The Dancing Building a.k.a Drunk House

At the beginning of this year I visited Prague, we saw some of the beatiful architecture that the city had to offer. The first piece we saw, was Charles Bridge, during the first centuries the bridge was originally called: Stone Bridge, but since 1870 has been know as Charles Bridge. It was commissioned by King Charles IV, building began in 1357. The architect in charge was Petr Parler whose other works include St Vitus Cathedral at The Prague Castle.

There are rumours that egg yolks were mixed into the mortar to strengthen the construction.
But this did not amuse me like the building mentioned in the title. The Dancing Building (Below)



Designed by Vlado Milunic and Frank Gehry, designed in 1992 and completed in 1996. The site was a vacant riverfront plot, where the previous Neo-Renaissance building had been destroyed by the Bombing of Prague 1945.


The neighbouring house that has a small globe on the roof was co-owned by the ex-Czech president Vaclav Havel, he ordered the first architectural study of the land by Milunic. Later Dutch bank ING agreed to build a house there asked Milunic to invite a world-renowed architect to help out. The budget was near enough unlimited because ING wanted to create an iconic landmark.

The unusual shape is a fine example of deconstructivist architecture, it is meant to be reflecting a man and a woman dancing (Ginger Rogers and Fred Astair) It has been constructed from 99 concrete panels of different shapes and dimensions. 

The house takes its place in Prague, as something of unique, something to talk about. Especially as the neighboring architecture is a mix of Neo-Baroque, Neo-Gothic and Art Nouveau. 

The Czech President supported the design throughout hoping that it would become a centre for cultural activity. These days the building houses a French restaurant with beautiful views of the city and other tenants include multinational firms, plans for a cultural centre never materialised.

Swishing?

So recently I been hearing all about these "swishing parties" and I wondered what all the fuss was about!

Glamour says:

"Can't be bothered to ebay it? Then Swishing is the answer.

Each person brings along 5 unwanted items in good condition.
Then you have half an hour to browse before the official swap begins."

I think this is a fab idea, because someone's junk is another persons treasure. So I decided to see if there were any in Manchester and I found a really trendy one going on in the Northern Quarter. Although I didn't actually take any clothes with me I just had a look round to see how it all worked.

 

The only rules were:

+Please keep the clothes that you bring over either high street or designer, no tat, anything dirty or with holes in.

+Please note, however many items you bring in, the maximum amount you can swap for is 10 garments.  

It was so good I definitely think this idea will catch on,  not only was the evening great the after party was amazing too. If you have never been to one, you absolutely should go!

If you want to find a swishing event near you, I found this great website:

http://www.swishing.org/events/

Long Way Down - Nick Hornby

I have just finished this very contemporary take on modern society by Nick Hornby, although slightly depressing it is a interesting insight to the different classes of our society and how many people feel exactly the same despite their social differences.

The book is made of 4 characters. Martin, Maureen, JJ and Jess. (Is it important that these names either begin with M or J? I'm not sure) All of which decide; be it spur of the moment or planned, to kill themseleves on New Year's Eve by jumping off a very tall tower block, aptly named: Toppers Tower.

Martin: the ex morning tv presenter who slept with a 15 year old girl, went to prison, lost his wife and children, thus ruined his life.

Maureen: the 51 year old mother of Matty; who needs her constant care as he cannot speak or do anything for himself. Frank; Matty's dad left her when he found out Maureen was pregnant.

JJ: the American pizza boy, whose life has gone down hill after splitting from his band which meant his English girlfriend split up with him, she was the reason he was in London. He is also "dying" from "CCR" a none existent terminal illness.

Jess: the lunatic daughter of the Education Minister, whose sister disappeared last year and she recently split up from her boyfriend Chas, she cannot find him.

The jist of the story is that one way or another they talk each other out of commiting suicide by sharing their experiences, be them big or small and by keeping each other company.

After meeting on a landmark day they decide to meet on the next landmark; Valentine's day, to reassess all their situations. Only Martin turns up a theory about committing suicide, which says 90 days after the attempt something changes in your life to make you not want to commit suicide again. I have later found out that this is not a real theory although it is something I would like to believe as it would give people who contemplate commiting suicide that something good will come.

This was quite an amusing read at times, other times it actually made me think!

