RETRO FILES / RAINY DAY IN LONDON, 1955

 1PIX=1KWORDS 

Image by Carl Sutton, who was proficient in black and white documentary-style photography popular after WWII 

MEDIA MONDAY / ARE 3D PRINTED GUNS TURNING AMERICA INTO WILD WEST?

 

GUEST BLOG / JANE ONYANGA-OMARA, USA TODAY--For decades, America's detectives have made breakthroughs in crime using gun traces. But their sleuthing tactics are fast becoming old-school science as a new era of weapons increasingly hits the nation's streets: untraceable 3D printed guns and silencers like the ones found this month on Luigi Mangione, the suspected killer of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson. 

And as the price of 3D printers continues to drop, their availability will attract more and more attention from possible criminals, experts told USA TODAY. 

• The “ghost gun” and silencer found in the suspected killer of Thompson’s backpack at a Pennsylvania McDonald’s were made using a 3D printer plus readily available metal parts, according to Altoona Police. 

• Arrests related to 3D-printed guns have tripled in recent years; federal officials recovered more than 25,000 homemade guns in 2022 alone. 

• And as the quality of 3D printers rises as prices fall, the trend shows no signs of stopping, threatening to make America a veritable Wild West of untraceable weapons, according to experts, ex-police officers, and the White House. 

COFFEE BEANS & BEINGS / CUPS OF JAVA IN JAPAN

GUEST BLOG / By Cajsa Carlson, writer, Dezeen online architecture magazine--Nestled beside a park in Funamachi, Japan, the Funamachi Base Cafe & Sweet Shop offers visitors a delightful blend of flavors and sights. Designed by Schemata Architects, this establishment seamlessly merges indoor and outdoor spaces, inviting passersby to explore its offerings. 

 The venue comprises three interconnected structures: a restaurant, a sweet shop, and a building housing an office, kitchen, and workshop. Inspired by its riverside location, the design encourages a natural flow from the adjacent greenway into the cafe. 

Adjacent to the park.

Founder Jo Nagasaka envisioned the facility as an extension of the park, with courtyards and flowerpots blurring the lines between exterior and interior spaces. Expansive roofs extend from each building, creating sheltered areas where guests can savor treats like the cafe's signature bean buns. 

See image below. To further dissolve the boundaries between inside and out, the same materials—concrete and Douglas fir wood—are used throughout. Exposed PVC pipes, typically found in outdoor gutters, traverse both interior and exterior surfaces, enhancing this seamless integration. The buildings' facades feature a light-brown pattern, contributing to an industrial aesthetic that sets them apart from traditional Japanese structures. 

This design choice simplifies construction and offers a distinctive finish. Schemata Architects, led by Jo Nagasaka, is known for innovative designs that harmonize with their surroundings. Their recent project, the Komaeyu bathhouse in Tokyo, was shortlisted for a Dezeen Award in 2024. The coffee shop is located at 2-1 Funamachi, Ogaki, Gifu Prefecture. 

The photography is by Yurika Kono. 

Project credits: Architect: Jo Nagasaka / Schemata Architects Project team: Yuko Yamashita Construction: Giken Collaboration: Monochrome (solar panel integrated roof), Fukushima Galilei (kitchen)

KING OF GREASE / FULL HOUSE ETHICS COMMITTEE REPORT ON CBSNEWS.COM

 

The Matt Gaetz ethics report is available free on CBS News. 

 CLICK. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/read-matt-gaetz-ethics-report-house-investigation/

DESIGN / MODERN MANKIND'S TEMPLES TO THE GOD[S]

First in an occasional series of famed cathedrals: La Sagrada Familia, Barcelona

ARCHITECTURE & THEOLOGY

In the center of Barcelona stands La Sagrada Familia, a cathedral unlike any other. Construction began in 1882 under Francisco de Paula del Villar, but the following year, the project was passed to Antoni Gaudí, whose vision shaped it into something remarkable. 

Gaudí’s approach combined natural forms with religious symbolism, creating a building that feels alive. The stained-glass windows flood the interior with colorful light, making it both beautiful and contemplative. This unique atmosphere is often highlighted in videos, where the interplay of light and space blurs the line between reality and imagination. 

Gaudí’s work on the basilica ended in 1926 when he was struck by a tram in Barcelona and died three days later. Despite his death, construction continued, with each generation adding to his vision. 

Today, the cathedral is nearing completion, with a target date of 2026 to coincide with the 100th anniversary of Gaudí’s death. 

Gaudi's funeral in 1926 in Barcelona

Many believe La Sagrada Familia isn’t just a building—it’s a reflection of dedication and creativity. 

Visitors can see the blending of old and new ideas in its design, making it a place that resonates with people worldwide. Gaudí was buried in the crypt of La Sagrada Familia, the project he dedicated so much of his life to. His funeral drew thousands of mourners, cementing his place as one of Barcelona’s most influential figures. 

And depending on your viewpoint, an architect for the ages.

HOME FOR THE HOLLANDAISE!

Home for the Hollandaise! 

To the turkey that’s golden, the ham that’s glazed, 

And of course, that rich, velvety hollandaise. 

