Read Some Stewf

Keep the Dream Alive

Gaela informs me that utopia is not far off:

MIT team experimentally demonstrates wireless power transfer, potentially useful for powering laptops, cell phones without cords.

... for laptop-sized coils, power levels more than sufficient to run a laptop can be transferred over room-sized distances nearly omni-directionally and efficiently, irrespective of the geometry of the surrounding space, even when environmental objects completely obstruct the line-of-sight between the two coils. Fisher points out: “As long as the laptop is in a room equipped with a source of such wireless power, it would charge automatically, without having to be plugged in. In fact, it would not even need a battery to operate inside of such a room.” In the long run, this could reduce our society's dependence on batteries, which are currently heavy and expensive.

As for what the future holds, Soljacic adds, “Once, when my son was about three years old, we visited his grandparents’ house. They had a 20-year-old phone and my son picked up the handset, asking, ‘Dad, why is this phone attached with a cord to the wall?’ That is the mindset of a child growing up in a wireless world. My best response was, ‘It is strange and awkward, isn’t it? Hopefully, we will be getting rid of some more wires, and also batteries, soon.’”

Another Obsession, Another Blog

I humbly present The Mid-Century Modernist, a repository of good things to sit on or near.

Tulip Turntable, Part Two

Over a year ago, I found this curious KLH sound system on Craigslist and fantasized about buying. I didn’t. 14 months passed.

Then, miraculously, it reappeared last weekend, posted by the same party in Martinez. Kindly recognizing my psychopathic aversion to telephones, Martha called and made an appointment to view the turntable and matching speakers.

It was the perfect Saturday adventure. We drove 30 minutes inland, through green hills to the East Bay suburbs, and arrived at a ’70s-era rambler. Piles of junk and tattered La-Z-Boys spilled out of the fenced yard into the driveway which was occupied by five cars, all but the pickup in disrepair. My hopes sunk a little. Was this the home of a Danish modern collector?

Steve greeted us with a hearty handshake and how-do-you-do. His clothes were ragged, and his hands were black from either engine grease or just plain lack of washing. His speech was country.

He led us into the side yard, past the heaps of trash, to the object of our journey. There they sat — three gorgeous wooden pods, floating atop white metal bases patterned after Eero Saarinen’s famous “Tulip” design. It’s named for a flower, but the Finn must have had water in mind when he drew these shapes. After a droplet submerges below the surface, the water recoils skyward in a form very much like Saarinen’s, with a bead of liquid on top. In this case, the beads are walnut boxes — two house stereo speakers, and the third, a turntable and radio hidden inside a lidded cabinet.

Steve found the system in his dad's garage, barely used. He nursed the wood back to health with sandpaper and oil, but the guts needed no repair. This, Steve proved with a disc of Grateful Dead. The spindle dropped the record and the arm gently alighted on the vinyl, releasing that singular phonographic sound. The guitar was warm, and the bass as deep and true as Steve’s voice. “I haven’t heard this album in years,” he chuckled. “Damn! Still sounds great.” He stared longingly at the player. Whether it was genuine or for show, we detected some pretty heavy seller’s remorse.

After the briefest haggle session of all time, he let it go for $45 under the asking price. I arrived that day, ready to play tough, but Steve’s story of all the hours he spent restoring furniture so he could feed his family of five — well, it softened my heart.

We left to get cash and returned to find Steve’s family in the yard, standing around the stereo. His youngest daughter sat cross-legged, directly in front of the console, on a chair that was another of his projects. They were listening to Scrooge, 1970 — the musical. “The kids loved the movie so much we bought this on eBay,” Steve’s wife said. “Never had a chance to play it until now.”

I smiled to myself. “If these kids can appreciate Leslie Bricusse as much as I do, I feel a lot better about giving up on the haggle.” Also, I guess they should be fed.

Steve chatted us up as we loaded the car. He talked about how much better it is to live away from the city, and his early decision to drop AutoCAD and stick with the oddly more lucrative job as a drywaller. We said goodbye, but he didn’t stop talking until we actually pulled away — repeating his recommendations about oil and polyurethane right through the passenger window.

As we drove off, Martha observed that it felt like we were leaving family. As if we were visiting old relatives and going home with some inherited piece of furniture. “Bye! Byebye! Yes, we’ll take good care of it. Bye!”

Indeed, I’ll take good care. My first record player is also the most beautiful I’ve ever seen. Thank you, Steve.

Facts about the KLH Model Twenty-Plus (AKA 20A or 20+):

• The cabinet and speakers were designed by David Price.


• It was produced in the 1960s to early ’70s, and sold for $525.


• Apparently, it’s a rarity, at least among KLH models. Steve’s only seen one other, and information on the web is scarce.


• The turntable is by Garrard.


• The speaker covers came in many colors, as far as I can tell. Mine are dark blue.


• What made the Twenty and Twenty Plus systems so popular was that for the first time you could own a high-fidelity setup which was easy to buy, hook up and use. Previously, components were researched and bought separately -- usually including an amplifier, tuner, speakers and turntable with the associated wiring. A company brochure suggested this model if you listened to music at something approaching concert hall volumes. It featured 50 watts of IHF music power with a very low harmonic distortion of 1 percent. It came with the largest speakers, each having a 10“ acoustic suspension woofer and a 13/4” wide dispersion tweeter. On the back of each cabinet is a 3-position, high frequency level switch to adjust for varying room acoustics. Most impressive was the fact that KLH guaranteed these speakers to match within 1 db over the entire audio frequency range.

My Place

A few rooms of my palatial estate have already been documented, but some of you nonlocals have requested more pics of the apt. Here then: some friends were kind enough to take a few shots the other day.

Tulip Turntable

Maybe I'll get this instead of a sofa.

Wal-Mart Fact Checker

U.S. counties where new Wal-Mart stores were built between 1987 and 1998 experienced higher poverty rates than other U.S. counties.

Furnishing the Homeland, Part 4:Nice Sofas That Might Fit Through My Door

André  //  Case Study [+] [+] [+]  //  Arcadia  //  Goetz [+] [+] [+]

As always, click the pics to biggify. I am leaning toward the André, but the Goetz would go really well with my blesséd Eames. The Raffinato is the beauty that didn’t make it through my apartment’s entrance (a doorway that is sized for the smaller race of humans that lived on this planet in the ’20s).

In other news: this sofa bed is pretty slick — almost too slick. Not only does the back fold down, but the arms swing around to become foot rests. Don’t believe it? See the video.

Update:

Went to see the Ravel at Scandinavian Designs today. Strangely, it only comes in one color, and you’re lookin’ at it. Moss green just won’t do with my rug. That’s a drag — it’s only $695.

Get Your Shirt On

Just bought this tee. You can too. At Threadless. Tell them Stewf sent you and I get store credit. Buy shirts. Do it now.

Furnishing the Homeland, Pt. 3: Marooned

The fun of shopping for furniture on craigslist is that something new pops up every few hours.

The trouble with shopping for sofas on craigslist is that everything is maroon or burgundy or wine or rose.

By the way kids, there’s now a craigslist in SLC! Click and discover the power of the internet again for the first time. First job posting is up: tame troubled teens by marching them through wilderness!

Furnishing the Homeland, Pt. 2 Stool Sample

The stools arrived! One red, one silver. Now I need a tall cafe table with foot rest to join them.