Design, History

Bran Castle / Romania

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1 June 2014
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Whisper it quietly, rather than shout it from the rooftops, but Dracula’s Castle, in Transylvania, is on the market.

Not in the conventional fashion, with estate agents staking their For Sale signs in the ground, but in a quiet, offers-are-invited-from-the-right-people sort of way.

If someone comes in with a reasonable offer, we will look at who they are, what they are proposing, and will seriously entertain the idea, says Mark Meyer, of Herzfeld and Rubin. The New York law firm is handling the sale (he’s also the honorary American consul for Moldova)

The property comes with a long list of previous owners: everyone from Saxons to Hungarians to Teutonic knights. And although the facilities may not be exactly state-of-the-art (the plumbing is reported to require some work), there’s no questioning the detachedness of the property. It stands on top of a hill, and is most definitely not overlooked by neighbours — via Telegraph

Craft, Entertainment, Wildlife

Cadence and Shining Armour / morisato54

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30 May 2014
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Faith in your spouse is a crucial element in a lasting, loving relationship. But when the doom of an entire kingdom rests on a single death defying act of ultimate heroism, having lots of practice definitely helps too. With their display of top form and precision I can only guess Princess Cadence and Shining Armour must have belonged to a cheer-leading team in their younger days. Either that or they participate in possibly the strangest version of Caber Toss.

Both figures and stand are carved out of Philippine mahogany while the gears and Cadence’s tiara are made of narra hardwood. They’re hand painted in enamel and with a protective flat lacquer top coat. The pair stand at 10″ from Shining Armour’s hoof to the tip of Cadence’s horn while the entire piece measures 13″ high, 7 1/2″ long and 3 1/2″ wide. It took 148 1/2 hours to complete — via Youtube

Craft, Wildlife

Octopodes Pattern / Jennifer Raymond

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29 May 2014
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Octopodes, originally uploaded by Jennifer Raymond

Octopodes are a pair socks with stranded colour work on the foot, and helix knitting to stripe the ankle. All throughout, a pair of stripes shoot up the sides of the socks from toe to top, creating a strong visual line — via Ravelry

Design

Arne Jacobsen Villa Doll House / Minimii

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27 May 2014
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This is an authentic 1:16 model of Jacobsen’s 1929 villa in Charlottenlund, Denmark produced by the company Minimii. Well, not the whole villa — Minimii did manufacture one of those too, but sadly now have sold out. What you get is the frontage, which means the house can be both free-standing and wall mounted. And, as the frontage is hinged, it means it can double up as a quirky cabinet, if you don’t want to let the kids anywhere near it — via Retro To Go

Art

Calamityware Dinner Plates / Don Moyer

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26 May 2014
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The Willow pattern is both highly recognisable and also seeped in history. Still popular now, the (most commonly) blue and white floral style was inspired by the porcelain the English were importing from China in the 18th Century — and now graphic designer Don Moyer is creating his very own subversive version with Calamityware. Moyer’s deceptive designs seem — at first glance — like regular Willow plates, but upon closer inspection, all kinds of hell is breaking loose. From frightening sea monsters to swarms of flying monkeys, UFOs, pirates and giant robots, the plates’ tranquil scenes are being dramatically interrupted. While the first five plates in the project have been confirmed (some of which are already available for purchase), the final and sixth plate is still being considered; Moyer is tossing up between a volcano, Sasquatch, pterodactyls, bats, alligators and several other — unlikely and comical—invasions — via Cool Hunting

Politics

Frances Abbott scholarship: Leanne Whitehouse pressed PM to cut red tape

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25 May 2014
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The managing director of the Whitehouse Institute of Design, who is understood to have personally funded an unadvertised $60,000 scholarship for the prime minister’s daughter, issued a direct plea to Tony Abbott to reduce red tape across the board in higher education at an exclusive event last year, but the institute says any suggestion these remarks were an attempt at lobbying or seeking to interfere with the regulatory process are ridiculous.

