Category Archives: Reviews

Destination Travel: Captain Whidbey Inn In Washington, “Gateway To Beautiful, Rugged Wild”

From the Captain Whidbey website:

Captain Whidbey Inn Washington sceneryThe presence of the inn itself demands this kind of myth-making. Its hulking imperfections, hidden staircases and infinite doorways, narrow pathways and intricate stonework, call to mind an honest, handmade world, where times were slower and things made to last. Rumors of its past are worn proudly on its proverbial sleeve — stripped wood where there once was a second floor balcony, prominently displayed plaques of historic register, mismatched sediments of historic photos, the speckled outline of a dart board and creaking floorboards. The front door was originally the back door because most guests arrived by boat.

Since 1907, Captain Whidbey has been a locus of natural beauty, community gathering and quiet, exalted delight. A place where locals and visitors do things together — even if those things are simply eating, drinking, appreciating nature, looking out across the water, feeling alive, feeling grateful.

Captain Whidbey is the Unofficial Official Lodge of Ebey’s Landing National Historic Reserve. The gateway to beautiful and rugged wild, Captain Whidbey fosters a sense of romance, a longing for adventure and a communion with the natural world.

To read more: https://www.captainwhidbey.com/

Documentary Photography: Robert Frank Chronicled Post World War II America

From a New York Times online article:

Mr. and Mrs. Feiertag, Late Afternoon, 1951.CreditRobert Frank; National Gallery of Art, WashingtonRigorously unsentimental in his attitude to the world around him, Mr. Frank deviated from form in 1950, taking what was arguably his most romantic picture. He had his reasons. He was in love. The year before he had met artist Mary Lockspeiser, who became his first wife. In “Tulip/Paris,” he photographed a young man who is holding behind his back a tulip — presumably intended for the woman standing in the background. An old man, at the other end of life’s arc, approaches the viewer. It is a classic romantic Paris street photograph.

Robert Frank kicked documentary photography into the present with a loud clang. In place of the detached formalism of Walker Evans and the poetic lyricism of Henri Cartier-Bresson and Andre Kertesz, he brought a moody, cool intensity that stamped his pictures with a readily identifiable hallmark. Using a 35-millimeter Leica, he could compose images as elegantly framed as if he’d set up a tripod, or as blurry and off-center as an amateur snapshot. He took whatever means he needed to express a vision that was alternately empathetic and obstreperous, as contradictory as the man himself.

To read more: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/11/arts/design/robert-frank-photographs.html?module=inline

Outdoor Exhibitions: British Artist Bruce Munro’s “Field Of Light At Sensorio”, Paso Robles, CA

From a New York Times online article:

Jennifer Young and Ron Genauer at the installation.CreditJim McAuley for The New York TimesBut there is nothing quite like the mind-bending spectacle now on display at dusk in the hills of Paso Robles here, a popular wine destination. That is the witching hour when thousands of solar-powered glass orbs on stems, created by the artist Bruce Munro, enfold visitors in an earthbound aurora borealis of shifting hues.

Since it opened in May, “Field of Light at Sensorio” — the 60-year-old British artist’s largest such installation to date — has drawn thousands of tourists and become an Instagram phenomenon. The subtly changing patterns of this light safari, activated by a nebula of fiber-optic cables attached to hidden projectors, seem to inspire a cathedral-like awe among ticket-holders, who pay $19 to $30 for an evening stroll along 15 acres of illuminated walkways.

https://www.sensoriopaso.com/

To read more: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/15/arts/design/field-of-light-sensorio.html

Health Of The Elderly: Hearing Loss Is Resulting In Severe Loneliness, Depression And Demetia

From an NPR online article:

Untreated hearing loss increases the risks of social isolation, dementia and depression, research finds. NPR - Leren Lu Getty ImagesThere may be no easy fix for the loneliness epidemic plaguing the nation, but helping people cope with hearing loss could be one key to tackling this complex problem. Hearing loss affects 1 of every 5 people and is strongly linked to loneliness: Every decibel drop in perception in people under 70 increases the odds of becoming severely lonely by 7%, one Dutch study showed.

