bookofjoe

'Bridal Supernova, 2005'

Above, a detail of sculptor E.V. Day's installation at Art Basel Miami Beach last month.

She rigged fragments of a Barbie bridal gown — satin, tulle and miniature fake pearls — on fishing line stretched across a small metal cage (below)

to create the blown–up appearance.

[via Maura Egan and the New York Times]

Hybrid Wall Clock

Now calm down, don't put your Prius into overdrive — this isn't that sort of hybrid.

Rather, it's a mashup of "mirror–like hard discs harvested from discarded computers combined with bicycle chain rings."

Created by Graham Bergh and his Portland, Oregon posse, who since the early 1990s have been "creating functional products from recycled bike parts and other rescued materials."

Mounts on a wall and runs on a single AA battery.

7" diameter.

$28 here.

nomilk.com

If you've got no tolerance for milk or its products then this is the website for you.

Links galore (over 175) to find out more.

Anti–Boil Over Clip

What's this?

Looks like brass knuckles gone metal–detector–safe in a nice 21st–century plastic iteration.

But it's not.

From the website:

Over Boil Clip

Boil pasta, vegetables or potatoes and walk away without worry.

The 5/8" height adds just the right amount of space to let steam escape... no more bubbling messes.

Dishwasher safe Dupont nylon.

Fits all pots!

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"Over Boil Clip?"

Weird.

Maybe it's been translated from the Japanese.

Tell you what: I know about ten people who should wear one of these around their neck on a chain, they're so prone to putting stuff on their stoves and then forgetting about it.

Ah, the smells of burning Teflon and scorched aluminum bring back so many memories....

$2.99 here (pot, lid and stove not included).

'Musicology'

I purchased Prince's 2004 CD last year but for some reason didn't listen to it when it arrived.

Just now I was sitting here doing something close to nothing (but different...) when I happened upon it.

Ooohh... when I opened it up I was gobsmacked.

It's a masterpiece of packaging art and design.

First of all, the inside of the CD container is beautifully illustrated with what appears to be Leonardo da Vinci's anatomical drawings and mirror–writing commentary.

There's a nice booklet with photos of Prince and his band and lyrics for all the songs, along with more wonderful Leonardo drawings.

The CD itself is ergonomically nestled in a plastic piece with not one, not two, not three but four finger indents to make it easy, like buttah, to remove the CD.

Why aren't all CD cases made this way?

Not only is it easy to use and nice to look at but it uses less plastic.

And I haven't even gotten started on the music itself.

I'm only on the third song, "A Million Days," as I write this.

Tell you what: this album goes on "Repeat All" for the next few days — at the very least.

The CD is $9.97 new and $2.48 used at Amazon.

Not very much for so much pleasure.

All possible love to Prince.

Carpet Rake

Crushed?

No, not emotionally — your carpet pile, booboo.

Time to fluff it up, what?

From the website:

Crushed Carpet Comes Back To Life After A Little Raking

Improve the look of all your carpeting, especially in high-traffic areas.

Before you vacuum, use this rake to lift the matted carpet fibers and loosen embedded soil.

Use after vacuuming to create that new, "just-installed" appearance!

11-7/8"-wide plastic rake has flexible rounded bristles.

Use your own 7/8" wood handle.

Well?

What are you waiting for?

$9.99 here (Carpet not included).

Marcel Wanders helps me demonstrate one more reason I'm sure I'm not normal

Several years ago I happened on über–designer Marcel Wanders' signature egg vase (above).

I instantly wanted one — I like things with egg shapes, be they drawings, paintings or sculpture.

FunFact: Wanders created the piece by stuffing hard boiled eggs into a latex rubber condom, then casting the result.

Anyhow, I ordered one and it arrived several weeks later, all cosseted in bubble wrap.

When I removed the vase from its packing I noticed there was a small chip on the lip (above and below).

Normal people, having dropped $75 for this piece, would immediately rewrap it and send it back, enclosing a note saying it was chipped before it arrived, please send another.

Me, that's not how I saw it.

Because you know that things like delicate porcelain vases will get chipped, cracked, or even shattered as time goes by.

It's the way of the not–flesh.

So I said to myself, hey, Joe, you've simply received the vase in the condition it'll be in a couple years from now — sit down and shut up about it already.

OK — I was down with that then and I still am: were the same thing to happen today I'd react precisely the same way.

The odd thing is that no further damage to the vase has ensued over the years, even though it's been in places where far less delicate and vulnerable things have met their Waterloo.

It's a little like that first scuff on a brand–new pair of shoes that you just adore: immediately your impulse is to clean it up.

I say, why bother?

That way from then on you can ignore whatever else happens to them and just go about your business.

Life isn't perfect, any more than we are: accept the failings of both and move on.

Once you get the knack, man, it's like flying.

The vase now costs $129 here.

It comes in three sizes, of which I chose the small.

The one pictured in the online store is the large.

I find it interesting that, unlike in many areas of life, size doesn't matter when it comes to buying one of these vases: small, medium and large, they're all priced identically.

Porcelain Styrofoam Cup

Oooh, I'm liking this — a lot.

Parsons School of Design graduate Miri Mizrahi took the classic cheapo disposable styrofoam cup and reimagined it in porcelain — with optional teeth marks.

I want one.

She christened her reusable version "Used and Abused."

Use it for any drink.

Dishwasher safe.

Can your styrofoam cup do that?

Didn't think so.

$15 apiece at Apartment Zero (406 Seventh Street NW, Washington, D.C.; 202-628-4067).

[via Janelle Erlichman Diamond and the Washington Post]

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Apartment Zero is considered one of the very coolest home furnishing and design stores in Washington, D.C.

But, like so many others with superb taste and style in real life, it stumbles and crashes to the ground when it comes to creating an online presence.

Everything you could do to make a visitor not want to stay a second longer happens — or doesn't — on their website.

Flash everywhere, poor navigation, slow loading of pages, nonsensical design — what an expensive mess.

I know you've heard it before here but it just confounds me that such smart and heady people simply don't get it: online is not real and you've got to start from that point if you're going to succeed in the virtual world.