Episode 287: The Ephemeral & The Ethereal

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It's one thing to reduce the weight of our things with new materials and construction techniques. It's quite another, though, to lighten them so much that their functional lives are compromised, leaving one with useless junk. I explore all-too-often tension between long-lived and lightened in this Episode 287: The Ephemeral & The Ethereal.

In this episode, I read from my computer's quickie dictionary. I recount a whole bunch of stuff from memory, mostly about Buckminster Fuller; here's a link to a Wiki page on Ephemeralization. Also, I describe several online videos, many by the Brothers Make, and another video that defies Fuller's silly ephemeralization definition by being both heavy in its construction and, as a consequence, perhaps one of the best cars anyone can purchase today.



Musically, John McKenna helps us understand the real meaning of the ephemeral and sings us out, both with his song "Mayfly." KMFDM opens the show backing Henry Giroux; and Julie & Rolf & The Campfire Gang sing us out with "Over the Rainbow."

Behold, the fugly but functional!