As hearing declines, loneliness can intensify — and set off a cascade of detrimental health effects. Now considered as hazardous as smoking 15 cigarettes a day, loneliness vastly raises the risks of depression, dementia and early death.

Yet the vast majority of people who suffer from hearing loss don’t know they have a problem — or don’t want to know. The changes happen gradually, and often earlier than expected.

To read more: https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2019/09/12/760231279/untreated-hearing-loss-linked-to-loneliness-and-isolation-for-seniors?utm_source=npr_newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_content=20190915&utm_campaign=health&utm_id=46633831&orgid=

Top Interviews: “Downton Abbey” Movie Producer & Writer Julian Fellowes

From a Wall Street Journal article:

We asked Lord Fellowes about the servants and family members who made it to the movie. Here are edited excerpts:

Downton-Abbey-Movie-Posters 2“It’s a way of life that’s gone and I don’t think it’s a bad state that it’s gone. But realistically it must’ve been livable on a level by pretty well everyone involved or it wouldn’t have gone on for a thousand years.”

In what ways did you think it was essential for “Downtown Abbey” to be accurate?

I think if you try to get all the details right and you talk to enough people who remember that life—which there were when I was much younger—you can imbue it with a kind of reality that seems believable to people who maybe don’t know about that way of life and certainly may not approve of it, but when they watch it, they can see how it worked. They can understand how people lived like that. Whereas when you start to get all the details wrong, it doesn’t feel believable. It doesn’t feel truthful.

To read more: https://www.wsj.com/articles/writer-julian-fellowes-prepares-downton-abbey-for-the-big-screen-11568552402

New Kitchen Innovations: Nitro Cold Brew Coffee Maker (GrowlerWerks)

From an IndieGoGo.com website:

The first integrated nitro cold brew coffee maker and dispenser for the perfect at-home experience. The nitro cold brew is good for at least 2 weeks and ready to pour at any time. Adjust the pressure as you see fit to maintain the best level of Nitro infusion for you.

uKeg Nitro Cold Brew Coffee Maker features

Website: https://www.growlerwerks.com/

Top Upcoming Exhibitions: “Paul Klee – 1939” At The David Zwirner Gallery NYC Sept. 10 – Oct. 26

From the DavidZwirner.com online listing:

Paul_Klee___Armer_Engel___1939The works on view illustrate how Klee responded to his personal difficulties and the broader social realities of the time through imagery that is at turns political, solemn, playful, humorous, and poetic. Ranging in subject matter, the works all testify to Klee’s restless drive to experiment with his forms and materials, which include adhesive, grease, oil, chalk, and watercolor, among others, resulting in surfaces that are not only visually striking, but also highly tactile and original. The novelty and ingenuity of Klee’s late works informed the art of the generation of artists that emerged after World War II, and they continue to hold relevance and allure for artists and viewers alike today.

David Zwirner is pleased to present Paul Klee: 1939, the gallery’s inaugural exhibition of Paul Klee’s (1879–1940) work since announcing its exclusive collaboration with the Klee Family. On view at 537 West 20th Street, New York, the exhibition focuses on Klee’s art from 1939, the year before he passed away, which marked one of the artist’s most prolific periods.

To read more: https://www.davidzwirner.com/exhibitions/1939#/installation-views

Top Restaurants In Texas: Lucky Robot Japanese Kitchen In Austin Fuses “Nikkei” & Flavors Of Peru

From a Forbes.com online review:

Lucky Robot Japanese Kitchen Austin sustainable SushiChef de cuisine Julio-Cesar Florez, a native of Lima, served as chef de cuisine of the now-defunct Peruvian-themed Isla and has been the sous chef at Lucky Robot since mid-2017, where he began adding subtle Peruvian touches to Huang’s playful Japanese cuisine. Seeing the success of these special menu items, the two decided to take the 6-year old restaurant in this new direction.

