Wow! The Australia Voice, Karise Eden Sings Leonard Cohen's Hallelulah...

I very rarely feature music here as you know,
but after I was sent this link, I spent a lot of yesterday listening and looking at this remarkably expressive young woman doing more than just singing Leonard Cohen's beautiful Hallelulah.
I couldn't get enough of her and had to share. She's just won Australia's Voice Talent Quest.
Click the link here. Sit back.
Turn up the volume.
Hallelulah...

From Sweden In The 1960's. The Very Cute Saab Campervan...

The Swedish car company Saab has made some very interesting vehicles over the years and because of the enthusiasm of local man Torsten Johansson who had an idea who's time he thought had evidently come, Saab reluctantly got into Campervans.
Things didn't turn out so well for Torsten but Saab eventually took up the challenge and produced the blue 92H on the left, the photo below showing it before it's body restoration, and the 95HK model on the right seen here in red and green. Check out the driver position and the vertical steering wheel.
There's more here and a video here...

It's Clever And It's Simple. It's The Corner Ladder...

As the homes and living spaces of some of us get smaller and we have less storage space, there's a need to rethink the simple domestic tools and appliances we need, but don't get used that often.
The Corner Ladder fulfils all the criteria and is simple, functional and looks great.
It was featured at the Valencia Design Week held recently.
Created by the Barcelona based Company and Company Design Studio, this wooden ladder folds in a surprising manner and can be stored easily. In any corner.
You can see more about it here.
It's not in production yet but this prototype
is the first step...

You Might Like Large Food...

The Harrogate Autumn Flower Show is one of Britain's most prestigious gardening shows.
It was held recently and as usual featured the Battle Of The Giants where gardeners from all over the country show off their monster melons and other delights.
Weightlifter Jonathan Walker is seen here preparing to lift a marrow weighing over 120lbs or 54kg after it had won one of six awards for its' owner and grower, Peter Glazebrook.
Peter is seen here with his world record onion weighing 18lbs or 8.16kg.
And here he is again with his colossal cabbage weighing over 81lb or 36.74kg.
There's more here but no mention of what Peter's secret for success is.
I think the answer lies in the soil...

If You Fancy Finger Food...

This Finger Food offering is similar
to Slow Food but only in that it's local.
At this precise moment and probably for a very limited time.
You might enjoy one or both of these little morsels as a light snack or deep fried perhaps as an entree with a salad on the side. And a glass of Pinot Gris.
But you may have to be quick...

Carlo Petrini And The Fast Growing Slow Food Movement...

Slow Food is an international movement founded in 1986 by Carlo Petrini,  passionately referred to as Carlin by his adoring fans.
It was formed originally to resist the opening of a McDonalds near the Spanish Steps in Rome.
Today the movement has many many members in over one hundred and fifty countries.
Its goals of sustainable foods and promotion of local small businesses are paralleled by a political agenda directed against globalization of agricultural products.
In other words grow local, eat local.
Carlo spoke recently at the seventh biennial jamboree, the International Salone del Gusto to a discerning audience, bringing attention to the incredible waste in our food management systems calling our refrigerators, home graveyards.
According to this man, the greatest of all gastromonic acts is working with leftovers.
He was railing against what he calls 'food pornography' and the endless TV cooking shows that have very little to do with the preparation of a simple home cooked meal.
I'm with you Carlo. Bon Appetit...

Far Away From The Mad Mad Mad Mad World...

Far away from the insanities of the world, the greed and the consumerism, the wars and the injustices, the ugliness and the politics,
there's a refuge I go to with the click of a mouse called Cabin Porn.
I'm always assured of a degree of sanity there, reminding me of simpler times and then, there's the Yurt, high in the mountains and many miles from civilisation but with a motorcycle, a solar panel and a dish that's not for eating from...

Family Outings Can Be Such Fun Sometimes...

Whether it's taking mother for a sedate Sunday afternoon ride, watching the kids having a downhill trolley derby, taking the whole family out for a day in the desert, hanging on while hanging out and lunching al fresco, grandma and grandpa in the mall, mum, dad and the kids on the motorbike or getting caught up in a slight traffic jam on the way home, you must admit that family outings can be such fun. Sometimes...