New Resorts: “Ambiente – A Landscape Hotel” In Sedona, Arizona (Dec 2020)

Ambiente is comprised of 40 cubed-shaped guest Atriums that are elevated above the ground by steel piers and constructed using floor-to-ceiling, bronze-tinted glass and matte-charcoal and rusted metal.

Ambiente Sedona Landscape Hotel Facebook

At dusk, the tinted glass reflects the nature around it creating stunning, mirrored silhouettes. The Atriums’ sleek and contemporary design embodies elegant minimalism and the utmost in luxurious accommodations.

Designed by award-winning, Scottsdale-based ASUL Architects, Ambiente will be constructed around the natural vegetation and topography, requiring less cut and fill, which better meets today’s expectations of being responsible land stewards. The pier-method to building Ambiente’s Atriums basically eliminates the need to grade the land. During construction, this pier technique allows each Atrium to be rotated and individually hand-placed at very specific angles to fit, as best as possible, within the existing trees and flora, thereby maximizing the views.

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Italian Wines: Inside Ferragamo Fashion House-Owned “Castiglion Del Bosco” (Monocle 24)

Wines by Massimo Ferragamo: How Salvatore Ferragamo’s youngest son is succeeding in the wine industry.

24 January 2020: Episode 432 of “The Menu”  Monocle 24

“I arrived at Castiglion del Bosco one cool, sunny morning in 2001. I was so incredibly moved by the limitless views, by the Brunello vineyards as well as the scenery that can only be found in the Val d’Orcia: I had no idea that such a beautiful corner of Tuscany still existed. It was love at first sight.”

– Massimo Ferragamo

Castiglion Del Bosco Wine Estate in Tuscany Italy Massimo Ferragamo Wines

Tuscany is a region whose countryside never ceases to amaze for its captivating beauty. Castiglion del Bosco also knows how to charm. Nature’s voice is heard loud and clear here, while man’s hand has always respected its verdant spaces and fine balance. The name itself revelas its character: the bosco, (wood), surrounding the Castiglion (walled castle), is the domain of deer, boars and pheasants. And of Sangiovese.

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Boomers & Technology: “2020 Tech And The 50+ Survey” (AARP – Dec 2019)

Tech ownership among older adults is growing with no signs of slowing down.

2020 Tech and The 50+ Survey AARP Wearable• For many devices, adoption among adults ages 50 and older is comparable to younger generations. Adults ages 50
and older are adopting smartphones, wearables, home assistants/smart speakers, and smart home technology at
nearly the same rate as adults ages 18–49.
• Younger adults have abandoned tablets, but older adults are adopting tablets at an increasing rate: More than half
(52%) of adults ages 50 and older own a tablet.
• Once adopted, usage of smartphones, wearables, tablets, home assistants/smart speakers, and smart home
technology is high with most owners using their technology daily.
While older adults are highly engaged with their devices, many are not using the technology to its full potential.
• Adults ages 50 and older are using smartphones and tablets to maintain social connections, find information, and for
entertainment, but only a few are using their device to automate their home or conduct transactions.
• Engaging in social media is one of the most common uses of a tech device (e.g., computer, tablet, or smartphone).
• Though 49% claim to own a smart TV, only 42% are using streaming or online options to watch shows.
• Nearly half (46%) of all smart home assistant/smart speaker owners do not use their device daily.

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Artists: Belgian Surrealist Painter René Magritte Linked “Consciousness And The External World”

From a Christies.com online article:

René Magritte, The Son of Man, 1964
René Magritte, The Son of Man, 1964

‘The creation of new objects, the transformation of known objects; a change of substance in the case of certain objects: a wooden sky, for instance; the use of words in association with images; the misnaming of an object… the use of certain visions glimpsed between sleeping and waking, such in general were the means devised to force objects out of the ordinary, to become sensational, and so establish a profound link between consciousness and the external world.’

René François Ghislain Magritte (1898-1967) was born in Lessines, Belgium. His father was a tailor and textile merchant; his mother committed suicide in 1912, drowning herself in the River Sambre.

René Magritte 1898 - 1967 Le Somnambule 1946

From the 1930s, Magritte sought to find ‘solutions’ to particular ‘problems’ posed by different types of objects, a method that enabled him to challenge and reconfigure the most ubiquitous and commonplace elements of everyday life. These problems obsessed him until he was able to conceive of an image to solve them.

This philosophical method had come to him after waking from a dream in 1932. In his semi-conscious state, he looked over at a birdcage that was in his room but saw not the bird that inhabited the cage, but instead an egg. This ‘splendid misapprehension’ allowed him to grasp, in his own words, ‘a new and astonishing poetic secret.’

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Literary Debates: “This House Prefers Reading Oscar Wilde To George Orwell” (Cambridge)

The Cambridge Union logoABOUT THE MOTION: This House Prefers Reading Oscar Wilde to George Orwell Do we prefer satire or comedy? Do we take refuge in the serious or the frivolous? Do we understand the importance of being earnest or would we rather be in room 101? These two authors demonstrate well two powerful traditions in British literature, the comic and the satirical. They both of course share in each other’s art. Some would argue that during our present global crises we should look to Orwell more than ever, others would reach for the escapism of Oscar Wilde. In a new enterprise for the Cambridge Union, we are beginning our cultural debates – and this is our first. At least for a while.

ABOUT OUR SPEAKER (Closing for the Proposition) Will Self is the author of 25 books, some of which have been translated into 25 languages. His Dorian: An Imitation is an adaptation of Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray set during the AIDS crisis. He holds the Chair in Contemporary Thought at Brunel University, and lives in South London.

ABOUT OUR SPEAKER (Closing for the Abstention) Professor Angie Hobbs graduated in Classics and then a Ph.D. in Ancient Philosophy at the University of Cambridge. After a Research Fellowship at Christ’s College, she moved to the Philosophy Department at the University of Warwick. She was a judge of the Man Booker International Prize 2019 and is on the World Economic Forum Global Future Council 2018-9 for Values, Ethics and Innovation

Video Interviews: 65-Year Old Director Ron Howard At Sundance Film Festival

Director Ron Howard stops by Cinema Cafe for a thought-provoking conversation with Variety’s Matt Donnelly about REBUILDING PARADISE, his documentary premiering at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival in Park City. Presented by Variety.

British Roadsters: “1966 Sunbeam Tiger Alpine 260”

1966 Sunbeam Tiger Alpine 260 Interior Classic DriverThe Sunbeam Tiger is a high-performance V8 version of the British Rootes Group’s Sunbeam Alpine roadster, designed in part by American car designer and racing driver Carroll Shelby and produced from 1964 until 1967. Shelby had carried out a similar V8 conversion on the AC Cobra, and hoped to be offered the contract to produce the Tiger at his facility in the United States. Rootes decided instead to contract the assembly work to Jensen at West Bromwich in England, and pay Shelby a royalty on every car produced.

Two major versions of the Tiger were built: the Mark I (1964–1967) was fitted with the 260 cu in (4.3 L) Ford V8; the Mark II, of which only 633 were built in the final year of Tiger production, was fitted with the larger Ford 289 cu in (4.7 L) engine. Two prototype and extensively modified versions of the Mark I competed in the 1964 24 Hours of Le Mans, but neither completed the race. Rootes also entered the Tiger in European rallies with some success, and for two years it was the American Hot Rod Association’s national record holder over a quarter-mile drag strip.

From Wikipedia