domingo, junho 21, 2009

Strange Buildings - Part V: Basket Building - Ohio, USA


What started out as a dream by Dave Longaberger, Founder of The Longaberger Company, has been built into a giant basket to house the entire corporate offices of the company.
Dave believed the idea was one of his best and would draw attention to the company, while simultaneously helping to build the brand.
However, when he started spreading the idea of building a Home Office that was really a basket, he found that most people just thought that Dave was making a joke as Dave was a notorious practical joker.
Not only did the bankers, architects and construction companies not take Dave seriously, neither did many of the employees who worked for The Longaberger Company, but Dave persevered.
One of Dave's most admirable attributes was that when he had a dream and believed in it, he always found a way to accomplish it, and he did. Dave's dream was achieved on December 17, 1997 when the Home Office that is designed to resemble a basket finally opened for business.

In 1998, The Longaberger Home Office also received a Build Ohio Award for its synthetic plaster system.
The building is made of stucco over a steel structure, which helps create the look of an actual Longaberger Basket.
The Home Office continues to attract the attention of media from around the world, even as far away as Tokyo.
While the exterior of the Home Office is a marvel in itself, the building's interior is truly breathtaking.
A grand staircase, player piano and marble floors are just part of the beautiful décor of the building's seven story atrium. The majority of the cherry woodwork used in the Home Office was harvested from the Longaberger Golf Club in Hanover; dried in theirs facility; sawed and shaped at theirs Construction Woodshop; finished in theirs Construction Paint Booth and installed by theirs Construction Division.

The Home Office is a site worth touring whether you are on your way to Longaberger Homestead or any other Longaberger destination.














Bart's Blackboard


I do not have diplomatic immunity

in Marge in Chains, Episode 80, Season 4

domingo, junho 07, 2009

Darwin Awards - Clotheslined!


Named in honor of Charles Darwin, the father of evolution, the Darwin Awards commemorate those who improve our gene pool by removing themselves from it.

Here's one of the most recent stories:


Clotheslined!

2008 Darwin Award Nominee - Confirmed True by Darwin
(13 January 2008, Florida)

Wearing only swim trunks and sneakers, a 37-year-old man raced his motorcycle toward the Manasota Key drawbridge.
As the bridge began to open, it was clear that he intended to "shoot the gap."
Bridge designers had anticipated such lunacy and invented the crossing guard.
The closing gates swept him off his Suzuki, over the side of the bridge, into the water, and out of the gene pool.
By a twist of fate the motorcycle continued up the ramp and made it across to the other side.


More stories in www.darwinawards.com. Don't miss it!

Bart's Blackboard


I will not sell miracle cures

in The Front, Episode 78, Season 4