But Is It Art...

Dirk Skrebers is a German artist with a penchant for the macabre.
He purchased this Mitsibushi, choreographed its accident with a 'car wrecker' and presented it as a Car Crash Sculpture at the presitgious Saatchi Gallery in London.
But is it art...

Naturists Celebrate Their Birthday...

The Bay of Plenty Naturists celebrated their first birthday recently. In suitable attire naturally.
Theirs is the fastest growing Naturist group in New Zealand with 370 people joining this year, 290 of those as couples and 80 singles.
If you'd like more information on how to join up with them just email me.
With clothes on if you're shy or chilly...

Seriously Scary!

This great photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images shows a specially constructed levee surrounding a home on the Yazoo River.
The recently flooded Mississippi forced the Yazoo to also flood.
I hope these folk had a fast evacuation plan...

The Man Who Walks...

Usually Neil Madsen can be found in China, teaching English in a high school there.
After many months training in the mountains of Shenzhen city where he lives, he came back to New Zealand to fulfill a long held ambition.
To walk the length of his country. To reclaim his heretage. To be at one in the land he was born. To meet the people of his land.
He did all of that.
He walked the two thousand and something kilometres in sixty five days, carrying nothing but his dream, his freedom and a small backpack.
The man locals here know as 'The Man Who Walks' is out walking again.
I've delighted in his company over the last while.
If you can dream it, you can do it...

The House Of Stones...

For years, Joseph-Ferdinand Cheval had been working as a rural postman in the southeast of France. Each day he would bring home stones in his pockets, his wife having to reinforce them to accomodate his strange addiction. He then carried them in a basket and then walked a wheelbarrow.
Over the next 33 years he and his wife built this amazing monument which brings about 100,000 visitors a year to the otherwise forgettable village of Hauterives, north of Valence.
The Postman's Palace.
It explains why the mail was always late...

Life Without Passion...

Life without passion is nothing!
Passion is something Marlena de Blasi writes with so well.
Whether it's about food or life or even the other way around, she melts my heart. brings moisture to my eyes and has done especially so in the last few days as I read, much too quickly, An Umbrian Love Story.
Perhaps you'll feast on it soon.
I'm reading it again s l o w l y...

Blogging Problems. Again...

Once again, many bloggers are having problems logging in and posting images.
The Flying Tortoise is, again one of them.
Blogger is aware of the problem and is attending to it.
Sorry if it ruins your day.
I'm not happy about it either...

Bureaucracy And A Little Old Lady...

Eighty six year old Anna van den Bogaart, no relation to Humphrey, was fined $150 yesterday for parking in a disability carpark with an expired mobility parking permit.
She's an elderly lady for god's sake, you'd think there'd be some caring, compassion, kindness and understanding for a person of that age who forgets to renew her disability permit.
Wouldn't you?
No. Not in this greed ridden and punitive society with it's inflexible rules and regulations enforced by an ever increasing number of officious and arrogant bureaucrats!
Well I've had my say on the matter...

Creative Cycle Camper...

http://highmileagetrikes.blogspot.com/ is a site I often enjoy and I'm sure you would too.
Paul Welkins is a wonderfully talented creator of fun little spaces to live in, sit in, travel in or just play in. Some have wheels and some don't.
This clever and cute cycle camper is one of his latest...

1920's Cottage On Wheels...

Those were the days my friends.
So the song goes.
The 1920's and the days of the Model T, black of course but with a sunroom and a backporch...

The Iconic VW Campervan...

Modelled on the 1965 VW T1 Campervan, the 'Tent' version is a wonderful full sized replica of the iconic original. Check it out on firebox.com
It's available in three colours, red, yellow and blue and can sleep four adults.
And yes, you can swing a full sized cat in it...

The World's Smallest Caravan...

The QTvan is the worlds smallest caravan, small enough to be towed by a mobility scooter at a top speed of about 5mph.
It's not a big space, only 2m x 750cm but it does have a single bed, a television and some cooking facilities.
Cute eh, and there's just enough room to swing a cat, a very small cat...

