The Truth About Robert...

It turns out and thanks to Bev from San Antonio for telling me, that Robert is really Joe.
Joe Cross from Australia was evidently one hundred pounds overweight and did something about it. His film 'Fat Sick And Nearly Dead' is now a commercial venture showing folk who are successfully  following his juicing regime and there's more about it here.
While it's not something I wish to promote, there's sometimes a need to allow the truth to get in the way of an amusing post...

The Flying Tortoise Meets Darth Vader...

The Flying Tortoise meets Darth Vader.
And unlikely scenario but in this strange world anything is possible...

Olivia Mead. What A Greedy Little Girl You Are...

I know it's none of my business Olivia and you can act like a spoilt little brat if you like but I read about you suing your half sisters for a bigger slice of your late father's cake.
I'm sure your father, Michael Wright, who lived a frugal life style even though he was the son of a legendary Australian mining pioneer, thought the A$3million he left you in his will
was more than adequate.
But no you greedy little minx, you want more. Another seventeen million so you can have a A$2.5m home in Perth, five pairs of A$5,000 shoes a year, a diamond studded guitar, a A$40,000 holiday each year, A$10,000 for handbags, A$400 for weekly restaurant bills, A$300 a week for clothes, A$150 a week for fine wine, an A$1.6m crystal encrusted Kuhn Boesendorfer grand piano, an Audi car, oodles of money for the children you're planning to have and thousands of dollars for your pets including an Axoloti which is a Mexican walking fish,
a Neotonic Salamander.
Her lawyer who if her claim succeeds, stands to make, let's see, anyway, he says she's not a spoilt child and her demands aren't excessive.
But it looks like greed has won. Again...

Car Makers Are Needing To Design Cars To Cater For The Obese Driver...

It's not a new problem.
It's been around a while but it's getting worse.
And the future prognosis is bad.
The 'Futurologist' at the giant US car manufacturer Ford, says cars of the future are having to be rethought and redesigned to cater for the, for the, for the, fortheobesedriver.   There, I've said it, quickly so hopefully
it didn't offend anyone.
And as they become larger and heavier, their reaction times also become slower which means their driving skills are impaired. Some people who can't reverse without mirrors also can't turn their bodies in their seats or turn their heads
to look behind them.
And evidently a 'fat' driver is more than three times likely to die in an accident
than a healthy driver.
It doesn't all bode well for the future.
And the future is now...

It Was Carnival Time In Rio...

It was Carnival time in Brazil's Rio recently.
It wasn't even the slightest bit boring...

The Beautiful Stone Slave Huts Of Bonaire...

It's highly unlikely the slaves that were accommodated in these stone huts with no headroom would have considered their design to be beautiful. And they probably didn't get too much time to appreciate the beautiful views and the stunning beachfront locations of the dwellings they were forced to crawl in and out of.
There's more about them here.
Now restored to almost their original state when they were built, these huts are a poignant reminder of one of the darkest periods in the Caribbean's history...

Oooh Look Dear, There's A Car Parked Upside Down, Come Along Children...

Oooh look at that dear, someone's parked their car upside down, that could be dangerous,
come along children.
It's alright madam, it's the latest of Alex Chinneck's mind bending art installations. Alex from Hackney has a habit of creating some unusual pieces of art but this one wasn't an easy concept to accomplish.
All it required was more than a modicum of ingenuity from a team of structural engineers, steel benders, scenic artists, carpenters, metal workers, tarmac layers and road markers and there you have it. A new tomato red Corsa suspended four and a half meters off the ground for Vauxhall Motor's new product launch at London's Southbank.
The installation's on display until February 25 and it's called Pick Yourself Up and Pull Yourself Together. Come on children hurry up.
We don't want to miss it...

Why Are So Many Modern Motorhomes Such Ugly Examples Of Visual Pollution, Urban Graffiti, Environmental Misfits And Ecological Disasters On Wheels...