Ephesus: One of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World

Recently I visited Kusadasi in Turkey which is home to the ancient city of Ephesus (Efes) it is one of the best well preserved classical cities from Roman Times. This is a site of major archeological interest due to its beautifully preserved architecture.

Ephesus was a "strategic coastal gateway to the Eastern World" and during the Roman Empire grew to be the second largest city.


I went to Ephesus without much knowledge about the site itself, which I think in hindsight was a really good idea. Its a huge site and despite this I still thought there were too many people walking around! I was just thinking that there were probably hundreds more people here now than there ever was before.

It is simply amazing how the architecture has been found and rebuilt so beautifully, as you walk around there is still the old walkways, some are cordoned off but others are more sturdy so you are able to walk around on them (for example on the left)

The layout has been preserved throughout but there are gaps where they couldn't or haven't yet found the ruins to piece back together, the excavation work on Ephesus dates back to 138 years ago and is still continuing today as you can see below and although that ruins the scenery, imagine if they could resurrect the whole of Ephesus it would be outstanding!

Ephesus was a beautiful place to visit and so awe-inspiring I just didn't stop taking photos, it is simply a beautiful place, away from the crowds of tourists I can imagine the site to be very peaceful.

Turkey currently have plans to create an electronic railway throughout Ephesus, which is unfortunate as I think it will distract from the beauty Ephesus has to offer.

The wikipedia site is very helpful about the history of Ephesus if you would like to see more:


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ephesus

Keeping the Dead - Tess Gerritsen

I picked up this book with my copy of The Independent as it was a bargain at £2.99. Again I always judge a book by its cover, this is a usual book I would pick up and it was really good!

The story is mainly about archaeology and when a mummy that is undocumented turns up and the post mortem shows the supposed Egyptian "mummy" has fillings and a bullet in its leg.

Then when another body that has been presevered by ancient techniques turns up, the heat is really on to find the archaeology killer!

I really enjoyed this book and it picked up a lot halfway through when the background of the characters become more exposed. If you like thrillers combined with horror and history then this would be perfect for you.

Worthy to be an X-Factor Judge?

If you haven't heard Cheryl Cole's new single, its probably not worth wasting your time; but if like me you were interested in seeing the video that goes with the below par debut solo single. (Heartbreaker with Will.I.AM doesn't count as a debut)

The video did not disappoint, Cheryl is too thin and ruins her normal fashionable self by wearing leopard print pajama pants.


I am an avid Cheryl Cole fan and this song and video really really do disappoint. The song although not great could have been saved by a decent video, that didn't show Cheryl scrawled all over the place or even if it had a plausible inspiration behind it. When you look at the more worthy stars out there for example Beyonce; who recently won Video of The Year Award at the VMA's for Single Ladies (Put a Ring on it) where she truely proves less is more.

All she needed was a sexy outfit and a white drop background combined with her fantastic dancing ability. No need to over complicate the idea. Unlike Cole's fussy video. Such a Shame.

If you do want to see the video click here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XMiy_UsrPDs

Holly Fulton as Recommended by Victoria Beckham

If something is highly regarded by Mrs Beckham, is it worth a look, well I thought so, as the Telegraph stated:

"Mrs Beckham’s favourite collection was the Art Deco, Empire State Building-inspired collection by the Royal College of Art graduate, Holly Fulton. Crystals, beading and plastic graphics created dazzling architectural motifs on her leather, silk and PVC designs, in black and white, aquamarine and yellow, with matching neckpieces"

  

So I visited her website to see what all the fuss was about, at first glance you see bright colours, geometric lines, sturdy structures and great attention to detail. She uses bright decorative surfaces as her main focus and she points out: " I am constantly endeavouring to create a challenging yet beautiful surface which pushes the boundaries of modern fashion."

I found it very interesting to see how she works up her designs, she draws each up extensively and works through each with different references with "constant re-interpretation." She uses different types of materials to re-represent her work from crystallized elements to electrical cables, which again brings different elements and ideas to the design.

Her main influences are Art Deco and Bauhaus with there strong forms and cubist fashion is another major theme she enjoys. Obviously from her designs there is a lot of surface decoration which is beautiful yet time consuming.

I am loving this designer right now, if you want to see her full catwalk show at the London Fashion week visit: http://www.hollyfulton.com/

Vitamin Water?

Right, so with my boots meal deal there is a large variety of drinks to choose from; coca cola, evian, milk, etc, etc. The last three times I have been on my lunch break, I have opted for Vitamin Water. Why??

