a love of art, photography & nature
Copywriter: Ingo Hoentschke
Art Director: Lidia Pranjic
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“It took 4 million years of evolution to perfect the human foot. But we’re wrecking it with every step we take …. read the full article here”
(Article “You Walk Wrong” by Adam Sternbergh in the New York Times magazine)
(Photo: Tom Schierlitz)
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Well done to the photographer.
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The “lily” series designed by Janne Kyttanen
“Quin” designed by Bathsheba Grossman
Quin is my favourite design and I adore this - it reminds me of sea urchins or starfish and the way the repeated shapes are intertwined in a sphere is gorgeous with the wondrous subtle distribution of light through the patterned layers. I have fallen in love with this lamp and it’s a stunning work of art. This is the designer’s intention.
This sculpture marks the end of a series that has spanned Bathsheba Grossman’s sculptural life to date, beginning with the four-sided tetrahedron and progressing through the five Platonic solids to the last and most mystical of them, the twelve-sided dodecahedron. In the first four shapes Plato saw the elements that make up the material world, but in this fifth he saw the nature and wholeness of the entire universe, the spiritual quintessence. This light-sculpture is a household embodiment of that unity: the Quintrino. Onto the basic form of the dodecahedron – for those who enjoy games with exotic dice, it is a 12-sided die – The designer has sculpted a topology that plays at every point with the transition between inner and outer space. The eye is led into the sculpture along many swooping paths, leading from triangles to pentagons and back again.
The lamplight also follows those paths. The light, white material is itself translucent, and here it’s made more translucent by a myriad of perforations. But in a more global way, the geometric facets of the original solid are unloosed from each other, and are now free to rotate in space, opening out their boundaries into curves that fl y past each other. This lets the turning surfaces override each other interestingly, like waves on water, while keeping the sculpture open into space in all directions. But what is most beautiful about Quintrino is the anti-light, the way the surfaces shadow each other. It creates a continuum of differently shaded areas casting smooth gradations of light in a spherical matrix that is punctuated by small pure beams. Mathematically, this object adds complexity to the original dodecahedron by bringing in a rotation, so that the object becomes different from its mirror reflection. It’s a symmetry that is rarely seen; in fact you might be unable to point to another example of any man-made or natural object which has it. This sculpture is like a seedpod or flower in some other world, where the formal, static symmetry of reflection has a looser grip than this one.
The QUIN.MGX design embodies the fifth and final platonic solid in which Plato saw the nature and wholeness of the entire universe, the spiritual quintessence.
“Flame” designed by Bathsheba Grossman
“Detail” designed by Dan Yeffet, inspired by the pattern of a fingerprint
All of these lamps are from the .MGX Design Products range. They are a supplier of manufacturing excellence and a design company mastering its own concepts and brand. .MGX Website
Some other .MGX products
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I simply had to show you this unusual tissue box as it really appeals to me. Due to allergies, I go through lots of boxes of tissues and would love to have this one in my home.
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The night before we left and much to our dismay, Roger Federer was beaten in the semi-finals by Novak Djokovic. My mother couldn’t even bear to watch the match and retired early when she ’sensed’ that Roger was not in top form - it has been her dream to see him play live. I chose to watch the match on TV and had to break the news to my mother of Roger’s defeat on the morning of our flight to Melbourne. It was not going to be the same but what could we do but still enjoy the experience without Roger.
We arrived in Melbourne on Saturday morning at around 10am and when we got to our hotel we noticed that the roads had been blocked off and police presence was everywhere. As more and more people gathered in “costume” and loud music was playing with an announcer’s voice booming out from a loud speaker somewhere in Swanston Street, it suddenly dawned on us that it was an “Australia Day” parade. People were everywere and we were tired and a bit weary after our very early morning flight but we quickly got caught up in the atmosphere of the occasion.
Some colourful street entertainers on the “Australian Day” Parade in Swanston Stree, Melbourne
After watching the parade for a while and grabbing a quick bite to eat, we hopped on our very first tram in Melbourne which took us to the Rod Laver Arena. We had trams in Glasgow (before I was born) and my parents still talk about them and they are fun to travel on but not on this particular occasion. We had to stand and everyone was packed in like sardines - as they let more and more people on to the tram, I thought that I was going to be crushed at one stage or fall on top of a seated passenger’s lap. A gorgeous Indian fellow graciously got up and let my mother sit in his seat - I was touched by this gesture.
Melbourne Tram & Arriving at the Rod Laver Arena (my mother is the lady in lavender on the left-hand side)
Before we walked through the turnstyles, my camera created a lot of attention from the security guards who questioned the size of my telephoto lens - the maximum zoom allowed is 200mm and I just made it! The atmosphere inside the arena was buzzing and the place was packed. Even although our seats were quite far back , on the top tier, we were impressed with the view and the court was closer than we imagined. Whew! We had arrived and awaited the Australia Day Ceremony before the match where there was a surprise in store - Pat Rafter was a guest at the ceremony as he was inducted into the Australian Tennis Hall of Fame and there was an unveiling of his statue.
Pat Rafter stands next to his statue for the Tennis Hall of Fame and Ana Ivanovic playing in the final
Maria Sharapova about to serve in the ladies final which she eventually wins. Ana and Maria with their trophies
It was a fantastic match and the crowd was on Ana’s side and she played exceptionally well but she lost due to Maria’s power in the end.
