physics, mathematics, sociology, anthropology, philosophy and just went on and on and on. Just about 3 hours on.

Somewhere in the middle of the presentation it began to dawn on me that this fella was no light weight. He wove everything together. All of these different divisions of information that we call professions suddenly had no boundaries between them. I was not exactly sure how that happened so I started to read his books.

In one book, and I have not been able to track down the passage (maybe someone out there on the interweb can help) he describes government thinking following the launch of Sputnik in 1957. The USA had to catch up and education was the key.

The question became 'what was education going to look like to develop successful innovative scientists'. So there was a study done, of course. Those scientists who were considered innovative, successful and respected by their peers were identified. Each was asked about the most important factor that prompted them and contributed to their outstanding work.

The answer came back that it was the influence of one person, a mentor, at some point in their life, that created the spark, the interest, devotion and ultimately hard work to accomplish what they had done.

Another twist

You all now can get a chance to see just what kind of mind I do have. It is, probably like so many others, rather strange.

The TED presentations have really started my head jumping around. So much of what is said in the presentations has to do with what one presenter offered from an interview with Studs Terkel - that the most important thing in life is human touch. And how is that defined?

In considering a question on the TED profile questionnaire I've come to the following conclusion: teaching and learning are important to me. And in considering this "passion" if you will, I look back on these 'sound bites' in my life: phrases from books, movies, comments, music from people I know, associate with, have loved or not and have never know except through their words.

These are bits and pieces that I carry around with me all the time. I'm not sure if they are inspiration or simply reminders, or possibly crop up hoping that's it the right time.

Bucky Fuller - "Unity is plural and at a minimum two."

A bit more on design and drawing.

So drawing really gets to be almost automatic. It's a secondary function to developing out a resolution to the problem. Drawing is really transparent. The instrument or the paper, medium, can be arbitrary. I do have my favorites but find that with significant concentration anything tools will do.

Stepping into this other zone is important. As one of the TED presenters noted, it's playing the piano on one cheek. (That's a visual.)

Educating myself in vineyard management and wine making is a slim to nothing attempt at trying to get closer to stepping into this zone. The only way to get to that zone is by doing.

I am tired of reading. It's time to make mistakes.

A nose for music. A short diversion

If there is anyone out there who has read this blog you probably thought I was rather daft to explain that my intent is to develop a vineyard/winery based on music. As my daughter will tell you about the students who applied to Berklee College of music, the applicant always says "Music is my life."

It is a cliche'. And even when I read it here it sounds like a cliche'.

But Luca Turin has validated my idea.

Click on the title and spend 15 minutes to learn the truth.

And remember, a third of the enjoyment of wine is the aroma.

All in all it's just another brick in the ............

So if am thinking about how to build a brick wall I start with a brick. I've used brick so even without having one in front of me I can feel it. Bricks are nice because they are easy to pick up and put into place. As opposed to concrete blocks that are a bit more cumbersome. So I can feel the brick and the drawing starts with a brick, three bricks high with three joints is 8 inches. One brick long with one joint is 8 inches. The width of one brick and joint is 4 inches.

A drawing may start with a number of bricks in some arrangement. Oh but these brick need to rest on something. If it's ground and the ground freezes the bricks will move and possible damage the assembly. Let's dig a hole deep enough to avoid frost.

If the wall is only one brick wide, like Mr. Jefferson's serpentine wall, maybe there should be something more stable on which to set the first brick. Maybe a concrete footing that wider than the brick. The concrete, if properly placed, taken over by gravity, should settle to a somewhat level state. Might need forms depending the type of dirt we are digging in. So let's summarize: bricks, mortar joints, hole, level foundation, type of dirt.

So, Mr. Jefferson is a soils analyst, excavator, carpenter to make the forms, concrete mixer and placer and finally bricklayer. This is a question of checking level and establishing work points. Work points are needed to accomplish the design intent or CORE so that we arrive at serpentine wall and not a straight wall with piers.

Design

A lot of what I do is details, as an architect. But based on my last post you understand that it has to do with a core. That core, sometimes called 'design intent' is a big part of the motivation in discerning the details. These sketches often start in 2 or 3 dimensions, or as I see it, an interpretation of a 4 dimensional form.

That last dimension is the interesting one. It involves a variety of manufactured products, sequence of assembly, the assemblers, stability, waterproofing, wind-proofing, aesthetic balance and of course arriving at a solution that reflects the intention of the larger design.

It is essential to visualize these things and/or operations and/or performance as the end of the pencil/pen moves across the paper. The process of drawing becomes secondary to the almost physical sense of touching the bricks, mortar, window frame, wood block, flashing materials or metal fasteners. One becomes a metal worker, brick layer, carpenter, glazer or roofer as necessary.

Design, or not.

Listened to a number of talks from TED. There are several main themes but one got my mind going. You have to have passion about what you do in order to be successful.

So somewhere you need to find that core that you believe in and causes you to do anything and everything for it. It can be what you best or in some circumstances what is in front of you.

Along with that it is important that the peripherals contribute to the core. Those other things that you do.

That's a bunch of schist

OK it's a rock

Or Galestro - Schist (from Wikipedia) based soil found in the Tuscany region of Italy. It is a laminated, crystalline rock based soil that retains heat well and is rich in magnesium and potassium but poor in organic nutrients and nitrogens.

Found in Tuscany.

Retains heat and is rich in magnesium and potassium.

Pretty good stuff considering the wines that come from that area.