I can honestly hand on my heart say it is because the packaging looks so damn good, its simple yet so obviously effective. The best thing is that I don't even think they work, e.g. raspberry and apple is for defence;  "keeps you perky when your feeling murky." It clearly didn't work for me but yet the next day I went back to boots and bought another, maybe to see if that one would work and I can quite easily admit that the next time I go I will be trying another, because although I don't think the "vitamin' goodness does anything they actually do taste good.

 All these thoughts about packaging and how easily I was led to buy this product made me think would I have still bought it were it not part of the £2.99 meal deal and I can safely say that I would not; as it does cost more than half of a combined meal deal! So that just goes to show that it doesn't matter how good your advertising, if the price ain't right it's not going to shift!

http://www.vitaminwater.co.uk/

This is It

 

How fantastic is this image, so iconic. Such a great way to remember the legend himself. 

   

This has actually just given me goosebumps. It actually makes me even more devasted that I actually had tickets to go and see him live. This film though looks like a must see, especially as its only in cinemas for 2 weeks.

The composition of the music for this trailer is great, it just reinforces how influential and how brilliant his music actually was and also how his music will live on. This trailer had to be big and over the top and obviously it is, the trailer was shown exclusively on MTV during the Video Music Awards. This is a great example of choice of placement of certain advertisements where better to advertise that on MTV during the VM Awards. Although this was obviously a rushed trailer and film, but has had time and money spent on it and hopefully if I get to see the film (you have to book your tickets in advance) it will deliver the quality and production value MJ would have been proud of.

RIP -MJ

Cool Haus

I don't even know how I came across this but I adore it!

Cool Haus make ice cream sandwiches, designed and made by two architects; Natasha Case and Freya Estreller.

Cool Haus is the first project under Natasha and Freya’s company that explores the connections between food and architecture, the purchased and revamped an old truck that they found on craigslist, then launched Cool Haus at the Coachella festival.



The Cool Haus service works like this:










Plus an edible wrapper, with Art Mortimers mural that appears on the side of The Brig





Here is the outcome... dependent on your preferences.

I love this idea and the logo, it is so appropriate to the company and the target audience. Despite this being such a huge success in the states, I don't think it is warm enough to really work here, unless it was inside a shopping centre like Millie's Cookies.

I have looked into a few descriptions of the company and they seem to be all for natural ingredients and minimizing waste, e.g edible wrapping. This idea is so original and very contemporary, it would be interesting to see more food explored through the eyes of two architects e.g. pizzas.. like the leaning tower of pisa. Maybe it wouldn't work the same though?

Sex and The City - Product Placement

So we are all talking about product placement, this is an example of  the eccentric product placement that happens in America. This fictitious ad created specifically for a scene in SATC, where Samantha "creates" the ad to boost her toyboys struggling modelling/acting career.

This ad produced a huge amount of positive publicity for the brand, would this be acceptable here. I think it definitely would obviously not on Coronation Street but something more appropriate.

""This is product placement taken to new heights," said Patrick O'Neill, the group creative director of TBWA, the agency responsible for the work."

The actor Jason Lewis later sued Absolut because he says the company cashed in on the publicity by using it online, they marketed the ad as actual and that the company created a "absolut hunk" cocktail without his permission.

Admirably Lewis stated he has always tried to avoid work connected to  advertising "alcohol, guns, tobacco and nudity" he says the ad should not have been used outside the show. Unfortunately I think SATC advertises all those things bar guns, so maybe this statement is slightly hypocritical, although I do believe they should have gotten his consent before slapping this image everywhere.

Despite all this I think this product placement is amazing, it is so appropriate for the show and for its viewers and aslong as the product placement here is appropriate to the programming it should all work out for the best

Guy Portelli

I watched this guy appear on dragons den, he seemed quite quiet but had an amazing collection of work.

"Guy Portelli from Tonbridge was given the money for a 25% share in Pop Icons, a series of models depicting musicians such as John Lennon and Bob Marley."

He appeared on series 6 of Dragons Den in 2008 and I watched a show the other day where the Dragons caught up with entrepeneurs, he was doing fabulously well, so I decided to do a bit of research into him.

Some of his work is absolutely beautiful and gives me the urge to go out and buy a lot of crafty stuff to start making sculptures and I'm sure thats what art is all about; as well as apreciating it of course!!

