Five for Friday

Happy Friday everyone! It is a particularly splendid day for me because I spontaneously was given a day off, so I am off to the Sunshine Coast to eat, drink and be merry.

Still, a five-for-Friday;

Scientific 7 minute work out. Even I could manage that.

An artist an designer uses food to create plate-art.  

Make-your-own pixilated poster design.

Mr and Mrs Smith; luxury and boutique hotels. I can't afford any of these but a girl can dream. And drool a little in hopeful anticipation.

And on a more sobering note;

Excellent analysis by Time on our costly and ineffectual asylum-seeker policy.

Five for Friday

Great Challenges in Global Health is calling for submission to develop the next generation of condom. Because let's face it, there hasn't been a whole lot of technological improvement there for some 400 years. The project is receiving financial support from the Bill Gates Foundation. I just thought this was interesting. Your awareness has been raised this Friday! 

Brisbane Craft Beer has a website.  

Kevin McCloud has a Pinterest page. For any other Grand Design freaks out there. Seriously is a great show to have on while cooking dinner, though. 

Brisbane City Council City Centre MasterPlan Ideas Fiesta. A three-week long program of free public events.  

A website has done a list of their favourite DIY fashion bloggers and posts. The post itself isn't great but you can look through the websites and projects and find some great new blogs and ideas. Personally, I loved this one on ...love Maegan. I wish I'd seen this months ago, I might have tried this to have one 'neon' item in my wardrobe.

 Image courtesy of ...love Maegan.

Five for Friday

Five life tips from a mother. Not tips about being a mother

20 bars and restaurants open in Brisbane over the Easter long weekend.

The world needs more love letters; a beautiful idea.

15 amazing words courtesy of the Swedish language.

The simple pleasures in  life: a Puppy pinwheel.

We all hope you have an enjoyable long weekend! Be sure to try a cocktail or two...

 

Because Easter is all about cute photos of rabbits and ducklings.

 

Five for Friday no. 56

It was Valentine's Day earlier this week but not everyone gets the love they deserve. In the UK, there is controversy surrounding reports that staff at a home for disabled people procured sex workers for the residents at their request. I don't know how you may feel about this, but I think every person has the right to sexual experiences and there is nothing unnatural in those desires. If these people cannot find partners, then to engage professional sex workers, who will be understanding of their needs, to help them seems the obvious and correct solution. Read the story in The Guardian.

Trust the Swedes to have an idea like this. 

Nine illustrious houses in English fiction. This is just real estate envy.

20 mostly cute, some odd, ways to announce your pregnancy. This is how my friend Rachael did it.

Restaurants clamping down on people photographing their food. It was inevitable. Has this ever happened to you? It happen to me the one and only time I ate at Esquire.

Five for Friday no. 46

Authors choose their favourite books for 2012.

A beautiful way to store books.

'Man Repellent' fashion blog. Wearing whatever she likes, whether chaps like it or not.

Do you have 300 words to say on the topic of Love? 

A British adventurer become the first person to travel to all the world's 'countries'.

Five for Friday no. 45

First world problems of the 1990s. Unnervingly, I can related to most of them.

 

Hipster baby names: find your own. Mine is Argyle. Which I think might be easier to deal with than my real name. 

The 50 ugliest shoes in history. 

 

A slightly odd sartorial website. 

Dream houses built for books and the people who love them.

Five for Friday no. 44

The British are great at invading other countries. 

Things people say to graphic designers as a series of posters. 

In 2013 NGV will be hosting an exhibition of Monet, with all 60 works inspired by his stunning garden at Giverny. 

I love this slightly odd dating tip.
 

 In an effort to raise awareness of the plight of ordinary citizens in countries without freedom of speech, freedom of movement or rights to education, Trial By Timeline will analyse you and see just how many international crimes you might have committed if you hadn't been born in Australia or New Zealand. Warning: if you wish to participate, you give Trial By Timeline the right to access your Facebook timeline.

Five for Friday no. 41

11 wonderful words with no English equivalent. For a language with so many words, I often feel that we miss out on these more interesting sentiments or shared experiences all wrapped up in one word. Courtesy of Jane.  

Cardboard bicycle close to mass-production.
 

Walk through a rain room.
 

The beautiful artwork of Helen Musselwhite.
 

The Look of Love by Helen Musselwhite. Image courtesy of her website. 

100 greatest non-fiction books, according to The Guardian. I have read exactly one of these books. But at least I have heard of most of them!

Paris RTW Spring 2013: wrap up no. 3

It’s over. The Fédération Française de la Couture du Prêt-à-Porter des Couturiers and Créateurs de Mode (French Fashion Police) can rest easy for a few nights at least before starting to panic about Fall fashion in a few months’ time. 

Alexander McQueen. Image courtesy of The Guardian.

Some of the wrap ups of Paris fashion week include;

Harpers Bazaar’s wrap up of the big four fashion weeks. 

A full wrap up of every look in every show thanks to Vogue UK. Australian Vogue of course.

The Guardian weighs in.

As does the New York Times.

 

Fashion House Chloe turned 60 this year. The sartorial beauty of the house is still going strong. Images courtesy of Vogue UK 

I posted Vionnet a few days ago, here is Vionnet demi-couture. Images courtesy of Vogue UK 

 

 Pedro Laurenco. Images courtesy of Vogue UK.

