100 posts

It has taken just under two months to reach post #100. Not too bad for a blog that I started as an overflow companion from my main art blog. :)

Shower curtains.....

A great collection of off-beat shower curtains, featuring themes from horror movies, science, musicals and many others. My favourite is the psycho one shown above. First seen here.

Bearly clothed

A recent news photograph about the Manuel Bolano collection at the 080 Barcelona fashion show last week. Fashion designers can turn out beautiful artisitic creations, which may or may not be comfortable to wear, but occasionally they also manage to come up with something that looks utterly ridiculous and unwearable at the same time.... First seen here.

Yo dawg!

One of the persistent internet meme's of recent years is the Yo dawg! one, along the lines of "Yo Dawg i herd you like cars so we put a car in yo car so you can drive while u drive." - and numerous mostly boring variations on that theme. This particular variation made me smile. First seen here.

Crossed leg chair

Thanks once more to Jenny Downing for sending me this one. It may not be the most comfortable looking chair, but it certainly is a special design and a conversation piece for your visitors. Design by Vladimir Tsesler. First seen here.

Go ask Alice....

More fun with small plastic figurines situated such that we get the impression they are real in a disturbingly unreal way. This one is by Jason Barnhart. First seen here.

Egg flower

Creative food shots like this one are widely circulating without acknowledgement of the creator on the internet, and more often than not they are actually made by Hungarian artist Balla Tamas. Love this one. First seen here.

Drug victims in art

Not artistic enough to my taste for my main blog, but worth sharing. Thanks once more to Jenny Downing for alerting me to this one. American mosaic artist Jason Mecier portrays celebrities whose lives were ended or blighted by prescription drugs in mosaics made out of pills - such as Michael Jackson and the depicted Courtney Love. First seen here.

Math jokes

Uhhhhhhhh....................... no comment. First seen here.

Ebony and ivory

This may very well be photoshopped, but whether 100% natural or not, it is still a magnificent image. First seen here.

Campeche

Another magnificent satellite shot. Named after the ancient Mayan Province of Kimpech, the state of Campeche comprises much of the western half of Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula. Rivers in southern Campeche drain into the immense Terminos Lagoon, the entrance to which is protected by a long barrier island, Isla Del Carmen. First seen here.

Checkershadow illusion

This is an ancient one, but of all the optical illusions, I find this one the most frustrating and confusing. Believe it or not, but squares A and B are exactly the same shade of grey. I did not believe it either, so I cropped these two squares out of the shot into separate pictures. A comparison of the two, without their context, clearly proofs this baffling illusion. First seen a long time ago, recently found here.

Vintage record coasters

The covers of old 33rpm albums make great decorations, but now someone also has found an application for the records themselves - at least, for the centre parts. They have been cut out, plastified and made into great coasters. First seen here.

Parallel universe

This is one of those illusions where you will be holding a ruler or something against your screen before you believe it. Yes, all these red lines are straight and moreover parallel. An oldie, but recently found here.

Safety shop fail

The mind boggles that this can happen at a safety shop. In our company, this would get you fired on the spot. First seen here.

Pull the other one

This news photogrpah made me smile. Lisa Curtin prepared for the 27th annual Aviemore Husky Sled Dog Rally in Aviemore, Scotland, Thursday. More than 1,000 dogs will participate in the event - and this one obviously enjoys the role reversal. First seen here.

Piano stairs

Given the choice between stairs and an escalator, far too many people choose the easy option. This experiment in a Stockholm subway show a creative way to encounter this. When a subway staircase next to an escalator was transformed into a working piano that plays a note each time you take a step, it turned out that 60% more people chose the stairs just because it was fun. First seen here.

Recession piggy bank

The imagination some designers have.... awesome result, this piggy bank for our current crisis years. First seen here.

The history of the ampersand

A fascinating (well, I thought so) article I found on the webdesignerdepot site: the history of the ampersand, the "&" symbol. Derived from a stylized version of et (latin for and), this article tracks the changes through time, the various font versions, and its use in art and design. First seen here.

The chain gang

Another off-beat shot by Spanish photographer Chema Madoz, the Magritte of photography. First seen here.