  "Excess"

Amy Winehouse straddling a broken bottle of champagne. I like the idea behind this more that the sculpture itself, it is all about Amy's excess lifestyle and however beautiful it may appear on the outside, on the inside things are falling apart. This was the opening sculpture at his exhibition.

"Imagine"

John Lennon inspired by Lennon's own self portraits. Simplistic, yet you know who it is straight away.

 

"Grace Jones"

Uses influences such as futurism and pop art, specifically Andy Warhol. I think this style captures Grace Jones in a very masculine way, yet the smooth sculpting technique allows you to also see that this is a women.

"What You Want"

Spice Girls were a formed pop group, packaged specifically for the teenage market this piece is all about fun and the girls erupt into a sculpture using sweets prom a pick and mix bag. This piece is so fun, I'm not sure though that you would know it was the spice girls, but it is a good piece of influential art.

"Hey Joe"

Taking ideaology from the 1960s and flower power, this sculpture is Henrix, both poet and politican "rising out of the ashes" My favourite of the pop art collection, I am a big fan of this mosaic style combined with aluminum and bronze, it is very cutting. I really would like this on my wall!

See more from the Collection: www.portelli-popicon.co.uk

 

"Dream Catcher"

A memorial sculpture for Becky Earland. Hillview school, Tonbridge 

I absolutely adore this piece, it is so intricate and pretty, I especially like the fact the people at the bottom spell out Becky's name.

Is Advertising to Blame for Binge Drinking?

After watching the news yesterday and doctors asking to bring about a ban on advertising alcohol and drinks promotions, I've been asking myself is advertising to blame for young people's binge drinking?

I can't see why advertisers should take all the blame, I mean its not like we as humans don't have any self control. I do also believe that not all advertising is effective so it is convenient that the government has decided it is all to do with advertising and not to do with the fact alcohol can be bought so cheaply, or that by putting age restrictions on these products they entice young people.

Today the BMA has made reccomendations that the branding of alcohol not be so specific to young people or to "not appeal" to young people.

In my opinion the anti-drinking: Alcohol Know Your Limits: "you wouldn't start your night like this so why end it this way" are much more effective and I actually take more note of these adverts in comparison to the smirnoff moscow mule circus themed adverts.

What do you think?

What are We Like?

 At Manchester Art Museum last month they had on an exhibition called What Are You Like.

The exhibition is based around a parlour game from the Victorian times that asks you to describe yourself with images of your favourite things: (illustrating 8 from a list of 12)

favourite....

+animal

+book

+item of clothing

+comfort

+food

+past time

+place

+possession

+music

+shoes

+weather 

+pet aversion (the thing they love to hate!) 
 

The exhibition is 45 famous names including Eric Clapton, Quentin Blake and Paul Smith, revealing their favourite things through wonderfully thoughtful illustration.

The result is a delightfully eccentric exhibition.

 

This 3d illustration by Laura Carlin, was very different to all the other pieces and you had to look at it from every angle to fully appreciate the full illustration. The fact that there is no colour adds to the simplicity and the delicacy of it all. Not my favourite but very high up.

This illustration by Sara Fanelli  is very different to Laura Carlin's piece and less delicate but it has a very laid back feel to it, it reminds me of the doodles I used to created when very bored at school! It still looks very artistic and interesting.

  

This was one of my favourites by Jan Pienkowski, it was very textural although you can't tell from this image, but it was a montage of all Pienkowski's favourite things, unlike the other illustrations this made a complete image rather than treating each favourite thing as a seperate illustration. Then to make clear of which questions he had answered they are listed in the top left hand corner.

  

This was a very fashionable piece done by Paul Smith, very quirky and also reminds me of Paul Smith advertising and how they fashion their shop fittings!

These are just a few, more can be found at: http://www.houseofillustration.org.uk/wayl.php

The Complete Roberta Breitmore at the Whitworth.

By far one of the most complicated exhibitions I have ever seen, even after I left I was still wondering about it.. is this maybe a good thing?

Lynn Hershman investigates a simulated person who interacts with real life in real time.  

Roberta is constructed through drawings, clothing and wigs and then four years later she is exorcised.

Roberta Breitmore was for FOUR YEARS a private performance of a simulated person.

