Design wild man Karim Rashid leads a press conference in the Tile of Spain pavilion at Coverings 2010. Photo courtesy of Tile of Spain.
Tile of Spain was another impressive entry at Coverings 2010 in Orlando last month. 30 Spanish manufacturers joined forces in the 18,000 square foot Tile of Spain pavilion. Their offerings proved that there's ample evidence that people everywhere will be repeating the catchphrase of Tile of Spain's new global marketing campaign, Yes, We Choose Spanish Ceramic.
Here are some highlights from the manufacturers present.
Anyhow, Joy and Janet live in a kitchen I'd imagine looks something like this. And one day they were on Twitter and they weren't saying very nice things about their refrigerator.
moggitgirls: My Viking fridge shoulda been a vacuum, 'cuz it SUCKS. 12:14 PM Apr 22nd
Paul_Anater: @moggitgirls: Shouldda talked to me before you bought it! Apr 22 2010, 13:08
moggitgirls: @Paul_Anater: It (Viking fridge) leaks water from the bottom freezer drawer - how is that even possible?! 1:54 PM Apr 22nd
We went back and forth with the saga of the leaky fridge a few more times when I remembered that Viking's on Twitter now and since they were already following me, this would be a perfect opportunityto test the power of Twitter. Unhappy, well-known, outspoken luxury good consumers are a potential PR nightmare and on Twitter that's even more true. Viking was relatively new to Twitter and that they hadn't responded to the Moggit's and my thread. As the day went on, another good friend of this blog, Cheryl Clendenon, joined in to discuss this leaky fridge. I decided to take matters into my own hands.
@Paul_Anater: Hey @moggitgirls, @VikingRange is on Twitter, let's ask them.
Apr 22 2010, 14:22
Still nothing from Viking, so I jumped in with both feet.
That was a little obvious and I didn't mean to embarrass them. Really. So I sent them the following:
@VikingRange Sorry if I put you on the spot there. Maybe you and @moggitgirls can DM your way to a solution. Apr 22 2010, 15:43
Viking jumped on the situation and sent a technician over to the Moggit Girls' no doubt glamorous home. It's important to note that the Viking fridge in question is five years old and had been "fixed" repeatedly during those five years to the tune of several thousand dollars.
Over the last four or so weeks, I received periodic updates from the Moggit Girls and Viking was making good on their promise to deal with the leaky fridge.
Finally, I received the following yesterday:
@moggitgirls: @Paul_Anater --Got my fridge fixed! Price paid - $0.00. Yay! 10:25am, May 16
Bravo Viking and good job Moggit Girls. As I said right after I made the introductions,
@Paul_Anater: @VikingRange @moggitgirls --Behold the power of Twitter!
Apr 22 2010, 16:05
Faux bois bow tie by Toybreaker. Note how ably that tie's modeled by an ungroomed youth of today.
This is all well and good and I suppose it's harmless. However, every time I see any of this stuff, two things come to mind. The first is the log lady from Twin Peaks.
Gene and Melody reliving scenes from The African Queen
What a perfect morning into afternoon. It was great to see the always good company Melody and Gene and it was even better to see them and share a slog through the wetlands.
While we didn't see my favorite spider, Nephila clavipes, there were plenty of other sightings to make up for it. It was good to be away if only for a few hours and it's nothing short of amazing that I can be completely surrounded by a mangrove wetland yet still be less than three miles from home.
A mangrove tree crab (Aratus pisonii) on a barnacle-encrusted mangrove root.
Mangrove trees are a vitally important buffer between water and land in the tropical regions of the world. They grow at the water line and their interlocking roots form a barrier to tidal and hurricane surges. Those same interlocking roots serve a nursery for many of the commercially important fish and crustaceans that keep afloat the economies of the maritime tropics. It's pretty simple, with no mangroves, the land washes away and there are no crabs, shrimp or fish like snapper. Keeping mangrove wetlands intact and healthy is a matter of life and death frankly.
The oil spill in the Gulf right now threatens all of this in a very immediate way and I hope with every fiber of my being that that spill doesn't lead down a path where it very well may. As great as being out in the wetlands was today I can't shake the feeling that the sword of Damocles hangs over all of us.
I live on the north side of downtown St. Petersburg and about three miles north east of where I'm sitting is a little sliver of wilderness called Weedon Island State Preserve. Here it is from the air.
Weedon Island is a pristine slice of old Florida and the preserve itself starts out in the turtle grass beds of the Bay. It includes a healthy stand of mangroves and continues inland through pine scrubland, grassy savanna and hardwood hammock. What this means is that you get a good view of an entire coastal ecosystem and the creatures of Weedon Island have enough room to be themselves.
Weedon Island has been a beacon to human beings for thousands of years and the evidence of those early habitations keep a team of archeologists working overtime. The earliest inhabitants of Weedon Island lived and fished there from 500 BCE onward. Conquistadors came through Weedon Island when this was an outpost of Spain and it was actually Ponce de Leon who mapped Tampa Bay. Pirates are said to have buried treasure there and in the early part of the 20th century, some dreamer started a movie studio there in the hopes of luring the fledgling film industry away from New York. That industry ended up in some town, I can never remember the name of it, in California instead.
Weedon's hardly untouched by human hands but in an area as built up as this is, it's a very welcome respite as well as yet another reminded how tied to the Gulf of Mexico everything around here is.
Well as luck would have it, my great pal Melody McFarland and her husband Gene are in town this weekend and we're going on an adventure tomorrow morning. Melody's a biologist who's never kayaked through a mangrove swamp before. I cannot wait to count birds, bugs, fish, snakes and mammals (marine and otherwise) with her. Besides, I need a break so badly I can't stand it.
Canoe trail through the mangroves
Cownose rays schooling around a mangrove island.
Atlantic bottlenose dolphins in the Bay. Yes, they really do jump out of the water like this.
No trip to the Florida wilds would be complete with a sighting or two of Nephila clavipes, the yellow silk spider. Truly my favorite Florida creature and that scale is not a Photoshop trick.
If I had to pick a favorite bird, the roseate spoonbill would come close to the top of my list. Few things in life prepare you for the thrill of seeing a pink bird.
More canoe trail scenery
Tampa Bay is one of the few places in North America with a breeding population of white pelicans. If we're lucky we'll see them.
Yellow-crested night herons are pretty common in these parts but they are still captivating.
Snowy egrets are pretty common too, but they're in breeding plumage at this time of year and they look otherworldly when they're tricked out in it.
And no trip into the Florida wilds is complete without running into a couple of these guys. Despite their endangered status, there's quite a population of these guys in Tampa Bay.
I love things biological almost as much as I like design-y stuff and I am a fortunate man indeed to have such good friends as Melody and Gene.
