urban taster

I also desperately want one!

Playsam’s classic roadster saab. This toy car is based on the very first saab – sixten sason’s prototype 92001, measuring 94cm and weighing 10kgs.

High lustre black painted wooden toy inspired by the above car’s original prototype, measuring 22cm and weights 0.78kg.

wow.

The London olympics is shaping up to be quite the event, if not in the sporting world, then in the new green-savvy crowd. Since the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics, there has been rumblings that there just has been too much waste, both in the organisation of the games, as well as the architecture of the iconic arenas. What is for sure is that what London lacks in numbers (do not expect to see 2008 Londoners drumming led-lit drums in unity!), they more than make up in ingenuity.

Case in point is the Raise The Cloud project. Proposed as a counterpoint to the extravagance, the structure is meant as a “build by the people for the people” project, funded by micro-payments, projected by the collective thoughts of the masses, and shaped by the hands of all involved in the games. Best of all, striving to be carbon neutral.

Although still in its very initial stages of proposal, I have to say, my interest is piqued! Read more about it at raisethecloud.

I really love Eric Pelberg’s on-going photographic work. Since April 2004, he has walked miles and miles through the streets of London, compiling a photographic journal which does bring me right back to my Londan days. I like to think that I just might have run into him back then. Selected below are some of my old haunts.

Here’s a little tribute to the little MacHams. :(

I have had Critter Crunch for the longest time on the iPhone, and it has always been my one favourite game, enticing me with its engaging music and oh so adorable game play. Seeing Boing Boing’s article of the up and coming Critter Crunch on PS3 makes me drool! It is exactly the attention to detail and its obsessive environment crafting that pushes the game beyond mere Teteris status. See more for yourself at this exhaustive article at BoingBoing.

Luv! Luv! Luv! Marc Johns.

A great big virtual hug for all our visitors who helped us hit 5k views in slightly less than a year. This has been an amazingly fun year that we have both had and we are looking forward to more to come! Cheers! *klink*

TOP Gear presenter James May, with the help of volunteers, is building a house made entirely out of Lego bricks. Now…I really wish I was there…

Read more here and here.

If I had the money, this would be my bike! New British brand Mac Motocycles.

THIS is exactly how a wedding should be like! <3 <3 <3!

A great personal friend of mine just opened his third shop VERYwooonderland and its amazing! Beautiful clothes in a beautiful environment along with a beautiful identity. Check it out at the newly opened ION Orchard, which is already worth the visit on its own. But once there, head on down to B3-12. Shop away!

When I was a puppy, I entertained you with my antics and made you laugh. You called me your child, and despite a number of chewed shoes and a couple of murdered throw pillows, I became your best friend. Whenever I was “bad,” you’d shake your finger at me and ask “How could you?” – but then you’d relent, and roll me over for a bellyrub.

My housebreaking took a little longer than expected, because you were terribly busy, but we worked on that together. I remember those nights of nuzzling you in bed and listening to your confidences and secret dreams, and I believed that life could not be any more perfect. We went for long walks and runs in the park, car rides, stops for ice cream (I only got the cone because “ice cream is bad for dogs,” you said), and I took long naps in the sun waiting for you to come home at the end of the day.

Gradually, you began spending more time at work and on your career, and more time searching for a human mate. I waited for you patiently, comforted you through heartbreaks and disappointments, never chided you about bad decisions, and romped with glee at your homecomings, and when you fell in love.

She, now your wife, is not a “dog person” – still I welcomed her into our home, tried to show her affection, and obeyed her. I was happy because you were happy. Then the human babies came along and I shared your excitement. I was fascinated by their pinkness, how they smelled, and I wanted to mother them, too. Only she and you worried that I might hurt them, and I spent most of my time banished to another room, or to a dog crate. Oh, how I wanted to love them, but I became a “prisoner of love.”

As they began to grow, I became their friend. They clung to my fur and pulled themselves up on wobbly legs, poked fingers in my eyes, investigated my ears, and gave me kisses on my nose. I loved everything about them and their touch – because your touch was now so infrequent – and I would have defended them with my life if need be.

I would sneak into their beds and listen to their worries and secret dreams, and together we waited for the sound of your car in the driveway. There had been a time, when others asked you if you had a dog, that you produced a photo of me from your wallet and told them stories about me. These past few years, you just answered “yes” and changed the subject. I had gone from being “your dog” to “just a dog,” and you resented every expenditure on my behalf.

Now, you have a new career opportunity in another city, and you and they will be moving to an apartment that does not allow pets. You’ve made the right decision for your “family,” but there was a time when I was your only family.

I was excited about the car ride until we arrived at the animal shelter.