It is so bizarre, Roberta was given childhood data before she was allowed into the world and her first action was to place an ad in a local newspaper for a roommate.

People who answered became part of the performance, "As she became part of their reality, they became part of her fiction."

The artist : Lynn Hershman, was often accused of being Roberta, although she insisted she was her "own women" Roberta represented a large part of Lynn. Lynn states: "For years my daughter denied she was related to me. People assumed I was schizophenic."

It was really interesting to see all the paper work for example; physciatrists notes etc and art work of this fictious persona. It also included clothes and Roberta's wig.

To fully understand this surreal exhibition more information can be found here:

www.lynnhershman.com

David Beckham's Affair with Ellen

Who says photoshop doesn't have it uses?

I reckon they make a good couple.

Well done Ellen!

State of The Art: New York

I recently went to a Exhibition called State of the Art: New York, it focuses on the influence that the "Big Apple" has on artists from America and around the world.

One artist it drew my attention to was: Kenneth Tin-Kin Hung.

Residential Erection is devoted to the 2008 US Presidential Election, although I believe its audience to be a more American side, this witty cartoon montage is quite funny. Tin-Kin Hung has many followers due to his intersection of popular culture, mixed with current affairs and his talent of manipulating different media.

This animation casts the 2008 Presidential candidates into different identities including: Borat Obama and John McCain the Donkey-cheerleader, which left my friend actually asking; "can they even do that!?"

Some of the content is so naughty!  The Fagbug, 50 Cent the Crossdresser and nothing containing American stupidity is complete without Britany Spears half naked.

The animation along with its precisely researched narration takes a huge dig at the hypocrisy of recent political times. The music which adds more insult along with the internet-scavenged imagery and original animation creates a hugely intriguing piece of art work.

Unfortunately I can't get a you-tube video: http://www.tinkin.com/arts/residential-erection/

An Equal Stillness

I am currently reading a book called An Equal Stillness by Francesca Kay. This isn’t the usual genre I would choose to read normally I am more interested in Crime/Horror/Thrillers.



The novel, Kay’s debut, is set in the 1900s and details the life of Jennet Mallow a talented artist and mother, it follows her struggle with married and family life and the lack of time this leaves to fulfill her artistic passion.

The most fascinating aspect to this book is the descriptions of fictional pieces of art work:




'Those overlays of net and silk are there to add a new dimension  and to deepen the illusion of cloud and mist that imbues so much of Jennet Mallow's painting in that period. And Yet these veils are symbolic, as, in later work, would be her tightened strings and wires.Curators in public spaces would often hang the paintings with their coverings looped back or drawn half way to reveal the underlying paint and to stop visitors from lifting the veils themselves. But however transparent they may be, or pushed aside, they still whisper ambiguity; simultaneously revealing and concealing.'


I am quite a fast reader but this book has taken me a couple of weeks to read, as parts I just needed to read again not because I didn’t understand but because there were many levels to the writing.

Although I bought this book because it was a Times Recommended Read of The Week, the front cover is an imitation water painting of Jennet with Sandiago in the background. The colours attract the eye and the style is an intriguing wash which some how draws the eye.

Alix Malka

Parisian fashion photographer - amazing.

I don't really need to say much apart from, I am fascinated by this style of underwater photography and thought maybe these photographs are so intriguing because they are in water and because of the style and design of the dresses???

I thought wrong, these non underwater photos are equally as interesting.

I thought of these photos americas next top model style after reading normoyle: http://normoyle.blogspot.com/2009/08/rosenthal.html

"I think this just might be my masterpiece"

Inglorious Basterds by Quentin Tarrantino.

So this is it, his masterpiece, the odd ball who brought us reservoir dogs, pulp fiction and kill bill, his last film a huge flop; Grindhouse: Death Proof. Did he redeem himself? I would say so. If you haven't seen this film, go and see it.

Before I went to see this movie I was under the impression that this would be another typical Tarrantino film. The story as I understood was about the second world war, but with a twist. The Jews get revenge on the Nazi’s.

