Smokey, the caninecierge, on the set of the Parthenon segment

Everyone's favorite caninecierge was on the set with us one day as we shot some video and some pictures of the Parthenon for an upcoming episode of Good Life Aficionado.

Garrett's shirt from Threadventures

Here is a close look at Garrett Parris' shirt. It was made by Threadventures.

Going to a horse show this weekend

We are going to Bowling Green, Kentucky to a Ky-Tenn. Ranch Horse Association show this weekend. Visit their website to learn more about them, http://www.ktrha.com/index.html

We are setting up the Threadventures Embroidery booth and I will be out taking some pictures and videos for your pleasure and to see if I can create some products that would be popular for horse shows and all kinds of business'. Visit Threadventures at the show and also visit the website and see what they can do for you. Here is the link, http://www.threadventuresemb.com/

Stay tuned to the Webbspun Ideas blog and Good Life Aficionado for more news and videos soon.

Volkswagen on a Wednesday- Un-Pimp Your Ride

Amazing wall paintings

I found these cool pictures at Freshome

Brand new Nashville shirts with cool designs

Visit Threadventures to purchase these designs as well as more cool stuff.

A master embroiderer at work at Manuel's

Pancho

Fusion '08 brings all the arts together in the Gulch

The 4th annual Fusion event brings culinary, fashion, visual and musical artists together to raise money for the Minnie Pearl Cancer Foundation.

Visit the Fusion website for more information.

Saturday, March 29
City Hall
Project A
7:00pm

Piano House

I think Billy Joel would love this house. Just imagine him singing, "I ammm a piano mannnn, oh yess I ammm in a piano house", or something like that.





I found this at Offbeat Homes. Check them out for more cool and funky houses.

Funky Bookshelves

I found these funky bookshelves at the blog of Weirdomatic while looking at the Freshome blog. Be sure to check out the warning sign about the police.

Get in the "Flow"

Flow was developed by John Arndt, from the Design Academy of Eindhoven NL, for a Postgraduate thesis. The Flow system is based on the cyclical flow of nature for tackling the issue of wasteful resources in the kitchen. The designed system allows for the different elements to interact with one another by utilizing the waste from one element as nutrients or fuel for another.



The water from the dish rack is used on the herbs and edible plants in the planter boxes below it. When preparing the herbs and edible plants, you can collect the scraps into a built in bowl that gets tipped over into the composter that is attached beneath the table top. The finished compost is put back into the plants... restarting the cycle. Amazing.



This comes from 2Modern. Visit them to find more cool stuff.

Delightable the Table

Here comes the Kloss’ DeLighTable that has taken the guise of a slim coffee table, which is only twenty five millimeters thick. The product was in development for over two years and is now commercially available. The flamboyant table allows you to create vibrant visual effects just by touching it. The real work obviously lies in the pressure sensitive surface, but now it also comes in an attractive casing. Running on 12 volts and entirely waterproof, the DeLighTable has been developed as part of an investigation into reactive space. The pressure sensitive surface starts to shine with the slightest touch. The tables are made to order, and the typical lead time is four to six weeks.

Priced at around $2300.

Meet the Man Who Shrinks Cities

Visit City Shrinker to see large cities reduced to the size of ants.

And Now From Germany, A Bed by Remote Control

There are many ways to describe the high-tech hideaway bed called the Zoom- Room: A mattress that is stored vertically behind cabinets or an entertainment center, and that, with the push of a remote control button, slips down the wall and out into the room like an enormous upholstered snake. A German-made bed that rests on bowed beechwood flats and uses a mechanism reminiscent of an automated garage door, if you can picture a garage door mechanism upside down. An irresistible piece of equipment with which to torment a cat.



Then there’s the description offered by Peter Medvin, the owner of Zoom-Room, who is importing the bed from Germany. “I call it the James Bond Seduction Bed,” says Mr. Medvin, who has two in his Miami apartment, which doubles as the Zoom-Room showroom. “No one knows it’s there. It just looks like a home entertainment center, the perfect place to hang the wide-screen TV. Then you open it up and there’s this huge wow factor.”

A former investment manager on Wall Street, Mr. Medvin, who is 51, first saw the retractable bed at a home-design show in Montreal about six years ago. He was living in a one-bedroom apartment on Manhattan’s Upper West Side, and the bed seemed ideal for guests. It was, however, manufactured by a German company, B & M International, and was difficult to import. Mr. Medvin managed to do so, paying what he recalls as $11,000 or $12,000. When a friend asked for help in buying the bed two years ago, Mr. Medvin, approaching 50 and ready for a life change, signed a deal with B & M to become the bed’s United States distributor. The beds, which are available with or without custom cabinetry, range in price from $6,495 (for a twin without cabinetry) to $9,995 (for a king-size bed with cabinetry).