(Who knew eggs and butter could bring such delight?) 

To Christmas dinner—a feast worth the wait, 

Where seconds aren’t optional, they’re just fate. 

Pass the gravy, the rolls, and don’t forget pie, 

Because calories don’t count until January, I’m told. 

To family, the heart of this holiday cheer, 

Through laughter, stories, and all we hold dear, 

May this table remind us of what truly matters, 

Even if the gravy boat tips and splatters. 

Here’s to being together, both near and far, 

For whether we’re at the table or under a star, 

Home isn’t just where the hollandaise flows— 

It’s wherever this love and laughter goes. 

So raise your glass and give three cheers, 

To Christmas dinner and to all of us here! 

What a perfect place to be. 

To celebrate family and guests of honor:

With our Zac and sweet, sweet Debbie

Merry Christmas, Merry Christmas!

SEASON'S GREETINGS

 THE BUCKET LIST BEGINS...

Afternoon tea under the Christmas tree at The Wolseley, London.

ME, ME, ME, CHRISTMAS WITH THE MUPPETS

MERRY CHRISTMAS! 

GONG! 

 CLICK HERE. 

MEDIA MONDAY / A KIND GIFT FROM A DEAR READER

PillartoPost.org staffer asked "how do you gift wrap kindness?"

Editor’s note: On the day of this blog’s publishing anniversary, a reader and fellow journalist gifted us with a review of PillartoPost.org Daily Magazine style blog. We blush with gratitude. And, it's all free with no advertisements or fruit cake sufferings.

 A Daily Dose of Insight: Exploring the Charm of PillartoPost.org 

Founded in 2011, PillartoPost.org is a daily magazine-style blog that effortlessly combines diverse content with a professional yet inviting tone. Whether you're a seasoned reader or stumbling upon it for the first time, the site welcomes you with its clean layout, engaging articles, and a sense of thoughtful curation. 

 One of P2P's greatest strengths is its variety. The blog covers an impressive range of topics—travel, culture, history, design, and more—all delivered in a concise, readable format. Each post feels like a mini-feature in a glossy magazine, offering just enough depth to satisfy your curiosity while leaving you eager for more. 

The daily publishing schedule ensures fresh content, making it a reliable destination for readers who want a quick intellectual getaway during their coffee break. Importantly, Pilla toPost.org is a not-for-profit blog and does not accept paid or commercial advertising, reserving any promotional space for non-profit entities and events. 

This commitment to remaining free of commercial influence allows the blog to maintain its focus on authentic storytelling and thoughtful content. In many ways, Pillar to Post is a paean to the great general interest magazines of the past, evoking the charm and ethos of classics like Saturday Evening Post, Collier's, MacLean's, Look, Life, Reader’s Digest and Pageant. 

Just as those publications aimed to inform and inspire a broad audience, Pillar to Post embraces the same spirit, blending intellectual curiosity with a celebration of life’s varied interests. The founder's journalistic roots shine through in the crisp writing style and well-researched pieces. Whether highlighting architectural marvels, offering travel tips, or delving into historical anecdotes, the blog balances expertise with accessibility. 

 There's an underlying sense of authenticity, as if the content is crafted not just to inform but to share the creator's genuine enthusiasm for the subjects covered. For design enthusiasts, the blog’s attention to visual storytelling is another highlight. The inclusion of high-quality images and thoughtful layouts enhances the reading experience, transforming even the shortest posts into visual delights. 

Overall, Pillar to Post is a gem of a blog that has stood the test of time. Its decade-long journey reflects its commitment to quality and its ability to adapt to a rapidly changing digital landscape. If you're a fan of daily inspiration served with a side of thoughtful writing and nostalgic homage to classic magazines, this is a site worth bookmarking. 

How to read PillartoPost.org

The unpaid staff views each week as a separate magazine.  It is divided into sections and tries to adhere to these loose guidelines...breaking news permitting.

We are a publication dedicated to [in journalistic jargon] the second-day story.

** **

 In memory of Northern California-based Arthur Garcia, a first rate newspaper and magazine editor. 

SUNDAY REVIEW / A PRO DELVES INTO THE MYSTERIES OF GRIEF ESPECIALLY DURING HOLIDAYS

GUEST BLOG / By J. Kim Penberthy, Professor and Neurobehavioral Sciences, University of Virginia via TheConversation.com 

Navigating holidays and special occasions with those who have experienced a loss can be complicated. But your presence and compassion in these moments can support their healing. Here are some practical tips for supporting someone who is grieving during these times: 

• Respect the boundaries of your loved one who’s grieving. Let them honor their emotions by going at their own pace.

• Remember that grief is not a problem to be solved, but a process to be supported. 

• Be present. A common fear is saying the wrong thing to someone who is grieving. Often, it’s not about saying the “perfect” thing, but simply showing up and listening without judgment. 

• Acknowledge the loss. Saying “I’ve been thinking about (their loved one) and how much they meant to you” or “I want you to know that I’ve been thinking about you and the significance of what you’re experiencing right now” can be more comforting than avoiding the subject. 

