Design: Product Manuals (Fallout Protection)

From the excellent site: http://www.productmanualarchive.org/

This is a US Government-Fallout-Protection manual from 1961. Colour, typography: Great!

Danger - UV light!

Passive-Aggression in the Jordaan

IF YOU ARE GOING TO WRITE SOMETHING ON

The sign says “IF YOU ARE GOING TO WRITE SOMETHING ON “OUR” WOOD, COULD YOU PLEASE BE SO KIND AS TO WRITE SOMETHING WE ALL UNDERSTAND AND NOT A LOAD OF BULLS**T – THANKS”.

Found opposite the ice-cream parlour just off the Westerstraat. Why would someone bother to write this? And in English? For more see PassiveAggressiveNotes

Street Findings – Analogue is so yesterday

Screen on the street

An old TV, a box of cassettes. Probably nothing really wrong with either.  Just replaced by a skinnier flat model, and an iPod.

Man, I miss mix cassettes. Looking at the box gave me a slight feeling of nostalgia. Handwritten cassette inserts. A lot of care went into to these. Now carelessly discarded.

Box of C90s

An improvement to the Westergracht

Public works in the Westergracht 15 Sept 2008

I was cycling along the old Westergracht, wondering where all the parked cars where. Of course not there due to the men digging up the street and relaying the cobble stones.

But it looked good! It really opened up the space. It would be a great improvement if they banned the cars altogether from the middle of the Westergracht. Anyone from the gemeente reading?

The Mean Streets of Amsterdam

Chair Bear Bunch

I was cycling the WunderKind to the creche this week when some street rubbish caught my eye. What happended here? It looked like a bar-room fight resulting in a broken chair. Probably one of the Amsterdammertjes caught the full force.

This will Chair you up

I’ve got another similar picture of a broken chess board. Man, these guys can’t take a joke!

"Freeform Chess" - as the Germans would say. We say "Jazz".

It’s basically public karaoke…

Elandsgracht festival 14 Sept 2008

I don’t think the japanese invented karaoke. When you see how much fun the Dutch have with watching local crooners singing over backing tapes of old Johnny Jordaan or Andre Hajes songs, and getting drunk, and swaying to the haunting melodies (and joining in wailing with singers), you would have to believe that it’s an invention from the Netherlands.

Last weekend the local bar “Cafe de Jordaan” had it’s annual fest. Stage, beer, singing. No trouble, just some boozed up jolly folks. And for some strange reason many polished up Harleys (and their similarly polished up owners).

Shiny mid-life crisis model Harleys, in the Elandsgracht 14 sept.

Fun with Radiation!

Atomic Energy Lab - Erector Set

Like a Meccano set, but with radioactive samples (“completely harmless!”) and a Geiger counter (“find Uranium and get a reward from the US Government!”), the A C Gilbert U-238 Atomic Energy Lab was sold to help the young boys of America to get to ahead in science.

I’m guessing early 50’s vintage – and the sort of kit I would have probably wanted. I was always one for electrical and electronic kits -which I think DID help my education, and a chemistry kit, which apart from making a few stinks, bending some glass tubes and growing some crystals, did not really help.

I can’t imagine such a kit of atomic fun being allowed to be sold today. Source: Science leads the way

Paper Scissors Rock of Hollywood

More on Paper Scissors Rock – this time from Hollywood. And one final one from the world of music:

Paper Scissors Rock of Ages 2

Following up the challenge laid down by Paper Scissors Rock of Ages here is a historic photo I found in the archives. And a more recent one from last year:

On the look out for…

I’m looking for a clock for the office. A Solari Udine Cifra 12.
60’s vintage would be perfect.

Or a Solari Dator 5. Preferably 50’s vintage. The one below was sold on ebay for 110Eu. And if they go wrong I have lots of details on how to fix them.

Solari Dator 5