Information: Zoom-Zoom
JOYCE WADLER

Find and read more in the NYTimes/Home & Garden.

Paperclip Lamp by Teague

The lamp comes from Teague.

Find more amazing things at Freshome.

Funky, Interesting Stuff by Bleijh

Electric Car

Giant Downtown

Sandwich Bike


Fruit Bowl

The ideas of Bleijh concepts & design directly relate to the emotions experienced by people during their everyday lives while ; walking, sitting, cycling or driving. Using a Bleijh product is self explanatory.

Visit the Bleijh website

Humana Building; Louisville, Kentucky

Photos courtesy of Andrea

Ten Breast Self-Exam Reminders and Architecture Delights

But how can you remember to check for breast cancer? We’re all pretty busy but have no fear, we are here to help. Did you ever think that your surroundings count? Here are 10 good architecturally and design-minded reminders. Live with these sort of buildings and home items and soon you’ll be thinking about breasts 24/7.

~

1. Some breasts are a tad pointy like this roof reminder…

2. Curvy reminder


3. Door reminder


Take care of the ladies in your life and be sure to keep checking for breast cancer.

Please visit Offbeat Homes to see more fun homes and architecture.

Toilet Shaped House

This design stinks!!! Sorry, I just had to say it but really isn't this architecture out of control? Although the more I look at it, it somehow makes me wanna get a book, relax and sit for a while .

~C.S. Webbspun

The Toilet-Shaped House has a very unique design, and was built by Sim Jae-duck, the chairman of the organizing committee of the Inaugural General Assembly of the World Toilet Association, and he hopes his toilet house will highlight the global need for better sanitation.. The Toilet-Shaped house is in fact named Haewoojae, which signifies in Korean “a place of sanctuary where one can solve one’s worries“. Sim Jae-duck will open what is billed as the world’s one and only toilet house on November 11 to mark the launch of his World Toilet Association.



The steel, white concrete and glass house, with a symbolic opening in the roof, will be ready to receive visitors next month, said the World Toilet Association in a statement. The house is a 419 sq m structure with two bedrooms, two guestrooms and other rooms, the two-storey house of course features three deluxe toilets. Unlike the giant “toilet” in which they are located, they will not be see-through affairs.

If you would like to visit this house you can go to Sim Jae-duck native city of Suweon, 40km south of Seoul.

Visit Freshome to see more home ideas and gadgets.

Burj Al Arab- World's Largest Cross?

This comes from Mirage Studio7. Visit them for more architectural news.



This is probably an outdated news and it is all over the internet, anyway, Burj al Arab was designed by Tom Wright of WS Atkins PLC, during the designing stage, the world was told that it was built to resemble a sail, but critics are claiming that Wright designed the cross after he had a dream to have a Christian influence in a Muslim country.

Some locals claim that this was an intentional move on the part of the British architects. This issue is more ironic when one considers that the Tower of the Arabs is widely considered to be Dubai’s most important landmark. A Conspiracy indeed, but no words yet from the architect himself. The real question is, does it matter if it looks like a cross?

In the year 2001, Dubai introduced the 4th series number plate. It has the Burj al Arab symbol, due to conspiracy theories and controversies surrounding Burj Al Arab’s resemblance to the Christian cross, the Burj Al Arab symbol was removed without any explanation in the year 2004.

An interesting story is told back to back which says that apparently any cars registered in Dubai, that have one of the older license plates which have an image of the Burj Al Arab on them, aren’t allowed to drive into Saudi Arabia.

Coming from a country that the official religion is Islam, I find it hard to digest the fact that Malaysian of other faith such as Buddhist, Christian, Hindus and others are not allowed (unofficially) to built any religious structure or building that exceed the height of any mosque in their respective towns, except for a few temples and churches like the Batu Caves temple and Kek Loh Si temple. It is not a written law, don’t believe me? Ask any senior draftsperson or architects.

Bias it may be but when the British disapproved the Mega-Mosque in London, the British Muslim was pissed, the mega mosque is believed to be so huge that it will dwarf many of Britain’s Christian cathedrals.

Councilor Craig, who lives in a city with 300 mosques and 500 madrassahs, suggests that Britain not allow any more mosques until Muslims allow churches in Saudi Arabia. Craig said, “Why should the Saudis pay for a mosque in the UK when there is not one single church, temple, goodwara, synagogue in Saudi at all?” - CBN

What goes around comes around, and if you need to look for a guilty then you only need to look into a mirror. After all, Burj al Arab is on Muslim soil, some minor renovation can be done to rectify this whole Christian cross issue, now, the real question is why don’t they do it? What say you?