James Blake – My New Obsesh

Using Art To Turn The World Inside Out

JR is a French street artist. He also wears sunglasses at indoor conferences but again, he’s French. Oh and he’s also the winner of the TED Prize 2011 which makes him more awesome and less French lame for wearing sunglasses at an indoor conference.

This is a very cool video about the art he is doing to create dialogue between people and insight change. He then goes on to challenege everyone to participate and girlfran you KNOW I’m up to seize any opportunity to blow up a picture of my face and paste it to a building or train or ice cream cart.

About the project:

INSIDE OUT is a large-scale participatory art project that transforms messages of personal identity into pieces of artistic work. Everyone is challenged to use black and white photographic portraits to discover, reveal and share the untold stories and images of people around the world. These digitally uploaded images will be made into posters and sent back to the project’s co-creators for them to exhibit in their own communities. People can participate as an individual or in a group; posters can be placed anywhere, from a solitary image in an office window to a wall of portraits on an abandoned building or a full stadium. These exhibitions will be documented, archived and viewable virtually.

INSIDE OUT is a collaboration between the artist JR, the TED Prize and you.

INSIDE OUT is funded by The Sapling Foundation, Social Animals and generous donations from people like you.

Hi, 911? I broke into a house and the owner’s here…

Check out this amazing clip about a man who broke into a house to take a shower when – TWIST – the owner came home. The owner threatened to call 911 but the this bandit is always one step ahead and already had 911 on the phone! Apparently he was fearing for his safety… because, ya know, he broke into someone’s house and they might be upset.

Where’s Ginger?

Where’s Waldo Ginger?

 

Cow Farts In A Can… You Read Correctly

Recently moved from the country to the big city? Feeling a bit out of place and confused with the changes? No worries… because now you can take the sweet smell of that country air with you for the low price of £5. Oh and by country air I do mean cow farts.

Tins filled with the air sucked out of an ageing wooden stable, straw lined and filled with gas producing cattle has become an instant hit after it went on sale in Germany.

Managers of the ‘Countryside air to go’ project say their clients are mainly country people who have moved to the city and want to be reminded of home.

The cans cost £5 a pop and can be ordered from the web site www.stallduft.de

One advert boasts: ‘Simply put your nose to the tin and peel back the lid for the authentic smell of the country’.

Designer Daniela Dorrer from the village of Adlkofen in Bavaria in Germany said: ‘We hope to make people who miss the countryside happy and remind them of home.

‘We are planning other smells such as horse, straw, pigs and manure. But most people miss the smell of the cows in the country, not really surprising as much of the smell is from cows.’

Cows’ farting and burping have even been accused of causing global warming problems.

Just one cow gives off enough harmful methane gas in a single day to fill around 400 litre bottles, which is really bad for the environment, say experts.

Now I know that the city doesn’t always smell that great… what with the homeless man urine and warm sewage… but really!? Cow farts? I mean yeah there are a bunch of apple pie scented candles out but I would have gone with something more pleasant to remind me of the country like “Freshly Run Over Skunk” or “Not As Freshly Run Over Skunk” but hey, I’m not the expert!

Because Bananas Just Can’t Get It Right

This is amazing. Del Monte has is now selling single-serving, individually-wrapped bananas. Because, obviously, nature sucks at packaging. I mean really nature – you gotta throw in some flair like a cute puppy on your peel or something else like a puppy that says “go ahead and eat me”. I really think I’m onto something with that one…

But really, this is a meeting I really wish I could have been a part of. How on earth did the idea of wrapping a fruit that already comes wrapped even come up?

Dan: “Hey Bob, you know what I really hate about bananas?”

Bob: “The fact that they bruise easily or sometimes leaves those stringy bits when you’re peeling them?”

Dan: “No. I hate that it doesn’t make a noise when I open it! I mean come on Bob! There’s no way to actually tell something is fresh unless you hear that swishy crinkle of tightly sealed plastic. Plus, there’s not nearly enough plastic waste in the world.”

I totally get it. Del Monte is 3008 and nature is so 2000-and-late.

The $10/Day Project – Day 7

Day 7 – 10/25

So I stuck with the plan and didn’t get a $2 coffee on my way to work but instead got unlimited FREE coffee at the office – mind you, I do have to close my eyes and plug  my nose while I drink it but the jolt is still there…

For lunch, I went to a bodega and got a ham and cheese sandwich but then I splurged and got two bags of chips and ended up spending $6.

For dinner, I decided I was going to make Baked Sweet Potato Tacos using Martha Stewart’s recipe for taco filling which is OMG so amazing (I added some cinnamon to the whole shebang and it was como stimulamos, stimulamos, stimulamos y orgasmo! (Thank you OMG Shoes guy…)

HOWEVER, in order to do this, I had to break my budget to be able to afford the necessary materials – but knowing that it would last me a few days. So after buying crushed tomatoes, ground beef, two sweet potatoes, three onions, one jalapeno pepper and cumin, coriander, and chili powder… I spent $19 BUT I have a buttload of taco filling and it should last me a few days.

TOTAL: $25 (or 9 Bahraini Dinars)… so this means I can only spend $5 until Thursday and still be considered “within budget”

The $10/Day Project – Weekend (Days 5 & 6)

After my first week of the $10/Day project – I had $15.90 leftover to play with. SO that’s exactly what I did:

Friday:

$2 – Coffee

$8 – Chipotle (Veggie Burrito with Guacamole – omg so so so so so soo good and totally worth a stupid $8)

$5.50 – Australian meat pie from Tuck Shop

Saturday:

$20 – Bloody Mary and a burger and fries

TOTAL: $35.50 + $15.90 credit from the week = MEGAN IS STILL IN HER BUDGET!

The $10/Day Project – Day 4

Day 4
10/22

Again, I had a $2 coffee for my 3 mile walk to work. This is somewhat of a frivolous expense as I get free coffee at work. I’m using the term coffee carelessly as I’m pretty sure it’s mostly rocket fuel but it is free sooooo starting Monderday, no mas cafe.

$7.10 – Chicken tenders and fries. I split the meal in half so I could eat the rest for dinner.

Free – 1 bottle of wine. I was telling a co-worker about my project and they decided to gift me a bottle of wine to help me make it through my first $10/day weekend. I’m sure it can be written off as a charitable contribution.

Side note – I noticed that someone is using my toothpaste because a) I only squeeze from the bottom up and it was all crazy and b) the cap was off. I have not budgeted for toothpaste theft and might have to throw down. Stand by…

Total: $9.10

The $10/Day Project – Day 3

October 21 – Day 3 of the 309 Rubles/Day Project

That’s right… 309 Rubles… I’m practically rich.

Today started out the same as yesterday… with a $2 cup of coffee from the coffee shop across the street, Red Horse Cafe. I absolutely love this place! I used to come here every morning and get a coffee and whole wheat bagel, toasted, with cream cheese… and then I realized I was eating a whole wheat bagel, toasted, with cream cheese every day. Ew. They also serve alcohol and you can get any item with a side of witty banter… fo free! (I splurged and got two sides today)

For lunch, I hit up my main man, David, in the Studio Commissary and he made a lovely grilled cheese sandwich for me for only $2.75. Not the healthiest of meals but at $2.45 what do you expect? Lobster bisque!? Well then you’re just STUPID.

For din-din I had my leftover Thai food and rounded off the spending…. $4.75!!! What whaaaat. By the end of this little experiment I’m going to have so much money left over I’ll be able to buy half a shirt… maybe the sleeve.

Total: $4.75 (146 rubles)