Why is it that motorhome manufacturers continue to foist their damned ugly examples of visual pollution, urban graffiti, environmental and ecological disasters on wheels, to the recreational vehicle consumers.
Well, possibly and at the risk of appearing rude to many, because the buyers are not very discerning, the makers don't care and consequently that's all the motorhomer can buy.
If an urban graffiti artist was to attack a static building with these sorts of artworks it would be considered an act of environmental vandalism and the perpetrator would be fined.
But the makers of these mass produced fifth wheelers, buses and vans continue to get away with presenting their ugly artworks to the world.
There is nothing environmentally respectful or friendly about these vehicles.
They don't fit in with the great outdoors they visit. They shout their demands to be noticed.
They're ecological disasters.
They're a blot on the landscape but they don't have to be. They're a designers worst nightmare but they don't have to be.
They're ugly misfits but with a right
to their place in the sun.
And I must show tolerance to the good taste
or otherwise of my fellow travelers...

New Zealander Saeed Ghandhari Could Be One Of The First Four People In The World To Go And Live On Mars. Forever...

Saeed Ghandhari from New Zealand has been named among the one hundred whittled down from more than two hundred thousand hopefuls who applied to go and live on Mars. Forever.
Mars One Mission doesn't have a plan
for a return journey.
Getting there is proving difficult enough.
I've been a successful migrant on Earth, I think
I would be a good migrant on Mars too said the adventurist Saeed. I believe I've got the qualifications and personal credentials to be one of the first four who will go and live on
the Red Planet. Forever. There's more here.
Good luck Saeed. Good luck to all of you...

France Offers Its Petrol And Diesel Drivers Up To Ten Thousand Euros If They Change To Electric Cars...

The French Government is about to change the taxes on petrol and diesel so it can offer incentives encouraging car users to give up their petrol and diesel powered cars for electric ones.
Starting in April, France will offer a bonus of up to ten thousand Euros, around US$11,400, to the over eighty percent of those who drive diesel cars and the more than fifty seven percent of those who drive petrol cars.
This offer will apply to vehicles that are more than thirteen years old and aren't equipped with modern particle filters.
All this in an effort to reduce the country's high level of toxic air pollution...
Seems like a deal too good to drive past...

Could This Be New Zealand's New Flag...

Could this design by Michael Smythe
based on New Zealand artist Gordon Walters' well known Koru symbol be the new
New Zealand flag?
New Zealand has just, on February 6th 2015, celebrated its one hundred and seventy fifth anniversary commemorating its nationhood and the signing of The Treaty of Waitangi.
In world terms we are the new kids on the block.
As Michael Smythe, the designer of this stunningly bold and beautiful flag, says here, we are a young, isolated, evolving and multicultural country with a unique bicultural heritage that engages constructively with the world
on our own terms. 
The debate on when why or if we should change from the current flag we've grown up with raises its head periodically or when the government wishes to talk about something other than a controversial issue of the day.
Perhaps it is time for a change.
Could this bold statement be New Zealand's new image it presents to the world?
I'd like to think it could...

Art Himsl's 1937 Chris Craft Zeppelin Roadliner Motorhome Is One Of A Kind...

Named 'The Zeppelin Roadliner' by the famed customiser Art Himsl, this unusual vehicle is one he bought in the 1960's.
With its aluminium framing which was originally covered with a 'Grade A' linen aircraft fabric skin, it started out life as a prototype house car built by a mechanic at a Chris Craft boat dealership in San Francisco and was registered in 1942 as a Plymouth house car.
Today the immaculately presented Zeppelin boasts a 350cubic inch V8 Chevy engine, push button automatic transmission, air-ride suspension, a refrigerator, microwave oven and front and rear air bags.
But do have a look here. Art Deco on wheels...

And They All Lived Together In A Little Crooked House...

There was a crooked man and he walked a crooked mile. And he found a crooked sixpence upon a crooked stile. He had a crooked cat which caught a crooked mouse. And they all lived together in a little crooked house.
In England's delightful little Suffolk town of Lavenham the old nursery rhyme takes on an element of truth as many of the half timbered, brightly coloured and noticeably crooked, seem to lean on each other in a drunken fashion
as if for support...

You'll Do As I Say Or Else...

The US President Barak Obama tells New Zealand Prime Minister John Key, which way to jump, when to jump and how high.
Unfortunately this cynical view is not far from
the truth with Prime Minister Key's policies increasing social inequalities and the wealth of New Zealanders already very rich.
While making sure the poor remain poor thus taking this once egalitarian society further and further away from the caring one it used to be.
And you'll do what I tell you John, or else I won't let you play golf with me again. Ok...