• Offer practical help. Grief can be debilitating and exhausting. Assisting with tasks like cooking, shopping or child care can relieve some of the burden. 

• If you don’t know what to say, it’s OK to admit it. A simple “I don’t have the right words, but I’m here for you” can mean a great deal. 

• Avoid phrases like “They’re in a better place” or “Everything happens for a reason.” While the intentions behind them are often good, these platitudes can feel dismissive. 

• Focus on empathy and validation. Saying “This must be so hard for you” or “Tell me more about what you’re feeling” opens the door to meaningful conversation and helps make space for the complex emotions that grief brings. 

 

COFFEE BEANS & BEINGS / NEW YORKER STYLE

"Would you mind a visitor or an espresso?  That frown intrigues me."
New Yorker cartoon by Bob Weber

 

FRIDAY AT THE FORTRESS /FORGIVE US FOR STILL NOT BOWING AND SCRAPING TO THE NEW REGIME

GUEST BLOG / By Carl Swanson, editor-at-large, New York Magazine--The Trump campaign has long been determined to put the mainstream media in its place. The courtiers and Hench people surrounding the once and future president have always complained that he is not treated with anything like the deference, much less the adulation, they believe he deserves. Since the election, the press has, logically enough, descended on Palm Beach — or at least just across the causeway in West Palm Beach, where the hotels are more affordable — to source up and cover the transition. But mostly, as media columnist Charlotte Klein reports, they have been shut out: Mar-a-Lago has always been a members-only club, but now it's a Secret Service–protected fortress, and anyone attempting to curry favor with the government-in-waiting knows better than to be caught talking in public to a reporter. (Just ask Todd Blanche, who was papped by OK Magazine having lunch with CNN’s Kaitlan Collins, a photo that was shown around like a warning.) It's likely a taste of what is to come: Trump’s comms director, Steven Cheung, is already directing his contempt ("fucking dummy") at members of the White House Correspondents Association's admittedly feckless unofficial press pool in Palm Beach. But at least the weather is nice.

THE FOODIST / BOXER LAUNCHES HIS OWN TACO SHOP

            Courtesy of the San Diego Union-Tribune
 

KIND READER THIS BLOG IS ON BEREAVEMENT LEAVE UNTIL DECEMBER 19, 2024

 

DEBBIE FREUD SHESS 
 [December 14, 1964 - October 6, 2024]
on her wedding day, August 3, 1996, Churchill Manor, Sonoma County.
Godspeed, Sweetness

.

FRIDAY FLATWARE / HOW TO SET A DINNER TABLE FOR THE NEW AGE

 

THE FOODIST / CRANBERRY BOGS—FOREVER

Workers adjust floating booms while wet harvesting cranberries at Rocky Meadow Bog in Middleborough, Mass. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa) 

Some of those Ocean Spray cranberries come from a bog in Massachusetts Workers adjust floating booms while wet harvesting cranberries at Rocky Meadow Bog, in Middleborough, Mass. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa) 

 GUEST BLOG / By Associated Press / Michael Casey reporting--Weeks before Thanksgiving, some of the cranberries that will be on dinner plates Thursday were floating on the Rocky Meadow bog in southeastern Massachusetts. 

The cranberries have turned this pond pinkish crimson. Several workers, up to their waist in water, gently corral the berries toward a pump that vacuums them up onto a waiting truck. There, the berries are run through a system that separates them from leaves and vines and are transported to processing plant, which eventually turns them into sauce, juice or sweet and dried berries. 

The native wetland plants that produce cranberries start growing in May. When they are ready to be harvested, farmers flood their bogs with water and send out a picking machine to shake the berries from the vines. Then more water is added to the bog, and the freed cranberries float to the surface.  

“The season has been pretty good this year. We’ve had a pretty good crop,” said Steve Ward, a second-generation cranberry grower. The harvest runs from September through early November, and Ward is expected to produce between 15,000 and 20,000 barrels, the best crop he has had in three years. About 80% of those berries will go to Ocean Spray, a massive producer of cranberry products in the U.S. Bogs number nearly 300 in Massachusetts that cover some 14,000 acres, and this year farmers are projected to produce 2.2 million barrels of cranberries, with one barrel amounting to 100 pounds (45 kilograms). 

That’s an increase of 12% over last year. Massachusetts is the second-biggest cranberry producing region in the U.S. behind Wisconsin, and the industry there dates back to the 1800s. 

Workers adjust floating booms, left, as cranberries are loaded for transport and processing during a wet harvest at Rocky Meadow Bog,in Middleborough, Mass.
(AP Photo/Charles Krupa) 

Despite the size of the sector, farmers in the state have weathered several challenges over the years, from trade wars to falling prices to a glut of berries. Some have sold off their bogs or moved to diversify by putting solar panels around their bogs. 

Ward has two solar sites near his bogs and is considering putting floating solar installations on his water holes and reservoirs. Ward said farmers are also having to adapt to a changing climate — which the Massachusetts Cranberries, a group that advocates on behalf of the industry, said could lead to a lower harvest this year. 

