Smallist

Carrie and I travelled through Santa Barbara recently, and absolutely loved the city. Real estate there is expensive as hell, though. So it’s only natural that someone would decide to build up.

The Ablitt Tower House is built on a 20×20 lot, using rebar construction typical of a skyscraper. It has its own website, chock full of photos. But the architect’s site also features the plans and model. He also builds huts.

Via the Small House Society, which we will be visiting again. It’s a gold mine.

In my earlier post about hypermiling, I referred to drafting a truck as “a bit of a hack”:

You’re just trading your own carbon emissions for the truck’s really.

My brother said this probably isn’t true, since the vacuum would be there anyway. So I asked Metafilter.

The consensus seems to be that, no, it’s not a zero-sum one-for-one tradeoff. In fact, a properly proportioned train of cars behind the truck would improve its profile and reduce its slipstream. But it’s not entirely clear whether the car’s presence actually benefits the truck. With the new shit that’s come to light, it sounds to me like it does.

So I’m googling for small things, miniaturization, et. al… and I stumble upon the strange world of the shrinking woman fetish. The technical name for this kink is “microphilia,” and the Japanese call it koonago. The less said about koonago, the better.

The reviews page is worth checking out. Each film (most of which are mainstream science fiction, comedy, or fantasy movies) is examined on the basis of what scale is used (12:1 dollhouse scale being most common), how well the girl’s interaction with the larger world and characters is portrayed, and how sexy it is.

Poor Lily Tomlin, unfortunately, is given no love for what I would’ve considered the seminal shrinking woman movie:

Anyhow, this is a film that COULD have been a classic for SW fans, but because of the choice of lead actress, it now sits unwatched on video store shelves. I for one would love to see a remake, with a more serious story and a better job of casting. How about Yasmine Bleeth? Now there’s a shrinking woman who would be REALLY incredible.

Man, even the microphiliacs are guilty of lookism.

I’d love to see the ad for this place in Brazil:

COZY conv. one bedroom in up-and-coming neighborhood.  High ceilings, great mountain views, proximity to fine dining.  Pets: Ferrets and snakes OK.

I’m not sure how this is a huge advance for the green movement (and thus worthy of Treehugger) but it’s a helluva small house. Looks like the kind of thing that would arise from if the park-by-the-meter proposal below was extended to tax-by-the-frontage.

Guimp claims to be the worlds smallest website, at 18×18 pixels. Complete with a shop, blog, and search feature. Cute.