Ryan Gosling Ryan Gosling meme:
Sure, Gosling is cute. What's more, the actor has become a meme, sort of like the notorious UC Davis campus police officer, Lt. John Pike, whose
into art masterpieces (and other images) on the Web. In Gosling's case, though, the meme is positive. Picture an alluring image of him, with the printed words "hey girl. let's make like
and crumple some sheets." Or: "hey girl. you be ray, i'll be charles."
But why imagine? Go to
and take a look. A long look. Personally, I had to check every one of those images thoroughly, just to do my journalistic homework.
Gosling has also been memed in another tumblr blog,
And yes, I checked all of those images, too. Tip of the hat to
for flagging these blogs.
CHIP Solar House on view:
If you're visiting Los Angeles this spring, consider swinging by the California Science Center at Exposition Park, where the Compact, Hyper-Insulated Prototype Solar House will be on display from Jan. 17 through May 31. Free tours -- available 10 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. weekdays and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on weekends -- will allow visitors to explore the house inside and out. The house was built jointly by the Southern California Institute of Architecture and the California Institute of Technology and entered in the
sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy.
Praised for its unique look, the 750-square-foot, net-zero home features a quilted exterior -- fittingly compared to a giant pillow or spacesuit--where insulation is stretched around the frame rather than stuffed inside it. CHIP took two years, more than 100 students and $1 million to build. It would cost $300,000 to replicate the structure, including materials and labor."
The
has more information on the home.
As noted in a
the overall winner of the 2011 decathlon was the University of Maryland's WaterShed house, but to me, they're all winners.
Cowboy Cottage:
A recent pick for the week's "Creative Tiny House" at Tiny House Listings is a home by
The blog says:
Their amazing little homes are built almost completely from salvaged materials and are pre-built in their warehouse then shipped to almost anywhere.
The Cowboy Cottage measures 12' x 28' in size and is the full time residence of a young couple and their young son. The cottage has two lofts, each used as a bedroom. It also has two porches. The front porch is used as a small sitting area and the back porch is screened in for some bug-free outdoor time. The one bathroom is a full bath and features a cast iron antique tub.
What strikes me about this home is how such a small home can have such a cozy feel and doesn't sacrifice comfort for size.
Some photos show the house empty, while others show it lived-in. Oddly, the house actually looks larger with all the family's stuff in it. The living room has a bookcase, two big armchairs and even a Christmas tree, with lots of floor space left over to display a good-size rug.
The feeling is cozy and comfy. You want to walk right in and plop yourself down. I especially like the ladders built on a slant, which makes for easier climbing.
Find the
here.
Towering box on stilts:
The
created by architect
is one of the most unusual 800-square-footers you'll see. It was built on a sloping lot only 23 feet wide. Each floor measures 16 feet by 16 feet. The stilts help deal with the slope as well as minimizing vibration from nearby streetcars. After renting it out for nine years, Walters now has the house up for sale, and his real estate agent had a hard time coming up with a price for the unique structure.
The house has no furnace -- radiant heat keeps the concrete floors warm, as well as the rest of the place -- and, oddly, no kitchen cabinets. No closets, either, and the wiring is exposed.
The tenants seem to be packrats; the interior is stuffed to the gills.
To my eye it's no beauty, but it's certainly one of a kind, and adapts to a problem site. The garage door that opens up much of the home's south side is a nice touch.
Leaky homes:
Here's a major schadenfreude opportunity for underwater homeowners. Think you've got it bad? Well, things could be a lot worse. Consider this tale from Miller-MicCune:
Twenty years ago, changes to New Zealand's construction and building inspection codes, the introduction of new materials, a shift in the style and design of homes, and, ironically, pressure from environmentalists, all combined to sow the seeds of a massive "leaky homes" problem.
Two decades after that perfect storm, the debris is now washing up on the shores of a recession-hit housing market, leaving thousands of people trapped in homes that are rotting around them, but which they cannot afford to repair and have no hope of selling.
Find the
.
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