Using the subway air that escapes through pavement grilles, New Yorker Joshua Allen Reynolds takes plastic shopping bags and dustbin liners and creates these animated inflatable creatures. So simple, but with a life of their own - New Yorkers understandably love them.
A link from the Brompton folding bicycle website led me to this article by Will Self in The Independent:
"
It was love at first sight – the first time I saw a Brompton folding bicycle, I fell in love with it. All right, perhaps this is an exaggeration on all fronts: it wasn't the first time I'd seen one, but the first time I'd really noticed it – or her.
And it was not so much love – an emotion, I concede, that unless you're seriously perverted, only truly exists between sentient beings – as a kind of lusty covetousness; but, you can take it from me, it was a very strong feeling, and one that has only increased over the years I've either had a Brompton between my thighs, or hefted one in my arms."
Read the article in full (Portait by Andy Sewell)
Earlier this year I posted a blog about the Dutch motor-home site Tonke. Although the pictures of the motors were great, my understanding of the Dutch text was not so great, so I confess to knowing little about the beautiful vehicles at the time.
Then this week I received an email from Chris from the Recreational Vehicle blog, Squob, Informing me that he had just posted information about Tonke's in English.
After reading the article I flicked around the Squob site. It is brilliant if you're interested in diverse forms of mobile architecture and like to dream about roaming around, mortgage free.
"Squob is the only RV website focusing on good design. We cover the most interesting new vehicles and classics from the past."
The site is full of images and information on trailers, motor homes, expedition vehicles and caravans both vintage and modern. It has links to some amazing images on Flickr, including a pick of Squob's top ten best RV images from the Flickr Group Squobstock.
A recent link from Underworld's website served as reminder about Chris Watson's work.
Having been a founding member of Sheffield's Cabaret Voltaire (when I first came across his work), Chris began his sound recording career in 1981 working for Tyne Tees Television.
His recordings regularly crop up on radio and TV nature programmes, and the Guardian rated his 2003 'Weather Report' album as one of the '1000 Albums to Hear Before You Die'...
"Watson is one of the world's leading recorders of wildlife and natural phenomena, and here he edits his field recordings into a filmic narrative. The unearthly groaning of ice in an Icelandic glacier is a classic example of, in Watson's words, putting a microphone where you can't put your ears."
I've really enjoyed watching the Olympic games. I've wept, cheered and rejoiced at the success of the athletes, and I've also cheered and rejoiced at watching (or listening) to something other than CBeebies.
I haven't yet seen the opening ceremony in full but have heard it was amazing. Seb Coe has been saying that the Beijing Olympics will be the last of its kind. London's event is set to cost around £9 billion compared to Beijing's astonishing £44 billion. Coe is also saying that 2012 will be a 'fun' Olympics. Perhaps in other words, don't expect it to be compete with China's extravagant global event which I have to say, will be a good thing.
Not exactly an athletic challenge, but tricky all the same is Bryan Berg stacking 140,000 cards to replicate the Beijing Olympic village. My mind boggles at the patience involved in achieving such a sculpture. I seem to fail to even stack the washing neatly.
We had the pleasure of seeing Count Arthur Strong last night in Edinburgh - one of hundreds of performers appearing at this year's festival.
You may have caught his shows on Radio 4. If not, there's a brief taster below - a promo for Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall's Chicken Out campaign.
Back in Edinburgh next weekend, this time to see the Neil Cowley Trio (again) at The Jazz Bar.
We spend a good part of the year not too far from Nairn, on the Moray coast in North East Scotland.
Sod's law, we're going to be back south when the first Ballerina Ballroom Cinema of Dreams is taking place between August 15-23rd 2008.
From this weekend's Scotland on Sunday...
"Cannes it may not be, but Tilda Swinton is hoping to place her quiet Scottish hometown on the world stage.
The award-winning actress is behind a film festival which will be launched in the Moray community of Nairn this summer.
The Ballerina Ballroom Cinema of Dreams event is the brainchild of the Chronicles Of Narnia actress along with Mark Cousins, a former director of the Edinburgh Film Festival, and the Oscar-winning writer/director Joel Coen."
Rob popped along to the opening of our latest exhibition on Saturday to have a chat about his show with us in November.
We're real fans of Rob Ryan's work - and it's great to have a chance to work with him. We'll have a range of Rob's prints on show - along with some of his tiles and examples of his design work. And - fingers crossed - we'll have a 2008 St. Jude's charity Christmas card designed by Rob.
If you'd like to receive an invitation to the opening of the exhibition, please sign up for our gallery newsletter.
There was a great article about Rob's work in a recent copy of the Independent by Clare Dwyer Hogg:
"The narrow back streets of east London make an ideal wind tunnel on a cold spring morning. There is little to this landscape other than old buildings, a deserted park, and a corner shop or two. But this façade belies the mills of creativity that are churning away behind closed doors. This is studio land, where artists have set up residence, toiling away behind crumbling walls and rickety doors."
As usual, I was laying in bed this morning, slowly coming round to the day listening to Radio 4's 'Today' programme.
What a pleasant surprise to hear the voice of an old friend and fellow ex-band member, Nick Ryan, being interviewed.
Along with Jane Carter and John Mathias, Nick is part of The Fragmented Orchestra, a music project that has just been named as the winner of the New Music Award.
The Fragmented Orchestra's idea uses recording units set up at 24 sites across the UK to capture their sounds - these sounds will then be transmitted back to the Foundation for Art & Creative Technology (FACT) in Liverpool for visitors to hear.
The New Music Award judging panel said: "This extraordinary work mirrors the fundamental human activity of the brain."
The trouble with the Internet's buzzing social scene, is that one can easily start to drift away from having a real-life social scene, you know, one which involves leaving the house and using your hands to gesticulate not just to move a mouse. Or if like me, you just manage to juggle the two social activities, you then find yourself chatting and marvelling about all the online engagements you are logging on to, such as flickr, del.icio.us, Wists, BlinkList including numerous suggestions of blogs you enjoy.
But if it's images you like, then I highly recommend looking at FFFFound.com. It's a gallery where FFFFound members (it's now invite only) post their favourite images found on the web. FFFFound then suggests other images that are similar that you may also like. It's a great source of inspiration and of course, leads you on to finding even more interesting and inspiring people.
The t-shirt pictured, is by Howies - February's t-shirt of the week.