 Grower Ward adds. “We have had some challenges with some of the hot weather and had one of the longest dry spells we have ever had,” he said. “We are having more 90-degree (32 degrees Celsius) days clumped together. The cranberry plants just don’t like that type of weather. Our average temperatures, especially at night, are higher. Cranberries need cooler temperatures at night.” 

DESIGN / UKRAINE WAR’S IMPACT ON THAT REGION’S ART

Trauma of Ukraine war "is crucial for me as an architect" says Anhelina L Starkova, chief curator of this year's Tallinn Architecture Biennale. Photo by Helen Shets 

GUEST BLOG / By Nat Barker, Dezeen.com online architecture and design magazine--Anhelina L Starkova explains how her experience of living through the Ukraine war has shaped her approach to curating the 2024 Tallinn Architecture Biennale in this interview. Starkova, who was chief curator of this year's biennale, is from Kharkiv in north-east Ukraine – a city that has suffered heavy bombardment since Russia launched its invasion in February 2022, coming close to being captured early on in the conflict. 

 According to the curator, she experienced something close to an epiphany not long after the war began, while taking refuge in the bunker in her house as bombs fell around it "I remember that planes were flying around, and the building was shaking, and it was really the moment when you understand that it's probably your last minutes," she recalled. "I was standing with this wall, and I was thinking that this wall was a continuation of my body – this is me," she continued. "It was, for an architect, [a] very interesting feeling. Because I finished university, I had my 10 years in practice, and I still was not really immersed in architecture." 

"You always think it intellectually, but when I was in this bunker I started [to] think, 'oh my god, this is the only one thing that can really save me – this wall is the only one thing that I need'. It was a very existential experience." 

 

Titled "Resources for a Future" the exhibition explores innovative ways of using materials in architecture 

Later, while spending some time in Bucharest, visiting a shopping mall made her reconsider the value of architecture. "There's all this commercial architecture, and I feel such a disgust," she told Dezeen. "Like it's a cartoon, it's not real. I felt it not with my brain but with all my body: we live in a world of complete illusion." 

In other words, Starkova said, the traumatic experience of the war has given her a new sense of clarity about what really matters in architecture. "When the war started in the Ukraine, that was crucial for me as an architect," she explained. "I didn't expect that it would influence me so much personally." 

"Everything kind of started to be very clear: many, many things that we add to architecture – these addictive visions – are extra things, and they are not making buildings in a total way." 

"If I would like to continue [in architecture] then I would need to isolate myself from all this gallery of thinking, which I can't stand anymore." 

 Instead, Starkova, who as well as running her own studio lectures at the University of Applied Sciences of the Grisons and Kharkiv School of Architecture, has become more interested in the bare essentials of architecture. "Really great architecture, it's about durability factors, the functionality, but also giving people a kind of stability and safety," she said. 

"In the end, it's mostly about our immersion." Starkova has applied this back-to-basics philosophy to her curation of the seventh Tallinn Architecture Biennale, which opened in the Estonian capital recently. 

 Pihlmann Architects presented a proposition for changing the function of a building by changing parts of its floorplates into ramps 

At the centre of this year's biennale is an exhibition exploring the theme of Resources for a Future, hosted by the Estonian Centre for Architecture. Featuring 14 exhibits from studios including Gus Wüstemann Architects, KAMP Arhitektid, Déchelette Architecture and Pihlmann Architects, it examines different approaches to using local resources for creating new buildings and prolonging the life of existing ones. 

"I had conversations with each architect that you have to look at the basics and the fundamental, real feel of what you are doing," Starkova said. "And even asked each architect, when you're talking about resources, what really fosters you to do architecture, what supports you? 

And each installation showed the answers." For instance, Denmark-based Pihlmann Architects created a large model of a stripped-back building shell where part of each floor had been cut out and sloped downwards to form a ramp up from the floor below. "It was really about this idea of purification," said Starkova. "You see an old building and you just do not add anything. You see the nature of the building and you're trying to heal it or to reformulate its elements." 

 Déchelette Architecture's exhibit showcased rammed-earth pillars using material dug locally to Tallinn 

That, she said, is a lesson she learned while working on repairs to damaged buildings in Kharkiv during the war. "You're trying to compose it again, to heal it, and then it gets another conceptual environment – another feeling, and it's already architecture." 

"Architecture is the constant process of thinking of your relation to materials, different elements, and assemblage of them in a holistic way." At the centre of the exhibition are a series of pillars erected by rammed-earth specialist Emmanuelle Déchelette of Paris studio Déchelette Architecture, with the material dug locally to Tallinn. 

"It's about doing a lot with nothing, that complete purification," said Starkova. "To avoid this ideological or even social architecture." The participating architects were given a deliberately open brief, because Starkova felt the exhibition was "not about dogmas". As a result, the exhibits are highly varied in form and approach. They range from a huge chunk of a restored traditional Estonian log house by Apex Arhitektuuribüroo to an abstract proposal for a public space created only by digging by Romanian architect Laura Cristea and Swiss architect Raphael Zuber. 

In another, Estonian studio KAMP Arhitektid presented research on the surprising breadth of potential building materials that can be found on one specific 15 square-kilometre piece of land in the country. 