It's A Strange World...

It's a strange world we live in when Forbes Magazine who lists the rich and powerful tells us that the twenty five year old Lady Gaga is the world's most powerful celebrity.
I'm sure it must be of their world.
It's certainly not of mine.
The news just makes me gaga...

Crotchless In Auckland...

Sorry that should be 'Crutchless in Auckland'.
Yesterday I saw the surgeon who did my hip replacement. He gave me an excellent report and told me to throw away my crotches, get ready to drive The Flying Tortoise again, polish up my golf clubs, get out my dancing shoes, my boogie board, and live life again.
So, it's a great day to celebrate with a night on the town...

Penelope Cruz...

Penelope Cruz says no to Botox or cosmetic surgery, preferring to age naturally.
Well I'm very pleased about that and thought you would be too...

Aston Martin. Only $2.8 Million...

A New Zealand businessman has just bought this 7.3litre, 750hp Aston Martin One-77 for a mere $2.8 million but the cheapskate didn't buy a his 'n hers pair so his poor wife has to drive the old family hack.
It gets from zero to 100kph in three seconds and it's top speed's only a bit and a half faster than The Flying Tortoise's at 350kph...

Amazing Aerial Photography...

Alex Maclean has been flying for some years now in his Cessna 182 photographing many different US and European landscapes.
Here we see flower fields in California, dinghies around a dock in Massachusetts and picknickers watching a concert in a field somewhere.
Go to www.amusingplanet.com to see many more...

Still Yellow But Very Green...

From 2013, the Nissan NV200 will become the official New York cab with the electric version plugging into the system in 2017.
The new cab has plenty of new and wonderful features, and as you'd expect, many of them green...

Just One Of Those Days...

We had an inkling something was amiss on Thursday evening and sure enough, Friday turned out to be a bad day for bloggers world-wide. We were unable to post and viewers were unable to comment.
There's been a lot of hitches and glitches lately. Hopefully...

Free To A Good Home...

It doesn't have to a good home really. Please somebody, just take them.
The postage and packaging will be paid for.
They are a couple of New Zealand politicians, both very right wing, one's a has-been wanting to make a comeback and he's just rolled the other, his best friend, for the top job of a political party called Act. They put on quite a performance but it's more like a farce or a pantomime really.
Here they are looking like a couple of performing chimpanzee at a tea party.
These are two actors of many that I will be offering up over the next few months as surplus to requirements as a general election looms.
They're toilet trained but are inclined to dribble...

What A Whopper!

Sir Paul McCartney has just proposed to his girlfriend Nancy Shevell and given her this $650,000 engagement ring.
Funny but it appears to be absolutely identical to the one I got in a Christmas Cracker last year...

A Long Way From The Long Drop...

The humble loo isn't so humble any more.
This is the Kohler Numi Toilet and probably the world's most perfect toilet... if you like that sort of thing.
At $6,390 it's probably the world's most expensive but before you poo-poo it, have a look at its features.
With a touch screen, it's completely hands free and if you'll pardon the expression, it has a motion detector. Also a built in bidet and a warm air dryer. Of course it has a built in music system, a deodorizer and a heated seat, an absolute must on these chilly mornings. Oh yes, it glows in the dark too.
I think I'll put a his and hers on The Flying Tortoise...

Big And Not So Beautiful...

This unusual housetruck was built on an old Austin truck chassis a few years ago.
One of many quirky road homes to be found in this little country.
Its top speed is very slow and the owner doesn't take it very far, something to do with going around corners perhaps...

Mr And Mrs Bin Laden's Home...

These are the actual architectual plans of Mr and Mrs Bin Laden's home in Abbottabad, Pakistan.
Obviously Mr Bin Laden was a very very bad man because the files show that the completed building breached several local body guidelines and the naughty man never ever paid any property taxes...

Cats And Dogs?

Mummy and Daddy said it's been raining cats and dogs and we're out looking for them...