The next day, feeling refreshed after a good night’s sleep, mum and I went sight-seeing on Sunday as we had the whole day to put in before the men’s twilight final. We took in Flinders Street Station, Federation Square, South Gate & South Bank (where we wandered round the fantastic Sunday market stalls) and I was impressed at the standard of arts and crafts. A few local artists and photographers were selling their works and I bought a hand-made necklace for myself from a local jeweller. It made me seriously think about setting up a stall at the markets in South Bank in Brisbane with my photographic works.
Flinders Street Station, Southbank & Federation Square
Tired after a lot of walking and a final meal in Federation Square, we headed over to the Rod Laver Arena for the Men’s Final and the atmosphere was even more electric than the women’s final - there were people everywhere - talking on mobile phones, having a pre-match nibble or beverage, buying last minute souvenirs from the gift shop where the queues were very long on the last evening as they had a half price sale. I purchased a couple of T-Shirts and skip hats. We sat in the same seats, next to the same people who had become our “tennis buddies” and waited for the players to arrive on court.
Jo-Wilfred Tsonga and Novak Djokovic playing in the men’s final
The crowd were in favour of Tsonga who is the new “hero” in men’s tennis and he had a blistering start, winning the first set but Djokovic’s sheer determination and powerful play finally won him the tournament but Tsonga played incredibly well and was close to winning. Argubly, this will be the best tennis match my mother and I will ever see “live” and the standard of play from both players was exceptional.
Tsonga and Djokovic with their trophies
On the last day of our tennis weekend, the holiday Monday, my mother & I set off early to Melbourne Zoo after a yummy croissant and cup of coffee in Starbucks. I managed to get a few very good animal shots but the Zoo got very busy as it was a holiday and lots of little kids were there who got in the way of my camera lens and the wildlife! My favourtie animals of the day would have to be the orangutans, monkeys, meercats and red pandas and one of the monkeys had a little baby who created a lot of attention from the visitors.
Orangutan, Meercat (with attitude) and Monkey with baby at Melbourne Zoo
I could live in Melbourne and the city has a wonderful “vibe”, friendly people, healthy interest in the arts, fantastic shops and restaurants and a lovely mixture of old and new architecture. We totally enjoyed our stay there and we have lots of good memories - if you have never been - GO!
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Oscar
PROVIDENCE, R.I. –Oscar the cat seems to have an uncanny knack for predicting when nursing home patients are going to die, by curling up next to them during their final hours. His accuracy, observed in 25 cases, has led the staff to call family members once he has chosen someone. It usually means they have less than four hours to live.
“He doesn’t make too many mistakes. He seems to understand when patients are about to die,” said Dr. David Dosa in an interview. He describes the phenomenon in a poignant essay in Thursday’s issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.”Many family members take some solace from it. They appreciate the companionship that the cat provides for their dying loved one,” said Dosa, a geriatrician and assistant professor of medicine at Brown University.
The 2-year-old feline was adopted as a kitten and grew up in a third-floor dementia unit at the Steere House Nursing and Rehabilitation Center. The facility treats people with Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s disease and other illnesses. After about six months, the staff noticed Oscar would make his own rounds, just like the doctors and nurses. He’d sniff and observe patients, then sit beside people who would wind up dying in a few hours.
Dosa said Oscar seems to take his work seriously and is generally aloof. “This is not a cat that’s friendly to people,” he said. “Oscar is better at predicting death than the people who work there”, said Dr. Joan Teno of Brown University, who treats patients at the nursing home and is an expert on care for the terminally ill. She was convinced of Oscar’s talent when he made his 13th correct call. While observing one patient, Teno said she noticed the woman wasn’t eating, was breathing with difficulty and that her legs had a bluish tinge, signs that often mean death is near. Oscar wouldn’t stay inside the room though, so Teno thought his streak was broken. Instead, it turned out the doctor’s prediction was roughly 10 hours too early. Sure enough, during the patient’s final two hours, nurses told Teno that Oscar joined the woman at her bedside.
Doctors say most of the people who get a visit from the sweet-faced, gray-and-white cat are so ill they probably don’t know he’s there, so patients aren’t aware he’s a harbinger of death. Most families are grateful for the advanced warning, although one wanted Oscar out of the room while a family member died. When Oscar is put outside, he paces and meows his displeasure.
No one’s certain if Oscar’s behavior is scientifically significant or points to a cause. Teno wonders if the cat notices telltale scents or reads something into the behavior of the nurses who raised him. Nicholas Dodman, who directs an animal behavioral clinic at the Tufts University Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine and has read Dosa’s article, said the only way to know is to carefully document how Oscar divides his time between the living and dying. “If Oscar really is a furry grim reaper, it’s also possible his behavior could be driven by self-centered pleasures like a heated blanket placed on a dying person”, Dodman said.
Nursing home staffers aren’t concerned with explaining Oscar, so long as he gives families a better chance at saying goodbye to the dying. Oscar recently received a wall plaque publicly commending his “compassionate hospice care.”
By Ray Henry, Associated Press Writer July 26, 2007 .
Science writer Alicia Chang in Los Angeles contributed to this report.
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