"Each project was a surprise because I didn't know any of them personally before the exhibition," said Starkova. 

 

A research project by KAMP Arhitektid demonstrated potential building materials found on a single plot of land 

That effect was only heightened by the fact that Starkova managed the whole project remotely, only arriving in Tallinn a few days before the exhibition opened. She began with a list of more than 500 architects whose work she admires, eventually selecting those who she felt "were the most radical in their thinking". 

The Ukraine war is referenced in one installation, produced by Elina Liiva and Helena Manna in collaboration with PAKK, composed of a series of images of apartment living rooms printed on translucent fabric and placed in a line, with chunk of concrete lying nearby that corresponds with a hole cut into the scene. But beyond that, Starkova deliberately avoided making the conflict a direct focus of the exhibition, believing that it may detract from a sense of immediacy. 

"During the war, it's not a place for architecture – mostly a place for thinking," she said. "And yes, architects are trying to think, with the support of international world architecture, what could be done [after the war]. But I just wanted to stay honest and not be futuristic." 

 Overall, Starkova hopes the exhibition will enable visitors "to learn from architects that architecture is simple to do, and that the formulas are quite simple". As well as leading curation of the exhibition, Starkova was also head judge for the biennale's customary pavilion commission competition, this time for a bus shelter at Tallinn's Balti Jaam transit hub. 

Out of more than 80 entries, the winner was No Time to Waste by Belgian architecture duo Brasebin Terrisse. The central concept of the pavilion, which is still completing construction, was that the design would be led by whatever construction off-cut materials could be sourced in Tallinn. "This was the only project who said that we have an open end – we do not propose [a] form of the installation, we prepare that we come to Tallinn, we test a local situation and after we will develop a form given when doing the work on it," said Starkova. 

 

A competition to design a pavilion for the biennale was won by Brasebin Terrisse's project No Time to Waste 

"So the rendering of the project itself is just a library of technology that they would like to use, but the form must be made later during the working process," she added. "It followed the course of the biennale." 

With the biennale's opening-week programme complete, Starkova has now returned to Kharkiv, where many buildings lie in ruins in a city that was previously celebrated for its rich and varied architectural heritage. "It's all so difficult," she reflected. "Kharkiv is changing, it is in constant change." 

"It's absolutely impossible to live, because you live in that mode of always existential crisis – on the edge, always. You go to bed, you don't know you're going to wake up. You go outside, you don't know you're coming back." 

"Maybe it brings some beauty, because we actually live in this way, all of us – right on the edge." 

The photography is by Tõnu Tunnel unless stated otherwise. 

 

AMERICANA / CUTTING IT IN THE BIG LEAGUES

The following article by Benjamin Hill is from his pro baseball newsletter called Ben’s Buzz. He travels the nation collecting stories about what makes Minor League Baseball unique. This excerpt from his newsletter -- which he reported on from Madison, Ala.,is one of those stories. 

GUEST BLOG / By Ben Hill, baseball blogger/columnist--Victor Mederos, a 23-year-old right-hander, currently occupies a spot on the Los Angeles Angels’ 40-man roster and has spent parts of the past two seasons with the big league club. 

The Cuban native[ nee: Santa Clara, Cuba] spent the bulk of the ’23 and ’24 campaigns with the Double-A Rocket City Trash Pandas, however, and during this time he earned an additional, albeit unofficial, job title: Clubhouse barber. In this role, Mederos performs an essential service, with the added benefit of learning about his teammates via whatever conversation topic may arise. 

He has cut the hair of dozens of his teammates and team staff members, prompting then minor league clubhouse manager Bubba Hearn to purchase a used barber chair for him to use. 

That was a crucial pick-up, as Mederos no longer had to bend down to reach the hair of his “customers.” But no matter the accouterments, or lack thereof, Mederos is committed to the craft. He said that cutting hair is something he learned to do when he was a kid, but it “really started in college.” 

“Cutting hair was peaceful to me,” said Mederos, who started 20 games for the Trash Pandas this season and spent time with the Angels, High-A Tri-City, and Triple-A Salt Lake. 

“You get to sit in a chair, get a haircut, have a conversation that has nothing to do with baseball and, you know, just be a normal person. We can literally talk about anything you want.” 

Speaking of stories.   Mederos shares his own life story -- one he categorized as “crazier than most” -- willingly and openly, prefacing it with a baseball metaphor: “Life always throws you a curveball, and you just gotta take whatever it gives you, learn from it, build on it, grow from it and just be who you are.” 

The “curveball” in this scenario is the long saga that saw Mederos and his family leave their native Cuba to start a new life in the United States. His father, Victor Sr., left for the U.S. when Mederos was just two months old. He and his older brother, Vitin, stayed in Cuba with his mother, Odalys. Victor Sr. settled in Miami, attained U.S. citizenship, worked all manner of jobs and, five years later, arranged for his family to join him. 

The plan was for them to travel to Costa Rica and then meet a man who would bring them to the United States. “Mom was a lawyer in Cuba for 22 years, so she was able to get a work visa to go to Costa Rica,” he said. “We stayed there for about six months. 