The film is split into 5 parts:

Chapter One: Once Upon a Time … Nazi Occupied France

Chapter Two: Inglorious Basterds

Chapter Three: German Night in Paris

Chapter Four: Operation Kino

Chapter Five: Revenge of the Giant Face

To sum it up, I don't want to wreck it for you but if you would like the see what would have happened if the Jews got their own back then this is definitely a must see, if not then go because Tarrantino is a legend, or because Eli Roth from hostel is nicknamed "the Bear Jew" or just because the Guardian thinks: "Much of this film seems well below par."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/filmblog/2009/aug/20/inglourious-basterds-tarantino-change-history

*New* The Economist - Let Your Mind Wander

The first ad in UK movie theatres from the economist in seven years, is trying the reach out to a new younger generation of readers. Red Wires is from agency AMV.BBDO and directed by Tom Carty, he who found fame from the Guiness Sufer ads.

According to The Economist, this advertising will reach out to people who may not consider themselves Economist readers... yet. Sparked by research undertaken last year, that showed more people are going to university and that more than 3 million people whose interests in world affairs, travel, news and politics suggests an unconscious association with what Economist reports.

As the previous AMV print campaign for The economist, dated last june, was also targeted at a younger audience. (see below) This was a change from the traditional white on red ad that are held in such high regard by the industry.

The 'Let your mind wander" tag line is meant to reflect the "pleasure in connecting different ideas, and how this is reflected in the wide-range news and analysis available in a copy of The Economist".

http://www.creativereview.co.uk/back-issues/creative-review/2008/june-2008/the-economist

The music works with the film to keep you interested for all 70 seconds.

This ad was used in the trailors for Inglourious Basterds, the new ww2 Quentin Tarrantino film.

Idyllic

When I was on holiday I took this photo and in comparison to all the other rubbish holiday snaps, I absolutely love this photograph. The layers of land that intercept the horizon, the man fishing of the small strip of land that juts into the water. The reflection of the tree in the water that is also clear so below it reveals the texture of the stones and rocks below. This photograph taken by the sea near my mum’s house in Turkey is to me very tranquil and idyllic.

eTeam - Second Life Dumpster

eTeam is a creative duo from Easton, PA and Ilmenau, Germany, but they live and work in Queens, New York and Mannheim.

I don’t particularly find this type of installation art that interesting, but the theories behind some of their work is, they focus their attentions onto land use issues and “socio-spatial interventions.”

They buy plots of land and then compose structures made out of useable things people throw out, old televisions, tennis rackets, chairs etc. These structures although visually interesting are not my cup of tea, but after reading more about them I found out that 2 years ago they decided to expand this idea; by buying a 4096sqm plot of land on SecondLife: a 3D visual world. They then created code that would be used to add “trash” to their site. When the avatars on SecondLife delete rubbish it all is dumped into a folder and like most computer applications if this trash is not deleted the avatars performance could be compromised, so eTeam developed a public dumpster for the duration of one year using a decay script.

Looking at space restrictions and the record of activities has been logged at: www.meineigenheim.org/dumpster_log/doku.php

The most interesting aspect to this part of their work is that from time to time random trash heaps appear from the Second Life into the First life, reminding us that “objects and lives in worlds that copy each other are often just searching for lost originals.”

Climbing the Greasy Pole.

I saw this fabulous photograph in the Times; it is the skyline scattered with poles that are topped with the national flag, bicycles and other toys to celebrate Indonesia’s 64th Independence anniversary. The photograph shows a man greasing the poles, on the day competitors have to climb up the poles to claim the prizes.

The composition is really intriguing; the repetition of the bicycle wheels, the white and orange flags, also the selective use of colours makes you want to study the photography and look at each individual segment of the photograph. The composition complements the actual subject perfectly, this would make a really interesting piece of mixed media art.

This is a photo I found on Google, I will scan the original photo I found and put it on here asap.

Brilliant..

I actually think I'm becoming obsessed after the last post I found this, it's great I especially love the close up on the heart shaped glasses and the bulbs which looks like a face. These kinetic sculptures are so intriuging, would love to be able to create something like this.

Music = Ace.

Sony Heart

The football is back and I don't know whether I really like this advert because it is set in a suitably dull living room or just because it makes a change from the usual advertisements of booze and food that go hand in hand with the ads at half time.

Although this isn't as spectacular as previous adverts we have seen from Sony, it still has a certain something which makes you stop and take note. With a family of football maniacs, at least now half time on England matches on ITV will have something for me to watch, I'm just hoping there is more in the series!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NR1-2ON_7xs

Hot Rods and Car Exhibitions

I recently went along to a car exhibition, it was very informal taking place in a large pub car park, with everyone pint in hand wandering around.

