Things of beauty – Page 37 – Splendid Isolation

Happy Birthday

January 19, 2022 Kim du Toit Beauty

…to America’s Sweetheart:

3 Brit Women I Find Inexplicably Sexy

January 18, 2022 Kim du Toit 3 Inexplicable Things, Gratuitous Chick Pics

Coleen Rooney (wife of former England and Manchester United footballer Wayne Rooney)

Anna Chancellor

Claudia Winkleman

Of course, it’s all about personal taste, so feel free to add your oddities in Comments.

Thoughts On The Montana Thing

January 13, 2022 Kim du Toit House & Home, The Gun Thing

Although I specifically asked for people not to comment on the land / house choices in this post, some people still did; but then again, these are my beloved Readers [sigh] who take orders from no man, and color over the lines whenever it suits.

Anyway: the choice of land. I wouldn’t want to live in the total boonies (I’d have picked Alaska, then), hence my choice of location. The thought of being trapped in the house because of some sudden and massive snowstorm when I need to get my prescription filled at the drugstore does not not appeal to me. So I’d prefer to live close-ish to a decent-sized town with at least some pretensions of sophistication because my idea of fine dining is not Applebee, and I’d like the local food stores to carry more than canned food and Kraft cheese. It’s been a while since I was in Missoula and despite the presence of Lefties, hippies and suchlike filth, I enjoyed my time there. (There’s no Dunkin, but that’s why online purchasing was invented and anyway, every time I go into a DD, I walk out with a dozen donuts and my doctor doesn’t support that action.)

160 acres, while sniffed at by some, would suit me because it can accommodate a 100-yard range without terrifying the neighbors. Also, it’s a manageable size because I could put up signs on every other tree on the property line saying things like, “If you hunt past this point, you will become the prey. Ask owner for details.”

I chose a log cabin because New Wife has always wanted to live in one. I know about the upkeep issues, but I’d pay someone to take care of it. As for the floor plan: I’d use the walk-out basement for manly pursuits like cleaning guns and playing snooker. The size works for the two of us, and it’s easier to heat or cool a smaller space. My days of living in a 4,000-sq.ft. house are over.

I didn’t even mention my choice of truck because that would have given rise to a tributary of endless argument; but here we are, so here we go:

Yes, Missoula has both a Mercedes and Toyota dealership for servicing and repairs, if needed. I’d want a serious 4×4 in case of inclement driving conditions, and nobody has ever said the G550 doesn’t have the necessary oomph. And the Toyota Tacoma/Hi-Lux is the pickup choice of revolutionaries all over the world, so ’nuff said.

At least nobody sniffed at my choice of guns (see below for the reminder). Read more

Near Miss

January 13, 2022 Kim du Toit Gratuitous Chick Pics

I know that most if not all my Readers are interested in the shenanigans of the BritRoyals, but that’s the flimsy excuse I’ve used for showing the following totty:

You see, her name is Cressida Wentworth-Stanley (née Bonas), and at one time she was the girlfriend of Prince Harry, a.k.a. the Duke of Sussex, a.k.a. Harry Markle, a.k.a. the Ginger Whinger. However, although he was reportedly quite smitten with Cressida, she was somewhat frowned upon by the Palace because she was an… actress.

So they split up, and you know the resultant mess.

I think young Cressy had a lucky escape. She later married another guy named Harry, who has no title but is the son of a marchioness and is also related to a marquess via his mother’s second marriage. Anyway, he has a hyphenated name, which takes care of half the issue for a young Brit girl with aspirations.

Should I explain the middle bit, again?

Swoopy

January 11, 2022 Kim du Toit Architecture

Following on from last night’s post, I happened on this little photo essay:

Eero Saarinen’s outlandish air terminal for TWA at New York’s JFK International Airport was sculpted as an abstract symbol of flight.

Now most Readers. knowing my abhorrence for Modernist architecture, would be forgiven for thinking that this post will be a diatribe against this building. But on the contrary, I think it’s beautiful — for one thing, there aren’t any hideous straight lines and corners such as found in Bauhaus monstrosities. As the writer of the article puts it:

Unlike most air terminals, which seemed intent on depressing passengers, Saarinen’s not only raised the spirits but also showed that concrete structures could be truly delightful.

And it is. In the time it was built, I would imagine that its space-age, swoopy shape would be very much in keeping with the age of early space travel of the late 1950s and early 60s. As the designer himself put it:

“…the architecture itself would express the drama and excitement of travel… shapes deliberately chosen in order to emphasize an upward-soaring quality of line.”

The first tragedy is that Saarinen died the year before his creation was finished.

The second tragedy is that the beautiful building has of course been “modernized” to make it “more efficient”.