Johnny Hugel.Com - Distractions

Johnny Hugel.com

 My random thoughts as they may apply to the things in my life. Subjects may include: TV, Film, Screenwriting, Music, Technology, Richmond,Home Renovations, "Green" Living, and "both kinds" of Comedy: Stand-up & Improv
Contact Me: Twitter / Email

Theme Inspiration: Fold by David
Art concept: Adam Juresko
Tumblr Coding: Adam Lake

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Jul 20
 

Comments (View) / 01:02 pm / reblogged from: adnauseam
I’ve been eying dumpster and container pools since Tess shared me a story on one. Will probably remain a fantasy, but they look pretty awesome. If you happen to have one, live in Richmond, and are looking for a home for it, maybe we can work something out. adnauseam: (Click photo for whole slideshow and article.) “The only thing cooler than a pool party on a summer night in New York City is a secret pool party. And the only thing cooler than that, as a few enterprising developers recently discovered, is a secret pool party in a pool made out of a Dumpster on the banks of the Gowanus Canal in industrial Brooklyn. On a rented lot that’s hidden from the street they have erected what they call a lo-fi urban country club: three connected pools housed in Dumpsters; a boccie court; some lounge chairs, grills and cabanas. On Saturday night just three dozen people got the nod to check it out, at an afterparty for the art journal Cabinet. “Please don’t forward,” the invitation read. Since the space opened over the Fourth of July weekend, it has been host to barbecues, photo shoots and a film screening. Lectures and other events are planned for the rest of the summer, but none are open to the public, to the chagrin of the design bloggers and other cool-hunters who have been chattering about it. The idea, said David Belt, a real estate developer and the president of Macro-Sea, the company behind the pools, was not to create an exclusive party destination but to experiment with underused space and materials, repurposing them with urban renewal in mind.” Huh. This is… pretty damned brilliant!
I’ve been eying dumpster and container pools since Tess shared me a story on one. Will probably remain a fantasy, but they look pretty awesome. If you happen to have one, live in Richmond, and are looking for a home for it, maybe we can work something out.

adnauseam:

(Click photo for whole slideshow and article.)

“The only thing cooler than a pool party on a summer night in New York City is a secret pool party.

And the only thing cooler than that, as a few enterprising developers recently discovered, is a secret pool party in a pool made out of a Dumpster on the banks of the Gowanus Canal in industrial Brooklyn.

On a rented lot that’s hidden from the street they have erected what they call a lo-fi urban country club: three connected pools housed in Dumpsters; a boccie court; some lounge chairs, grills and cabanas. On Saturday night just three dozen people got the nod to check it out, at an afterparty for the art journal Cabinet. “Please don’t forward,” the invitation read.

Since the space opened over the Fourth of July weekend, it has been host to barbecues, photo shoots and a film screening. Lectures and other events are planned for the rest of the summer, but none are open to the public, to the chagrin of the design bloggers and other cool-hunters who have been chattering about it.

The idea, said David Belt, a real estate developer and the president of Macro-Sea, the company behind the pools, was not to create an exclusive party destination but to experiment with underused space and materials, repurposing them with urban renewal in mind.”

Huh. This is… pretty damned brilliant!

 

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Jun 19
 

Tags: video green
Comments (View) / 01:41 pm / reblogged from: thehighandlow
Awesome video, had to watch twice.

thehighandlow:

georgiaisyourfriend:

tesslynch:

Mr. W

No wait, THIS is brilliant!

 

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Feb 26
 

Comments (View) / 12:55 pm

From The Future Is Green There’s still no such thing as clean coal: The Coen brothers’ new video for This is Reality.org

 

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Dec 05
My Green Home Renovation 

Comments (View) / 09:42 pm

I was lucky enough to be in a position to buy a house a few years ago, in a neighborhood I totally love. Turns out it’s been a pretty good decision thus far as a bunch of great restaurants and this summer brought a weekly Farmers Market to the park a mile away.

The house was in decent condition, but a few things I felt were lacking. The kitchen was in neglect, and did not function well. It was a narrow and dark galley kitchen, got really hot whenever you cooked in it, and due to the poor placement of the fridge & oven, neither one would fully open due to the other. My ex and I tackled the job together of making some changes to improve the design, lighting, and functionality. It involved making a half wall to the dining room, replacing the damaged countertop, repainting the cabinets, and replacing the fridge with an energy efficient model.

Perhaps every decision wasn’t the greenest, but we did what we could, and I think ended up with a great looking, affordable, and pretty “green” renovation. Sure every material wasn’t the newest “green” technology, but I think in terms of what we were able to donate, give away, and reuse, we did pretty well.

Now my gaze drifts to the other main drawback of the house, the finished attic, which also serves as my bedroom. The roof and living space have no ventilation, making it impossible to spend any time up there in the summer without the AC running, something I hate doing. It also has no separation between the first floor and the office/bedroom in the attic. Finally adding a bathroom would 1) be super convenient for me, but 2) would be helpful for having roommates, or future resale of the house. So I entered into a plan to solve all of these issues and improve the 2nd floor living space.

I was lucky enough to find an awesome architect, who really brought my vision into reality, or at least from out of my head and onto paper. So, thus far it’s been less than 6 months since our first meeting, and we are now meeting with contractors who are reviewing the plans and entering bids. Once I get all them, I will be faced with the difficult decision of determining whether to go forward, or hold off until things stabilize in the current economy. I’m also spending some of my days scouring for great salvaged and reused products, in addition to keeping an eye out for great new “green” products to use. The largest materials I’m looking for right now are: Exterior cladding, “flat” roofing material, standard roof material, metal cladding, bedroom flooring and bathroom flooring. Craigslist has produced some good hits already for some of it already, but nothing good enough to make me hire a moving company and drive to VMI



 

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Nov 08
Patrick Henry Charter School 

Comments (View) / 12:00 am


It’s been a chaotic year for the initiative, but in September the Richmond Public Schools finally approved the Patrick Henry Charter School slated for my neighborhood. Today I attended the first Volunteer Rally, to get the neighborhood involved in the various tasks that need to be performed before it’s proposed July ‘09 opening.

I got involved with the facilities board, hopefully allowing me to focus on green building elements and other ways to make the building and grounds as energy efficient and environmentally friendly as possible. I also sat in with some friends on the Food group, to give any assistance I could in helping to put together a program that offered healthy meal options for the students. Anyone interested in donating time, money or services should get in touch with them through their website.