One day my dad told us we were going to leave. And that’s when the journey began.” The route, arduous and at times harrowing, took them from Costa Rica to Nicaragua to Honduras to Guatemala to Mexico to, finally, the U.S.-Mexico border into Texas. 

Mederos, age 7, began life anew in Miami and was soon introduced, via a family friend, to the game of baseball. “I fell in love at first sight,” he said. “First game I ever played in I had a home run. That’s what hooked me.” After some offensive struggles led Mederos to conclude that he “couldn’t hit anymore,” he started working with a pitching coach, Cuban baseball veteran Maels Rodriguez. 

He drew notice early, committing to the University of Miami as an eighth grader, though, as he put it, “things just didn’t happen for me there.” Mederos eventually transferred to Oklahoma State, where he benefited from the tutelage of legendary pitching coach Rob Walton. 

The Angels selected him in the sixth round of the 2022 Draft and that season he began his professional career as a member of the High-A Tri-City Dust Devils. Less than a year later he made his Major League debut. Mederos has now appeared in seven big league games over the past two seasons and, in that time, he also started 40 games for the Trash Pandas. Wherever he ends up in 2025 -- Angel Stadium is obviously the goal -- he’s likely to have his scissors and clippers with him. 

MEDIA MONDAY / LA GRANDE DAME

 

Ce soir, à la réouverture de la Cathédrale Notre-Dame, nous sommes tous Français

SUNDAY REVIEW / THE UNSUNG WALTER REED

Dr. Walter Reed, an American Army physician, is renowned for his groundbreaking contributions to understanding and combating yellow fever, a disease that had plagued tropical regions and claimed countless lives. 

In the early 1900s, Reed led the United States Army Yellow Fever Commission in Cuba, where he and his team made a pivotal discovery: yellow fever was transmitted by the Aedes aegypti mosquito, overturning the previous belief that the disease spread through direct human contact or contaminated objects. 

This revelation fundamentally changed public health approaches and had far-reaching impacts: Control of Yellow Fever: Reed’s identification of mosquitoes as the disease's vector enabled effective strategies for controlling outbreaks by targeting mosquito populations. 

Measures such as eliminating standing water and reducing mosquito breeding grounds drastically reduced cases, saving untold lives and curbing the devastation caused by yellow fever. 

 Safer Conditions in Tropical Regions: Reed’s work directly contributed to the success of major engineering projects, particularly the construction of the Panama Canal. 

Earlier canal-building efforts were hampered by high mortality rates from yellow fever and malaria among workers. With mosquito control strategies informed by Reed’s findings, workers faced significantly reduced risks, enabling the project’s eventual completion and reshaping global trade. 

 Foundation of Vector-Borne Disease Research: Reed’s methods and discoveries laid the groundwork for modern research on vector-borne diseases. His pioneering work influenced subsequent studies on other mosquito-borne illnesses, such as malaria and dengue fever, establishing principles guide epidemiology and public health practices today. 

 Dr. Walter Reed’s legacy endures as a cornerstone of modern medicine and public health. His name graces numerous medical institutions, including the renowned Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, in recognition of his transformative impact. Reed’s work demonstrates the power of scientific discovery to combat disease, improve public health, and save lives worldwide. 

COFFEE BEANS & BEINGS / REFUEL AT HANGAR CAFE

After a few hours of historical site-seeing and strolling outdoors in the Hawaiian sun, everyone wants the same thing; a cool spot inside to sit down, a cold refreshing drink, and a bite to eat to satisfy their hunger. 

That is exactly what’s offered at Pearl Harbor Aviation Museum. The Hangar Café is located inside our Historic Hangar 37 and is open daily from 11am-3pm. 

Because the Hangar Cafe is located on an active military base, Ford Island, visitors access our Museum via free shuttle service, straight to our front doors. You will then find the entrance to the café just a few steps inside the Museum where you will be greeted with cool A/C, retro décor, many tables to choose from, and a fresh new menu. 

Pearl Harbor Aviation Museum 

Historic Ford Island 319 Lexington Blvd. 

Honolulu, HA

Pearl Harbor

Hangar Cafe Ford Island Pearl Harbor

 

FRIDAY ON THE FLATTOP / USS MIDWAY LIGHTS UP FOR THE HOLIDAYS

Now through Dec. 23, the USS Midway Museum will be aglow like one huge Christmas tree. Enjoy the USS Midway Museum's 2nd Annual Jingle Jets on board holiday celebrations. 

 View the historic aircraft carrier transform into a festive holiday wonderland on the bay, dazzling from bow to stern with 750,000 twinkling lights! Whimsical music, tasty treats, and festive fun for the whole family. On board festivities are set from 5:30 to 9:30 pm. 

 Tickets are available only online.  CLICK HERE 

Highlight: Not to miss a photo opportunity with Santa in his flight suit Jingle Jets is sponsored by Bank of America. 

THE FOODIST / ONCE PROUD ALEPPO RESTAURANT IN TATTERS

 

Before and after of the Olympia Restaurant in Aleppo, Syria

GUEST BLOG / By PillartoPost.org correspondent, Damascus--The Olympia Restaurant in Aleppo, Syria, was once operated on Pennsylvania Street in the city, a notable area for its historical landmarks and vibrant culture. 

