News: July 2009 Archives
If you've got $15 million burning a hole in your pocket you can pick up the remarkable Ennis House on sale now!
Known as the Ennis House, it's an architectural masterpiece designed by the legendary Frank Lloyd Wright. But, like a lot of old houses, it needs some work.Drive past the grime and glitz of Hollywood toward the hills of Griffith Park and suddenly, there it is: a Mayan temple perched above the city. Ennis House is one of Wright's most famous creations — and not only to architecture buffs.
Glass MosaicThe house has starred in several movies, from 1950s horror flicks to thrillers like Day of the Locust in the '70s. The house featured prominently in the '80s cult film Blade Runner, which is set in 2019 Los Angeles. Ennis House was the darkly elegant residence of the head of Tokyo's "yakuza," or mob, in Black Rain, starring Michael Douglas.
More pictures here.
Sure it's purely aesthetic, but with all the trillions we're throwing around I think it would be nice to fix up the National Mall.
WASHINGTON (AP) - Crumbling sidewalks near the Jefferson Memorial are sinking into the Tidal Basin. Reflecting pools are filled with green, smelly water. And millions of visitors have trampled the soil into virtual concrete where grass can't grow.The National Mall is in danger of becoming a national disgrace. ...
The Obama Administration recently steered $55 million in economic stimulus money toward repairs, but Interior Secretary Ken Salazar says that's only a down payment on the nearly $400 million needed to fix up a national park that draws more visitors than Yellowstone, the Grand Canyon and Yosemite combined.
An Associated Press analysis of congressional spending since 2005 found the mall has been at a disadvantage in competing for extra funds doled out by lawmakers, compared with sites that are represented by powerful members of Congress. The mall is in Washington, D.C., which has no vote in the House or Senate.
DC absolutely should not get representation in Congress, but the National Mall should be properly maintained. I've visited it dozens of times and have always enjoyed it, but yeah, it's a bit run-down.
Yes, that's right: man defeats lion with chain saw.
CODY, Wyoming — A Colorado man used a chain saw to fight off a mountain lion that attacked him during a camping trip with his wife and two toddlers in northwestern Wyoming. ...Dustin Britton, a 32-year-old mechanic and ex-Marine from Windsor, Colo., said he was alone cutting firewood about 100 feet from his campsite in the Shoshone National Forest when he saw the 100-pound lion staring at him from some bushes.
The 6-foot, 170-pound Britton said he raised his 18-inch chain saw and met the lion head-on as it pounced — a collision he described as feeling like a grown man running directly into him.
"It batted me three or four times with its front paws, and as quick as I hit it with that saw, it just turned away," he said in a telephone interview with The Associated Press. ...
The wounded animal retreated after Britton inflicted a six- to eight-inch gash on the lion's shoulder, leaving him with only a small puncture wound on his forearm.
"You would think if you hit an animal with a chain saw it would dig right in," he said. "I might as well have hit it with a hockey stick."
(HT: JW.)
The video is more ambiguous than the still picture. Decide for yourself!
Contra my earlier assumption, the girl is Brazilian not French.
I expect Michelle will be upset, especially since the President recently forgot where he met his wife. That's two strikes on one trip.
President Obama says he met his wife in class at Harvard:
Too bad the Obamas didn't overlap as students at Harvard:
Though both Barack and Michelle went to Harvard Law, they didn't overlap — she got her degree in '88 and he graduated in '91. They actually met in Chicago when he was a summer associate at a law firm in Chicago.
Tell us more about this "chicago law firm" where the Obamas met!
Actually, Barack Obama landed this amazing summer job while in school at the Sidley Austin Law Firm where terrorist Bernadine Dohrn, the wife of terrorist Bill Ayers, just happened to be working. Bill Ayers' father had pull at the firm.Barack met his future wife Michelle at that law firm.
I.e., President Obama met his wife at a terrorist training camp. I can see why he conveniently "forgot" this factoid, but I'm still not sure his wife will be pleased.
Congratulations America on 233 years of independence!
Note to future self: do not fire mortars from hand.
