Enjoy the summer solstice in Stockholm
The Solstice is still a few days away, but Midsummer madness of Abba-esque proportions has taken hold of the Swedes.
It is quite a shock, coming from people who have brought us such sensible things as Volvo cars, Ikea, Skype computer conversations and paternity leave.
For an outsider, the best way to get a snapshot of the [...]
Virtual nightclubs have bottom line in mind
At Interscope Records’ Pussycat Dolls Lounge on the web community Doppelganger, users, via an avatar, can talk and “dance” with club-goers, interact with the performers via chat sessions and, most importantly, buy music and other merchandise.
The interactive lounge is the latest attempt by the music industry to tap the popularity of social networking sites to raise [...]
Seeking Scandinavia
Susan Weber Soros on bringing long-overlooked European design to the public eye.
At a recent dinner given by Swedish Consul General Ulf Hjertonsson to celebrate the opening of Bruno Mathsson: Architect and Designer, Susan Weber Soros toasted the success of the exhibition, adding that Scandinavian design has played a crucial part in the good fortunes of [...]
In Berlin a design celebration city-wide is about to start
The 7th edition of DMY International Design Festival “Same same, but different” will kick off in June and will last from 03 to 07 June 2009.
Showcasing works by internationally acclaimed designers as well as reveilling prototypes by the young talent the festival this year especially focuses on design that makes a difference. Presenting three huge [...]
Taking web 2.0 inside the homes of ordinary people
“My goal is to provide a venue for people from all walks of life to showcase their little piece of the earth and share their decorating ideas, challenges, tastes and accomplishments with others who are seeking inspiration” said Danish web designer Jakob Jelling on the launch of Dwank.com, a social networking site that promises to [...]
Weird, wild, and wonderful events from the past
A selection of weird, wild, wonderful, zany events from the year 2006 >
* In a new twist on the influx of Polish workers to Britain, an ad appeared in newspapers serving Muslim communities in the East European nation asking for Polish halal butchers to work in Britain.
* An 82-year-old Australian cartoonist who was expert at doing [...]
In design, do we have standards?
Designers Jasper Morrison and Naoto Fukasawa have curated an exhibition that celebrated the idea of the “Super Normal”.
I recently bought a pair of jeans in the kind of shop that I wouldn’t have dreamt of buying jeans in a few years ago, before they became the potentially perfectible item that they are today. Pushing them [...]
Cabaret Voltaire is Zurich’s shop of the new
Zurich’s legendary Dada Venue, Cabaret Voltaire, now includes a shop selling “Fair Trade” T-shirts.
For your next trip to Zurich consider a visit to the Cabaret Voltaire, mythical birth-place of Dada, where artists with pointy hats and thunderous nursery rhymes changed the course of art history. The venue is now an art space dedicated to a [...]
Pop culture icons
We do know Bart, but Homer is Greek to us >
Three-quarters of Americans can correctly identify two of Snow White’s seven dwarfs while only a quarter can name two Supreme Court justices, according to a poll on pop culture.
According to the poll by Zogby International, commissioned by the makers of a new game show, 57% [...]
Things you’ve always never wanted to know
* A Saudi Arabian woman can get a divorce if her husband doesn’t give her coffee.
* There is no such thing as a naturally blue food, even blueberries are purple.
* Ronald Reagan did a narration at the 1947 Academy Awards ceremony.
* The only contemporary words that end with -gry are angry and hungry.
* Vanilla is [...]