Just outside of Macclesfield, starting at about 5pm, lots of men and women drive up to the Cheshire Lounge in their cars (many of whom have classic car tax on) and park them in car park for all to see, most of these cars are left unlocked for you to look inside too.

The audience was a crowd of car adorers, who, if asked a question could tell you every thing to where the car originated from to when the last one was made.

The cars themseleves were quite incredible with no one genre, there were American Dodges, Italian Maserati's and quite a few Ford Hot Rods. Two inparticular caught my eye, the first being a Ford Fairmount, a car made in the 70s and 80s, that had been restored to an old American Police Service car; complete with an old style siren and flashing lights. Note: the flashing lights were also in the front grille.

When we were there the man who had restored it had just finished painting the outside to put on stripes and a state county badge. He showed us around the car and he had restored the car with something that it would previously never had, a camera that films and a playback facility in the boot and also a speedometer! It was really something, although there is probably lots of these about, the man talked about his work so compassionately, it reminded me of art, because what he has created is art. I recently went back to ask if I could get a photograph but he wasn't there that month, if I do get one though it will definately go on here!

The other car was Dodge pickup truck I'm not sure what type but it was massive, the owner was actually disabled and the back of the truck had a bumper sticker reading: CAUTION! DISABLE DRIVER. For me to get into the truck which would have originally had 5 seats in it, I would have needed at least a 3 step ladder to get up to it, so when I saw this man demonstrating how he got in it and drove, I was amazed.

He had modified the passengers door, so that it was a 'suicide' door (meaning it opens the opposite way) from this door there was a ramp that came down with the help of some wireless controls, when it was firmly on the ground the man wheeled onto the ramp and started the controls so that it took him up so he was able to board the car, the front seat was actually missing and his wheelchair became his front seat. Having never seen anything like this, I was so intrigued, I obviously know they modified cars and such other things for people with disabilities but this man had done it all himself and on such a huge car. The way I have described this sounds like it took him about half an hour to get into his car but it was all over within 2 minutes. It was fabulous.

Since then I have looked more into restorations of old cars and the art that is hot-rodding and classic car restoration. It is very interesting and well worth having a look into.

Fish are Welcome.

Actually worth seeing: genius.

Taken by Lucie Parmane in Prague.

I would love to own a collection of photos like this from around the world. I bet there are millions similar to this!

Urbis Manchester

Despite being opened in June 2002, I have never actually been inside. I had taken photos from outside for a school project but never ventured indoors. Yesterday I wandered into the ultra modern building called located in "Milennium Quarter" next to the printworks. Designed by Ian Simpson.

Architecturally the building is fabulous to look at, although maybe does stand out like a sore thumb. Having said this Manchester's skyline is very liberal, with lots of contrasting types of architecture; the big wheel, Manchester Town Hall, The Beetham Tower, (The Hilton) and The Shambles square to name just a few.

The interior of Urbis for me was actually slightly disappointing, apart from the lift, which moves from the lowest part of the building up to the highest level at the same awkward angle as the building does. There actually seems to be a lot of unused space within the building but this is due mainly to its awkward shape.

Urbis is not advertised as much as it maybe could be, so it was pretty quiet, there are also lots of people who congregate around the building itself which could put off potential customers, who may opt to visit City Art Gallery near St Peters Square instead. With a giftshop, a cafe/bar (The Social), restaurant (The Modern) and Channel Ms headquarters it is definately worth a visit.

Carolyn Roper wins World Body Painting Title.. Again.

This was the winning design by Carolyn Roper. The theme was: "Spirituality beyond the visible eye." The artists got awarded points for originality, their uses of special effects, their painting techniques, colours and how they realised their final outcome.

Carolyn is the first artist is 12 years to win twice in two different categories. In 2007 the themes were: "The year 2525" and "Chaos and Control"

I personally prefer these two from 2007, as the colours and imagery used is more realistic, but you can certainly notice the difference between 2007 and 20o9, 2009 was more based around special effects.

Roper has also done special body painting for a unique way to promote their brand/company. For example Biffy Clyro used Ropers design for an album cover: Puzzled.

I think sometimes we forgot that we can do things manually rather than using a computer to simulate an effect. This is shown through the Biffy Clyro cd Cover and although you could touch up these images with photoshop, they have a real wow factor. I also presume in the flesh they look even better and so would be great for pr events.