forest farm -maine

Currently trying to finish a (hypothetical/academic) proposal for digitizing and preserving a collection of papers and ephemera belonging to Scott and Helen Nearing -of The Good Life fame. One of the wrinkles is that an important part of the Nearing's legacy are the stone buildings they built by hand (themselves and assistants), on Stratton Mountain in Southern Vermont, and in Harborside on the coast of Maine. As well as being landmarks to the couple, the architecture and slipfrom masonry construction techniques were idiosyncratic; simple and functional solutions, though longevity being questioned now.

Anyhow, we considered a way to represent them in the digital archive and as well as storing high quality digital stills we investigated the process of creating 3D digital models of the structures. Deri Jones & Associates assisted us with some of the pricing and technologies. Not surprisingly the cost of surveying and 3D recording of old houses depends on their complexity and access. The optimum situation is to have a clear traverse around the whole house in about 3 survey stations and clear views through the windows to allow accurate location of the scans inside. An example of this type of scanning is the below project done by Deri Jones & Assoc. on some old houses in Friuli, Italy, taking one day to record. Imagine using the data to rebuild a full size 3D replica at some point in the future... good stuff.

cabot creamery -1/14

Seth Neary and Skye Chalmers (and others) have put together a whole series of interviews with various members of Cabot Creamery's directors, first release below. Cabot (the cheese and yogurt makers) is a 1,200 farm family dairy cooperative with members in New England and upstate New York owned and operated by its members, which for Cabot are the farmers and their families. If you have followed along at Chalmers' tumblr Dairy Diary these sorts of images will be familiar.
Disclaimer: Chalmers is a old friend of mine, and Cabot is very tangentially a client; that said this is right in my wheelhouse. Some great stuff here; feeding America etc. Getting me all misty eyed god-dammit! Love that the chairman's first shot is driving a old Gator around. I have previewed a bunch of these and also looking forward to possible further projects in this area, sort of "where does the milk go" type of thing.

We only ever had 1 milking cow at a time. Pops named the cows and steers in alphabetical order; Apple Blossom (starred in Dianne Keaton movie Baby Boom), Benjamin Franklin, Clover, Daffodil, Eidelweiss, Dandelion, E & E (twins), Foxglove, Geranium, Hollyhock, Iris, Jasmine, Katuska (named by a neighbor for a Russian flower), Larkspur, Maple, Nasturtium, Okra, and Poppy. Pops tried making cheese (cheddar and blue, really good) and we drank the milk (even warm baby! right from the pail). We made colostrum pie (not a fan) and worked through calfs and eventual slaughtering etc... So yes, I have a soft spot for dairy farming. The concept of adding value to dairy has been so important in the survival of what little dairy there is in New England, and not just down to Cabot but the whole cheese making culture, esp in VT. Admittedly I don't know the politics of it all and not beyond the realm of possibility that some farms grumble about not being big enough to join Agrimark or milk prices or whatever, but can safely say I am a massive fan of Cabot's products. #hunterscheddar

carhartt -1889 series logger pants

New from Carhartt and their Series 1889; not related to the Centennial Series. 12-ounce cotton duck, good. Straight cut, great, finally. Pre-washed feel... $70... Made in Mexico... Not wild about some of those variables. Link. Come in brown/green/grey. This was actually a shot of the green ones that I tweaked to look brown as no flat shot available from PR. Have said it all before, but the double front pants are a signature item for Carhartt. Is it too much have them made in USA, and maybe the original unwashed finish?

catherine owens -chalk art

Chalk or "blackboard art" have some big names currently, but I really like the work of local artist Catherine Owens. Many artists do the lettering well but Catherine kills it w/ the surrounds; art nouveau in this case. This menu is up at Backbar in Union Square, Somerville. It took her about 35 hours over 3 days she says. Video of the process below -cool that she left in her erasures and retries... DM me if you would like her contact details for work.

omil calls it "farmhand chic"

Been meaning to post about this sportscoat for ages. Finally did over at Alpha Industries as above.

happy 4-20 from willie nelson

It is actually a great little song. Click HERE TO LISTEN.