Sitting on top of the world

I called on a new client yesterday, a couple who were moving from London to a retirement community in Clearwater, FL. This is kind of unusual in these modern times. Through the second half of the 20th century, Florida was THE place to retire. The climate was perfect and life was cheap.

Well, the climate's still perfect, but life here is anything but cheap. 15 years ago, the cost of living in Florida caught up with the costs in rest of the country. 10 years ago it surpassed most of the country. Florida's no longer the retirement haven it once was and the demographics have shifted dramatically.

My potential clients this morning are moving into a vestige of Florida's heyday as a retirement Mecca. It's a 6,000-resident complex called On Top of The World. The place has to be seen to be believed, I cannot imagine that anything similar exists anywhere else on earth. For the life of me I can't find any information on who built it or why, and though I've only been in the complex once or twice, the place haunts me.

Not in a bad way, but the entire complex is such a kitschy throwback I have a hard time believing that it's not a tourist attraction. The idea of the place is that it's intended to be a trip around the world circa 1955. The developers took barracks-like, three story, cinder block apartment buildings and added a a different, "international" facade to each one. Each building is more fantastic than the last and what absolutely kills me is that the ideas conjured by the facades are those of a middle America with no interest in seeing the actual countries involved. It's a World's Fair as imagined by Edith Bunker. I can't get enough of the place. From everything I see and hear, the place is a welcoming, vibrant community and frankly, the architecture has to keep people in a good mood.

This is a satellite photo of the whole complex.

And here's the main entrance. It's like Epcot Center meets Versailles for lunch in Athens.

What follows are some Realtor photographs I scrounged up. Can you tell? Ugh. I will go back to On Top of the World on a photo safari one of these days. Somebody has to document this place. So excuse the lousy photography and join me in a trip around the world...

The Viennese Villa

The Royal Dutch

Roman Byzantine

Punjab

Modern Age

Mallorca

Fujiwara

English Tudor

Emerald Isle

Denmark

Corinthian Kabal

Contemporary

Bavarian Chalet

Bagdhad

Azteca

American Gothic

Astounding. It's astounding. Every square foot of the place is a-stounding.

Bahamian bird Thursday

I need to look at something interesting today. This is Saurothera merlini bahamensis, the Lizard Cuckoo. At 54cm (more than 20 inches!), it's the largest member of the cuckoo family. The species Saurothera merlini is found only in Cuba (where there are three subspecies) and on three islands in The Bahamas. The bahamensis subspecies is the version of this bird found on Cat Island, Eleuthera and New Providence. It's an uncommon bird and I count myself among the lucky few who have watched this bird do its thing.

Most cuckoos hijack the nests of other birds. A female cuckoo finds a nest with eggs in it, gets rid of the eggs it finds and then lays her own in an amazing act of inter-species switcheroo and piracy. The host bird sees eggs in its nest when it returns and then proceeds as if nothing happened. It's a pretty amazing behavior. However, the Lizard Cuckoo is unique for a bunch of reasons, not the least of which is its abstention from this switcheroo behavior. S. merlini bahamensis actually builds its own nest and raises its own young. That might have something to do with the size of this bird. I'd imagine disguising a 15-inch long fledgling is a pretty hard sell.

These birds hunt for lizards (hence the common name) and large insects in the underbrush. They are surprisingly agile and can run along the ground when the need arises. Trust me when I tell you that they have a call that can wake the dead.

This Labor Day, keep yourself healthy by keeping your pool healthy

via Flickr

After my post from 23 July, Don't try this at home, I got embroiled in a bit of a dust up with a bunch of fuzzy-thinking folk who honestly believe it's some kind of a noble and healthy thing to provide your kids with an unchlorinated pool. By the end of it, I'd been accused of everything from being a shill for the "Chemical Industry," whatever that is, to being a Republican. Whatever. Anyhow, the bright side of that experience was my exposure to a website called Healthy Pools.

Healthy Pools is dedicated to the safe and healthy enjoyment of pools and spas the the public outreach they do is a tremendous public service.

The following is a list of myths and facts that came from Healthy Pool's website.

via Flickr

Myth

I can’t get sick from swimming in a pool.

Fact

Swimming is a fun and healthy activity. However, swallowing, breathing, or having contact with contaminated water from swimming pools can spread illnesses. In fact, the number of outbreaks associated with swimming has increased over the past decade.

via Flickr

Myth

Clear pool water means clean pool water.

Fact

Microorganisms can be present even in pools that appear clean. What you smell, feel, and hear can help you sense whether you’re swimming in a healthy pool.

via Flickr

Myth

All germs that can cause illness are immediately killed by standard pool cleaning chemicals, such as chlorine.

