Good design = chicken soup for the soul

I found these today, and they lifted my spirits...

Light-emitting wallpaper from Jonas Samson:



Lobster chair by Strictly Design:



The newly-opened High Line park in NYC:




(pics from here and here)


Sleek new helmets from Les Ateliers Ruby:



Wooden postcards from Night Owl Paper:



... and finally, some seeded disposable plates (for birds' post-picnic nibbling pleasure):


I hope you're having a good day!

Now you're stylin'!

Glamour portraits by Julien Wolkenstein.

Are we there yet?

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Wow ... 500 posts already!!
























More champers anyone?

Making words

Ami and Luci like to play with words. Looks like fun!

Family ties

I've recently been given an opportunity to get to know my aunt, uncle and cousins a lot better after several years of going in our own directions, and I hope they know how much I appreciate them. One of my cousins, who was very close to my dad, has effectively taken on the role of big brother to me this year. I feel very lucky.

Thank you Barbara, Bob, Stuart, Steffi, John, Jas, Debbie and Ian (and your gorgeous kidlets!).
Let's catch up soon over a nice cup of tea ...

Shoes please!

(found at Plasticland)

Schadenfreude

Is it wrong to feel a sense of satisfaction when a former housemate-from-hell finds himself lambasted in the national media, as a result of his behaving like a pig at a very public, high-profile event?

Ugh ..... living with Anthony was my worst share-house experience.


(image of King Grouper from here)

Coast Modern architecture

Today I found out (via Grain Edit) that filmmakers Michael Bernard and Gavin Froome are soon to release their new documentary, exploring three generations of modern architecture on the West Coast of North America.

Looks like a must-see flick for fans of modern architecture!

(Pics from here).

Street style to inspire

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... found at Styleclicker.

Feeling bookish?

Bookish cut-outs by Jennifer Khoshbin ..... her artwork is delightful! Click here to find more.

Colourburst

Looking at magazines in a new light ...




( ...as seen by Lauren DiCioccio)

Real cork or robot poo?

In Australia, composite plastic 'corks' and screw-top lids have replaced natural cork stoppers in the majority of wine bottles. I wonder if many people think about the decline of Spanish and Portuguese cork plantations and the implications of this change for various interrelated systems? Cork-producing regions are some of the last places in Europe where sustainable local economies still dovetail harmoniously with nature ...

For the past few years I've tried to buy bottles with real cork, as a small protest against the overwhelming market dominance of 'robot poo' plastic alternatives. Apparently the BBC has produced a documentary about cork oaks, which I hope to find somewhere soon. Naturewatch sets the scene thus:

"Every time we weigh up which bottle of wine to buy, we hold the fate of nightingales, rare black storks, secretive wild cats and one of the world’s most remarkable trees in our hands. It’s all to do with the stopper. If it’s cork, it probably came from the bark of one of the ancient cork oak trees from the Montados, in the Alentejo region of Portugal. The cork oak is the only tree in the world whose bark can be periodically removed without killing it. But this tree is amazing in other ways.... it survives in poor soil and searing heat and provides not only nesting places for Booted Eagles but also space for some of Europe’s rarest wildflowers.... "

I wonder if we can really know what will be lost if cork stoppers are totally replaced by plastic or screwtops?



(Cork pic from here; oak pic from here)

What is it about that word?

When Blogger kindly offered me this word verification code the other day, I was reminded of an article I read in the weekend paper a couple of years ago.


I found myself nodding in agreement with the author about this particular word, which highlights one of the many differences between Australian and American English. As Mia predicted in her article, my husband was rather perplexed by my particularly vehement, nose-scrunching expressions of distaste, but all of my female friends concurred emphatically.

It also made me think of the way we recoil when Americans refer to 'fanny-packs', 'giving someone a pat on the fanny' or 'someone getting a kick in the fanny' (ouch!). I have to tell you, in this part of the world those phrases conjure up some very wrong images ...

So if you know anyone from North America who's planning a trip down here, please encourage them to consult their vernacular dictionaries before attempting to communicate with the natives! Let's try and keep things nice, people.