Record of all the text included in the book
Carpet descriptions
“As a corporate pilot I’ve laid over in Las Vegas A LOT. I’ve stayed in about every hotel on the strip, from the good ones to the `OMG what is that stain on the towel from?!’. (Two nights there.) The Cosmopolitan is my favourite Vegas resort. Insider secret: there is a hidden speakeasy on the second floor behind an exit sign. Look for the donkey on the door.”
“I found this lobby carpet in the LAX Marriott while waiting for a crew member. I was holding my grande vanilla latte (nonfat) in my left hand while I took this with my right. We were about to fly all night to Sao Paulo, Brazil. I’m pretty sure my hotel in Sao Paulo didn’t say ‘Sao Paulo’ on the carpet. It must be a California thing.”
“I’ve probably spent a year at the Nagoya Marriott. They know me by name. The hotel stands majestically over the city of Nagoya and the views are spectacular. I’ll never tire of them. Although I will of this carpet.”
“This looks like the top view of a mountain. I’ve flown over Japan countless times, and one of the joys of flying around the island nation is when you spot Mount Fuji towering above the clouds. A few of my co-workers have climbed Fuji. I’ll stick with the cockpit view.”
“When I see the red line, I think river. The other lines represent city blocks. It reminds me of when I’m flying over a city, London perhaps, as this carpet is found in the Heathrow Renaissance. Look, I can see my favourite pub, The Grenadier, near Hyde Park.”
“This pattern is straight out of a 1980s MTV video for me. I can hear the electric drum machine and the five-note melody on the keytar. The stop motion effects in the video seemed impressive at the time but weeks later I realised the annoying, soul-crushing melody was still stuck in my brain.”
“There is a lot going on in this design. Boxes, lines, swirls… all the activity makes me a little uneasy. I’m not saying it’s a bad design, but it reminds me of an art project I did in the fourth grade. It started out OK but then I kept adding ‘stuff’. The teacher studied it then took along look at me. I’ll never forget that look.”
“I get a Transformers vibe from this carpet in the Nagoya Marriott. Being that this is in Japan, I wouldn’t be surprised if the whole hotel building isn’t a robot waiting to turn into a fire breathing beast. But maybe that’s just me.”
“This strange design is from the lovely Park Hyatt in Tokyo. My job has me in Japan almost monthly. I sought out this hotel because it was featured in one of my favourite movies, Lost in Translation. The movie nailed what it feels like to be a westerner in Japan.”
“I dare anybody to look at this carpet design and not think of reproduction.”
“People often ask me which is my favourite carpet. I don’t spend a lot of time ranking them but this Pink Floyd-esque pattern is probably number one. I think I had that album in vinyl — not in a hipster way, but in a ‘that’s all there was’ way.”
“Descending into Las Vegas is always interesting. I love the way the gaudy city contrasts with the surrounding bleak desert. Something in this carpet reminds me of the approach.”
“I see hamburgers in this carpet. I like sushi as much as the next guy but after staying in Japan so much I often crave food from home. I catch a lot of flack from my colleagues, but my favourite place to eat in Nagoya is a western sports bar called Shooters. Don’t judge me until you’ve tried their hamburgers.”
“In this carpet I see a flock of bats (Flock? Herd? Gaggle? Murder? ) which is appropriate as Austin is home to a zillion of these creatures who make their summer home below one of the downtown river bridges. At sunset you can watch them depart en masse.”
“This 3D looking woven design reminds me of the obnoxious highways in Los Angeles. Overpasses, underpasses — take the wrong exit and you end up in Tijuana, Mexico instead of Hollywood. (Ask me how I know.) While the circles may seem like serene islands of calm, the reddish colour denotes the intensifying rage of the drivers trapped on the unending Mobius strip of LA highways.”
“This carpet looks like somebody spilled a large bowl of ramen on the floor. That makes me sad, I love ramen. My favourite ramen restaurant is located in Narita, and I’d bet every aviation crewmember who lays over there knows about Rumen Bayashi. If you find yourself in Narita, seek out this place and order the chilli pepper soup, gyoza and a large Asahi.”
“This quirky pattern looks like the shimmering effect you see when a bit of gas or oil spills into sidewalk gutter water. As a kid I loved playing with water like this. I didn’t know much about handling hazardous chemicals at the time.”
“I see an industrial gate in this geometric design. Where does it lead to and how do you open the door? Truthfully, I probably don’t want to see what is on the other side. I’ll stay on the safe side, order a beer at the hotel bar and enjoy the status quo. I like being comfortable. There’s no way I’m opening that door.”
“I get a strong sunset vibe from this carpet. I prefer sunsets over sunrises – the latter usually happen too early. When flying east through the night the sunrise is a quick process. It starts out calm but then turns into a nuclear fireball coming into the cockpit. This carpet pattern is calmer, like the sunset. It makes me want to take a nap.”
[bp]
Blackout Poetry
Inspiration from Austin Kleon and his book ‘Steal like an artist’. This method of investigation lets you ‘delete’ some words of the text, creating a new story.
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The hiding of words -> the creation of a new story
“OMG. The secret carpet in Sao Paulo, Brazil, must be a California thing. The name of this carpet is London Renaissance.”
“A bad design, isn’t a design.”
“People often judge a carpet as a creature. This reminds me of a large bowl of shimmering hazardous chemicals.”
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Go to the next page for more methods of investigation >