Happy New Year!

As 2011 draws to a close, my wife and I wish all the readers of this blog a great 2012. Make it a good one - dare to dream and dare to try to make those dreams reality. The past few months have seen us through two major decisions that will start next year. First, I have decided to take the option of early retirement in the middle of the year (at age 55) to fully enjoy life. Secondly, we have finally settled where our future will be. After a roller coaster of options throughout the year, with us seriously looking at Shanghai, Hong Kong, and Germany, we will in the end stay in Holland. We have bought a three centuries old house/shop combination in the medieval city of Kampen. My wife will be using the shop as studio and gallery to display her art, and I am sure that the medieval surroundings will do wonders for our photographic inspiration. We have dared to take the plunge - I advice you to do the same!

Lord of the Rains

A fun behind the scenes shot from Lord of the Rings. If you like this, click the link for similar shots from many other movies. First seen here.

New York state of mind

Talk about amazing. Stephen Wiltshire, an autistic artist, managed to draw a 6 m wide picture of New York from memory after a 20 minutes helicopter flight over the city. The mind boggles. First seen here.

Astonishing card trick

Click the link to take part in a card trick that baffled me for a few seconds, until I figured it out. First seen here.

World Chocolate Wonderland

One of Shanghai's latest attractions: the World Chocolate Wonderland. All exhibits are made of chocolate! So yes, you can eat it, but definitely only if you want to risk persecution... First seen here.

Nazgul

One of the most striking pieces of Origami art that I have ever seen: a Nazgul rider from Lord of the Rings, designed and folded by Jason Ku. First seen here.

Sheep chair

Seriously, who thinks up these monstrosities? I can't even begin to think who would want such a chair in their room. Yuck. Taken from a blog post that is mistitled "coolest armchairs" - many others may feature here in the future. First seen here.

Christmas snow flake

A casual look and all you see is a snow flake, fitting for Christmas day. However, this image by photographer Simon Gardiner is definitely worth a second look. First seen here.

Towels

Now why would I post a picture of some towels? And why is this under the cute critters category? Oh, wait... First seen here.

He knows when you are sleeping....

Taken from a fun post on unintentionally creepy Santa Claus figures. You better watch out... First seen here.

Season's greetings

The Metropolitan Museum of Art's Corporate Communications department has been sending out the most beautiful season's greetings I have ever seen. This animated gif is based on a 1925 polychrome woodblock print by Japanese artist Kawase Hasui. First seen here.

Ice scream cubes

Taken from a series of especially shaped ice cubes, I picked this one both fpr the art angle and the novelty aspect. First seen here.

Bruckner's Ninth

Somehow the Bruckner symphonies appear to bring out the worst in designers of classical music CD covers. This is a prime example, stupid stance, strange combination with the Bruckner bust, bad background, bad font, bad all over actually. First seen here.

Melted

I found this gem thanks to Jenny Downing. Wonderfully creative idea, well executed, and looking very appetizing as well... First seen here.

From polar bears with love

They may be deadly predators, but they sure do look adorable when snuggled up to each other. And this makes a suitable post for the start of winter. First seen here.

Washin Optical

Washin Optical is a chain with 245 stores in Japan, China, and England - and no idea what makes a good advertisement campaign. Photoshopping owl eyes into human faces does not make the potential customers run to the store to buy new spectacles - it simply creeps them out. First seen here.

Lord of the Simpsons

A fascinating crossover between the world's most popular animated TV shows and the world's most popular fantasy book: Simpsons meet the Lord of the Rings. Artist Mary Johan Juver has created a series of these merger drawings, and I particularly like Mister Burns as Gollum. First seen here.

Pointillism on the street

Graffiti does not get much more artistic than this. James Cochran creates his street art pieces with ultra-large pointillist effects by spraying paint. First seen here.

Eat your words?

Well, with this typewriter you can go one step further... you can eat the complete typewriter, as it is made from gingerbread. B-o-n-A-p-p-e-t-i-t. First seen here.

Button sculptures

Artist Augusto Esquivel makes stunning three-dimensional sculptures from sewing buttons, depicting objects like gramophones, clocks and pianos. Just falling on the Potpourri side of the fence between my two blogs. First seen here.

The walls are moving

A fun use of a well-known optical illusion in a cartoon. First seen here.

Absolut stirring

A wonderful seasonal varation on the famous Absolut Vodka advertisement campaigns - a play on the old Christmas poem The night before Christmas: " 'Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house, not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse". First seen here.

Film strip

Another one of those imaginative and funny bent wire constructions by Terry Border - this one his version of a strip show, suitably subtitled "I think this could develop into something". First seen here.

Rubik's Pepper Mill

One of the icons of the eighties, Rubik's (in)famous cube - now available as a pepper grinder. Actually, I would love to own one. First seen here.

Schweppes

I could have posted this under Mixed Nuts as well. What were the advertisement executives at Schweppes thinking if? They must have paid quite a sum for this campaign, featuring Hollywood star Uma Thurman and renowned photographer David LaChapelle - and the result is this monstrosity? First seen here.

Snow White

The linked site gives a look at Disney princesses quite different from usual: Finnish graphic design student Jirka Vaatainen created realistic portraits of iconic characters from Disney animated films. My favourite is Snow White - she is absolutely gorgeous. First seen here.

Bismuth

Simply gorgeous, this artificially grown crystal of bismuth oxide. In case you think this is a microscope shot, the grey cube next to the crystal is a piece of bismuth metal of 1 cm in diameter... First seen here.

VW Yin Yang

A fun variation on the yin yang symbol, utilizing a black and a white VW beetle - a sculpture in Rio de Janeiro. First seen here.

Trying too hard

Taken from a series of model shoots where either the photographer or the model herself was clearly trying too hard to get an unusual pose. First seen here.

Simplicity

A classic, this original answer to a mathematics exam question. I think I picked this one up at the Fukung site.

P is for Potpourri

A great example of the clever photography of Bela Borsodi, who uses nothing but ordinary objects and people to create the letters of the English Alphabet. First seen here.

Literal image

Taken from a series of literal images that are sometimes just OK, and sometimes really funny. I particularly liked this one. Got it? Sex tape... First seen here.

Book tent

One of many, many fun designs for tents, available on-line from the FieldCandy company. This one was designed by Jack Maxwell. First seen here.

Philosiraptor strikes

The Philosiraptor is one of the oldest meme's around, but this is the first one that I really like. Profound and thought provoking. First seen here.

Two years of Potpourri

Can't believe two years have already gone by since I started this second blog as alternative outlet for things that do not fit my main blog Art for Art's Sake. Image sourced from here.