Blog - Lunch Meat (Rigney Graphics)

Rigney Graphic's Lunch Meat has a nostalgic look at the ads of the past. Lunch Meat is a blog from Rigney Graphics , a company from south California, that does graphic design and marketing. This is a clean and well done blog. It's humorous at times and pretty much just fun. They have unusual 'name tags' (topics) , such as "Pharaoh", "Bugs" (you know, those cute Raid®Bugs?) and "Hood Ornament". Overall, it's a "relaxed" site.

Lunch Meat
http://www.rigneygraphics.com/lunchmeat/index.php

Blog - Tiny House

This Tiny Houses blog is pretty cool. As you have, I am sure, figured out already, it's all about tiny houses. The houses are amazing. Also, I enjoyed reading the last few posts. I learned a few things. Some of these houses were built by the owners, and there are some that you can purchase. One of the things that I learned was about those houses that are built as caravans. Those houses were influenced by the gypsies caravans. The first caravans were built in France, around 1810 to live in. Around 1850 the gypsies started using it as both their home and working space. They called it "Vardo" which derived from the word "vurdon" (cart) in Iranian. There are 6 types of caravans. You can read more under the Gypsy Caravan post from August 25th (the main page at the moment). I am at owe at that the gypsies were capable living in these conditions with only very basic items. I mean, it's nothing like a small camper these days.

It would have been nice to see these houses. There are all kind of houses, not just caravans. The parts that I liked the best are the interior shots of course. I didn't realize that there were such houses around the country. I have seen articles and photos of "smallest post office in the world", smallest this and that building. I've seen one myself out there somewhere.

I'd also like to recommend you to read the "The Compact Washer Dryer" post from August 22. It's a compact that can be used at these tiny houses. Its measures are 33.5 inches hight by 23.5 inches wide and 21.65 inches deep. It's so small, that many people, according to the post, install them under kitchen counter. One of their advantages over an average washer is that they actually wash and clean better. They are also better for people with skin sensitives. It probably would be great for students too, and people who don't want to miss their favorite show ;-)

Tiny House Blog
http://tinyhouseblog.com/

Hey, What Is That Gesture For?

I have seen quite a bit of textual sites about the gesture taboos around the world. This one, so far, the best one that I liked. It's all text, but it's nice, clean and organized. Easy to read. It doesn't look like an essay. There are 23 countries mentioned here. Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Denmark, United Kingdom), Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey and Commonwealth of Independent States. I wonder why there aren't any middle east, african and asian countries listed. Not even Australia!

Did you know, that the thumb up and the OK gestures (among others) is offensive in some countries? My solution is, keep your hands in your pockets and stay out of trouble,;-) Be safe and hope it's not rude to keep your hands in your pocket. Grin.

The second link is from Wikipedia. It's great. It is written differently than the first link. They have different focuses. It also focused on sign languages. But they are both great. In my opinion anyway. The original link is actually an excerpt from Roger Axtell's book, "Do's and Taboos of Body Language Around The World". I have that book. It's nice.

Wikipedia has some images included, so I wouldn't look at that one at work. There is the famous American brand "flipper" for instance. Strangely enough, it actually originated in the Roman literature, and is not always obscene here in the US. Go figure.

Another example is the image above. It's the American Sign Language's (ASL) symbol for "I love you", but in Italy it's used to curse somebody. Wow.

Gestures Around The World
http://www.joesclass.com/bits221/Gestures.htm

Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hand_gesture

The Helmet And The Fire Hydrant

Oh wow, this is one heck of a fireman outfit from the Santa Clara County Fire Department! I always knew they have to be able to carry the water hose, since it's very heavy. But had no idea how complicated their outfits and gears are. If you have seen movies that have scenes of house fires, you probably have noticed that the helmets that the actors wear usually have different colors. There is a reason for it. They indicated who you are. Are you the captain (red helmet)? Or are you the volunteer Fireman (black helmet). At the Santa Clara's link you'll see a step by step photos the clothes and the gears that a firewoman is wearing. At total, there are 22 items/objects! See some of her gears below.

The Hydrant colors are interesting. So, seems like there are four basic colors nationally. Blue, Green, Orange and Red. The color indicate the water capacity and its pressure. For example, a blue hydrant has 1500 GPM or more (which is an excellent flow), and a red has below 500 GPM.

The firehydrant.org site has a lot of good additional information worth checking out. You'll learn quite a bit.

You will see these abbreviation mentioned. If you don't know what they are, GMP stands for "gallons per minute" and psi stands for "pounds per square inch".

SC Fire Department
http://www.sccfd.org/clothing_turnouts.html



Fire Hydrant - Hydrant Color Codes and Markings
http://www.firehydrant.org/info/hycolor.html

The funny fire hydrants images are from Flickr's Will S. It's a set called "The Painted Fire Hydrants of Tweed" (Ontario).