Nikkei marries the simplicity and precision of Japanese cooking techniques with the flavor profiles of Peru

Lucky Robot, a casual Japanese restaurant in Austin’s popular South Congress Avenue, switched its menu to focus more intensively on nikkei in the spring. With over 15 years’ experience in Japanese cuisine, training under Master Shibazaki-san of Benihana and Tyson Cole of Uchi, executive chef Jay Huang is a master of Japanese flavors and plating, enhanced by a passion for sustainability and support of local purveyors.

To read more: https://www.forbes.com/sites/claudiaalarcon/2019/09/12/why-you-should-visit-this-austin-restaurant-where-peru-meets-japan/#20490d335ba8

Culinary Arts: Online Wine Courses Are Easy Watching, Still Evolving

From a Wall Street Journal online article by Lettie Teague:

Illustration by Joanna Neborsky for the Wall Street JournalMany self-styled “wine educators” online claim to be certified sommeliers, but that doesn’t mean they have worked in a restaurant. Others are winemakers, adjunct professors or simply oenophiles with a pedagogical bent. Whether via video or podcast, the education they offer tends to fall into two categories: basic (grape names, how to hold a glass) or wonky (the role of tannins, grapevine blights).

LEARNING about wine online seems easy enough—not to mention affordable. Yet after exploring all manner of internet wine education, I’m not ready to declare it the ideal forum—at least not yet.

The educational content actual wine professionals produce mostly falls into the latter camp, and podcasts appear to be the preferred format. The decidedly wonky “Guild of Sommeliers Podcast”(guildpodcast.com) features sommeliers such as Geoff Kruth and Kelli White interviewing top talent. In an episode last fall, Mr. Kruth and Virginia Wilcox, winemaker at Vasse Felix in Western Australia, discussed tannins in a surprisingly lively chat. “I think you can make or break a wine by getting the tannins wrong,” Ms. Wilcox said. She enumerated various categories of tannin, including “astringent,” “squeaky,” “toothy,” “tongue” and “green”—the ones that “push to the back of your throat.” I learned a lot and plan to invoke the term “squeaky tannins” very soon.

To read more click on the following link: https://www.wsj.com/articles/are-online-wine-courses-worth-your-time-11568321079

 

The Future Of Clothing: “Element Pure” Uses 3D Scanning, AI Technology For Perfect-Fitting Shirts

From a YankoDesign.com online article:

Element Pure AI Body Scanning Tailoring Smartphone TechThe procedure is incredibly simple, and beats having to make an appointment with your tailor for hour-long fitting sessions and getting entangled in measuring tape. Element Pure’s AI tailor needs just two things from you. A front profile and side profile photograph, taken with a standard A4 sheet kept on the floor as reference. Using those two photographs, Element Pure can generate a 99% accurate 3D model of your torso, which the AI Tailor uses to take measurements. The result is a perfectly fitted shirt that’s been designed specifically for you. You can even pick between slim, regular, and relaxed fits, as well as choose your shirt length, depending in whether you wear your shirts tucked or untucked. The AI does the job in minutes that a tailor would take hours or even days to, with no propensity for error. The fitted, tailor-made shirt delivers to your doorstep, giving you the convenience of fast fashion, with the custom-fitting of something your tailor would make for you.

The fabrics used to craft Element Pure’s shirts are woven from eucalyptus pulp rather than cotton, resulting in clothes that keep you cool, resist odors, wrinkles, and are arguably more comfortable and breathable than cotton… even the Huffington Post agrees! The fabric, named TENCEL, is developed in Austria through the ethical farming of organic PEFC certified eucalyptus wood, in a non-toxic, renewable way.

To read more: https://www.yankodesign.com/2019/09/12/this-fashion-brand-uses-a-i-and-3d-scanning-to-tailor-clothes-to-perfectly-fit-your-body/