It smelled of dogs and cats, of fear, of hopelessness. You filled out the paperwork and said “I know you will find a good home for her.” They shrugged and gave you a pained look. They understand the realities facing a middle-aged dog, even one with “papers.” You had to pry your son’s fingers loose from my collar as he screamed “No, Daddy! Please don’t let them take my dog!” And I worried for him, and what lessons you had just taught him about friendship and loyalty, about love and responsibility, and about respect for all life. You gave me a goodbye pat on the head, avoided my eyes, and politely refused to take my collar and leash with you. You had a deadline to meet and now I have one, too.

After you left, the two nice ladies said you probably knew about your upcoming move months ago and made no attempt to find me another good home. They shook their heads and asked “How could you?”

They are as attentive to us here in the shelter as their busy schedules allow. They feed us, of course, but I lost my appetite days ago. At first, whenever anyone passed my pen, I rushed to the front, hoping it was you – that you had changed your mind – that this was all a bad dream…or I hoped it would at least be someone who cared, anyone who might save me. When I realized I could not compete with the frolicking for attention of happy puppies, oblivious to their own fate, I retreated to a far corner and waited.

I heard her footsteps as she came for me at the end of the day, and I padded along the aisle after her to a separate room. A blissfully quiet room. She placed me on the table and rubbed my ears, and told me not to worry. My heart pounded in anticipation of what was to come, but there was also a sense of relief. The prisoner of love had run out of days. As is my nature, I was more concerned about her. The burden which she bears weighs heavily on her, and I know that, the same way I knew your every mood.

She gently placed a tourniquet around my foreleg as a tear ran down her cheek. I licked her hand in the same way I used to comfort you so many years ago. She expertly slid the hypodermic needle into my vein. As I felt the sting and the cool liquid coursing through my body, I lay down sleepily, looked into her kind eyes and murmured “How could you?”

Perhaps because she understood my dogspeak, she said “I’m so sorry.” She hugged me, and hurriedly explained it was her job to make sure I went to a better place, where I wouldn’t be ignored or abused or abandoned, or have to fend for myself – a place of love and light so very different from this earthly place. And with my last bit of energy, I tried to convey to her with a thump of my tail that my “How could you?” was not directed at her. It was you, My Beloved Master, I was thinking of. I will think of you and wait for you forever.

May everyone in your life continue to show you so much loyalty.

The End

Copyright Jim Willis 2007

I love it!

“The unique natural beauty of woodland appeals to all our senses and forms the basis for our Waldilla solid wood flooring designs. Every plank retains the original curvature of the tree from which it stems. This is achieved through a specially developed manufacturing technique; modern computer technology gives each wooden floor it’s own organic form. The grain and knots of the wood are retained as a characteristic part of this whole and treated with crystal clear resin. red dot design award 2009.”

Via Design Spotter.

a beautiful and simple website that answers the question “Whats the weather today?” in the most beautiful and surreal images this side of the web. See your weather here.

Now wouldn’t this be the perfect way to get off a subway? Nice job Improv Everywhere missions team!

The co-founder of Save Polariod, Sean Tubridy has published a book! Toys on Roids feature a number of old school and modern toys shot with a Polaroid SX-70. You can view part of the collection here on flicker. This one made me laugh, “This is NOT my battle cat!”

Oh I love these! A blog on scanwiches! Salami anyone?

I love Antony Gormley and now more so. The empty Fourth Plinth in Trafalgar Square has held many exhibits but this, I feel, would be the most engaging yet. Called One & Other, Anthony invites you, me, anybody to participate. Fly me to London please!

“Antony Gormley, the man behind Britain’s best-loved sculpture The Angel of the North, is inviting the people of the UK to occupy the empty Fourth Plinth in Trafalgar Square in London. Every hour, 24 hours a day, for 100 days without a break beginning on 6th July, a different person will make the Plinth their own – an uninterrupted succession of 2400 volunteers creating a unique portrait of the UK in the 21st century.”

…and have the coolest business card ever!

Read more here!

:)

Via SwissMiss.

Luv Luv Luv ISO50.

A walk down memory lane for the not so young Singaporeans.

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Based loosely on a 1934 chinese play “Thunderstorm”, this is a visual feast that left me undecided on whether I liked the dragon and phoenix emblazoned costumes more, or the endless bouncing breasts, or the rainbow-hued crystal curtains, or the thousands of bodies plied on top of another, or the “smashing my son down with my golden belt till he is flat against the floor” scene more. If anything, watch it for the moment when Gong-Li spits in brilliant venomous whispers “I just want you dead”. More pictures after the jump.

Official site here.

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love love love!

Matt Harding has danced his way across the world in this superb video. Put a huge smile on my face! Be sure to watch in in high quality.