Don't smell the flowers

Barton Grange Garden Centre at Brock, Lancashire, claim to the first business in the UK to install designer floral urinals in the men's toilets.

American artist Clark Sorensen designs the conveniences as elaborate flowers.

His urinal designs, which cost £3,250+ include daffodils, poppies, lilies and tulips.

The centre is now selling a postcard for those who have used the toilets boasting "I've watered the flowers at Barton Grange garden centre".

The only complaint the garden centre received was from men saying they couldn't get into the gents because of the number of ladies looking at the urinals.

Untouchable Mario

Super Mario Bro's controlled by a theremin. The creator- 24 year-old software engineer Greg Stewart. He has posted a video of himself on YouTube using the touch-free instrument to control the movements of the Nintendo's mustachioed Italian plumber.

Leon Theremin's invention of the 1920s is the only musical instrument that may be played without touch. Metal antennae on the machine sense the position of the player's hands, allowing one to control pitch and the other, volume.

Stewart's next project is working on an AirGuitar Hero and theremin combination. Can't wait.

Mysterious jellyfish

This is reported to be the first of it's kind. Quite how, I'm not sure. Discovered this in my little brother's pupil/parent school paper. It measures a massive 250m long by 60m wide.  The pattern was created  in a field near Ashbury in Oxfordshire. The owners are demanding the public stay off their land due to the damage. It's probably a better view from the air anyway. The big secret as to how these designs are done make them of endless intrigue to me.

JK in lego

Author JK was voted as the ultimate hero of the last decade by a panel of children. The mosaic was created at Legoland, Windsor, as a celebration of the poll results. JK beat Zak Efron, who came in second place.

The mosaic of JK was created by Legoland experts and visitors to the attraction over the bank holiday weekend. More than 48,000 bricks were used for this temporary portrait. 

A big stir for a big cause

Launched by EU, I'm not sure this was received too well judging from most of the comments left on the youtube page, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UOyfMb33wRI (particularly page 3). Personally, I am not about to get worked up about the politics of this ad. I would however like to confess how much I consider it a good prompt for an important cause. It has purpose, takes a fresh approach and gets my vote. However, it is true to say I am not the target market as a non-smoker.

Discussion welcome.

A crush course in art

I found this in the Metro today (Monday 22nd June) on my travels, whilst undertaking some light reading on the bus. Despite it appearing like a hide and seek game for kids, this is far from the latest fad for under eight's. It is the work of Austrian choreographer, Willi Dorner -so remember the name.

Feared burglars or groups of vandals, these performers have even been stopped by Police for their obscure acts. I would literally go so far as to say I adore it, and am certainly not within the proportion of the general public who have been reported to have 'reacted negatively'. I'm tired concerning myself with the principles of health and safety, go for it and challenge the norm I say. But perhaps it is this mix of response which makes it all the more amusing, I'm not sure?

Watch out for Dorner's 'Bodies in Urban Spaces' tour of Europe. One of the images published in the paper (not available online) was based in a cosy Nottingham house. A tiny corridor between the stairs and interior wall. Do it anywhere, anytime. No limits, no restrictions...only, you must be strong and flexible, oh and light so you don't crush your fellow squeezers! Not so much to ask then.

4WALL

http://www.4wall.co.uk/

-their mission; to bring live painting to the forefront the the UK arts scene. 

Examples of their work include a 200m piece of freehand illustration at Bermondsey Square, live painting at Resonate's Summer Party, oil pen work in Selfridges entrance walkway, and live drawing during the FFA fashion show. 4WALL's artists work to any size for your space, and even directly on your walls, car, furniture  or floor. This could get verrry interesting!

My personal favourites:

DANIEL EGNEUS

In my house there is a secret garden

My bedroom

PAUL WILLOUGHBY

Childhood Memoirs 

Laptop Bag=Workstation

Design Creative Lab is a trendy laptop bag for your notebook that doubles as a portable workstation to work on your notebook, anytime, anywhere. The PorTable wraps your notebook neatly and safely, and lets users work on their systems without the need to pull them out of the bag, while the sleeves of the bag become a mousepad for both right and left hand users. What's better, the PorTable is customizable with different materials, accessories and dimensions to accommodate notebooks of different types and sizes.

Adidas Modular Man

European agency 180 Amsterdam joined forces with New York's 1st Ave Machine to create this ultramodern vision that is definitely more than the sum of its parts. Based on Adidas' new +F50 TUNIT soccer boot, which allows user-customization for a variety of playing surfaces, "Assemble Your Boot" uses a futuristic 3D look to produce modular versions of some of Football's most recognised stars.

The innovative and compelling images are being used in aggressive print and motion graphics campaigns stretching into global markets. The ad employs Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata as its accompanying soundtrack, adding tension and drama to the commercial.

More tea please

A little side project to brighten our cyberspace, launched last Feb by Editorial Pinch, a design and marketing communications company operating out of Brooklyn, NY. So here you have it, a celebration of teapots! www.moreteaplease.com. Check back every Monday / Wednesday / Friday for new entries. if your a local, you can get your pot & kettle included on the site! Yes please. Do not fear, for us non-locals, there is to be a store opening in the UK (at some point). So keep your eyes peeled for the name, 'Sympathy for the Kettle' (SFTK).

When stocking up for Winter, remember to gather enough for a friend

In birdhouses, flower beds, cactus pots, vegetable patches. Babies as bunnies, ladybirds, caterpillars and garden gnomes. The creations of Anne Geddes, who has said she works on the enchanted concept that fairies communicate with little babies all the time. I am far from the most committed photography fan, but Geddes has a brilliant working mind, and succeeds to pull off almost the unimaginable with the ultimate of charm and magic. Her beautiful and unique collection of images are often complemented in book format, by gentle humorous text and innovative design in the form of cuts, folds and paper flaps. Suits her style, and all the more interesting for us the readers. 

I have owned one of her books 'Down in the Garden', for as long as I can remember, having been given an Anne Geddes doll from a very artistic and informed Uncle! From then, I went all out spending every copper of pocket money on framed prints and merchandise. Her work isn't for everyone, and despite the initial thoughts of many, you certainly don't need to have an unhealthy obsession or love of babies to enjoy what she does. After all, most of the time, their little faces are so content and sleepy, there is honestly nothing for us to dislike.

It would take a day to go over the mass of info on her website, so one particular piece worth taking a good look at is "Peggy's Worm Farm". A little bit of a 'Where's Wally?' format. Over a 6 month period, 55 newborns were photographed individually in their costumes. My only disappointment was that nobody managed to yawn during their photo session. I wanted to find just one 'yawning worm'.