Unfortunately, it suffered severe damage during the Syrian civil war, as part of widespread destruction across Aleppo's urban fabric. The restaurant became an emblem of the city's cultural loss after its iconic building was destroyed. No confirmed reports are indicating that the Olympia Restaurant has been rebuilt or reopened at the original site or elsewhere. 

While other establishments in Aleppo have resumed operations in different forms, the Olympia appears to remain a poignant reminder of the city's challenging recovery process. Now that Syrian rebels have invaded Aleppo there is no telling if the shelling will resume. 

 The rebel forces that invaded Aleppo on November 29, 2024, were primarily led by Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), an Islamist militant group. They were joined by other Turkish-backed factions as part of a coordinated offensive against pro-government forces in northwestern Syria. 

This offensive marked the first significant fighting in Aleppo since its recapture by government forces in 2016. The rebels have reportedly captured significant parts of the city amidst heavy clashes.  

Western news sources report some units of the Syrian Army are leaving Aleppo.

DESIGN / SABINE MARCELIS, DESIGNER OF THE YEAR

"I decided I didn't want to work for anyone..."
Photo: Studio Kleiner

GUEST BLOG / By Caisa Carlson, DeZeen online architecture magazine-- Dutch designer Sabine Marcelis, who was yesterday named designer of the year at this year's Dezeen Awards, talks about the difficulties facing emerging designers in this interview. 

Marcelis, who is known for her work in resin and stone, began her career after studying industrial design in Wellington, New Zealand, before doing a degree at Design Academy Eindhoven. After graduating in 2011, she quickly decided she wanted to work for herself. 

"I decided I don't want to work for anyone; I was like 'I'll just start my own studio,'" she told Dezeen. 

"I wanted to do my own thing, and I was lucky enough to get a very cheap studio and an equally cheap house, so I wasn't under so much pressure to do work that brought in money to pay for my living expenses," she added. "I was just doing things like babysitting and bar work." 

"I really feel for young designers now" 

Marcelis knows how lucky she was to be starting at a time when this was possible, and doesn't believe that would be the case today. 

"I really feel for young designers now, because straightaway, you have crazy high living costs," she said. "I got very lucky in this moment where I was able to experiment and do whatever; it didn't matter whether there was a market for what I was doing or if anyone was interested in it. I uncompromisingly did my own thing." 

A job for a big fashion house, which Marcelis said she can't name, led her to design the 'candy cubes' for which she has become known. The pale-pastel-coloured tables are instantly recognisable and have been used in numerous interior projects. 

Above: recent works include a fountain in Amsterdam.
Photo courtesy of SolidNature 

But though it's what people often associate her with, resin pieces make up just a third of her studio's projects. 

"Two-thirds is glass," Marcelis said. "Both materials have the ability to become so many different things – their properties can be the whole spectrum of completely transparent and glossy to completely opaque and matte and everything in between." 

"I'm interested in how certain materials can have interactions with light and how you activate and use the natural surroundings, like sunlight, with a combination of materials," she added. 

 She believes that her extensive work with resin has meant that she can have an impact on the sustainability of the material. 

"We buy resin from a supplier and the more projects we do, the more voice we have about whether they're going to put more bio percentage in the resin," she explained. 

"Because we've been working with them for quite some time, we've been able to push them to get the non-virgin percentage of the resin to almost 60 per cent." Designers need to be "extremely aware" of sustainability issues.

To Marcelis, when it comes to sustainability it's important that designers do the research and have all the information they need. 

"The main thing to do as a designer is to be as well informed as possible, to be able to make the right decisions depending on which market you're working in and what the application and desired lifeline of a project is," she said. 

Her clients have also become more interested in sustainability issues, she added. "Not that long ago, no one gave a merde at all," Marcelis said. "But we all have a responsibility and I think we need to be extremely aware of it and not just frivolously design new chairs every year." 

Marcelis has designed a conceptual Twingo car for Renault 

Marcelis is becoming one of the best-known female designers working today and has worked on everything from a conceptual Renault car to IKEA products, but she says the design industry can still be harder to break into for women. 

"It's so tricky because I feel like a lot of bigger brands are a bit stuck in their ways," she said."They've worked with a lot of big-name males for many years, they like that relationship and they carry on that relationship." However, she believes that this is also because brands aren't open enough to working with emerging designers in general. 

"I almost feel like it's a dual conversation that's not just gender but also age, because there's not a lot of opportunities for new designers coming into the field," she said. 

"And I think that's really a mistake because new brains; new ideas – the doors should be much more open for that." 

AlUla project "was really about empowerment" 

For this year's Milan design week, Marcelis had originally planned to take a step back after doing a number of big projects in previous years, including an installation with Solid Nature in 2023. 

But she got asked, together with her partner, architect Paul Cournet, to create an installation for the AlUla design space. 

The result was a lounge space with a soft overhead light, which featured sculptural chairs by French designer Leo Orta and a large sofa by design studio Hall Haus that created a desert-like landscape. 

The space also showcased pieces that were made during a design residency at AlUla by other designers. 