Fact

Chlorine kills germs that can cause illness in pool water; but it takes time. While chlorine eliminates most within minutes, some germs such as Cryptosporidium can survive in a properly treated pool for days.

via Flickr

Myth

When I smell the strong odor of pool chemicals, it means the swimming pool water is very clean.

Fact

The heavy chemical odor is not from chlorine. It means that unhealthy chloramines have formed in the water, created from the mix of chlorine and contaminants. Chloramines are not as effective in disinfecting swimming pool water. A well-maintained pool has little odor.

via Flickr

Myth

When I get red eyes while swimming, it means there is too much chlorine in the water.

Fact

Red eyes and itchy skin are usually caused by improper pH or high chloramine levels. Surprisingly, the pool may actually need additional chlorine treatment to get rid of chloramines and sanitize the water.

via Flickr

Myth

I only need to shower before going into the pool if I haven’t bathed that day.

Fact

All swimmers should shower before entering the pool. Perspiration, body oil, urine, and other waste are with us at all times. Without showering, it all comes with us when we go swimming.

via Flickr

Myth

As long as a child is wearing a diaper in the pool, there’s no chance for a contamination of the water.

Fact

“Accidents” from diapered children pose a risk of contamination. To minimize this risk, parents must wash children thoroughly, front and back, with soap and water, and make sure a clean, form-fitting “swim diaper” is worn by the child at all times. Just remember that swim diapers are not leak proof

via Flickr

Myth

Keeping a swimming pool clean and healthy is the lifeguard’s and pool manager’s responsibility.

Fact

Employees help keep pools clean, but they cannot be your only defense. Each one of us has a responsibility to follow good public health practices, stay alert for unhealthy conditions, and report problems when they occur.

Thank you Healthy Pools!

Making a Mosaic: a short video

Laura K. Aiken is a mosaicist, painter, creator of fused glass and a blogger. Yesterday, Laura ran this video on her blog and I think it's fantastic.

This video features the work of mosaicist Tara Nielsen and music of The Smarts. This video was a production of Lori Green, an artist who owns Mosaic on a Stick, a St. Paul-based mosaic supply shop, community classroom and artist studio. Be sure to check out Laura's website and Laura's blog. There is so much great art out there, and we're fortunate to live in the times we do.

My heart still belongs to Spoonflower

On demand fabric printing appeared on my radar last November and on 1 December I wrote a profile of Spoonflower, the world's first online, on-demand fabric printer. Spoonflower started as an idea hatched around a kitchen table in May, 2008 and by the time I got wind of them, they already had 15,000 registered users.

When they first started, Spoonflower ran its fabrics on a quilting weight cotton and had a couple of restrictions on the files they'd accept. It's understandable, Spoonflower was blazing a trail after all. Now that they're past the learning curve, the file types they'll accept have increased significantly as have their fabric options.

Kim Fraser is the voice of Spoonflower and I heard from her again a couple of weeks ago. Kim wanted to let me know some of what they've been up to since the last time she and I had corresponded. She offered to send me some samples of fabrics they'd printed recently and of course I jumped at the chance. The samples arrived in short order and I photographed them to run here.

Danielle Hazen is the head printing operator at Spoonflower and she designed the following two fabrics. Her design reminds me of candy corn. That's a compliment!

The gold version was printed on organic cotton.

The blue version was printed on their linen/ cotton blend.

This is a re-worked vintage fabric Kim found on a '60s-era smock at a garage sale. Kim had Miss Black Pepper of Etsy fame recreate the pattern and Spoonflower printed it on their linen/ cotton blend.

It's clearly a vintage pattern and the fabric its printed on makes it feel vintage. It's uncanny. When I pulled that sample from the envelope it arrived in it was like having a visit from my Grandmothers.

This is Birdie Friends by Magda Russel from Craft Pudding. Birdie Friends is one of the most popular Fabrics of the Week Spoonflower's ever featured. Birdie friends was printed on quilting weight cotton.

This is LM by Mike Dawson. Mike's a regular contributor and fan favorite at Spoonflower and he has a photostream on Flickr and it contains more of his designs. LM's been printed here on quilting weight cotton.

This is Alle Autos by German graphics designer Susanne Bochem. Susanne lives in Mainz and keeps a blog, Susalabim. Alle Autos is a series of repeated water color illustrations and it was printed on upholstery weight cotton.

I took two more detail shots of Susanne's fabric.

I swear, the fabric itself looks as if it were painted in water color. You can still see the brush strokes! Now that's some quality printing.

So look over Spoonflower if you're considering taking a crack at this and if you're serious, drop them a line. Kim and the whole Spoonflower team is all too willing to help you realize your vision. Kim writes the Spoonflower blog and she keeps it updated with the latest goings-on with the company and she shares a lot of Spoonflower successes there too. Give it a look.