The statement follows further revelations published by the independent news site New Matilda that the prime minister attended a champagne reception for the 25th anniversary of the institute where Leanne Whitehouse, the institute’s managing director, delivered a speech to attendees including the prime minister — via redwolf.newsvine.com

Design, History

Fire engulfs iconic Glasgow School of Art

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24 May 2014
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One of Scotland’s most cherished cultural icons is partly in smouldering ruins today after fire raged through Charles Rennie Mackintosh’s architectural masterpiece, the Glasgow School of Art, writes Tristan Stewart-Robertson.

In what was last night described as a national tragedy, flames consumed around a third of the interior of building, with some reports suggesting the famous Mackintosh library had been lost.

Widespread emotion and dismay was demonstrated on the streets of Glasgow, and echoed around the world as the news spread.

Hundreds of students, lecturers and shoppers gathered in Renfrew Street and Sauchiehall Street as flames were seen bursting out of windows on the upper floors shortly after noon.

Many wept at the sight of fire engulfing the A-listed school, completed in 1909 and recognisable across the globe as an Art Nouveau gem — via redwolf.newsvine.com

Politics, Rights, World

Students shed clothes and burn debts as push for reform continues

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24 May 2014
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Police on Thursday confiscated a heap of ashes displayed at a Centro Cultural Gabriela Mistral (GAM) exhibition — allegedly all that remains of US$500 million in pagarés — or debt paper — stolen and burned by artist and activist Francisco Tapia, aka Papas Fritas.

A video by Tapia went viral in student circles earlier this week wherein he confessed to burning the legal papers certifying debt owed by Universidad del Mar students and had thus liberated the students from their debt obligations. The video and its widespread circulation no doubt prompted the police raid at the art exhibit.

It’s over, it’s finished, Tapia said in his impassioned five minute video. You don’t have to pay another peso [of your student loan debt]. We have to lose our fear, our fear of being thought of as criminals because we’re poor. I am just like you, living a shitty life, and I live it day by day — this is my act of love for you.

Although authorities began shutting down Universidad del Mar last year for financial irregularities and encouraged students to seek out alternative universities, the university is still collecting on its student loans.

The destruction of the documents occurred during a toma — student takeover — of the campus and means the embattled university owners must now individually sue each of its students to assure debt payment — a very costly, time-consuming process — via redwolf.newsvine.com

Wildlife

Takin Calf / Mesker Park Zoo

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24 May 2014
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Mesker Park Zoo & Botanic Garden in Indiana has welcomed its first-ever Takin calf, a female named Ching Lan, which means beautiful orchid in Chinese. In the wild, this little calf would be following her mother on steep mountain paths at three days-old. It looks like she’s practising those motor skills by sneaking up on mum — via ZooBorns

Design

FAB28RD Cummersdale Retro Fridge / Smeg

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24 May 2014
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The fridge is a Smeg FAB28RD fridge with freezer compartment, which you can buy with plain design here, there and everywhere. But you can only buy this design at John Lewis. That design is the Cummersdale print, which dates back to the company’s founding year of 1864, and was originally used as a furnishing fabric. It works pretty well on a 1950s-style fridge too — via Retro To Go

Politics, Rights

CAWB Welcomes Green Ban

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23 May 2014
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Today, in an extraordinary and rarely seen move, the CFMEU, in response to community pleas for help, has placed an historic Green Ban on Thompson Square, Windsor.

Just as, in the early 1970’s, green bans protected Australian architectural heritage and social history; today this venerable and honourable tradition has been called upon in defence of the oldest remaining public square in Australia.

In the 1970’s green bans occurred against a background of the Askin Government and increasing developer power.  Today’s green ban occurs against a background of eroded environmental protection and diminished heritage safeguards in response to an increasingly powerful developer lobby.

In 2014 the power of development over community concerns is well illustrated by the Windsor Bridge proposal and today’s announcement is made against a backdrop of ICAC investigations into political donations, power and influence; although more sophisticated financial arrangements are evident than the infamous brown paper bags of the past — via redwolf.newsvine.com

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