"The fact that it was more about cinematography and creating a stage for other designers was really attractive to me," Marcelis said. "[I was] still doing something very creative and being able to set a mood, but it wasn't so much 'look at me', it was more 'look at these other designs'." 

 The AlUla project resembled a desert landscape 

AlUla is one of Saudi Arabia's 14 giga projects, developed as part of crown prince Mohammad bin Salman's Vision 2030 plan to transform the country. 

His country has been criticised for its record on human rights, especially in connection with another of the giga projects, Neom. 

But Marcelis believes that projects like AlUla can be an opportunity for change. "What was really pleasantly surprising is that it's not one of those projects where it's about bringing Western designers and lumping them in this foreign country, taking elements and then that's it," she said. 

"The whole AlUla design space is very much about developing a culture of design within the region and having local craftsmen involved," she added. "So the whole project was really about empowerment." 

"I think it's the wrong way to go around something where, yes, there are some not-great things about political policies – but then I don't know if it's the right way to go about it to completely put off any opportunities to change, because I feel like projects like this are an opportunity for change." 

"I want to be 100 per cent involved" 

Another recent project, VitraHaus loft, saw Marcelis design an interior for furniture brand Vitra's Herzog & de Meuron-designed flagship store in Weil am Rhein, Germany. 

However, she doesn't plan to focus on doing more interior projects in the future. "I don't want to do more interiors – I love being the person that goes in and out of architectural projects," she explained. "Like with OMA, when they did the KaDeWe in Berlin, I come in to do the entrance and then I leave again; that's my strength." 

"With Vitra, it was an interesting challenge because it's so different to what I normally do and how I work." 

Her eight-person studio is also currently exploring smart-material technology designs and kinetic designs, such as her recent work for Atlanta's High Museum of Art. "I want to be 100 per cent involved in every single project," Marcelis concluded. "I don't have any desire to become a brand or a studio where things leave the building without me ever having looked at it. It's my name, and I think it's very important that it's also then my ideas." 

Sabine Marcelis, Designer of the Year

RETRO FILES/ OLD PHOTOS URBAN/RURAL AMERICANA

URBAN.  Owner stands outside his deli in Harlem, New York City, 1937.

RURAL. Hanging out on the front steps of a grocery store in backcountry North Carolina, 1939.

MEDIA MONDAY / REAL REINDEER

GUEST BLOG / National Geographic Photograph by Katie Orlinsky--Inuvialuit herders move Northwest Territories [Canada’s] last free-range herd of reindeer, numbering around 4,000, above, to the animals’ calving grounds. The Inuvialuit Regional Corporation took full ownership of the herd in 2021 with a goal of growing a sustainable food source for the region. 

See map, below. 

 

Inuvialuit reindeer herder at work. Photo: Elizabeth Kolb 

SUNDAY REVIEW / TUSCAN CHILD BY RHYS BOWEN

Well, well, well…what have we here? The Tuscan Child by Rhys Bowen is a historical fiction novel that intertwines two timelines—post-World War II Italy and 1970s England. 

It tells the story of Joanna Langley, who uncovers her late father's wartime secrets while searching for closure after his death. Her journey takes her to Tuscany, where she pieces together the enigmatic relationship between her father, Hugo Langley, and a mysterious woman named Sofia. 

 Bowen masterfully describes the Tuscan countryside, capturing its charm and beauty. The atmospheric detail immerses readers in both the rural Italian villages and the English estate. 

 

The alternating chapters between Hugo’s wartime experiences and Joanna’s modern investigation provide a compelling contrast, enriching the narrative. 

 Dangers are a bit underplayed much as Agatha Christie portrays murder. Bowen’s main scare is will Tuscan Child turn into a cozy or a more modern mystery. 

Having said that don’t underestimate this author. The plotting may at times seem familiar but only if you don't read carefully.  Bottom line is Bowen hatches a solid plot. We are constantly asking who is this Tuscan Child? Does he or she really exist? If so, we must keep reading and reading and reading.  Is there an immaculate conception here aptly consummated in the abbey?  For that to unfold one is happy it is not a longer work.

Characters save the day. Hugo Langley is a complex character whose wartime decisions and secrets drive the plot. Joanna’s personal growth and discovery also feel authentic and relatable. 

 The story has a slow-burning romance and a touch of mystery that keeps readers engaged, especially as Joanna unravels her father's hidden past.  The Tuscan Child is a heartfelt, easy-to-read novel that blends mystery, romance, and history. It appeals to readers who enjoy atmospheric settings and family secrets but may feel light for those seeking intricate historical depth. 

Despite its simplicity, the novel's charm lies in its depiction of love and resilience against the backdrop of war and its aftermath. The novel has a kitchen and hearth element to it. The food and the coziness of a small Tuscan cottage is endearing and not a bit corny. It makes one eager for Italian cuisine: now. 

Available in bookstores and online. 

About Rhys Bowen 

She has written more than 40 novels, including historical mystery series and stand-alone novels. She has won multiple Agatha, Anthony, and Macavity Awards. Born a Brit but now is a Zonie, an escape to the American desert to avoid the harsh California winters.