Wednesday, June 25, 2014

The Caves Of Sacromonte. One Of Spain's Historic Gypsy Cave Dwelling Areas...

It is said that Flaminco was born in the Caves of Sacromonte, the gypsy neighbourhood in Spain's city of Granada.
Some say Flaminco was born of Islamic chants, others Byznatine melodies, yet others with the Gypsies of India.
It doesn't really matter but if you find yourself in the vicinity of any of the cave dwelling areas of southern Spain, spend some time there.
The province of Granada has about twelve thousand caves on their mountains in an area UNESCO have listed as a world heritage site.
These days, many of the simple and inexpensive homes of the Roma that have been in existence for a thousand years are now homes to squatters, artists, jewellers, bohemians, musicians, who peddle their wares at the local plazas. Of course the authorities want to get rid of them and sometimes they do but they often turn a blind eye to the situation too.
The living conditions of these tiny homes are at best, basic. Some get their electricity from local power lines, some have solar and plumbing and toilets are often shared by many.
But everyone's happy. I would be too.
And then there's the views...
















Tuesday, June 24, 2014

Wildboy Brando Yelavich Arrives In Auckland On His Way To Completing His Epic Walk Around New Zealand's Beautiful Coastline...

I caught up with Brando, his mother Donella, sister Brooke and dad Todd at Auckland's Mission Bay a couple of days ago.
Brando will spend the next few days in the Auckland area speaking to and inspiring young children at many schools in the area before continuing on the last few hundred or so kilometers of his epic walk around New Zealand's beautiful coastline...

Monday, June 23, 2014

Seven International Architects Design Some Weird Bus Shelters For The Austrian Village Of Krumbach...

The little Austrian village of Krumbach with a population of around a thousand decided to boost it's tourism numbers.
So they commissioned seven architects from Belgium, Russia, China, Chile, Norway, Japan and Spain to design some innovative bus shelters along its local bus routes.
The results are possibly more eye stopping
than bus stopping...











Sunday, June 22, 2014

French Students Have Designed The Microjoule. A Car That's Able To Travel 3,300 Kilometers On One Litre Of Fuel...

This little car named The Microjoule, can travel two thousand miles on one litre of fuel.
Designed and built by a group of French students at La Joliverie College in Nantes this carbon fibre vehicle weighing only thirty five kilograms was tested on a racetrack in Rotterdam and judged to be able to run 2072 miles or 3,300 kilometers on a litre of fuel.
Or 9,400 miles per gallon.
Evidently you could drive around the world for about twenty six dollars.
Should you want to...




Saturday, June 21, 2014

I Don't Want To Brag...

I don't want to brag or make anyone jealous
but I can still fit into the earrings I wore when
I was at high school...

Friday, June 20, 2014

The Flying Tortoise's Cousins, The Ridley Sea Turtles, Perfom Their Synchronised Nesting, Laying Millions Of Eggs On Costa Rica Beaches...

The French photographer Olivier Blaise captured the incredible natural phenomenon of hundreds of thousands of the Ridley Sea Turtles as they take part in their ritual 'arribada', meaning in Spanish, arrival by sea, and then over three to seven days, perform the synchronised nesting of their mass collection of millions of eggs.
While these medium sized sea turtles are found in certain warm tropical waters of the world, two of their favourite beaches remain the Nancite and Ostional on the coast of Costa Rica.
The largest arribada so far recorded happened on Ostional in 1995 when an estimated five hundred thousand female turtles came ashore to nest. With each turtle laying between eighty to a hundred beautiful white, soft shelled eggs it would be an incredible sight.
And potentially a very big omelette...








Thursday, June 19, 2014

Con/Struct. Justin Plunkett's Fictional Urban Architecture On A Rural Landscape...

Cape Town based artist, designer and photographer Justin Plunkett has very cleverly used photography to construct fictional architectural structures and landscapes.
There's more about Justin here.
And Michael Jantzen's famous Deconstructed Houses featured here may appeal to you too.
My favourite image of Justin's is the first but can you just imagine getting that past a local town planner...