Paper to the Rescue

I lived in Japan for 3 years.  In the past 10 years I've traveled to Sendai at least a dozen times.  On my last trip I stayed in a small hotel adjacent to Soma harbor.  I've ridden the Joban train line past the Fukushima reactors too many times to remember.  Japan is where I grew up as a young adult.  It is where my is heart now.

This morning the New York Times published an interesting interview with Japanese Architect Shigeru Ban.  You can view it here.  Ban has made something of a career out of making temporary shelters to house victims of natural disasters.  What we at Monkey Design like most about them is that they are made of paper!  The houses below are located in India.

Rolled into tight logs, paper is a strong, durable, and inexpensive building material.  The houses below are located in Turkey.

 

Papercrafting is a long an time-honored tradition in Japan and elsewhere in Asia.  One needs only to deconstruct an origami crane to witness the ingenuity and strength of the design.  I believe it is that same ingenuity and strength which will help the Japanese rebuild after this tragic disaster.

Phone Home

My Western Electric Model 302

This summer I bought an old Western Electric Model 302 telephone at a garage sale for $4.  I just loved the look of it and longed to hear the ring that punctuated my childhood.  It may just be the best $4 I ever spent.

When I got home I researched the phone on the internet to see what I’d just bought and found that the 302 model dates back to 1937 and was in production until at least 1958.  My phone had all the characteristics of one of the earlier models so I’m guessing it was made sometime in the 40s.  But with little rewiring and a new RJ11 jack it was as good as new.

Aside from the nostalgic finger wheel dial, ringer bell, and classic black finish, what impresses me about this phone is its durability, heft, and compatibility.  Its body is made of thermoplastic which despite its 70 or so years on this earth has remarkably few blemishes.  Don’t get me wrong, this is one well-used phone!  No collector’s item here.  It simply has withstood the test of time.  Because it’s heavy and is well padded with cork feet, it won’t budge when the cord to the handset is extended.

The handset is made of bakelite- the same stuff that they once made radios from.  I swear it’s filled with lead because it’s heavy too.  Maybe back then they wanted you to put some effort into the act of talking.  When rewiring the phone I was amazed to find strain relief hooks and eyes on the inside that prevented the cord from being pulled away from the electric terminals.  Now that’s engineering! 

And talk about backward compatibility, all the rewiring I did was to simply replace the old connecting wire with a newer one with a standard RJ11 jack that would easily plug into my home’s phone system.  I didn’t have to replace any of the internal wiring- it was intact.  However, I did have to reattach the ground to the ringer bell which someone had disconnected to silence the phone as there was no on-off switch on the ringer at that time.  Fortunately, that someone kindly left a simple diagram inside the phone showing how to reactivate the bell!

So why am I so in love with this phone?  Simply put, it takes me back to a time when things were well-designed and built, often mostly by hand, to last.  When I lift the receiver there’s a weight of purpose to it that tells me not to take what I do too lightly. 

It's also what I like about Monkey Design products.  With just a little effort, a touch of craftiness, and a small investment of time, you can make something well-designed, durable, and timeless. 

Maybe you'd like to make your own phone... 

Monkey Design Papercraft Telephone

Monkey Goes Surfin' Safari

Once upon a time there was a cute little monkey with a big case of wanderlust. He wore a snappy cape with matching red shorts and a letter “M” on his chest.  His wandering lead to many, many adventures like the time when...

Monkey hopped a plane from Chicago bound for Los Angeles just to surf the waves!  Ever a fan of the Beach Boys, he just wanted to go on a surfin’ safari and meet a few cute beachcombers. 

Needless to day, he made a lot of friends zipping through southern Cal and while his reentry back to life in Chicago was a bit chilly, he’s managed to keep a smile on his face.

 

What We Did On Our Summer Vacation

When we read about how the airlines are economizing by charging for extra bags we should have known that the Top Banana would welch on his promise to take us to Japan in style. The good new is that we did go to Japan, though the only style I'd say we were close to was 19th century cattle car!


It was a long flight, 14 hours to be exact, and when we got to Tokyo we thought we'd died and gone to hell. I mean it was that hot. But once we acclimated , oh my, did we feel right at home! Can you believe it- everyone there looks just like we do! Just look. Dino finally met someone as big and green as himself!

Even Clownfish made a new friend... Qoo! They rode the Bullet Train together all the way from Tokyo to Nagoya. Inseparable!


And we all had a great time with our new friend, Saru Bobo. That means "Monkey Baby" in Japanese. See! I told you everyone there looks like we do! Here we are posing together for the obligatory photo.


We're all still sorting out our photos and after we do, we'll post a few more. Hope you enjoyed seeing these!

Monkey

Team Meeting

This morning Top Banana enticed us into attending a team meeting with coffee and home baked banana bread that TV Girl made. Unfortunately, Dino gets a bit 'buzzed' on coffee and we had to cut him off after 5 cups. I, however, showed admirable restraint with the banana bread!

There's been a lot going on here at MDUSA! TV Girl has worn herself out updating our website! It should be up and running later today. Oh, and did I mention the banana bread??

Top Banana is busy creating new point-of-purchase displays. He says he really wants to show us off. I though it was because he's proud of us, but when I asked he said it's all about selling cards and not to let it go to our heads. Talk about tough love! Anyway, he said the displays should be ready in another week. Let's hope so, he's been a bit grouchy lately!

Anyway, we hope you visit us in a store near you soon... real soon! Sumperman says he's bored hanging around with us and frankly we're ready to ship him off somewhere, but that's another story. Anyway, we're popping up in new stores all the time so keep your eyes peeled for us.

TTFN,

Monkey

Finding one's voice

Woe is me… what’s a monkey to do?

The Top Banana set up this blog almost a month ago and told me I’d better get busy writing “content” (What is that anyway? Stories, news, and even musing I can do, but content?). I’ve actually put pencil to paper several times but nothing seems to fit. Nothing seems right. Come on big guy cut me some slack! I’m just a monkey- sheesh!

Anyway, I talked it over with the Gang and they went easy on me for the first couple of days then they started turning on me. I guess they want their 15 minutes of fame. TV Girl, always the one with her head in the lights, began giving me not so gentle jabs like: “What do you call a monkey with writer’s block? A choked-up chimp!” Ha-ha. The fact of the matter is, I haven’t found my voice yet. Don’t get me wrong, I can hoot and holler with the best of the Gang, but for some reason, when asked to toot my own horn, I clam up.

Here’s what I’m thinking. I want this space to be about the Gang and me. I want it to be about our adventures near and far. Occasionally I’ll be turning the pen over to the other Monkey Gang members (Dragon Girl of Misery says she’d love a turn but I don’t know… could be too depressing!). I’d also love to hear from you and some of your adventures with the gang.

Oh... Here's some good news- Top Banana says he' taking me to Japan in July. Woo-hoo! I hear those crazy Japanese monkeys really swing!! He hasn’t said who else will be going along but knowing him I’m betting he’ll play favorites.

Hang in there.

Home at Last!

We've found a home for our stories at last!

For the past several weeks we've been hanging around http://www.MonkeyDesignUSA.com, but it's a bit stiff for us. We need our space. We need to be free. We're constantly adding new members to the Gang and everyone needs to find their own voice. That's what I say anyway.

In these pages you'll read our latest stories, learn our foibles and follies, listen to our musings, see us in our not-so-native habitats, and, we hope, laugh with us as we explore your world.

We welcome your comments, ideas, and appreciate your visits.

Don't be a stranger!