Yo, 2012!

pic from SuperRadNow

 Already 2012 is teaching me special lessons on coveting things beyond my grasp! Doggone you, Austin Cox aluminum chess set from 1962. It's not so amazing in this pic, but we saw one in person a few days ago at Moderne in Berkeley, a place I was always afraid to enter because it appeared to contain only expensive midcentury magic prizes for those in a higher tax bracket, and it was a real sight to behold.

Especially right after my trip to the Walt Disney Family Museum (much more on this later), its resemblance to the It's a Small World castle was obvious to me and even clear to Peter, who is ambivalent about Disney but excited about metalwork. Do I have $650 for a decorative chess set? No, I do not. This is why I need to become an art director on Mad Men. The real glory of this thing is the way it looks behind the blue plastic box.