Making me Confused

During the past 7 months I have gone through a growing phase in my life. I have found that some people I have been friends with turn out to be true friends, caring and finding time to ask how I was. Then I could almost say in the same sentence that some I have found to be the opposite. I have betrayed people to win the trust of others, I am not proud of that, yet all seems lost in the end. As I have found that the true nature of someone can never be fully understood. The lack of communication, the advantage of playing with someone's feelings, sometimes finding oneself lost in the extremities of another's emotions displayed at random. I find this truly disturbing, as I do not feel I know myself at all. The world and society presents you with a picture of idealism. Yet the mere thought of it leads to existentialism.

At first I set out to go and find myself, to free my mind and soul of the ideals of this world. Then I found that I merely moved towards a different interpretation of my vanity inflicted soul. Everyday has become a process of dilapidation, one thing after the other slowly breaking down the wall of thought that I wound myself into the past few years.

So I have come to find myself enraged with the feeling of confusion, not knowing where to find myself in this world. I feel like dying, yet it always happens on another day.

Initial Access Gallery - 'Lightness of Being'

‘Lightness of Being’ is the fifth major exhibition at the new Initial Access Gallery in Wolverhampton. Frank Cohen, fast-building a name as one of Britain’s most exciting and extensive private collectors, has lent the gallery his neon collection, the idea being to shed some new light on the extensive use of neon in contemporary art.

Website
http://www.initialaccess.co.uk

Address
Initial Access
Units 19 & 20
Calibre Industrial Park
Laches Close (off Enterprise Drive)
Wolverhampton WV10 7DZ

Durban, South Africa

Just a few Images of Durban, South Africa.

The LEGO Beijing Olympic Arena

LEGO minifigure turns 30

It's not every day that a children's toy becomes a design icon but in the case of LEGO's minifigure, those tiny plastic male and female figurines that animate (in an inanimate sort of way) children's building block creations the world over, icon status seems oddly fitting.

2008 marks the minifigure's thirtieth year in production - an impressive milestone in design as much as business, considering that the basic look of the figurine has remained virtually unchanged since its inception - a body, three LEGO bricks long, beneath a head, one brick high, with that mini plastic toupee clipped on top.

When you consider that an astonishing seven LEGO sets are sold around the world every second, it's no surprise that the miniature builders, firemen, cops, and nurses (as well as 'celebrity' guest figures including Darth Vader and Indiana Jones) have become so ubiquitous - over four billion are scattered around the globe. If they ever decided to form their own autonomous state it'd be more populous than India and China combined. Now there's a scary thought.

Phew. . .

To all you fab readers, I will be offline for 4 weeks. Thank you for your support!
See you in 4 weeks!

Couture, la joie de vivre!

Travel should be about freedom, experimentation and the wind in your hair. Time to unearth your four-wheeled friend, the mighty skateboard. You may not have clapped eyes upon this little chap since tootling round your primary school playground but fashion demands otherwise. Skater chic is upon us.

Think America in the '70s. The Cadillac - a new and vastly improved model of skateboard - has just been released. Geeks and jocks forget their differences and come together to share their love of skating. There’s a drought in California. Dried up swimming pools become dude paradise. The Goonies is soon to be released and The Ramones are the band du jour. Life is sweet.

Mix checked shirts with retro t-shirts, don baggy jeans to house necessary knee pads, adopt beanies and gilets. Channel American vintage with a twist of Canadian workwear. Hair should be tousled and unkempt – you’ve been kickflipping off a stairset, not standing infront of a mirror. Decorate your board or rucksack with some dark comic art, and voila - you’re the hottest young thing since Rodney Mullen created the ollie impossible. Watch out South Bank.

Sunset behind the City

This is a picture of Durban with the sunset behind the City. I was out towards the oceans side when I took the picture as the City faces Eastwards.

London Festival of Architecture

Check out Wallpaper* for more info!

Shibuya Station, Tokyo

Architect Tadao Ando’s new Shibuya Station extension is all about making travel fun again. 'A station should be a place where visitors think "I was glad to come to this station’ or ‘that station was fascinating",' Ando says, as he examines the three-story atrium of the nearly completed building.

Ando’s design is based on what he calls a 'chichusen,' or underground spaceship. Commuters board the buried flying saucer near the top of the atrium and are carried down to the tracks at its base. 'Because this station has an atrium from top to bottom, you can easily see where you are... it gives you a sense of security,' Ando says.

An environmentalist, Ando is a strong advocate of public transport. 'Japan has the most substantial transport network in the world, even without a car you can still get around, and I repeatedly point that out, but the motor industry says: "He’s making trouble for us! He shouldn’t be talking this way." That’s the problem,' the 67-year-old says.

The environmental benefits of Ando’s new building don’t stop at getting people to leave their Toyotas at home. The design allows fresh air and light to circulate via the atrium and a ventilation shaft, and the glass-fibre reinforced concrete skin of the 'spaceship' incorporates a water-cooling system.

The combined result is a station that cuts power use and takes us back to the days when train stations were equivalent to cathedrals in the public-space pecking order.