The models at Olympia Le Tan were clearly told to have fun on the catwalk.  

Images courtesy of Vogue UK.

Sarah Burton for Alexander McQueen.  This bee hive inspired collection was a far cry from royal wedding garb. Images courtesy of Harpers Bazaar.  

Five for Friday no. 38

J.K. Rowling's new novel that is completely unrelated to all things wizard-y is out this week.  

Rom Com

Tie The Knot: advocating for a more stylish and equal America.

Most Terrifying Lamp Ever. 

Do I want this wardrobe OR would the pressure to have pretty clothes on display all the time be to much for me?

Five for Friday no. 37

For fellow XKCD fans out there: a Google Maps-like view of the XKCD world. 

Banksy art as animated gifs.
 

14 crazy places to travel to. I have added 13 to my travel list. I have already visited one of them.
 

Pamukkale, Turkey. 

I have photos of me wandering through these natural cliffs and pools when I was 5. 

I was adorable!

 

Speaking of travel, I have just discovered another fantastic general information website for people with Wanderlust.
 

World's most expensive bookshelf. I want it!
 

My new bracelet

This is the story of how I accidentally won a bracelet.

I’m on twitter. I would go so far as to say I have a mild twitter addiction. Twitter participants have three levels: sign up and post one a month; mild addiction; on it all the time. I’m on the slight addiction level and likely to stay that way unless I get a job in digital marketing.

Anyway, I’m on twitter and for some reason Lisa Brown – a Gold Coast based fashion designer and leading Queensland designer - and I became reciprocal followers; though a Brisbane fashion tweet I expect, or a reference to a mutual account keeper. I don’t know. Two weeks later and I find out that by following the account and sharing it with friends, I inadvertently entered a competition and won!

My prize? This beautiful bangle! I love it. I’m super excited to by wearing a bangle by a local designer and more over, a designer I may not have heard about if not for Twitter.

Now I want to get myself into gear and make it to a Brisbane Fashion Festival show featuring her work – if I can still get tickets!

Five for Friday no. 29

Dressing like social media. I'm so traditional - I'd choose from Facebook, Twitter or YouTube.

 'facebook'. Image courtesy of B for Bel.

A girlfriend of mine shared this around last Friday so I thought I would pass it on. A song for Friday.

 

The beauty of the Stockholm Subway. I miss living in a city with a subway. 
 

 

 Image courtesy of This Art is Yours.

L.A. as a film map.

The cutest things that ever happened. Do not open unless you have spare time and a supply of 'awwww'.

 

I’m an Ikea line!

For anyone who reads this blog and knows me personally, this is old news.

However, a few weekends ago on our way down to Bangalow, Chuck and I stopped off at Ikea to buy exciting stuff like a new bin and there I was!

ME!

I have to say I rather like the designs of the ‘Birgit’ range of soft furnishings. Ikea soft furnishings always have girls’ names as part of their naming conventions.

I love Scandinavian design and imagery – away from Ikea – so I was pleased to see ‘Birgit’ had such a solid, traditional look.

Most exciting of all, I actually bought a piece of the Birgit range! Just a cushion, but that’s enough for me. 

 There I am. My Birgit cushion.

Five for Friday no. 28

A fun crowd sourcing project on international pronunciation of one simple phrase.

A saucy Victorian pop-up book for adults only.

The only person to make physics and maths entertaining to me - the guy behind XKCD - has started a blog answering questions about physics. SAT Guessing. There are also cartoons.

A dining table that makes every meal fun. Yes, I do kind of want one.

Classic Gil Elvgren pin-ups given a Robert Downey Jnr make-over.

Five for Friday no. 26

Famous shirtless men through the ages. Because Magic Mike is coming out soon. You're welcome.

I love this. The Satorialist for the Edwardian era.

Five Words Tell A Story.

I spotted this quote, it appears on Wood Paneled Shoes and I had to feature it somewhere. 100% accurate.

And because there is a little bit of wedding-fever going around my lady friends at the moment: Vera Wang have opened their first bridal boutique in Australia.

 Photo courtesy of Vogue Australia

Five for Friday no. 21

On May 25, it was International Towel Day. A day to honour Douglas Adams, author or The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy and other pieces of marvellousness. In honour of their hero, Douglas Adams fans organise events all around the world and carry a towel with them for the day. Here are a list of 10 cult literary traditions.

Towel Day in Innsbruck, Austria.

Some sports that are over-due for a return to the Olympics. I vote for 'Duelling Pistols'


Texting your ex in 5 easy steps.


Google Doodles have an archive. It's pretty nifty.


Firework Fails!

Five for Friday no. 16

Fictional character birthdays: find out who you share your birthday with. I am seriously unhappy that I share mine with a lousy Desperate Housewives character while Chuck gets Bruce Wayne. Bruce Wayne!!!

Tenthings that made 90s TV show Sabrina the Teenage Witch cool. Relevant because there is a movie in the pipeline.

Disney poster re-imagined in a simple grphic-designer-loving manner. Am I the only person who sees something suspicious in the Wizard Of Oz poster? 

In Style Magazine's 50 best fashion tips of all time.

If you're like me and you have a big of a girl crush on Zooey Deschanel and secretly wish you had hair like hers ... sigh ... you might enjoy this 'style evolution' slideshow. The early 2000's were not a good time it seems.