Monday, January 4, 2010

Making Gulasch With Control (Fatto Guilloche e Telecomandos)

I hope that everyone had a great holiday weekend. Mine involved a lot of time in the hot spa under a 6 meter column of steam while having either a nice latte or champagne, depending on whether it was early or late in the day.

I saw the 'Avatar' film in 3D IMax format. It was fun to look at, but I couldn't figure out why they kept talking about Ewoks in the dialog though, wasn't that in Star Wars?

Also on the agenda was mosaic work, so I started operation 'triclinium' with a vengeance. I made mosaic bordering which will go around the actual 'art' mosaics in the center section of my three couches. I followed the Roman provincial style (Arles) of guilloche border (staying true to the colors of the ancient ones).















And finally, advancing the illogical tie between religion and rampant consumerism, I purchased the best thing ever. I'm now the proud owner of a Sony AX4000 remote control. This little device allows me to stow away the 13 different remotes which were littering my home like little unfortunate tsunami victims washing up on the couch or countertops. I even retrofitted some infra-red light dimmers in a few rooms so I could use it to swipe my finger across it to set the mood, if you know what I mean.*














* that is, suavely set the lights in the media room so I can watch the University of Texas Longhorns defeat Alabama this Thursday.



Lo scorso fine settimana, ho fatto i confini del mosaico per un triclinio. Inoltre, ho comprato un telecomando super!!!

21 comments:

  1. Not sure I do know what you mean...you mean when you want a mood change in an um, special moment, you're fumbling about with that little device?!

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  2. Happy New Year, hot stuff!

    The mosaic is beautiful so far... and what's this? You have a "media room"? No wonder your remote is all hi-class n' stuff.

    My New Years resolution is to stop cussing in front nice Texas boys. Enjoy!

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  3. "6 meter column of steam" sounds like a porn term to me, Tex. It might come in handy with your dimmer switch when you're "polishing" your 6 meter column of steam.

    Mosaic your ass off!

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  4. I don't even have anything to say after reading The Vegetable Assasin's comment. Dying...exactly what I was thinking.

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  5. "like little unfortunate tsunami victims"

    Bwhahaha!!!

    Now don't lose/misplace the new remote control :)

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  6. I hate to do it...because of my dislike of orange and all...but I'm going to have to pull for Texas.

    So, if they lose, you can blame me.

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  7. Happy New Year. Now I want one of those remote things.

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  8. The mosaic is beautiful, as always. I like the remote control thing too - very fancy! I don't think we have anywhere close to 13 things that need to be controlled remotely here, but if we did, that looks like just the ticket ;)

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  9. Sounds like a great New Year's...

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  10. I like the classic colors, good choice.

    I would have visited for the pool alone, but now you've got mood lighting. The double whammy.

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  11. Your mosaic is beautiful, well done. Your talent amazes me.

    Hubby would love one of those remotes. I'm going to have to hide your post from him!

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  12. Obviously a latte/champagne laced steam bath works wonders for the triclinium project is gorgeous.

    And as for the Sony XA4000 Rocket Launch Pad...I think my Hub needs that for our media room.

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  13. Totally hated the Avatar movie. Totally.

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  14. Mo,
    Why yes... everything can be controlled with it.

    Katrocket,
    Happy New Year to you!
    Thanks, I can't wait until at least some parts of the mosaic are finished so I can get about the business of having lavish wine parties with serving girls in traditional garb.
    I thought everyone had a media room these days XO.

    Vegetable Assassin,
    Uh, in that case, I should have said, 'wonderful steamy wet pleasure pool'.
    I close my eyes at night and see marble now...

    Nikki,
    D'oh.

    Dutch Donut Girl,
    Haha, yes, I was worried about putting that metaphor in because I was worried that someone might know someone who died in the terrible event a few years back.
    But then if they are that fragile, they don't need to be using the internet at all...
    I didn't even think of the possibility of losing this control, maybe I'll put a GPS beacon on it.

    MJenks,
    Only one more day until THE GAME!!!

    Peach Tart,
    Happy New Year! They are pretty cool, I highly recommend...

    Lidian,
    Thanks! I now find myself of thinking of how to remotely control the toaster and things like that. That reminds me, I need some IR receivers and a few actuator arms to lift bread.

    WendyB,
    It wasn't quite as glamorous as yours usually go, but fun nevertheless. I did get to spend time at an elaborate University of Texas function for one of our VC partners during the holidays though.

    Otherworldlyone,
    Thanks amiga! Hah, I haven't heard 'double whammy' for a while.

    Heather,
    Thanks! You should try the whole mosaic thing, it's really not that difficult.
    It's an immutable law that guys like electronics things and girls like shoes and shopping, I think.

    JennyMac,
    Thanks! I need to get a bronze firepit poured for the center of the triclinium couches too. So many projects, so little time.
    Yes, get a backlit controller like that. It used to be so lame fumbling around in the dark trying to find buttons (no jokes, OWO).

    Sid,
    It was silly, but it was still gorgeous to look at in 3D, kind of like Allyson Hannigan.

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  15. Oh, good grief. You leave a comment on my blog and I (naturally) check out yours.

    Thanks for making my resolutions seem so damn boring. Enjoy learning Italian and creating historically accurate mosaics. I'll just drown myself in a bottle of cheap wine while taking hopeless pictures of my despair.

    You're going on the blogroll.

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  16. Ooh I like that border pattern!

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  17. my old roommate had a remote like that- only I could never figue out what device I was operating, and I would have to start pushing buttons 30mins before my tv show started so I didn`t miss it. I never even managed to access the TiVo

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  18. I hadn't seen those remote controls before...but today they had an article on msn about them...then I come here and you write about one! (well, wrote). Hmmm...it's mighty big...

    I like your mosaic...I'm interested to see the final product...this is the floor between your couches, yes?

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  19. Jennifer,
    You have a nice ironic writing style, you are on my blog list for sure too.

    Soda,
    Thanks! People in ancient Antioch did too, from what I hear.

    Valerie,
    I'm still working through some interesting issues. You can't program soo many devices without some trouble at first.

    Lopez,
    It is mighty big, but it's better than lugging around a computer?
    Love the backlighting thing because it's too dark in the media room.
    Yep, those mosaics will go between the couches. I haven't figured out yet how to incorporate the fire pit.

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  20. Seriously...this comment thing could possibly begin to piss me off.

    My comment:

    fire pit. I'm lucky to have indoor plumbing at mi casa. ;o)

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