Flickr Will S - The Painted Fire Hydrants of Tweed set
http://www.flickr.com/photos/wiless/sets/72157604949215502/

Syd Mead - A Futurist Illustrator

Cyd Mead is a well known illustrator who illustrated for the movie "Blade Runner". His drawings are amazing. I checked his official site. Unfortunately, I couldn't find a lot of illustrations (maybe I missed them?). I did find other sites with his drawings. One site is the CG Society - Society of Digital Artists. There are other digital artists featured as well in CG. Isn't he amazing?! Some of his drawings even look almost realistic. Another source, is Flickr (naturally). A set by Michael Heilemann. The images above are from his set. A scene from the Blade Runner movie. The other one as you can see, is a car. I have no information about it, but personally, I think it kinda look almost like the Batmobile..

Cyd Mead Official Site
http://www.sydmead.com/v/01/splash/

CG Society
http://features.cgsociety.org/story_custom.php?story_id=4451

Flickr Michael Heilemann's Cyd Mead set
http://www.flickr.com/photos/heilemann/sets/72157594391592032/

If you go to the imdb.com site, you can find his filmography bio. Blade Runner isn't the only movie that he contributed to. He also contributed to several other science fiction movies. Some of them are the Aliens, 2010, and TRON.

Flickr - modern_fred

modern_fred has several sets. The one that I chose to publish here is the "vintage comics & books" set. This set covers 278 images.

modern_fred: vintage comics & books set
http://www.flickr.com/photos/modern_fred/sets/72157603359111301/

There Was An Old Woman Who Lived In A Shoe..

"There was an old woman who lived in a shoe,
She had so many children she didn't know what to do;
She gave them some broth without any bread,
She whipped them all well and put them to bed."

Do you know the "The Old Woman Who Lived in a Shoe" rhyme? There are several neat illustrations for this famous rhyme. This site is from Rutgers University. It actually focuses on the "Mother Goose" stories from various aspects.

Mother Goose: A Scholarly Exploration
http://eclipse.rutgers.edu/goose/rhymes/shoe/

*Note: The title for the image above is "The Jessie Wilcox Smith Mother Goose: A Careful and Full Selection of the Rhymes. Foreword by Corey Nash. New York: Derrydale Books, 1986. [facsimile of 1912 edition]"

What Do You Call A Group Of Hippos?

So, like they said, you are stuck on 15 down... When it comes to a group of animals, I always get stuck.. Well almost. There are a few good lists for the names of animal groups. For example, did you know that a group of Giraffes is a Tower?! and that a group of Grasshoppers is a cloud? How about a group of Flamingos? It's a Stand. The groups names are interesting. I wonder who came up with all those names? Most of them make sense.

USGS: Animal Congregations, or What Do You Call a Group of..?
http://www.npwrc.usgs.gov/about/faqs/animals/names.htm

Here is another source that I really like. They have additional animals not named in the first link, such as the Baboon and the Bison.

Christchurch City Libraries
http://christchurchcitylibraries.com/Kids/Animals/Groups/

The Christchurch Libraries (New Zealand) site also has an additional section for male, female and baby animal names. This list is weird. A male alligator is a bull, aand a female is a cow. I always thought a cow is a cow and a bull is a bull. Period. As a matter of fact I see a lot of "cows", "hens" and a few "jills". As for the males, I see quite a bit of "bucks" and "cocks". Also a jill for a male Ferret.

Not very creative, eh?

Christchurch City Libraries
http://christchurchcitylibraries.com/Kids/Animals/MaleFemaleChild/

But when I saw that a male ferret is a jill, I thought to myself it has got to be a mistake. How can it be? So I googled. I came across a site with an interesting article about adopting and fixing (ouch!) ferrets, by Erika Matulich, Ph.D. It confirmed that jill is indeed a female ferret.

Pets. Com: Fixing Your Ferret
http://www.cypresskeep.com/Ferretfiles/Fixing.htm

The Shipwreck Graveyard

The Wreck site is a database of wreck ships from that spans a couple of centuries. I had no idea that there are so many wrecks. Wow! It is both amazing and sad. Lots of history here too. Most of them are from the 19th and the 20th centuries. The list of the ships is very long. The site includes information for each ship: the nationality type, propulsion cause, year, weight, latitude and longitude. However, Not every ship has a photo. But if you want to see photos only (or focus on them), you can view them by selecting "photos" under the "wrecks" button. More information include but not limited to are, charts, weather forecasts, fish, wreckdiving conditions, and the particular events of the day for each wreck.

One last note, this site can be viewed in four languages, English, Dutch, French and German. Pretty neat.

I have not seen anything about Noah's ark though...;-D

The Wreck Site
http://www.wrecksite.eu/

Blog - © SADVERTISING

This blog is sorta funny. I liked the humor, and enjoyed reading some of the latest posts. The blogger, Wily, pokes fun at the ridiculous advertising. He has good "points" explaining to us why the ad is "bad" in a humorous way. He has comments about YouTube clips too. After checking out his profile, I could see where his views are coming from. According to the profile, he is an advertising executive. So it makes sense..

© SADVERTISING
http://sadvertising.blogspot.com/