FBI photoshop from hell

Just imagine you are that guy. The FBI recently relased a composite photo what Osama bin Laden would look like now - and used a picture they found on internet of a Spanish politician (right) as major input file. Unbelievable. First seen here.

First kiss

Accidental or on porpoise? Don't groan, I did not come up with that one. First seen here.

Old Chinese saying

I don't know who came up with this quote, but I think it's hilarious. Picture perfect as well. First seen here.

Watchman

A new subject, inspired by a link sent to me by Jenny Downing. I have posted something along these lines before in Art for Art's sake, whilst noting that "The art of Jason Barnhart is not easily classified - I'm not even sure whether it should be called art. It is fun to look at though. He takes miniatures of people, puts them in environment which seem extremely natural even at their size and takes photographs". It is a perfect category for Potpourri though. We kick off with a creation by Vincent Bousserez. First seen here.

Take one sheet of paper...

... and let a number of artist demonstrate what they can make of it. An interesting idea, which led to some great results. I have shown only a fraction of them here. Thanks once more to Jenny Downing for the link. First seen here.

Crasher seal, the next meme

A recent example of a so-called photobomb - and one that appears to have the potential to be the next internet meme. Expect this little seal head to pop up in numerous shots all over the web the coming weeks. First seen here.

Surrealism chair

This design by David Pompa looks like it has gone through a random component generator. Quite rightly it ended up in a list of ugliest products ever. First seen here.

The origin of Taoism

Definitely worth while clicking to see the image larger and read the text more easily. An original abstruse goose cartoon, from the site that generally takes science as an inspiration for their cartoons. Recommended. First seen here.

I told you: you can't handle dwarf beer

Some fun I had recently with a camera and Snow White figurines on the garden table. Original here.

Power leveling

The image is an old one, but I was glad to see it once more this morning. So true. First seen here.

The fall

The fall or The fail? Granted, it is not an absolute disaster, but given the circumstances... as the cover designer for the new Norah Jones album, you have one of the prettiest singers around (especially now she has cut her hair) to work with, and then this is the best you can do? The dress is still OK, the hat works pretty well actually, but the dog is already getting into dubious territory, and both the carpet and the tapestry are downright awful and distract completely from Ms. Jones. Even the font is bad. First seen, well, all over the place really.

33 rpm

A piece of nostaligia for the generation who learned to appreciate music from LP records, before CD's and MP3. A piece of candy also - this one is made of chocolate! First seen here.

Cremica Twin cream biscuits

OK, we have this new cookie, a biscuit with chocolate and orange cream - how are we going to market it? Well, getting an uncomfortable model and pooring the stuff all over her was clearly not the right answer. First seen here.

Hard hat fail

Or..... "Personal Protective Equipment - you're doing it wrong". A gem for safety minded managers like myself. First seen here.

Do hit chair

Inspired by Frank Gehry? This happens when designers join the mixed nuts confederation. Starting with a basic steel box and a sledge hammer, you're supposed to beat it with gusto until it looks like something you could sit in. First seen here.

Pepperoni

Profound? No. Did it make me chuckle? Yes. Like many Cyanide and Happiness cartoons. First seen here.

Here's Johnny!

A French artist that calls himself MTO has done graffiti of famous movie roles all over Berlin - such as this stunning one of Jack Nicholson as Jack Torrence in The Shining. First seen here.

Skin peel

A new topic, inspired by a mail from Jenny Downing. Such creative food shots are widely circulating on the internet, but usually without credit to the creator. I posted one on my art weblog some time ago, and found out that they are made by Hungarian artist Balla Tamas (whose web site apparently is now loaded with malware ads). I will feature his work from time to time in this blog as well, kicking off with this skin care shot. First seen here.

Men

A wonderful capture, and a perfect caption as well. Made me smile. First seen here.

Toys 'R' Us dinghy

Don't let this fool you: this is actually a life-size dinghy, turned into a plastic model kit lookalike by artist Michael Johansson. First seen here.

Nikon cake

The amateur photographer in me delights in this special cake - even though I am using Canon rather than Nikon. First seen here.