Met History wrote:

>
> if all the preservationists in the world got together to design a
> "good" aluminum exterior house covering, what would it look like?   (i
> bet most wouldn't show up "on principle")

Sharpshooter,

It would look like paint.
My surmise is that the most positive development along these lines is in
increasing the durability of breathable coatings that would eliminate
the presumed needs for residing.
Aluminum manufacture uses a lot of electricity... which puts people in
mind to build larger nuclear reactors in order to meet the demands of
progress.
There is a reason that Napolean had only one aluminum pot.

As to aluminum residing... there is a section of Brooklyn East of the
now fashionable Williamsburg that is melding from solid Italian to
yuppie artiste... the Italians were early converts to aluminum siding.
They put aluminum siding over the asphaltic faux brick (think 90 lb
roofing that looks like brick??) that was already nailed over the 19th
century wood detailing. If aluminum siding has been in place for more
than 30 years, and you count the layers of residing... is it then
historic? It is certainly, in this section of Brooklyn, a cultural
phenomena that records the movement of immigration and asssimilation.
There are a few buildings, very few here and there that retain the
original wood detailing, which is exquisite considering that this was
not wealthy housing. What interests me also is that the building
skeletons are a hybrid of masonry and timber frame... flat roof timber
framing with brick masonry fire walls dividing one from the other. I'm
not aware of anyone paying attention to study this built heritage. We
are going to be doing some restoration/investigation along these lines
if anyone wants pics or a crawl let me know.

David recently asked me while we were wandering around about why someone
did not invent such-and-such wonder product, this was the same day he
had the epiphany that on a large brick building that a human had touched
every brick at least once, and the only answer that I could give him was
that the chemistry and physics would simply not bend in that direction.
Let alone going to the moon is easy by comparison. Along other lines
Kathy made a comment that if in the Bible it had said that we are all
held down to the earth by strings with invisible elephants walking in
the earth beneath us that someone in Kentucky would be insisting that it
be taught in science class. So just now she suggests that someone
plaster the Midwest with billboards mentioning the Biblical prohibitions
against eating pork and see what happens.

Jerry Falwell & Al Sharpton (I love Al all the way back to Tawana) have
been showing up together on the TV a great deal lately. On Sunday on
Meet the Press Falwell -- who can burn in hell for al I care -- made a
comment about people that he had prayed for while in the shower that
morning... figure that... and so Kathy & I are talking about starting a
WEB business where we offer to NOT pray for you in the shower this
morning if only you will send us money.

And check out what gives with Bill Clinton as a runner for Secretary
General of the UN?

The best, though, that I've heard recently was from Twybil quoting a
friend (a cast ironer) of his when asked why he was so full of life and
libido, and this post-dating his friend having flown an airplane into
the side of a mountain and survived, "I figured out this ain't a dry run."

][<

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